What Makes Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel’s True Draco Deck So Good

Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel gives players the chance to try out countless different decks, one of the stronger ones being True Draco. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is a free-to-play game with microtransactions available on a wide variety of consoles: iOS and Android, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, Microsoft Windows, and even Nintendo Switch. This high accessibility means the game reaches a wide audience, and it just recently surpassed 10 million downloads. This audience consists of not only returning Yu-Gi-Oh players but entirely new players as well.

The Yu-Gi-Oh card game has changed drastically since its early days. New players as well as fans returning from a longer break have a lot to learn when it comes to this prestigious card game, but Master Duel provides an effective tutorial to get everyone situated. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel also gives players starter decks to get them started, but it isn’t long before they’ll want to start making their own decks to contend with challengers online.

When making a deck, whether in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel or for its physical TCG, there are many factors to consider, one of the biggest being card rarity. It can be challenging when just starting out to make an effective deck without access to some of the necessary rarer cards. There are plenty of “budget” decks that are fun to play and easy to build, but they’re usually rather weak against popular decks that see use in online play as duelists try to work their way up the ranks. Players interested in a competitively viable deck that is free-to-play friendly in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel have been making use of the True Draco archetype.

True Draco has a history of being highly effective even in the tabletop game, and players are finding it just as useful in Master Duel. Not only does the deck have the consistency to stand toe to toe with common, high-level threats, but it can be built with very few or even no Ultra Rare cards. It is by and large the best budget, free-to-play deck currently buildable in Master Duel, and its lack of Extra Deck monsters also makes it simple to use. Players both new and seasoned can make use of True Draco to get into the swing of online, high-level play.

How The True Draco Deck Works In Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Instead of using newer, complex Yu-Gi-Oh mechanics such as Pendulum Summoning, the True Draco archetype uses the classic and simple Tribute Summoning. Although Tribute Summoning is usually rather slow, requiring another monster to already be on the field to serve as Tribute, True Draco monsters can use Continuous Spells and Traps to be Tribute Summoned instead of just monsters. This allows them to arrive in full force quickly, as Continuous Spells can be activated right away and don’t consume the player’s normal Summon for the turn.

The True Draco monster cards used in this deck are able to search the deck for themselves, as well as other True Draco Continuous Spells and Traps, giving players access to whatever they need to respond to their current situation. By Tribute Summoning True Draco monsters using Continuous Spells and Traps, they can activate the Tribute material’s effect, and take control of the board, even against some of Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel’s more competitive decks. Popular cards like “Maxx ‘C’” don’t faze True Draco at all because the deck doesn’t Special Summon its monsters, and other cards like “Herald of Ultimateness” don’t threaten the deck much either because they negate activations and not effects that trigger afterward, like most of True Draco’s Continuous Spells and Traps do when they leave the field.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel True Draco Deck Cards

The True Draco deck uses very few monster cards: 3 copies of “Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior,” 3 copies of “Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter,” and 2 copies of “Majesty Maiden, the True Draco Warrior.” Dinomight Knight is especially powerful because it can not only search for Continuous Traps, but it also gives players the choice between adding the card to their hand or activating it. Dinomight Knight is so strong, in fact, that it is actually a Limited card in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG ban list, but Master Duel uses the OCG ban list, letting players use up to three copies of Dinomight Knight in their deck. Dinomight Knight’s effect can circumvent the rule that Traps must be set a turn in advance before they can be activated, speeding up the player’s strategy.

The True Draco deck Field Spell, “Dragonic Diagram,” is limited to one copy per deck in both TCG and OCG for good reason: every Tribute Summoned True Draco monster is protected from destruction by battle the first time they would be destroyed each turn. Players can also search for any True Draco card they want by destroying one of their own cards from their field or their hand, giving them even more versatility to respond to any situation, such as when the opponent summons many Synchro Yu-Gi-Oh monster cards. Because True Draco Spells and Traps activate their effects when sent to the Graveyard from the field, paying Dragonic Diagram’s cost from the field is highly advantageous because it allows the player to reap the benefits of their cards’ effects while also getting whatever they need from the deck.

Other cards from the True Draco archetype players will want to run include 3 “True Draco Heritage,” 3 “Disciples of the True Dracophoenix,” 3 “True Draco Apocalypse,” and 3 copies of “True King’s Return.” For drawing consistency, players will want 3 “Pot of Duality” and 3 “Card of Demise.” Players will want to activate Card of Demise during their Main Phase 2 after already dealing damage to the opponent. Since most of their cards are easy to craft but powerful Spells and Traps – and Continuous ones, at that – players can “save” their hand by setting it down.

Players will also want 3 copies of “Skill Drain” and 3 copies of “The Monarchs Erupt.” These cards negate the effects of all Monsters while they’re face-up on the field; Monarchs Erupt excludes Tribute Summoned monsters from this, and with how rare Tribute Summoning is, the player will essentially get to shut down the opponent’s best effects while keeping their own intact. Once the True Draco player has gotten their necessary cards in play, they can safely use Skill Drain because their best effects will be coming from their Spells and Traps rather than from their monsters. It’s a practically free way to shut down the vast majority of Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel decks.

“Kaiser Colosseum” and “The Monarchs Stormforth” at 3 copies each also help players control the opponent’s field. The final card is the only UR in the deck, “Terraforming.” Although it’s a UR, it’s a very worthwhile card to help grab Dragonic Diagram.

The True Draco Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Deck’s URs

While it’s always possible to add more UR cards to a True Draco deck to further enhance it, the ones it generally uses are staple cards that are worth crafting to use across multiple decks. Terraforming is a worthwhile card to craft using CP because of how many decks it can work well in. It will see use even for players who decide to drop their True Draco deck later.

Players who find themselves enjoying the True Draco deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel can further invest in it by decking it out with UR Yu-Gi-Oh cards worth crafting for further consistency. Monarchs Stormforth can be replaced with 3 copies of “Solemn Judgment,” a powerful Counter Trap that can negate the summoning of a monster or activation of a Spell or Trap. All players can get one copy guaranteed through the shop alongside 10 Master Packs for 750 gems, which is a very worthwhile investment considering how versatile Solemn Judgment is. Especially dedicated players may even consider swapping out a copy of True King’s Return for “Imperial Order,” “Upstart Goblin,” “Into the Void,” or “Chicken Game.”

About The Author