Yuginews collected - Thanksgiving edition

Last Night, Kevin Tewart posted an article on the Konami Blog of Yugioh. It was an article about the stuff they released in the past few months and the stuff they plan to release in the upcoming three months (December-February). You can read it Over here.

I've read through this and noticed the following snippets of news:

• Konami will release more Deluxe Editions. Tewart mentioned they were quite pleased with the Deluxe Edition of JOTL. They're going to rotate Special Editions out of the roster and bring in more of these Deluxe Editions instead. Prime reason is that they can experiment more with what they can put in there, where as they're quite limited in their options with a Special Edition.
• Shadow Specters SE may be the last of the Special Editions we see in quite a while. The SE promo's are Stardust Dragon and Tuning (a reprint that's quite overdue if you ask me). For those participating in the Quasar waiting/drinking game, take a shot.
• Starter Decks Yugi & Kaiba: As predicted, long time players will have no use for these since they're STARTER decks. Stop complainig already. These products are aimed at new players. It's a good way for them to obtain good generic cards like Book of Moon, Call of the Haunted, Dark Hole, Enemy Controller, etc. Each of the Starter Decks will have an Ultimate Rare Key monster (Dark Magician & Blue-Eyes White Dragon).

First revelations of Legacy of the Valiant

But people are the most interested (obviously) in the first revelations of the next TCG booster set, Legacy of the Valiant. It's the first booster of 2014. These bits of information were released:

• Gravekeeper's will have 7 new cards. Yes, 7. The six from the OCG set and 1 TCG WP card(!). And for your info, Saniwa is translated to Oracle; Shrine of Necrovalley will be Hidden Temple of Necrovalley and Royal Tombs will be Imperial Tombs.
• Shinra archetype is renamed Sylvan. I guess that works. Also, their effects will introduce a new gaming term to the card game, named "Excavate". But no telling yet if they talk about the "reveal the top card", "send to the graveyard", or "return to the bottom of the deck" part of the effect. But we'll see another blog post about those effects somewhere in December or January.
• More Noble Knight support. You remember that last unknown Noble Knight picture on the Showcase page, right? That's Noble Knight Perceval/Peredur. Why do I know this? Because Borz and Gallahad are in the background. Those three were the Knights of the Round Table that went on their quest for the Holy Grail.
• Legacy gets the next Deluxe Edition. Release date: somewhere in the beginning of March (I guess around the 7th?).

New Forbidden and Limited List in a few weeks

The last bit of information Tewart shared with us was that the new F&L list will be posted online in a few weeks. What?

Yeah, we've been so used to the fact that February is the usual banlist speculation month, that we almost forgot this is now shifted to December. And ever since the OCG and TCG list split up, there are no more early leaks. Guess we'll have to wait for the blog to update, huh.

I can make up a wishlist for the next list, but we all know what's going to happen, right? They're going to hire some good Dragon Slayers and butcher the best deck of the moment, obviously.

YCS Atlanta Top 16 will switch to Booster Draft

Yesterday, another fun bit of news was shared. In order to promote their new Battle Pack 2 Round 2, Konami decided to switch the top 16 of YCS Atlanta into a booster draft final. That's fun!

Yeah, I like the idea, personally. It's generally known that Sealed and Draft formats bring out the best in the duelists and that only good players will win (and lucksackers obviously). Not to mention, I've always been a fan of Draft/Sealed plays.

Though I understand the frustrations of not being able to see the top decks of the new January Format face off against each other, but at the time the Top 16 starts, you should already know that, right?

Top ranked Cossy duelists get a token

Remember Cossy ranking? Yeah, in the tcg it's hardly being used. But once every so often, the top ranked duelists get a special price for being top ranked. In the past, this was often a special playmat. This time around, it's a special token card.

Well, that's it for now. V out.

PS: on a side-note: If you didn't already do it, don't forget to buy your copy of the latest 5D's manga with Stardust Spark Dragon. Don't forget, only the first print comes with this great card.

YCS Toronto Analysis Pt. 2 - New cards in play

YCS Toronto was the first big event of the new format. Safe Bujins (which did nothing at the event), there was not a single "new" deck to be seen at this big event. But while there were no new decks, new cards were being used from both Number Hunters and Judgment of the Light. Some players might not have seen these cards in play yet, so let me point out their uses, one by one!

Number Hunters

Mechquipped Angineer: This fairy XYZ is seeing play in both Mermails and Agent-style decks, but can also be used in Karakuri & Wind-up decks. In the last two mentioned decks, it focuses on battle position manipulation (and plussing because of that). In Agents it can be used (with two Venuses) to keep a boss monster alive (and it's the first Rank 3 fairy, which helps the Agent deck in general).

In mermails, however, it is used to keep Bahamut Shark alive. This combo is basically: Use 2 Lv. 4 monsters to summon Bahamut Shark. Detach 1 to special summon Abysstrite (in defense, obviously); then use 2 Lv. 3's to make Angineer. During your opponent's turn, ensure you detach one material from Angineer to keep Shark alive. Next turn, you can detach the other material to summon another Abysstrite. And Trite is both a wall and allows you to summon another Mermail from the grave when she's gone (a control combo).

Number 74: Master of Blades: Hyped due to it being a cheap rank 7; but it's also considered "less good" than Big Eye and Dracosack (it misses timing). But even with the (dis)hype, it saw a solid place in the extra deck of nearly every Dragon Ruler player, just in case.

"Seek & Destroy? I say NO!"

Judgment of the Light - Effect Monsters

Archfiend Heiress: Used in Infernity decks: Searches out Palabyrinth and Infernity Archfiend. Consistency++!

World of Prophecy: The new boss monster of Prophecy decks: Upon its summon, it recycles 2 Spellbook cards and it can then optionally nuke the field (but no, this effect does NOT bypass Stardust Dragon).

Fencing Fire Ferret: Played in Dragon Rulers. Serves as a Ryko replacement. It destroys a card and deals burn damage. It's also a fire Attribute, which gives it a use in the grave (banish to summon Blaster).

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Rooster & Coach Soldier Wolfbark: Two of the key cards in current Fire Fist decks. Almost forgot to mention these two (lol). I did notice that Wolfbark is a more popular choice than Chick... Rooster.

The new mascot for the Fire Ferrets!

Judgment of the Light - Extra Deck Monsters

Mist Bird Clausolas: With the great number of Scapegoats running around, and with the easy combo of Effect Veiler + a Lv. 2 monster, this card is a very much welcomed addition to the extra deck. Its effect isn't half bad either.

Armades, Keeper of Boundaries: It’s a Lv. 5 synchro that can move between your opponent’s spells & traps. Sees more play than I initially thought it would.

HTS Psyhemuth: Saw play in Blackwings. It’s a D.D. Warrior lady on steroids and the best Lv. 6 synchro out there (as long as Vulcan the Divine isn't shipped yet).

Star Eater: Easy to summon it with synchro decks; hard to get rid of without the right cards.

Number 66: Master Key Beetle: The single most useful card of JOTL. It was seen in a large number of decks as a key protector.

Herald of Pure Light: Mainly used in both Prophecy decks and Agent-style decks. It's a perfect recycle-card for monsters. It helps dead cards to return to the deck and returns a monster from the grave to the hand.

Angel of Zera: A lv. 8 synchro that’s hard to get rid of (permanently), but has mixed results with the people playing it (Crimson Blader & Stardust Dragon are more preferred Lv. 8 synchro’s).

"I am keymaster of Gozer. Are you the gatekeeper?"

Judgment of the Light - Spells and traps

Transmodify: Thé hyped card of Judgment of the Light after the September F&L list was published. It works in Agent/Herald decks and it works in Infernities. Both people that topped with the Herald and Infernity deck had 3 of these (so yes, it works wonders).

Archfiend Palabyrinth: Used in Infernity Decks. Banish Heiress to get Infernity Necromancer; banish Stygian Street Patrol to get Infernity Archfiend and search a card (if your hand is empty). Like Heiress, it helps the consistency of the deck.

XYZ Encore: After the event, this is one of the card that became (over)hyped. Why? because nearly everybody in the top 32 played it in their side. And they all answered the question "why?" with the same answer: "To get rid of Evilswarm Ophion" (or Evilswarm in general). It's quick-play and your opponent cannot negate its effect (like how Super Polymerization works). I think Evilswarm players will now play Rank 3 XYZ as well, just in case (lol).

This TCG exclusive is good!
We want more! We want more!

Yu-Gi-Oh, the animal farm

Another slow news week. Not that much stuff happens during the summer. It's that slow, we're actually waiting for each TCG World Premiere card of Judgment of the Light to reveal itself and for people opening packs too soon to see what rarity each card has. And somehow, this set is turning into a toddler's animal sound book.

Learning animal sounds with Yu-Gi-Oh!

On the left we have a little chick. Little chicks go Cheep cheep cheep.

On the right we have a rooster. Roosters go Cockadoodledoo.

And to make it even more silly, those are exactly the names of these cards. The only thing missing is a Lv. 9 Winged Beast synchro named Cluckcluck.

No wait, for real?

The two cards actually work well together (who would've guessed?). As noticed in my "cards to look forward to" post of Judgment of the Light, I did pick out Piyokoko (or Cheepcheepcheep as it is now named in TCG) as an interesting card. Hatching this chick from its egg, er I mean flip summoning this card, allows you to special summon a Lv. 5 or higher tuner monster from your deck. And guess what? The rooster Cockadoodledoo is a Lv. 5 tuner.

And it works the opposite way around, since you can special summon the rooster if you don't control monster. If neither player has a monster, it becomes a LV. 3 tuner; if your opponent has one or more monsters it becomes lv. 4.

So together, these two cards allow for synchro-ing monsters between lv. 7 and Lv. 9 (well, if there actually was a Lv. 9 synchro that only required 1 non-tuner that's wind in the tcg...).

And other than this little animal farm?

Well, today all rarities of all cards have been confirmed. World of Prophecy is a secret (somewhat expected); so is Rooster, Angel of Zera, Star Eater (horrible name), Armades, Wolfbark, Transmodify and Drystan (basically all the good cards). I'm glad they didn't touch Trick Archfiend (or Archfiend Heiress as they call her now).

The ten OCG promo's have been confirmed and are quite random. I didn't make my prediction list, because there were just too many possibilities this time... and more than half of mine were totally off. No synchro's? No Chronomaly or Gimmick Puppet support? No Light monsters? Not even Vivit Knight? Even the random commons seem off (I would've expected Phantom Lord Hide Ride and Junk Collector).

The ten TCG World Premiere cards are now also confirmed. There are a few interesting cards in here (like the previous mentioned rooster, Tour Bus to forbidden Realms or Confronting the "C"), but the most interesting card is definitely Angel of Zera. This new re-imagining of Archlord Zerato is a perfect fit for Macro decks and can be incredibly hard to get rid of permanently.

"Wait, I'm allowed to be named Angel? Cool!"

Well, that's it for now. This weekend is sneak-peeking time. Let's see if we get lucky, or if we go home with an animal farm. V out.

Cards to look forward to in Judgment of the Light Pt. 3 – Spells and traps

Spells

Rank-up Magic – Numeron Force: Similar card to Barian’s Force, but this card doesn’t steal XYZ materials. This card negates the effect of all other cards on the field (at the time of summon). So which Rank-up Magic will you pick (if you will ever use one)?

Ancient Battlefield of the Different Dimension - Sargasso: A long name for a field spell. (TCG might rename this to “D.D. Battlefield - Sargasso” or so). This is a nice side-deck card for burn decks, aimed to counter decks with XYZ monsters. When a player XYZ summons, he takes 500 damage; during each end phase if the turn player controls an xyz, he takes 500 damage.

Vertical Landing: A quick-play spell card that replaces WIND attribute monsters (any number) with Lv. 3 Phantom Beast Plane Tokens. Though it’s original use is intent for PBP’s, since it’s not restricted to the archetype, other WIND-archetypes can use it just as well (harpies, Mist Valley, Gusto, Dragunities(!), etc). This card is perfect to avoid your opponent’s traps (D-Prison, Mirror Force) or to aim for the desired synchro monster.

Transturn: I couldn't miss out on this one; it’s the most hyped card of the set. Send 1 monster you control to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 monster from your Deck with the same Attribute and Type as the sent monster, but 1 Level higher. There are many decks that can abuse this card: Blackwings, Karakuri, Infernity, Six Sams, Agents and Inzektors are just a few.

Traps:

Sin Key Law: This trap summons 3 Umbral tokens while you control an XYZ monster. The tokens gain attack equal to the attack of the XYZ monster. Granted, they cannot attack directly and they cannot be tributed for Virus cards (aaaawh), but having a few free powerhouses on your field can never hurt. Just use this card after your HC Excalibur has 4000 attack to have three enormous tokens on the field (yes, it's attack, not original attack).

Fascinating Trap Hole: This card's artwork shows what the Fascinating fiends really are (eew). When a monster special summoned on your opponent’s side of the field activates an effect (Abyssmegalo, High Priestess, any XYZ or Synchro monster), negate the effect and destroy it. No cost (unlike divine wrath), but unlike Divine Wrath, this card is no counter trap and it’s kind of situational. It’s up to you to choose the best trap in your deck.

Afterword

As expected, this set is kind of a let-down. Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy is an amazing set, so the follow-up was expected to be kind of a let-down. Konami defended itself by releasing some very good synchro monsters; but safe those synchro's there's hardly any card in here worth getting (Transturn & that 1 XYZ). The Fascinating fiends are interesting; The War Gods may be interesting, but (like Wind-up's a while ago) it will take a few sets before they're really good.

The OCG prices of this set after a week already confirmed this, making Flying "C" the most wanted card from the set (and only 20$), and it's a common card (normal rare = 1 per box).

Up to the question: Is this set worth investing in? The answer is obviously... NO. Get the few single cards you really want; for the rest you can ignore it.

Cards to look forward to in Judgment of the Light Pt. 2 – Extra deck monsters

Second part of my review of Judgment of the Light. This set marks the return of synchro monsters. And well, let’s admit it. They’re ALL good and better than the new XYZ this time around. The 2 synchro’s not mentioned are the archetype specific ones (because they don’t work outside of their archetype).

Synchro monsters

Mist Bird Clausolas: The living form of Ally of Justice Clausolas. And yes, next to Mist Wurm, this is another Mist Valley synchro that isn't a Mist VALLEY synchro. It’s the first Lv. 3 synchro worth summoning. While it has 0 attack, it has 2300 defense and it can turn an opponent’s monster’s attack to 0 and negate its effect.

Balmung, Fighter of the Demon World: Not Dark World not Dark Demon World (unlike Dark Blade), this is the Demon World Fighter Balmung. This is a Lv. 4 synchro whose artwork AND effect will remind you of Colossal Fighter (but revival due to destruction by card effects, rather than battle). Decent replacement for Armory Arm.

Armades, keeper of Illusions: Brother of Adreus & Tiras. When this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate card effects. So no Mirror Force, D-Prison or protection by Utopia, Catastor or Zenmaines. Good card!

Psychiconductor Behemoth: A Lv. 6 synchro that works well with the Banish-psychics from Extreme Victory (and the Psoil deck, remember that one?). And believe it or not, it’s D.D. Warrior Lady in (mecha-)dog form! So yes, finally we have a decent Lv. 6 synchro again!

Starform Dragon: A good lv. 11 synchro (the first one). Takes some effort to get on the field, but once it hits, it’s annoyingly hard to get rid of. I've seen DSummon promote it as a boss monster in Karakuri. Apparently they can easily summon it (*shudders in fear*).

XYZ monsters

Herald of Sacred Light: Only 1 good (splashable) XYZ this time around. This requires 2 Lv. 2 monsters. Its effect: Detach 1 to return a card from the grave from your hand and then shuffle a card from your hand to the deck. This can be used to return dead cards to the deck (that second D-HERO Malicious or Reborn Tengu, or vanilla’s you rather keep in your deck) while obtaining a good monster from your grave (A reverse Monster Reincarnation of sorts). Good card is good!

Next time up, Spells and traps!

Cards to look forward to in Judgment of the Light Pt. 1 – Effect monsters

As promised, this is my list of cards to look forward to. As usual, I skim through all 80 of the new OCG cards and pick those that stand out because it stands out or is splashable. Due to the length, I'll split it up in 3 parts: effect monsters; extra deck monsters & spells+traps. This time up: Effect monsters!

This time around, no Elemental dragons (arguably Light and dark aren't really elements) or elemental lords, nor a LIGHT-attribute Armageddon Knight knock-off. Also, no more support for Mermails/Geargia/Madol/Fire King/Atlantean/Harpies. Only Fire Fists, Mecha Phantom Beast and Prophecy gain more support.

Monsters

V Salamander: A new sort of Zexal weapon? This card is an equip card for Utopia Ray Victory. But unlike the other Utopia support cards, this one is actually good! When normal summoned, you can revive a Utopia monster from your grave (any variant of it). So basically revive Utopia, use rank-up magic to put Victory on the field and then equip Salamander to it. And then kicks in the second effect of Salamander. Detach 1 material of Victory (Utopia, duh) to destroy all monsters your opponent controls AND give a nifty burn effect of 1000 damage per destroyed monster. Nice.

Umbral Unform: A searcher for Umbral monsters (only 3 different ones). But unlike Giant Rat and consorts, this special summons TWO Umbral Monsters. This effect is amazing… if not for the fact that Umbral Monsters otherwise suck (at the moment). I can see the Umbral monsters being used in Reptilliane decks (with their 0 attack). Let’s hope a few more of these monsters appear, because otherwise it’s a waste of a good effect.

Schwarzschild, the Limit Dragon: If your opponent controls a monster with 2000 or more attack, you can special summon this one from your hand. In other words, it’s a rank 8 xyz made easy (Tachyon dragon, Neo-Galaxy-Eyes, Zombiestein, etc). No further restrictions mean that you can summon more than one; a dark lv 5 or higher dragon means it’s a nice addition for Chaos Dragons; etc. This card is interesting enough to be used.

War God Vessel – Taruta: While the War Gods are an interesting new archetype (that still requires more support), the most splashable card at the moment is Taruta. This is a protector Beast that prevents other Beast, Beast-Warriors and Winged Beasts from being destroyed. This is interesting because combined with cards like The Seal of Orichalcos and/or Spiritual Forest, this means that you have a field of monsters that cannot be destroyed (by battle)!

Mecha Phantom Beast Blue-Impalase: While its use is the best in a Mecha Phantom Beast related deck (due to its restrictions), it has a very good use in general. You can use a MPB from your hand to synchro (always handy) and you can negate its effect to synchro with/for anything else (similar to Vayu). But more importantly is that last effect: “If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Special Summon 1 "Mecha Phantom Beast Token" (Machine-Type/WIND/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0)”.

Atora, Trion and Kazuura, the Fascinating Fiends: First thing you notice about these cards: they’re cuties. Second thing you notice: Why are they named fiends when they’re… insects (huh)? Third thing you notice... you’re dead. These three fascinating (I think a better term would be “luring” but who am I) cards are basically Venus flytrap insects, aimed to lure in lolicons (lol). And yes, they are fascinating. They’re unaffected by Trap Hole cards (safe the wrongfully named Dark Trap Hole). Kazuura searches/spams Fascinating monsters when a Trap Hole card is activated. Trion searches Trap Hole cards (amazing) and Atora allows you to activate them FROM YOUR HAND!

Pyo Kokko: This is possibly the cutest card from the set. It’s also a Flip effect monster that special summons a Lv. 5 or higher tuner from your deck! Interesting, don’t you think? Lv. 5 or higher tuners are neglected most of the time due to them being dead in the hand (safe Quickdraw synchron).

Flying “C”: The new buggy brother of Shiny Black “C” and Maxx “C”. This one special summons itself to the opponent’s side of the field after a normal/special summon and prevents him from XYZ summoning. Best troll move is letting your opponent use Rescue Rabbit’s effect and then troll him with this one :-P. You hear me coming. This card is a nice side-deck card fit for opponents that focus on xyz spamming (and do not have tuners in their deck).

Honorable mentions

Of course there are honorable mentions to cards like Trick Archfiend and the World of Prophecy, but those cards are archetype-specific, so I'll leave them aside for now.

Next time up, a bunch of synchro monsters and an xyz (only 1 good one this time around).

Yuginews collected (Battle Pack 2 first details, YCS Lille details, Judgment of the Light first spoilers)

It's been a while since my last post, but that's mostly because it has been a few very busy weeks.

So, let's compile what happened the last few weeks...

YCS Lille's details are (finally known)

YCS Lille has been announced for a few months now and it will occur at the end of this month. But until last week, the details page still wasn't there. Now the details are finally known: http://www.yugioh-card.com/uk/events/ycs_lille.html

The event will be held at:

• Lille Grandpalais
• 1 bd des Cités Unies
• 59777 Euralille
• Lille - France
• Event website: http://www.lillegrandpalais.com
• How to get there: http://www.lillegrandpalais.co.uk/contacts-and-pratical-information/accessibility

Hidden Arsenal 7 postponed for a week (in the US)

One of the biggest rumors last week was the postponing of Hidden Arsenal 7. The news was revealed on April 1st, making people unsure whether or not it was an April Fool's Joke. But with Julia Hedberg (of Konami) confirming the delay, people became kind of worried at this side of the Ocean.

So it's postponed in the US, but what about the rest of the friggin tcg-world? It took me (and several other European players) a long time to figure out whether or not Europe's release is going to be affected as well.

Why does it matter? Well, if it's postponed, the set would not be legal at YCS Lille. If it comes out in time, it WILL be legal to play. That's a frigging big difference, don't you think?

Today we have a 90% assurance that the European release will be on time (we'll only be certain next Thursday, when the set comes out), making it legal to play at YCS Lille (unless otherwise notified).

Update: Scratch that. European release will be postponed as well, so it's NOT legal at YCS Lille. I repeat: NOT LEGAL!

Battle Pack 2 shares its first details

In June we will not only have a new Starter deck, we'll also have the new Battle Pack. And this week the first details of this new pack have been revealed:

• The full name is: Battle Pack 2: War of the Giants
• The cards will be focused on bringing out high-level monsters on the field.
• Starfoil rares are no more. Each pack will now have 3 commons, a rare and a Mosaic Rare (a new foil type).
• All three Egyptian Gods will be in this pack (the playable versions, obviously). This marks the first reprint of Slifer the Sky Dragon!
• Tewart already revealed that the packs will not be easily mixed with battle Pack 1 (ensure your event organizers know this, before they actually do so in tourneys). He also said that certain cards from BP1 will also be in BP2 (Obelisk, obviously).
• So let the speculation begin: Biggest rumor on reprint is (next to Gaia Dragon) obviously Number 11: Big Eye and Gustav Max (big monsters, big XYZ ranks). Big Eyeis the omnipotent Snatch Steal in monster form and is the boss monster in the 4-Dragons deck (and many others now). And Gustav Max becoming legal in the rest of the world is always wellcome.

"Osiris the Executive producer is back!"

Judgment of the Light is out in the OCG (first spoilers)

Apparantly, today is the offcial release of Judgment of the Light in the OCG. While it will take the rest of the weekend until the Wiki and Shriek are fully up to date, the first spoilers are flowing in on the Singapore Facebook page.

First surprises are (among others) a new "C" monster, following Maxx "C" and Shiny Black "C"; a new prophecy monster (The World?), a new cuties/fiends archetype and many others. Keep your eyes on the pages, because more info will flow in soon.

And yes, I'll give you my cards to look forward to-list next week ;-).

Until then, V out.

The other side of the Cardgame #4: Glimpse at Judgment of the Light

As you may know, both in the OCG as the TCG, 4 boosters come out per year. But they don’t come out each 3 months exactly. In the last few years, the releases have been:

• TCG: January – May – August – November (1-5-8-11)
• OCG: February – April – July – November (2-4-7-11)

As you can see, there’s one period in the year where boosters follow up rapidly (November-January in TCG, February-April in OCG), while there’s also a period where there’s 4 months of waiting time (January-May in TCG, July-November in OCG).

So it’s no surprise that the next OCG booster is around the corner, while we don’t even have Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy yet in TCG. I’ll give my "cards to look forward to" review when the set is officially released, but I’ll already give you a few noteworthy comments right now:

Judgment of the Light

• Judgment of the Light is both LIGHT and DARK: So people saying the set is going to be pure LIGHT were wrong.
• More Fire Fist & Mecha Phantom Beast support. No word on support for the older archetypes yet (Madol, Geargia, Mermail, Atlantean, Fire King nor Prophecy). Still possible, though.
• Several new (anime) archetypes, including Super-Defense Robo (Earth machines, used by Orbital 7), Umbral (dark fiends, used by Vector), Holy Lightning (light fairies, used by Durbe) and War God (Light animals, supposed to appear in the anime?).
• New support for an old famous archetype: Just like last set gave support for Harpies, this set gives support for another old archetype, namely Archfiends (interesting). One of the most noteworthy newcomers of the Archfiends is Trick Archfiend. It’s a Tour Guide target which basically replaces Sangan, and searches for Archfiends (of ANY level). And while tributing this card on the field doesn't trigger the effect, it DOES trigger when sent to the grave from the hand/deck because of a card effect (Armageddon Knight/Dark Grepher/DW Dealings).
• Nothing yet on potential Light/Dark Elemental Dragon or Elemental Lords, also nothing on a Light Armageddon Knight knock-off.
• Synchro monsters return: Yes, the rumors you heard are correct. There will be 7(!) new synchro monsters in this ocg set.
  • Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Kirin: A level 8 synchro for the 4-axis Fire Fist decks.
  • Mecha Phantom Beast Conco-Ruda: A level 7 synchro for the Mecha Phantom Beasts, though this one protects tokens instead of monsters (huh?).
  • Mist Bird Clausolas: A level 3 synchro that’s actually worth summoning (lol). But couldn't they keep the "Valley"? It's the second Mist Valley synchro (after Mist Wurm) whose name is "Mist" only (not much of an archetype this way).
  • Balmung, Fighter of the Demon World: A lv 4 synchro that can finally replace Armory arm (cool). The name is a reference to a Nordic weapon, the art kind of looks like Dark Blade and the effect somewhat reminds me of Colossal Fighter (for card effects instead of battle).
  • Armades, keeper of Illusions: a synchro brother for Tiras and Adreus. An interesting card to fight against Fire Fists or trap heavy decks.
  • Psychiconductor Behemoth: A lv. 6 psychic synchro with the effect of D.D. Warrior Lady. Interesting enough, this card actually works well with the other banished psychic monsters (nice, this was needed).
  • Starform Dragon, a Lv. 11 dragon that can be easily summoned by Karakuri decks (according to DSummon) and is annoyingly hard to get rid of (unless you steal it with Big Eye, lol).
• No less XYZ monsters: Next to the 7 Synchro monsters, there’s also 11 new XYZ (including a few chaos xyz). Their effects and use varies from monster to monster, but they’re nice additions anyway (nice as in: okay, but not super amazing).
• 16 of the 80 ocg cards are still unknown, but those will be revealed when the set is release. Amongst these cards is the usual 03x card pool (the random monsters) and the non-archetype/non-anime spells and traps. So, there's still room for a few unexpected surprises.

My thoughts

Yeah, that’s my preview of the set. Still quite vague, isn't it? But as I said, the full review comes when the set is fully revealed (around April 20th). But at this moment I have the feeling it will not be as great as the last few sets.

Next up: V-Jump’s new promo cards and a red hand. Until then, V out.

"I'm the party girl that will make Tour Guide forget all about Sangan!"