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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 6 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, and Last Turn.

Exodia

See also: Exodia OTK

An Exodia Deck relies upon helping you to:

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", "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 cards until you draw all five pieces.

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 your 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.

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 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:

Alternatively, you can use "Veil of Darkness" and "Heart of the Underdog" to make this loop more consistent. A deck with these uses:

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.

Departed Wanghu Loop

This Loop uses the following cards:¨

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" on September 1st.
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.(you can also use "The Shallow Grave" if both "Spear Cretin" are in your Graveyard and the Special Summoned monster still attacks due to the effect of "All-Out Attacks").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" on September 1st.
Red Ogre Loop

The Loop uses the following cards:

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.

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.

Dragon Frog Loop

For this Loop you will need:

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:

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.

Recommended cards:

Monsters

Traps

+ 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.

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 "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord's" ATK 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 Normal DARK 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:

Here is how the strategy works:

  • 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 the "Cloudians", 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".

Recommended Cards

Monsters

Spell Cards

Trap Cards

Final Countdown

A Final Countdown Deck revolves around using "Final Countdown" in combination with another Decktype, 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.

One way to speed up the process is to use the trap card "Pyro Clock of Destiny" which allows the countdown to move forwards another step. However, Pyro Clock of Destiny will only work in favor of Final Countdown and offer no defenses, its better to use cards like "Threatening Roar" and "Thunder of Ruler" which can stop all attacks for one turn and essentially advance a turn anyways.

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. "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.

In order to maximize the capabilities of the Final Countdown deck, it is wise to use stalling cards, such as "Swords of Revealing Light", "Nightmare's Steelcage", "Level Limit - Area B" and "Messenger of Peace". This will ensure that you can survive the allotted 20 turns. "Battle Fader" and "Swift Scarecrow" is especially useful here, since it can protect you for one turn if the other stalling cards is destroyed.

It is important to include Anti-Burn cards in a Side Deck for this type of deck, as cards like "Gravity Bind" won't stop a Effect Damage. Cards like "Des Wombat" should be included in a side deck in order to protect your life points.

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, so Upstart Goblin helps to separate, as well as any cards with life point costs.

Healing cards are also recommended, as it will be harder to survive 20 turns with 2000 fewer Life Points. "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. If you have cards to protect monsters on the field "Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird" is a good choice, as it can keep your Life Points up with ease if your opponent has some cards in their hand.

Recommended Cards

Monsters

Spells

Traps

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, such as "Vanity's Ruler", Royal Oppression(Providing you have 800 Life Points to spare. Don't use this unless you have more than 800 Life Points left),Consecrated Light(For DARK monsters) or "Jowgen the Spiritualist". Your opponent will not be able to Summon their monster, causing you to win the duel. Other forms of doing this are using cards such as Threatening Roar, Nightmare's Steelcage, or Swords of Revealing Light to prevent them from attacking, also resulting in a win.

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 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" are necessary to protect your key cards.

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.

Yet another way to win using Last Turn is to use The Winged Dragon of Ra(Original version is easier to summon, but if you dont use its effect after Special Summoning it it will have 0 Atk and Def points, but unbanned leaves more Life Points left if Last Turn doesn't work. Either is ok). Though it may be difficult to Special Summon enough monsters as tributes, it has the potential to have incredibly high attack power, and using its ability, you raise its attack and immediately satisfy the Life Point condition for Last Turn.

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. An alternative is to activate Torrential Tribute once you Summon your monster, though this can be used to the opponent's advantage if they have it in their Deck.

Recommended Cards

Monsters

Traps

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