Introduction
"You can hit KoG with almost anything" an uncommon statement but altogether completely true, although some decks will require more grinding than others.
I am producing this Guide to help people understand how to reach King of games & to break down climbing a ranked ladder in general.
I have reached the top of the ranked ladder in plenty of games (usually within my first month of play) Including Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links, Elder Scrolls Legends & league of legends. I'm lucky enough to be able to play video games for a living so I consider myself someone who knows very well how to climb ranked ladders. Although they are not the target audience, the guide will have a lot of information to help players already in KoG improve their play.
A lot of the ease of reaching KoG comes from decision making & that starts at where to spend your currency. As this is not a deck building guide I will not be going into detail about this although I will recommend what I think are the top decks for climbing the ladder. For a guide on how to spend your gems/cash check out the gem investment guide created by superforms.
Something that needs addressing early on is that there is a big difference in tournaments and ladder in regards to Yu-Gi-oh Duel Links. The most impactful change is the side deck, this will make/break decks in tournament play. On the ranked ladder there is no side deck or second round, this means your opponents do not get a chance to side in specific tech cards or recover from a slow hand.
These factors enforce a different meta in ranked & although the Tier List is still a good guide to use, it's important to note the difference in format. Decks such as Red-Eyes Zombies are much weaker on the ranked ladder as they rely heavily on siding in tech cards for their matchups in the second round.
It is also important to note that this article does not relate to the KC Cup, although some of it is transferable. Reason being is that the KC Cup is 3 intense days of grinding for points and as such is not the same environment as playing ranked pvp. A guide on preparing for the KC Cup and other large scale events can be found here.
As it currently stands, Duel Links has a relatively easy ladder to climb. If it's something you struggle with we're going to address what you're doing wrong and what you should be doing in this Guide.
How the Ranked Ladder Works
If you already understand how promotions and the streak system work then this section is skippable.
Bronze 1 - 5
Silver 1 - 5
