5 Tips for Improving at Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel!

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[@apsamplifier]

Hopefully some of these tips can help a few of you get further in the Master Duel ranked ladder! Good luck! :)

[@6210classick]

Good for ya to embrace your MD andy side 👍

[@Gwello06]

Another good tip is to NEVER place/set spells in the same column as an opponents set spell/trap to make sure your spell doesn't get imperm column negated. Also I see beginners forgetting that Called by the Grave negates until the end of the NEXT turn, so keep that in mind when it is played.

[@justinkassel4281]

Unless you set your own imperm to try to negate something what they have set

[@apsamplifier]

Yeah, I mentioned this as well. Losing to Imperm bites, especially if you realize it could have been avoided. So always watch those zones!

[@pastaking3639]

And watch out for monster Anima column

[@tenkyoken]

A masterduel exclusive tip is to be extremely mindful of player priority after certain phases or card effects. Opponent has a response in the draw/standby phase of the first turn? Maxx C or D. Shifter. A slightly longer pause after your opponent activated a search card? Ash blossom. Setting a card in the same column as your set spell/trap? Impermanence. Response at end of battle phase? Evenly match. A response to everything after your fifth summon? Nibiru. While some of these examples are too late to counteract, others may help you try to bait out certain hand/traps on your turn such as Ash.

[@apsamplifier]

Right! Abuse the system a bit, it can give you some valuable context clues!

[@phoenix5029]

Dkayed joked about it being "legal cheating" for a reason... to follow up on this, there's a prompt option that lets you hold a button to let activation prompts pass by as if they were turned off, if you want to hide the possibility of springing a hand trap until later, you can use this option to leave your opponent unaware...

[@TCGSyphax]

play with auto chain off, opponents will get greedy assuming you don't have handtraps bc no response delay

[@spacemanju7]

I play on ps5 and this is a death sentence as you would have to constantly switch between on off and auto

[@TCGSyphax]

@@spacemanju7 i also play on ps5, just hold r1 lol

[@retiresatisfied]

The duel log is so important. Helps when the searched card goes away quickly or gets flipped down.

[@apsamplifier]

Right! So much can happen quickly in Yu-Gi-Oh and being able to keep track and reread effects or monster stats can inform your plays.

[@retiresatisfied]

@apsamplifier most definitely. Glad to see you guys getting recognized by Konami. I've watched all 3 deck flex episodes so far. That one vtuber sounded like he was in a dub anime, especially when he did his 5 card Neos fusion. That was the best.

[@darkwolf9637]

3:32 this one can also be a case of not giving up but messing up in an embarrassing way and just shame concede like miss clicking and accidentally using ash on your own card or playing into an already active imperm column Also yeah the anima one is super important especially since purrely one of the strongest decks currently can make it. I've won so many games with purrely entirely because my opponent put their boss monster in the anima zone

[@apsamplifier]

Yeah, it's something I notice people avoiding almost all the time in Master Rank, but anywhere below and you'll see people get careless. A lot of today's decks can make Anima somehow (Purrely, Hydrant, Cooclock, or even just a stray Droll or Effect Veiler) so you have to be absolutely on your toes.

[@VictorTAnderson]

Thanks for this video! I'll use these tips to finally make it to Rookie Tier 2! 😊 It's been a long two years, but I'm finally getting somewhere!

[@retiresatisfied]

What type of deck do you use?

[@VictorTAnderson]

@@retiresatisfied Random

[@retiresatisfied]

@@VictorTAnderson you should find at least one archetype to build around. It'll help with consistency.

[@apsamplifier]

Glad I could help lmao

[@Timeater]

Play the game with friends if you like dueling with fun decks. If you go to Ranked Duels and reach Platinum with a fun deck, you'll feel your soul being ripped apart due to so many losses against Kashtira, Purrely, Spright, Tearlaments (yes, they're still there) and Labrynth.

[@apsamplifier]

Yeah, Master Duel will really wear you down if you bring your fun deck. Some masochists like me will try to force our way through anyway, but it'll be a trial by fire lol

[@ItsTheDon27]

Stay in gold for fun decks

[@gaaraofthefunk265]

Tip #8: Never play when you're mad.

[@r3zaful]

im falling to rank up master 1 back to master 3 because im mad failing to rank up 4 times in a row smh

[@apsamplifier]

Honestly, that's the MVP tip. Master Duel will STRESS YOU OUT.

[@ducky36F]

Watching myself misplay like mad and not being able to stop it due to being tilted is the worst. Sometimes you gotta get up and walk away.

[@phoenix5029]

this is mainly inspired by Rarran, but *Do not be so quick to write off Solo Mode!* if you're a returning player, or you aren't quite grasping several concepts of the mechanics, some of the solo modes can expand a bit further through certain archetypes. for instance: -Legend of the Star Heroes (AKA "World Legacy") has archetypes that are almost entirely based around Link summoning (unless you pursue the advanced duels). the *World Chalice* lets you dabble in the basics of Link Summoning, with normal monsters as the main force, and the Links having basic effects that can allow you to put together a board that can power through reliably; the *Crusadia* teaches you the value of "Link climbing" (using special summons to Link Summon higher Link Monsters in succession) and how you can support the stronger monsters; finally, the *Orcusts* shows you can use Links to support the main deck (in this case retrieving banished cards). hell and away easier to put together gradually than buying the Salamangreat Structure 3 times and winging it with a combo guide to the side. -Gem Knights can demonstrate to older players how Fusion Summoning started to evolve by its use of Gem Knight Fusion. the graveyard effects and the spell's ability to recycle itself also allows you to see how far you can go in fusing monsters together -Geargia is all about Xyz summoning, and its main deck monsters can enable even a button pusher to perform it, making use of the effects -Heralds and Vendread show off how Ritual Summoning is done as well as how Graveyard Effects can expand your advantage, with the former even providing a Loaner deck to the Drytron variant that dominated Master Duel on launch in the second advanced duel. it can also give a slight insight on decks that can disrupt you, as Herald is all about disrupting the opponent.

[@retiresatisfied]

My tip is to place the staples you usually use into a deck first and save it. Make a copy of that deck and then start building around those generic staples and the staples of your archetype that actually help your deck perform. Remove whatever slows down your win conditions. That's how I've built my decks since 2002.

[@theofficialjmfc5979]

that's a GOOD tip there dude. I'm gonna take and use it right now, thanks big dawg.

[@retiresatisfied]

@@theofficialjmfc5979 hope it helps.

[@Kentanimationnnnnnnnn]

4:44 the whole not giving up even though it's hopeless thing is called GRIT. Grit is so important esp when games of yugioh goes into game states unexplored turn 3+

[@apsamplifier]

EXACTLY! The further the game goes, the murkier it all gets. Anything can happen, and I strongly believe in making my opponent fight for every inch.

[@AngeloHollow]

I subscribe to using the little duel log for every game. It helps me keep track of information, helps me remember where something gets played (if it's facedown), what got searched for and what that card does. It also lets me back up and rewind to catch up to see what hard once per turns were used by the both of us, or to check what was going on if I get really really lost.

[@youdieyougoback3143]

Great advice! Especially about building a deck based on your rank or what you running into a lot. I was running into a lot of backrow field wipes with Ninjas which forced me to add white dragon ninja to counter that at the moment.

[@JustSpag]

this was actually really good advice. Thanks Paul, and if you want to vlog over master duel go for it

[@ZyxWhitewind]

Good stuff, one other major one is learn to use the toggle. If you have hand traps you want to hide, toggle off then be ready to quickly respond. I’ve done other things like fake a Nibiru by setting toggle to off then switched to on after 5 summons. Another one is knowing what effects need toggle on like against access code talker. Don’t just sit in auto toggle all the time.

[@apsamplifier]

Very true! I started playing with Toggle hiding basically since I got into Master Rank because every bit of information and telegraphing is crucial.

[@CommodoreCards]

Yeah, that first point is so important when deckbuilding. Lightning Storm in particular is such a versatile spell to cover a variety of threats, and it's usually not too much trouble to throw a couple into your deck. You can't bank on going first, and I know I'm often thankful to have it in hand! People play a dangerous game by not running any removal.

[@TheySeeMeTrollen]

As someone who started playing master duel by recreating my old Six samurai deck, Nothing feels better then wrecking someone's 20 min turn by summoning zanji/grandmaster and just crashing into their syncro/XYZ thing.

[@MattomaticMK1337]

All very excellent tips to help players out. I've been playing a lot more recently (I've been using Salamangreats. Plat 5 so far). I've learned most of these by trial and error at this point. I'd like to add activating your effects in order of least important to most important because you may be able to bait out a negate that might not stop you in your tracks. Edit: I accidentally put I was Plat 1 when I'm Plat 5. Not trying to lie about my rank here lol.

[@apsamplifier]

Yeah. One of my personal tendencies is to try to bait Ash Blossom on cards that will linger anyway (most Stratos-esque monsters, or Continuous/Field Spells) just to get a leg up in card economy.

[@MattomaticMK1337]

@@apsamplifier Yeah exactly. I do this with Lady Debug when I have Salamangreat Circle in hand to still get a search if I get hit with Ash or Imperm and then they are just down a negate.

[@duyknguyen]

Gotta Love all your dedication for the Yugi casual lovers and New players 🎉 Never stop, your amazing work is appreciated

[@PureOptimus]

Thanks for the tips!

[@AllBeganwithBBS]

I hate that deckbuilding just starts with the exact same 8 cards. Plus it makes me brick allt he time.

[@apsamplifier]

Yeah, it's a bit of a bummer, but the good news is that you don't ABSOLUTELY have to run them (assuming you mean Maxx, Ash, Called By). I've actually been omitting Called By recent, for instance. It's not great against Kashtira and I play a deck that can pretty safely stop in the face of Maxx C, so I'm not finding it to be necessary. I've even gone with just 2 Maxx C in certain metas in the past few months. Those extra slots really open up a lot of possibilities.

[@grantashford4518]

Coming from a Duel Links background one big thing that I got to transfer to Master Duel is the toggle button. Having it off at certain points to not show a response can make your opponent play into what you want. Having it on to do stuff on DP or SP comes up a fair amount.

[@carkpop]

THERE'S A BUTTON THAT SHOWS YOUR TOTAL ATK ON FIELD???????????????? Why have I never known this?? lmao

[@apsamplifier]

That's right! Go forth and use it for good!

[@internalcosmos6876]

I would like to see any kind of advice or tips videos. I'm new, there are a lot of cards in the game and its hard to know where to start or how to handle certain situations. So any guidance, advice or tips would be great. I enjoy your videos, your podcast and I look forward to the next one!

[@apsamplifier]

Thanks! I'll keep it up.

[@KiiroSagi]

My tips 1. Unbrick your hand and craft your deck around not bricking. Unbrick your hand means if you have evenly matched or lightning storm in ur hand, ur priority is using them as soon as possible before they become unusable. Building your deck around not bricking is making sure you don't draw unplayable/highly conditional cards often. I do not play Nibiru at all for this reason. 2. Draft your deck for consistency. As a rule of thumb, any card you want to open with, have 3 copies of with the exception of if having 2 copies of X card would be bad in your opening hand. E.g. talents being a hard once per turn, you are at a disadvantage to have 2 copies at the same time. The exception to that exception would be board breakers because it is better to have too many than not enough. 2. Board breakers: Raigeki, Dark Hole, Kaijus, Lava Golem, Sphere mode, lightning storm, evenly matched. You do not need these in every deck but you must, MUST know how to use them and draft them accordingly. 3. Backrow removal: If you are still losing despite being able to clear all the opponents monsters, odds are they have spells and traps and especially in the case of continuous spells/traps and field spells, there can be infinite value every turn. Some board breakers double as backrow removal but it is all the same important to have that thought process of identifying a backrow. Also, if it wasn't obvious, always clear the backrow before the monsters, if possible. 4. After every loss, ask yourself if you misplayed. If you are sure you didn't then ask yourself what card would have won you the game. Example: "My opponent summons the same monster from grave no matter how many times I destroy it. It is infinite value so mathematically I just lose in the long run" Solution: draft d.d. crow or called by the grave. Another example: "I have backrow removal but they are a rare deck that returns backrow from grave" solution: cosmic cyclone (banishes) 5. Ignore Exodia, burn decks and decks that otherwise counter your deck exactly. Do not weaken your deck to deal with a deck/scenario you will rarely face. You will also face fewer and fewer of them as you climb. 6. Remember that YGO is about card advantage. It's all about Pot of Greed. With few exceptions (cards designed to OTK or freeze/stun the game), the strongest, most effective cards in the game typically revolve around increasing your card advantage or by decreasing your opponents. Field spells often justify themselves with once per turn card advantage effects or with a card search on resolution, immediately paying for itself by replacing it's space in your hand with another card. 7. Remember that some players simply have more time than you. At the end of the day, YGO isn't a 1 minute game. I personally play about 60 games a month INCLUDING festivals (I do my dailies and then close the game). This means I am unlikely to reach the very top rank unless I go undefeated (which shouldn't happen with fair matchmaking or luck in general) or if I squeeze in more games a month.

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

How can it all be about Pot of Greed when no one knows what it does?

[@kendrickhulitt7462]

Definitely upload some Masterduel gameplay!

[@articstorm007]

I'd love to see your master duel replays with commentary

[@brolteon2740]

Love the tips! I really need to heed that “never give up” tip I’m such a doomer when it comes to big board wipes or maxx c on me that I scoop immediately 😂 Also, I personally would play all my strong monsters in attack just because I would rather play around Zeus over Lightning Storm in most match ups. Your opponent swinging into a def. pos monster and taking some damage just to make zeus is much scarier to me than lightning storm which I personally dont see too often.

[@ThatsSoGiorgio]

Also, you can bait your opponent with the imperm fear. I will often play a spell/trap on the opposite side of the field and then place one dud spell/trap (something I absolutely need In the GY so I need it destroyed) directly in the column their boss monster is in. My opponent will Almost always destroy the set card in the same column and I now have my GY set up and I get to keep the actual spell/trap I wanted to keep.

[@AnotherWindaSimp]

Always carry with you a shuffler to manage resources, either jar of avarice or pot of avarice. That'll help you get your resources back and use them again. I main lab,but resouces mid duel are quite important to me

[@elliotgreen3203]

Bravo agree with the spell removal

[@nathanperez6587]

I recently got back into yugioh....i was a fan of the og series as a kid...i can play with the old cards, i started collecting and i want to get back to learning how to play/ get familiar with these new cards im collecting....any tips for someone whos diving into the deep side of the pool😂😂

[@irongiantBH]

I had my best match in master duel last night, my traptrix deck vs a tribrigade deck. I had a few misplays but I managed to squeak out the win

[@briannitzschke2767]

A replay coaching series would be really cool. Any old Day[9] daily viewers out there?

[@sa-x7882]

I've got to Gold i believe 2 to 3 times using my casual Yubel deck, but i always stoped there since from there it got reeeally really hard to get wins (Not to blame my oponents mind you, i know that my deck was an absolute "how did you get gold with this" kind of deck, but since Yubel is getting that new support next year (on tcg, on ocg its out already) i've been thinking on getting back to the grind and getting to master rank, but only when It comes out on master duel, we'll see, i'll give it my all!

[@brucwayn6403]

I havent played MD since Yr1 on my old SJ7 no on my S23ultra ive thought about trying it again but i have no clue wtf i should start with What packs and deck would you suggest??😊

[@ijveraar3795]

8:15 there's also an argument to be made to summon in attack position. Zeus is a way more relevant card than lightning storm nowadays, and putting a card in defense might just lose you the game because of it.

[@Gravitysonic0]

Between the "Maxx C minigame package" , board breakers/equalizers and other staples I don't think I have enough spaces for the actual deck and keep it under 40 cards.

[@apsamplifier]

Yeah, I've started to just accept ~42 as the standard in a lot of decks. But I will say I've actually gotten away with foregoing Called By the Grave a lot in this current format.

[@crysiswarxx3440]

Yeah some MD content would be awesome

[@megawill04]

For the max c tip, i personally enjoy causing my enemy to draw a lot when they activate it 😂. I just continue my combo, or at least be aware of what my opponent might do.

[@Protocurity]

About summoning Fenrir in defense... I've learned that it is not that good of an idea. The reason being that all defense position monsters make for a free ramming target to create Zeus. I've found that I am far more likely to encounter Zeus than Lightning Storm.

[@marlanjn.baptiste8715]

Paul believes in the heart of the cards

[@Cms7899]

Tip #1: Just draw the out.

[@ducky36F]

As I typically play combo, I was wondering what non-combo decks you recommend for playing on ladder? It is hard to recommend decks to newer players (other than like, Lab haha)

[@apsamplifier]

Hmmm... Depends on how unique you'd like to be. Some recent ones that come to mind for me would be Traptrix, Mikanko, Rescue ACE, Sky Striker, and Exosister. I also got to Master with Dogmatika the previous two seasons, but it's a bit more niche.

[@ADukesJustice]

We need more Master Duel live streams, please

[@Jack-dt4iw]

I had turn 1 and only had hand traps. Went turn two and broke my opponents combo and he surrendered immediately even though I couldnt do anything 😂

[@PMProut]

I would like to add: learning a meta deck to start is completely fine, netdecking is completely fine, getting advice online is also totally fine For the meta deck part, those are what you'll encounter the most, so just go for it just for the sake of learning what you're up against and how to counter it

[@Shaynerful]

I accidentally ashed my fenrir the other day and just quit right there😂

[@megamanx89]

A tip I have is to master a deck. Any deck can get to high diamond and masters. Its all about learning your deck inside out. Constantly changing decks after tilting won't help if you go against the same meta decks.

[@neophrem2408]

Yes, show us your epic anime comebacks! Maybe even stream some MD?

[@apsamplifier]

I post some on Facebook and Twitter as replays, if you follow on there!

[@TheFallenStarlight]

Duelist A activates Maxx C, free win 😂 Duelist B Flower Cardian player, challenge accepted 😎

[@UnsignedBandsRecords]

Just won a game had 400 life points left and they had 5300 but somehow came back and won

[@vishramramoutar]

always play to win dont play not to lose. dont always go for the safe play.

[@lovesickherox]

A tip the anime taught me is to believe in the heart of the cards 🙏

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

But did it tell you what Pot of Greed does?

[@ratiuvictor9533]

Those are my tips.1. If you are a new player try to get staples. Maxxc, Ash, eveny, lightning storm, nibiru, veiler, triple tactics, trusth, Zeus, apolusa, Unicorn, ipmasquerena, dark ruler, droplet, pot of , barone etc. You will see that after you have staples this game is the cheapest game ever. 2 Stop playing "fun" decks on the ladder. I know you probably like Blue Eyes, Dark Magician, Heroes, Galaxy or synchro pile decks but it is fun to lose every single match? Those decks are only made for nostalgia players to use theyr gems and money on cards that will never be good. 2 Go with the flow. Play meta or play against meta. You don't have to play tier 1 decks like Kash and Purrely if you don't want to. Don't worry play branded, Swordsoul, runnick, mikanko, Labrynth, DragonLink, mathmech, exosisters but put some kurikara, lava golem or kaijus in your deck. And that goes with every meta. Find the weak point of the most played decks and adjust your decks to beat them.

[@onecent101]

Another tip I think might help is since this is a best of one format if ur deck can run a floodgate I think you should run it since it rly can just out right win the game on it's own against some match ups (some examples would be gozen match against kash and purrely, anti-spell against runnick, rilvalry against mikanko etc.)

[@tyhy1]

where did the arrata video go?

[@apsamplifier]

Errata video?

[@arrownoir]

Number 1 is winning the coin flip.

[@mattyorshin]

My tip is to craft a few staples but play the deck you look very. Being a low rank player doesn't mean a bad player.

[@DNNYYCLR]

I have tilted so much this season because the master duel servers have been so bad.

[@Roirose_27]

Learn little combos/ techs from watching your opponent.

[@CatPhil]

Paul = Goat

[@zayda304slaya9]

Rank dont matter , u dont derank for losing and if u lose a few times in a row they give u a rank up chance... iv gotten to plat rank with self otk and quit loging in untill next battle pass so i derank over time cuz u only derank if u haven't logged in and played a few games

[@WinterSupernova39]

That isnt true if you lose a lot from platinum and up you get dranked

[@zayda304slaya9]

@@WinterSupernova39 iv been using this same strat since day 1 to grind out every battle pass , i haven't deranked with my self otk deck or for quiting matches

[@JDragon272]

One idea - for god’s sake, LIMIT some cards like Ash Blossoms, they’re a Pain in the @$$.

[@ItsmisterX]

One function you should abuse is the chain on/auto/off function. Turning it on allows you to scare your opponent into playing defensively when they commit to a summon/card activation. When they summoned a monster but you only have dagda in hand, you can toggle it on to make it look like you have imperm. The same goes to toggle off since you can turn it off, making your opponent to commit into summoning, but unexpectedly get nibiru'd on the fifth summon. Although it's cheesy and idiotic, you must use any means necessary in order to win the game.

[@monarch2500]

Do u need a editor?

[@L8RSTORM]

Step one. Spend money

[@ducky36F]

You really don't need to, especially on a fresh account.

[@melvinshine9841]

I'd vehemently disagree about not giving up. Maybe things are different in Silver and below, but if you lose the toss and don't open with any handtraps and/or board breakers, you're usually dead. As for actual tips, try to avoid summoning important non-Link Extra Deck monsters to the Extra Monster zone. If you come up against a Cyber Dragon deck, which isn't super uncommon, your opponent will be able to get rid of whatever is in your Extra Monster zone by summoning any Cyber Dragon then using it and your monster to go into Chimeratech Mega-Fleet Dragon.

[@apsamplifier]

The operative word being 'usually'. I believe in making my opponent work completely for every win. You'd be surprised how many games you can pull a win from by people choosing to negate the wrong things with Baronne, Borreload Savage, etc. Don't be a doomer!

[@rileyanthony]

Could you guys please do some videos on dragon ball super card game please

[@fabriceconstant6255]

Never give up? Ppl on MD too soft and salty for this advice

[@sativaburns6705]

Buy gems.

[@lionablaze8747]

maxx c is a stain on master duel. the sooner it gets banned, the better deck building will get in master duel.

[@FGCTekken]

Unistal the game. Thats how you get better.

[@aa-tx7th]

cant count how many games ive won where the opponent has alrrady won and they just misplay or time out or whatever arena, master duel, pokemon live all three