In the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! there are many cards that have entered into the card pool with all sorts of effects. Some of these are best used with combo decks, while others act best in control-oriented playstyles. One of the strongest types of cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!’s control catalog are Floodgates.

Floodgate is an unofficial term given to cards with lingering effects that affect both players. Often times these effects are restrictive, causing the game to come to a slow halt until they are removed from the Field. There have been many Floodgates throughout Yu-Gi-Oh!‘shistory, with some being the most powerful cards in the entire game.

Updated February 15, 2022 by Johnny Garcia: Yu-Gi-Oh! is in one of its golden eras. With the release of Master Duel, having access to cards is as easy as ever. Duelists can play with an easily accessible official simulator, or with their paper cards in-person or through Remote Duels with webcams. Yu-Gi-Oh! has never had more ways to play the game. This is all happening in the midst of the banlist releasing. With the new banlists, many Archetypes were hindered while others improved, the meta going into free-fall as Duelists race to find the new best decks of the format. With the new banlist, some powerful Floodgates were banned, while others were unrestricted entirely.

15 Domain Of The True Monarchs

Domain Of The True Monarchs, while a Monarch support card, can be played in any deck that utilizes Tribute Summoning. So long as you have no Extra Deck, and you’re the only one with a Tribute Summoned Monster, the opponent is completely locked out of the Extra Deck.

Domain Of The True Monarchs is a Field Spell as well, making it easy to get to thanks to the plethora of Field Spell searchers in the game. It does also give the bonus to Monsters with specific stats (2800 Attack/1000 Defense), allowing you to summon them without Tributing.

14 Secret Village Of The Spellcasters

Secret Village Of The Spellcasters is a card that when it works, is game-winning. So long as only you control a Spellcaster Monster, the opponent can not activate any Spell cards. It does affect you as well, but you’ll only be playing Secret Village Of the Spellcasters in decks where you’ll always have access to Spellcasters.

Spell cards are the most important cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!, which is what makes Secret Village Of The Spellcasters so good. It completely shuts down multiple decks, making it one of the most devastating Floodgates out there.

13 Barrier Statues

The Barrier Statues are a pseudo-Archetype of Monsters that have 1000 Attack and Defense. There is one for each Attribute (except Divine), and when on the field they prevent the Special Summoning of any Monster except for the Attribute it possesses.

When you give them protection, Barrier Statues become a big problem. They can’t be Kaiju’d, unless the opponent specifically has the right Attribute Kaiju. Many decks rely on Special Summoning to function in order to function, so Barrier Statues can shut them down entirely. Worst case scenario, Barrier Statues force the opponent to give up their Battle Phase to get rid of them.

12 Masked HERO Dark Law

Masked HERO Dark Law is far and away the best Masked HERO Monster, and one of the easiest HERO Monsters to make. It just has to be summoned with Masked Change and a Dark HERO Monster. It is one of the main Monsters HERO decks make when they are going first.

Once on the field, Masked HERO Dark Law forces any cards the opponent controls that are sent to the Graveyard to be banished instead. Not only that, but if the opponent adds a card from their deck to their hand, Masked HERO Dark Law will randomly banish a card from their hand.

11 Gozen Match

Gozen Match is one of the more popular Floodgates and the perfect counter to decks that utilize multiple Attributes. When it’s on the field, each player can only control one kind of Attribute.

They can not even attempt to summon a Monster with a different Attribute, meaning they can’t even use their Extra Deck to help clear their field. Gozen Match has been a part of the meta to varying degrees depending on the best decks in the format, but when there’s a ton of Attributes in a deck, Gozen Match will always find its way into the meta.

10 Rivalry Of Warlords

Rivalry Of Warlords is a Continuous Trap Card that causes the effect of both players only being able to control one Type of Monster. This means that either player can not Summon, or attempt to Summon a Monster that is a different Type from a Monster on the player’s side of the Field.

While plenty of Archetypes have Monsters that are the same Type, Rivalry Of Warlords is best used in Zombie decks due to access to Zombie World. Since Zombie World changes all Monsters into the Zombie Type, unless the opponent is playing a Zombie deck they will be locked out of Summoning Monsters entirely.

9 Royal Decree

Royal Decree is a very useful Trap Card that counters other Trap Cards. Royal Decree is a Continuous Trap that negates all other Trap effects on the Field. This can completely shut down decks that heavily rely on Trap Cards. Royal Decree shuts out a third of the game mechanics, which is what makes it so good.

Some Trap-based decks can even play it, most notably Altergiest since Altergiest Protocol will prevent their cards from being negated by Royal Decree’s effect. decks that don’t play Trap Cards at all can even use it to shut down their opponent’s Trap-heavy deck.

8 Macro Cosmos

While Dimensional Fissure shares an incredibly similar effect, Macro Cosmos is a better version of it due to its ability to surprise the opponent on their turn. Macro Cosmos will cause any card that is sent to the Graveyard to be Banished instead.

This can completely halt strategies that are heavily reliant on getting their cards into the Graveyard. In addition, it can even be a benefit to some decks, most notably Thunder Dragons. Since it is a Trap Card, it can be activated during the opponent’s Turn to interrupt their combos and potentially dismantle their game plan with just one activation.

7 El Shaddoll Winda

El Shaddoll Winda is an incredibly easy Fusion Monster to Summon. Thanks to its Level being 5, it can be Summoned with Instant Fusion. The downside of Instant Fusion can even be played around with cards like Salamangreat Almiraj. El Shaddoll Winda prevents both players from being able to Special Summon more than once per turn.

This is especially useful with Nibiru The Primal Being in the game, as it prevents it from activating since it Special Summons two Monsters. El Shaddoll Winda can be used at the end of the player’s turn, meaning they don’t have to worry about the downside affecting them since they would already have an established board.

6 Inspector Boarder

What has perhaps one of the most confusing card texts in all of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Inspector Boarder is also a staple Monster in all Stun decks. It’s a 2000 Attack Monster with an incredibly powerful effect. While it is on the Field, Monster Effects can not be activated unless a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, Link, or Ritual Monster is on the Field.

Each separate Type allows for one extra Monster Effect to be activated. This means if a Fusion and Synchro is on the Field, two Monster Effects can be activated but no more. This is an incredibly powerful effect that can prevent the opponent from even playing the game.

5 Skill Drain

Skill Drain is a Floodgate so powerful it spent a long time being limited to one copy per deck. However, is now back to three copies a deck to make for a terrifying Floodgate. At the small cost of 1000 Life Points, Skill Drain is a Continous Trap Card that negates the effects of all Face-Up Monsters.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is all about Monster Effects in the current metagame, meaning that Skill Drain can easily shut down a turn, and sometimes the entire game. Since a lot of decks use Monsters as Spell and Trap card removal, this makes Skill Drain especially hard to get rid of. The only downside to Skill Drain is that it negates effects, but not activations meaning if the activation sets up plays by using costs the opponent can play through it.

4 Summon Limit

Summon Limit does exactly what it sounds like it does, as it will prevent each player from Summoning more than twice per turn. It has an added bonus of counting negated Summons, meaning that when played with cards like Solemn Judgement, the opponent is reduced down to only one Summon.

While it is fantastic in Control decks as they don’t play many Monsters, Combo decks can use it as well. Since it is a Trap Card, it can be Set after the player does their combo, and activated during the opponent’s turn after they have an established board.

3 There Can Be Only One

There Can Be Only One is the best Floodgate when it comes to locking players into certain Types. There Can Be Only One forces both opponents to control no more than one Monster of Each Type. Since so many decks have Monsters that share the same Type, this means the deck more often than not can’t play.

The card prevents players from Summoning another Monster of the same Type, as well as attempting to Summon, meaning it can’t be Linked or Tributed away very easily. It doesn’t hit every deck, but it hits almost all the relevant ones that aren’t Control-oriented.

2 Mystic Mine

The newest powerful Floodgate comes to the game in Mystic Mine. This is an insanely strong Field Spell that prevents the player with the most Monsters on the Field from activating Monster Effects or attacking. It is destroyed if the number of Monsters is ever even during the End Phase.

Mystic Mine is such a powerful Floodgate, entire decks can be built around it with how oppressive it can be. Mystic Mine can even be used in Combo decks, as it can be activated to put a pause on the gamestate until the combo pieces are drawn. If you’re trying to use it in Master Duel, however, you’ll have to stick to the TCG as it is currently banned there.

1 Imperial Order

A card that was banned, errata’d and unbanned, then banned again, Imperial Order is both one of the oldest Floodgates and the best. Imperial Order negates all Spell card effects on the Field. This means that any Spell is useless while the Floodgate is up on the Field. Imperial Order is much better than its Trap counterpart Royal Decree since Spell cards are played in practically every deck, unlike Traps.

So many decks rely on their Spell cards, and the ability to completely take them out of the equation makes Imperial Order the best Floodgate in all of Yu-Gi-Oh!

NEXT: Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Most Powerful Spell Cards, Ranked