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I was going shopping last week and I suddenly realized we are already in October. That seems obvious but it also means that Halloween is coming soon and I need to start thinking of nice ways to spend some spooky time with friends and family. This year I would really like to put together some playing events, involving in particular Yu-Gi-Oh! as this is quickly becoming my son's favourite card game.
Yu-Gi-Oh! seems a very easy choice for an Halloween themed activity. In fact every card you summon in the game is technically a “monster” although some of them looks quite cute and lovable. Of course, there are others that look they just came out from an horror movie. Focusing on these last ones, the idea would be to make some Halloween-inspired decks for the occasion and, perhaps, to have a mini themed tournament with some friends.
The plan looks quite fun although the next question would be: which cards could be used to make good Halloween Yu-Gi-Oh! deck?
Trick Or Treat? Which Card Would You Pick
A good place to start looking for Halloween themed cards is the list of Yu-Gi-Oh archetypes. Just as a reminder, Archetypes are groups of cards with similar naming or artwork that have been designed to support and complement each other. There are over 300 of them at the moment, and among them there are a good number that could be used for your themed deck.
An obvious choice could be to use cards from Zombie, Vampire, Skull servant or Ghostrick archetypes but there are also many other series with very good spooky cards. Among all them, you can find a few cards that are clearly Halloween themed like “Pumpkin Kings of the Ghosts”, “Hallohallo”, “Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts”, “Pumpkin Carriage” or “Ghostrick Lantern”.
A lot more cards will have a good horror movie vibe and should be perfectly suited for All Hallows' evening. If you are looking for some examples you may look to “Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll”, “Vampire Sorcerer”, “Spirit reaper”, “Ghostrick Maryor”, “Malice Doll of Demise” or “The Lady in Wight” .
And if you look a further down in the black cauldron you can spot a few cards that are considered among the creepiest of them all like “The Wicked Worm Beast”, “Il Blud” or “Outer Entity Nyarla”.
You can see most of the cards mentioned above in one of the pictures in this article although it must be said they are all taken from the web and therefore I don't own any rights on the images used.
Do You Dare Playing That Deck
Depending on the size of your collection, you should probably already have a few suitable cards to build a good spooky event deck. Obviously, we do not play Yu-Gi-Oh! only for fun and a good deck may not be enough for us, Monster minded players with World domination dreams..
Most of the archetypes mentioned before have been in fact strongly supported in the past and could be good options also for competitive event. Among them, Zombie-based decks are probably those that get back more frequently from the tomb. This is also due to the fact that Konami released a couple of good structure decks for them in the past making these cards quite affordable.
Let's have a look to three good example of how to make your opponent really fear your Halloween-inspired deck.
Night Of The Undead: Skull Servants Deck
“Skull Servant” is quite an old card in Yu-Gi-Oh! History and we have seen it repeatedly in both the
anime and the manga. You may have some laying around from past collections and I am sure Konami will feature them again sooner or later.
As a Lv1 normal monster with 300 ATK and 200 DEF, Skull servant is not a very powerful monster. Its main role in reality is to go to the graveyard to prepare for the advent of “King of the Skull Servants”, as this card gains 1000 ATK for every Skull Servant in the graveyard. Key strategic aspect: a lot of cards of this archetype are treated as "Skull Servant" while in your graveyard making the King a very powerful killing machine. Moreover, if the King is destroyed, you can banish another Skull Servant to revive it. Classic necromancer strategy.
In addition to the above, the deck could benefit from having a lot of Wight cards. “The Lady in Wight”, in particular, is a good card to have as it make your other Level 3 or lower Zombies immune to spells and traps. “Underworld Goddess of the Closed World” (Link-5 monster from Balzing Vortex ) can also prevent your opponent from summoning from the their graveyard as well as posing some serious threat with its 3000 ATK. Last but not least, “Voloferniges, the Darkest Dragon Doomrider” (Xyz Lv7 monster from Dawn of Majesty or 2022 Tin of the Pharaoh's Gods ) could give the King of the Skull Servants a massive boost by detaching both its materials and destroying an opposing monster.
Brains... Brains... - Zombies Horde Deck
Zombies are a classic character in both Halloween and Yu-Gi-Oh! Not surprisingly Konami made a full deck around this archetype back in 2018.
The centre of most Zombie strategies is the magic field card “Zombie World” (for example from Ghosts From The Past 2022). This card not only changes all monsters on the field and in the GYs to Zombie monsters but prevents all players to Tribute Summon monsters, except Zombie monsters. These two effects disrupt a lot of decks strategies that relies on monster type synergy to work.
To ensure Zombie World will keep its central role the deck should include "Necroworld Banshee" to easily access "Zombie World" and "Immortal Ruler" to recycle it if needed. The rest of the deck could include a lot of different Zombie cards depending on your preference.
"Pyramid Turtle" for example allows you to summon a monster with 2000 DEF from the deck opening the way to the excellent "Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon". Red-eyes then will allow you to Summon any Zombie which it destroys by battle from the Graveyard and I know you remember that all monsters are Zombies if Zombie World is in play.
Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring is another great zombie card you want to add to your deck. It has been largely used in almost any deck in the past months and it is now available as common in the Yu-Gi-Oh Structure deck “Legend of the Crystal Beasts”.
I Never Drink... Wine - Vampires Deck
Vampire archetype includes a very good selection of monsters and magic cards that could really make your deck shine. Two key cards to consider as the base of your strategy are “Vampire Kingdom” and “Vampire Domain”.
The first is a field card that supports your monster by giving 500 ATK during damage calculation to any Zombie monster. Most important, it helps in controlling your opponent strategy by destroying a card on the field if your opponent sends a card from the deck to the GY. This card works in tandem with the magic card “Gravekeeper's Servant” that forces your opponent to discard a card from their deck in order to attack. And if you add the Trap Card, "Vampire Takeover" you can make sure Vampire Kingdom will get in play quickly.
Vampire Domain is a continuous magic card that allows you to normal summon a Vampire in addition to any other monster you have summoned and sets this turn. Its second effect allows you to also gain LP each time your "Vampire" monster inflicts battle damage to your opponent. Classic blood-sucking strategy.
When it comes to monsters, "Vampire Lord", "Vampire Lady", "Vampire Duke" and "Vampire Grace" are among the strongest effect monster you could chose. “Crimson Knight Vampire Bram” and “Dhampir Vampire Sheridan” are must-have Xyz choices for your extra deck considering their special effects. Dhampir Vampire Sheridan, in particular, allows you to special summon to your field a monster sent to your opponent Graveyard by card effect or battle.
Final monster to mention is "Vampire Sorcerer", a very helpful Lv4 monster that allows you to search any DARK "Vampire" monster or any "Vampire" Spell/Trap Card. Moreover, the sorcerer allows you to Normal Summon one "Vampire" monster without tributing any other monster.