Yu-Gi-Oh! Trap Cards Are DEAD. Here's How I'd Fix Them.

[@luigitaku1018]

This is how BA can still compete

[@utopia19876]

A problem I’ve noticed with trap cards that somehow almost never comes up when discussing the subject is that trap cards always put you in a utility disadvantage compared to monster effects. If a monster is an omni negate, even if you negate its effects, your opponent still has a tool to directly deal damage to you and get closer to their win condition, in contrast, a trap card, regardless on how good it is, once it’s used (even if it succeeds or not), it is sent to the graveyard, and it’s not like trap card effects are so busted in comparison to current monsters that that balance is necessary. Because of that, monster decks have an inherent advantage at getting closer to their win condition exclusively because their effects they want to push forward also allow them to deal damage, compared to trap decks that require a more finite balance between trap cards to slow the opponent and utility/offensive monster threats to actually win the game. By having to juggle those two concepts, it affects how fast you can actually reach your win condition.

[@FPSMARRECO]

True. We need a new wave of Paleozoic.

[@marcopaolo1643]

This is why I always felt like having the boss monsters that has negates are OP. They already have high stats, they should not be having negates as well against those that can remove them. Negates that do not trade 1 for 1 and also not blanket ones like Skill Drain, should only be exclusively on low stats monsters. Apollousa at least removes its attack and only monster effects making it vulnerable to attacks.

[@ivanmaterazzo2631]

Hm yeah stats are not an aspect we can ignore. But take as an example S:P. The card doesn't provide much in terms of threatening lethal. It is also easy to run over it dealing with the problem. Yet having crazy effects accounting for interruption plus resilience plus being a decent body for link climbing overcomes said liabilities. Thus I partially agree with the logic of your argument but modern ygo is not Edison. Value is not just stats. If in another universe we had Baby Baronne 0/0 it would have been worse but still a crazy good card.

[@asafesseidonsapphire]

​@@ivanmaterazzo2631 in some cases it would be better, as it is immune to Typhoon now as it doesn't has 3000 or more ATK.

[@agh91]

the main problem is that most cards cant trade 1 to 1 with those omninegate monsters its a nightmare going 2nd and if you dont put negates on board/hand going first you are probably dead by turn 2, its a catch 22 situation

[@noahbloodedge]

“Soul charge was legal like for 2 years” My brother in Christ, Soul charge was legal for 5 years! I think that the concept of trap cards having a “counter” measure if you get rid of them preemptively it’s really nice, it would help a lot and might not fix the problem, but it will give the game more room for variety

[@generalistvibe3279]

Honestly I might play Writhing Rot generically in the side in any deck. Recurring Nightmare is a terrifying concept. Soul Charge also cost your BP though so I’d like to see an additional restriction. Maybe you cannot set any cards on your next turn

[@tame1773]

Writhing Rotbi kind of a better Snow Ogre in most aspects, so its probally the best trap on this list

[@generalistvibe3279]

@@tame1773 it would certainly be format dependent but we’ve been talking about Veidos as a generic answer to Field Spells in formats where there are a lot of them. This is the same idea

[@laby1827]

I don't like cards that cannot be responded to, because it's not interactive so it's less fun. But I do agree that cards should have protections like for example "this card effects cannot be negated", so it still gives the chance to your opponent to respond, and thus making the card more skill based

[@dream4playz]

Cards that can not be responded to shouldn't exist, but they have to to make certain cards playable. Dark Ruler No More and Forbidden Droplet would be useless without this part. It's just another band-aid Konami created to combat the huge amount and the power level of responses there are. I agree that cards like Dark Ruler No More are very unfun cards, but they are a necessary evil at this point.

[@trancepeirce3107]

You interact on your tur- nvm.

[@Nobody1mportant999]

Aren't card games supposed to be turn based💀 magic has similar things going on but at least you have to wait 4 turns before anything too crazy

[@agh91]

well if people werent so focused in building these extra deck turbo decks that dont have board breakers or back row destruction... you could add some back row destruction against them? also normal traps are obliterated by any no-cost-omninegate beatsitck, you need to add cards to bait or interrupt those cards

[@shadexvii3975]

I agree about your first point, but I think making the effects unable to be negated renders any attempt to interact with the card sorta pointless? If you can’t negate the effect, then unless you can stop it from doing whatever it is doing in some other way, you’re just getting hit by whatever effect it is. And it might not be possible to stop it outside of negation

[@AllineVayn]

If you think about it, The tearlaments trap cards are very similiar to the trap card ideas in this video (except being generic), they have an extra effect when theyre sent to GY by effect (doesnt have to be the opponent's, but whatever) so it has uses beyond the first turn/going first. Goes to show how crazy tearlament cards are.

[@gab4198]

to be fair, it was their entire gimmick

[@GobaGNon]

Also tearlaments feels godawful to play against

[@gab4198]

@@GobaGNon They were a bit repetitive because everyone played them, but i liked the extended grindgame, tear mirrors were actually fun because both players had the same tools and it was fun for a format. I think the big problem was the ishizu cards, the shufflers could protect the tear monsters and recycle cards while being interruption for when cards need to be in grave to activate something, while the millers were just to opressive to combo decks that rely on singles copies, you could lose from 5 - 10 cards from the deck per turn so if you didn't brick with those one offs, you could just loose them before having a chance to play so those cards not only helped tearlaments play a lot more than they should during both turns, they limited what decks could be played in the format by a lot, also bystials were the same, they limited the format a lot because light and dark decks would strugle even more, ironically ishizus also helped avoid banishment by bystials in tearlaments and they also worked extra as extenders for the deck they were meant to kill.

[@GobaGNon]

@@gab4198 that’s all fair, I just play only shit tier decks so I have a vendetta against tier 1 stuff lol

[@qedsoku849]

The first card on the list could have just said “destroy 1 card your opponent controls” and it would have powercrept basically all the single target removal traps, even if it targeted. That’s how bad konami has been making trap cards: compulsory evacuation device is the next best thing to that card.

[@mcrepresentative4232]

These are so interesting! Some criticism for encouraging further discussions: 1. As many people would agree/have ptsd, cards that don't allow any response like super poly is inherently unhealthy (outside of God cards), even for a simple effect like this. I do thin, however, that not allowing monster responses only allows for more interesting deck building, as combo decks can change to play cards that will set up backrow or add quick plays to hand 2. Writing Rot is probably the coolest. I'd honestly want to see an archetype of traps that reveal traps to set themselves early. Allows for a more interactive trap engine, recursion, and changing the "set and wait" playstyle 3. Soul charge for traps is 100% fine, especially since the condition for setting from deck is so specific in this example 4. Phantom Mirror Force is an inspiring retrain. Hopefully Konami does something similar with a more anime-feel to bridge gaps between competitiveness and nostalgia 4. It's unfortunate that Konami has consistently boosted trap decks by giving floodgates and similar types of traps to keep up with faster decks as opposed to something like this. The few times I've seen trap decks play without them make them so cool. With new cards like these, the floodgates of the past could soon be no more 5. Trap Pendulum, hurry up Konami :)

[@MahaXad]

When decks can turbo 2-3 omni negates turn 1 and still have follow for next turn, spell speed 4 is kinda necessary. Konami power crept monster effects and spells. Too many cards to ban/limit if they were to slow the game down a bit. So why not power creep the last remaining card type, traps, so it's easier to punish players going all out turn 1.

[@mcrepresentative4232]

@MahaXad I'll always want an equal reduction I'm power for the game as it stands. As control decks lose floodgates, combo decks should lose generic and cost-less omni-negates. Fighting toxic combos with toxic controls creates a less fun game in the long run. Traps definitely need some power creep, and it should match the area where combos are nerfed

[@MahaXad]

@@mcrepresentative4232 Agreed, but knowing Konami, money comes first. Unless there's a change in the master rules, the same way they shut down pendulums, the game is only going to get faster. The game doesn't have to be 2004 slow, but at least make the average game 5 turns minimum, instead of the current under 3 turns.

[@stanleynente7924]

​@@MahaXadbut Konami is doing things, decks now have like 1-2 Omni. Look at the powerful decks these past years Branded : just mercourier and the counter trap. Tri brigade : no Omni in sight Swordsoul : barrone Tearlament : 1 unused counter trap Floo should be here because just avian but floodgates Rescue ace: I don't see any Snake eyes: nope, maybe if you play the TG stuff Kashtira : no VS : haven't seen one Omni in the games I played

[@MahaXad]

@@stanleynente7924 Turbo omni-negates was a hyperbole, in case you didn't understand that. It's about modern decks being able to set up a powerful boards and still have followup for next turn. Those decks you mentioned don't need omni negates when they have more disruptions than the opponent has starting cards. Kashtira doesn't need omni negates when the whole archetype locks you from using your grave and field. Snake-eyes recycles their board the following turn, trying to break their board just makes you lose resources for no reasons. I can go on and on, but that's not the point. The state of the game requires you to play 20-25% handtraps just to have a chance going second. Plus needing to play additional generic boardbreakers if the archetype you're playing doesn't have them. Meaning if the deck you're playing doesn't have 1 card starters, your odds of winning is 1 in 10 or less.

[@Avarith]

As a Traptrix player, i really like the idea of "Tripwire" for another reason. You can play mindgame with your opponent but with traps, like "oh, you wanna destroy this card ?... Are you sure ? Could be bait... Or not..." And even if he knows which one it is on the field, he still have to be careful depending on the duel.

[@Arthas35788]

then you have arachnocampa on the field and you cry

[@aymenmouhim5565]

Traptrix holetea is a good design trap card since you can choose to immediately use it by discarding a trap or you can wait in order to use it also it has a very strong graveyard effect so even if it gets popped you still get some value

[@rg03500]

I like the idea of Writhing Rot, or at least the part where it can set itself. Maybe more traps that can set themselves from hand if opponent has performed X action

[@benoliver5593]

And a one time barrier effect (meaning they can't be destroyed once but a second card can destroy them

[@fryenchill2817]

Furthermore, those cards should probably be worded like Havnis, so it can be played around with smart chain blocking.

[@MercuryA2000]

That card is such a slow building dread. I love it.

[@micha-elhorus5799]

I would change Phantom mirror force to be a direct attack in order to be activated, at least from hand

[@Nikko_no_Tabi]

Lol, I thought it already said that

[@frankartanis1290]

There are several mechanics that already exist (either with trap cards, or with monster/spell cards) which can be very helpful. 1. A lot of decks have searchable continuous traps. Instead of adding the continuous traps to hand, they can place the continuous traps into the S/T zones face up so that the player has direct access to their effects, e.g. Lubellion. 2. Flip monsters are very similar to trap cards. Some of the effects Farfa mentioned are effects very similar to flip monster effects like in Shaddoll: they float when destroyed while being face-down. 3. We can go one step further, have monsters/spells that can trigger traps the turn they are set. In this sense, Subterror and Labyrinth are very similar. 4. Hand traps that allow monsters/traps to interrupt your opponent's play from your hand. Imperm is the most popular one, but we can have more. 5. In modern yugioh, monsters get put in the S/T zones, and S/T put in the monster zones. Eldlich and Paleozoic both do this. A trap can be used as a trap once, and then recycled once more to plus one. 6. We can do to traps what Runick fountain did for quick spells. In other words, a better version of Magical Musket. 7. GY effects when milled. Lightsworn and Tearlaments have those, we could have more.

[@lucarioknightb7685]

Trapp "C" Lv2 monster insect dark You can discard this card; this turn, Whenever your opponent activates a monster effect, reveal 3 normal traps in your deck, you randomly set one of them. You cannot reveal more than one trap with the same name this way per turn. You can banish this card from your graveyard to activate a trap that was set this turn.

[@Killing_Edge]

These are some interesting card designs. I honestly think more normal traps just need secondary grave effects that can be activated after they get popped the same turn/ if discarded. They don't need to have the same effect twice just something impactful to not get stomped on the next turn.

[@MercuryA2000]

Yea, I feel like giving you a consolation prize weaker version of their effect could help a lot. Replace a banish with a bounce, or something like that.

[@pentagonofpeople]

The problem with trying to address the vulnerability of traps like this becomes "Okay so how am I supposed to play around this?" If you design a boardwipe that can't be responded to and if you try to clear it just wipes your board even harder, what are you supposed to do against it?

[@olvynchuru1663]

The "Phantom Mirror Force" card that they showed can only be activated from the hand if the opponent's monsters have 8000 or more total ATK. So as long as the opponent doesn't have that much ATK on the field, you can't activate it from your hand. The opponent could also summon some of their monsters in Defense Position if they're really worried about it.

[@alphashina]

Don't do things against it. We need this traps to make YGO slower.

[@pentagonofpeople]

Making the game slower would have to happen on a more fundamental level. Things like a limit on special summons or an absolutely fuckhuge banlist. Basically just deleting the last decade of card releases. Yugioh is in a constant arms race with itself; destruction used to be big, but then came destruction immunity and omni negates, fields of negates gave way to things that can just play through negates, and things like this will just lead to towers. If the game is to get slower we need to LOWER the powerlevel, not raise it

[@MercuryA2000]

Yea, I think non response should be given VERY sparingly, but I think it might be better to make traps have a worse effect if they get popped. Kind of like a consolation prize. "I don't get to banish it, but at least I can still spin a monster" The player who cleared it also gets the benefit of information, so it kind of turns your turn into "how can I maneuver around these known entities?" which is what they do against monster decks anyway.

[@MoeEpsilon]

The whole reason trap cards, continuous spells, etc. fell out of popularity is because any time anything relevant happened with them, pro players and whiny players would stamp their feet saying their not playing the game how they want to because iTs nOt iNtErAcTiVe so Konami just kept printing continuously more broken monster cards instead.

[@soijinruiz9492]

I think it would be cool to have expand on the "Waking the Dragon" like effects, making the conditions more varied: Have a bunch of cards that trigger simply on being destroyed, with weaker effects that will always go off, then having stronger cards with conditions like being destroyed by a monster or a spell, being targeted or being banished, making it so that it plays off the mind games of trap cards, with the oppoment not being sure what to use to destroy them, and if they get it wrong they get a harsher punishment.

[@some2043]

there is one that activates when banished, i read it yesterday and forgot the effect

[@marcopaolo1643]

Yup, make trap cards actually traps: only activating when your opponent does something esp if it is a monster effect. Monster cards inherently have an advantage against traps and spells in that they fulfill the win con of reducing LP to zero by simply attacking, and they have the bonus of having effects that can destroy, negate, return card to deck/hand. Balancing around this should have been done since the start to not make the game too monster centric it is today.

[@thisistasty4320]

Alright, Sorry for the length but Ive thought about this before and I need to get it off my chest, What I would do is make another extra deck monster. These cards would be dark red to make them stand out but also show they're connection to trap cards. The way these monsters work is as follows. Imagine a fusion monster whose materials are trap cards. Example Materials - 2 Normal trap cards or 1 normal trap cards + 1 Continuous trap cards , You get the idea. where this gets interesting is that you do not use a fusion spell cards to summon them, It be more like contact fusions used to be and the materials can be used from the Hand, Field Or Graveyard ( If used from graveyard the trap card is banished face down ) these monsters would also only be summon-enable to the extra monster zone. Now for the effects of these monsters. They would have the ability to use trap card effects as they're own effects, This can be from the cards used to summon them or trap cards you tribute or banish or what ever it can vary from monster to monster. They can also gain immunity from trap effects from the type of trap card used in they're summoning. I think this would give trap decks powerful monsters that they can get quick access to and be able to reuse they re key trap card effects if they get hit with a Feather duster or Lightning vortex, It would also give us red monster cards witch I think would look fantastic. Thank you for reading

[@joniwelz2421]

An trap archetype where every trap in the archetype sets another member of that same archetype whenever they leave the field. maybe These traps can than be activated the turn that trap was set but don't know if that's to op(maybe if the members of that archetype are really weak) . Or maybe an tower like trap monster that canot be in defense positon and has an 1500 state line to hopefully prevent an otk.

[@four-en-tee]

Notes/Fixes (i'll update this post as i continue through the video): Tripwire is stupidly busted. There's no activation window to make up for its protection from negates (so there's no counter play around it), and its destruction effect is just powercrept torrential (and since most negates stop monster effects, this means that it will go off a lot). While i think you have the right idea with this card, this requires some reworking. Personally, i'd recommend that the first effect can only go live once your opponent has summoned 5 or more times if you set it on turn 1 (like Nibiru), and I think that its second effect should spin 1 card on the field and 1 random card from the hand when its destroyed or sent to the GY by an opponent's card or effect. That way your opponent has to at least respect it, and it creates a situation similar to something like Morphing Jar back in the day where people may be hesitant to hit it. Lightning Capacitor is pretty balanced, and i like how it incorporates dice without being a garbage card. I do want to specify though that i dont think this would see play in most decks, just ones that run a good amount of traps. Its not a staple. I have zero complaints towards Writhing Rot, other than that it should banish itself the next time it leaves the field like Lost Wind. This would be a staple in Labrynth though, along with Dinomorphia and other trap based archetypes. Phantom Mirror Force is okay. No comment really, this would only be sided to stop OTKs. Its pretty niche, but thats to be expected from a Mirror Force card. No comment on Recurring Nightmares, its appropriately busted.

[@markextint3024]

Let's fix Yu-gi-oh for the 69th time!

[@eddysegafan6655]

Nice

[@0belisktheT]

Hahaha funny number

[@AthosZ92]

Nice

[@xerael4659]

Nice

[@mr.zluxsd539]

Nice get in the bag

[@aleksandartrninkov2603]

I like how you listed harpie's feather duster as a weakness of traps then made all of ur traps weak to turn 2 feather duster.

[@nyokko36]

Phantom mirror force + other monsters or hand traps synergy seems good to survive turn 2 duster

[@michel0dy]

I like when trap cards have some kind of gy effect or floating effects. That way even if the opponent just negate your activation and/or destroy them you still do something out of it.

[@keiferjanz3197]

I think a good balance would be you can draw a card if this card is negated or destroyed by opponent, then set a trap from hand that can be activated... boom it makes it so trap decks can play at a faster pace and act as traps as all of a sudden a card has been drawen and maybe a more powerful trap has been set... also makes up for mass removal if you set 5

[@11wildy63]

Tripwire: Won't see any play, effect is too fair, board wipes are played before committing to the board, so the field wipe won't do anything and the end phase removal often does not destroy but plenty of times shuffles or banishes. Lightning Capacitor: Too random to rely on Writhing Rot: Love this one, would be good for trap decks and not be a staple. Phantom Mirror Force: Can be removed before being used unless opponent goes for 8000 in a turn. Usually better to interrupt before the full board is built, but it's not awful. Recurring Nightmares: Very strong, it says "up to", where even settings 1 or 2 would be worthwhile. It doesn't fix the problem of complete wipes like Lightning Storm or Evenly Matched, but it will win games that trap decks normally would run out of steam which is nice.

[@jest5837]

This feels like asking Wreck it Ralph to fix things.

[@Drko_Kane]

these cards are OD 😂😂

[@drewmantheoriginal]

Some of these are pretty cool. Balancing may need a little help. But overall I’d say these are pretty good attempts at improving traps.

[@MrSonicDoctor]

This is fun idea. But I got just some issues with the effects with the traps. Tripwire - Destroying all cards on the field for being destroyed while set is a bit much. Maybe "When this card leaves the field, destroy a card your opponent controls." Lightning capacitor - Is fine. The dice effect kinda makes it pseudo fair. Konami recently revealed a card similar to this with column destruction called Iron Thunder. Writhing Rot - Please add the stipulation "banish this card when it's set from the gy" I don't think anyone wants a card that banishes that comes back over and over again. Phantom MF - For the hand effect, instead of destroying all monsters, you destroy all special summoned monsters in ATK position. Recurring Nightmares - This is funny but please add the stipulation that "set up to 5 normal traps with different names from each other if summoning from deck". Letting a lab player set 3 Big Welcome or anyone being able to set 3 Imperms from deck is a bit much.

[@jineng6376]

I am a big fan of generic, non-archetype trap cards. I love what you did in that video and I hope konami implements the one or other idea. While the cards may or may not be balanced, that's not the point of the video. My question is, how do we (if we would get these cards) put them into our deck, when the current state of yugioh is either combo- or handtrap heavy. In my opinion you either go hard on one mechanic or you get mediocre results if you try to mix them together (like for example 24 engine, 6 non-engine, 5 HT, 5 Trap)

[@amaymon33]

I've designed custom cards for quite a few years, so here are some things I've done with trap cards. In one deck, the traps can be banished from gy to add cards. That deck also has a boss monster that can be summoned by using your archetype traps for material and for a cost can allow you to activate an archetype trap you've set that turn. In addition it also has a hand trap that can allow you to target bounce, provided you control no cards and hard minus 1 by banishing another card in hand to activate it. In another trap focused deck, which were trap monsters, I focused on finding conditions to cheat traps turn 1, provided you controlled a specific card on field. About half of the continuous trap monsters on this deck can be activated directly from hand if you have another continous trap on board. A few allowed you to activate the turn its set if you controlled no monsters, and one could be activated the same turn provided you had a continuous trap in gy. Additionally, the deck has a boss where by destroying one of your traps, you can force the activation of another trap you control, similar to bait doll. By doing these changes, I managed to turn a trap monster deck into a combo style deck. With other archetypes I've made one or two traps in them, and focused on making them playable by either having a useful gy eff or having a specific condition to activate it turn 1. In one deck I made I had a continous trap that provided basic targeting protection to monsters and can once per turn send one of your cards to gy to add another archetype card from deck to hand. This card, meant for a control oriented strategy, was also able to be activated from hand if you had a specific boss monster already on field. This in turn made an otherwise mediocre trap become a centerpiece for an archetype strategy because of how easily it can be activated. In my experience, for a trap to be playable in modern meta, it has to either be so strong that it shuts down a key combo or game entirely (solemn cards, floodgates) or have a condition that's relatively easy to activate, bypassing the slowness of traps (imperm, evenly). There is a third category of useful traps that I find best, although it is not that prevalent in Konami modern design; that being traps that have secondary or tertiary effects that do not rely on it being on the field to activate. Examples of this include the eldlich cards, paleozoic cards, and even the tearlament traps. I enjoy these designs the best, and finding a way to balance this with a fair condition that "cheats" activation is maybe the most effective method to make traps playable in a modern setting.

[@harmonizing_spellian]

It's interesting that trap cards are much harder to recover and protect yet there's so many convenient removal options like Cosmic, TT, etc. Meanwhile monsters are easier to recover, often has protection, and yet there are no convenient quick removal options like cosmic, TT, etc. Often such fast monster removal is tied to archetypes.

[@techiesgamer000]

Farfa, Here is My Version of "Broken" Trap Card Final Polymerization Normal Trap Card Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monster from either field as Fusion Material, if you use monster whose original name is "Ojama Yellow" , "Ojama Green" and "Ojama Black", you win the duel.

[@nicolapodgornik6644]

Lord of the heavenly prison is also an interesting card that tackles with the removal problem, while giving a body and searching. I think that could also be a solution towards solving traps issues.

[@WitchVulgar]

I want Konami to start printing sequels to Jar of Greed that just have you draw more cards. Jar of Greed 2 would draw 2 cards and it would escalate from there. I want to see when the average player (not running Labrynth) would start playing traps like this

[@TheFarkle776]

Love the ideas! I hope Konami listens to you and makes traps great again. I’d also like to see more Dust Tornado-style replacement effects in newer traps, like “After this card is activated, you can set a normal trap from the hand/deck/gy/banished.”

[@shuttlecrossing1433]

Konami could add a rule saying players are allowed to set any spells/traps they want from their opening hand before the duel begins and traps would still be bad. The problem is monster effects are just way too powerful and the extra deck is 15 extra cards - of your choice - in your opening hand. Well that and power creep in general has made slower effects unplayable.

[@foxsteve9937]

AT THIS POINT TO FIX YUGIOH YOU NEED TO RESET THE ENTIRE GAME THE ENTIRE CARD POOL KEKw but nice ideas by the way

[@Gravitysonic0]

Me as a converted duel links altergeist player: Yes please

[@MercuryA2000]

You are right that, since traps are so much slower and more fragile than other card types, they should realistically have the best effects. If you manage to get a trap off, it should probably plus you in some way or another. You had to jump through a bunch of hoops, you should be rewarded. Maybe a trap that negates the whole board a la dark ruler, or one that can steal a card your opponent searches like a better ash. I do wanna note that the traps you suggested are kinda weak to anything but targeted removal. If your opponent opens feather duster, Tripwire, Lightning Capacitor, and Recurring Nightmare do nothing. I think we also need a few traps that disincentivize mindlessly clearing them before you go about your turn, like waking the dragon. I have two ideas for types of traps that can do that: Ones that trigger right there, and ones that have a weaker effect in grave. The first type of card might have an effect like a confiscation, or it can replace itself, while the second would be something like taking the board negate I mentioned earlier and turning it into a targeted negate, while another trap that banishes face down might just become a targeted pop. If they sound too strong, maybe saying "If this card was sent to the GY this turn by an opponent's card, you can banish it to..."

[@natedog8281]

The trap cards Farfa created are going second cards

[@devoidofskill]

Soul charge for trap cards convinced me that this man is indeed cooking.

[@diegoemanuel8641]

It's actually is a cool idea, but i would've made a change That for the rest of the duel the player couldn't activate continuous trap cards, because some decks would keep trying to use the traps to gain time to simply draw floodgates

[@Zekaria_Vanwood]

@@diegoemanuel8641 just set threatening roar 5head

[@nonadqs]

​@@diegoemanuel8641 Lmao if you're stalling your opponent out with mid normal traps to find floodgates you deserve it. You'd be much better off playing runick.

[@MasterQuestMaster]

05:29 Problem is this card doesn’t really punish that at all, since as you said, the mass backrow removal is fired immediately before the 2nd player commits anything to their board. I agree with effects that trigger upon being destroyed while set, but they should interact with something other than the board, as to not be useless in the scenario they want to punish.

[@Lobster44]

The issue with the first few's destruction effects is if you blind harpies/lightning storm they won't do anything as the opponent has nothing to destroy/banish, though there's definitely cool things they could do in that scenario - reset themself and be able to be activated that turn is pretty cool, the player destroying them still gets knowledge out of that that benefits them yet the trap player doesn't just get rolled from there, searching something could work for more archetypal ones. My favourite trap card is dragonmaid tidying, being useful on the field and providing follow up/first turn uses in the grave, as well as having great synergy with the archetype (including the technically non-archetypal cards they play in spheres and bystials) makes it probably one of the best examples of a well balanced trap card to me (even if the archetype it's in isn't the best), more traps with grave utility would be really nice, especially if it gives them the versitility of a card like tidying.

[@Lobster44]

Writhing rot is really well designed, especially for custom card standards, and definitely the kind of normal trap I'd like to see more of going forward

[@Dehalove]

I really like the approach of secondary effects and effects that punish blind destruction of backrow

[@Ragnarok540]

My idea of making trap archetypes better is doing what they did for Eldlich backrow, every card sets another card by banishing itself from the graveyard, and eventually there is a way to shuffle the banished traps back into the deck. Eldlich was great Zombie support, sadly it will be mostly remembered as a vehicle for floodgates, if the archetype ever gets support hopefully is something good enough that using floodgates is no longer the best way to play it.

[@doubl2480]

I always think about how the Abyss Script spell cards all have massively punishing effects when the opponent destroys them, but they are 1-Not trap cards, most of them don't threaten the opponent enough to force a response and 2-Tied to a pure Pendulum archetype where you need to play a critical mass of Pendulum monsters to have plays, so playing actual traps like the Solemn brigade alongside them is not a good idea, you don't have the space (whether it's deck space or field space since MR4). I'd be interested to see an actual trap-focused deck reusing the concept of the Abyss Scripts with decent effects at activation (so that the opponent cannot just ignore them) and broken effects if they're removed. I also have to say, I think Eldlich and Paleozoic are super neat ideas, turning trap activations into bodies on field solves another issue of trap cards - which is that you don't get close to winning if all you do is slow down the opponent, you do need monsters alongside your traps.

[@grodon909]

I like the concepts! For phantom Mirror Force, I think it should be worded in a way that you can "dodge" it if you can remove some monsters. E.g. You have 8k on board and swing, activate phantom mirror force, activate another care to pop your own card to get under 8k. If the card is good, it adds some way to play around it if your board is big without auto-losing you the game; it also lets some decks inherently play around it, like VS which can quick effect swap in. Lightning Capacitor seems bad. It relies on the opponent having a big negate board, so is only a consideration in some decks/metas. More importantly, it doesn't seem to work? Like, going first with a decently sized board, the more your opponent summons from the ED, the more likely you are to have your own field popped. Going second, it doesn't actually help you deal with what's already on board. I love writing rot. It's actually pretty funny as a non-once per turn--the more they keep playing into the rot, the worse it is for them. I'd consider making it only return from GY once per turn, but the other effects not once per turn. So if you didn't deal with the rot, it's much more harmful, which plays into the theme. As a not OPT, it also helps with the issue that traps tend to trade 1 for 1. Rot, in that case, trades better the more your opponent extends. That all said, I think most of these cards still don't deal with the huge issue, where the traps are generally really weak going second. I think there are a few ways to deal with it: if they are working on making trap decks better, then having more cards like Arias or holutea help. Arias is somewhat generic, luckily. They could also make more trap decks better playing second, forcing the opponent into a grind game they can win--although that may end up being floodgate-y. Alternatively, if you're going for generic trap cards, I think more of them need to be able to do something when you're going second. Like having really strong effects turn 3, or be set turn 1, or activated if they meet a condition on turn 2.

[@sancarlos4]

But s/t removal is usually done before you commit to the board, with stuff like Storm, so I don't think tripwire will do anything on most cases

[@MiyaoMeow588]

Yeah but I think the idea is that it's a trap card that can be used efficiently going second

[@rishiy6183]

Going second card

[@veradishay2604]

I love the concept and creativity behind these cards. I think my favorite custom here is writhing rot. Very cool design

[@kintsuki99]

How to fix yugioh summary: - Ban all tuners. - Limit special summon from the extra deck to 1 per summon method + number of links pointing to player field. - Ban every card that summons from the deck or pit cards from deck on the field.

[@Ace_Arcanine]

Never been a fan of “spell speed 4” effects like super poly and don’t think that is good direction for card design but I really do like the concept of writhing rot as a new unique type of trap interaction as well the phantom mirror force (no monster effect is fine because it can still be responded to by s/t or substitute effects)

[@Ninteedo]

These cards are honestly really good ideas for normal trap cards. It would be interesting to hear you and Joshua Schmidt discuss these ideas on your podcast, as a followup to the trap card episode. Writhing Rot being a trap card that can potentially be played on turn 0 without being identical to any other handtrap (like Imperm) is great. Similarly, Phantom Mirror Force being a way to survive past turn 2 is actually quite reasonable. Far too often, if you aren't playing floodgates, a game against a trap-focused deck will end in a swift OTK. Something to note about Tripwire is that it is non-targeting. Trap cards are sorely lacking in non-destruction, non-targeting removal, making a card like Dragoon near-impossible to out (especially since it can negate something that actually threatens it). You're absolutely right that floodgates should be banned, but I think you should also consider whether backrow wipes like Harpie's Feather Duster, Lightning Storm, and Evenly Matched deserve the same treatment (assuming the floodgates are banned too). It is really hard to balance trap cards without removing those cards from the game. Unfortunately, some of the floating effects you suggest don't really help resolve the issue. For Tripwire, if your opponent is going second and activates Lightning Storm, they have no other cards on the field to be destroyed by the board wipe effect. My other issue with some of these cards is them being unrespondable. We can probably agree that interaction is what makes the game interesting, but cards like Super Polymerization are clearly not interactive. There is definitely a middle ground somewhere though. For instance, with Phantom Mirror Force, it could say "Your opponent's Attack Position monsters cannot activate their effects in response to this card's activation."

[@andreapiccolo8199]

I remember when I got into the game, every deck played a copy of all the limited powerful trap cards: Torrential, Compulse, Bottomless and Solemn Warning. I remember how learning to play around them was so crucial, I miss that

[@MrRigamorris]

Hear me out. Traps = spell speed 3 Counter Traps = spell speed 4

[@feedran6854]

If you don't want to read this i don't blame you so you can just ignore this wall... for the ones brave enough to read (and capable of doong it) this are the changes that i would do to the cards in this video. Writhing rot with an hard once and with an effect that destroys/banishes face-up instead of banishing face-down could be cool Phantom mirror force is perfect as it is. I would honestly just like to add an effect to banish it from the gy to set a "mirror force" from your deck that can be activated that turn so that you can still make use of the original one. Tral soul charge on steroids is probably one of the most broken cards i've ever seen... Just print it as it is surely it won't be a problem with d.d. dynamite ftk... Tripwire i would recommend making it so that you can't respond to it with monster effects (so that there can be some counterplay instead of making it a super poly) and maybe give it a gy eff to set a trap from your gy by banishing itself from the gy (both hard once) so that it's still very good but not as unfair as it was before also maybe make it send the monster to the gy instead of destroying it so that it can bypass protection and it can be useful against untargettable mosters that can't be destroyed by card effects (yes i am looking at you golden lord).

[@Earthbound524]

I've been a huge fan of the concept of being able to activate battle phase "when a monster your opponent controls declares an attack" from the hand instead. It gives me the old vibes of Future Card Buddyfight with its shields and Digimon with its recent ACE cards.

[@AQG]

This is a really interesting topic Honestly, my favorite one was the third one. The idea of a trap slowly creeping up on the opponent is rather smart and even if they don't play into it, just having it set and ready to go on your turn can help you play through some of your opponents disruption I'd love to see them try an idea like this

[@TylerMcVeigh1]

I feel like Lab was the blueprint for how to make traps competitive in the modern day. They need secondary effects, recursion, and the ability to serch or set directly from deck with consistency. It showed how powerful cards like IDP, Punishment, and D Barrier (Trolldespair) are if you can drag them out of deck, potentially active them on the same turn they were set, and loop them every turn with Lady.

[@g07h4xf00]

Easy update for traps. Master Rule 6: trap cards may be activated the turn they are set if and only if it's in response to an opponent's card or effect activation (so must be chain link 2 or higher)

[@chaosbug7]

I agree with the main picture here. Trap cards moving forward should have either a way to activate/set itself quickly in response to your opponent’s actions, or have an additional effect that has your opponent weigh the consequences of blindly popping your set traps. Sure, it might powercreep older cards, but the game already is facing copious amounts of powercreep already, and traps realistically need to adapt too or just get left in the dust for being too slow to have much impact.

[@nuclearcrayons3511]

I agree with your card designs. Booboo game is one of my favorite traps because it actually functions as a Trap for the opponent and punishes them for popping backrow. Tripwire still loses to Duster/Lightning Storm but it looks like a great going second card.

[@gomiboi]

Trap cards like Ice Barrier and the ones from Unchained all have cool and useful effects outside from just setting the card (set and pop to special and banish from deck to search). Even Waking the Dragon has a cool effect but again, it’s slow and has no punishment or utilization like the ones mentioned above. Konami has all the pieces to make decent trap cards but refuse to apply them in an overarching concept.

[@walterlopez5054]

I like the traps that punish the opponent for blindly destroying them. I think another angle to take would be some graveyard trap effects that punish the opponent for NEGATING your traps. -Negated Attack- 1st effect: End your opponent's battle phase. 2nd effect: if this card's on field effect was negated by a Monster effect, banish this card, take control of the monster that negated this card's first effect, then inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the monster taken by this effect.

[@MuteKaiser]

There are some balance problems with the cards, mostly the "not being able to be responded to", But the ideia is great! The punish from waking the dragon on other traps works as a new modern definition for the "Trap" in trap cards. I think you can add the "you can activate it from your hand" to more traps, but more on the style of imperm: you have a response in hand, but its a weaker version of the effect. Either way, nice one Farfa

[@danha3107]

basically every monster has some sort of tutoring, cheating out, or recursion, so traps deserve similar treatment. I like the "alternate eff if destroyed" ideas and also wanna see more traps that have secondary grave effects. That trap soul charge is definitely getting banned someday but we need more stuff like that

[@NutLump]

Honestly the "Hand traps actually being traps" isn't so bad if you put stipulations on it. Counters can be activated from the hand Normals must be set first but have an effect if removed Continuous are same. As far as just making them better, they do need an effect in case they're removed or they need graveyard effects, or both. Like Salamangreat Roar. As far as Pure Salads go, that card is clutch. It returns itself from the graveyard after a reincarnation link summon and has a good negate. Magician's Navigation is another, albeit archetypal, is an effect that, if tweaked, would be good as an all around trap. Special 1 type of monster, next turn banish this card from the graveyard and you get a free Solemn Judgment effect. It type-locks and they have to banish it to really escape the effects.

[@Birginio420]

Here's an idea for a going 2nd trap support: Monster/Effect/whatever type and attribute you like/whatever atk u like/. Quick effect: you can discard this card, se 1 normal trap card from your deck. The intention is descarding during EP to set whatever and pop off turn 2. It'd be called "Booby trapper" and would be a goblin dressed like a trap rapper

[@TheEmitt]

I think this is a really neat idea. Having some sort of punishment for blindly blowing up backrow is definitely an interesting way to take traps. As you said, balance is a different matter, but as for the idea, I hope to see Konami experiment with something like this, i.e. having a card with an okay trap effect but then a better effect that is used to punish your opponent

[@SHOOTEgy]

I love the concept of traps getting an overhaul, as they really need that to bring them into the competitive space, & while Lightning Capacitor is whack, every other one of these is very very good, Writhing Rot is especially powerful, yet, Phantom Mirror Force is delightfully nostalgic with a kick, awesome content, Ramadan Kareem!

[@MineQuesterMax]

I like the idea of putting on a "if removed, do this punish" to cover the vulnerability issue. Not so sure of putting a line of "cannot respond" to cover their general power level since that's the whole point of counter traps. Heck, with how they're making new monster types every once in a while, maybe Konami can make a new spell speed 3 trap type so that you don't need to put any of them at ss4 and to avoid text bloat.

[@MusicalBoarder]

As a mtg player, i think itd be interesting to see a trap that does "banish target monster, monster effects cannot be activated in reaponse. If this card is destroyed by an opponent's card effect, your opponent may special summon a monster banished by this card. If this set card is destroyed by an opponents card effect, banish target monster, monster effects cannot be activated in response." There are a lot of temporary removal effects like that in mtg. Could be interesting. Or another could be something like "banish target monster. The controller of the monster gains LP equal to the monsters attack."

[@ArcheTelos]

I feel like monsters have kind of taken over the trap card design space. Like, nowadays, it's so easy to poop out a boss monster with better interruption than any trap card you could be playing, and that's just so much more efficient than a trap that has to be drawn into and just goes to grave after resolving. Like, yeah, you could play your hypothetical Tripwire and hope you draw into it, or you could just go into Baronne, the :Ps, or whatever archetypal boss your deck has.

[@MansMan42069]

Trap cards that have minor effects when activated from hand, and major effects when activated while Set. alternatively, Counter Traps that can be activated from the hand but they're treated as Normal Traps if you do so.

[@bubbasgotback431]

I think phantom mirror force needs the stipulation of the total attack to be from attack-position monsters your opponent controls, not just total attack of ever monster regardless of their position. The point of the card seems to be dissuading OTK’ing, but the way it reads now would punish your opponent even if they were just trying to get damage in and not OTK

[@shadexvii3975]

Writhing Rot is a little strong, I think, because it makes any 2 monster effects turn on a Kashtira type banish, which can outright kill off a turn, if used right. But of course, as a general concept I do like it

[@hurrdurrmurrgurr]

You've made some traps which blow the opponent out for trying to remove them and others which blow the opponent out for not being able to remove them. I'm not a fan of this feast or famine design when interacting with your opponent's cards. 1) Traps which reset themselves if they fail to resolve. 2) Traps which can be activated from the grave/banish zone. 3) Traps which set other traps when removed by card effect 4) More trap monsters I think traps need a boost in their utility rather than their power.

[@Takato]

So, what if adding this on small to medium powered traps helps with the speed issue? "During your opponent's Standby Phase, if you do not control any set spell/trap cards (quick effect): pay 2000 LP; set this card on your S/T zone, it can be activated on the same turn it was set by this effect.", and then you slap another effect of small or medium impact on the board on it, like a summon negation or effect negation, etc. Like Farfa said, disregard PSCT here, just focus on the main thing: making the card worth playing. It can be set during the SP, so you can safely set the card even going second, but the opponent has the priority to deal with it on the start of MP if he can or so wishes. However, being set by a quick effect means the opponent knows what trap it is and can play around it, which leads to player interaction, unlike traps that activate from the hand like Imperm. But of course, it can be kinda busted to add this to a trap that has a large impact on the board, say Evenly Matched or TCBOO, for example, so the small to medium impact effect is an internal "rule" by which the R&D team needs to abide when using such effects. The 2K LP cost is to balance cards like these being used in stall strategies that could drag the duel for too long with stun/floodgate effects. Of course, other costs or pseudo-costs could work, like discarding a card while negating the effects of the discarded card, banishing face-down from hand/top deck/e. deck, not being able to fire other quick effects for that turn, etc., it all depends on what the other effect of the trap card is and how should you balance it.

[@bigboi4826]

Now I know that there was emphasis on not changing master rules, but I feel like letting counter traps activate the turn they are set is an idea I think I worth considering. Since this type of card is pretty much made to be only reactive, I don't think it messes with the identity of the card type too much. "Your opponent still activated your trap" is still the theme. Solemn strike would be a nice way to play into a board. Also, it would be funny to see people activating lance on their baronne or chaining mst in response to their opponent setting a card in the backrow.

[@theermac6024]

I feel like the concept of traps having effects if they get removed by the opponent shouldn't be a mirror of what they do, or a stronger version of the card, but more so a card advantage mirror. If I activate the trap, I take away opponent (removal, targeted negate for example) If my trap gets destroyed, I get something (Draw power, getting stuff back from gy).

[@Nesetera]

3:43 if a trap deck is ever good you'll probably be seeing a bunch of Denko Sekka on the side too. It's such an insane floodgate, basically no way to respond to it in-engine with those decks.

[@metadraconisgaming6895]

Trap cards are not bad. Its just that the new monster cards are so utterly broken, that they cant compete with them. Everything under the sun is either a quick effect, floats, inherent summons itself or has continous effects that either floodgates or bends game mechanics in favour of that archetype. Mikankos for example completely turn the current way of how damage in battle phase works on its head, every single monster in their archetype is basically a better yubel without cost and free added bonus effects. Kashtira fenrir inherently summons itself without taking a normal summon, searches a monster in-archetype and can banish opponents cards. (3 usefull effects within 1 card) These type of cards were not designed to be fair, they were designed to make money.

[@retropipes8863]

I like the principles behind this. Make traps a lot more meaningful than they are now, by punishing anyone destroying them blindly, as well as giving them some protection from monster negates.

[@littlezero6399]

If there is some kind of conditional for a trap to be activated from the hand like inperm I think it is fine. It could even be more limiting of needing to be your turn to activate, so you can still play it going second, but can't play it on your opponents first turn.

[@Crimsion_Fox]

Balanced or not with those cards they seem like a good idea and having more ways to interact with your opponent (without having to worry about everything constantly being negated due to Baron, Apo, Savage, etc) would at least bring more life into the game rather than scooping because you can't out a board of absurd cards. Imo I believe this is why people can gravitate to floodgates because they don't want to deal with boards like that, however it's trading one game state for another that a lot of people dislike.

[@TheAlfredo094]

I would love something like this. As you say, it's not only that trap cards are slower, their power level is also a lot less than what some monster effects do; Punishment is a really good card but it only makes you go +1. Snake-Eyes Ash makes you go +7.

[@saitougin7210]

These are some really good ideas for trap cards. Especially these "waking the dragon"-like advantages, if the opponent tries to get rid of them. I think, Konami should just create all of them (or some very similar ones) and maybe even some more, such that a trap deck consisting of these would be viable.

[@horn_hero]

I like the idea of the last one, let’s change it a little bit. Instead of 5, because the way it works you could never actually set 5 but let’s have it set 3, that way, mechanically it actually works and isn’t absolutely game breaking

[@Aymungoos]

Ive always thought that an easy solution would be to just let the turn 2 player set traps during the standby phase of turn 1. It makes the turn 1 player have to decide if they want to play out their normal combo or destroy whatever traps the opponent set, and if they dont destroy them then it gives the turn 2 player some wiggle room during his turn. (Also it would be funny seeing waking the dragon become meta)

[@keiferjanz3197]

I think a good punish or interaction instead of none responsing would be to add text that punish if this card first effect is negated or the card is destroyed by opponent... so say for example based off the first card... shuffle a card on the field back to the deck. if this effect is negated you take half damage from battle this turn. If this card is destroyed by an opponent card effect you can draw one card, then you can set a trap card and activate this turn. You can use each effect once per turn.... so essentally you give the chance for interaction but also punish... lots of negates also destroy so if the first effect is negated and destroyed now you get some bonus effects that the opposing player can still respond to if they want but it starts to compound as you start to get a lot of value from them interacting with the card.

[@Rocktherio]

I like the writhing rot one. But i think you could do it like an IMPERM kind of deal. Make it have a Imperm kind of condition. Like. If your opoonent has special summoned 3 monsters: This card can be activated from your hand or the turn it was set. If this card is activated. Banish one MONSTER your opponent controls. If this card is in your graveyard while your opponent special summons a monster. Set this card from your gravryard. If this card is activated the turn after it was set. You can banish up to 2 cards your opponent controls face-down. . . This way, you make it like a Banish response, and a Punish if its not dealt with properly and is allowed to Live in the field. While also not having the issue of the YOU HAVE TO SET IT. More conditional. At least... I believe that.

[@duelme1234]

I like these new types of videos and the improved quality for these discussions. Hopefully these are successful.

[@MattDawgGaming]

Lab has some good ideas for trap mechanics, where all traps are searchable from deck and recyclable from grave. It makes powerful generic traps like dimension barrier and the viruses more powerful techs that can be switched out each format. Lord of heavenly prison providing protection, a big body, and a search is helpful. I think the arias/cooclock concept goes against the trap mechanic.

[@orangedino6398]

Personally I think the new Aroma support from Phantom Nightmare or essentially what the Weather Painters do is what trap cards need. Granted it's support for specific archetypal continous traps, but still.

[@sr_pallmeto4542]

I don't like the idea of giving a waking the dragon-like effect to all trap cards. It makes it so annoying trying to out-play a face-down card, because you don't wanna pop it if it is something like Tripwire, because you will lose your board instead of losing one monster, but you specially don't want to walk into a Mirror Force, or a regular backrow like Judgment that you could force out on an good position for you. I also think making all traps Spell Speed 4 is kinda cringe. I can get behind the weaker effects not being able to be negated like the first part of Tripwire (it kinda reminds me of paleos randomly being unaffected by monster effects lol), but the mirror force from the hand that you can do nothing about seems like a really toxic card. At least it's regular destruction and not something dumb like "shuffle all monsters your opponent controls into the deck", but still, I think my point stands. Edit: I will not elaborate on Recurring Nightmare lmao

[@esseubo441]

In so happy to see more theorizing with card design that would do things if removed. I remember years ago I made this custom card that when destroyed, activated a prohibition from the deck.

[@Suichkaa]

tripwire and lightning cap don't rly fix the 'just remove it without thinking' if you open with spell/trap removal going 2nd because you just gonna drop that duster/storm/twin twister/whatever before you play any other cards anyways. writhing rot is prob my fav idea out of the bunch and the mirror force card looks fair as well. recurring nightmares looks like a true custom card and i could see it causing problem in a format where traps are actually good. it would actually be a nightmare in labrynth already and you mentioned the big man himself, dbarrier. cool ideas tho esp rot and phantom mirror force.

[@escribendo6138]

I really like the idea of writhing rot, it feels like an old school style trap with a new school strenth and speed of effect

[@dewanthenmalai4232]

I think another good anti-vulnerability effect would be something like letting it Set another Trap directly from the deck if it's destroyed/banished/bounced and let you activate it that turn.

[@melissagrenier2200]

Could we get a trap combo deck/archetype with trap cards that are just purple monsters for all intents and purposes? Link monsters that specify them as material, can be activated immediately and do something to go plus. And the main deck traps themselves wouldn't be entirely focused on disrupting the opponent. They could actually be starter cards.

[@jamalgumbs7518]

I think having an additional, punishing, effect on trap cards makes a lot of sense. It makes them feel more like actual traps and would more viable.

[@YukiHeroYGO]

Really cool video and idea! Hopefully traps will be great again! Just a correction: let’s ban all the *LINGERING* floodgates :)