The term “hand trap” is quite possibly one of the strangest to appear in the game over recent years. To a player that left after the original series, or even in GX, it might not even make sense. It’s not a proper term—it’s an unofficial one referring to monsters that can activate effects in hand that can be used during the opponent’s turn, often disrupting the opponent’s plays, sometimes to the point of ending their turns.
These cards have taken up popularity in the last four years because players don’t have to set them, meaning they can avoid all the spell/trap removal that’s become so prevalent as the game has grown. This list looks at ten of the very best hand traps in Yu-Gi-Oh, talking about what they do and what makes them so amazing.
10 D.D. CROW
One of the more straightforward hand traps, D.D. Crow has actually been around for longer than all the extra deck shenanigans which turned it into such a prevalent card. Released in 2007’s Strike of Neos set, D.D. Crow has a quick effect that can be activated during either player’s turn, discarding itself to the graveyard to target a card in the opponent’s graveyard and banish it.
This card often plays a key part in stopping a player’s strategy in its tracks, banishing a card they might otherwise need. It’s this which has led to the card becoming a part of so many side decks throughout the years.
9 EFFECT VEILER
One of the oldest hand traps in existence. In certain formats starting with the Xyz Era, there was a time where this was an absolute must have at three copies. And why not? It can shut down an opponent’s turn entirely when played at the right moment.
It can be sent to the graveyard to target an Effect monster on the field and negate it’s effect during the opponent’s main phase. What made it fall out of favor was being unusable at any point other than the opponent’s main phase, meaning it couldn’t stop effects which activated during the player’s turn. But that still doesn’t stop it from being a superb budget option.
8 NIBIRU, THE PRIMAL BEING
Ever get tired of watching a combo deck’s play go on forever. Watching them summon through monster after monster while they build up some stupid board that’s impossible to get over? Enter, Nibiru, the Primal Being--the ultimate destruction.
When the opponent normal or special summons five or more monsters in a turn, the player can tribute all monsters on the field to special summon Nibiru from hand, then special summon a Primal Being Token to the opponent’s field. The downside of Nibiru is that the token it summons has the combined attack of all the monsters tributed to summon it, so the player better have a way to get rid of that token once it comes out.
7 ARTIFACT LANCEA
The easiest way to shut down opponents that rely on banishing to make their deck work, like Kozmos and Infernoids. Artifact Lancea is supposed to be an Artifact but feels more like it existed to be a side deck card.
After all, it doesn’t need anyone to destroy it to activate its effect. It can simply be tributed from the hand (or face-up field) to stop both players from banishing cards for the turn.
6 DROLL & LOCK BIRD
It took players a while to realize how great Droll & Lock Bird actually was. It came out as a rare in the 2010 set Starstrike Blast and people didn’t pay attention to it...until it was used, then suddenly everyone realized Starstrike Blast cards rarely ever got reprints, sending this simple rare through the roof.
Droll & Lock Bird activates when the opponent adds a card from the main deck to the hand outside the draw phase. By sending it to the grave, the opponent has to stop adding cards to their hand for the remainder of the turn, locking them out of any neat combos they had planned.
5 PSY-FRAMEGEAR GAMMA
The Psy-Frames could have been a nightmare if they were remotely consistent. Their Psy-Framegears negated everything and Omega banished cards from the opponent’s hand just for having them.
In any case, though it requires a player to have a Psy-Frame Driver in their deck, Gamma could negate a monster effect activated by the opponent while the player controlled no cards. Even better? It special summoned itself and Psy-Frame Driver for doing so, giving the player some instantaneous board presence and access to Psy-Framelord Omega.
4 GHOST REAPER & WINTER CHERRIES
Fortunately, this card was released after all the non-Extra Deck reliant decks (Kozmo, Monarchs, Nekroz) had mostly started to exit the meta. The ultimate side deck card, Ghost Reaper and Winter Cherries punishes players who rely too heavily on their extra deck.
By discarding this card, a player can reveal one monster in their Extra Deck, look at their opponent’s extra deck and banish all cards with the same name as the one they revealed. This card single-handedly shut down any deck that relied on a single boss monster, like the ABC-Dragon Buster released a few months after this card came out.
3 GHOST OGRE & SNOW RABBIT
The first of the ghost girl cards to be released, Ghost Ogre became a staple alongside Effect Veiler rather quickly. However, there’s a big difference between Ghost Ogre and Effect Veiler. Ghost Ogre does not negate, but rather sends itself from the hand or the field to the grave to destroy a monster, spell, or trap card after it activates its effect.
The effect still goes through….it’s just that’s the last time it gets to happen, because afterward the card is destroyed. An important distinction, though the card remains $3 despite six different reprints aside from the original version.
2 INFINITE IMPERMENANCE
Yes, this is supposed to be a “real” trap, but it can be activated from the hand so it absolutely still counts. Infinite Impermanence targets one monster on the field the opponent controls and negates it’s effect until the end of the turn.
It can be activated from the hand if the player controls no cards, meaning it can be activated by a player going second while the player going first is going off in their combo. When set it also has a bonus effect of negating spell and trap effects of any spell/trap cards activated in the same column, essentially rendering that zone useless for the remainder of the duel. No wonder it’s going for $50.
1 ASH BLOSSOM & JOYOUS SPRING
Our big-head queen remains on her throne. Ash Blossom activates under so many circumstances, because it literally hits everything modern decks do: adding cards from the deck to the hand, special summoning from the deck, and sending cards from the deck to the graveyard.
It’s no wonder that no matter how many times they reprint her, her price still won’t drop below six dollars a copy. She’s been printed as a common in structure decks...and they just raised the cost of the structure deck. It just feels like no matter when we see her, players can’t seem to hoard enough copies, because a well-timed Ash Blossom can stop a player’s entire turn.
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