So even though I've participated in a few Yu-Gi-Oh! events and made several purchases, I haven't really blogged about my experiences that much these past few months.
That's partly because I know my readership likely isn't too interested, but more-so due to how I was even less interested in writing about it.
The gameplay and my experiences playing the game do not make for something I felt could justify a blogpost. Maybe a younger me who would churn out posts on a near daily basis could but my current 30-something burn-out self absolutely cannot.
But one thing I could blog about that fits the longstanding theme of this blog is another show-and-tell type post for my latest YGO pickup, the deluxe duel set for the archetype Exosisters. Which is my favorite archetype and the only deck I use to play the game.
Before going into the contents of the box, let me just get people up to speed.
In YGO there is a large variety of decks you could play. Usually these are categorized as "archetypes". Specific themes with specific cards that facilitate a specific strategy that give you a shot to win you the game. This deluxe box is meant to commemorate the Exosister archetype.
The general play-style for the Exosisters is boring to describe and for the purposes of this post does not really matter. So I will just bring up the one thing matters which is that they have their normal forms with the brown-ish borders and they also have up their upgraded XYZ forms which are the cards with the black borders. I will just call them boss forms for simplicity.
The more important thing is the imagery, themes and concept. The Exosisters are lesbian nuns who fend off evil spirits and ghosts (basically the Ghostbusters but they're cute anime girls and lesbians) using weapons powered by Holy Water. Hence why their name is a play on exorcism and sisterhood.
Those of you who've gotten cards from me in the past few months may recognize these girls from the cards I've sent as extras that are my temporary calling cards during my last round of downsizing.
Anyway the Deluxe Duel Set box I picked up is essentially a big box of card game gear with the Exosister theming. There's a lot of cool stuff for people like me who really like the deck and the one thing Konami does really well is their cool trinkets and knick knack items for people who really like the YGO intellectual property.
There's small details like how on the side of the box there's a emblem for all four Exosister girls. Technically there's a fifth Exosister but lore-wise she's AWOL at the moment.
In the YGO official art book you can find lore details like that and it's there where fans of the archetype can learn what all of this is even supposed to be about.
I don't know if the powers at be making it so that buying a bunch of different things is a step you have to take to fully understand the background behind what the heck you're playing is all that friendly to the fanbase but I digress.
Inside the box is another box. It looks similar to a typical deck box, right down to how it's shut using magnets. Featuring the boss forms of the four girls.
Open up the first flap and you're greeted with the normal version of the four girls.
Open up the box even further and you'll find it opens up fully into a playable mat. It was also housing a box roughly the size of a tissue box which came with more goodies and can be used for storing your deck and other accessories.
This is the folded out mat/box flipped over. There you can see the two versions of the four girls.
Unlike typical rubber mats the surface of this mat is harder and will be difficult to clean. Because of that I will just keep using my other rubber Exosisters themed mat for games and keep this unused as a collectible.
Now moving onto the box that was in the box, inside that is where the real fun stuff is.
It housed the following:
- A carrying bag
- A box with a coin and dice inside
- Protective sleeves for the cards
- Protective sleeves for the aforementioned protective sleeves
- A custom engraved One-Touch Magnetic Card Holder
- An exclusive Prismatic Secret Rare Exosister Mikailis card
Looking at them in order.
The bag is meant to house this set on the go. Considering how hard the flap on the cardboard box is to re-open it makes sense.
There's a small box with a coin and dice, which aren't necessary for this deck exactly but in YGO (really any card game) there are decks that use both so having one of each at your disposal is a big bonus. There's also enough room in the box (which feels very nice to touch btw, they did not cheap out on the materials) to put in other small items relevant to card games like counters.
Protective sleeves and the sleeves for the sleeves.
In card games you are required to use sleeves that hide the back (blame cheaters who doctor cards), and so it often makes sense to use special sleeves of the characters you like from these games to use as sleeves.
But unfortunately the more you use said sleeves, the more they get damaged over time (bent corners, slowly come apart, etc...) so there are clear outer sleeves which are used to protect the sleeves. It's not uncommon for card gamers to use decks with two, maybe three, layers of protection for their cards and their supplies.
The engraved magnetic holder is specifically for the card that came with this set. But the engravings are generic YGO branding and not super specific to Exosisters so in theory you could put any YGO card in there that you like and it'd still work.
Last but not definitely not least is the one card that came with the set.
The Exosister Mikailis Prismatic Secret Rare.
In YGO there are different parallels with differing levels of shiny. The rarest/most sought after is often the Prismatic Secret. They often command the highest prices on the secondary market.
Mikailis is one of the two most important cards in the entire Exosister archetype so it's no surprise she got the Prismatic Rare treatment. She's also my favorite card in the entire game so no duh I had to get this. I will not use it in actual gameplay and it will still live in the polybag, because I want to preserve it. It's just that cool.
For reference I put it next to another Prismatic Secret card I have of Exosister Magnifica (right) and you can really tell that this Mikailis is just another level of shiny. It's even got hints of rainbow in there for lesbian reasons (for legal reasons this is a joke but I wish it were true).
All in all, quite an impressive set for me personally.
It cost me 9,900 JPY (roughly $67 USD give or take), and it was worth every penny.
While it wasn't a part of this set I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention how there's plenty of room in the box (after you remove the case and bag) for this plastic deck case featuring Mikailis that Konami also released earlier this year.
I got one at a Konami event and another one I bought to actually fold and use.
This year there's been a lot of Exosister themed products to hit the shelves like a structure deck for beginners. Now the road is clear for the deck to actually get some more pieces of support and make it a competitive deck (for all of this hubbub the deck itself is nowhere in the top ranks in terms of competitive playability, not even close).
Regardless I will still use it and take it to events. Because it's my favorite and no other deck will ever be worthwhile to me as this one.
Anyway thank you if you stuck through this long post to the end.
As always thanks for stopping by and take care.
Congratulations on adding this to your collection. I've never played Yu-Gi-Oh!, but I have bought some cards over the years and still have all of the ones you've sent me over the years.. I love the artwork. As for Exosisters... the fact that they're lesbian nuns make them so much cooler.
ReplyDeleteThanks Fuji :).
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