Over the last couple of sets we’ve seen iconic monsters from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! TV series get a ton of powerful new support cards, and the trend continues in Breakers of Shadow! Next in line for a great new set of cards is Buster Blader, Yugi’s go-to monster to dealing with dragons monsters, and a key component for Fusion Summoning the mighty Dark Paladin. Buster Blader’s new support cranks his anti-Dragon nature up to 11, while also giving him new ways to deal with some other more modern strategies in the game.

First up is Buster Blader himself, reimagined as Buster Blader, the Destruction Swordsman! Leader of the new “Destruction Sword” theme, this new Buster Blader trades in his dislike of Dragon-Type monsters for the ability wipe out hordes of any Type of monster! While he’s on the field, when an opponent’s monster is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Buster Blader the Destruction Swordsman can take it and equip to himself. If multiple are destroyed at once, you’ll only get to choose one of them, so choose wisely! His other effect allows him to send one of the equipped monsters to the Graveyard to destroy all monsters your opponent controls that have the same Type as the sent monster! This gives you an easy way to clear the field against any Deck that uses many monsters of the same type. It’s important to note that the monster you send doesn’t have to equipped by this effect; we’ll talk about how this is relevant very soon. Also, Buster Blader, the Destruction Swordsman’s name is treated as “Buster Blader” on the field and in the Graveyard, which is important for the 2 monsters you can Fusion Summon. We’ll talk about the awesome monsters you can use in your Extra Deck tomorrow.

While Buster Blader, the Destruction Swordsman is powerful, Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman wants you to play the original article too! When you Normal Summon the Whelp, you can add any “Destruction Sword” card from your Deck to your hand, except another Whelp. You can grab Buster Blader, the Destruction Swordsman, you can get one of the 3 Buster Destruction Swords, or you could get one of the 3 powerful “Destruction Sword” Spell or Trap Cards! On top of that, the Whelp’s got two more effects that help you set up all kinds of Summons in your Deck. You can only use one of them once each turn which limits your options, but with all these elements the Whelp is still a vital piece of the strategy.

-You can Tribute Buster Whelp to Special Summon a Buster Blader from your hand or Graveyard. Note that it’s not any “Buster Blader” monster, meaning that you can only Special Summon the original Buster Blader from your hand, or either it or Buster Blader, the Destruction Swordsman from your Graveyard. It’s the easiest way to get Buster Blader in play so you’ll definitely be using this option a lot.

-If the Whelp is in your Graveyard and you control Buster Blader, you can discard 1 “Destruction Sword” card and Special Summon it from the Graveyard. This gives you a monster and puts your Destruction Swords right where you want them. Since it’s a Level 1 Dragon-type Tuner, it’s got the right elements to make either of the 2 new Extra Deck monsters for the theme, but we’ll talk about them tomorrow!

Buster Blader also has 3 new monsters that power him up and stop key parts of your opponent’s strategy! You can equip these monsters to a “Buster Blader” you control, and each of these “Destruction Sword” monsters has a Continuous Effect while equipped and an extra ability to use by un-equipping them. Dragon Buster Destruction Sword is another Tuner, and its ability allows you to Special Summon it if it’s equipped. On top of that, it prevents your opponent from Special Summoning monsters from the Extra Deck, shutting off Synchro, Fusion, and Xyz Monsters, while also preventing Pendulum Monsters from making a second appearance!

Wizard Buster Destruction Sword prevents cards in your opponent’s Graveyard from activating their ability, and can send itself to the Graveyard to grab back another “Destruction Sword” card. Robot Buster Destruction Sword stops your opponent’s face-up Spells & Traps from activating their effects, and can send itself to the Graveyard for a 1000 ATK boost! Since there’s a Dragon-type, Spellcaster-type, and a Machine-type monster to equip, this gives Buster Blader, the Destruction Swordsman 3 Types of your opponent’s monsters that he can destroy instantly, and Wizard Buster Destruction Sword makes it easy to decide which one you want to use!

Buster Blader has a ton of new cards to use, making for an exciting strategy that can obliterate your opponent’s field easily! We’ve still got to talk about the Extra Deck monsters and the Spells & Traps, so come back tomorrow to be introduced to Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman and even more awesome cards!