MW: 25th Anniversary is Coming To An End… But It Caused A Lot Of Chaos

A grand reprint cycle concludes… But what chaos could it cause?

Stampeding into this week’s article, Quarter Century Stampede has reached the masses, and well… Many cards saw heavy buyouts happening with many of the new exclusive Quarter Century Secret Rare Only Alternate Artworks along with other cards from the set as well. Along with Stampede, let’s take a look at other things as well that have been going on.

First off, let us take a look at the most wanted and highest demand card, Mulcharmy Fuwalos. With this card’s reprint finally arriving, it has been one of the best sellers from the set. This instant 3-of in every player’s Main and Side Deck has made it so that the price of the card skyrocketed to around $20 or more per copy. As the best Maxx “C” replacement that has been printed to date, players are buying as many copies as they can of this card for any of their Decks with how much impact and power it has behind it.

 

As one of the best Hand Traps we’ve seen released in the past year, this card has made an amazing grand slam to the market, with it only getting 6 additional rarities to its base Secret Rare and Quarter Century Secret Rare, giving players a multitude of options to use depending on which one they want the most.

As we talk about Mulcharmy Fuwalos, let’s also take a look at Maxx “C” as it was also included in the Nostalgia Section of Quarter Century Stampede. Players have dreamed for a while for this card to get a Quarter Century Secret Rare, and they finally got one. It has made an entrance as well, with it already toppling many of the other QCRs in the set. As an amazing card for formats from its release in Storm of Ragnarok up to its banning in February 2018 during the Full Power SPYRAL format, it always held a form of value because of how impactful it is on all of its past formats as players dig and discover more that those formats hold.

Being the center of attention in many formats, I wonder how players have been finding to use Maxx “C” in the Time Wizard Formats. As being the most critical Hand Traps of all time next to cards like Droll & Lock Bird and Effect Veiler, one wonders if it will ever come back to the TCG.

Since Maxx “C” and Mulcharmy Fuwalos were both covered, let’s take a look at the only Mulcharmy to not have a reprint yet. Mulcharmy Meowls has become more useful over the past months and will be a great Hand Trap to have against the Maliss theme from Crossover Breakers as we head into the Alliance Insight format. Like the other Mulcharmy monsters, after you discard this card from your hand, any time your opponent Special Summons a monster or monsters from either GY or banishment, you draw 1 card. And during the End Phase, if the number of cards in your hand is more than the number of cards your opponent controls +6, you randomly shuffle back cards from your hand into your Deck until your hand equals the total amount of cards your opponent controls +6.

With this card gaining popularity and the best Mulcharmy monsters rotating throughout the formats and time of the game, it’ll be interesting to see what players will think about this card heading into the Alliance Insight format.

Now, let’s take a look at one of the top cards from Quarter Century Stampede, and it is the new Alternate Artwork for Diabellstar the Black Witch. A fan favorite hit from both sides of the game, Diabellstar received her new look, post Sinful Spoils Lore, after the final battle against Azamina. This new artwork made a ton of players excited to get the set, but it is only locked into the Quarter Century Secret Rare rarity. But being the top of the set makes it worthwhile for one of the best key pieces for any Deck that wants to run the Sinful Spoils engine to get to Deception of the Sinful Spoils for your Azamina Engine or even the brand new Sinful Spoils cards from Alliance Insight that release in just a couple weeks.

Granted, this is only in Quarter Century Secret Rare; many players do hope that these special Alternate Arts will get more accessible rarities in the future.

Elzette of the White Forest has been hit in the crossfire again, with more Sinful Spoils and White Forest support coming in Alliance Insight! Being one of the main Secret Rares in the Deck, this card has always been hit up over time and time again since its release back in July of last year. This card being able to send 1 Spell/Trap from your hand to Special Summon itself to then add any White Forest monster from your Deck to your hand is amazing, as it ties extra well with Elzette, Azamina of the White Forest, to have more ways to access the Azamina engine with Azamina Mu Rcielago or Azamina Ilia Silvia. 

Both Elzettes are great for any Deck that needs a way to summon out free monsters to conduct Synchro or Link Summons. Another thing about Elzette of the White Forest is that if a LIGHT Spellcaster monster is Special Summoned to your field during your opponent’s turn, except during the Damage Step, she can add herself from your GY to your hand, so you can have follow-ups on your following turn. Whereas Elzette, Azamina of the White Forest, allows you to reveal itself in your hand to Special Summon 1 White Forest or Azamina monster from your hand. Also, with that, while Elzette is face-up on the field, you can Fusion Summon 1 Azamina Fusion Monster using monsters from your hand or field, allowing you to summon either Mu Rcielago or Ilia Silvia. But in Decks like White Forest, the last effect is great, as if it is used as a Synchro Material, you can add 1 Sinful Spoils card from your Deck to your hand, which can search out cards like WANTED: Seeker of the Sinful Spoils or the brand new Diabellstar Vengeance from Alliance Insight, as it treats itself as a Sinful Spoils card.

Despite only being from The Infinite Forbidden, this card has always held a high value in the past months because of all the support White Forest received from Supreme Darkness and now Alliance Insight. As players look into what the Deck will accomplish in the future, it is possibly a great option for the World Championship this year in Paris, France.

The Dragon Master Magia craze still continues with Stampede, as it received 3 new Luxury Rarities from its standalone Quarter Century Secret Rare from Battles of Legend: Terminal Revenge. With Konami giving this card the brand-new Prismatic Ultimate Rare, Prismatic Collector’s Rare, and Platinum Secret Rare versions, it has been holding value as the most nostalgia-filled collectible card for Yugi and Kaiba fans. Being a combination of Magician of Black Chaos and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in a single art, it makes classic fans excited for this Fusion Monster that many want to see how it would fit in with the Blue-Eyes Deck with the new support from the Structure Deck.

Being a thing to test out in Blue-Eyes Decks, a few have pondered how it would work with the new Magician of Black Chaos support in the Tactical-Try Pack the OCG will receive in the next few months.

As we arrive closer to the new Vanquish Soul support, Vanquish Soul Jiaolong has been in the spotlight. This powerful Level 5 monster for the theme allows you to Special Summon itself from your hand if you reveal a card(s) from your hand to activate a Vanquish Soul card or effect. Along with this, it has a Quick Effect where you can either reveal a FIRE Monster in your hand to change the battle position of 1 monster on the field or reveal 2 FIRE Monsters to add 1 Vanquish Soul card from your Deck to your hand instead, which allows you to add cards like Vanquish Soul Caesar Valius or Vanquish Soul Razen.

As a card that was only ever printed in Age of Overlord, hopefully, it gets a reprint in an upcoming set, as it’s one of the only cards to not have a reprint.

As Atlantean Mermail players lost access to Bahamut Shark through the banning of it on the new Forbidden and Limited List, they have gone far and wide to find a replacement. One of these replacements happens to be Snowdust Giant. As another Rank 4 WATER Xyz Monster from Abyss Rising, like Bahamut Shark (TCG) and Abyss Dweller (which is also now Forbidden), it has been an option they’ve settled on… somewhat. By taking 2 WATER monsters to Xyz Summon this card, you can detach 1 material from it to reveal any number of WATER monsters in your hand and place that many Ice Counters on face-up monsters on the field. The only reason for this to be run at all is simply that it is a Rank 4 option for overlaying a copy of Atlantean Dragoons and another Level 4 WATER like Mermail Abysspike. By detaching said Atlantean Dragoon, you get to search a Sea Serpent monster from your Deck to your hand, like Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord or Poseidra, the Storming Atlantean.

This just goes to show the player base of Yu-Gi-Oh! will try absolutely everything to replace cards they lost from the Forbidden and Limited List just to make their Decks adjust to new formats and changes to the game.

Yes, I know, last week, Fiendsmith’s Tract was covered, but it has gone up way more than we expected to see. This card escaped a reprint from Quarter Century Stampede as it is now telegraphed to still be fully legal at 3 for the brand-new Live☆Twin support in Alliance Insight, but it will be more for the new Fabled support coming in Battles of Legend: Monster Mayhem this June. This card being able to search any LIGHT Fiend monster from the Deck is absolutely insane if you pair it with cards like Fabled Lurrie for the full Fiendsmith Combo or if you need to search out any LIGHT Fiend monster to discard another card like The Fabled Cerburrel if drawn. Fiendsmith’s Tract will be a heavily important card going into any Deck that is playing the Fiendsmith engine or for Decks like Fabled or Magical Musketeer.

It is being theorized that this card could receive its reprint to pair with the new Fabled support in Monster Mayhem or even as an Ultimate Rare in OTS Tournament Pack 28, as both of these sets are a week apart, but then again, they could double down and do a back-to-back reprint for it to make sure its price crashes into the ground.

With Unchained Soul of Sharvara going from Limited to Semi-Limited, allowing 2 copies of the card in any deck now, many players have gone to try out and test the Unchained Deck again. The last time it was played was back in 2023 after Duelist Nexus was released. The main Link Monster we will look at is Unchained Soul Lord of Yama, as it is a generic Link-2 option for any Fiend Decks. Being able to add 1 Unchained monster on its Special Summon is great to keep forwarding your plays. Yama’s other effect goes off when a card(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect while Yama is in your GY. You can banish Yama from your GY to Special Summon 1 Fiend monster from your hand or GY, and then you can destroy 1 card you control. This allows you to Special Summon cards like Yubel from the hand or GY, as we saw over the past year with the Yubel Fiend Pile, or other monsters like Unchained Soul of Sharvara from the GY to make a free Rank 6 with a copy of Unchained Soul of Shyama or another Link-2 like Unchained Soul of Rage to set up for your opponent’s turn.

Seeing Unchained being looked at again with this utilization of Sharvara being at 2 is great, as it adds more diversity to the game, and it has already made a slight impact on the meta, being a useful rogue option currently.

Finally, let’s take a look at a super high-end card that still doesn’t have a reprint for questionable reasons. This card is on everyone’s list for a reprint, being the prize card Blood Mefist from the 2011 Championship Season that went on from August 7th, 2011, to August 31st, 2012. This highly sought-after card has its only prints in Ultra Rare and Super Rare in the TCG and hasn’t seen any reprints since. One of the main reasons why this card is being mentioned is that, in the OCG, this card has been seeing play as Dragon Tail has been raging through their landscape, as this is a soft counter to the theme by dealing damage to your opponent each time they set a Spell or Trap card to the field. Even in the OCG, this card was only printed as a promotional card from the Yusei DX Duel Disk back in 2010. While this card does have a newish print from the Hidden Chapter Pack 2023 Vol. 3 in “Japanese Asian” that was released on October 28th, 2023, it was only given out to players for every Asian box purchase of Phantom Nightmare, so this version also has limited quantities as well. And for those who don’t know what “Japanese Asian” prints are, they are cards distributed in Asian countries outside of Japan with their prefix being “JA” instead of “JP”, and along with this, they use the same card backings as Japanese cards, but they differ in quality.

Alas, this heavily sought-after prize card still goes without a reprint even till today; the possibility of its name and artwork being the reason has been disproven over the past 6 years with reprints of cards like Blood Sucker in the Speed Duel: Trials of the Kingdom, and the artwork of Blood Mefist was used in the 250th YCS Playmat. Probably the main reason is the royalties that Konami has to pay to use and reprint this card from Shueisha, but we will never officially know. For an easier budget option that won’t cost you over $3900… look no further than Dark Simorgh, which prevents Dragon Tail from setting cards completely.

As we are about to enter a new format with Alliance Insight being two weeks away, players are rather excited for a new batch of cards to be added to the card pool to go along with their newly reprinted cards from Quarter Century Stampede.

Edited and co-written by Angryjon