Slightly different from my usual articles, I wanted to broach the topic of ‘reprints‘, if for no other reason than to generate a record for future instances. The cards covered in today’s submission all purport to be ‘generically relevant‘ for deckbuilding. As such, the focus is not necessarily on ‘archetype specific’ reprints but rather on Units and Events that can be splashed into a wide variety of Decks and combined with an equal variety of Rulers. Consequently, a point to keep in mind is that these cards are suggested to be genuinely relevant in the current metagame. As such, their poignancy is subject to meta shift, in a similar vein to the fate of Lucifer and Eons (from a competitive standpoint).
ATLAS
It should come as no surprise that the first card on the list is Dimensional Lamination. Absolute staple currently, that most assuredly requires more copies in circulation.
The second inclusion is that of Win-Win, a trial deck card that only showed up in an early set as a foil exclusive. Quite important for a variety of lists that struggle to fill in their Legend slots, particularly poignant in Vanquisher style decks.
Volnar
While the majority of Volnar cards can be construed to be somewhat niche in terms of deckbuilding, Skystrike Arrow does indeed stand heads and shoulders above the rest. With Disuption and Draw at instant speed, all bundled into one cost effective card, if you are running Yellow you definitely need to run this card.
Dark Knight Vamel on the other hand is not quite as splashable as the aforementioned field spell. However, he is a great generic shield that requires no build around.
Wonderverse
Starting off with the weakest of the three, in terms of overall relevance, Darumageddon is essentially a staple for pink drive decks, thus meriting another printing. This leads us onto Schrodinger that has needed a reprint for several sets now. Only ever having been released as a tournament promo it has been in short supply, with its unbelievably potent effect having made it a crucial inclusion in any deck that can support it.
Last but certainly not least in Space King Arthur from set 4. High demand and short supply once again, the card has retained its relevance and is likely to experience increased utilisation in future sets.
Yomajin front
While most if not all Special Rares (SR) will require a reprint at some point, none have proven to be as poignant as Sakuya-hime. Appearing in hand and drive decks alike, this unit has proven to be an absolute staple.
Though it may be possible that Thousand-Year Sakura‘s relevance will wane in future sets, it nonetheless still operates as a cornerstone inclusion boosting the consistency of the drive mechanic of the game’s corresponding rulers.
Honourable Mentions
As iterated above, the article at hand was an attempt at suggesting what ‘generically relevant’ Units and Events would need to be reprinted, sooner rather than later, to ensure better accessibility and potentially lower prices on the secondary market. However, this is of course not the end-all-be-all of what deserves and/or requires a reprint. As such, a list of honourable (archetype specific) mentions has been compiled and can be found below, with more to potentially follow in the future.
- Nibelung
- Joe of the Kamaitachi
- Mr. Obsolete
- The Silver Uppercut
- Arcane Innovator
- Tractor Beam
- Space Cave
- Mistwyrm, Clock Tower Guardian
- Lucifer, the Lightbringer
- Draconoid Dreadnaught “Fuse-Ikazuchi”
- Cosmic Efreet
Final Thoughts
The need for such reprints, was partially affirmed by the inclusion of some of the listed cards in the Dual Starter Deck DX: Draconoid Dreadnaughts vs Alice. Sadly, we never recived the product in English. As a result, it is likely that the new cards, for both Alice and Draconoid Dreadnaughts, are going to be included in set 6. There is precedent for this from previous sets, but we must remember that it is still a hypothetical possibility. Additionally, the fate of the reprints continues to remain uncertain, which may be problematic for deckbuilding the farther away we get from their original printing. The new cards alone number at 10, so it might already be a struggle to include them in set 6 leaving no space for reprints, unless they have been planned in advance. It is my fervent hope that the article at hand may shed some light on the cards that will require a second printing sooner rather than later. Thank you for reading.
gunnolfbjorn 