WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?!? The REAL September 2013 Format

Take everything you know about Yugioh and throw it out the window! Yesterday, Konami revealed that not only are we getting a different ban list than the OCG, but we'll have a new list every four months. Let's look at our crazy list.

Update: I'VE BEEN HAD! The List That Isn't Ours

Hello, AverageDuelists! I'm finally back after taking some time off. I was playing (and doing pretty well) a few months ago with Chain Beat, but life has this nasty habit of getting in the way of Yugioh. A couple days ago, a list was posted with Giant Trunade replacing Heavy Storm, and a new rule where only 6 Dragon Ruler cards could be used per deck. The real list, however, is much better. In my opinion, this is looking to be the best format we've had in quite a while. The took care of pretty much every problem in the game right now. Let's have a look;

March 2013 or "How Konami Screwed the Players to Push Product"

It's been quite a while, but if there's anything that can get me back on the yugiwebs, it's ban list season. I'm sure you all know the list we'll be playing with for the next six months, and I'm sure a lot of you are just as unhappy about it as I am. The list doesn't affect my deck, but it affects me as a player. First, lets take a look at the changes.

Death of the Turbo Pack

Tournament-exclusive packs have always been a big part of Yugioh. At first, they were the only way to get exclusive cards like Mechanicalchaser and Morphing Jar. Later on, it was also a way to get great reprints. The latest iteration, the Turbo Pack, is the best way to foil out your deck with cards like Dark Hole and Book of Moon getting rarity bumps.

Konami Giveth and Konami Taketh Away

Warning: This article is going to be sloppy because I don't have a lot of time, but please enjoy :)

What can I say about ban list time that I haven't already said in another post? It's here, and as always, is making some major changes for the game. The biggest decks this format have been Dino Rabbit, Inzektors, Wind-Ups (early format), and Chaos Dragons. Amazingly, this list deals with all of these major decks, at least a little bit. Now, on to the list!

Upcoming Products

Working all the time makes it very hard to update. I have a long lunch today, so here's an update from my office :) Here's the upcoming Summer and Fall lineup.

June 26: Structure Deck: Samurai Warlords
This (along with the recent Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En reprint) is a great way for new duelists to make a tournament-ready deck without spending too much money. Current Samurai duelists will be interested in the super rare versions of Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki and Shien's Smoke Signal, along with the all-new Six Samurai Xyz monster, Shadow of the Six Samurai - Shien.


July 24: Hidden Aresenal 6: Omega Xyz
Not too much going on here, unless you like Vylons, Steelswarms, and Gem-Knights. Gusto and Lavalval duelists will have to wait until HA07 to get the really good stuff.

August 14: 2012 Collector's Tins Wave 1
Tins are always a great way to get packs and reprints of rare cards. This year is no exception, except we're also getting a peek at the next booster set. Evolzar Dolkka is one of the more expensive cards in the top tier Dino Rabbit deck, and Heroic Champion - Excalibur will be an Extra Deck staple for any deck using Lv4 Warriors.

August 28: Booster Set: Return of the Duelist

Rulebook Update: Fast Effects and "Priority"

As you probably all know by now, the OCG's priority ruling is now in effect for the TCG. Konami presents the change in this crazy graph.You may be thinking "this doesn't say anything about priority..." and you're right. It does explain what you as the turn player can and can't do following a Normal Summon (among other things), and activating a monster's Ignition Effect without giving your opponent a chance to respond isn't one of them.

2012 New Products

Sorry about the lack of updates and the shortness of this article. I've been very busy lately and that doesn't seem to be changing. Anyway, We've already talked about the new Battle Pack: Epic Dawn being released  May, but there's a ton of new products about to hit the market that are looking pretty amazing so far. Here's what we've got coming up.

First off, in just a few days, we've got the 2012 Premium Collector's Tin feature previously unreleased cards from all four tv series. Every tin comes with a secret rare Elemental HERO The Shining and Number 34: Terror Byte. This is pretty good news for anyone unable to obtain a Shining from the GX manga or any TCG player outside of North America.

Perhaps the biggest reason to buy these tins are the new cards, Void Ogre Dragon and Masked HERO Acid. Void Ogre Dragon is a Shi En for Infernity decks, and Acid is a great addition to the HERO arsenal and makes the "Bubbleman Beatdown" deck possible for the TCG. These are the cards I'm looking forward to most, alongside the DM-era Meteor B. Dragon, Fiend's Mirror, Beastly Mirror Ritual, and Firewing Pegasus.


April gives us a new Starter Deck, XYZ Symphony, and Battle Pack, as well as the new booster set, Galactic Overlord come out in May. The biggest news, however, was announced recently to much surprise. Structure Deck: Samurai Warlords comes out on June 26. It includes reprints of Great Shogun Shien, Musakani Magatama, Six Samurai United, Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan, Dark Hole and FIENDISH CHAIN! This is amazing for anyone who didn't get their Chains when they were $10 as opposed to the $60+ they are now.

Finally, there's Gold Series: Haunted Mine coming out on June 12. Instead of just regular old Gold rares, this set contains Ghost/Gold rares, which have the Gold Series shine, but with the 3D holographic picture of a Ghost rare. The size of the set increases to 55 cards this year as well. Here are the confirmed cards so far.

Ghost/Gold
Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
Herald of Perfection
Naturia Barkion
Mystical Space Typhoon
Solemn Judgment

Standard Gold
Fabled Grimro
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Starlight Road
Formula Synchron
Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X "Bureido"

Also Confirmed
Zombie monsters
Trap Monsters
Six Scorpion cards

A Look Toward the Ban List

Since we're only about a month and a half away from seeing a new format, I thought I'd type up a few ideas as to what we might see (or what I'd like to see, anyway).


Banned
We'll most likely lose one of the "Big 3". Dark Hole, Monster Reborn, and Heavy Storm are always good candidates for a ban, but with the game the way it is today, these cards may be necessary to keep duels moving. Heavy Storm stops the "Set 4, pass" of last format, Dark Hole is a looming presence over attempts to swarm for game, and Monster Reborn is the most generic form of revival we have.

With all the negation and OTK potential we have now, maybe these cards just aren't as broken as they used to be.

Limited

Rescue Rabbit: This card absolutely needs to go to 1. Rescue Cat went from 3 in 2008 to 2 to 1 until it was ultimately banned in Sept 2010. The card was an OTK machine, starting with the Gyaku-Gire Panda OTK when Last Will was legal up to the Dark Strike Fighter OTK. Even after Last Will and DSF were banned, Rescue Cat continued to enable OTKs in Cat Synchro and X-Saber decks.

Rescue Rabbit is not much different, aside from not being as splashable. One Rabbit gets you 2 1900ATK beaters that become a 2400ATK Solemn Judgment. Rabbit can be reused with Tour Guide from the Underworld, which brings me to my next point.

Tour Guide from the Underworld: This is a splashable 4-card engine that generates huge advantage and easily enables Chaos Monsters to be used anywhere. One Tour Guide lets you Special Summon Sangan from your deck, which nets you a card when it's sent to the Graveyard, or it's an instant Rank 3 Xyz.Take a look at the top decks from any YCS since the release of Generation Force, and you should have no trouble seeing why something needs to be done about this card. Limiting it might seem a but harsh, but with Tour Bus from the Underworld being released soon, you'll be able to recycle Tour Guide anyway.

Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 “Ninishi”: You might have stopped reading after that, but hear me out. Karakuri is a powerful deck that can generate massive amounts of advantage with this single card. Being able to Summon again, getting the effect of the summoned card (if any), and getting an easy Sycnhro is good, but what happens after a Karakuri Synchro is the crazy part which ends with them having several 2600+ATK beaters on the field while replenishing their hand. Ninishi is also searchable, so hitting this won't totally kill Karakuris.

Fishborg Blaster: Formula Synchron is at 1, so this card isn't as problematic as it was before. Even then, Fish OTK decks only popped up here and there.

Royal Oppression: There was really no reason to ban this card in the first place. With Heavy Storm and 3 Mystical Space Typhoon, it would be harder than ever to keep it on the field anyway.

Tsukuyomi: Many people have been wanting this card back for a long time. The supposed argument is that it's a continuous Book of Moon. If this were still a Monarch format where the game was slow enough to actually use Flip Effects, I might agree, but that's no longer the case.

Semi-Limited

Master Hyperion: Tour Guide being at 1 makes way for Agents to take over. Hyperion at 2 might not change much, but you know how Konami has to semi-limit boss monsters before limiting them.

Shien's Smoke Signal: Six Samurai took a huge loss this format with both Smoke Signal and Shi En going to 1. It's still a good deck, but they need a little something to push them back into competitiveness. Another Shi En would be too much, but giving them an extra bit of search power helps without breaking them.

Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner: This would help Lightsworns so much more than a thrid sacky boss monster.

Judgment Dragon: With the added consistency of a second Lumina, they would no longer need 3.

Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind: This gives Blackwings a nice shot at coming back, even more than an additional Kalut.

Mezuki: With Burial from the Different Dimension still at 1, this isn't overpowered, but is good enough to give Zombies a much needed boost.

Emergency Teleport: Without Mind Master, Psychics have lost their OTK. Bringing Teleport to 2 might help them out, but we would most likely see TeleDAD attempt a comeback, but the game has evolved so much since the addition of Synchros that it probably wouldn't even make tier 2.

Infernity Launcher: This could either give Infernity enough of a boost to hit tier 1 again, or overpower it.


So there it is. Leave some comments and let me know what you'd like to see next format.

Hawt Tech: Black Horn of Heaven

Finally, I'm back with something I was working with a couple weeks ago in my Six Samurai deck; a main decked Black Horn of Heaven. Let's take a look at that card, shall we?

Black Horn of Heaven

Counter Trap

Negate the Special Summon of 1 of your opponent's monsters, and destroy it.

Very simple, but very powerful. This card works a lot like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Steelswarm Roach as it won't negate a Special Summon that is the result of a Spell, Trap, or Monster Effect. What it does take care of is Synchro Summons, Xyz Summons, and boss monsters. 

Solemn Warning is a pretty amazing card because it can stop ANY summon, whether it's from a card effect or not. Black Horn of Heaven lets you save your Warning (and 2000 Life Points) for something like Gorz the Emissary of Darkness or a game-winning Monster Reborn. 

You might say that Bottomless Trap Hole is better since it can stop Normal Summons as well and banishes the monster, but with the TCG's priority ruling, that Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning or Master Hyperion can still get their effects off with Bottomless Trap Hole. Since Black Horn negates the summon entirely, that means your opponent won't be able to Special Summon that BLS, Synchro Monster, or Xyz Monster from the graveyard.

Quick Post: The Rise and Fall of Tour Guide from the Underworld

Finally, we get an official ruling on the Xyz Material Monster questions that have been driving players and judges crazy since the release of Xyz monsters; Do cards like Sangan and Reborn Tengu get their effects when they're detached from an Xyz Monster? The answer is officially no. The official Yugioh rulebook (link here) has been updated to include this ruling. If you'd like a more in-depth answer to why the price of your $200 card is plummeting, click here to read the full article on Konami's Strategy Site.

Deck Profile: Lucksworn

Lightsworns got a nice boost from the new ban list by unlimiting their ridiculously powerful boss monster, Judgment Dragon, semi-limiting Necro Gardna, and bringing BLS from 0 to 1. These cards don't make the deck any more consistent, like semi-limiting Lumina or Charge would, but they make the deck more explosive and luck based. The earlier you can summon JD/BLS, the sooner you'll win.

Yesterday, before locals, I threw together a quick Lightsworn deck for the September format, just to test some things out. Out of the 16 or so games I played, I won 13 of them, and most of the games ended with multiple Judgment Dragons and a Black Luster Soldier. The deck doesn't even include Tour Guide (due to it being $150+), so just imagine if that were in here.

• Celestia, Lightsworn Angel x2
• Wulf, Lightsworn Beast x2
• Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter x2
• Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress x2
• Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
• Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
• Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
• Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid
• Ehren, Lightsworn Monk

Lightsworn Monsters
These are (obviously) the main cards of the deck . They knock around your opponent until you can explode with your multiple 3000 ATK monsters. I'm not sure how I feel about the Wulfs. It's always bad when you draw them, but when they're milled, you get free 2100 ATK beaters. I'd replace them with Tour Guides if I could. The rest is the basic LS line up.

• Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
• Judgment Dragon x3

Boss Monsters
These are the cards that will end the game. Judgment Dragons are summoned for free, and you can summon as many as you want per turn. Just use your first one to blow up the field, and feel free to swarm.

• Effect Veiler x2
• Necro Gardna x2
• Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
• Tragoedia
• Honest
• Plaguespreader Zombie
• Glow-Up Bulb

Filler Monsters
Using so little traps and the explosiveness of the upcoming format makes Gorz pretty essential. Tragoedia is used for the same reason, to stop OTKs. Veiler is necessary to keep the opponent's Tour Guides and such from giving them too much advantage. As the best Graveyard-based Tuners, PSZ and Bulb fit in nicely and gives you access to Synchros like Trishula.

• Heavy Storm
• Dark Hole
• Monster Reborn
• Charge of the Light Brigade
• Book of Moon
• Pot of Avarice
• Gold Sarcophagus
• Solar Recharge x3
• Mystical Space Typhoon x3

Spell Cards
We have the basic staples, and the LS cards, Charge and Recharge. Avarice helps in the off chance that you mill all your Judgment Dragons and Beckoning Lights, or if you just need to draw something new. Gold Sarc is not only good for grabbing your big monsters, but also for setting up your OTK by grabbing Heavy Storm, or other cards that will help you. I feel there is no reason not to use 3 MST in decks based on swarming with huge monsters.

• Beckoning Light x2

Trap Cards
 This is the only trap you need. You can dump your unneeded cards, and grab your milled JDs or BLS.


This deck is very easy to use, as long as you open with a decent hand.

A Time for Chaos [Ban List September 2011]

When a new ban list is first revealed, it turns the Yugioh world into chaos, but this time that's a bit more literal. Take a look.

Newly Banned

• Fishborg Blaster

This card is pretty ridiculous, and used in the right deck, it makes OTKs. Some TCG players might not understand why Fishborg got hit so hard, but we don't have Shooting Quasar Dragon like the OCG does. It just sucks for those who pulled the Super Rare version from Turbo Pack 6.

• Mind Master

Another instant Shooting Quasar Dragon. This card was at 1 to deter OTKs, but with Quasar being so powerful, and all the new Psychic cards making it easily accessible,  this needed banned.

• Giant Trunade

You know what this means, right? Trunade is a very powerful Spell card that gets rid of your opponent's Spells and Traps for a turn so you can swarm safely. Since it doesn't destroy anything, the only way to stop it is to have something that negates any Spell card.

• Royal Oppression

Personally, with the way the rest of the list is, I feel this should have stayed at 1. Stun decks won't necessarily miss it since they still have 3 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, but other decks could use this after they've swarmed the field to prevent their opponent from doing the same.


Newly Limited

• Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning

"OMG WTF SHENANIGANS!!!!!" Is what the entire player base may have cried a few years ago, but we've seen even more powerful monsters come and go since this guy was the boss. The big threat here is that any deck with a few dark monsters and Ryko/Cydra/Veiler can splash this beast. Btw, Chaos Sorcerer is still at 3, so expect to see a lot of banishing going on.

• Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En

Everyone knows how frustrating it is when your opponent goes first and summons 2 of these guys. You have to waste so many resources to even stand a chance. Samurai players won't have much trouble adapting, as they can easily go into Naturia Beast or Barkion to back Shi En up.

• T.G. Hyper Librarian

Every deck based around this card is too powerful, so what does that tell you? It was much too easy to make 2 of these and multiple Formula Synchron for seemingly infinite pluses. It's still a great card at 1, but not so overpowered.

• Debris Dragon

Plants is one of the most troublesome decks in the OCG and TCG, and this card makes an instant Black Rose Dragon or Trishula. I think that's enough of a reason to limit it.

• Formula Synchron

With Fishborg and Mind Master banned, Librarian and a lot of Plant support at 1, isn't it a little harsh to limit this card? Absolutely not. As long as there are easily accessible level 1 Tuners, this card with be a problem.

• Lonefire Blossom

The heart of the Plant engine, this card needed to go to 1. Without the OCG priority ruling, there's nothing to stop this card, besides negating its summon.

• Heavy Storm

When this card was legal, everyone wanted it banned. When it was banned, everyone wanted it legal. The difference between this and Trunade is that you can stop this with cards like Starlight Road, the Stardust Dragon family, and Musakani Magatama. With this and Dark Hole being legal, Starlight Road may just become a staple.

• Primal Seed

Wait, what? What the hell does that card even do? Oh yeah! It lets you add the Effect Veiler you removed to summon BLS to your Hand. This is actually a smart move by Konami that I'm sure many players wouldn't have thought about.

• Shien's Smoke Signal

If RotA is at 1, this should be at 1 as well. Every Smoke Signal is an extra Kageki or Kagemusha that you can use to summon a 1st turn Shi En.

• Pot of Avarice

The final nail in Plants' coffin? This also hurts Piper Chaos, Fableds, and other decks that relied on recycling. It also makes Reborn Tengu a smaller threat than it was.


Newly Semi-Limited

• Summoner Monk

With Rescue Cat gone, this isn't the instant OTK it once was, but it's still a powerful card. It's a Level 8 Synchro for the cost of a Spell Card. I would definitely use this in Scraps. It's an instant Scrap Dragon, and gives access to Arcanite Magician.

• Tragoedia

Not much to say about this. It's easily summoned, can steal your opponent's monsters, and can be used to summon any level Synchro with the right cards in your grave. Gadgets will have fun with this at 2.

• Necro Gardna

Another reason to use Twilight (the deck, not the awful book/movie). This gives Lightsworn a small boost, but doesn't compare what some other cards on the list give them.

• Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier

There's a complicated OTK using this card. I'm not 100% sure if it's still viable with this list, but I bet that's why this is back to 2.

• Destiny Draw

Give D Heroes a chance! The Destiny Hero engine was what everyone splashed before Plants were cool. D Draw being at 1 killed it. Now with all the new HERO support and the crippling of the Plant engine, maybe we'll see these cards rise back to the top.

• Swords of Revealing Light

Konami sure likes to throw some curve balls at us. With the game currently being whoever wins the dice roll wins the game, maybe this is an attempt to slow it down a bit.

• Mind Crush

With so much searching in the game, this is a great side deck card.. There's really no reason it should have been at 1 anyway.

• Call of the Haunted

Remember what I said about curve balls? I have no idea what to even think about this. I guess putting a lot of important monsters and Avarice at 1, they figured a little extra recursion won't hurt.


Newly Unlimited

•  Judgment Dragon

Really guys? You took one of the sackiest decks and made it more sacky? Special Summon JD, blow everything up, Normal Summon, Special BLS, gg? This is another reason to main/side Starlight Road.

• Spirit Reaper

Whatever happened to "This game should be about monsters destroying other monsters"? Something along those lines was said when Reaper went to 1. Not a big deal, but things could get really annoying really fast.

• Overload Fusion

Heavy Storm, Future Fusion, Overload, gg? Effect Veiler/Battle Fader/Starlight Road/Stardust all exist, so this isn't as likely as it was way back when.

• Mystical Space Typhoon

Heavy Storm AND 3 MSTs? What kind of sorcery is this!? The kind that hates you setting 4 backrow on your first turn.

• Megamorph

Nobody cares. It wasn't used at 2 anyway.

• Gravity Bind

Oh, Gravity Bind, ok.......WHAT???? I remember a time when all stall cards were getting limited because the game was too slow. Now, we're getting 2 Swords, 3 Reapers, and 3 Binds. I guess that explains the 3 MSTs.

• Icarus Attack

It's about time Blackwings get something back after losing so much to the last few lists. Yet another reason to main/side Starlight Road ;)

So that's it! If we follow the pattern Konami has set, this will be our list, plus Trishula at 1 to match the OCG. There is, however, a chance we'll get our own list, seeing how the TCG and OCG have different rulings on Ignition Effects and Xyz Material Monsters. The only way to know for sure is to wait for Konami of America to post the official TCG list on yugioh-card.com. Feel free to share your thoughts below.

Generation Force Sneak Peek: What to Look For

 With the GENF SP just 2 days away,  most players already know what the chase cards are and will be trying to rip everyone off for them. The bulk of this new set doesn't really interest me, but we're going to take a look at the cards that do catch my eye. Feel free to leave comments and tell me which cards you're looking forward to most.

The Wind-Up Archtype
This archtype has a Black Whirlwind that you can run in 3's, and the monsters have varied effects that can either help you, or hurt your opponent. These cards may get overlooked, so pick them up while you can. The aforementioned "Black Whirlwind" card, Wind-Up Factory, is a Super Rare, and that will probably be the highest rarity these cards will reach, except for their boss monster, Wind-Up Zenmaister.

Blue-Blooded Oni (Super Rare)

With the few Zombie support cards in this set, I can see some players trying to bring the deck back to the top tiers. This card will most likely go for around $4, but if Zombies do take off, it could reach around $7-$10.

  

Pain Painter (Secret Rare)

This is what makes Zombies interesting again. If you don't believe they'll make it back near the top, trade this immediately while the hype is up. 

Orient Dragon (Secret Rare)

As a Plant player, this is the card that interests me the most. Currently, the only level 6 Dragon-type Synchro we have is Iron Chain Dragon, and it's milling effect is terrible against decks that revolve around the Graveyard like so many of today's decks do. With most (all) Plant decks using Debris Dragon and either Ryko or Doppelwarrior, this is a 1-card out to cards like Shi En, Stardust Dragon, Shooting Star Dragon, and every other Synchro monster that doesn't negate effects (looking at you, Shooting Quasar). Expect this to reach near Tour Guide prices.

Smashing Horn (Secret Rare)

This card can turn the game around. Don't you hate when you make a big play just to have your opponent use Solemn Warning? This card turns that Warning into a waste of 2000 Life Points. Not only that, but this card can also destroy cards like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Steelswarm Roach when they try to negate your monster summons.

HERO Support 

The Masked HERO and Vision HERO cards finally make their way to the TCG, and they are bound to be sought after by all the HERO players out there. Vision HERO Adoration has the highest rarity at Secret Rare, so watch out for those, and the Ultra Rare Elemental HERO Nova Master.

Steelswarm Roach (Secret Rare)

This is another huge card from this set. It can be used in almost any deck, and can negate 2 of your opponent's Special Summons. This is already looking to be even more expensive than Orient Dragon, so this is definitely the card to look for.

Legendary Collection 2 Promo Pack

A few days ago, I posted the contents of LC2's Promo Pack, but I didn't have much time to get very into it, so today I'm going to review the 10 Ultra Rare cards.

First, we're getting the Darklord cards that were previously only available as YCS prize cards. These monsters have some pretty good effects, and when used with all the Fairy support, they can hit the field fast and hard. It's nice to finally get a reprint of these, and the GX manga promo, Darklord Desire is also in LC2 so everyone can have a complete set of Darklords.

Cyber Larva

LIGHT/1/Machine/Effect

When this face-up card on the field is selected as an attack target, any Battle Damage you take during this turn becomes 0. When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 "Cyber Larva" from your Deck.

ATK/400 DEF/600

The only possible use I see for this card is in some kind of Cyber Eltanin OTK since this helps get Light Machines to your Graveyard while also stalling your opponent.

Lion Alligator

WATER/4/Reptile/Effect

While you control another Reptile-Type monster, during battle between an attacking Reptile-Type monster you control and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of the Reptile-Type monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.

ATK/1900 DEF/200

Spawn Alligator

WATER/5/Reptile/Effect

When you Tribute a Reptile-Type monster(s) to Tribute Summon this monster, Special Summon 1 monster that was Tributed for this monster from your Graveyard during the End Phase of the turn this card was Tribute Summoned.

ATK/2200 DEF/1000

Here we have a mini archtype of Reptile Monsters. Lion Alligator a decent sized beater that gives all Reptiles a Piercing effect, and Spawn Alligator is basically a free 2200 beater if you tribute a Reptile to summon it. There aren't many reptile decks out there, unless you count Worms, and they already have their beater in Worm King.

Elemental HERO Great Tornado

WIND/8/Warrior/Fusion/Effect

1 "Elemental HERO" monster + 1 WIND monster
This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. When this card is Fusion Summoned, halve the ATK and DEF of all face-up monsters your opponent controls.

ATK/2800 DEF/2200

Now we're getting to the better stuff. This is another option for the E HERO decks to fuse into. The card itself is a better than Gaia, and it's an excellent way to get rid of the opponent's Stardust Dragon or Shooting Star Dragon with Super Polymerization.

Parallel World Fusion

Normal Spell Card

Return your removed from play monsters that are listed as Fusion Material Monsters of an "Elemental HERO" Fusion Monster to the Deck and Special Summon that monster from your Extra Deck. (This is treated as a Fusion Summon). You cannot Special Summon other monsters this turn.

This is a great (and long awaited) addition to the HERO deck's arsenal. If you Miracle Fusion into an E HERO monster, you can use this card to bring out another Fusion Monster using the same material you just removed. This is great, unless you planned on retrieving those monsters using Elemental HERO The Shining's effect.

Dragonic Tactics

Normal Spell Card

Tribute 2 Dragon-Type monsters. Special Summon 1 Level 8 Dragon-Type monster from your Deck.

This card could see some use in Dragon builds using Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, but other than that, it's pretty usesless. Too bad the cost is 2 Dragons, or this could be useful in other decks to easily summon Light and Darkness Dragon.

Coat of Justice

Continuous Spell Card

If you control a face-up Level 1 Fairy-Type Monster, you can Special Summon 1 Fairy-Type monster from your hand. This effect can only be used once per turn.

Unless you want to use a card like Arcana Force 0 - The Fool or Hanewata, this card is pretty useless, although I'm sure you could make an interesting Fairy build with The Fool, Coat of Justice, Valhalla, and some strong Fairy-type Monsters.

Limit Over Accel Synchro!

Yusei's biggest and best version of Stardust Dragon is finally making its way to the TCG. It was just confirmed as an upcoming Shonen Jump magazine promo, so I hope you're ready for it. If you thought Shooting Star Dragon was hard to deal with, you're going to have an awful time against Shooting Quasar Dragon.

JUMP-EN05? Shooting Quasar Dragon

12/LIGHT/Dragon/Synchro/Effect

1 Tuner Synchro Monster + 2 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters
This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Synchro Summon. This card can attack a number of times during the Battle Phase equal to the number of non-Tuner monsters used as Synchro Material Monsters. Once per turn, you can negate the activation of a Spell, Trap or Effect Monster's effect and destroy it. When this card is removed from the field, you can Special Summon 1 "Shooting Star Dragon" from your Extra Deck.

ATK/4000 DEF/4000

At fist glance, this may seem pretty hard to summon, but it actually fits in nicely with the cards we're already using in the top decks. Many players can easily summon two level 5 Synchro Monsters on their first turn simply by playing Reborn Tengu and Special Summoning Glow-Up Bulb with One for One. The ideal set up would be to discard Dandylion to activate One for One, giving you two level 1 Tokens, then using Monster Reborn to bring your Glow-Up Bulb back to the field and Synchro Summon Formula Synchron. Not only does this enable you to summon Shooting Quasar Dragon, but you will have also drawn up to four extra cards if the level 5 monsters you summoned were T.G. Hyper Librarian.

Unless your opponent can negate the summon of Quasar, they're in big trouble. Since your opponent will most likely not be killing this thing by battle, they'll have to use 2 card effects to get rid of it since Quasar will just negate the first one. If they are able to get rid of it, they'll have a Shooting Star Dragon to deal with, and since Shooting Star can negate effects that would destroy a card, they'll have to waste even more resources to take it out.

2011 1st Wave Tins Update!

We now know another card that will be included in the already amazing Collector's Tins this year..

That's right, Kristya! I so called this when it wasn't in the structure deck. (It's true, read my earlier post about the tins) Let's take a minute to review what a crazy beast this card is.

Archlord Kristya

LIGHT/8/Fairy/Effect

If you have exactly 4 Fairy-Type monsters in your Graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. When you do, add 1 Fairy-Type monster from your Graveyard to your hand. Neither player can Special Summon monsters. If this face-up card would be sent from the field to the Graveyard, it returns to the top of the owner's Deck, instead.
ATK/2800 DEF/2300


Ridiculous. Just by having 4 Fairy monsters in your Graveyard, you can Special Summon this massive monster for free, and instead of being sent to the Graveyard, it returns to the top of the deck to be used again. You also get to grab a Fairy from the Graveyard and add it to your hand. That means recycling Hyperion/Earth/Honest/Whatever to use again.


It's very easy to summon, especially with cards like Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen, which lets you Special Summon a Fairy from your hand if you control no monsters. The best part, however, is that once it's on the field, neither player can Special Summon, and there's no way your opponent will be able to attack over this thing with a Normal Summoned monster. That means they're going to have to waste resources, and most likely Kristya will just return to the deck to be used again.

These new tins will mean that anyone can have all the cards needed to build one of the most competitive decks in the TCG right now, Agents. The only expensive card left is Solemn Warning, which may just be in wave 2.

The Gates of Hell Are About to Open

The release of the Dark World structure deck, Gates of the Underworld, is upon us. On October 18th, there will be another top tier deck roaming around, and a lot of duelists are going to be on the bandwagon.

In case you don't follow the OCG releases, let's take a look at the new DW cards being released. These are the OCG card names and effects, since we don't yet know the English texts.

Grapha, Dragon God of Dark World
DARK/8/Fiend/Effect
You can return 1 face-up "Dark World" monster you control to the hand, except "Grapha, Dragon God of the Dark World", to Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. If this card is discarded from the hand to the Graveyard by a card effect, select 1 card your opponent controls and destroy it. If this card was discarded by an opponent's card effect, look at 1 random card in your opponent's hand also. If that card is a Monster Card, you can Special Summon it to your side of the field.
ATK/2700 DEF/1800

An amazing boss monster! First, if it's discarded by your own effect, you can destroy any card your opponent controls. If it was discarded by your opponent, you also have a chance at stealing a monster from their hand. That's not all it does, though, as this card is very easy to summon. All you need to do is bounce a Dark World monster to your hand, and you can summon this card from your Graveyard. You then have a free 2700 beater, and another chance to discard the DW monster you bounced.

Snow, Magician of Dark World
DARK/4/Fiend/Effect
If this card is discarded by a card effect: add 1 "Dark World" card from your Deck to your hand. If this card is discarded by an opponent's card effect: you can also select 1 monster in your opponent's Graveyard; Special Summon it to your side of the field in face-up Defense Position.
ATK/1700 DEF/0

Dark World's amazing recruiter. This guy can grab ANY DW card from the deck. If you have a hand full of monsters, you can grab the DW Dealings you need to discard them, or grab the DW monster you need to discard, but mostly this card is used to grab the DW Field Spell that we'll look at soon. Also, if it was discarded by your opponent, you can steal a monster from their Graveyard.

Celri, Monk of Dark World

DARK/ 1/Fiend/Effect

If this card is discarded by a card effect, Special Summon this card to your opponent's side of the field in face-up Defense Position. When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Dark World" card, your opponent selects 1 card in their hand and discards it.
ATK/100 DEF/300

A neat little monster that can net you a free DW monster with effects. It can be pretty useful, but I don't see it making a huge impact in the big tournaments.

 

Gate of the Dark World

Field Spell Card

Face-up Fiend-Type monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF. Once per turn: You can banish 1 Fiend-Type monster from your Graveyard; discard 1 Fiend-Type monster, then draw 1 card.

 The mighty Field Spell that, along with Grapha and Snow, rockets Dark Worlds to top tier. The most insignificant thing this Field Spell does is raise the ATK of all Fiends by 300. That makes Goldd and Sillva big enough to get over Monarchs, Stardust, and many other cards, and bring Grapha to 3000. The best part about this card is that you can discard 1 card and draw 1 card. That means can basically Special Summon a Goldd/Sillva from your hand and replace it with a new card just by banishing a Fiend from your Graveyard.

Strategy of the Dark
Trap Card
Each player selects 2 cards in their hand and discards them, then draws 2 cards. Your opponent can negate this effect by discarding 1 card.

This card may look nice, but it isn't necessary.. If anything, this may help your opponent by letting them discard Dandylion, Glow-Up Bulb, Spore, Treeborn Frog, or Fishborg Blaster. If your opponent is also playing Dark World, this card helps them more than you.

If the entire deck makes the transition from OCG to TCG, we'll also be getting some nice reprints, some of which we may not see since they were recently reprinted elsewhere.

Tragoedia
Battle Fader
Dark World Dealings
Allure of Darkness
Deck Devastation Virus
Eradicator Epidemic Virus
Dark Bribe

A New Generation of TCG Exclusives

Next month, we get a new booster set to introduce us to the ZEXAL era of Yugioh. As always, aside from the 80-card core set, we're getting 11 TCG exclusives, and today we're going to take a look at the 4 confirmed exclusives.

GENF-EN000 Xyz Veil

Continuous Trap Card

Face up Xyz Monsters with Xyz Material cannot be targeted by card effects.

If you decide to build a deck around Xyz Monsters, this is a nice way to protect them from cards like Brionac, Caius, Scrap Dragon, and Chaos Sorcerer. Unless Xyz Monsters are part of your win condition, you should pass on this card.

GENF-EN084 Pain Painter

DARK/2/Zombie/Tuner

While this card is face-up on the field, its name is treated as "Plaguespreader Zombie". Once per turn: You can target up to 2 face-up Zombie-Type monsters you control, except this card; they become Level 2 until the End Phase. They cannot be used as Synchro Material Monsters except for the Synchro Summon of a Zombie-Type monster.
ATK/400 DEF/200

This would have been a great card a few formats ago when Zombies were dominant. Really, the only thing this card does is, while you have 2 more Zombies on the field, make an instant Doomkaiser Dragon, Revived King Ha Des, or Archfiend Zombie-Skull. All of which are sub par at the moment, except maybe Ha Des.

 

GENF-EN085 Orient Dragon

Wind/6/Dragon/Synchro
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: Target 1 face-up Synchro Monster your opponent controls; banish that target.

This is a much needed addition to Plant Synchro, and a welcome addition to the Synchro family. Since Goyo Guardian was banned, there has been an empty slot for a level 6 Synchro. Currently, most deck only have Brionac and Gaia Knight. As I said before, Plant Synchro gets the biggest boost from this card because their main Tuner, Debris Dragon, can only be used to summon Dragon type Synchros, and the only level 6 Dragon we currently have is Iron Chain Dragon.

GENF-EN086 Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon

DARK/5/Fiend/Xyz/Effect

2 Level 5 monsters
Once per turn: You can detach a Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up card your opponent controls; destroy it.
ATK/2600 DEF/1700

For the trouble of keeping 2 one tribute monsters on the field, you get to destroy 1 face up card per turn. This is easier to accomplish with some of the Normal Monster support we already, and some new level 5 support.