But don’t be sad Duelist, as there are plenty of Thunder cards that can add a spark to your deck. So if you want to add a crackle of lightning to your arsenal (for fun or otherwise) then this list should offer plenty of ideas.
15. Thunder King Rai-Oh
To start things off we have a monster that’s starting to show its age – but for a card over 10 years old it’s still pretty strong. Thunder King Rai-Oh is a LVL4 with 1900 ATK/800 DEF. And while it’s on the field, neither player can add cards from their deck to their hand except by drawing them naturally. And if your opponent Special Summons exactly one monster, you can send this card from the field to the Graveyard to negate that summon and destroy the card. These effects have odd restrictions, but this card can still be disruptive. And that 1900 ATK packs a bigger punch than most other LVL4’s.
14. Hamon, Lord Of Striking Thunder
This card is low on the list because of its summoning requirement of sending 3 face-up Continuous Spells to the Graveyard. Frankly, that’s horrible. But this is a brutal monster if you manage to get it on the field. Hamon, Lord Of Striking Thunder has a colossal 4000 ATK/4000 DEF and any time it destroys an opponent’s monster in battle, they take 1000 damage. This card can hit hard. And it’s an excellent defensive card too, because if it’s in defense position then your opponent can only target this card for attacks.
13. Batteryman Solar
There are quite a few Batteryman cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! But this one is arguably the best, and can benefit any Thunder deck. Batteryman Solar is a LVL4 with 1500 ATK/1500 DEF. And when it’s summoned you can send any Thunder monster from your Deck to the Graveyard. Any time a Thunder monster is summoned while this card is on the field, you can then Special Summon a Token that can be used as material for your Boss monsters. If you use more Batteryman cards, then this card can borrow the name of any of them in your Graveyard – but even without that effect. So this is great to set up your field.
12. Zaborg the Mega Monarch
This is a situational card, yet can be truly devastating against the right deck. Zaborg the Mega Monarch is a LVL8 with 2800 ATK/1000 DEF and its first effect reads: you can Tribute Summon this card by Tributing 1 Tribute Summoned monster. If this card is Tribute Summoned you can destroy a card on the field. The devastating part is if you destroyed a LIGHT monster with that effect, both players have to send cards from their Extra Deck to their Graveyard up to the Level of that monster. This is where it gets nasty: If this monster was Tribute Summoned using a LIGHT monster, you get to pick the monsters your opponent sends to the Graveyard. I don’t need to tell you how powerful that can be.
11. Thunder Dragon
Once upon a time, Thunder Dragons absolutely dominated competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! They don’t see competitive play right now. But Thunder Dragons are still powerful, and you can’t have a Thunder list without them. Thunder Dragon is a LVL5 monster with 1600 ATK/1500 DEF, and it can be discarded to add 2 more ‘Thunder Dragon’ cards to your hand. You may be thinking those stats are terrible for a LVL5. And well, you’re right. But this monster is a stepping stone for much more powerful monsters, including one higher up on this list.
10. Subterror Behemoth Voltelluric
We’ve looked at monsters with utility and attack power. But if you want to play the slow game, this card is a great defensive option. Subterror Behemoth Voltelluric is a LVL9 with 1900 ATK/3000 DEF and has a Flip Effect where you can take control of an opponent’s Set monster until the end phase. You can do this more than once as well, as you can flip this card face-down each turn. Stealing your opponent’s monsters is always fun. But it does depend on your opponent setting monsters in the first place. If any of your monsters are flipped face-down and you control no face-up monsters, you can even Special Summon this card from your hand too – making summoning much easier.
9. Mahunder
Boss monsters with amazing effects are great. But without cards to build your field up in the first place, you’re never going to see them. Mahunder can help here. It’s a great LVL4 with 1400 ATK/700 DEF and gives you an additional Normal Summon each turn, as long as you’re summoning LVL4 LIGHT monsters. This effect can give you easy access to a LVL4 XYZ or any Extra Deck monster for that matter. It’s not the most impressive effect, but it can be incredibly useful.
8. Mist Wurm
This monster doesn’t really look like a Thunder monster. But its effect is so good that I’m willing to overlook it. Mist Wurm is a LVL9 Synchro with 2500 ATK/1500 DEF and when this card is Synchro Summoned you can target 3 cards and return them to the hand. This stops any effects triggering on destruction, or when they go to the Graveyard. Clearing 3 cards on the field can leave your opponent open to a full-on assault in the battle phase too. So use this card’s effect and attack for the win!
7. Some Summer Summoner
If your Thunder monsters have ended up in the Graveyard, this is a great way to bring them back. Some Summer Summoner (what a name) is a Link-2 requiring two Thunder monsters (Mahunder is great for this) and has 1600 ATK. This card also has a powerful effect where you can discard 1 card to bring a Thunder monster in your Graveyard back to the field, to a zone this card points to. For a Thunder deck, this is like a reusable Monster Reborn that you can use on your opponent’s turn. And well, Monster Reborn is Limited for a reason.
6. Thunderclap Monk
If you can disrupt your opponent’s monster effects at the right time, you can essentially end their turn and leave their field in a state that’s easy to walk straight over. Thunderclap Monk is a LVL 4 with a respectable 1900 ATK/200 DEF and if this monster is Special Summoned it has a Quick Effect too: If your opponent activates a monster effect then you can tribute this card to negate the effect and destroy that monster. This effect is pretty good on its own, as your opponent will have to think twice before activating anything. But this card has the added effect of when it lands in the Graveyard, you can special summon a Thunder monster from your hand in Defense Position.
5. Thunder King, The Lightningstrike Kaiju
Kaiju’s are some of the best cards in the game for removing threats. And the Thunder Kaiju is no exception. Thunder King, The Lightningstrike Kaiju is a LVL9 with 3300 ATK/2100 DEF. And with its effect you can tribute a monster on your opponent’s side of the field to give them this monster instead. This bypasses almost every type of effect protection. The only downside is you now gave your opponent a monster with 3300ATK that you have to deal with. But this shouldn’t be an issue, as Kaiju cards are weak to every card effect there is. Just make sure you have some follow up before using it.
4. Denko Sekka
Some of the most frustrating decks to play against use a ton of Spells and Traps. These decks can stop you from getting set up and can overwhelm you with nasty effects. If you need something to slow this type of strategy down, this is a great card to do it with. Denko Sekka is a LVL4 with 1700 ATK/1000 DEF. And while you control no set Spells/Traps, neither player can set any Spells/Traps or activate any on the field. This can really take the sting out of a back row heavy deck, and makes Traps basically useless.
3. Lightning Chidori
Interfering with the Draw Phase can be straight-up unfair – and cards that do it have ended up on the ban list. Lightning Chidori is a LVL4 XYZ with 1900 ATK/1600 DEF. When it’s summoned, you can target a set card your opponent controls and return it to the bottom of their deck, which can make it impossible for them to get back. Then once per turn, you can detach a material to send one of your opponent’s cards from the field to the top of the deck. This is non-destruction removal. And if you can put something useless on the top of their deck, you can completely ruin your opponent’s valuable Draw Phase.
2. Prank-Kids Battle Butler
Using this card locks you into a Prank-Kids deck. But as of this writing, Prank-Kids are really strong, and can stand up against many top competitive decks. This is one of their Boss monsters. Prank-Kids Battle Butler is a Fusion monster with 3000 ATK/3000 DEF and has a Quick Effect where you can Tribute it to destroy every monster your opponent controls. It’s basically Raigeki on legs. Plus if your opponent sends this card to the Graveyard you can Special Summon a non-fusion monster from there… You sure you don’t want to play Prank-Kids?
1. Thunder Dragon Titan
Remember Thunder Dragon from earlier? This is the reason to play a Thunder Dragon deck. Thunder Dragon Titan is an incredible Boss monster with 3200 ATK/3200 DEF and requires 3 Thunder Dragons to Fusion Summon. You can also Special Summon it by banishing a Thunder monster in your hand and a Thunder Fusion monster from the field. Aside from the fantastic stats, whenever a Thunder monster effect is activated in your hand, you can destroy a card on the field without targeting. Plus, if Thunder Dragon Titan would be destroyed by a card effect, you can banish 2 cards from your Graveyard instead. So this is a tricky monster to get rid of. If you’re using a lot of effects from the hand then your opponent is going to lose every card they control, with little they can do about it.
