VALIANT SMASHERS Suffers from Poor Timing
In November, Konami made a bold decision and released Valiant Smashers for the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game. The new deck building set introduces three new archetypes and a slew of reprints. Normally, a deck building set like Valiant Smashers can be an interesting and semi-exciting time. Two deck building sets ago, Amazing Defenders, gave us Rescue-ACE, Mikanko, and Purrely which are all meta-relevant in some way. Valiant Smashers brings us Centur-Ion, Memento, and Vaalmonica. From what I’ve seen and heard, none of these new archetypes really do anything yet, but I’m sure at least one of these will take off with help from a future set. Right!? I have some hope for at least Centur-Ion and maybe Memento.
Sadly, the reprints are not very exciting either. Many of them feel awkward like the inclusion of Meklord Emperor Wisel and Meklord Emperor Granel. Not to mention the fact that this is the 43rd printing of Call of the Haunted. Did we need that?
In my own opinion, the biggest problem is that this is the follow-up set to possibly the best Yu-Gi-Oh! set ever released, the Rarity Collection. The second biggest problem is how often Konami releases sets. It’s honestly feeling oversaturated.
Enough doom and gloom. Let’s talk a bit more about those new archetypes that have potential. Centur-Ion is all about Synchro plays and the monsters can take on the role of Continuous Traps. That last part is reminiscent of the Crystal Beasts. Maybe you could do a cool deck that utilizes Uria, Lord of Searing Flames? Many think Centur-Ion will be the top archetype when the dust settles.
Next we’ve got Memento. This archetype features new versions of old vanilla monsters. Mementotlan Goblin is Goblin Calligrapher, Mementotlan Mace is Key Mace, Mementotlan Angwitch is Fairywitch (an OCG exclusive), Mementotlan Dark Blade is Dark Blade, Mementotlan Tatsunootoshigo is Tatsunootoshigo, and Mementotlan-Horned Dragon is Tri-Horned Dragon. The boss monster is Mementoal Tecuhtlica - Combined Creation which is a beast with 5000 ATK and DEF but lacks built-in protection meaning it’s not going to see much play. As for playstyle, Mementos are trying to get a bunch of names into the graveyard. This can be facilitated by their effects that let them destroy each other to trigger secondary effects.
Finally, the Vaalmonica. This is a Pendulum- and Link-centered strategy. What I like about this archetype is the idea that Angello Vaalmonica and Dimonno Vaalmonica are the shoulder angel and shoulder devil. I think it’s a fun motif.
At the end of the day, I think Valiant Smashers mostly suffers from poor timing. The new archetypes could’ve used more help to stand out, so only time will tell. Konami was kind enough to send me a box of Valiant Smashers. Let me know in the comments which of the three new archetypes you are most excited about.