[MW] Some Things Are Always Eternal In Yu-Gi-Oh!

A new banlist and a changed market, A tale as old as time.

The new Forbidden & Limited list shook up the market, where plenty of cards have shifted in price, and none of them are slowing down yet as players get settled in for the new format. With Vanquish Soul K9 taking the biggest hits, losing 2 copies each of Vanquish Soul Razen and Stake Your Soul!, they might take a backseat for now as players figure out what to do to replace the loss of consistency. On the other hand, decks like Yummy got slapped on the wrist with Obedience Schooled going to 1, while Maliss lost their key piece against Nibiru, the Primal Being, as they lost Splash Mage and a little consistency was lost due to Maliss <P> Dormouse getting limited. Meanwhile, multiple decks have received a few extra pieces back from Fiendsmith, Snake-Eye, and Branded, so let’s dive into what is going on this week in the market.

Everyone’s favorite Link-1 Monster is back in action, and Linkuriboh isn’t playing around as the masses are going after this card for their Yummy Decks and plenty of other decks as well. With it requiring a single Level 1 monster for its Link Summon, it is easy to bring out in Yummy, as their Main Deck monsters are all Level 1. They can also use Linkuriboh as a Level 1 Tuner that can recur itself from the GY by tributing a Level 1 monster, so Yummy will forever have a Link-1 to Synchro Summon with. It’s not just Yummy gaining a boost either. Plenty of other decks can use this card again, like Dinosaurs being able to finally Link away their used Animadorned Archosaur for a free Link-1 for their combos down the line, and even better decks like Fire King, Purrely, Snake-Eye, and Voiceless Voice can finally use this amazing Link-1 once again.

All copies of Linkuriboh are above the dollar mark, but Konami was extremely smart in giving this card a Platinum Secret Rare and Quarter Century Secret Rare in Quarter Century Stampede, so the price didn’t skyrocket like many cards did in the past when they came off the list.

We all knew Branded Fusion was going to come off the list in time due to the Chronicle Anime that is currently going on along with new support for the lore itself. It was only a matter of time before it was going to happen. A comfort pick for many duelists, Branded Despia has been a playable deck since the Structure Deck: Albaz Strike in April of 2022, and it has been getting powerful support cards since. Many expect it to return to Unlimited status on the next Forbidden & Limited list, but that will come in time, as in October, we will have a brand new Ultra Rare print of this card from THE CHRONICLES DECK: The Fallen & The Virtuous, along with plenty of amazing reprints so everyone can gain access to Branded as a whole.

Even with 4 different rarities, the Secret Rare and Quarter Century Secret Rare from Battles of Legend: Terminal Revenge, along with the Ultimate Rares from the OTS Tournament Pack 22, have been hit up, and the quantities are going down slowly. While this card does have a new print very well confirmed, only time will tell if the other copies will slowly go down in price.

Everyone LOVED this format last year, with Snake-Eye being the best deck for nearly a whole year, and we finally saw Snake-Eye Ash and Snake-Eyes Poplar fully Unlimited off the Forbidden & Limited list with Original Sinful Spoils – Snake-Eye still Forbidden. This duo of cards is really important, as Day 1 testing saw many players utilize the Snake-Eye engine in Yummy as additional Level 1s and extenders for multiple plays. But even with this, Pure Snake-Eye or Millennium Snake-Eye are potential decks to see in the format, as they utilize multiple points of interaction thanks to Extra Deck monsters like Promethean Princess, Bestower of Flames, Snake-Eyes Doomed Dragon, The Zombie Vampire, and Magistus Chorozo. 

But to break down both of these cards, Snake-Eye Ash’s Normal/Special Summon effect lets you add any Level 1 FIRE monster from your Deck. This is amazing to pair with Snake-Eyes Poplar, as you can Special Summon it when it is added to your hand. Then with Ash, you can send it and another face-up card you control to the GY to Special Summon any other Snake-Eye monster from your hand or deck, which is great for Special Summoning Snake-Eyes Flamberge Dragon or Snake-Eye Oak. With Snake-Eyes Poplar, when it is added to your hand, you can Special Summon it, and on its Special Summon, you can add any Snake-Eye Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand, which is extremely powerful since it can either search for Divine Temple of the Snake-Eye or Dramatic Snake-Eye Chase to get the single copy of Snake-Eyes Diabellstar into rotation on your field.

Both of these cards were met with a fate back in September 2024 by being limited, but after a year, they are finally back at 3 copies per deck, and I cannot wait to see what players have in store for this deck.

Even with a brand new reprint from the 2025 Mega Pack, Mulcharmy Purulia has gone crazy in price, not even lasting around $20 per copy, as it has gone up to over $40 per copy. The 2025 Mega Pack version is slightly harder to pull because of the 100 Prismatic Secret Rare card pool, and it was granted to go up over the past couple weeks. It is extremely valuable right now thanks to its effect, which makes you draw 1 card each time your opponent Normal or Special Summons a monster from their hand. This card is amazing against decks like Yummy, as they have 4 ways of Special Summon from the hand, and if you pair this card with Mulcharmy Fuwalos, you have 2/3rds of a Maxx “C” for the matchup.

Yet each copy hasn’t budged under $40 at this rate, and only time will tell if this powerful card sees another reprint.

Why is it that when something happens, both Fiendsmith’s Tract and Lacrima the Crimson Tears always come back into these articles? With the Fiendsmith engine receiving a slight nerf on the Forbidden & Limited List due to Moon of the Closed Heaven getting Forbidden, it has replaced her with a copy of Fiendsmith’s Lacrima along with the adjusted time rules. With Lacrima the Crimson Tears, she is still as powerful as ever, as she can send any Fiendsmith card from your deck to the GY, setting up any play that you can imagine. Being a Level 4 is also great because you can Normal Summon it from hand and use it for any Rank 4 or use it instantly for Fiendsmith’s Requiem.

Fiendsmith’s Tract still happens to be one of the best cards for any and all LIGHT Fiend monsters in the game, as it can add any of them from the Deck to the hand, then discard one card. And while it’s in the GY, you can banish it to Fusion Summon 1 Fiendsmith Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck using monsters from your hand or field, which is especially great for accessing Fiendsmith’s Lacrima, Fiendsmith’s Desirae, or now Fiendsmith’s Rex Tremende, which is easier to Fusion Summon post-new banlist.

These two have been hand in hand in plenty of my articles, and it shows how powerful the Fiendsmith cards are and will be going into the future, as they’re still full power but not as splashable as they once were. Even with a new reprint for both, they have been going up in price, and hopefully they stabilize soon.

With Mitsurugi surviving the grasps of the Forbidden & Limited list somehow, this caused Mitsurugi Ritual to spike back up in price. This powerful Ritual Spell can Ritual Summon any Reptile Ritual Monster from your hand by Tributing up to 2 Reptile monsters from your hand, Deck, or field whose Levels equal the Level of the Ritual Monster. Plus, it can instead Ritual Summon any Reptile Ritual Monster from the Deck by Tributing Reptile monsters from your hand or field. This is extremely powerful, as you can Tribute any of your Mitsurugi monsters to gain their effects when they are Tributed or send cards like Night Sword Serpent to gain an additional Level 4 on the field for Link or Xyz Summons. Even though King of the Feral Imps was forbidden, the pure version of Mitsurugi never needed it, as it only cut off access to the engine that was used by Heraldic Beast, Onomat, and Ryzeal.

With only being printed in Supreme Darkness, it’ll be some time until the Mitsurugi cards see a reprint, but only time will tell if it will happen.

From back in the Duelist Saga days, Darklord Ukoback was released to the players, and it was sitting in many players’ bulk for years until recently with the new Darklord support in Burst Protocol. This single card has spiked up in price as a result, as it only has 1 printing and is powerful, as it can send any Darklord card from your deck to the GY. With the new support revealed, it gave the Deck a brand new card to send to the GY in the form of Darklord Gulgalta (YGOrganization Translation); if it is sent to the GY, you can add 1 Darklord card or 1 Forbidden Quick-Play Spell from your Deck to your hand. This can then grant you access to Darklord Djehuty (YGOrganization Translation) so you can Normal Summon it from your hand to Special Summon any Darklord monster from your Deck in Defense Position. The new support has revitalized Darklord in a way where it is more competent than before and can mesh extremely better now with different themes like Branded or Herald.

With only 1 printing from years ago, this card has spiked massively to the point where a single copy is anywhere from $20 or above. Hopefully, this card gains a more accessible reprint in the future, as it’ll need it when the support fully releases in the TCG.

With the new format fully in force, it will be interesting how both YCS Lille, France, and YCS Lima, Peru, will shape up with Doom of Dimensions being fully released that weekend and the new Forbidden & Limited List being in full effect too.

Edited and co-written by Angryjon