Hand traps weren’t always as prevalent as they are now – in fact, when Maxx “C” was first introduced, it was considered a a sub-par card, too slow to do anything! But with the advent of Billy Brake’s back-to-back YCS win with Plant Synchro in 2011 that first featured two, then three Maxx “C”s, the mindset of TCG players had been shifted forever.

In 2018, it is common for decks to play at least seven hand traps, and even hand traps to counter other hand traps! Clearly, TCG players feel it is important to protect themselves from their opponent’s card effects in the event that they go second. At the time of writing, the top decks are Trickstars, SPYRAL and Pendulum Magician, all decks with powerful opening plays that tend to oppress and disrupt. Hand traps play an important role in getting to your first turn with a chance at playing.

However, there has been a growing concern that hand traps are “killing” Yu-Gi-Oh! by disrupting common first turn plays, or “not letting you play.” Clearly, the power level of hand traps have ramped up since the times of Effect Veiler, actively playing a role alongside key main deck cards in the game rather than being a disruption tool. Namely, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring has made an astounding splash, with its diverse negation stopping top-tier decks from creating optimal boards, and lower-tier decks from functioning. With Ash Blossom being a staple in every deck in triplicate, a deck must be able to create some kind of board that isn’t stopped by it, or perish.

While this all seems quite negative, I do not think the power increase in hand traps are inherently destructive for the health of an interactive and enjoyable game. In fact, it seems that the creation of hand traps is a response to a faster game, one that has invalidated the intrinsically weakest type of card in the game: trap cards.

Trap cards have a fundamental issue in a game that wants to use every card as quickly as possible – they must be set for a turn before activation. Aside from certain traps that are simply too powerful to ignore, or ones that are easy to search for naturally in an engine that you already play, trap cards have been almost eradicated. Traps are doubly inferior to hand traps in that if you drew one in your opening hand going second, that is one less card that can break an opponent’s board, and is susceptible to being destroyed by a plethora of quick effects before the intended target is snared.

Trap cards have seen an evolution in years past, from effects that activate in the graveyard, which saw some success but not very impressive, and traps that can be used from the hand that are still being experimented with. Clearly, Konami is still flirting with the latter idea, but so far, these amped-up trap cards have yet to make any definite effect on the overall game.

So are hand traps innocent? Are they just the organic evolution of disruption? Not exactly. The issue with hand traps are not that they can stop an opponent from making an unbreakable board – that is the intended and healthy interaction of hand traps. No, hand traps are unhealthy for the game when you open them while going first. Similarly to floodgate continuous trap cards of yore, hand traps can be used in conjunction with other engine cards to further oppress an opponent that has yet to make a move, with the only counter-play being to open with hand traps of your own, unlike trap cards, which can be eliminated by something as simple as Twin Twisters. Even with your own hand traps going second, it is unlikely to win with only a stunted half-turn against an opponent that gets to play their first real turn in conjunction with resources gained by their last turn. This is an unfortunate truth about the cards that were meant to allow a player going second to have a chance.

Going forward, I hope to see more cards like Effect Veiler, with effects that are disruptive but not oppressive. In general, I do not think the game is in a terrible spot as some would suggest, but whether Konami decides to increase the already rising power of hand traps may decide if the game can be enjoyable for the player who loses the dice roll.