MW: Classic And Old Techs Return to Take On The Meta

Rediscovered techs and older cards get revived for new support and the new meta.

So much is going on in the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! From players getting ready for Battles of Legend: Monster Mayhem to HAT Format and many cards from it popping off. Let’s take a look and see what is going on this week, as many things have happened.

With many people picking up copies of Sales Ban, other players are going with a more interesting route by picking up Prohibition once again. This card allows you to declare 1 card name, and neither player can use cards with that original name nor their effects unless they were already on the field before Prohibition was activated. Now, why is Prohibition useful? Well, if a monster’s name is declared, it cannot be Summoned or Set at all, let alone be placed on the field. It also cannot attack, change its battle position, activate its effects, or apply said effects. On top of all this, it cannot be used for Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Material and cannot be attached to an Xyz Monster. The only thing you can use that monster for is as discard or tribute fodder. This is extremely useful, as both Crossout Designator and Called by the Grave are Limited, making this another option for stopping potent hand traps and even key cards the opponent relies on for their deck to function.

Even if Prohibition has had multiple prints over the past 23 years of the game, it hasn’t seen a reprint since Legendary Collection 3: Yugi’s World. There are a few copies that are easily accessible to the players, like the Pharaoh’s Servants Rare or the Machina Mayhem Common, but copies are slowly dwindling on the harder-to-get versions of the card. 

With the new Gem-Knight support coming soon, Gem-Armadillo has been spiking in price over time as it provides the Deck a brand-new starter. When it is Normal Summoned, it can add 1 Gem-Knight monster from your Deck to your hand. This allows you to search up a copy of Gem-Knight Hollowcore (YGOrganization Translation), and then you use Hollowcore’s effect to send 1 Gem-Knight Normal monster or Gem-Knight Fusion from your Deck to the GY to Special Summon Hollowcore itself from your hand in Defense Position. Both choices are great things send to the GY, but you can also search Gem-Knight Nepyrim (YGOrganization Translation) from Armadillo, it can revive itself, it is sent from the hand or Deck to the GY, by sending 1 card from your hand to the GY. When she is Normal or Special Summoned, it allows you to add another Gem-Knight card from your Deck to your hand, which includes Gem-Knight Fusion. This is great in the addition to Gem-Knight Seraphinite‘s additional Normal Summon for an additional starter.

The new support that OCG received in Terminal World 2, soon to be Battles of Legend: Monster Mayhem, has revitalized and changed Gem-Knight for the best; now we only hope to see if Block Dragon could come back to 1.

Players have been finding every method possible to side against the Mitsurugi threat, ranging from cards like D.D. Crow to Mistaken Arrest, and some have tried out Mask of Restrict. With Mask of Restrict, it prevents both players from Tributing cards, which turns off everything that Mitsurugi wants to do, which includes Tributing monsters for Mitsurugi Ritual and Tributing an additional card for Mitsurugi Prayer. This card could be detrimental to the opponent if they don’t have an additional engine like Ryzeal or Fiendsmith in their Deck to combat this. All copies of Mask of Restrict have been going up in price as the meta swings heavier to Mitsurugi Ryzeal being the best Deck.

Along with the aforementioned Mask of Restrict, others have also used Mistaken Arrest as an additional way to stop players from searching cards from the Deck, with the exception of simply drawing those cards. This lasts until the end of your next turn. This can shut down Mitsurugi Ryzeal, even when it is used during their Draw Phase, which is detrimental to them since the Deck can search nearly after every effect. Even if it doesn’t stop cards like Mulcharmy Purulia and Fuwalos, it stops a majority of searching in every Deck from Maliss <Q> Red Ransom or Crystron Smiger.

As players find innovative ways to combat the meta, it’s interesting how many older staples can be worthwhile against current Decks.

Gordian Slicer has been appearing in the side decks of players as a way to crack an opponent’s board or finish cleaning the board up after breaking through what your opponent set up. At the start of your Main Phase 1 or 2, you can target face-up cards on the field, then banish cards face-down from your hand up to the number of cards targeted OR banish 6 cards face-down from your Extra Deck to return those targets to the hand. This can be great if you need to remove 1 or 2 cards off the board to push through and end the game. The best upside to this card is that its effects and activation cannot be negated, so cards like Fiendsmith’s Desirae cannot negate it’s effects, and you’re not punished if you accidentally play into Infinite Impermanence’s column.

Even with many players running Slicer at 1 or 2 in the Side Deck, this card has had a showing since its release as a utility card to pair with Evenly Matched to fully break an opponent’s board.

Solemn Judgment and Solemn Strike have been putting in work for many duelists as they have returned back to using these powerful Counter Trap Cards. These two wrapped entire formats in the past with how strong they are. With Solemn Strike, you can pay 1500 LP to negate any activated monster effect or the Special Summon of a monster(s). Being able to stop either of these is great against the current meta, as many cards rely on Special Summoning themselves or another monster back to the field. This makes Strike especially powerful against Maliss and Mitsurugi Ryzeal if you hit the Special Summons or Special Summon Effects of Maliss <Q> White Binder, Red Ransom, Ryzeal Duo Drive, Detonator, or the activated effects of the Mitsurugi Ritual Monsters in general.

Meanwhile, Solemn Judgment can negate the summon of any Monster or negate any spell/trap card activation at the cost of half of your LP. As the format is ever-changing, these two cards have always been useful. Being able to stop a majority of cards that Special Summon monsters, like Fusion Spells, or stop the Xyz and Link Summon of other monsters can turn the game in a player’s favor. Having Judgment being a big “NO” button can be great but can put you in a pinch with how much LP you have left.

Both cards are extremely strong if used at the right time and can either win you the Duel or end up biting you and causing you to lose the game by having to pay LP to stop the opponent.

Forbidden Droplet has been gaining traction once again for the upcoming meta against Vanquish Soul K9, as it doesn’t have to target to negate monster effects on the field, along with halving the ATK of the monsters it negated. Your opponent also cannot respond to Droplet with cards with the same original type (Monster/Spell/Trap) as the cards you sent to the GY to activate Droplet. This can be very vital against VSK9 because most of the cards they run are monsters and are able to dodge Effect Veiler, Infinite Impermanence, and other targeting effects thanks to Vanquish Soul Heavy Borger and Caesar Valius. The non-targeting nature of this card, as well as the non-responding aspect of it, makes it a really powerful counter to the Deck, as the current OCG meta shifted away from many hand traps thanks to them.

This card has seen many prints from its original run in Rise of the Duelist to 25th Anniversary: Rarity Collection. And over the times this card was last covered, most cards have nearly doubled or tripled in price, and it shows how needed this card will be.

With the new rise of a Dark Magician engine thanks to Dark Magician of Destruction (YGOrganization Translation), some players have been eyeing Chaos Scepter Blast. This Quick-Play Spell can be activated if you control a Level 8 or higher Spellcaster monster, which banishes 1 card on the field, face-down, making it a great way to remove problematic cards. Then, when this card is destroyed in its owner’s Spell/Trap Zone by an opponent’s card effect, you can Special Summon either the original Magician of Black Chaos or its retrain, Dark Magician of Chaos, from your Deck, ignoring its Summoning condition. Even though Magician of Black Chaos isn’t that useful, Dark Magician of Chaos, on the other hand, can be, since you can target and add 1 Spell from your GY to your hand during the End Phase of the turn it was Normal or Special Summoned. Another thing DMOC has going for it is the ability to banish any opponent’s monster that it destroys by battle.

Chaos Scepter Blast has only been in Duelist Saga and hasn’t seen a reprint since, which is shocking, as even in the OCG, this card hasn’t received a reprint either for the new Dark Magician support.

Many techs and cards have seen new light thanks to meta shifts and new support. The current format will be rapidly changing over the next few weeks, so we’ll have to wait and see what else changes and what will be reprinted from Battles of Legend: Monster Mayhem.

Edited and co-written by Angryjon