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Yu-Gi-Oh Strategies to Beat Gods

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The Egyptian god cards possess powerful abilities far beyond many of the creatures in the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” trading card and video game series and can pose a serious threat to your success. Two of the three gods have playable cards: Obelisk the Tormentor and the Winged Dragon of Ra. The third Egyptian god, Slifer the Sky Dragon, is not available for play in any card or video game as of November 2011.

Non-Targeted Spells

Enemy players cannot target Obelisk the Tormentor and the Winged Dragon of Ra with spells, traps or abilities. This prevents you from destroying these god cards with any cards that specifically target one creature. Cards that affect all opposing monsters, however, can affect the god cards. Lightning Vortex destroys all face-up monsters on your opponent’s side of the field. Torrential Tribute allows you to destroy all monsters whenever a player summons a new monster. Note that the winged dragon’s special ability prevents the use of all spell and trap cards during the time when the god card comes into play. Once in play, however, the winged dragon cannot prevent your spell or trap cards from activating.

Combat Damage

Obelisk the Tormentor has ATK and DEF values of 4,000. The Winged Dragon of Ra’s ATK and DEF values vary based on the amount of life points a player sacrifices upon summoning the creature. Players begin with a life total of 4,000 points, which means that a single attack from Obelisk can win the match, and the winged dragon may have an ATK of 3,900 or greater. Cards with even greater ATK values than these exist in the game, however, and the god cards may die to combat damage. Block the Egyptian gods with Rainbow Dragon or use the Honest monster card’s special ability to increase the ATK and DEF values of any monster to match that of the Egyptian god it faces.

Direct Damage

Direct damage spells and traps ignore the Egyptian gods altogether, allowing you to attack your opponent’s life totals directly. When an opponent runs out of life, all of her cards disappear from the playing area, even the Egyptian gods. This is especially important in multiplayer variants of the game and when playing in multiplayer matches with friends online. Players summoning the Winged Dragon of Ra must sacrifice their life points to provide the card with ATK and DEF values, and many players will use this effect to reduce their life to a minimum 100 points per the card’s rules. Use cards such as Ookazi or Ceasefire to inflict damage directly upon your opponent and reduce her life total to 0.

Other Strategies

Many more difficult strategies for defeating the Egyptian gods require entire decks based around a single concept. Exodia decks can defeat a player instantly by assembling the five pieces of Exodia, the Forbidden One in a player’s hand or field of play. Last Turn decks win by creating a single duel between two monsters with the victor winning the entire match. Spellcaster decks use multiple spell and trap cards along with Mage Power card to create a monster with massive ATK and DEF values able to overcome the Egyptian god cards through sheer strength.

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