But overall, tokens had very little impact in the game as a whole. Fast forward to 2017 to the introduction of Link monsters. It was revealed to much excitement that Link monsters could be special summoned with very generic materials, including tokens. Suddenly the interest in summoning tokens skyrocketed, and every deck under the sun was trying to generate as many tokens as they possibly could. More tokens meant more link summoning, which generally meant better monsters and more winning. In fact, since the introduction of link monsters, 7 cards that generate tokens have been completely banned from competitive Yu-Gi-Oh – and many more have been limited to one copy per deck. So if you’re looking to improve your link-summoning plays, this list will help you out with some cards to fill up your board with tokens – and some tips on how to best use them to better your gameplay.
15. Multiply
Multiply is a very niche strategy; this card can’t be implemented in every single deck. However, if you’re a connoisseur of the Kuriboh arts, then this card will be perfect for you. With this card you can tribute a face up Kuriboh monster you control to summon as many Kuriboh tokens as you can, all in defense position. While these tokens can’t be used for a tribute summon, you can definitely use them for link summoning. There’s actually been a fair few new Kuriboh cards released since this card was created. We’ve now got Linkuriboh, the Link monster version of Kuriboh. And we have Junkuriboh, the Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds version. And there’s also a whole lot more! These Kuriboh can be used with Multiply. So if you’re running multiple Kuriboh monsters in your deck, this spell card can be a great way of furthering your Link plays.
14. Generaider Boss Stage
Generaiders are a fun archetype based off of MMO Raid Bosses. You know those boss battles you can only do if you team up with some friends, providing that you all work together? I had no idea that’s what this archetype was based on until I was researching this card. From a token generating perspective, this field spell is fantastic for providing you with tokens during your opponent’s turn. At the start of your opponent’s turn, you can special summon as many tokens to your field in attack position as possible – but they’re all destroyed during the end phase. This ensures you’ll always have some form of protection on your field, regardless of whether you’ve got a monster or not. If you’re running a pure Generaider build then you can actually use these tokens to activate your Generaider monster’s abilities. But even in a non-Generaider build, this field spell is a great way of keeping your guard up no matter what.
13. Black Garden
Sometimes, generating tokens requires a little bit of sacrifice. In this case, the sacrifice comes in terms of attack points. Whenever either player summons a monster the attack of that monster is halved, and as a reward for that, the player gets a free plant token. This isn’t a once per turn effect either, meaning that the more you can summon, the more tokens you can generate! But if the attack halving effect is getting in the way of your playstyle, Black Garden has a nifty way of getting rid of itself. You can destroy this field spell alongside every plant monster on the field to revive a plant monster from your graveyard, providing that the revived monster has attack equal to the combined attack of all the monsters you just destroyed. Very useful in plant decks, and fairly handy in non-plant decks, providing you have a way to destroy it once you’re done with it.
12. Boot Staggered
Cyberse were a new archetype introduced alongside Link summoning. They’re based around computers and technology, given that most of Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains takes place inside a virtual-reality dueling world. If you’re thinking of running a Cyberse strategy, then Boot Staggered is a great way of generating some tokens to link summon with. You can special summon it for free any time you normal summon a Cyberse monster to your field, which in a pure Cyberse build, will be practically every turn. This card has a decent 2300 attack stat, and every time it inflicts damage to your opponent, you can special summon a token to your side of the field. The longer you keep this guy on the field and attacking, the more tokens you can generate. Making this card a great way to ensure you can link summon every single turn.
11. Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon
When you link summon this card, you also get 3 free tokens in the mix. What a bargain! The downside to this incredible deal is that you can’t use these tokens for a link summon for the rest of the turn. You can, however, use them for synchro summons, tribute summons, or just to activate this card’s effect. Here’s how it works: You can tribute monsters you control to destroy a card on the field, special summon a Mecha Phantom Beast from the deck, or bring a trap card back from the graveyard, depending on how many monsters you tribute. The tokens generated by this card are a great way of activating these abilities – and as they’re practically summoned for free, why wouldn’t you?
10. Battle Waltz
What’s better than one insanely strong synchro monster on your field? Obviously, two of them! Battle Waltz lets you “clone” one of your face-up synchro monsters, special summoning a token that has the same attack, defense, level, type, and attribute. This card can’t inflict battle damage to your opponent. But you can use it to steamroll some of your opponent’s bigger monsters. That way you can use the original monster to sink some serious damage into your opponent, while also clearing their board of even more monsters.
9. The Golden Apples
This trap card is a double whammy, providing you with protection from battle damage while also giving you tokens to attack or link summon with. Whenever you take damage while you control no monsters, you can regain those life points while also special summoning a “Malus token” with the attack & defense equal to what you took as damage. (Fun Fact: “Malus” is the scientific family name for “apple”, so most apple trees are referred to as Malus trees, hence the tokens being Malus tokens!) So if your opponent thinks they have you on the ropes by attacking you directly with a big monster, this card turns the situation right on its head. These apples will keep more than the doctor away, it’ll also keep a Blue Eyes White Dragon away too!
8. Mare Mare
Mare Mare costs two tributes to summon. Which for a 2100 attack monster, that seems pretty steep. However, the token generating effect this card provides is well worth the price. You can reduce this card’s level by 1 to special summon a level 1 token, with 300 attack and 200 defense. You can do this 3 times per turn, essentially putting 3000 points worth of attack on the board! Mare Mare is also a tuner monster, meaning you can use this card and it’s tokens for a level 7 synchro summon, or possibly even higher if you control other monsters. There are some seriously powerful level 7 synchro monsters, such as the board nuke Black Rose Dragon, making Mare Mare a fantastic tool in any synchro deck.
7. Mecha Phantom Beast Dracosack
If you’re planning on playing a deck with level 7 monsters, then chances are this card is already lined up for your extra deck. It’s one of the best rank 7 monsters in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, due to its ability to produce tokens and it’s amazing effects. While you control any sort of token, this card is indestructible. You can’t destroy it by battle or card effect, meaning Dracosack is going to take some serious strategy to overcome. You can also use these tokens to activate Dracosack’s ability. By destroying a Mecha Phantom Beast you control, you can destroy any other card on the field. That’s spells, traps, and monsters, all of which can be removed by this one powerful effect.
6. Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
This guy was a hand trap before hand traps were even a thing. Gorz completely changed how Yu-Gi-Oh was played. Suddenly an empty field could be a trap for something far worse. Whenever you take battle damage you can special summon Gorz for free from your hand, alongside a token with attack and defense equal to the damage you just took. This means the stronger your opponent’s monsters are, the harder you can hit them back next turn. Their big monsters become their downfall, and I can’t think of a better way to beat an opponent.
5. Photon Sanctuary
As probably one of the easiest ways of generating tokens, Photon Sanctuary is a simple spell card that gives you two level 4 tokens with 2000 attack. They can’t attack or be used as synchro material, and for the rest of the turn you can only summon Light monsters. However, in Link decks that only play Light monsters, this is effectively a free link 2 monster! If your extra deck is mostly light monsters, you may even be able to play around the “Light monsters only” restriction. But for ease of play I’d recommend this card for pure light decks such as Trickstar.
4. Scapeghost
Flip monsters have gone from a novelty in Yu-Gi-Oh to a fully-fledged strategy, with multiple archetypes exploiting them. Take a look at Shaddolls: They’re a fusion deck that relies on flip monsters and their effects, introducing some great trap cards like Resh Shaddoll Incarnation to trigger these flip effects over and over. When Scapeghost is flipped face-up, you can special summon as many sheep tokens as possible to your side of the field. These have no restriction on them whatsoever, meaning you can use them to tribute summon, synchro summon, or link summon as much as you like.
3. Doppelwarrior
You’d be hard pressed to find a synchro deck that doesn’t run this card. This guy’s ability to produce tokens makes it fantastic for continuing your synchro plays. Whenever a monster is special summoned from the graveyard, you can special summon Doppelwarrior from your hand. Synchro decks are all about reviving monsters from the graveyard to synchro summon with, meaning you’ll have this guy on the board in no time. And when you synchro summon with this card, you can special summon two tokens in its place, giving you even more material to summon with. That’s some great value all from one card!
2. Phantom Skyblaster
Generating tokens is great and everything, but what about burning your opponent with them too? Phantom Skyblaster generates a token for every monster you control. So if you control one monster in the extra monster zone and one monster in the main zone, you get 3 tokens when this guy is summoned. You can then burn 300 damage into your opponent for every Skyblaster monster on the field, which with all your tokens included, comes to a decent 1200 damage. That’s enough to possibly make or break a game, while also giving you a whole bunch of materials to link summon with.
1. Scapegoat
Spacegoat is truly the GOAT at token generation! (Yes, I’m also ashamed at that pun) At quick effect speed you can special summon 4 goat tokens to your side of the field. Although you can’t summon on the turn you activate this card, this doesn’t hinder you at all if you activate Scapegoat on your opponent’s turn. And if you activate this card during your opponent’s end phase, this gives you 4 materials to immediately link summon with on your turn. This combo was so widely used that Scapegoat actually got hit by the ban list, and now you can only play one copy of this card in your deck. Scapegoat was so fantastic that it has an entire format of Yu-Gi-Oh named after it: GOAT format. This format is an “old-school” style of playing Yu-Gi-Oh, involving all of the cards released up until The Lost Millennium. A lot of the decks in this time played “Goat Control”, where you used Scapegoat to control the flow of the game, ensuring that battle happened when you wanted it to – hence the ‘GOAT format’ name!
