Reviewing Every Yu-Gi-Oh Hidden Arsenal Set

Who is ready to get into some of the Duel Terminal lore? Hello Pojo Readers, Crunch$G back here in the series where I try to review every set in this game’s history. With the recent poll over in the OCG where Ice Barriers won the opportunity to get support in a Structure Deck, I thought now would be a good time to go over the Hidden Arsenal series. The Hidden Arsenal packs are full of cards from the Duel Terminal lore and gave us every new card that came in the Duel Terminal machines you found at certain stores, though we did lack half of the new cards from Duel Terminal 1 in these Hidden Arsenal sets. Instead of going through Duel Terminal since it’s full of reprints or cards that are in here or other main sets in the case of the second half of Duel Terminal 1, I’ll look at the Hidden Arsenal sets directly and see the archetypes they gave us. These set reviews will be done by archetypes in the pack since every card in these sets are archetype support.

Hidden Arsenal

Release Date: November 10th, 2009

Cover Card: Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

The first Hidden Arsenal came just a little over a year after we entered the Synchro era and had the debut of the Ice Barrier, Mist Valley, Worm, Ally of Justice, Flamvell, and X-Saber archetypes while also giving us a few cards for Neos, Kuriboh, and Cyber Dragon. I’ll get through the Neos, Kuriboh, and Cyber Dragon support first as we got Wrath of Neos to return your Elemental HERO Neos to Deck for a field nuke, Detonate to destroy your Kuriboh and Kuriboh Tokens to then pop an equal number of the opponent’s cards, Berserker Crush to buff the ATK and DEF of a Winged Kuriboh by the stats of a monster you banish in grave, and Evolution Burst to pop an opponent’s card if you control Cyber Dragon by giving up the ability of your Cyber Dragon to attack that turn. Now we have the Ice Barrier support, which early on we can kinda see the archetype has an identity crisis. Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier just lets you draw a card when it’s destroyed in battle. Blizzard Warrior lets you look at the top card of the opponent’s Deck, but only after it destroys a monster in battle, and then lets you return it to the top or bottom. Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier is the first Tuner of the archetype being Level 2 and preventing Level 4 or higher monsters from attacking while you have another Ice Barrier. The best card in the archetype in this first wave of support was Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, and only because it was a generic Level 6 Synchro that sent cards from hand to grave to bounce any card on field, and this was not a once per turn until it got its errata years later alongside only letting it target the opponent’s cards to bounce. The next archetype is Mist Valley, which is focused on self bouncing for effects. Mist Valley Thunderbird always Special Summoned itself from hand when it was returned to the hand. Mist Valley Shaman bounced another monster to gain 500 ATK. Mist Valley Solider was one of few Level 4 Tuners at that time, and it bounced any opponent’s monster it battled but didn’t destroy. Mist Wurm is a Synchro not technically part of the archetype, but was meant for it, and it’s a generic Level 9 that does need 2 non-Tuners at least, and upon Synchro Summon bounced up to 3 cards from the opponent. Flamvells are next and focused on FIRE monsters having 200 DEF (I’ll mention the Flamvells that don’t have 200 DEF), but had many various effects in the archetype. Flamvell Dragnov burned the opponent for 500 upon destruction in battle and could banish itself in grave alongside a FIRE you control to search another Flamvell Dragnov. Flamvell Magician was a Level 4 Tuner that gained 400 ATK if you controlled an Ally of Justice monster because lore. Flamvell Guard was just a Level 1 Dragon Tuner with 2000 DEF and no effect. Flamvell Uruquizas was the last part of the first support, and was a generic Level 6 Synchro with 400 DEF instead of 200, but it dealt piercing and gained 300 ATK each time it dealt battle damage, making it an okay early generic Synchro. X-Sabers are next and gave focus on interrupting the opponent’s hand while also swarming the field later on with more support. X-Saber Axel let you draw each time another Saber monster you controlled was destroyed in battle. X-Saber Airbellum was a Level 3 Beast Tuner for Rescue Cat and it doing battle damage let you discard a random card in the opponent’s hand. X-Saber Uruz tributed itself after it destroyed a monster in battle to return the destroyed monster to the top of the opponent’s Deck. Commander Gottoms, Swordmaster was a Tribute Monster that boosted all face-up Saber monsters by 400 ATK. X-Saber Urbellum was a generic Level 7 Synchro part of the archetype and after dealing damage while the opponent has at least 4 cards in hand, it could randomly put an opponent’s card in hand back on top of their Deck. Ally of Justice are next and basically countered everything about the Worm archetype. Ally of Justice Clausolas was just a Level 6 vanilla with 2300 ATK. Ally of Justice Garadholg gained 200 ATK while battling a LIGHT monster. Ally of Justice Rudra gained 700 ATK while battling a LIGHT monster, but was a Tribute Summon. Ally of Justice Catastor was a generic Level 5 Synchro that destroyed any non-DARK monster it battled. The final archetype is Worms, and they had a focus mostly on their monsters being in face-down Defense Position. Worm Apocalypse was a FLIP effect for Spell and Trap removal. Worm Barses on Normal Summon changed a Defense Position monster to Attack Position. Worm Cartaros was a FLIP effect to search for a Level 4 or lower Reptile-type Worm. Worm Dimikles was a FLIP effect to just gain 300 ATK and DEF. Worm Erokin was a Tribute Monster that couldn’t be Special Summoned and could change a Worm to face-down Defense Position. It is clear where every new archetype really wants to go in this set, excluding Ice Barriers of course, but the support is weak and shows us some of the worst archetypes to be printed. We would get better cards for archetypes like Worms and X-Sabers, but Flamvells won’t really go anywhere in terms of decent support in the Hidden Arsenal/Duel Terminal sets, Mist Valley are playable yet lackluster, and Ally of Justice are too niche to ever be useful as a full archetype. Ice Barriers can at least do stuff with later support, but they don’t have a clear direction. The support for the anime archetypes are cool, even if none of the cards are really playable. The best part of this first set is X-Saber Airbellum for being a Level 3 Beast Tuner, and the Synchros for all being generic and offering some utility at the time when the pool of Synchros was still small. They make this set decent when the archetypes are still too weak to be playable, and some will never get better.

Set Rating: 7/10

Hidden Arsenal 2

Release Date: July 20th, 2010

Cover Card: Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier

Another Hidden Arsenal, another cover card being a broken Ice Barrier Synchro. Hidden Arsenal 2 is the introduction of the Naturia, Fabled, Jurrac, and Genex archetypes while also supporting Ice Barrier, Mist Valley, Flamvell, Ally of Justice, and Worms. The first archetype is Naturia, which had a bunch of stun effects in the archetype amongst a few other effects. Naturia Beetle just swapped its ATK and DEF each time a Spell was activated. Naturia Rock could send the top card of your Deck to the grave when a Trap was activated to Special Summon itself from hand. Naturia Guardian gained 300 ATK for the turn after the opponent performed a Normal Summon. Naturia Vein was a Level 1 Tuner who could tribute itself and another Naturia to negate the activation of an opponent’s Spell/Trap and destroy it. Naturia Beast was a Level 5 Synchro that needed EARTH monsters as materials and could mill 2 cards to negate the activation of a Spell and destroy it. Naturia Antjaw let you Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Naturia from Deck if the opponent Special Summons a monster. Naturia Spiderfang couldn’t attack unless the opponent activated a Spell, Trap, or Monster effect that turn since Spiderfang was a Level 4 with 2100 ATK. Naturia Rosewhip was a Level 3 Tuner who only let the opponent activate 1 Spell/Trap per turn. Naturia Cosmobeet could be Special Summoned from hand when the opponent Normal Summoned or Set a monster. Finally for Naturia, Naturia Leodrake was a Level 9 Synchro who needed all EARTH Monsters as materials and was just a big 3000 ATK body. Genex is the second archetype in here and the first iteration of Genex was circled around Genex Controller, which was previously in Duel Terminal 1 and The Shining Darkness. Genex Furnace could be Normal Summoned without tribute if you controlled Genex Controller. Genex Gaia could destroy a Genex Controller instead if it would be destroyed. Genex Spare was a Tuner who could become Genex Controller if you controlled another Genex monster. Genex Turbine boosted all your Genex monsters by 400 ATK. Genex Doctor could tribute Genex Controller to target and destroy a card on field. Genex Solar could be Tribute Summoned by tributing a single Genex monster and burned the opponent for 500 each time a face-up Genex is sent to your graveyard. Thermal Genex is a Level 8 Synchro that needs Genex Controller for the Tuner and FIRE Monsters for non-Tuners, gained 200 ATK for each FIRE in your grave, and burns the opponent for 200 for each Genex in your grave after it destroys a monster in battle. Geo Genex is a Level 6 Synchro of Genex Controller and EARTH non-Tuners and could swap its ATK and DEF if and while you control a Level 4 or lower Genex monster. Genex Blastfan searched a DARK Genex from your Deck upon Special Summon. Genex Recycled is a Level 1 Tuner who could target a Genex in grave to copy its name. Genex Army is a Tribute Summon who pops a card if Tribute Summoned using a Genex. Finally for Genex, you have Windmill Genex as a Level 7 Synchro of Genex Controller and WIND non-Tuners, gains 300 ATK for each face-down Spell/Trap on field, and could discard a card to pop a face-down Spell/Trap card. Now we get to the return of Ice Barriers in this set. Dai-sojo of the Ice Barrier is a Level 6 who upon Normal or Flip Summon could switch to Defense Position and gave your Ice Barriers immunity from being destroyed by Spell or Trap effects. Medium of the Ice Barrier was a Level 7 who could be Special Summoned from hand if the opponent controlled 4 or more cards than you did and only let the opponent activate 1 Spell/Trap a turn. Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier is a Level 6 Synchro who needs WATER non-Tuners and could bounce face-up cards you controlled to hand to gain 500 ATK for each card that returned to your hand. Pilgrim of the Ice Barrier couldn’t be destroyed in battle with a monster that has 1900 or more ATK. Finally for Ice Barriers, you have Geomancer of the Ice Barrier as a Level 3 Tuner who could discard a card once while face-up on field to declare an Attribute so it couldn’t be attacked by monsters with that Attribute. Next archetype is the final support for the Mist Valley archetype in the Hidden Arsenal series. Mist Valley Baby Roc is a Level 2 Tuner who could be Special Summoned when sent from hand to grave. Mist Valley Executor was a Level 5 who upon Normal Summon bounced all face-up Spell/Traps on field. Mist Valley Apex Avian is a Level 7 who could bounce a Mist Valley back to hand to negate a card or effect and destroy it once per chain. Finally for Mist Valleys, you have Mist Valley Thunder Lord as a Level 7 Synchro that needs Mist Valley non-Tuners and could bounce a card you controlled to hand once per turn on either turn to gain 500 ATK for the turn. Now we get back to Flamvell with a little bit of support. Flamvell Grunika burned the opponent for 200 times the Level of a monster it destroyed in battle and Flamvell Baby is a Level 1 Tuner who could be sent from hand to grave on your Main Phase to boost a FIRE Monster by 400 ATK. Next up is some more Ally of Justice support to see more anti-Worm in them. Ally Mind is just a vanilla Level 5 Tuner. Ally of Justice Nullifier negates the effects of any LIGHT Monster it battles. Ally of Justice Searcher could discard a card to switch a face-down Defense Position monster to Attack Position and not have FLIP effects be activated. Ally of Justice Enemy Catcher is a Level 5 who could steal an opponent’s face-down Defense Position monster for a turn. Ally of Justice Thunder Armor is a Level 8 who can’t be Special Summoned and gives all your Allies of Justice piercing. Ally of Justice Cosmic Gateway is a Level 8 that’s also a free Special Summon if the opponent controls 2 or more monsters, including at least 1 LIGHT Monster. Ally of Justice Field Marshall is a Level 9 Synchro that needs 2 non-Tuners, must be Synchro Summoned, and after destroying a monster in battle that was in face-down Defense Position it’ll let you draw a card. Ally of Justice Reverse Break destroys itself if there’s a face-up LIGHT Monster on field and while battling a face-down Defense Position monster it can destroy it without flipping it face-up or applying damage calculation. The final Ally of Justice in here is Ally of Justice Unlimiter to tribute itself to double the stats of an Ally of Justice for a turn. Now we continue down the alphabet with some more Worms. Worm Linx has a FLIP effect where it lets you draw a card during your End Phase. Worm Millidith is another FLIP effect to equip to an opponent’s monster to burn them for 400 during each Standby Phase while it’s equipped. Worm Noble is a Level 6 FLIP effect who burns the opponent for the ATK of a monster that attacked this card in face-down Defense Position. Worm Opera is a FLIP effect to debuff any monster that isn’t a Reptile-type Worm by 500 ATK. Worm Prince is a Level 6 who searches a Reptile-type Worm after it destroys a monster in battle and it destroys itself during the End Phase if you don’t control a Reptile-type Worm. Worm Queen is a Level 8 who could be Tribute Summoned using 1 Reptile-type Worm and could tribute a Reptile-type Worm to Special Summon a Reptile-type Worm from Deck with an equal or lower Level. Worm Rakuyeh is the last Worm in here, has 2100 ATK on a Level 4, could only attack the turn it was flipped face-up, and flips itself face-down after it attacks. Next archetype is the new Fabled archetype, who has a massive focus on discarding themselves or other cards for effects. Fabled Lurrie could be Special Summoned when discarded to grave. Fabled Grimro could be sent from hand to grave while you control a Fabled monster to search any Fabled monster in Deck that wasn’t another Grimro. Fabled Gallabas could let you discard a card to destroy an opponent’s monster with DEF less than or equal to this card’s ATK. Fabled Kushano is a Level 3 Tuner who could discard a Fabled to add itself from grave to hand. Finally their boss is Fabled Valkyrus, a Level 8 Synchro who needs a Fabled Tuner and can let you discard a Fiend to draw a card once per turn. The final archetype in here is the debuting Jurrac archetype, a Dinosaur-based beatdown archetype focused on destroying the opponent’s monsters by gaining stats or getting effects after destroying monsters in battle. Jurrac Protops gains 100 ATK for each monster the opponent controls. Jurrac Velo floats into a Jurrac with 1700 or less ATK from Deck after being destroyed in battle while in Attack Position. Jurrac Monoloph is a Level 3 Tuner who can attack all the opponent’s monsters once each. Jurrac Tyrannus is a Level 7 who could tribute a Jurrac to gain 500 ATK and gains another 300 ATK when it destroys a monster in battle and sends it to grave. Finally, we have Jurrac Giganoto as a Level 7 Synchro who needs Dinosaur non-Tuners and boosts all your Jurracs by 200 ATK for each Jurrac in your grave. Overall we are getting better with this series. Naturia has some nice cards for different utility while others have obvious weaknesses that make them not worth playing at all. Fabled is another Dark World for us that gives us more Synchro utility. Jurrac does its job kinda well, despite being very slow, especially as time goes on. Genex has plays, but lacks some of those play enablers in this set besides Blastfan mainly. Ice Barriers have okay support with Dewloren being part of many degenerate combos and FTKs to a point where it’s been Limited for years. Mist Valley goes out with a bang by giving us Mist Valley Apex Avian for future use. Flamvell is still lackluster as a whole, especially when you consider their only good support was really in Ancient Prophecy with Firedog and Rekindling. Ally of Justice gave us a few utility cards against LIGHT strategies, but we’d get better cards in the archetype in other Hidden Arsenals. Finally we got an okay Worm boss in Queen in this set, but Worm King was better for the archetype in Storm of Ragnarok. We are doing a little better here as we see some good in the archetypes, but they still got a ways to go with other Hidden Arsenals. Fabled looked nice and we got great Synchros in Naturia Beast and Dewloren. Things really start to look up from here for some of these archetypes.

Set Rating: 7.5/10

Hidden Arsenal 3

Release Date: December 7th, 2010

Cover Card: Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg

Third up we got Hidden Arsenal 3 debuting one of the better archetypes in this series, Dragunity. Besides that, R-Genex make their debut as a sub-archetype of Genex plus the support for Ice Barrier, Naturia, Fabled, Jurrac, Ally of Justice, and Worm. This would be the end of support for Ally of Justice and Worms, which is fitting considering they were enemies in the Duel Terminal lore. Let’s talk about the Fabled support as this is before we get The Fabled sub-archetype in the next set. Fabled Urustos boosted all your Fableds by 400 ATK while you had 2 or less cards in your hand. Fabled Krus targeted and revived another Level 4 or lower Fabled if it was discarded to the graveyard. Fabled Topi could tribute itself to pop two of the opponent’s Spells and Traps as long as you revealed a Fabled in hand while the opponent had 2 or more cards in the hand than you did. Fabled Soulkius is a Level 6 that could let you send 2 cards from hand to grave that weren’t Fabled Soulkius to revive itself from grave. Fabled Miztoji is a Level 2 Tuner could send itself from hand or field to the grave to treat any Fabled monster as a Tuner while it was on the field. Fabled Leviathan was a Level 10 Synchro for Fabled, as it needed a Fabled Tuner, that upon being destroyed and sent to the grave could add back up to 3 Fabled monsters from the grave to the hand. Fabled Dyf could tribute itself to revive a Fabled monster sent from hand to the grave. Fabled Ashenveil could send a card from hand to grave once per battle to gain 600 ATK during damage calc. Fabled Oltro was a Level 2 Tuner that could send a card from hand to grave to Special Summon a Level 3 Fabled from hand. Finally for Fabled, Fabled Ragin was a Level 5 Synchro for Fabled, as it needed a Fabled Tuner, and upon Synchro Summon while you have 1 or less cards in your hand, it let you draw until you had 2 cards in hand. Next up is a little bit of Jurrac support. Jurrac Ptera sent any monster that attacked it to hand to have Ptera gain 100 DEF times the bounced monster’s Level. Jurrac Iguanon bounced a Set card of the opponent’s to the hand if it destroyed a monster in battle. Jurrac Brachis is a Level 3 Tuner that couldn’t be destroyed in battle while you controlled another Jurrac. Jurrac Spinos was a Level 7 that could summon a 300 ATK Token to the opponent’s field in Attack Position if it destroyed a monster in battle. They have a new Level 5 Synchro in Jurrac Velphito, who needs Dinosaurs for the non-Tuner(s), has its ATK and DEF become equal to the Synchro Materials’ ATK and DEF, and it could destroy a face-down Defense Position monster it attacked without flipping it face-up. Jurrac Titano is a Level 10 who couldn’t be Special Summoned, couldn’t be targeted by Trap or monster effects, and could banish a Jurrac with 1700 or less ATK from grave to gain 1000 ATK for a turn. Jurrac Guaiba upon destroying a monster in battle and sending it to the grave let you summon a Jurrac with 1700 or less ATK from Deck that couldn’t attack that turn. Finally, Jurrac Stauriko upon being destroyed in battle let you summon 2 Jurrac Tokens that could only be tributed to Tribute Summon a Jurrac monster. Naturia Dragonfly is the first Naturia in the set, couldn’t be destroyed in battle with monsters that had 2000 or more ATK, and gained 200 ATK for each Naturia in your graveyard. Naturia Sunflower could tribute itself and a Naturia to negate the activation of a monster’s effect and destroy it. Naturia Cliff when sent from field to grave could let you summon a Level 4 or lower Naturia from Deck in Attack Position. Naturia Tulip is a Level 2 Tuner who boosted all your Naturias by 500 ATK for the turn each time the opponent activated a Spell or Trap. Naturia Barkion is a Level 6 Synchro that needs EARTH monsters for all the materials and could banish 2 cards from grave to negate the activation of a Trap and destroy it. Naturia Horneedle could tribute another Naturia you control to destroy an opponent’s monster when they Special Summon it. Naturia Fruitfly debuffs the opponent’s monsters by 300 ATK and DEF for each Naturia you control and could let you steal control of an opponent’s monster with 0 DEF for a turn. Finally you got Naturia Hydrangea for a Level 5 that could Special Summon itself from hand if the effect of a Naturia monster was activated that turn. R-Genex Turbo is our first R-Genex and it searched for any Level 1 Genex on Normal Summon. R-Genex Overseer could Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Genex from hand on Normal or Special Summon. R-Genex Crusher let you add a Level 4 R-Genex from Deck to your hand on Normal Summon. R-Genex Magma let you add a Level 2 R-Genex from Deck to your hand on Normal Summon. Locomotion R-Genex is a Level 9 Synchro of any Genex Tuner and any DARK non-Tuner(s) and upon Synchro Summon let you take control of the opponent’s monster with the highest Level. R-Genex Accelerator let you reveal and Special Summon a Genex you added to your hand from the Deck. R-Genex Oracle is a Level 1 Tuner who could be Special Summoned from hand if added from Deck to hand, and it could only be Synchro Material for a Genex Synchro. R-Genex Ultimum let you return 2 Genex monsters in grave to the Deck when destroyed face-up and sent from field to graveyard. Finally for R-Genex, Vindikite R-Genex was a Level 8 Synchro of a Genex Tuner and any WIND non-Tuners, couldn’t be selected as an attack target, and searches a Genex monster from Deck if it destroyed an opponent’s monster in battle. Shock Troops of the Ice Barrier starts us off for the Ice Barrier archetype, and it could tribute itself to destroy a WATER monster on field and then let you search for any Ice Barrier monster. Samurai of the Ice Barrier destroyed itself and let you draw a card when it went from Attack to Defense Position. Dewdark of the Ice Barrier is a Level 2 Tuner who could attack directly if all your monsters were Level 2 or lower. Caravan of the Ice Barrier could return 2 Ice Barriers from grave to the Deck and then let each player draw. Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier is a Level 7 Synchro that needed WATER non-Tuner(s) and could discard up to 2 cards from your hand to destroy an equal number of cards the opponent controls. Spellbreaker of the Ice Barrier could let you send an Ice Barrier from hand to grave to prevent Spell Cards from being activated until the end of your next turn while it was face-up on the field. General Grunard of the Ice Barrier is the last Ice Barrier card and it is a Level 8 that let you gain an additional Normal Summon of an Ice Barrier monster. Worm Solid continues the Worm alphabet as it gains 100 DEF for each Reptile-type Worm in your graveyard and pops an opponent’s Spell or Trap if they took battle damage from attacking this card. Worm Tentacles could banish a Reptile-type Worm from your graveyard to attack twice during the same Battle Phase once per turn. Worm Ugly Special Summoned itself to the opponent’s field in Attack Position if you Tribute Summoned a Reptile-type Worm by using it as tribute material. Worm Victory is a Level 7 FLIP monster who upon being flipped destroys every monster that isn’t a Reptile-type Worm, and it also gains 500 ATK for each Reptile-type Worm in your graveyard. Worm Warlord is a Level 6 who couldn’t be Special Summoned, negates the effects of monsters it destroyed in battle, and upon destroying a monster in battle could attack once again in a row. Worm Xex upon Normal Summon let you send any Reptile-type Worm from Deck to grave and couldn’t be destroyed in battle while you controlled Worm Yagan. Worm Yagan summoned itself from grave in face-down Defense Position if the only monster you control is Worm Xex, but it is banished when it leaves the field, and upon being flipped face-up could target and return a face-up monster the opponent controls to the hand. Finally, Worm Zero is the Fusion boss for Worms that needs 2 or more Reptile-type Worms as material, gains 500 ATK for each Worm with a different name used as Fusion Material, using 2 or more Fusion Materials let you target and revive a Reptile in your grave in face-down Defense Position, using 4 or more materials let you banish a Reptile in grave to send a monster on field to grave, and using 6 or more materials let you draw a card once per turn. Next archetype is Dragunity with Dragunity Dux, who gains 200 ATK for each Dragunity card you control and upon Normal Summon let you target a Level 3 or lower Dragon-type Dragunity in your grave and equip it to Dux. Dragunity Legionnaire upon Normal Summon let you equip a Level 3 or lower Dragon-type Dragunity from grave to this card and could send a Dragunity card in the Spell/Trap Zone to the graveyard to target and destroy an opponent’s face-up monster. Dragunity Tribus upon Normal or Special Summon let you send any Level 3 or lower Dragon from Deck to grave. Dragunity Darkspear is a Level 3 Tuner who could tribute a Dragon-type Dragunity to revive a Level 4 or lower Winged Beast from your graveyard. Dragunity Phalanx is a Level 2 Tuner who could Special Summon itself if was equipped to a monster. Finally we got Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg as the first Dragunity Synchro as a Level 6 who needed a Dragon-type Tuner and Winged Beast-Type non-Tuner(s) and it could banish a Winged Beast from graveyard when it battled to gain the banished monster’s ATK for the rest of the turn. Finally we got the last Ally of Justice support in Hidden Arsenal with Ally of Justice Omni-Weapon being a Level 5 who let you draw a card if it destroyed a LIGHT monster in battle and let you Special Summon the drawn card if you drew a Level 4 or lower DARK monster. Ally of Justice Quarantine prevented players from Special Summoning LIGHT monsters. Ally of Justice Cycle Reader is a Level 3 Tuner who could be sent from hand to grave as a Quick Effect to target and banish up to 2 of the opponent’s LIGHT monsters in their grave. Finally, Ally of Justice Decisive Armor is a generic Level 10 Synchro that needs 2 non-Tuners who while the opponent controlled a LIGHT monster could either destroy a Set card the opponent controls, send a card from hand to grave to destroy all the opponent’s Spells and Traps, or discard your whole hand to look at the opponent’s hand and send all LIGHT monsters in their hand to the graveyard to then inflict damage to the opponent equal to the sent monsters’ combined ATK. Overall the archetypes in this set were supported well. Fabled gain a few good pieces in Krus, Soulklus, and Ragin especially. Jurracs now have Guaiba as their best Level 4. We got Naturia Barkion for Trap negation in any Deck EARTH related thanks to Naturia, alongside a floater in that archetype with Naturia Cliff. R-Genex help make Genex more consistent to make plays. Ice Barriers get a few more solid cards. Worms get their best 2-card combo with Xex and Yagan. Dragunity debut well by giving us the best cards in the archetype with Dux and Phalanx. Finally, Ally of Justice goes out well with decent cards against LIGHT strategies like Quarantine, Cycle Reader, and Decisive Armor. A decent chunk of support for these archetypes, even if there’s still lackluster cards.

Set Rating: 8/10 

Hidden Arsenal 4: Trishula’s Triumph

Release Date: April 19th, 2011

Cover Card: Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

I’m sure we know the selling point of this set, it’s the namesake of the pack basically. This set was mainly carried on the back of Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier on release, but there is more worth talking about as time went on. We see the Neo Flamvell, Genex Ally, and The Fabled sub-archetypes debut in here to keep more support for Flamvell, Genex, and Fabled. Besides that we also got more Dragunity, Jurrac, Naturia, and Ice Barrier support. We start with the Genex Allies to support the use of the Attributes better in Genex. Genex Ally Remote is a Level 3 Tuner that can make the name of any Tuner become Genex Controller. Genex Ally Powercell boosts the ATK of all other monsters you control of the same Attribute (original Attribute is DARK) by 500. Genex Ally Changer can change a monster’s Attribute to any of the Attributes for the turn. Genex Ally Volcannon can send a FIRE Genex you control to grave to destroy an opponent’s monster and burn them for their monster’s Level times 400. Genex Ally Solid can send a WATER Genex you control to grave to let you draw 2 cards. Genex Ally Triarm is a Level 6 Synchro that needs Genex Controller for the Tuner and gains effects based on the Attributes of the non-Tuners used as material with WIND sending a random card from the opponent’s hand to the grave, WATER letting you pop a Spell/Trap on the field, and DARK letting you destroy a LIGHT monster on the field and then drawing you a card. Genex Ally Chemister is a Level 2 Tuner who can be discarded during either player’s turn to change the Attribute of a Genex monster you control. Genex Ally Birdman is a Level 3 Tuner that can be Special Summoned from hand by bouncing any monster, but it’s banished when it leaves the field and gains 500 ATK if you bounced a WIND monster with this effect. Genex Ally Bellflame gains 1 Genex Counter when a monster you control is sent to grave and 2 Genex Counters when a card in the opponent’s graveyard is banished, gains 100 ATK for each Genex Counter on it, and upon being destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard will burn the opponent for 300 times each Genex Counter that was on it. Genex Ally Crusher can destroy an opponent’s card when a monster with the same Attribute as this card (naturally DARK) is Normal Summoned to your side of the field. Genex Ally Reliever is a Level 5 that can be Special Summoned from hand if you negated an opponent’s Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster’s effect. Finally, Genex Ally Triforce is a Level 7 Synchro that needs any Genex Tuner and gains effects based on the Attributes of the non-Tuners with EARTH preventing the opponent from activating Spells or Traps until the end of the Damage Step when this battles, FIRE letting you burn the opponent for the ATK of a monster this destroys in battle, and LIGHT letting you select a LIGHT monster in grave and Special Summon it in face-down Defense Position. We got some Fabled support with most of it being part of The Fabled sub-archetype besides 1 card. The Fabled Chawa is a Level 1 Tuner that lets you discard a Fabled monster to summon this from hand. The Fabled Catsith is a Level 1 Tuner that when discarded can destroy a face-up card on the field. The Fabled Cerburrel is a Level 2 Tuner that when discarded can be Special Summoned from the graveyard. The Fabled Ganashia when discarded can be revived with a 200 ATK boost, but is banished when it leaves the field. The Fabled Nozoochee can discard a Fabled from your hand to Special Summon this card from hand and when summoned that way can let you summon a Level 2 or lower Fabled from your hand. The Fabled Unicore is a Level 4 Synchro that needs a Fabled Tuner and negates the activation of and destroys all Spells, Traps, and Effect Monster effects while you and the opponent have the same number of cards in hand. The Fabled Peggulsus is a Level 1 Tuner that when discarded can revive itself in face-down Defense Position and when flipped face-up can reveal a Fabled in hand to send a Fabled from Deck to grave. The Fabled Kokkator can let you discard a Fabled to draw a card if it destroys an opponent’s monster in battle. Fabled Dianaira is a Level 8 that can be Tribute Summoned using 1 Fabled monster and the effect of the first Normal Spell Card the opponent activates while you control this monster becomes “Your opponent discards 1 card.” Finally, The Fabled Kudabbi is another Level 4 Synchro that needs a Fabled Tuner and its effects are dependent on the number of cards in your hand with 0 making this card unable to be destroyed by battle or card effects and 3 or more destroying this card during the End Phase. Now the Dragunity support in this set doesn’t have many of the key cards for Dragunity compared to Hidden Arsenal 3, with Dragunity Militum starting by letting you summon any Dragunity in your Spell/Trap Zone. Dragunity Primus Plus is a Level 5 that on Normal or Special Summon can target a Winged Beast-type Dragunity you control to equip it with a Level 3 or lower Dragon-type Dragunity from your Deck. Dragunity Brandistock is a Level 1 Tuner that while equipped to a monster lets it attack twice during each Battle Phase. Dragunity Javelin is a Level 2 Tuner that if face-up and destroyed in the Monster Zone can be equipped to a Winged Beast-type Dragunity instead of going to the graveyard. Dragunity Knight – Trident is a Level 7 Synchro of any Dragon Tuner and Winged Beast non-Tuner(s) and can send up to 3 cards you control to grave to look at the opponent’s Extra Deck and send an equal number of cards from their Extra Deck to the graveyard. Dragunity Corsesca is a Level 1 Tuner that while equipped to a monster lets you search a Level 4 or lower monster of the same Type and Attribute when the equipped monster destroys an opponent’s monster in battle. Dragunity Partisan is a Level 2 Tuner that when Normal Summoned can Special Summon a Winged Beast-type Dragunity from hand and equip this card to that monster and treat the equipped monster as a Tuner. Dragunity Pilum is a Level 3 Tuner that when Normal Summoned can summon a Winged Beast-type Dragunity from your hand and equip this card to the summoned monster to let it attack directly by doing half damage each Battle Phase. Dragunity Angusticlavii is a Level 5 that does piercing while equipped with a Dragon-type Dragunity. Finally, Dragunity Knight – Barcha is a Level 8 Synchro of any Dragon Tuner and Winged Beast non-Tuner(s) and upon Synchro Summon can equip any number of Dragunities from your graveyard to this card and it gains 300 ATK for each Dragunity card equipped to it. Jurrac Dino is a Level 3 Tuner that at the End Phase of the turn this card destroyed a monster in battle can let you tribute a Jurrac monster to draw 2 cards. Jurrac Gallim is a Level 2 Tuner that destroys the monster that destroyed this card in battle unless the opponent discards a card to negate this effect. Jurrac Aeolo is a Level 1 Tuner that can be tributed to revive any Level 4 or lower Jurrac from the graveyard. Jurrac Herra is a Level 6 that can be Special Summoned from the hand or graveyard if a Defense Position Jurrac you control was destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard. Finally for Jurrac, you have Jurrac Meteor as a Level 10 Synchro that needs a Jurrac Tuner and at least 2 Dinosaur non-Tuners and upon Synchro Summon destroys every card on the field and lets you summon a Tuner from your graveyard. Naturia Butterfly starts off the Naturia support as a Level 3 Tuner who can negate an opponent’s attack once per turn by sending the top card of your Deck to the graveyard. Naturia Ladybug can be revived from the graveyard if you Synchro Summon a Naturia and can be tributed to boost a Naturia by 1000 ATK for the turn. Natura Strawberry once per turn targets a monster the opponent Normal or Special Summons to gain ATK times the summoned monster’s Level times 100 for the turn. Naturia Landoise is a Level 7 Synchro that needs all EARTH monsters to summon and can discard a Spell to negate an Effect Monster’s effect and destroy it. Naturia Stinkbug is a Level 3 Tuner that can be sent to the graveyard when a Naturia is attacked to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase. Naturia Mantis can destroy a monster the opponent Normal Summons by sending a Naturia monster from hand to grave. Naturia Ragweed can be sent to the graveyard when the opponent draws a card outside the Draw Phase to let you draw 2 cards. Naturia White Oak when targeted for an effect can be sent to the graveyard to summon 2 Level 4 or lower Naturias from your Deck that can’t attack and are destroyed during your End Phase. Finally, Naturia Exterio is a Fusion of Naturia Beast and Naturia Barkion, a Fusion Summon of this card can only be conducted with the above Fusion Materials, and it can negate the activation of and destroy any Spell or Trap by banishing a card from your graveyard and sending the top card of your Deck to the graveyard. Defender of the Ice Barrier starts off Ice Barriers in this set as a Level 3 Tuner who prevents the opponent from attacking with monsters that have higher ATK than this card’s DEF (naturally 1600) while you control another Ice Barrier. Warlock of the Ice Barrier makes both players set Spells before activating them and won’t let the player activate the set Spell until the end of the next turn all while you control another Ice Barrier monster. Sacred Spirit of the Ice Barrier is a Spirit Monster that does the regular Spirit stuff except while you control another Ice Barrier, where in that case you instead target an opponent’s monster to return to the hand. General Raiho of the Ice Barrier is a Level 6 that makes the opponent discard a card, otherwise the activated effect of an Effect Monster they control becomes negated. Strategist of the Ice Barrier can let you send an Ice Barrier monster from hand to grave to let you draw a card. Secret Guards of the Ice Barrier prevents your opponent from targeting your Ice Barrier monsters with card effects. General Gantala of the Ice Barrier is a Level 7 that once per turn can let you revive a differently named Ice Barrier from your graveyard during your End Phase. Finally, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier is a Level 9 generic Synchro that needs at least 2 non-Tuners and upon Synchro Summon can banish up to 1 card each from the opponent’s field, graveyard, and randomly from hand. The last archetype to talk about is Flamvell with all but their new Synchro being part of the Neo Flamvell archetype. Neo Flamvell Origin is a Level 2 Tuner with 200 DEF who can be Special Summoned from hand if you control a differently named Flamvell monster and the opponent has 3 or less cards in the graveyard. Neo Flamvell Hedgehog is a Level 3 Tuner with 200 DEF that if destroyed by battle can banish a card from the opponent’s graveyard and if destroyed by a card effect can select a differently named FIRE monster with 200 DEF in your graveyard to add to your hand. Neo Flamvell Shaman has 200 DEF and when it destroys a monster in battle while you have at least 3 Flamvells in your graveyard can banish a card from the opponent’s graveyard and then burn them for 500 if they had no Spells in the graveyard when this effect was activated. Neo Flamvell Garuda can select a card in the opponent’s graveyard to remove from play during the End Phase if you control another Flamvell monster. Neo Flamvell Sabre has 200 DEF and gains 600 ATK while the opponent has 4 or less cards in their graveyard and loses 300 ATK while the opponent has 8 or more cards in their graveyard. Finally, Ancient Flamvell Deity is a Level 7 Synchro that has 200 DEF, needs a FIRE Tuner and Pyro-type non-Tuner(s), and when Synchro Summoned can banish cards from the opponent’s graveyard up to the number of cards in their hand to then gain 200 ATK for each card banished off this effect. Overall there are a few gems in this set besides Trishula actually. Genex don’t get much of a boost really with Genex Ally, except more ways to use Tuners as Genex Controller and to adjust Attributes for Synchros, oh and also Genex Ally Birdman was a great card and still is. Fabled gained a few good cards to help make more plays. Dragunities got Barcha for future variants that started to use it, and Trident for some Extra Deck destruction. Jurracs have some more Tuners of varying Levels and Jurrac Meteor for a field nuke. Naturias got a few good monsters to help the Main Deck while also gaining Effect Monster negation finally and a Fusion you’d rather cheat out than actually summon properly. Ice Barriers got a few more good monsters and their all powerful Synchro boss in Trishula to finish that archetype off properly. Neo Flamvell are probably the weakest with Origin probably being the only decent card while they questionably forced a focus on the opponent’s graveyard into the archetype. There was decent support for each archetype in this set still, a bunch of decent cards overall. It’s highly carried by Trishula being a great Synchro that has still aged well.

Set Rating: 7.5/10

Hidden Arsenal 5: Steelswarm Invasion

Release Date: December 6th, 2011

Cover Card: Steelswarm Caucastag

Here is where we see a complete overhaul, as every archetype in this set makes its TCG debut in here and we see no support for the previously released archetypes. You got Gem-Knights as basically an Elemental HERO 2.0 Deck that has more utility with their Fusions while having less harsh requirements and a recoverable Fusion Spell. Lavals as an upgraded Flamvell that’s focused on filling their grave with other Lavals for effects. Vylons are a nice Synchro archetype based on Equip Spells and benefiting from having Equips on them. Gishkis are a fun Ritual archetype that try to get to the pieces to Ritual Summon and recover their main Ritual Spell to get back a Ritual Monster at the same time, and also likes to know the top card in your Deck with a Divination gimmick. Gustos are a fun little Deck with a bunch of floaters and effects to refill your Deck with Gustos. Lastly, you got the namesake of this set in Steelswarms as basically Monarchs with their tribute engine being archetypal support before Monarchs got it. I’ll start with Gem-Knights and their 3 main Level 4 vanilla monsters: Gem-Knight Garnet as a strong attacker, Gem-Knight Sapphire for a strong defender, and Gem-Knight Tourmaline for a more well-rounded stat line. Gem-Knight Alexandrite is another monster to tribute itself to summon any Gem-Knight Normal from Deck. Gem-Armadillo searches for any Gem-Knight monster on Normal Summon. Gem-Merchant can be discarded during Damage Step when your EARTH Normal is attacked or is attacking to boost its stats by 1000 for the turn. Gem-Knight Ruby is a Fusion of Gem-Knight Garnet and any other Gem-Knight, must be summoned with the above Fusion Materials like most other Gem-Knights, can tribute a Gem- monster to gain that monster’s ATK for the turn, and does piercing. Gem-Knight Aquamarine is a Fusion of Gem-Knight Sapphire and any other Gem-Knight, can swap to Defense Position during the turn it attacked, and when sent from the field to the graveyard can target a card the opponent controls to return it to the hand. Gem-Knight Topaz is a Fusion of Gem-Knight Tourmaline and any other Gem-Knight, can attack twice a turn, and burns the opponent for the ATK of a monster it destroys in battle. Gem-Knight Fusion is a Normal Spell that lets you Fusion Summon any Gem-Knight and while in the graveyard can let you banish a Gem-Knight in grave to add Gem-Knight Fusion back to hand. Finally you got Gem-Enhancement as a Normal Trap to let you tribute a Gem-Knight you control to revive a Gem-Knight in your graveyard. Laval Miller starts off Lavals as a monster who lets you send 2 Lavals from Deck to grave when its destroyed in battle. Soaring Eagle Above the Searing Land is a Level 1 Tuner who if used as Synchro Material can revive itself if you have 3 or more Lavals with different names in grave, but it banishes itself when it leaves the field after. Laval Warrior burns the opponent for the ATK of a monster it destroys in battle if you have 4 or more Laval monsters with different names in your graveyard. Prominence, Molten Swordsman can banish a Laval from grave once during either player’s turn to gain 300 ATK for the turn. Laval Forest Sprite is a Level 2 Tuner that if sent to the graveyard can boost all Laval monsters on the field by 200 ATK times the number of Laval monsters in your graveyard for the turn. Kayeen, the Master Magma Blacksmith can be banished from the graveyard to boost all your Lavals by 400 ATK. Laval Burner is a Level 5 that can be Special Summoned from hand if you have 3 or more Lavals with different names in your graveyard. Laval Judgment Lord is a Level 7 that once per turn can banish a Laval from grave to burn the opponent for 1000 damage, but prevents all your Laval Judgment Lords from attacking that turn. Lavalval Dragon is a Level 5 Synchro that needs FIRE non-Tuners and can shuffle 2 Laval monsters in grave to the Main Deck to return a card the opponent controls to the hand. Laval the Greater is a Level 6 Synchro that also needs FIRE non-Tuners, when Synchro Summoned makes you send a card from hand to grave, and if it would be destroyed by a card effect you can protect it by banishing a Laval in your graveyard instead. Searing Fire Wall is a Quick-Play Spell that can banish any number of Lavals from grave to summon an equal number of Laval Tokens (Pyro/FIRE/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0). Finally you got Molten Whirlwind Wall as a Continuous Trap to boost all your Lavals by 100 ATK times the number of Lavals in your graveyard. Vylon Cube is the first Vylon card and is a Level 3 Tuner that if used as a Synchro Material for a LIGHT monster can let you search for any Equip Spell. Vylon Vanguard if destroyed by a card effect and sent to the graveyard lets you draw a card for each card equipped to it. Vylon Charger boosts all your LIGHT monsters by 300 ATK times the number of cards equipped to this card. Vylon Soldier when it declares an attack can target monsters the opponent controls up to the number of equips it has on it and swap their battle positions. Vylon Sigma is a Level 7 Synchro that needs all LIGHT monsters and when it declares an attack while being the only monster you control, you can equip any Equip Spell from Deck to this card. Vylon Epsilon is a Level 8 Synchro that needs a LIGHT Tuner, gives your Equip Cards protection from targeting effects, and once per turn can send an card equipped to this monster to the grave to target and destroy an opponent’s monster. Finally you got Vylon Material as the first Equip Spell in the archetype, can only be equipped to a Vylon and boosts it by 600 ATK, and if face-up and sent to the graveyard you can then search for any Vylon Spell in Deck. Gishki Abyss starts off Gishkis as a monster that on summon lets you search for any differently named Gishki with 1000 or less DEF from Deck. Gishki Vanity can be discarded to prevent your opponent from responding to the summon of your Gishki Rituals or from the activation of your Gishki Ritual Spells that turn. Gishki Marker on summon lets you add a Gishki Ritual Monster or Spell from grave to hand. Gishki Chain on Normal Summon lets you look at the top 3 cards of your Deck to add any Ritual Monster or Spell among the cards and return the rest of them to the top of your Deck in any order. Gishki Ariel is a FLIP monster that has a FLIP effect to search for any Gishki monster. Gishki Shadow can be used as the entire material to summon a WATER Ritual and can be discarded to search for any Gishki Ritual Spell. Evigishki Mind Augus is a Level 6 Ritual that lets you use any Gishki Ritual Spell to summon and upon Ritual Summon lets you return up to 5 cards from either graveyard into their owner’s Deck. Evigishki Soul Ogre is a Level 8 Ritual that also can be Ritual Summoned using any Gishki Ritual Spell and once per turn can let you discard a Gishki monster to target a face-up card the opponent controls to shuffle it into the Deck. Gishki Aquamirror is a Ritual Spell that lets you Ritual Summon any Gishki Ritual by using exact Levels for tributes and can shuffle itself back from grave into Deck to add a Gishki Ritual Monster from grave to hand. Finally you got Aquamirror Meditation for Gishki as a Normal Trap that lets you reveal a Ritual Spell in hand to add 2 Gishki monsters from grave to hand. Gusto Gulldo begins Gusto as a Level 3 Tuner that when sent from field to grave lets you summon any Level 2 or lower Gusto from Deck (it misses timing when used as Synchro Material, just thought it should be noted). Gusto Egul is a Level 1 Tuner that when destroyed in battle and sent to the grave lets you summon a Level 4 or lower non-Tuner Gusto from Deck. Gusto Thunbolt is a monster that if it’s in the grave at the end of the Battle Phase because it was destroyed in battle and sent their that turn, you can banish a Gusto monster in grave to summon a WIND Psychic-type with 1500 or less DEF from Deck. Winda, Priestess of Gusto upon being destroyed in battle by the opponent’s attacking monster lets you summon a Gusto Tuner from Deck. Caam, Serenity of Gusto once per turn lets you shuffle 2 Gusto monsters from grave into the Main Deck to draw a card. Windaar, Sage of Gusto is a Level 6 that if it destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard, it lets you revive any Level 3 or lower Gusto in your Graveyard in Defense Position. Daigusto Gulldos is a Level 5 Synchro that needs Gusto non-Tuners and once per turn lets you shuffle 2 Gusto monsters from grave into the Main Deck to target a face-up monster the opponent controls and destroy it. Daigusto Eguls is a Level 7 Synchro that also needs Gusto non-Tuners and once per turn during the End Phase lets you banish a WIND monster from your grave to target and destroy a face-down card on the field. Contact with Gusto is a Normal Spell that lets you target 2 Gustos in your graveyard and a card the opponent controls to shuffle both targets in your grave into your Deck and destroy the opponent’s card. Finally you got Blessings for Gusto as a Normal Trap that targets 2 Gusto monsters in your grave and a third Gusto after to shuffle the first two targets into the Deck and lets you revive the 3rd target. We end this set off with Steelswarm and start the archetype with Steelswarm Cell as a Level 1 that can be Special Summoned from hand if you control no monsters, cannot be used as Synchro Material, and can only be tributed to Tribute Summon a Steelswarm. Steelswarm Scout at the start of your Main Phase 1 can be revived from grave, but you can’t Special Summon for the rest of the turn, Scout also can’t be used as Synchro Material and it can only be tributed to Tribute Summon a Steelswarm. Steelswarm Gatekeeper lets you Normal Summon or Set an additional monster that turn if you Tribute Summoned a Steelswarm while it was face-up on the field. Steelswarm Caller if used to Tribute Summon a Steelswarm lets you summon a Level 4 or lower Steelswarm from Deck. Steelswarm Mantis is a Level 5 that when Tribute Summoned using a Steelswarm can let you pay 1000 LP to revive a Steelswarm in your graveyard. Steelswarm Moth is a Level 6 that when Tribute Summoned using a Steelswarm can let you pay 1000 LP to target and return 2 cards the opponent controls to the hand. Steelswarm Girastag is a Level 7 that can be Tribute Summoned using only 1 Steelswarm and when Tribute Summoned using a Steelswarm lets you target a card the opponent controls to send it to the graveyard and then boost your LP by 1000. Steelswarm Caucastag is a Level 8 that when Tribute Summoned using 2 Steelswarms can let you either destroy all other monsters on field or destroy all Spells and Traps on the field. First Step Towards Infestation is a Quick-Play Spell that lets you return a Tribute Summoned Steelswarm to the hand to let you draw a card. Finally you got Infestation Wave as a Normal Trap that lets you return a Tribute Summoned Steelswarm to hand to target and destroy a card the opponent controls. Overall, we got a bunch of well rounded archetypes that either got a bunch of good support at the beginning, or have the potential there and would realize that potential in the remaining Hidden Arsenals with better support. Gem-Knights were a better alternative to the early Elemental HEROs and would only get better and more generic with time in Fusion requirements. Lavals would eventually get the support to become a better archetype, but at least got Lavalval Dragon to start and in more recent years could use Searing Fire Wall. Vylons also had good potential, but got their first Equip Spell, a good Tuner in Vylon Cube, and two good Synchros to be used for varying purposes. Gishki was easily the first good Ritual-based Deck since Demise OTK, and the first Ritual archetype as a whole, which is a good start for the first Ritual archetype. Gustos got some good support in here and have some great floating and recycling capabilities, and would get a main win condition later on, but they do have missing the timing issues still. Finally you got Steelswarms for a nice Monarch alternative at the time, though Monarchs still offered better utility while having less archetype restrictions and more room to experiment, but still you got a solid alternative in Steelswarm. It’s a good step in the right direction for Hidden Arsenal as you got several decent archetypes where some would get far better with more releases.

Set Rating: 8.5/10

Hidden Arsenal 6: Omega Xyz

Release Date: July 24th, 2012

Cover Card: Vylon Omega

It took a year, but Duel Terminal finally caught up to the Xyz Mechanic and started putting Xyzs into the archetypes. Besides the Xyz Mechanic, you don’t really have anything that new. You got support once again for all the archetypes in Hidden Arsenal 5, nothing new and nothing from previous Hidden Arsenals. We start off Gem-Knights with their big vanilla monster in the Level 7 Gem-Knight Crystal with its 2450/1950 statline making it the archetype’s Neos basically. Gem-Knight Citrine is a Fusion of any Gem-Knight and any Pyro monster and it prevents the opponent from using cards or effects when Citrine attacks or is attacked. Gem-Knight Prismaura is a Fusion of any Gem-Knight and any Thunder monster and can let you discard a Gem-Knight card once per turn to pop a face-up card on the field. Pyroxene Fusion is a Normal Trap that lets you Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight by using monsters in hand or on field as material. Gem-Knight Obsidian if sent from the hand to the graveyard lets you revive any Level 4 or lower Normal Monster. Gem-Knight Iolite is a Gemini Monster with your regular Gemini stuff and the Gemini effect to once per turn banish a Gem- monster from grave to add a Gem-Knight card from grave to hand. Gem-Knight Amber is another Gemini Monster with the Gemini effect to send a Gem-Knight card from hand to grave to add a banished card back to your hand. Gem-Knight Amethyst is a Fusion of any Gem-Knight and any Aqua and when sent from the field to the graveyard will bounce all Spells and Traps on the field to the hand. Gem-Knight Pearl is a generic Rank 4 that needs any 2 Level 4s, has no effect, but a big 2600 ATK. Finally you got Particle Fusion as a Normal Spell that lets you Fusion Summon any Gem-Knight Fusion and also banish Particle Fusion from grave to boost the ATK of the Fusion Summoned monster by the ATK of one of the Fusion Materials for the turn. Laval Volcano Handmaiden begins Lavals as a Level 1 Tuner that when sent to the graveyard while you also have a differently named Laval in your graveyard can let you send another Laval from Deck to grave. Laval Cannon on Normal or Flip Summon lets you summon any of your banished Laval monsters. Laval Stennon is a Level 7 Synchro that needs FIRE non-Tuners, requires you send a card from hand to grave on Synchro Summon, and when targeted by an effect can let you banish a Laval from your graveyard to negate and destroy that card. Laval Lakeside Lady is a Level 3 Tuner that if is in your graveyard while you have 3 or more Lavals with different names in your grave lets you banish Lakeside Lady and another Laval to pop a Set card the opponent controls. Laval Coatl is a Level 2 Tuner that can be Special Summoned from hand if you have 3 or more differently named Lavals in your graveyard. Laval Blaster on Normal Summon while you have a different Laval in your graveyard lets you send anywhere from 1 to 5 cards from the top of your Deck to the graveyard and then Blaster gains 200 ATK for each Laval sent to the grave via this effect. Lavalval Dragun is a Level 6 Synchro that needs FIRE non-Tuner and can let you add a Laval monster from Deck to hand and then make you send a Laval from hand to grave. Lavalval Ignis is a generic Rank 3 that needs 2 Level 3 monsters and can detach a material during the Damage Step where it battles to gain 500 ATK for the rest of that turn. Finally you got Dustflame Blast as a Normal Trap that banishes all Laval monsters from your graveyard to pop cards on the field up to the number of cards you banished. Vylon Sphere starts Vylons as a Level 1 Tuner that if sent from the field to the graveyard can let you pay 500 LP to equip this card from grave to a face-up monster and can be sent to the grave while as an equip to add an Equip Spell from grave to hand. Vylon Tetra is a Level 2 Tuner that also lets you pay 500 LP if sent from field to grave to equip to a monster and can be destroyed instead if the equipped monster would be destroyed. Vylon Stella is a Level 3 Tuner with the same equip effect as the previous Tuners once again and lets the equipped monster destroy any monster it battles at the end of the Damage Step. Vylon Prism is a Level 4 Tuner once again with the same equip effect and when the equipped monster attacks or is attacked, Prism lets the equipped monster gain 1000 ATK and DEF during Damage Step only. Vylon Hept lets you Special Summon a Vylon monster that’s treated as an equip, but the summoned monster is banished if it leaves the field. Vylon Alpha is a Level 9 Synchro that needs a Vylon Tuner, when Synchro Summoned lets you equip an Equip Spell from grave to this card, and this card while equipped can’t be destroyed by Spell or Trap effects that aren’t Equip Cards. Vylon Omega is a Level 10 Synchro that needs 2 Tuners and Vylon non-Tuners, on Synchro Summon destroys all monsters that were Normal Summoned or Set, once per turn can equip a Vylon monster from grave to this card, and can send a card equipped to this card to grave when the opponent uses a monster effect to negate that effect and destroy the monster. Vylon Component is an Equip Spell that equips to any Vylon, gives it the effect to do piercing, and when face-up and sent from field to grave lets you search for any Vylon Spell. Vylon Element is a Continuous Spell that if a Vylon Equip or Equips is sent from field to grave lets you summon an equal number of Vylon Tuners from Deck, but those Tuners can only be used to Synchro Summon a Vylon Synchro. Vylon Pentachloro is a Union with the regular Union stuff that can equip to a Vylon and when the equipped monster destroys a monster in battle, it lets you pop another of the opponent’s cards. Vylon Tesseract is another Union that equips to a Vylon and lets you summon a Level 4 or lower Vylon from grave if the equipped monster destroys a monster in battle. Vylon Stigma once per turn lets you reequip a Vylon Equip Spell you control to another appropriate target. Vylon Disigma is a generic Rank 4 that needs 3 Level 4 monsters, can detach a material to equip an opponent’s Attack Position Effect Monster to this card, and Disigma can can destroy any monster it battles with the same Attribute as the monsters equipped by this card’s effect.Vylon Polytope is a Quick-Play spell that can summon all your Vylon monsters that are equips, but they’re banished when they leave the field. Finally you got Vylon Segment as an Equip Spell that can equip to a Vylon to give that monster targeting protection from monsters and Traps and when sent face-up from field to grave lets you search a Vylon Spell. Gishki Reliever starts Gishkis as a monster that on Normal Summon if you control another Gishki lets you bounce a monster you control to the hand. Gishki Noellia on Normal Summon lets you excavate the top 5 cards from your Deck to send any excavated Ritual Spells and Gishki monsters to grave while the rest of the cards go to the bottom of your Deck. Evigishki Tetrogre is a Level 6 Ritual that can be Ritual Summoned using any Gishki Ritual Spell and can let you declare Monster, Spell, or Trap to make both players send a card of the declared type from Deck to grave unless the opponent discards a card to negate this effect. Forbidden Arts of the Gishki is a Ritual Spell that lets you Ritual Summon any Gishki Ritual by using monsters of exact Levels on either side of the field, but the Ritual Summoned monster has its ATK halved and prevents you from declaring the Battle Phase the turn you activate this card. Gishki Vision can be used as the entire tribute to Ritual Summon any WATER Ritual and can be sent from hand to grave to search for a Gishki Ritual Monster. Gishki Emilia is a Spirit Monster who on Normal Summon or flip can negate the effects of all Traps on field for the turn if you control another Gishki when this would activate. Gishki Mollusk when sent to the grave by a card effect can let you look at the top 3 cards of your Deck to resort them on the top or bottom of the Deck in any order. Evigishki Gustkraken is a Level 6 Ritual that uses any Gishki Ritual Spell and on Ritual Summon lets you look at up to 2 random cards from the opponent’s hand to select one to return to Deck. Evigishki Merrowgeist is a generic Rank 4 that needs any 2 Level 4 monsters and when it destroys a monster by battle can detach a material to shuffle a monster it destroys in battle into Deck instead of sending it to the graveyard. Finally, Aquamirror Illusion is a Normal Trap that lets you Special Summon any Gishki Ritual from hand that can’t attack and it returns to your hand during the End Phase. Gusto Squirro is a Level 2 Tuner that if destroyed by a card effect lets you summon any Level 5 or higher Gusto from Deck. Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto once per turn lets you return one card from hand to the bottom of your Deck to swap control of a Gusto you control and a monster the opponent controls of your choice. Daigusto Sphreez is a Level 6 Synchro that uses Gusto non-Tuners, on Synchro Summon lets you add a Gusto from grave to hand, makes your opponent take any damage you would of taken from battles involving your Gustos, and can’t be destroyed in battle. Gusto Falco is a Level 2 Tuner that when sent from the field to the graveyard lets you summon a Gusto from Deck in face-down Defense Position. Kamui, Hope of Gusto is a FLIP monster that summons any Gusto Tuner from Deck. Daigusto Falcos is a Level 4 Synchro that needs Gusto non-Tuners and when Synchro Summoned will boost all your Gustos on field by 600 ATK. Daigusto Phoenix is a generic Rank 2 that needs 2 Level 2s and can detach a material to let any WIND monster attack twice during that turn. Finally, Whirlwind of Gusto is a Normal Trap that if you control no monsters lets you shuffle 2 Gustos from grave into Deck to summon a Gusto with 1000 or less DEF from Deck. We end once again with Steelswarms and start with Steelswarm Genome to be treated as 2 tributes to summon a Steelswarm. Steelswarm Sentinel while in Attack Position prevents all Special Summoned Level 5 or higher monsters from activating their effects. Steelswarm Sting when sent from field to grave lets you target and destroy a face-up Ritual, Fusion, or Synchro. Steelswarm Longhorn is a Level 9 that if Tribute Summoned using a Steelswarm lets you pay 1000 LP once per turn to target and destroy a monster on the field. Steelswarm Hercules is a Level 10 that can’t be Special Summoned, needs 3 Steelswarms to Tribute Summon, and once per turn lets you pay half your life points to destroy every other card on the field. Infestation Ripples is a Normal Trap that lets you pay 500 LP to revive a Level 4 or lower Steelswarm from your graveyard. Finally, Infestation Tool lets you send a Steelswarm from Deck to grave to boost a Steelswarm you control by 800 ATK for that turn. Overall there is some good support in here to really boost these archetypes. Gustos get a nice win condition in Sphreez. Gem-Knights have more versatile options to use in their arsenal. Vylons and Lavals get a big boost to become playable with Lavals getting more consistent and Vylons having a boss to go for while having a nice card to make big plays in Element. Finally, you got some okay Steelswarm support mainly with a nice tribute option with Longhorn. The Xyzs are cool to see with Gem-Knight Pearl and Daigusto Phoenix probably being the best ones and most usable ones. It’s a nice set overall to really boost these archetypes. Also the Gishki handloop was born with this set and didn’t last long since Gustkraken was limited on release basically.

Set Rating: 8.5/10

Hidden Arsenal 7: Knight of Stars

Release Date: April 26th, 2013

Cover Card: Evilswarm Ouroboros

We save the best for last, as Knight of Stars is released to have the biggest impact of all the Hidden Arsenals with 2 worthy archetypes debuting in Evilswarm and Constellar while also getting some great Xyz Monsters, and a final boss for the Duel Terminal lore. There’s also the cards from Bronk’s Machine Deck and the Esper Star Sparrow archetype in here from the anime. On top of that, we see more support for Gem-Knight, Laval, Gishki, Gusto, and Steelswarm to an extent as it mixes with Evilswarm to create the -lswarm archetype as a whole (there are no actual Steelswarms in this set, though). We’ll start off with the anime archetypes and Bronk’s cards. Aye-Iron is the first and can gain 400 ATK once per turn, but cannot attack the turn you use this effect. Tin Goldfish on Normal Summon lets you summon any Level 4 monster from hand. Gearspring Spirit is a Level 8 that cannot be Normal Summoned or Set and must first be Special Summoned from hand by having only Machines in your graveyard (min. 1) and its lone effect lets you target an opponent’s monster once per turn to make the monster’s ATK become 0 for that turn. Tin Archduke is a generic Rank 4 that needs 3 Level 4s and can detach a material once during either player’s turn to swap a monster’s battle position and prevent flip effects from activating at that time. Finally, you got Iron Call as a Normal Spell that lets you revive any Level 4 or lower Machine from grave with its effects negated and destroyed during the End Phase all if you control a Machine already. We begin the Esper Star Sparrow archetype with D.D. Esper Star Sparrow, a Level 10 you can only control 1 of, prevents the opponent from targeting or attacking other monsters you control, and can be Special Summoned in Defense Position if the opponent declares a direct attack, but it’s banished if it leaves the field. Beast-Warrior Puma is a simple monster that can be tributed to search for a D.D. Esper Star Sparrow from your Deck or graveyard. Phoenix Beast Gairuda is a Level 6 that if it attacks gains 300 ATK during the Damage Step. Ironhammer the Giant is a Level 8 that can be Special Summoned from hand if you control D.D. Esper Star Sparrow, Beast-Warrior Puma, and Phoenix Beast Gairuda, can’t change its battle position while face-up on the field, and once per turn can target a monster you control to let it attack directly that turn. Finally, D.D. Jet Iron is a Level 10 that cannot be Normal Summoned or Set and must be Special Summoned by sending D.D. Esper Star Sparrow, Beast-Warrior Puma, Phoenix Beast Gairuda, and Ironhammer the Giant from face-up on field or hand to grave and can be tributed to revive the four aforementioned cards from grave. We begin Hidden Arsenal properly with Gem-Knights and Gem-Knight Sardonyx as a Gemini with the Gemini effect to search a Gem-Knight card from Deck if this monster destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard. Gem-Knight Zirconia is a Fusion of any Gem-Knight and any Rock monster and is just a vanilla with 2900 ATK and 2500 DEF. Fragment Fusion lets you Fusion Summon any Gem-Knight by banishing materials from grave, but the summoned monster is destroyed during the End Phase. Gem-Knight Lazuli if sent to the grave by a card effect lets you add a Normal Monster from grave to the hand. Gem-Knight Seraphinite is a Fusion of any Gem-Knight and any LIGHT and grants you an additional Normal Summon or Set. Finally you got Gem-Knight Master Diamond as a Fusion of 3 Gem-Knights, must first be Fusion Summoned, gains 100 ATK for each Gem-Knight in your graveyard, and can banish a Level 7 or lower Gem-Knight Fusion from grave to gain the banished monster’s name and effect. We start the little bit of Laval support with Laval Phlogis, who when sent to the graveyard can boost all your Lavals by 300 ATK. Lavalval Chain is a generic Rank 4 who needs 2 Level 4s and can detach a material to either place any monster in Deck on top of your Deck or send any card from your Deck to the graveyard. Finally you got Molten Conduction Field as a Normal Spell that sends any 2 Lavals from Deck to grave. Gishki Advance starts Gishkis as a Level 4 that places any Gishki monster in your Deck on top of your Deck. Evigishki Levianima is a Level 8 Ritual that uses any Gishki Ritual Spell and when it attacks lets you draw a card and then look at a random card in the opponent’s hand if you drew a Gishki monster. Gishki Photomirror is a Ritual Spell that can Ritual Summon any Gishki Ritual by paying 500 LP times the Level of the monster you summon. Gishki Natalia is a Spirit Monster that when Normal Summoned or flipped lets you place a Gishki monster in grave on top of your Deck. Gishki Psychelone is a Level 4 Ritual that uses any Gishki Ritual Spell and lets you declare a Type and Attribute to look at a random card in the opponent’s hand to shuffle that card into Deck if it is a monster of the same Type and Attribute you declared. Finally, Gishki Zielgigas is a Level 10 Ritual that uses any Gishki Ritual Spell and once per turn lets you pay 1000 LP to draw a card and then shuffle a card on field into the Deck if you drew a Gishki monster. Gusto Griffin starts Gusto as a monster that if sent from hand to grave lets you summon any Gusto from Deck. Daigusto Emeral is a generic Rank 4 that needs 2 Level 4s and can detach a material to either summon a Normal Monster from grave or return 3 monsters from grave into the Deck to let you draw a card. Dust Storm of Gusto is a Normal Trap that prevents your opponent from using cards or effects when your Gustos attack that turn. Constellar Sheratan starts the first Constellar support as a monster that searches any Constellar monster on Normal Summon. Constellar Aldebaran on Normal Summon lets you summon any Level 3 Constellar from hand. Constellar Algiedi on Normal Summon lets you Special Summon a Level 4 Constellar from hand. Constellar Pollux the turn it was Normal Summoned lets you gain the additional Normal Summon of a Constellar monster that turn. Constellar Zubeneschamali is a Level 5 that when Normal or Special Summoned lets you add any Constellar monster from Deck to hand. Constellar Virgo is a Level 5 that on Normal Summon lets you Special Summon a Level 5 Constellar from hand in face-up Defense Position. Constellar Hyades is a Rank 3 that needs 2 Level 3 LIGHT monsters and once per turn can detach a material to change all monsters the opponent controls to face-up Defense Position. Constellar Pleiades is a Rank 5 that needs 2 Level 5 LIGHT monsters and once during either player’s turn lets you detach a material to bounce a card on field to the hand. Constellar Star Chart is a Continuous Spell that once per turn when you Special Summon an Xyz lets you draw a card. Constellar Siat can be Special Summoned from hand if your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, once per turn can target a Constellar with a Level to have this monster’s Level become that Level, but it can only be used as Xyz Material for a Constellar. Constellar Rasalhague can be tributed to summon any different Constellar from your hand or graveyard. Constellar Leonis during your Main Phase lets you gain the additional Normal Summon of a Constellar. Constellar Acubens on Normal or Special Summon boosts all your Constellars by 500 ATK. Constellar Kaus can’t be used as Synchro Material and up to twice per turn lets you target a Constellar you control to have it gain or lose a Level. Constellar Alrescha is a Level 6 that on Normal Summon lets you Special Summon a Constellar from hand in face-up Defense Position. Constellar Antares is a Level 6 that on Normal or Special Summon lets you add a Constellar from grave to your hand. Constellar Praesepe is a Rank 4 that needs 2 Level 4 Constellars and can detach a material once per turn at the start of the Damage Step when a Constellar battles to have the Constellar gain 1000 ATK for the turn. Constellar Ptolemy M7 is a generic Rank 6 that needs 2 Level 6s to Xyz Summon or can be summoned using a Constellar Xyz as material, but it can’t use its effect that turn, which is to detach a material once per turn to add a monster on field or in either player’s graveyard to the owner’s hand. Constellar Star Cradle is a Normal Spell that lets you add 2 Constellars from grave to your hand at the cost of your Battle Phase that turn. Finally, Constellar Meteor is a Normal Trap that makes the opponent shuffle into the Deck any monster that battles your Constellars that turn at the end of the Damage Step if the opponent’s monster wasn’t destroyed. Evilswarm Heliotrope starts off Evilswarms as a Level 4 vanilla with 1950 ATK and 650 DEF. Evilswarm Zahak can destroy an opponent’s Special Summoned Level 5 or higher monster the opponent controls if Zahak is destroyed by the opponent. Evilswarm Ketos can be tributed to pop an opponent’s Spell or Trap card. Evilswarm O’lantern can be tributed to pop an opponent’s face-up monster. Evilswarm Mandragora can be Special Summoned from hand if the opponent controls more monsters than you do. Evilswarm Hraesvelg is a FLIP monster that bounces an opponent’s monster. Evilswarm Nightmare is a Rank 4 that needs 2 Level 4 DARK monsters and can detach a material when the opponent Special Summons to swap their monster or monsters to face-down Defense Position. Evilswarm Bahamut is a Rank 4 that needs 2 Level 4 lswarm monsters and can detach a material to target an opponent’s monster and make you discard an lswarm to take control of the opponent’s monster. Infestation Infection is a Continuous Trap that lets you return a lswarm from hand or face-up field to the Main Deck to search for a lswarm monster from the Deck. Evilswarm Castor gives you the additional Normal Summon of an lswarm the turn it was Normal Summoned. Evilswarm Obliviwisp negates the effects of monsters it battles at the end of the Damage Step, even effects in the grave. Evilswarm Azzathoth is a FLIP monster that shuffles a Special Summoned monster on field into the Deck. Evilswarm Thunderbird can be banished during either player’s turn when a card or effect is activated to return during the next Standby Phase with a 300 ATK boost. Evilswarm Salamandra up to twice per turn lets you banish a monster from grave to gain 300 ATK until the end of the opponent’s turn. Evilswarm Golem is a Level 5 that once per turn lets you target a Level 5 or higher non-DARK monster on field and destroy it. Evilswarm Coppelia is a Level 6 that can’t be Special Summoned and lets you take control of an opponent’s monster for the turn if it leaves the field because of an opponent’s card. Evilswarm Thanatos is a Rank 4 that needs 2 Level 4 DARKs and once during either player’s turn can detach a material to make this monster unaffected by other monster effects that turn. Evilswarm Ophion is a Rank 4 that needs 2 Level 4 lswarm monsters, prevents players from Special Summoning Level 5 or higher monsters while this has material, and once per turn can detach a material to let you search for an Infestation Spell or Trap. Evilswarm Ouroboros is a Rank 4 that needs 3 Level 4 monsters and once per turn can detach a material to activate one of three effects (but each effect can only be used once while this is face-up) where you can either return an opponent’s monster to the hand, send a random card from the opponent’s hand to the graveyard, or banish a card from the opponent’s graveyard. Infestation Pandemic is a Quick-Play Spell that makes all your lswarm monsters unaffected by Spell/Trap effects for that turn. Finally, Infestation Terminus is a Normal Trap that targets an lswarm monster you control and 2 cards the opponent controls to banish your lswarm and bounce the opponent’s cards to the hand. We end Hidden Arsenal with Sophia, Goddess of Rebirth as a Level 11 that can’t be Normal Summoned or Set, must be Special Summoned by banishing a Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz from field, the summon can’t be negated, and on summon lets you banish all other cards on both players fields, in their hands, and in their graves without letting either player respond to this effect. Overall, this is a great way to end Hidden Arsenal with some of the best archetypes in this series. Constellar and Evilswarm were great competitive archetypes, with Evilswarms able to compete with Dragon Rulers at that time. Gishki got a nice Ritual boss in Zielgigas, Gem-Knights got a few more Fusions and some other good monsters, Laval got their main card to make a Quasar summoning strategy playable with Rekindling, Gustos got a few nice cards even if their best card is generic for everyone to use, and we got some cool anime cards with Tin Goldfish, Gearspring Spirit, and Iron Call. The Esper Star Sparrow cards are probably the weakest in the set, with Sophia being pretty hard to use but fun to build around. Overall it’s a good way to end this series, so many great cards.

Set Rating: 9/10

In Conclusion

This series of sets is probably a good symbol of how archetype design has evolved throughout the years. We started with some archetypes that were nearly unplayable and others that could make a few plays at best and ended with archetypes that felt like they had a better chance at winning games. There’s some pretty poor archetypes in this series still, and other archetypes would get their best support outside Hidden Arsenal, but others were able to thrive based off their support in these packs and would get support even after Duel Terminal ended. There was always gems in these sets though, whether good generic cards or decent archetypes. Some of the best archetypes in this series were probably X-Sabers, Dragunity, Constellar, and Evilswarm. Dragunity still gets support to this day, we’ve seen Gem-Knight and X-Saber cards after, and we know we’ll get an Ice Barrier Structure and potentially a Gusto Structure. This was a fun series and I’m glad we still see the archetypes after Hidden Arsenal ended, even if it all went to main sets.

Set Rankings:

1. Hidden Arsenal 7: Knight of Stars (9/10)

2. Hidden Arsenal 5: Steelswarm Invasion and Hidden Arsenal 6: Omega Xyz (8.5/10)

3. Hidden Arsenal 3 (8/10)

4. Hidden Arsenal 2 and Hidden Arsenal 4: Trishula’s Triumph (7.5/10)

5. Hidden Arsenal 1 (7/10)

Thanks for Reading,

Crunch$G