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Something that sets Yu-Gi-Oh! apart from other mainstream TCGs is the lack of a dedicated resource system. Magic the Gathering has mana and Pokemon TCG has energy, but in order to activate a YGO card, all you need to do is meet its requirements. This lack of a resource system allows us to do over-the-top combos on our very first turn; as time progressed and combos became more meta-defining, a new card type was unofficially phased in to the game: hand traps. The value of hand traps can not be understated; a well-placed Droll & Lock Bird could stop your opponent from ripping four cards from your hand with Topologic Gumblar Dragon, or resolving a heavy Spellbook of Judgment. In this article, I’ll examine some heavily played hand traps, and weigh their effectiveness against three popular decks: Thunder Dragon, Sky Striker, and Salamangreat.
i.Best use(s) 1.Guardragon Elpy 2.Saryuja Skull Dread 3.Sekka’s Light ii.Cons: 1.Easy for them to play through if not paired with a second hand trap 2.Leaves monsters on field for them to combo with iii.Rating: 3/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! 2.Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku ii.Cons 1.Can be circumvented via Sky Striker Mecha – Eagle Booster iii.Rating: 4/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Salamangreat Miragestallio 2.Salamangreat Gazelle 3.Cynet Mining ii.Cons 1.Can be revived with their Hiita the Fire Charmer, Ablaze iii.Rating: 4/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 5/5 ii.Stopping power: 3/5 iii.Overall: 4/5
i.Best use(s) 1.Saryuja Skull Dread (stops draw AND special summon) 2.Guardragon Elpy 3.Batteryman Solar (stops both effects) ii.Cons: 1.Easy for them to play through if not paired with a second hand trap 2.Leaves monsters on field for them to combo with iii.Rating: 3/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Ace – Kagari 2.Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku ii.Cons 1.Can be circumvented via Eagle Booster iii.Rating: 3/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Salamangreat Miragestallio 2.Salamangreat Gazelle ii.Cons 1.None iii.Rating: 4/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 4/5 ii.Stopping power: 3/5 iii.Overall: 3.5/5
i.Best use(s) 1.Saryuja Skull Dread (stops their draw AND special summon) 2.Guardragon Elpy 3.Batteryman Solar (stops both effects) ii.Cons: 1.Easy for them to play through if not paired with a second hand trap 2.Leaves monsters on field for them to combo with iii.Rating: 3/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Ace – Kagari 2.Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku 3.Negate continuous traps/Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole ii.Cons 1.Can be circumvented via Eagle Booster iii.Rating: 4/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Salamangreat Miragestallio 2.Salamangreat Gazelle ii.Cons 1.None iii.Rating: 4/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 5/5 ii.Stopping power: 4/5 iii.Overall: 4.5/5
i.Best use(s) 1.Crusadia Magius 2.Guardragon Elpy ii.Cons: 1.Doesn’t interact with their combo outside of drawing another hand trap 2.Can easily be attacked over by their large monsters iii.Rating: 1/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.The first link summon, every time 2.Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor 3.Sky Striker Maneuvers – Afterburners! ii.Cons 1.None iii.Rating: 5/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.The first link summon, every time 2.Salamangreat Miragestallio’s grave effect 3.Salamangreat Heatleo’s reincarnation effect (makes their Fusion of Fire OTK more difficult) ii.Cons 1.Doesn’t stop them from doing their combo iii.Rating: 2/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 5/5 ii.Stopping power: 1/5 iii.Overall: 3/5
i.Best use(s) 1.Guardragon Elpy (effect typically won’t resolve because the requirements are no longer met) ii.Cons: 1.Easy for them to play through if not paired with a second hand trap iii.Rating: 4/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole ii.Cons 1.Only interacts with a small number of their cards iii.Rating: 4/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Lady Debug 2.Salamangreat Foxy 3.Salamangreat Gazelle (normal summoned) 4.Salamangreat Miragestallio (typically made before Salamangreat Balelynx hits the grave) ii.Cons 1.Easily circumvented by their Balelynxes, making it dead past turn one iii.Rating: 2/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 2/5 ii.Stopping power: 4/5 iii.Overall: 3/5
i.Best use(s) 1.As soon as they have a LIGHT or DARK monster in grave 2.In response to Sekka’s Light ii.Cons: 1.They retain their cards and can continue their combo next turn iii.Rating: 5/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Mecha – Shark Cannon 2.Cosmic Cyclone 3.Called by the Grave ii.Cons 1.Doesn’t interact with most of their deck iii.Rating: 2/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Called by the Grave ii.Cons 1.Doesn’t interact with the core of their deck whatsoever iii.Rating: 0/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 1/5 ii.Stopping power: 5/5 iii.Overall: 3/5
i.Best use(s) 1.ASAP ii.Cons: 1.They retain their cards and can continue their combo next turn iii.Rating: 4/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.ASAP ii.Cons 1.They can still interact by setting quick-plays and trap cards iii.Rating: 3/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.ASAP ii.Cons 1.The deck doesn’t play many tutors, and only adds one card from deck to hand in most combos: Salamangreat Sanctuary iii.Rating: 0/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 2/5 ii.Stopping power: 5/5 iii.Overall: 3.5/5
i.Best use(s) 1.Saryuja Skull Dread 2.Guardragon Elpy ii.Cons: 1.Only usable if you go second or summon PSY-Framelord Lambda iii.Rating: 4/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Ace – Kagari ii.Cons 1.Only usable if you go second or summon PSY-Framelord Lambda 2.Doesn’t interact with their spell cards 3.Triggers Raye in the grave iii.Rating: 2/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Salamangreat Miragestallio 2.Their normal summon ii.Cons 1.Only usable if you go second or summon PSY-Framelord Lambda iii.Rating: 4/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 3/5 ii.Stopping power: 5/5 iii.Overall: 4/5
i.Best use(s) 1.Saryuja Skull Dread ii.Cons: 1.They have enough options in their extra deck to offset the disadvantage of losing one iii.Rating: 3/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku ii.Cons 1.Rarely live past turn one since they typically control one monster at a time iii.Rating: 3/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ii.Cons 1.Have to play Sunlight Wolf in your extra deck iii.Rating: 5/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 3/5 ii.Stopping power: 5/5 iii.Overall: 4/5
i.Best use(s) 1.Omni Dragon Brotaur ii.Cons: 1.Doesn’t typically interact with their first turn combo iii.Rating: 1/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Ace – Kagari 2.Sky Striker Ace – Raye ii.Cons 1.Doesn’t negate things like Engage from hand iii.Rating: 4/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Salamangreat Jack Jaguar (preferred) 2.Salamangreat Spinny 3.Salamangreat Foxy 4.Salamangreat Falco ii.Cons 1.Will of the Salamangreat doesn’t target iii.Rating: 5/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 3/5 ii.Stopping power: 4/5 iii.Overall: 3.5/5
i.Best use(s) 1.World Chalice Guardragon ii.Cons: 1.Doesn’t interact with the majority of their deck iii.Rating: 1/5 b.Sky Striker i.Best use(s) 1.Sky Striker Ace – Kagari 2.Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole 3.Sky Striker Mecha – Shark Cannon 4.Called by the Grave ii.Cons 1.Doesn’t negate the majority of Sky Striker spells iii.Rating: 3/5 c.Salamangreat i.Best use(s) 1.Salamangreat Jack Jaguar 2.Salamangreat Spinny 3.Salamangreat Foxy 4.Will of the Salamangreat ii.Cons 1.Doesn’t stop their tutoring from deck iii.Rating: 3/5 d.SCORE i.Versatility: 2/5 ii.Stopping power: 3/5 iii.Overall: 3.5/5 Hand traps are a very important part of the game. Whether you decide they’re right for your deck or not, you should be aware of which ones are popular, and how to play with/around them. Hopefully, this cheat-sheet helps with that. Until next time. #YPFL - Owsley J. Tanner
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AuthorSaul Agis Archives
October 2019
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