[MW] Behind the Plants & Rusted Gears in the Market

Warriors, Dragons, and Plants are hiding in the Machines

Looking throughout the market, there are so many cards that gain value over time, even if they never see a reprint, if they are a part of a past format, or if there are new tech discoveries that appear over the recent weeks from the OCG/TCG, Genesys, and even Master Duel. Even newer cards can hold value easily if they are worthwhile to play, so let’s dive into some of these cards and see what has been recently cooking.

Recently, it has been uncovered that Evening Twilight Knight is going to become a tech in Branded Decks to bridge between it and Mitsurugi. When Evening Twilight Knight is banished from your GY, you can add any Ritual Monster, which is really useful if you run Branded Dogmatika, as it can search for White Relic of Dogmatika or Dogmatika Alba Zoa, but many have gotten the sinister idea to search for Ame no Habakiri no Mitsurugi to have another combo ready after they finish their fully Branded combo. Outside of this, many already run Herald of the Arc Light in the Extra Deck to send off with Dogmatika Maximus’ effect in order to trigger Herald’s ability to search for a Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell, thus adding another way to bridge into Mitsurugi, which is an issue in itself.

This card has only seen 2 prints from Dimension of Chaos and the 2016 Mega-Tin Mega Pack, even with support for Black Luster Soldier over the past few years. It’s strange that it and Beginning Knight haven’t seen a reprint in the past nearly 10 years, despite their price going up over time.

Once again, we are back to talking about the Mulcharmy Trio, as they recently received a new reprint in Common Rarity from the Legendary 5D’s Decks. Mulcharmy Purulia, being the first released of the three, allows you to draw 1 card each time your opponent Normal or Special Summons a monster(s) from their hand, which is amazing against many Decks that want to Summon from the hand, like Vanquish Soul K9, Pure Yummy, and Ryzeal. This has been an essential card for plenty of Decks since its release and, as of recent, has been seen in 54.1% of known topping lists over the past year.

Mulcharmy Fuwalos, on the other hand, has been the most used and most powerful Mulcharmy out of the three, since you are able to draw 1 card each time your opponent Special Summons a monster from their Main Deck or Extra Deck. This is universal, as 99% of Decks in the current game want to Special Summon a monster from either location. No matter what current Meta Decks there are, Fuwalos will always be useful to have, even if it is Yummy, Dracotail, or Mitsurugi, as you will net anywhere from 1 to 3 drawn cards. Fuwalos has also been the go-to main essential card for the past year, as it has been in well over 85.2% of topping lists since its original release in Rage of the Abyss in October 2024.

Finally, for the newest member of the jellyfish parade, Mulcharmy Meowls has only been around since the start of the year, and it’s been picking up some traction. Allowing you to draw 1 card each time your opponent Special Summons from the banishment or GY, which can be vital against Maliss, Mitsurugi, and Yummy since some combo routes need them to Special Summon from both of the mentioned locations. Since Meowls’ release in Supreme Darkness back in January, it has already seen plenty of play, where it’s been seen consistently in topping lists at 28.5%, mainly in the Side Deck for specific matchups.

Even though all three Mulcharmies have seen a Common reprint, they still have a price tag to them, like how Ash Blossom & Joyous Springs was when it was reprinted in the Salamangreat Sanctum Structure Deck in 2019, but give it time as more players get their hands on the new Legendary 5D’s Decks, as the price will settle over time.

On the topic of the Legendary 5D’s Decks, Queen of Thorns seems to have missed the reprint for the Akiza Deck. This Level 6 Plant Synchro Monster hasn’t seen a reprint since Astral Pack 5 in 2014, and it’s odd that there hasn’t been a new print since. All it takes to Summon it is 1 Tuner and 1 or more non-Tuner Plant monsters and while face-up on the field, each player has to pay 1000 LP to Normal or Special Summon a non-Plant monster from their hand. Currently, as of writing this article, the Common print is nearly completely gone off the market, while the Crossroads of Chaos version has less than 20 listings total. Even on Cardmarket too, where this card has less than 65 total copies on the market. This card is also a great use in Plant Decks back in Edison Format as well, with it being a slower format compared to today’s standards.

Hopefully we see a new print of Queen of Thorns soon with updated PSCT, or this card will probably be fully off the market as the weeks go by, but only time will tell for this Plant Synchro Monster.

Next up, Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon has been on my list to talk about because this card is rising in price due to the new support for Yusei in the new Legendary 5D’s Decks. Sifr Divine Dragon can be an important card in some decks, as the first time each card you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, it isn’t destroyed, and once per turn, when your opponent activates a monster effect, you can negate that effect, and if you do, you destroy 1 card on the field. A great part of this card is if it is in the GY, you can banish it to target and Special Summon 1 Level 8 or lower Stardust monster from your GY. In Synchron Decks, they have an easy way to access Sifr Divine Dragon by Synchro Summoning Crimson Dragon, since that card can target another Level 7 or higher Synchro Monster you control, and Crimson Dragon returns itself to the Extra Deck to Special Summon any Dragon Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck with the same Level as the targeted monster. Sifr is one of the many Level 12 monsters that can be Special Summoned with Crimson Dragon’s effect. It’s worth noting that the Special Summon is also treated as a Synchro Summon as well. There are plenty of other generic Level 12 Synchros the Deck can use, from Centur-Ion Legatia to Snake-Eyes Vengeance Dragon, so it just depends on what they need more. With Legatia, you can destroy the monster your opponent controls with the highest ATK. Meanwhile, Vengeance Dragon can quickly target 1 face-up monster on the field or in the GY and place it face-up in the owner’s Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell, and during the Battle Phase, you can quickly target 1 monster and 1 Continuous Spell on the field and destroy them.

Even with the most recent reprint being from Battles of Legend: Monster Mayhem, Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon is demanding $2 and above for each copy, thanks to the new cards supporting Synchron, and Blue-Eyes, another notable Deck that uses this card, is still doing great in the current rogue category.

Next up will be a duo of cards that haven’t seen a reprint since Maximum Gold: El Dorado back in 2021, that being both Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede and Urgent Schedule. They both have many use cases in EARTH Machine Pile Decks and Railway itself. Let’s focus on Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede first. This Level 4 Machine is one of your main Summons in the EARTH Machine Decks, as you can target and Special Summon 1 EARTH Machine monster from your GY in Defense Position. This is great, as it allows access for any type of Extra Deck Summon, from Special Summoning a Tuner for Synchro Summons to using the additional monster for a Link Summon, or if you use its second effect to target 1 other face-up monster you control and change the Level of that monster or this card to become the Level of the other. Pairing this with the Level 5 Infinitrack Monsters can come in handy to Xyz Summon Infinitrack Riverstormer, or if you choose a Level 10 monster, it allows you to access the powerful Rank 10 Superdreadnaught Rail Cannon Gustav Max to inflict 2000 damage to the opponent. Then you can Xyz Summon the Rank 11 Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe by using any Rank 10 Machine Xyz you control (and its materials) as material. Liebe can allow you to detach 1 material from it to make itself gain 2000 ATK/DEF but makes you only able to attack with it that turn. On the flip side, it can attack monsters your opponent controls, up to the number of materials it has +1. This makes it somewhat easy to OTK the opponent if they are not expecting this behemoth of a machine to be summoned. Back to Flying Pegasus, this card is still missing its Alternate Artwork from the OCG 2022 set, Selection 5! This is honestly odd that we still haven’t had this Artwork imported to the TCG yet, but hopefully it is soon along with the Evil★Twin Alternate Artworks, as players have been waiting more than 3 years for these.

After Flying Pegasus, let’s take a look at Urgent Schedule, one of the best cards ever printed for EARTH Machine Decks ever since a bread slicer was invented. This card allows you to Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower and 1 Level 5 or higher EARTH Machine monster from your Deck in Defense Position, provided your opponent controls more monsters than you do. The monsters you summon also have their effects negated, and you cannot declare attacks the turn you activated this card, except with Machine Monsters. Even with a few drawbacks, it’s absolutely fine, as you will be using the two monsters you summoned as Link Material for Ancient Gear Ballista, so you can search for Ancient Gear Box, which then adds a monster from your Deck to your hand with 500 ATK or DEF. This combo is used to search for Infinitrack Tunneller, then you can Tribute Ancient Gear Ballista to Special Summon it from your hand to gain access to a Level 5 monster for future Link plays, or use it with another Level 5 to Xyz Summon Infinitrack River Stormer. Another thing about Urgent Schedule is if it is sent from the field to the GY while Set, you can add any Level 10 Machine monster from your Deck to your hand. This is perfect for searching for Super Express Bullet Train or Heavy Freight Train Derricrane for a free extender or boss monsters like Machina Citadel or Machina Ruinforce.

Sneaking into the duo, I’ll be adding Infinitrack River Stormer to the list as well to make them a trio, as it’s an important piece for any Deck that uses EARTH Machine monsters. With just two Level 5 monsters, this Rank 5 card is brilliant for many plays, as you can detach 1 material from it to take 1 EARTH Machine from your Deck and either add it to your hand or send it to the GY. Being able to search for Scrap Recycler in Crystron K9 Decks is great, and searching for any Infinitrack monster as an additional Level 5 extender is helpful in many situations. While this card is in your GY, you can Tribute 1 Machine Link Monster to Special Summon itself from the GY, and if you Tribute Infinitrack Goliath this way, you can trigger its effect to attach itself to any Xyz Monster you control as material, and it grants that Xyz Monster immunity to card effect destruction. Another River Stormer effect that does come up sometimes is when it destroys an opponent’s monster by battle, you can attach that monster to it as material, which can fuel its search effect, or if needed, become additional material for Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder.

Even with Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede only being from Legendary Duelists: Sister of the Roses and Legendary Season 2, and Urgent Schedule being in the previously mentioned set and having an additional reprint in Maximum Gold: El Dorado, it’s been more than enough time to reprint these cards in a new rarity and import the Alternate Artwork for Flying Pegasus. Then with Infinitrack River Stormer, this card has only been seen in The Infinity Chasers and 2020 Tin of Lost Memories. It’ll be the perfect time to reprint this card soon, with some using it with the K9 package to search for any EARTH Machine in the game.

Even with the market being odd like it normally is, next week is going to be harder to pinpoint cards to talk about, as this upcoming Friday to December 1st will be the TCGplayer’s Store Credit Promotion: “This time of year, players who buy anything off of TCGplayer will get 10% from their purchases, or if you are a TCGplayer Subscriber, you will receive 13% (12% base plus 1-3% monthly loyalty bonus)”. So with stating this, I would love to take suggestions for next week’s article in the comments below! With YCS Merida, Mexico, this weekend as well, I will predict that either Mitsurugi Yummy or Branded Dracotail will take the win, but we will see what happens this weekend. I do wish everyone luck who is attending, and may the best duelist win like always! And for my fellow people in the United States, I hope everyone has a safe and joyous Thanksgiving this year.

Edited and co-written by Angryjon