The brand new booster pack, Mystic Fighters, just dropped yesterday! We’ve already seen Duelists making use of the new cards in the Main Event here at YCS Pasadena. Here’s a rundown of what to watch for.

Dragonmaids

They start as unassuming housekeepers (with tails), then shapeshift into their true Dragon forms. Dragonmaids are split into the Level 2 and 3 maids, which have effects to establish your game plan, mostly by putting other Dragonmaid cards in the Graveyard, such as with Kitchen Dragonmaid or Parlor Dragonmaid. Then, at the start of the Battle Phase, the maids can return to the hand to Special Summon a Dragon monster from the hand or Graveyard. The Level 2 maids will Summon a Level 7 Dragon, and the Level 3 maids get a Level 8.

The higher Level Dragonmaids are the true forms of the maids, and all share a few abilities. They each cannot be destroyed by card effects while you control a Fusion Monster, and at the end of the Battle Phase you can return them to your hand to Special Summon one of the corresponding maids from your hand (Level 2 or 3). Finally, each of the bigger Dragons has an effect that can be used by discarding it, disrupting your opponent somehow. For example, Dragonmaid Nudyarl can shuffle any card from a Graveyard into the Deck.

Finally, House Dragonmaid is a Fusion Monster that will Special Summon more Dragonmaids on each player’s turns, and will destroy your opponent’s cards whenever a Dragonmaid returns to the hand.

The strategy utilizes a gameplay loop of discarding the bigger Dragons for their effects, then reviving them with the maids, only for the Dragons to return to the hand once again to bring back the maids. The maids are also able to Special Summon other Dragons, such as Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms. Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon also fits nicely here, offering more utility for the Dragonmaids once they’re discarded.

Generaider Bosses

The Generaiders are an interesting archetype, designed in a way that they can all be played together or individually in other strategies. They each have different Attributes and Types, and can Tribute a Generaider or a monster matching their Type to use their effect. Hela, Generaider Boss of Doom can Tribute a Generaider or a Zombie to Special Summon a Generaider or Zombie from the Graveyard in Defense Position.

If the strategy can Special Summon a Generaider Boss, it might be worth finding the space to play it. Zombies can easily play Hela thanks to Mezuki and Book of Life, for example. Mardel, Generaider Boss of Light is easy to play with Lonefire Blossom, and will likely be a powerful option in any Plant Deck.

Mathmechs

The Mathmech monsters aim to, you guessed it, do math. Lots of math. They have a ton of ways to bring monsters to the field, such as Mathmech Sigma, Mathmech Addition, and Mathmech Subtraction. They also have ways to manipulate their monsters like with Mathmech Multiplication. From there, you’re going to add, add, add, putting your Mathmechs together for a Synchro or Xyz Summon. The more you add, the better your result. You could combine two monsters for the Level 8 Geomathmech Magma, or three monsters for the Level 12 Geomathmech Final Sigma. Their Xyz Monsters get better with more Xyz Materials too. Primathmech Laplacian and Primathmech Alembertian each gain significantly more powerful effects by detaching more Xyz Materials.