The Secret Forces are still a week away, but the Nekroz are already here! Secrets of Eternity introduces Nekroz of Gungnir, a new, Ritual-tastic spin on Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, and one of the most powerful Ritual Spells to date!

Nekroz of Gungnir is a Level 7 Spellcaster-type Ritual Monster with the same stats as its Synchro counterpart, Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. To Summon it, you’ll need a Ritual Spell card that can Summon “Nekroz” monsters, and you can’t Tribute any Level 7 monsters for its Summon. Unlike most Ritual Monsters that can only help you while they’re on the field, Nekroz of Gungnir and the rest of the Nekroz Ritual Monsters have two effects: one you activate while the monster is on the field, and another you can activate while the monster is in your hand.

While Nekroz of Gungnir is on the field, you can discard a “Nekroz” card during either player’s turn to destroy 1 card on the field. This gives you an easy way to control how your opponent plays, as you can stop a Synchro or Xyz Summon before it happens, or just destroy a powerful Spell Card or Pendulum Card as soon as it’s played! You can discard Gungnir from your hand to make your “Nekroz” monster indestructable for the turn, which can be used to save your monster from anything like Raigeki or Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss. There aren’t a whole lot of cards to use these effects with now, but in a week or so that’s all going to change!

The Nekroz are powerful since you can Summon them or use their discard effects, giving you a lot of options at any one time. Another card that gives them even more options is Nekroz Cycle, the first Nekroz Ritual Spell Card!

This card can be used to Ritual Summon any “Nekroz” Ritual Monster. Tribute monsters from your hand or field, then Ritual Summon 1 “Nekroz” Ritual Monster from your hand or Graveyard whose Level exactly equals the total Levels of those monsters. You can only use this effect of “Nekroz Cycle” once per turn. If you control no monsters: You can banish this card and 1 “Nekroz” monster from your Graveyard; add 1 “Nekroz” Spell Card from your Deck to your hand.

Nekroz Cycle is the first of 3 Ritual Spells for “Nekroz” monsters. It works just a regular Ritual Spell, allowing you to Tribute monsters from your hand or field to Ritual Summon a monster. However, the Ritual Monster doesn’t have to be in your hand – the monster you Ritual Summon can even be in your Graveyard! This is great, since you can use the discard effects of your Ritual Monsters and then Ritual Summon them from the Graveyard with Nekroz Cycle!

This gives you a ton of versatility and power, since you can gain value from your Ritual Monsters’ effects while also avoiding the major pitfall of Ritual Summoning. Nekroz Cycle even has an ability while it’s in your Graveyard, allowing you to banish it and a “Nekroz” monster from your Graveyard to get a free “Nekroz” Spell Card from your Deck to your hand. You can only do this while you control no monsters, but it’s a great way for you to regain resources for multiple Ritual Summons.

There may only be a handful of cards for the Nekroz theme available right now, but more are coming very, very soon, and their powers are truly terrifying!