History AwesomeButImpractical / YuGiOhCardGame

* [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Beast_Machine_King_Barbaros_%C3%9Cr Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur]] sounds too good to be true. After all, it has a hefty 3800 ATK. and can be summoned from your hand by banishing two cards from anywhere that's not the Deck. Well, guess what. Those two cards have to be a Machine and a Beast-Warrior, meaning no synergy from either of those cards. Plus, it can't deal damage to your opponent, so it's only good for Xyz and Link fodder.

*** [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Machine_Lord_%C3%9Cr Machine Lord Ur]] can attack all your opponent's monsters at once, but it only has 1600 ATK to start. Not that it matters, since it can't deal damage to your opponent anyway.

* [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Beast_Machine_King_Barbaros_%C3%9Cr Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür]] sounds too good to be true. After all, it has a hefty 3800 ATK. and can be summoned from your hand by banishing two cards from anywhere that's not the Deck. Well, guess what. Those two cards have to be a Machine and a Beast-Warrior, meaning no synergy from either of those cards. Plus, it can't deal damage to your opponent, so it's only good for Xyz and Link fodder.

*** [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Machine_Lord_%C3%9Cr Machine Lord Ür]] can attack all your opponent's monsters at once, but it only has 1600 ATK to start. Not that it matters, since it can't deal damage to your opponent anyway.

** [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Ritual_Monster Ritual Monsters]] are by far the hardest monsters in the game to summon, with the only few Ritual Monsters people actually play being the exception because they're just ''that damn good''. To wit, they could be considered the FlawedPrototype of Synchro Summons. They require a magic card that sacrifices monsters from the field or hand with combined levels equal to or greater than the Ritual Monster's level. Doesn't sound too bad, but the main drawback is that Ritual Monsters, unlike Fusions and Synchros, are stored in the Main Deck instead of the Extra Deck. As a result, they frequently end up being a dead draw unless your deck is specifically designed around them or you already have the Ritual Spell in your hand,[[note]]Which in itself can be a dead draw if you don't get the Ritual Monster soon enough.[[/note]] and unlike other monsters, they can't be resummoned from the graveyard unless already Ritual Summoned, and often have subdued effects for the trouble needed to summon them.\\

Over time, Konami has been experimenting with Rituals a lot in an attempt to make them playable. Attempts include improving Ritual Spells such that they can summon more than just one monster, Ritual Summoning using Tributes from other places[[note]]First seen on Advanced Ritual Art, but also on the Nekroz Rituals[[/note]] or by Summoning the Ritual Monster from the Graveyard, condensing Tribute requirements[[note]]Most notable with Gishki monsters[[/note]] or using monsters in the Graveyard as the Tributes[[note]]Seen on the Ritual Djinns[[/note]], giving the Ritual Monsters themselves utility in the hand[[note]]The Nekroz' main claim to fame.[[/note]], changing the rules of Ritual Summoning[[note]]The Drytron archetype[[/note]] or even generic monsters designed specifically to faciliate a Ritual Summon[[note]]The Impcantation archetype[[/note]]. Results have varied, with successes including Nekroz and Drytron Decks, but for most part you still run the risk of a hand filled with ineffectual cards if you drew too many Ritual Monster or Ritual Spells, and you ultimately would be better off focusing on Extra Deck cards as they avert the consistency loss. It's quite telling that some of the generic Ritual support in the game would be downright broken in most archetypes, but often go Unlimited because Rituals are so inherently clunky that they need PurposelyOverpowered support to keep up.

** [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Checkmate Checkmate]], their intended FinishingMove card, is particularly baffling: it allows Terrorking Archfiend to attack directly. While this certainly isn't ''terrible'', it's only 2000 damage, since Terrorking's effects are battle-destruction related. It also requires the sacrifice of another monster, which is a cost Archfiends aren't very good at paying. Mostly, the card is notable for [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot spending an awesome name]] on an effect that doesn't even come close to winning you the game. Sure, you can still boost Terrorking until it has respectable enough ATK, but by that point, you'd be better off boosting up a monster with native direct-attacking.

* The [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Superheavy_Samurai Superheavy Samurai]]. Not only are the majority of them [[HumongousMecha massive robot]] samurai, but many of their best monsters can attack while in Defense-Position using their DEF as ATK. Not only that, but these monsters also [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Superheavy_Samurai_Steam_Train_King have DEF as high as ''4800,'']] making them close to indestructible. Oh, and some of their higher leveled monsters can be Special Summoned without a sacrifice. So what's the catch? Any Deck that focuses on them has to focus on them alone. That means you can't bolster it with other cards outside its archetype, not even Spells or Traps. A pure Monster Deck sounds horrendously imbalanced already, but very few Superheavy Samurai monsters have ATK that breaks 2000, meaning any card effect that forces monsters into Attack Mode would screw you over big time.

* On the subject of very effective Monsters with annoyingly-difficult Summoning conditions, meet [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Fushioh_Richie Fusioh Richie]] [[BlindIdiotTranslation (or Nosferatu Lich if you're not dumb)]]. Richie has a pretty impressive set of stats, he's immune to Spell and trap card effects which target, and he can Summon a Zombie once per turn. He was also available in Pharaonic Guardian, a very early set, at a time when Zombies were a very popular Deck type. This obviously led to a massive surge of Decks with him as the ace, right? Well, not so much. To Summon Richie, you need to play [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Great_Dezard Great Dezard]], a one-Tribute Spellcaster with 1900 ATK, and then use Great Dezard to destroy at least two opponent's Monsters. Only then can you Tribute Dezard to summon Richie. This means that, in order to make Richie the ace it was meant to be, you have to stick a card with no synergy and mediocre at best stats into a deck built around a specific type and have it stay alive long enough to destroy at least two monsters and summon a card that does have synergy with your deck. Even in the days when Summoned Skull was considered a game-winning card, this was way, way too slow, and in the modern day, it's gone from slow to glacial.

** [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Chaos_Greed Chaos Greed]] is one of the oldest variants--being released shortly before Pot of Greed got the axe--but while its big brother is so powerful and generic that it has been banned since the mid-2000s, Chaos Greed ran headfirst into the complete opposite problem; its activation requirements are so restrictive that it's one of the worst draw cards in the game. By the bye, those activation requirements? 4 or more of your cards banished ''and'' no cards in your Graveyard. It has been observed that if the second restriction was "no ''monsters'' in your Graveyard", then Chaos Greed would actually be pretty good and even overpowered in certain Decks, but since even Decks that don't rely on monsters need Spells and/or Traps to function, it has never seen competitive play.
** [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Shard_of_Greed Shard of Greed]] is a Continuous Spell Card that gains a Greed Counter every time you conduct your normal draw during your Draw Phase, and once it accumulates two or more Greed Counters, can be sent to the Graveyard to draw 2 cards. This means it's a sitting duck on the field until it accumulates enough Greed Counters, and it's far more likely that it will be destroyed long before your first Draw Phase after activating it. Even during the time it was released (2011), it was deemed too clunky to be useful, and has rarely seen competitive play.

** [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Chaos_Greed Chaos Greed]] is one of the oldest variants--being released shortly before Pot of Greed got the axe--but while its big brother is so powerful and generic that it has been banned since the mid-2000s, Chaos Greed ran headfirst into the complete opposite problem; its activation requirements are so restrictive that it's one of the worst draw cards in the game. By the bye, those activation requirements? 4 or more of your cards banished ''and'' no cards in your Graveyard. It has been observed that if the restrictions were "no ''monsters'' in your Graveyard", then Chaos Greed would actually be pretty good and even overpowered in certain Decks, but since even Decks that don't rely on monsters need Spells and/or Traps to function, it has never seen competitive play.

* There exist several cards that attempt to be balanced versions of the infamous [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Greed Pot of Greed]]. Some of [=PoG=]'s variants e.g. [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Duality Pot of Duality]] and [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Desires Pot of Desires]], have seen widespread competitive success. Others... not so much.

* There exist several cards that attempt to be a balanced version of the infamous [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Greed Pot of Greed]]. Some of [=PoG=]'s variants e.g. [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Duality Pot of Duality]] and [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Desires Pot of Desires]], have seen widespread competitive success. Others... not so much.

* [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Chaos_Greed Chaos Greed]] is an attempt to create a balanced version of the infamous [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Greed Pot of Greed]], and has the same effect (Draw 2 cards), but while its big brother is so powerful and generic that it has been banned since the mid-2000s, Chaos Greed ran headfirst into the complete opposite problem; its activation requirements are so restrictive that it's one of the worst draw cards in the game. By the bye, those activation requirements? 4 or more of your cards banished ''and'' no cards in your Graveyard. It has been observed that if the restrictions were "no ''monsters'' in your Graveyard", then Chaos Greed would actually be pretty good and even overpowered in certain Decks, but since even Decks that don't rely on monsters need Spells and/or Traps to function, it has never seen competitive play.

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[[folder: Summoning Requirements]]

[[folder: Activation Requirements]]

[[folder: Other]]

* [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Chaos_Greed Chaos Greed]] is an attempt to create a balanced version of the infamous [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Greed Pot of Greed]], and has the same effect (Draw 2 cards), but while its big brother is so powerful and generic that it has been banned since the mid-2000s, Chaos Greed ran headfirst into the complete opposite problem; its activation requirements are so restrictive that it's one of the worst draw cards in the game. By the bye, those activation requirements? 4 or more of your cards banished ''and'' no cards in your Graveyard. It has been observed that if the restrictions were "no ''monsters'' in your Graveyard", then Chaos Greed would actually be pretty good and even overpowered in certain Decks, but since even Decks that don't rely on monsters need Spells or Traps to function, it has never seen competitive play.

* [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Chaos_Greed Chaos Greed]] is an attempt to create a rebalanced version of the infamous [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Pot_of_Greed Pot of Greed]], and has the same effect (Draw 2 cards), but while its big brother is so powerful and generic that it has been banned since the mid-2000s, Chaos Greed ran headfirst into the complete opposite problem; its activation requirements are so restrictive that it's one of the worst draw cards in the game. By the bye, those activation requirements? 4 or more of your cards banished ''and'' no cards in your Graveyard. It has been observed that if the restrictions were "no ''monsters'' in your Graveyard", then Chaos Greed would actually be pretty good and even overpowered in certain Decks, but since even Decks that don't rely on monsters need Spells or Traps to function, it has never seen competitive play.

* In the card game, we have [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Final_Destiny Final Destiny]], which destroys all cards on the field at the cost of 5 discards. Since the maximum hand size is 6 (barring the use of spells like [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Hieroglyph_Lithograph Hieroglyph Lithograph]] and [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Infinite_Cards Infinite Cards]]), playing Final Destiny leaves you with likely no hand and no field, giving you no way to take advantage of the freshly-cleared field. Not to mention, getting 5 cards in your hand to discard is a pretty tall order to begin with unless you drew Final Destiny in your opening hand.
** Pretty much everything that has already been said about Final Destiny can also be said about [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Guarded_Treasure Guarded Treasure]]. You discard 5 cards, subsequently drawing 2 cards and drawing 2 cards instead of 1 for your normal draw during your following Draw Phases if it's still on the field. Drawing cards is a key to success in the card game, but in addition to the problems mentioned above with Final Destiny, you have to wait for your following turns to get much use out of Guarded Treasure, and if your opponent has any competence whatever they'll be able to destroy it before the first one.