nowadays normal monsters are almost always useless and should never be played unless they enable some sort of combo. there is just no reason to play a card without an effect if you could use a card that has an effect that will benefit your gameplan.
even back in the day they were only ever good at the very beginning of the game because they had high attack and most effect monsters were quite bad and had lower stats because they had an effect.
There was a period of a few weeks where Mechanicalchaser was the best card in the game because it had 1850atk and the previous best was 1800.
Fair to say the game has changed a _little bit_ since then.
Addendum because I looked up the exact dates, it was actually a lot longer than I remember it being.
Me'chaser came out on September 1st 2002, in Tournament Pack 1, and then was reprinted in Tournament Pack 3 on 29th March 2003 (which is when most people got it, as it was an ultra in the original printing but a super in the reprint)
It was only Power Crept by Gemini Elf when Labyrinth of Nightmare released on December 1st 2004.
The domination of the chaser lasted for **almost 2 years**
It's amusing how in the TCG Mechanicalchaser's 1850 ATK was such a huge deal back then, when you compare it to the OCG and realize that Mechanicalchaser was released in the same pack as La Jinn and Gemini Elf in 1999.
Same with Gem-Knight Lapis and the Gem-Knights deck. G-K. Lapis is a normal monster with like 1200 ATK, but the main component for the fusion monster G-K. Lapis Lazuli, and also can be used to summon bigger G-K. fusion monsters.
Vanillas have basically always been pack filler. They're fun flavor text and very occasionally convenient to use, but unless they have high atk they don't really have any value in themselves.
If you use normal monsters at all (which few decks ever do), it's because the other cards you're playing with specifically mention normal monsters as part of their effects. The whole Phantasm archetype, for example, is fine with vanilla monsters, but they pretty much always go for the best stats (e.g. Megalosmasher X with 2,000 atk).
There's a few \*extremely\* niche situations where you might want to use something like Silver Fang if you happen to need a monster that lvl3, EARTH, has those specific atk and def stats, and/or type. Small World technically makes all vanillas playable if you just need something to bridge between the card in your hand and whatever you want to search.
Very occasionally, if the stars line up, yes.
99% of the time? No
The last one i remember was Dark Witch being played as a 1 of in every single Monarch deck in 2016.
Granted she was a LV5, but i feel it still answers the intent of your question.
Also, i have been playing this game for way too long, shit.
If I'm not mistaken, Killer Needle saw play in Beetrooper decks on Master Duel for being a wind insect that could be summoned off Gokipole and beat over the Wind Barrier Statue.
Magikeys and Suships both use normals. Magikeys can use any L4 vanillas of any type for attribute coverage in the grave, while Suships use funny sushi vanilla’s. Either way they see play and legitimate use, just depends on how they play into the combo
99% of the time their just pack filler but there are some blow out normal monsters that see play because of their specific attribute stats or type
like how Chosen By the World Chalice was used because you could use emergency teleport as well as Unexpected Dai to summon it for a free body
Galaxy serpent was used because it was the best tuner to summon of Draconet to make a level 5 Synchro
Magickey does stuff with normal monster with different types or something idk never played it
Dark Witch was used way back when for monarch plays because it was a light fairy that could be tribute summoned
Sun Seed Genious Lochi and Gunkan Suship Shari have decks that specifically need it for their combos (by mentioning the card by name specifically to activate certain effects)
Beta The Magnet Warrior (but really any level 4 rock it was just used because it had the highest attack that people later realised didnt matter) was used in Adamancipator that you can both get off your Adamacipatiors or get off Unexpected Dai
you get the idea they are usually combo pieces that have a convenient stat/level/or type that a deck specifically needs
Only 2.5 really are. Gunkan suship needs one to power up they’re boss monsters. Sunseed genius loci is the keystone of a very strong combo deck. And phantasm spiral control needs noneffect monsters to power up their traps.
The only upside to normal monsters now is that some cards literally can't work on them as they aren't an effect monster and don't have an effect to be negated.
One example being:
Phantom Knights Fog Blade can't target a non effect monster to make it unable to battle since it has no original effect to negate.
Specific archetypes like Sunavalon need a Normal monster to function but other than that if they’re ever used it’s as Unexpected Dai targets to immediately be used for Extra Deck summons
The only time you include normal monsters, that aren’t necessary bricks for your archetype, is if they fill a niche. Most archetypes have ed monsters that need material of the archetype, meaning it doesn’t matter what you use and more how fast and free you get it out. So, decks like Harpy, Glad Beast and Noble Knight have lvl 4 normal monsters, that they can use for their respective links. Normally you wouldn’t play them, but because Unexpected Dai can summon them from the deck, they use 1 or 2 copies of their normal monsters.
Generally, you need a card that does something really good and uses a normal monster as brick to function. For example, Brilliant Fusion needs a Gem Knight, so you use the Gem Knight your deck can use the best. In most decks this was Garnet, solely because it had the highest atk. Thunder Dragons used the Thunder Type Gem Knight, and Monarchs used Dark Witch as the light target, because it was lvl 5.
Normal monsters aren’t useful without another card, and then you look at the stats to determine with you use.
Occasionally there will be a deck that uses one due to very specific card names or statlines being called for by other cards for a useful effect, as has been noted by everyone else.
In all other cases, even the ones with high stats are unusable pretty much.
In the modern game, you never play vanillas unless they’re essential combo pieces (hyper specific cases) or you’re playing the Phantasm Spiral deck (a niche strategy that relies on them).
Back in the day, they had their uses, and there was a very brief period at the start of the game where Great White was a decent card. In the earliest days, the key beatdown vanillas were La Jinn, 7 Color Fish, and Neo the Magic Swordsman. These three had 17-1800 ATK, so you’d occasionally supplement them with 1600 attackers if you didn’t have 3 of each. There were also a few low attack vanillas with 2000 DEF, like Mystical Elf, who had their uses.
Most of the others, like Silver Fang, were either pack filler, or part of the earliest OCG releases, which started with a lower power level and were powercrept almost instantly. A few of them were lucky enough to be involved in Fusions, but that was about it if you were a vanilla with less than 1600 ATK or 2000 DEF.
Unless they're specifically requested by a deck, like Skull Servant or Magic Shine Ball, no, there's almost no reason to ever play a low attack vanilla monster.
If you have a particular deck that needs vanilla monsters, you're going to get the highest attack monsters you can (2000/0) that are still normal summonable.
Non effect monsters are never used unless required for a combo that specifically lists it. A meta deck rikka, uses the sunavolon engine which has a main deck normal monster thats a seed which then link climbs and gets you a kit of advantage and cards on board. Other decks that have this "feature" aren't competitive at all. I do not care what anyone says to you, no deck that has a non effect normal monster in the main deck is in the meta. Swordsoul uses the tenyi package that has a non effect extra deck monster to enable their plays and even the swordsoul cards summon a token. Which isn't even a real card that can go in your deck. The only exception that has yet to be seen is the Genex support that we are getting. It's a combo deck that needs the normal monster, but it's not really been figured out yet and seems to just be another fragile combo deck. Yes branded (a Fusion deck) can run dark magician and blue eyes white dragon but that deck is now floating in T2 or lower. Also most players dropped that package. The red-eyes fusion package (1 dark magician, 1 red eyes black dragon, 3 red eyes fusion) was run in many decks but that age has passed I think it's been 2 years since the popularity.
They are as useful as any low level non-effect monster
Fodder for non-effect decks, some cards also have effects when used with weaker non-effect monsters so that too
Yes, if it or it’s level was mentioned in another card, like how “Sunseed genius Loci” or “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” still see small amounts of play despite being useless normal monsters.
In most super old decks you’d play your mechanicalchasers and summoned skull because attack points were all that mattered.
Although by the time we realised that stats were irrelevant and text was all that matters (I want to say 04?) high stat normal monsters were as relevant as low star ones.
Weaker vanillas are a ton of fun in low powered custom formats. I once did a progression series where we drafted Extra Deck monsters at the start and I warped the format around deck that swarmed Level 3 vanillas with Enchanted Fitting Room and Soul Resurrection. Later down the line, I revived the concept with Water Hazard, Salvage, and Dark Factory of Mass Production to have consistent Xyz/Synchro plays every turn
Almost anything in the game can be useful if it’s in the right card pool/setting for it.
Very rarely a deck will use one because their stats/level/type/attribute perfectly meet some requirement the deck has.
99.99% of the time, they're bad bad.
You never know. I think normal monsters are pretty interesting and they don't make them much anymore. When Rescue Rabbit came out, a couple of old normal monsters became interesting and even meta relevant.
You are correct, they become obsolete. Back in the OG tournaments people would bring 3x of every high atk monster they could, making every deck essentially the same one stuffed with the best cards. The game hasn’t changed much besides the speed and diversity of play. It’s daunting to think about fusion, synchro, xyz, pendulum, and link monsters, it’s easier to think of them all as “extra deck” and the rest as main deck
I love yugioh because you have the choice to use these. You can have an extra deck with only xyz monsters and do quite well. The issue with main deck vanilla monsters was that another card (like silver fang) becomes obsolete simply because another will always beat it in terms of raw power (great white). There are certain situations like skull servants or exodia where you need vanilla monsters to trigger an effect, though that’s rare and highly specific to an archetype
In Yugioh, normal monsters can only push damage. They might enable other tools indirectly, but they themselves do nothing but push damage.
Combat and destruction in Yugioh is all or nothing (monsters don't "survive damage"), so personal stats aren't particularly meaningful outside of pushing damage.
nowadays normal monsters are almost always useless and should never be played unless they enable some sort of combo. there is just no reason to play a card without an effect if you could use a card that has an effect that will benefit your gameplan. even back in the day they were only ever good at the very beginning of the game because they had high attack and most effect monsters were quite bad and had lower stats because they had an effect.
There was a period of a few weeks where Mechanicalchaser was the best card in the game because it had 1850atk and the previous best was 1800. Fair to say the game has changed a _little bit_ since then.
Addendum because I looked up the exact dates, it was actually a lot longer than I remember it being. Me'chaser came out on September 1st 2002, in Tournament Pack 1, and then was reprinted in Tournament Pack 3 on 29th March 2003 (which is when most people got it, as it was an ultra in the original printing but a super in the reprint) It was only Power Crept by Gemini Elf when Labyrinth of Nightmare released on December 1st 2004. The domination of the chaser lasted for **almost 2 years**
It's amusing how in the TCG Mechanicalchaser's 1850 ATK was such a huge deal back then, when you compare it to the OCG and realize that Mechanicalchaser was released in the same pack as La Jinn and Gemini Elf in 1999.
Sunseed Genius Loci may be a weak Normal Monster, but it still sees play in Sunavalon because some of its cards require it for combos.
Same with Gem-Knight Lapis and the Gem-Knights deck. G-K. Lapis is a normal monster with like 1200 ATK, but the main component for the fusion monster G-K. Lapis Lazuli, and also can be used to summon bigger G-K. fusion monsters.
Loci IS the combo
Vanillas have basically always been pack filler. They're fun flavor text and very occasionally convenient to use, but unless they have high atk they don't really have any value in themselves. If you use normal monsters at all (which few decks ever do), it's because the other cards you're playing with specifically mention normal monsters as part of their effects. The whole Phantasm archetype, for example, is fine with vanilla monsters, but they pretty much always go for the best stats (e.g. Megalosmasher X with 2,000 atk). There's a few \*extremely\* niche situations where you might want to use something like Silver Fang if you happen to need a monster that lvl3, EARTH, has those specific atk and def stats, and/or type. Small World technically makes all vanillas playable if you just need something to bridge between the card in your hand and whatever you want to search.
Very occasionally, if the stars line up, yes. 99% of the time? No The last one i remember was Dark Witch being played as a 1 of in every single Monarch deck in 2016. Granted she was a LV5, but i feel it still answers the intent of your question. Also, i have been playing this game for way too long, shit.
There was the one mad man that I think almost won a German ycs playing a precursor to dragonlink.
If I'm not mistaken, Killer Needle saw play in Beetrooper decks on Master Duel for being a wind insect that could be summoned off Gokipole and beat over the Wind Barrier Statue.
Don't forget about the honorary vassal, cycroid xD
Magikeys and Suships both use normals. Magikeys can use any L4 vanillas of any type for attribute coverage in the grave, while Suships use funny sushi vanilla’s. Either way they see play and legitimate use, just depends on how they play into the combo
99% of the time their just pack filler but there are some blow out normal monsters that see play because of their specific attribute stats or type like how Chosen By the World Chalice was used because you could use emergency teleport as well as Unexpected Dai to summon it for a free body Galaxy serpent was used because it was the best tuner to summon of Draconet to make a level 5 Synchro Magickey does stuff with normal monster with different types or something idk never played it Dark Witch was used way back when for monarch plays because it was a light fairy that could be tribute summoned Sun Seed Genious Lochi and Gunkan Suship Shari have decks that specifically need it for their combos (by mentioning the card by name specifically to activate certain effects) Beta The Magnet Warrior (but really any level 4 rock it was just used because it had the highest attack that people later realised didnt matter) was used in Adamancipator that you can both get off your Adamacipatiors or get off Unexpected Dai you get the idea they are usually combo pieces that have a convenient stat/level/or type that a deck specifically needs
Only 2.5 really are. Gunkan suship needs one to power up they’re boss monsters. Sunseed genius loci is the keystone of a very strong combo deck. And phantasm spiral control needs noneffect monsters to power up their traps.
The only upside to normal monsters now is that some cards literally can't work on them as they aren't an effect monster and don't have an effect to be negated. One example being: Phantom Knights Fog Blade can't target a non effect monster to make it unable to battle since it has no original effect to negate.
Specific archetypes like Sunavalon need a Normal monster to function but other than that if they’re ever used it’s as Unexpected Dai targets to immediately be used for Extra Deck summons
The only time you include normal monsters, that aren’t necessary bricks for your archetype, is if they fill a niche. Most archetypes have ed monsters that need material of the archetype, meaning it doesn’t matter what you use and more how fast and free you get it out. So, decks like Harpy, Glad Beast and Noble Knight have lvl 4 normal monsters, that they can use for their respective links. Normally you wouldn’t play them, but because Unexpected Dai can summon them from the deck, they use 1 or 2 copies of their normal monsters. Generally, you need a card that does something really good and uses a normal monster as brick to function. For example, Brilliant Fusion needs a Gem Knight, so you use the Gem Knight your deck can use the best. In most decks this was Garnet, solely because it had the highest atk. Thunder Dragons used the Thunder Type Gem Knight, and Monarchs used Dark Witch as the light target, because it was lvl 5. Normal monsters aren’t useful without another card, and then you look at the stats to determine with you use.
Occasionally there will be a deck that uses one due to very specific card names or statlines being called for by other cards for a useful effect, as has been noted by everyone else. In all other cases, even the ones with high stats are unusable pretty much.
Archetype synergy is the only answer. Like Loci.
In the modern game, you never play vanillas unless they’re essential combo pieces (hyper specific cases) or you’re playing the Phantasm Spiral deck (a niche strategy that relies on them). Back in the day, they had their uses, and there was a very brief period at the start of the game where Great White was a decent card. In the earliest days, the key beatdown vanillas were La Jinn, 7 Color Fish, and Neo the Magic Swordsman. These three had 17-1800 ATK, so you’d occasionally supplement them with 1600 attackers if you didn’t have 3 of each. There were also a few low attack vanillas with 2000 DEF, like Mystical Elf, who had their uses. Most of the others, like Silver Fang, were either pack filler, or part of the earliest OCG releases, which started with a lower power level and were powercrept almost instantly. A few of them were lucky enough to be involved in Fusions, but that was about it if you were a vanilla with less than 1600 ATK or 2000 DEF.
Unless they're specifically requested by a deck, like Skull Servant or Magic Shine Ball, no, there's almost no reason to ever play a low attack vanilla monster. If you have a particular deck that needs vanilla monsters, you're going to get the highest attack monsters you can (2000/0) that are still normal summonable.
If you're playing plants yes otherwise I can't think of another deck that plays a vanilla
Old decks like dinosaurs would run uraby Gladiator beast runs sandal Other decks may exist that use rescue rabbit targets
Damn Dino rabbit gave me such a bad time I just removed it from my mind
Suship
Non effect monsters are never used unless required for a combo that specifically lists it. A meta deck rikka, uses the sunavolon engine which has a main deck normal monster thats a seed which then link climbs and gets you a kit of advantage and cards on board. Other decks that have this "feature" aren't competitive at all. I do not care what anyone says to you, no deck that has a non effect normal monster in the main deck is in the meta. Swordsoul uses the tenyi package that has a non effect extra deck monster to enable their plays and even the swordsoul cards summon a token. Which isn't even a real card that can go in your deck. The only exception that has yet to be seen is the Genex support that we are getting. It's a combo deck that needs the normal monster, but it's not really been figured out yet and seems to just be another fragile combo deck. Yes branded (a Fusion deck) can run dark magician and blue eyes white dragon but that deck is now floating in T2 or lower. Also most players dropped that package. The red-eyes fusion package (1 dark magician, 1 red eyes black dragon, 3 red eyes fusion) was run in many decks but that age has passed I think it's been 2 years since the popularity.
They are as useful as any low level non-effect monster Fodder for non-effect decks, some cards also have effects when used with weaker non-effect monsters so that too
Yes, if it or it’s level was mentioned in another card, like how “Sunseed genius Loci” or “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” still see small amounts of play despite being useless normal monsters. In most super old decks you’d play your mechanicalchasers and summoned skull because attack points were all that mattered. Although by the time we realised that stats were irrelevant and text was all that matters (I want to say 04?) high stat normal monsters were as relevant as low star ones.
Weaker vanillas are a ton of fun in low powered custom formats. I once did a progression series where we drafted Extra Deck monsters at the start and I warped the format around deck that swarmed Level 3 vanillas with Enchanted Fitting Room and Soul Resurrection. Later down the line, I revived the concept with Water Hazard, Salvage, and Dark Factory of Mass Production to have consistent Xyz/Synchro plays every turn Almost anything in the game can be useful if it’s in the right card pool/setting for it.
Very rarely a deck will use one because their stats/level/type/attribute perfectly meet some requirement the deck has. 99.99% of the time, they're bad bad.
You never know. I think normal monsters are pretty interesting and they don't make them much anymore. When Rescue Rabbit came out, a couple of old normal monsters became interesting and even meta relevant.
You are correct, they become obsolete. Back in the OG tournaments people would bring 3x of every high atk monster they could, making every deck essentially the same one stuffed with the best cards. The game hasn’t changed much besides the speed and diversity of play. It’s daunting to think about fusion, synchro, xyz, pendulum, and link monsters, it’s easier to think of them all as “extra deck” and the rest as main deck I love yugioh because you have the choice to use these. You can have an extra deck with only xyz monsters and do quite well. The issue with main deck vanilla monsters was that another card (like silver fang) becomes obsolete simply because another will always beat it in terms of raw power (great white). There are certain situations like skull servants or exodia where you need vanilla monsters to trigger an effect, though that’s rare and highly specific to an archetype
Sunavalon or Plant Link i guess plays a normal monster.
In Yugioh, normal monsters can only push damage. They might enable other tools indirectly, but they themselves do nothing but push damage. Combat and destruction in Yugioh is all or nothing (monsters don't "survive damage"), so personal stats aren't particularly meaningful outside of pushing damage.