[MW] The Past Has Finally Caught Up To The Present

Huh… Many Cards Need A Reprint, While The Meta Start To Shift.

Many things are happening from the modern game to past formats, so let’s dive in and see what has been going on.

We will be starting things off with this classic Synchro Monster, Armory Arm. It was a part of many Extra Decks during its prime from SJC Nashville into the late 2011 formats. As a Level 4 Synchro, it has gotten easier to bring out over the years. It is able to equip itself to any monster on the field in order to have that monster gain 1000 ATK. With this, many monsters have the issue of attacking over boss monsters that had it equipped, like Colossal Fighter or even Goyo Guardian. With this ATK boost, it made it easier to OTK players, as each time the equipped monster destroys a monster by battle, Armory Arm inflicts damage equal to the original ATK of the destroyed monster. This has been timeless over the 2 years it was viable, but like many cards, it faded away to the Shadow Realm.

Even with the reprints from Hidden Arsenal: Chapter 1 and Quarter Century Bonanza, each copy of this card has been holding its ground as more players explore the past formats.

Abyss-Sphere has been on my mind for a while, as this Trap Card from Abyss Rising hasn’t seen a single reprint since its release. Both versions of its Ultimate Rare and Ultra Rare have skyrocketed in price from the lack of reprints as players move to the YCS Chicago, March 2014 Fire-Water Format, as both Mermail Atlantean and Fire Fists are two of the many decks that can be played. Abyss-Sphere is a simple Trap Card since it Special Summons a Mermail monster from the Deck with its effects negated, with the downside that you cannot activate any Spell Cards. And if Abyss-Sphere leaves the field, you destroy that monster, and during your opponent’s next End Phase, Abyss-Sphere destroys itself. One of the monsters you always summon off of this card is Mermail Abysslinde, as when it’s destroyed on the field and sent to the GY, you can Special Summon 1 other Mermail monster from your deck. This is helpful, as you can Special Summon either Mermail Abyssmegalo to attack for the win or Mermail Abysslead to Tribute a Mermail monster and send 1 random card from your opponent’s hand to the GY.

It is still shocking to see that this card only has 1 printing since 2012, but hopefully it does get a reprint so it can be accessible to the player base.

Dupe Frog all around has been going up in price, as it has been in multiple formats throughout the years, from Frog FTK to Paleozoic and even as recently as the Power of the Elements format with Spright. Having only 3 printings in the past years is quite shocking, as both Swap Frog and Ronintoadin had each received a luxury print from the Rarity Collection series in the TCG. It is a useful Frog monster, as while you control it, your opponent can only attack it, but if you control two copies, your opponent’s monsters cannot attack at all, as this creates a lock during the Battle Phase. And when it is sent from the field to the GY, you can add 1 Frog monster from your Deck or GY to your hand, allowing you to access Swap Frog to start up your engine or to have a form of extension. This card will miss timing, though, as it is a “When” effect, so if you use it as material for a Link Monster, it will not trigger, as the last thing to happen is the summon of the Link Monster.

With its only printings coming from Crimson Crisis, OTS Tournament Pack 3, and the Freezing Chains Structure Deck, who knows when this card will receive another reprint?

Shared Ride has been showing an increase in play recently, as it allows you to immediately draw 1 card each time a card(s) is added to your opponent’s hand from the Main Deck or GY, except by drawing them. This has been majorly used against the current top deck, Mitsurugi, as well as Ryzeal decks and even against Yummy too. As another way to draw cards, outside of the Mulcharmy monsters, it can allow you to dig for interruptions like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring or other similar cards. To gain advantage against the opponent is great, as if you set up your end board, you can Set this card, and then if the opponent activates an effect that would make them search for a card, you can chain this card in response, all thanks to it being a Quick-Play Spell Card.

This card’s last reprint was 5 years ago in Gold Series: Maximum Gold, and currently, the supply of the card is getting lower every day. Hopefully we see a new reprint of this card in a different rarity from what we currently have.

With brand new X-Saber support cards being confirmed in the future thanks to Terminal World 3, XX-Saber Faultroll has spiked in price, as the last print of this card was nearly 13 years ago in Duel Terminal 7A. This powerful X-Saber has been a piece of the Deck ever since it was released in Ancient Prophecy, because you can Special Summon it from your hand when you control 2 or more X-Saber monsters. Once per turn, you can target 1 Level 4 or lower X-Saber monster in your GY and Special Summon that target. This is useful, as you can Special Summon back cards like XX-Saber Darksoul (which can grab you an X-Saber monster during your End Phase) or XX-Saber Ragigura (which can recover an X-Saber monster from your GY to your hand). As a combo piece for the Deck, you can utilize two copies of XX-Saber Faultroll, an XX-Saber Ragigura, and XX-Saber Gottoms to provide a full hand loop combo against the opponent to put them in a top Deck mode on Turn 1 if you can pull the combo off.

With only 3 printings from Ancient Prophecy, Duel Terminal 7A, and Turbo Pack: Booster Three, this card will no doubt receive a reprint in 2026 when the new X-Saber support reaches the TCG, but it is only a matter of time when it will be.

Sky Strikers made top 8 at the European World Championship Qualifiers, and it was piloted by Teodor Mishev! This caused a few cards from Sky Strikers to go up in price as players see hope once again in the Deck, as it was boosted with the new support from Duelist’s Advance with Sky Striker Ace = Zero. This brand new Link-2 takes 2 Sky Striker Ace monsters as material, and it is worth it, as if it is Special Summoned, you can add any Sky Striker Spell from your Deck or GY to your hand, which can let you grab Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! or other interruption pieces like Widow Anchor or Shark Cannon. Another thing about this card is that you can Tribute it quickly to Special Summon both Sky Striker Ace – Raye and Sky Striker Ace Roze from your Deck and/or GY, then you can destroy 1 card on the field. This can help make additional monsters on your field to protect your LP or have a way to use Raye to Special Summon Sky Striker Ace – Kaina from your Extra Deck in order to target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls and make it unable to attack until the end of their turn to save yourself from losing the game to an OTK.

With the new Sky Striker support from Duelist’s Advance, it is only a matter of time before Konami imports the rest of the missing Sky Striker cards.

Next up, a tech that K9 has been using is Infinitrack River Stormer, as you can search for either Scrap Recycler or Planet Pathfinder with it. The Scrap Recycler line can be used in K9 Crystron to send Crystron Smiger from your Deck to your GY to start your Crystron Combo lines. You can banish Smiger to search for any Crystron Spell/Trap Card from your deck to your hand, which can lead to Crystron Inclusion. For the Planet Pathfinder route, you can Normal Summon it, then Tribute it to search for any Field Spell from your Deck to your hand. This is mainly seen in decks like Artmage to search for Artmage Academic Arcane Arts Acropolis for added consistency of how many ways you can get to a copy of AAAAA.

This card only has 2 prints from The Infinity Chasers and the 2020 Tins of Lost Memories, so hopefully this card sees a quick reprint for this amazing tech card.

Finally, let’s take a look at Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries as a Side Deck option that has been seeing a bit more play in the OCG. You can quickly activate this card from your hand if your opponent controls more monsters than you do. By revealing 1 monster from your Extra Deck, you banish all cards in your opponent’s Extra Deck with the same name as the revealed card. This card has been seeing amazing use against Yummy to get rid of all copies of Yummy★Snatchy, or if you’re against Lunalight, reveal Lunalight Liger Dancer to banish all copies of those from their Extra Deck. This can also be utilized against the K9 engine to banish cards like N.As.H Knight to stop the opponent from Special Summoning CXyz N.As.Ch. Knight, Number C101: Silent Honor DARK, or Number C107: Neo Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. With this card still being useful, it can hinder decks to the point where some of their main plays aren’t able to be used because their important cards are banished from their Extra Deck.

This card has multiple reprints over the past years, so it is available to the players for cheap prices, but only time will tell if other copies are going to go up in price or not.

With the changing of the meta in the next few days, it’ll be interesting to see what tech cards show up in players’ main and side decks going forward.

Edited and co-written by Angryjon