My Grandpa's Deck has no Pathetic Cards!

but it does contain...the unstoppable Maxx "C"!

*Kaiba unintelligibly screeching*

From a technical standpoint there's little to criticize in what Konami themselves dubbed the "definitive edition of the competitive card game that has been evolving for over 20 years". It contains almost (bar a couple special ones) all cards ever released (and that's over 11.000 at this point) and works flawlessly, which is a marvel in and of itself, given how complicated Yu-Gi-Oh! as a card game has become.

As for the monetization: I've seen much worse. In fact, this game is quite F2P-friendly. With some time investment (which is at the core of every F2P-experience) you can easily craft any deck you want. Now, after that first deck has been crafted and all the early resources have been depleted, things are gonna slow down, but never come to a grinding halt. So choose wisely or use other dummy accounts to check out different archetypes.

As for the game itself: Well, it ain't your grandpa's Yu-Gi-Oh!, that's for sure. As a Yugi-Boomer myself, it took some time and YT videos to get a grasp of modern YGO. And tbh... I don't love it. The thing with YGO is, there's no set rotation, which means that after over two decades of powercreep 99 % of the aforementioned 11.000+ cards are literally useless. And in order to sell new cards, Konami continues the creep with every new set. Unless you're playing a meta deck, you're very often just ♥♥♥♥ out of luck in higher ranks. Also, hand traps and the coin toss. But I'm not gonna explain how a modern game of YGO goes down in its entirety, you just gotta experience it for yourself. It's quite different to every other card game, in that it very often comes down to "either you have it, or you don't" in the very first turn. Of course you can also just watch your opponent combo off for 10 minutes and end on an impenetrable board, if that's what you're into (I don't judge). Or your opponent can watch YOU combo off for 10 minutes (hnnng).

In summary, a great CCG client housing a unique card game that you either like or you don't. And if you don't, that's fine but don't expect it to fundamentally change anytime soon, the way YGO as a product works won't really allow for that. They could theoretically introduce additional rotating limited formats into Master Duel, but they haven't done that in over 2 years so don't get your hopes up (it doesn't sell new cards).

7/10

⠻⣦⡈⠛⢿⡌⢆⢂⠹⣿⣧⡄⡄⠹⡄⢆⡟⢄⠉⢟⣮⣷⢄⠐⢤⡤⢤⣬⣭⣭
⣷⣤⠙⣶⣦⠙⡌⢻⠂⠘⣿⣷⢹⠄⢳⠘⣿⡟⣿⡄⢳⡆⢳⠛⢢⠈⠉⠛⠛⠛
⢿⣿⣷⣀⠈⠓⠌⠂⠘⢆⠈⢙⣎⢣⠘⡆⢣⡛⣿⡇⢀⡙⠚⠶⠶⠿⠷⠶⠒⠒
⣾⠿⣿⣿⣦⣄⣁⣀⣠⡀⠡⠄⠳⡛⢆⠱⠈⢧⣿⡇⠸⠟⠉⠐⠠⠄⠄⠄⣼⣿
⣿⣷⣬⣉⣛⣛⠛⠿⠿⣧⣷⣦⣄⠘⢿⡆⠡⠘⣀⡇⢠⣶⣷⣮⣤⣤⣴⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⡀⢿⡀⠄⠉⡇⢸⣿⣿⣿⣉⣉⣉⣉⣉⣰
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡏⣿⣦⡙⠄⠄⠁⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⡙⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠁⣿⣿⣷⣌⠄⠄⠘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣦⣀⡨⣝⡻⠿⣻⣿⣧⣄⠄⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⢿⡛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠘⣿⣛⣻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣤⡿⢿⠿⣛⡃⠄⣸⣿
⡹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣼⣷⣶⣝⢿⣿⣿⣿⣧⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟⣿⢇⣈⣼⣿⣿
⣿⣜⢿⣭⢻⣿⣿⣿⣯⢧⠙⢻⠛⣛⣛⠛⠛⠿⠿⠟⣛⣥⣶⣼⢏⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣎⠿⣇⢻⣿⣿⣿⡌⢷⣆⢭⣓⣒⣒⣛⣣⣶⠞⣵⣿⣿⣿⡿⣱⣾⡟⣵⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣤⣻⡘⣿⣿⣿⣷⡜⢻⣮⣛⣛⣟⣫⡿⣛⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿⢃⣿⣿⣷⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣣⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣯⡙⠛⠛⠛⢛⣺⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⣼⢫⣵⣿⣿

writing this review cause my opponent still hasn't finished their turn yet.