But it’s a lot deeper than that. The card game is a beautiful mixture of skill, luck and believing in the heart of the cards. Today we’re talking about the best way you can draw those cards, and what you can’t afford to keep out of your deck to be the very best like no one eve- wait, wrong series!
15. Backup Squad
Starting off the list we have an… interesting card. For every 1000 damage you take from a monster’s attack, draw 1 card. Now this is a useful card, or it wouldn’t be on the list. However, there are a lot of drawbacks to it. First off, it’s rounded to each 1000 damage. So whether your opponent has a monster with 1000ATK or 1900ATK, you only get 1 card. Another more obvious downside, is that unless you can heal yourself, you limit yourself to only getting 7 cards. And that’s assuming you get this card on turn 1.
14. Card Trader
Next in line is Card Trader. This lets you put one card from your hand into your deck, and then draw 1 card, per turn. Now while this card is useful, it just doesn’t quite match anything higher on the list. And as a continuous spell card, it takes up a space in your Spell/Trap Zone. Meaning if you run more than one of these, you could fill up quickly and not be able to set or play other better cards.
13. Cup Of Ace
Now Cup Of Ace is a bit of a coin flip, literally. If you land on Heads, you draw 2 cards. Tails makes your opponent draw 2 cards. For that reason, it can’t be any higher on the list… but if you’re feeling lucky this card can really tip the scales! This is great on less serious RNG-based decks, and can be used with cards like Second Coin Toss to increase your odds of drawing over your opponent.
12. Pot Of Extravagance
Up next is Pot Of Extravagance. This card lets you banish 3 or 6 random cards from your extra deck, and you draw 1 card for every 3 banished. After this you can’t draw anymore cards via card effect. Depending on your deck, this can be very strong. But if you rely on Xyz or Fusion summons, then you definitely want to avoid this. As chances are, you’ll lose your strongest card. Use with caution!
11. Card Destruction
A high risk, high reward card that can only be featured once per deck. Both players discard their entire hand, then draw the same number of cards. In theory this can be very powerful. But it’s more useful for discarding your enemy’s hand than it is for you drawing cards. But if they have a bad hand, you’re just helping them get stronger, and then you’d potentially lose the game at your own action.
10. Cardcar D
Here’s the first of two monster cards featured on this list. Cardcar D is very strong, but only in the early game. You can tribute this card, and then draw 2 cards… but then it becomes the End Phase. Plus you can’t special summon the turn you use its effect, meaning this is all you can summon on your turn: an 800ATK monster. This is why it’s only good early game. Don’t want a Blue Eyes hitting this just so you get to draw 2 more cards.
9. Supply Squad
Ah yes, the better Backup Squad! Supply Squad lets you draw one card if your monster is destroyed by battle or card effect, once per turn. Unlike its counterpart Backup Squad, here you aren’t limited by your own health to draw cards… However, the effect can only be used once per turn. So if your opponent has a trap card like Mirror Force, this card will be rendered (nearly entirely) useless, bar the 1 card you get to draw. Better hope it’s good!
8. Reckless Greed
Now this card is the poor man’s Pot Of Greed, letting you draw 2 cards now, but you don’t get a draw phase for the next 2 turns. But here’s a tip: if you have 2 Reckless Greeds and activate both on the same turn, you draw 4 cards and you only miss your draw phase for 2 turns. You can thank me later for that! One downside to this: as a trap card, you can only activate this card on your opponent’s turn after setting. So you’ll have to hope they don’t have any way to stop you playing it, or aren’t strong enough to kill you before you can play the card!
7. Terraforming
This is the card I remember seeing in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and thinking it looked so cool. In the TCG, it doesn’t quite change the entire planet to look differently (I wish). But it does let you add one field spell from your deck to your hand. This is probably the most universally usable, since most if not all decks use field spells. And Terraforming lets you get one much earlier… not too much earlier though, as it’s currently limited to 1 per deck.
6. Morphing Jar
Morphing Jar is a fantastic card. So fantastic that you can only have 1 in your deck. It’s really good at making you draw, but also good at making your opponent draw. When flipped, both players have to discard their entire hand and then draw 5 cards. This might sound like a problem. But generally speaking it benefits you by letting you draw cards, and lets you discard your enemy’s entire hand. This card is the centerpiece of a deck known as the “Empty Jar”, where you use Morphing Jar(amongst other cards) to mill your opponent to a loss.
5. Hand Destruction
Next in line is Hand Destruction. This lets you discard 2 cards from your hand, and then draw 2 cards. Pretty good right? Well in most situations, yes this is really useful in letting you get the cards you want. However, you must have at least 2 cards in your hand that aren’t Hand Destruction to play it. So if you have 2 cards that you want to keep, you have to wait at least 2 more turns until you can use it. And if you happen to draw more good cards, Hand Destruction can feel useless. But if you’re worried about having a bad hand then it’s great. And a slightly nicer version of Card Destruction.
4. Reload
Above both of the destruction cards is Reload. This lets you add all the cards currently in your hand back into your deck, shuffle, and then draw the same number of cards. Now this alone would be great. But it’s also a quick spell, meaning you can play it in response to an opponent’s move. Like if they play Card Destruction and your hand is full of useful cards, put them all back in your deck and keep them safe! Likewise, if your hand isn’t looking too hot, you can simply play Reload and hope you draw something better.
3. Jar Of Avarice
Jar of Avris- Averic- No? I could not remember the name of this card for the life of me, but I knew it was good, and that I wanted it to be on this list. And after many miss-spellings, I found it. Jar Of Avarice lets you target 5 cards in your Graveyard (except this card) and shuffle them back into your deck, then draw 1 card. On paper, this doesn’t seem great as a drawing card. But it can really come in clutch if you’re running low on cards, or if your opponent’s destroyed some of your best cards. Plus you do still get to draw a card, so I’m counting it!
2. One Day Of Peace
Now hear me out on this one! While this card isn’t the best for drawing cards, it is amazing at keeping you alive. And that’s why it’s so high on the list. One Day Of Peace lets each player draw 1 card, and then neither player can take damage until the end of the opponent’s next turn. If you’re struggling and taking heavy damage, this card lets you get another 2 cards: one for using this, and another on your next draw phase since your opponent can’t damage you.
1. Pot Of Duality
OK, I know what you’re thinking: “How is this the best draw card? You only draw 1 card!” But let me explain myself! Pot Of Duality lets you see the top 3 cards on your deck, select 1 to add to your hand, and then shuffle the rest back into your deck. This card has no downsides. And the chances of your next 3 cards being bad is (hopefully) slim. So you’ll get the option of at least 1 good card. I guess that’s the one downside here: if your deck is too strong, you might have to choose between some real good cards. But that’s your fault, not mine!