MW: Impact From Maze of the Master

As we finally saw the reveals from Maze of the Master, we will be looking at the impact of what this set did to the market and some cards that weren’t reprinted from the set!

We will take a look at the impact from the highly anticipated set Maze of the Master. Many players were questioning what the new support cards would do for Temple of the Kings and it really impressed the masses along with many of the reprints that came as well. Let’s dive in and take a look at the impact from this set.

With the recent swap of play, Mulcharmy Purulia has been slowly going down but with it receiving an Ultra Rare and a Collector’s Rare print. A well needed reprint for this cute jellyfish caused it to go down a tad more. Even though it is the least played of the three Mulcharmies, Purulia can still show its power on people who aren’t expecting it. 

It currently fell to $35 a copy from The Infinite Forbidden from its $45-55 price a couple weeks ago. Let’s hope we see this same collapse when Mulcharmy Fuwalos gets its reprint in Quarter Century Stampede. Giving this card easier access is great for players who originally wanted another chance at getting copies of this card.

 

WATER players rejoice as Atlantean Heavy Infantry finally gets a new accessible reprint. Only being in Structure Deck: Realm of the Sea Emperor and Astral Pack 2, it was harder to come by, especially today when many players want to play Atlantean Mermail with their new support from Rage of the Abyss and Supreme Darkness. A well timed reprint for a Deck that also won the recent San Salvador, El Salvador 3v3 Team YCS along with another Atlantean Mermail Deck and Pure Ryzeal to round out the winning Decks.

Even though it is easier to get, players are still going after the Super Rare copy from Astral Pack 2 for the time being as it is still around $16 whereas the Structure Deck: Realm of the Sea Emperor Commons are $8 total. Being a 1-of for the Deck, this is great for players on a budget and wanting an accessible copy.

 

Both Thunder Dragonhawk and Thunder Dragonroar were reprinted and it has been 6 years since their last reprint from the 2019 Gold Sarcophagus Mega Tin Mega Pack. These two cards are core pieces to any Thunder Dragon Deck or Engine. Dragonhawk is able to Special Summon a Thunder Dragon monster that is in your GY or banishment. Dragonroar, when banished, can let you Special Summon 1 Thunder Dragon monster from your Deck, allowing you to get Thunder Dragonmatrix or Thunder Dragondark.

Both Thunder Dragonhawk and Thunder Dragonroar have been up a little in price at $3-4 from $5-6 and $5 from $6-7 a piece respectively, but with the reprints from Maze of the Masters, it’ll lessen the price as Thunder Dragons as a Deck itself becomes more budget for players to get for past format play or modern day testing.

 

As new Gladiator Beast support comes and goes, Gladiator Beast Retiari normally misses out, but this time it did receive both a Rare and a Collector’s Rare print. The last time we saw a reprint from this card was back in July 10th, 2010 from Turbo Pack: Booster Three. This card was an option to play in the Deck in past formats like Edison because it allows you to remove a card from your opponent’s GY if it was Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, while making it awkward for your opponent if you banish a DARK monster from their GY to prevent Dark Armed Dragon from being Summoned. Since it is a Gladiator Beast monster, you can also use it alongside Gladiator Beast Bestiari to contact fuse into Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, or using it, Gladiator Beast Laquari and another Gladiator Beast monster to Summon out Gladiator Beast Heraklinos.

With this card having a Secret Rare from Crossroads of Chaos and Turbo Pack: Booster Three, the card was extra expensive for past format decks. For the Crossroads of Chaos Secret Rare, it was around $53 per copy and now has dropped to $43 a copy. Whereas the Turbo Pack: Booster Three Rare has gone from $30 to around $23 which is a good dent, but it’ll slowly go back up over time.

 

Another powerful Gladiator Beast card for the current state of the Deck is Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor, another card I covered a few weeks ago. It has gotten a lower rarity print as a Rare. This card allows you to Special Summon any Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning condition. With this, you can Special Summon Gladiator Beast Domitianus to stop cards like Nibiru, the Primal Being so you can keep going through your combo and be protected as you Summon multiple monsters throughout your turn.

When I originally covered this card, it was around $5 a copy as it was only from Battles of Legend: Light’s Revenge, but now it is around $3 a copy with its new Rare print from Maze of the Masters.

 

Swordsoul is back at it again by getting a full Deck reprint like we saw back in Magnificent Mavens to support the new Tenyi cards from Supreme Darkness. Swordsoul of Mo Ye, the main starter of your Deck, and Swordsoul Grandmaster – Chixiao, now each have another rarity to them being accessible in Super Rare and Rare respectively. While from Burst of Destiny being a Secret Rare and from Magnificent Mavens as an Ultra Rare. Both cards have had a stable price over the past few years for how much people have relied on these two. Swordsoul of Mo Ye is your main Normal Summon and starter. By revealing any Wyrm monster from your hand, you can Special Summon a Level 4 Swordsoul Token, which allows you to go into Swordsoul Grandmaster – Chixiao. Then you use Chixiao’s effect to add Swordsoul Emergence from your Deck.

While both cards share the same sets, both have a steady and constant price. On Swordsoul of Mo Ye’s side, her Secret Rare copy from Burst of Destiny is currently hanging around $10 from $12 a few days ago and her Magnificent Maven Ultra Rare is hitting $3 from $8 last week. And as for Swordsoul Grandmaster – Chixiao, its Burst of Destiny Secret Rare copy went from $6 to now $3.50 at the lowest, while its Magnificent Maven Ultra Rare was hitting $3 and is now $1.50.

 

After 6 years of no reprints, Galaxy Satellite Dragon finally gets its first reprint as we last saw it in Chaos Impact. This Link-2 monster can banish itself from your field or GY, then target 1 “Number” Xyz Monster you control whose original Type/Attribute are LIGHT/Dragon. By doing so, you boost that monster’s ATK by the Number value in its name times 100. Galaxy Satellite Dragon has another powerful effect as well. During your opponent’s End Phase, you can choose any card from your Deck and place it on the top of said Deck. A very unique utility card that allows you to push over high ATK problem monsters as well as make your next draw exactly what you need.

Before we knew about the reprint of Galaxy Satellite Dragon, it was well over $2 a copy, but now since it was announced to get a Rare print from Maze of the Masters, it is now around $1-1.50 total. 

 

I have previously covered Crystron Quariongandrax before because of the new Crystron support from Supreme Darkness along with no reprint, but now it has a new accessible reprint. Along with Crystron Sulfefnir and Crystron Citree in OTS Tournament Pack 27 as Commons, Quariongandrax is now printed as a Rare in Maze of the Master, making Crystron a more budget friendly option for players who have been wanting to play the Deck. This 1-of boss monster reprint is huge for the Deck because it allows you to interrupt your opponent by banishing monsters on your opponent’s field and GY, up to the number of Synchro Materials used for this card’s Synchro Summon. And when this Synchro Summoned card is destroyed by battle or card effect, you can target 1 banished monster, except this card, and Special Summon it to your field.

Crystron Quariongandrax has fallen slightly as it sits around $15 a copy from $17, but you never need more than 1 copy of this card.

What reprinted were missed?

Now after this, let’s talk about cards that were missing from Maze of the Master and this will start off with Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry, Number C102: Archfiend Seraph, and Number C103: Ragnafinity. Number 102 had its lone print in Judgment of the Light while its chaos version, Number C102, was printed in Primal Origin and later reprinted in the 2015 Mega-Tins Mega Pack. Number C103 meanwhile, had its only printing in Primal Origin. These three all work extra well with Seventh Tachyon to search out either Ice Ryzeal or Ext Ryzeal via Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry, or Artifact Lancea from Number C102: Archfiend Seraph and Number C103: Ragnafinity. This is a huge consistency boost to the Ryzeal Deck as it will be able to search Artifact Lancea on demand now to stop Maliss from playing the game.

For the trio, let’s break it down easily. The Number C103: Ragnafinity Rare is currently up to $5-6 a copy from Primal Origin, while Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry is currently at $3 a copy for its original Judgment of the Light print. And finally, Number C102: Archfiend Seraph has three versions, from its Ultimate Rare at $35+ from a low $7 a copy, with its Primal Origin Super Rare currently at $20-25+ from $5 a copy, and the Super Rare from the 2015 Mega-Tin Mega Pack at $40 now from $5 a copy.

 

Next up is Seventh Ascension, the card that magically skipped out of Maze of the Master when it desperately needed a reprint. This card was from Legendary Duelists: Duels From the Deep, a set people laughed at of how it wasn’t worth the fuss to get their hands all over it, but now, it’s laughing back with this Ultra Rare. This card allows you to search the brand new Seventh Tachyon as it has added consistency for Ryzeal and other Xyz Decks, like Sharks, that can use it efficiently. By revealing cards like Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry, Number C102: Archfiend Seraph, Number 103: Ragnazero, and Number C103: Ragnafinity, you get starters like Ice Ryzeal, Ext Ryzeal, or Surfacing Big Jaws to start off your turn strong or grab cards like Artifact Lancea to stop your opponent’s turn dead on their tracks.

Back a few days ago, it was only $25 a copy, and now it has bolstered up to $48 and above for a single copy of this card. Nearly a year or so ago, it was laying at $2 a copy. So whoever has a bunch of copies of this card laying around has made out like a bandit with this pickup that players should’ve seen this coming before Xyz Decks started to prop up that could utilize these cards.

 

Even though we saw Atlantean Marksman and Atlantean Heavy Infantry in Maze of the Master, we are still missing Mermail Abyssgaios and Mermail Abysspike, as they still don’t have a new print. These two Mermail monsters are a big part to the Atlantean Mermail Deck because Abyssgaios is the Boss Monster they use to go into Poseidra Abyss, the Atlantean Dragon Lord to then link it away into Marincess Coral Anemone. This allows Poseidra to Special Summon 3 Level 3 or lower Fish, Sea Serpent, and/or Aqua monsters from your GY to further your plays. As for Mermail Abysspike, it allows you to discard a WATER monster to search out a Level 3 WATER monster like Ghost Sister & Spooky Dogwood, Mermail Shadow Squad, or Abyssrhine, the Atlantean Spirit. By searching Abyssrhine, the Atlantean Spirit, it allows you to start your play to Tributing Abyssrhine and 1 Atlantean or Mermail monster to take a Level 7 Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua monster from your Deck and either add it to your hand or Special Summon it. Most of the time, you either grab Poseidra, the Storming Atlantean or Mermail Abyssteus. During your End Phase, while Abyssrhine is in your GY, you can banish it and discard 1 card to the GY, to draw 1 card, which might not seem like much at first glance, but by doing so, you can potentially activate cards like Atlantean Heavy Infantry, Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince, or Atlantean Dragoons as they were sent to the GY by the effect of a WATER monster.

With Mermail Abyssgaios and Mermail Abysspike, they only have their price slowly go up because of no reprints. Mermail Abyssgaios still only has its Abyss Rising print and the Ultimate Rares are up to $65 a copy and its Ultra Rare is now going for around $50 a copy. While the Mermail Abysspike Super Rare copy from Astral Pack 5 have inched back to $20 and the Rares from Abyss Rising are back up to $9 a copy from $6 a week ago.

Could we see these few cards in Quarter Century Stampede? Who knows. As we take a close to this week, we will be looking at the impact of Maze of the Master at the 3v3 Team YCS over in Huston, Texas and we could probably see another win for Ryzeal as a whole, forcing Konami to hit the Deck more than we might expect.