From tiny insects to literal Gods and dragons. But don’t underestimate the former, as they offer fantastic disruption and can swarm the field with ease. If you’re up for trading those dragon wings for lots of legs and mandibles, let me show you the best that these little terrors have to offer!
15. Insect Knight
To start this list off we have Insect Knight and with 1900ATK/1500DEF. So this monster has very respectable stats for a LVL4. Insect Knight is a normal monster, and as such, has no effects. But combined with monsters like Gokipole (a little further down the list) this is actually a good thing to have. Normal or not, don’t sleep on this card.
14. Greatfly
This link monster acts more like a field spell, as it powers up all of your Wind monsters while hurting your opponent if they use Earth types. Greatfly is a Link-2 with only 1400ATK. But when it’s on the field, every Wind monster including itself gains 500ATK/DEF. Earth monsters receive a penalty of 400 ATK/DEF, so against the right deck, that’s a huge difference. This monster is pretty low on this list because as powerful as this effect is, unless your insects have wings, they usually aren’t Wind type.
13. Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior
Summoning multiple monsters in a single turn is a fantastic way to enable your boss monsters – and this powerful LVL4 has a great way to do it. Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior has good stats at 1900ATK/400DEF. But the best thing about it is that it only requires you to banish an Insect from your Graveyard to Special Summon it. Effects like these make sure it’s always easy for you to go into things like LVL4 XYZ monsters. And if this card inflicts battle damage, then your opponent has to send the top card from their deck to the Graveyard as well. While not amazing, that can still cause some valuable disruption.
12. Danger! Mothman!
You always want cards that are easy to Special Summon. And few do it better than Danger! monsters. Danger! Mothman! is a LVL4 with 1800ATK/400DEF. But its summoning mechanic is why it’s so good. You show your opponent Danger! Mothman! in your hand, then your opponent picks a card from your hand at random. If they miss Danger! Mothman! then you can Special Summon it, and discard the card they chose. If they do choose Danger! Mothman!, it’s discarded, and you both draw a card. Obviously, you’d prefer the free monster. But this card is good no matter what happens.
11. Chainsaw Insect
Some of the strongest LVL4 monsters have about 1900ATK. In rare cases, they can have a little more. So what on earth happened here?! Chainsaw Insect is a LVL4 with a ridiculous 2400ATK/0DEF. That’s up there with some boss monsters. But if this monster battles, your opponent draws a card. Which isn’t great. But this creepy crawly can walk over almost every other LVL4 and put you in a strong position from the start. I guess even scary monsters can’t stand up to a chainsaw…
10. Primitive Butterfly
Insects don’t always pack the biggest punch. So you’ll want some powerful Extra Deck monsters ready to go. This monster offers a great way to easily summon those extra monsters you have tucked away, and it gives Insect decks some much-needed flexibility. Primitive Butterfly is a LVL5 with 1200ATK/900DEF, but can be Special Summoned from your hand if you control no monsters. Getting any monster out for free is always great. But once per turn, you can also increase the level of all your Insect monsters by 1. All of a sudden those super high LVL monsters won’t be so hard to summon!
9. Brain Crusher
Stealing your opponent’s monsters is one of the most satisfying things to do in Yu-Gi-Oh! And dependent on what you steal, it can decide the entire duel. Brain Crusher is a LVL7 monster with 2400ATK/1500DEF, and it has a great effect where during the End Phase, if this monster destroyed one of your opponent’s monsters, then you can Special Summon that monster to your side of the field. This effect has so many possibilities and can absolutely destroy decks that need specific cards in the Graveyard.
8. Number 28: Titanic Moth
It’s appropriate that this Insect is also a Fire-type monster, as it can literally burn your opponent’s life points to zero. Number 28: Titanic Moth is a LVL7 XYZ with 2400ATK/2200DEF. But this monster can attack directly if it’s the only monster you control, and damage is halved if you do. If you deal battle damage and detach a material, though, this monster deals a whopping 500 burn damage for every card in your opponent’s hand. This can easily be over 2000 damage, and can win a duel outright.
7. Doom Dozer
A lot of insect monsters lack in raw stats. But there are exceptions to every rule. And this powerhouse is not only a force to be reckoned with, but it’s incredibly easy to Summon too! Doom Dozer is a powerful LVL8 with 2800ATK/2600DEF. All it costs to bring it out is banishing 2 Insect monsters from your Graveyard. When Doom Dozer deals battle damage, you send the top card of your opponent’s deck to the Graveyard. Depending on what deck you’re against this may actually help, but hopefully, this monster will hit your opponent so hard that it doesn’t matter.
6. Traptrix Myrmeleo
If you’re a fan of trap-heavy decks and love wiping the smirk off your opponent’s face when they bring out a crazy powerful monster, you’re going to love this one. Traptrix Myrmeleo is a LVL4 with 1600ATK/1200DEF and is immune to “Hole” Traps (Bottomless Trap Hole, for example). And when this card is Normal Summoned, you can add a “Hole” Trap from your deck to your hand. This is a great way to get inside your opponent’s head, as they know what’ll happen if they summon anything. Plus if this monster is Special Summoned, you can destroy a Spell/Trap your opponent controls. And back row removal is always powerful.
5. Contact “C”
Insects have sadly had the rough end of the stick lately in competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! But this nasty little monster can stop some of the best decks from even getting started! You can Special Summon Contact “C” to your opponent’s side of the field whenever they Summon a monster. With 1500ATK/2200DEF, this might seem like a bad thing. But as long as it’s on their field, they cannot Fusion, Synchro, XYZ, or Link Summon unless this card is used as material. This can stop countless combos before they even get off the ground, leaving your opponent wide open for your Insects to wreak havoc.
4. Kumongous, The Sticky String Kaiju
What deck would be complete without a way to remove any monster, even if they’re immune to effects? Kumongous, The Sticky String Kaiju is a powerful answer to any monster you just need to get rid of. You can Tribute any monster your opponent controls to Special Summon Kumongous to their side of the field in its place. Ultimately, you’ve just given your opponent a monster with 2400ATK. But when it’s easy to flatten with something like Doom Dozer, this is an effective way to deal with almost any threat in the game.
3. Inzektor Exa-Beetle
A lot of the best monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! can’t be destroyed by effects or battle. There are always ways around these, and fortunately, Insect decks have access to a pretty good one. Inzektor Exa-Beetle is a LVL6 XYZ with only 1000ATK/1000DEF. But when it’s Summoned, you can equip a monster from either Graveyard, and it gains half of that monsters ATK/DEF. This can make Inzektor Exa-Beetle quite powerful – but it also has a great effect where you can detach a material to send a card from each side of the field to the Graveyard. That’s a very small price to pay for boss removal.
2. Gokipole
It must be miserable knowing you’re only on the field as bait. But with effects like these, maybe it’s not so bad. Gokipole is a LVL3 monster with 1000ATK/1200DEF. And when this monster is destroyed, you can draw a LVL4 Insect from your deck. The best part though is if you choose a normal monster, you can Special Summon it (Insect Knight is perfect for this), then you can destroy a monster on the field with higher ATK than the monster you brought out. This effect doesn’t target, either. So this lowly LVL3 can end up being a smart boss killer!
1. Retaliating “C”
There aren’t many decks that like their cards being banished. In fact, some decks completely fall apart if they lose their cards this way. And this great little Insect exploits that to the fullest! Retaliating “C” is a LVL4 Insect with 1400ATK/1400DEF. And here’s why it’s so great: When your opponent activates a Spell that Special Summons, you can Summon this card from your hand. If you do this, any card that’s sent to the Graveyard is banished instead. One of the scariest Traps in Yu-Gi-Oh! is Macro Cosmos which banishes all cards that go to the Graveyard. And Retaliating “C” lets you do that from the hand! Plus when Retaliating “C” goes to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon an Earth Insect monster. Which is great. But being able to shut down your opponent just by existing is why this card takes the number one spot on this list.
