i'm starting to feel like modern Yugioh is a clown car, and every time the banlist apprehends the first few clowns that lead the format, 4-5 more step out to take their place. we didn't even have Linkross in handcuffs yet before VFD took the wheel and Vanity's Ruler got into the passenger seat. happy new year

This post will give recommendations for decks that can generally do well while generally remaining in the $50 to $150 price range.

Estimated pricing includes a sample completed main deck and some or all of an extra deck, but no side.
Pricing is based mainly on singles and you can easily save a lot of money by buying cores for most of these lists all at once.
Decks were chosen usually based on having some degree of success in recent TCG formats.
- These deck choices and rankings are heavily based on online tournaments such as Konami's Remote Duel Invitationals, LCS, and other assorted online events.
- Performance on DuelingBook's ranked ladder also slightly factors in to the placement of these decks, with data taken from Ygoscope.
Many decklists will include some middle-range power cards that might drive the price point up, which can be cut for players on an extreme budget. For instance, a set of Ash is $25-30 currently, but Ash is included in many of these lists as a generic staple that players might already own.
Conversely, decklists are oftentimes easily upgraded by adding power cards such as Forbidden Droplet and Triple Tactics Talent.

Decks are grouped into four "tiers" and listed alphabetically by tier. Decklists are built prioritizing simplicity and effectiveness on a budget. Not all of them are perfect, but this post is not an F. Unless there is a particularly offensive deckbuilding error that you want to point out, please don't use this thread to nitpick at the sample decklists. Don't feel obligated to stick to the sample lists either; you should experiment and play cards that feel comfortable and/or optimal to you.
Feel free to leave suggestions for budget players, whether it's a budget tech choice for one of the decks on this list or whether it's a different deck that you think can compete in the coming months.
[Last updated: 23 Jan 2021]
Previous version: October 2020 Post

S Tier

The best bang for your buck. Decks in this category have the capacity to top premier events, though they're almost always supplemented with expensive power cards.

Drytron

Price: $100 Imgur | DuelingBook

New Ritual-based combo deck from Genesis Impact that has a lot of recursion from the Graveyard, boasting a strong grind game as well as potent turn 1 boards that can win the game outright.
The level 1 Drytron cards tribute other Drytron cards or Ritual cards in hand/field, so this deck abuses Cyber Angel Benten's lack of a once per turn clause to gain a ton of resources and search a lot of power LIGHT Fairy cards, such as Herald of Orange Light and Vanity's Ruler.
Drytron Nova is an automatic 3-of inclusion in every competitive version of this deck, but also currently sits at around $40 each in NA. Novas are a massive boost in consistency, though the deck is honestly still playable without it, and is quite cheap otherwise. With even one copy of Nova, you should look to also include three copies of Drytron Fafnir (their Field Spell) which can search Nova as well.
The absence of Nova + Fafnir from the main leaves a lot of space to be filled. There are many ways you can go about this.
- The sample list plays a small Pre-Prep engine with Herald of Perfection. It's very simple to play, especially if you're unfamiliar with the deck, and helps raise your overall ceiling - athough optimized competitive builds have generally moved away from Pre-Prep.
- Another viable Ritual engine is the Megalith engine, which provides numerous options. These variants generally also suffer from consistency issues, made worse by the lack of Novas in the budget version. Less consistent access to Alpha means less consistent usage of extra Ritual monsters.
- You could play cards that search Drytron monsters in an attempt to patch up consistency. Examples include Where Arf Thou, or normal summons that fetch Drytrons such as Cyber Dragon Core (getting Emergency) and Mathematician. Also viable is Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin, which is an interesting tech in Drytron that helps you beat handtraps like Droll & Lock Bird.
- Finally, you can always just play more handtraps or generic power cards.
This deck is a relatively new deck, and is getting support in Lightning Overdrive, which might indicate that it's relatively safe from the next banlist. However, there's no telling what Konami will do, so don't take my word as gospel.

Virtual World

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

Combo deck with an extra deck toolbox, using Synchro and Xyz monsters to break boards or to win the game with True King of All Calamities and their recurring boss monster, Shenshen. The Virtual World monsters have a shared restriction which means that Link monsters are usually not played in this deck at all.
Most of the main deck VW monsters can dump other VW cards from Deck to GY, and their continuous spell Qinglong is a searcher in the GY. Combined with Virtual World Mai-Hime - Lulu's ability to search for VW cards as well, the deck is consistent at doing the same combos and executing its gameplan almost every game, as most combinations of 2 Virtual World cards result in some type of combo.
Despite being one of the top decks in the format, this deck is also quite cheap. Staples aside, the most pricey card in the main is Lulu at around $18-20 each. Can you get away with fewer copies of her? Probably, but you really want to get 3 due to Desires, and her being one of the best cards in your deck.
Saw success immediately after PHRA release, even in the previous combo-infested format where Virtual World took the most representation and top cut spots at LCS 8, eventually winning the entire tournament. Post-banlist, they also took the most top cut spots and then won LCS 9, versus an entirely different playing field full of Zoodiac, Drytron, and Eldlich variants.
Recent combos using Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing to search either one of the Virtual World tuners (Lulu or Laolao) have opened up some new combo routes that make Foolish Burial Goods a lot more forgiving to play, allowing you to still end on impressive boards despite using Qinglong somewhat suboptimally. On the other hand, Chaofeng's price also spiked quite heavily after LCS 9, so you may not want to play it.
Non-budget players will first and foremost want to add Zeus to the Extra Deck, as it helps greatly with going second and also dealing with threats like Dragoon. Another common inclusion is Triple Tactics Talents, though this card is by no means mandatory in the deck, and has also seen a decline in popularity lately.

A Tier

Strong decks, but limited either by a lack of access to powerful staples or by the natural ceiling of the deck. You could still top a regional with one of these decks on a good day.

Altergeist

Price: $75+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Control + backrow deck with incredible recursion and the ability to come back from almost no resources
Altergeist have seen sparse success ever since FLOD, and are a respectable budget contender. They've have had a fairly modest showing online, and saw recent success with a top 8 finish at LCS 9. That deck was a Dogmatika variant piloted by Lars Junginger, playing the recently released Artemis, the Magistus Moon Maiden to make it slightly easier to summon Ecclesia in some hands.
The Dogmatika engine is viable even on a modest budget. It's possible to simply play Dogmatika Punishment as a powerful trap capable of utilizing your extra deck, and even a single copy of Ecclesia (around $20 each right now) goes a long way for improving the power of this package. Of course, the deck is also perfectly playable as pure Altergeist.
Budget players are most hurt by a lack of Pot of Extravagance, Infinite Impermanence, and Evenly Matched. The first three of these cards have reprints, but none are quite cheap enough yet to be easily accessible on a budget.
The extra deck is extremely flexible (as Altergeist are typically played with Extravagance, anyway) and several options are simply tech cards, such as Elder Entity N'tss.
Main deck trap choices are also extremely flexible. Torrential is quite powerful against Virtual World, but this could easily be swapped out for many other cards depending on your budget, available card pool, and locals demographics.
The release of Blazing Vortex in early February also brings along an incredibly powerful staple card in Pot of Prosperity. Altergeist, along with virtually every other deck that enjoys running Pot of Extravagance currently, will appreciate Prosperity as well. Many OCG decks are choosing to play both Extrav + Prosperity in their decklists. Of course, Prosperity is also a Secret Rare, and is virtually guaranteed to be around $100, so this is not applicable on a budget.

Prank-Kids

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

Floaty combo/control deck with 4 maindeck Prank-Kids that all float into any other Prank-Kid when used for a Link or Fusion summon
Got a great boost in Phantom Rage with Prank-Kids Meow-Meow-Mu, a Link 1 Prank-Kid monster that makes this deck incredibly consistent and turns any single Prank monster into full combo.
Prank-Kids Place is a little pricey, currently sitting at around $17 per copy in NA. While it contributes to your overall consistency (as it's equivalent to any Prank name), you can definitely get away with cutting copies of Place if your budget is tight.
Notably took 1st place at the Canadian Remote Duel Invitational in mid-January, piloted by Hanko Chow.
This deck appreciates the inclusion of Predaplant Verte Anaconda (currently over $30 apiece in NA) which can dump Thunder Dragon Fusion to help field Battle Butler, your main win condition. It was dropped from the provided list for budget reasons, but it's a great inclusion if you have a copy already. In conjunction with cards like Link Spider, it also improves your ability to play through disruption and through Nibiru.
This deck has many characteristics of a great deck, but suffers from similar problems as Zoodiac in that it struggles to play through disruption on your normal summon, or cards like Ash negating your first Prank-Kid effect. The inclusion of Polymerization in the main deck helps to combat this, but also popular are builds that don't play Poly at all and instead just load the main deck with handtraps and powerful staples like Forbidden Droplet.
Pot of Desires is included in this example main deck to help boost consistency and overall power, but some players opt not to run it.

Salamangreat

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Link-based midrange deck with a lot of recursion and a special in-archetype technique, where 1 Link Monster is used as the entire Link material to summon another copy of that monster, granting bonus effects
The deck is somewhat halfway between control and combo, establishing respectable boards turn 1 with a fairly compact engine, allowing many handtraps to be played. Their real strength comes in turn 3 and beyond, where their arsenal of free summons from the GY, coupled with their stellar resource recycling, easily overwhelm the opponent.
The majority of the deck is dirt cheap and is mostly able to be built with commons from SOFU+SAST supplementing 3 copies of Structure Deck: Soulburner.
Accesscode Talker is a huge part of this deck's success, able to steal games easily with the help of Update Jammer. Accesscode is not at all affordable on a budget, so the sample list plays Zeroboros instead. Owning one copy of Accesscode is a tremendous improvement to this deck's strength.
Salamangreat has found little competitive success in bigger online tournaments this format, but still regularly performs well in smaller events, remote duel locals, and the like. It's also a fairly safe choice, as it's somewhat unlikely we see further Salamangreat hits on the next banlist.
The provided list plays Rivalry + Strike, a potent option allowing you to sometimes win games even into established boards. Strike is quite solid in the current format, as even the combo decks don't usually end on ways to punish a lot of set backrow.
Parallel eXceed is an optional card, and can be cut in favor of more backrow or handtraps. On one hand, it allows you to more easily link climb when going second, and can easily add a Dweller or Bagooska to your board going first (Dweller is very good right now, as well). On the other hand, players may prefer to run more defensive cards instead of eXceed.

Subterror

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Subterrors are a control deck with a focus on flipping monsters face-down and generating constant advantage with Subterror Guru.
Pure Guru control is the most played variant, and is more or less a stun deck that tries to abuse Guru as much as possible. While most Guru lists online are Numeron and/or Dragoon hybrids, the pure version saw some success earlier this format at the Benelux Remote Duel Extravaganza, finishing top 4. You can watch that deck profile here, and the sample list is generally based off of that list.
- While Dragoon isn't budget-friendly, the Numeron engine is very accessible for little cost, and is a viable variant of this deck as well. Numeron cards aim to make Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL going first or simply OTK going second. S0 is an extremely powerful card that can prevent the opponent from playing the game entirely if it resolves. If you are interested in this version, you can check the Subterror list on the previous budget post.
The sample list doesn't have a complete extra deck, mainly because it doesn't play Extravagance and you barely go into the Extra Deck to begin with. Relinquished Anima is a decent option if you can shell out the $7-8 for it, since sometimes you can turn Fiendess into Anima. Apart from that, provided Extra Deck options include anti-Maximus cards for the Dogmatika matchup, and Aussa + Zoodiac Drident in case you face a Zoodiac player. Taking their Zoo monster and then slapping your Drident on top can be potent.
This deck usually plays Extravagance over Desires, but Desires is quite a serviceable replacement. Similarly to Altergeist, this deck also enjoys Pot of Prosperity post-BLVO.

B Tier

Like the above category, but generally weaker, less consistent, and/or impacted harder by a lack of access to a certain card(s).

Dinosaurs

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Dinosaurs are an aggressive deck with consistent access to Evolzar Laggia/Dolkka and Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, a formidable boss monster with incredible OTK power and disruption.
Dinosaur's strength tends to be largely meta-dependent, particularly how well it can counter the existing top decks. During the previous two combo-infested formats with decks like Dragon Link and Adamancipator running around, Dinos had several extremely impressive showing at events, such as TeamSamuraiX1's win at the first NA Remote Duel Invitational, as well as all three first-place players at LCS 7 (a 3v3 event) playing Dino.
In the current format, Dinosaurs are struggling. The Virtual World matchup is difficult, and it's hard for Dinosaur to build to beat all of VW, Drytron, Eldlich variants, and the plethora of rogue decks running around. Additionally, Mystic Mine is not very potent this format as both Virtual World and Eldlich have in-engine outs to the card, which is another blow to the Dinosaur strategy. Finally, the popularity of handtraps like Skull Meister and Artifact Lancea in the side or even the main deck are also reasons this deck has declined.
The provided variant still plays Mine, as it has utility breaking boards. Deckout is a much less reliable strategy against VW and Eldlich, but you can still stall for some turns until you can make a push for game. The addition of Cosmic Cyclone is also an attempt at neutering cards like Chuche and Conquistador.
If you wanted to build this deck without Mines, you would have to find replacements for quite a few cards (and frankly, Dinosaur does not have very many good ones). Most power staples are not budget, such as Lightning Storm, Talents, Droplet, etc. This deck also really appreciates Pot of Extravagance, which still sits barely out of budget range at around $25 each in NA.
Budget Dino must also deal with the lack of Animadorned Archosaur, an extremely powerful addition to the deck that opens up many new combos. However, sitting at around $60 per copy, the card is inaccessible on a budget.
The provided list plays the Simorgh combo, bringing out the WIND barrier statue on turn 1 to steal games. Though a full extra deck is provided, very few cards are actually needed, as the deck typically plays Extravagance anyway.

Dragon Link

Price: $100-150+ (depending on Extra Deck) Imgur | DuelingBook

Dragon Link is a Link-centric combo deck that was a dominant force in the meta for about half a year, but lost a lot of resilience and power with the recent bans to Linkross and Dragon Buster Destruction Sword.
The provided budget version of this deck actually has a ton of extra deck flexibility due to not needing to play Synchro/Link cards related to the Halq/Kross package, meaning that you can play Knightmares, anti-Dogmatika cards, etc. This also means that the budget version doesn't actually care about the Linkross ban at all.
This deck has seen a great deal of variation online, playing a variety of different engines and tech cards. A few of these include Vylon Cube + Smoke Grenade, the Rose Dragons, several different Dragonmaid cards, and even an FTK variant involving Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu. However, few of these are viable for budget players, especially if you do not own a copy of Halqifibrax.
An interesting option the deck has is to use Union Carrier to equip handtraps such as Artifact Lancea. On the opponent's turn, Hieratic Seal can be used to return the handtrap to your hand, making it live immediately. This is something you may want to consider in the main deck if you frequently have to deal with decks like Virtual World and Dinosaur. Another option is to equip Ally of Justice Cycle Reader to Carrier (they're both machines) and then bounce it to hand, as a weapon against Drytron. Carrier isn't in the example list, but this is a really interesting option to consider.
With Linkross out of the picture, playing Fibrax alone is an option if you either already own a copy or can afford the $20 needed to obtain one. You may have to retool your combos to incorporate Fiber, but the card can definitely add flexibility and resilience to your deck if you use it well.

Paleozoic Frogs

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Backrow-heavy control deck that summons its Traps to the field as monsters and pressures the opponent with Toadally Awesome
After being absent from the budget post for about a year, Paleo makes its triumphant return as its boss monster, Toad, returns to 3. Toad's reprint in Maximum Gold also brought this card down from $20 each to just a few bucks, making the entire deck extremely cheap.
As a control deck, Paleo suffers from more weaknesses compared to Eldlich, Altergeist, and Subterror. Notably, the engine tends to bleed advantage unless you've managed to maintain access to Swap Frog, and you can be quickly outpaced by stronger decks. However, in games where you can establish a Toad early, or where you can maintain control with your backrow, you can do quite well.
Paleo saw a surprising amount of success in various remote duel events this format, though some of that success is likely due to the format being unexplored and some sort of "new toy syndrome" as Toad recently went from 2 to 3.
Paleo struggles to out Dragoon, especially without access to Ice Dragon's Prison, a $40 card. An interesting option catching on in the meta lately is the use of Mirror Force cards, particularly Quaking and Storming, as they both pressure Dragoon. Still, the card puts quite a lot of pressure on this deck.
Speaking of Dragoon, some Paleo players opt to play that package in this deck as well. Swap Frog is a one card Dragoon as you can simply dump Ronin, turn Swap into Almiraj, and then revive Ronin to make Verte from there.
Fiend Griefing is presented as an interesting option which is very decent in the current meta, particularly vs Drytron. Combining it with Absolute King Back Jack is a classic combo that Paleo played a long time ago in 2017, during early Zoo formats.

Shaddoll (Magistus)

Price: $100+, can be closer to $50 with fewer copies of Schism Imgur | DuelingBook

Classic Fusion-based archetype from 2014, debuting in Duelist Alliance. Somewhat of a midrange combo deck that can slow the game down with El Shaddoll Winda or be very aggressive with El Shaddoll Construct
Winda is a troublesome floodgate that many decks struggle to out, especially combo decks such as Drytron. Shaddoll cards are currently played in several Dogmatika variants due to the sheer power of Winda and the utility of Shaddoll Schism.
The current meta is favorable for Shaddoll not only due to Winda being effective vs Drytron, but also due to Ariel being very strong against a large chunk of the format, including Eldlich variants. Her ability to banish 3 cards from the GY is so strong that some decks are splashing in Sinister Shadow Games + Ariel just for that option, which we saw played in some of the 60-card Eldlich decks at LCS 9.
- The growing popularity of Shaddoll cards has also caused Shaddoll Schism to go up in price substantially. Currently, it's around $17, but it may continue to rise.
The deck's biggest problem has always been its inability to consistently resolve a fusion spell on turn 1. Invoked Shaddoll was a popular hybrid in earlier formats, but with the release of the Magistus archetype in GEIM, Shaddolls got access to Rilliona and Magistus Invocation. This is an improvement since Magistus Invocation can fuse from hand and field whereas the regular Invocation can only fuse from hand when summoning Shaddolls. Additionally, Artemis provides a super convenient way for the deck to turn any Shaddoll into a LIGHT monster, which is important for summoning Construct.
While the full Dogmatika package is very expensive due to Nadir Servant being a $75 card, one option is to play just one copy of Ecclesia (around $20) along with Maximus and a playset of Dogmatika Punishment. Maximus and Punishment have a ton of synergy in the Shaddoll deck in conjunction with Apkallone's GY effect, and this combination is deadly even on a budget.
Other normal summons such as Mathematician and even Gale Dogra are potent on this deck, and can be played in addition to Rilliona or as a replacement for her. Yet another option is to run 1 copy of the now-cheap Eldlich the Golden Lord as a LIGHT monster for Shaddoll Fusion that can easily revive itself.
Another popular variant is a very trap-heavy list, sometimes cutting the Magistus cards entirely. PAK and SirEmanon's YouTube channels both have their own takes on this, if you're interested.

Unchained

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Floaty destruction-based archetype that generates advantage when its cards are destroyed, enabling its gimmick of using your opponent's monsters to Link Summon.
Can be built to go first or to go second quite effectively. Since going second is very difficult this format, the provided list aims to go first, playing a bunch of trap cards.
Fairly modest online performance, doing alright at smaller events and more recently finishing top 8 at the second YuGiJoe online series as well as occasional Luxury events. After the December banlist, Unchained has rapidly gained popularity in online remote duel events, and is one of the more prominent rogue decks this format. This success could be because the format is generally slower compared to previous ones, and many destruction-based cards such as Torrential Tribute are very popular currently, which this deck enjoys.
Mega-Tin reprints of Abomination's Prison as well as their Link 2 have helped make this deck a great deal more affordable. I:P Masquerena being more affordable is also a nice boost, though it's by no means essential in this deck.
This deck's best weapon is its opponents being unprepared for it. Playing improperly into backrow or Unchained floats can very quickly be fatal. It also matches up decently into some backrow decks as well as Dogmatika variants, which rely on destruction-based removal from Dogmatika Punishment and Elder Entity N'tss.

C Tier

Decks in this category have the capability to be just as good as the ones above at times, but often tend to suffer from multiple problems including consistency and power.

Burning Abyss

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Versatile control-based Graveyard toolbox deck that has been swinging in and out of meta relevance since its release way back in 2014.
Gradually got more and more cards back from the banlist, with Cir and Graff being unlimited on the December 2020 list. The deck is now more or less "full power" with the exception of Beatrice, who is still limited.
The deck aims to establish Beatrice on turn 1 backed up with trap cards. The BA cards as well as Beatrice are extremely floaty, so this deck can put up quite a fight in grind games. Fiend Griefing is a solid card in the current meta, and is excellent in the Burning Abyss deck as you can send Farfa for further disruption, Graff/Scarm for followup, or Back Jack for more traps.
This deck was frequently mixed with Phantom Knight cards back in 2016 (often called PK Fire). Nowadays, Phantom Knight decks are typically either built pure or with an extremely compact BA engine. While it's possible to play a more dedicated hybrid build, the release of PK Torn Scales combined with most key BA cards being unlimited means that it's just better to focus on one or the other.
Many other options are playable - Desires for draw power, playing more traps, more handtraps, etc. Consider Needle Ceiling over Torrential as it can be harder to pull off, but combos better with Trap Trick. Players with access to Ice Dragon's Prison should play it, and adventurous duelists can even opt to play Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss.
As a deck easily capable of churning out Rank 3 Xyzs, you also have easy access to Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, one of the most powerful extra deck cards in the format. If this is an accessible option, it should be played.

Sky Striker

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Spell-heavy control deck that usually maintains only one monster on the field at a time, in the extra monster zone.
Formerly an extremely dominant control deck, modern-day Striker no longer accrues infinite resources through resolving Engage multiple times, but instead is easily able to kill you with an Accesscode Talker push after whittling down your LP and resources for a turn or two. The standard combo involves laddering from Halqifibrax -> Selene -> Accesscode and then dismantling your opponent's board before swinging for game.
You may have noticed a problem: if you're on a budget, you can't use Accesscode. This is a pretty big blow to the deck's overall strength. Some players opt for alternatives such as the Utopia Double package, which Zoé Weber played in the second EU Remote Duel Invitational last format. Another option is to simply not run it at all, and close games the old-fashioned way.
In previous formats, this deck was oftentimes played like an anti-meta going second deck, packing tons of removal cards and usually 3 copies of Mystic Mine in the main deck. In the current format, this strategy is a lot more difficult due to several factors - it's very hard to go second this format in general, and Mine is a lot less effective vs the top decks right now.
Instead, the sample list plays a going-first strategy with powerful trap cards like There Can Be Only One and Solemn Strike. It's possible to build this deck to go second, but you'd probably want to play board breakers instead of trap cards, and potentially also maindeck PSY-Framegear Gamma.
Yet another way to play this deck involves (surprise) Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon and multiple copies of Red-Eyes Fusion. Instead of using cards like Widow Anchor and Afterburners to muscle through disruption and stick a Mystic Mine on the field, you use them to get to your Dragoon and either win the game immediately or put yourself in a position where your opponent can't play through the Dragoon disrupt.
Roze is the most expensive card in this list. If your budget is tight, you can definitely cut her down to 1.

Zoodiac

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Xyz-focused deck with a gimmick allowing you to use any one Zoodiac as the entire Xyz material requirement for another Zoodiac. This lets you stack Zoo Xyz monsters on top of each other, making use of their effects.
Plays a compact engine combined with around 20 slots dedicated to handtraps, traps, and draw power. This deck is also commonly played as a hybrid deck, oftentimes with Eldlich and sometimes with Dogmatika cards. Both of these options are quite expensive, so they are not shown.
The deck's strength in competitive play comes almost entirely from Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, an extremely powerful Xyz monster that Zoodiac can effortlessly make due to Zoodiac Boarbow. Zoo is also easily able to summon Zeus with many materials, allowing it to repeatedly nuke the board.
Budget Zoo without Zeus is extremely weak by comparison. Relying solely on Drident + handtraps is not a reliable win condition, so cards like Parallel eXceed and Pot of Avarice are included in the sample list to give this deck a boost. While Megaclops is a troublesome boss monster in some matchups, the big three decks (Drytron, Virtual World, and Eldlich) generally don't have much trouble dealing with it.
Even with Zeus, the deck has been struggling in the current competitive meta. Noteworthy is its performance at LCS 9, where out of a whopping 51 Zoodiac variants that entered the tournament, only 1 survived until top 16.

Up-And-Coming

Decks to watch out for, oftentimes due to recent online success or new support being announced. Some might also be decks that could potentially be on the main body of the post, but need a little more time to prove themselves.

Tri-Brigade

Price: $100 (for now) Imgur | DuelingBook

Link-focused deck that plays a variety of Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast monsters. The maindeck Tri-Brigades cheat out powerful Link monsters, provided your GY is set up. This deck also trivially access the Simorgh link, which can sometimes seal games on its own through the WIND Barrier Statue.
In the current format, Tri-Brigade has seen fairly sparse success, usually mixed with Zoodiac. However, BLVO gives us Tri-Brigade Kitt, a great boost to this deck and a fantastic combo piece.
Further support in LIOV and beyond is also very promising, making this deck a potentially solid investment for the future.
The Tri-Brigade core is currently quite cheap, but this could change in the future depending on hype and the market.
owo

Traptrix

Price: $100-150 Imgur | DuelingBook

Control deck with an extremely powerful Link 1 monster, Traptrix Sera, that pumps out constant advantage.
The sample list incorporates a very small Dogmatika engine. Dogmatika Punishment itself is very cheap, and is one of the best generic traps in the game right now. Just 1 copy of Ecclesia (around $20) provides a substantial power boost to this mini-engine, as dumping one copy of Titaniklad with Punishment and grabbing an Ecclesia for next turn is extremely powerful. Another option is to dump El Shaddoll Apkallone, then adding and discarding Ariel in order to trigger her effect and banish 3 cards, which is insane value.
If you can't get Ecclesia, you could simply play just Punishment as a generic trap. Another option is to play pure Traptrix, incorporating more power traps/handtraps, and quite frequently the Utopia Double package as well.
This deck is definitely still getting support, as LIOV brings a new Link 2 and main deck monster.

Plunder Patroll

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Pirate archetype with ridiculous recursion and a unique tag-out and equip mechanic based on Attributes being used in the game.
The pirates become equips for one of (currently) three Patrollships, extra deck monsters that can all discard Plunder Patroll cards in hand to fuel powerful effects. The ships become stronger when manned (equipped with) a Plunder card, with bonuses such as ignition effects becoming quick effects, or being able to replace the discarded card with a new one from the deck.
Many Plunder lists play Forbidden Droplet, as it has great synergy with the cards. Without Droplet, you could fill the space with several different options. This deck chooses to play the Undine package, but you can also go for cards like Foolish Burial Goods, Salvage, Silent Angler, Tenyi Spirit - Shthana, Toadally Awesome + Bahamut Shark, or just more generic staples.
This deck is getting at least one more support card in LIOV, that being Ravenwing. Many people speculate that they'll also get another Patrollship of a new attribute, which would be a huge buff to the deck.

Honorable Mentions

Megalith, Madolche, Pendulum decks, Cyber Dragon, Orcust, Mermail Atlantean, Magical Musketeers, Crusadia (Guardragon), ABC, D/D, Generaider, and more - Decks that are fairly decent but have been left off of the post to make room for other decks that have seen more recent success or have fewer budget resources online.
Dragonmaid, Eldlich, Infernoid, Invoked variants, HERO, etc - Decks that are pretty good but are sorta in limbo due to some expensive individual cards, such as Chamber Dragonmaid, Cursed Eldland, Invocation, etc.
Cubics, Phantasm, Chain Burn, Evilswarm, Yosenju, Dinomist, and much, much more - Unfortunately, there is not enough room to cover every single decent, super-cheap deck.

I hope to keep this post updated for the foreseeable future. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.

Martin Samuel On Trippier Ban

I beat 108 games in 2020. AMA!

Every year, I give myself the goal of beating 52 games - or one game per week. Well, thanks to COVID, I found myself with an inordinate amount of free time and was able to complete this goal by the middle of the year. Then I thought to myself, "I wonder if I can reach 100"... And I just did, with 8 games to spare. Here's my journey.

The S Tier

Games that completely blew me away. I consider them masterpieces that I could recommend to anyone and unequivocal proofs that games are art. You can't change my mind.
Hollow Knight (PC) | Play time: 54h24m | Beaten 31/01/2020
Although "everyone" praised this game, I was always a little skeptical. It seemed cool and all, but could it really be better than my sacred Super Metroid and beloved Symphony of the Night, as some dared say?
Yes, it could, and it is. Hollow Knight became my standard on the metroidvania genre. It's simply superb in everything it does: it has flawless presentation, phenomenal soundtrack, tight controls and challenging gameplay. But most importantly, the map, atmosphere and exploration are perfect. I was having a blast just losing myself into Hollow Nest - that's when you know a Metroidvania is really good.
Fallout 2 (PC) | Play time: 58h | Beaten 11/06/2020
Phenomenal. It's the original formula, but bigger, more complex and with a huge amount of variety. How could it go wrong? Well, actually, in a lot of ways. The series incurred the huge risk of losing its identity with its expansion (something that came to be with Fallout 3, unfortunately). The desolate world of Fallout 1 is now a strange place full of whacky people and towns. But the change in tone makes sense. The tone is different because the wasteland changed - and it's still changing, with your actions determining how it will be in the future. I'd say that if the original Fallout is a tragedy, Fallout 2 is a comedy - its perfect complement.
Rayman Legends (PC) | Play time: 26h | Beaten 09/08/2020
I love to overthink and overwrite about games just as the next guy on the internet, but sometimes too many words are useless to describe what a game feels like. So I'll just stick with a single one for this game: fun. That's the only way I can describe Rayman Legends. It's pure, unadulterated fun. I could go on about its level design, beautiful visuals and catchy soundtrack. But it's all immaterial, really. It's a insanely fun game. Go play it.
I mean, one of the levels is fully synchronized with a 8-bit mariachi cover of Eye of the Tiger. If that's not perfection, I don't know what is.
Disco Elysium (PC) | Play time: 55h18m | Beaten 24/08/2020
"What is an electronic RPG?" Sometimes I asked this myself, at times coming to the conclusion that the label is useless nowadays. After all, if even games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed are described by some as having "RPG elements" just because they have some kind of progression system, then just about anything can be called a RPG. If everything is a RPG, then nothing is a RPG.
And then there are games like Disco Elysium. Games that can't be called anything but a RPG. It does exactly what the acronym describes: it gives you a role and uses its systems to let you roleplay however you want. How it does that? It simply uses the so called "RPG elements" on everything - every dialogue, every narrative challenge - except the combat. Actually, there isn't even combat at all! Seems boring? Well, talk to me after rolling a critical success (or failure!) when trying to come up with a made-up name, convince your partner that there's something sexy about the murder you're investigating or show the kids who's the boss on the dancing floor.
If it's not clear already, the story is amazing. It's funny, heartwarming and tear-jerker all rolled into one. Its core theme is failure and how to deal with it, and oh boy, it delivers. No game, hell, no story ever made me feel such a wide range of emotions. Simply amazing.

The A Tier

Incredible games that became some of my favorites. They are really, really good. The only reason they're not S tier is because rankings are just subjective and arbitrary bullshit. But, hey, I'm entitled to my bullshit!
Final Fantasy IX (PS) | Play time: 65h | Beaten 14/01/2020
A classic game that is in itself a return to the classics. FFIX is Hironobu's Sakaguchi final love letter to the series he created, hearkening back to the 8/16 bits era games while trying to adapt to the sensibilities of the 32/64 bits generation. The result is a very refined oldschool experience. The beautiful presentation (that aged quite well, imo) is complemented by a (at first) cliche but amazingly well told story with insanely captivating characters. If you grew up with the NES/SNES Final Fantasies and think FFVII ruined everything, give FFIX a try. You won't regret it.
And if you didn't grow up with these old games? I'd say to give it a go anyways. There's a reason they are considered classics, and FFIX is able to capture much of the same feeling and qualities without much of the questionable design decisions of its predecessors (e.g.: insane amounts of grinding). The recent HD release streamlines the experience even further, letting you speed-up battles and use cheats on the fly.
Into the Breach (PC) | Play time: 23h46h | Beaten 22/01/2020
I love roguelikes. I love turn-based tactics. A mix of the two genres was my perfect recipe or addiction. But Into the Breach is not just a mashup of genres. It improves upon both of them in very clever ways.
For the tactical side, ItB is a tactical game with almost perfect information. By that I mean that you always know in advance what moves you're enemy is going to make; nothing is hidden from you, the player. Instead of making the experience easier or simpler, it means that the stakes are even higher. I spent a good five minutes at the start of every turn just thinking about the "perfect" movement to make, knowing full well that a single mistake could have catastrophic consequences.
As for the roguelike elements, I really like how it ties in the procedural generation and replayability of the genre with a character progression system and the plot. Every run is relatively short - it takes around 2 hours to win the game - but once you save the world, you can send one of your pilots to another timeline and play it all over again. There's more than enough variety in mechas, weapons and special pilots for you to replay it a lot, and having a veteran pilot that survived multiple timelines is a great incentive and a wonderful roleplay tool.
To top it all, Into the Breach is cheap. You probably even already own it - Epic gave it away for free twice.
EarthBound (SNES) | Play time: 34h | Beaten 24/02/2020
I have to make a confession: the first time I played EarthBound, I didn't like it. I couldn't understand why this game was so loved. The plot seemed weak, I didn't connect with the characters and the gameplay was slow as hell. Yeah, it was weird, but was it all?
Well, Me from the Past wasn't very smart. Present me is not particularly better, but at least he can see why EarthBound is special. Urban fantasies with a pinch of cosmic and existential horror don't grow on trees, and just for that EarthBound is already a game that should be remembered and celebrated. But that's not all! This very unique setting is populated by charming characters that live a quite emotional and satisfying story! What the hell was wrong with me from the past?
To be fair, the combat really is slow paced. But I think that age made me a patient gamer in more ways than one, so I don't really mind.
Mother 3 (GBA) | Play time: 25h | Beaten 24/03/2020
A powerful story, awesome characters and fun gameplay. I like how it's completely different from EarthBound, but, at the same time, captures the spirit of the series perfectly. Also has a healthy amount of fanservice here and there that those who played the earlier games will surely enjoy. Not that playing them is necessary: Mother 3 stands on its own as a fun RPG and a masterful narrative.
INSIDE (PC) | Play time: 5h06m | Beaten 16/07/2020
Playdead has mastered the art of gamefeel with this one. You can almost feel every step, jump and fall or character takes - something that only the original Prince of Persia and Shadow of the Colossus were able to make me feel. And just like these classics, the gamefeel here is at the service of a great narrative and an immersive experience. INSIDE is sometimes contemplative, sometimes creepy, but always fascinating.
On a side-note, I really want to play it again with a PS5 controller.
Deus Ex (PC) | Play time: 26h09m | Beaten 15/08/2020
If you discount the visuals (that, as expected for a game that tried for "realism" at its time, aged as badly as the technology has evolved since then), you'll find a game that has aged amazingly well. The freedom to do the missions however you want and the systemic world are integrated to an excellent plot, touching on themes that are relevant to this day - the introduction literally is a discussion about a new pandemic that is plaguing the world and how government inaction is making things worse.
The non-linearity, by the way, is done here in a way that a lot of modern games fail to appreciate. While some games offer you a variety of ways of how to deal with challenges, most of times the multiple paths are per-determined - you can choose to either use stealth or go guns akimbo, but a choice must be made. Deus Ex, on the other hand, gives you a lot of tools to solve the problems it throws at you and let you use them however you want, whenever you want. Different tools are useful in more than just one way and you can always try a new approach. If, for instance, you invested deeply in "stealthy" augmentations like invisibility, there's nothing keeping you from changing your mind try a more aggressive path. And guess what? Being invisible is really useful in a gun fight, or if you suddenly have to flee.
Also, special mention to the interface, that is simply brilliant. Every RPG in existence should let you create and delete notes. Why don't every RPG in existence let you do that?
Vagrant Story (PS) | Play time: 39h55m | Beaten 28/09/2020
One of the most original RPGs I have ever played - maybe even the most original. Its mechanical creativity is incredible, with a very dynamic combat that mixes real time, turns, rhythm, three-dimensional movement and a lot of focus on elemental strengths/weaknesses. It also comes with a absurdly complex crafting system, that's just impossible to master - which is not a problem, since it lets you experiment a lot and trying to get better gear is part of the fun. Add a compelling and brilliantly told story and some excellent level design and you have a classic in your hands.
Crusader Kings III (PC) | Play time: 76h | Beaten 26/10/2020
CK2 is literally my favorite game of all times, so I had high expectations. Fortunately, Paradox didn't disappoint me. Is CK3 better than CK2? No, but it doesn't have to be. It took CK2 seven years of patches and DLCs to become the masterpiece it is now. Even today, its "vanilla" (i.e., no DLCs) version is underwhelming. So CK3's mission is not to surpass CK2 right now, but to create a solid base to do it with the coming patches and expansions.
And what a solid base it is! Many of its predecessor's mechanics were greatly improved upon (e.g.: cultures and technologies really matter now, religions are much more detailed, the favors system was revamped), some boring parts streamlined (no more boats, thank God) and there's a bunch of new and awesome things (fame, dynasty legacies, cadet branches...). Its a more focused, polished and accessible experience that preserves what makes Crusader Kings special and improves it in a lot of ways.
Tetris Effect: Connected (PC) | Play time: 3h30m | Beaten 12/11/2020
"What if we made a spiritual journey out of Tetris?" is a question I didn't know needed to be answered. That's another game that words to describe it just fail me. That's a game you have to play (and feel) to understand why it's so captivating.
Planescape: Torment (PC) | Play time: 47h | Beaten 14/12/2020
This game became my go-to example of what a flawed masterpiece is. Its critical failure — the completely inadequate combat, to the point where the game would be better without it — is not enough to tarnish its pure genius. Planescape approaches the RPG genre as a narrative medium first, putting the abnegation and escapism often associated with it on the backside. It's focused on the setting, dialogues, quests, character progression and roleplay, and that's where it shines bright. It takes a bit of time to get going, but if you can stomach the weird but slow-paced start, you'll completely enthralled by one of the best stories ever written.
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (DOS) | Play time: 50h6m | Beaten 22/12/2020
The first game of the series that I'd say is a true classic. Its extremely original concept has never, even to this day, been properly replicated. There are no big baddies to destroy or worlds to save. Your sole objective is to become an "Avatar of Virtue", an example to the inhabitants of Britannia. The only way to do that is by getting to know the world you're in. Most importantly, you have to get to know the philosophical-moral system that everyone follows - the Path of Virtue, based on eight virtues (Honesty, Valor, Compassion, Honor, Justice, Sacrifice, Spirituality and Humility) derived from three principles (Truth, Love and Courage).
In short, to become the Avatar of Virtue, you have to... Act virtuously! All your actions and interactions affect your alignment in each virtue. Every battle you fight affects your Valor, every question you answer affects your Honesty, and so on.
Being a very old RPG, Ultima IV suffers from some technical limitations and design decisions that are nowadays considered obtuse. Nonetheless, it's quite a journey and I think it does what it intends to do really well.

The B Tier

Some of these games are wonderful experiences, just not to the same degree as other ones. Others had the potential to be true masterpieces, but suffer with some critical flaw or drop the ball along the way.

Kirby's Dream Land 2 (GB): Kirby was not always a easy and cute platformer, it seems. This one, at least, has excellent level design. And I even died to a boss once!
Super Mario 3D World (WiiU): not as good as 3D Land, but very cool nonetheless.
Shenmue II (DC): a fascinating and unorthodox open-world with a cool, action-packed kung-fu story.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GC): it takes some time to get going, but gets really good in the end. Not as good as the original MP, though.
Wario Land 3 (GBC): an original approach to the metroidvania genre that tries (and mostly succeeds!) to eliminate most of the backtracking the genre is known for.
Wasteland (DOS): a bizarre world and captivating story. If you can stomach its "oldschool RPG"-ness, give it a try.
Fallout: New Vegas (PC): not as good as the classic Fallouts, but leagues above Fallout 3.
Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines (PC): it's almost a flawed masterpiece, but is unfortunately more flawed than masterful, specially the combat. Excellent atmosphere, though.
SUPERHOT (PC): creative and stylish. Left me wanting more.
Minit (PC): a cute zelda-like with a unique twist where you have only 60 seconds to act before dying. Short enough for the gimmick not get old
Rayman 2: The Great Escape (PC): although linear, it's a quite varied and dynamic 3D platformer.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC): a return to form. Not as non-linear as the original, but a worthy try. It even adds some new and welcome mechanics, like the persuasion system.
Hypnospace Outlaw (PC): 90's internet simulator. Play it if you ever wanted to feel like a geocities moderator of old.
Streets of Rage 4 (PC): the king of the beat 'em ups has returned, and he's rad as ever.
Gris: a very persona experience that uses the strengths of the platformer genre to conceive its emotions.
Space Invaders Extreme (PSP): someone decided to put as much Lumines into Space Invaders as possible. It worked.
Double Kick Heroes (PC): I suck at rhythm games, but the metal to bone playlist of this one was good enough for me to keep trying.
PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+ (PC): ghost genocide is fun!
Einhänder (PS): imo, the best 3D shmup of the original Playstation, specially because of the presentation with the Square Enix Seal of Coolness.
Halo 3: ODST (PC): although its non-linearity is overrated, it's indeed the least linear Halo since the original. Special note goes to the amazing soundtrack. Who'd say that jazz would fit a space military shooter so well?
Halo: Reach (PC): awesome campaign, imo the best in the Halo series.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA): not as deep or well written as FFT, but just as addicting.

The C Tier

Good games, although I don't think they have that special "something" to make them unforgettable experiences. Still had fun playing them, though.

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (Saturn)
Beneath a Steel Sky (DOS)
Ninja Gaiden (1992 Master System spin-off)
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2)
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (MD)
Shenmue (DC)
Earthbound Zero (NES)
Adventures of Lolo (NES)
Adventures of Lolo 2 (NES)
The Lost Vikings (SNES)
Wario Land II (GBC)
Trauma Center: Under the Knife (NDS)
Sam & Max: Hit the Road (DOS)
Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins (PSP)
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PS)
Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)
Resident Evil - CODE: Veronica (DC)
Banjo-Tooie (N64)
Full Throttle (PC)
The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
Pony Island (PC)
Rayman Forever (PC)
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (PC)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP)
Duke Nukem 3D (DOS)
Persona 3 Portable (PSP)
Carrion (PC)
Halo: Combat Evolved (PC)
Halo 2 (PC)
The Gardens Between (PC)
Halo Wars: Definitive Edition (PC)
HyperDot (PC)
Among Us (PC)
Mega Man X6 (PS)

The lower tiers

Yeah, I didn't particularly enjoy these games.

Panzer Dragoon (Saturn)
Trip World (GB)
Another World (Amiga)
Adventures of Lolo 3 (NES)
Heart of the Alien (SCD)
The Cyber Shinobi (MS)
Wario World (GC)
Earthworm Jim (MD)
Escape from Monkey Island (PC)
Wasteland 2 (PC)
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (PC)
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (PC)
Deus Ex: Invisible War (PC)
Halo 3 (PC)
Gato Roboto (PC)
New Super Mario Bros. U (WiiU)
Ultima III: Exodus (DOS)
Halo 4 (PC)
Mega Man X5 (PS)

Replays

Games that I played again in 2020. Some are old favorites, others games that I decided to giver another chance.

Resident Evil 2 (PS) (B Tier)
Mega Man X (SNES) (S Tier)
Final Fantasy X (PS2) (C Tier)
Fallout (PC) (A Tier)
Rayman Origins (PC) (B Tier)
Shovel Knight (PC) (B Tier)
20XX (PC) (A Tier)
Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES) (A Tier)
Final Fantasy Tactics (Android) (S Tier)
Ghost Trick (NDS) (A Tier)
Mega Man X2 (SNES) (B Tier)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) (C Tier)
Eversion (PC) (C Tier)
Transistor (PC) (S Tier)
King of Dragon Pass (Android) (A Tier)
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (PC) (B Tier)
Mega Man X3 (SNES) (C Tier)
Mega Man X4 (SNES) (B Tier)

FAQ

Where are the completion dates and playtime of B tier games or lower?
I posted a table with all the raw data in the comments.
Don't you have anything better to do?
Apparently, not.
What is your favorite game you played in 2020?
Disco Elysium.
How can you not like X game as much as me???
Subjectivity.
How do you have so much time to play games?
No wasted time commuting because of the pandemic + part time job + I lost a bit of my sanity after the first month of quarantine.
Besides, I don't think the time I spent playing this year was that crazy. Lots of people with jobs and easily spend 1000~1500 hours per year playing "forever games" like Destiny, WoW, LoL and such. The difference, in my case, is that I try to play new things instead of focusing on a single game.
Edit: typos.

Games that are littered with items but give you a limited inventory drive me batty.

Mother 3 Review (Spoilers inside)

Console Wars, now with less Sega!

20 Overlooked Single Player Indie Games

We're all familiar with the Hotline Miami's, Hollow Knight's, and Celeste's of the world. These are some of the indie games that hit the big time. Of course, for every one of these games, there's 100 other indie games that have been glossed over, relegated to a spot in a digital store few people will ever find themselves in. I wanted to bring attention to some of these lesser known indie games.
I'm going to order them according to Metacritic Critic Ratings. Some of the games at the bottom have pretty low critic ratings. I personally disagree with the low scores of these games, but it's only fair that you hear from more than just me. Keep in mind that games with only one or two User Ratings on Metacritic will not show the score. A game needs at least three User Ratings on Metacritic before the score will be shown. This is not the case for Critic Reviews.
Price will contain the U.S. PlayStation Store link to the game.
1. Hayfever

Price: $14.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: 2D Precision Platformer
Metacritic: 90% from 1 Critic Review, N/A from 0 User Ratings
Description: Hayfever is a precision platformer that revolves around a mailman propelling himself using a number of different allergens that act as power-ups. A lot of the platforming is aerial and typically has you catching allergens mid-air to perform maneuvers in quick succession. It's not an easy game by any means, but it has oddly relaxing music to accompany the rather intense platforming. There are also letters to collect in each level to steepen the challenge and some secrets to discover too. It takes an hour or so to get used to the aerial platforming, and this is one of the few 2D platformers played better with the analog stick rather than the D-Pad. But letters that seemed unattainable to me at the beginning of the game became much simpler by the end, as I had mastered the controls and physics of the game. I don't expect everyone to love this game, but I have to agree with the one other guy who played it that gave it a 9/10. After putting 25+ hours into it, I am still eager to replay it soon.
Completion Time: ~8 Hours
Extra Content: It'll take another 8 hours or so to collect all the letters and probably about 6 hours or so to beat the Hard World, which features an additional 28 remixed levels. There are also secrets to uncover, but they don't net any in game progress and only work towards your trophy completion. Finding these secrets will probably vary more in time because they are hidden, but expect them to take a few hours to find. Just to clarify, letters are an expanded test of your platforming skills and are all in clear view of the screen, while secrets are a test of your observation skills and take a little more digging to find. The platinum trophy is a fair and rewarding challenge that took me about 25-30 hours to get.

2. Valfaris

Price: $24.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Run & Gun
Metacritic: 80% from 9 Critic Reviews, 63% from 25 User Ratings
Description: Valfaris is one of the best run & gun games I've ever played. You play as Prince Therion who returns to his home planet of Valfaris on a quest to kill his father. It's themed around a fictional planet and has a gross alien vibe coupled with heavy metal music. The music doesn't override the other audio in the game, and it does a nice job of upping the ante when you're fighting a boss – of which there are many. You're equipped with a primary gun, a more powerful mana-based gun, a sword, and a shield that can block with mana or parry. There are a number of weapons to acquire throughout the game, and the guns in particular do a great job of feeling different. You’re able to upgrade your weapons with Blood Metals. Some Blood Metals are found in plain sight, others are rewarded for defeating a tough enemy, and some are given for going off the beaten path. These upgrades typically just up the firepower but will sometimes introduce a secondary move to your weapon. There are checkpoints every two minutes or so, and most bosses will have a checkpoint just before them (only the weaker bosses come after a gauntlet of enemies). The game is a little hard at points, but overall it strikes a nice balance of feeling accomplished for overcoming the challenges without getting overly frustrating.
Completion Time: ~8 Hours
Extra Content: There are a few secrets to find throughout the game that are off the beaten path, though I was able to find 2/3 of them on my first playthrough. I found all but one weapon as well. The replayability comes from New Game+, which allows you to take all your upgraded weapons into a harder version of the game. Since the weapons all function a bit differently, this can be lots of fun. Getting the platinum trophy is somewhat difficult.

3. Four Sided Fantasy

Price: $9.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Trailer
Genre: 2D Puzzle Platformer
Metacritic: 80% from 3 Critic Reviews, N/A from 1 User Rating
Description: The premise of the game is a fusion of side scrollers and oldschool fixed screens that teleport you to the opposite side of the screen when you pass through one side - think Pac-Man, arcade Mario Bros., or Balloon Fight. You will find obstacles in your path that are impenetrable in a typical side scroller, but can be overcome by holding a button to turn the screen into a fixed screen that allows you to pass through one side and out through the other end. This is a totally unique take on a puzzle platformer I haven't seen before, and all five worlds bring something new to the table. For example, World 2 will flip you upside down when you pass through a screen, allowing new types of challenges as a result. There's more emphasis on the puzzle elements than the platforming.
Completion Time: ~2 Hours
Extra Content: There is a New Game+, but from what I could tell from the beginning it wasn't a whole lot different. Still, there's a trophy for completing New Game+ and some other fun trophies. Unfortunately, like many early generation indie games, this one has no platinum trophy.

4. Bleep Bloop

Price: $3.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: 2D Puzzle Adventure
Metacritic: 80% from 1 Critic Review, N/A from 0 User Ratings
Description: This game revolves around using two square characters who fling themselves from one end of the room to the other to reach an exit. You must position yourself in such a way that you use each character's body to get around the level. Each world introduces a new mechanic to keep things fresh. The whole game is played only using the two analog sticks (the d-pad and face buttons work, but the two analog sticks are best, in my opinion). It can also be played in local co-op, however with how often you have to fling yourself around, coordinating the correct movements to the other player would be exhausting, and it is easier to experiment yourself.
Completion Time: ~3.5 Hours
Extra Content: There's really no extra content, but $4 for what's almost a 4 hour game isn't bad. There is an easy platinum trophy however.

5. Horizon Shift ‘81

Price: $8.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: 1980s Arcade-like Fixed Screen Shoot ‘em Up
Metacritic: 80% from 1 Critic Review, N/A from 0 User Ratings
Description: This is actually a sequel to the Steam exclusive Horizon Shift, which sports a different aesthetic and isn’t quite as good from what I’ve read. Horizon Shift ’81 mimics the look of a fixed screen shoot ‘em up from the early 1980s but comes with a few twists of its own. Your ship is positioned in the middle of the screen on a horizontal line rather than the bottom, and you have to flip between sides to deal with enemies coming from both the top and the bottom. The line can be broken in different places – leaving a gap where you can fall to your death – by asteroids and certain projectiles. This is where the expanded moveset comes into play: you can jump between gaps and also over enemies who attach themselves to the line. Enemies on the line can also be taken out with a horizontal shield bash that regenerates after a few seconds. There is a boss after every five stages, some of which will actually bring the line down to the bottom of the screen, while others retain it in the middle. Horizon Shift ’81 has a number of customizable settings that change everything from the aesthetics, to the difficulty, to the checkpoint/lives system, to the speed of the game, and more. The two main modes are a choice between three lives with a checkpoint before and after every boss, or a checkpoint at the beginning of every level but only one life.
Completion Time: ~3.5 Hours (Normal Mode on Arcade Style)
Extra Content: There are a number of ways to customize your future playthroughs, and there’s an unlockable boss rush mode after finishing the game. The few trophies are relatively easy to obtain. There is no platinum trophy for this game.

6. Daggerhood

Price: $4.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: 2D Platformer
Metacritic: 77% from 2 Critic Reviews, N/A from 2 User Ratings
Description: Daggerhood's main hook is the use of its sword teleportation mechanic. You throw your sword with a button, and you press the same button again to teleport to where the sword is. While this is a mechanic that has been seen in some Metroidvanias, I haven't seen a tight, linear 2D platformer make use of this mechanic before. Each level has a number of collectibles and some small side sections as well, but for the most part the path to the finish is clear - it's just the execution that's the tricky part. Add in teleportation portals to make things even trickier.
Completion Time: ~2.5 Hours
Extra Content: As this is a Ratalaika Games published game, the platinum trophy only takes about 1-1.5 hours to achieve. You can get it well before you even finish the game, which is a shame because the game had all the makings for a fun platinum trophy. There are tons of collectibles in each level, and each level records your time. So there is a lot here to extend to the playtime.

7. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

Price: $9.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Metroidvania
Metacritic: 76% from 22 Critic Reviews, 73% from 39 User Ratings
Description: Usually with Metroidvanias, I expect a long, difficult game that's difficult to navigate. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is a counter to those ideas while still maintaining the exploratory nature of the sub-genre. The plot is pretty simple and doesn't feature a ton of story, but there are a few NPCs you talk to throughout your quest. The combat is also fairly simple, but the boss fights you engage in are all great. Without much weapon customization, it's stripped to the basics of dodging enemy attacks while trying to get a hit in. It makes for a game that's easy to get into and instantly start enjoying. All of the areas are visually appealing, some more than others, and each of them lasts shorter than you'd expect. The game is only around 3-5 hours, but it feels like you've played so much more in that time. Some games only really start to take off by the time this game finishes.
Completion Time: ~4 Hours
Extra Content: Getting 100% map completion should only take an hour or two of cleanup. I did miss an optional boss on my first playthrough. There are also items to discover, and the trophies give fun challenges to extend the life of the game. Unfortunately there is no platinum trophy for this game. One cool thing I liked was that beating a boss without getting hit at all gives you a useful item. It also features New Game+, allowing you to carry over most of your items, making the game more difficult, and changing up enemy placement.

8. Ultra Hat Dimension

Price: $4.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: 2D Level-based Puzzle Game
Metacritic: 76% from 2 Critic Reviews, 80% from 2 User Ratings
Description: Ultra Hat Dimension follows Bea through a series of rooms in a palace on a quest to undo the magical spell that has made the mythical Spluff creatures want to attack one another. There is a little bit of backstory via one sentence thoughts from Bea in between levels, but nothing major here. The gameplay revolves equipping four different types of hats and using them to evade or push Spluffs around to retrieve the key and reach the door. Each Spluff dons one of four different hats which effects their behavior towards other Spluffs and you. You will be punched one tile back by every Spluff unless you’re wearing the same hat as the Spluff. Spluffs interact with one another differently depending on what hat they’re wearing in a rock, paper, scissors kind of way – they may punch a Spluff back one space, get into a scuffle that allows you to get close to them without wearing a hat, or they may temporarily disable them in a way that allows you to access the space the Spluff consumes within eight moves. There are undo and reset buttons included that allow you to quickly rewind mistakes. There are some clever puzzles accompanied by catchy tunes and a charming pixel art aesthetic. The difficulty is about average.
Completion Time: ~3 Hours
Extra Content: Since this is published by Ratalaika Games, getting the platinum trophy can be obtained after only clearing 2/3 of the levels. There are a few custom maps on the PC version of the game but no additional content on consoles.

9. Remothered: Tormented Fathers

Price: $29.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: (Slightly Graphic) Link
Genre: Survival Horror
Metacritic: 75% from 13 Critic Reviews, 77% from 53 Ratings
Description: Remothered: Tormented Fathers feels very old school in its design philosophy - no weapons outside a few self defense items and distraction items. You go back and forth in the mansion and have to learn the layout and where things are to proceed. You have to manually select the key item from your inventory to use on triggers (but a key icon is still shown to guide you a little). The sounds in this game do a great job of evoking tension, and I appreciate that the stalkers don’t seem to teleport, so if you can get away from them, you’ve earned your freedom for awhile. This is the first game in a loosely connected trilogy, with the second one due later this year.
Completion Time: ~6 Hours
Extra Content: There are some collectibles you can go back for, but not a whole beyond that. Unfortunately there is no platinum trophy for this game, and you'll probably get most of the trophies - if not all, except the collectibles one - on your first playthrough.

10. Reverie

Price: $12.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Zelda-like Top Down Action Adventure
Metacritic: 75% from 1 Critic Review, 55% from 11 User Rating
Description: Reverie is a mix between Zelda’s gameplay, Earthbound’s aesthetic and humor, and a New Zealand folktale – the legend of Maui and the Giant Fish. Instead of the more traditional sword and shield style fantasy, Reverie instead opts for items and tools a modern boy is more likely to find in his possession, like a cricket bat, a yoyo, and a nerf gun. Similarly, the first dungeon is grandpa’s basement, where you’ll square off against a giant hedgehog and a tumble dryer. That said, the game does get more fantastical with the last two locations, particularly the last one. It’s a relatively easy game overall, though the fourth and especially fifth dungeon offer up a moderate challenge. The indie scene has produced a lot of Zelda-like games in recent years, but this is the only one I know of that isn’t your standard medieval fantasy.
Completion Time: ~5 Hours
Extra Content: There are feathers to collect, mini games to play, and a combat focused bonus dungeon to beat. That said, a lot of this stuff is easy to stumble upon in the main quest, so you’re probably looking at about two or three hours’ worth of content after beating the game to complete everything and get the platinum trophy.

11. Inertial Drift

Price: $19.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Racing
Metacritic: 74% from 6 Critic Reviews, 50% from 1 User Ratings
Description: Inertial Drift's distinguishing characteristic is its employment of the right analog stick for drifting. This takes a little getting used to, but it feels great once you get the hang of it, creating some exhilarating moments when perfecting corner turns. The game has 10 unique tracks + 10 reversed tracks, 16 vehicles, and four separate story arcs. Each story arc is only a couple of hours long and features a different protagonist with a different vehicle. Since you’ll be racing on the same track a few times, there are a few gameplay variations that differ from just reaching the finish line at the end, such as racking up a certain number of points that are acquired through longer drift times and other means. There's quite a bit of dialogue between races, and in the races themselves characters will frequently dish out positive commentary on your performance in the form of text in the top left hand corner of the screen. The game's aesthetics are a fusion of anime and synthwave. I've heard many fans liken the game to the manga Initial D, though I'm unfamiliar with that series myself.
Completion Time: ~3 Hours (for 1/4 Story Arcs)
Extra Content: There are a number of different modes including a Story Mode, Challenge Mode, Grand Prix Mode, Arcade Mode, two player Split-Screen, and Online, as well as a Tutorial. Completion of challenges in Challenge Mode allows you to unlock new vehicles for the other non-Story Modes. Grand Prix Mode allows you to race using different characters/vehicles through a connected set of challenges, while Arcade Mode is for one-off races. I wouldn't recommend this game for online play as the user-base is pretty small (hence it being overlooked) and you're unlikely to find a match. Getting the platinum trophy is fairly difficult.

12. Cursed Castilla (Maldita Castilla EX)

Price: $11.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: 2D Action Platformer
Metacritic: 73% from 6 Critic Reviews, 72% from 13 User Ratings
Description: This is an action platformer that emulates arcade games from the latter half of the 1980s, but it is probably most reminiscent of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts. The creator, Locomalito, states that the soundtrack uses the true arcade sound of the YM2203 chip. The game is hard, but the checkpoints are never more than a minute or two apart, and the lives' system/continue system has no penalties outside of locking you out of trophies. This is a very boss dense game - in the ~4 hour run-time it takes to complete the game, you fight 19 bosses. The handful of weapons and items you pick up helps lend variety to the combat, and no two boss fights feel the same.
Completion Time: ~4 Hours
Extra Content: The game has two endings. Most players will get the bad ending the first time around and be locked out of the final stage (which is the longest stage in the game). You do have to play through the game again to get the good ending, but you'll likely do it in half the time. If you want to see all the major content on your first go around, I recommend looking up how to get the good ending before you play the game. As far as trophies are concerned, the platinum trophy is very difficult to obtain. If you like an extreme challenge, this one's for you.

13. Pato Box

Price: $14.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Punch-Out-like 3D Action Adventure
Metacritic: 71% from 4 Critic Reviews, N/A from 1 User Ratings
Description: Pato Box follows an anthropomorphic duck boxer on an adventure through a stylistic noir comic book world. “Pato” is a Spanish word that translates to “Duck” in English (the game was developed by a Mexican studio). The boss fights are heavily inspired by Punch-Out’s gameplay, but there are levels outside of these fights to help differentiate it. Most of the levels can be selected in any order you choose and typically serve as a leadup to the boss fight. Bosses are usually introduced by a cutscene followed by some dialogue taunting Pato Box. The levels play entirely differently from the fights, but the themes of the level match those of the bosses. The levels will employ various elements of evasion, stealth, exploration, and a few time-based mini-games. The casino level, for example, will have you walk around the casino looking for chips and punching the slot machines to earn enough to pay entrance to the fight, while the food factory has you evading stompers, sawblades, and butcher knives as you work your way through the level. There are variety of things to find throughout the levels: tokens for decorations in Pato Box’s room, backstory on the boss of the level and the world, and tips on how to win the upcoming fight. The fights themselves lock Pato Box in the middle of the screen, allowing you to block, juke left or right, and perform a low or high jab to the left or right. The game foregoes a HUD in favor of a visual representation of your health via scars on your body, which I thought was a nice touch. While the levels and bosses play pretty differently from each other, they’re weaved together by a dark and intriguing story that follows Pato Box’s quest for retribution against an evil corporation.
Completion Time: ~7 Hours
Extra Content: There’s an Arcade Mode that lets you replay boss fights and some collectibles to find in the main campaign. The trophies are very difficult, and many ask you to beat a boss without taking a single hit.

14. The Count Lucanor

Price: $14.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Top Down Adventure/Horror
Metacritic: 70% from 2 Critic Reviews, 66% from 10 User Ratings
Description: The Count Lucanor’s story is very fairy tale-esque – more like a classic fairy tale as it can be pretty dark and grotesque at times. On his 10th birthday, Hans chooses to leave his mother in a quest for wealth. After some walking and conversation with NPCs you find along the way, you stumble upon a large mansion and find that the count of this mansion is looking to pass his wealth onto an heir who can prove himself worthy – “worthy” in this case being the one who can figure out the count’s name. From here, you are tasked with adventuring through the mansion and solving environmental puzzles in a nonlinear way to acquire the letters that spell the count’s name. There is a survival horror element to the game, as you are unable to attack the enemies in the mansion and instead must crawl under tables and find other ways around them. You can place candles around the mansion to light it up to help you better evade enemies, but your usage is limited (though you can find more).
Completion Time: ~4 Hours
Extra Content: There are five different endings and some puzzles/rooms you don’t even have to do. This could double your playtime – maybe even more if you don’t use a guide. The platinum trophy requires every ending and a few other things but is pretty easy to get if you use a guide.

15. The Bunker

Price: $19.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: FMV Point & Click Adventure/Horror
Metacritic: 69% from 14 Critic Reviews, 59% from 39 User Ratings
Description: The Bunker is an FMV point & click adventure, meaning it features real actors and environments just like a live action movie. Many of the actors involved have been in high profile movies/TV shows as well, including The Hobbit, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and Penny Dreadful. The game takes place in a fallout shelter and follows the last survivor as he tries to find a way outside following the death of his mother, after living 30+ years in the bunker. The gameplay has you solving puzzles and finding ways to proceed to the next area. The story is the focal point of the game though, and it frequently switches between the past and the present to tell its story. There’s a good juxtaposition between the lively past and the lonely present that makes you question how the protagonist ended up as the last survivor. There’s only one narrative choice to make in the game, and it comes at the very end. The game also works in handheld mode with touchscreen functionality if you'd prefer to play it that way.
Completion Time: ~2. Hour Completion Time*
Extra Content: You can replay the game and try to find all the collectibles. Most of them give more background on the story. You can trigger the ending you did not choose the first time around by simply reloading the last checkpoint, so there is no need to play through the whole game again to unlock it. Getting the platinum trophy is fairly easy.

16. A Tale of Paper

Price: $14.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: 3D Platformer
Metacritic: 60% from 4 Critic Reviews, 70% from 3 User Ratings
Description: A Tale of Paper takes direct inspiration from Little Nightmares, sporting the same sideview camera angle and minimalist narrative. It’s a little less creepy and has the interesting twist of transforming into a variety of different origamis on the fly: from a little alien creature, to a frog, to a ball, to a paper airplane, etc., all with the push of a button. You’ll use a combination of different origami shapes to overcome the obstacles in the area, and you’ll be accompanied by some gorgeous sceneries in the process. The gameplay is pretty easy in both its platforming and puzzles, making it an easygoing, movie-esque kind of game. While the story is minimalist, it results in a satisfying conclusion, and it really feels like you’ve been through quite a journey even with the short runtime. The game evokes the feeling of being a tiny specimen in a larger-than-life world – Toy Story 2 is probably the most apt comparison I can make. Outside of Little Nightmares, I haven’t played another game quite like this.
Completion Time: ~1.5 Hours
Extra Content: I got seven of the eight origami collectibles in my first run-through. The trophies also only offer a few extra things to do, but I’d recommend reading the list of trophies before you play the game if you want to get the relatively easy platinum trophy.

17. Late Shift

Price: $12.49
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Interactive Film
Metacritic: 59% from 15 Critic Reviews, 68% from 52 User Ratings
Description: If you liked Detroit: Become Human or Until Dawn, Late Shift will be right up your alley. This game is a bit different from both those titles in that it's an FMV, with the gameplay solely consisting of the choices you make. You receive prompts at key moments in the story on what you want your character to do next, and this effects the outcome of the game. It plays more like Black Mirror's Bandersnatch, though this game came before it. The story follows an everyman who gets tangled up in London's criminal underground just as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Completion Time: ~1.5 Hour Completion Time*
Extra Content: There are 180 choice points and 7 different endings. There is a platinum trophy, and I only got 4 out of 21 of the trophies on my first playthrough. There are a number of different routes to take with the game.

18. SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption

Price: $18.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Soulslike Action Adventure
Metacritic: 57% from 8 Critic reviews, 38% from 15 User Ratings
Description: SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption is a Soulslike boss rush - there are no levels and only small area before each boss to practice your moves. There are eight bosses, the first seven allowing you to fight in any order, each representing the seven deadly sins. You are equipped with everything the game has to offer from the beginning (except for the New Game+ weapon they give you), and instead of becoming more powerful, you gradually lose things with each boss you defeat, hence the “sacrifice” in the title. It’s like a reverse RPG. Each boss has a different sacrifice associated to it – one may deplete your throwing items’ usage, while another will deplete your health and stamina. Picking the best order to fight them in adds a little strategic thinking to the game, as you may be more dependent on your large health and stamina bar more than your throwing items’ usage, for example. The game is fairly difficult, so your victories over each boss feel very gratifying when they do come.
Completion Time: ~5 Hours
Extra Content: There is New Game+ that offers you an additional weapon. The trophies task you with a few things you have to pull off in battles, and the platinum trophy is pretty easy to obtain.

19. Verlet Swing

Price: $14.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: 3D Platformer
Metacritic: N/A from 0 Critic Review, 80% from 2 User Ratings
Description: Verlet Swing’s aesthetic is as intriguing as its gameplay: you are tasked with grappling and swinging yourself across these vaporwave styled levels without hitting anything. The levels are all very short, but you’re likely to play many levels dozens of times before even finishing it… just to get a 1/4 rank. The ranking system is actually very cool, in that it encourages you to find alternative paths or sometimes just building up more momentum to get to the end faster. Most levels do seem to have a set path, but at the same time, with the proper grappling of the mechanics, you can forge your own, which is a game in itself.
Completion Time: ~7 Hours
Extra Content: There’s an in game challenge menu that mostly recycles a lot of the base game content – though there’s a particularly funny one that switches the perspective to third person to play as a knockoff Spiderman. You can also go back and try to get the best possible time for each level. Getting the platinum trophy is extremely hard and I believe is at 0.1% completion.

20. Neon Drive

Price: $9.99
Picture: Link
Trailer: Link
Genre: Rhythm
Metacritic: N/A from 0 Critic Reviews, 70% from 7 User Ratings
Description: Neon Drive is a challenging rhythm game with a synthwave aesthetic and appropriately matching music. The objective of the game is to evade the obstacles coming at you by transitioning between four lanes at the right moment using either two of the face buttons, D-Pad, or shoulder buttons. Personally I found the shoulder buttons worked best. The game will occasionally transform you into other vehicles that mix the gameplay up a bit - one notable example is when you turn into a plane and transition between eight lanes in a 360 degree orientation. There are only eight levels that are all about three minutes in length if you were to beat them with no deaths, with two checkpoints and two health points that regenerate between checkpoints. While this all sounds very generous, most of these levels will still take you dozens of tries, though the life reset is almost immediate so you can get back into the action right away.
Completion Time: ~3 Hours
Extra Content: There are two harder difficulties, an endurance mode that sees how long you can go without dying, a free run mode that allows you to play through the game without reset (only unlocked after beating each level), and online leaderboards. The trophies are very hard to get, and there is no platinum trophy.

Conclusion
My top 5 on the list in order would be the following: (1.) Hayfever, (2.) Valfaris, (3.) Cursed Castilla: (Maldita Castilla EX), (4.) Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, and (5.) Bleep Bloop.
Have you played any of these games? What are some other overlooked single player indie games?
If you’re looking for more indie games to play, see my post here:

With one is proper (its different for some people I think)

Is Dragon Quest XI the kind of exceptional turn-based RPG that'll appeal to someone (i.e. me) who doesn't really like turn-based games?

EARTH TO OMORI - PART 1

Thanos is horrendously, persistently misunderstood and mis-described

There are two common complaints I hear of Jim Starlin's version of his character Thanos:
1) "He's just fan fiction: he's always made more powerful or smarter than everyone he ever meets."
2) "Starlin just retcons everything he doesn't like."
I'm here to do what I can to poke and prod at these ideas as best I'm able.
There’s actually a third complaint, but it’s so completely in defiance of how Starlin writes the character that I don’t think it’s worth categorizing the same way. This is essentially that common description of Thanos as “Death-worshiping nice guy who can’t take a hint and wants to destroy the universe”.
Let’s start with that, as it forms the basis of everything wrong with the other comments.
Thanos is (or was, pre-MCU) most known for one story, really: The Infinity Gauntlet. Everyone remembers how it was a story of Thanos trying to impress Death like a loser and then losing the ultimate power. Some get hazy and think the heroes stopped him (they didn’t--all of them who went up against him, because he was powered as a god, died--with a handful of exceptions, those exceptions gaining no more ground). Some have even said Nebula joined the heroes to stop him (!!).
What seems to almost inevitably escape every synopsis I ever read is that incredibly crucial page that Ron Lim drew with such fantastic expressions of shock and denial on the Mad Titan’s face: the one where Warlock tells him he knows his soul better than he himself does. This is often re-written as “an excuse”, and becomes the kernel mis-attributing all of this to “Starlin won’t ever let Thanos be beaten”. In truth: the point of this is character development. Is there evidence of this? Obviously. Look at every single story Starlin wrote about him after this.
This is the fulcrum; this is the point where Starlin drops Thanos as “universe-ending mega-threat”, but that everyone--including seemingly every other writer, contemporaneously or since--forgets. He doesn’t become an outright hero (though he proceeds to act to save all of existence repeatedly, also mystifyingly forgotten), and his personality does not perform a 180, but he is no longer invested in ultimate power--he actually takes Adam’s words to heart.
In the midst of Infinity War, there’s an episode that he may or may not have imagined: Death comes to speak to him, to encourage him to take out Warlock for her (seeding his existence as the increasingly “formal” champion of Life to Thanos’s “champion of Death”). He chooses, even after she has spoken to him--though he, too, is not entirely convinced this actually occurs--to defy her. This is quite thoroughly the end of the immaturity of this obsession. In the main story, he’s speaking of her somewhat coldly, distantly (bringing the Infinity Watch to her palace--maybe with a little too much “I don’t care!” to be believed) and otherwise not at all. This is no longer his drive.
It's laid out bare at the end of that series, as he faces his scarecrow self, with no witnesses:

"And what now are you, Lord Thanos? Hero? Villain? Neither? Maybe just wiser.
"The Magus would have held firm to ultimate power had he gained a solid grip on it. He would not have subconsciously surrendered it like I...in days past. Now? Who knows.
"Gamora was correct--changes are taking place within me. Even old dogs can learn new tricks. With insight one's horizons widen. As I always said, knowledge is power.
"Lessons learned: the one true victory. Perhaps now Thanos could retain ultimate power were he to gain it again. But do I still crave such an exotic dish? I suspect future event will answer that rhetorical query."

I want to be clear here: this is 1992. There’s approximately one other story about Thanos someone else has written at this point, and that’s “The Final Flower”, the back-up story from Logan’s Run #6. Yes, Ron Marz has taken over Silver Surfer at this point, and quite honestly his Thanos is not quite keeping up with the developments in The Infinity Gauntlet or War, but otherwise Starlin has kept his hold on the character almost entirely up to this point. He’s established that Thanos has deviated from his previous pursuit of power. He’s established an end to his obsession with Death, whether it be the Mistress Herself, or the idea of killing everyone.
And so our divergence comes. We’ve got Joe Kelly in Deadpool. Mark Waid (partly unintentionally due to some background shenanigans) in Kazar. Ron Marz still a touch in Cosmic Powers. Dan Jurgens in Thor. Englehart in The Celestial Quest.
Every one of these stories comes after Thanos’s signature story and its follow-ups (including The Infinity Crusade, and his interactions in Warlock and the Infinity Watch) that make clear that this character has changed. And they all ignore them. Every single one reverts him to the one-note, one-motivation “He wants to kill everyone and be powerful” mentality.
And now we really get to those complaints.
You see--Starlin’s retcons? Where he said Jurgens’s story was a "Thanosi", and Waid’s? Well, those two writers (and the rest) already retconned Starlin’s own character development. He wrote Thanos--while no one else, with the exception of Marz was writing him--out of the personalities all those writers stuffed right back into him with no explanation. He took the time to reference those stories, and explain why they still happened but didn’t fit. Because they truly didn’t fit--while none of the rest of them justified why he was back to the old personality. The Thanos who stepped away from his obsession with Death and power wouldn’t fit in those stories, but that’s the Thanos that those writers had been left with.
So in all of this, we’ve got the idea that Starlin is trying to make his baby (and let’s not pretend Thanos isn’t his baby--he absolutely is, and he’s clearly protective) “the bestest” and “the strongest” and the whatever else--I’ve read this complaint for years. Was he trying to prevent Thor from beating Thanos--or was he trying to keep his character moving along the path he'd created for him that everyone was ignoring?
What all those complaints seem to fail to recognize is that the points on his strength aren’t to make him “the bestest”, they’re to develop his character and place in the universe. They aren’t about “he can beat 12 Celestials with his hand tied behind his back”, and the infinity gauntlet wasn’t created to be an artifact to be stronger than everybody else--those were all built in to look at characters (Thanos and Warlock) who exist on another plane of power but who still have human traits. What does a petulant, flawed being look like and do when given ultimate power? What does fighting a god-like being mean for the regular heroes of the Marvel universe--or even the cosmic ones? What is it like to have someone so powerful driven by nihilistic madness, or really questionable "love" of an abstract, destructive force? What does this "Thanos" do with ultimate power?
You can have a Galactus miniseries (we’ve had them!) but unless you go back to Galan, he’s still an alien, cosmic force, distant from humanity as we understand it. Thanos and Warlock are the grand operatic forces that exist away from the regular Marvel heroes, not to exist in a “who could beat who” scale, but to make them grander scale stories. It’s the reason you don’t have Spider-Man regularly tangle with Terrax or Annihilus (or Thor regularly fighting Wilson Fisk). Starlin had long since established he existed at a power level Marvel’s regular heroes could not contend with--there’s no real exception to this in any story until other writers took on the character, 25 years after his creation. In the Cosmic Cube event, it’s akin to Spider-Man facing Juggernaut when Mar-Vell pulls off that win--and that’s a character Jim had nurtured into the “cosmically aware”, vaguely psychedelic version that he made famous. When Warlock turns Thanos to stone in the first infinity (née soul) gem affair, it’s after all the other heroes have failed utterly, and Warlock himself is dead. Is it pulling out the rug to make those hair’s-breadth defeats a product of Thanos’s self-sabotage? Only if you’re obsessed with “who can beat who.” If you come at it from that perspective, this is the only conclusion to draw: "Starlin must be upset by the idea that anyone can beat his creation, so he pretended no one did." But he wrote every single one of those stories himself, using characters he’d raised into their most famous and lasting impressions. “Counter Earth Jesus” is a nostalgic, of-an-era take on Adam Warlock. “Soap opera co-star with Medic Una” is a Captain Marvel I’m not sure I’ve heard much of anyone talk about. So what if this isn’t about “who can beat who”, but about establishing the fact that Thanos just isn’t an “Avengers villain”? What if he’s not “a mega-villain” at all? What if he’s some sort of unusual in-between--neither at the level of any of the “regular” heroes and villains, nor fully progressed to an abstract force of the universe? Not an Elder, existing in an archetypal state of aloof distance and power concentrated into a single, mystical, cosmic level--but the kind of being who can operate near those folks and works in the universe at a similar level of power, while being more “human”? In this sense--rather like the Silver Surfer with his conscience returned.
It's probably worth pointing out that The Thanos Quest may well be the finest crystallization of Thanos as opponent: he has immense power, but it's not his power that defeats the elders. It's cunning and planning and scheming that get him past everyone. And as seen in other stories like "Yule Memory" and his exchanges with Gamora in Warlock and the Infinity Watch, there's a lot more going on behind him than just "Megalomaniacal life-hater" (including a metric shit tonne of denial of his own emotions). Indeed, The Infnity Abyss has the line that encapsulates this most perfectly, I've always felt:

"But fortunately, Thanos's most dangerous weapon is his mind. It is entirely in the planning. All battles are won or lost before ever the first blow is struck. Execution is mere formality."

I’m not saying this is an impenetrable, guaranteed argument that “he doesn’t want anyone to beat his character” is “factually incorrect”, but rather that perspective matters in looking at these things. If you come away still convinced that’s the only reason for the stories--well, have at you, then!
But this is so fundamental to all of these stories--even in Iron Man #55, Drax is the real contender for Thanos himself, not Tony--that it seems strange to me to insist that he must operate at the same level as every “other villain”. Indeed, I would argue his role simply isn’t that of “villain for Marvel heroes” and almost every problem stemming from the character originates in the insistence that he be exactly that--a villain--anyway. He's supporting antihero or direct protagonist in most stories from The Thanos Quest onward, unless someone else is writing.
And it seems stranger yet that stories which flatten a character who was progressing and developing are often less harshly dealt with as "retcons" than the complaints lobbed at a writer who’s been nurturing a character for decades into something that allows for stories that function in the same universe without having to be directly interactive with the expected characters. When he picks up Earthbound heroes in The Infinity Abyss, it’s with that grudging respect of others from his home star system. The same in Infinity War and Crusade (where he treats them as so much cannon fodder, because of course he does).
In closing, perhaps the most maddening to me is that The End was rendered non-canon, despite being integral to what comes after it (the half-Starlin, half-Giffen Thanos “maxi-series”, which leads directly into Drax the Destroyer which leads directly into Annihilation). It's the realization of all of the personality exploration that Thanos was going through: the final answer to that question he asked himself--a maturation of Thanos as a being into one who finally understands the responsibility of ultimate power, an acceleration not to raise the stakes yet again and make him even more the "bestest", but to try to enact (rather futilely) a lasting change, in stopping the "revolving door" of death in the Marvel universe. A noble sacrifice to maintain consistency--where once he would save the universe out of a sense of self-interest ("I merely wish to safeguard the sanctity of my own reality."), he now sacrifices even himself in the interest of that reality--and for this is given his first boon of Mistress Death (much more in keeping with her established personality than Kelly's intercession...)
I’ve seen people say Thanos is boring and always after the same thing, or that Giffen changed things by making him seek redemption (I love Giffen and think that, especially, his 6 issues in that series really lived up to where Starlin had been taking the character)--when Jim did it at the end of the fucking Infinity Gauntlet back in 1991. Nevermind that he started Thanos on the path in #1-6 of the same series before Giffen took it over. But everyone just forgot or ignored it, and then complained when he tried to keep this character on a consistent path instead of continually being reduced to "angry, Death-obsessed thug" (still the most common encapsulation of the character).
It wasn't even obscured--alongside the other quotations above, there's this exchange with Magus in Infinity War (#1):

Magus: "You now protect what you once sought to decimate? What does reality mean to one such as you?"
Thanos: "Much in recent months."
Magus: "This does not sound like the Thanos I knew of old."
Thanos: "He has been replaced by a creature with different priorities."
Magus: "A revelation?"
Thanos: "Of sorts. As you do now, I once strove for ultimate power."
Magus: "Why do you think that my goal?"
Thanos: "You already possess vast energies, yet I still see hunger in your eyes."
Magus: "You speak as a kindred soul and an anxious competitor?"
Thanos: "I've already had my taste of omnipotence. I found it impossible to keep down. Ultimate might was not meant for beings such as ourselves."

This is my greatest personal torture in the realms of interaction over fiction I hold dear. I don’t ask that anyone come away only with my interpretation and understanding, or genuflect to Starlin as the ultimate Thanos writer (given that I think no one else has bothered with the actual character--excepting Giffen and then Peter David in some Captain Marvel issues, and some valiant attempts from Marz--this is more "default" truth than emphatically earned. When someone else writes the character with these kinds of changes and dimensions in mind, let's talk then), nor to hold this character as dearly as I, but merely that folks consider that “who can beat who” and “what’s the greatest level of power” aren’t the only ways of looking at these stories, nor this character. I'd argue, in fact, they are the wrong ways to look at these stories and this character, given how the stories are written, really not even about fights and "who can win"/"who is stronger", but the ubiquitous metaphysical and psychological ruminations of Starlin that naturally stem from an idle thought of personifying the eros and the thanatos in the first place. Not to suggest it's incredibly deep, magical insight--but that madness and how people think and feel and work and how that relates to the cosmos is the core of his writing and the characters he comes up with.
For me: Thanos is interesting because he changes and progresses--at least when he’s left in the hands of his creator. And as a side note, I think placing him in a different "plane" from Marvel's other heroes and villains is necessary for this to work. Stuffing him back in as a villain almost requires stripping away the rest of that entirely.
(And yes: this means I've been ignoring Thanos stories for the last ten years as hard as I can. The "he's a ruthless ultra-powerful thug" thing doesn't interest me at all--especially because it's in defiance of what made him interesting to me in the first place, and hammers down all that development until it's just the same, bland, one-note boring "character" forever. Endless missed opportunities.)

Competitive Budget Deck Masterpost (October 2020)

All I know what to do anymore is summon Elpy, it's been so long. I don't know what yugioh is anymore. The other day, I summoned my monsters to set up Guardragon arrows. In goat format. Everything has become dragon to me. There are no other types, no other monsters besides for Fibrax. I have seen God, and I have seen the devil, but they are one and the same. I stared into the abyss and screamed, and it screamed back: "carrier target savage"

This post will give recommendations for decks that can generally do well while generally remaining in the $50 to $150 price range.

Estimated pricing includes a sample completed main deck and some or all of an extra deck, but no side.
Pricing is based mainly on singles and you can easily save a lot of money by buying cores for most of these lists all at once.
Decks were chosen usually based on having some degree of success in recent TCG formats. Thus, many of the frequently recommended budget decks like Deskbots and Graydle Kaiju will not be on here.
- As we have had virtually no IRL events in the last few months, these deck choices and rankings are heavily based on online tournaments such as Konami's Remote Duel Invitationals, LCS, and other assorted online events.
- Remember that these events are pretty small and high in variance. Don't immediately condemn a deck as being sub-par because it hasn't shown up in online events - there are around 20 decks on this post and not all of them are going to be able to compete with Dragon Link and Dogmatika.
- Performance on DuelingBook's ranked ladder also slightly factors in to the placement of these decks, with data taken from Ygoscope.
Many decklists will include some middle-range power cards that might drive the price point up, such as Ash Blossom and Borrelsword Dragon. These can be cut for players on an extreme budget. For instance, a set of Ash is $30 currently, but Ash is included in many of these lists as a generic staple that players might already own.
Conversely, decklists are oftentimes easily upgraded by adding power cards such as Forbidden Droplet and Triple Tactics Talent.

Not all decklists are perfect and this post is not an F. Unless there is a particularly offensive deckbuilding error that you want to point out, please don't use this thread to nitpick at the sample decklists provided. Decklists were built prioritizing simplicity and effectiveness on a budget. At the same time, if you want to try one of these decks, don't treat them as if they're perfect, either - you should experiment and play cards that feel comfortable and/or optimal to you.
Do feel free to leave suggestions for budget players, whether it's a budget tech choice for one of the decks on this list or whether it's a different deck that you think can compete in the coming months.
[Last updated: 18 Oct 2020]
Previous version: June 2020 Post
Updated version: Jan 2021 Post

S Tier

The best bang for your buck. Decks in this category have the capacity to top premier events, though they're almost always supplemented with expensive power cards.

Dragon Link

Price: $100-150+ (depending on Extra Deck) Imgur | DuelingBook

Dragon Link is a Link-centric combo deck that has dominated competitive play since the September banlist. Though it's optimally played with Crystron Halqifibrax and Linkross, the deck is still very strong without these power cards, and is deadly even on a budget.
The provided budget version of this deck actually has a ton of extra deck flexibility due to not needing to play Synchro/Link cards related to the Halq/Kross package, meaning that you can play Knightmares, anti-Dogmatika cards, etc.
This deck has seen a great deal of variation online, playing a variety of different engines and tech cards. A few of these include Vylon Cube + Smoke Grenade, the Rose Dragons, several different Dragonmaid cards, and even an FTK variant involving Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu. However, few of these are viable for budget players, especially if you do not own a copy of Halqifibrax.
Optimally, this deck plays Dragunity Divine Lance + Dragunity Phalanx, as part of a combo involving Linkross to help establish a negate very early on and make this deck much more resilient. While we can cut this package since we don't play Halq/Kross, it also means that the budget version of this deck is more fragile by comparison.
As the strongest deck in the meta, Dragon Link is also the deck that everyone prepares for, so you should expect opposing decks to play tech cards designed specifically to beat this deck. Additionally, this deck is extremely likely to be hit on the next banlist, though there's no way to know for sure.

Dinosaurs

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Dinosaurs are an aggressive deck with consistent access to Evolzar Laggia/Dolkka and Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, a formidable boss monster with incredible OTK power and disruption.
Dinos are one of the only decks that can claim a major win at an official Konami event during the pandemic (with Dragon Link being another), as TeamSamuraiX1 won the first NA Remote Duel Invitational with the deck. It's also seen consistently strong performance in online events for the past several months, able to compete with extremely strong combo decks such as Adamancipator last format and Dragon Link.
- Sam, like many other players this format, ran Pot of Extravagance, and played strong going-second cards like Dark Ruler No More and Mystic Mine. As the Extrav version doesn't rely much on the extra deck, it's capable of going second into decks that establish the Buster lock, such as Dragon Link. Ultimate Conductor Tyranno then makes it extremely easy to clear the opposing board.
- Mystic Mine is particularly deadly in this deck as you can use it to force disrupts before killing them with Conductor. In the event Mine sticks to the board, you can then make an extremely powerful push with Oviraptor on a later turn and sometimes kill them outright with Conductor. Or just deck them out if they don't have a way to get rid of Mine.
The deck can also be played as a Synchro combo deck, making use of Crystron Halqifibrax + Linkross like many other combo decks this format. These cards aren't played in the sample list due to the high price of Fibrax, as well as other cards required in synchro Dino combos such as Jurrac Aeolo and Garden Rose Maiden.
- The combo variant was piloted to notable success by Jack Verma at LCS 3, where he finished top 8 playing a Fibrax-centered list running cards like Cockadoodledoo.
Budget Dino must deal with the lack of Animadorned Archosaur, as well as the lack of essential combo cards like Halqifibrax and power cards played in other versions like Pot of Extravagance and Forbidden Droplet.
The provided list plays the Simorgh combo, bringing out the WIND barrier statue on turn 1 to steal games. Though a full extra deck is provided, very few cards are actually needed, as the deck typically plays Extravagance anyway.

A Tier

Strong decks, but limited either by a lack of access to powerful staples or by the natural ceiling of the deck. You could still top a regional with one of these decks on a good day.

Subterror (Numeron)

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Subterrors are a control deck with a focus on flipping monsters face-down and generating constant advantage with Subterror Guru.
Numeron cards aim to make Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL going first or simply OTK going second. S0 is an extremely powerful card that can prevent the opponent from playing the game entirely if it resolves.
Subterror tends to want to resolve Subterror Guru as often as possible, and you can still do so after Numeron Calling restricts your ability to summon. You can simply set Guru and then flip it face-up with The Hidden City, so both parts of the deck can work in tandem.
- Red-Eyes Fusion + Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon are frequently played in other Subterror decks for the same reason (however, Dragoon is not budget-friendly).
Though Numeron cards were hyped up before their release, they have seen little success in competitive play. S0 is a card that's better in theory than it is in practice, and Numeron variants have in general shown that they're not nearly as scary as some of the other decks out there. Subterror's notable event top this format, a top 16 finish at LCS 6, did not involve any Numeron cards and used Dragoon instead.
Pure Guru control without Numeron cards or Dragoon is also a viable option. Subterror can be extremely oppressive if it's allowed to establish its resource loop, particularly when backed up with There Can Be Only One. An example budget list is provided in the previous budget post, linked at the top of this post.

Salamangreat

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Link-based midrange deck with a lot of recursion and a special in-archetype technique, where 1 Link Monster is used as the entire Link material to summon another copy of that monster, granting bonus effects
The deck is somewhat halfway between control and combo, establishing respectable boards turn 1 with a fairly compact engine, allowing many handtraps to be played. Their real strength comes in turn 3 and beyond, where their arsenal of free summons from the GY, coupled with their stellar resource recycling, easily overwhelm the opponent.
The majority of the deck is dirt cheap and is mostly able to be built with commons from SOFU+SAST supplementing 3 copies of Structure Deck: Soulburner.
Accesscode Talker is a huge part of this deck's success online, able to steal games easily with the help of Update Jammer. Accesscode is not at all affordable on a budget, so the sample list plays Zeroboros instead. Owning one copy of Accesscode is an enormous improvement to this deck's strength.
Salamangreat has found little competitive success in bigger online tournaments this format, but still regularly performs well in smaller events, remote duel locals, and the like. It's also a fairly safe choice, as it's somewhat unlikely we see further Salamangreat hits on the next banlist.

Megalith

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Combo Ritual deck that searches basically everything in its deck, accruing a ridiculous amount of advantage
Famously piloted to a 2nd place finish at LCS 5 by Lundrity, making it farther than all of the Adamancipator players (the other deck from last format that abused Block Dragon). You can watch his deck profile here. Though the Block Dragon ban was a huge blow to this deck, it's still quite strong without it and can turn to Magician of Black Chaos MAX along with Megalith Bethor as its primary forms of disruption. None of the Megalith cards are expensive whatsoever, making this deck ludicrously cheap for how powerful it is.
The competitive version of this deck generally plays Fibrax combos, with 1 copy of Adamancipator Researcher teched into the main deck to get tuner access off of Gallant Granite. This opens up additional options, allowing you to go into cards like Hot Red Dragon King Calamity, but requires HalqKross and Researcher - which combined, cost more than the entire provided decklist.
High skill floor and weakness to Droll & Lock Bird could be a deterrent for some players.

Zoodiac

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Formerly an incredibly dominant deck, current Zoodiac has established a small niche for itself in the current meta despite having only 1 Drident. Part of this is due to Infinitrack Fortress Megaclops, which can be easily brought out through several one- and two-card combos. Megaclops can be immensely troublesome for many decks to out, and is extremely effective at closing games.
Plays a compact engine combined with around 20 slots dedicated to handtraps, traps, and draw power. Makes extremely effective use of the recently unlimited Pot of Avarice, as you can simply stack Xyz monsters, link them off for Gravity Controller, and easily fulfill the activation requirement for Avarice. Recent variants sometimes incorporate the Dogmatika cards as well, though the price of cards like Nadir Servant makes this option impossible on a budget.
The deck hasn't seen a ton of success in this format, but neither have most other decks. One reason it's high up on the post is in anticipation of Negalogia AA-Zeus, an extremely powerful card in Phantom Rage that has propelled this deck to tier 1 status in the OCG. Note that OCG has a generally slower metagame than us, and that OCG Zoo also has Utopic Future Dragon.
Zoo's price has gone up lately due to hype around the deck, notably with Chakanine being around $15 each in NA right now. Some people are speculating a Chakanine reprint in Maximum Gold, which would make this deck a lot cheaper. At the moment, the sample list only plays 2 Chak for budget reasons - ideally, you'd run 3.

B Tier

Like the above category, but generally weaker, less consistent, and/or impacted harder by a lack of access to a certain card(s).

Altergeist

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Control + backrow deck with incredible recursion and the ability to come back from almost no resources
Altergeist has seen sparse success ever since FLOD, and are a respectable budget contender. They've have had a fairly modest showing online, notably getting top 32 at the third online Luxury Championship Series.
Budget players are most hurt by a lack of Pot of Extravagance, Infinite Impermanence, Evenly Matched, and Linkross. The first three of these cards have reprints, but none are quite cheap enough yet to be easily accessible on a budget.
Be on the lookout for whenever Altergeist Pookuery gets imported to the TCG, as the ability to make Hexstia on turn 1 and then trigger its search effect with Linkross is insane for the deck's consistency.
The extra deck is extremely flexible (as Altergeist are typically played with Extravagance, anyway) and several options are simply tech cards, such as Elder Entity N'tss.
Main deck trap choices are also extremely flexible. Torrential is quite powerful against Dragon Link, but this could easily be swapped out for many other cards depending on your budget, available card pool, and locals demographics.
Some players have opted to include Dogmatika cards in this deck, which is viable even on a modest budget. It's possible to simply play Dogmatika Punishment as a powerful trap capable of utilizing your extra deck, and even a single copy of Ecclesia (around $20 each right now) goes a long way for improving the power of this package.

Sky Striker

Price: $100-150+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Spell-heavy control deck that usually maintains only one monster on the field at a time, in the extra monster zone.
Striker isn't affected too badly by many of the commonly played handtraps like Nibiru and go-second tech cards like Dark Ruler No More. It no longer accrues infinite resources through resolving Engage multiple times, but instead is easily able to kill you with an Accesscode Talker push after whittling down your LP and resources for a turn or two. The standard combo involves laddering from Halqifibrax -> Selene -> Accesscode and then dismantling your opponent's board before swinging for game.
You may have noticed a problem: if you're on a budget, you can't use Accesscode. This is a pretty big blow to the deck's overall strength. The provided sample list uses the Utopia Double package instead to steal games, a combo that some players are still using in their Sky Striker decks. For example, Zoé Weber played Double in the second EU Remote Duel Invitational, just a few days before this post was written.
Focusing on going second and resolving Mystic Mine as much as possible is also still a viable way to play this deck (and is more affordable with the Mine reprint), but you may struggle against decks that play Smoke Grenade of the Thief, like Infernoble and sometimes Dragon Link.
Yet another way to play this deck involves (surprise) Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon and multiple copies of Red-Eyes Fusion. Instead of using cards like Widow Anchor and Afterburners to muscle through disruption and stick a Mystic Mine on the field, you use them to get to your Dragoon and either win the game immediately or put yourself in a position where your opponent can't play through the Dragoon disrupt.
Roze is the most expensive card in this list, and 2 is generally considered standard. If your budget is tight, you can definitely cut her down to 1.

Traptrix

Price: $100+ (higher w/ Dogmatika package) Imgur | DuelingBook

Control deck with an extremely power Link 1 monster, Traptrix Sera, that pumps out constant advantage.
Commonly played as an Extravagance deck, but also makes solid use of its Extra Deck. In particular, Parallel eXceed is really nice for this deck, letting it end on multiple Rank 4s turn 1.
The sample list takes an interesting approach and incorporates a very small Dogmatika engine. Though the full Dogma engine is very expensive (with Nadir Servant clocking in at around $70 per copy right now), Dogmatika Punishment itself is very cheap, and is one of the best generic traps in the game right now. The addition of just 1 copy of Ecclesia (around $20) provides a substantial power boost to this mini-engine, as dumping one copy of Titaniklad with Punishment and grabbing an Ecclesia for next turn is extremely powerful.
If you can't get Ecclesia, you could simply play just Punishment as a generic trap, but this would still require 1-2 copies of N'tss (around $5-6 each). Another option is to play pure Traptrix, incorporating more power traps/handtraps, and quite frequently the Utopia Double package as well.
Like every other backrow deck on this post, you have a great deal of flexibility regarding which trap cards you play. This applies particularly to the Trap Hole options, as cards like Bottomless and Time-Space Trap Hole are also both viable. In the sample list, Floodgate is played at 3 due to being extremely powerful, and Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare was thrown in as it can negate cards like Verte Anaconda.

Burning Abyss

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Versatile control-based Graveyard toolbox deck that has been swinging in and out of meta relevance since its release way back in 2014.
Was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the September banlist, with Graff and Cir coming back to 2, Tour Guide coming to 3, and Rusty Bardiche being unbanned.
Generally played as a combo deck from 2018-2019, incorporating a multitude of options. This was considered the "standard" version of BA until Dinh-Kha Bui won a 130-player online German tournament in April with a much slower trap-heavy list.
- The strategy is quite simple - set up Beatrice on turn 1 with backrow set, try to search a Tour Guide for turn 3, and push to win the game. The discard traps have good synergy with Farfa and Scarm in hand, and Fiend Griefing is powerful GY disruption that also dumps any BA, Rhino Warrior, Back Jack, or even Token Collector to stop Linkross combo decks.
The trap lineup can be customized to deal with different decks; cards like Torrential Tribute are strong vs. Dragons, while Ice Dragon's Prison is extremely powerful in several different matchups (but might be a little pricey for some).
This deck was frequently mixed with Phantom Knight cards back in 2016 (often called PK Fire), and the unbanning of Rusty Bardiche opens that up as a viable option once again. However, this variant is not shown due to cards like Fog Blade and Bardiche itself being a few bucks. PK Fire is also not substantially stronger compared to the regular trap variant.
Yet another possibility is a Synchro wombo combo deck involving (drumroll)... Halqifibrax, Linkross, and Dragoon. This is not covered here for obvious reasons.
The Mega-Tin reprint of I:P Masquerena is really nice, as a standard opening results in Masquerena + Beatrice off of Tour Guide alone. Players on a tight budget might not be able to pursue this option, as Masquerena and Knightmare Unicorn are both hovering at $10-13.

Madolche

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Combo deck with several one and two card OTKs that can rip apart established boards. Plus, everything is based on dessert puns.
Madolche got some fantastic support in recent years that dramatically boosted the power of this deck. Petingcessoeur in SAST and Salon/Promenade in ETCO are all amazingly good support cards.
Saw varied levels of success in online tournaments over the last two formats, with some occasional breakout performances like Ryan Yu winning the Luxury BLM charity event with this list (pre-ETCO), as well as Dinh-Kha Bui getting top 4 at an HTS tournament with Madolche, winning a Madolche mirror in top 8 to get there.
Has a weird niche as a viable going second deck that can break the Buster lock with the help of Puddingcess. Typically, you will also require a powerful going-second card like Dark Ruler No More.
Reprints of key Madolche cards such as Anjelly in BLAR and Magileine in DUOV have made this deck reasonably affordable again after many of its cards spiked earlier this year. There are still some strange aftereffects, such as Hootcake still being around $12 in NA. The deck is very commonly played with Extravagance, which is not included on this budget list, but even Extrav has also gotten substantially cheaper.
The sample list runs Dimension Shifter, which is devastating against Dragon Link, Infernoble, Dinosaur, and Eldlich. While it makes your own combos awkward, you might consider the trade-off to be worth it. Shifter is, of course, easily substituted for another, more conventional handtrap.

C Tier

Decks in this category have the capability to be just as good as the ones above at times, but often tend to suffer from multiple problems including consistency and power.

Gouki

Price: $80+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Aggressive Warrior-based combo deck that takes advantage of the Gouki monsters all searching other Gouki cards upon leaving the field. With the unbanning of Rusty Bardiche and the release of some solid generic Warrior support in ROTD, Gouki has seen a small resurgence online.
The general goal is to resolve Isolde and then summon Apollousa to protect you from handtraps, before using Gouki Rematch to then go into the Codebreakers. Codebreaker Virus Swordsman, Virus Berserker, and Zero Day can effectively vomit out 6 Link rating worth of monsters off of just the two Goukis revived with Rematch. Competitive versions of this deck usually play Verte Anaconda + Dragoon, Linkross, and sometimes even a small Synchro package to go into the Infernoble synchros. A great resource for current Gouki combos is this combo video from SirEmanon - note that it utilizes Dragoon.
Most of the warrior stuff is surprisingly cheap, but the reason Gouki is on this post instead of Infernoble is due to a heavy reliance on Halq + Linkross in competitive Infernoble strategies. The provided list plays a few Infernoble cards, but more as generic warrior extenders - Durendal is great for searching Fire Flint Lady as well as Oliver, which help to put extra bodies on board.
Budget players may find that a lack of Verte + Dragoon leads to the end boards being quite underwhelming, and less resilient in the face of disruption. A weakness to Droll & Lock Bird also doesn't help.

Unchained

Price: $75-100 Imgur | DuelingBook

Floaty destruction-based archetype that generates advantage when its cards are destroyed, enabling its gimmick of using your opponent's monsters to Link Summon.
Can be built to go first or to go second, although the sample list prefers to go first since you probably want cards like Dark Ruler No More, Lightning Storm, and Evenly Matched for going second.
Mega-Tin reprints of Abomination's Prison as well as their Link 2 have helped make this deck a great deal more affordable. I:P Masquerena being more affordable is also a nice boost, though it's by no means essential in this deck.
Fairly modest online performance, doing alright at smaller events and more recently finishing top 8 at the second YuGiJoe online series as well as occasional Luxury events.
This deck's best weapon is its opponents being unprepared for it. Playing improperly into Dark Spirits or Unchained floats can very quickly be fatal. It also matches up decently into some Dogmatika variants, which rely on destruction-based removal from Dogmatika Punishment and Elder Entity N'tss.

Plunder Patroll

Price: $100+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Pirate archetype with ridiculous recursion and a unique tag-out and equip mechanic based on Attributes being used in the game
The pirates become equips for one of (currently) three Patrollships, extra deck monsters that can all discard Plunder Patroll cards in hand to fuel powerful effects. The ships become stronger when manned (equipped with) a Plunder card, with bonuses such as ignition effects becoming quick effects, or being able to replace the discarded card with a new one from the deck.
In terms of performance, Plunder has been doing decently at smaller tournaments (particularly PPG weeklies) but has failed to replicate those results in larger online tournaments such as LCS.
Toadally Awesome + Bahamut Shark is another option for players who are able to afford Toad, which is currently sitting at around $20 on TCGPlayer. This has been mixed in some builds with cards like Tenyi Spirit - Shthana.

Pendulum Magician

Price: 100+ (varies) Imgur | DuelingBook

Pendulum deck centered around Level 4 Spellcaster monsters that recently got a new breath of life with Double Iris Magician being unbanned.
Magicians are featured here instead of Endymion as they're newer and haven't been on this post for a while. Both of them have similar online results (which is to say, practically none) and Endymion has a greater weakness to Droll. For an example Endymion list, consider something like this.
The example list is a Magician-heavy list featuring Tuning Magician, abusing it in conjunction with cards like Selene and Halqifibrax to spam monsters to the board before your Pendulum Summon. Though I'm not sure who created this build, Trif Gaming has been a big proponent of it online, utilizing Linkross as well as several Synchros designed to draw cards.
- A more budget-friendly version of this list cuts Fibrax and Tuning Magician entirely, and adds in other solid Pend cards like Endymions. The list shown runs a few moderately expensive cards like Fibrax, Apollousa, and a playset of the new Odd-Eyes Revolution Dragon, but Pend easily accommodates a smaller budget. Plenty of budget Pendulum resources exist online, so those versions aren't covered here.
Tornado Dragon is utilized to great effect in this deck, oftentimes popping Double Iris on your own turn 1 and then popping Artifact Scythe on turn 2 to lock your opponent out of the extra deck. Incorporating the Dagda + Scythe engine gives this deck some much-needed resilience against board breakers like Dark Ruler No More, a classic weakness of build-a-board Pendulum.
Plenty of other viable options exist for Pend, including incorporating Guardragons, a Phantom Knight engine, playing Dracoslayer cards, adding a heavier focus on Odd-Eyes, etc.
Pretty much every Pend variant suffers against Droll right now, including Magician, Endymion, and others. There's not really a way to play around this due to the nature of Pendulum as a deck, so just don't worry about it :)

Shaddoll

Price: $75+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Classic Fusion-based archetype from 2014, debuting in Duelist Alliance. Somewhat of a midrange combo deck that can slow the game down with El Shaddoll Winda or be very aggressive with El Shaddoll Construct
Winda is a troublesome floodgate that many decks struggle to out, especially combo decks. Shaddoll cards are currently played in several Dogmatika variants due to the sheer power of Winda and the utility of Shaddoll Schism, released in ROTD.
In the OCG, Dogmatika Shaddoll without any other engines is one of the top meta contenders, commonly playing even cards like Gale Dogra to use Apkallone and get to Schism as soon as possible.
Since the Dogmatika package is extremely expensive, the included decklist is more of a pure Shaddoll list. Schism is still an absolutely fantastic power boost for this deck, regardless of what version. Also possible is the inclusion of just a few copies of Dogmatika Punishment and maybe 1 Ecclesia (around $20), around with some utility extra deck cards.
The deck's biggest problem has always been its inability to consistently resolve a fusion spell on turn 1. Pure Shaddoll are somewhat prone to bricking on all monsters or all spell/traps, and not being able to afford the Dogma cards is also a blow to consistency.
Another hybrid build that existed before Dogmatika cards debuted was Invoked Shaddoll, which is still a powerful variant currently (though Dogma cards are always splashed in as well). Meltdown protects Schism, making it an extremely powerful combo that can out cards like Dragoon. However, Invocation is still $20 each, despite its multiple reprints.

Up-And-Coming

Decks here will usually be decks that recently started seeing success (usually online) or upcoming decks that might become viable budget decks, oftentimes due to new support or even new reprints. Some might also be decks that could potentially be on the main body of the post, but need a little more time to prove themselves. These decks are also going to be covered in less detail.

Buster Blader

Price: Varies Imgur | DuelingBook

Control deck that abuses the interaction between Buster Dragon and the Buster Blader fusion monster to set up a very annoying lock similar to what Bagooska does. Prologue sending Memories and then Memories's GY effect will accomplish this lock if you have any Dragon in the GY, meaning that Buster Whelp sets it up by itself.
Has seen a surprising amount of online success, particularly in high-rated DB. Part of this is due to the prevalence of Dragon Link, which the BB Fusion is strong against on its own.
Buster Blader cards are typically played as an engine, almost always mixed with a heavy Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon package and frequently also mixed with Dogmatika or Eldlich cards. None of these options are budget-friendly, so the price is simply listed as "variable". The sample list takes the deck in a playable direction, using a small Rokket engine to supplement the Buster Blader cards and to help get Dragons in GY for Memories. However, generally, I would not recommend trying to play this deck without Dragoon.

Prank-Kids

Price: $150 Imgur | DuelingBook

Floaty combo/control deck with 4 maindeck Prank-Kids that all float into any other Prank-Kid when used for a Link or Fusion summon
Phantom Rage comes with Prank-Kids Meow-Meow, a Link 1 Prank-Kid monster that makes this deck incredibly consistent and turns any single Prank monster into full combo. This deck has been popping up a bit in the OCG, so it's worth keeping an eye on.

Fluffal

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Aggressive Fusion combo deck capable of making ridiculous boards going first and easily OTKing going second. Previously known as just an OTK deck, its ROTD support have made its going-first options quite terrifying, and this deck has picked up some steam online
Frightfur Whale being level 9 enables easy access to Calamities, which can singlehandedly win games. This deck's other possible win conditions include Apollousa / Toad / Dagda+Scythe / Dingirsu+Winda / Punching you for 12000 damage
Almost every Fluffal card besides Kraken is dirt cheap. Only the generic main/extra deck cards really cost anything substantial.

Monarch

Price: $50+ Imgur | DuelingBook

Classic Tribute-based deck that was one of the best decks in early/mid 2016, and recently was brought back to full power after Pantheism came back to 3.
Monarch has some new toys to play with as well, including Seleglare the Luminous Lunar Dragon, Magicians' Souls, and the entire pool of Link monsters.
Notably pulled off a 2nd place finish at the EU Remote Duel Invitational last weekend, piloted by Lithium2300. You can watch his deck profile here.
Though Extra Deck Monarch is very strong, the Domain build is absolutely dirt cheap and doesn't require an extra deck. Monarchs in general have been performing quite poorly on DuelingBook and in online tournaments, but you're still able to easily steal games with cards like Domain and Vanity's Fiend, and the deck is perfectly fine for smaller events (as we saw from Lithium's performance).

Honorable Mentions

Orcust, Mermail Atlantean, Magical Musketeers, PaleoFrog, Crusadia Guardragon, ABC, D/D, Generaider - Decks that are fairly decent but have been left off of the post to make room for other decks that have seen more recent success or have fewer budget resources online.
Dragonmaid, Infernoid, Cyber Dragon, Invoked variants, HERO etc - Decks that are pretty good but are sorta in limbo due to some expensive individual cards, such as Kitchen Dragonmaid, Verte Anaconda/Cyber Dragon Nachster, Invocation, etc.
Cubics, Phantasm, Chain Burn, Evilswarm, Yosenju, Dinomist, and much, much more - Unfortunately, there is not enough room to cover every single decent, super-cheap deck.

I hope to keep this post updated for the foreseeable future. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions. Sorry this one took a little longer than usual to publish, I've been busy IRL and the format also needed some time to settle.

you win earthbound video

You Won! is a theme in Mother 3 that plays whenever the characters win a battle against a regular enemy. Victorious... is similar to You Won!, except it plays when the characters defeat a boss. The beginning is slightly more melancholic. If after the battle, at least one character levels up, this theme plays. When a character is no longer feverish, they learn a new PSI technique and this small ... EarthBound is a sequel to the original Mother, a NES title released only in Japan. The game was never released in Europe. Many of the gameplay elements featured in EarthBound are very traditional for RPG. You can purchase items, recharge energy, or gather information from various NPCs. EarthBound - You Win! Added: 2016-09-24 01:33:41 AM: Authors: MercuryPenny: Insert Size: 0x01C3 bytes Type: Song Sample Usage: None Source: Port Duration: 0:11 Featured: No Description: The short, recognizable fanfare from EarthBound. Good for goals, or something along those lines Tags: calm, goal ... MOTHER 2 / EarthBound Sound Effects: Attack 1 Attack 2 Beach Beam Shot Belch Burp Bike Bell Bird Chirp Boss Intro Brainshock Bubble Gum Bulldozer 1 Bulldozer 2 Bulldozer 3 Bump Buying Buzz Buzz Camera Click Camera Guy Cash Register Character Joins Click Counter PSI Cursor 1 Cursor 2 Death Deep Darkness Cymbal Crash Deep Water EarthBound (Japanese: MOTHER 2 ～ギーグの逆襲～ Mother 2: Gyiyg Strikes Back!), subtitled as The War Against Giygas!, is a game that was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on August 27, 1994 in Japan and on June 1, 1995 in North America. It was designed and directed by Shigesato Itoi, with music by Hiroshi Kanazu, Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka. One quick step before we tell you just how green you are! If you would like to be entered into the drawing to win one of 5,000 reusable shopping bags, complete the form below: In future releases, this was changed to "did his business". A similar change was made in EarthBound. When Master Barf challenges the party, he originally says, "Get covered in puke and die!" In MOTHER 1+2 and the Super Smash Bros. Brawl demo, this was changed to "Suffer until you vomit!" The Virtual Console releases changed this to "Get covered ... You can't instantly win in a red swirl or in a fight triggered by dialogue (such as a boss fight). If the number of enemies is greater than the number of characters who aren't unconscious, diamondized, paralyzed, nauseous, poisoned, possession, mushroomization and don't have a sunstroke or a cold you can't instantly win. besides, if you somehow killed giygas the game would probably mess up. It would probably try to do the standard “You Win!” screen but as we all know Giygas’ end is nothing like the standard battle win. You gain no exp and a complete cutscene happens, pokeys text, etc. Once you win you can go up the ladder and you will be out in a wooden area again. Keep going up and you will see a present with a Bomb in it. Keep going up more for a present with a Protein drink in it. Slightly up from there you can enter a cave to the right.

Coupons Earthbound Farm

you win earthbound

you win earthbound - win

Here is how you can win Earthbound (which you can trade for a lot of 3ds stuff)

Competitive Budget Deck Masterpost (January 2021)

S Tier

A Tier

B Tier

C Tier

Up-And-Coming

Honorable Mentions

Martin Samuel On Trippier Ban

I beat 108 games in 2020. AMA!

The S Tier

The A Tier

The B Tier

The C Tier

The lower tiers

Replays

FAQ

Games that are littered with items but give you a limited inventory drive me batty.

Mother 3 Review (Spoilers inside)

Console Wars, now with less Sega!

20 Overlooked Single Player Indie Games

With one is proper (its different for some people I think)

Is Dragon Quest XI the kind of exceptional turn-based RPG that'll appeal to someone (i.e. me) who doesn't really like turn-based games?

EARTH TO OMORI - PART 1

Thanos is horrendously, persistently misunderstood and mis-described

Competitive Budget Deck Masterpost (October 2020)

S Tier

A Tier

B Tier

C Tier

Up-And-Coming

Honorable Mentions

you win earthbound video

you win earthbound top