We’ve spent the last year following Dante’s adventures through the Burning Abyss. Ever since the first Burning Abyss cards were released back in Duelist Alliance, they’ve been a mainstay of the competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME scene. Now, Dante has reached the end of the Abyss. In Crossed Souls, we will meet the final Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and our hero will reflect upon his journey…

Both of the new “Malebranche” monsters share the same basic effects as their contemporaries: they’re Level 3 DARK Fiends, you can Special Summon from your hand if you control no Spell/Trap Cards, and they’re destroyed if you control a monster that isn’t a “Burning Abyss” monster on the field (a reminder: face-down monsters are NOT “Burning Abyss” monsters , they’re face-down monsters).

Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss has 1700 ATK and 1000 DEF, making it the highest-ATK Malebranche out there. Its effect when sent to the Graveyard further exemplifies its vicious nature, letting you banish up to 3 “Burning Abyss” cards in your Graveyard (except copies of Barbar), and deal 300 damage to your opponent for each of them. As you’ll be sending tons of cards to the Graveyard thanks to Dante, Traveller of the Burning Abyss, Barbar gives you an additional way to finish off your opponent in the late game, as well as some raw power for your Main Deck. With Barbar, the danger zone for your opponent raises from 2000 or fewer LP to 2900 or fewer.

Our final Malebranhce is the draconic Draghig, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. Draghig has 1100 ATK and 900 DEF, and when sent to the Graveyard will allow you to place a “Burning Abyss” card from your Deck on top of your Deck. This gives you easy access to all of the Burning Abyss cards that were difficult to search for in the past or that you only play one of, like Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss, Malacoda of the Burning Abyss and Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss! Draghig is a great discard for Traps like Karma Cut or Phoenix Wing Wind Blast on your opponent’s turn because it allows you to choose your next draw based on the current situation. One new card that you may find yourself fishing out with Draghig’s effect is The Terminus of the Burning Abyss!

The Terminus of the Burning Abyss is a Normal Spell Card, which you can use to Fusion Summon a “Burning Abyss” Fusion Monster using monsters from your hand and field. While it functions just like Polymerization in this sense, it has the benefit of being a “Burning Abyss” card, which can be put on top of your Deck thanks to Draghig, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss or fetched out by Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss. It also has an additional effect while in your Graveyard, which you can use as long as it wasn’t sent there on the same turn: you can banish it and give one “Burning Abyss” monster 800 ATK and DEF until the end of your opponent’s next turn! This can boost Dante, Traveller of the Burning Abyss to 3300 ATK on your own turn and 3300 DEF for your opponent’s turn. But you can make it all the way to 3600 ATK if you use it on the monster that you Summoned with Terminus!

Having braved the dangers of the Burning Abyss and reflected upon the journey, the traveler becomes Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss, a being so powerful that you’ll need 3 different “Burning Abyss” monsters to Fusion Summon him. 3 monsters isn’t such a big deal, when you can be refunded immediately thanks to your Malebranches’ Graveyard effects or even The Traveler and the Burning Abyss! In addition to being the strongest Burning Abyss monster with a massive 2800 ATK, this Dante also has a great effect you can use during either player’s turn. Once per turn, as a Quick Effect on either player’s turn, you can send a Burning Abyss card from your hand to the Graveyard and draw a new card! This not only gives you a way to trigger your Burning Abyss monster’s effects, it can sculpt your hand and dig you deeper and deeper into your Deck for the Trap Cards you’re using to ward off your opponent. Since you can do it during either player’s turn, you can use it to send Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard to disrupt your opponent’s turn, or even Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to return a newly Set Spell/Trap Card to their hand in their End Phase.

Of course, of all the various Burning Abyss monsters, this Dante is the least likely to need protection from Trap Cards because he can’t be targeted by your opponent’s card effects. Finally, the ability that has long plagued Burning Abyss players in the form of Leo, Keeper of the Sacred Tree and Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing has been added to the Burning Arsenal! Dante sure did learn a lot in this past year.

You also get an effect when Dante is destroyed by battle or sent to the Graveyard by your opponent’s card effect. If Dante does fall, you’ll be able to send a random card from your opponent’s hand to the Graveyard! While this doesn’t affect the field very much, you could get lucky and take a key card out of the opponent’s hand, like Nekroz of Trishula or Raigeki, which can turn the Duel on its head. More than anything though, this effect just covers the loss of your Dante, giving you a little something extra for consolidating 3 monsters into Summoning him.

And with that, we have reached the end of the Burning Abyss! With access to Xyz, Synchro, Ritual and Fusion Summoning, some amazing Spell and Trap Cards, and an affinity with the number 3, Burning Abyss have shaped up to be one of the greatest Decks of the last 12 months. What’s next for Dante? No one who knows is telling. Once Crossed Souls is released on May 15th, you‘ll be able to add these Burning Abyss cards to your Deck, or, you might get lucky enough to find them at a Sneak Peek on May 9^th and/or 10^th!