The major complaint of many Yu-Gi-Oh! players is that the game often feels too fast. Lengthy combos can last upwards of five minutes, and players need to be focused during both players’ turns to adequately use handtraps to slow the pace of the game down. While control decks can keep the pace of play at the tempo that they want it to be, many decks can struggle to do so. However, there is one group of cards that can bring a game to a screeching halt, and these cards have drawn scorn from many players over the years, as a few of them have even ended up on the game’s forbidden & limited list.

Floodgates are widely considered to be the most frustrating parts of any trading card game, as they can completely stop the opponent from playing the game. These cards often prohibit the opponent from performing specific actions, making it hard for them to win. However, these cards do not require much setup, so they can be phenomenally frustrating to deal with when the opponent can play multiple on their first turn. Overall, floodgates are a core part of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but they are also a feature of the game that fans wish they did not have to deal with.

8

Masked Hero Dark Law is a Staple Boss Monster

Current Market Price: $0.14

The Hero archetype is one of the most popular archetypes in Yu-Gi-Oh!‘s history. The strategy is full of iconic monsters, and it has evolved its playstyle drastically over the past two decades to keep up with the meta. Despite this, the deck has never been top-tier, but one card has helped it maintain some playability as a rogue deck in some specific formats. Masked Hero Dark Law is an amazing floodgate, and it has seen play in a variety of decks over the years.

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Masked Hero Dark Law banishes any card that would be sent to the GY while it is face up on the field. This locks GY-centric decks out of the game, as they cannot access the resources they lose throughout the game. Furthermore, it can also banish a random card from the opponent’s hand. Overall, this card is a staple of Hero decks, and it will continue to be included in those decks for a long time.

7

Dimensional Fissure is a Relic of Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Past

Current Market Price: $0.13

Modern Yu-Gi-Oh cards often have lengthy card text and numerous effects, making them difficult for new players to understand in a match. However, retro cards do not suffer from this flaw, as their effects were usually only a few lines of text. This is especially true of one particular floodgate, as this card is the oldest card of this type that still occasionally sees play to this day.

Dimensional Fissure is one of Yu-Gi-Oh!‘s oldest floodgates, and it is still occasionally played in stun decks to this day. This card banishes any monster that is sent to the GY, making it impossible for GY effects to resolve for some cards. Overall, this card might have lost its luster over the years, but it is still an iconic part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game‘s past.

6

Anti-Spell Fragrance Defined a Format in 2019

Current Market Price: $0.21

Not all floodgates permanently lock a player out of a specific action. On a rare occasion, these cards for a player to fulfill another activation condition for their cards before they can play them. One of these rarer forms of floodgate defined a format in 2019, as Anti-Spell Fragrance was a key side-deck option against all four of the top meta decks at the time (e.g. Thunder Dragon, Orcust, Sky Striker and Salamangreat).

As it says in the card’s name, Anti-Spell Fragrance shuts down spell cards in a rather unique way. Before either player can activate a spell card while Anti-Spell Fragrance is on the field, they must set it. This card was amazing at shutting down the Sky Striker archetype, as that deck is built entirely around spell cards. Because of this, Anti-Spell Fragrance occasionally enters the format when a spell-centric strategy becomes meta.

5

Thunder Dragon Colossus Was Once a Banned Card

Current Market Price: $0.50

To lure former players back into the game, Konami often retrains an old card or strategy to make it fall in line with modern card design standards. Recently, this has led to Hungry Burger becoming its own archetype, but that deck did not see much play as it was not strong enough to be meta relevant. However, one card that is prominent in goat format received one of the best retrains of all time, as the Thunder Dragon strategy was one of the best decks in 2019’s iconic TOSS format.

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Thunder Dragon Colossus is one of the most powerful boss monsters of all time, and it used to be on the game’s forbidden and limited list. This powerful card prevents the opponent from adding cards from their deck to their hand unless they draw them, making it incredibly hard for opposing players to combo unless they already have all the pieces in their opening hand. Overall, this boss monster defined a format, and the fact that it was unbanned shows that Yu-Gi-Oh! has finally jumped the shark in terms of card balance.

4

Mystic Mine Carried Players To Regional Victories

Current Market Price: $0.46

The most frustrating floodgate in Yu-Gi-Oh‘s history was so detrimental for the game while it was legal that it should arguably never come off of the ban list. While spell and trap cards play a pivotal role in the game, Yu-Gi-Oh is built around its monster cards, and having a floodgate that shut them down without a cost was infuriating for players to deal with. Mystic Mine warped the format drastically when it was legal and made people second guess their deck choices, as it was often impossible to remove from the board.

Mystic Mine was a frustrating card that enabled burn decks to find their way back into the meta. While it was on the board and the player without this card controlled more monsters than their opponent, they could not activate any monster effects. Because many decks around this time did not play cards to remove Mystic Mine from the board, it often controlled a game entirely and forced players to have answers in their side deck to address this incredibly problematic card. Overall, Mystic Mine is one of the worst cards ever designed by Konami and fans hope that it never finds its way off of the forbidden and limited list.

3

Gozen Match is Great in Very Specific Formats

Current Market Price: $0.52

Some floodgates force players to completely change the way they play. However, these cards are often only relevant in specific formats, as their effects are very niche. Gozen Match is one of these cards, and the formats that it is relevant in are incredibly frustrating to play through. This card forces players to control only one attribute of the monster, and if they control more than one attribute, they have to send monsters to the GY until they have one attribute on the board. While this does not impact every deck, there are a few decks that cannot function when this card is on the board.

Unfortunately, this floodgate is not played often in the current format, as it is only powerful against one specific deck. However, there are formats where this card has a massive impact against every meta deck, and in those formats, this card is occasionally found in some players’ main decks. Overall, Gozen Match is an amazing floodgate, but it has not seen competitive play in a few years.

2

Necrovalley is One of the Best Archetypal Field Spells

Current Market Price: $0.48

Archetypes are often built around their field spells. These cards are usually prominent starters and extenders, and they can be searched by the monsters in the main deck on the path to their full combo. However, not every field spell fulfills this purpose, as some cards have a completely different goal. Necrovalley is an amazing floodgate that is crucial for the Gravekeeper archetype.

While many floodgates control the GY and make cards unable to be placed in it, Necrovalley turns off all GY effects. This meant that the Gravekeeper archetype was an amazing rouge strategy during the Tearlaments format, as that archetype was entirely reliant on GY effects to function. While this card has faded into obscurity over the past few years, there is always a chance that it will pop up again if players have to go through a GY-focused format again.

1

Skill Drain Completely Controls the Pace of a Game

Current Market Price: $0.28

Skill Drain is by far the most prevalent floodgate in Yu-Gi-Oh!‘s history. This card has been played in a variety of decks throughout the game’s history, and every side deck that has room plays it. Furthermore, this card is one of the most dominant control cards ever printed, as it forces players to completely change their gameplay to even have a chance to win the game. Skill Drain costs 1000 life points when it is first activated, but until it is removed from the board, it negates the effects of all face-up monsters on the field until it leaves the board.

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Overall, floodgates are frustrating to deal with, but they are an integral part of the game and have been so since the game’s release in Japan in 1999. These cards might occasionally cause unhealthy interactions, but their primary purpose is to keep the top decks in check by forcing them to change how they play the game. While floodgates are printed far less in the modern era, these cards still hold an important place in Yu-Gi-Oh‘s history.

Yu-Gi-Oh: Master Duel

Systems

Released

January 19, 2022

ESRB

T For Teen due to Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Partial Nudity