There's something uniquely satisfying about summoning a monster your opponent just can't deal with in Yu-Gi-Oh!: A monster that can't be destroyed, banished, returned to the hand, or any of the many other forms of removal the game has. These monsters are by and large "unaffected" by other card effects and are colloquially known as "towers." While not completely invincible, they fit perfectly into the power fantasy many of us experienced when watching the anime or playing by our own rules as kids. Here are my personal top 5 unaffected monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! in no particular order.

Blackwing Full Armor Master

One of the original unaffected monsters of the 5D's era, Blackwing Full Armor Master stands out as a 3000 ATK/DEF tower unaffected by other cards. Only requiring 1 Blackwing tuner + 1+ non-tuner monsters, Armor Master has always been super easy to summon in the Blackwing deck using cards like Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind. Armor Master has the effect of placing "wedge counters" on your opponent's monsters when their effects resolve. On your turn, you can target a monster with a wedge counter to take control of it. You can even destroy all monsters with wedge counters during your end phase if you choose. In this way, Armor Master is more than just a big wall to get over, it's a real threat. Obviously, the way to beat it is to just get a monster with more than 3000 ATK and swing over it, but sometimes it's easier said than done.

Lunalight Liger Dancer

Lunalights saw their return to competitive viability with the release of Duelist's Advance back in July 2025 and what better way to usher the return of these Fusion felines than to give them a new boss monster in Lunalight Liger Dancer. Liger Dancer is unaffected by other card effects except Lunalight cards. This means that on top of a 3800 ATK power that can attack twice per battle phase, you can even boost its ATK power further by your other cards in the Lunalight strategy making it a seriously fearsome monster. Liger Dancer also has the ability to (quick effect) destroy all your opponent's special summoned monsters by sending a Lunalight monster from your extra deck to the GY. That means whenever your opponent starts to make a threatening move, you can react early or take out whatever they summon that is strong enough to beat over it. A popular strategy for Lunalight players is to summon Lunalight Liger Dancer alongside Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir to lock your opponent out of monster effects while Liger Dancer is free to run around unhindered.

The Arrival Cyberse @Ignister

In the age of Link-Summoning and long combos comes a monster strong enough to rival the power of the Egyptian god cards of old, The Arrival Cyberse @Ignister. Known for being the first Link-6 monster, Arrival @Ignister is unaffected by other cards' effects. Its original ATK becomes 1000x the number of Link materials used for its Link summon. Since you need 3+ monsters with different attributes, it can usually have between 4000 - 6000 ATK. Nothing too crazy here. This is just a good towers monster that can target and destroy 1 monster on the field, then summon a token to a zone it points to. The drawback is that it's not easy to summon, usually needing a lengthy combo facilitated by the many moving pieces of the @Ignister strategy including Dark Infant @Ignister and Dark Templar @Ignister. But once you have it on your field, you can rest easy knowing there are only a few cards that can beat it.

Expurrely Noir

Out of all the monsters on this list, Expurrely Noir is probably the one haunting the nightmares of most people. What makes this big kitty so frightening is its relative ease to set up, usually through Epurrely Noir or Purrelyeap!? after summoning your level 1 starters and activating some quick-play spells. Expurrely Noir has the effect that it is unaffected by your opponent's activated effects while it has 5 or more material. Also, it gets the quick effect to detach 2 materials from itself to target 1 card your opponent controls and place it at the bottom of their deck as long as it has a level 1 Purrely monster as material. Since this effect isn't restricted to being used once per turn, it's easy to fend off multiple attempts to out it. But if you're ever able to win the grind game, you may be able to take it down. Nevertheless, making a literal stack of cards underneath it as XYZ material, Expurrely Noir definitely lives up to the "tower" namesake.

Disaster, Dragon Ruler of All Apocalypse

Dragon Rulers are a fan-favorite archetype which received support in Alliance Insight that solidifies the deck as a formidable strategy. With the new cards came the necessary consistency pieces to get all the different attribute dragons into rotation as well as the new XYZ Disaster, Dragon Ruler of All Apocalypse as the final payoff. Disaster needs 2 Rank 7 monsters to make it: a unique summoning requirement but fitting for the theme. If you're able to set it up using the other two new XYZ monsters Chasma, Dragon Ruler of Auroras and Eclipse, Dragon Ruler of Catastrophes, you'll be ready for the grand finale. On summon, Disaster can attach itself with 4 level 7 Dragon Ruler monsters then banish all cards on your opponent's field and GY. Also, while it has all attributes (besides Divine) under it as material, it gains 4600 ATK/DEF and becomes unaffected by other cards effects. It's the perfect killing blow to finish off an opponent. Unless, of course, they're using Maliss.

These are just a handful of the monsters unaffected by other card effects. How does your deck deal with them? Do you tribute them with a Kaiju or Lava Golem? Or perhaps use it as material for Underworld Goddess of the Closed World. Whatever your method is, it's best to be prepared for them just in case.

Thanks for reading.