I don’t know how hard they are to find in the card shops in your area, but Duelist Packs are sailing off the shelves around me. What’s the fuss about? I thought I’d take a look at the card list and see what was so interesting about these little packs.

For those of you who don’t know, Duelist Packs are smaller, five-card booster packs (plus a tip card) that feature cards favored by particular Yu-Gi-Oh! GX characters. There are reprints of previous cards and some previously unreleased ones! For this article, I’m going to show you each of the new cards and offer a few remarks on their usefulness. New cards! So exciting!

Let’s see what Chazz has up his little blue sleeve by snooping around his Duelist Pack, shall we? Why not start with the monster? It’s a Dragon-type, and I like Dragons.

Armed Dragon LV10

Dragon/Effect

Wind Attribute

Level 10

3000 ATK/2000 DEF

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Tributing 1 "Armed Dragon LV7" on your side of the field. By sending 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard, destroy all face-up monsters on your opponent's side of the field.

This is one of the ultra rares in the set. As you can see, it’s really, really big! If you’re running Armed Dragon LV7, you might like to give this card a try. A direct hit for 3000 damage can be game-winning, so that balances out the -2 advantage you’re going to take, provided you pick the right moment. You won’t want to bring it out when your opponent’s got a full spell and trap zone or several set monsters. It will clear out a face-up wall of Spirit Reapers or D. D. monsters, though, as long as you don’t mind discarding a card. Personally, I’d be happy to discard a card to clear out Spirit Reaper or D. D. monsters.

I rather like Level Monster decks, so while this card is definitely situational, it’s nice to see the Armed Dragon line rounded out. That’s it for new monsters, so without further ado, on to the spells!

Magical Mallet

Add any number of cards from your hand to the Deck and shuffle it. Then draw the same number of cards you added to the Deck.

I’ve been trying out Reload in several decks lately, so this card is interesting to me. It’s a normal spell, not a quick-play, so unlike Reload, it can’t be chained to Dust Tornado or Mystical Space Typhoon. This is a super rare card, so it won’t be as easy to get as Reload (which was reprinted in several Structure Decks), but for certain decks it will work better.

Magical Mallet does have the advantage of letting you control what gets shuffled back in, so it’s a good choice for combo decks. Holding two of the four cards you need? Shuffle the rest back in and see if you get lucky! Soul Control players might like to give it a try as well. The loss of one card can be a fair price to pay to cycle away an opening hand full of Monarchs, and it can help you get to the Monarchs in the mid- to late game.

Inferno Reckless Summon

Quick-Play Spell

You can only activate this card when 1 monster with an ATK of 1500 points or less is Special Summoned to your side of the field while there is a face-up monster on your opponent's side of the field. Special Summon all cards with the same name as the Summoned monster from your hand, Deck, and Graveyard in face-up Attack Position. Your opponent selects 1 monster on their side of the field and Special Summons all cards with that same name from their hand, Deck, and Graveyard.

This is another super rare, and it’s got a lot of potential uses. There are plenty of cards in the game that you like even better in multiples, aren’t there? And the small size isn’t as much of a drawback as you might think. What about Spirit Reaper or Don Zaloog? Lots of decks run three copies of Spirit Reaper, and I hear having three of those out on the field is good. How about three Stealth Birds if you’re running a burn deck? Three Proto Cyber Dragons fetched out all at once, as a special summon, can clear the way for Cyber Twin Dragon or Cyber End Dragon, so Inferno Reckless Summon might be of interest to One-Turn Kill players. And if you like Cyber Dragon, and I know you do, please don’t forget that one little Proto Cyber Dragon, special summoned, can also call out every Cyber Dragon you’ve got. (Just be wary of an opponent who retaliates by bringing out a matching number of D. D. Assailants!)

Cards that can be special summoned by their own effects, like Gilasaurus, work well with this card too, since you can use them on your turn without sacrificing your normal summon. That’s a good way to build up a rush or bring out a monster that requires two tributes.

If you read my Damage Condenser preview, then I’m sure you can see all kinds of possibilities awaiting you if you run that card along with this one. One special summon is good, and three can be fantastic. Beast One-Turn Kill decks will get some great use out of this card. Generally, these kinds of decks use Rescue Cat and Last Will to bring out Milus Radiant and Gyaku-Gire Panda, but look at the possibilities here! You can normal summon Rescue Cat, tribute the Cat to fetch out Milus Radiant and Gyaku-Gire Panda, then use this card to bring out two more Pandas. That’s just plain mean.

Remember that your opponent gets to special summon monsters as well, he or she isn’t bound by the 1500 ATK and under rule, and he or she gets to choose from their hand, deck, and graveyard. Think before using the card—Ojama tokens, or some other way to clutter up the opponent’s monster zone, will help you out a lot here.

Ring of Defense

Quick-Play Spell

You can only activate this card in response to the activation of a Trap Card effect that inflicts damage. Make the effect damage of that Trap Card 0.

Here’s another one of the ultra rares, and the name obviously reflects that other infamous Ring, Ring of Destruction. This one is a quick-play spell, though, so you get the best of both the spell and trap worlds. It’s hidden in your hand, so even if your opponent knows you’ve side decked against effect damage with the more usual cards, like Des Wombat, Barrel Behind the Door, or Hallowed Life Barrier, he or she will feel safer activating an effect damage trap card when there’s no fuming marsupials or set cards on your side of the field. Then, surprise! Waste of a Ceasefire! You also don’t have to wait a turn to use it—you can activate it on the turn you drew it, as long as you keep it in your hand.

You’ve also got the option to set it if you like, to use on your opponent’s turn, or as a bluff to draw out removal or psyche him or her out of attacking.

What is this card good against? The popularity of Return From the Different Dimension decks has brought Ceasefire back into common play. A player who has just paid half of his or her life points to bring back a field full of effect monsters is awfully vulnerable to Ceasefire, and since Ring of Defense can be played from the hand, it can be a lifesaver.

It blocks potentially huge sources of damage that cost a card to use, such as Secret Barrel, Just Desserts, or the aforementioned Ceasefire. You’re making a one-for-one trade, so you won’t lose card advantage.

Well, that’s plenty of spells. How about a new trap card? You like traps, right? Come on, let’s look at the new trap!

The Grave of Enkindling

Trap Card

You can only activate this card when a monster on your side of the field is destroyed as a result of battle and sent to the Graveyard. You and your opponent each select 1 monster from your respective Graveyards and Special Summon them in Defense Position. Neither monster Special Summoned by this card's effect can change its battle position while it is face-up on the field, except with a card effect.

This is also a super rare with an intriguing name, and I’m interested to see what players are going to do with it. It will work well with cards like Final Attack Orders, if you want to bring out something to attack with, or Tsukuyomi or Book of Moon to turn whatever you choose face down so you can flip summon it. It’s great for defense position walls like Spirit Reaper, Legendary Jujitsu Master, or Big Shield Gardna, or monsters that can attack from a defense position, like Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster or Total Defense Shogun.

You can also use it to fetch back Sangan. Who cares what position it’s in? It’s Sangan! If you’re skillful when you activate the trap, you can also clog up your opponent’s field with less-than-useful monsters. This is great to use alongside Ojama Trio, if you’re looking to lock down the opponent’s monster zone.

If you’re running Ceasefire, The Grave of Enkindling can bring back two more effect monsters to add another 1000 points of damage. The monster, whatever it is, will come to the field in defense position, so your opponent isn’t going to be able to continue to attack with it. Since the first main phase has passed, he or she has probably already summoned a monster, so you run less of a risk of giving him or her tribute fodder, and you’ll likely be able to negate the +1 gain you gave your opponent by attacking the monster once it’s your turn.

Next time you’re in the card shop, make sure you check to see if there are some Duelist Packs in stock. If there are, pick up a few! Some of these new cards are definitely worth playing with, and remember the Shonen Jumps are back under way. New builds are going to come out, and you’ll be needing more new builds to counter them.