The new Legendary Decks II is filled with awesome stuff. It comes with a full Yugi, Kaiba, and Joey Deck, including everything from Yugi’s set of Exodia, to Kaiba’s three copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and even a full set of tournament legal Egyptian God Cards. With great reprints like Secret Village of the Spellcasters, The White Stone of Ancients, and The Black Stone of Legend, it’s packed to the brim with value. In terms of competitive relevance, there are six brand new cards available in Legendary Decks II that you can’t get anywhere else. New cards always have the potential to make a splash, and one of them has had a huge impact this weekend: Ties of the Brethren.

Ties of the Brethren is an interesting card because it is very good in specific strategies, but Decks really need to be built around it. There are tons of restrictions on what it can get and how it can be used. The monsters you Special Summon with it need to be the same Type, Attribute, and Level, but with different names than the monster you initially target with it. You also can’t Special Summon after using Ties of the Brethren, which is a much bigger issue than not being able to conduct your Battle Phase, which you must also give up. The monsters you Special Summon with Ties of the Brethren have to somehow make up for the fact that you’re sacrificing additional Special Summons, plus your Battle Phase, in order to use it. So how are Duelists using it this weekend?

 
The most popular strategy incorporating Ties of the Brethren this weekend is Majespecters. The Deck has an abundance of monsters with the same Type, Attribute, and Level, with effects that activate when they’re Special Summoned. That latter part is the big key here, as targeting a Majespecter with Ties of the Brethren and recruiting two more Majespecters that will each find you another card is a huge swing. You ultimately wind up with four cards for the cost of one, and with Majespecters already playing a good grind game, that big of a swing is huge. Unlike building a Deck around Card of Demise, building a Deck around the restrictions of Ties of the Brethren is a bit easier. While Card of Demise was the key to pure Majespecter Decks’ success before, Ties of the Brethren allows them to have a much more proactive game plan. Building a Deck around Card of Demise forces you to play a lot of Traps and only a few monsters, while Ties of the Brethren is really a combo card that works with your monsters.

 
Majespecters have three Level 4 monsters which is perfect, but only two Level 3 monsters. In order to fill the different name requirement for Ties of the Brethren, you need a total of three so you can Special Summon two others. However, clever Duelists have begun using Mystical Fairy Elfuria as their third Level 3 WIND Spellcaster. While it isn’t too powerful on the surface, hindering your opponent from Xyz Summoning Rank 3 or Rank 4 monsters for a turn while battling through your Majespecter Traps is very powerful. Any time Ties of the Brethren is used on a Level 3 monster, you’ll get to trigger the effects of a Majespecter Raccoon – Bunbuku as well as Majespecter Cat – Nekomata, so you’ll find a Trap from Bunbuku to protect your Mystical Fairy Elfuria.

 
It’s a bit more powerful to activate Ties of the Brethren on a Level 4 monster in a Majespecter Deck, because in total you’ll trigger the effects of a Majespecter Toad – Ogama, Majespecter Fox – Kyubi, and Majespecter Crow – Yata. This will get you a Majespecter Spell Card and Majespecter Trap Card to your hand thanks to Yata and Kyubi, as well as a Set Majespecter Spell or Trap Card because of Ogama. All of a sudden, just two cards turn into six, and things begin to snowball out of control as you Pendulum Summon whatever gets sent to the Extra Deck the following turn.

 
While Majespecters have found the most success with Ties of the Brethren this weekend, any strategy that utilizes a lot of monsters with the same Type, Attribute, and Level can utilize it. Tellarknights, for example, can do a few cool things much like Majespecters can because they all have effects that will activate once they hit the field. Will the new Majespecter variant featuring Ties of the Brethren make it through to the Top Cut this weekend? Stay tuned to coverage to find out!