In Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, spell cards can make or break a player. Here are the most important spell cards in the game.
Spell cards are seen by many Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel players as either the strongest or second-strongest type of card in the game. Yu-Gi-Oh! doesn’t use resources to make cards work like other card games do. Each player can use as many spell cards as they want on their turn, as long as they meet the card’s requirements.
Because of this and how powerful a single spell effect can be, it’s important for almost any deck that can run them to have strong spell cards. How strong or useful a spell card is often depends on the metagame or format that is being played at the time. What are the most powerful decks, and what effects are the best at stopping them?
Crossout Designator
Crossout Designator is a fast-playing spell card with a very strong effect. The person who uses this card can get rid of one card from their deck. If they do, that card’s effects are cancelled until the end of the turn.
Most of the time, this card is used to stop common hand traps like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Infinite Impermanence. The only problem with this card is that the person who plays it has to have a copy of the hand trap they are responding to in their deck.
Chicken Game
Chicken Game is a powerful field spell that lets the turn player pay 1000 life points during the main phase to either draw one card, destroy Chicken Game, or give their opponent 1000 life points.
This card can be used as a way to draw cards in any deck that uses field spells or has a way to destroy a card on the field to pay for something else. This card also keeps the player with the fewest life points from taking damage. This makes it great for decks that want to slow down the game or play it out for a long time.
Forbidden Droplet
Forbidden Droplet is a quick-play spell card with the following effect. The user sends cards from their hand or field to the graveyard. Then, they choose up to that many monsters on the opponent’s side of the field. And their effects are cancelled and their attack points are cut in half until the end of the turn.
The opponent can’t react to this card’s effect with card types that this card’s effect sent to the graveyard. Forbidden Droplet is hard to understand, but it is one of the best second cards in the game. And because it is a quick-play spell, it can be used on the opponent’s turn.
Pot of Extravagance
Pot of Extravagance is a normal spell card that lets the person who uses it get rid of 3 or 6 face-down cards from their extra deck and then draw 1 or 2 cards. The player must use this card at the start of the main phase. And for the rest of the turn, they can’t draw cards with effects from other cards.
This card is a great way to improve the consistency of a deck that doesn’t need its extra deck or doesn’t use it very often.
Harpie’s Feather Duster
Harpie’s Feather Duster is a normal spell card with a very simple effect. It destroys all Spell and Trap Cards that the opponent controls. Very powerful, short, and sweet. This card is so strong that you can only have one of it in each deck.
Harpie’s Feather Duster is great for going second and getting rid of your opponent’s troublesome back row cards like Solemn Judgment and Forbidden Droplet, or even floodgates like Skill Drain and Summon Limit.
Lightning Storm
Lightning Storm is a normal spell card with the effect of destroying all face-up attack position monsters your opponent controls or destroying all spell and trap cards your opponent controls. This is another great card for going second.
The only bad thing about Lightning Storm is that its effect won’t work if the player in control of it has any face-up cards on their side of the field. Lightning Storm is great on turn 2. But since it’s not a quick-play spell, it’s not very good on turn 1.
Super Polymerization
Another great quick-play card is Super Polymerization, or Super Poly for short. This card lets its owner use cards from either side of the field to summon a fusion monster from their extra deck. This effect can’t be stopped either, so it’s the perfect card for breaking scary monster boards since most boss monsters can be sacrificed.
This card is great for going first or second. The only problem is that the user has to build their deck and extra deck around Super Polymerization. And even then, sometimes Super Polymerization won’t have any targets for its effect.
Cosmic Cyclone
Cosmic Cyclone is a quick-play spell with a simple but powerful effect: Pay 1000 LP. Then choose a Spell or Trap on the field and remove it from play. This card is the best way to get rid of spells and traps by banishing them. A lot of basic spells and traps have effects that happen when they are destroyed or sent to the graveyard.
These effects don’t happen because Cosmic Cyclone sends them away instead of destroying them. This card can also be played quickly. So it can be used on the user’s turn or their opponent’s turn if it was set the turn before.
Called by the Grave
Called by the Grave is a quick-play spell card that takes one card from an opponent’s graveyard and puts it back into their hand. It then cancels the effects of that card for the rest of the turn. If the traps in your hand are monster cards, this spell is great for getting rid of them.
It can also be used to stop a key part of the opponent’s combo. If that combo involves activating a monster effect in the graveyard. Called from the Grave is so good that it is on the semi-limited list. This means that players can only have two copies of this card in their deck.
Upstart Goblin
Upstart Goblin is a simple spell card that lets the player draw one card and gives their opponent 1000 life points. This effect is so strong because it is so easy to do. It’s not once per turn, and there are no limits. Upstart Goblin can be played in three copies, which reduces the user’s deck size from 40 to 37.
This lets the user cut down their deck and more often get to their combo pieces. Almost any deck in 8 Ball Pool can play the Upstart Goblin and benefit from the small boost to consistency it gives. Be careful of Ash Blossom and Joyous Springs.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel can be played on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS.
