In Yu-Gi-Oh!, backrow is the term used for all Spell and Trap cards on the field. They make up two of the three major card types in the Main Deck and are an important part of the game. They’re more vulnerable compared to Monsters, as backrow has a lot of counters for them.

Since Set backrow is generally meant to disrupt your plays on your turn, cards that destroy them are incredibly useful. Practically every deck in the game runs some form of backrow removal, be it a Monster, Spell, or Trap card. Some of these are so good that they’ve even been banned.

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15 Galaxy Cyclone

Galaxy Cyclone is a card that many Duel Links players will recognize, and while it was great there, it’s just as useful in the TCG. It’s one of the few backrow removal cards that can be used twice.

In your hand, Galaxy Cyclone can be used to destroy any Set Spell or Trap card on the field.

In the Graveyard, after the turn it was sent there, you can banish it to destroy any face-up Spell or Trap card on the field. This makes Galaxy Cyclone a fantastic card against Floodgate decks, as it can destroy their Set cards or force activation out, followed by banishing it to pop the Floodgate.

14 Paleozoic Olenoides

While it doesn’t see too much play outside of Paleozoic-Frog decks, it still is a fantastic choice of backrow removal. It can destroy any Spell or Trap card on the field for no other cost. Afterwards, whenever a Trap card is activated, you can bring Paleozoic Olenoides back as a Trap Monster with 1200 Attack.

Getting an extra body on the field is very powerful, especially with how much Link Summoning tends to go on in the modern game. If you have access to Rank Two Monsters, it can be used to Xyz summon into powerful ones, most commonly being Toadally Awesome.

13 Unending Nightmare

Unending Nightmare is arguably one of the most underrated backrow removal cards out there. Unlike many other ones, Unending Nightmare is one that sticks on the field after activating. At the cost of paying 1000 Life Points, Unending Nightmare can destroy any face-up Spell or Trap card on the field.

This effect can be used once per chain, rather than once per turn. This doesn’t only apply to chains using backrow either, so if an opponent activates any kind of effect, Unending Nightmare can be used. It does require them to be face-up, but against certain decks, this is game-ending.

12 Hey, Trunade!

A retrain of the banned card Giant Trunade, Hey, Trunade, while a weaker version of it, is still a fantastic card. It was even restricted in Duel Links for how good it was. While the TCG has a much higher power ceiling, Hey, Trunade still sees play in combo decks.

Hey, Trunade will return all Set Spell and Trap cards from the field back to the hand. This forces them to be activated, or risk losing the potential to use them at all. In going second OTK decks, being able to play without having to worry about interruptions is important, and why Hey, Trunade is so valuable for them.

11 Sky Striker Maneuver - Jamming Waves!

On top of having quite the long name, Sky Striker Maneuver - Jamming Waves also has quite a good effect. If your deck does not play a lot of Main Deck Monsters (such as sky Strikers), then it’s a perfect include for your deck. So long as you control no Monsters in your Main Monster Zones, you can target and destroy a Set Spell or Trap card on the field.

Sky Striker Maneuver - Jamming Waves will also destroy a Monster on the field if there are three or more Spell cards in your Graveyard. This makes sky Striker Maneuver - Jamming Waves a versatile backrow removal card capable of hitting Monsters as well.

10 Mobius The Frost Monarch

While nothing special in the modern game, when it was released, Mobius The Frost Monarch was one of the best ways to destroy backrow. When it is Tribute Summoned, Mobius The Frost Monarch can target two Spell and/or Trap cards on the field and destroy them.

In addition to the solid effect, it also has a high Attack stat to make it difficult to destroy by battle. The main reason it doesn’t see much play anymore is due to Tribute Summoning generally being too slow. However, it’s still a big part of Yu-Gi-Oh! history for how impactful it was in the early days.

9 Breaker The Magical Warrior

Another card that has fallen out of favor with power creep, but during its prime Breaker The Magical Warrior was the premiere backrow removal on a Monster. When Normal Summoned, it would gain a counter that granted it 300 Attack. The counter could then be removed to destroy a Spell or Trap card.

It was a Level Four Monster, meaning it was easily Normal Summoned, and at the time, 1900 Attack was amazing — its ability to destroy backrow was icing on the cake. Breaker The Magical Warrior was so good back in the day that it even had to be banned and limited for years.

8 Mystical Space Typhoon

Mystical Space Typhoon was the original backrow removal. It’s a Quick-Play Spell card, meaning that it could be used on either player’s turn. Its effect is simple, allowing you to target a Spell or Trap card on the field and destroy it.

While not too big of a card anymore as there are better versions of it, in its prime Mystical Space Typhoon was played so much that it spent nearly five years being limited to one copy per deck. It eventually became fully unrestricted in 2011, but it made its mark on Yu-Gi-Oh! history as the most well-known backrow removal in the game.

7 Cosmic Cyclone

The premiere card in Yu-Gi-Oh!’s sister game Duel Links, Cosmic Cyclone is also fantastic in the TCG. At the cost of 1000 Life Points, you can target and Banish a Spell or Trap Card on the field.

What sets Cosmic Cyclone apart from other backrow removal is the fact it Banishes instead of just destroys. Most of the time, backrow has no use while Banished. Many modern Spell and Trap cards have effects while in the Graveyard as well, making Cosmic Cyclone good since it prevents these effects from being able to be activated.

6 Knightmare Phoenix

Knightmare Phoenix is one of the most played Link Monsters of all time, as practically every deck has a copy of it in their Extra Deck. It’s a simple Monster with an effect that lets you discard a card in order to destroy a Spell or Trap Card on the field when Link Summoned.

Thanks to Knightmare Phoenix, it’s usually not required to run backrow removal in the Main Deck, as there’s constant, consistent access to it while other backrow removal is (generally) unsearchable. The only downside is that it’s not great against Floodgates like Skill Drain and Mystic Mine.

5 Heavy Storm Duster

Heavy Storm Duster is one of the only backrow removal cards that’s frequently played that is a Trap card. When activated, it targets two backrow on the field and destroys them. The cost of using it is that it prevents you from using your Battle Phase that turn.

However, this downside can be avoided entirely as it can be activated on the opponent’s turn. Trap-heavy decks tend to keep three copies of Heavy Storm Duster in the Side Deck in case the other deck uses tons of backrow. It’s also an out to cards like Imperial Order that shuts down almost all backrow removal cards.

4 Twin Twisters

The card that power-crept Mystical Space Typhoon, Twin Twisters spent years as a staple in the Side Deck. At the cost of discarding a card, Twin Twisters can target up to two cards on the field and destroy them.

The discard requirement isn’t even always a cost. Since it discards rather than sends, it can trigger the effects of cards like the Danger! Monsters. Some cards want to be in the Graveyard as well, so being able to set it up while taking care of problem cards on the opponent’s field is fantastic.

3 Lightning Storm

As soon as it was released, Lightning Storm became a staple in decks that like to go second. So long as you control no face-up cards, you can activate it. Lightning Storm has two effects, with one that destroys all Attack Position Monsters on the opponent’s field and the other to destroy all backrow instead.

Having such a versatile effect on a card is fantastic, and since you can use it as soon as your turn begins, its activation requirement is easy to achieve. It’s rare for a backrow removal card to have more than one effect, and Lightning Storm is one of the best that’s still legal.

2 Harpie’s Feather Duster

Harpie’s Feather Duster has spent many years being banned and limited, with the card currently being limited. At no cost at all, Harpie’s Feather Duster destroys all Spell and Trap Cards on the opponent’s field.

Such a powerful effect with no downside is what made Harpie’s Feather Duster so good it had to be restricted. Other cards with this field wiping capability generally have a cost or activation requirement, but not Harpie’s Feather Duster. It’s one of the most well-known backrow removal cards in the game’s history, and one of the best.

1 Heavy Storm

The only completely banned card on this list, Heavy Storm is one of the best backrow removal cards the game has ever seen. It has no activation requirement and can destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field.

If you don’t have any cards on your side of the field, the downside of it destroying your own cards won’t even come up. In some cases, it isn’t even a downside, as some Spell and Trap Cards like to be destroyed. Heavy Storm is so powerful that it has been on the banlist since 2013 and likely won’t come off anytime soon.