Ever since Joey Wheeler fueled his Panther Warrior with Scapegoat in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series, Tokens have been a huge part of Dueling. Tokens are great because they’re extra monsters that you don’t have to actually include in your Deck – you create them with other effects. There are tons of ways to play and use Tokens, including in today’s Decks!

A Token for You

You can find many Token cards that fit into just about any Deck. Starting on September 1^st, Scapegoat became an Unlimited card – something that hasn’t happened in eight years. As a Quick-Play Spell, Scapegoat is perfect for all kinds of tricks. Use it in your opponent’s Battle Phase to bring forth four Sheep Tokens and block four attacks, or save it until their End Phase to keep all your Tokens around. Next turn, you can use them for Synchro Summons, and since they’re Level 1 you can easily play a Synchro Monster ranging from the Level 2 Formula Synchron to a powerful Level 8! Since you’re getting so many Tokens at once, Scapegoat is great to combo with Destiny HERO – Plasma, The Atmosphere, or even the classic Cannon Soldier!

Dandylion is a very recognizable card, being used by just about anyone using Debris Dragon. Since Dandylion gives you two Fluff Tokens any time it goes to the Graveyard, it’s a very flexible card. You can simply Set it to block a total of three attacks, or use it to pay costs for other cards and get free Fluff out of the deal. Its most notorious combo is with Debris Dragon, though. The two tune together for the mighty Black Rose Dragon, wiping out every card on the field, only for Dandylion to leave its controller with two Tokens! As a Plant monster, Dandylion can be searched out with Lonefire Blossom, and it can be used as fuel for Spore after it’s done its job.

So far we’ve looked at small Tokens, useful in combos and for blocking attacks. Gorz the Emissary of Darkness does not do those things. Gorz sees the damage that you take, and turns it into a powerful Emissary of Darkness Token to fight on your side! Gorz will always have a hefty 2700 ATK, while your Token will (hopefully) have the same ATK as your opponent’s strongest monster. That means you’re prepped to deal some serious damage! If your opponent’s biggest monster is stronger than Gorz, then you always have the option of trading your Token for their monster in battle. In situations where the Token has low ATK, you can still pair it with Effect Veiler or Spore for a Level 8 Synchro Summon.

It wouldn’t be fair to talk about Tokens without bringing up the premier Token-themed monsters, the Mecha Phantom Beasts! They’ve each got unique ways of bringing Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens into play, and all are protected while you control a Token. They even gain the Levels of all Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens you control, allowing you to make some pretty crazy plays! Outside of dedicated Mecha Phantom Beast Decks, you can still see them at work in many Extra Decks thanks to Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack! Dracossack can be Summoned with any two Level 7 monsters, and uses its Xyz Materials to give you Tokens. It’s then protected from destruction, and can Tribute a Token to destroy any card on the field!

Tokens for All

[Black Garden pic]

There’s one card that’s great at throwing Tokens around to both sides of the field. The controller has their Deck built around it, primed to take advantage of the unique situation it creates. The opponent is usually left helpless and not particularly amused. That card is, of course, Black Garden. It changes the way you Duel like no other card, halving the ATK of every monster played face-up and giving both players an ample number of Rose Tokens. If you’re going to use Black Garden, try using Wind-Up Rabbit and Evilswarm Thunderbird to avoid having your monsters weakened, effectively letting them defeat anything in battle. You can keep Summoning monsters, give away a Rose Token, then hammer in damage on that Rose Token.

If you’re on the receiving end, your first priority is to get rid of Black Garden. If that’s not an option, just remember that you can keep monsters in defense position. Even if Black Garden cuts their ATK, your monsters will still have their DEF intact. You can also avoid triggering Black Garden at all by using Flip Summons.

Tokens have been around since Dueling’s early years, and they’re still a very relevant part of today’s game. And if you’re playing with some of these great Token-generating cards, you can also pick up some sweet new Token cards in every Legendary Collection 4: Joey’s World!