The 2022 Tin of the Pharaoh's Gods descended upon us last month. The last piece of the tablet is finally revealed, and with it, Konami decided to include some new cards that no one expected. Today, we are going to have a look at those cards and find out if they are any good and worth picking up!
1. The Revived Sky God
We start off with a very peculiar trap card. When a card reads, "The activation of this card, or its effects, cannot be negated, nor can its effects be negated," then you know there is a serious effect at play. Spell speed four is a term that was unofficially coined for cards similar to , which cannot be responded to even with counter trap cards. is exactly the same. You need to have a in your graveyard to activate it though. Once summoned, both players draw until they have six cards in hand, which is an insane effect. If you are going first and manage to set up this play and activate it, your opponent might not draw anything since they should have six cards in hand (if unlikely, usually due to the presence of cards like hand traps).
Personally, I would never complain about having a 6,000 attack Slifer on the field which automatically destroys any monster with 2,000 attack or lower that the opponent summons in attack position. The opponent will be forced to deal with Slifer first before committing to any plays, really. Slifer will get sent to the graveyard during the end phase anyway, but then The Revived Sky God's other effect becomes live (or more live in this case). You can banish it from the graveyard to stack a on top of your deck, but if you have a Divine-Beast such as Slifer in your graveyard, you can, as a bonus, draw it and summon back the Slifer or anything else you could make use of.
Overall, it is an interesting card. But unless there is a deck that could fit three copies of it, a Slifer, and a Monster Reborn, it will unfortunately be bound for casual decks only.
2. The True Sun God
A continuous spell card that might have more competitive application. On activation, adds one or one card that mentions it from deck to hand. Are you in a tight spot and need to get rid of tough monsters on the other side of the field? Just add and smirk like a true Kaiba. Oddly enough, I find the second effect to be even more impressive. Monsters, except for The Winged Dragon of Ra, cannot attack the turn they are special summoned. This technically buys you an extra turn to respond to big boards since 99% of decks currently rely on special summoning. There is a third effect which basically fills your graveyard with Divine-Beast monsters and could help activate the second effect of .
I could see some competitive applications for this card in decks that go second and have to get rid of crazy big boards. is also another way to do the same thing, but in this case, Sphere Mode is easily searchable and can get rid of your opponent's cards during your turn—albeit at the cost of your normal summon, which hopefully your deck can afford.
3. The Breaking Ruin God
Similar to the first part of the effect of The Revived Sky God, cannot be responded to. It is a quickplay spell card that lets you summon from either your hand or graveyard, and makes it unaffected by your opponent's card effects during this turn. A 4,000 attack Obelisk that is immune to your opponent's cards for an entire turn? Don't mind if I do!
More impressively, its second effect can be very useful during your own turn. If you use a card that tributes two or more monsters at the same time to activate an effect, like for example Obelisk's effect to tribute two monsters to your opponent's field, the card's second effect kicks in, banishing itself from your graveyard along with all monsters in your opponent's graveyard. Not only that, but your opponent takes 500 damage for each card banished this way.
The card is quite powerful, but it suffers from a few issues pushing it into casual territory. Firstly, you have to get Obelisk either in your hand or in the graveyard to be able to summon it. Secondly, you need at least two monsters on the field to be able to use the second effect.
4. Soul Energy MAX!!!
Another Obelisk-related card. is a normal trap card with two effects. The first one is a little difficult to pull off since you would already need to have Obelisk on the field. By tributing two face-up monsters except for Obelisk, you can destroy as many monsters as possible on the opponent's side of the field before inflicting 4,000 damage, effectively making any subsequent attack from Obelisk a game-ender.
Note: while the card does not specify which side of the field the monsters should be tributed from, Yugipedia says that they have to be your monsters.
The second effect is more realistic; by banishing Soul Energy MAX!!! from the graveyard, you can search for an Obelisk—which really complements —before giving you the option to immediately normal summon it if you have enough materials on the field.
This one needs specific other cards to function. But in a dedicated Obelisk deck, it is a must.
5. Rainbow Bridge of Salvation
A step in the right direction for Crystal Beasts, especially since they just got a structure deck, is a card that can be used only once per duel, so unless you plan on using , you will only include one copy in your deck. Its first effect is a little hard to pull off though, as you need two or more level ten or higher monsters with different types on the field in order to activate it. This effect basically resets the duel as it shuffles all cards from hand, field, and graveyard to both players' decks before making them draw five cards each. I am not even sure if this is a good idea as your opponent might draw a nice hand on top of having all of their resources and combo pieces back in the deck.
The second effect is the one we are interested in. Rainbow Bridge of Salvation can be banished from the graveyard to add a Crystal Beast monster, as well as a field spell, from deck to hand. Normally this would only be relevant for Crystal Beast decks. However, since is an aqua monster, and Salvation does not specify any field spells, it can actually search for . Emerald Tortoise in itself is a brick, but because it is an aqua monster, it can be used as material to fusion summon .
It remains to be seen whether this mini engine will be popular or not. But it is definitely an interesting concept.
6. Duel Tower
is an interesting field spell that could possibly be a sleeper card for the future. At the start of the battle phase, both players reveal a monster from their decks, then banish it. The monster needs to have a number as attack points. The player who revealed the monster with the highest attack can special summon a monster from hand which can attack directly as long as it remains on the field. It is an interesting effect that helps you push for more damage or at least gets you an extra body on board to be used for other plays during your main phase two.
The second effect is an end phase delayed , but with a wider range. During your end phase, you can activate the second effect, and if Duel Tower remains on the field until the end of your next turn, you get to destroy all cards on the field. Even if you do not get to use the effect, your opponent will either have to commit the minimum possible monsters and row back, or they will be forced to get rid of Duel Tower instead of something potentially more valuable.
Overall, it is an interesting card that might see play. It certainly will take opponents by surprise.
7. Link into the VRAINS!
In my opinion, I saved the best for last. is an insane once-per-turn nomal spell card, which I wish was around when Prank-Kids still had . It allows you to special summon a monster from hand with its effect negated. On summon, that monster is immediately used as a material for a link summon. The link summon cannot be negated and there can be no responses to said summon. Do you have in hand, but also all your copies of ? Just put a body on board and send Aleister to the graveyard to be used and recycled during the same turn. Are you playing Magical Musket? would like to enter the field without wasting a normal summon. Even Salamangreat could benefit from this card since they have .
It seems all cards today have a second effect, and most of them activate in the graveyard. If a link monster you control is destroyed while you have Link into the VRAINS! in your graveyard, you can add back one monster from the graveyard to your hand as long as it has the same type as the destroyed link monster. Personally, I see a lot of potential for this card in decks that rely on link summoning and do not mind a temporary minus one in card economy.
Which of these cards are you most excited about and believe have potential? Is there any other possible application for any of them that you think is worth mentioning? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.
