The best sets from the 5Ds era of Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG underwent a massive overhaul during the 5Ds era. This was a time when Synchros were fresh on the field and for the first time ever, the extra deck did more than just house your Fusion Monsters. While players still can't play card games on motorcycles like the anime predicted, the 5Ds era sped up the game in a way not seen before.

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With sets that include synchro monsters, deadly hand traps, and new ways to get more monsters on the field at once, the 5Ds sets changed the game forever. The only question that remains is which set went above and beyond to give players the best experience?

8

The shining darkness

Boss monsters and exploitable cards

The Shining Darkness set is often discussed because it has some memorable cards in it that weren't necessarily good but beautiful to look at. Black-Winged Dragon is the featured card in the set, but aside from looking cool, it wasn't always viable.

But cards like Chaos Trap Hole and Ronintoadin were not only great but were also common cards. So in this case you just have to take the good with the bad and the set did enough to bolster the ever popular Blackwing archetype as well as all plant decks. This at least gives it a place due to the cards being playable.

7

The Storm of Ragnarök

A card to change the world

Storm of Ragnarok didn't necessarily have the best leading archetype, the Nordic cards were interesting but not always worth drawing. If anything, the six samurai is where the set shined. But all it takes for a set to be good is one broken card.

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This just happened to be the set where Maxx “C” entered the chat. This one card made the set a must-have at the time, with every player needing a full playset of the bug to make their decks competitive. When the Maxx “C” was banned, the Six Samurai wore this set as the archetype would continue to grow years later.

6

Duelist Revolution

Kicking the 5Ds into Overdrive

Duelist Revolution was truly a revolution with cards that let you stop your opponent's play as well as some that let you choose cards to add to your hand. Effect Veiler is a classic card that still sees play, while Solemn Warning is an excellent resource for trap games.

This set also introduced a new Pot card in the form of the Pot of Duality which allows players to dig through their decks for cards. The Scrap archetype also added new ways to play while setting up future dinosaur decks. This set also contained a broken card in the form of Cursed Armaments, which could be continuously spammed out to cause your opponent to lose the game. This set had it all.

5

Starstrike Blast

A mix of everything good

A little Yu-Gi-Oh! sets are good at boosting an archetype, while others have a few cards that become staples down the line. Starstrike Blast has a little bit of everything. It provided upgrades to existing Synchro Dragons in the form of Red Nova Dragon and Shooting Star Dragon.

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The set also introduced Droll and Lock Bird, which is one of the best hand traps in the game, and Formula Synchron, which in retrospect is a prototype of what I:P Masquerena could do. Even cards that seemed to be bad, like Heat Wave, would later find homes in other decks. It's safe to say that Starstrike Blast is the ultimate Yu-Gi-Oh!

4

Furious battle

Sleeping giants and kings of the format

A good Yu-Gi-Oh! set is not only memorable for how it affects the formula at the time of release, but how it helps shape it years down the road. Raging Battle accomplished both of these things. During the format it was released in, Blackwings was one of the fastest archetypes that could swarm your opponent.

While cards like Forbidden Chalice and One For One were helpful immediately, one notable card that would eventually come back full force is Trident Dragon. This shows that some cards will remain dormant until the perfect format occurs. That makes this a great set to open.

3

Crimson crisis

Blackwings And Aliens

The Crimson Crisis set has some pretty mediocre cards and some really good ones. While the main gimmick of the set is to give Synchro Monsters an Assault Mode, you also had some of the best Blackwing monsters in this set, like Gale the Whirlwind.

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What makes this set unique is that it contains an entire archetype of alien monsters such as the mighty Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar and the Alien Kid. Alien Ammonite was also a pretty decent way to get a simple Synchro Monster out. However, many of these cards were never reprinted, making this the only set where you can find them.

2

Duelist Genesis

Unleash The Synchros

Duelist Genesis warped Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG with the introduction of Synchro Monsters. There are too many names to count, but some include Stardust Dragon, Red Dragon Archfiend, and Goyo Guardian. These cards can negate effects, destroy monsters, and even steal them as well.

This single set made the whole game so much faster with new ways to get more monsters out per turn. Other great cards include Emergency Teleport and Book of Eclipse, which are still great Spell cards. If any set deserves to be near the top, it's Duelist Genesis for doing so much to modernize the card game. It also helps that so many of the iconic monsters had their time to shine in the anime.

1

Crossroads of Chaos

All things that grow from the earth

Crossroads of Chaos is an undeniably influential set from the 5Ds era. With cards like Black Rose Dragon being an easy placemat, and Black Garden being a historically confusing card, you could say the set is iconic for several memorable reasons.

However, the set's contribution goes beyond just plants. Zombies also became increasingly meta with the help of Plaguespreader Zombie. Two iconic locks were also introduced in this set, in the form of Secret Village of the Spellcasters and Gozen Match. Ultimately, Crossroads of Chaos left its mark on Yu-Gi-Oh! history by having excellent card diversity that boosted weaker archetypes and took advantage of the Synchro mechanic.

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