Why Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links is better than Master Duel
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2024
- I just want to share my thoughts about the mobile game Yugioh Duel Links. I've heard a lot of Duel Links slander lately despite Duel Links being a superior game to Yugioh Master Duel. This is just my opinion and doesn't reflect on the rest of Team APS. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
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_What do you think is the better Yu-Gi-Oh game and why is it Duel Links?_
Duel Links is the better game simply because there is always at least one single player event and always at least one multiplayer event, often two or three at the same time. Meanwhile Master Duel only has ranked and only 1/6th of the time there is a multiplayer event.
Dueling book.
Duel links has better events and a lot of fan service for anime fans, but is wrost in almost every other aspect.
U r 100% right about duel links being the anime fan and MD for the TCG. It's just that duel links caters to so many things that the anime fan wants. I personally been dying for an anime YGO game and DL does that. It's not perfect but it's the closest thing we got to an actual good anime game. I mean look at Legacy of the Duelists
what ever you choose to play I hope you are having fun and making friends.
A piece of advice: don't limit yourself to DL or MD, YGO has so much more to offer, like Addison, GOAT, HAT, speed duels, even older PSP games are really fun and easy to emulate
And if you like MD or DL don't stop critiquing the game to save face, make your voice heard and give your feedback to the devs so they can improve, no game is perfect
Master Duel’s crafting system is a quality of life feature I cannot let go.
Yeah the crafting system is a huge PLUS for Master Duel
This. Dule links being a gacha kills almost all good about it
Amen!
It has its flaws though
Use the 'how to obtain' feature to see what packs to pull from with your free gems and you can build the decks you want with a bit of elbow grease. There's only so many packs and cards in a box in DL so you're guaranteed to get the card you want eventually, just gotta do your daily missions for those free gems. This also helps balance the game to where everyone isn't crafting and playing the same decks overnight everytime a hot new youtube video drops, cause most of us are still trying to build the ones we want lol
I recently got back into duel links, to see if I still like it.
Yes, it's way more enjoyable than I remembered and I love the variety of events we get
I am the same way. Getting tired of Master Duel and have not played Duel Links in a while and had to do a massive update! I am looking forward to learning my DL decks again!
same
I agree with all your points. The issue is the game is trapped in an awful monetization model. I would probably be playing Duel Links exclusively if you could craft cards like you can in Master Duel.
Monetization in DL is a little terrible but Dream Tickets and clever builds still exist so F2P can still be a thing if you think hard enough. Honestly what is viable and F2P for more than year in MD besides things like Stun and Numeron OTK? Duel Links at least has Godo Phoenix Gearfreed, Toons and recently S-Force if you've been logging in! Plus as much as I loathe what Blue Eyes and DM have become they are technically on the same scale with Dream Tickets and recent buffs.
@@daviddent5662 im a free to play master duel enjoyer and its really not hard to maintian a high teir competative deck. But i find it incredibly difficult to build the deck i want to play in duel links. Duel links has a lot of strengths but the monetization is not one of them.
Monetization is a lot better (or less awful) now. The last 3 tier 1 decks were from mini boxes.
This is exactly it, every time I’ve thought to myself “I feel like playing duel links” and jump on I am instantly reminded why I don’t play it, and it is the sheer difficulty of actually building a deck I want to play.
Meanwhile in master duel not only have I never felt a deck I wanted was out of reach, but I currently have 3 competitive decks, multiple random decks I’ve accumulated from events and like 5k gems in excess.
Tbh, duel links has been more acessible than ever, box chips to get old cards, pick up box giving multiple archetypes fully/almost fully for a cheap price, the deck build box gicing 3 archetypes for a cheap price as well.
Rush duels made me realize how unhappy I was with where the game is now. As a casual, 9-times-out-of-10 I'm not looking for a game of chess where my opponent upgrades their board to all queens before I make a play. Once in a while it can be fun, but I highly prefer getting some low-key back-and-forth.
I personally hate rush duels. It’s so boring!
The back&forth is what makes dueling fun. Any slightly competitive game really, but most only care for the immediate win & nothing else.
Which is weird as the "spirit of competition" is based on both players/teams playing on the same skill/intellectual level, not completely preventing your opponent from playing for a W. :/
@@IamDaBlitz64 But we don't all have the same skill level... Why should I limit myself just because my opponent doesn't want to take the time to learn new cards and read my card effects? I was 3 when Yu-Gi-Oh first released and I got my first deck at 6. I bought the original Joey starter deck. I'm the definition of a Yugi Boomer. And yet instead of whining about new mechanics and new cards I took the time to learn them. And it's been worth it. I do agree that it is more fun to have a back and forth duel. But I feel it is not okay to expect others to limit themselves.
@@Raytheharbinger0 and yet no one is asking you to limit a thing. Just stating preventing your opponent from playing the game is not fun in the least: not to watch, and definitely not to be that player. :/
Btw, hey Boomer; I Veteran as well ig~
play edison on duelingbook
Play DL back in 2017 for a year. I loved the anime aspect and the 20 card size decks. The only negative is the cost of keeping up
Yeah those boxes try to drain your wallet
you don't need to use real money to buy those boxes though. The game will give you 500 gems every once in awhile, and if you make a new account, so you can buy a structure deck, and start unlocking characters to level them up to 30. Level them to max later on. And while doing all of that, you rack up gems like nobody's business. I already unlocked all of DM, DSOD, Vrains, and Sevens characters, and leveled half of them to 30 and got a little over 12k gems. that's a lot of packs to open right there. and that's just with half of the characters I have that are at 30.
That's why you build your heroes, cyber dragons or basically anything that has staying power and has a plethora of unreleased good support just waiting to be added.
I love the RPG aspect of DL. Unlocking and leveling characters gives you a goal to grind towards so you don't feel like you're playing for nothing. I've had no problem building a few good decks without spending money by doing the in game daily missions and participating in events. It's nice to be able to play duels against NPCs to test your deck and fine tune it before you take it online. The character skills can make the same deck play completely different from each other so there's a lot more variety in deck builds in ranked, not just seeing the same Kashtira Fenrir deck over and over. Find myself spending most of my time on there, hopping over to Maxx C/Ash Blossom/Called to the Grave/Effect veiler simulator is just kinda a bummer. Also games go by quicker in DL, so if I'm gonna lose, I don't gotta sit there for ten minutes and watch them delete everything on the board before they do it.
We need more duel links discussions on this channel
🤔 That's a thought
yes we do!
Yes!
Yes
I agreed with all your point's, i used to play duel links back before masters duel for years when it first came out. The only reason why i went over to master duel was cause the crafting system, and it's basically free to play, i don't have a ton of money to throw around every month at a game. If duel link's would implement a crafting system like master duel, then i would go back to duel link's in a instant.
So last year I started to get back into Yu-Gi-Oh after like a 20 year hiatus (since I was a kid basically), I downloaded master duel and Duel links however duel links helped get me up to par with a lot of the current meta as well as cards and such. As a beginner I was so intimidated by master duel especially because it was so difficult for me to learn how decks work as I could get most of my plays started without things getting negated / destroyed. I really like the CPU aspect as well on Duel Links when I don't feel like having a frustrating 4 minute turn duel, this has also helped me learn how decks work together and interact with other cards and I feel that works better for my learning style. My biggest issue with Duel links is the lack of crafting ability but that's really my biggest issue. Master duels events are very lackluster and play experience can be very unsatisfying or rewarding for me too.
I forgot to add the summoning animations too, master duel ones are kind a Garbo with the 2d card design, I really like the 3d ones in Duel Links it feels more cool to summon a boss monster
Gameplay and fun wise, DL is way more enjoyable and entertaining than MD. And the crafting system is not so viable in DL as there are less cards for the format, hence DL has Tickets to unlock cards. All of this makes it better than MD.
As a fan of the anime who got into the card game through said anime, duel links is almost EVERYTHING I could ever ask for in a modern Yu-Gi-Oh game. It doesn't feel like your average duel simulator, it actually feels like you are playing a game based on the anime and (and I cannot stress this part enough how much I appreciate it) the manga via DSOD world! And with all the different stories and events throughout the game it really does feel like you get to actually interact with the World of Duel Links and YuGiOh. Combined with the game's card pool and anime focused character abilities, it makes me feel like I am actually able to use my cards and archetypes more effectively and really immerse myself in the character I am running at the time. I love Duel Links so much I'm not even ashamed to have spent money on it, BUT I also appreciate that while spending is an easy gateway to better cards IT'S NOT MANDATORY EITHER! Granted it takes a lot longer but oh darn, that means I have to play the game more. XD
These days they're ruining the game with archive skills, and focus on non anime decks.
Duel Links is horrible on paper but was executed pretty well. Master Duel is amazing on paper but was executed like dogshit.
Agree when master duel released you could build like 3-5 decks in less then a week 1 pretty solidnon the day that I started and the rest on were getting completed as the week went by, now because I lost my old account and had to start a new I couldn't build 1 deck if I were to start a new account on duel links I could build a solid deck right away not to mention that skills help a lot when starting and especially when you progress I have like 20 semi build decks that act pretty much how a completed version would due to skills helping by either adding the missing pieces or helping with consistency.
there is so many negative thought for duel links in the master duel community , so sad
There are pro's and con's of both Master Duel and Duel Links, and both arguably have a place. Master Duel is the 'hardcore fan' simulator game (which is kinda undermined by its mixed banlist, and the fact its multiple months behind the current cardpool of the main card game) while Duel Links is the more casual fan anime focused game (which is undermined by the fact that many of the best decks in Duel Links tend to come from archetypes that never featured in the anime e.g. Shiranui).
Master Duel is the first gatcha game I actually did not spend a $ on. I built literally every deck I wanted by farming and having fun. It does get repetitive, so I play while streaming to friends and we coach each other.
I really enjoy master duel but i probably like duel links more. The variety it has always makes it fun plus i wasn't a big fan of rush but after playing it i found myself likeing it more the standard speed in duel linka.
I stopped playing DL a few years ago
I tried getting back into it recently but the grinding really threw me off so i didn't last a single day before uninstalling
I agree, Master Duel just does not have alternative game modes and I can't understand why the developers haven't added any actual alternative modes... unless they're trying to keep Duel Links alive? idk. In terms of anime, Master Duel was announced to not be anime-focused like Duel Links so I'm fine with less direct anime references. But still, why no other modes...
They are adding Ai my guy
It's mainly cause the tcg itself doesn't have any other game modes that are widely played. The closes thing to game modes are different formats which I definitely think should be popularized in the tcg and added into master duel themselves
I enjoy the Duel Links meta but the monetization is so completely awful that it disincentivizes f2p players from building new decks. It's especially bad if you want build something with multiple waves of support split across different boxes. I love playing Madolche in the TCG and Master Duel, but I'm not pulling through some old box for play-set of Magileine.
I do like how Konami has been helping certain decks with tailor-made skills. The Mayakashi one is neceassary under the game's extra deck size of 8, and to make it easier to do the combo and not time-out, for instance. Some other skills though just feel like they do all the work for you, like Eternal Bond.
I haven't been playing Duel Links very long so it's possible that I haven't seen any of the good events, but most of them thus far have been really dull. They're unique for sure, but it's mostly just grinding terrible A.I. And the rewards often suck too. The last one was just me wailing on Mizar for a handful of turns before winning or he just ends the duel automatically. It being a raid duel doesn't really change how you approach it. Most of the time it's like facing a stamdard duelist with 400 morbillion lps. It was incredibly boring. They can't do the same thing as Master Duel either and have themed banlists for other player's to compete against each other with because of how much more annoying it is to build even cheap decks. You can't craft anything, not even normals or rares so even building a cheap deck like Suships is going to cost a significant amount of gems so what's the point?
ikr, like i have to spend like 4k gems which is hard to gather for a f2p player just to get every card from a new box
I'll grant you FP is harder now but not impossible the key is asking yourself what you want to build to horde gems while you make what you truly want or coming into it wanting to build something from pick up box or structure that's already in Dream Tickets. For example Godo Pheonix Gearfreed and Toons are both 100% F2P as recent easy to make decks that require no money. Also recently Tachyon though if you go that route with your starter gems...**Looks at all the BB players and Anti Tier0 haters in the bushes** Good luck.
With the introduction of box chips you can get older UR’s and SR’s for free basically
@@mirolinksHow much older?
the new anniversary box 01 is really good, have you checked it out? It's unlike any box before it. A new player could spend all their gems into it and get 3 copies of staples like book of moon and dd crow plus access to like 4 different full cores including evil twin and madolche
I've been wrecking fools with Ice Barriers in Duel Links other than the few times I brick or get negated.
It's just satisfying to synchro out Zero Trishula and banish 3 of the opponent's cards on summon and then revive an Ice Barrier from the graveyard with Freezing Chains and then attacking for game. Took me awhile to gather all of the cards though in order to build it as a free to play player but it was worth it.
The fact I can not craft cards make it terrible.
How many decks did you saciface to make the cards you needed or are you one of the secret whales who just buys gems? Yeah DL has no true crafting but Master Duel has no Dream Tickets or Pick Up Boxes. There's advantages and Disadvantages in all things.
Besides selection box duel links got better lately, i would say md level of f2p
Pick up boxes, Anniversary box, a lot of dream tickets
You can download duel links right now and build shiranui with the starting gems and no grinding lol
You can collect box chips if you want to pick up an old staple backrow from an old box, or even a monster that your deck might be missing for your skills. Sure, the pool of cards is upadting at a slow pace, but you can collect resources very efficiently, thanks to events and bundle deals that cost gems, but also give you many packs of a newly released box
@@daviddent5662 0 decks. I did not have to dismantle a single card that I did not want to dismantle. And I paid nothing to Master Duel. Completely F2P.
When 2 years ago when Master Duel came out I was an absolute noob.
Now I reach to Master 1 consistantly.
This shows you haven’t played DL in awhile, I’d argue it’s more free to play friendly now than master duel!
the only issue with duel links for me is relinquished anima not in the game, one of my favorite monsters.
As a daily Duel Links player that averages 4 hours or more played on the daily, I love it. Really enjoy how each of the anime series are represented in the game, battling legendary duelists and as mentioned, storylines. The events are also frequent and fun! I don't use the SKILLS very often, however. You don't have those IRL so I refrain. There's so much to love about the game.
Duel links players we up! LMAO
Actually, you do have Skills in RL in the Speed Duel format. They are cards that come with each box of decks. Team APS has played some house tourneys with them showing how if Konami had better prize support and listened to players we could have DL in RL quite a lot easier.
@@daviddent5662 Cool! I think I may have one such card in my TCG collection, now that you mention it. Jesse with his Crystal Beasts.
If you dont use skills so youre playing bots for 4 hours a day😂😂
@@mical2great No, I just don't need to use skills as a crutch. I can win without them. Even in PVP. If you can't, L2P bro.
1000% agree. I played master duel for about 5 minutes and was bored already. I hardly ever touch PVP in DL (i havent played in 2 years so its been a while but im readdicted already) because of players taking so long for a basic move. All the events in DL are fun and make me want to keep playing and making a deck for each character regardless of how good it actually is.
Duel Links got me back into Yugioh years ago, and I love it. I don’t spend too much on the game (I never spend money on a bunch of packs to build a new deck; I just spend gems, and spend a bit of money on some of the special deals), but it does take a fair amount of grinding (I play daily and fully clear every event) and I have to be selective about the boxes I can go into and the decks I choose to build. My biggest reason I haven’t tried MD is the time. I don’t have much time to be at my computer during the day, while I can just play Duel Links for a few minutes on my phone whenever I want.
One thing I love about Duel Links is getting to understand cards I’ve heard about from the TCG but never played. I didn’t get how the Orcust combo worked until I played against it, and now that I have I can understand it (and can see how it would be even more powerful by adding Crescendo, which isn’t in Duel Links). I’ve read what some of the cards from historical formats do and have seen them in Cimo’s History of Yugioh series, but it’s totally different to actually play with and against them. It makes you understand them on a different level, and I think that’s really cool. The only downside is that, if a deck isn’t meta and you don’t play it yourself, you don’t understand it very well. I don’t remember what the individual Shaddoll monsters do, just because I almost never see that deck and I tend to beat them down before they really activate their effects when I do run into them.
I play both.
Another thing going for Duel Links is how pack openings work. You will get that UR you want and not the SR you already have over and over like in Master Duel. And all the packs stay available forever and don't vanish after 23 hours. But in Master Duel you can craft cards.
This video needed to be made.
You mention the Vrains storyline but in Arc V they decide to try to revive the Yu Girls who were original lost besides Yuzu.
This is such a nice addition as many people didn’t like that a lot of characters were discarded when we were promised that they would be saved because that was the plot. We were supposed to see Kurosaki reunited with Ruri or Yugo reunited with Rin
The fact that I have made 30+ different decks in master duel without ever putting any money into the game was the reason i never went back to duel links even after i saw all the new and cool things theyve added
Long time not seeing Alec alone here ! Plus we have some nice visual support for the video ! After years of playing duel links everyday tryharding event and ranked duels, it felt weird to go back on the Tcg format on master duel and i felt like the "coming back learning curve progression" was harsh in master duel and the game felt empty in comparison of duel links, but the craft system feels nice, as someone who never spent money on duel link, spending ton of hard earned gems on pack and reseting them to get that one needed UR multiple times is exhausting too
Really appreciate this video. I agree, duel links is the most fun I've had playing yugioh outside of a local/regional event. Exellent points noted and so fun with all the themes and anime inspired events. Hopefully one day they add some form of crafting and it would be a wrap.
Duel links is way more expensive. I play for free on master duel without grinding my life away. That alone makes master duel better.
Yep even though I prefer the duel links gameplay that’s the reason I play master duel and stopped playing duel links.
I loved playing duel links the only reason I stopped was because the game file got to big and I haven't updated my device yet. But you are right in you don't need to play PVP to have fun. In fact unless I needed to do missions or was trying to get gems I didn't play much PVP and enjoyed the storyline and unlocking new characters. Also there was definitely a DL meter and the game was dominated by pay to win players but if you avoided that or had a low duel rank you could play with almost any deck you wanted and be able to win or at lest have a good game because you could keep up with your opponent.
Master Duel: better crafting system, 5 monster zones, main phase 2, 15-card extra deck and 40 card deck.
Duel Links: character voices, skills, better card pool and meta game(in my opinion), funner events(in my opinion). edit: yeah, duel links also has rush duels if you want to play that.
Didn't have to spend ten minutes saying you like mobile gacha over actual yugioh, but here we are
It's still yugioh based
I like how all the anime decks are quite playable. It follows a certain pattern to get us Yugiboomers back to the game: anime deck + cheat skill
I'm gonna be real. I had left YGO for a long time and never wanted to come back. But recently been introduced to Duel Links and now I'm having a great time. It is also really fun getting introduced to the characters from the series that I never watched as well (I left at the end of GX, so imagine that).
The only downside to DL is what a lot of other people already said, no crafting system which means you got to hoard gems or otherwise pay to keep cracking boosters for the deck you want to make.
The Duel Links tournament scene is also incredible with a LONG history going back to the founding of the game.
Its filled with frauds according to popular yugitubers
❤
I somewhat agree with Alec, and it basically boils down to one biggest factor: *"better care that goes into balancing/managing the game"*
- Duel Links actually announces the reasons for limiting and un-limiting cards.
- Duel Links uses skills to help unplayable decks be more playable. (and unlike cards that actually have physical copies, skills are much easier to rework/nerf/buff)
- Duel Links' banlist is a pool-based system. You can only play designated # of copies of cards from the entire limitation category (e.g. you can only play two copies out of all "limited-to-2" cards). They used this fact to balance powerful cards like neos fusion in the earlier days, and also Salamangreats in more recent years. This is huge because this alone gives Duel Links the capability to have Maxx "C" legal without causing controversies. You can just put Maxx-"C", all the problematic boss monsters, all the overpowered one-card-combo-pieces of powerful decks in to the same limitation category, then the only ones who can actually use Maxx-"C" would be the ones who play weak decks.
- Duel Links has lower skill ceiling, allowing us to ultimately play larger number of shorter duels.
- Duel Links is actually playable in single-player
However, all of these pros unfortunately get overshadowed by the biggest con: *inaccessibility of cards*
- the lack of a crafting system, how expensive the cards are in general is literally THE ONLY REASON WHY I PLAY MOSTLY MASTER DUEL INSTEAD OF DUEL LINKS, even though Duel Links is a better game than Master Duel...
What's the point of a better game if barely anyone can play it?
Would be interesting if there was a format that divides cards into character archetypes. Could even add the Skill cards to help keep them unique.
Duel Links is the better game simply because there is always at least one single player event and always at least one multiplayer event, often two or three at the same time. Meanwhile Master Duel only has ranked and only 1/6th of the time there is a multiplayer event.
FACTS
Idk if there was something I was missing, but in master duels i was only able to make one deck befor running out of cards to dismantle. As you say there is a lot of ways to grind gems in duel links
I completely agree. I'm a casual player so my goal is just to play my favorite old school anime decks and see the cool animations and maybe progress the story. The game fills out all of these boxes, whereas master duel is just quite boring with no anime throwbacks which is basically the entire reason why I play yu-gi-oh
As someone who has played both I think I prefer Duel Links mostly because they originally opened with the old cards of yu gi oh then transitioned into the new one over very many years. I appreciate Speed duels, The card pack system, the RPG system and only the generations between Yu Gi Oh and 5D's. But at the same time I am a nostalgia fan not a competitive format fan and I think both of those games offer two things we are looking for as a Yu Gi Oh Community.
I started with Duel Links & just recently got into MD. I miss the anime aspect & varied events of the game--it just felt a lot more interactive & fun :')
I also wish stuff like the daily missions, MD proficiency test, and gold duel pass could be completed in other game modes besides ranked (excluding PvE solo mode of course)
Also how could I forget the VOICE ACTING!! Having the lil cut-in dialogue alongside the special animations is something a lot more games should have
I love Duel Links and speed dueling, Master Duel is good but it’s annoying playing with duelists that have endless summoning on turn one, i like the variety DL has to offer. Been playing DL since it came out, with a big couple year gap in between but I enjoy it alot. Rush duel is whatevers to me. Also currently watching ALL the anime, that’s pretty fun. I did grow up playing yugioh as a kid, but after getting all my cards stolen I gave up on it until I was an adult and I discovered DL.
I honestly think both games work well together couse if you get bored of a Format you can just move to the other game and experience a diff format.
I full Heartily Agree as the Reason Why I personally like Dual Links over Master Duals is, the first is that for some one like me that knows that we are always Out Matched by every one in PVP we still have NPC's to Dual Against. And while we're on the Subject when I'm Dueling against an NPC I have all the time in the world to Look over my Cards, Read Them, and try to understand them and so on, with out feeling that Pressure of the Turn Timer, it's kind of relaxing that way. Sadly but understandably that doesn't translate to the PVP Mode. Then the next that I Favor Dual Links over Master Dual, I just feel that the Card Shop just Feels much more User Friendly and Less Overwhelming and Confusing. As I feel I couldn't help but have Question Marks Swirling in my head whenever I try to understand the Shop Mode in Master Duals.
Then the Next is as you have said the Rush Dual Mode as much like with most every one else I also want Rush Duals to come out to Physical Card Game, but until then we have Dual Links. Then the Final and Last thing why I favor Dual Links over Master Dual is just simply all of the Animations.
In addition I feel That Dual Links is Made More for the Casual Players like myself. While Master Duals is Made More for the Competitive Players. I'm talking those people that have massive amount of money to buy every single Yu Gi Oh Set that as come and well come out just to get that Ultra Expensive Chase Card just so they could every single Tournament and Win with their Tier 0 Deck. Unlike Casual Players like myself as I have Mentioned before. IMHO
I originally got into YuGiOh through playing TONS of Duel Links. I took time off for a few years, then rediscovered it in 2021. I started to explore the TCG from there, then Master Duel came out and I never looked back.
Nowadays I couldn't imagine making the return to DL after seeing the high production value and easy F2P access for MD, something I never felt like I had in DL no matter how much I grinded.
For me, the amount of money and time saved in MD, plus the quality of the game itself lets it edge out Duel Links. I honestly think both games could learn a lot from each other, but until then it's MD for me.
Spitting bars bro, Duel links encapsulated everything we love about yugioh in general. Go Dark Magician and Blue Eyes decks
Pls release Cyber Dragon Infinity
Master duel is for competitive. Duel Links is more for role play(or not) which really gets you into the zone. Play as the master of magicians by playing DMs; same goes for a blue eyes. Be the defender of justice by playing Heroes or be the rivals of said Heroes by playing E-heroes. Feel the speed of synchros by playing Speedroids(my fav deck) and leave enemies on the dusts of negate hell.
I know nothing for both Xyz and Link but it is interesting dueling against them in the ranks.
When i was intrigged with Yugioh game because of the anime. I played Masters duel for the first as a noob. i got confused for the 1st time when i can't play against Kashtira and sword soul. i dropped playing it until after few months of searching an easy light yugioh game. I downloaded Duel links which me and my friend enjoyed playing with. after learning duel links gameplays for 4 months. I started to understand some mechanics of the game that guide me to play Masters duel. The Pendulum Mechanic for pendulum magicians makes me feel inferior when handling it in masters duel but when i change to Galaxy Eyes deck, I manage to earn some gems and victories with my galaxy eyes deck. after days of learning from defeats and reading the card effects of my enemies and searching some f2p builds from internet. I choose Kashtira to build as it is closer to f2p and can be supported by my other spells and traps. Then when i obtained Playmaker at Duel links and buld a deck for him, I enjoyed Playing like play maker that build an f2p build playmaker deck at Masters duel. I love both games. they maybe not perfect but someday they'll become that ladder for the future to make a perfect yugioh game which I was waiting for the upcoming duel links 2 VR.
He makes some really valid points.
Especially the one: "but, like come on, man"
I’ve come to really appreciate Master Duel as a way to play Yugioh in a affordable way.
But Duel Links sounds really appealing to me and i will eventually try my hand at the game. It’s just making the effort to start over
For me, the worst thing about Duel Links is how the game greets you when you log in... this is especially painful when I start the game after a break. I just want to hop into ranked and get some games in, but no, first I have to click through event start and end dialogues and animations for (and I kid you not, I've timed it once) 3 minutes. And you might think 3 minutes isn't that long, but it is, especially when you just want to play the game. There were times when I turned Duel Links on and then turned it off before getting a single game in just because of how annoying this was. It's honestly so bad that the only reason I suffer through it is because there's no other way to play Rush Duel
the moment that duel links decided to make battle chronicle and a skill that allows yubel to be normal summoned and when they added better agents to make hyperion/angels to become busted as crap, allowing super poly to not only be apart of multiple skills but to be able to be set directly out of the deck was just too much, its sick, duel links is fun, but having to form a deck around focusing on distributions just makes me consider the game no longer geared towards casuals but more so geared to the more meta players. also metaphys and Borrells being a thing along with now having all the main ra support in the game was something nice, along with having the support for bls, they needed it but goodness maybe they need to revise the skills a bit and try to make the game a little balanced while still trying to replicate that anime feel
Duel Links is something I can actually enjoy
My issue with DL is the user interface is too busy/cluttered. MD is simple and clean.
I just play both. But I will say I take master duel more seriously. It’s just more focused competition.
Imo i like master duel more, i personaly love getting hyper focused on it and then letting it sit there then come back and do it again as i LOOOOVE the tcg format and master duels helped me learn it better and get my friends easier specially with the gates and tutorials for them to play
I stopped playing Duel Links when Master Duel came out. I am getting a bit tired of MD and am going to get back into DL, especially now that Rush Duel was brought in. I have to re learn all my DL decks again!!
Alec i played duel links for 2 years straight and couldnt build a single deck f2p. Its not even close its way less accessible. I loved duel links for a while but then it just dawned on me that i either sink my money into a gacha game where the top thing i just paid for gets banned or i stop playing. opening a whole box only for the card i want to be in the last pack is just stupid. Let alone the event exclusive cards that we never get to be able to get again sometimes.
I used to play yu-gi-oh as a kid (early 2000's) but nothing extra; I couldn't afford the cards nor was there anyone who shared my interest nearby. A few years ago, a friend introduced me to DL and I tried it, was a lot of fun until I climbed up ranks and kept getting beaten by decks that didn't seem to make sense to me. I re-installed it again a while ago and have had a lot more fun this time around, thought many times about going to MD and even local tcg events but as a grown up I have no time, at the moment I don't even have time for DL so I can't even think about finding time and energy to learn the full version of modern yu-gi-oh and play it...someday, maybe.
The ONLY thing Duel Links needs is the crafting system. BONUS: Have past events to be permanent in the game. Ex. DL came out in 2014. I didn’t play the game till 2018 so I missed events like both GX and monster duels. But it’s a good thing I started in the 5D’s(my favorite season).
I say the problem with Master Duel is that you have idiots taking 10+ minutes just for a stupid combo. I’m a duelist who hardly uses hand traps but those people are killing the game for me.
But the master duel is Yu-Gi-Oh, though the duel links is not Yu-Gi-Oh. By claiming dual links is better than master duel, you are fundamentally saying that once Yu-Gi-Oh to just be a different game with similar mechanics.
The best would be (surprise surprise) a combination of the duel links spotlight on the anime and master duel's advanced yugioh. Actually, your videos where you play representative decks of the main anime characters are what I'd love to get: full power yugioh with atmosphere building elements like card names being shout out when summoned.
Honestly i dont play either of them anymore. I like Duel Links for fun, but Master Duel is more rewarding. I like playing on Duelingbook and Dueling Nexus instead.
You have good points, and I do not disagree. The crafting mechanic in MD helps get cards compared to DL (It was annoying to build a super quant deck there compared to MD). And the events for DL were a lot more enjoyable than MD. Starting with MD, I don't think new players should go into ranked matches but rather practice with story mode to get a feel of the game and the deck that they picked and modified/upgraded first.
If I were to introduce someone to yugioh, duel links would be how I would do it, since it's simpler and electronic so they can see all of the interactions.
And to the point of "pet decks" mine are Gustos since pulling Gusto Falco from Hidden Arsenal 5 (I believe it was 5) was what made me come back to yugioh. And one issue I have with DL is that to my knowledge...Sphreez isn't in the game yet! And Ritual Beasts were missing a couple cards as well (annoyed but not completely mad about it)
I play Duel Links when I want to bully anime NPCs, I play Master Duel when I want to be bullied by irl duelists.
I don't play either, but you totally sold me. If I was to pick up one right now it would be Dual Links. I like the more casual vibe at my stage in life.
Duel links makes me feel like i’m in the anime, its just so much fun, and fun is all that matters. The skills, almost every deck can be meta, it’s just always a thrill even on a lose streak
The fact you need to buy the 2nd and 3rd copy of the decks with real money already makes it worse.
Not to mention crafting.
It is just predatory and a bad consumer experience.
Both games obviously have their own separate target audiences and strengths, but as an anime and speed duel fan, I definitely prefer Duel Links. It's a lot more single-player friendly, has the anime element (voice-lines, events, storylines, etc.), and I think the meta itself is (generally) more diverse and fun to play. A couple of draw backs are the predatory gem system (though, this is getting better with things like box chips, pickup boxes, and higher quality miniboxes), restrictions to certain formats behind events (I'd love permanent riding/tag/action,etc. formats like the WC games), and the de-centralized card distribution for older archetypes (HEROs are spread across like 10 different boxes and structures).
Geing cards in DL is so hard even wih paying real money. Also grinding here is so tedious it just bores me. In MD I can do pass which is free playing whernever I want. I tried both and stayed with MD.
I am F2P in DL and have many competitive decks. Also, gameplay and fun wise, DL is way more enjoyable and entertaining than MD. I think the crafting system is not so viable in DL as there are less cards for the format, hence DL has Tickets to unlock cards. Plus the anime story and the diverse events and game modes, DL wins it for me (I also played MD)
Main thing with Duel Links is that you just need a set plan in order and think ahead of time. This does not require money.
I've played since 2017. The main thing I like is that cards tend to retain value for a long time. Pretty much as long as your deck isn't one-dimensional beatdown or battle traps from 2007 and have a semblance of modern strategies, it should be fine enough unless there's a tier 0 emergency like right now.
I taught my friend from MD exactly what to do and when. He built 3 tier 1 decks back to back in 2 months while learning the ropes of the meta. He's still fooling around with Tenyi which has been competitive since September.
It's not as on-demand as MD but you can only do so much in a 20-30 card deck size, you won't need everything at a moment's notice.
I don't mind grinding. I don't do it as much as I used to either. I just play PvP events and make sure I unlock new characters and that's still enough to ensure I can save enough to plan for the box at the end of the month.
Duel Links has been giving a lot of catchup tools and alternatives for old/new players alike in Pick Up Box, Anniversary Box, Box Chips, old boxes (up to ZEXAL) at 50% gem discounts, and more frequent Dream Ticket distributions basically every 2-3 months at reliable events.
Personally I don't think either game is better, I enjoy them each for different reasons.
I really love the anime focus of duel links, and I love all the PvE/single player content. On the other hand Master Duel fills the need to play TCG when I can't, and the crafting system is such a major improvement. Plus I have a few friends that play MD on switch or Xbox and the cross play is a really nice feature (to my knowledge Duel Links only cross plays with mobile and PC, I'm unaware of any console ports).
Either way I've spent hundreds of hours in each game and I don't regret it.
I agree with everything you said, also I play Yugioh to play the game and see the archetypes and how the decks interact in many different ways and playing a bit of everything rather than stuck playing a meta deck.
I agree!! One of the perks of Duel Links is the characters that have voice actors/actresses giving it a more enjoyable experience & not to mention, the rewards especially for anniversaries or special events. The team behind Duel Links are so generous that they really spoil us good with Gems, Card Tickets & Exclusive print cards so it really does encourage us to log in & play.
Even new players get to have access to rarity tickets by logging/participating in the ongoing event and the soundtracks are fire!!
I really appreciate the staff in charge of Duel Links for the love & care they have for the game.
I really like both master duel and duel links, and i agree with every piont in this video, but the thing that turns me off from duel links is the monitization scheme. I am able to play master duel free to play semi-competively, unlike duel links where to make a good deck i need to either get absurdly lucky or shill out some money, and that is something i will not let myself do. If duel links were to change to something akin to Master Duels in-app purchases I would definitly play more, but i don't see that happening.
I think there is some stuff they can take from Duel Links and put into Master Duel to increase the player experience cause like The duel puzzles, the loaner decks for a day, and better daily missions to grind gems. Just adding more stuff to do in the game would be fun .
Saw you on the CTA today brodie, much respect, can't believe I came across your channel. Love what yall do here! Greetings from the Chi
CTA?
I agree, I tried Master Duel like 3 times, and it's just.... difficult to do anything in that game. Esp as a f2p player. Like when Master Duel first came out, I was super excited for it, I got a structure deck, went into a duel thinking i'd be against people who did the same. Oh how wrong I was. I was dueling people who put in 100's of dollars just to make a deck, and it just was not fun at all. Now, Master Duels crafting system is amazing. But with Duel Links, you don't need to craft anything, there's really no need to. and getting structure decks, or even packs, in Duel links is just so much better and more fun, because as you said, Duel links has a single player mode to earn gems. it's a thousand times better!
Honestly DL has MD beat in every aspect except for Competitiveness, card quantity, crafting systems and appeals to anime fans
PS: Btw respect to Alec for giving a hot take most would disagree with
Also he's correct on his first point. I love to play Archetypes when I unlock 🔓 the new character ( except for machine being my least favorite 😁) I enjoy each characters archetype from each series and trying to be good or at least formidable with that deck type... He's right if you have the right skill set to a deck type.. you can enjoy more cards and get that "KING 👑 of GAMES!!" feeling, but for real real fun can be had remember fun?
Just two words... Glorious, benevolent and F2P CRAFTING SYSTEM (The adjectives before come by default)
I personally love Duel Links. I really like the speed format, and I love getting to play as my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh characters with their own special skills (though pretty much always Dark Signer Carly Carmine haha). But what keeps me from saying it's better, and a big reason why I don't play it any more, is the much smaller card library. I have like five different archetypes I play, and only one of them is in Duel Links. If DL updated to include a wider archetype library, I would go back to it in a heartbeat.
When i first downloaded master duel i was so excited to get to learn how to play i got through most of the tutorial solo stuff anf was so disappointed that all was left to do after that was pvp where everyone quits the second they dont get to ftk or otk combo with there opening hand on the other hand if you dont dump money into virtual cards your going to have it ruff specially if your new and dont know what cards/decks you need to build to get you going so i lost interest within a week and havent touched it since cuz im just stuck unless i pay to play...i miss old yugioh games
If getting cards in duellinks wasn't painful I would have kept up with it. Just add the physical speed duel format to master duel.
I agree! There a lot more deck diversity in duel links and I love the voicelines the va’s have with their cards. Not to mention it’s canon to the yugioh lore!
I've always recommended that Master Duel add more single player content, but the most they've done is just add Solo mode, which is nice but not a lot of content. I recommended that they make a daily duel challenge, but I've had nothing come of it, whereas I've asked for more Box Chips for Duel Links and I've gotten that. I'm getting the feeling that Konami doesn't want to improve in some of the simplest ways because they don't want to have to compare to their other games, they don't want to give out more Gems, or some combination of both.
If you like the 5Ds anime, you will probably like the Vrains anime. Like 5Ds Vrains has a darker story tone than most other Yu-Gi-Oh animes.
I don’t even care about what you’re talking about Alec, your voice is just so relaxing I could listen to you ramble and rant about anything. More of these videos please!!!! 🙏
If duel links had crafting it'd be the best format hands down but i do agree it's still better for all the reasons stated it just takes soooo long to grind gems and get basically nothing for URs that are mid/ other archetypes from boxes that have what you're building
Hey Alec, I love the duels but I also really love these types of videos you do when it's just you talking about things. You are always fair and insightful. I really loved this video tbh.
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I used to think the same thing. I was never a competitive player, but I was really glad that I could use my trusty amazoness deck in Duel links. Until I encountered a trickstar burn deck.
Just like in master duel, my opponent went for a 5 minutes 1st turn, completely disregarding my field, and burning my lifepoints to 0.
It's got the same issues, only with less opportunities for your opponent to pull them off.
I went back to Heartshone after that, and I'm enjoying it more than I could this game (online, I still play with physical cards with my friend).
Honestly for me. I find master duel just a better game system overall actually teaching me how to play this game.
Duel links i used a dragon tribute blue eyes deck with that broken spell hard to win duels. Never had to pay for much after that.
Master duel i played a year later. Knew nothing on how to actually play the game until after i started using my raid raptor and branded decks.
Now I'm very good at playing like a meta player and how to and when to activate spells and traps in what order
if Duel Links had a crafting system it would be literally perfect
I loved duel links, really loved it for all the points you mentioned. But the constant grind or buy of new releases eventually killed it for me. I took a break for a couple months and when i came back my decks couldn't get me as high in the ladder as they could before, which happens in the TCG too but that's an inherent problem with the physical tcg that master duel has proven doesnt need to exist in a digital format, if that point was ever in question.
Man every friend I tried to get to play Yu gi oh ends up dipping as soon as I show them all these new features, most guys are know are familiar with old school yu gi oh, the game is just not beginner friendly.
This take is so hot I got third degree burns.
My issue with is duel links I would just end finding myself in a grind. I just wasn't playing the card game for the fun of it. Master Duel's SP is way too limited but I also have some fun crushing the AI there.
Also I was able to get different decks together quickly in Master Duel. I tried Duel Links about a year ago, during an event, and I struggled to even get a skeleton deck together after grinding for days.
I guess part of it is, other than not wanting speed duels tbh, but also that I enjoy PVP. I also feel like that one mode is fine because it is basically the same game we play physically or on a program and enjoy there.
I guess my big grip with MD is just casual players who would play with friends really can't because they would be forced into ranking just to get currency for cards.
I havent tried duel links because im not interested. Master duel, is on the other side a platform to put to the test the decks im actually building, against actual players. So one game mode is enough, as long you dont spend 8 hours a day on it.
I love the single player aspects of yugioh and the anime themed events, but every time I come back to duel links, it is a miserable experience. I only got into it at a time when I could afford to spend hours a day grinding, but now it just feels awful for a month's worth of gems to get you one copy of a staple 3-of card for one deck. Obviously MD has things it could improve, and the ideal yugioh game would have the best of both combined, but oh my lord I simply can not justify to myself trying to play DL ever again, even with well over a thousand hours sunk into it already