Dinosaurs have been around a long time, their species lasted over 100 million years until they were wiped out. Likewise, from the perspective of Yu-Gi-Oh you could say that Dinosaurs have been around since the beginning of time. That is because a dinosaur monster, Tomozaurus, was released in the first ever booster pack of Yu-Gi-Oh – volume 1, all the way back in 1999. While Yu-Gi-Oh dinosaur cards were introduced with some staples of the franchise, Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician, it took a while for dinosaur cards to take off. Tomozaurus certainly could not be the flagship card for the typing being a normal monster with 500/400 ATK/DEF.
Table of Contents
- The First Dinosaur Monsters Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh
- The First Dinosaur Yu-Gi-Oh Structure Deck
- The Best Dinosaur Cards in Yu-Gi-Oh
- YU-Gi-Oh Dinosaur Support Cards
- A Standard Dinosaur Deck Profile
- Have Yu Gi Oh Dinosaur Cards Evolved For The Better?
The First Dinosaur Monsters Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh
In the animated series our first real introduction to Dinosaur Monster cards are from fan-favourite and comic relief character Rex Raptor. He introduced us to the “fearsome” Two-Headed T-Rex with 1600/1200 ATK/DEF. Yu-Gi-Oh was very different in the early days, effect monsters were typically punished with lower attack than their normal counterparts. Rex and his dinosaur cards are more famously known for introducing us to Red-Eyes Black Dragon and losing to Joey wheeler than anything else. For a long time Dinosaur cards were overshadowed by dragon cards, Rex became a joke and so did his archetype.
Creators valued dragon cards over their dinosaur counterparts for many years. So much so that in the game Falsebound Kingdom there was no distinction between the two and all of these monsters were treated as Dragon-Type monsters.
The First Dinosaur Yu-Gi-Oh Structure Deck
The First Dinosaur Structure Deck, Dinosaur’s Rage, was introduced to us in 2006 as the 9th structure deck of the franchise. The Deck’s boss monster was Super Conductor Tyranno who boasted a modest 3300 ATK, the first monster to break the 3000 ATK mark and notably higher than a Blue-Eyes. It was certainly a step forwards for dinosaur type cards. Ironically however, this structure deck came at a time where the deck’s boss monster was typically among its worst cards. Other forgettable boss monsters from structure decks at the time include: Vampire Genesis, from Zombie Madness and Infernal Flame Emperor from Blaze of Destruction.
Super Conductor was so weak because first, there was no easy way to special summon it at time and so you would lose card advantage by summoning normally. Second, Its effect: tribute one monster to deal 1000 damage, puts you even further behind in card advantage and deals relatively insignificant damage. Ultimately, its cost is too high.
The Best Dinosaur Cards in Yu-Gi-Oh
While Dinosaur Cards were released here and there in the years succeeding Dinosaur’s Rage, none really stood out until 2017, when Dinomasher’s Fury was released, 29 structures decks later. After all the time spent in the shadows it was now time for Dinosaur cards to shine as the deck’s cover card, Ultimate (rather than super) Conductor Tyranno, was one of the best cards the series had ever seen.
It was so strong for a number of reasons. First it was incredibly easy to get onto the field through the effect of Double Evolution Pill. This card allowed you to banish a dinosaur and non-dinosaur from your hand or graveyard to special summon Tyranno from the deck. Cards like Souleating Oviraptor, Babycerasaurus, and Miscellaneousaurus. All work together to ensure an easy summoning of the boss monster. Miscellaneousaurus was so strong even that it found its way onto the limited list of one per deck.
Second and more importantly, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno had an incredibly powerful effect. Ultimate Conductor Tyranno amongst the best Monsters for dealing with opposing Monsters that cannnot be destroyed or targeted by card effects, and can’t be destroyed by battle. By destroying a monster in your hand or field, you can turn all opponents monsters faced down. It can attack all of these monsters and send them to the graveyard doing 1000 damage each time. As the cards are going directly to the graveyard, they cannot activate their effects.
It took some time, but the Dinosaur archetype finally got the card it deserved in Yu-Gi-Oh and it is still used semi-commonly in the meta today.
YU-Gi-Oh Dinosaur Support Cards
While the Dinosaur archetype did not see a lot of love from Konami they ironically had very strong support cards at different stages of card release.
In the early days of Yu-Gi-Oh, they actually had the strongest field spell to increase attack for specific monster: Jurassic World, which increased monster ATK/DEF by 300.
They have the incredibly powerful Double Evolution Pill as discussed before, but also Fossil Dig which further helps set it up by allowing you at add a level 6 or lower dinosaur monster from your deck to your hand. To put it in perspective, Reinforcement of the Army, which allows you to add a level 4 warrior or lower is on the limited list.
Lastly, the Dinosaur archetype has developed around banishing monsters from the deck. Cards like Miracle Jurassic Egg gain field bonuses from this and Tyranno Infinity outright gains 1000 attack for all banished dinosaur type monsters.
A Standard Dinosaur Deck Profile
Please use this as a guide, rather than sticking to it verbatim because as time passes, cards go on and off the ban list and get better or worse.
Dinosaur Monster Cards
- 3x Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
- 3x Soul Eating Oviraptor
- 1x Miscellaneosaurus
- 1x Giant Rex
- 3x Animadorned Archosaur
- 1x Tyranno Infinity
- 3x Babycerasaurus
- 3x Petiteranodon
- 2x Ultimate Conductor Tyranno
- 1x Dinowrestler Pankratops
- 2x Scrap Raptor
- 1x Scrap Chimera
- 2x Effect Veiler
Dinosaur Magic Cards
- 3x Fossil Dig
- 3x Lost Word
- 1x Terraforming
- 2x Double Evolution Pill
- 1x Upstart Goblin
- 1x Harpies Feather Duster
- 1x Pot of Duality
Dinosaur Trap Cards
- 2x Infinite Impermanence
Have Yu Gi Oh Dinosaur Cards Evolved For The Better?
It is amazing to see just how far Dinosaur cards have come. I suppose that’s indicative of Yu-Gi-Oh in general. Many forgotten archetypes have gotten a polish in recent years, just think of Exodia, for example, or the Egyptian God Cards. With these examples, even though Konami has given them some well needed attention, they still do not compare to the amount of competitive play that Yu-Gi-Oh Dinosaur cards received after the release of Ultimate Conductor Tyranno. The archetype quite literally evolved overnight.
