Notes & Combos

Season 54 Master V

I've played Millennium Exodia every season, and it feels close to its limit. Unfortunately the high brick count often turns dead hands into lost games, making ratio adjustments just as important as consistency.

Statistical Breakdown

• 6 Fiendsmith starters (Opening 1: 45.86% / Opening 2+: 8.94%)

• 17 Exodia starters (Opening 1: 86.22% / Opening 2+: 50.17%)

• 23 Total starters (Opening 1: 94.63% / Opening 2+: 71.74%)

• 23 Hand Traps (including TTT and CBTG) (Opening 1: 94.63% / Opening 2+: 71.74%)

• 8 Bricks (5 Exodia pieces + 1 Trap + Gaia) (Opening 1: 56.66% / Opening 2+: 15.38%)

Compared to my Season 53 build, the most important change is cutting the second trap. While a second trap can be useful, I found the deck performs ok without it and slightly improves your chances of avoiding a brick. I also cut the second Exodia, as it rarely decides games, whereas a second Doomed Dragon has made a difference thanks to its synergy with Fiendsmith and Millennium. I added Chaos Angel, which has occasionally come up in relevant situations, although I'm still not sure it's the best choice. Finally, I cut Link Spider, as I rarely encountered Nibiru.

Some may consider it extreme to classify Gaia as a brick, but if you don't open another Millennium monster, you cannot NS it. There are many situations where Lacrima, Lurrie, or even a htrap are more useful Normal Summons, while Gaia can end up being a brick.

Gaia is a strong card and I would always recommend playing one copy, but it is not always live. It's a shame Konami didn't allow it to Special Summon itself by paying LP, this comes up more often than you might expect.

The flex slots are the htraps, you can adjust the ratios between Belle, Mourner, Ogre, Purulia, and Retaliating "C" based on preference and expected matchups.

The deck can establish anywhere from 3 to 6 interruptions while being resilient enough to avoid losing to a single hand trap. The 50.17% chance of opening two Exodia starters is valuable, accessing Ankh first is recommended to avoid losing to Droll.

Millennium has little grind game on its own, which is why Fiendsmith continues to carry a significant portion of the deck's power. The engine helps close games quickly before difficult grind matchups such as Branded can take over.

This deck deserves better support, considering Exodia is one of the most iconic monsters in the history of the game. Hopefully, Konami will eventually give it new support.