The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG features countless memorable monsters that made their debut in the anime or quickly became a staple in the early days of the game. While these cards might be a thing of the past, there are times when they get big shines that give them new abilities or get a refreshing redesign.
These cards may have been powerful, only to be made even more powerful by their glow effects. Meanwhile, other cards never really made an impact before re-emerging as major meta cards. From boss monsters that defined the era to less powerful monsters you know from the anime, here are ten classic monsters that appeared in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.
8 Tomorrow's time wizard
This time your opponent could die
The original Time Wizard is iconic, to say the least. In the anime, Joey would use this card to turn the wheel on his staff to destroy monsters and age his baby dragon 1000 years. In the actual game there is no roulette, but rather a coin toss. Time Wizard of Tomorrow updates the original version of the card by making it a Fusion Monster.
While the effects remain mostly the same, it adds a great quality of life to the results of the coin toss. While a wrong decision always results in you taking damage, this retraining ensures that if you make the right decision, the monster will destroy everything on the field but also deal damage to your opponent instead.
7 Apprentice illusion magician
The illusions take you back in time
The Illusion Type is a relatively new addition to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. It takes many older monster designs and archetypes and brings them all together under one banner. One of the most famous cards introduced in the Battle City arc is Dark Magician Girl.
Even though this card is not the meta-Mage that emerged from the Illusion typing, Apprentice Illusion Magician gives the Dark Magician Girl a brand new look. This time she looks more like the original Dark Magician with her purple outfit, but retains her stats. This card fits best in a Dark Magician deck as it helps you find cards and distribute power boosts.
6 Imitation of a man-eating beetle
There is a beetle in the field
When flip monsters were a viable strategy in the metagame, Man-Eater Bug was one of the best monster destroyers. This sneaky bug can be played face down and if your opponent flips it over you can destroy a monster on the field.
Mimic Man Eater Bug is the reversal that first appeared in Burst of Destiny, and while this version of the map can select a target, it receives a few upgrades. This time it cannot be destroyed by battle, and if it manages to bring a monster onto the field, it copies its attack and types. It also cannot be destroyed by card effects from monsters of the same type.
5 Dragon Master Magia
The Dragon Master Knight returns
Dragon Master Knight combined two of the most powerful cards in the game to create the ultimate monster. Although 5000 attack points is a huge number, it was too much effort to get it out just to get a big beat stick. Dragon Master Magia, on the other hand, improves the card in every way.
By retraining, Dragon Master Magia gains three Omni-Negatives that can be used once per spell, trap, or monster. The only downside to this amazing retraining is that it is only available in one set and at the highest rarity. This has made Dragon Master Magia one of the most expensive cards in Battles of Legeds: Terminal Revenge and the entire game.
4 Gatekeeper combined
Gate Guardian finally achieves real effects
The biggest problem with the original Gatekeeper is that the effect is more of a summoning condition than an actual benefit to summoning. “Gate Guardians Combined” is a Fusion Monster introduced in Maze of Memories that no longer requires you to place three level sevens on the field to spawn.
Instead, Gate Guardians Combined simply requires that you have at least one copy of Kazejin, Suijin, and Sanga somewhere visible. This can mean on the field, in your hand, or face up in the grave. Gate Guardian protects your field from all targeting effects. There are three negatives that also destroy cards on the field. Additionally, when it is removed from the field, it floats into smaller pieces from your extra deck.
3 Mage of Loyalty
A brand new costume change
The original Mage of Faith was a popular flipping monster due to his ability to pull a spell from the graveyard when revealed. This made it easy to get back important cards like Raigeki, Monster Reborn or Change of Heart in the old Yu-Gi-Oh days.
Magician of Faithfulness does the same thing, but has a sleek new look and a few additional effects. This time, when it is revealed, not only do you get the spell from your grave, but you can also replace it with another Mage of Faith or Mage of Loyalty on the field. This makes it easier to get even more spells back.
2 Memento Angwich
A forgotten card became meta
The best shine comes when a card that was considered completely forgettable comes back with a vengeance. The Valiant Smashers set introduced the Memento cards, which are all replicas of classic monsters. One of the most expensive parts of the Memento engine is Memento Angwich.
This card was originally known in translation as Fairywitch or Angel Witch. If this sounds strange to you, it's because the monster was never released in America and was only available in Japan. Regardless, it was a vanilla monster with no effects. As a Memento monster, Angwich can choose other monsters from his archetype to add to your hand. It can also bring back Memento monsters from the Graveyard.
1 Black Luster Soldier Envoy of the Beginning
The ruler of the Chaos Era
One of the most significant reimaginings of a classic monster occurred not recently, but during the Duel Monsters era of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Black Luster Soldier was originally a ritual monster that was equal to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in terms of power. However, his retraining in Invasion of Chaos defined the meta.
Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning was too powerful for the time. All that was needed to Special Summon it to the field was to banish a Light and a Dark. Aside from having 3000 attack points, it could also banish your opponent's monsters at a time when negative attacks were rare.
