Top 5 Longest Competitive Yu-Gi-Oh Decks!

A lot of decks come and go in the competitive Yu-Gi-Oh metagame. But certain decks manage to adapt and long outlive their primes. These are our choices for the 5 decks that have lasted the longest and still managed to stay viable.
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[@TeamAPS]

*Even if it may not ever be truly competitive, what deck will you ALWAYS stand by in Yu-Gi-Oh through thick and thin?*

[@purplesock1999]

Black wings are my boys

[@danielolivares7782]

Team APS no matter what I'll always stick with geargias

[@Azurenighterror11]

Heros have been around forever and are still getting support not as much but new heros are still coming out

[@Tenwaystospoildinner]

When my friend got me back into Yugioh (I only played a little as a kid) he gave me a spare Utopia starter deck. I've just been adding to and rearranging it until I had something decent. Nothing I could bring to a tournament (I'm not that good a player), but I have fun with my friends. Too bad I never watched the anime Utopia came from. My friend plays Heroes, I play Utopia. Both main character decks.

[@AlextheLynx1]

Deskbots. Getting an opening hand of Deskbot 03 and Machine Duplication, or having 07 and 08 on field with a ton in the grave is always fun. Plus, in Link Format, I only really need Deskbot Jet in my Extra Deck.

[@Cimoooooooo]

"They just won't fuckin' die!"

[@thenerdyeel3092]

Cimoooooooo yeah that caught me off guard and made my day. lol

[@youkai3785]

Cimoooooooo why do I smell a complementary video on the horizon?

[@staki8181]

I am a simple man. I see Trell in the thumbnail I click as fast as I can. Keep up the amazing content bros, stay awesome.

[@KZcovers]

I knew lightsworns were gonna be on the list and I'm not surprised it's number one, but what about Monarchs? they've been relevant for over 10 years and are still played to some degree today either with true draco or on their own as a budget option

[@overscoreSX]

DragonKyng Z nah, I would argue that they weren't relevant for awhile before the structure Deck came out

[@MrMisterGaming]

Monarchs have been kicking my ass for years with all the different variants... every time I get over one variant, another one comes around and says "Nah fam, I don't fall to that old tactic"... really bothers me but at the same time, I love that it's such a versatile deck.

[@matthewstephens6502]

DragonKyng Z monarchs died for years. kinda dead atm

[@tristanalain9239]

There are lots of fun trolly Monarch options. My personal favorite atm are: Kaiju-Ra-Archs. Using the Kaijus and Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode for removal of the opponents field while the monarchs just sit there and punch them with all the immunties I can give them.

[@traplover6357]

DragonKyng Z the game is too fast for Monarchs to be good enough. They can only be stunned based.

[@polariu5]

This Channel deserves more subs!

[@TeamAPS]

I totally agree!

[@sirspookybones1118]

Fran Borz It kinda does even if it just a bunch of black guys talking about a children's card game

[@aye4590]

That's the best part

[@chendanny30]

To be honest I'm surprised this much black youtubers let alone people make so much videos about yugioh and play the game. Makes me wish I lived near a locals that doesn't just consist of 5 people.

[@gruntlegpeice6099]

@@sirspookybones1118 its not a children's card game

[@TraumaCenter13]

And the great thing is that Lightsworns is still a great deck in Link format.

[@nathanpeoples5089]

The top two on this list are also part of my elite four decks. The other two being an Ancient Gear beat-down/toolbox and Blue-Eyes turbo. And the champion being Toon-Gadgets.

[@unarmedstrike1487]

Thank you guys for keeping/getting me back into in yugioh

[@YURTZYN42]

11:17 omfg you're throwing me way tf baaaack I remember those days when I played 5DS online spell speed 1 monsters had that shit lol man that's crazy imagine how that kinda stuff would play out in today's modern format.

[@gundam0072]

yes you said light ray/sworn i loved that combo. this man needs more subs

[@LilDurr]

Thank U for keeping the cards up entire time

[@LeChampionPodcast]

out of the 5 decks I've played the lightsworn and I still use em in chaosworn furthermore im surprise monarchs didn't make the list since they've been competitive since the beginning. But this was still a good list in the summer of Yugioh

[@tristanpelkey9109]

gem-knights and elemental heros were and will always be my favs

[@MrTristantheking]

Great vid as always! Mermail may not be the best, but they are my ol' reliable!

[@DuyShortSwing]

Hey are you from New Orleans? I notice the Saints blanket, WhoDAT!! I'm just getting back to Yu-Gi-Oh (10 year hitatus) , so I have been enjoying watch yall vidoes. Keep up with the good work.

[@3dxican]

You guys are so right! I still run lightsworn! Made a pure lightsworn build! Still have all the zombie and predaplant engines though! Good video!

[@3dxican]

Also that triple book of moon ehren combo!

[@YURTZYN42]

I feel you Paul lmao I never really liked Lws either xD I played them a little in my 5DS days & I was just like "Nope! Too messy.."

[@EddtheRexMan]

Thing is the way I play lightsworns (where I refuse to pay loads of money for meta cards, like pot of desires), I'm rarely competitive :P but I will stand by lightsworns because they are actually fun to play in my humble

[@toewstokane9023]

Terrell!!!!! Loves Terrell, good to see you buddy.

[@skylightts2292]

funny that you don't like true draco kozmo paul, thats all I've been playing for a couple weeks now XD. everyone sees it, gets mad, scoops. glad you guys mentioned it in the vid.

[@Pyro1071]

haven't really thought about it... but Harpies have always been in my arsenal, even when i went formats without using them.

[@chanon299]

Lightsworns truly never dies. I honestly admit that it has it's weaknesses that allows your opponent to be able to shut down your plays. but still the deck's always playable and good for a budget!

[@theleathercandle]

chanon299 totally agree, it's been budget for such a while now (not Minerva builds obviously) and if you're facing one of those decks at locals even to this day it's nothing to straight up scoff at, JD still answers too many boards and they can just generate such easy advantage

[@chanon299]

leathercandleAMV I got a Japanese Minerva instead and it's super cheap compare to the TCG one. ^___^

[@mikeysanchez1812]

Even now, if you side deck cards to banish all the lightsworns, Punishment dragon comes and fucks you anyways

[@freezeframe3533]

Mikey Sanchez welp, now I know what to get for my side deck

[@michaeldeas5260]

agree with lightsworns and zombies always seeming to find an engine of some kind however there is still heroes that have engines and floaters that work as well and we do have older things that always make an appearance like the plant engine. Speaking of which when are we ever going to get that pro plant and pro wyrm archetypes that take over the meta game for a while lol.

[@Numbuh_]

Totally agree with this i always see these decks im so excited for link summoning.........no ojama comment this time

[@jabberwockydraco4913]

NumbuhZer0 Ojama king into ground collapse

[@SunGuy-di2ii]

“They just won’t F*CKING die!” - Trell From Team APS

[@Zefraxii]

Idk why but i thought it was funny/cute when Paul did that small cheer and said “my favorite!” Around the 4:29 mark

[@Izadochi]

VayuSworn is my personal favorite Lightsworn build.

[@lapislazuli7584]

Could yall do a video about your favorite Characters Archetypes from the show... Like Toons, Blue eyes, Dark Magician, etc.

[@bobs9524]

Hey Paul, Zombies have been competitive from beginning, with strategies for bone tower(troll/mill), or with Ryu/Dark dust beat down.

[@YURTZYN42]

I will always stick by the deskbot engine. Not only does it make pendulum summoning good while not heavily relying on it, but it makes decent synchro plays, beast rank 2 plays, and is capable of doing OTKs and/or running over huge monsters with obnoxious immunities. All you have to worry about is something to make it more consistent and stable, but that's all about how you build the rest of your deck.

[@dylanrobertson9026]

I had to play the ba pkfire matchup just a couple weeks ago

[@codeeee26]

Hey for a summer yugioh vid can you and Trell make a nice tutorial for chains? the way they work/proper ways to resolve them?

[@kevinalbarn120]

where are the heroes? they been out since 2007, longer than any other deck of the list

[@lancethedragonmaster8562]

good video guys

[@koaladl3435]

well i thought i d see Heroes in here

[@khoio2534]

Heroes are not competitive enough, they just kind of weak, and they don't have any boss monster, so i think that is the reason

[@roejogan5212]

Toad Heroes were really good until Norden ban.

[@EpicSaxPanda]

"no boss monster" >looks over at dark law

[@khoio2534]

Dark Law have only 2400 Atk, even a Dark Magician can beat it! It not a Boss Monster, even though it's effect is strong, but it is not a boss monster!

[@figarden1]

#freemyniggaStratos

[@erieldelgado5319]

stellarkinghs could be a good mention too since they even top at one point in ba,shaddoll and qli's meta.

[@dennislfc5069]

if we are talking about 'longest' then it should be Lightsworn, HERO, and Blackwing. I swear whenever I go play online I always gets to face those 3 archetypes no matter what format or what year that was. you shouldnt put kozmo in there theyre only around for like 2 years. it cant be in the same list with the-almost-10years-lightsworn

[@dennislfc5069]

also one of my friend started with Gravekeeper and Zombies, it was 2010. he and most of my friends bought their first deck that year (it was our thing back then). but now me and the others have changed our decks multiple times but that one friend of mine still with his gravekeeper and zombies. he says those two will never be 'too bad'

[@shortbread9518]

Bite the Dust Blackwings aren’t competitive for shit anymore though

[@aleksandarstojanovic2949]

Blue eyes

[@richardwilliams5828]

what bout blackwings

[@EyesOpenAwaken]

Was thinking of same thing.

[@superrednova81]

Stfu

[@chaddoom7993]

I like "Blackwings"! They're cool because they swarm up really fast and make it super easy to summon Synchros, XYZ, and Link monsters so you can get an unbreakable board right away. Nice easy strategy!

[@thebagonline2113]

Team APS Rules! 👌

[@miroslavpetrov4166]

Hey, i'm a big fan.Can u make a video for deck that can abuse Sky Sourge Norleras or Sky Scourge Enrise? That will help me a lot, so thanks if you do this for me!

[@KGBzelov]

you can also put infernoid in that list since they been out for a while now.

[@kodytiffany5686]

I think zombies were a thing since their first structure deck whenever that was. because meta decks of the day ran mostly the same type of creatue either warrior or spellcaster were the boss monsters and at worst Ryukoki had 2400 atk and was searchable with pyramid turtle. Lightsworns were (to me at least) irrationally tier 1 from the start. In an era where Gladiators and Six sams were duking it out they showed up as more or less the third strongest deck (I think).

[@lobopumpchainsavage]

Kody Tiffany sychros were out first but it was out only shortly after so people had judgment and stardust in the tele dad era

[@PLUS3TCG]

Paul peaking over at Dark Destroyer like, "man I hate this card..."

[@anirudhr.5294]

best part of BA is that it makes an irrelevant card like Rainbow Dark Dragon and it powerhouses it.

[@primal44]

Anirudh R. I love BA I will never stop using them

[@martinfarrell7010]

Feel free to disagree but I think satellars deserve an honorable mention. Since their release in 2014, though they were continuously overshadowed by the other power houses such as nekroz/qli/shaddoll/ba etc still managed a few tops and even Shunsuke managed to win worlds with them in 2015 and they're just a consistent stun deck that can adapt by changing their trap line up for the meta but I think the main reason they deserve an honorable mention is triverr, access to non targeting non destructive removal that floats and the ability to abuse some cards when they come along such as chicken game at the time which was basically a pay 2000 pot of greed with triverr. Plus they always tend to be compatible with whatever floodgate is relevant at the time anti-spell/mask of restrict/iron wall. The advent of twin twister was not very kind but I still managed to come 5th with them at a regional quite recently, though our regionals are fairly small and imperial order just came off the list and won 2 of my matches for me xD

[@TeamAPS]

+Martin Farrell They get beaten out by Burning Abyss in terms of long term tournament relevance though.

[@ThaGangstaG]

this needs more views.

[@TeamAPS]

I agree!

[@AnarchoBearBear]

im glad that decks like these exist. they keep the game fun and make sure that theres at least some veriaty in the damn game. NO deck should be unplayable, even zoo!

[@michaelperri508]

My 2 favorite guys to hear from

[@MAGNAVIX]

Ahh Lightsworns... My pride and joy... Wrecking the game from their debut in 2008 and they're STILL getting amazing support from Konami... They're the reason I've stuck with the game for this long, and I love that they're strong and relevant! Like, it could have just been my Timmy deck "it may not be good but I'll always love it" but no! No, they're good! Meta relevant and topping YCS events all over the place!

[@R9000]

Batterymen maybe? The start of that deck has been around since GX. I know they're not super commonly played, but they're an incredibly robust little deck.

[@cnssegura]

Odd enough, I'll be playing 3 of the 5 mentioned not long from now. lol

[@darkpaw1522]

Monarch, HERO, Frogs, Infernity, Gladiator Beast, Synchro spam, Tellarknights, Yang Zing, Shaddoll, etc.

[@YURTZYN42]

10:42 trying to be a smartass lol good thing Trell was more than ready for your bs and ran with it like a boss xD

[@radiation1814]

Crystron Kozmo is my favorite usage of Kozmos and its what i play. I destroy my bigger kozmos with my non tuner crystrons to get a tuner and still have a potentially big kozmo on the field. synchro for dayz

[@catwise682]

It's not just mermails, the Atlanteans themselves pack s huge punch I had a regional today, and became 3rd (bo3's) only losing to Pendulum Magicians (he played 2-3 Ghost Ogre, that... Hurt

[@chucklesdeclown8819]

lightsworns are also pretty splashable too which should have it stay around for a long time.

[@AffaanMustafa]

Lmao I was the guy playing pk fire at Seattle regionals xD

[@blakorican]

Can you guys pleaseee!!!! give feedback on what you guys about Toon decks. I love playing them. I currently have been working on mine and the deck can actually be competitive and versatile. People seem to think they are not competetive and just a fun deck. What you guys think?

[@paralleldimensions8803]

Gale the whirlwind is my spirit animal

[@stevensanchez5236]

blue eyes will never die either. honestly surprised it wasn't in the video

[@TeamAPS]

+Steven Sanchez It was reverse chronological based on the longest standing decks.

[@ItsYaTrashboi]

i'd lke to see a subterror deck profile

[@Raiga0310]

Lightsworn will be around for a while longer because of the Twilightsworn and Punishment Dragon which means they no longer fear being banished.

[@jadenasher6290]

Zombies with 3 Laval Chain can do some crazy serious loops.

[@tacticaltylertv4444]

I've never understood why people think Burning Abyss are so strong. I see how they use to be good but they really don't have any disruption to keep up with todays meta

[@traplover6357]

TacticalTylerTV Beatrice but that's at one so it's bad

[@davidreyna6859]

I'm surprised monarchs didn't make the list

[@CoffinZ12]

You guys forgot Heroes, monarchs, and six samurai

[@balloonatic1215]

Gotta love my mermails

[@rongotti4207]

I see team aps video, I click it. Simple as that..

[@TeamAPS]

+Ron Gotti Somebody sponsor this man!

[@wonthangsoop]

Mermail is the new Glad Beasts. Meaning when theres a new ban list and no one knows whats good, take advantage and play em, they're gunna put in work at first.

[@crashbash714]

what about hero's.. I know they don't really appear but they still get decent support and they do have some good cards relevant to today. I'm not the biggest fan of them but I respect them enough to be able to see them on a list like this.

[@shockz1715]

Glads lived for around 3 years from mid 2008 to 2011 before they fell out.

[@tyrous1743]

Monarchs, Shaddoll, Chaos, HEROES, just to name some more :)

[@thatonegirlazu9847]

Don’t forget Herald decks. Very underrated

[@rondean2112]

what about exodia or blasting the ruins?

[@mattanselment9882]

WOOOOOOOOO Trell!!!!

[@unrealxii110]

gravekeeper's

[@dragonkunia6798]

my list ba mermail heroes monarchs dark magician/ blue eyes

[@crachhit6]

Dragon Kunia blue eyes and ark magician wasnt playable unti lrecently

[@la7127]

Mermails didn't last extraordinarily long

[@xebenatrosxeracroft5178]

Just curious, but why do I not hear like nothing about the Shiranui's? Been doing some awesome things with them, just curious.

[@TheoJay615]

I agree with Lightsworns but No mention of Monarchs or Heroes?

[@bananakidboyoh]

combine all these decks together. challange of the month. go for it.

[@TeamAPS]

+Zero Demonstone Not even gonna lie, I'm slightly tempted...

[@Slayerthecrow]

Remember when the effect of Ryko wasn't mandatory, and you could mill 3 cards without having to destroy another card ?

[@michaelpinches5644]

Lightsworn baby, when u said my favorite deck as number one, I shat myself irl bc I celebrated too hard XD

[@michaelpinches5644]

One Another Is Abyss Burning And

[@bigk3085]

I see the New Orleans Saints logo on your couch, are you guys living in New Orleans or are you New Orleans Saints fans?

[@alexmacgregor5265]

What about infernities? With links coming out, i feel like they're just going to get better

[@decksforgg9883]

I kicked the meta ass with my PK BA it was really amazing

[@Zer0mac316]

Blue Eyes. There is always at least one in a tournament; local, national, and global.

[@thevintagereserve9548]

What about Blue Eyes? It has so much support and has crazy boss monsters that aren't hard to get out.

[@saamy2317]

i'd say: Gladiator beast mermail heroes burning abyss lightsworn

[@DStates]

Heroes. Nuff said

[@BDAShadow1]

Like just for the intro.

[@ZerostoHeros]

Love your videos!

[@billyjuan8745]

before I clicked this video I said "Burning abyes is in here somewhere"

[@ricardator1023]

skull servant/wight rules!

[@milesrichardson3341]

Six Sam for Life!

[@adamcriswell1408]

I have a question for you guys do you think players decide the meta decks or good cards or konami because of how much he advertises the new cards

[@NoodleGod-kg5ni]

they need to make a sub archtype based around judgment dragon and make it as good as blue-eyes:)

[@juel531]

decks that don't go away. top 10. 1. gks 2. heros 3. monarchs 4. six sam 5. lightsworns 6. blackwings 7. zombie 8. chain burn 9. mermail 10. BA

[@therandomcorndog6185]

I still actively win with a hybrid cyber dragon deck.

[@sebastianblair2214]

And it's my boys Trell and Demar

[@TeamAPS]

I'm not Demar Derozan!

[@KingJuggalo11v]

Isn't this like almost identical to a similar video but with Kozmo added?