Notes & Combos

Reader Warnings

Usage of gboard or any other word processor and translation tool as an extra tool (Wiktionary is fantastic, just copypaste the word in a foreign script) is advised.

The following guide will nonetheless offer the various transliterations and translations. Don't blame me, blame Konami for doing a poor job

There isn't a single list that I'm not going to explain in detail. And if you don't want details in Yu-Gi-Oh, change game. Or at least change deck, because G/P/T isn't easy.

対黄 — Big Yellow

Monday might prefer Precious Cards Of The Light, but I play Battlemorph GE.

It's only logical.

Now, one of the few consistent parameters in Konami is their mediocrity, not only when it comes to card names, as you'll see, but also when it comes to the translations of this game. One of such victims is the Skill.

The Skill's search (first effect) only works with the following:

• Level 8 Dragons
• Tachyon cards In the text from the game, it says it only works with Tachyon monsters. This is a game-warping mistake and an example of mistrust good players must have towards Konami and crash test everything regardless of whatever they yap on the official announcements or in-game

In practice, it allows Mizael to tap any card that is Lv8 Dragon, including Chaos cards (although, now that you know about DDN, it's less important).

Even if a card might be a brick (Neb and GEPD) in that situation, its presence on its starting hand transforms it into the best board you could make

However, it can only search monsters, which makes the deck less flexible against disruption

The second part of the Skill requires you to activate 7One ATSOT(At The Start Of)MP1, as in as the first activated card there, which however means that

• you can activate everything between the DP and the SP, such as BOE, ForDrop, and CC
• it will replace the normal draw
• if you activate something else (and I didn't test it with the Skill activations before, out of fear), you can't activate it anymore, BUT you can chain something before it resolves (such as ForDrop)
• while it may work by reviving from the GY, it forces you to play 2 GETD

The G/P/Ts

Galaxy-Photon-Tachyon is clearly not a thing that was in the authors'/duel writers' minds, when the first cards appeared in the ZEAL (X? What X?) anime, being nothing more than the nth representation of Heart Of The Cards on Kaitō's side (especially PCircle), nor stuff that was meant to be played together, even if you exclude Tachyon from the equation, which needed a later patch only from the wave that introduced GEPPrime (which also included G100...the one card to be excluded by the support Box for DL) managed to make playable despite previous failed attempts (refer to PVanish and Starliege Galaxion)

Copying from my MDM guide, the result of such support (and before T, mind you), was a mess that, "instead of sticking to a simple Go From Point A To Point B" Plan, complicates itself in a series of strange mechanics (...) and lines that, by the time you complete them, you wonder what you were planning to even do at the start, before promptly revaluating your life choice".

Luckily, this isn't G/P, but G/P/T, meaning that we'll be mostly using T cards, and the good old Big Yellow to fix hands... whatever is left to fix in such a "small-name (HOPT effects to throw)-number" decks. Unfortunately, we aren't immune from the necessity of using G cards.

Due to the fact that both Nasch and Mizael openly declare their power draws from Chaos, the same chaos of Black Luster (Chaos, in the original, Luster being a substitute for "White") Soldier and Chaos Space, and that Mizael happens to have very suspicious Attributes when it comes to his monsters, the theoretical terms and abbreviations to refer to what can and cannot work when making a GPT deck, as well as the interactions between the various lines, require multiple glossaries, lingos, and explanations just to properly understand, how, despite doing the exact opposite of what the anime would suggest it's supposed to synergize with (i.e. deck users employing the cards of their direct enemies in the anime; a "lore" issue shared with Pendulum Magician and Supreme King of Arc-V), the deck manages to work and be capable of winning.

Prepare yourself for a long reading session

Archetype Shorteners

Due to having very long names that come from overuse of Japanese kanji that occupy very little space but embody very complex concepts, (to the point of making Mandarin preferable), and the translation being assigned to an insufficiently-competent (I'm being kind) team at Konami, GPT, much like RE, BE and BB/DS, relies on a long tradition of letter and card shorteners to refer to each card, due to having a lot of otherwise ambiguous names, which, being translated very poorly (to put it lightly), still manage to be best remembered as shorteners. This is especially true when it comes to the distinguisher of the archetypes

G = Galaxy

GE = Galaxy-Eyes

P = Photon

T = Tachyon

N = Neo-

GEPD = Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon

GETD = Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon

NGETD = Neo-Galaxy Eyes Tachyon Dragon

OG = Original

Ciph = Cipher (see below)

Ｒ．Ｒ．Ｍ (領土竜名) -> D.D.N.

Too bad that the rest of the Mizael's Dragons (the Main Deck ones) don't adhere to the above scheme (and aren't Ts, outside of the obvious), as they instead go by a specific naming convention, here to be shortened as 領土竜名 (ryōdo-ryū-mei), a 3-parts name that every Mizael Dragon follows, (based on the Japanese, therefore partially lost in translation due to the Dragon-type and "the dragon" type being rendered with the name English word as opposed to the original, where the Type is written in katakana as opposed to the kanji in question), composed of, (and strictly in this order)

• 領土 (ryōdo, domain) - kanji, the domain in the "Galaxy" of the dragon in question, from which it draws power, or the title it's been assigned in the "Galaxy Court", in a way not too dissimilar to G/P. Because of the place of origination of said dragons (Chaos, here to be distinguished in Chaos, the series, and Chaos-Attribute, DARK/LIGHT), and because they're not "limited" to P (from φώς, "light", therefore LIGHT), it also draws from DARK monsters
• 竜 (ryū, dragon) - kanji, refers to the "dragon" part of the name that is copypasted in every single card possessed by Mizael, and constantly flexed by the same, the source of pride and power when it comes to the swagging the Barian Emperor is known for, in the face of other Barians, humans, or Kaitō. It is the absolute core of the
• 名 (mei, name) - katakana, as it's always in a foreign language, the given name of the dragon, and easily the most recognizable part of the localisation

Here's an example with 星間竜パーセク

• 星間 (seikan) - Is the Domain, the Interstellar, is space
• 竜 (ryū) - Is the "Dragon" part
• パーセク (pāseku) - "Parsec", is the given name of the dragon

Seikan-ryū Pāseku -> "Parsec, the Interstellar Dragon" (the order got changed, as you can see, thus confusing the naming convention)

By translating the naming convention, but keeping the order, we get "Domain Dragon Names", to be further shortened as DDN., under which fall the following monsters, followed by the abbrevations:

• Seikan-ryū Pāseku -> Parsec ("Parsec, The Interstellar Dragon")
• Seiun("stellar cloud")-ryū Nebyura -> Neb ("Nebula Dragon")
• Rasen (just Spiral)-ryū Baruji -> Bulge ("Galactic Spiral Dragon")
• Genkai-ryū Shuvarutsushiruto -> OGWarz ("Limit Dragon Schwarzschild")
• Mugen-ryū Shuvarutsushiruto -> InfWarz ("Infinity Dragon Schwarzschild")
• Kikō(radiant light, the pun was nailed by the translation tho)-ryū Seifāto -> Seyf ("Starliege Seyfert")

...to which GETD does NOT adhere, but what does adhere

• 根源竜レヴィオニア (kongen-ryū revionia) -> "Merged Origin/"Primordial Chaos" Dragon Levionia -> Neer ("Chaos Dragon Levianeer")

Exactly, Neer is a post-anime "Mizael Dragon", due to being an abiding DDN (and the only one to be searchable by Chaos Space; were they unsure on which archetype to support, so they decided to go with the middle ground?).

You're welcome.

Jujutsu Kaisen has got nothing on Yu-Gi-Oh

BE-stats

BE stands for Blue-Eyes, specifically BEWD, the OG card itself, but, here, due to "legacy references", what matters is being a BE-stat AKA a monster that is

• Dragon-type
• 3000 OR MORE ATK
• 2500 OR LESS DEF Melody can search every BE-stat, and only those. I'll let you guess what this means in practice. Because the definition is more lenient and inclusive than what the card suggests

Stolen Cards

With the above being said, it's very worth noting that TTransm is a card that, while requiring GETD in order to be used as a handtrap, is generic to GE for the activation while Set, and due to the whole rivalry between Kaitō and Mizael requiring similar looking or working cards, it somehow legitimises T decks to use G/P cards, including

• GEPD
• GEAD, as in Galaxy-Eyes Afterglow Dragon (see below for the specific uses)

If that wasn't enough, T also happens to use...

The Ciphackage

Don't you just love Once-Per-Turn-defying effects? I do.

Which is why, by making what's considered a pro gamer move, both Kaitō "Of The Past" and Mizael managed to steal the ace monsters of "Kaitō Of The Future" (ik it's a parallel dimension, shut up) for their dubious shenanigans.

Introducing the Ciphackage, a collection of 3 funny dudes who make life worse to everyone, by being summoned in the following succession, by completely ignoring the need of a RUM

• OGCiph (Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon) - OG steals monsters and serves as base for the 2 upgrades, off 2 level 8s, for most of the cases, without using other GEs, especially GETD or NGETD. Be advised, tho, that stealing, especially in a deck without GEPrime, makes OTKing more complicated, as you can only attack directly with the stealer itself. Nobody is saying you shouldn't activate this effect, but in case you're uncertain, before you throw your wincon, resist the urge and just Rank Up
• FulArm (Full Armor Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon) - FulArm is technically not a Ciph, but given that, not only he works exactly the same and can be summoned off every GE, including OG, it can also serve as base for Blade. FulArm is a double-edged sword in capabilities: on the one hand, it has 4k ATK and could swing for game from full health, on the other hand, its destruction effect only works on face-up, and requires R8 to be summoned on, meaning that Blade, a R9, is excluded. Ah, and the Equip effect is useless.
• CiphBlade (Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon Blade) - Having 800 less ATK, Blade can destroy every card unlike FulArm, and can be summoned off him (but NOT the reverse). While he can't shave off a whole Duelist health, its destruction effect more than makes for the dismissal of OG's steal, contributing to a second pop, to then attempt lethal from

Game meta-terms

The following aren't cards abbreviations, but necessary game meta-(from Greek μετά, meaning "after")abbrevations to understand card limitations (and abuse them)

YGO -> Yu-Gi-Oh

S/T -> Spell/Trap

Lv -> Level

R (before a number) -> Rank

Normal Summon -> NS

Special Summon -> SS

DL -> Duel Links

3x3 -> 3 (Main) Monster Zones, 3 S/T (and 1/2 Extra), the format of Duel Links, as opposed to the standard 5x5; very relevant for combo lines and viability discussions

Garnet -> Named after Gem-Knight Garnet (Brilliant Fusion), any card that should typically stay in the deck for other cards to function; further divided in Soft (suboptimal) and Hard (non-negotiable)

DP, SP, MP1, BP, EP -> The various Phases, Draw, Standby, Main, Battle, End

GY -> Graveyard

OPT -> Once Per Turn

SOPT -> Soft Once Per Turn ("Once per turn")

HOPT -> Hard Once Per Turn ("You can only...")

SHOPT -> Super Hard Once Per Turn ("...and only once that turn")

OTK -> One Turn victory

Quick -> Quick Effect, during either player's turn

NOPT -> Not Once Per Turn (when there is no limitation for that effect)

"Name" -> Card whose HOPT effect can be used/hasn't been used yet in that turn

EX(DL)/ED(YGO) -> Extra Deck

Prio = Turn Priority

Lethal -> Lethal Damage, as in a game-finishing damage (often by battle)

Range -> The proximity to the above

The Rest

Because I like to be consistent between guides, and for the sake of completeness, I'll hereby write the remaining needed abbrevations. It is advisable to memorize them to shorten the length of the guides, and to better navigate through online discussions about them

• Handtrap -> HT
• Trix -> Traptrix
• KingSarc - King's Sarcophagus
• Nibiru, The Primordial Being -> Nib (HAH, TAKE THIS G/P USERS. Why can't we play GEPL...)
• Effect Veiler -> Veil
• Droll&Lock Bird -> Droll
• Rank Up Magic - The Seventh One -> 7One (no, 71 isn't a good idea)
• Forbidden Droplet -> ForDrop
• Cosmic Cyclone -> CC
• Seventh Tachyon -> 7T
• Book Of Eclipse -> BoE
• Melody Of Awakening Dragon (a great return of broken translations from Japanese of "Dragon" from REDMD, this caseドラゴン doragon, not 龍/竜 ryū) -> Melody
• Tachyon Spiral Galaxy -> TSG (to distinguish from TSOD, Tachyon Spiral Of Destruction, unreleased at the time of writing this guide)
• Mat -> Xyz Material
• Number 38 Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy (Kibōkai-ryū Titanikku Gyarakushī, another DDN, this time from the ED, screwed by the translation of the manga continuity, where Kaitō also stands for Mizael, even using Dark Matter) -> Harb
• Divine Golden Shadow (Shin'eikin-; yes it's a DDN) Dragon Dragluxion -> Lux
• Galaxy Satellite Dragon -> GSD (Every other G and T cards will be abbreviated by their initial letter or first 3-to-5)

(Cards' abbreviations whose full name isn't useful to the understanding of this guide's contents, like REDMD, will not be explained here to save space)

Tech Breakdown

Cards are divided by their division. Because everything is great when everything is near and elaborate, isn't it?

This deck is very toxic, because the only deck in Yu-Gi-Oh that's "healthy" is an unviable, bad, one (but mains will do plenty of goalpost moving, nonetheless. Like me)

Staples

Staples are those cards that are used in a themed deck without belonging to a deck, to compensate for and help that themed deck in viability.

In other words, cards that shouldn't exist as they are both broken and RNG lasen unless they can be searched by very generous searchers, but are indeed omnipresent and ruin Yu-Gi-Oh. Especially when they have a "balancing" drawback that can be compensated by the deck in question ...but if you don't want to use them because you think you'd be "stoop so low"...you might as well quit Yu-Gi-Oh, because PVE isn't separated from PVP and Konami only cares about the latter. We've all been there. Then they banned "my perfectly innocent card"

• Nib - Nibiru is a card that contributed, by itself, to the further ruining of Yu-Gi-Oh, by encouraging the acceleration of unhealthy design to "balance" it and by being a "useless or broken, nothing in between" card that gatekeeps and ruins cards and deck design by fixating on the arbitrary limit of 5 summons per turn, thus requiring decks to go over to be disgusting, promotes decks who compensate for it with effects (which goes as well as you think) in way less summons, and slaughters everything else. This isn't salt, this is a fact. Not only T focuses on getting GETD with TTransm out on the 5th summon (much like that original Kaitō with his fantastic GEPL-AH THE PAIN), there is also TSG to protect those who aren't needed around or face-up for the HT function (hello BoE)/OTK. This card alone gives insane power compared to that pesky phantom thief or those annoying noodles, who can't even afford to run it. How tragic...
• CC - Backrow with GY effects, TTransm, Stardust, Necrovalley, BE. Why does novody play this card? PLAY IT
• GETP - Did you know you can search 2 T S/T by summoning each to a different side? Now you do. Primal does too many things at once: searches for S/T regardless of the deck playing it (note: the Owner is still you if you summon it on their side, they're just the controller), serves as extender, OTK body, enables InfWarz even if with monsters on your side, can make you search during their turn if they have a Xyz around, and, since the effect is mandatory, triggers GETD from THEIR field multiple times. GETP exists to make sure you get both TSG and TTransm in hand via Lux, and, being a Lv8 GE, allows for an instant Xyz follow-up with GEAD. It can also be cheated out via TCloud's on-search effect but in that case it can only be summoned to your field, and, most importantly, it's a BE-Stat. The only flaw is that the search is on a different chain-instance, meaning it can be stopped by Droll.
• Veil - Veil is a Chaos-Attribute and a NOPT HT, although limited to their turn, not yours. Used properly, it can stop entire turns, and/or make unbreakable boards breakable. It was a mistake to leave it unhit, and here we go
• Droll - Floodgate HT, speaks for itself. Mind that it's mutual, as it will shut off your GETP as well. This card is unsalvageable, as it mauls through the mirror, Trix, G/P
• ForDrop - Less powerful due to Lux therefore TTransm around, and very few Traps to use as fodder to disable interaction against them, but still broken, that should have been banned. Easily 7One's best friend and breaker of broken boards, for target-dodging and whatnot, as well as a card that's easier to use here thanks to the efficiency of InfWarz and the many S. Please ban this card.
• BoE - It's NOPT, it blocks TTransm unless Sol. Truly the Limit 3 is working.

BE-Stats And Searchers

Don't you just love splashability?

• GEPD - Garnet for GEAD, works even from hand, is still a trigger for the Skill. Is actually a soft one due to BoE being a thing and GEAD summoning with it around, should it be drawn. Refer to GEAD below
• Neer - He is both a DDN and a BE-stat, with a variable effect based on the banished Chaos-Attribute monsters to summon it (needs 3 — Xyz materials remain stuck), able to handrip, destroy, or even revive (choosing any of the 3 is HOPT and disables the rest), at the cost of giving up the attack unless and until disposed. The Summon, however, is NOPT, so you could use Cloud to recover it, or run more copies, granted you have the fuel, which this deck isn't known for having, although the Chaos-Attributes can be non-Dragon
• GEAD - GSD but better, at everything, given the summon of GEPD and BP boost, on top of being a Quick, and a BE-stat for extensions off any GE. You'd think it works only with GEPrime, but nope
• Melody - Broken searcher and cause of Kaiba grinding. If only it didn't require a discard, but at times that's what it's needed to get that juicy skill to fetch that Infwarz

DDN

Our bois

• InfWarz - Normally you keep this DDN for last, and that's what you should be doing, but with a smaller hand size, the 3x3, the lack of names makes, and the summoning condition makes it the standard. InfWarz is broken as it can summon either Bulge or GEAD from deck, allowing 2 Xyz with the Skill. Remember to summon GETP on their side if, for some reason, you're forced to summon something before, but, in general, and especially considering GEAD and GETP, do delay its activation. Also don't summon GETP with it as the effect activation is forced and the HOPT for your side will kick in. Notably locks away from GEPL alongside the Skill. Sigh...
• Neb - Extender and starter for all exigencies, at the price of disabling their effect on the field. Can unlock GEAD and Bulge. The deck is specifically built not to be affected by its lock (mostly for worse)
• Bulge - I wonder why they renamed this. Ah well. Extender from both hand or GY, main detach of Lux, and main target of InfWarz. Bulge is just that good. DON'T USE HIS EFFECT ON TCLOUD TO USE THE LATTER AS MAYERIAL. I WILL HAVE YOU ARRESTED FOR THIS
• Seyf - Very unlikely to be used for Level 8, it's mostly used to fetch Cloud to then trigger the on-search (or "Poplar" as it's the trend nowadays...should be "Lilybell", tch), or recycle anything, from Neer to whatever Lv8. Requires a NS, thus locks away from emergency Tribute Summons, or Cloud

Tachyon Backup

Remember, kids: interaction is bad. The only "healthy" deck is a unviable bad one. NOW GIVE ME THAT WIN

• TCloud - Multi purpose soft garnet that can be used for the Skill despite not being Lv8. The SS effect can truly be useful, although it forces GETP on your side. If possible, don't activate the effect to become a mat, unless it's a fringe scenario with NGETD. Doesn't work with TTransm but GETP does
• 7One - Has irritating activation mechanics, requires the Skill, can be stopped by Belle, and is stopped by Harb, but it's yet another thing to stop and summons NGETD, who is just broken. Hopefully the rest of your hand is working
• 7T - The searcher of DDN and main reason beyond the name, this searcher can search 3 Millions of monsters. Unfortunately it also shuffles after searching, (and without Sentry it cannot search Cloud or Seyf), but it's as universal as it gets when it comes to everything else, along with the Skill, and can be searched by GETP and Lux. It can't be the focus due to the 2 TTraps
• TSG - Like TTransm, the pro is the con: you need a Galaxy-Eyes face-up to activate and a GETD (even if N) face-up for the HT. It's a universal immunity, even from your own effects, like BoE, Nib AND EVEN YOUR OWN 7ONE AND GSD, but it WON'T prevent battle damage. Misuse against OTK decks at your own peril. Works best in long chains, especially before said BoE resolves, so to bait the perfect timing for TTransm, and like the former, can be searched by GETP and Lux. It's disgusting. GETP will get hit for this.
• TTransm - Make sure to search "SEGOC" on Yugipedia before using this. This card is not only broken but also a tidesplitter between good T players and the rest. TTransm works best (or, in some cases, only) when it's an extra and/or a big "Chain disruptor", and not actually a compensation for the negates of other the cards. Notably favours the player holding Prio. Please study the decks you're facing and laugh like a supervillain, or lose and cry like a yaoi fanfic character (the overlap between G/P/T mains and this is honestly concerning).

EX

"Kaiba/Kaitō/Mizael gets all best stuff and we don't"

"Harb isn't Mizael's"

"Yes, it is, shut up"

• NGETD - Shuts an entire turn, but only involving cards on their side of the field, and nowhere else, hence why they will try to cut it before it hits the field, compromising their chance to resist the rest. Is unfortunately Ignition, but if you draw TSG, you probably have won. Like the OG, it turns off your own card, but, unlike the former, it can shut down KingSarc, which is actually capable, by itself, of stop OTKs. Don't count on the multi-attack effect (shame). TTransm actually works with this
• GETD - There isn't much to say about this except that it can get stopped by Ty-Phon, another card that shouldn't have been released. And you'll need to detach to be able to use GSR from GY. For the GETP thingy, you need the latter to be activated from hand.

(See previous chapters for the Ciphackage)

• Lux - Number one champion at triggering Droll, this guy is just everything. Even if negated, sue to the detach being a cost, it can send Bulge to GY. And, yeah, it searches the T S/T, and summons GETD, with GSD as material. Like GETP, it has a good probability of getting hit, probably
• GSD - You can't Summon it because of the Skill so it works only with Lux. Quick that only works during the BP, must resolve before GEAD and GETD. Keep in mind the damage will be halved for that turn: please run a calculator BEFORE the battle. Immune from Ty-Phon