It’s October, and the new Advanced format lists are finally in effect! Duelists are already debating about the new power cards, and Cyber Dragon, Smashing Ground, Sakuretsu Armor, and Royal Decree seem to be setting the tone for this creativity-rich format. Haven’t seen the new list yet? Check it out at the official source.

Master Collection 2 Release Date Confirmed

The second installment in the Master Collection series will hit stores on October 24. This set will contain one booster pack each from Pharaonic Guardian, Magician’s Force, Dark Crisis, Invasion of Chaos, Ancient Sanctuary, and even an Exclusive Pack from the release of Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie!

Like the first Master Collection before it, this month’s “sequel” will come packed with six secret rare foil promos. The first five are Guardian Sphinx, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Exodia Necross, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, and Blowback Dragon, but the sixth and final promo in the set is still a mystery.

Blinged-out Breakers? I guess I kind of have to get one now.

Dark Revelations 2 Ships Tomorrow!

That’s right—Dark Revelations 2 will be the fourth in Upper Deck Entertainment’s popular series of reprint sets, and it’s slated to ship out to retailers across the continent tomorrow morning, October 3. UDE continues to stand by its commitment to providing exclusive products and support to the hobby store portion of the industry, and this hot new expansion will only be available in Tournament Hobby Stores!

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Now Showing In Canada

While the October 10 American debut of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is just days away, Canadian duelists are a couple weeks ahead. GX is now showing on the Canada-only YTV network, headlining the channel’s Friday night anime lineup. Showing at 6 pm EST, GX is already receiving rave reviews and ratings in Canadian venues.

As usual, Mike Rosenberg kicks off the week today. However, this time around, he departs from his column’s normal format to follow up on reader input on Dream Clown. The result is an article that hypothesizes what a tournament-winning Clown Control deck might look like in the new Advanced format. If you’re not testing Clown Control yet, you might want to start now!

Jerome McHale hits us with another deck this Tuesday. Called “The Most Duel For Your Dollar,” it focuses on exploiting the Chaos-esque mechanic of removing cards in your graveyard to special summon monsters. Using classic cards like Helpoemer (no, really, he finds a use for Helpoemer), Jerome proposes a great deck, the likes of which you’ve probably never seen.

On Wednesday, you’ll get even more deck strategy! I’ll look at a Marauding Captain Abuse deck from an old friend of mine, which was never updated for the Advanced format—not even for the first one! I’ll take his Traditional deck and bring it into the era of Advanced play while trying to keep his key themes intact. Is this just another Warrior deck? Nope, you won’t see Cyber Dragon here. What you’ll find instead should prove a bit surprising.

After a flurry of questions submitted to the judge list over the past few weeks, Curtis Schultz takes on Different Dimension Capsule in his Duelist Academy series. Have you ever wondered what happens when you control two Capsules, but one is destroyed? Maybe you tried to fetch a monster with its effect, activated Return from the Different Dimension, and suddenly realized that you had no idea how to resolve the situation that you’d just created. The Capsule can be a complicated card, but it’s also incredibly powerful in the new format. Curtis gathers all the biggest rulings together for your convenience this Thursday!

You’ll get a double dose of Julia Hedberg this week, as new volumes of both Solid Ground and Agents of Judgment arrive on Friday and Saturday. If you’re a judge, do yourself a favor and check out the must-read article on special-needs players. Assisting these duelists can be an unexpected and difficult challenge, but once you read this week’s article, you’ll be prepared for some of judging’s trickier scenarios. Then, whether you’re a new player or a veteran on a budget, you’ll appreciate this week’s Solid Ground. With so many new decks to test, you’ll probably need more tournament-level cards, and Julia breaks down all four current Structure decks to show you where to get some of the best cards in the game at bargain-basement prices.

Next, Jae Kim presents his musings on the new Advanced format in The Juncture. He’s got some interesting thoughts on the roles of strategy, skill, and resource management in Yu-Gi-Oh!’s new era, and if you’re not familiar with Jae’s concepts of resource definition, then this article is a definite must-read. One-for-one trades were previously a thing of the past, but Jae shows us why they’re now an important part of the future of dueling.

Finally, we’ll round out the week with an article from our newest writer, Toronto’s own Calvin Tsang. Calvin has been a star Canadian player for many months and made the Top 4 at the 2005 National Championships. Now he turns his eyes on writing. His column will compare two decks each week and break down how they interact when they’re put head-to-head in serious competition. Welcome aboard, Calvin!

Contributing Editor, Metagame.com