The newest booster set, Tactical Evolution, is right around the corner. By this time two weeks from now, duelists in North America will have had their first taste of the latest set thanks to local Sneak Previews, so it seems like a good time to start looking at the new cards. And hey, what better place to start than the marquee pack-front monster, Jesse Anderson’s Rainbow Dragon?

If you watch the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX animated series, you’ve probably been waiting for Rainbow Dragon for a while. The first time we see Jesse duel against Jaden, things come to a strange conclusion: under fire from Elemental Hero Air Neos, Jesse sends all seven of his Crystal Beasts up into the sky, calling forth what he calls “the most feared creature in history!” As a massive, dragon-shaped shadow falls over Jaden, the young prodigy from South Academy tells him he’ll “never survive!”  

But then nothing happens. “Just kidding!” The sheepish Jesse does nothing but give a grin and a confession: “That card’s not in my deck yet.” He proceeds to get booed by just about everyone at Duel Academy, but he assures them that he knows Rainbow Dragon is out there somewhere. Jesse then explains that “accordin’ to the legend, the soul of the Rainbow Dragon lives inside an ancient stone tablet. But no one knows where to find it!”

Here’s a tip, Jesse: get some boosters of Tactical Evolution. This isn’t nearly as complicated as you’re making it out to be.

Yes, the legendary Rainbow Dragon makes its real-life TCG debut in Tactical Evolution, and it’s an event of such magnitude that it even has its own new rarity! If you think it doesn’t get any cooler than ultimate rares or parallel rares, you’re in for a shock: Rainbow Dragon has a whole new foil treatment that’s never been seen before, and it’s going to be in high demand from collectors and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX fans alike.

So what does Rainbow Dragon do? Check it out:

Rainbow Dragon        Dragon/Effect LIGHT   -  Level 10             4000 ATK / 0 DEF     

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned, except from your hand while you have 7 “Crystal Beast” cards with different names on the field or in your Graveyard. This card cannot activate its effects the turn it is Special Summoned.

-Send all “Crystal Beast” monsters you control to the Graveyard; this card gains 1000 ATK for each card sent. You can activate this effect during either player's turn.

-You can remove from play all “Crystal Beast” Monster Cards in your Graveyard to return all cards on the field to their owners’ Decks.

Wow, that’s a ton of effects. Let’s break down this card piece by piece to understand it a bit better.

Bringing Rainbow Dragon to the field takes a bit of work, but it’s not nearly as tough as it may sound. You need to run at least one of each of the seven Crystal Beasts—something most duelists tend to avoid. Everyone has their favorites, and players tend to focus on just four or five Crystal Beasts for the sake of consistency.

The good news is that because the Crystal Beasts are so good at searching for particular cards, you can just add one copy of each of the Crystal Beasts you don’t normally run. Then you can seek them out when you need them with Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus or Crystal Beacon. Remember, Rainbow Dragon doesn’t care where the seven Crystal Beasts are. They can be in “crystallized” spell form thanks to Sapphire Pegasus, or you can just use them as discard fodder for Snipe Hunter or Lightning Vortex. Rainbow Dragon will count Crystal Beasts that are in your graveyard.

Cards that send monsters directly from your deck to the graveyard are a great way to speed things up. Your Crystal Beast deck might already use Card Trooper or Magical Merchant, because they help you knock Crystal Beasts into your graveyard for use with Crystal Blessing later on. If your deck fits that description, then Rainbow Dragon is going to jive perfectly with your existing strategy—you already have all the support you need.

Once you’re ready to bring out Rainbow Dragon, you can special summon it with no restrictions. That means you’ll still get to use your normal summon to put more pressure on your opponent, and you can even bring out multiple copies of Rainbow Dragon in a single turn! Sure, some duelists may only want to use one copy of the Dragon since it has low utility early on, but the mere thought of dropping two at once is pretty darn tempting.

The reason? You probably noticed this already, but it really warrants discussion: Rainbow Dragon is huge. At 4000 ATK, it matches Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder in size, previously the only other “big finish” monster the Crystal Beasts had. But while Hamon forced you to send three Crystal Beasts from your spell and trap zone to the graveyard, Rainbow Dragon doesn’t actually consume anything when it’s summoned. It requires some set-up just like Hamon, but all that can be done in the graveyard, so you’re never defeated even if you’ve lost your whole field. Rainbow Dragon still leaves you with the fuel for all of your tricks, making it much easier to play. Once you start swinging for 4000 damage a turn, the duel ends pretty quickly.

Oh, and that high ATK? It’s matched with a super-low DEF that protects Rainbow Dragon from Smashing Ground. Cute trick.

While Rainbow Dragon is a game-winning beatstick, it gets even better with time, gaining two more effects once it’s on the field for a turn. The first works at spell speed 2, and it lets you send all your Crystal Beast monsters from the field to the graveyard. Then Rainbow Dragon gets 1000 ATK for each Crystal Beast sent away. So if the Dragon is ever threatened by anything big enough to take it down (say, Cyber Dragon boosted by Limiter Removal), you still have an ace up your sleeve.

Even better than using this effect on the opponent’s turn is using it on yours. Since this effect works at spell speed 2, you can use it at any time during the battle phase. So, you can attack with all of your Crystal Beasts to clear the field, and then send them to the graveyard to generate even more damage through Rainbow Dragon. All of your Crystal Beasts are suddenly worth another 1000 damage. You can even pull this off during the damage step, after your opponent is forced to decide whether or not he or she will activate destruction effects.

Rainbow Dragon’s second effect is yet another game-finisher. By removing all your in-graveyard Crystal Beasts from play, you can send everything on the field back to each duelist’s deck. Then your turn continues, and you’re free to use whatever’s in your hand against a totally empty field. Your opponent is helpless: you can mount a big direct attack with Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger or Sapphire Pegasus. You can special summon monsters from the graveyard for more offense, or even activate Dimension Fusion and special summon all those Crystal Beasts you just removed. Regardless of what kind of hijinks you decide to unleash, your opponent is going to be taking a whack of damage.

It’s huge, its summoning condition fits with what duelists are already doing, and if it can’t win the game with a clean swing, it has two more effects to help you finish the job. Such is the power of Rainbow Dragon! Get yours before Jesse Anderson figures out he should be buying packs.