Best Decks for World Championship (WCS) 2023 Qualifiers

The World Championship (WCS) Qualifier is the most competitive event in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, with a chance to participate in the World Championship this August representing their respective regions at stake. Want the best possible Deck to make it to the Regional Qualifiers stage? Take a look at what some of the best Decks are to use in the event!

Best Decks to Climb

The following Decks are most likely going to be the most prominent among the countless Decks that players can make in the WCS Qualifiers. Running them will be your best shot to climbing the ranks and making it to the Regional Qualifiers round on May 26th.

Ishizu Tearlaments

It truly is the Tear Zero meta right now as Ishizu Tearlaments stake its claim as the undisputed strongest Deck in the current meta. Its Fusion and mill-centric playstyle makes this Deck very interactive, to the point that plays can be made even during the opponent's turn, either by Fusion Summoning, sending cards to the Graveyard, or shuffling them back with the "Ishizu" cards.

It may have Decks that counter its playstyle like Exosisters and Floowandereeze, but even then there are certain cards that can be added to counter them. The Deck is flexible enough to use cards that have even the smallest sign of synergy. Expect this Deck to be the most encounted Deck while climbing the ranks, each one having their own tweaks and card numbers.

Key Cards of the Deck

Ishizu Tearlaments Deck List & Card Guide

Floowandereeze

Despite the numberous meta changes with mutliple Decks overtaking one another, Floowandereeze still remains a strong contender for one of the best Decks in the game. Their strategy with control using Normal Summons can be debilitating to Duelists unfamiliar with how the Deck works, and has a simple combo that already brings out a boss monster on the first turn.

The fact that it punishes the opponent whenever they Normal Summon makes Floowandereeze such a powerful Deck, alongside its brilliant resource control to maintain card advantage. One wrong move, and this Deck can immediately claim the opponent's turn with another chain of Normal Summons into another powerful boss monster.

Key Cards of the Deck

Floowandereeze Deck List & Card Guide

Exosisters

Ever since the Exosisters got their support with the release of Exosisters Returinia and Exosisters Martha in the Valiant Wings Selection Pack, the Deck has received a massive boost in power, and is one of the few Decks in the game that can stand toe-to-toe with the Tear Zero meta.

Their specialty to lock down the Graveyard and punish players who use it as a secondary resource pool hits quite a lot of Decks, and with proper set-up can lead you to Xyz Summoning multiple "Exosister" boss monsters at once. Unless the player knows which cards to stop first, this Deck can quickly run away with a win.

Key Cards of the Deck

Exosisters Deck List & Card Guide

Ghoti

The Ghoti Deck's playstyle is unique in that it likes having its archetype monsters banished, being Special Summoned if so in the next Standby Phase. With the proper set-up, it provides an immediate Special Summon in the middle of the opponent's turn, and can catch them off-guard with a powerful boss monster.

There is a lot of flexibility in the Extra Deck for being able to Synchro Summon Level 6, Level 8 and Level 10 monsters, and makes for quite an unpredictable choice on what monster is going to be summoned.

Key Cards of the Deck

Ghoti Deck List & Card Guide

Vernusylph

Vernusylph Decks are very versatile in their playstyle, and it all comes down to its effect of Special Summoning EARTH-type monsters from the GY as part of its discard effect. The archetype's being seen added to Adamancipator Decks as well, benefiting from their flexibility and ease of use.

So long as they can discard a card from the hand to activate their effects, Vernusylph Decks will always have a play on hand. That, and it using the Graveyard as a secondary resource pool means that the Deck can catch up with the other meta-defining Decks in terms of strength, card advantage and presence on the field.

Key Cards of the Deck

Vernusylph Deck List & Card Guide

Runick

Even with so many hits to its cards into the Forbidden & Limited Card banlist, Runick Decks are still seeing play in high Ranks to this day, shifting strategies from milling cards and shuffling them as much as possbile, to bottlenecking everything the opponent does through multiple floodgates.

It still has one of the most oppressive playstyles in the current meta, but other Decks can act much faster compared to Runick Decks, depending if the latter hasn't been able to set up their drawing engine via Runick Fountain, or have any floodgates set up to stop the opponent from playing properly.

Key Cards of the Deck

Runick Deck Lists
Pure Runick	Spright Runick
Ishizu Runick	Naturia Runick

Madolche

Madolche Decks have gotten some new light thanks to two specific archetypes: the "Ishizu" Cards and the Vernusylph. Their ability to maintain resources on hand makes this Deck so consistent, shuffling cards back into the Deck to be used later.

If you're looking for a Deck that can shift between aggression and control, or between winning as fast as possible to grinding out the long game, Madolche is a good choice to run for the WCS Qualifiers. Just make sure that consistency is maintained enough that you can never end with a dead draw.

Key Cards of the Deck

Madolche Deck List & Card Guide

Spright

When Sprights were introduced back in the Sprites of Miracle Selection Pack, it immediately made all Level 2-centric archetypes stronger by proxy, and became the best Deck Engine for a good while. A one-card combo starter like Spright Starter can almost always end in a full, near-unbreakable field if the Spright player manages to complete the combo uninterrupted.

What makes Spright so dangerous is that it's one of the most splashable archetypes, so long as the Deck they're supporting happens to have a crucial Level 2 monster. Depending on the Deck Recipe, it can be aggressive or oppressive. Just be weary of Decks that have Level 2 monsters with this archetype running around.

Key Cards of the Deck

Spright Deck Lists
Pure		Runick		Evil★Twin
Tri-Brigade		Melffy		Gishki

Honorable Mentions for Best Decks

These Decks can be considered powerful if not for the current Decks mentioned above dominating the meta in Master Duel. They are as potent as ever, and some might be even stronger due to changes since the last competitive event, whether it by them receiving support or certain cards being taken off the banlist.

Tenyi Swordsoul

Still one of the most consistent Decks in the meta, Tenyi Swordsoul's bread and butter combo is still simple enough that beginner players can pull it of no problem, but is still one of the strongest oppenings out there. Even just opening with Swordsoul of Taia is enough to get two boss monsters out in one fell swoop.

The Deck also benefits from destroying, bouncing and banishing cards as much as possible. It uses minimal play to maximum effect, and when in the hands of an experienced Duelist, the Deck has quite the potential to go deep into the WCS Qualifiers. It enjoys quite a match-up against the current meta leaders, but can hold its ground when the cards are right.

Key Cards of the Deck

Tenyi Swordsoul Deck List & Card Guide

P.U.N.K

P.U.N.K. Decks are one of the rare Decks that can use all 60 cards, making use of the archetype's affinity to pay Life Points for effects as is typical of a Psychic-type archetype. At the end of their combo is usually one of the hardest monsters to get rid off once on the field: Psychic End Punisher.

Decks that usually max out the capacity of 60 cards can either have a slow start or a really good hand to start their turn. Once the combo starts, it becomes an all-or-nothing strategy. It is high-risk, high-reward at its epitome, and more of then than not the players using this Deck are rewarded for their mastery over a P.U.N.K. Deck.

Key Cards of the Deck

Adventurer P.U.N.K. Deck List & Card Guide

HERO

Despite not having received any major support since the debut of Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer, HERO decks can steal wins because of their extensive card pool branching between its sub-archetypes. Combine them all together, and players can be surprised at the synergy they can create.

Even now, some HERO Decks are built to be counters against the current Tear Zero meta. There are quite a lot of boss monsters to consider in this Deck, thus making it crucial that players using HERO protect their combos, and have Plan Bs in place just in case the first strategy gets denied.

Key Cards of the Deck

HERO Deck List & Card Guide

Branded Despia

Before the arrival of Ishizu Tearlaments, Branded Despia was considered the best Fusion Deck in the game, let alone the best Deck in the game. They always seem to have an out for anything, and its signature Fusion Monster Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon was a challenge to remove safely from the game, because of its floating effect that destroys all monsters.

It has the perfect balance of offense with the aforementioned Mirrorjade, and defense with oppressive effects like Masquerade the Blazing Dragon's burn effect. Even more dangerous is that this Deck can even make use of the Tearlaments cards, further boosting the Deck's Fusion Summon options.

Key Cards of the Deck

Mathmech

When the Singular Strike Overthrow Secret Pack added Mathmech Circular into its card pool, it singlehandedly brought Mathmech Decks from obscurity to one of the strongest Decks at the time of release. The Deck became much more consistent, and the addition of a one-card combo starter made the Deck extremely powerful when going first.

Even more dangerous was the fact that if Mathmech plays get disrupted, much like Branded Despia it seems to always have a Plan B at the ready, able to shift playstyles in an instant. Its power of control made for a slow-paced game that can suddenly end in an instant with a powerful boss monster.

Against the fast pace in the current meta Mathmech will have a hard time, but against other Decks that came before, it might just stand a chance.

Key Cards of the Deck

Mathmech Deck List & Card Guide

Sky Strikers

It's hard to run a Deck that tries to maintain as much presence as possible on the field, while having so few Main Deck monsters, and yet Sky Striikers specialize in that.

Their specialty comes twofold by using as many Spell Cards as possible, and the Deck gets stronger the more Spell Cards the player has in their GY. Even better is that overtime, the Deck has gotten stronger, such as the addition of Sky Striker Mobilize - Linkage! and Sky Striker Ace - Kagari now playable at three copies.

If players aren't familiar with how the Sky Strikers play, they might find this to be a very frustrating Deck to play against, and seems to have the cards needed to get out of any sticky situation. It is a tricky Deck to learn and counter, but one very satisfying to pull off or defeat.

Key Cards of the Deck

Sky Strikers Deck List & Card Guide

Blackwing

Blackwing Decks have been one of the most iconic Synchro-based archetypes in the game, known for their very aggressive Synchro Summoning before other archetypes followed that playstyle. It has a wide variety of cards to support, and Winged Beast monsters just happen to have a lot of support cards.

The Deck just got even more support with the release of the Blackwing's Pride Selection Pack, providing even more new cards and boss monsters to consider. If left unchecked, a Blackwing Deck cane come up with a crazy board that can be as unbreakable as a top-tier Control Deck's.

Key Cards of the Deck

Blackwing Deck List & Card Guide
NOTE: The Blackwing Deck List will be receiving a rework soon; please look forward to it.

Poll: Your Deck in WCS Qualifiers

The road to greatness starts with a Deck players will want to use to rise to the top. We'd like to know what Decks will you be running once the WCS Qualifiers begin this May 16th!

Don't see your preferred Deck in the poll? Leave a comment to see if your Deck can stand against the best in the world!

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