Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is Konami’s latest free to play game based on the popular trading card game. It’s been over a month since it was released and now is the perfect time to get into the game. After finishing the tutorials, you would be faced with a choice on which starter deck you want to run with. Here’s everything you need to know about what each deck brings to the table.

If you’re a complete beginner to Yu-Gi-Oh or similar card games in general, you may find picking your starter deck to be a daunting task. While it can certainly affect your experience in the beginning, these starter decks won’t matter in the long term. After all, Yu-Gi-Oh is a very deep and complicated game with over thousands of cards with different combinations to choose from. Try not to stress yourself out when deciding which deck to get at the start. Also, you’ll eventually be able to get the starter decks or at least some of the cards from them later on. However, if you just want to learn the ropes without diving too deep into deck building, you may find it worthwhile sticking with the starter decks.

Master Duel has three initial pre-built decks you can choose from. These decks are called Power of the Dragon, Synchro of Unity, and Link Generation. All three of them have varying playstyles and mechanics. These starter decks are somewhat viable and your choice should mostly boil down to preference. Let’s take a look at each of them.

Power of the Dragon

Out of all the three starter decks, this is the simplest and easiest to use. At its very core, Power of the Dragon is the classic old school Yu-Gi-Oh deck that will teach you the fundamentals of the game. It doesn’t rely on complicated mechanics and has pretty powerful cards like the famous Blue Eyes White Dragon which anyone, even if they were living under a rock, would probably know. It also has really good spell and trap cards like Rush Recklessly and Threatening Roar; two cards guaranteed to give you the upper hand in most situations. 

Overall, it’s a pretty straightforward deck that holds up even if it’s composed of mostly old cards. Returning players might find a wave of nostalgia when playing this deck and newcomers will find its simplicity easy to understand. Those familiar with the anime will also find a lot to love about this deck. You won’t find fancy gimmicks here, just pure and reliable basic strategies.

Synchro of Unity

If you’re looking to dive right into the more complicated mechanics of Yu-Gi-Oh or if you just enjoy being challenged as a beginner, this deck might be the perfect fit for you. Synchro of Unity revolves around chaining combos to use Synchro Summons, a feature that lets you easily summon stronger monsters in the early parts of a duel. This deck has a rather steep learning curve that will take you a while to get used to. If this is your first time playing Yu-Gi-Oh, we suggest that you do a bit of research first if you want to attempt using this as your first deck. The game won’t show you until much later on in the Solo Mode how to properly utilize this deck. That being said, this deck has the most potential out of all three. It has a lot of options that are designed to frustrate your opponent and play the long game. 

Overall, Synchro of Unity is a very powerful deck filled with endless combos that you can use to force a victory in a duel. It’s very hard to counter but it’s also very hard to use. There are plenty of advanced level strategies in this deck so if you go into this as a complete beginner, it may help you improve and master the game sooner.

Link Generation

Out of all the starter decks, Link Generation is the only one that introduces new mechanics in the current meta of the game. This deck uses a lot of Cyberse monsters and is quite similar to Synchro of Unity. Instead of Synchro Summoning, you would be using a new mechanic called Link Summoning. Unlike the other two, this deck is focused on snowballing where you get progressively more powerful cards the longer the duel goes on. You’ll use Link Summoning to summon strong monsters to overwhelm your opponent and gain board advantage. Out of all the other decks, Link Generation is also the most complicated. While it will definitely help you get acclimated with some high end strategies and the current meta in the game, it lacks the powerful cards associated with these types of strategies. Still, it’s pretty good early on if you fully understand this deck and can even help you rack up a few wins in PvP.

Overall, Link Generation is the right deck for you if you want to learn about advanced combos and strategies. It does require you to have a deeper knowledge of the game as this deck heavily relies on positioning. If you’re a willing learner and would like to keep up with what high level players are using, go for Link Generation.

Which Deck Should I Pick?

As we’ve mentioned before, what deck you pick should depend on your preference. You can get all three starter decks later on but these pre-built decks won’t do so well if you plan on being competitive in the game. It’s good for casual play and understanding the mechanics but beyond that, you should consider getting better cards. 

If we were to recommend which deck to pick, we would go for either the Power of the Dragon or Synchro of Unity. Power of the Dragon is the most beginner friendly and is actually stronger than the other two decks in terms of Attack power. Synchro of Unity, on the other hand, offers up lots of fun combos that open up better opportunities for you to win the game.

So there you have it! That’s everything you need to know about which starter deck you should get in Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun!