It’s February 6, and there are just eleven days between now and the Shadow of Infinity Sneak Previews!
More Starter Deck Details
Two weeks ago, we posted some information on the new starter deck release planned for April. A new product aimed towards beginners, this starter deck is an introductory level teaching tool, and should be a huge hit with fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX! The info we posted generated a lot of speculation and debate in Internet communities, but now we’ve got a few more details that are sure to generate even more buzz!
Much to our surprise, there will actually be two different versions of the starter deck. The first includes the deck of cards, as well as the illustrated beginner’s guide. No surprises there. But what’s this? A deluxe version will include not just the deck and guide, but also an instructional DVD and a new alternate-art promo card.
The promo to be included with the deluxe version of the beginner’s set has not yet been disclosed, but it will only be found in this release and will not be available in booster packs. If you’re looking for an easy way to get a few friends into the game, now you’ll be able to net a cool promo card while you’re doing it!
Whether this second version of the starter deck set will see a simultaneous launch with the first is currently unknown. However, the first is still slated for an April 5 launch, and if the loaded version doesn’t share that release date, it will probably still hit stores soon after.
This Week on Metagame.com
It’s preview time! Shadow of Infinity Sneak Preview events hit a worldwide spread of venues in under two weeks, and today we begin our pre-release single-card coverage!
Mike Rosenberg starts us off today, looking at one of the three Sacred Beasts! Uria, Lord of Searing Flames has a starring role in the current Yu-Gi-Oh! GX story line, and Mike discusses that factor before turning his eyes and pen to the issue of the card’s playability. Head on over and read his article to learn how this stunning monster can generate card advantage, dominate your opponent’s spread of options, and lead you to crushing victories!
On Tuesday, Jerome McHale looks at something totally different when he investigates Ancient Gear Drill. Dr. Vellian Crowler’s Ancient Gear monsters finally get some serious support in Shadow of Infinity, and this is one of the best cards in the set! For ages, Machine monsters have lacked precision to bolster their powerful one-shot effects, like those of Cyber-Stein and Limiter Removal. Now, they get the search power they’ve been missing! Jerome takes a painstakingly detailed look at this awesome spell card, examining its use in both Constructed and Sealed Pack formats.
Wednesday is Buggy Beatstick Day, as I introduce the largest archetype-ready monster in ages. Doom Dozer is just one of several big hitters that Shadow of Infinity gives to the Insect ranks, and it’s a strong reason to consider breaking out the creepy-crawlies and playing a Bug deck of your own. With a ridiculous ATK value and an effect that allows it to be special summoned for free, it has a ton of potential for any format.
On Thursday the preview goodness keeps on coming, as Jae Kim reveals not one, but two new cards! Ruin, Queen of Oblivion, and Demise, King of Armageddon take center stage when Jae sets his sights on the future of ritual monsters. He opens with a discussion of the things that have limited ritual monsters up until this point, but then he quickly changes focus and shows you what makes this pair of cards so different. Great stats and one amazing effect are just the beginning of the list, as Jae counts off reasons why these ritual monsters are the best to ever be printed.
That’s not all for Thursday, though! As always, class is in session, and Curtis Schultz is ready to take you to school at his Duel Academy column, looking at Pinch Hopper and Insect Princess. Hopper is a textbook example of how a card can miss the timing of its own effect, and if you’ve ever been confused as to how that game mechanic works, this article is a must-read! As for Insect Princess, get ready for some cool combos and some answers to questions you probably haven’t even thought to ask! It’s all there in part one of a multi-article series on Insect monsters.
On Friday, Julia Hedberg looks at one of my favorite cards from Shadow of Infinity—Damage Condenser. A powerful trap card that can special summon virtually any monster, it lets you dish out surprise summons that your opponent won’t see coming. While its potential is huge, Condenser can really be a tricky card to figure out how to play, and luckily, Julia’s got plenty of ideas for duelists eager to try it out. The current Advanced format is chock full of great monsters to use with this hot new trap, and Julia highlights the best while showing you some devious ways to get the most out of its effect.
On Saturday I’m back, looking at the next evolution of one of the most popular cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Whether you’re a collector or an avid duelist, odds are good that you can’t enough Cyber Dragon, and now yet another upgraded version has arrived: Zane Truesdale’s Cyber Laser Dragon! With an effect that squashes Jinzo, Mobius the Frost Monarch, and many more of the game’s top tribute monsters, as well as a special summon requirement that lets a duelist dodge big cards like Sakuretsu Armor, this new version of the Dragon does the rest of its family proud.
Finally, our extra-long week will be wrapped up with another article from Julia Hedberg. Agents of Judgment gets bumped to Sunday, and in my opinion, it’s a must-read column about decklist checks. At a major event, verifying the deck lists of all the competitors is a lot harder than it looks, and it’s extremely important. If decklist checks are done properly, your event starts off on the right foot. If they’re done poorly, it can make everyone’s job a lot harder. There are many tricks that can make your decklist checking faster and more accurate, and Sunday’s article is packed with them. This aspect of judging at premier events is often ignored, but it warrants some serious discussion and Julia delivers just that!
That’s the lineup for now, but remember that this week’s previews are just the first half of our Shadow of Infinity pre-release coverage. In seven days we’ll have another week of never-before-seen cards for your viewing pleasure, including two more Sacred Beasts and arguably the best monster in the set!
As always, thanks for reading!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com