What are hand-traps in Yu-Gi-Oh?
Hand-trips are powerful cards with effects that trigger when something happens while that card is in your hand.
They’re so effective because your opponent has no idea what’s in your hand.
So it forces your opponent to play as if you can stop a part of their combo at any time.
I can’t afford these cards, are there any budget options?
Yes!
I’ve created a mega-compilation of staples, with a list of hand-traps, both budget and expensive options. 🙂
Do I really need hand-traps in my deck?
Depends on the deck but in general, hand-traps provide a huge boost to the competitive power of any deck.
Every deck has a weakness, something your opponent will exploit to get through your strategies.
With so many different hand-traps available, you’ll be able to find some good options for any deck!
10. Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay
Currently a good option against Link heavy decks, Phantazmay is your ideal turn 2 start.
Once your opponent has a few Link monsters, you can use this hand-trap to shuffle the cards that won’t have much of an impact, back into your deck, as well as draw an extra card.
On-top of that, you get a 2400 ATK monster on the field, to use for making rank 7 XYZ monsters, attacking, or making your own Link monsters.
Having an effect to negate and destroy any card that targets one of your monsters is a huge boon, too.
Of course, Phantazmay is useless against decks that don’t rely on Link monsters, making it finish 10th on the list.
9. Effect Veiler
One of the most simple hand-traps, readily available for an extremely cheap price.
Effect Veiler has been an essential staple of any Yugioh collection for many years, and continues to be a go-to for budget hand-traps everywhere.
Being able to prevent one monster from using their effect for one turn can turn the tide of a duel, or shut down a would-be strategy.
8. Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit
Similar to Effect Veiler, only Ghost Ogre can target spells/traps too.
Something to understand is the fact Ghost Ogre only destroys the card, it doesn’t negate the effect.
The choice of the 2 is dependent on your particular needs. If your deck needs more removal, this hand-trap is a great option.
7. Droll & Lock Bird
Completely shut down your opponent’s combos with the Droll & Lock Bird, sure to make you a very hated duelist.
The only downside is the fact you let them get the one card(s) added to their hand before you can use Droll’s effect.
But against many decks, you can force your opponent to fight with what they have, or to risk waiting an extra turn.
6. Skull Meister
Graveyard effects have been powerful for a long time, with few options to actually prevent them.
Alongside the strategies players use to get cards to their hand, is other effects such as milling and discarding.
Let them send their cards to the graveyard and right before they start to pop off, throw a Skull Meister out there to prevent their charge.
5. Psy-Framegear Gamma
Loved by many in the Yugioh community, Gamma is a force to be reckoned with.
Requiring one copy of PSY-Frame Driver, Gamma can give you 2 free monsters on the field, and if you summon them during your own turn, you can use them as extra deck materials and re-summon Frame Driver with a second copy of Gamma.
Arguably the most skill-based hand-traps in the entire game, Psy-Framegear Gamma is a budget option for every Yugioh player.
4. Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion
Another hand-trap of the Ghost line, this Haunted Mansion variant has some quite specific negation abilities.
Anything affecting the graveyard can be negated using Ghost Belle, but it doesn’t try the activated card.
Being able to affect any activation is pretty awesome though, as it can negate cards whose effects work they’re banished, or in the graveyard themselves.
3. Infinite Impermanence
By far the best trap card in the game right now, Infinite Impermance’s versatility is insane.
Basically an upgraded Effect Veiler, this trap card can prevent spell/trap effects too, overtaking entire rounds of games if your opponent even slightly misplays.
Being forced to set Impermanence for the secondary effect can be a risk, though, as spell/trap removal is rampant in the game right now.
2. Nibiru, the Primal Being
Insane card, Nibiru is notorious for ruining entire boards.
Meeting the requirements is easy, as most decks tend to spam monsters in order to release their big beaters.
Nibiru will nuke their field and summon a huge token, although they are both vulnerable to card effects, so simply use them as extra deck materials on the next turn.
1. Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
Still considered the premiere hand-trap after all these years, Ash Blossom can shut down the strategy of almost any deck in the entire game.
No matter the deck, the vast majority will add cards to their hand, special summon from their deck, or send cards from the deck to the graveyard.
Ruining their strategy half-way through can often win games by itself, as your opponent has wasted their valuable card advantage for minimal gain.
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