Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is officially in a tier-zero format following the introduction of the Tearlaments archetype in April.
The Tearlaments strategy focuses on trying to mill cards from your deck to trigger powerful graveyard effects, including the ability to bring out strong Fusion monsters like Tearlaments Kitkallos, Tearlaments Rulkallos, and Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart.
Tearlaments, alongside the Spright archetype, were introduced to North America’s physical Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game in August 2022 as a part of the Power of the Elements set. Though Spright cards were added to Master Duel in February, Tearlaments didn’t join the virtual game until April 10, 2023.
Related: Best Spright deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
Since being available in Master Duel, though, Tearlaments decks have been dominating the meta and sit atop the tier list on Yu-Gi-Oh! site Master Duel Meta by a considerable margin over the next best option. If you’re looking to try this strategy out for yourself, here’s the Tearlaments deck list we’ve been using in Master Duel.
Best Master Duel Tearlaments deck list (May 2023)
Monsters
- 3 D.D. Crow
- 3 Maxx “C”
- 2 Tearlaments Merrli
- 2 Tearlaments Havnis
- 1 Fairy Tail – Snow
- 2 Tearlaments Scheiren
- 3 Tearlaments Reinoheart
- 2 Keldo the Sacred Protector
- 3 Mudora the Sword Oracle
- 2 Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard
- 1 Agido the Ancient Sentinel
Spells
- 1 Terraforming
- 2 Triple Tactics Talent
- 1 Primeval Planet Perlereino
- 3 Tearlaments Scream
- 2 Called by the Grave
- 1 Crossout Designator
Traps
- 3 Infinite Impermanence
- 1 Tearlaments Cryme
- 2 Tearlaments Sulliek
Extra deck
- 1 Mudragon of the Swamp
- 1 Tearlaments Kitkallos
- 1 Predaplant Dragostapelia
- 1 Tearlaments Rulkallos
- 1 Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart
- 1 Gigantic Spright
- 1 Abyss Dweller
- 1 Zoodiac Drident
- 1 Zoodiac Boarbow
- 1 Zoodiac Chakanine
- 1 Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir
- 1 Time Thief Redoer
- 1 Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder
- 1 Dharc the Dark Charmer, Gloomy
- 1 Spright Elf
There are some cards on our list that might jump out to other players as questionable selections in the current meta, most notably the use of Called by the Grave, Crossout Designator, and only one Agido. Though Called by the Grave might not be one of the best cards right now—especially in the Tearlaments mirror match when your opponent has some Ishizu shufflers in their graveyard—I’ve found it still works as a good early counter to hand traps like Maxx “C” and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Crossout Designator, on the other hand, can work well in this deck to even counter some of your opponent’s Tearlaments cards in the mirror match. And only playing one Agido is also due to the frequent mirror match; if I’m playing against Tearlaments, I don’t want to help them get their plays started by milling cards for them if I can avoid it.
Outside of those cards (and maybe running a third copy of Triple Tactics Talent), this feels like a relatively standard Tearlaments deck in Master Duel. I haven’t messed around with the Cyber-Stein, Gravekeeper’s Trap, or Rainbow Bridge of Salvation packages, but those are alternative options.
In addition, if you find you’re facing a lot of Spell and Trap floodgates or back-row-heavy decks, you could try to make room for removal cards like Cosmic Cyclone or Harpie’s Feather Duster.
If you’re picking this deck up for the first time, it will most likely take a good amount of practice before you feel like you truly have a good grasp of the strategy. There are multiple options for setting up a strong turn-one board, but most of them involve trying to summon Kitkallos and using her effect to start loading up your graveyard, which, in turn, can help you make even more plays. If you know you’re facing another Tearlaments player, you should look to summon an Abyss Dweller so you can prevent them from activating any effects in the graveyard on their turn.
After playing with this deck for about a month now, I’ve seen success in Platinum and Diamond ranked games and in the ongoing Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2023 qualifiers.
But since Tearlaments is so strong right now in Master Duel, it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising if Konami attempts to nerf this deck in an upcoming Forbidden and Limited list. If that happens, we’ll update our list with any corresponding changes.
