Honestly, trying to track down every single card in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution card list is basically a full-time job. You’ve got over 10,000 cards. That's a massive jump from the original non-Link version of the game, and if you're coming back to it in 2026, the sheer volume of "cardboard" to sift through is enough to make anyone want to just surrender their life points. Most players jump in thinking they can just buy a few packs of their favorite character and call it a day. Wrong. Konami decided to scatter archetypes across different booster packs like they were playing a prank on us.
You’ll be looking for a specific Cyberse monster and find it tucked away in a pack belonging to a character from the GX era. Why? Who knows. But if you want to build a deck that actually wins, you’ve gotta know the layout.
The 10,000 Card Myth and the Actual Grind
People always talk about the 10,000+ card count like it’s this glorious achievement. It is, sure, but it also means the RNG (random number generation) is your worst enemy. In Link Evolution, the card list isn't just a static menu. It’s a living nightmare of "just one more pack."
The game includes every card from the base Legacy of the Duelist plus all the DLC content from that era, and then it layers on the VRAINS update which brought in the heavy hitters like Crystron Halqifibrax, Nibiru, the Primal Being, and I:P Masquerena.
Here’s the thing: you can’t just "buy" the cards you want with real money. You have to earn DP (Duel Points) and gamble. It’s kinda nostalgic, but when you’re 312 packs deep into the Soulburner set looking for one copy of Salamangreat Mining, it stops being cute.
Where the Hell Are My Cards?
Most players get frustrated because they assume the Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution card list is organized by the anime's chronological release. Sorta, but not really.
If you want the classic stuff—the Exodia pieces, the Raigekis, the Blue-Eyes White Dragons—you're sticking with Grandpa Muto and Seto Kaiba packs. But if you're trying to build something modern, like Sky Strikers or Orcusts, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in the VRAINS section of the shop.
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The Booster Pack Breakdown (The Real Way)
Don't just spend points blindly. Each series has specific packs that hold the keys to different playstyles.
For the original Duel Monsters era, Grandpa Muto is basically your "staple" pack. It has the generic Spells and Traps that every deck needs. Mai Valentine is where you go for Harpies and Amazoness, obviously, but she also holds some weirdly good generic wind support.
When you move into GX, Jaden Yuki is all about Elemental HEROes. But if you want the "Masked HERO" variants, you’re actually better off looking at the Aster Phoenix packs. It’s these little nuances that trip people up.
5D’s brings the Synchro era. Yusei Fudo is the king of Junk and Stardust, but if you’re looking for those annoying Timelords, you’ve gotta unlock Z-one’s pack.
ZEXAL and ARC-V follow the same pattern. Yuma Tsukumo has your Utopia and Gagaga cards. Declan Akaba is where the D/D/D madness lives.
Then you hit the VRAINS packs, which are arguably the most important for the modern Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution card list. This is where Link Summoning really takes off. Playmaker has the Cyberse staples, while Revolver (Varis) has the Rokkets and Borrel dragons.
The Secret to Farming the Card List
You’ve got two ways to fill out your collection. You can spend DP on packs, or you can duel the AI. Honestly, dueling the AI is often faster if you’re looking for a specific deck.
Every time you beat a character in the campaign or Challenge Mode, you get three cards from their deck. If you lose, you still get one. If you keep beating the same character, eventually you’ll have 3 copies of every card they use.
This is huge for archetypes. Want a Blue-Eyes deck? Stop buying Kaiba packs and just stomp Kaiba in the campaign twenty times. You’ll get the Alternative White Dragons and the Dragon Shrine cards much more reliably than pulling them from a 500-card booster pool.
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Rare Cards and the "Rare" Rarity Trap
Konami’s rarity system in this game is... weird. You’ll see some cards labeled as "Rare" in the shop, but they appear way less frequently than other rares.
Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring is the prime example. It’s in the Soulburner pack. It is technically a rare, but players have reported opening hundreds of packs without seeing a single copy.
There’s no "pity system" here. You just keep clicking. One tip people swear by—and I’ve found it helps—is to back out of the shop entirely and go to the deck editor after every 20 or 30 packs. Some say it "resets" the seed, but honestly, it might just be a way to keep from going insane.
Why Some Cards Are Missing
Wait, I can't find Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon?
Yeah, that’s a common complaint. Even though the Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution card list is huge, it stops at a specific point in time—roughly early 2020. Anything released in the TCG or OCG after that isn't in the game. No Despia, no Kashtira, no Snake-Eye.
It’s a time capsule. You’re playing in the "Master Rule 5" era (the one where Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz don't need Link arrows anymore). For some, this is the gold standard of the game. For others, it’s frustrating to not have the newest power-creep cards.
Actionable Steps to Complete Your Collection
If you're serious about finishing the Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution card list, stop wasting time.
First, finish the DM (Duel Monsters) campaign. It’s easy and gives you the base DP you need. Use the "Story Deck" if you want the challenge, but if you want to speedrun it, build a cheap Exodia or Burn deck to cheese the AI.
Second, focus on the Challenge Duels. These are tougher, but the rewards are better. The AI uses "meta" decks from the 2019-2020 era, so winning these will give you the actual competitive versions of cards.
Third, use a card locator tool online. Seriously. Don't guess which pack has Infinite Impermanence. (It’s in the Bastion pack, by the way. Don’t ask me why Bastion Misawa has one of the best hand traps in history—he just does).
Finally, don't ignore the Battle Packs. Draft play and Sealed play are actually great ways to find generic "good stuff" without digging through character-specific archetypes. It’s also a nice break from the repetitive campaign duels.
Unlock the VRAINS packs as soon as possible. Even if you hate Link monsters, the Spells and Traps in those packs—like Lightning Storm—are too good to pass up. They make the rest of the game a cakewalk.
Just remember: there are no microtransactions. Your time is the only currency. So, pick a deck you love, find the pack it lives in, and start grinding.