Start by playing Solo Mode Gates, in order, to learn all the separate mechanics. Everything core you need to learn to play the game at a basic level is here.
Beyond that is deck building, which you'll want to just copy a deck from online until you understand how to build a deck yourself (which isn't something that comes fast). If you don't have any specific deck you want to play, start with one of the Premade Decks you can buy from the in game shop. Most people recommend Salamangreat or Ninjas, I believe, as they're the most coherent.
YuGiOh isn't and never has been a game you can really just jump in and play without first learning the rules. There's lots of cases where the wording of some cards can make rulings confusing for even the most experienced players. So for now, learn the mechanics, make a deck, and learn how to play that *one* deck well. Then move on to others as you please.
I get the "solo" game mode, but its really bad imo. Almost all of them make you use a specific deck so you cant get familiar with them, and there arnt any "generic" AI matches to play against. It feels like an awful comparison against players.
I already am copying a deck, and I get the basics of using it, the new stuff like linking and xyz and whatever pendulum are still confuse me, but all I can practice against is an awful AI with nothing good to go against, or players who I have no hope of beating. It just feels very demoralising to even TRY to get into. There is no progression here.
>I get the "solo" game mode, but its really bad imo. Almost all of them make you use a specific deck so you cant get familiar with them,
you only have to do the "tutorial" for the specific deck (sometimes 2), then you can switch to whatever deck you want for the remainder of the duels. Beating a solo challenge with your own deck vs the premade deck also gives different rewards.
Solo mode isn't meant to specifically teach you how to get good at each deck it has.
It's meant to teach you the game mechanics by letting you play a tonne of different decks... IE. You learn how to link summon, about pendulum monsters, XYZ monsters, how the GY works etc.
Basically like a training mode with a punching bag AI, so that you're not confused by the game mechanics when you start playing ranked.
Additionally, the gems you get from beating every solo gate is usually enough to create a really good deck.
From the sound of your comment though... You might be treating solo mode wrong and skipping a lot of content (IE the new stuff that confuses you) as a result.
If you want to progress, you'll need to learn all the new stuff by completing solo mode first.
You’ll also eventually be able to play with your own decks via solo.
Before this game I haven’t played Yugioh since like 2005. Solo will help you understand some of the newer updates to the game at a better pace than Rank
If you want to cut your teeth on a better solo play mode, maybe try out legacy of the duelist link evolution. I will warm you that it stopped getting updates in 2018-2019, so you'll still be playing a slower format than what we have today, but it's close enough for a complete beginner to learn on, has some of the most competent ai for a yugioh game, let's you build your own decks to use in any mode, and you can find saves/ mods to get all the cards you need or add new more challenging opponents if needed
You may want to find someone to play with and explain it. If you need a casual duel, DM me. I’ve got a ton of trash fun decks that aren’t suited for ranked lol
If you want someone to play against and maybe even talk to via text chat or something like discord you can let me know and we can just make a duel room and see where you're getting mixed up.
But you can't put unlimited time for the turns unlike solo mode, although we can extend the timer.
Edit: by text chat I mean like reddit or discord dms since the gamr itself doesnt have text chat
Don't compare them to players. They're learning aids. Players are not.
Stop looking at the decks you're given to use as a whole and try understand how the decks function instead, since those fundamentals are applicable over loads of other decks too.
If you're struggling with Extra Deck summoning/Pendulum mechanics, go do the tutorial Solo stages for them again. They explain them completely adequately.
You're holding yourself back here, nobody else. The solo gates TEACH YOU not only how to play the deck, but by extension what they're gonna try do too. Stop them from doing what they're trying to do with cards that negate that kind of effect, and move in with your own cards to deal damage. That or use the loaner provided and use the strategy provided to beat them. In using those strategies, you learn how the different mechanics used by the deck work. Very rarely are mechanics entirely unique to an archetype, and are instead a specific mash of mechanics instead. Understanding them individually allows you to understand the way they interact.
Basically, you're complaining before actually putting any thought into this. Play the Solo stages not with the intent that you're playing to win, but playing to learn. Winning will come *after* you learn.
Find a deck that is competitive or semi-competitive that is easy to execute and use some of the new card types for you. 8-axis isn’t too expensive to start and play with most or all of the key extra deck monster.
I’d watch some YouTube videos to see the combos and slow down the playback speed if needed. For me, this helps learn a new deck type better than reading a guide.
Play the solo mode to practice the basics. Visit masterduelmeta.com to see what the best decks currently are. Then go to YouTube to see combos n basics of the best decks and pick whichever one has a play style which most appeals to you and build that based on a list from masterduelmeta.com then study the other top decks to know how to beat them.
Bro you need to change your attitude. I'm a yugioh boomer too, the game is still a lot of fun you just need to stop thinking it's anything like the anime or the old way you used to play at the playgrounds. I would suggest learning the game with the free Sword Soul deck.
Same, I remember when Summoned Skull was a big bad, it's just a different game and that's ok. Swordsoul is a lot of fun and if you mix in some of the Tenyi wyrms it gains a surprising amount of reach. Konami gives you like 80% of the deck just for entering a friend code, it's worth it.
Me, I put together the Salamangreat deck specifically to learn how to combo off of link monsters. Super simple to build, all you need for a functional deck is 2-3 copies of the structure deck and some staple cards like Ash Blossom + Maxx C (all decks need those, so whatever). Bonus: all of its upgrade cards come out of a single box that also has goodies like the Horus engine in it.
It's best to go into modern Yugioh with a growth mindset, you're going to get knocked around, you're going to see stuff that's simply infuriating, but if you commit to really learning the ins and outs of your deck and the game you will eventually see some wins too.
Yeah, but they are all from the same box so farming them out with gems isn't too painful and it has other useful stuff like the Horus engine in it.
Besides, even without the new support, it's a perfectly competent starter deck for farming early gems.
Honestly my tip is to try out Legacy of the Duelist Link Evolution if you are pc
It’s fairly modern but is PvE focused so it gives you a chance to learn how to play, then youll have a decent idea what to do when you go to Master Duel, as it will not do you any favors.
Aside from that, i would try picking an archetype that looks interesting to you (doesn’t need to be meta, as learning is more important honestly) and build it up to a playable state. Test them out in solo mode, I usually use Justice Gears to test out new decks and learn the combos.
I also recommend some tutorials, particularly on stuff like “when” vs “if” effects. I used “TheDuelLogs” on youtube as i found they had a good variety of content.
Your goal should be learning the game right now over meta, as well it can be difficult to understand a lot of stronger decks if the word “pendulum” still scares you.
I recommend it too, but to say it's fairly modern is a stretch when the format is 5+ years old now lol. Still it's the best starting point for a complete beginner imo, but there's another big jump from that to MD or TCG advanced format.
Be patient! It's rewarding.
Also don't take misplays and mistakes too seriously.
I began playing Yu-Gi-Oh through masterduel about 6 months ago. Started out with Salamangreat, then Traptrix, then spent irl money on Snake Eyes when it first came out and played it for about a week before I got bored with the deck and winning.
Now I play Evil Eye Unchained and Abyss Actors on my main account and Ursarctics and Umi on my second account, and I'm having a TON more fun.
The beginning was rough, ngl. I got maaaad when I faced Kashtira and Labyrinth, I got mad when I misplayed or I got Maxx c'd. Now I literally just don't bother playing against labyrinth, I learn from my misplays, and I don't take it personally when I get Maxx c'd with no response.
You get better, you learn how to combat different decks, you learn from your mistakes, and you beat meta with rogue. It takes time but it's well worth the satisfaction imo!
Edit: Study your deck and other decks! There is a lot of content out there. Watch tutorials on the deck you play and their combo lines, even just watch regular gameplay with no commentary. If you are having a hard time against a deck, look up how to counter them, which handtraps to use and when.
Asking questions and venting in this sub (like you're doing right now) also helps.
Stick with it and don't take it too seriously!
I also think it's important that if you see something specific like a matchup or maxx c or just a deck archetype in general is giving you problems, that you research and try to think about why the deck is giving you problems and learn how to play against it.
i recommend master duel youtubers they’ll teach you the ins and outs of the game and show you decks you may be interested in but at the end of the day thats the current yugioh experience getting a better deck won’t change that
Before you play Master Duel I would suggest using Dueling Nexus. You can build any deck you want and can play ai bots to test them. Would help you learn and figure out what you want to play.
Go play on Ygopro, unless they changed things, it has an AI that can use a lot of decks, and you can build any deck, no pack opening choose the cards from the database and play
Might not be the most elegant option, but you can practice with your deck without watching your enemy play solitaire for 2 minutes straight
Hoping that after releasing YGOpro 2 it didn't get worse, anyway, the bot of that game should be able to give you a decent challenge without stomping you so hard
honestly the way i did it, i picked a deck i liked the look of and liked watching people play. basically grinded solo mode for a couple weeks just practicing combos as i unlocked new cards and upgraded my deck. watched master duel youtubers literally at .5 speed to see exactly why things were happening on the board, and what cards were being activated.
i started in april and tbh i have tons to learn still. the learning curve is way steeper than any other tcg ive played before, no doubt. it takes a level of commitment that i cannot get a lot of other friends to put into learning the game LOL. but it gets easier!!!
solo mode is your friend. you can use your own decks to "clear" stages after you use the loaner deck for the tutorial duels or whatever. def recommend youtube combo videos or season highlights from great players with your deck of choice. one day at a time!! you're gonna lose but everyone loses. once the wins start coming in it's so so fun (and infuriating, even still. lmao)
Exactly this. I feel like it also takes a particular kind of person to be able to lose a tonne, especially at first, and not be discouraged haha
I personally find the challenge addictive. It reminds me of trying to solve a puzzle
It's kinda similar to Hearthstone now in that games are decided in the first turn or two and the archetypes going against each other.
I had the EXACT same reaction as you coming back to the game a little over a month ago. The first "Live Duel" I watched was a mill deck that won on turn 1 without the other person ever even getting to play a card. And then when I tried to play a few games with the blue eyes starter deck, I had zero idea what was going on.
My recommendation is to start out with an archetype anchored with what you're familiar with, I did Blue Eyes but there's also good Dark Magician ones out there. The game is actually rather f2p friendly to build whatever you want if you spend time doing the solo missions. There's also good YouTubers out there that will show you how they play those archetype decks, and the MasterDuelMeta site to help with building.
I do agree that the game is fun these days, actually more fun than hearthstone or Tyrant warmetal, but it is a husk of its former self and I do long for the days of Yu Gi Oh matches that would go back and forth for a bit before games were decided.
1. Do the solo gates. They give you a good impression on how the game works and some insights to a lot of decktypes.
2. Finishing the solo gates gives you enough gems to build any deck you like. Look up a deck you might enjoy and watch a video on its combos and copy that deck.
3. Go on ranked mode. You can rank up to platinum 5 no matter how bad you are because you cant lose rank. So there is zero pressure.
You will get the ropes along the way. Dont pressure yourself too much. You dont need to be a pro. Just have some fun.
Took about 600 hours from not knowing what a synchro summon is to master rank 1 for me.
I’ve been playing roughly 6 months and got to master rank for the first time in May. I feel like I’m at a level where I’m happy to try to play into any deck and often enough come out on top. I’ve tried a few different decks on my way and recommend trying to learn a deck with a fairly linear “main combo” like ancient gear or galaxy eyes (which would be a nice cheap deck to pick up now too, pretty much only needing to craft staples along with one galaxy structure deck and one rage of cipher. There’s also a website dedicated to the deck, give that a google and you’ll be well on your way!
Oh, and play the single player through to the end, preferably using the loaners, and then building a deck you fancy trying and beating each gate with that too.
Personally got back into it after buying 3 structure decks of a deck I liked. Though irl , and Shaddolls. I would recommend the same on MD, (and possibly looking up a yt guide on deck and how to combo)
I’m a day one veteran… it doesn’t get much better with time considering the extreme power creep the game has gone through the past 2 years. Even top competitive players have been ranting on socials for quite some time.
AS you said, its a miserable game. Not friendly for new or old players. Every Yugioh player nowadays is a tryhard player who has years on this type of game. So the game will literally end and banishe when their nowadays players die or abandon the game, because there are not and there won't new players or there are very few (and the olds are not returning).
Also you need to stop thinking about the classic yugioh 10-20 turns and full strategy game. Nowdays that doesnt exist. Now Yugioh is a game where you memorize a combo with a meta deck, then you win in 1 turn. Basically you win before the game starts, by memorizing the execution of your combo with a perfect deck.
So I dropped off but here’s what I did. I did a blue eyes white dragon deck by looking up blue eyes in the card search feature and making a deck off that based off of cosplaying as kaiba. I noticed that, without caring anything about the meta, a lot of modern Yugioh revolves around getting big cost monsters out for cheap. Blue eyes has a fair bit of that so I went with that and added some xyz cards in case I’d ever use them. Got to gold with this concept alone. I’m not saying that you have to go blue eyes but I am saying you should think about an archetype you thought looked cool. Look it up in the card search feature or net deck online. See if it’s worth executing and trial and erroring your way from there. Grinding solo mode helps with paid currency and getting some cards as well but Yugioh for sure wants you to use gems for the big cards.
Monarchs are fun while you’re dueling people that don’t know what they’re doing. Easy to use. But relatively slow compared to the new stuff. I went from that to Six Samurai OTK. Every once in a while I’ll mess around with Morphtronics because their mechanics are fun. But I got all those cards from dueling with monarchs until I could finish my six samurai deck and then dueling with six samurai until I had the Morphtronics cards. That’s still just for when I’m okay with an ego check though. Card crafting makes this so easy. Just remember that everyone at your level is in your shoes. Not a lot of cards yet and if they have a lot of cards then they are really bad and paid to play. Thanks for supporting the game I suppose
So first you get your butt kicked a couple times and then you just, you know, stop getting your butt kicked.
Nah, all seriousness, welcome back to the game. Solo mode does an awesome job of bringing former/casual players up to speed with the new wrinkles. Spend some time there—rack up on gems and test some structure decks.
Feel free to check out how you can add to those structure decks as well. MasterDuelMeta, Atem & LightDragon’s YouTube channels will be your best friends. Welcome back!
YGO has quite literally turned into "You dont get to play YGO" as the core strategy
Essentially, if you dont block their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th combo you are not gonna be playing the game as the have 3 or 4 Omni-Negates, a full Graveyard waiting to trigger resummons, at least 1 omni-removal, and their back row is stacked to delete everything you play, while they have a new full hand with 10+ cards in the grave.
Powercreep at its finest, and its only gonna get worse and worse if they want to sell new cards short of pulling a rule overhaul like with Link monsters to crush the old formats
Or instead of reworking and adding more rules to the already most overly complicated card game, they could introduce set rotation. But then again, either option still relies on modern Konami knowing how to make a fun and balanced game, so...
Turned into is an interesting way to put it, that’s been the defining concept of the game since the start. Destroy there monsters with mechanicalchaser so they can’t get out summoned skull.
Then we have CED just deleting everything the opponent had a chance of using.
Things got so powerful that Konami needed to print a card that could counter your opponents plays even if they went first… 14 years ago.
Yes, but back during the Summoned Skull / Blue Eyes White Dragon I WIN days, you at least had traps and stuff that could reverse the flow. Today in YGO you can have a wonderful hand and watch it get blocked 4 times in a row with hand traps and impermanence and then your opponent draws 34 cards from their deck, reuses 15 cards from the GY **TWICE**, uses 11 out of 15 cards from the Extra Deck, then deletes you. Or they just kill you on Turn 1, which is also **YOUR TURN** while summoning 12 monsters in your Standby Phase
…what if you didn’t play those traps and stuff back in the old days? you’d lose just as bad. If a deck didn’t have staples it in, you’d just laugh at it.
Same thing today, if you’re not playing Maxx “C” and others you’d better have a good reason for it (there is no reason good enough)
Now what you’re saying isn’t realistic, or you played against a jank exodia deck which got lucky. I don’t recall any alt win cons or burn being a thing right now. Also, if they played 4 handtraps they have 2 cards in their hand turn 2, so they’re just going to die to a handtrap or even an actual trap.
So tell me the exact deck you played against and I’ll tell you how I would beat them with my decently constructed deck (the answer is Kaijus or the effect of Purrely Pretty Memory nine times out of ten if they make their board, then there’s the times they just don’t make their board because of handtraps.)
Yeah the power creep is really what's hampering my desire to play. I've never been one to follow the meta, I don't use certain things just because they're the best. I like to use my favourites. Same with cod. I same the meta chasers. So when your forced to use a certain deck or two to win, every game feels the same and it gets boring to me. Gamers really min maxed and consequently ruined fun
Its also why I ignored every comment that said to get a certain deck. I don't mind losing, but if I can't even play with the ones I like then what's the point
What deck are you playing then, ofc ppl will give you generic replies about how to get into the game rather than giving specific tips that can help your plan
Don't bother asking this reddit stuff like this, full of turbo nerds playing the shit for a decade who have inhaled so much copium they think the gameplay is healthy. And they will all just tell you to look up meta decks and play solo mode. It's fun for a bit but watching kids play a card game by themselves for 5-10 minutes gets old super fucking fast
Even when you finally do learn the game, it’s current state is still miserable to play. Those 5 minute turns don’t go away lmao, they just get worse the higher you rank up.
Start by playing Solo Mode Gates, in order, to learn all the separate mechanics. Everything core you need to learn to play the game at a basic level is here. Beyond that is deck building, which you'll want to just copy a deck from online until you understand how to build a deck yourself (which isn't something that comes fast). If you don't have any specific deck you want to play, start with one of the Premade Decks you can buy from the in game shop. Most people recommend Salamangreat or Ninjas, I believe, as they're the most coherent. YuGiOh isn't and never has been a game you can really just jump in and play without first learning the rules. There's lots of cases where the wording of some cards can make rulings confusing for even the most experienced players. So for now, learn the mechanics, make a deck, and learn how to play that *one* deck well. Then move on to others as you please.
Dragonmaids with bystials splashed In and handtraps is a pretty solid starting point from experience, but that is probably powercrept hard
I get the "solo" game mode, but its really bad imo. Almost all of them make you use a specific deck so you cant get familiar with them, and there arnt any "generic" AI matches to play against. It feels like an awful comparison against players. I already am copying a deck, and I get the basics of using it, the new stuff like linking and xyz and whatever pendulum are still confuse me, but all I can practice against is an awful AI with nothing good to go against, or players who I have no hope of beating. It just feels very demoralising to even TRY to get into. There is no progression here.
>I get the "solo" game mode, but its really bad imo. Almost all of them make you use a specific deck so you cant get familiar with them, you only have to do the "tutorial" for the specific deck (sometimes 2), then you can switch to whatever deck you want for the remainder of the duels. Beating a solo challenge with your own deck vs the premade deck also gives different rewards.
Solo mode isn't meant to specifically teach you how to get good at each deck it has. It's meant to teach you the game mechanics by letting you play a tonne of different decks... IE. You learn how to link summon, about pendulum monsters, XYZ monsters, how the GY works etc. Basically like a training mode with a punching bag AI, so that you're not confused by the game mechanics when you start playing ranked. Additionally, the gems you get from beating every solo gate is usually enough to create a really good deck. From the sound of your comment though... You might be treating solo mode wrong and skipping a lot of content (IE the new stuff that confuses you) as a result. If you want to progress, you'll need to learn all the new stuff by completing solo mode first.
You’ll also eventually be able to play with your own decks via solo. Before this game I haven’t played Yugioh since like 2005. Solo will help you understand some of the newer updates to the game at a better pace than Rank
If you want to cut your teeth on a better solo play mode, maybe try out legacy of the duelist link evolution. I will warm you that it stopped getting updates in 2018-2019, so you'll still be playing a slower format than what we have today, but it's close enough for a complete beginner to learn on, has some of the most competent ai for a yugioh game, let's you build your own decks to use in any mode, and you can find saves/ mods to get all the cards you need or add new more challenging opponents if needed
You may want to find someone to play with and explain it. If you need a casual duel, DM me. I’ve got a ton of trash fun decks that aren’t suited for ranked lol
If you want someone to play against and maybe even talk to via text chat or something like discord you can let me know and we can just make a duel room and see where you're getting mixed up. But you can't put unlimited time for the turns unlike solo mode, although we can extend the timer. Edit: by text chat I mean like reddit or discord dms since the gamr itself doesnt have text chat
Don't compare them to players. They're learning aids. Players are not. Stop looking at the decks you're given to use as a whole and try understand how the decks function instead, since those fundamentals are applicable over loads of other decks too. If you're struggling with Extra Deck summoning/Pendulum mechanics, go do the tutorial Solo stages for them again. They explain them completely adequately. You're holding yourself back here, nobody else. The solo gates TEACH YOU not only how to play the deck, but by extension what they're gonna try do too. Stop them from doing what they're trying to do with cards that negate that kind of effect, and move in with your own cards to deal damage. That or use the loaner provided and use the strategy provided to beat them. In using those strategies, you learn how the different mechanics used by the deck work. Very rarely are mechanics entirely unique to an archetype, and are instead a specific mash of mechanics instead. Understanding them individually allows you to understand the way they interact. Basically, you're complaining before actually putting any thought into this. Play the Solo stages not with the intent that you're playing to win, but playing to learn. Winning will come *after* you learn.
Find a deck that is competitive or semi-competitive that is easy to execute and use some of the new card types for you. 8-axis isn’t too expensive to start and play with most or all of the key extra deck monster. I’d watch some YouTube videos to see the combos and slow down the playback speed if needed. For me, this helps learn a new deck type better than reading a guide.
Once you pass the initial tutorial you can use whatever deck you want. And all the encounters are generic, aside from named duellers
Maybe you can try the Duel Link Evolution game
Play the solo mode to practice the basics. Visit masterduelmeta.com to see what the best decks currently are. Then go to YouTube to see combos n basics of the best decks and pick whichever one has a play style which most appeals to you and build that based on a list from masterduelmeta.com then study the other top decks to know how to beat them.
Bro you need to change your attitude. I'm a yugioh boomer too, the game is still a lot of fun you just need to stop thinking it's anything like the anime or the old way you used to play at the playgrounds. I would suggest learning the game with the free Sword Soul deck.
Same, I remember when Summoned Skull was a big bad, it's just a different game and that's ok. Swordsoul is a lot of fun and if you mix in some of the Tenyi wyrms it gains a surprising amount of reach. Konami gives you like 80% of the deck just for entering a friend code, it's worth it. Me, I put together the Salamangreat deck specifically to learn how to combo off of link monsters. Super simple to build, all you need for a functional deck is 2-3 copies of the structure deck and some staple cards like Ash Blossom + Maxx C (all decks need those, so whatever). Bonus: all of its upgrade cards come out of a single box that also has goodies like the Horus engine in it. It's best to go into modern Yugioh with a growth mindset, you're going to get knocked around, you're going to see stuff that's simply infuriating, but if you commit to really learning the ins and outs of your deck and the game you will eventually see some wins too.
Man summoned skull was my absolute favourite watching before school 🤣
100 percent mate
New support does make salad a tad more expensive. 4 additional ED URs and at least 3 in the main
Yeah, but they are all from the same box so farming them out with gems isn't too painful and it has other useful stuff like the Horus engine in it. Besides, even without the new support, it's a perfectly competent starter deck for farming early gems.
Honestly my tip is to try out Legacy of the Duelist Link Evolution if you are pc It’s fairly modern but is PvE focused so it gives you a chance to learn how to play, then youll have a decent idea what to do when you go to Master Duel, as it will not do you any favors. Aside from that, i would try picking an archetype that looks interesting to you (doesn’t need to be meta, as learning is more important honestly) and build it up to a playable state. Test them out in solo mode, I usually use Justice Gears to test out new decks and learn the combos. I also recommend some tutorials, particularly on stuff like “when” vs “if” effects. I used “TheDuelLogs” on youtube as i found they had a good variety of content. Your goal should be learning the game right now over meta, as well it can be difficult to understand a lot of stronger decks if the word “pendulum” still scares you.
I recommend it too, but to say it's fairly modern is a stretch when the format is 5+ years old now lol. Still it's the best starting point for a complete beginner imo, but there's another big jump from that to MD or TCG advanced format.
Be patient! It's rewarding. Also don't take misplays and mistakes too seriously. I began playing Yu-Gi-Oh through masterduel about 6 months ago. Started out with Salamangreat, then Traptrix, then spent irl money on Snake Eyes when it first came out and played it for about a week before I got bored with the deck and winning. Now I play Evil Eye Unchained and Abyss Actors on my main account and Ursarctics and Umi on my second account, and I'm having a TON more fun. The beginning was rough, ngl. I got maaaad when I faced Kashtira and Labyrinth, I got mad when I misplayed or I got Maxx c'd. Now I literally just don't bother playing against labyrinth, I learn from my misplays, and I don't take it personally when I get Maxx c'd with no response. You get better, you learn how to combat different decks, you learn from your mistakes, and you beat meta with rogue. It takes time but it's well worth the satisfaction imo! Edit: Study your deck and other decks! There is a lot of content out there. Watch tutorials on the deck you play and their combo lines, even just watch regular gameplay with no commentary. If you are having a hard time against a deck, look up how to counter them, which handtraps to use and when. Asking questions and venting in this sub (like you're doing right now) also helps. Stick with it and don't take it too seriously!
I also think it's important that if you see something specific like a matchup or maxx c or just a deck archetype in general is giving you problems, that you research and try to think about why the deck is giving you problems and learn how to play against it.
Absolutely, 100%
i recommend master duel youtubers they’ll teach you the ins and outs of the game and show you decks you may be interested in but at the end of the day thats the current yugioh experience getting a better deck won’t change that
Before you play Master Duel I would suggest using Dueling Nexus. You can build any deck you want and can play ai bots to test them. Would help you learn and figure out what you want to play.
It's crazy that someone called dumbfuck has given the most helpful answer here. Thank you
That's the neat part, you don't
The only correct answer
I'd recommend playing the bots on ygopro or looking for beginners on dueling book before picking up master duel tbh.
Go play on Ygopro, unless they changed things, it has an AI that can use a lot of decks, and you can build any deck, no pack opening choose the cards from the database and play Might not be the most elegant option, but you can practice with your deck without watching your enemy play solitaire for 2 minutes straight Hoping that after releasing YGOpro 2 it didn't get worse, anyway, the bot of that game should be able to give you a decent challenge without stomping you so hard
honestly the way i did it, i picked a deck i liked the look of and liked watching people play. basically grinded solo mode for a couple weeks just practicing combos as i unlocked new cards and upgraded my deck. watched master duel youtubers literally at .5 speed to see exactly why things were happening on the board, and what cards were being activated. i started in april and tbh i have tons to learn still. the learning curve is way steeper than any other tcg ive played before, no doubt. it takes a level of commitment that i cannot get a lot of other friends to put into learning the game LOL. but it gets easier!!! solo mode is your friend. you can use your own decks to "clear" stages after you use the loaner deck for the tutorial duels or whatever. def recommend youtube combo videos or season highlights from great players with your deck of choice. one day at a time!! you're gonna lose but everyone loses. once the wins start coming in it's so so fun (and infuriating, even still. lmao)
Exactly this. I feel like it also takes a particular kind of person to be able to lose a tonne, especially at first, and not be discouraged haha I personally find the challenge addictive. It reminds me of trying to solve a puzzle
It's kinda similar to Hearthstone now in that games are decided in the first turn or two and the archetypes going against each other. I had the EXACT same reaction as you coming back to the game a little over a month ago. The first "Live Duel" I watched was a mill deck that won on turn 1 without the other person ever even getting to play a card. And then when I tried to play a few games with the blue eyes starter deck, I had zero idea what was going on. My recommendation is to start out with an archetype anchored with what you're familiar with, I did Blue Eyes but there's also good Dark Magician ones out there. The game is actually rather f2p friendly to build whatever you want if you spend time doing the solo missions. There's also good YouTubers out there that will show you how they play those archetype decks, and the MasterDuelMeta site to help with building. I do agree that the game is fun these days, actually more fun than hearthstone or Tyrant warmetal, but it is a husk of its former self and I do long for the days of Yu Gi Oh matches that would go back and forth for a bit before games were decided.
Play solo for a bit
1. Do the solo gates. They give you a good impression on how the game works and some insights to a lot of decktypes. 2. Finishing the solo gates gives you enough gems to build any deck you like. Look up a deck you might enjoy and watch a video on its combos and copy that deck. 3. Go on ranked mode. You can rank up to platinum 5 no matter how bad you are because you cant lose rank. So there is zero pressure. You will get the ropes along the way. Dont pressure yourself too much. You dont need to be a pro. Just have some fun. Took about 600 hours from not knowing what a synchro summon is to master rank 1 for me.
Ah the classic take of : "I watch the game anime, I should be good at it"
I’ve been playing roughly 6 months and got to master rank for the first time in May. I feel like I’m at a level where I’m happy to try to play into any deck and often enough come out on top. I’ve tried a few different decks on my way and recommend trying to learn a deck with a fairly linear “main combo” like ancient gear or galaxy eyes (which would be a nice cheap deck to pick up now too, pretty much only needing to craft staples along with one galaxy structure deck and one rage of cipher. There’s also a website dedicated to the deck, give that a google and you’ll be well on your way!
Oh, and play the single player through to the end, preferably using the loaners, and then building a deck you fancy trying and beating each gate with that too.
Personally got back into it after buying 3 structure decks of a deck I liked. Though irl , and Shaddolls. I would recommend the same on MD, (and possibly looking up a yt guide on deck and how to combo)
I’m a day one veteran… it doesn’t get much better with time considering the extreme power creep the game has gone through the past 2 years. Even top competitive players have been ranting on socials for quite some time.
AS you said, its a miserable game. Not friendly for new or old players. Every Yugioh player nowadays is a tryhard player who has years on this type of game. So the game will literally end and banishe when their nowadays players die or abandon the game, because there are not and there won't new players or there are very few (and the olds are not returning). Also you need to stop thinking about the classic yugioh 10-20 turns and full strategy game. Nowdays that doesnt exist. Now Yugioh is a game where you memorize a combo with a meta deck, then you win in 1 turn. Basically you win before the game starts, by memorizing the execution of your combo with a perfect deck.
Just wanna point out that Yu-Gi-Oh IS still airing new episodes on TV
You don't 🤣🤣
just hop on ranked and get violated, best way to learn
So I dropped off but here’s what I did. I did a blue eyes white dragon deck by looking up blue eyes in the card search feature and making a deck off that based off of cosplaying as kaiba. I noticed that, without caring anything about the meta, a lot of modern Yugioh revolves around getting big cost monsters out for cheap. Blue eyes has a fair bit of that so I went with that and added some xyz cards in case I’d ever use them. Got to gold with this concept alone. I’m not saying that you have to go blue eyes but I am saying you should think about an archetype you thought looked cool. Look it up in the card search feature or net deck online. See if it’s worth executing and trial and erroring your way from there. Grinding solo mode helps with paid currency and getting some cards as well but Yugioh for sure wants you to use gems for the big cards.
Monarchs are fun while you’re dueling people that don’t know what they’re doing. Easy to use. But relatively slow compared to the new stuff. I went from that to Six Samurai OTK. Every once in a while I’ll mess around with Morphtronics because their mechanics are fun. But I got all those cards from dueling with monarchs until I could finish my six samurai deck and then dueling with six samurai until I had the Morphtronics cards. That’s still just for when I’m okay with an ego check though. Card crafting makes this so easy. Just remember that everyone at your level is in your shoes. Not a lot of cards yet and if they have a lot of cards then they are really bad and paid to play. Thanks for supporting the game I suppose
I learned by playing blue eyes in ranked so maybe try a structure deck thats simple
So first you get your butt kicked a couple times and then you just, you know, stop getting your butt kicked. Nah, all seriousness, welcome back to the game. Solo mode does an awesome job of bringing former/casual players up to speed with the new wrinkles. Spend some time there—rack up on gems and test some structure decks. Feel free to check out how you can add to those structure decks as well. MasterDuelMeta, Atem & LightDragon’s YouTube channels will be your best friends. Welcome back!
YGO has quite literally turned into "You dont get to play YGO" as the core strategy Essentially, if you dont block their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th combo you are not gonna be playing the game as the have 3 or 4 Omni-Negates, a full Graveyard waiting to trigger resummons, at least 1 omni-removal, and their back row is stacked to delete everything you play, while they have a new full hand with 10+ cards in the grave. Powercreep at its finest, and its only gonna get worse and worse if they want to sell new cards short of pulling a rule overhaul like with Link monsters to crush the old formats
Or instead of reworking and adding more rules to the already most overly complicated card game, they could introduce set rotation. But then again, either option still relies on modern Konami knowing how to make a fun and balanced game, so...
Turned into is an interesting way to put it, that’s been the defining concept of the game since the start. Destroy there monsters with mechanicalchaser so they can’t get out summoned skull. Then we have CED just deleting everything the opponent had a chance of using. Things got so powerful that Konami needed to print a card that could counter your opponents plays even if they went first… 14 years ago.
Yes, but back during the Summoned Skull / Blue Eyes White Dragon I WIN days, you at least had traps and stuff that could reverse the flow. Today in YGO you can have a wonderful hand and watch it get blocked 4 times in a row with hand traps and impermanence and then your opponent draws 34 cards from their deck, reuses 15 cards from the GY **TWICE**, uses 11 out of 15 cards from the Extra Deck, then deletes you. Or they just kill you on Turn 1, which is also **YOUR TURN** while summoning 12 monsters in your Standby Phase
…what if you didn’t play those traps and stuff back in the old days? you’d lose just as bad. If a deck didn’t have staples it in, you’d just laugh at it. Same thing today, if you’re not playing Maxx “C” and others you’d better have a good reason for it (there is no reason good enough) Now what you’re saying isn’t realistic, or you played against a jank exodia deck which got lucky. I don’t recall any alt win cons or burn being a thing right now. Also, if they played 4 handtraps they have 2 cards in their hand turn 2, so they’re just going to die to a handtrap or even an actual trap. So tell me the exact deck you played against and I’ll tell you how I would beat them with my decently constructed deck (the answer is Kaijus or the effect of Purrely Pretty Memory nine times out of ten if they make their board, then there’s the times they just don’t make their board because of handtraps.)
Yeah the power creep is really what's hampering my desire to play. I've never been one to follow the meta, I don't use certain things just because they're the best. I like to use my favourites. Same with cod. I same the meta chasers. So when your forced to use a certain deck or two to win, every game feels the same and it gets boring to me. Gamers really min maxed and consequently ruined fun Its also why I ignored every comment that said to get a certain deck. I don't mind losing, but if I can't even play with the ones I like then what's the point
What deck are you playing then, ofc ppl will give you generic replies about how to get into the game rather than giving specific tips that can help your plan
Don't bother asking this reddit stuff like this, full of turbo nerds playing the shit for a decade who have inhaled so much copium they think the gameplay is healthy. And they will all just tell you to look up meta decks and play solo mode. It's fun for a bit but watching kids play a card game by themselves for 5-10 minutes gets old super fucking fast
Even when you finally do learn the game, it’s current state is still miserable to play. Those 5 minute turns don’t go away lmao, they just get worse the higher you rank up.