Dr. Faker's Scrap Heap

Garbage

Cheap DARK Fiends that pay Life Points instead of cards, and exist to build a Number.

Lore Archive

"Thrown away, cheap and easy to replace. The Garbage monsters were never meant to win on their own. They were the scrap a Number was built from."

In Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, the Garbage monsters filled Dr. Faker's Main Deck. Garbage Ogre and Garbage Lord were fodder for his Numbers: Number 53: Heart-eartH and its evolved form, Number 92: Heart-eartH Dragon. Vector manipulated Faker and later possessed him in the middle of his duel. So when Beyond the Brave printed Garbage Golem, the first new Garbage monster in more than a decade, in the same set as Vector's Umbral Horror monsters, fans read it as Vector support in disguise. It works in both decks.

Executive Summary: Paying in Life Points

Garbage is one of the smallest series in the game. Before Beyond the Brave it was two Main Deck monsters. Garbage Ogre searches Garbage Lord, and Garbage Lord is a Level 5 DARK Fiend you can Special Summon from your hand by paying 2000 LP. The series dates back to Cosmo Blazer (January 2013), where Garbage Ogre debuted. The plan is to turn Life Points into Level 5 bodies, and those bodies into Rank 5 DARK Xyz Monsters, above all Dr. Faker's Number 53: Heart-eartH.

It's an expensive plan. Garbage Lord can only be Xyz Material for a DARK monster, every copy summoned from the hand costs a quarter of your starting Life Points, and neither card does anything once it's on the field. Garbage has always been a casual, anime-inspired deck rather than a competitive one, and this tab treats it that way. The Beyond the Brave tab covers Garbage Golem, which fixes much of this.

Foundational Mechanics

Pay 2000, Keep the Normal Summon

Garbage Lord's summon is a summoning procedure, not an effect. It has no once-per-turn limit, it doesn't start a chain, and it leaves your Normal Summon free. Two copies cost 4000 LP, half your starting Life Points.

DARK Xyz Only

Garbage Lord can't be Xyz Material except for a DARK Xyz Monster. The restriction covers Xyz Summons only, so it can still be a Tribute, Link Material or a non-Tuner for a Synchro Summon.

The Heart-eartH Chain

Number 53: Heart-eartH needs three Level 5 monsters. When a card effect destroys it while it has no materials, it becomes Number 92: Heart-eartH Dragon from the Extra Deck, with Number 53 attached as its material.

The Scrap Heap

Garbage Ogre
Missing: 18698739

Garbage Ogre

Level 3 · DARK Fiend · 800 / 1300 · Searcher

Hand effect: Send it from your hand to the GY to add 1 Garbage Lord from your Deck to your hand. Once per turn.

Sending itself is the cost, so the search leaves no body on the field.

Garbage Lord
Missing: 44682448

Garbage Lord

Level 5 · DARK Fiend · 0 / 2400 · Extender

Procedure: Special Summon it from your hand by paying 2000 LP. It can only be Xyz Material for a DARK monster.

Sangan can also search it, and Mystic Tomato can Special Summon it from the Deck. Its 0 ATK is what later turns on Garbage Golem.

Number 53: Heart-eartH
Missing: 23998625

Number 53: Heart-eartH

Rank 5 · DARK Fiend · 100 / 100 · 3 Level 5 monsters

Wall: Once per turn, when it's targeted for an attack, it gains the attacker's original ATK until the End Phase. If it would be destroyed, you can detach 1 material instead.

Evolution: When a card effect destroys it while it has no materials, Special Summon Number 92: Heart-eartH Dragon from your Extra Deck and attach Number 53 to it.

Number 92: Heart-eartH Dragon
Missing: 97403510

Number 92: Heart-eartH Dragon

Rank 9 · DARK Dragon · 0 / 0 · 3 Level 9 monsters

Battle: It can't be destroyed by battle, and battle damage you would take from its battles goes to your opponent instead.

Lockdown: In your opponent's End Phase, detach 1 to banish every card they Normal or Special Summoned or Set that turn. Destroyed while it has material, it comes back from the GY with 1000 ATK for every banished card.

Classic Combo: Faker's Gambit

The classic way to reach Number 53, and the reason Inferno Reckless Summon has always been in Garbage lists. It's a going-second line: Inferno Reckless Summon only works while your opponent controls a face-up monster. Opening hand: Garbage Ogre and Inferno Reckless Summon.

What the line needs

  • Three Garbage Lord in the Main Deck. Ogre searches one, and Inferno Reckless Summon brings out the other two.
  • A face-up monster on your opponent's field. Without one, you can't activate Inferno Reckless Summon.
  • 2000 LP for the first Garbage Lord.
  1. Garbage Ogre
    Missing: 18698739

    Ogre Finds Lord

    Send Garbage Ogre from your hand to the GY to add Garbage Lord from your Deck to your hand.

    Hand: Garbage Lord, Inferno Reckless Summon. GY: Garbage Ogre. Deck: 2 Garbage Lord.

  2. Garbage Lord
    Missing: 44682448

    Pay for the First Lord

    Pay 2000 LP to Special Summon Garbage Lord from your hand. It's a summoning procedure, so your Normal Summon is still unused.

    Field: Garbage Lord. LP: 6000.

  3. Inferno Reckless Summon
    Missing: 12247206

    Inferno Reckless Summon

    Exactly one monster with 1500 or less ATK was just Special Summoned to your field, and your opponent controls a face-up monster, so activate Inferno Reckless Summon. Special Summon both remaining Garbage Lords from your Deck in Attack Position. Your opponent then Special Summons as many copies as they can of one of their face-up monsters.

    Field: 3 Garbage Lord. Opponent: may gain extra copies of one monster.

  4. Number 53: Heart-eartH
    Missing: 23998625

    Heart-eartH

    Overlay the three Garbage Lords to Xyz Summon Number 53: Heart-eartH. It's a DARK Xyz Monster, so Garbage Lord's material restriction doesn't get in the way.

    Field: Number 53 (3 materials). Normal Summon: still unused.

Result

Your field

  • Number 53: Heart-eartH with 3 materials. Each one can stand in for its destruction once.
  • Your Normal Summon, still unused.

What it cost

  • 2000 LP, and whatever copies Inferno Reckless Summon gave your opponent.
  • Heart-eartH has 100 ATK. It walls attackers but doesn't pressure your opponent.

Next

  • Heart-eartH only becomes Number 92 when a card effect destroys it with no materials left. The Heart-eartH Countdown shows how Garbage Golem speeds that up.

Other classic routes

  • Mist Archfiend: a Level 5 DARK Fiend you can Normal Summon without Tributing. With one Garbage Lord it makes a 2-material Rank 5 DARK Xyz, such as Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon, without Inferno Reckless Summon. If you Normal Summoned it without Tributing and it's still on the field in the End Phase, it destroys itself and you take 1000 damage.
  • Tannhauser Gate: Garbage Lord has 0 ATK, so it can combine Levels with another monster of the same Type you control with 1000 or less ATK.
  • Synchro: the material restriction only covers Xyz Summons. A Tuner next to Garbage Lord makes a Level 6 or higher Synchro Monster.

The Rank 5 DARK Toolbox

Garbage Lord only feeds DARK Xyz Monsters. These are the Extra Deck picks that do the most with it.

DARK Xyz Monsters Garbage Lord can be material for, their materials, and what they do
Xyz Monster Materials What it does for Garbage Guide
3 Level 5 The series boss. It survives three destructions, then evolves into Number 92: Heart-eartH Dragon. Number
Via Number 53 Rank 9, reached through Heart-eartH's evolution rather than three Level 9 monsters. Banishes whatever your opponent summoned or Set that turn. Number
2 Level 5 Once per turn, detach 1 to destroy a face-up card your opponent controls. The simplest payoff for one Garbage Lord plus Mist Archfiend. None yet
2 Level 5 Once per turn, when it's Xyz Summoned or when your opponent activates a monster effect in the hand or GY, detach 1 to destroy a monster on the field. K9

Competitive Analysis

Strengths

  • Free bodies: Garbage Lord's summon has no once-per-turn limit and doesn't use your Normal Summon.
  • Direct search: Garbage Ogre adds Garbage Lord straight from the Deck, and Sangan works too.
  • Sticky boss: Heart-eartH absorbs up to three destructions, then evolves into Number 92.

Weaknesses

  • Life Point drain: every Garbage Lord from the hand costs 2000 LP.
  • DARK Xyz only: Garbage Lord can't go into the generic Rank 5s most decks run.
  • No interaction: neither Ogre nor Lord touches your opponent's cards, Heart-eartH has 100 ATK, and Inferno Reckless Summon hands your opponent free monsters.

Synergies & Tech

  • Mist Archfiend: a Level 5 DARK Fiend you can Normal Summon without Tributing, for 2-material Rank 5s.
  • Inferno Reckless Summon: three Lords for 2000 LP, going second.
  • Garbage Golem: the Beyond the Brave card. See the next tab.

Current TCG Banlist Status

Banlist Impact

Fully Unrestricted

The Garbage archetype, with its Life Point-paid Level 5 bodies and 0-stat Xyz recursion, operates at full power with no restrictions on the current TCG banlist.

Maximum Consistency

Play any card at your preferred ratio without restrictions

Full Strength Plays

Access to all archetype synergies without limitations

Strategic Freedom

No banlist constraints holding back your strategy

Banlist Status Summary

+ analyzed • 0 restrictions found • All cards legal at 3 copies