Master the Power Within Every Format [MW]

Changes are happening everywhere, in every format.

With events slowing down at the end of the year, the market has been shifting a bit due to the new Genesys Format Points Update. With Onomat taking a huge hit with Dodododo Warrior going all the way up to 70 Points and with Droll & Lock Bird’s points being increased to 25, the format is going to be changing for the better. On top of this Point Update, many other cards have been catching my eye this past week due to inclusions for tops, so let’s dive in and see what has been going on.

Firstly, I would like to have a dedicated section this week for two Forbidden Cards that have caught my eye, and one of them is Maxx “C”. This card was on one of the earliest pages of the “Best Sellers” for TCGplayer, and it’s been strange seeing many sales on each version of this card. This has caused the card to creep up in price over the past month, despite being one of the most controversial and highly debated cards in the existence of Yu-Gi-Oh!. This card alone is one of the best hand traps that has been printed in the past 15 years, as each time your opponent Special Summons a monster, you immediately draw 1 card. Card advantage is everything today, and gaining that advantage each time your opponent Special Summons a monster can make or break the Duel. Even if this card has been Forbidden since February 2018 in the TCG, this card has had a major impact on the game, and its legacy will live on in the OCG, Time Wizard, and Genesys Formats.

As for the other Forbidden Card, I’ve heard rumblings from plenty of players that Heavy Storm should be released from the Forbidden section, similar to the OCG on their January 1st, 2024 List Update last year. It is a double-edged sword for Spell/Trap Card removal, as it destroys all Spell/Trap cards on the field. Using it while going 2nd is amazing, but in the late game, this could be harder to use if you don’t want to destroy your own cards. Some Decks love to have their cards destroyed, however, like Unchained, which can give the Deck an additional advantage via Special Summoning an Unchained monster from the Deck, as all their Spells/Traps have that effect. Even though many currently use Harpie’s Feather Duster, maybe the inclusion of Heavy Storm back into the metagame could curb a few strategies and balance out certain issues in the game.

Cards that currently are Forbidden live on in many different ways in the game, from different formats to collections that players have in their binders, but maybe one day, a few more cards that are Forbidden will get their spotlight again by being legal to play.

With the new Genesys Point Update, many cards have seen a change in their price or a spike in their sales. One perfect example is Parlor Dragonmaid, as they reduced the points for the theme. With Dragonmaid Sheou going from 20 to 10 points, Lady’s Dragonmaid going from 20 to 10, and Dragonmaid Tidying going from 10 to 5, this has made the Deck even cheaper to build in terms of points. Parlor Dragonmaid has been an essential card for many years for the Deck, as when it is Normal or Special Summoned, it can send any Dragonmaid card from the Deck to the GY, which helps set up plays to banish it and the monster you sent to Special Summon Lady’s Dragonmaid from the Deck if you send Dragonmaid Lorpar from the Deck. And like all of the lower-level Dragonmaids, you can have Parlor return itself to the hand, which allows you to Special Summon 1 Level 8 Dragonmaid from your hand or GY at the start of your Battle Phase.

Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle has been another card that has propped up in discussion, with Big Welcome Labrynth and Welcome Labrynth both being reduced from 33 to 20 points, while Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle has gone up from 33 to 40. This makes Labrynth a Deck that is possible to be played now, as any combination of the three could take plenty of points up, but it adds consistency back to the Deck. Instead of being able to run 1 of each, now you can mess with the ratios and either run multiples of the Welcome Labrynths Traps with 0 or 1 Lady Labrynth to make up your 100 Points. It makes plenty of sense why Konami upped the points to Lady Labrynth as while you control a Set card, Lady cannot be targeted by card effects, and if you activate a Labrynth card or effect, or a Normal Trap Card, you can quickly Special Summon Lady. The greater part of this card is when a Normal Trap Card is activated, you can quickly Set 1 Normal Trap from your Deck with a different name.

Genesys has been having tons of hype behind it at YCS Events, where the player base blew the expectations that Konami had out of the water. With a different way to play that also constantly sees updates every 6 to 8 weeks, this could be a format that many will love to play into the future.

Now finally, let’s take a look at what is happening on the Advanced Format for the game, and the first stop is Galatea-i, the Orcust Automaton, once again. This extremely powerful Link-1 for Orcust revitalized the Deck in a different way, where most of their starting plays of either Normal Summoning Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight, or Orcust Harp Horror became their Full Combo. You can only Link Summon Galatea-i once per turn, but you can Special Summon it from your GY by banishing 1 other Orcust card once per turn as well. The main part of what makes this card worth it is that you can discard 1 card to add any World Legacy monster or Orcustrated Babel from your Deck or GY to your hand. Being able to search for World Legacy – “World Crown” straight from the Deck has helped the Deck extremely well to give a different style of negation by negating the activation of a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck and destroying that card.

There is a perfect card for the Kewl Tune Players, Visas Amritara. Being one of the very few Synchro Tuners in the game, this card can be easily made in Kewl Tune, as you can fulfill the LIGHT monster requirement thanks to either Effect Veiler or Kewl Tune Cue. All the Kewl Tune monsters allow you to use 1 Tuner in your hand as 1 of the other materials, which can add up fast since Visas Amritara can be Synchro Summoned using more than 1 Tuner, and while it is on the field, its name becomes Visas Starfrost. The highest potential of this card is if it is Synchron Summoned; you can add any Spell/Trap from your Deck that mentions Visas Starfrost to your hand. Many have opted to play a copy of Mannadium Reframing, as it allows you to negate the activation of a Spell/Trap Card or Monster effect while you control a Synchro Monster, and if you control a Visas Starfrost or a monster with 1500 ATK/2100 DEF, you can destroy the card you negated. The additional upside of Amritara is you can destroy 1 monster you control to have all the Synchro Monsters you control gain 800 ATK for the turn, which helps you finish off the opponent or OTK them if they aren’t expecting it. Being a Tuner itself is great, as you don’t have to worry about the lock that Kewl Tune provides through Kewl Tune Cue and Kewl Tune Playlist.

And to wrap up this week, we will look up Spell Power Mastery because of the new support for Endymion in Premium Pack 2026 from the OCG. With only being printed from Structure Deck: Order of the Spellcasters in 2019, this card is perfect for any Deck using the Endymion engine, since this card can search any Endymion card from your Deck to your hand to place Spell Counters among cards you control that can place a Spell Counter on them, and the perfect search targets you can add are the new Genni, the Maid of Endymion (YGOrganization Translation) and Verre, the Maid of Endymion (YGOrganization Translation). So hopefully sometime during 2026, it sees a reprint and a rarity upgrade from the Super Rare version it currently has.

With the wait for the current format to shift from either new decks getting introduced to the TCG or a new Forbidden & Limited List, this format has been very interesting to observe with how much has been added over the past months, but only time will tell how the game will shift next.

As we get closer to the end of the year, I hope that 2026 will be an even better year for Yu-Gi-Oh! and things keep pushing into a good light where fewer floodgates exist in the game, and Genesys continues to balance itself out. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Edited and co-written by Angryjon