Review - Pot of Greed: The Only Perfect Card in the Game?

Pot of Greed has been lauded as a Deck Staple since it was released in the very first booster set. People would stick it in their decks without question. Soon, a reason was given for sticking Pot of Greed in every deck: Hand Advantage. I have written extensively about my views of “Hand Advantage” elsewhere, so I won’t repeat myself here. However, Pot of Greed only provides a +1 advantage no matter what. The other Staples of the early game provided much more advantage than that in the form of Field Advantage, which is generally more useful than Hand Advantage. Pot of Greed is always a 2-for-1, while other True Staples are variable, ranging from 1-for-1 up to 5-for-1. Of course, I speak of Raigeki, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, and Harpie’s Feather Duster. Pot of Greed merely provides you with one extra card, whereas these others take away your opponent’s cards. I know I prefer wrecking a lot of my opponent’s stuff to getting a tiny bit more stuff of my own.

Pot of Greed isn’t entirely useless, though. It is great in Exodia Decks because they are entirely focused on drawing and drawing and drawing, and nothing else. If Pot of Greed wasn’t restricted or banned, Exodia would be insanely powerful. Pot of Greed is also notable for the fact that it is the best topdeck in the game. At any other time, Pot of Greed has a fairly weak effect that has been hyped far too much for its own good. I think we saw in the last ban cycle that decks can work out just fine without the Pot. It may provide a bit of lubrication in draw ratios, but in reality it’s like a single drop of oil upon an Ancient Gear Golem.

Rating: 3/5