Fans of the original animated Yu-Gi-Oh! series remember Yugi’s Black Luster Soldier and accompanying Black Luster Ritual. They are iconic cards from the earliest days of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME. Nearly all veteran Duelists are familiar with these cards, but few have ever actually used them in a Duel, since they were usually outclassed by other popular cards. Now, the latest incarnation of Black Luster Soldier has arrived, and it will breathe brand new life into “Black Luster Soldier” Ritual Decks!

Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier is a Level 8 Ritual Monster that has the same stats as the original Black Luster Soldier (3000 ATK and 2500 DEF), but it’s also complemented by some awesome effects.

First, if your Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier destroys an opponent’s monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, your Super Soldier will inflict damage to your opponent equal to the original ATK of that destroyed monster.

Second, if your Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier is destroyed by battle or by your opponent’s card effect and sent to the Graveyard, your Super Soldier leaves behind a parting gift. It lets you Special Summon a “Gaia the Fierce Knight” monster from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard.

Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier is powerful and easy to Summon. You can activate the new Super Soldier Ritual to Summon any “Black Luster Soldier” Ritual Monster, including your Super Soldier, by Tributing monsters from your hand and field whose total Levels are equal to 8.

If you want to forgo the Tribute requirement for Summoning your Super Soldier, you can use your Super Soldier Ritual’s second effect. While it’s in your Graveyard, you can banish it along with 1 DARK and 1 LIGHT monster in your Graveyard, to Special Summon a “Black Luster Soldier” Ritual Monster from your hand, ignoring all Summoning conditions.

Beginning Knight (a Level 4 LIGHT Warrior) and Evening Twilight Knight (a Level 4 DARK Warrior) are the perfect 2 monsters to use alongside your Super Soldier Ritual.

When you use your Beginning Knight and Evening Twilight Knight as Tributes to Summon a “Black Luster Soldier” monster, your Soldier will gain a variety of strengthening effects, including the power to banish an opponent’s monster once per turn; the power to attack a second time after destroying an opponent’s monster in battle; and the power to banish a random card from your opponent’s hand once per turn, until your opponent’s next End Phase. While you can’t double up on the same Knight and two copies of each effect, using both Knights does give you two monster banishing effects in addition to the unique effect of each Knight!

As an added bonus, if Beginning Knight is banished from your Graveyard, you can add any Ritual Spell Card from your Deck to your hand. If Evening Twilight Knight is banished from your Graveyard, you can add any Ritual Monster from your Deck to your hand. Banish both of them with Super Soldier Ritual while your Ritual Spell is in your Graveyard, and you’ll be able to add a new Super Soldier Ritual and Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier to your hand after Special Summoning one.

While these aforementioned cards are at the core of any “Black Luster Soldier” Ritual strategy, Dimension of Chaos also includes tons of additional useful cards to bolster this strategy.

Super Soldier Soul for example, has 0 ATK and 0 DEF, but its ATK becomes 3000 when you send a “Black Luster Soldier” from your hand to your Graveyard. But more importantly, you can banish your Super Soldier Soul from your Graveyard to add a Beginning Knight or Evening Twilight Knight from your Deck to your hand.

Gateway to Chaos is a Field Spell Card that lets you add a “Black Luster Soldier” Ritual Monster or “Gaia the Fierce Knight” monster to your hand when you activate it, and amasses Spell Counters whenever a monster is sent from the hand or field to the Graveyard. By giving up 3 Spell Counters, Gateway to Chaos lets you search your Deck for a Ritual Spell Card to add to your hand. Gateway to Chaos is a worthy addition to any “Black Luster Soldier” Ritual Deck.

There are also two “Super Soldier” Trap Cards in Dimension of Chaos.

Super Soldier Shield is a Counter Trap Card that negates the activation of a Spell, Trap, or Monster Effect that targets a monster on the field while you control a “Black Luster Soldier” monster. While Super Soldier Shield is in your Graveyard, you can also Set it back to the field by removing a Spell Counter from your side of the field. Use it to protect your Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier, or even Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning!

Super Soldier Rebirth is a Trap Card that lets you send one of your “Black Luster Soldier” monsters to the Graveyard to Special Summon one with a different name from your hand, ignoring its Summoning conditions. You can also banish it from your Graveyard to add a “Black Luster Soldier” monster from your Graveyard to your hand. Super Soldier Rebirth creates some especially cool interactions with Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning and Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Evening Twilight, since it can bring back and Special Summon “Black Luster Soldier” Effect Monsters and Ritual Monsters alike.

There are lots of awesome Black Luster Soldier cards in Dimension of Chaos. You can try them out when Dimension of Chaos is released on November 6^th!