Rank Ups for All!
There have been several iterations of Rank-Up-Magic, each allowing you to trade in an Xyz Monster for a powerful “Number C” or “CXyz” monster. But there’s never been a way to upgrade your Xyz Monster into something other than a “Number C” or “CXyz” monster – until now! With Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force, the impossible becomes quite possible. Check it out!
Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force is a big deal for 3 main reasons. The first is, or course, that you can Rank-Up into any Xyz Monster! Other forms of Rank-Up-Magic can only be played alongside “Number C” or “CXyz” Xyz Monsters, but anything is fair game with Astral Force. In fact, it can let you easily use Xyz Monsters you normally only find in heavily themed Decks – more on that in a bit.
Second, every Rank-Up-Magic so far only gives your new monster a one-Rank boost. With Astral Force, you jump two Ranks higher to a monster of the same Type and Attribute, allowing combinations never before possible! And third, there’s an extra effect on Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force that none of the other Rank-Up-Magics so far can match: The ability to return itself from your Graveyard to your hand!
If Astral Force is in your Graveyard, you can skip your normal draw for the turn and add Astral Force back to your hand instead! If you’ve used Rank-Up-Magic cards before, you’ve probably had a time where you drew your Rank-Up-Magic before you had the right monster to rank up. Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force helps to alleviate consistency issues by waiting in your Graveyard until right when you need it. If you draw it too early, just toss it in the Graveyard with a card like Divine Wrath or Raigeki Break until the time is right to bring it back and rank up!
So, let’s talk about all the Rank-Up combos you can do! Remember, your pair of Xyz Monsters have to share a Type and Attribute, but that still leaves a ton of great plays to go for. The bulk of your plays will be taking Rank 3 and 4 Xyz Monsters, and turning them into Rank 5 and 6 ones, so we’ll focus on those.
Rank 3’s into 5’s
You can easily make Rank 3 Xyz Monsters with cards like Tour Guide From the Underworld or Crane Crane. Those cards are now a gateway into Rank 5 monsters as well!
You can upgrade your Grenosaurus into Number 61: Volcasaurus, easily wiping out a card with its effect. Similarily, you can turn Mechquipped Angineer into Tiras, Keeper of Genesis, which will even have Angineer as an Xyz Material to keep its effect live longer! You can even get the 4000 ATK monstrosity that is Number C69: Heraldry Crest of Horror by Xyz Summoning the LIGHT-Psychic Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut and using Astral Force.
That’s all great, but one of the coolest things you can do with Astral Force is turn your usual Rank 3 play into a monster stealing, self-recurring nightmare! Start with your Tour Guide or Crane Crane or Tanngnjostr of the Nordic Beasts, and Xyz Summon Ghostrick Alucard. Use its effect to blow away a Set card, then play Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force to swap in Crimson Knight Vampire Bram! Now you can steal a card from your opponent’s Graveyard, and Bram will be nearly impossible for your opponent to get rid of!
Rank 4’s into 6’s (and 8’s?!)
Rank 4 monsters are commonplace, so there are many options for you to Rank-Up. Many of these are combos you can put into just about any Deck!
You could start off with Gagaga Cowboy, dealing 800 damage for free. Then, play Astral Force and bring down Gauntlet Launcher to blow away two monsters as well! If you’d rather have a constant stream of destruction, especially against a Deck that uses only one or two Types of monsters, you can bring out Sword Breaker instead. Its effect will continuously destroy cards, and it has 2700 ATK!
You’ve also got easy access to monster effect negation in the form of Photon Strike Bounzer. There area ton of gppd Rank 4’s to start off with, such as Photon Papilloperative or Heroic Champion – Excalibur. The easiest way, though, is to start off with Number 39: Utopia, then Xyz Summon Number C39: Utopia Ray. Now when you use your Rank-Up-Magic, you’ll give an extra Xyz Material to your new monster! That extra Material will come in handy, if not for Photon Strike Bounzer’s effect, then for the Rank 8 LIGHT Warrior monster you can Summon if you retrieve Astral Force next turn: Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand!
Just one turn of Felgrand can completely shut entire Decks down, but when you have up to 5 turns of Felgrand’s effect available (2 for Utopia’s Materials, 1 for Utopia himself, 1 for Utopia Ray, 1 for Photon Strike Bounzer) you can really put the pressure on your opponent!
Other Ranks work too!
While 3’s and 4’s are going to be your most common Rank-Ups, there are definitely some other cool plays to consider when building your Extra Deck. Beast Duelists can play Number 64: Ronin Raccoon Sandayu, make a Kagemusha Raccoon Token, then turn Sandayu into Diamond Dire Wolf. Diamond Dire Wolf can destroy the Token and another card, or you can simply attack with both monsters for heavy damage.
Many Decks can focus on Rank 5 monsters, and Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh is one of the best against Decks that Set lots of cards, like Geargia and Gravekeepers. It’s a Rank 5 WIND Machine, so have it destroy two Set cards, then swap it out with Astral Force for the mighty Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack! It’ll come in with two Xyz Materials, so you can make some free Tokens right away and even destroy another card.
In Hieratic Decks, Hieratic Dragon King of Atum is one of the most important pieces of the Deck. Since Atum can’t attack after using its effect, most Duelists end up using it for the Summons of Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger or Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. But you can also use Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force, vastly increasing your options! You can play your Hieratic counterpart, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis, which can continue your combos and destroy cards. Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon can erase all opposing Xyz Materials and gain extra ATK and attacks, while Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon negates monsters and can also gain extra attacks!
So there you have it! There are a ton of ways to utilize this awesome new form of Rank-Up-Magic, thanks to its increased Rank differential and openness to nearly any Xyz Monster. You can find Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force in Legacy of the Valiant now, so get ahold of it and upgrade your Xyz Monsters in awesome new ways!