Konami has officially finalized the roster for the Duelist’s Advance expansion with one last round of reveals. Players can expect some rogue tech choices this time around, as now we await this set’s official store launch this coming July 2nd.
WAKE CUP! Mocha
Level 3 WIND Aqua Flip Effect Monster
ATK 1000
DEF 100
You can only use the (1)st and (2)nd effects of this card’s name each once per turn.
(1) You can target 1 face-down Defense Position monster on the field; Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, change that monster to Attack Position.
(2) If this card is flipped face-up: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; it gains 1000 ATK, but send it to the GY during the End Phase.
(3) Once per turn, during your End Phase: You can change this card to face-down Defense Position.
Starting off, we have WAKE CUP! Mocha. This little one’s package easily jives with any flip effect monster-focused archetype like Mimighoul or Subterror. An extra body for XYZ rank 3 plays for the former, while a path to accelerating the effects for the latter.
While Mocha’s effects aren’t necessarily meta-defining, she does offer a lot of curveballs. She’s a Book of Moon on legs for her first effect, and, as an added bonus, she can summon herself off this.
Self-special summoning is already a powerful effect in its own right. So this first ability alone makes up a bulk of Mocha’s value. On top of that, she’s also targeted removal for her second ability.
Admittedly, this ability may be a little slow since it happens at the end phase, and can only hit face-up monsters. That said, this second effect gets around any anti-destruction protection that a lot of end-board pieces tend to have.
If all else fails, you could just use it for what it is and boost an ally to crash over something blocking your line of play. While this third effect is a little more niche. Her targeting parameters don’t discriminate based on who the owner is. As long as there’s a viable monster on the field, both sides are fair game for her abilities.
The Star Ham
Level 3 LIGHT Beast Synchro Effect Monster
ATK 1000
DEF 1200
Materials: 1 Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
You can only use the (1)st and (2)nd effects of this card’s name each once per turn.
(1) If this card is Synchro Summoned: You can discard 1 card; Special Summon 1 monster from your GY that was used as material for this card’s Synchro Summon, and if you do, it is treated as a Tuner.
(2) If this card is in your GY: You can discard 2 cards; Special Summon this card, but banish it when it leaves the field.
With the potential to be used with the upcoming Yummy archetype and to be useful as a generic synchro summon climber, The Star Ham has a decent amount going for it.
The ability to revive a body used in Star Ham’s original summoning can easily provide the controlling player immediate access to the wide roster of level 4 to level 6 synchro monsters, depending on the circumstances.
Doppel Warrior easily springs to mind as a perfect candidate for Star Ham’s discard cost. Modern Yu-Gi-Oh! has already evolved to the point that the graveyard is widely considered as a second hand. So, The Star Ham may find its way into a lot of generic slots if there’s enough space on the deck list.
Sudden Thunderous Swamp
Continuous Spell Card
You can only activate 1 card with this card’s name once per turn. You can only use the (2)nd effect of this card’s name each once per turn.
(1) When this card is activated: You can discard 1 card, and if you do, Set 1 Continuous Trap from your Deck or GY, with an effect that Special Summons itself as a monster, except the discarded card.
(2) If a card(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect, and sent to the GY or banished face-up: You can target 1 of them; add 1 card with the same name from your Deck to your hand.
Sudden Thunderous Swamp is pretty insane after reading it. It definitely warrants those ‘once per turn’ shackles. Continuous trap-focused archetypes such as Odion or Eldlich would salivate at the first effect of Sudden Thunderous Swamp.
It’s just added consistency for the continuous trap monster cards. The main deck is the best place to directly grab a resource from, but chucking a resource into the graveyard isn’t so bad in light of this. Graveyard effects are the norm now, so this may end up being another path to card advantage in the long run.
Even if you don’t run a trap-focused deck, Swamp’s second ability is a pretty powerful floating effect if you run multiple copies of the same card.
It’s a good thing Konami placed so many restrictions on this card. If it weren’t for all these parameters, Konami might’ve ended up making an emergency ban the week of release.
Shipment Error
Normal Trap Card
(1) When a card or effect is activated that includes an effect that adds a card(s) from the Deck to the hand: The activated effect becomes “Your opponent takes 1 card from their Deck for you to add to your hand, and you must keep that card revealed. During the End Phase of this turn, shuffle it into the Deck, and if you do, draw 1 card”.
This card is a little confusing on the wording of its effect. Once the opening shots have been fired and the match has transitioned to the grind game, however, Shipment Error could make for a very precise tool.
Temporarily denying the opponent resources from multiple sources is pretty powerful. This ability, however, is hampered by a few things.
First of all, it’s a trap card. By the nature of modern Yu-Gi-Oh! trap cards have to have something extremely insane to be considered a spot on the deck list. Unfortunately, Shipment Error has pretty tall shoulders to rub against already; the Dominus twins of Impulse and Purge, the fan-favorite Infinite Impermanence.
It’s difficult to see anyone slotting this card, even in the side deck. That said, it’s a fun little tool to be sure, even if it is uncertain how to use it effectively and consistently.
Spirit Hunter
Continuous Trap Card
(1) Once per turn, during your opponent’s Standby Phase: You can activate 1 of these effects;
●Place 1 monster from your Deck in your Spell & Trap Zone as a face-up Continuous Spell.
●Your opponent can Special Summon 1 Monster Card with less original ATK than their LP from your Spell & Trap Zone to their field, then they pay LP equal to its original ATK.
(2) If an Effect Monster(s) you own is Special Summoned to your opponent’s field: You can send this face-up card from the Spell & Trap Zone to the GY; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your Deck.
The last card is a little bit of a head-scratcher. Outside the callback to the GX Era of Yu-Gi-Oh! with the Crystal Beast archetype, a lot of players may be turned off by allowing their opponent to steal their resources.
The Mimighoul archetype, on the other hand, may like this card’s second effect. Alongside the above-mentioned WAKE CUP! Mocha, this card may see some play as a rogue tech choice.
Alternatively, you could go old-school, run a couple of Lava Golems or Kaijus, and just say ‘thank you’ to the opponent as you begin to break their board.
All-in-all, there are a lot of free agents from this reveal. There are arguments to be made to run these cards in a variety of archetypes at both the casual and competitive levels.
Time will tell how well these cards will do. In the meantime, if you’re interested in seeing the rest of the roster from Duelist’s Advance, you can check Konami’s official database here.