You already got a taste of what Shadow Specters has in store for fans of the undead on Monday, but we know you’re still thirsty for more! There’s a lot more to the empire of Vampires than meets the eye – behind every Duke, Lord, and Lady, there’s a little magic to be found.

While the Vampire nobility concern themselves with nefarious plots to send your opponent’s best cards to the Graveyard and/or resuscitate them as vampires, they are helped from the shadows by the power of the Vampire Sorcerer! Vampire Sorcerer has two great abilities, each prepared to make sure Vampires stay… on top of the food chain, so to speak.

If Vampire Sorcerer is sent to your Graveyard by your opponent’s card in any way while in your possession, be it through battle, discard, having his Summon negated, etc., he allows you to add a card from your Deck to your hand. The card you get can be a DARK “Vampire” monster of any Level or a “Vampire” Spell or Trap Card! We’ll get to those Spells and Traps in a moment, but let’s talk about monsters.

In general, you’ll want access to Vampire Shadow or Vampire Duke so you can build an army and/or Xyz Summon. Not only will Vampire Sorcerer give you Vampire Shadow, it’ll also help you to get him into play thanks to Sorcerer’s second special ability! Even from the Graveyard, Vampire Sorcerer continues to work his magic, banishing himself and trading his very existence to let you Normal Summon a DARK Vampire without Tributing! It’s really that simple: Let Sorcerer be destroyed, get your best Vampire for the job, banish Sorcerer to play it. Remember, Vampire Shadow doesn’t have to be Tribute Summoned to use its effect – only Normal Summoned. Vampire Duke also has an ability that works when Normal Summoned, in addition to his ability that works when he’s Special Summoned. In essence, the end of Vampire Sorcerer’s time in the Duel is just a new beginning for your Vampire assault!

But that’s not all! Vampire Sorcerer’s magic doesn’t only work on his Vampire brethren, remember. He’s also able to give you “Vampire” Spell and Trap Cards, directly from your Deck. Check out the Vampires’ greatest achievement, their Vampire Kingdom!

You might already be familiar with Vampire Kingdom. After all, it was one of the special Shadow Specters preview cards in Judgment of the Light: Deluxe Edition! While fighting in their own Kingdom, your Vampires (and all Zombies, in fact) will gain 500 ATK while they’re battling. That puts Vampire Sorcerer and Vampire Lady at 2000 and 2050, while your Level 5 and 6 Vampires each hit 2500. Crimson Knight Vampire Bram, the expert that he is, reaches an astonishing 3000 ATK!

In addition, when a card is sent directly from your opponent’s Deck to the Graveyard, your Vampire Kingdom will target 1 card on the field. If you’re able to send a DARK Vampire from your hand or Deck to the Graveyard, you’ll destroy your target! You can easily trigger your Kingdom’s power with effects like Vampire Lord or Vampire Duke, but it can also activate if your opponent uses Lightsworn monsters, Card Trooper, or Sixth Sense!

Any undead family of high nobility will tell you that establishing an evil empire doesn’t happen overnight. It takes generations of planning and scheming, until you’re finally ready to unveil your dark designs. We know you don’t have enough time in the night for that many schemes, so we’ve packed everything into one card so you can stage your own Vampire Takeover!

Thanks to Vampire Takeover, you can throw a surprise revolution at a moment’s notice! All you need is a field of only Zombie-type monsters (at least one monster), and an empty Field Card Zone. You’ll get to activate Vampire Kingdom directly from your Deck, AND Special Summon any DARK Vampire from your Graveyard in defense position! You can use Vampire Sorcerer to get Takeover, then have Takeover bring back the same Sorcerer for even more cards. Or, you can revive Vampire Duke, and when his effect resolves, your new Vampire Kingdom will destroy a card! Vampire Takeover is especially nasty when you use it to replace your opponent’s Field Spell with your own, especially against cards like Dragon Ravine and The Grand Spellbook Tower whose effects can be lost if you time your Takeover correctly!

Shadow Specters is less than a month away! You’ve only got a few weeks left before Vampires take over Dueling as we know it. I, for one, welcome our new Vampire overlords.