Instant Win Deck

An Instant Win Condition Deck is any Deck whose goal is to win not by normal victory conditions (i.e. causing the opponent to lose all of their Life Points or Deck milling), but by using the effect of a specific card that allows one to instantly win the Duel. There are currently 8 cards in existence that can accomplish this: "Exodia the Forbidden One", "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord", "Final Countdown", "Destiny Board", "Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes", "Last Turn", "The Creator God of Light, Horakhty" and "Number 88: Gimmick Puppet of Leo".

Exodia

 * See also: Exodia OTK

An Exodia Deck relies upon helping you to:


 * Either obtain all 5 pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One" to declare an instant win;
 * Send all pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One" to the Graveyard so that "Exodia Necross" can be summoned; or
 * Summon "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord" and use its effect to send all 5 pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One" to the Graveyard to declare an instant win.

This option can be used with cards such as "Sangan", "Deep Diver" and "Emissary of the Afterlife" to add the pieces to your hand (to quickly do that is to have a "Torrential Tribute" when you Summon one of them). Deck thinning monsters such as "Mystic Tomato" can allow you to thin your deck and Special Summon monsters such as "Sangan". "Legacy of Yata-Garasu" and "Jar of Greed" provide deck thinning. "Monster Reincarnation", "Dark Factory of Mass Production", "Pot of Avarice" and "Dark Eruption" can be used to retrieve pieces from the Graveyard.

Due to the March 2011 Forbidden/Limited list, "Gold Sarcophagus" is now Unlimited.

"Level Limit - Area B", "One Day of Peace", "Messenger of Peace", "Gravity Bind", "Threatening Roar", "Waboku", "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow", "Dimensional Prison", "Mirror Force", "Swords of Revealing Light", "Wall of Revealing Light", "Zero Gardna", "Battle Fader", "Spirit Reaper", "Arcana Force 0 - The Fool", and "Marshmallon" can be used to stall while you gather the pieces. "Defense Draw" not only stalls but gives you draw power. Recruiter monsters, such as "Bubonic Vermin" and "Troop Dragon" can both stall and thin the deck.

Loops
Loops to continually draw cards in the same turn can be used to draw all five pieces:

Butterfly Dagger - Elma Loop
Continually equip "Gearfried the Iron Knight" with "Butterfly Dagger - Elma" while "Royal Magical Library" is on your side of the field. This allows you to continually Draw a Card until you Draw all five pieces.
 * This is only available in the Traditional Format due to the banning of "Butterfly Dagger - Elma".

Manticore of Darkness Loop
To Draw all five pieces of Exodia in the one turn, continually tribute a "Manticore of Darkness" to revive another using their effect while "Card of Safe Return" is active. This allows you to continually draw cards until you Draw all five pieces. Some cards that go great with this loop are "Foolish Burial" and "Infinite Cards". "Foolish Burial" gets one of the "Manticore of Darkness" to your Graveyard and "Infinite Cards" makes you not have to discard when you draw.
 * This is only available in the Traditional Format due to the banning of "Card of Safe Return".

Heart of the Underdog / Reload Loop
Fill your deck with the five pieces of Exodia, one, two or three copies of "Heart of the Underdog" and fill it to 40 cards with the rest as Normal > Level 4 2000+ DEF monsters. Keep setting your 2000 DEF monsters until you draw "Heart of the Underdog". On your next draw, if you draw a Normal Monsters, you can draw again with the effect of "Heart of the Underdog". Keep drawing until you have all five pieces. You may have to wait two turns to draw all pieces, because "Exodia the Forbidden One" is an effect monster. You may want to throw in two or three "Reloads" to give you a brand new hand if you don't have a "Heart of the Underdog". "Reload" is used to get a new hand during the Draw Phase because it is a Quick-Play Spell. However, be wary when using "Reload" as you do not want to dump back four pieces just to get rid of one bad card. "Magical Mallet" would work just as fine in this situation-but since it is not a Quick-Play Spell Card it does not work instantly. Another solution is "Hand Destruction", another Quick-Play Spell.

Because this Deck is comprised almost entirely of stall monsters, it will have trouble dealing with beatdown monsters with 4 stars and 2100+ ATK, or ones with effects that destroy Defense position monsters. Thus, "Gene-Warped Warwolf" will come in handy, as its 2000 ATK can serve well as a defender, or destroy any unwanted monsters on the field, such as a "Goblin Attack Force" or "Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke", both of which can dispose of your 2000 DEF monsters very easily. "Gene-Warped Warwolf" stands out due to being a normal monster as well as having 2000 ATK, allowing it to survive all attacks just as well as any 2000 DEF monster, which common 1900 Attackers cannot do. Being a normal monster, it can be used with "Heart of the Underdog". It is also a good idea to include a few higher Level Normal Monsters such as "Labyrinth Wall", "Millennium Shield" or "Blue-Eyes White Dragon". It would also help to put one copy of "Cry Havoc!" in this Deck, to swarm your field with defenses, and make it harder for your opponent to damage you. If you have more than one copy of this card, then drawing Exodia will be that much harder. "The Dark Door" can help this deck, since you probably won't need to attack with more than one monster. Using multiple copies of "Messenger of Peace" can also work very effectively. Since "Messenger of Peace" prevents any monsters with at least 1500 ATK attacking your monsters, you will be safe from harm as all of your monsters have 2000 DEF. Although adding any non-Normal Monsters will slow the deck down, "Gold Sarcophagus" or "Different Dimension Capsule" can help to draw "Heart of the Underdog" or a piece of Exodia.

Recommended Cards:


 * Chamberlain of the Six Samurai
 * D.D. Trainer
 * Earthbound Spirit
 * Elemental Hero Clayman
 * Giant Soldier of Stone
 * Humanoid Slime
 * Island Turtle
 * Mystical Elf
 * Oppressed People
 * Prevent Rat
 * Skull Dog Marron
 * Spirit of the Harp
 * The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave
 * Venom Cobra
 * Aqua Madoor
 * Soul Tiger
 * Battle Footballer
 * Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World
 * Charcoal Inpachi
 * Gene-Warped Warwolf
 * Magical Mallet
 * Heart of the Underdog
 * Sangan
 * Chorus of Sanctuary
 * Messenger of Peace
 * Hand Destruction
 * Cry Havoc!
 * The Dark Door
 * Gold Sarcophagus
 * Different Dimension Capsule
 * Alexandrite Dragon

Alternatively, you can use "Veil of Darkness" and "Heart of the Underdog" to make this loop more consistent. A deck with these uses:
 * Veil of Darkness (3 required)
 * Heart of the Underdog (3 required)
 * Reload (3 required)
 * Monster Recovery (Maximum of 1)
 * Hand Destruction (3 required)
 * Exodia Pieces
 * Gil Garth
 * Blocker
 * Mechanicalchaser
 * Vorse Raider

A simple Exodia Deck with "Heart of the Underdog" is to have exactly 40 cards in your deck. Include the Exodia Pieces and 3 copies of "Heart of the Underdog". Add in "D.D. Borderline" in the deck so that your opponent cannot attack so that your defense is very strong. Have the rest of the monsters as a Level 4 monster with at least 2000 DEF. You may also want to add monsters that are Level 5 and 6 that have 3000 DEF. This is a good strategy to keep your defense up high.

Cyber Valley Loop
With the release of "Cyber Valley", a new strategy is available. Summon "Cyber Valley" and activate "Machine Duplication" to Special Summon the other two. Activate "Spell Economics", Banish 2 "Cyber Valley" to draw 2 cards, activate "Dimension Fusion" to get them back, activate the effect of "Dark Magician of Chaos" to get "Dimension Fusion" back, and repeat.

Or

Have "Dark Magician of Chaos", 3 "Cyber Valley", "Spell Economics" and "Dimension Fusion". Have the 3 "Cyber Valley" and the "DMoC" Banished. Activate "Spell Economics". Activate "Dimension Fusion" to Special Summon "DMoC" and the 3 "Cyber Valleys". Use "DMoC's" effect to bring "Dimension Fusion" back to your hand. Activate the 3 "Cyber Valley's" effects (For the 3rd "Cyber Valley" use "DMoC" as the tribute for "Cyber Valley's" second effect)to draw 4 cards. Use "Dimension Fusion's" effect again and repeat.


 * Neither of these loops work in Advanced Format due to the banning of "Dimension Fusion" and "Dark Magician of Chaos".

Departed Wanghu Loop
This Loop uses the following cards:¨
 * Destiny HERO - Departed
 * King Tiger Wanghu
 * Card of Safe Return
 * Imperial Iron Wall

During your Standby Phase have "King Tiger Wanghu" and "Card of Safe Return" Face-up on your side of the field and "Destiny Hero - Departed" in your Graveyard. "Departed" is Special Summoned to your opponent's side of the field and you can draw one card due to the effect of "Card of Safe Return". "Departed" is destroyed by the effect of "Wanghu" but Special Summons itself again during the same Standby Phase. This will cause an infinite loop. Repeat this until you get all the 5 Pieces of Exodia in your hand.
 * This loop no longer works in Advanced Format due to the banning of "Card of Safe Return".

Spear Cretin Loop
The Loop uses the following cards:
 * Spear Cretin (one on the field and one in your Graveyard)
 * All-Out Attacks
 * Card of Safe Return
 * Spirit Barrier (not necessary for the loop but good if your opponent has a high ATK monster and you do not have enough Life Points)
 * One monster on your opponents side of the field with an ATK of 500 or more

Flip Summon "Spear Cretin" and attack your opponents monster with it. Special Summon the other "Spear Cretin" from your Graveyard and draw one card from "Card of Safe Return". The Special Summoned monster is changed to Face-up Attack Position due to "All-Out Attacks'" effect and attacks the opponent's monster. This will work even if your opponent has a 500 ATK monster and Special Summons it in Face-down Defense Position because it will be switched to Attack Position by All-Out Attacks.
 * This loop no longer works in Advanced Format due to the banning of "Card of Safe Return".

Red Ogre Loop
The Loop uses the following cards:
 * Red Ogre
 * Precious Cards from Beyond
 * Ultimate Offering
 * Samsara Kaiser (recommended at least one at the beginning of the loop, you can start even without it, but will be impossible to continue if you don't draw it)
 * Mysterious Puppeteer (not necessary to start the loop but it is essential to draw it soon as it will make any Summon costless)

Activate "Ultimate Offering" and "Precious Cards from Beyond" then Normal Summon 2 monsters (preferably 1 "Samsara Kaiser"). Tribute them to Summon "Red Ogre". Draw 2 cards from "Precious Cards from Beyond", then discard one to return "Red Ogre" to your hand. Continue this until you get all of the pieces in your hand. "Mysterious Puppeteer" will make any Normal Summon by "Ultimate Offering" effectively costless. Both being Warrior-type monster they can be searched by "Reinforcement of the Army". If you must discard or use for a Tribute a Piece of Exodia at the start of the loop, use "Monster Reincarnation" or "Dark Factory of Mass Production" to return it to your hand. Once you can repeat this loop 2/3 times, there will be no problem to finish it. Two copies of "Level Eater" can serve as tribute fodder for "Red Ogre", allowing you to save 1000 life points each time you summon it. Your hand would increase by one card per summon as you would draw two from "Precious Cards from Beyond" and discard one to return the "Ogre" to your hand. You can get +3 per summon if you add "Card of Safe Return" (Traditional Format only).

Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins Loop
This loop contains in reusing "Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins's" 4th effect while returning it to the hand with "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier".

Make sure you have at least 3 "Crystal Beasts" in your Spell and Trap Card Zone, then Summon "Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus", placing your 4th "Crystal Beast" in your Spell and Trap Card Zone. Activate "Emergency Teleport" and tune "Krebons" and "Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus" to Synchro Summon "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier". Activate "Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins" and activate its 4th effect to draw one card. Use "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier's" effect to return the "Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins" back to your hand and continue this until you draw your entire deck. You need to start with 5 cards in your hand for this loop to work-which can be very improbable-so use "Dark Factory of Mass Production" as it will give you a +1. You can also use "Backup Soldier" and return the pieces during your opponent's Draw Phase. This loop no longer works in Advanced Format due to the banning of Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.


 * Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus
 * Krebons
 * Emergency Teleport
 * Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins
 * Terraforming
 * Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Archfiend's Oath Loop
This loop contains in reusing "Archfiend's Oath's" effect while you have "Convulsion of Nature" and returning it to your hand with "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier".

Summon a Level 4 Tuner and Special Summon a "Quillbolt Hedgehog" from your Graveyard then Synchro Summon "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier". Play "Archfiend's Oath" and "Convulsion of Nature" and use the effect of "Archfiend's Oath" to add the top card of your deck to your hand. Use "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier's" effect to return the "Archfiend's Oath" back to your hand and continue this until you add your entire deck to your hand. Note that the 8000 Life Points will only allow you to draw a maximum of 15 cards, so use "Spell Absorption" and "Spell Economics". Also, you will lose at least 3 cards from your hand so use cards that increase your hand advantage such as "Thunder Dragon" and "Ojamagic" ("Ojamagic" will not work as well since it makes for many dead draws). Also use "Dark Factory of Mass Production" in case you have to discard a piece of Exodia.


 * Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
 * Spell Economics
 * Spell Absorption
 * Archfiend's Oath
 * Convulsion of Nature
 * Quillbolt Hedgehog
 * 5 Pieces of Exodia

Dragon Frog Loop
For this Loop you will need:
 * Substitoad
 * DNA Surgery or D. Tribe
 * Super Rejuvenation
 * Any other monster, or a card that can give you a monster to tribute
 * And of course, many Frogs in the Deck

Normal Summon "Substitoad" then activate any card that can give you a tribute for "Substitoad" (ex. "Brain Control", "Instant Fusion", "Fiend's Sanctuary", "Emergency Teleport", "One for One"). Play "DNA Surgery" (selecting Dragon-type) or "D. Tribe" and tribute monsters to Special Summon "Frogs" from your Deck with the effect of "Substitoad" until the number of tributed monsters is equal to the number of remaining cards in your Deck. Play "Super Rejuvenation" and draw your entire Deck, including the five pieces of Exodia. You do not have to tribute every frog in your deck to win.
 * This loop no longer works in Advanced format due to the banning of "Substitoad" in the September 2010 Banlist.

Tuner Loop
For this loop you will need:
 * Card of Safe Return
 * Quillbolt Hedgehog
 * Imperial Iron Wall
 * King Tiger Wanghu

Summon the Tuner monster before Normal Summoning "King Tiger Wanghu" unless it has 1500 or more ATK. Once all of the other four cards are Face-up and active, Special Summon "Quillbolt Hedgehog". It will be destroyed right away but you can Special Summon it again over and over. You will draw a card for "Card of Safe Return". As soon as that happens, it will go back to the Graveyard instead of getting Banished because of "Imperial Iron Wall". Thus, the process will start over again and repeat infinitely until you draw the 5 pieces of Exodia.
 * This loop no longer works in Advanced Format due to the banning of "Card of Safe Return" on September 2009 Banlist.

Summoning Exodia Pieces And Returning Them To Your Hand
This Exodia deck uses cards like "Apprentice Magician" and "Mystic Tomato" to Special Summon The 5 Pieces of Exodia to the field and then using "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier", "Penguin Soldier and "Compulsory Evacuation Device" to add them to your hand. If you are able to summon on a mass scale you can use "Sound the Retreat!" to make doing this far easier and without sacrificing any advantage you have.

Recommended cards:

Monsters


 * Apprentice Magician x 2-3
 * Mystic Tomato x 2-3
 * Penguin Soldier
 * Dark Cat with White Tail
 * Sangan
 * Snipe Hunter
 * Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (and a Tuner and compatible non-Tuners to Summon it. "Fishborg Blaster" works well as the Tuner because it is easy to summon if you have your "Penguin Soldier" already out. Traditional Format only.)

Traps


 * Compulsory Evacuation Device

+ Other cards for extra drawing or deck thinning

Exodia Necross
This option can be used with cards such as "Painful Choice", "Foolish Burial", and "Witch of the Black Forest". Needless to say, "Exodia Necross" and "Contract with Exodia" are needed.
 * This option will not work in the advanced format due to the banning of "Painful Choice" in 2012

The main goal, though is to thin your Deck to make it easier and faster to draw all five pieces. Deck thinners like the "Gadget Monsters", "Gold Sarcophagus" and "Different Dimension Capsule" are good ideas.

Cards like "Necrovalley", "The End of Anubis" and "Imperial Iron Wall" are also good options to make the Exodia's parts stay on the Graveyard. Use "Spirit Barrier" with "Exodia Necross" so that you take no damage.

Cards such as "Armageddon Knight", "Veil of Darkness", and "Dark Grepher" can make this deck extremely quick at getting what it needs into your Graveyard.

Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord
You could also have a Deck with mostly Normal Monsters, since the ATK of "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord" is 1000 x the number of Normal Monsters in your Graveyard. "Heart of the Underdog" can be awesome in a Deck like this. If you put a lot of DARK Normal Monsters in the Deck, "Veil of Darkness" can help power "Exodius" up and thin your deck but don't send "Exodia" cards to the Graveyard this way because they have to be sent by "Exodius'" effect if you're looking to trigger the automatic win. If you send an "Exodia" piece to the Graveyard with "Veil of Darkness" you can shuffle it back into the Deck with "Pot of Avarice".

"Exodius" can be used in many OTK strategies, as "Diffusion Wave-Motion" can provide some awesome support. An example of a simple OTK strategy involves:
 * "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord"
 * Any cards that prevent Battle Damage and destruction in battle.
 * "Heavy Storm" or "Giant Trunade" (optional)
 * "Diffusion Wave-Motion"
 * "Spell Economics" (should your Life Points be lower than 1000)
 * "Ojama Trio" (Optional helps fill up your opponents monster zones).

Here is how the strategy works:
 * Wait until your opponent has filled all of their Monster Card Zones. If necessary, force the situation, using card effects that summon monsters to the opponent's side of the field.
 * Summon "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord" to the field.
 * Use an effect to prevent "Exodius" from being destroyed in battle. For insurance, be sure the card has an added effect to prevent Battle Damage.  (e.g.  "Necro Defender", "Zero Gardna", "Waboku", etc.)
 * Activate "Diffusion Wave-Motion" and "Spell Economics" (See above tip).  Since "Exodius'" effect requires a monster to be sent from your hand or Deck to the Graveyard, "Diffusion Wave-Motion" will allow "Exodius" to attack all your opponent's monsters in one turn, so send the 5 Exodia cards for the effect of "Exodius", and you've instantly won.


 * The main weakness of this strategy is that your opponent could block any of these cards with countering effects, which is why cards like "Heavy Storm" and "Giant Trunade" will enable you to clear the field.

Destiny Board
A Destiny Board Deck revolves on placing the 4 Spirit Messages by the effect of "Destiny Board" so you can declare an Automatic Win. As this can only be done in 3/4 turns, you must protect both your Letters and your Life Points. "A Cat of Ill Omen" searches for "Destiny Board". "Spirit Reaper", "Marshmallon", "Waboku", and "Threatening Roar" can be used for stalling. Continuous Spell or Trap cards should not be used. To protect your Spell & Trap Cards you can use "Carrierroid" or "Prime Material Falcon". "Stardust Dragon" is also useful. Another alternative is to use "Herald of Green Light", "Herald of Purple Light" and "Herald of Orange Light" in conjunction with Fairy-Type monsters, preferably "Cloudian" monsters, as they cannot be destroyed by battle. You can also use "The Sanctuary in the Sky" since it is a Field Spell Card. Since the "Spirit Messages" are Dead Draws it is good to add in a "Vortex Trooper" or a "Magical Mallet".

Monsters

 * Stardust Dragon
 * Carrierroid
 * Prime Material Falcon
 * A Cat of Ill Omen
 * Vortex Trooper
 * Spirit Reaper
 * Marshmallon
 * Dark Resonator
 * Krebons
 * Card Guard
 * Herald of Green Light
 * Herald of Purple Light
 * Herald of Orange Light
 * Cloudian monsters that cannot be destroyed by battle

Spell Cards

 * Gold Sarcophagus
 * Spirit Message "I"
 * Spirit Message "N"
 * Spirit Message "A"
 * Spirit Message "L"
 * Magical Mallet
 * The Sanctuary in the Sky (if used with "Cloudian" monsters)

Trap Cards

 * Destiny Board
 * Trap Reclamation
 * Waboku
 * Threatening Roar
 * Solemn Wishes

Final Countdown
A Final Countdown Deck revolves around using "Final Countdown" in combination with another Deck type, such as a Stall Deck.

This can only be declared 20 turns after Final Countdown is activated. If "Final Countdown" is initially negated, the only way to declare a Final Countdown Victory is to retrieve "Final Countdown" from your Graveyard (or having another copy), activating it (provided you have 2000 Life Points to spare), and wait the applicable 20 turns. Thus, including cards that can negate attempts to destroy "Final Countdown" is a wise idea.

Some key cards that will play a vital role in your strategy are "Waboku", "Threatening Roar", and "Thunder of Ruler". These cards stop your opponent from attacking your life points, along with any monsters that may be on your field at the time. Besides "adding" turns to your target turn count of 20, what makes these cards so vital is the simple fact that they are CHAINABLE! that means, even if your opponent pulls out S/T destruction or even "Royal Decree", you can at least get them activated. While your opponent continues to be forced to use all his S/T destruction outs on you, there is no need to worry.

Low level monsters with high defense, namely "Destiny HERO - Defender", or anything above 2000 could help a lot, as your opponent may not be able to easily destroy such a monster without a tribute. That said, "Horn of Light" is a godsend; even for a common "Giant Soldier of Stone", the boost to 2800 is seldom broken by a level 8 or lower.

A large amount of cards that allow you to draw can be crucial if you fail to draw "Final Countdown" on your first few turns. cards like "Pot of Duality" and "Upstart Goblin" allows you to draw a card with virtually no cost, as Life Points and revealing the card are unnecessary to you if you are using "Final Countdown". Anyways, this won't increase your hand but it will decrease the number of card in your Deck, increasing the chance of drawing right cards. "Shard of Greed" and "One Day of Peace' are even more amazing cards that have no cost or hindering effects, except for Shard of Greed needing to be on the field for 2 of your draw phases after activation. "One Day of Peace" is a shining star here in this deck. despite your opponent also being able to draw a card along with you, no one takes any damage (battle damage or effect damage) till the end of your opponent's next turn.  that essentially adds 2-3 turns towards your 20, per card.  (i.e. you activate it on your turn, which lets say is turn 5 of countdown; no damage will be dealt to you till, AT LEAST, your next turn, which would be turn 7, but more than likely there will be no damage on your turn anyways, so it would technically be till your opponent's next turn, which would be turn 8)

"Cyber Valley" can end a Battle Phase when it's attacked, while allowing you to draw a card. In addition, if you used the effect of a "Battle Fader" last turn, you can remove it and Cyber Valley to draw two cards, and set up your next "Battle Fader". "Pot of Duality" and "Upstart Goblin" allows you to draw a card with virtually no cost, as Life Points and revealing the card are unnecessary to you if you are using "Final Countdown". Anyways, this won't increase your hand but it will decrease the number of card in your Deck, increasing the chance of drawing right cards. "Des Lacooda" and "Worm Linx" can be used also to speed up your drawing every turn if you are going to block your opponent from attacking.

Cards such as "Swords of Revealing Light", "Nightmare's Steelcage", "Clock Tower Prison", "Level Limit - Area B", and "Gravity Bind" could be a problem in this deck, even though they are great stall cards. This is because they HAVE to remain on the field, and with a format that has had S/T destruction become rampant once again, along with the addition of Xyz monsters (which have Ranks, NOT LEVELS), cards like these should be used very sparingly. "Messenger of Peace" Can be a great choice in this scenario, if you are to choose to use a card that remains on the field. not only is the maintenance cost almost non-existent, but it affects ANY monster that has 1500 ATK or higher, which answers the Xyz monster problem. Also, your opponent will not always have an answer to it and won't be able to get it off the field all the time.

As for staple monsters, cards such as "Battle Fader", "Swift Scarecrow", and "Zero Gardna" are especially useful here. The Fader and Scarecrow can be used from the hand, so they are safe from destruction cards that involve the field.

Some cards, such as "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En" and "Naturia Barkion", can prove to be a threat to your stalling engine and will have to be dealt with. Cards like "Dark Hole" and "Lava Golem" are effective ways to get rid of them, especially "Lava Golem". As you are stalling anyways, "Lava Golem" could provide another win condition, by burning your opponent to death, even before "Final Countdown" reaches turn 20! Also, you could let them attack successfully with lava Golem, Take 3000 damage, then activate your set "Inferno Tempest", which will remove ALL monsters from both decks and graveyards from play, essentially leaving your opponent with almost no guarantee of killing you before turn 20. What a crazy combo that is!

Burn cards will eat this play style alive. An alternative to stopping Burn cards from eating your life points, is encouraging it. "Self-Destruct Button" is a great way to save space and time in bad draws, as a tie is a great way to start over in losing situations. This card requires you to be behind, and have a difference of 7000 life points or more to activate, which is relatively easy to achieve. So, "Upstart Goblin" helps to separate the life points, as well as any cards with life point costs, such as "Final Countdown".

"Metaion the Time Lord" is another excellent card to use. Because a great strength of this deck is relying on traps like "Threatening Roar" and "Waboku", it is not uncommon to have an empty field. Therefore, summoning this card is made very simple. It is an excellent card to help get rid of troublesome monsters like "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En", as its effect is impossible to stop without negating its attack (be wary of cards like "Negate Attack" though), and it can also clear your opponent's entire field, as well as making the cards you sent back to the deck difficult to return to the field. However, Metaion is sent back to the deck during your standby phase, so when you use it, be sure that you won't be stopped by any traps your opponent has set.

"Golden Ladybug" is a reliable card to use as it will increase your Life Points by 500 each turn by revealing it in your hand. another tech choice could possibly be Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird. It increases your life points by 500 for each card in your opponent's hand, during each of your turns. this can also be good because while you constantly stall out your opponent, they will more than likely build up cards in their hand, allowing for some possible huge life point gaining, along with your Hummingbird being able to keep field presence, unless your opponent wants to waste an out on it.

And as for the side board, side some traditional staple cards that are allowed in the current format, whatever those may be at that time, and whatever you see fit. other good cards that can be very useful are "Intercept Wave", because you never synchro summon anyways, "Torrential Tribute", because you rarely have monsters that stay on the field, besides the possible "Marshmallon", "Spirit Reaper, or "Arcana Force 0 - The Fool, and "Big Burn", because you rarely, if not never, need the graveyard in the first place. Cards like these can really mess things up for your opponent, possibly leaving them with little to no options!

Monsters

 * Swift Scarecrow
 * Battle Fader
 * Zero Gardna
 * Marshmallon
 * Spirit Reaper
 * Lava Golem


 * For Mystic Piper Builds


 * Mystic Piper
 * Swift Scarecrow
 * Battle Fader
 * Cyber Valley
 * Arcana Force 0 - The Fool
 * Winged Kuriboh


 * Possible Deck-Thinning Monsters


 * Gravekeeper's Spy
 * Nimble Momonga

Spells

 * Final Countdown
 * Upstart Goblin
 * Pot of Duality
 * One Day of Peace
 * Shard of Greed
 * Messenger of Peace
 * Dimensional Fissure
 * Inferno Tempest

Traps

 * Threatening Roar
 * Waboku
 * Thunder of Ruler
 * Frozen Soul
 * Reckless Greed
 * Hope for Escape
 * Defense Draw

Last Turn
A Last Turn Deck revolves around "Last Turn" and the many cards needed to support it. This type of victory can only be declared when the victory check of "Last Turn" is successfully resolved so only one monster remains on the field. A "Last Turn" victory may be declared by either player after "Last Turn" has resolved.

As of the April 2006 banlist, "Last Turn" is now banned in Advanced format

The primary method of achieving this victory is with a card that prevents Special Summons, causing you to have the only monster on the field during the end phase and thus win. You can use cards such as "Jowgen the Spiritualist", "Vanity's Ruler" or Consecrated Light(Against decks of purely DARK monsters).

Since you need fewer than 1000 Life Points to activate it, you need cards like "Wall of Revealing Light".

Another strategy is to have at least 3 different Six Samurai monsters in your graveyard with "Backs to the Wall" and "Last Turn" face down and a powerful 3 tribute monster in your hand (preferably "The Wicked Avatar" due to its effect). By activating "Backs to the Wall", you immediately satisfy the conditions to activate "Last Turn" as well as giving you some monsters to tribute. After your samurai are revived, summon "The Wicked Avatar" and then during your opponents turn, activate "Last Turn". Due to "The Wicked Avatar"'s effect, you are virtually guaranteed to win the duel.

Some protection from spells & traps, such as "Solemn Judgment" or "Dark Bribe", is good to have to protect your key cards from MST and Heavy Storm.

Another strategy revolves around having "Suijin", "Kazejin", or "Sanga of the Thunder" face up on the field and activating "Last Turn". It doesn't matter which monster your opponent chooses. When your opponent's monster attacks, simply use the effect of any of the three monsters above to decrease your opponent's monster's ATK to 0. "Sanga", "Suijin", or "Kazejin" will destroy the monster and you will win.

Note: If someone uses this strategy on you, a simple counter is to summon "Marshmallon" or any other monster that cannot be destroyed by battle, thus ending the Duel in a Draw.

Monsters

 * Jowgen the Spiritualist
 * A Cat of Ill Omen
 * Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
 * The Last Warrior from Another Planet
 * Mask of Darkness
 * Elemental HERO Wildheart
 * D.D. Warrior Lady
 * D.D. Assailant
 * D.D. Warrior
 * Newdoria
 * Vanity's Fiend/Vanity's Ruler
 * Yubel
 * Marshmallon
 * Spirit Reaper

Traps

 * Wall of Revealing Light
 * Self-Destruct Button
 * Double Snare
 * Judgment of Anubis
 * Seven Tools of the Bandit.
 * Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment
 * Hallowed Life Barrier
 * Non Aggression Area
 * Ring of Destruction
 * Torrential Tribute