Mind Crush: Why yugi used it, and you should main it.

I. Why is Mind Crush so great?

"Mind crush!" is what Yugi said to Kaiba in the very first Yu-Gi-Oh episode, and shortly after he collapsed in dispair. Unfortunately, we don't have a super special awesome ancient pharaoh living inside of us so we have to turn to the next best thing: the children's card.


I bet you're asking how this card is so good, and what makes it so great that it deserves to go in your main deck. Well let's start by looking at its effect:


This card allows you to get rid of key cards your opponent has in their hand. You could get rid of a Monster Reborn without having to pay 2000 life points, a Royal Oppression without having to pay 1000 life points, or a Giant Trunade without having to pay half your life points.

Not only that, but when you guess correctly or incorrectly you get to look at your opponent's hand to verify that they are not lying which gives you a huge advantage. But I bet you're saying "But wait, we're not mind readers so how are we going to know what's in our opponent's hand?!" Simple, our opponents will tell us what's in their hand for us. How? Well let's take a look at some of the key cards of the format.

I. What can I use Mind Crush against?


.:Shien's Smoke Signal & Gateway of the Six:.
Used by Six Samurai.
Six Samurai is arguably the top deck of the format, and these cards are key in setting up a Legendary Six Samurai Shien. So what do these cards do?

Gateway's Effect:
Each time a "Six Samurai" monster is Normal or Special Summoned, place 2 Bushido Counters on this card. You can remove Bushido Counters from your side of the field to apply the following effects.. ● 4 Counters: Add 1 "Six Samurai" monster from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.
Gateway's Key Effect:
Add 1 Level 3 or lower "Six Samurai" monster from your Deck to your hand.

Both these cards search out player's decks in order to get key cards such as Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki to tune. The wonderful thing about this is that your opponent must show you which card they added to their hand which is when you strike with mind crush. You will mess up their strategy, and have to make them wait longer to set up their big push which is when you have time to make your own push.

A normal Six Samurai deck runs about three copies of Shien's Smoke Signal and one copy of Gateway of the Six which means the odds of Mind Crush being a dead draw are low.

.:Gravekeeper's Commandant:.
Used by Gravekeepers.
Gravekeepers are another top deck in the format, and the reason they are so good is because of Necrovalley. Necro shuts down the graveyards and gives all GK monsters a 500 ATK and DEF boost making it very hard for them to run over. Commandant is a key card in setting up the Necrovalley lock down.

Commandant's Effect:
You can discard this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Necrovalley" from your Deck to your hand.

This card is another searching card for Gravekeeper's key card Necrovalley. When discarded your opponent will be allowed to add it to their hand and this is when you activate your mind crush. You will leave their weak Gravekeeper's vulnerable since their ATK without necrovalley is 1500 or less. Your graveyard will also remain available for cards like Monster Reborn. Your opponent will also be unable to activate Royal Tribute making it a dead card in their hand. Most Gravekeeper decks run three copies of Commandant so your mind crush should not be a dead draw at all.

.:Gravekeeper's Commandant:.
Used by Gravekeepers.

Gravekeepers are another top deck in the format, and the reason they are so good is because of Necrovalley. Necro shuts down the graveyards and gives all GK monsters a 500 ATK and DEF boost making it very hard for them to run over. Commandant is a key card in setting up the Necrovalley lock down.

Commandant's Effect:
You can discard this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Necrovalley" from your Deck to your hand.

This card is another searching card for Gravekeeper's key card Necrovalley. When discarded your opponent will be allowed to add it to their hand and this is when you activate your mind crush. You will leave their weak Gravekeeper's vulnerable since their ATK without necrovalley is 1500 or less. Your graveyard will also remain available for cards like Monster Reborn. Your opponent will also be unable to activate Royal Tribute making it a dead card in their hand. Most Gravekeeper decks run three copies of Commandant so your mind crush should not be a dead draw at all.

.:XX-Saber Darksoul:.
Used in X-Sabers.
We're no strangers to X-Sabers and the damage they can do. We all know how they set up their big plays and they mainly do it by searching for cards like XX-Saber Faultroll with the effect of Darksoul. Just like all the searcher cards above Mind Crush will render Darksoul useless forcing your opponent to wait longer to make their big push. X-Saber decks usually run three copies of darksoul so your mind crush should be handy if you draw it early or late.

.:Pot of Duality:.
Used in X-Sabers, Gravekeepers, Dragunity, Miracle Heroes, and just about everything.
Pot of Duality is a card that has become a staple in literally almost every deck. It has made such a big impact on the format that the cost of the real thing ranges from $90-$120 USD. Everyone is familiar with its effect, you draw three cards, show them to your opponent and add one to your hand. This card isn't a searching card, but it still allows you to see which card is added to the hand which is the key factor in activating Mind Crush. Almost every deck that runs it has it at three in addition to other searcher cards which makes your mind crush hardly a dead draw.

.:Reinforcement of the Army:.
Used in Six Samurai, Gemini Heroes, X-Sabers, among others.
Reinforcement of the Army or ROTA as we all know it, has been around for a long time now, and it has been a key card in many decks for many formats. This is why it's at number one in the ban list. This is a great search card because it's not limited to an archtype. It searches for level four or lower warriors making it a great card for the decks mentioned above. In addition to their Darksouls, Smoke Signals, and Pots of Duality they also run ROTA which means they run at least four cards that adds a card from their deck to their hand.

III. Still not convinced?

Still not convinced that Mind Crush should go in your main deck? Well let me show you how many targets Mind Crush has in some of the top decks:

Six Samurai Decks will likely include: 5 cards that add cards hand

• 3 Shien's Smoke Signals
  
• 1 Reinforcement of the Army
  
• 1 Gateway of the Six

Gravekeeper Decks will likely include: 8 cards that add cards to hand

• 3 Gravekeeper's Commandant
  
• 3 Pot of Duality
  
• 2 Gravekeeper's Stelle

Dragunity Decks: 8 cards that add cards to hand

• 3 Dragon's Ravine
  
• 3 Pot of Duality
  
• 2 Terramforming

A lot of decks rely on searching out cards in their decks with cards in their hand. Mind Crush can get rid of two cards so it's somewhat of a plus one although you won't gain the advantage on the field. The decks I've mentioned are ran by almost everyone that runs a deck competitively so the question really is why shouldn't you put Mind Crush in your main deck?

IV. What if my opponent doesn't search?

Okay, let's assume I've convinced you and you are going to main your Mind Crush. You're in a duel and you open with it. You're thinking you're set to make your opponent collapse just like Kaiba did in the show. You set it and end your turn, and immediately your opponent activates Mystical Space Typhoon on it! You have the chance to chain it, but if you guess wrong it will be a negative for you so what should you do?

You could try making an educated guess and hope for the best or be prepared for such a situation. You could run a deck like plants where you are likely to have cards like Dandylion or Spore in your hand. Mind Crush's second effect doesn't always have to put you at a disadvantage if it activates. You could keep the cards you want in your grave in your hand while your Mind Crush is set. The key is to play smart with it. There are other cards you could want in your graveyard such as Dragunity Phalanx or a Six Sam in case you have a Double Edged Sword Technique or Monster Reborn. But let's be realistic this scenario is not likely to happen too often so what do you do? Simple. You destroy the card the same way you'd destroy a Mirror Force, Solemn Warning, etc.

Bottom line is that most players use decks that add cards to their hand more than once making Mind Crush a devastating card to any player's strategies. Sure you could side it, but if you are 80% likely to play one of the top decks I've mentioned so far why not main it if you're just going to end up siding it in during game two and three?

Nice article DJD. I've come to the same conclusion as you, though I side it and not main it. Truthfully, only a few decks can make room in the main while keeping staple cards. BUT, some can, like Sabers. And it's always great in the side . One thing though I thought I'd point out, not every deck runs 3 pod. Only anti-meta type decks have 3 as a staple. Many other decks use only 2, and some you mentioned like Dragunities rarely even use it at all actually. Anyway thanks for talking about my favorite side deck card this format. Btw do you care if I post some of my old articles here, or do I "officially" have to be designated a pro first ?

I don't think I said every deck uses it at three did I? o.o I'm too lazy to go through it again xP but yes Mind Crush is a good card, and finding room for it shouldn't be too hard. I'd rather run it over a card like Mirror Force, but everyone makes different builds based on different levels of comfort.

But if you are using it in your side what do you usually side out to side it in? Why not use that card you side out in side deck and main mind crush instead ;]

and no we don't have silly things as an "official article team" we don't judge people's ability to write. We just appreciate whatever people post for the effort they put into it and not the grammar

Awesome article johnny! Couldn't expect less from you.
Mind crush is one of my main character abilities ;D

This card is literally in all my decks. If not in my main it's in my side.

Great work +11

Djd: well the reason it's in side though is bc it's not pro against EVERYTHING like say Mirror Force is. It's good against many things, especially meta, but not all IMO. I almost always side it in but I don't like maining solely to stop meta. That may seem foolish and of course to a point ofc I use cards that hurt meta but there's a difference between people running 3 Warnings (which hurts literally everything and is rarely a dead draw) when sams first came out and maining Mind Crush (which isn't always the best card to draw against every deck). Ultimately though, that's just my opinion, Mind Crush in the main has worked well for many a duelist lately

I prefer dustshoot =p

Notorious NT wrote:I prefer dustshoot =p

That's what stackers say xD

Nice article jon, I like Mind Crush too, even though I side it, not main it

The big difference between Dustshot and Mindcrush is that Dustshot can be a totally dead card. In some decks you opponents set alot of cards or get them into the graveyard. Another disadvantage is that you can only put monsters into th deck.

I use Mind Crush in my Gladiator Deck along with Mole and CED for stupid situations and its pretty nice if he uses MST and you can see his hand. In this Format I prefer this card in main decks and not in side decks anymore. Put your dustshot into your sidedeck instead.

great article im going to main it thanks DJD

Nice article DJD, though I personally like siding in cards like these, I will have to consider maining it in some decks.

overd0se.KayKay wrote:The big difference between Dustshot and Mindcrush is that Dustshot can be a totally dead card. In some decks you opponents set alot of cards or get them into the graveyard. Another disadvantage is that you can only put monsters into th deck.

I use Mind Crush in my Gladiator Deck along with Mole and CED for stupid situations and its pretty nice if he uses MST and you can see his hand. In this Format I prefer this card in main decks and not in side decks anymore. Put your dustshot into your sidedeck instead.

^this
in non-heavy storm format, especially in mid-late game, dustshoot stuck. Mind crush for game tho >.<

Nice Article DjD boi.

No one wrote:Trap Dustshoot + Mind crush first turn used to be cool.

Very nice article. I will definitely have to keep this in mind.

- Lunchbox

this is a great article DJD, u have totally convinced me of the great abilities of this card and how great it is against meta. and the best thing is, you can be running a meta deck yourself and still main it. most of the meta decks also work from the grave and truthfully, i find myself in alot of scenarios where i just want to get a card out of my hand in the grave. so mind crush's supposedly negative effect usually works as a plus more often than not. i will definately consider maining mind crush from now on..

on a side note, i really enjoyed reading this and if anyone else has a card that they think deserves more credit than it is getting i would appreciate if they would do an article like this. i thoroughly enjoyed it thanks DJD.

It sounds like a really good card for Fabled. And Dark World if anybody still plays it. The card becomes a win-win in that case.

Thanks, I am going to use some in my deck to meta against people with exodia or just any good powerful card. Then I can always monster reborn This will help. It made me realize all that. Now that i realize I can combo eye of the truth, it is worth it to kill those top decks.

Thanks!

Yea, in this format MInd crush seems very popular,,
and u explained it,,
good work