Jaden fans rejoice, you can get your game on once again this Friday when the HERO Strike Structure Deck launches! HERO Strike focuses on the manga version of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX where Jaden Duels not just with Elemental HERO Fusion Monsters, but Masked HERO Fusion Monsters as well.

Masked HEROes were first introduced in Generation Force, and work much differently than regular Fusion Monsters. You don’t Fusion Summon them like you would a regular Fusion Monster, instead, you use the Spell Card Mask Change on a HERO you control and trade it for a Masked HERO of the same Attribute from your Extra Deck.

Target 1 “HERO” monster you control; send it to the Graveyard, also, after that, if it left the field by this effect, Special Summon 1 “Masked HERO” monster from your Extra Deck with the same Attribute that the sent monster had when it was on the field (its original Attribute, if face-down).

When Generation Force came out, there were only 2 Masked HERO monsters to use with it. Masked HERO Vapor was a WATER monster that couldn’t be destroyed by card effects. Masked HERO Goka was FIRE-Attribute and gained ATK for each HERO in the Graveyard. Those two were joined a few months later by Masked HERO Acid and Masked HERO Dian, and that’s when a Mask Change strategy started to become viable.

Masked HERO Acid was another WATER-Attribute Masked HERO. While Vapor had a passive, protective ability, Acid’s was far more dangerous: When Special Summoned, it would wipe out all of your opponent’s Spell and Trap Cards. This was analogous to Elemental HERO Absolute Zero, which wiped out your opponent’s monsters when it left the field. The combo is easy to see: Summon Absolute Zero, probably for free via Miracle Fusion, then use Mask Change on it. Absolute Zero would wipe out your opponent’s monsters, then Acid would wipe their Spell and Trap Cards leaving a blank field for you to attack into. You could even do this at the end of your opponent’s turn thanks to Mask Change’s status as a Quick-Play Spell!

That strategy never saw a huge amount of play, but now that there are 3 new Masked HEROes joining the fight, it’s time for a revival!

Masked HERO Koga is LIGHT Attribute, so it can work with the Elemental HERO Neos Alius that many HERO Decks already play. It starts at 2500 ATK and goes up by 500 ATK for each monster your opponent controls making it a real heavy hitter. And anything that it can’t beat on its own can be weakened during either player’s turn by banishing a HERO from the Graveyard.

Masked HERO Divine Wind is WIND Attribute, so you can use the classic Elemental HERO Avian to Summon it! Avian also has a couple of unique Spell and Trap Cards that only work when you control him, the standout of which is Feather Wind. You can use it to negate the activation of any Spell or Trap for free, but only if you control Avian! Divine Wind is no slouch, with 2700 ATK and the power to let you draw a card each time it destroys an opponent’s monster and sends it to the Graveyard. And anything it can’t beat, it’ll fight to a draw as Divine Wind cannot be destroyed by battle. It even restricts your opponent to attacking with only one monster per battle phase, so even if your opponent does destroy one of your monsters each turn you can bring it right back with Skyscraper 2 – Hero City.

Finally, there’s Masked HERO Dark Law, a 2400 ATK DARK-Attribute Masked HERO! Dark Law is easily the most devastating of the three, enforcing a one-sided Macro Cosmos effect that banishes any card that would go to your opponent’s Graveyard! But it doesn’t stop there, Dark Law also lays down the law on card drawing and searching effects. The first time your opponent tries it each turn, a random card will be banished from their hand!

Summoning Dark Law is pretty tough without using Destiny HEROes, as the only DARK Elemental HERO you can put in your Main Deck right now is Elemental HERO Necroshade, but all that will change on Friday as well when Elemental HERO Shadow Mist joins the battle! Shadow Mist has two effects to choose from each turn. If she’s Special Summoned, you can add a “Change” Quick-Play Spell from your Deck to your hand. So if you start off with A Hero Lives, you can Special Summon Shadow Mist, grab Mask Change, and immediately swap her out for Dark Law. But if you already have those cards in your hand, you can Summon Dark Law, and when Shadow Mist is sent to the Graveyard you’ll get to add any HERO from your Deck to your hand except for another Shadow Mist!

Masked HEROes are finally getting their due when the HERO Strike Structure Deck hits stores on Friday!