Forum:Return of the Duelist opinions

Another booster pack made its full appearance, another opportunity to begin a review about it. To sum it up in a few words, I think this is one of the best, if not THE best, booster that I've seen from the ZEXAL era. Xyz monsters get major support in this pack: from recharging Xyzs with extra material such as with Overlay Regenerate and Xyz Soul to gaining materials of higher Levels, such as with Galaxy Queen's Light and Illusion Snatch. The Xyz themselves are nothing to scoff at: And finally here's the latest Xyz that made the Cover Card:
 * Number 33: OOPArts Super Weapon Masshu Maq-IMO, the best Xyz of the lot, it inflicts damage and gains ATK equal to the difference between the current ATK and original ATK of an opponent's monster. A possible game-ender, especially when combined with cards that reduce the ATK of the opponent's monster to 0. Examples include Minimum Guts, Black Rose Dragon, among others.
 * OOPArts Crystal Alien-not sure about this one;it's easy enough to Summon, but I don't think it''ll get that many chances to use its effect
 * Magical Hierophant Hieron/Alchemic Magician-not exactly game-breaking, more of a personal preference, along with the other Spellcasters introduced in the set, which I will get to later.
 * Geargiganto X-very nice addition for Machines, but is it just me or do the Machines have more than their fair share of support already?
 * Giant God of the Silver Summit/Fairy King Alverd-it's been a while since I've seen so much support for an Attribute that's not DARK or LIGHT, so these are more than welcome, but personally I'd skip on Alverd.
 * Super Dimensional Robo Galaxy Destroyer-this guys Xyz requirements is the highest among Xyzs so far, but its got the ATK to back it up+a killer effect...that is if you're not Veiled or warned instead.
 * Sword Breaker-useful against a one-Type archetype, just needs protection against opposing card effects.
 * Heroic Champion Excalibur-this + Heroic Chance = that's a biiig sword. A nicely timed summon of this card when your opponent is vulnerable can easily snatch victory.

Now, onto the archetypes/series introduced/continued in the pack:
 * ZW - Phoenix Bow-another card for the upgrade of the main monster of the main character...Moving on...
 * OOPArts-a nice archetype, great for Summoning Xyzs of lower Ranks, up to 5. Strangely, I see no way that they can bring out their big guns without some outside help. Each OOPArt has its individual use, except for one black sheep. Honestly, why make a card that provides no support for its own kind? Maybe, they're planning to release a Level 7 or higher OOPArts monster in the future, who knows...
 * Madolce-a very unusual, yet interesting archetype that thrives on having 0 monsters in the Graveyard. Normally, it would raise my eyebrows in bewilderment, mainly because today's game focuses on dumping monsters in the Grave, but then again, we have an archetype that works when you have no cards in the hand, and look how they turned out. Most of them activate their effects when Normal Summoned, so Ultimate Offering is a must. The best card is obviously Madolce Puddingcess. Sure, its ATK and DEF do not compensate the need for a Tribute, even with the boost from its effect, but its other effect deserves at least a moment's thought. Its low ATK and DEF can actually prove beneficial since it can be Summoned/searched much easier, including Sangan or Limit Reverse.
 * Geargia-an archetype consisting of only 5 monsters (4 from this set and 1 from Generation Force), not counting its Xyz boss because the names aren't identical. It may be small in number, and with no Spell/Trap support, but these little guys can swarm the field like clockwork.
 * EARTH cards-as I mentioned earlier, it's nice for the game to branch out in other areas, so these are most definitely welcomed. Sandcloud Knight is not as flexible as its original counterpart, but it serves its purpose. Block Golem, rather restricting on its conditions, but it does give a +1, so no complaints.Earth Spirit God Grand Soil-great effect (minus the Battle Phase skip) and easy to Summon thanks to the latest support.
 * Lastly, the Magical series: Spellcasters are my personal fave, so I was quite joyous to see that they would get further support with the coming of this pack. While true that this series' reliability on the Book of Spells makes it really hard for them to be competitive, the fact that they can use their effects on other Spellcasters, not just the Magical ones, makes them pretty flexible.

Continuing the trend from last pack, we get a few more remakes of well-know cards:
 * Three Thousand Needles-now this is just getting ridiculous. At least raise its DEF a little so it can actually use its effect.
 * Goblin Marauding Force-not nearly the first remake of the original, rather ambivalent on this one. It doesn't have the worst effect among Goblins, and it has decent ATK, but still shares the same disadvantage.
 * Illusion Snatch-a much much MUCH needed improvement on an old favorite
 * Assault Troops of the Sea Emperor-yet another addition for the under-supported Types
 * Soul Drain-with the number of monster effects that activate outside the field ever-increasing, this was inevitable

Honorable mentions:
 * Re-Bound-the much needed counter to completely protect your Xyzs/Syncrhos
 * Silver Sniper-this was made to counter the recent expansion of Spell/Trap destruction cards available to players.
 * Attitude Reversal-not outstanding, but it made me LOL. Well, if he was going to act like a baby, he was bound to get a time-out.