"Worm" (ワーム Wāmu) is a large archetype of monsters, the first support for which was introduced in Hidden Arsenal. Unlike other archetypes, "Worm" is divided between two entirely distinct play styles, only one of which has archetype support. Additionally, several other unrelated cards, such as "Worm Drake" and "Dimensionhole" are in this archetype.
The LIGHT Reptile "Worm" monsters were introduced as part of the early Duel Terminal sets. They are used by Callisto in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2009: Stardust Accelerator.
The Insect "Worm" monsters have effects that mill the opponent's Deck. They are used by Trudge during his time as a Shadow Drone in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime.
"Dimensionhole" ("Worm Hole" in Japanese) and "Electric Virus" are also "Worm" cards because they have 「ワーム」 in their Japanese names.
Insect Worms
These monsters focus on milling the opponent's Deck. Visually, they resemble caterpillars and centipedes.
List of Insect Worms
| Japanese name | Primary type | Secondary type | Attribute | Level/ Rank | ATK | DEF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior | ジャイアントワーム | Effect Monster | EARTH | 4 | 1900 | 400 | |
| Dungeon Worm | ダンジョン・ワーム | Normal Monster | EARTH | 5 | 1800 | 1500 | |
| Galaxy Worm | ギャラクシー・ワーム | Effect Monster | LIGHT | 3 | 1200 | 1000 | |
| Needle Worm | ニードルワーム | Effect Monster | Flip monster | EARTH | 2 | 750 | 600 |
| Scrap Worm | スクラップ・ワーム | Effect Monster | Tuner monster | EARTH | 2 | 500 | 100 |
| Shield Worm | シールド・ワーム | Effect Monster | EARTH | 4 | 800 | 2000 | |
| Warm Worm | ウォーム・ワーム | Effect Monster | FIRE | 3 | 600 | 1400 |
Playing style
Having Insect support cards like "Lair Wire" and "Insect Neglect" while also having "Doom Dozer" and "Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior" in your Deck means you will rely heavily on having Insect monsters in your Graveyard which you can remove from play. Therefore, it would be a good idea to use cards that mill both players to steadily replenish your Graveyard's stock of Insect-Type monsters. Cards like "D.D.R. - Different Dimension Reincarnation" can be used to bring back monsters like "Shield Worm" and "Warm Worm" in late game to force your opponent to send away even more cards.
Searchers like "Howling Insect" and "Gokipon" can be of great use as well by populating your Graveyard while getting more monsters to the field and your hand.
This Deck concentrates on using "Warm Worm", "Needle Worm" and "Shield Worm" to mill your opponent's Deck. "Chainsaw Insect" is used for a beatstick and to force your opponent to draw. "Doom Dozer" and "Aztekipede" can be used with "Robbin' Zombie" to send more cards from the Deck to the Graveyard. "Assault on GHQ" can be used on the used up "Needle Worm" or on a "Warm Worm".
Reptile Worms
These monsters focus heavily on Flip effects. They were introduced in Duel Terminal - Synchro Awakening!! and even have their own set, Duel Terminal - Invasion of Worms!!.
Reptile "Worms" are mostly composed of Flip monsters that generate hand advantage by allowing the player to draw extra cards or add extra cards to their hand or create field advantage by allowing the player to control the positions of cards and permitting cards on either side of the field to stay or not. The non-Flip monsters allow the player to control the position of monsters on the field and flip the player's own monsters face-down or have their effects activated when cards are Set face-down in general.
List of LIGHT Reptile Worms:
Duel Terminal Story
The storyline establishes that the "Ally of Justice" monsters were created specifically to combat the "Worms" (specifically the LIGHT Reptile "Worms") through a joint effort of 4 Duel Terminal clans. This is apparent through several crossover cards within the "Ally of Justice" series.
Later on in the battle, captured Worms were converted into "A.O.J." monsters (i.e., "Ally of Justice Enemy Catcher"), which led to the "Mist Valley" clan falling out of favor with the other alliance members. They halted support for the "Ally of Justice" project and continued fighting the battle alone, though this decision was short-lived. The legendary "Dragunity" warriors returned to defend the Mist Valley, once their home, and joined forces with the clan taking up residence there. The greatest weapon of the "Worms" was "Worm Zero", which traded the threat of endless waves of "Worms" for the crushing presence of "Zero", whose arrival on the Duel Terminal world was enough to severely disturb time and space.
Design
Visually, they resemble hideous alien creatures of a predominant single color, and often possess lipless toothy vertical mouths. However, they also incorporate biological features from real-world Worms, including transparent skin and external mucus.
Playing style
Worms are one of the largest archetypes (in terms of number of members), but they currently have only 2 non-monster support cards: "Worm Call" and "W Nebula Meteorite". "W Nebula Meteor" can provide you with excellent draw power as well as the ability to use and recycle the Worm's effects. It is also the easiest method to Special Summon "Worm Victory", "Worm King", and "Worm Queen" from your Deck.
"Worm Zero" potentially boasts the highest ATK of all "Worms" (with "Victory"), gaining 500 ATK for every Reptile Worm used for its fusion, and gains powerful effects determined by how many Fusion Materials were used.
"Queen", "Worm Cartaros", "Worm Xex" and "Worm Prince" have powerful Deck thinning and monster searching effects.
The Deck revolves around abusing the effects of "W Nebula Meteorite". Opening with with "Xex" or "Cartaros" along with this card can yield huge card advantage early on to make up for the Deck's relatively slow play. If you Summon "Worm Yagan" along with "Xex", you can activate "Nebula" on your opponent's turn, using "Yagan" to return one of their monsters to their hand. During the End Phase, you get to draw 1 card for each Reptile monster flipped face down by "Nebula" and can Special Summon a Level 7 or higher LIGHT Monster (notably "King", "Queen", or "Victory").
Trivia
The Reptile "Worm" monsters are likely based on the creatures of the same name from Kamen Rider Kabuto: a race of extraterrestrial beings that arrived on a meteorite. Both Worm species had a program designed to destroy them: "Ally of Justice" and ZECT.