Do you believe in Fairy Tales?
So much is going on this week in the market, from new Fairy Tail support being announced to give new life to the archetype to plenty of older cards getting bought out for past and modern formats. It’s been interesting reading up on the feature matches from this past North American Remote Duel YCS, with Sabit Zada winning the event with Vanquish Soul K9. So let’s dive into the 50th Market Watch and see what has been going on.
It’s a no-brainer that the first two cards we will be looking at are both Fairy Tail – Luna and Fairy Tail – Snow. Both of these cards are the heart of the Fairy Tail Deck with the new support, with Luna being able to add any Spellcaster monster with 1850 ATK from your Deck, which allows you to fetch Fairy Tail – Matchlille (YGOrganization Translation), their newest Main Deck member. Matchlille can be Special Summoned from the hand or GY while you control a monster with 1850 ATK, which this Deck naturally has plenty of. Fairy Tail – Luna is also extremely useful with the new support, as Matchlille can target monsters on the field to change their name to “Fairy Prince,” making it easier to resolve Luna’s 2nd effect, as there are no cards in the game that are properly named “Fairy Prince.”
Likewise, Fairy Tail – Snow can be extremely useful with the Deck now, as they can now interact with your own cards that are banished. With Weaver of Fairy Tail Tales (YGOrganization Translation), you can Special Summon 1 Fairy Tail monster from your Deck or banishment during your Main Phase. This makes Snow become a form of interruption by flipping a face-up monster your opponent controls face-down. Fairy Tail – Sleeper is also a great option with Weaver, as they can Tribute 1 other monster to change the activated effect of an opponent’s activated Normal Spell/Trap Card to “Change 1 face-up monster your opponent controls to face-down Defense Position.” Currently, Fairy Tail – Snow is Forbidden in the TCG, but will Konami decide to move it off the list once again and test the waters with it being Limited? Or is this just hopeful thinking for the future?
Many of the Fairy Tail cards have had buyouts happen because of the announcement of the new support; maybe we could see another batch of reprints in Rarity Collection 5 to go alongside Blazing Dominion’s release in the TCG.
Over the past few months, it has been noticed that Tiras, Keeper of Genesis, has been seen in multiple topping Vanquish Soul K9 lists. On the surface, this Rank 5 doesn’t seem like much, but when you look into it more, it makes out to be one of the best cards to use for Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder, as while it has material, Tiras cannot be destroyed by card effects, and if you have a copy of K9-ØØ Lupis as 1 of its materials, your opponent can no longer target it. This makes Tiras a tower-like monster. At the end of the Battle Phase, if it has battled, you can target a card your opponent controls and destroy it, making this extremely powerful removal, as it helps clean up the opponent’s board, making them lose out on an additional card. Then, during your Main Phase 2, you can Xyz Summon a copy of AA-ZEUS, and it’ll gain the additional effect of K9-ØØ Lupis as mentioned earlier.
This has to be one of the greatest techs that Vanquish Soul K9 can use, and it’s definitely deserving of its price, so hopefully this card receives the Rarity Collection suite of rarities in Rarity Collection 5.
This week, there were some notable past format cards that have been making it big, and Abyss Soldier is one of them. With the North American market having less than 70 total listings and the European market hitting 300 total listings, it is shocking that this card hasn’t seen a reprint for so long, with the last time being a printing in the 2012 Realm of the Sea Emperor Structure Deck. It is a great card in formats like GOAT, as it allows you to, once per turn, discard 1 WATER monster to return 1 card on the field. This is a great way to remove Continuous Spells/Traps, Field Spells, and Equip Spells. It can also get rid of problematic monsters on the field. It can even return your own cards like Call of the Haunted, Premature Burial, and Snatch Steal, allowing you to reuse them and apply those cards to a different target.
Tsukuyomi happens to be another card where listings are getting extremely low over the years, and it’s because of how good this card is, as when it’s flipped face-up or Normal Summoned, you can target 1 face-up monster on the field and flip it to face-down Defense Position. With it having only 1100 ATK, it can take care of weaker monsters on its own, but when paired with a stronger monster, it can help remove them from the field through battle. Even then, it can help set up Flip Effect Monsters that you control, like Morphing Jar (to make each player discard their entire hands and draw 5 new cards) or Magician of Faith (to add a Spell Card from your GY to your hand). Since it is a Spirit Monster, it returns to the hand during the End Phase, and it cannot be Special Summoned, so it can be reused on the next turn.
For the final past format card, we have Swap Frog, one of the best cards in Edison Format and Early POTE Format for Spright. This card is extremely powerful, as you can discard 1 other WATER monster to Special Summon Swap Frog from your hand, and when it’s Normal or Special Summoned, you can send any Level 2 or lower WATER Aqua monster from your Deck or face-up field. Neither of these effects is once per turn either. In addition, you can, once per turn, return 1 monster you control to the hand to gain the ability to Normal Summon 1 other Frog monster in addition to your usual Normal Summon/Set. The main card to send with Swap’s effect was previously Ronintoadin until its placement on the Forbidden section of the TCG list on the October 2023 List. These days, Nimble Angler is the primary option, as its GY effect would Special Summon 2 Nimble monsters from your Deck, allowing you to make a free Rank 2 or Link-2 in the modern game. For the past formats, you can send cards from Ronintoadin and plenty of other Frogs for Frog FTK, or send cards like Treeborn Frog to set up your next turn with cards like Caius the Shadow Monarch, or an additional Tribute fodder for Light and Darkness Dragon. The Ultimate Rare has been rising rapidly over the past few months, while the other copies are starting to follow. Swap Frog will be a timeless card, and it’ll always be a sought-after card for many who have played this game for years.
It still shows plenty of players are passionate about formats from the Time Wizard formats, and they would rather play it over the Genesys Format. Hopefully Konami supports both of them in the future, as they have lots of future potential.
Recently and finally, I’ve been eyeing Saint Azamina as one of the plenty of Secret Rares printed this year, as some dedicated duelists have been playing the Azamina Sinful Spoils Deck. In the past month, a total of 2 duelists have topped their regional event with the Deck, and both were running 2 copies of Saint Azamina. With it needing 2 Level 6 or higher monsters for its Fusion Summon, 1 Fusion, and 1 Synchro, this card is absurd, as it prevents the opponent from targeting cards in their field, GY, or banishment, or this card on the field with card effects. They also take any battle damage you would have taken. One of the best things about this card is if it was Fusion Summoned that turn, you can quickly Special Summon 1 Level 9 or lower Azamina monster from your Deck or Extra Deck. This is extremely important, as it can Summon out Elzette, Azamina of the White Forest, or Queen Azamina from your Main Deck, while it can also Summon Azamina Ilia Silva, which is an Omni-Negate that can negate any card or effect that your opponent activates. You can even Summon Azamina Moa Regina, which can target and Special Summon any Illusion monster in your GY, and when an Azamina or Sinful Spoil card or effect is activated, you can quickly target 2 cards on the field and destroy them. All these options and effects make Saint Azamina ridiculously powerful, and it’s great to see duelists exploring this Deck after so long, especially in the current meta that is flooded by Mitsurugi, Yummy, Dracotail, Maliss, and K9 decks.
We could most definitely see Saint Azamina being reprinted in the 2026 Mega Tins, if they are decided to be made for this year, as trends continue with reprinting many cards from the previous years. But over the course of 2026, we will most definitely be seeing more Azamina decks popping up at the competitive level.
The game is ever-changing, and it’s great seeing new rogue strategies pop up for the TCG. Hopefully going into next year, we see a new Forbidden & Limited List to change the game for the better, so more Decks can compete with the top-tier titans of this format.
Edited and co-written by “Here’s to 50 more” Angryjon
