Combat tricks, for the most part, are a thing of the past. Gone are the days where something like Honest or Kalut would instill absolute fear onto your opponent. The definition is a bit loose, but it usually involves some kind of effect that's related to affecting an attack or battle. However, there are still some cards that can do battle-related shenanigans while still being playable in modern Yu-Gi-Oh! Let's take a look at them!
Special thanks to MCK, Gooey, Voltaire, and all the other cool kids over at r/yugioh's discord server for helping out with research for this article!
The Invoker's Gambit
Aleister the Invoker is a pretty infamous card at this point. Regardless of player consensus though, there's no denying it's a pretty strong card! Being able to facilitate constant 1-card fusions and even GY removal is nothing to scoff at.
However, its first effect is good and isn't even once per turn! There's a couple of nice applications for this combat trick in the modern game outside of just protecting Mechaba. A neat example would be boosting El Shaddoll Winda! She's quite tough to out normally and Aleister's boost comes in handy here. Another one would be boosting Invoked Purgatrio's ATK!
Purg is a great clean-up card and an OTK tool in general thanks to its ability to pierce and attack all monsters. Giving it that extra push in damage can help burn your opponent to ashes! The extra 1000 goes a long way when you can attack multiple times.
Speaking of OTKs, when Mekk-Knight Invoked was popular, Aleister + any Mekk could facilitate an OTK thanks to Rainbow Neos! When paired with Mechaba and Aleister's effect, that's exactly 8000 to the dome.
One last notable would be protecting a negated Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon after it got hit with Forbidden Droplet.
All in all, Aleister is a pretty strong card that also happens to have a nifty combat trick attached to it. 10/10 for sure!
Whip with a Tale
Whiptail is one of the stronger Zoodiac cards in the lineup and it's easy to see why! The deck was plenty potent on its own already but Whip takes it up a notch. As a result, it's been key to most if not all versions of Zoodiac there ever was. In the initial advent of Zoo, it was one of the most popular names for both of its effects. Yes, combat tricks at work here!
Whiptail provided a huge source of damage for the Pure variants of the deck, as it can attack for 1200 and then attach itself to a Zoo for another boost! Not only that, it acted like a hand trap that helped protect your big guns such as Drident. The banish effect was great in dealing with otherwise problematic threats and it let your XYZs ram into Defense Position monsters easier. In its prime specifically, the banish cut-off Baobaboon, Burning Abyss, and Toadally floats! It also made sure Kirin wouldn't be coming back.
It's worth noting that the deck has undergone significant changes from 2017's RATE to 2021's war crime version, but the core of Whiptail remains the same.
One last thing was that in Tri-Brigade Zoodiac before Drident's ban, Shuraig could search Whiptail and equip itself to a revived Drident for a nice quick pop!
Neos of Truth
While we did mention that Honest is no longer good in the current game, it did get a worthy successor! Honest Neos is a strong 1-of in HEROs and is a great tool to get out of tough spots! You only ever need 1 in particular, as between Shadow Mist, Stratos, and E-Call you have a lot of ways to get to Honest Neos.
There are around three main use cases for this trusty monster. The first one is beating over problem cards such as Winda or a baited Dragoon! 2500 is a massive boost in ATK and is one of the strongest combat tricks in terms of raw power. The second use would be to close out games, which HERO quite likes due to being a going second OTK strategy. Last but not the least, it can be a precise safety net to help shield bosses like Dark Law and Plasma on your opponent's turn.
Unforgettable Knightmare
Orcust Knightmare when paired with Babel is one of the nastier ones around. Specifically, because you're able to activate in the Damage Step! This comes up as now Knightmare can't even be hit with Ash. Both the ATK boost and the free mill are significant for the deck.
You're able to dump important monsters such as Orochi, Cymbal, and World Wand into the fray! Not only that, the boost lets stuff like Dingirsu and friends have an easier time. It can even give Apollousa an extra negate temporarily! 800 is the magic number for her, after all. While you don't see these two around anymore as much, it's still a well-respected modern combat trick.
The Big Finishers
Borrelsword Dragon and Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax are both finishers in decks that can make use of them. While they've both been outshone by Accesscode in recent times, their cheap price and other effects allow them to step up still. Sword is able to OTK better on its own thanks to its double attacking and of course its famous combat trick. The ability to drain the ATK of whatever it attacks to boost itself is underrated and can often steal games on the spot!
Avramax on the other hand is a sturdy defensive piece of the endboard or a standalone boss monster. Protecting itself from targeting and shielding other monsters from attacks is no joke. The shuffle effect is a cool parting gift if it does get outed. Its combat trick of course is another awesome tool, making sure it's near impossible to defeat when fighting other Special Summoned monsters. This can clutch against difficult to out monsters such as Arrival with Danmari backing it up. While the card is generic, both Crusadia and Mekk-Knight have their own ways to really make use of the card. The former has it as a win condition and OTK tool with Revival, while the latter pairs it up with Secrets!
They're down in terms of popularity and play, but make no mistake in downplaying these two. Both of them are still fearsome in their own right.
Negation Chronicles
One of the last bastions of combat tricks lies in the heart of cards that can also stop plays! Forbidden Chalice, Forbidden Droplet, and Lost Wind come to mind as tools that see a lot of use. The two spells more so than the trap, but Lost Wind is still a good card on its own right. The ATK change plays a big role here, as they help clear out the problem monsters afterward!
A big part of what makes Droplet so good is after you cripple their monsters, they become easy pickings in the Battle Phase. Lost Wind even has the nasty upside of having the drop and negate be permanent.
Chalice has been talked about in-depth in some articles on the website, so we're not going to go over it too much. Feel free to check out these two articles though Dropping Apollo down to a 400 makes it easy pickings for your monsters to get over. It can even foil Accesscode attempting to end the game on the spot all while dropping it down to 2700!
One cool thing to add is that in Duel Links, people use it to make surprise OTKs with Masked Hero Anki, slamming for 3200 in the Damage Step! This is just one example where you wanna be using Chalice on your own monsters.
Archetypal versions of these cards are solid in their own decks too. Examples include Phantasm Spiral Power and Cross-Domination. Stopping your opponent's plays is always nice to have and weakening their monsters is the icing on the cake.
Fleurdelis is special in this regard since it's a little different in how it works but the key idea is there. Providing a much-appreciated non-targeting negate onto the field as well as beefing up the Dogmatika monsters by a good chunk upon attacking.
Honorable Mentions
We won't have time to cover everything, but here are some other decent cards that do see modern play and have combat tricks to them.
Lil-La Treat's GY effect rarely comes up, but it's a nice way to stop yourself from getting OTK'd or push the opponent into lethal range. The continuous spell takes a toll on their LP total so it's something to keep in mind.
Floowandereeze & Empen is an absurd floodgate threat that demands people to out it by battle, but its combat trick shields itself from that, making it a hard task to deal with for a good number of decks.
Prohibit Snake is a fun Cyberse hand trap that sees some usage in outing hard to deal with monsters. This was a nice meta call for Salad when Winda was running around wild when Invoked Shaddoll took over the scene.
Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon is still a popular option for a lot of decks, either handmade or via Tzolkin! It can puncture through Level 5 or higher monsters without much worry as a bonus. The main effect of course is the ability to stop monster effects.
Conclusion
And that wraps up our look into some of the combat tricks in today's game! I hope you enjoyed this article and I'll be seeing you all next time! Let us know down below which trick was your favorite, or if we missed something.
