It’s one thing to be able to see the future. It’s another entirely to be able to see an unfavorable future, then smash it to bits and replace it with a new one where you reign victorious. The Prophecy Spellcasters that headline Return of the Duelist have the first one down pat, but they’ll also need the power of the Spellbooks and your own Dueling expertise to ensure that your Dueling future becomes a winning future!

“I do like winning. Tell me more.”

Every Prophecy monster has its own method of divination and its own Spellbook-based method for either altering that future or ensuring their predictions ring true. Some are more… hands off… than others. Take Spellbook Magician of Prophecy for an example.

When he’s Normal Summoned or flips face-up, he pulls a “Spellbook” Spell out of your Deck… and then immediately passes the buck back to you to figure out what to do with it. Which is to your benefit, because a prediction of the final result doesn’t get you anywhere. You still have to play out the Duel and make it come true, and that’s much easier when you have a Spellcaster with the power, wisdom, and courage of the greatest Dueling magicians of all time locked inside her head, waiting to break loose and smash some enemy monsters. And she needs that Spellbook you just got in order to do it.

Who is the coolest ‘caster in all of Dueling? The debate will rage on endlessly, but regardless of which monster you like best, Temperance of Prophecy knows all about it and can become the ‘caster of your choosing! All you have to do is play a Spellbook at some point during your turn, and you can Tribute Temperance to Summon the Level 5 or higher DARK or LIGHT Spellcaster of your dreams… from your Deck!

“Wait, What?!”

It has never been easier to Summon the coolest Spellcasters of all time. Dedicate your Deck to the study of Spellbooks, and you can Summon the Dark Magician on your very first turn with ease. But in addition to the 10 years of awesome Spellcasters to choose from, there are also two new ones to Summon with Temperance’s transfiguration trick, starting with…

Don’t let the High Priestess of Prophecy’s shocking pink hair fool you, she’s an adept seer and a certified genius. She can see through your eyes to determine the greatest threat to your victory and eliminate it with a glance… and a Spellbook from your hand or Graveyard. Spellbook of Secrets is perfect for the job because it can fetch you a replacement Spellbook from your Deck before High Priestess of Prophecy uses it to zap your foes. Of course, she’s only willing to offer her services to those who possess many Spellbooks, so show that you have 3 Spellbooks in your hand and you can Special Summon her from your hand right away.

Unlike most monsters that are Special Summoned from your hand, High Priestess of Prophecy’s Summon is an Ignition Effect. Clearly, she foresaw the threat of monsters like Evolzar Laggia and Thunder King Rai-Oh and had a plan ready to counteract them. But what of the many Traps that might await her? The Spellbook of Wisdom can protect her or any other Spellcaster from them for a turn, long enough for you to enchant another Spellcaster, changing it to Level 7 so you can Xyz Summon Heirophant of Prophecy!

Normally, the High Priestess will pick off your opponent’s lone Set card and then attack and destroy their monster. The classic response is to this is for your opponent to Set more than one attack-response Trap next turn so that she can’t destroy both. Unfortunately for them, the Heirophant of Prophecy saw that coming from miles away and can wipe out 1 enemy Spell or Trap for every Spellbook in your Graveyard! It’s good to use Heirophant’s power sooner rather than later, because eventually you’re going to need those Spellbooks that are piling up in the Graveyard for something else. Something more… sinister. Something like…

“Uh oh.”

Yeah. Looks pretty mean, right?

The Prophecy Destroyer has seen a much different future than the rest of the Prophecy monsters. In the eyes of the Destroyer, the only true victory is one where the only man or beast left standing is itself. The Destroyer itself is neither man nor beast, warped beyond recognition by the immortality granted to it by the Spellbooks. If Prophecy Destroyer is in your Graveyard, you can banish 3 Spellbooks from your Graveyard to Special Summon it back to the field. Like the High Priestess, this too is an Ignition Effect, allowing Prophecy Destroyer to creep up on certain unsuspecting Dragons and slay them. And those are just some of the tricks you can do with the Prophecy monsters and Spellbook cards.

The best part about the Spellbooks is that they work with all Spellcasters. Whether you like Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, the Gravekeeper’s, Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl, classics like Chaos Command Magician or Cybernetic Magician, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Exodia, all of the above or even none of the above, there’s at least one Spellbook that’s right for you and probably a Prophecy monster or two to go along with it!

You can catch your first glimpse of the future at the Return of the Duelist Sneak Peeks, to be held August 18^th and 19^th.