With over nine million players registered to the service, it would seem that Konami has a hit on their hands. While the game is not perfect, it certainly is quite the start to a very promising venture. With its recent popularity, Master Duel has attracted fans of the original series, and to their frustration, many seem to be having trouble adapting to the modern state of the game. Sadly,
How can you help your friend who has just returned to the game succeed in Master Duel? Obviously, there will be caveats because there is no catch-all to entertaining everyone, as all of us find something different to enjoy in this children's card game. But I can offer you the start I was handed from my more experienced friends, and I have expanded upon it by spending quite a few hours in the game, crunching the numbers.
Step One: Gems Talk!
Master Duel has an in-game economy that runs on a micro-currency called gems, and while yes, you could certainly empty your wallet into the game and call it good, let us examine the numbers first. Just for completing the tutorial you would receive 1,000 gems and 2,400 gems upon completion of Duel Strategy, plus an extra 200 for each finished scenario. Through this method, you can very quickly amass 5,000 gems, an amount you can only reach outside of in-game play by buying them for eighty dollars! That is before you begin doing solo campaigns where you are introduced to other archetypes. This brings us to Master Duel's battle pass, which for 600 gems gives you some cosmetic items, 100 ultimate rare tokens (so you can get more cards for your deck), and 600 gems.
Now I would like to hit home that buying the battle pass when you first start Master Duel is a major gain because you don't go negative 600 gems for buying it, you at once have 600 gems sent to your mission tab ready for pick up.
So, since you have all these extra resources from the battle pass and 5,000 gems to spend—let's get to the fun part!
Step Two: Buy Important Cards!
In the shop, there is a tab called "Special" and you may be thinking "What's so special about it?" Directly beneath the tab where you just bought the battle pass, there is a tab called "Bundle Deal" and these bundles are quite the deals indeed. The bundles are 750 gems and you can get some rather substantial value out of them—ten generic packs and a free ultimateultra rare depending on which one you chose. But having said that, you do have access to all three. Normally, ten packs of any type are 1,000 gems and ultimate rare cards are not guaranteed every time you buy ten packs. This is an exceptionally good deal to offer inexperienced players to grow their collection and get new cards they might not be aware of, or help them see the new archetypes if they haven't decided already what they want to build. Speaking of …
Step Three: Build Deck and Bring It Up to Speed!
Master Duel works on a "wildcard" system where you get tokens of specific rarities that you can trade in for specific cards and those tokens can be gained by completing missions in the battle pass or solo mode. For players returning to Yu-Gi-Oh!, it is best to start by picking an archetype, a group of cards that have a cohesive strategy with one another and offer a form of gameplan. Usually, fresh players prefer strategies they developed or the signature style of their favorite character. Either style works, but the key lies in bringing that old strategy up to speed with the modern era. Sure, they can play Relinquished, but make sure to show them the newly added support they have received.
Jank is jank, but good jank can make use of cards like
Step Four: Finish Solo Mode!
This one is going to take some time, but if you finish step four, it should be fine. Completing solo mode is quite good; it presents an actual challenge, whether you use the loaner deck or your own, and by completing each "Gate", as they are called, you are awarded gems, usually 200 per chapter. Each gate teaches the player about the archetype and their distinct mechanics by showing their story, playstyle and a final duel to show what playing against them is like, followed by two more duels that are more difficult. By the time you are done with solo mode, you should have another 3,600–5,000 gems alongside the number of endless missions completed. But now that you have a ton of gems, let's get specific.
Step Five: The Secret of the Packs!
By now, you probably know what you would like to build and are probably going to be tired of opening generic packs just to find the archetype cards you're missing. There is an easy solution to this in the form of secret packs. Secret packs are specialized packs that can be accessed for 24 hours after being unlocked and can hold anything from two to three different archetypes and are a more consistent way to get the cards you need for the same price, 1,000 gems for ten packs. Secret packs can be acquired in a myriad of ways, notably by opening the generic booster packs or by generating a secret rare card or higher to get a free pack and unlock the secret pack.
Step Six: D-D-D-DUEL!
You are ready for the ladder, go ahead, hit the duel button, and be ready to have some fun! Rookie rank should be easy if you stay committed to grinding and don't get frustrated. Most of the players at this rank are just using the decks they got for completing the tutorial, but if you use the advice from this article, it should be a snap. Bronze rank will likely test your deck building as these players have altered structure decks, but you should be fine.
Silver, however, will test your skills as a deck builder and player, as your competitors likely know what they are doing to a competent level. Gold is where you will begin to see actual meta decks that can include five negate builds but still have flaws, and the outcome of duels usually depends on misplays between players. Once you make it to platinum, it is here where you meet the cream of the crop, some of the best players in Master Duel using tier one decks. Good luck! Or if the ladder isn't your speed and you just want to enjoy some Yu-Gi-Oh!, make a duel room and play with your friends or random players!
Alright, that's all from me, I hope you get some use out of this article and that it can be a guide to helping newer players get to know the system we have in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. Let me know what you think of the guide, is it helpful? Did I miss a way to get some extra gems? What deck did you build first? Have a good rest of your day!
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