Analysis of the End-of-Year Banlist – The good, the bad and the ug… surprises.

So the weekend has passed and people had some time to let the new list sink in (surprisingly, with not that many #freestratos posts (lol, the fans either don't know yet, or are still in denial).

So now that the initial raging has calmed down a bit, let’s take a deeper look into the new Forbidden and Limited list.

First off, I’d like to add a side-note. I’m not sad or angry that any of the following cards have been hit or have returned. I’ve arrived to the acceptance stage of banlist grieving. So yes, three Tenki’s will be f**king annoying, but we’ll live. Yes, my Prophecy deck will miss that second Fate, but we’ll get on with it. And so on… This post is just me sitting back and thinking about the cards and whether or not the hits themselves are good, bad or rather surprising/interesting.

The Good hits

• Blaster, Redox, Tidal and Tempest limited: This was to be expected and anyone thinking anything else is naïve (and that’s saying it nicely). The Dark Dragon Ruler (DAD) is limited for a few years now; the Light Dragon Ruler (JD) was limited during the peak of Lightsworns. Dragon Rulers had their time and now it’s over. Yes, Dragon Rulers pushed the best duelists to fight at their peak and the better duelists won while the scrubs were weeping in the corner. But Konami has to sell their newer products and let’s be fair: we all want to see different decks topping, right? So let’s call this a good hit and let’s get over it already.
• Return from the Different Dimension forbidden: This card IS an OTK card. I couldn’t agree more than making this card forbidden for eternity.
• Self-Destruct Button forbidden: This makes so much sense it almost shames me I never thought of this card getting a hit. Konami judges HATE this card with a passion. It caused endless discussions and ruling situations. And because of this card the judges created the weird rule that three game ties in a match does not equal a tie as end result. Self-Destruct button is more a troll-deck than anything else, but let’s cut the judges some slack and make this deck disappear.
• Sixth Sense forbidden: Never should've been legal. This was just a marketing trick to sell LC04. Though I heard people say that Konami would keep the card legal because “it’s a bad card mid-game or late-game”. After I explained them the comparison with Future Fusion in Chaos Dragons those idiots people got quiet.
• Spellbook of Fate limited: I’m a Prophecy player and I think this is a good hit (now saying this out loud just feels weird). No, seriously. Of all cards that they could hit in a Prophecy deck, this is the most preferred one. The opponents hate this card (because it doesn’t target and banishes) and the Prophecy deck can still be played with 1 Fate. Better this card than Blue Magician or Secrets.
• Archlord Kristya unlimited: Nobody played this card three times. I’ve said it the moment this card got semi-limited and kept saying it ever since. It was a joke that this card was semi-limited in the first place.
• T.G. Striker unlimited: This card being limited was only because of T.G. Agents being popular in OCG. This is a TCG list now, so I’m glad it’s back.

The Bad hits

• Dragon Ravine Forbidden: Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not sad that this card is gone, I never liked the card. I just think it’s sad that the Dragunity Deck is dead because of this. They could have limited this card instead. Seriously, now nobody will be interested in that Vajrayana reprint.
• Sacred Sword of Seven Stars: Sorry, but this is just overkill on the DRuler part. Again, don’t misunderstand me: I’m not sad it’s limited. I just think Sacred Sword is just as bad as Trade-In or Cards of Consonance. But I think hitting one and not the others is kind of silly. But I guess this is just a signal from Konami to let go of DRulers and play with the new stuff.
• Divine Wind of Mist Valley Limited WITH Constellar Ptolemy M7 unlimited: Wut? I don’t even…? This is just weird. Last list they hit Birdman and M7 in order to prevent the Harpie Dancer OTK. Now that Harpie Dancer is available in TCG, I thought they might hit Valley (or leave it unlimited because who plays Divine Wind, seriously). But this exchange is just absurd. They hit Divine Wind to return an OTK enabler to unlimited status? WHY?
• Fire Formation Tenki Unlimited: Marketing trick to sell Bujins. Next year this time around, this card will be limited (or semi-limited again). Mark my words.
• Final Countdown Limited: Lots of players don’t like this card/deck, calling it a degenerate strategy. I never played it either because I don’t like the deck myself. So yeah, I can guess where they’re coming from (though I never had any problem beating this deck because Prohibition is still my default side-deck card!). In the end, Final Countdown limited or unlimited I don’t care either way. But thinking about it… is it a good hit? NO! Why? Because how many times did Final Countdown decks top anything, seriously? Are YOU seriously afraid of encountering a Final Countdown deck? Or is this because somebody combined it with Ghostricks and created the ultimate annoying deck or so (if so, this argument becomes invalid obviously)?

The interesting changes

• Debris Dragon limited Vs Lonefire Blossom Semi-Limited: These two cards were part of the classic Plant Synchro deck. You can look at Debris Dragon taking a hit as a result of the “Plant” variant of Dragon Rulers, but mostly I think It’s a pre-emptive hit because they wanted Lonefire to return. And we do know that two Lonefires and two Debris at the same time is not a good idea. So Konami did an exchange. And obviously, Lonefire's return is because of the Sylvan archetype.
• The Return of Magician of Faith: This card is old, this card is slow, and most of the broken spell cards are now forbidden. This card will thus fare the same path as BLS/Tsukuyomi (people will complain about its return, try to play it, but leave it out eventually).
• Chaos Sorcerer Semi-Limited: Oh, poor Sorcerer. Konami just doesn’t know what to do with you. You have danced around on the F&L list more than any other card (it's pure chaos!). Now you’re back to Semi-Limited status, but god knows for how long? What will happen when the Chaos Gaia’s come out in TCG?
• Tour Guide from the Underworld Unlimited: Now this is interesting. I said it before: Ever since the Atlantean Structure Deck came out last year, Deep Sea Diva has more interesting targets than Tour Guide ever had. With Sangan on the Tour Bus to Forbidden Realms, this card lost its most important target and got into disuse. Will we see her again next format?
• Mezuki and Plaguespreader Zombie Unlimited: Now THIS is interesting. Last format, Two of each of these didn't do much to Zombie decks (but that’s the fault of Dragon Rulers, mostly). Now this duo returns to unlimited status… in the hopes that Shadow Specters will sell a little more (obviously another marketing trick). But it’s interesting. Will Zombie decks do anything now that they’re back to full force?

Afterword:

Obviously, the first months will be filled with people saying “Dragon Rulers still works”, “Dragon Rulers aren't dead”, but that’s what they say about every deck that gets butchered (remember Inzektors, Chaos Dragons and Wind-ups? Yeah, my point exactly…). My expectations is that they're going to splash all DRuler variants together and see what happens. But that won't last for long (I think).

Next format... Bujins. Next to that, it depends on the TCG exclusives and OCG world premiere cards in the January Booster. Other competitors will be the current top decks: Constellars, Fire Fists, Mermails (why didn't that get hit?), Fire Kings, Evilswarm, Noble Knight, etc.

What will I play next format? I dunno, honestly. But with 3 Tour Guides and 2 Chaos Sorcerers, I might as well rebuild my Chaos Dragons deck and see what happens (lol). or maybe Tele-DAD just for the lolz.

Until next time, V out.

The F&L List - End of Year Edition

Listed are only the changes:

Forbidden

• Dragon Ravine
• Return from the different Dimension
• Self-Destruct Button
• Sixth Sense

Limited

• All FOUR Dragon Rulers
• Debris Dragon
• Magician of Faith (from forbidden!)
• Divine Wind of Mist Valley
• Final Countdown
• Sacred Swords of Seven Stars
• Spellbook of Fate

Semi-Limited

• Chaos Sorcerer
• Lonefire Blossom

Unlimited

• Archlord Kristya (finally)
• Mezuki
• Plaguespreader Zombie
• T.G. Striker
• Tour Guide From the Underworld
• Constellar Ptolemy M7
• Fire Formation - Tenki

Short analysis

Decks that are butchered: Dragunities, Dragon Rulers, Final Countdown en Self-Destruct decks.

Decks that took a hit: Prophecies, Harpies (Mist Valley OTK version)

Decks that got boosted: Constellars, Fire Fists, Zombies, T.G. stun, Plants

Deeper Analysis will follow...

For now, V out.

And the series keep on coming - New Yu-Gi-Oh anime next spring

If you've been following the Zexal anime, you'd notice that the series is reaching its climax right now (if you don't watch it, I don't blame you).

The new series will be named Yugioh Arc-V (pronounced "Arc Five").

First details

Rumors are spreading fast, together with the latest W-Jump (and the next V-Jump (next week) might have more details). But right now, the following is known:

• The main character (see previous image) is named Yuuya Sakaki
• The series will be launched in the next Spring season of anime (April presumably, but no fixed date yet). This ends the three-year run of Zexal.
• The series will introduce yet another way of summoning monsters from the extra deck (who would've guessed?). Current rumors say that the new "Arc" summoning is based upon the "Champion" summon/ability(?) from Magic the Gathering. But more on that when rumors are either confirmed or wiped from the table.
• Primal Origins will most likely be the last booster from the Zexal Series. The OCG April booster will be filled with cards from Arc-V. For evidence, just look at the launch date of the Zexal Series and Generation Force. Final Boss monsters will most likely be released as promo cards, similar to those from the 5D's series (Shooting Quasar and the Timelords).

I could rant for hours about how I don't like the Zexal anime (even though Vector is the best YGO villain since Bakura), but let's just keep it at: "Glad it's over." After the series ends, I'll probably do a few analysis (rant) posts about the series and its boosters/promo's.

That's it for now. Friday the 13th is coming... V out.

Ghostrick Frost: Is Book of Moon set back to 4?

A few days ago, I’ve seen Bahamut’s deck for the latest AsiaPlus Singapore team Tournament and one of the tech cards he used was a card from the latest ocg booster set, which caught my eye. It was the following:

“I’m the abominable cute snowman!”

Meet Ghostrick Frost. Its effect?: "Cannot be Normal Summoned, unless you control a "Ghostrick" monster. Once per turn: You can change this card to face-down Defense Position. When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: Change that monster to face-down Defense Position, and if you do, Special Summon this card from your hand in face-down Defense Position."

What’s so interesting about this card? Well, if your opponent declares a direct attack, you can put that monster face-down (Book of Moon anyone?) and then special summon this card in face-down defense position.

Basically, this is what happens when Battle Fader eats Book of Moon (let that thought sink in for a while).

Yes, its effect is limited to direct attacks only, but since you can activate it from your hand, it’s harder to get rid of (unlike book of moon). Also, it doesn’t end the battle phase.

So, that makes for an interesting, yet balanced effect which can help you get rid of annoying boss monsters like Stardust (Spark) Dragon (/Assault Mode), Shi En, Dracosack, Wind-up Zenmaines, etc. They can’t stop anything while they’re face-down (lol).

Is this card better than Book of Moon?

No. While this card mimics the effect of Book of Moon, it is not better. Okay, you can use it three times, that does make it kind of better (lol). But all in all, Book of Moon can be used in both players’ turns, in any sort of Phase and on any monster, including your own. This card just puts the opponent’s attacking monster face-down. That’s very limited, but still very annoying for the opponent (that’s what signals a balanced card).

What decks can run this card?

Any deck, basically. But if you want to pick a few decks where this card can flourish, here’s a few:

• Chaos / Chaos Dragons: If you didn’t like Battle Fader’s side-effect of banishing itself, you might consider using this card. It’s Dark and gets send to the grave after it’s gone.
• Dark World: I'm not a fan of Dark Worlds, but this IS a DARK Fiend. That makes it a good defender in Dark World decks to protect them when they have their consistency issues.
• Monarchs: A Book of Moon that works as Tribute Fodder and doesn’t consume backrow? Do I even need to say anything else?
• Dragon Rulers: Yeah, Bahamut played Frost in his Dragon Ruler deck and it worked very well in there. If you need to grind your way to victory, this can become a very useful asset.
• Piper decks: The Piper Eninge (Piper + Kinka-Byo + as many Lv. 1 monsters as possible) requires good Lv. 1 monsters. This is a good Lv. 1 monster. Nuff said.
• Lightsworn: Follow-up Frost with Lightsworn monk Ehren and watch your opponent rage.
• Ghostrick: Duh!

Afterword

Even if the Ghostricks end up being another dud-deck, there are already some interesting cards in the archetype.

• Yukki-Onna is a nice Lv. 2 Spellcaster that works in spellcaster decks that use Apprentice Magician.
• Dullahan is the key card in that awesome Lv. 1 deck I posted a while ago. And he’s now basically the best Rank 1 monster.
• And now Frost is a new, good hand trap.

And seriously, I like that. Konami focuses too much on archetype-specific cards, so I can only applaud it if Konami releases some cards that can work outside of their box (like how Tenki works for all Beast-Warriors).

Let’s just hope Konami doesn’t pimp it to Ultra/Secret rare foil in TCG, because this is now one of the few interesting cards I’m looking for.

Until next time, V out.

YCS Turin - Geargia Karuri wins the 125th YCS

Kinda overlooked this one (probably because I couldn't attend), but past weekend was the 125th YCS, YCS Turin (Italy).

Let's do a quick sum-up of the event:

• 1325 attendees, which all received the Artorigus playmat.
• 521 attendees played (some form of) Dragon Rulers, making it (obviously) the most popular deck of the moment.
• Second most popular deck was Evilswarm, once more confirming that Europeans in general like Dark decks.
• The standings at the end of Swiss. It's on this page.
• Several Americans attended the 125th YCS, including the winner (Sam Pedigo) and other famous (ARG) people like Patrick Hoban. Last mentioned one won the YCS trial, gaining a free trip to the next European YCS.
• All coverage articles can be read on The Coverage site of YCS Turin.

The top cut

The top 32 consisted of:

• 21x Dragon Ruler (all variants)
• 5x Evilswarm
• 2x Geargia
• 1x Fire Fist
• 1x Prophecy
• 1x Bujin

After that, it got cut further down as follows: Top 16 play-off chart.

An interesting side-note: I heard Michel Gruner got a game-loss due to slow play, which caused him losing the match versus Pedigo (who then ends up being the winner).

And the final was ... Samuel Pedigo (Geargia Karakuri) Vs Konrad Grunewald (Dragon Rulers). With Samuel becoming the winner!

Some deck profiles

I'll try to find some more deck profiles (let's see if Lithium uploads any). I'll post (and update) them here:

• Samuel Pedigo - Geargia Karakuri (Winner)
• Joshua Schmidt - Dragon Rulers (4th place) and Michel Gruner (top 8)
• Kevin Langenberg - Fire Fist (top 8)
• Aris Samaras - Evilswarm (Top 8)
• Matej Jakob - Geargia Karakuri (Top 16)
• Dustin Sembach - Bujin (Top 32)
• More will follow when I find them.

A side-note, the YCS Sydney Playmat

European YCS's always hold a surprise or two. This time, on Fridays, the announcement was that YCS Sydney would hand out a playmat to all attendees (to boost non-Australian players' motivation to attend). What mat could do that? A frigging Dark Magician Girl playmat! Check it out!

Is it just me or is this slightly less censored?
It looks amazing!

That's it for now. V out.

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.

Cards to look forward to in Legacy of the Valiant

It took me a while to finish this one, but here we finally are. Time to take a look at the more interesting cards in the upcoming January Booster, Legacy of the Valiant.

Effect Monsters

1. Giragilancer: A Lv. 6 Warrior Cyber Dragon. It comes with a maintenance cost, but you’ll probably only use this for Tributing / XYZ-ing / synchro-ing anyway so who cares?
2. Rainbow Kuriboh: When your opponent declares a direct attack, you can equip this card from your hand to that monster and stop it from attacking until either Kuriboh or the equipped monster is gone. Add to that that you can special summon it from the grave if your opponent declares a direct attack and you have another annoying Kuriboh to face.
3. Gorgonic Golem: An interesting rock monster that reduces an opponent’s monster’s attack to 0 if it’s destroyed by battle (permanently). Also, if you want to make a big move or swing for game, you can banish it from your grave to render an opponent’s trap/spell useless.
4. Tribute Devotee: Remember Samsara Kaiser? Neither do I (lol, j/k). Samsara Kaiser was part of the Caius Structure deck and was not worth remembering, because Treeborn Frog was just so much better. But this one… It’s a Water Warrior that special summons itself during your next stand-by phase if you tributed it. Handy for more Monarch Summoning obviously. Positive: you can have backrow, unlike with Treeborn Frog; downside: It has to survive (it has 2000 defense to help that, but still).

Ritual monsters

Knight of Photon Dragon: First Ritual Monster released in a regular booster since ages. And this one is the new Paladin of White Dragon. It’s level 4, it allows you to draw if you destroy a monster and you can tribute it to special summon Galaxy-Eyes from your hand or deck. Also, it’s a Warrior, so you can use both Preparation of Rites AND ROTA on it (lol).

Synchro Monsters

Guardian Beast of the Divine Tree – Gaou: A Lv. 10 synchro that’s easy to summon and cannot be targeted by your opponent’s card effects (safe during your main phase 2). I find that a weird exception, but that means it’s still vulnerable to a well-timed Compulsory Evacuation Device, Raigeki Break or Karma Cut.

Xyz Monsters

• Number 101: Silent Honors Ark Knight (read: SHArk Knight): Detach two to turn an opponent’s special summoned monster under this card as XYZ material. Better yet! You can detach 1 to prevent its own destruction. And with 2100 attack this card is slightly overpowered.
• Gorgonic Guardian: This card turns your opponent’s monsters attack to 0 and negates the effect. Better yet, you can use it during your opponent’s turn (WTF?). And if that’s not enough, you can destroy a monster with 0 attack once per turn! Thank god this requires 2 Lv. 3 ROCK monsters, because otherwise, this card would be dead broken. Still, a nice addition to Chronomaly decks. It also makes you consider mixing Gorgons and Reptillianes.
• Shinra Protecting god, Alsei: Probably will become Shinra Guardian Deity or something like that in the tcg (references to god is a no-no). Either way, this card requires 2 Lv. 8 monsters. Its effect: If a card is sent from your deck to your graveyard (f.e. effects of Card Trooper, any Lightsworn, etc), you can detach 1 to target and return 1 card on the field to the deck. Also, once per turn, you can declare a card name and draw the top card. If the card is the declared name, you can add it to your hand (*cough*convulsion of nature*cough*).
• Ghostrick Dullahan: Forget Utopia Roots, this is thé Rank 1 monster to look forward to in this set. It auto-gains 200 attack for each Ghostrick you control (including this one). During either player’s turn, you can detach 1 material to halve an opponent’s monster’s attack until the end phase. Handy to get over something and even more handy to protect your monsters.

• Fairy Knight Ingnal: This card reads as a massive Giant Trunade. You can detach 2 XYZ materials to blow the entire field back to their owner’s hands (or extra deck). Downside: It requires THREE Lv. 6 monsters. Primary use: Hieratics, if you want to turn the tables; otherwise a big no-no.
• Nobelswarm Beelzebuth: A light version of Evilswarm Roach (I think). During your main phase, or your opponent’s battle phase, you can detach one to blow the field if your opponent has more cards (field +hand) than you. It’s a good come-back card. But sadly enough it also promotes overextending. If you get punished with a Torrential Tribute, you can get this on the field and watch your opponent cry. Yeah, I have the feeling this card isn't going to be legal for a long time.
• Downerd Magician: AKA a vengeful Slacker Magician (eek, what did Alchemic Magician do to her in Xyz Tribalrivals?). You can summon this by using either 2 Lv. 4 casters… or by using any Rank 3 monster during your main phase 2 (e.g. Leviair after it uses its effect). Similar to Gaia Dragon, it’s a piercer and it gains 200 attack for each XYZ material. After each battle though, you detach 1 XYZ material.

Spells

• Xyz Override: A nice Field Spell. Instead of detaching an Xyz material from an Xyz you control, you can banish 1 card from your hand face-down instead. The face-down is to prevent abuse (Dragon Rulers). But that won’t stop control decks! If Dino Rabbit was still viable, this card would be their field spell (seriously, detach 2 from Laggia, or banish 1 card from your hand instead, make your choice). Downside: Similar to Mausoleum of the Emperor, BOTH players can use its effect. That means you need to be careful when using it.
• Riding Together: Remember Appropriate? It’s an awesome trap that allows you to draw 2 cards when your opponent draws cards outside of their draw phase. Downside: searching cards doesn’t count. Solution: This card! Each time your opponent searches a card this turn, you can draw 1 card. Seems a good side-deck card when facing search-heavy decks like Prophecies.

Traps

• Ghostrick Roleshift: Shame on me for covering an archetype-specific card? No, read between the lines of this card, seriously. Its second effect works outside of Ghostrick decks! "Once per turn, during the battle phase, you can select a set monster you control and flip it face-up." No need to remember the rest of the card if you don't play Ghostricks. What makes that effect interesting? Well, it's Book of Taiyou on crack. You can trigger cards like Geargiarmor, Gravekeeper Spy, Senior Silver ninja, etc faster this way. And unlike Book of Taiyou, this is a continuous trap. So you can use its effect multiple times (if you're able to keep it on the field, obviously).
• Frozen Will of the Monarchs: Can only be activated if you have no extra deck (awh), but in return, a Tribute Summoned Monster (obviously Monarchs) loses its effect (who cares if a monarch loses its effect after its been used) but in return, it is unaffected by ANY card effect. Catch: It doesn’t say until the end phase; it’s permanently unaffected by any card effect. Did you have trouble facing Monarchs? Well, it just got worse!

Card not to look forward to (lol)

Rank-up Magic – Astral Force: Actually, I wanted to exclude this card from my review due to it being nerfed like hell. But since a lot of people were freaking out about it when it appeared in the anime, I feel I should still talk about it.

The good part: You can rank up the monster with highest rank on the field with a full 2 ranks. Of course, it needs to be the same Type/attribute. Also, you can easily recycle the card.

The nerf: “You cannot special summon any other monster, except by the effect of Astral Force” (LOL, what a nerf!). So the “draw whore” decks you might have seen on youtube that abuse this card? Yeah, they don’t work in real life…

My thoughts about this set:

Hard to find cards I really like in here, because I'm not into any of the included archetypes (safe Gravekeepers maybe).

But just about any extra deck card in this set is good! I’m not covering the Chaos XYZ anymore, due to the lack of a decent Rank-up Magic card (again lol at the nerf of Astral Force).

Also, WTF at the 5 OCG-exclusives? Don't misunderstand me, they're good. The cards make both the Chronomaly and Heraldic archetypes tournament-worthy.

But seriously, why? All booster cards are already “World Premiere” for the OCG and the OCG has promo’s the TCG won’t receive for months or years (thus also “World premiere”). Why add 5 more in this booster? Are we seriously not going to see these for a year or so?

That's it for now. V out.