Bolt SpiderThe meta is full of shifting prices, and players are reacting well to the new Genesys Points update that was announced yesterday, and it’s full of surprises. Players have gone out to the market to pick up the new cards from both Beyond the Brave and older cards due to plenty of shifts from the Point update, along with preparing for the upcoming YCS season that starts next week. From Fiber Jar going to 0 points and Invoked Magistus having another wave of hype, let’s dive into this week's Market Watch.
The Rise of the Forbidden
Fiber Jar is the headliner card for this week’s Market Watch, as it went from 33 points to 0 points within an instant, and a few players already have plans to make an Empty Jar Deck with it and the now unpointed Cyber Jar, Morphing Jar, and Book of Taiyou. Currently Forbidden in the TCG and OCG, it’s on the banlists for good reasons, as when it is flipped, both players shuffle their hand, field, and GY into their Decks and they draw 5 cards, essentially restarting the Duel back to square one, but the LP of both players stays the same, and banished cards are not shuffled into the Deck. This could prolong tournaments from using a strategy like this, but with the current Time Rules in the TCG, once 50 minutes are up, a Double Loss occurs, so maybe in the future, this card could be released off the TCG Forbidden & Limited list.
Another card plenty of players are excited to try out now is Zoodiac Broadbull, as it has dropped to 40 points in total. Now you can run it, Zoodiac Barrage (which is now at 25 points), and the newly unpointed Zoodiac Drident in the same Deck, but sadly Zoodiac Ratpier has to be left out as it’s still at 50 points per copy. With Broadbull at 40 points now, you can use a Zoodiac engine in some Decks that can use it, like Lunalight. Even though Lunalight Liger Dancer is at 51 points, there are ways to play the Deck without it possibly. But this specific card dropping in points could be a good means for Beast-Warrior Decks to enter the Genesys Meta fully.Draw power is getting stronger in Genesys as Graceful Charity has been dropped to 25 points from 40. This massive change lets some Decks, like Dark World, gain additional advantage, as drawing 3 cards and then discarding 2 cards is amazingly useful for the theme. This card was a staple in plenty of past formats, and it is still Forbidden 19 years later. A card on this caliber will probably never be released from the Forbidden & Limited List in the Advanced formats, but if it does, it’ll probably return to being Limited to test the waters if the future can allow it to happen.
You saw it right: Heavy Storm went from 6 points to 4 points, and this isn’t much of a grand shift like the others on today’s Market Watch; it is enough to keep a close eye on, as this is still powerful Spell/Trap removal. Destroying all Spells and Trap Cards on the field is quite simple, especially with plenty of the annoyance floodgates at 100 points in the format. It's more used to remove other problematic Spells/Traps on the field and can be paired with cards that want to be destroyed, like in the new apparent Fiend Pile, running around as it can destroy the Unchained Spell/Trap cards to Special Summon monsters to your field. Though this card is currently Limited in the OCG format and has been Forbidden for the past 13 years in the TCG, many still hope this card will return off the Forbidden List for the TCG in order to have additional choices of removal if needed.
With Imsety, the Glory of Horus being dropped to 0 points total, this has caused every copy of King’s Sarcophagus to be bought up, as this power engine is known for OTKing the opponent and even letting you access multiple Rank 8 Xyz Monsters at your disposal. You can use King’s Sarcophagus’ effect up to four times per turn, which lets you discard 1 card to send 1 Horus monster from your Deck to your GY. In addition, once per turn, at the start of the Damage Step, if your Horus monster battles an opponent's monster, you can send that opponent’s monster to the GY. For being an all-around great card for the theme, it also helps protect your Horus monsters from being destroyed by card effects, unless they’re targeting those cards themselves. Even though this card is still at 40 points total, the engine is freer than it was prior and can pump out some crazy plays if paired with the right Decks and engines.
The new Genesys Point update flipped the whole format around as tons of players are excited to try it out once again, and plenty of cards still need accessible reprints so players can play these cards in paper tournament play as well.
The Market Rising Realm Continues
Digging into plenty of what is going on outside of Genesys, one card I noticed that was rising in its price is Exosister Karmael and many of the cards for the Deck. Still not having a reprint yet, Karmael has risen in price due to no reprints but is also still a strong choice for a rogue Deck in both Genesys and the Advanced Formats. Even with the Dimension Shifter ban in the TCG, Exosister still has plenty of tricks up their sleeve, as Karmael, on her Xyz Summon, lets you set an Exosister Spell/Trap from your Deck, GY, or banishment at your End Phase, and when your opponent activates a Normal Spell/Trap or a monster effect, you can detach all materials from Karmael to change the activated effect to the following: “Add 1 card from your opponent’s GY to their hand”. This will trigger multiple Exosister monster effects and can get to your Exosister Returnia for a quick Xyz Summon or interruption if you already Xyz Summoned that turn.
Invoked has been seeing more play recently due to the new cards from Beyond the Brave, the import of Verre, the Maid of Endymion, and just plenty of general use cases in Fusion Decks currently. It’s been noted that their boss monster, Hyperinvoked Aeon, has been rising in price due to the power of the card during turn 1 and turn 2, as it can banish up to 3 cards from the field and/or GY, and if you used 3 or more Fusion Monsters as material, you can also banish up to 3 cards from your opponent’s Extra Deck. Removing potential combo pieces from your opponent is one thing, but removing Extra Deck combo pieces and getting free knowledge can be too much for anyone to deal with, especially when some players run many of their cards in their Deck at 1. With this card also being in the current OTS Winner’s Pack 2026-2027, it is definitely safe to say it won’t be banned anytime soon but could cause problems in the future if a newer Fusion Deck releases that can use multiples of this card outside of Invoked and Dracotail Decks themselves.With recent shifts in the meta and some players cutting copies of Black Chaos from their Light and Darkness Ritual Decks, it has fallen farther than what it was covered before. This card can place a Continuous Trap that mentions the Light and Darkness Ritual Ritual Spell from your Deck or GY to your field, which is only Mind Shuffle at the current moment. Being shoved down to a 2-of, if not 1-of, at this point, Black Chaos is still strong, as it can shuffle a Spellcaster or Warrior Ritual Monster back from your hand or GY into your Deck to Special Summon this card from your hand. Along with this, during your Main Phase, you can banish 2 cards your opponent controls, and if you have any Ritual Spells in your GY, this card is unaffected by your opponent’s activated effects, which is quite powerful if you need to Special Summon a monster from Mind Shuffle to protect your Ritual Monsters. I do think this card will fall more from where it is at as Elfnotes and Toons start to take over, but only time will truly tell what will happen to this Deck.
Even though this weekend doesn’t have any major events, players are currently prepping for YCS Houston, Texas, next weekend for the start of the Beyond the Brave format. Each YCS this season will have a new set introduced into the format, giving both new cards and new reprints to the game that can shift anything in a moment's notice, especially with YCS Orlando, Florida (which we will be seeing plenty of rarity upgrades thanks to the Ultimate Tournament Pack 2), YCS Santiago, Chile in November (it being the premiere event for Magnificent Maestros), and YCS Bologna, Italy (with Glorious Victors). So keep an eye out for the future, as there are plenty of releases in the next 3 months that can shape the start of 2027 effectively.
Edited and co-written by Angryjon