Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Deck Guide: Yubel

"Yubel" is an archetype that features monsters with the Fiend type and Dark attribute inspired by Yubel, from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. All "Yubel" monsters have 0 ATK/DEF and the same effect: they can't be destroyed in battle, and the battles that involve them don't deal battle damage to their controller.

Additionally, when your main "Yubel" monsters in ATK position are attacked by an enemy monster, before you calculate the battle damage, your opponent will be dealt damage equal to their monster's ATK.

Even though they have existed for years as a card, Yubel has become an archetype quite recently, in the Phantom Nightmare set. In this set, Yubel got enough cards, which allowed us to build an interesting deck in today's Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.

Ever since, Yubel has popped up in regional tournaments' topcuts, which shows Konami made these new cards just what they needed to be. These cards, besides feeding fans' nostalgia, can build a strategy that can perform well in tournaments.

Another interesting detail is that this archetype is about to get new support cards: they'll be released to Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG at the end of April, in the Legacy of Destruction set, and might, potentially, consolidate this archetype's spot at the top of the metagame.

Check out everything you need to know about the Yubel archetype below!

Main Deck

To start, we have our starters. Samsara D Lotus is our main starter, as it can summon "Yubel" monsters straight from our deck, and also summons itself from our graveyard during our end phase if we have a Yubel on the board. Additionally, it has an effect that allows us to interact with our opponent during their turn.

We use the Dark Beckoning Beast + Opening of the Spirit Gates engine, which boosts this strategy's power ceiling, and allows us access to "Unchained" monsters.

As for Piri Reis Map, it works as a ROTA: this card allows us to add to our hand not only any of our starters, but also "Yubel" monsters that have 0 ATK.

Spirit of Yubel is Yubel's newest form, and it is critical for this deck's consistency because it gets us this archetype's spells/traps when summoned, besides the fact it can summon the original Yubel when it is destroyed.

Nightmare Pain is the most important spell in this archetype because it is both a "consistency" card and an "interaction" card. The reason behind this is that this card searches for other cards in our deck and also has continuous effects that force our opponent's monsters to attack our "Yubel" monsters - so, it forces our opponent to take damage from these battles. As for Mature Chronicle, it is a slower card, but it is also critical in a grind game, when it will be useful as a follow-up, a way to interact, and can even look for a Super Polymerization.

As this archetype's trap card, we have Eternal Favorite, which is this deck's main way to interact. Its main effect is similar to Super Polymerization's, as it allows you to fusion summon using your opponent's monsters. Additionally, it is also a follow-up card, considering it has another effect that allows us to summon one of our banned "Yubel" monsters or "Yubel" monsters in our graveyard.

Geistgrinder Golem is an extender that summons itself to your opponent's board, which means, it is useful for OTK plays, playing around boardbreakers, and also to create an advantage in terms of life points in matches that go to time.

The original Yubel is considered a "garnet" because we don't want it in our hand, but it is essential in this strategy, as this archetype is centered around it - and it is also the main piece in our final board. An even bigger "garnet" is Yubel - Terror Incarnate, which can only be summoned if Yubel is destroyed. This card's other role is its effect, which destroys all other monsters on the board. This is useful to deal with a wide board of enemies.

Unchained Soul of Sharvara is another "garnet" in this deck, and is useful to access the "Unchained" engine, which will boost your power ceiling, besides giving you more versatility.

Pot of Prosperity is responsible for giving this deck more consistency, which is one of its weak spots (and it will also give you more resilience), at least until we get the new wave of support cards next set.

This deck's tech cards are divided into board breakers and handtraps. Super Polymerization has a lot of synergy with this archetype, and we can even look for it with one of our spells. In turn, Triple Tactics Talent will be useful both to break your opponent's board when you're going second and to punish your opponent when they interact with your handtraps as you're going first.

As for handtraps, this deck uses Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Infinite Impermanence, which are the most generic handtraps in the game, and, to top it all off, Nibiru, the Primal Being, which is well positioned in the format nowadays.

Extra Deck

Yubel - The Loving Defender Forever has the same effect as the other Yubel forms, but it can't be destroyed by effects. And, when it is attacked, at the end of your damage step, your opponent will take damage equal to its monster's ATK, and, if that happens, the monster which attacked you will be banned. This card's greatest feature is its fusion materials, considering you can use all the monsters on the enemy board to summon it.

The other fusions in this deck are the best Super Polymerization targets in this format.

Unchained Soul Lord of Yama is the main starter in your "Unchained" engine, once it can search for Unchained Soul of Sharvara in your deck to put Unchained Soul of Rage on your final board, which, in turn, will let you access S:P Little Knight during your opponent's turn.

Salamangreat Almiraj is a bit unpopular, but it is useful usually when you need to put one of your monsters in your graveyard. In turn, Muckraker From the Underworld is a follow-up card, recycles your Fiend-type monsters, and can also protect them from being destroyed.

Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max and Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe are responsible for your OTK combo, and solve one of this deck's issues: being aggressive, as your monsters have 0 ATK.

Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis and Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder complement your extra deck: one disables effects from monsters with 3000 or more ATK points (Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis), and the other card clears boards without triggering "destruction" effects (Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder).

The "Yubel" archetype has a short, linear combo, but, when added to the extra engine this deck uses, it can become more extensive. Your final board usually has the following cards: Yubel, Nightmare Pain, and Eternal Favorite.

Additionally, if you can access the deck's second engine, you'll also have the following cards: Unchained Soul of Sharvara, Opening of the Spirit Gates, and also Samsara D Lotus.

Standard Combo

I'll leave below the standard combo if you open with Samsara D Lotus + Dark Beckoning Beast:

> First, normal-summon Dark Beckoning Beast and activate its effect to get Opening of the Spirit Gates from your deck and add it to your hand;

> Next, activate Opening of the Spirit Gates, get the other copy of Dark Beckoning Beast from your deck and add it to your hand;

> Considering Dark Beckoning Beast gives you an extra normal-summon, use it to summon Samsara D Lotus, and activate its "self-tributing" effect to summon a Yubel monster from your deck;

> Summon Spirit of Yubel and activate its effect to play Nightmare Pain in your spell/trap zone;

> Activate Opening of the Spirit Gates' second effect, discarding Dark Beckoning Beast in your hand to special-summon Samsara D Lotus from your graveyard;

> Use Samsara D Lotus and Dark Beckoning Beast as material to summon Unchained Soul Lord of Yama, and activate its effect to get Unchained Soul of Sharvara from your deck and add it to your hand;

> Use Unchained Soul of Sharvara's effect to destroy the Nightmare Pain you played on your backrow, and to make it summon itself from your hand;

> Next, activate Opening of the Spirit Gates' third effect to get the Nightmare Pain from your graveyard and add it to your hand;

> Use Unchained Soul of Sharvara and Unchained Soul Lord of Yama as material to summon Unchained Soul of Rage, and, next, activate Nightmare Pain;

> Use Nightmare Pain's effect to destroy Spirit of Yubel and get Eternal Favorite from your deck and add it to your hand;

> Next, organize the chain in the following way: chain link 1- Spirit of Yubel (to summon Yubel from your deck); chain link 2 - Unchained Soul Lord of Yama (so it can banish itself from your graveyard and so you can special summon Spirit of Yubel in your graveyard);

> Now, play Eternal Favorite in one of your spell/trap zones and carry on to your turn's end step;

> During your end step; activate Samsara D Lotus effect so it can summon itself from your graveyard, and next offer Spirit of Yubel as tribute, according to Yubel's effect.

This way, your board will end up like this:

Yubel's going first is quite interesting, considering its main way to interact is by using your opponent's monsters as much as you can as material to summon your boss monster - Yubel - The Loving Defender Forever. This way, even though this deck isn't considered meta, it has a lot of potential, and can get some victories against the main decks in this format, as long as it is piloted well. What can compromise its strategy when you go first with it is that it is vulnerable to interactions, which makes it badly positioned in the meta because the meta right now uses more handtraps.

Yubel's engine isn't strong enough to break well-established boards, particularly if, besides dealing with the interactions on your board, your opponent has handtraps. So, this deck depends a lot on its tech cards when you go second with it, and the main one is Super Polymerization. Decks that can play around Super Polymerization many times make Yubel's game plan harder when you go second with it.

So, what did you think of this deck? I hope you liked learning more about it, and that you have a lot of fun with it.

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