Exodia
The OG of all combo decks, Exodia tries to draw through its deck as quickly as possible in order to find all five pieces of Exodia, winning the game on the spot. Upstart Goblin and Jar of Greed are often played alongside the trinity draw spells Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity.
Overview
The OG of all combo decks, Exodia tries to draw through its deck as quickly as possible in order to find all five pieces of Exodia, winning the game on the spot. Upstart Goblin and Jar of Greed are often played alongside the trinity draw spells Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity. Additionally, monsters like Dark Mimic LV1and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive protect lifepoints while also breezing through the deck.
Emissary of the Afterlife is almost always included as a reliable search effect, since it can grab four out of the five pieces of Exodia, usually with no drawback to speak of.
Exodia is incredibly weak to discard. Delinquent Duo is often considered a staple of the format, and monsters like Don Zaloog and Spirit Reaper see play infrequently. So, Monster Reincarnation, Dark Factory of Mass Production, and Backup Soldier are all run as recovery options should an Exodia limb or head find their way into the graveyard. Still, these cards are not perfect counters. Couple this with the fact that Exodia tends to be much slower than other combo decks, and it's no surprise it's often considered a risk to attempt the strategy.
Deck List
While some versions of Exodia opt for floodgates and other protective cards, this list goes all-in on drawing cards instead. Both Dark Mimics plus Dekoichi provide as much card draw as possible from the monster lineup. Thunder Dragon thins the deck, and Emissary searches for individual pieces. Dragon is also decent fodder for Monster Reincarnation, which is the deck's only way to recover a lost Exodia head.
Monsters
3x Dark Mimic LV1
3x Dark Mimic LV3
3x Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
3x Emissary of the Afterlife
1x Exodia the Forbidden One
1x Sangan
3x Thunder Dragon
1x Left Arm of the Forbidden One
1x Left Leg of the Forbidden One
1x Right Arm of the Forbidden One
1x Right Leg of the Forbidden One
Spells
2x Book of Moon
1x Graceful Charity
2x Monster Reincarnation
1x Pot of Greed
1x Premature Burial
2x Upstart Goblin
Traps
1x Backup Soldier
1x Call of the Haunted
3x Jar of Greed
1x Mirror Force
1x Ring of Destruction
2x Sakuretsu Armor
1x Torrential Tribute
Variants
Appropriate Exodia
Based on the Appropriate + Disturbance Strategy combo, Appropriate Exodia tries to force the opponent to draw large amounts of cards, so that it can draw even more. Hiro's Shadow Scout and Dragged Down into the Grave help to initially activate Appropriate, but The Bistro Butcher can also be used.
Mind Wipe is an alternative to Disturbance Strategy that, while not as powerful, can still produce lots of cards.
Monsters
2x A Cat of Ill Omen
1x Exodia the Forbidden One
2x Hiro's Shadow Scout
2x Magician of Faith
2x Mask of Darkness
1x Sangan
1x Left Arm of the Forbidden One
1x Left Leg of the Forbidden One
1x Right Arm of the Forbidden One
1x Right Leg of the Forbidden One
Spells
3x Dragged Down into the Grave
1x Graceful Charity
3x Mind Wipe
2x Monster Reincarnation
1x Pot of Greed
2x Upstart Goblin
Traps
3x Appropriate
2x Backup Soldier
3x Disturbance Strategy
3x Threatening Roar
3x Waboku
Underdog Exodia
Underdog Exodia is a much faster, though equally more fragile, variant of Exodia. It plays an uncommonly high number of normal monsters in order to draw as many cards as possible off of Heart of the Underdog. Should the chain of draws be broken by a spell, trap, or effect monster, Reload can be played from the hand during the Draw Phase to restart it. A previously placed Jar of Greed can also fill the same role.
Monsters
1x Exodia the Forbidden One
3x Archfiend Soldier
3x Battle Footballer
3x Charcoal Inpachi
3x Insect Knight
1x Left Arm of the Forbidden One
1x Left Leg of the Forbidden One
3x Luster Dragon
3x Oppressed People
1x Right Arm of the Forbidden One
1x Right Leg of the Forbidden One
3x Soul Tiger
Spells
1x Graceful Charity
3x Heart of the Underdog
1x Pot of Greed
3x Reload
Traps
3x Jar of Greed
3x Skill Drain
Additional Card Options
Slower versions of Exodia which opt for stall cards like Gravity Bind and Level Limit - Area B are also occasionally seen. Des Lacooda is well-liked in these lists for obvious reasons.
Recruiters like Nimble Momonga and Mystic Tomato are often played for their deck-thinning and stall capabilities. The Toon Cannon Soldier + Toon Table of Contents package is also played from time to time for the same reason. In such versions, Last Will will make an occasional appearance since it's so easily activated with Soldier.
- Des Lacooda
- Mystic Tomato
- Nimble Momonga
- Royal Magical Library
- Spear Cretin
- Toon Cannon Soldier
- Card of Safe Return
- Dark Factory of Mass Production
- Last Will
- Level Limit - Area B
- Lighten the Load
- Messenger of Peace
- Reload
- Super Rejuvenation
- The Dark Door
- The Shallow Grave
- Toon Table of Contents
- Gravity Bind
- Good Goblin Housekeeping
- Reckless Greed
