Competitive Budget Deck Masterpost Sep 2017

One of the most frequently brought up questions **by far** on this subreddit asks, "What is the best deck I can build for X dollars?" or "What are some competitive budget decks?", and these posts tend to intensify post-banlist. Over the past few months, I've been working on this post as a sort of resource hub for those types of questions, and I hope to keep it updated for the foreseeable future.

This post will give recommendations for decks that can generally do well while remaining under $150 at the most expensive and under $50 at the least. That pricing includes a sample completed main deck and usually the majority of an extra deck, but not the side. This is also for decks that are meant to be somewhat competitive, so they are usually recommended based on having some degree of success in the OCG's previous format (July 2017). Thus, many of the frequently recommended budget decks like Deskbots and Graydle Kaiju will not be on here in full.

 

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# Semi-Budget, Competitive ($150+ range)

### [Pendulum Magicians](https://i.imgur.com/wBvJGK3.png)
**Price: $100+**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/918320)
Note: $150ish with decent staples (e.g. Ghost Ogre), $200 or higher with expensive staples (Ash Blossom). Price will fluctuate depending on how much Duelist Alliance eventually settles at.

* Combo-heavy deck that is good going first or second, very versatile and good at basically everything but has a few noticeable flaws
* One of the frontrunners for the title of strongest deck this format, at least until SPYRALs arrive. Might be able to put up a fight afterwards.
* Got some new tools to play with as Wavering Eyes and Luster Pendulum both were moved up on the banlist, although whether it's optimal to play these cards is up for debate.

 

###[ABC](https://i.imgur.com/jjvTqML.png)
**Price: $100+**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/866163)
Note: Will heavily depend on how much Destrudo costs once CIBR comes out.

* Linear combo deck with a very scary boss monster that can be extremely frustrating to out
* Combos popping up involving Destrudo and Cockadoodledoo make the deck much more fun to pilot than INOV-era ABC, but the deck is still quite straightforward once these combos are learned
* Slew of amazing reprints this year make this deck much more affordable: Anti-Spell Fragrance in BLLR, Desires in the Mega Tins, Strike in COTD: SE, and DBarrier in the Cyberse Link structure deck are all possibilities for this deck to run
* Poor SPYRAL matchup
* Destrudo is likely going to be a Secret Rare which would kill the Destrudo variant of this deck for budget players

 

###[Paleozoic Frogs](https://i.imgur.com/rHrWo8q.png)
**Price: $75-100**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/841889)
Note: Will be much higher with inclusion of cards like Ash Blossom, Card of Demise, etc.

* Backrow-heavy control style deck that is extremely versatile and interactive
* Release of Mistar Boy in CIBR makes this deck quite a bit more potent (usually when combined with Frogs)
* Deck is arguably not much weaker without access to Card of Demise as many players were ignoring Demise altogether even at the height of Paleo's popularity
* Upcoming releases of Mannequin Cat and Ojama Duo allow for some fun shenanigans for more casual players; can also be combined with Phantasm for a cheap and effective stun build
* Nerf to Dracos is a huge indirect buff for this deck, although the fact that Master Peace is still alive might be very troublesome for Paleo


 

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# Semi-Budget, Semi-Competitive ($100-150ish range)

###[HERO](https://i.imgur.com/XgpQpp5.png)
**Price: $75-100**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/918357)

* Heavy control-based playstyle that usually plays like a “protect the castle” deck that sits on Dark Law and backrow
* Dark Law is extremely effective against almost every single meta deck and wins games on its own
* Like ABC, its main price point came from expensive staples, so the deck is substantially cheaper with the reprints of Solemn Strike, Pot of Desires, etc.
* No Stratos makes it harder to have a live Honest Neos at all times and to clear away backrow, but triple Shadow Mist helps make a turn 1 Dark Law more consistent. Summoner Monk coming back to 3 is also a boon.
* No more Bahamut Shark in Master Rule 4 means the deck can't make Toad to back up its plays, making it weaker
* Somewhat linear and boring

 

###[Infernoid](https://i.imgur.com/KDPSyoP.png)
**Price: $75-100**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/915471)
Note: Price may depend on how much Ganesha ends up being after CIBR releases

* Aggro deck with big beaters that toolboxes from the graveyard while controlling the enemy’s grave
* Virtually unfazed by Master Rule 4 since the deck can just spam Omega and continue to rely on its maindeck Infernoids
* Release of Fire King Avatar Ganesha in CIBR makes the Ganesha variant a possibility, which is significantly less afraid of Ash Blossom
* Effective death of pure True Dracos and the import of Elder Entity N'tss makes Void Imagination Turbo a viable way to play the deck
* Significantly more affordable with BLLR reprinting Devyaty and Omega (and Minerva, I guess)
* Inconsistent, rather poor grind game if its Void spells are disrupted

 

###[Mermail Atlantean](https://i.imgur.com/62VMiVX.png)
**Price: $150**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/918367)

* Extremely potent OTK-focused combo-heavy deck that thrives going second
* Great at smashing through boards
* Not super reliant on the extra deck, though the loss of the Bahamut Shark -> Toadally Awesome play without needing a Link makes its turn 1 weaker
* More affordable with the Mermail Abyssteus reprint in BLLR
* Doesn't have a fantastic matchup vs most of the current meta

 

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# Budget, Casual ($100ish range)

###[Fluffal](https://i.imgur.com/1PJbWwi.png)
**Price: $50-100**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/841913)

* Explosive Fusion-centric OTK deck that smashes through boards and deals massive damage
* Deck adapts surprisingly well to Master Rule 4 by using Sabretooth’s revival effect, but can sometimes struggle to create board presence without Predaplants/Brilliant Fusion.
* Has little to no turn 1 disruption until Predaplant Dragostapelia gets imported.
* Lacks some card advantage and consistency until Frightfur Patchwork gets imported.

 

###[D/D/D](https://i.imgur.com/fuJWV02.png)
**Price: $80-100**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/841908)

* Combo deck utilizing Fusion/Synchro/Xyz summoning to set up its boards
* Hurt quite a lot by Master Rule 4, but can adapt in many ways. One variant focuses on Omega spam to free up the EMZ, and another focuses on sitting on one boss monster like Siegfried or High King Caesar, protecting it with backrow.
* Great grind game and can OTK from nowhere
* Reprints of Trish, Omega, and Crystal Wing are all absolute godsends to budget players of this deck
* High learning curve when playing this deck makes it difficult to pick up, but rewarding to play
* Struggles to deal with handtraps and disruption in general

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# Super Budget, Casual/Competitive ($50ish range)

###[Shiranui](https://i.imgur.com/CyQYDNM.png)
**Price: $50-100**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/915447)

* Synchrocentric Zombie deck that gains advantage off of many of its cards being in the GY or being banished
* Cheap but had a surprising amount of success in the OCG, namely its 3rd place performance at YOT Singapore 2017
* Easy access to multiple Omegas is a great thing for any Synchro deck to have post-Master Rule 4
* Easily incorporates Link engines like Gofu, Scapegoat, and Instant Fusion since the Shiranui engine itself is rather compact
 * The Link monsters run in the decklist should be 1 each of Link Spider, Ib the World Chalice Priestess, Ningirsu the World Chalice Priestess, and Missus Radiant, along with possibly a Borreload Dragon when it comes out.
* Non-linear playstyle (very reactive) and quite fun to play

 

###[Lightsworn](https://i.imgur.com/LIcmcNo.png)
**Price: $50-150**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/920197)

* Super-aggressive deck focused on self-milling
* Extremely easy to play and extremely easy to mix with a ton of other archetypes/engines i.e. Zombie, Shaddoll, etc
* Excellent deck for teaching new/returning players game mechanics and various types of effects
* Most of its good cards got reprinted in BLLR including Minerva; Charge of the Light Brigade coming back to 3 is amazing
* Loves using the Brilliant engine which can be inconsistent and may also be out of the price range of more budget players (about $45 for the entire engine as of this post)
* Sample decklist provided is more of a skeleton to be modified; feel free to add a Chaos engine, Zombies, Brilliant, etc.
* Struggles to adapt to Master Rule 4 as easily as many of the other decks in this list

 

###[Evilswarm](https://i.imgur.com/RDX2Qq9.png)
**Price: $50-80**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/918280)

* Another control-based "protect the castle" deck that turbos out Evilswarm Ophion, which prevents the Special Summon of level 5+ monsters
* Rescue Rabbit back at 3 is a great thing for this deck
* Like Shiranui, can also fit in Link engines quite easily such as Scapegoat/Gofu/etc.
* Ineffective vs. decks that use low-level monsters and/or spam Links
 * Against SPYRAL in particular, Ophion stops Master Plan and Sleeper from hitting the field, but can also be outed rather easily by the SPYRAL player.
* Struggles when going second
* Kinda boring

 

###[Phantasm Spiral](https://i.imgur.com/gY3xqQx.png)
**Price: $30-50**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/920318)

* Control deck focused on Normal Monsters and Tokens combined with extremely good disruptive traps
* Extremely good bang for your buck - the deck is dirt cheap and can probably still win you locals
* Doesn’t need the Extra Deck
* Surprising amount of diversity in how it can be built, ranging from the Dino build, to the Beast-Warrior build, to incorporating Paleo, to the Sparkman meme build
* Most effective with Card of Demise and Heat Wave, which are both quite expensive

 

###[Chain Burn](https://i.imgur.com/G4BGWEc.png)
**Price: $15-50**
[Price breakdown](http://yugiohdeckbuilder.com/deck/915424)

* Deck that aims to win through burn damage
* Extremely good bang for your buck - the deck is dirt cheap and has topped YCS's before (albeit more expensive versions)
* Doesn’t need the Extra Deck
* Strangely enough, the deck gets more effective the better its competition is, since cards like Secret Barrel and Balance of Judgment capitalize on how far ahead the opponent is
* Most effective with Card of Demise, which is quite expensive
* Deck can be almost impossible to win with when playing against someone who knows how to play vs. Chain Burn

 

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###Pretty much any new archetype (COTD onwards) without Secret Rare support
Basically anything besides Trickstar (since  Reincarnation is expensive) or World Chalice (since Firewall, Ningirsu, and Brilliant are expensive)

###Pretty much any old, decent archetype without some expensive individual cards
Most decks fall into this category, including Deskbots, Yosenju, Graydle Kaiju, Dinomist, Performapals, Shinobirds, and many many more. These will not be covered because there are too many of them, and most of them fail to be as competitive as the above decks.