Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel structure decks: which is the best structure deck in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel?
Discover the best structure deck in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel
Want to know which is the best structure deck in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel? Getting started with Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel can feel a little daunting at first, with so many mechanics and cards available to players. Luckily the game is very welcoming to newcomers, and alongside the initial starter decks offered when logging in for the first time, the game also offers you a number of pre-made structure decks that allow anyone to jump right into dueling before they have to build decks of their own.
Below, we’ll introduce you to each of the structure decks currently available within Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel and go through the strategies needed to win using these decks. Each deck includes a number of powerful monsters, spells, traps and more that can help everyone from absolute beginners to experienced veterans. These are themed decks each centered on a particular mechanic, and the best choice depends on what type of mechanics you enjoy to use, just as much as it depends on the power of these decks.
Each structure deck in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel costs 500 Gems, and each purchase also includes a complimentary Extra Deck tailored to the purchased deck that’s designed to be taken straight into a duel. Each deck can be purchased up to three times per account, giving you an easy way to collect multiple copies of the cards included in these decks so that you can fine-tune these decks to include more or fewer copies of certain cards.
Which is the best structure deck in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel?
So far, two structure decks are available to players in the Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel online store. They are:
- Magician of Pendulum
- Re-Contract Universe
- Rage of Cipher
The best structure deck in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel is Magician of Pendulum, thanks to its ability to summon a number of powerful monsters very quickly. But both decks have their own strengths and weaknesses worth considering.
Both of these decks focus heavily on newer and more complex Yu-Gi-Oh mechanics such as XYZ Summoning and Pendulum Summoning. So if you want to use them, we’d suggest you first work through the solo mode missions that introduce these techniques.
Below we'll walk you through each deck in turn, so you can better understand the strengths and playstyles of each one.
Magician of Pendulum structure deck
Magician of Pendulum is tailored towards those who wish to use a lot of Pendulum Summoning. It includes a number of Pendulum monsters, as well as complementary spell and trap cards allowing you to get these cards onto the field as fast as possible. This deck is designed around being able to perform a Pendulum Summon every turn to constantly bring powerful monsters onto the field, so you can overpower your opponent and access powerful XYZ, Fusion, and Synchro Extra Deck Monsters.
The deck contains monsters from two archetypes whose strategies heavily revolve around Pendulum Summons: “Magician” and “Performapal”. The aim is to get cards like Timegazer Magician and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer onto the field as fast as possible in order to conduct Pendulum Summons, and many of the cards included in this deck are designed around this strategy. Amazing Pendulum is a powerful spell card that can be activated if there are no cards in your Pendulum Zones. This allows you to add two “Magician” Pendulum Monsters that are face-up in the extra deck (as a result of being sent from the field to the graveyard) to their hand, instantly giving you the material needed for Pendulum Summons.
Cards like Harmonizing Magician, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, and Pendulum Call are also designed to bring the necessary monsters from your deck, Graveyard, or Extra Deck into your hand. Players must activate their Pendulum Zones as fast as possible if they wish to win. By mastering this structure deck, you can put forward a number of powerful monsters every turn that can be used to overwhelm their opponent.
Re-Contract Universe structure deck
Re-Contract Universe is a Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel structure deck centered primarily on XYZ summoning. Its focus is on Monster Utopia monsters and “ZW” cards. The winning strategy with this deck is all about summoning XYZ Monsters like Number 39: Utopia, Ultimate Dragonic Utopia Ray and Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray, then buffing them using support spell and trap cards within your main deck. The aim is to get as many monsters onto the field as early as possible in order to create a board that your opponent will find difficult to overcome.
ZS - Ascended Sage is a powerful opening-turn monster, since it can be Special Summoned to the field provided you control no cards. If you don’t have this card in your opening hand, cards like Zexal Destruction are designed to search for this card from your deck and add it to your hand. From here, all you need to do is Normal Summon another monster and you can immediately XYZ summon Number 39: Utopia.
Cards like Utopia Buster, Numbers Protection and Rank-Up-Magic Zexal Force then become effective follow-up cards that require Number 39: Utopia to be on the field in order to activate. You can then immediately summon monsters like Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray or pick away at your opponent's field in order to mount an attack on their life points. While a somewhat simpler deck, this is no less powerful if you can summon the correct monsters early on.
Rage of Cipher structure deck
Rage of Cipher is a deck centered around the archetype of Galaxy-Eyes XYZ monsters. Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon is a Rank 8 XYZ monster whose powerful effect allows it to take control of one of your opponent’s monsters until the end of the turn, negating its effect and changing its attack to 3000.
While this effect has its downsides (you only control the monster until the end of the turn and only the original Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon can attack directly that turn), it’s an effect that can change the direction of a duel. Additionally, you can also summon Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Blade Dragon, Neo Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon and Galaxy-Eyes Cipher X Dragon by overlaying these monsters on top of the original Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon, unlocking even more powerful effects.
The deck is designed around summoning Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon. Monsters like Galaxy Wizard and Radius, the Half-Moon Dragon have effects that allow them to increase their levels to Level 8, while spell and trap cards such as Rank-Up-Magic Cipher Ascension or Constellar Belt are designed to bring out even stronger XYZ monsters or protect your Galaxy-Eyes monsters once they’re already on the field. If you can get your Galaxy-Eyes XYZ monsters on the field and keep them there, your opponent will have a very difficult time overcoming this powerful structure deck.
Which structure deck should you buy in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel?
The best structure deck currently available in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel is Magician of Pendulum, due to the deck’s speed and monster-summoning capabilities. But both decks currently available are powerful options. Your ability to win will depend both on your opponent and your own ability to master the winning strategies offered within each deck.
If you’re a fan of Pendulum Summons, then the Magician of Pendulum structure deck is not only a ready-built deck designed for this mechanic, but also contains a number of cards that can be integrated into your own deck should you wish to create a Pendulum Summon deck yourself. Similarly, Re-Contract Universe contains a number of cards that are useful within other XYZ decks that you may build later on, as well as being a powerful deck in its own right.
Even if you don’t wish to play these decks in real duels, it could be worth purchasing them if you wish to collect certain cards that can be used to build the decks you’d prefer to use. Cards like Pendulum Fusion and Pot of Avarice are very useful beyond these respective decks and can be integrated into many other strategies, making these decks an easy method of obtaining multiple copies of cards that may be essential to later decks.
That’s everything you need to know about the structure decks currently available in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel. You can either duel with these strong decks as they are, or you can unlock new cards that you can use to customize these decks to something you’re more familiar with. If you want to buy new cards in order to do so, you may want to check out these guides on how to obtain gems in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel, or how to dismantle unnecessary cards and other methods of earning the Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel craft points you need to craft specific cards.