Yu-Gi-Oh! Is a complex card game that takes skill, intelligence, patience, and decision-making. It is a trading card game, which means that you can buy packs of cards online and play with others. The combinations are endless! Now, without further delay, let’s dive into the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! If you do not know how to play Yu-Gi-Oh, check out this link for the official rulebook. https://www.yugioh-card.com/en/rulebook/.

In Yu-Gi-Oh, winning happens in 3 ways: by reducing your opponent’s life points (LP) to 0, when your opponent can no longer draw cards from their deck because there are no cards left in their deck, or if you use an effect that lets you win. There are endless pathways to winning, however, there are five distinct strategies that are commonly used. These strategies are listed below.

Stun: This strategy relies on summoning monsters and activating spells/traps that punish your opponent each time they do a common action. The most notable are cards that inflict damage to your opponent each time they activate a card or effect/Special Summon. This is very powerful because Special Summons are the most common type of summons, and there are very few players in Yu-Gi-Oh that get by without using effects.

Burn: A very popular method, burn relies on using card effects to reduce your opponent’s LP to 0 rather than attacking. This strategy is good because you don’t have to risk attacking and activating your opponent’s traps like “Mirror Force” . This strategy also counters players that employ a stall strategy because most stall cards rely on preventing your opponent from attacking. Very few cards prevent you from using card effects to deal damage. It’s also worth it to see the look on your opponent’s face when you defeat them without even attacking.

Stall: Stall is another popular method. Many stall decks rely on win-condition cards (cards whose effects let you instantly win the game) such as “Exodia the Forbidden One”. The main problem stall users face is the impending threat of attack. To counter this, you must employ cards that block attacks and that block damage from card effects. If you neglect effect damage, you will most likely lose to a burn user (mentioned above). There is one card that almost all stall users use. Its name is “Mystic Mine”. This card is the brunt of many jokes, criticism, and memes alike. In official tournaments, it was so powerful that it kept alternating between being banned and unbanned, until finally it remained at limited use(maximum of 1 copy allowed per Deck). The reason “Mystic Mine” is so powerful in stall decks is that it prevents your opponent from activating monster effects or declaring an attack if they have more monsters than you do. You suffer the same penalty if you have more monsters than your opponent. The natural weakness of “Mystic Mine” is that it destroys itself if both players have the same number of monsters. Therefore, you should always make sure that you have no monsters, and your opponent has at least 1 before activating this card. As this card is a spell, it can naturally be countered by Spell/Trap cards like “Harpie’s Feather Duster”, which will destroy Mystic Mine. In order to maximize the effectiveness of this strategy, make sure to include cards like “Field Barrier” to protect “Mystic Mine” while it is on the field, and cards like “Magical Stone Excavation” to grab “Mystic Mine” back from the graveyard.

Board Spam/Negate Spam: This strategy is by far the most common strategy. It relies on Special Summoning multiple times in a turn. Since Special Summons can be conducted any number of times per turn, it is a very powerful strategy. After a while, you would have summoned boss monsters with the ability to negate other cards and effects. This will completely prevent your opponent from doing anything, especially if you have enough cards that can negate other cards and effects on the board. This strategy is almost completely countered by cards like “Mystic Mine”, “Summon Limit”, and “Warning Point”. Although, it is nearly impossible to stop.

Lockdown: Finally, lockdown. Lockdown uses combos of cards and effects to completely block the opponent from doing anything at all. There are very few counters if any at all. With the right cards on the field, lockdown is impossible to counter. Although “Mystic Mine” might be seen occasionally in this strategy, it is not recommended. Cards like “Dark Simorgh” and “Anti-Spell Fragrance” greatly hinder your opponent’s progress. This strategy is super effective against Board Spam users and almost any other user alike. This strategy can even counter stall users, as cards like “Burning Bamboo Sword” and “Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword”, combined with “Cursed Bamboo Sword” provides an opportunity to completely lockdown your opponent. If your opponent cannot stop your attacks, you can activate “Burning Bamboo Sword”, then activate “Cursed Bamboo Sword”. This will trigger “Burning Bamboo Sword” to skip your opponent’s next Main Phase 1, even if “Burning Bamboo Sword” leaves the field after. After activating that, activate “Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword”. This card lets you choose a monster that you have equipped with your other “Bamboo Sword”, equip spell and apply a powerful effect. If it damages your opponent by battle, you can force your opponent to skip their draw next turn, even after “Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword” leaves the field. Simply use “Cursed Bamboo Sword” to return “Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword” to your hand, and strike your opponent directly, blocking their next draw. Repeat this process and activate “Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword”, this activates “Burning Bamboo Sword” and now, you have formed an effective lockdown.

Yu-Gi-Oh is a complex game with endless possibilities. The five strategies mentioned above are the most common, but there are many more strategies out there. You never know which one will make you win!