What is Trinity?
How good is your favorite Yugioh archetype in Trinity? This article covers some of the most played Trinity Decks, with links to YDK files you can download and netdeck for the next YGOPROdeck Trinity Cup.
Trinity is an Alternate Yugioh Format, just like how the TCG, OCG, Speed Duels, Duel Links, and GOAT are all different ways to play our favorite card game. It's a pseudo-highlander format with a Summon Limit, making the Duels have much more player interaction, whilst also increasing depth and complexity in deckbuilding. You can read more about Trinity in the introduction article, or watch the intro video here!
If you'd like to enter tournaments, they're held monthly on the Trinity Discord!
Dragons
Blue-Eyes White Dragons
A White Dragon with the Ice-Cold glare. It's a fan-favorite, and one of the most fearsome Trinity Decks. In a slower format where ATK points are relevant, 3000 is a huge number. Generally, your goal with Blue-Eyes is to crush the opponent as quickly as possible, with both Main and Extra Deck monsters. You can make Xyz plays (notably Number 90: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord), Synchro Summons (With the lockdown power of Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon), and the Link toolbox (The White Stone of Ancients makes this easy). Although this specific deck doesn't use the fusions, they're still playable if you're into that sort of thing.
https://ygoprodeck.com/blue-eyes-trinity-september-2019/
Guardragon
Stinky Linky Guardragons are known and feared throughout the TCG for their ability to spam dragon monsters on to the field, creating unbreakable boards. Luckily, this is Trinity Format Yugioh, so we don't have to worry about that! Guardragons exist around 1 card here: Ib the World Chalice Justiciar. By summoning Ib with a normal dragon monster in the graveyard, all sorts of madness can occur! If Ib the World Chalice Justicar survives after you make her, you can end on Berserker of the Tenyi, Guardragon Elpy, and Borreload Savage Dragon (with 2 counters and 3600 attack!). Even if she dies, you can still make a field of Chaos Dragon Levianeer, Guardragon Elpy, and Omni-Dragon Brotaur, which can then search Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay!
https://ygoprodeck.com/guardragons-trinity-september-2019/
Dragon Ruler/Assault Mode
This deck is... interesting. The bad hands? You've lost before you've even begun. The good hands? Oh boy, does it seem broken. While the TCG has a lot of first turn board-building, it's practically unheard of here. Dragons are one of the few decks to accomplish such things. Well, if you consider a "board" a single recurring negate. The main combo is listed in the profile below. It lets you drop a Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode turn 1, and is resilient to all handtraps. Even through negation, you can often end with a Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons. If your plan of sneaking a win early fails, you still have Dragon Rulers to take over the game!
https://ygoprodeck.com/dragon-ruler-assault-mode-trinity-september-2019/
Rokket
These bullet bois are a pretty new to the metagame, having just received amazing new support in the form of Rokket Tracer and Rokket Synchron. This deck plays as a low-pressure deck in the early game by using the T.G. esque rockets to search out any specific card you need, and then finally wins by slowly churning out boss monsters until the opponent runs out of outs. Borreload Furious Dragon is easy to make with Necro Fusion, and combos amazingly with Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons (which can be made by just sending Absorouter Dragon to the GY, then searching Rokket Synchron!). Borreload eXcharge Dragon is a 3k behemoth which can't be targeted. OG Borreload Dragon is equally hard to kill, and can be made somewhat easily with Boot Sector Launch. If it dies, just use Borreload Savage Dragon to make a 4x negation monster!
https://ygoprodeck.com/rokket-trinity-september-2019/
Deck Breakdown: Rokket Revolt (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdSAWQkTTUE
Burning Abyss
Pure Burning Abyss
There are two constants in life: Death, and the presence of Burning Abyss in any Yugioh metagame. The same is true for Trinity, though it's true that BA have lost a lot of traction recently. The main goal with Burning Abyss is really just to loop though Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, and Cir, Malebrache of the Burning Abyss. At some point, you can make Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal, which can annoy the opponent and float into Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss, which is difficult for the opponent to out. BA are competent as a pure deck, but I'd advise focusing on the GY element and opting to play other GY cards in the same deck. A "pure" build is often seen as 40 cards, with 3 copies of Tour Guide from the Underworld.
https://ygoprodeck.com/burning-abyss-trinity-september-2019/
Burning Abyss / Timelord Control
I played a similar version to this Factory build in the August 2019 YTC tournament and got top 4 with it. This strategy aims to restrict absolutely everything which the opponent does, until their deck is empty of any useful resources, such that they can't assemble any real wincon. During the 20-30 turns it takes to achieve this, we accrue advantage very slowly with slight +1s, namely with the deck's primary draw engine, Dark Factory of More Production. By turn 20, you should have 3-4 negates on board (usually handtraps, searched by Sangan), a full grip of 6 cards in hand, and your opponent should have less than 4 cards in their combined hand/field. This means that there is no possible move for them to win the game. There are a number of ways to deal 8k, but at this point you've already won.
https://ygoprodeck.com/the-deck-dark-factory-control/
Danger! Dark World!
This isn't a true Burning Abyss deck, but does utilize the BA engine to search out Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, as well as having solid synergy with discard cards. I'm pretty happy with this build, but you can modify it as much as you like. it plays an Archfiend engine with Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror for removal, and Danger monsters for obvious reasons. This deck can put a lot of damage on board while also maindecking a solid amount of traps, so it's a bit of a Jack-of-all trades.
https://ygoprodeck.com/danger-dark-world-trinity-september-2019/
HERO
Destiny HERO
HERO is an eternally relevant strategy in this format. Destiny HERO is quite possibly the strongest of the various HERO builds, mostly due to the bonkers power of Fusion Destiny. Destiny HERO - Dominance is Forbidden, but that doesn't really matter here. The 1-card combo is as follows: Use Fusion Destiny to send Destiny HERO - Dynatag and any other "Destiny HERO" monster you like (Often this will be Destiny HERO - Drawhand or Destiny HERO - Celestial). This Summons Destiny HERO - Dystopia, which gains 1000 ATK thanks to Dynatag, making Dystopia's pop effect come online. If you can also send a The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, you can then search Phantom Knights' Wing, which will protect Dystopia from Fusion Destiny's destruction clause. Because of this alone, many builds opt to play multiple copies of Fusion Destiny and Keeper of Dragon Magic as their trinities.
https://ygoprodeck.com/destiny-hero-pk-trinity-september-2019/
Elemental HERO / Neos HERO / Neo-Spacian
As far as i'm aware, a "pure" Neo-Spacian build of HERO isn't competitively viable. However, Neos Fusion is an absurd card, acting similarly to Fusion Destiny. This means that "Endgame HERO" is a real deck, and is quite possibly the strongest of all HERO builds. Neos Fusion makes Elemental HERO Brave Neos. Brave Neos searches out Miracle Contact, which then makes Elemental HERO Neos Knight. All of this is possible by using Keeper of Dragon Magic as a glue to stick the various HERO strategies together.
https://ygoprodeck.com/endgame-hero-trinity-september-2019/
Machine
Kozmo
Although Kozmo Dark Destroyer is Forbidden, Kozmo Dark Eclipser is just as annoying to out. I'd call it a litmus test of this format - so much so that I've actually made a video on ways to out it (the best ones being Berserker of the Tenyi and Kamion the Timelord, a sidedeck staple). The deck prides itself on a turn 1 Kozmo Tincan play. Outside of that, you can deal a lot of damage with Kozmo DOG Fighter or stun your opponent with Kozmoll Dark Lady. Kozmoll Wickedwitch (and the ships) have destruction protection, making this deck the epitome of "Midrange", if that term can even be applied to Yugioh. Of all the trinity decks on this list, this is one of the simplest and strongest, making it a great pick for any new players!
https://ygoprodeck.com/kozmo-trinity-september-2019/
Trains
Trains are historically pretty strong in Trinity. They've become even stronger with the release of Double Headed Anger Knuckle, which is oftentimes even stronger than a Rank 10 Xyz monster. Super Express Bullet Train, Ruffian Railcar, and Double Headed Anger Knuckle create a sort of "loop" of advantage, letting you easily search up most things you need. The core gameplan is to use your normal summons to make high-rank Xyz monsters while also generating card advantage.
https://ygoprodeck.com/infinitrack-trains-trinity-september-2019/
OjamABC
The main combo for ABC is to activate Union Hangar, search A - Assault Core, and equip B - Buster Drake to it. When Drake is sent to the GY, you get to search for C - Crush Wyvern, which is the final component for ABC-Dragon Buster, an absurdly strong boss monster which can is easily revivable. Being a 2-turn setup is actually pretty fast for Trinity format, but it's recommended that you play around banishing effects. Other ways to mill ABC parts involve using Magical Scientist (Semi-Forbidden) to summon Chimeratech Rampage Dragon, or by using Future Fusion, revealing Chimeratech Overdragon. The Ojamas here are actually very real. Ojama Pajama and Ojamassimilation give you pretty easy access to ABC and even help protect it while it's on the field.
https://ygoprodeck.com/ojama-abc-trinity-september-2019/
Pendulum
Odd-Eyes / Metalfoe / Magician
"Neither player can Normal/Special Summon Effect Monsters more than 3 times each turn". When people first read this rule, they tend to skim over one intentional feature of it: If multiple monsters are summoned at the same time, it count counts as 1 summon towards the summon limit. For pendulum, this means that a Pendulum Summon of 6 monsters only counts as 1 summon. What's more, if you normal summon a normal monster - for example, any of the Metalfoes normal monsters - or link summon a LANphorhynchus, that won't count towards the limit either. However, pends are still affected by Master Rule 4 and by Spell/Trap removal, meaning that there is still a lot of counterplay to the strategy. Due to the vanilla thing, Metalfoes tends to be a core feature of pretty much all pendulum lists. A very bare-bones list can be found here:
https://ygoprodeck.com/metalfoes-odd-eyes-pendulum-trinity-september-2019/
Qliphort / Endymion / Cyber Dragon Infinity
Generally, any given Pendulum Payoff Boss Monster you can think of will be Semi-Forbidden. This deck plays one of the better ones, Cyber Dragon Infinity. The added consistency of Summoner's Art is needed here to search out the Cyber Dragon Infinity combo ASAP. This works by Searching Qliphort Monolith with Qliphort Scout, using a metalfoes monster to pop the Scout, then pendulum summoning both it and Monolith. That leaves you with 2 level 5 Machine monsters on 0 effect monster summons, which you can slap on top of each other to make Cyber Dragon Nova, then Cyber Dragon Infinity. Endymion has an unbound card - Spell Power Mastery - which allows for very fluid scale searching.
https://ygoprodeck.com/cyber-dragon-infinity-pendulum-trinity-september-2019/
Ritual
Herald of Perfection / Cyber Angel
Herald turbo is a control deck with the heart of a combo deck. Its main goal is to go first, use support for rituals and light fairies to turbo out Herald of Perfection, and feed it with a near-endless supply of light fairies to control their every move. Some hands let you also ritual summon Saffira, Queen of Dragons, which allows for more negations. You'll have to make use of Ritual Sanctuary's second effect, as well as recyclers like Herald of Pure Light, to keep adding fairies back to hand. Lee the World Chalice Fairy is perfect for this- once per turn, you can send a monster from hand or field to the graveyard to add it back to hand. Overall, I wouldn't call it a top contender, but if you like upsetting your opponents (and don't mind bricking), it's a great way to do that.
https://ygoprodeck.com/herald-of-perfection-turbo-trinity-august-2019/
Nekroz
Know the best way to scare people away from this format? Slam a Nekroz of Trishula in their face! It works every time. Well, until the opponent learns not to have a card in either their hand, field, or GY. If that's the case, we can just gain a ton of advantage with Nekroz of Unicore and Nekroz of Valkyrus. Alternatively, you also have a number of high-pressure options in the form of Nekroz of Gungnir and Nekroz of Decisive armor. One warning, however: This deck is really not recommended to players who are unfamiliar with "Nekroz" cards. Just like the TCG version from 2015, It's a high-search power deck, meaning that it has a trillion lines of play.
https://ygoprodeck.com/nekroz-trinity-september-2019/
Shaddoll
ABCyberDoll (ABC + Shaddoll + Cyber Dragon)
Cyber Dragon is possibly the most played side deck engine in all of Trinity. The main thing you're going to do with Cyber Dragons is send Cyber Dragon Herz to the GY as discard fodder, search Cyber Dragon Core, use Core to search Cybernetic Overflow, and then make a Chimeratech Megafleet Dragon. Overflow doesn't target, and pops 2 cards for free. This is absolutely absurd and will make your opponent regret ever putting anything in the Extra Monster Zone. Here's a Shaddoll list which focuses more on Cydra than most other Trinity decks do (Generally, cydras are really just side deck cards, rather than part of the core strategy):
https://ygoprodeck.com/abcyberdoll-trinity-september-2019/
Shaddoll Frightfur
Frightfur is one of the most aggressive Trinity decks seen in the current metagame, with many hands being able to lead to swift OTKs. However, due to the prevalent nature of backrow in the format, it's also a deck which can fall flat on its face. The main gameplan is simple, since it's a deck with a very clear gameplan. It's still able to play a more resource oriented gameplan, especially with multiple card advantage engines. Edge Imp Chain and Frightfur Kraken are the most common ways to generate card advantage; builds playing Tour Guide from the Underworld and Sangan can also recur resources pretty easily. This build features yet another way to remove the cost of Fusion Summoning, as Shaddoll monsters are excellent at generating cards.
https://ygoprodeck.com/shaddoll-frightfur-trinity-september-2019/
Shaddoll Dark Magician
Disclaimer: You really need the Heart of the Cards to make this work. Oh, your grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards? I understand. Though played by the King of Games himself, Dark Magician got the short end of the Magician's Rod when KaibaCorp was handing out new support (no wonder Blue-Eyes is much more playable). The deck listed below alleviates many of the issues with a Shaddoll engine. Once you've stabilized the board, Dark Magical Circle is a powerful banishing effect. Though prone to removal, Eternal Soul is still endless recursion!
https://ygoprodeck.com/dark-magician-shaddoll-trinity-september-2019/
Thunder Dragon
Thunder Dragon 2800
So, both Thunder Dragon Titan and Thunder Dragon Colossus are Forbidden in Trinity. This means that Thunder Dragon Fusion is used for... you guessed it, Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, I kid you not. My build below is a 35-card construction of wonder, playing the spiciest tech cards you've ever seen. It swings for huge damage reasonably quickly with Number C101: Silent Honor DARK, Thunder Dragonduo, and Angel of Zera.
https://ygoprodeck.com/thunder-dragon-trinity-august-2019/
Metaphys Thunder Dragon
This deck is a very recent innovation and is currently performing well in the monthly YGOPROdeck Trinity Cup. It combines the synergy of banishing cards between Metaphys monsters and Thunder Dragons to great effect, and has some big haymaker plays, true to the nature of Thunder Dragon. Since it's a new deck, the list possibly isn't that refined. A suggestion mentioned in the Trinity Discord was to play Trap Trick (Semi-Forbidden) to banish Metaphys Ascension, netting multiple searches and a draw.
https://ygoprodeck.com/metaphys-thunder-dragon-trinity-september-2019/
How to play Thunder Dragon (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWnTfZl4zcU&t=619
Phantasm Spiral / Pacifis
Pacifis Mekk-Knight
Pacifis, the Phantasm City is one of the poster children of Trinity. Ever since MBT (formerly MonoBlueTron) started playing Trinity, it's been his go-to deck of choice. As Pacifis is treated as "Umi" while in the maindeck, it's classified as Unbound on the Forbidden list. This meanst you can play 3 copies of it for free. Given the massive amount of Field Spell searchers in the game (even Demise of the Land, which is played because it's highlander), Pacifis has become a very consistent deck capable of churning out 2000 ATK monsters while also searching removal and negation. This build plays Mekk-Knights, in order to proc Pacifis with Mekk Knight Avram. It also has access to Mekk-Knight Morning Star, which is a pretty strong card in itself, allowing for negation with Mekk-Knight trap cards.
Pacifis Mekk-Knight (Trinity, September 2019)
Weather Painter Pure
Though traditionally played in conjunction with Pacifis, The Phantasm City, Weather Painters are also viable with various other engines. Weather Painters were always pretty solid in Trinity, being one of the first tempo / control decks tested in the format, just under 2 years ago. Since then, they received an amazing searchable searcher for their searchers (thanks, Konami) in the form of The Weather Rainbowed Canvas. This is a pretty absolute control deck, being able to not only protect its Canvases with a tutorable The Weather Painter Aurora, but also apply tempo pressure with things such as The Weather Thundery Canvas. The deck is close to the definition of "Tier 1", but inconsistencies in opening The Weather Painter Snow leave it lagging behind a little.
https://ygoprodeck.com/weather-painter-trinity-september-2019/
Dinosaur Pacifis
Previously an incredibly powerful deck (at the forefront of the metagame for a very long time), Dinosaur recently received a number of hits on the most recent Trinity Forbidden List. Despite that, the community has been brewing, and presents: Pacifis Dinosaur. This build is very rank 4 focused, and swaps out the now-forbidden Lost World for a 3-card playset of the unbound Pacifis, the Phantasm City (which received a buff in the last list). In essence, it's a combination of the Dinorabbit decks of old and the Pacifis decks of Trinity, with a clear tempo synergy and gameplan. It's still capable of turn 1 Evolsaur Dolkka or Evolzar Laggia, though it's largely untested at the start of this new metagame.
https://ygoprodeck.com/dinosaur-pacifis-trinity-september-2019/
Zoodiac
Sky Striker Zoodiac
Zoodiac prides itself on a single thing: Making a 2800 ATK monster which banish and pierce through anything in its way. What's more, the combo to make the 2800 duder only requires one card - any way to get to Zoodiac Thoroughblade or Zoodiac Ratpier (which is unbound, so you can play 3 Ratpier for free). Just make a Zoodiac Tigermortar to attach Zoodiac Thoroughblade, then a Zoodiac Broadbull (unlimited in trinity) to search out Zoodiac Whiptail! This causes a bunch of issues for the opponent, as you still have a full grip of cards left over. If they kill your monster? Just Zoodiac Combo or Pot of Avarice the Zoos back into the deck to do it all over again. The build listed below uses the Extra Monster Zone synergy in combination with Sky Strikers to make a pretty fierce control deck.
https://ygoprodeck.com/zoodiac-sky-striker-trinity-august-2019/
Zoodiac Lunalight
Another new Trinity Deck which just cropped up (and won) the most recent YGOPROdeck Trinity Cup is Zoodiac Lunalight Shaddoll. This deck combines several things: The search power of Zoodiac Broadbull. A Game-ending threat of Lunalight Sabre Dancer. Incredible fusion support of Shaddoll Fusion. Oh, and the easy access removal to literally any legal monster in the game via Zoodiac Whiptail. This build was made by GuiltyGear, one of Trinity's leading deck geniuses, who just happens to have the most all-time points in YGOPROdeck Trinity Cups.
https://ygoprodeck.com/lunalight-zoodiac-trinity-september-2019/
Other Trinity Decks
In this section, you'll find the "miscellaneous" Decks. They aren't worse than the above lists. In fact, I'd argue that Traptrix Sera Trinity Decks (below) are extremely potent at the moment. These lists are just not categorized, since trinity has such an absurdly high number of playable strategies. Scan through the most recently updated Trinity decks and you'll find even more lists. If your favorite archetype isn't listed here, it might exist in one of the tournament reports. Failing that, you can ask on the Trinity Discord.
Altergeist Traptrix
These ghouls have pretty much always been a Tier 1 Trinity Deck, even with numerous hits on the banlist. Altergeist Silquitous is Forbidden, and both Altergeist Meluseek and Altergeist Protocol are Semi-Forbidden. Despite all of this, it's still an extremely good deck even to this day - It's rare to ever see a tournament with 0 Altergeist presence. The deck prides itself on search and removal power though the absurd Altergeist Meluseek, with the ability to remove anything without destroying it, in the Damage Step, and then search anything it needs to counter the opponent's gameplan. These days you'll normally find it mixed in with Traptrix due to the lightning fast card advantage power of Traptrix Sera.
https://ygoprodeck.com/altergeist-traptrix-trinity-september-2019/
Koa'Ki Meiru Reanimator
This is a pretty untested and unseen deck, but I'm confident that it's able to do things in the metagame. An absurd first turn play of Ties of the Brethren puts 3 negates on board, letting you have a fast start. With a whole sleuth of revival traps and a Card of Safe Return engine lets you recover midgame, and Block Dragon is the final nail in the coffin for your opponent. Reviving any Koa'ki Meiru puts their negation effect online, and the Gogogo guys are just pure value for Rank 4 Xyz monsters and Card of Safe Return.
https://ygoprodeck.com/koaki-reanimator-trinity-august-2019/
Gem-Knight
With access to three copies of Brilliant Fusion, Gem-Knights can easily spam Fusion Monsters. Gem-Knight fusion is also easily searchable with Gem-Knight Phantom Quartz. Because of this, the deck is pretty consistent, despite needing a full set of Normal Monsters. As a sub-engine, this particular build plays Koa'ki Meirus for some light interruption. The deck has some strong openings and is very combo-focused, often letting you "cheat" the summon limit. Remember: Non-effect monsters don't count towards it! This deck can easily summon 4-5 monsters each turn.
https://ygoprodeck.com/koaki-gem-knight-trinity-september-2019/
Mermail OTK
I am a HUGE Mermail fan. This deck can somehow do everything - grind, OTK, drop big lads, make all types of Extra Deck monster, you name it. What makes the deck good in Trinity is the one card OTK, seen in Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince. The 1-card 8200 damage OTK is explained in this video. There are many more such combos, but I don't have the space to cover them all here, so you can just check them out in the video linked below. Mermail can both OTK and grind though backrow, but is weak to control decks if you have a bad hand. I'd also put it among the most skill-testing decks in all of Trinity, which really is saying something. If you're a fan of combo, and are prepared for a STEEP learning curve, this is 100% the deck for you!
https://ygoprodeck.com/mermail-trinity-august-2019/
Vampire / Shiranui
Though you can play Zombies using only "Vampire" cards or only "Shiranui" cards, combining both has the best results. These ghouls have been an incredibly powerful type throughout Yugioh history. All of their support cards accumulate into an extremely powerful deck: Vampire Fraulein makes attacking a nightmare for the opponent. You can use Shiranui Style Swallow's Slash to pop 3 cards the opponent controls, interrupting anything they try to do. While all of this is going on, your multiple 1-card playstarters are churning out Synchros like it's nobody's business. Shiranui Spectralsword lets you summon the hard to kill Archfiend Zombie-Skull for essentially no cost. Other tuners like Uni-Zombie let you synch up into PSY-Framelord Omega, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon, and Shiranui Shogunsaga.
https://ygoprodeck.com/vampire-shiranui-zombies-trinity-september-2019/
