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8/16/2019

Sleight of Hand: A Guide to Hand Traps for the July 2019 Format

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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.
 
  1. Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1. Effect Veiler
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1. Infinite Impermanence
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1. Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1. Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1. Artifact Lancea
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1. Droll & Lock Bird
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1. PSY-Framegear Gamma
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1. Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1.  D.D. Crow
a.Thunder Dragon
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
  1.  Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion
a.Thunder Dragon
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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    Author

    Saul Agis
    Accolades include a few Yu-Gi-Oh! Competitive Tops including one Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Top 32, and multiple Yu-Gi-Oh! regional tops.
    Co-editor of Road of the King by Patrick Hoban
    Now enjoying life trolling locals and playing with puppies.

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