If you were competing around mid to late 2011 you may remember Reborn Tengu being one of the most popular and useful cards you could have in your Deck. The ability to replace itself for free while also helping out with all sorts of combos made it a force to be reckoned with. However, when it became Semi-Limited its popularity started to decline. In recent times though Tengu’s started to make a comeback, and here are just some of the reasons why!

First off, let’s look at what made Reborn Tengu so popular in the first place. Whenever Reborn Tengu is removed from the field, you immediately Summon another copy from your Deck. Tengu gets destroyed in battle? Summon another one. Tengu gets destroyed by Mirror Force or Torrential Tribute? Summon another one. Tengu is used for a Synchro Summon? You get the idea.

Reborn Tengu’s strength was in the fact that it could replace itself for free, and with 3 copies in your Deck your opponent would have to use a lot of cards to “get rid of it for good”. The downside of Tengu was that if you drew your second or third copy you couldn’t Special Summon it from your Deck, and its usefulness was diminished. This became more important when you could only run 2 copies and eventually the card fell out of favour with Duelists, until now.

In the past, Reborn Tengu was popular not only because of its effect, but also because it had decent ATK (1700) and was a Beast-Warrior. That meant it could hold its own in battle and was also compatible with cards like Horn of the Phantom Beast. Whenever a Deck that utilised Beast-Warrior monsters was doing well, Reborn Tengu was sure to follow.

SIDEBAR

Title: Beast-Warrior support cards are a Tengu’s best friend.

Card Image: Fire Formation – Tenki, Fire Formation – Tensen, Fire Formation – Tensu.

Fire Fists are the latest Deck that can fully utilise all that Reborn Tengu has to offer. Many of the “Fire Formation” Spell and Trap Cards are designed with Beast-Warriors in mind which allows the Deck to use Reborn Tengu in addition to the Fire Fist monsters.

Fire Formation – Tenki lets you add a Beast-Warrior from your Deck to your hand, and is one of the key cards in the Fire Fist Deck. With Reborn Tengu in your Deck Tenki can make for a solid Turn 1 play, where you search for and Summon Tengu, safe in the knowledge that you’ll have a Level 4 monster to Xyz Summon with by the time you start your next turn, whether Tengu is destroyed or not.

Fire Formation – Tensen boosts the ATK of a Beast-Warrior by 700, and then boosts all Beast-Warrios by an additional 300 while it’s on the field. That can make Reborn Tengu into a very threatening monster, as not only will it have 2700 ATK, but you get to Summon a 2000 ATK copy when it leaves the field.

Fire Formation – Tensu gives you the opportunity to Normal Summon an additional Beast-Warrior on the turn you activate it. Summoning Reborn Tengu alongside Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear for example can be a potent play, especially if your opponent can only destroy one of the 2 monsters you control. Do they destroy the Bear and stop you from getting more “Fire Formation” cards, or do they stop the Tengu only to see you Summon another one? Tensu’s also handy if you happen to draw into your second Tengu while your first one’s on the field, letting you Summon it and use both for an Xyz Summon. (They’re WIND, so you can even shock your opponent with Lightning Chidori!)

Fire Fists are the latest Deck to show the world how powerful Beast-Warrior monsters can be, and with Reborn Tengu on their side they can become even more powerful and versatile. If you haven’t used your copies of Tengu in a while now would be a great time to look into them again!