New player guide: What packs to buy first? [Jan 2020 Updated]

• Six Samurai Guide Removed
• Shiranui Synchro Deck is added as budget route

If you have just started playing Duel Links or you simply haven’t opened the game in a while, you are probably looking at the Shop, wondering where to start. After all, this game has been out for over two years, and the amount of options available at this point is quite overwhelming. You do, however, have a limited amount of resources, so I am going to try and direct you towards what’s relevant at the moment.

For starters, let’s talk about some of the most popular cards in the game right now—mostly Spell and Trap Cards that can fit in pretty much any deck. These cards have proven to be a great investment for many players by remaining relevant for a very long time and should be one of your primary foci, if you have just started playing the game.

Another amazing low-Level monster that can allow you to survive an OTK. Kiteroid has been Semi-Limited pretty much right after its release.

Quick-Play Spell used for backrow removal; Cosmic Cyclone’s activation cost gives it synergy with a lot of Skills (like Sorcery Conduit).

Versatile Quick-Play Spell that can be used to protect your monsters and/or your Life Points, or to take control of an opponent’s monster. Enemy Controller is currently Semi-Limited.

Another Quick-Play Spell that is currently Semi-Limited; World Legacy Clash is used to decrease the stats of the opponent’s monsters, stall, or to trigger certain effects.

Trap Card that’s generally used to slow down the opponent by locking a monster that has just been Summoned in face-down Defense Position.

Similar to Floodgate Trap Hole, Paleozoic Canadia can flip monsters face-down, but it’s more versatile and it has an additional effect that allows you to Special Summon it from the Graveyard as Level 2 monster.

A Trap Card with a minor activation requirement and the ability to destroy two monsters on the field. Treacherous Trap Hole is currently Semi-Limited.

Yubel Fire King

Yubel has been sort of relevant ever since its introduction, and, if you’ve been playing this game for a while, you probably have found yourself with a Yubel - Terror Incarnate on the other side of the field and no way of getting rid of it.

Most Decks are equipped with at least a way of removing this Fiend from the field, and most people already know how to get around its floating effect, but this doesn’t make Yubel any less of an annoying or potentially problematic matchup.

If you have just started playing Duel Links and you’re already familiar with this card because of the TCG, you can forget about most of the issues it has in that format. Yubel is easy to play and cheap to build unless we are talking about specific variations of this Deck that involve the “Nephthys” archetype, and, most importantly, it can give you good results.

• Fire King Avatar Yaksha and Fire King Island are typically used to bring out Yubel - Terror Incarnate. You can Set Yaksha and wait for your opponent to destroy it by a card effect or by battle, or you can simply destroy Yubel using the effect of your Field Spell. During your Main Phase, searching Yaksha or Fire King Avatar Barong in the process.
• When Yubel is destroyed, it allows you to Special Summon Yubel - Terror Incarnate from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard. Terror Incarnate cannot be destroyed by battle and, during each of your End Phases, it destroys every other monster on the field. Even if your opponent manages to get rid of Terror Incarnate, this monster can float into its final form: Yubel - The Ultimate Nightmare. Ultimate Nightmare doesn’t wipe out every other monster on the field during your End Phase, but it can be used more offensively: you can attack your opponent’s monsters with Ultimate Nightmare to destroy them and inflict damage to your opponent equal to its ATK, ending the Duel more quickly.

• Disciple of Nephthys can notably increase the consistency of this Deck, allowing you to bring out Terror Incarnate while also searching important cards such as Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys and Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys.
• Treacherous Trap Hole works in pretty much any deck that doesn’t run any other Trap Card.
• Enemy Controller works particularly well in the Ritual Nephthys variant of this Deck.

Triamid

Triamid is admittedly a pretty complex Deck to pilot, but, with some practice, it will certainly give you good results. This archetype has, especially recently, proven to be able to stand up against popular Decks such as Cyberdark Desperado, Cyberdark Neos, and Six Samurai Synchro. Being a relatively recent addition to Duel Links, none of the main cards used in this Deck can be found in the Duel Links Forbidden & Limited card, giving it an advantage over older Decks and making it easier to build it.

• Triamid Master provides back row and monster removal while also enabling the Graveyard effects of your Field Spell Cards, Triamid Hunter gives you an additional Normal Summon per turn, allowing you to quickly take control of the field, and Triamid Dancer allows you to shuffle any “Triamid” card in your Graveyard back into the Deck, preventing you from running out of cards and ensuring that you always have a Field Spell Card to activate from your Deck, increasing the ATK and DEF of your monsters in the process.
• Triamid Cruiser can be used to search any “Triamid” monster using the effect that all of them share, via Triamid Master’s unique effect, or by simply activating a new Field Spell on top of it. This Field Spell will make you gain 500 Life Points each time you Normal Summon a Rock-Type monster, and it will also allow you to draw and then discard a card whenever a “Triamid” monster is Normal Summoned. Gaining Life Points will allow you to survive multiple direct attacks from Cyberdark Edge, and filling the Graveyard with numerous Field Spell Cards and Rock-Type monsters will give Triamid Pulse more value.
• Triamid Kingolem will give all of your “Triamid” monsters the ability to disable your opponent’s cards and effects on attack declaration.
• Triamid Fortress will prevent your monsters from being destroyed by card effects. You can chain the effect of Master, Hunter or Triamid Dancer to the activation of the effect of Desperado Barrel Dragon or Treacherous Trap Hole, activating Triamid Fortress directly from the Deck, in order to save your monsters.

• World Legacy Clash can be used to close the gap between monsters like Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon and yours. This Quick-Play Spell also allows you to utilize the effect of the banished monster one more time when it’s returned to the field.
• Treacherous Trap Hole is a really powerful Trap Card that is capable of disabling Synchro Decks like Six Samurai, preventing them from Summoning their main monsters. Triamid Master can easily get rid of any Set card on your opponent’s side of the field, most of which are going to be Spell and Trap Cards, and Treacherous will deal with any potential threat that may come from your opponent’s Monster Card Zones.

Shiranui Synchro

Not long after its debut in the 24th Mini Box Soul of Resurrection, the “Shiranui” archetype has proven itself to be an extremely strong contender in the current meta, being able to compete with both Invoked Elementsabers and Blackwings. Shiranui Synchro is an extremely solid deck that can be built with a relatively small investment of resources, it’s not particularly difficult to pilot, and it still has the potential to grow.

• Shiranui Solitaire can Special Summon any Zombie Tuner with 0 DEF directly from your Deck, but most importantly, if it’s banished, it allows you to Special Summon 1 of your other banished “Shiranui” monsters, including Shiranui Samuraisaga, Shiranui Squiresaga, Shiranui Shogunsaga, and Shiranui Sunsaga.
  
  
• Upon being Normal Summoned, Shiranui Squire allows you to Special Summon Shiranui Spectralsword Shade or Spectralsword directly from your Deck. With the Skill Level Augmentation and another Level 4 monster in your hand, Squire becomes a one card Shiranui Sunsaga, which is possibly your best Turn 1 play. If you have enough resources to invest, I would advise getting multiple copies of this card.
  
  
• Another Level 4 monster that is used primarily for Synchro Summoning. When Normal Summoned, Shiranui Spiritmaster allows you to Special Summon another “Shiranui” monster from your hand or Graveyard.
  
  
• Your Level 3 Tuner. Shiranui Spectralsword Shade can be Tributed to Special Summon 2 of your banished Zombie monsters.
  
  
• Shiranui Spectralsword is a Level 2 Tuner that allows you Summon Synchro Monsters that you otherwise would not be able to, like Archfiend Zombie-Skull and Revived King Ha Des.
  
  
• A Level 10 Synchro with 3500 ATK that can prevent Zombie monsters you control from being destroyed.
  
  
• Shiranui Shogunsaga, upon being Special Summoned, is able to drastically increase its ATK, giving itself the ability to get over pretty much any other monster.
  
  
• Shiranui Squiresaga is extremely easy to Summon and it can provide both backrow and monster removal.

• You can use Aloof Lupine’s effect to banish Squire, Solitaire, or Spiritmaster directly from your Deck, and then, if your opponent destroys it by battle, you can add 1 of your banished monsters to your hand.
  
  
• Shiranui Samurai provides a way of removing problematic monsters such as Invoked Cocytus from the board. I would advise always running at least one copy of Samurai.
  
  
• Gold Sarcophagus allows you to banish Squire, Solitaire, or Spiritmaster from your Deck, but, unlike Aloof Lupine, it doesn’t take up your Normal Summon. If you have picked up this Spell Card with your UR Dream Ticket or you simply have purchased the Spellbound Silence Structure Deck EX, I have good news for you: it’s a fantastic addition to this deck.
  
  
• Both of these cards are featured in Soul of Resurrection and can be really good inclusions in a Shiranui Synchro deck. Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon represents an alternative win con that is fairly easy to bring out.
  
  
• World Legacy Clash has great synergy with the archetype. The Quick-Play Spell is currently Semi-Limited, but it’s also the only card on the Forbidden/Limited List, aside from Enemy Controller, that I would consider running. Yes, Treacherous Trap Hole would be another good inclusion, but it’s an SR from a relatively old Mini Box, so it’s not going to be mentioned in this section.
  
  
• The fact that Cross Breed has seen pretty much no play up to this point probably has a lot to do with the fact that it takes a lot of resources in a format in which they are particularly limited, but I still want to mention this Spell Card because it’s cheap and it has good synergy with the “Shiranui” archetype. You can use Cross Breed to search Squire and then if you are on the draw, you might have another Level 4 in your hand to reveal for Level Augmentation. Cross Breed does force you to run a lot of monsters, but the payoff, especially if you don’t have multiple copies of Squire, is admittedly there.
  
  
• Sealing Ceremony of Katon provides interaction with your opponent during their turn, which is invaluable, and it also sets up for Shiranui Spectral Sword Shade’s effect. Banish Spiritmaster from your Graveyard, destroy a face-up card on your opponent’s side of the field, and maybe remove Aleister the Invoker, Invocation, or Kiteroid from their Graveyard.

Darklord

How much of an impact can the release of a single Spell Card have? Well, if said Spell Card gives you direct access to an entire archetype, enough to bring it back to relevance apparently. To be fair, it’s not the first time this happens, and it’s likely not going to be the last one.

We have already experienced this exact situation when Diamond Core of Koa'ki Meiru was released back in Revolution Beginning, and it’s fair to assume that Banishment of the Darklords will maintain Darklords competitively viable for as long as its predecessor did with Koa'ki Meiru. If you have resources to invest, then why not going for what’s hot right now?

• Darklord Ixchel allows you to draw through your Deck while also setting up the Graveyard.
• Banishment of the Darklords significantly increases the consistency of the Deck, allowing you to search Ixchel, Nasten, Tezcatlipoca for protection, Contact, or even The Sanctified Darklord.
• Darklord Superbia and Darklord Contact are pretty much mandatory: they allow you to swarm the field without necessarily taking up your Normal Summon, which you can then use for Darklord Desire or Darklord Morningstar.
• Darklord Nasten can be Special Summoned from your hand with relative ease. Send Superbia to the GY and then activate Contact. Never apply Contact’s effect via Nasten, Ixchel, or Darklord Tezcatlipoca’s effect.

• Darklord Morningstar is a powerful monster that can instantly replenish the resources you used in order to bring it out. A 3000 ATK monster that cannot be targeted by your opponent’s card effects as long as you control another “Darklord” monster, and the ability to gain you a few Life Points while also setting up your Graveyard.
• Artifact Lancea gives Darklords the upper hand against a lot of popular decks. Darklords can easily take advantage of this card because of their incredible draw power.
• Darklord Ukoback can send Superbia directly from your Deck to the Graveyard, setting up for Darklord Contact. Since you are able to apply the effects of any “Darklord” Spell/Trap Cards in your Graveyard, you can use Ukoback to send Banishment, Contact, or The Sanctified Darklord to the Graveyard.

Cyberdark Desperado

EX Structure Decks have historically been very impactful and Full Metal Desperado is no exception. While Desperado Barrel Dragon is not even comparable to Neos Fusion when it comes to versatility, it cannot be denied that it’s a really powerful card. Cyberdark Desperado is a Deck that’s relatively easy to build, since most of the cards you need are either contained in the Structure Deck EX or obtainable without spending Gems, and it’s also pretty easy to pilot.

• Desperado Barrel Dragon is a Level 8 monster that you can Special Summon from your hand if a face-up DARK Machine monster you control is destroyed by battle or card effect. Aside from having a respectable amount of ATK, Desperado also has the ability to destroy up to three face-up monsters on the field during each Battle Phase, making quite threatening in Duel Links. You can choose to run Master of Destiny in order to make its effect more reliable or LP Boost α in combination with Card of the Soul to be able to search it.
• BM-4 Blast Spider is your most reliable way of Summoning Desperado Barrel Dragon.
• Cyberdark Edge is a DARK Machine monster that can attack your opponent directly. You can search Edge via Cyberdark Cannon and then equip Cannon to it from the Graveyard when you Normal Summon it.

• In order to enable Master of Destiny, you need to have at least 5 cards with different names in your Deck that have coin-tossing effects. Your best options are Twin-Barrel Dragon, which can destroy a card on the field on Summon, Arcana Force XIV - Temperance, which is pretty much a Kuriboh, Time Wizard, which can destroy all monsters on your opponent’s side of the field, and Cup of Ace, which Master of Destiny essentially turns into Pot of Greed. All great options and all obtainable without spending any Gems.
• World Legacy Clash comes from Blazing Rose and diving into a Main Box to get a Rare can be unexpectedly expensive, but this Quick-Play Spell is arguably one of the best additions you can make to this Deck.
• Neos Fusion is the easiest way of sending Leng Ling to the Graveyard, it quickly thins your Deck and it also gives you a 2600 ATK monster that cannot be destroyed by battle or card effect once.

Which packs should a new player open first? This is the question I want to answer in this section.

While there are certainly a lot of great cards in almost every single one of these BOXes, not all of them are currently relevant: a certain card or even a whole archetype might become very good in the future, but what I will mention here are mostly the ones that are staples in current meta decks and cards that are extremely versatile in general.

In order to properly understand how important these cards are, I will assign each one of them a number that represents the priority a player should give to them from 1 to 3 (1 being high priority and likely relevant in the current meta and 3 low priority and not currently relevant, but worth mentioning because of its versatility).

Duel Quest Event

Pick-a-Gift Campaign!

Tag Duel Event [16 Jan - 27 Jan 2020]

3rd Anniversary Campaign

Selection Box Vol. 03

Dragunity Overdrive

New Week Campaign!

Future Horizon

DSOD World

Special Gift Campaign

Train Your Kuriboh! Campaign