Mai Valentine is one of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime’s best duelists. At least, that’s what the show wants you to believe. Mai’s talents are always hyped up and her skills seem to be unmatched, but she almost never wins any duels on-screen. All of her wins happen when no one is watching.
Why is it that she can’t ever seem to take home an on-screen win? Perhaps if she were to iron out a few wrinkles in her deck, she might be able to take home a win while others were watching. It would certainly be a nice change of pace to see her wins in action.
Her Duelist Kingdom Deck
This really goes for every duelist on the show, but Mai’s Duelist Kingdom deck is a bit of a mess. It is full of underpowered monster, spell, and trap cards that really don’t help Mai as much as they should.
While many of these cards were discarded in later arcs of the show, she certainly held on to some longer than she should have. One prime example is the original Harpie Lady herself.
Starting With The Original Harpie
The original Harpie Lady is not that good of a card. Mai’s entire strategy is built around this card. Powering it up and multiplying it once all of her accessories are in place.
This is generally a fine strategy, but it could be executed much better than Mai usually is able to. For example, she should use a different Harpie Lady to start off her combo with for a better baseline monster.
All The Other Starting Harpies
The only other starting Harpie that Mai used was Cyber Harpie. Beyond that, though, there were so many other better Harpies that could have been used. Even using one of the numbered Harpie Ladies (1, 2, and 3) would have been preferred to the standard version she tends to use.
While many current Harpies weren’t out at the time of the show’s release, the team could have even made anime versions of new Harpies. It was a regular practice, and Mai needed some upgrades in this regard.
Basing Her Combos On One Card
Mai’s usual strategy was to bring out one Harpie Lady, power it up, and then multiply it through Elegant Egotist, with all of the Harpies then keeping the original’s upgrades.
This strategy does work, but it is a bit flawed. For example, if this combo is stopped in the middle of Mai completing it, she’s going to be in a lot of trouble. Having some backup strategies just in case would have been a great idea for the duelist.
Not Using Harpie’s Hunting Grounds
Harpie’s Hunting Ground is the archetype’s field spell that, besides a small power boost, allows the user to destroy a spell or trap card every time that a Harpie is summoned to the field.
This card was a no-brainer for Mai to include in her deck. It would have synergized perfectly with her swarming technique and would have given her some extra forms of removal that would have gone a long way in duels such as her Battle City showdown with Marik.
Amazoness Cards
During the Battle City arc of the show, Mai included a new archetype with her Harpies. This archetype was the Amazoness cards, another female-led group of warriors that fit very well with Mai’s motif.
Unfortunately, Mai’s picks from this archetype weren’t very strong and didn’t have the potential that her standard Harpies did. These Amazonesses didn’t add enough to Mai’s deck to deserve their place. Harpies should have remained at the forefront of the deck.
Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation
Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation isn’t really that useful of a card. If the player has three or more Harpies on their side of the field, they can destroy as many of the opponent’s monsters as there are Harpies.
Then, the opponent takes damage equal to monster with the highest attack points. Sure, it’s a fine card, but the huge drawback is that the battle phase cannot be conducted when this card is activated, and special summons also aren’t allowed. Not worth it at all for those costs.
Some Of Her Equip Cards
While Mai used the equip cards that she did because they were part of the Harpie archetype, there were better options for her. Rose Whip was bad, Aero Nail is eh, and Cyber Shield was fine.
However, cards like United We Stand would have given the creatures a much larger attack boost that would have likely won Mai more duels.
No Pot Of Greed
This one is very simple. Everyone else in the show’s history used Pot of Greed in their deck. There’s just no reason not to.
Why didn’t Mai? It would have helped her get to the cards she needed to just a bit faster and was a no-brainer for not just her deck, but every deck out there.
Giving Into The Seal Of Orichalcos
Of course, the biggest mistake that Mai ever made with her deck was giving in to the powers of the Seal of Orichalcos.
While the card gave her a bit of a power boost, it wasn’t worth everything else that it took from her. If she had managed to leave this card out of her deck, she would have been stronger in the end.
