Amazing Defenders: A Review of the New Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Archetypes

Amazing Defenders is the newest Yu-Gi-Oh!TCG set and its cards are valid since January 20th, 2023. This set brings 3 new archetypes to the game: Rescue-ACE, Purrely and Mikanko. Besides that, some reprints were also released, but nothing too relevant.

Check out below an analysis on Amazing Defenders' new archetypes!

Rescue-ACE

Rescue-ACE seems to be efficient at placing their boss monster, Rescue-ACE Turbulence, on field easily and this is a positive point to this deck, besides counting with an excellent Field Spell, Rescue-ACE HQ. However, the "Turbulence" interaction effect is quite reactive, which makes it rather slow.

As for its other effect of playing up to 4 cards directly from the deck, it would be insane, but out of the 4 targets available, only EXTINGUISH! gives you an actual nice interaction effect. Though the archetype has a cool theme, it delivers very little in a duel.

Rescue-ACE Impulse is a good interaction card in the archetype.

When your opponent activates a monster effect on field, you can activate your Quick Effect of Tributing this card from hand or from field to Special Summon 1 Rescue-ACE Machine monster directly from your deck.

Besides that, during your Main Phase, it is possible to deny the effects of the monster with the highest ATK on your opponent's field.

Rescue-ACE Air Lifter stands out as it is able to search the deck's field spell, Rescue-ACE HQ, besides two other archetype spells. It also has a Quick Effect when your opponent activates a monster effect on the field, which allows you to Tribute this card from hand or the field to Special Summon 1 Rescue-ACE monster from your hand.

Rescue-ACE Monitor is the archetype's finder of trap cards. Just like the previous monsters, it also counts with a Quick Effect when your opponent activates a monster effect on the field, which allows you to Tribute it so that later, you Special Summon 1 Rescue-ACE monster from your graveyard.

Rescue-ACE Hydrant is very important for this archetype and is its main monster finder in the deck. Its other effect allows you to activate 1 Quick-Play spell or Trap Card in the same round it was placed face down on field through the effect of a Rescue-ACE card.

Besides that, it counts with a continuous effect that protects it from being chosen as the target of attacks or effects as long as you control a Rescue-ACE monster with a different name. Another factor that increases the importance of this card is that your Quick-Play Spells and Normal Traps get better effects when it's in play.

Rescue-ACE Fire Attacker is an extender that can summon itself through Special Summon from your hand when another Rescue-ACE monster is summoned to the field.

Its second effect allows you to draw 2 cards and afterward, send 1 card from your hand to the graveyard, as long as one or more cards were added to your opponent's hand, but it can't be through drawing.

Rescue-ACE Fire Engine is another extender that can summon itself through Special Summon from your hand when another Rescue-ACE monster is summoned to the field.

The difference is in its second effect, which can be activated if one or more monsters were Special Summoned on your opponent's field, and it allows you to summon 1 Level 4 or lower Rescue-ACE monster from your hand, deck or graveyard.

Rescue-ACE Turbulence is the archetype's boss monster, and it counts with the insane effect of placing up to 4 Rescue-ACE Quick-Play Spells or Normal Traps with different names face down on the field directly from your deck. . Besides that, you can destroy 1 card on the field if another card you control leaves the field through any opponent's activated effect.

Though it is a high-level monster, you can summon it pretty easily, be it through effects of the other monsters in this archetype or by banishing 2 Rescue-ACE cards from your graveyard.

Rescue-ACE HQ is the archetypes field spell, and it is very important for the deck. Its worse effect increases the ATK/DEF of Rescue-Ace monsters by 500 points, as long as your opponent controls a monster. Besides that, during your Main Phase, you can Normal Summon 1 Rescue-ACE monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set.

And more, once per round you can recycle 4 of your Rescue-ACE cards which are banished and/or in your graveyard by shuffling them into your deck and later, draw 1 card.

RESCUE! has the effect of Special Summoning 1 Rescue-ACE monster from your graveyard. But if you control Rescue-ACE Hydrant, you can summon one monster from your opponent's graveyard instead.

ALERT! has the effect of adding 1 Rescue-ACE monster from your graveyard to your hand. But if you control Rescue-ACE Hydrant, you can add 1 Rescue-ACE monster from your deck to your hand.

CONTAIN! allows you to target 1 opponent Effect Monster, negate their effects and prevent them from attacking until the end of that round, as long as you control 1 Rescue-ACE monster. If you control Rescue-ACE Hydrant, this monster won't be able to be used as material for a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link Summon that round.

EXTINGUISH! allows you to destroy 1 Effect Monster in your opponent's field, as long as you control 1 Rescue-ACE monster. If you control Rescue-ACE Hydrant, your opponent won't be able to activate the effects of the monster destroyed, nor of any of its copies during that round.

Purrely

Purrely is quite a peculiar deck and its whole strategy is based around Purrely, which needs to be combined with the archetype's Quick-Play Spells, so it can access the "smaller" Purrely Xyz. From the on, your goal will be to attach the maximum number of cards to the Xyz monster you control, so you can access the "bigger" Xyz monsters.

Expurrely Noir helps you control your opponent's graveyard resources, and Expurrely Happiness is your true boss monster, which besides negating monster effects, is also your man offensive weapon.

Purrely is the archetype's center card, and it brings with it the deck's name, and so far, it is the only monster in its main deck. If summoned by Normal or Special Summon, you can excavate the 3 top cards of your deck and add 1 excavated Purrely Spell/Trap to your hand, and, besides that, place the rest on the bottom of the deck in any order.

Its main effect consists in you revealing 1 Purrely Quick-Play Spell in your hand to Special Summon 1 Xyz monster from your Extra Deck which mentions it, using this card you control as material, and, if you do, the revealed card is attached as extra material.

Epurrely Happiness can search for any Purrely deck and add it to your hand, but this effect can only be activated at the end of the Damage Step if this card battled. Besides that, if this card has Purrely Happy Memory as material, you can halve the ATK of a monster on field.

And plus, up to 3 times per round, when you activate a Purrely Quick-Play card, you can activate this card's Quick Effect of attaching that spell card on field to this card as material, and, afterward, return 1 Spell/Trap card your opponent controls to their hand.

Epurrely Beauty can negate the effects of 1 monster your opponent controls until the end of the round, and in case it has Purrely Pretty Memory as material, this is a Quick Effect.

Just like the previous Xyz, up to 3 times per round, when you activate a Purrely Quick-Play card, you can activate this card's Quick Effect of attaching that spell card on field to this card as material, and, afterward, you can change the battle position of 1 monster your opponent controls.

Epurrely Plump is the one responsible for guaranteeing recycling of your resources by attaching up to 2 Spells/Traps from your graveyard to this card as material and, in case it has Purrely Delicious Memory as material, this is a Quick Effect.

Just like the rest of the smaller Purrely Xyz, up to 3 times per round, when you activate a Purrely Quick-Play card, you can activate this card's Quick Effect of attaching that spell card on field to this card as material, and, afterward, banish 1 monster on the field until the End Phase.

Expurrely Happiness is the archetype's Boss, and to be Xyz Summoned it is necessary to use a Rank 2 monster you control with 5 or more materials, which will be transferred to this card. Its effect can be activated during the Main Phase, and it states you can detach 1 Xyz material from this card, and if you do, negate the effects of all face-up monsters your opponent currently controls until the end of that round.

And plus, your opponent can't activate cards or effects in answer to this effect being activated if this card has a Level 1 Purrely monster as material. Besides that, when an attack is declared involving this card with 5 or more materials, you inflict 1500 damage to your opponent.

Expurrely Noir is like a second boss to the deck, but is much more defensive. Just like its counterpart, to Xyz Summon it, it is required you use a Rank 2 monster you control with 5 or more materials, which will be transferred to this card. Its interesting trait is that as long as it has 5 or more materials, it won't be affected by your opponent's activated effects.

Its main effect consists in placing a card from your opponent's graveyard at the bottom of their deck, and in case this card has a Level 1 Purrely monster as material, this is a Quick Effect.

Stray Purrely Street is the deck's field spell, and it has a continuous effect which protects your Purrely monsters from being targeted by effects in the round they are Special Summoned. Besides that, if a Purrely Xyz monster leaves the field because of an opponent's card effect, you Special Summon a Level 1 Purrely monster from your deck or graveyard.

During End Phase, you can also attach a Purrely Quick-Play Spell from your deck or the graveyard to a Purrely Xyz monster on your field as material.

My Friend Purrely is the deck's continuous effect, and it has the effect of revealing 3 Purrely cards from your deck and your opponent chooses 1 of them randomly to add to your hand.

Besides that, if one of your Purrely Xyz monster leaves the field because of an opponent's effect, you can add up to 3 Purrely Quick-Play Spells with different names from your graveyard to your hand.

Purrely Happy Memory is the first of the archetype's Quick-Play spells and through its effect, you can choose 1 card on the field, and until the end of the next round, the first time it would be destroyed by a card effect, it is not destroyed.

After that, you can apply the effect of discarding 1 card and, if that happens, Special Summon 1 Level 1 Purrely monster from your deck. Besides that, a Purrely Xyz monster that has this card as material gains the effect of being able to attack monsters multiple times up to the number of this card's copies attached to it +1.

Purrely Pretty Memory is another of this archetype's Quick-Play spells and its effect makes both players get 1000 LP, and afterward, you can apply the effect of discarding 1 card and, if that happens, Special Summon 1 Level 1 Purrely monster from your deck.

Besides that, a Purrely Xyz monster that has this card as material gains an effect that allows you to send another card you control to the graveyard and, later on, attach 1 card your opponent controls to this card as material.

Purrely Delicious Memory is the last Quick-Play spells for this archetype and through its effect it is possible to protect 1 monster on the field from being destroyed in battle until the end of the following round. After that, you can apply the effect of discarding 1 card and, if that happens, Special Summon 1 Level 1 Purrely monster from your deck.

Besides that, a Purrely Xyz monster that has this card as material gains 300 ATK/DEF for each material attached to it.

Purrelyeap!? is so far the only Trap card in the deck and through its effect you can choose 1 Purrely Xyz monster you control and Special Summon from the Extra Deck 1 Purrely Xyz monster of a different Rank using the first targeted monster as material, but return it to the Extra deck during the End Phase of the next round.

You can banish this card from your graveyard and shuffle up to 3 Purrely monsters back to your deck.

Mikanko

Mikanko is a Ritual deck which interacts with equip spells, which can both equip your monsters to provide better effects to them, and equip your opponent's monsters, so you can take control of the field.

Ohime the Manifested Mikanko is your boss monster, and it can also look for any card of this archetype to add to your hand. The best option will be The Great Mikanko Ceremony, which can be used to summon her and make sure you develop your plays.

This archetype doesn't seem promising enough to be used "on its own" currently, but there are already some players using Mikanko cards as engines, and the Libromancer variant seems to be the most promising one.

Ha-Re the Sword Mikanko has a continuous effect that prevents you from taking battle damage in the battles involving it while it isn't equipped with an Equip spell.

And when equipped, it can't be destroyed in battle, instead, your opponent takes all the battle damage you would receive in battles involving it. Besides that, if it is equipped with an Equip card, you can add 1 Mikanko Equip spell from your deck to your hand.

Ni-Ni the Mirror Mikanko also has the continuous effect of preventing you from taking battle damage in the battles involving it while it isn't equipped with an Equip spell.

When equipped, it can't be destroyed in battle and, instead, your opponent takes all the battle damage you would receive in battles involving it.

The difference is when it is equipped with an Equip card, it has the following Quick Effect: during your opponent's turn, you can take control of 1 opponent's monster until the End Phase.

Ohime the Manifested Mikanko is the boss monster and the only Ritual type card in the deck. Just like the other Mikanko, it can't be destroyed in battle and, instead, your opponent suffers any battle damage you would receive in battles including it, but without it needing to be equipped to do it.

Besides that, you can reveal this card in your hand and add 1 Mikanko card from your deck to your hand and then discard 1 card. It also has a Quick Effect which allows you to equip 1 appropriate monster with an Equip spell from your graveyard.

Heavenly Gate of the Mikanko is the archetype's field spell, and it makes all opponent monsters attack your monsters equipped with an Equip card, if possible.

And, if your Mikanko monster battle, your opponent can't activate effects until the end of the Damage Step. Besides that, if a Mikanko monster attacks, at the end of the Damage Step you can send 1 equipment card you control to the graveyard and this monster can make another attack on a monster in a row.

The Great Mikanko Ceremony is one of the best cards in the deck, and also the only Quick-Play spell in the archetype.

Through its effect, it is possible to summon the deck's Boss Monster ignoring its Summon conditions or any other Mikankos in your hand, but you'll have to return it to your hand during your opponent's End Phase.

Besides that, during the Main Phase, you can banish this card from your graveyard to send 1 Mikanko card from your deck to the graveyard.

Mikanko Fire Dance is an equipment spell and, at the same time, an extender, as with its effect, you can Special Summon 1 Mikanko monster from your hand or the graveyard, and if that happens equip it with this card. So, you can Special Summon 1 monster in your opponent's graveyard to their field, but with their effects negated. Besides that, the equipped monster can't be destroyed through card effects.

Mikanko Purification Dance is one more equipment spell, can only be equipped to a Mikanko monster and, besides that, the equipped monster can't be destroyed through card effects.

If one or more monsters were Special Summoned on your opponent's field, you can return to hand 1 monster you control and 1 monster your opponent controls.

Mikanko Water Arabesque is another equipment spell and, just like before, it protects the equipped monster from being destroyed through card effects.

Its difference is because it is a consistency card, once during its Main Phase, you can Special Summon 1 Mikanko monster from your hand or deck with a different name from the equipped monster and if that happens, equip this card to it and, afterward, return the moment to which this card was equipped to the hand.

Mikanko Reflection Rondo is the archetype's last equipment card, and it can be equipped to a monster your opponent controls. You can control 1 copy of this card.

Take control of the equipped monster while you control a Mikanko monster. The equipped monster can't activate its effect for as long as you control it, and besides, when this card leaves the field, send this equipped monster to the graveyard.

Mikanko Kagura is the deck's Ritual spell and, differently from all other cards of this type, it allows you to destroy cards your opponent controls up till the number of equipment spells with different names in your graveyard right after you Ritual Summon, and if you do, it deals 1000 LP damage to your opponent for each card destroyed this way.

Mikanko Promise is a trap that has the effect of Special Summoning 1 Mikanko monster from your hand or your deck, and then it equips it with 1 appropriate equipment spell from your hand or graveyard.

Mikanko Rivalry is one more trap and the last card in this archetype. If you control a Mikanko monster, choose 1 face-up Monster on field and equip it with 1 appropriate equipment card from your deck.

Besides that, as long as this card is in your graveyard, if one or more equipment cards were sent to the graveyard, you can banish this card and, later, choose 1 equipment spell in your graveyard and add it to your hand.

What did you think of the new archetypes? Which is your favorite? Leave your comment down below.

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