Best Generic Cards to Pick Up from Photon Hypernova

Another core set means that it is time again to look for and look at the best generic tools entering the card pool. Photon Hypernova is here to try and tip the balance of the competitive scene in favor of Kashtira while introducing some great cards that everyone should want to get their hands on!

1. Triple Tactics Thrusting

Starting off with the most anticipated generic card, {c=Triple Tactics Thrusting} is an incredibly powerful spell card that will probably see play in most main decks. If your opponent activates a monster effect during your turn, you can activate Thrusting in order to search your deck for any normal spell or trap card in the game. If your opponent does not control a monster, the searched card will be set to your field and cannot be activated this turn. On the other hand, if your opponent does control a monster, the searched card can be added to your hand and promptly be activated during your turn.

Triple Tactics Thrusting

There are a lot of broken cards that Thrusting can search for. If you are going first, you can search your combo pieces or generic cards such as . If you are going second, you can search cards like , , and . Thrusting can also search for archetype-specific cards to help you get on with your turn.

This card singlehandedly will somewhat change the way decks are being built. Players will be wary of activating monster effects during the opponent's turn and will prefer to use negation or removal in the form of spell or trap cards. Alternatively, monsters that interact with the opponent but do not hit the field, such as and other hand traps that go to the graveyard, might end up being popular again over the Bystial package for example, just so the opponent does not add a card to hand and has to wait to activate whatever was set by Thrusting.

Overall, it is a very scary card that will no doubt see play in the foreseeable future.

2. Gigantic "Champion" Sargas

is an xyz monster that requires two or more level eight monsters to be summoned. It can be cheated out by summoning it over a Springans xyz monster. Luckily, is a generic monster that requires any two level four monsters. On summon, it allows you to add to your hand any Therion or Springans card from the deck. Generically speaking, you can add to your hand in order to grab to function as an omni-negate in addition to having Sargas on the field. Sargas shines better in xyz-based decks. Its second effect says that when a material is detached from an xyz monster, you can target any card on the field, and choose either to destroy it or spin it back to the deck. Basically think of it as a worse , but one that could potentially give you an omni-negate for no cost really.

Gigantic

The card is interesting, but I am not certain if it is going to see much play with ZEUS around. We will just have to wait and see, but it is a card to keep in the back of your mind for the future.

3. Gravekeeper's Inscription

is a card imported from the OCG. It is a normal spell card with immense hate for the graveyard. It can only be activated at the start of your main phase one. The card affects both players until the end of the opponent's next turn. In my opinion, this card is a hit or miss, based solely on the activation restriction. If you do not see this card in your hand, you will have to wait for your next turn to activate it. Sadly, drawing it or having it added to hand via a card effect—I am looking at you, {c=Triple Tactics Thrusting}—might not allow this card to be useful when you need it the most.

Gravekeeper's Inscription

As for Inscription's effect, you get to choose out of three. The first effect stops both players from activating card effects in the graveyard. This effect is devastating against Tearlaments and other decks that rely on graveyard effects such as Naturia or Prank-Kids. It becomes an that lasts for two turns, and you most likely cannot do anything about it. While the first effect is harsh, the second effect can also shut down and in addition to any Bystial as it stops both players from banishing cards from the graveyard. The third effect stops players from summoning monsters from the graveyard, making cards such as or sit uselessly in your hand or graveyard.

Overall, it is a very powerful card that can win games by itself if played against a deck that is heavily reliant on the graveyard. However, due its activation restriction, it is pretty much a hit-or-miss card, which might discourage some players from trying their luck with it. I could be wrong though, who knows?

4. Weighbridge

One doesn't simply see cards with little text and good effects lately. is an exception to this rule. It is a normal trap card that makes your opponent send monsters to the graveyard, keeping only one on the field. This effect is applied only when your opponent controls two or more monsters than you do. That's it. It is a mix of and . It does not target and does not destroy. It affects the opposing player, not the monsters directly, making it an incredible board-breaking card.

Weighbridge

Of course, since it is a trap card, it is best utilized when going first. You can also tutor it to the field using . I expect the card to see play mainly in anti-meta and Labrynth decks. Overall, it is a lovely card that punishes the opponent for overextending, or for breaking your board.

5. Made to Order Mermaid Outfit Outfitter

Talk of a tongue twister. Can you say this card's name five times in a row without slowing down? I can't! is a TCG-exclusive normal spell card that's very annoying to come up against in mirror matches. It has a hard once-per-turn activation restriction. You can target one card in your opponent's graveyard for cost, banish it, and then choose to add the same card from your deck to your hand. The adding-to-hand part of the effect is optional, making this card a slower version of at worst. Why not banish a to add your own and get your deck going?

Made to Order Mermaid Outfit Outfitter

Apart from mirror matches, this card is good value for staples and hand traps. You can banish to add your own to hand and use your own . You can even end up searching board breakers such as and . Obviously, the card's value heavily depends on what your opponent has in the graveyard, making it better equipped for going second in mirror matches, or going first if you make your opponent mill some cards that you so happen to run in your deck.

This card has potential, but being a world premiere card, we cannot rely on the OCG's experience to find out if it's any good or not. Only time will tell.

6. Sneaky "C"

A new addition to the "C" family. Sadly, its effect starts with "when" and not "if," making it more prone to miss timing. When your opponent special summons one or more monsters, you can special summon from your hand face-down. During the end phase, assuming Sneaky "C" survives for that long, you get to destroy every special summoned monster your opponent controls.

Sneaky

The effect is not terrible, but it depends on Sneaky "C" surviving in the modern age of Yu-Gi-Oh! where most cards either negate, destroy, shuffle back, or bounce cards back to hand. It could be a nice option for casual duels to interact with your opponent on their first turn, but I doubt that this card would see much, if any, competitive play.

7. Orphebull the Harmonious Bullfighter Bard

Not only is its name strange, but its effect is rather strange, too. is a level eight beast-warrior monster with 3,000 attack. It works best—exclusively, actually—in decks relying on light and dark attributes together. It can only be summoned by banishing two light and two dark monsters from your hand and/or graveyard. The summoning cost is steep if you plan to do most of it from the hand.

Orphebull the Harmonious Bullfighter Bard

Orphebull gains different effects depending on where you banished the monsters from. First of all, it gains 1,000 attack for every monster banished from hand, while the number of monsters banished from the grave determines how many times Orphebull can attack monsters during the battle phase. As a bonus effect, every monster this card destroys by battle is banished.

The premise of the card is decent, but the card might not see play outside of the new Chaos deck for the moment, possibly until a new archetype is created that can make this card's summon merely fuel for activating their effects.

8. Qardan the Clear-Sighted

Players of trap decks, rejoice! is here to show you the way to turbo your trap decks … to some extent. When Qardan is normal summoned, you can set any continuous trap card from either your hand or graveyard, and it can be activated during that very same turn. Also, if it is sent to the graveyard, your face-up trap cards become immune to destruction until the end of the next turn.

Qardan the Clear-Sighted

On one hand, this card can really get your deck going. As a possibility, can be used to send any continuous trap card you need to the graveyard before Qardan brings it to your field, and even protects it if your opponent gets rid of Qardan. This card would probably see play in decks that do not need their normal summon that much. But in any case, it is a nice card to keep in your binder for the future.

9. Manticore of Smashing

If you want to have a blast of nostalgia and use cards that, in the very distant past, were considered powerful, is the card for you. It is a level six beast-warrior monster which allows you to add either or from your deck to your hand during your main phase. Also, if Manticore is in the graveyard, you can banish any Fissure of Smashing Ground from either your hand or graveyard to summon this card back to the field. Each effect is a hard once-per-turn.

Manticore of Smashing

It is a fun one that brings back a lot of memories of once-powerful cards. I would actually love to see someone make a deck out of it.

10. Fierce Tiger Monghu

A retrain to the fan favorite . While Wanghu simply destroys any monster with 1,400 or less attack upon summoning, decreases the attack of all other monsters on the field, including your own, by 500. Then, once per turn, you can choose to destroy all monsters on the field who have less attack than Monghu, which is 1,700.

Fierce Tiger Monghu

It is a nice tribute to Wanghu, and while I doubt that it will ever be played competitively, pairing Wanghu with Monghu on the field is hilarious as Monghu lowers the attack of all monsters and Wanghu just sweeps them off the field. This is another deck I would really love to see someone take on and try to win a local event with … please?

Which of these cards do you think is the most impactful and which of them are you considering to tinker with? Do you think there are other generic cards in the set that deserve attention? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.