The Noble Knights wield the legendary Noble Arms to become strong enough to vanquish any enemy. The Noble Armory consists of 4 weapons: Gallatin, a sword that grants the wielder immense power; Arfeudutyr, a cursed weapon that trades the wielder’s life force for destruction; Caliburn, a blade that grants power and life to its wielder; and the sword and shield of Destiny, which grant their wielder protection from destruction. Yesterday, a fifth “Noble Arms” card was revealed, and it might be the most powerful of them all! This weapon both protects your Noble Knights, and allows Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights to ascend into an even greater form! Get ready to face the ultimate weapon – Noble Arms – Excaliburn!

Noble Arms – Excaliburn is a little different than the other “Noble Arms”, in that you can only equip it to a “Noble Knight”. In addition, it won’t automatically return to the field if it’s destroyed, it waits in the Graveyard for someone else to claim it. While it’s equipped to your Knight, your opponent can’t target that monster with card effects. Excaliburn will protect your Knight from being swayed by powers that Noble Arms of Destiny cannot prevent, such as Dimensional Prison, Effect Veiler, and Number 11: Big Eye. Speaking from experience, having your Artorigus stolen from you with Number 11’s effect is no fun at all. Excaliburn makes sure that that never happens, and that no other pesky effects can get near your Knight.

Noble Arms – Excaliburn will work with all of your Noble Knights, although you’ll have to be careful when using it with Noble Knight Medraut and Noble Knight Gwalchavad. Medraut can Summon any “Noble Knight” from your Deck, at the cost of destroying one of your Equip Spells. This normally isn’t a problem, but Excaliburn won’t come back if it’s destroyed, so you won’t be able to pull off all of the combos that Medraut can perform with other Noble Arms. You’ll usually have to Xyz Summon a Rank 4 monster when using Excaliburn with Medraut, which isn’t a big problem because Excaliburn will be in the Graveyard, ready for Artorigus to reequip later! Gwalchavad is similar, trading Excaliburn for a “Noble Knight” in your Graveyard instead of getting you a monster for free. It does work effectively with Noble Knight Borz however, as Borz doesn’t destroy the equipped “Noble Arms” after using his effect. Borz even fills up your Graveyard with even more “Noble Arms”, which can instantly set you up for when you Xyz Summon Artorigus.

Right now, Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights is the only monster that can return Excaliburn to the field, and you’ll often want to do so when you Xyz Summon him. With Gallatin, Destiny and Excaliburn equipped, he becomes a 3000 ATK legend that can’t be targeted or destroyed! But Excaliburn has another effect as well, and this one activates while it’s in your Graveyard and you have a “Noble Knight” Xyz Monster in play. You can banish Excaliburn from your Graveyard to target your Xyz Monster, then Xyz Summon a different “Noble Knight” Xyz Monster from your Extra Deck, using the target as Xyz Material! And the significance of that effect is… something we’ll talk about next week!

Noble Arms – Excaliburn gives your Noble Knight Deck even more cards to Equip to Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights, more ways to protect your Warriors, and more ways to set up awesome combos involving your “Noble Knight” Xyz Monsters! I hope you’re as excited for the new Noble Knight cards coming in Shadow Specters as I am!