Whether Anime, Manga, or the card game, Yu-Gi-Oh is everywhere. In fact, it is a Guinness World Record holder in at least two categories: largest trading card game (by volume sold), and largest trading card tournament. Yu-Gi-Oh is indeed a global and cultural icon. If over 25 billion cards sold as of 2011 isn’t a sign of its prowess, then nothing is. But, what about playing? The concept of the game is simple, it is a duel where you aim to exhaust your opponent’s life points to defeat him/her using monster, spell, or trap cards. However, the learning curve gets exceeding steep when getting into the nuances of the game like collecting cards to create a deck and understanding how the deck can help you win a duel.

Overly complicated games can be hard to get into, but thankfully, Yu-Gi-Oh provides an in for those looking to jump in and just do something to occupy their brains for a while. Instead of getting your feet wet by endlessly buying individual cards to make a competitive deck, you can purchase pre-configured decks that will be based on a particular archetype based on differing attributes. What type of deck you go for will depend on what type of strategy you want to use. As you can imagine, there are many different types of decks out there and it can be difficult to find the one that’s right for you. Thankfully, this guide will take you through the ins and outs of Yu-Gi-Oh and which are the 10 best card sets you can get. Yu-Gi-Oh card sets or decks are the basis of playing the card game (TCG). In gameplay, a player has to have three decks, the Main, Extra, and Side decks. The main deck has to have between 40 and 60 cards, the Extra deck can have zero to 15, and the Side deck with up to 15 cards. How you put together your decks, particularly the Main deck, depends on your gaming style. A very playable deck will have its focus on an archetype which is a group of cards with similar names and mechanics who support each other. It can be intimidating trying to piecemeal a deck together; the time and expense alone can be daunting. This is where decks come in, particularly a structure deck.

There’s no better way to make a game, or at least a game strategy your own other than putting your own touches to it. The Hero Strike Deck has a sort of personalization that will thrust you deeply into literally creating the best strategy for you. Creating Elemental HERO Fusion Monsters will make you want to scream “It’s alive!” during gameplay. This creativeness makes Hero Strike one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh decks out there.

‘Fury’ is an appropriate name for this deck. Dinosmasher’s Fury is unbridled rage laying all in its path to waste. Dinosmasher’s Fury is a great deck upon which to build your own competitive deck. Its survival of the fittest motif makes Dinosmasher’s Fury a strong member on this list of best Yu-gi-Oh card sets.

The attack-forward nature of the Cyber Dragon Revolution Deck makes it a competitive deck right out of the box. The versatility of the Cyber Dragons and the power of the Cyber Nova Dragon will make you an attacking machine. Cyber Dragon Revolution is one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh card sets to get.

Lair of Darkness is a play ‘right out of the box’ deck that has a dark soul that brings not only fright but also diversity to your playing strategy. Lair of Darkness is one of the darkly best on the list of best Yu-Gi-Oh decks.

This deck is not exactly one for strategy, it’s a keep drawing until you pull Slifer type of deck. That may not be the best YuGiOh strategy, but it sure is fun. No better way to check out a bunch of cards. For the fun of it, the Egyptian God Deck-Slifer the Dragon is one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh decks on this list.

Whether the situation calls for you to play a monster as a physical monster or a spell, Order of the Spellcasters is a great deck to play with or base your own handmade deck on. Order of the Spellcasters is one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh card sets on this list.

What’s great about the Zombie Horde Deck is that it is completely disruptive to your opponent’s strategy by shutting down key, powerful cards. Not only because it has zombies, but also because it is a powerful deck with versatility and devastating effects, Zombie Horde is one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh decks on the list.

Albaz Strike truly is one of those preconstructed decks that is playable right out of the box. It’s great for beginners and experienced alike because of a powerful batch of Dragons and Spells. Albaz Strike is a deck to get from the list of best Yu-Gi-Oh card sets.

Soulburner is a power-filled deck. It comes with all sorts of abilities great for learning and executing effective strategies. It’s one of those decks that you simply can’t believe the power it comes with. The Soulburner Deck is a powerful addition to the list of best Yu-Gi=Oh card sets.

With Sacred Beasts, you can get a competitive deck right out of the pack! Because you don’t necessarily have to combine this deck with others to make a strong deck, Sacred Beasts is one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh decks you can get. This is a deck great for beginners and experienced alike.

A Structure deck is a pre-made or pre-configured deck designed to be playable straight from the box without modification. Structure decks are to be distinguished from Starter decks in that Starter decks are made for the beginner to learn the game. Starter decks are styled after a particular Yu-Gi-Oh character whereas the Structure deck is focused on a particular theme such as Archetype, Attribute, or Type. Starter decks will contain a lot of general cards. Being focused on a theme means that Structure decks are designed with strategy in mind. The focus here will be on the Structure deck because of its focus on strategy and suitability for the beginner and experienced Yu-Gi-Oh duelists.

What’s great about Structure decks is that they can often be the cheapest way to build up an effective Yu-Gi-Oh deck. Aside from being playable straight out of the box, Structure decks are very useful as a foundation for building a deck more specifically suited to the player’s preferred dueling style.

Structure decks may have multiples of the same card, but when released they always introduce five new cards with one or two of those being classified as ultra-rare, two super-rare, and the remaining two being Common cards. What’s also great about Structure decks is that shortly after release, they are followed by Booster Packs which have cards that support the Structure deck’s theme. When going the Structure deck route, the norm is to purchase three packs and combine the best cards into one deck.

Structure decks have been releasing since 2005, so there are a good number to choose from. But, with so many choices, how do you go about finding the Structure deck that will work for you. For your dueling introduction or advancement, we present you with the 10 best Yu-Gi-Oh card sets, or decks available.