Labyrinth of Nightmare: The overview Well, I think we've all been waiting with alot of anticipation for Upper Deck's release of the Labyrinth of Nightmare boosters. Recently, NickWiz1 was kind enough to give us access to the first American spoiler I've seen so far. So what are we to expect from LON? Lets explore a little, shall we? Labyrinth of Nightmare is, in short, to Effect and Magic cards, what Pharoah's Servant was to Trap cards. In fact, the entire set seems to be focusing strongly around getting duelists to give their deck a specific theme. The first thing that hinted at this was the "Spirit Cards." These are cards like Aqua Spirit, The Rock Spirit, and Garuda the Wind Spirit. These cards can only be Specual Summoned on the field by removing 1 monster of whichever type the card selects, from you graveyard and thus, from play. Because of this, I'm expecting to see several new themes to decks, such as Destiny Board Decks, Deck of Masks, and new and improved Elemental Decks (Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Dark, Light). This gives tons of new features for duelists, but also tons of problems. For example, Destiny Board decks aren't going to be that much of a worry, because of Prohibition. Simply throw that card into play and declare the name Destiny Board. Anyone making a deck based on those five cards had better consider this a viable threat, or it'll make building your deck a futile move. Another thing we have to worry about is that this set will focus strongly on removal of cards from the game. Talk about bad news for Exodia decks. Duelists who base their decks on fusions should be pleasantly suprised, however, with cards like Fusion Gate and De-Fusion. Now, at first glance, De-Fusion looks like something that you would want to play against any opponent performing a fusion, but think again. De-Fusion's purpose is based around scenarios where your Fusion Monster is completely paralyzed. Example: I've got B. Skull Dragon on the field, in attack mode with nothing on my opponent's side of the field. I'm getting ready for a nice direct attack of 3200, when my opponent uses their turn to equip my BSD with PARALYZING POTION! ARGH! Nice save, huh? Time to play De-Fusion. Simply return my B. Skull Dragon to the Fusion Deck, and Special Summon my Red-Eyes and Summoned Skull back onto the field for an even nicer 4900 direct attack. In my opinion, anyone who loves Fusions using this card will get a renewed love for their Fusion-Material monsters. My biggest complaint, however, is that I'm starting to sense a slight conspiracy against the American people, by looking at this set. I mean, think about it, we've got Blue-Eyes White Dragon, while Japan has Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. We've got Gate Guardian, while they've got the God Cards. We've got Thousand-Eyes Restrict, while they've got the Five God Dragon. And while I'm on the subject, where's Dark Magician Girl? Bah, I'm just being greedy. I think the ultimate point of this article is that the game is changing even more with every release. With Labyrinth of Nightmare, expect Beatdown Decks to start becoming a thing of the past. Slowly, the old strategies are becoming extinct. You should take this as a sign that it's time to come up with more intricate and strategic decks. tRafe - siliconphlux@hotmail.com