Massive Yugioh updates - Masked HERO Structure Deck, Baby Monarchs, new D.D. monsters and more

It's been one of those days where you wake up and spread your eyes wide open because of all the news updates. I'll try to recap whatever I found/noticed this morning.

The HERO structure deck supports masked HEROs

Considering all the variants in HERO cards, it wasn't quite clear what kind of Structure deck we could expect. But I guess most people kind of guessed what effect monster would be in here, right?

The first revelead 2 cards are the long-awaited Elemental HERO Shadow Mist and a new quick-play spell card named Form Change.

• Shadow Mist: has two effects. The first one is "If this card is Special Summoned: You can add 1 "Change" Quick-Play Spell Card from your Deck to your hand (Mask Change or Form Change obviously)". The other is: "If this card is sent to the Graveyard: You can add 1 "HERO" monster from your Deck to your hand, except for "Elemental HERO Shadow Mist". You can only use 1 of these effects once per turn (to prevent abuse, since it's a good effect).
• Form Change on the other end is similar to Mask Change, but while Mask Change required you to keep the current attribute, Form Change requires you to keep the same level instead; AND it sends the targeted fusion monster back to the extra deck instead of to the grave (interesting twist).
• Chaos HERO Chaos and Masked HERO Kouga are also revealed to be new fusion cards in this structure deck, but without effect as of yet (more on that next month around this period).

Other revealed cards are Card Trooper, Honest, E-HERO Woodsman, Bubbleman and Gaia, Masked HERO Acid and Miracle Fusion.

It's not hard to predict, but people are quite excited about Shadow Mist... her second effect obviously. She doesn't miss timing and when sent to the grave by ANY means. And when sent, she searches any HERO (Tele-DAD abuse?). And believe me, with an attack of 1000, reviving her and sending her back to the grave is just as easy as constantly spamming Stratos. Thank god there's a once-per-turn clause, or otherwise this card would become limited/forbidden sooner than you think.

Stratos is gone for good (in TCG). Does this serve as a replacement?

Baby Monarchs, what the...?

Another big uproar is the announcement of baby Monarchs. Well, truth be told, they're not named monarchs (nor princes), but the effect and art of the first revealed card make it clear that they're related to the monarchs.

The first card to be revealed is named Essha, the Forst Vassal. The effect is: "If your opponent controls 2 or more cards in their Spell and Trap Card Zones, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand)."

The art is similar to Mobius and seems (in terms of effect) like the perfect setup to summon Mobius. This card will appear in the OCG Jump Victory Carnival 2014. no idea if more of the "baby monarchs" will follow, but they probably will (considering Konami's pushing the Monarchs lately).

"Perfect spam card?
I don't know what you're talking about?"

New V-Jump Card has new D.D. Monsters

A New V-Jump pack will appear in the OCG, with cards like Entermate Heitiger (Warrior Tiger), Entermate Jinrhino (Thunderhino), DDD Caesar the Conqueror, DD Proud Ogre and DD Proud Chevalier.

No effects as of yet, since they still have to appear in the anime. But more on that next month I guess?

Duelist Advent fully spoiled

The Duelist Advent (the next set after Primal Origins) is being released today in the OCG, so yesterday and last night all cards were slowly revealed. I won't go into detail at this moment, but I'll give you the usual "cards to look forward to" post next week's Monday or so.

OCG's Number Guide 3 promo card revealed

The promo card will be Number 99: Hope Dragun. And it gives people another reason to play a Utopia monster (any Utopia monster)

Because while you can use 3 Lv 10 monsters as Xyz Material, you can also discard any Rank-up Magic spell card to overlay a Utopia monster you control with this boss monster. Its two effects are:

① Once per turn: You can target 1 “Number” monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target in face-up Defense Position. Its effects are negated. ② When a monster effect targets this card: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate that activation, and if you do destroy it.

Don't expect this one soon in the TCG, the first Numbers Guide card became a Jump Promo and the second one is only being released this month in Dragons of Legend.

More cards (or card effects) revealed in Dragons of Legend

You know that series of cards in my post about Dragons of Legend that didn't have a card effect announced yet? Well, they all got their effect revealed... together with some new revealed cards!

• Instant Fusion (anime card) became Flash Fusion (because of the obvious naming issues). It's a quick-play spell card that lets you fuse instantly, with the cost that the fusion monster is destroyed during the end phase (unless used as Xyz Material or for Masked HERO transformations.).
• Shooting Star got its effect as predicted: while you control a stardust dragon: target 1 card, destroy the target.
• Rising Sun Slash: Utopia can not be destroyed by effects (including its own, lol); each time a monster is attacked, it gains 500 attack (lol, whut), and you can detach it as an Xyz material (why would you do that, for crying out loud?). Good support card!
• Blackwing – Steam the Cloaked is an "interesting" Blackwing tuner that creates a lv 1 token when sent to the graveyard and which can special summon itself by tributing a monster you control. Though the downside is that both effects can only be used once per duel.
• Number C73: Abyss Supra requires 3 LV 6 monsters and does attack manipulation, similar to Abyss Splash. It does become interesting if Abyss Splash is an Xyz Material, since then it cannot be destroyed by card effects (wich makes it a menacing card). But that's not very likely to happen, right?
• Final Fusion: If two fusion monsters battle it out, both monsters are destroyed and both players take the total attack as effect damage. Massive effect damage, but only usable in limited decks.
• Wiretap: Now THIS is an interesting counter trap: When a Trap Card is activated: Negate that activation, and if you do, return that card to the owner’s Deck. No more allowing your opponent to draw a card (Dark Bribe) or paying 1000 lifepoints (7 Tools). You just send it back to the deck (LOL).
• Mound of the Bound Creator: This is an interesting support card for God Card decks. It protects Lv. 10 and higher monsters from card effects (*cough*REDMD*cough*), causes extra effect damage if a Lv. 10 or higher monster destroys a monster (*cough*star*eater*cough*quasar*cough*) and when this card is destroyed by effect (not game mechanic, you sly weasels), you can add a Divine Beast from your deck to the hand. Amazing for God cards, but I have no idea what other monsters to use it for (*cough*bullshit*cough*).
• Guardian Dreadscythe: You can only special summon it when Guardian Eatos is destroyed (like in the anime) or by its own effect. When summoned, you can instantly equip the Reaper Scythe from your deck to this card (lol, wut?). And if it's send from the field to the grave, you can send 1 card from your hand to the grave to special summon it once more. Downside: no further summons except this card (to prevent abuse with its special summon condition). But whether or not it will be used, will probably depend on the effect of the Reaper's Scythe.

And the newly revealed cards are:

• Amulet Dragon: The Fusion between Dark Magician and the Eye of Timaeus. When summoned, you can banish any number of spell cards in either player's grave (*hint*prophecy*hint) to gain extra attack. And when it's destroyed, you can special summon any spellcaster from your grave. Very interesting card.
• Rank-Up-Magic Admire Death Thousand: Hey, look. Vector's RUM card. And it's a funny card (though very situational). When both players have an Xyz with the same rank in their grave, you can special summon a Number C monster whose rank is 1 higher than the 2 Xyz in the graves. Special summon the Number C card and attach the two Xyz from the grave as Xyz Material. While similar to another nerfed Rank-up Card (you can't special summon other monsters), the fact that you can create a chaos monster out of thin air makes it a little better. If you use it (unlikely), the best bet to use this card is a Rank 5 C card (Utopia Ray V and Heraldry Crest of Horror), because it has the highest chance of success.
• Shadow Impulse: Not from Jump, but from an article on the Konami blog last evening (you'd almost forget it with all the other reveals). When a Synchro you control is destroyed by any means and sent to the grave, you can special summon another synchro from your extra deck of the same Type (e.g. Dragons) and level, but with a different name. It is an easy way to sacrifice decent cards (like Scrap Dragon) to achieve harder-to-get but hella annoying synchro's (like Beelze, Dark End Dragon, Void Ogre Dragon or Infernity Doom Dragon) . Interesting trap card, I have to say.
• Reaper's Scythe - Dreadscythe is announced in the card effect of Guardian Dreadscythe, but no effect as of yet.
• And a certain poster announced that Express Train Trolley Olley will be in this set as well. No effects either, but the anime effect isn't great so... should we care?

"BOW BEFORE YOUR MASTER!"

Afterword

Wow, that was a lot to cover. Hope I got it all. Anyways, that's it for now, V out.

The Other side September Edition #1 - 2 Duelist Packs and V-Jump Edition 10

And V is back with another edition of "what's planned in the OCG right now?".

The TCG has been saturated at the moment with Tins, a Structure Deck and Astral Packs. And not counting the lame overstock products (no, I'm NOT interested in Value Boxes or Duelist Pack Special Editions) and the Deluxe Edition of Judgment of the Light; it will be until half of October (Joey's World) and the beginning of November (Shadow Specters) until there's another rush of new stuff in our shelves.

And since the last few days showed us a lot of info on the upcoming OCG YGO products (yeah, stuff happens when new V-Jumps are in stores), I thought it would be the best if I listed it all, part by part. This part: The two upcoming Duelist packs:

Duelist Pack Yuma 2

First off, Duelist Pack Yuma 2 will be released this week in the OCG. This pack has 30 cards and has some very interesting reprints... oh, who am I lying to? Yuma only plays crappy cards. The only interesting reprint is Cardcar D, which the OCG didn’t have a reprint of as of yet (and maybe Excalibur, but that is technically not even a Yuma-card). There's still a few card spots unconfirmed, so Konami can still add some amazing reprints in there, but it's doubtful that interestig reprints like Big Eye would be in here.

The new cards in this Duelist Pack aren't that impressive either. The only cards worth mentioning are Swordsman of the Sealing Swords & Toy Knight.

Swordsman’s effect is as follows:

The man wielding the
Swords of Revealing light

“When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: You can Special Summon this card from your hand, then destroy that attacking monster if this card's DEF is higher than that monster's ATK. An Xyz Monster that was Summoned using this card as Xyz Material gains this effect: *Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle.”

This swordsman is a Lv. 8 Light Warrior with 0 attack and 2400 defense. If you play other Lv. 8 monsters, this card will easily help you create rank 8 XYZ (like Felgrand or Tachyon Dragon). And in a favorite deck of mine (Photon Lightray), this card has a great sync with Lightray Gearfried.

On the other hand, Toy Knight’s effect is as follows: “Cannot be Special Summoned from the Deck. If your opponent controls more monsters than you do, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 "Toy Knight" from your hand.”

The first clause is to prevent abuse with Machine Duplication (it’s only 200 attack). It’s a mini Cyber Dragon that will mesh well with Gadget decks, due to it being a lv. 4 machine.

Other new cards are:

• Gogogo Golem Golden form: a Gogogo version of Great Maju Garzett (lame).
• Dododo Witch: A good support monster for an archetype with only a few (mediocre) cards.
• Dododo Gasser: A card which is only useful when combined with the previous mentioned Witch.
• Bakudan: A hand-trap beast that blows up XYZ without XYZ materials (anime effect, unknown if it's going to be changed or not).
• Trouble Diver: A special summon card that’s so situational it’s not funny (read as: won't be used).
• Gogogo Gofu: A Gogogo support spell that is okay, but not that great either.
• Level Meister: A level manipulation spell... because Level manipulation spells are overly used, right?[/sarcasm]
• Soul Strike: A trap whose effect reminded me somewhat of that effect of the Winged Dragon of Ra, but is so limited in use it's not going to be used.
• Half Unbreak: A watered-down version of Waboku; which was necessary ever since Waboku got hit by the banlist, right?[sorry, I couldn't leave the sarcasm after all].

Duelist Pack Kastle/Kamishiro siblings

A month after Yuma's Duelist Pack is sold out (lol, as if), the OCG gets a duelist Pack that focuses on Shark & his sister Rio. Read between the lines: Sharks and WATER Winged Beasts.

Only half of this set has been revealed, but it already includes a few interesting cards.

The Number collectors will like that there are 2 new Number cards in here (No. 73 Abyss Splash & No. 94: Crystal Zero), whose main effect is raising/lowering attack. But other than Number collectors, nobody is going to want these two, because there are so many better Rank 5’s out there.

MORE interesting, is that continuous Spell card “Amulet of the Water Deity”. That card reads as follows:

“WATER monsters you control cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects. Send this card to the Graveyard during your opponent's 3rd End Phase after activation.”

Sounds kind of broken in Mermails and Fish decks, or am I overestimating this card? Activate this card, loop with Mermails to get bossy monsters on the field without worries and go for the win? No Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force or Dark Hole to stop you?

Other new (revealed) cards are:

• Double-Fin Shark: Upon its normal summon, you can special summon a Lv. 3 or 4 fish from your grave. Lv. 4 means easy Bahamut Shark, while the only Lv. 3 you want is Fishborg Archer (to get into Gungnir). Not a bad card, but quite limited in its use.
• Silent Angler: A card that (at first sight) seems interesting in Fish OTK decks, because it special summons itself from the hand when you control a water monster.
• Guard Penguin: A non-Aqua Penguin with a mediocre effect? Shame on you, Konami!
• Depth Shark: One of the many attempts to make decent Lv. 5 Water monsters, while failing in the end.
• Saber Shark: A car whose effect is totally different from the anime (in a good way). Its effect has been changed to level manipulation. This card makes it easy to vary between Rank 3's to 5's in Fish decks (yeah, those last two words make this card extremely limited in its usage, though).
• Full Armored Black Ray Lancer: Interesting upgrade for Rank 3 WATER XYZ, though I can't see much use for it at the moment, since the original Lancer is hardly used. The only target used is AbyssTrite and you don't want to overlay her for an "upgrade".

On the reprint department, the only interesting reprint (at the moment) that catches my eye is Bahamut Shark (a promo reprint in OCG). For the rest Shark's cards ARE just as crappy as Yuma's. So I'm not expecting a lot of the "leftover spots".

"This king requires better servants!"

V-Jump Edition 10

Wow, another Jump pack, two months after the previous one? Similarly to last year, the end of the year is like shoving promo's through everybody's throat. But while previous Jump pack included original cards (as in non-manga/anime); the pack with next month's V-Jump is once again focused on Yuma-cards (oh god WHY?), and includes ANOTHER version of Utiopia (seriously, WHY?).

The new cards will be:

• Number S39: Utopia One
• SZW – Fenrir Sword
• Gogogo Gorham
• Dododo Driver (which apparently is a Dododo XYZ)
• Xyz Change Tactics

These don't seem familiar cards, other that they're Dododo/Gogogo/Zexal Weapon. That's because they're manga cards and haven't appeared yet (they'll probably be used in this & next month's issue, together with this pack).

Afterword

For the TCG, we’ll probably see the Duelist Pack cards next spring in another Premium tin (TCG-Konami hates Duelist Packs, since they hardly ever have good sales (ref: the Duelist Pack Overstock Edition)).

Note: The names of these cards are "fan" interpretations of the OCG names. They are bound to change if they appear in the TCG.

Next up: The new Duelist sets and the game promo's for the 3DS game. Until then, V out.

The New Black Luster Soldier and other new chaos cards

Once every few months, V-Jump publishes a pack of 5 new cards. Last pack was last December, so it’s time for a new pack! The V-Jump of August (which will contain the new F&L list, btw) will contain the next V-jump promo cards. And they’re all Chaos-related!

The new BLS, it’s BS

The main card everybody was looking forward to, is the new BLS: Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Twilight. And look at it, the art is awesome!

But then look at that effect:

Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by having an equal number of LIGHT and DARK monsters in your Graveyard and banishing all monsters of 1 of those Attributes from your Graveyard, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. While face-up on the field, this card is also LIGHT-Attribute. When this card is Special Summoned: You can activate 1 of these effects, depending on the Attribute of the monster(s) banished for its Special Summon. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase during the turn you activate this effect. ● LIGHT: Banish 1 monster on the field, face-up. ● DARK: Banish 1 random card from your opponent's hand, face-down, until your opponent's End Phase.

This basically means that BLS will ONLY have an effect when it’s summoned by this condition (and only then). If you summon it with (for example) Monster Reborn, it will have no effect (booh!). Not only that, but having an equal number of Light and dark monsters makes it kind of annoying to summon, not to mention the fact that you have to banish all LIGHT or DARK monsters from your grave (booh!). It also has that condition that it’s both LIGHT and DARK (okay, that’s kind of normal, but easy to counter with Gozen Match). Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention that you have to skip your battle phase the turn you actually DO use the effect (BOOH!).

Tl;dr? IT SUCKS!

Light and Dark Gaia Knight

Just like BLS, Gaia the Fierce Knight has been re-used in many different cards (Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight (effect), Gaia the Dragon Champion (fusion), Gaia Kight the Force of Earth (synchro), Gaia Drake the Universal Force (synchro fusion), Gaia Dragon the Thunder Charger (XYZ) and now thus the Light and Dark Chaos monsters. Here comes Gaia, Knight of the Dark Nights and Gaia, Knight of the Bright Nights (oooh, look at the word play). (Wikia says Polar Nights and White Nights, but TCG print will determine the TCG name)

Both have similar effects, with opposing attributes. You can use both effects once per turn:

• Tribute one other DARK/LIGHT monster, to add 1 Lv. 4 LIGHT/DARK (resp.) warrior from your deck to your hand and then send 1 card from your hand to the grave.
• Banish 1 LIGHT/DARK monster from your grave to either boost your monster’s attack or lower your opponent’s monster attack.

These monsters are searchers and provide sufficient imagination for chaos warrior decks (though seriously, why the “-1” on their effect?). The first things that come to mind are Destiny HERO’s and Light Beat Warriors or Noble Knights.

New Primal Seed and new Exchange of the Spirit

This whole pack reeks of nostalgia. The provided spell card (Chaotic Seed) is a wink to Primal Seed, while the trap, Exchange of Dawn and Dusk (or First Light and twilight, depending on the translation) is a nod to the long-time forbidden card: Exchange of the Spirit.

The spell goes as follows: If you control a Light and Dark monster (or a monster that has both attributes), you can add 1 banished LIGHT or DARK warrior to your hand. They added the once per turn clause to prevent abuse (yeah, that’s the sole reason why Primal Seed is still limited in the first place).

The trap basically reads: Dump 1 LIGHT/DARK warrior from your hand to the grave to add 1 warrior of the opposing attribute and the same level from your deck to your hand. These two cards bring stability to the Chaos warrior deck. It ensures you have that right DARK/LIGHT warrior (Armageddon Knight, Dark/Light Grepher, etc), and allows you to recycle banished warriors, like D-HERO Malicious.

So how can you use these cards?

Well, its cards like these that give the opportunity to mix, remix and experiment! You can use these cards and…:

• Use them in a D.D. deck. Warrior lady is Light, Survivor is Dark. And these cards smell like pure chaos (hint: Chaos Zone).
• Mix them with Destiny HERO’s and Light Warriors like Neos Alius, Photon Thrasher and Noble Knight Gawayn. Destiny Draw remains a good engine.
• Mix Constellars with Destiny HERO: Pollux is a Light Lv. 4 warrior, Constellar Alrescha is a Lv. 6 LIGHT warrior. Diamond Dude is a Dark Lv. 4; Malicious is Lv. 6.
• Mix Lightrays with Dark Warriors. Lightray Gearfried is hard to get on the field, but once it’s there, it’s a boss!
• Remix Chaos Ninja Dragons. Remember the variant of Chaos Dragons that uses Ninja’s? Time to upgrade them with these cards, to easily search Golden Ninja and Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo. It adds a much-needed consistency to this deck.
• And you can probably think of other combinations I didn’t even think of yet.

Since I love Chaos decks, so I guess it’s time to experiment! Let’s hope the September F&L list isn’t too hard on the Chaos archetype (read as: let’s hope this B(L)S doesn’t cause the good BLS to become forbidden). And then let’s hope these cards (and Collapserpent + Wyburstar) gain a TCG-print soon.

That’s it for now, V out.

PS: Note: these are OCG-names and translated by fans. Names may change upon release in TCG.

PPS: Rest of Battle Pack 2 is now revealed as well. No further surprises noticed.

The other side of the Cardgame #5: V-Jump Promo's and a Red Hand

Well, we have a new Promotion pack, a new Starter deck and we have more than half of the cards revealed of the next set. Did we forget anything? Actually, yes. There are a few more promo cards coming up:

V-Jump Promo Card June 2013

The promo card attached to the V-Jump June Edition is:

Archfiend Commander: Part of the Archfiend Support that’s coming in Judgment of the Light. This card can be special summoned if you control an Archfiend (and then you blow up an archfiend in the same way Goka Blows up Fire monsters).

But its true colors shine if you tribute summon this card. If so, you can special summon a Lv. 6 Archfiend card (including itself) from the graveyard. Possible other targets are Summoned Skull, Toon Summoned Skull, Skull Archfiend of Lightning and Archfiend Zombie Skull... Wait, what? Aren't those cards all the same monster? The only card missing from this list is Prophecy Destroyer (they might as well have named him Prophecy Archfiend)!

Yeah, no surprise people claim it's just Summoned Skull in another jacket, even his stats are the same! But, you can also revive Archfiend of Gilfer and Beast of Talwar (amazing, isn't it?[/sarcasm]).

OCG Numbers Guide 2

On a regular base, there are guides appearing in the OCG. Last Numbers Guide contained Number 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings.

This time around, the card will be Number C106: Lava Palm - Giant Hand Red (Get it? Hand-Red, hundred. it’s pun time once again). This card is the Chaos Version of Number 106: Giant Hand (another V-Jump Promo Card from a few months ago).

Due to the fact that it doesn't appear in the same "set" as Giant Hand, it just gets an effect if a Numbers card is attached to it, not just Giant Hand. The effect? This guy is a giant card effect negater. But due to the harsher summon restrictions, it kind of pales when compared to Bounzer, Laggia, Dolkka, Shi En and Lightray Gearfried. In other words: nice try, try again.

V-Jump Subscription Bonus:

Just like in the TCG, when you're subscribed to V-Jump in the OCG, you receive a few promo cards throughout the year. The nex ones in the OCG are the following:

• Rose Archer (from the 5D's Manga): This card is a hand trap that negates the activation of traps, as long as you control a plant monster (ooh, that last part wasn't really in the manga, was it?). Handy, but also kind of silly, since this card still won't be able to stop counter traps...
• Starship Spy Plane (Zexal manga): This card is a Machine that special summons itself when the opponent controls an XYZ monster. This card also bounces an opponent’s spell or trap card. This is a handy card, helpful in Offering Gadget Decks. Its wind attribute also allows for Chidori in Machine decks (not an obvious choice otherwise).
• Hell Centipede (5D's manga): Unconfirmed effect, but in the manga it’s a Lv 7 bug that can be normal summoned without tributes (if you don’t control monsters and your opponent does).
• Galaxy Dragun (Zexal manga): Unconfirmed effect, but in the manga it gains 1000 attack when the opponent controls a Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, also negating its banish-effect. Other than that it’s a 2000-beater Light Dragon. Kind of a weird effect. This might change upon release, I guess...

Note: The last 2 cards have been confirmed to be printed, but are not out yet. Their effects / art may or will be altered upon release.

Afterword

So, that's it for now. all OCG cards that were revealed in the past few weeks have been noted in my blog. Today is also the release for Cosmo Blazer Special Edition, but I don't really care about it (bad SE-promo's).

I guess next cards-update will be in a few weeks, when more TCG cards of Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy will leek and when the full set of Judgment of the Light will be published. Until next time, V out.

"No I'm NOT Summoned Skull! Just look at the monster I can summon!
There's Summoned Skull, Toon Summoned Skull, Skull Arch... ah, f**k it."