Yu-Gi-Oh’s competitive scene is as diverse as ever, and the best Yugioh decks with a wide variety of archetypes and strategies help you achieve victories in tournaments.
But whether you have $100 or $1000 to spend, we can assure you there is a deck out there that will challenge anyone in your area.
Although dozens of budget decks exist, they’re only viable in casual duels against friends. Instead, this list will focus on the best decks you can build in Yu-Gi-Oh right now!
Note: prices are for the deck/archetypes cores and doesn’t include prices for cards such as hand-traps, which can be expensive.
If you’re looking for competitive budget staples, check out the best list of Yu-Gi-Oh staples on the internet.
10) Mathmech
- Decklist
- Price: $120
The Mathmech archetype is purely made up of Cyberse type monsters. As such, my main strategy when using this deck is to either Synchro or Xyz summon one of the boss monsters. They even have a synchro monster “Geomathmech Final Sigma” that is immune to all card effects that can be used to OTK your opponent.
9) Dino – Best Budget Yugioh Deck
- Decklist
- Price: $56
I still find Dino as the best budget deck in the game even years after release. With its awesome Dinos, it’s a remarkably fun and powerful deck to use. Most of its core cards can be found in Dinosmasher’s Fury, which is considered to be one of the best structure decks of all time.
While players have gotten used to Dinos over time and are well aware of their drawbacks, the sheer amount of versatility offered when it comes to summoning the big Dinos have forced them to stay in the competitive scene.
Ultimate Conductor Tyranno (pictured) is this deck’s main card. So I recommend summoning it to the field as soon as possible because it can shut down strategies before they happen.
8) Purrely
- Decklist
- Price: $600
The “Purrely” archetype were introduced in Amazing Defenders, but took all the way until Cyberstorm Access to finally become good in the OCG. As of September 2023, they are one of the strongest decks in the TCG.
“Purrely” is an XYZ based deck built around two level one monster cards, “Purrely” and “Purrelyly“. Your main goal is summoning the boss monster, “Expurrely Noir“. What I love about it is that it’s unaffected by your opponent’s activated effects, which makes it a real powerhouse in duels.
Lore
“Purrely” are adorable creatures of unknown origin who grow from small dog-sized beings to ones large enough for children to ride on their backs. They live in a pastel-colored town called “Stray Purrely Street” where they develop through interactions and love. Various forms of “Purrely” emerge, such as “Epurrely Beauty” when groomed, “Epurrely Happiness” after play, and “Epurrely Plump” after eating, culminating in “Expurrely Happiness” and a more powerful “Expurrely Noir” form.
7) Drytron
- Decklist
- Price: $585
Drytrons are the first competitive ritual-based archetype since Nekroz and that says a lot for the current competitive scene.
Most Drytron monsters are level 1 with a whopping 2000 ATK, although they can’t be normal summoned or set.
Instead, you team up with fairy cards and other powerful ritual archetypes (like Cyber Angels) for a versatile and efficient deck.
Be warned though because it’s extremely difficult to use. Arguably, it’s one of the toughest competitive decks out there to get to grips with.
6) Eldlich
- Decklist
- Price: $300
Up there with the most unique and frustrating decks in Yu-Gi-Oh history, you literally have just Eldlich the Golden Lord alongside 30-37 trap cards, often floodgates like Imperial Order.
The trick with this deck is to just keep summoning Eldlich using its own effect to constantly harass and berate your opponent’s life points. I like adding in some floodgates and annoying traps so they won’t be able to do anything in return.
The strength of this deck is determined by the potency of your trap collection.
5) Swordsoul Tenyi – Best Synchro Yugioh Deck
- Decklist
- Price: $400
Consistent search and summon power that goes into some of the best Synchro monsters in the entire game, backed up by powerful hand-traps and other disruption cards is just too good to beat.
They have an answer for everything, regardless of the type of deck your opponent is using. However, a good degree of skill is required to run this deck, as you need to time your disruptions perfectly.
Overall, Swordsoul Tenyi is versatile and powerful enough to tackle any other deck currently in the Yu-Gi-Oh competitive scene.
4) Labrynth – Best Trap Card Yugioh Deck
- Decklist
- Price: $700
Labrynth was introduced to the TCG back in August 2022 in the booster pack “Tactical Masters“, and it’s remained one of the top competitive decks ever since.
My favorite and the most powerful combo in the deck allows you to play a trap card that you set in the same turn with “Labrynth Cooclock” and “Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle“. Because of this playstyle, you can play a lot of floodgate trap cards in a single duel.
3) Branded Despia – Best Fusion Yugioh Deck
- Decklist
- Price: $300
Introduced in Lightning Overdrive, Branded is a very versatile meta deck that has been consistently performing well in tournaments.
With this deck, you can fusion summon powerful fusion monsters. However, it’s quite a fragile starter deck on its own, so I suggest using as many hand-traps as possible.
2) Spright
- Decklist
- Price: $900
Spright cards have been dominating the OCG before being officially released in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. The Spright monsters are all either level, rank or link two and they can swarm the field quickly.
“Spright Blue” is a very important card that gives the deck a ton of consistency. It lets you search your other Spright monster cards, while “Spright Jet” allows you to search spell cards.
“Spright Starter” special summons a Spright monster directly from your deck which allows you to summon your extra deck boss monsters “Gigantic Spright” and “Spright Elf” .
So it’s not surprising to see how this deck can scare your opponent and get out of control!
1) Kashtira – Overall Best Deck
- Decklist
- Price: $800
As of September 2023, Kashtira is the best competitive deck in Yu-Gi-Oh.
The Kashtira archetype is a relatively new addition to the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game. It was first introduced in the “Darkwing Blast” and the “Photon Hypernova” booster packs. It comprises mainly of Level/Rank 7 Psychic monsters with powerful effects that allow you to banish your opponent’s cards face-down.
The basic Kashtira engine consists of:
- 3x Kashtira Fenrir
- 3x Pressured Planet Wraithsoth
- 3x Kashtira Unicorn
- 3x Kashtira Riseheart
- 3x Kashtiratheosis
- 1x Scareclaw Kashtira
- 1x Tearlaments Kashtira
- 1x Kashtira Big Bang
- 3x Kashtira Birth
In the current Yu-Gi-Oh meta, Kashtira is proven to be a versatile and formidable archetype capable of taking on any other deck.
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