Magnificent Monsters arrives early this fall, and it’s one of the most anticipated sets in recent memory, but not for the reason you might think! Yugioh is known for a fairly aggressive reprint policy, which keeps the game accessible to all audiences, whether grinding our YCSes, or getting a duel in on the playground. Compared to its contemporaries in Magic & Riftbound, Yugioh is very easy to get into, but this has led to certain sets with ‘only okay’ new cards being unexciting to open. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, for MAMO. Being chock-full of not only potent legacy support, but the new full-art rarity, this set is one for the collectors, and we’ve seen presale prices skyrocket as discussion surges regarding Grandmaster Rarity. Much like Magic, Yugioh is now dipping its toes into limited-print cards, with a mere 600 of each Grandmaster Rare in the set…period. Today, I want to talk about MAMO’s impact, both competitively & collection-wise, on the TCG, and get you up to speed on the most exciting addition to the game’s collectability since QCRs!
Card names are not final
First, let’s talk Grandmasters. These are a special rarity of the already-scarce new Full Art cards, with 600 of each being printed total; what that actually means for TCG players is that only 200 will be available, as that 600 isn’t per-region. The Americas will have 100, the rest of the TCG (e.g. Australia & Europe) getting another 100, and then Korea, Japan, mainland China, and the rest of the OCG (e.g. Vietnam) all receiving their own 100. When you get down to brass tacks, and realize there’s only 18 possible cards to receive this coveted rarity in the set, the scarcity of this rarity resembles a lottery ticket—that’s why the set has been pre-selling for so much, and prices seem uncapped, nearly double MSRP for larger retailers. If your goal is to pull the crown jewel of Yugioh’s card pool, this is the set to do so, no matter how low the odds are, because frankly we’ve had nothing like it in the game’s nearly 3 decades of history. I want to stress, however, that this is also great for those wanting to play with the cards, as no game piece is restricted to Grandmaster (or even Full Art, for that matter). While a less bougie option, the popularity of this set makes available a ton of great legacy support for Yugioh players, subsidized by the collector’s market. Win-win!
In terms of the effects this set might have on the meta, let’s first dive into the cards not available in Full Art or Grandmaster. W:P Fancy Ball is the best ‘quick Link’ card they’ve ever printed, and represents a ton of disruption for any deck that can end on an I:P Masqueren, also reprinted in this set. End of the World Ruler, meanwhile, is set to revitalize the currently-rogue deck of Mitsurugi, as it was the catalyst for the deck’s return to play in the OCG. While we have Habakiri limited, this Ritual Monster provides fantastic consistency for the strategy, effectively serving as copies 2-4 of Mitsu’s best starter. To be honest, I miss the TCG-Exclusive’s dominance, so seeing it return to the limelight via Ruler would be amazing to see! Rainbow Bridge - Bifrost is up next, and it’s just…another Terraforming, if you run a specific Extra Deck. Given Terraforming is limited, this serves as a massive boon for decks that desperately need to access their Field Spell, such as the upcoming Toon strategy.
We’re done beating around the bush though—it’s time to talk Extended Arts. Dark Magician, the Pharoah’s Servant is going to be a critical component in modern variants of Yummy, following its extensive hits on the banlist. What you get for pairing a new form Yugioh’s most famous monster with claw-machine themed cats is ready access to Magicians’ Souls, a free Level 1, as well as Dark Magician of Destruction. Also in that list is the brand-new Dark Magical Curtain, to summon either the new DM…or the classic monster Witch of the Black Forest. Yes, we’re unironically going to be seeing that card pop up in lists, a whole 22 years following its first printing! By accessing the Witch, and using her as material, you can either add a free Special Summon via a Yummy, or one of several powerful handtraps. Curtain being nonspecific to any DARK Spellcaster has its perks! If you thought that was the final card from this set placing Dark Magician Yummy in the top tiers though, you’d be mistaken: Cyberse Contract Witch loves the free Fusion access via Dark Magician of Destruction, and allows you to pivot back into a Synchro, enabling Level 8-10 Synchro Summons. If I had to point to a deck for players looking to get back into Yugioh via MAMO, it’d be this one.
In terms of inclusions to decks that are at least Tier 2 or rogue, rather than a contender for Tier 1, we’ve got to talk about Synchro Emergency & Kuriboh - Multiply!. For the former, it’s a huge boon to Synchron decks, obviously, but in truth many Synchro-oriented strategies get a ton from splashing tools to make turn 0 or reactive Synchro Summons. It’s fallen out of favor in Kewl Tune, if we look at the OCG, but that’s largely a result of the new Toon cards and not the Trap’s potency. The new Kuriboh meanwhile has seen sparing play in the Light & Darkness Ritual deck, which sits somewhere in the top 5 strategies at present, looking at the upcoming meta. It can be cycled through to find a copy of Griffoh, which in turn starts your entire LADR combo. A single copy is becoming standard, but more than that is a questionable choice when going first. There’s a world where these cards might do better in the TCG compared to the OCG, but I think it’s less likely than, say, Dark Magician Yummy being a top 3 deck stateside. I am exceptionally bullish on that pairing.
The rest of the Extended Art cards might have their day in the sun following support, but between the Gagaga/Utopia cards, Pendulum support, & Cyberse pile tools, there’s not a ton of promise. Cyberse Code Magician is at least an enabler for Maliss, and being a Level 7 Ritual makes it exceptionally searchable; that alone could put it squarely in the realm of playability, should Maliss be given lenience on the banlist. The Pendulum tools are a different story though, as unless they print a truly disgusting target to search with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Four Heavenly Dragons these tools do little more than look pretty. That’s not impossible, especially given we’re receiving Endymion support in the next core set, but at present its best use case is searching for a Power Patron pend, or a starter for Enneacraft. Not thrilling. The Utopia tools certainly will have an impact, though not in Advanced, as these are premier pieces for Genesys; it’s worth noting that basically all of the more lukewarm new cards from MAMO are set to be stellar there, which is a huge boon for Yugioh’s big secondary format.
If you’re not aware, Genesys is an alternative to Advanced, the ‘main’ Yugioh format. Instead of a banlist, individual cards have an assigned point value, with decklists being composed of a total value of 100pts, between Main, Extra, & Side. The way Konami of America has managed the format thus far, we’ve seen a goal of pushing towards ‘engine-first’ gameplay, removing many of the best cards not belonging to an archetype from reasonable playability. As these new Extended Art cards are all impressive additions to their broad archetypes, such as Starjunk Synchron, depending on points levied, MAMO could be groundbreaking for Genesys. There’s a ton of upside to Genesys not only existing, but also being a fun format, because even when a set’s cards aren’t all Advanced-playable it serves as a suitable home. Folks are going to want to show off their Extended Arts, and doing so in Genesys is the surefire way to impress while actually winning games.
As you can probably tell, MAMO is set to be a treat for both collectors & players, although for the latter it might take a bit for singles to trickle down. As stated, the sealed copies of this set have been pretty ramped-up in terms of price, and getting your hands on a box could run you up to double MSRP. People are hungry for the Grandmaster Rares—understandably so—meaning for the first few months I imagine the set won’t last long on store shelves. Still, as folks crack packs in order to find the elusive chase cards, thousands of cards from the main set will flood into the market, making them tremendously accessible. We’ve seen this with Magic, and later with Riftbound. What’s good for collectors is good…eventually, for the players, even if it can stymie access in the short term. What’s more, we haven’t actually seen the entire set, though from our understanding given previews, the rest are wholly reprints, and not new cards. It’s likely these are set to be support for existing strategies included in MAMO, such as Synchron, Utopia, Dark Magician, & more!
Whether you’re looking to pull one of the chase cards, or improve a beloved strategy, Magnificent Monsters is set to be the year’s most-anticipated set! I think it’s quietly going to be a huge boon for exactly Mitsurugi & Yummy in competitive Advanced, with some smaller knock-on effects elsewhere. In any case, get set to see quite a lot of Dark Magician, the Pharoah’s Servant, because good lord that card is superb.
How are your favorite decks impacted by MAMO? Do you think it’s going to shake up the meta for either Advanced or Genesys? What’s in store for collectors, now that Yugioh’s dipped its toes into limited print runs? Let me know in the comments below!
