Zero Turn Kill

A No Turn Kill, shortened NTK, is one of the rarest outcomes of a Duel. An NTK is achieved when one player wins during their opponent's first turn of the Duel, thus winning without ever having their own turn. Known methods to achieve this are:


 * Drawing all five pieces of Exodia at the beginning of a Duel, before the player's own Draw Phase


 * Using the last effect of Gorz the Emissary of Darkness in a specific situation


 * Activating Trap Cards after the player's Makyura the Destructor is sent to the Graveyard during their opponent's first turn, in various situations (Traditional Format only)


 * Using the effect of Infernity Des Gunman in a very specific situation (Tag Force 5 only)


 * Using Intervention of Fate to activate a Spell Card during your opponent's turn, in specific situations (Anime only)


 * Various methods involving the opponent having more than one turn before the player starts their first turn, which would require the use of Arcana Force XXI - The World or Mischief of the Time Goddess (Anime only)


 * The opponent surrendering or intentionally losing by using their own cards on their first turn of the duel

NTKs require a great deal of luck, and with the exception of Exodia, rely heavily on the opponent.

Exodia the Forbidden One NTK

 * The chances of drawing all five pieces of Exodia on the initial draw of five cards, assuming the player is using the minimum of 40 cards in their Deck, is 1 in 658,008.


 * In "Unlimited Format", where players are allowed three copies of every card regardless of their status on the Forbidden and Limited lists, the chances would be about 1 in 1,498.


 * Outside of the initial draw, this NTK could also occur if the opponent activates cards that allow you to draw during their first turn, such as Cup of Ace.


 * While NTKs almost always require at least the opponent to start their turn, this NTK notably can be considered the only "true" No Turn Kill since it can be pulled off before either player has started their turn (thus achieving victory in a total of 0 turns for both players, not just 0 turns for the winning player).

Gorz the Emissary of Darkness NTK

 * You must have Gorz in your hand during your opponent's first turn.


 * First, your opponent must play a card that causes their Life Points to be lower than yours, such as A Hero Lives.


 * Next, they must activate an effect that inflicts damage equal to or greater than their Life Points but lower than yours. Using the above A Hero Lives as an example, they must activate an effect that inflicts at least 4000 damage but less than 8000 damage (for example, Tempest Magician's last effect). Note that for the NTK to work, this Effect Damage must be done as a single effect, not multiple small effects akin to a Burn Deck.


 * At this point, you can activate the last effect of the Gorz in your hand to Special Summon it and inflict the same amount of damage to your opponent to win the Duel.

Makyura the Destructor NTKs (Traditional Format Only)

 * Your opponent must send a Makyura the Destructor from your hand to the Graveyard with a card like Dark World Dealings during their first turn. After that occurs, you can activate Trap Cards from your hand in such a way as to win the Duel:


 * Play Bad Reaction to Simochi and three Gift Cards.


 * If your opponent Summons a monster with 4000 ATK or more, activate Ring of Destruction and Barrel Behind the Door to inflict 8000 damage.


 * Other combinations could also be possible, depending on what the opponent does during their turn (ex. using multiple copies of Blasting the Ruins if your opponent mills your Deck enough).

Infernity Des Gunman NTK (Tag Force 5 Only)

 * You must have an Infernity Des Gunman in your hand during the opponent's first turn.


 * Your opponent must lower their own Life Points to 2000 or below (example: A Hero Lives + Mausoleum of the Emperor to Summon a Level 7 or higher monster).


 * Next, they must cause you to discard all the cards in your hand. This can be pulled off (for example) by Summoning Sky Scourge Norleras. At this point, Infernity Des Gunman will be in your Graveyard.


 * Finally, they must activate a card or effect that inflicts Effect Damage. At this time, banish Infernity Des Gunman from your Graveyard and activate its effect. Your opponent must choose to apply its optional effect and the top card of your Deck must be a Spell or Trap Card. Infernity Des Gunman will inflict 2000 damage to your opponent and make you win the Duel.


 * In the anime, Kalin Kessler almost managed to pull this off, but his opponent opted not to apply Infernity Des Gunman's optional effect.

Intervention of Fate NTK (Anime Only)

 * Your opponent must Normal Summon a monster during their first turn, while you have Intervention of Fate as well as a Spell Card in your hand. Discard Intervention of Fate to activate that Spell Card. In a few very specific scenarios, this one Spell Card can be used to win the Duel:


 * If your opponent had lowered their own Life Points enough, a card like Tremendous Fire could inflict enough damage to allow you to win the Duel.


 * If your opponent had drawn cards from their Deck as to have very few cards remaining, a card like Hand Destruction or Card Destruction could allow you to win through your opponent Decking out.


 * Other Spell Cards may also work depending on what your opponent does. In the anime, Sartorious used this to activate Ace of Sword (also an anime-only card) against his opponent Prince Ojin's Satellite Cannon, which had been boosted to 4000 ATK. This was the only successful instance of an NTK in the anime, and was referred to in the episode as a Zero Turn Kill.

Arcana Force XXI - The World

 * If the opponent sets up a World Lock on their first turn, then the player will never be able to start their own first turn. However, it is still possible for the player to win, thereby getting an NTK even though the opponent has had multiple turns. Notable NTK strategies that can only be pulled off using this card include:


 * If the opponent has used a card like Ojama Trio to Summon monsters to your side of the field and then attacks one of those monsters with Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, choosing to apply its optional effect, then you can discard Dimension Wanderer from your hand to inflict 3000 damage to your opponent. If your opponent had 3000 Life Points or fewer at the time of attacking, then this will win the Duel before you start your first turn. This situation would not normally happen without the World Lock because the opponent must enter their Battle Phase, which would not normally occur before the player's own first turn.


 * Using Makyura the Destructor to activate Magic Cylinder if the opponent attacks with a strong enough monster while their Life Points are low enough. Like Dimension Wanderer, this requires the opponent to enter their Battle Phase. (Traditional Format only)


 * Using Makyura the Destructor to activate Destiny Board. This allows the player to win over the span of four of the opponent's turns while the World Lock prevents them from ever starting their own turn. (Traditional Format only)


 * Using Intervention of Fate to activate Final Countdown. This allows the player to win over the span of 20 of the opponent's turns while the World Lock prevents them from ever starting their own turn. (Anime only)

Mischief of the Time Goddess (Anime Only)

 * When used by the opponent, this card skips the player's turn and goes directly to the opponent's next Battle Phase. It is possible for the opponent to then use a second Mischief of the Time Goddess during their Main Phase 2, along with various card combinations to continue activating Mischief of the Time Goddess and skipping the player's turn (example: Tsukuyomi + Magician of Faith). This creates a nearly identical effect to the World Lock listed above.