SDCC: Yu-Gi-Oh! What to expect for the rest of 2012

At San Diego Comic-Con Konami had a huge booth that had it all including playable games like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Metal Gear Solid HD for Playstation Vita. They also had a shopping area that featured tons of Konami products and a few limited edition goods. Even Hideo Kojima stopped by, which was an awesome unannounced surprise, but that’s a story for another post.

On the other side of the gaming and store (which was selling packs, Gold series, and other sets) was the Yu-Gi-Oh! side. On this side you could learn how to play, in case you wanted to help  your friend or girlfriend how to duel and some open tables. You could also make your own token to use for duels just like you can at most high ranking Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments like YCS. Here you saw a glass case showcasing what Konami had planned from now until the end of the year (sorry guys, there were no printed cards inside).

First up to finish up July 2012, we have Hidden Arsenal 6 featuring Steelswarm, Vylonz, Gem Knights, Gishiki and Gusto, along with some powerful XYZ monsters that includes Gem Knight Pearl and more. All cards in the Hidden Arsenal sets are supers with one being a rare secret one.

Personally I am excited now because soon we get Hidden Arsenal 7 featuring Verz, which has the best artwork. Your favorite HA creatures are returning in a darker look.

Hidden Arsenal 6 will be out on July 24th.

Now this one has a lot of talk behind it, The Yu-Gi-Oh! 2012 Holiday Wave 1-Tins Set. Normally with the previous tins we have seen were 2 key monsters from the upcoming or already released set. This time there will be the cover monster from Return of the Duelist Heroic Champion – Excalibur, but the other tin features Evolzar Dolkka, a very hard to pull Secret Rare back from Photon Shockwave. Each set receives 3 Photon Shockwave Booster Pack, 2 Galactic Overlord Booster Pack and 5 promo cards. Each sets includes the cover card, a Wind-Up Zenmaines and 4 other promos which you can check at Konami.com as they get released.

Sadly my camera somehow had corrupted the data, so ill use a stock image for now lol.

The next set to be released will be Return of the Duelist. This set introduces a few new sets that include Magi, Heroic (adds more to the power up Machinas), Photons and Gaga decks. While there were no special mentions of any possible exclusive cards, right now we know it was a very powerful card in the name of Number 6: Chronomaly Atlando that can do some big damage right off the start. This set also features a new Machina XYZ monster which looks like it’s back from the gadget days, along with new support card(s) for heroes, crystal beasts and who knows what other powerful XYZ and effect monsters we will be seeing. The set released on August 28th, and as always you can expect a sneak peek before the release so make sure you to check out your local stores.

This set will also feature a Special Edition that will release a month later. You will get 1 of 2 variant cards and while I tried to get some inside info of what we could possibly expect not to see, the Konami team just laughed as we moved on.

The much talked about Legendary Collection 3: Yugi’s World that was only recently announced right before Comic-Con. Konami continues the Legendary Collection, but this time you won’t be getting a folder and some packs. Instead Konami will be releasing the Legendary Collection in this nifty little collectors box which will retail for 29.99. At first you think it is a bit on the pricey side, which I agree, but then you find out what comes inside. First up will be 5 Mega packs each featuring 3 Holo cards (1 Secret, 1 Ultra, 1 Super) just like Legendary Collection 2 in a 200+ card set featuring cards from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series and having cards like Solemn Judgement, Mirror Force, Book of Moon and others Secret Rare for the first time. Each set will also feature a fold-out dueling board which is double sided, 4 guaranteed promo cards, Five-Headed Dragon, Dark Necrofear, Guardian Eatos and for the first time The Seal of Orichalcos.

Well there is on more thing, finally for the American duelists three special token cards will be released. 2 Kuriboh and one Emissary of Darkness finally make their way and will be Ultra rare. Before you had to look online or find a duelist from Japan and try to get one that way which cost quite a bit, but the three will finally be available so maybe we will see the fluff tokens next? Legendary Collection 3: Yugi’s World drops on October 2nd, 2012.

If you follow OCG stuff you may have seen this set before. Currently in the US, the name is still being determined but it’s known as Structure Deck: Roar of the Sea Emperor. Focused around water/sea serpent types, it’s still a sight to be seen how the set will change from the OCG version, but from what we have seen it shouldn’t change too much. The structure deck will release on October 16th, 2012 for $9.99.

This set got a lot of talking about the moment the picture hit the internet, the Collectible Tins. Wave 2 features Hanzo and Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis as the cover cards. I have heard a lot of complaining about it and decided to ask Konami directly to get the reason why the two were chosen. The team made the decision to choose the Hanzo and Heliopolis due to the artwork when the set releases on October 30th, 2012. Konami realized duelists already know what they want when it comes to the promos, parents just get their kids who play Yu-Gi-Oh! stuff that looks cool. So while many of you aren’t happy with the cover choice, don’t worry they have some plans for what’s inside.

While the set shows 3 Galactic Overloard and 2 Order of Chaos, that is not finalized yet.

On November 13th, the final Yu-Gi-Oh! set releases and it’s Abyss Rising. Not much was talked about since it’s still 4 months away other than it will support the magi set and include other powerful cards from the current series in Japan. Interestingly though Konami will also be releasing a Special Edition for this set that will release on December 11th, featuring 1 of 2 variant cards. Normally we see a Special Edition in every other set and when I asked it was because currently there is no Holiday set coming out yet so they decided to go for another SE, but a holiday version is still in the discussion phase,

Chris Del Castillo

Growing up Chris watched a lot of the original Saturday morning cartoons and developed a love for arts and animation. Growing up he tried his hand at animation and eventually script writing, but even more his love of video games, anime and technology grew.