Breaker of Shadows – Preview

On January 14, 2016 by Niclas Leichnitz

Breaker of Shadows - Preview

Hi Yu-gi-oh! Community, my name is Niclas Leichnitz and today I will talk to you about the new set Breakers of Shadow (BOSH) which, in my opinion, is one oft he best sets ever released!

Now the most important question is how will BOSH influence the current metagame? The answer is „a lot“. With the release of Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, Performapal Monkeyboard and some other cards, the pendulum decks will reach a new insane power level, but BOSH also contains a lot of staple cards which will be needed in every deck; for example Twin Twisters, Cyber Dragon Infinity or Traptrix Rafflesia. Let’s get more detailed!

Changes to the current Pendulum Performage deck (PePe)

Performapal Monkeyboard
Earth | Beast | Pendulum Effect
Pendulum Scale 1 | Level 6 | 1000 ATK/2400 DEF


Pendulum Effects:
You can only use the (2) Pendulum Effect of “Performapal Monkeyboard” once per turn.
(1) Unless you have a “Performapal” card in your other Pendulum Zone, this card’s Pendulum Scale becomes 4.
(2) During your Main Phase, if this card was activated this turn: You can add 1 Level 4 or lower “Performapal” monster from your Deck to your hand.

Monster Effect:
(1) You can discard this card; reveal 1 “Performapal” or “Odd-Eyes” monster from your hand, and reduce the Levels of that monster and all monsters with the same name in your hand by 1 until the end of this turn (even after they are Summoned/Set).


Performapal Monkeyboard is one of the most broken cards in BOSH in my opinion. His ability to search any Performapal card, including Performapal Skullcrobat Joker and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer is awesome since it basically sets your pendulum scales for free!
Besides Pendulum Sorcerer and Skullcrobat you can also search this card from BOSH with Monkeyboard.

Performapal Guitartle
Water | Aqua | Pendulum Effect
Pendulum Scale 6 | Level 1 | 300 ATK/400 DEF


Pendulum Effect:
You can only use this Pendulum Effect of “Performapal Guitartle” once per turn.
(1) If a “Performapal” card is activated in your other Pendulum Zone: You can draw 1 card.

Monster Effect:
(1) Once per turn: You can target 1 card in your Pendulum Zone; until the end of this turn, increase its Pendulum Scale by 2.


Basically, after you add your Skullcrobat Joker to your hand with Monkeyboard, you search Guitartle, which is not only a perfect matching Pendulum Scale to Monkeyboard for the deck, but also gives you a free draw. However, we haven’t even reached the best part.

Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer
Earth | Spellcaster | Pendulum Effect
Pendulum Scale 2 | Level 4 | ATK 1500/DEF 800


Pendulum Effect:
If a “Performapal” monster(s) is Pendulum Summoned to your side of the field: All “Performapal” monsters you currently control gain 1000 ATK until the end of this turn (even if this card leaves the field).

Monster Effect:
If this card is Special Summoned: You can target up to 2 cards you control; destroy them, and if you do, add “Performapal” monsters with different names from your Deck to your hand, except “Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer”, equal to the number of monsters destroyed. You can only use this effect of “Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer” once per turn.


The moves this card enables are insane. Destroying your own cards is really powerful in PePe decks because of Performage Plushfire. It will just replace itself with a Damage Juggler or anything else. Furthermore, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer has great synergy with Guiding Ariadne, that will get you lots of Counter Traps to your opening hand. Apart from that, you can do amazing tricks, like pendulum summon him, destroy your scales and add Scullcrobat Joker and Monkeyboard to the hand; then you are not only safe from opposing wavering eyes, but also have a good hand for your next turn. His scale of 2 also fits really well into the deck, since lower scales are rarer than higher ones.

If we take a quick look in the OCG metagame, we see some variations in PePe builds. There are mainly 3 Builds; one of them being the Dracoslayer Build, which is the most explosive one in my opinion.

Draco Face-Off
Quickplay Spell Card


Reveal 1 “Dracoslayer” and 1 “Dracoverlord” Pendulum Monster from your Deck, have your opponent randomly choose 1 of them, and you either place it in your Pendulum Zone or Special Summon it, also add the other Pendulum Monster to your Extra Deck, face-up. You can only activate 1 “Draco Face-Off” per turn.


This card works well in combination with Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer and Vector Pendulum, the Dracoverlord. BOSH even contains another Dracoslayer Monster:

Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer
Light Dragon | Pendulum
Pendulum Scale 3 | Level 4 | ATK 1950/DEF 0


Pendulum Effect:
You can target 1 card in either player’s Pendulum Zone; destroy it. This effect can only be used once while this card is face-up in the Pendulum Zone.


He seems to be have manifested draconic power similar to the mysterious hexes used by the clan of the Dracoverlord, but he has lost all memories of who he was before he became the Dracoslayer, so the truth is unknown. Believing Dragon Alchemy is the key to breaking this curse and unlocking his memories, he continues his journey, fighting the evils of the Dracoverlord wherever he finds them. One good aspect of this card is just being a Dracoslayer. This allows you to continue with XYZ plays by him summoned off an Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer. Also it is useful with Draco Face-Off.

The second build of PePe relies on Guiding Ariadne to get as many Counter Traps in your first turn as possible.

Guiding Ariadne
Light | Fairy | Pendulum Effect
Pendulum Scale 3 | Level 4 | ATK 1700/DEF 800


Pendulum Effect:
You do not pay LP to activate Counter Trap Cards. You do not discard cards to activate Counter Trap Cards.

Monster Effect:
If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can reveal 3 Counter Trap Cards from your Deck, your opponent picks 1 for you to add to your hand, and you shuffle the rest back into your Deck.


In combination with Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer, Wavering Eyes and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer this can explode quickly. With the right opening hand you can start with a +10 in terms of card advantage and 4 Counter Traps added to your hand. But what to get with Ariadne? The answer is also found in BOSH!

Solemn Strike
Counter Trap Card


When a monster(s) would be Special Summoned, OR a monster effect is activated: Pay 1500 LP; negate the Summon or activation, and if you do, destroy that card.


The „Solemn“ counter traps (NOT YOU, SOLEMN WISHES!) were always known for being the best and this trend still continues. With the release of Solemn Strike, you have 4 Solemn Warnings in your deck, because Solemn Strike can also negate a Pendulum Summon! Im curious to see how much the Ariadne Build will be played in the TCG because OCG players dropped it a while after the release out of their decks. But just to mention, Solemn Strike is also viable in any other deck.

There is also the Pure PePe build with nothing else added from the above. Enough about PePe builds, now we hop into the new staples which you guys should pick up!

Cyber Dragon Infinity
Light | Machine | XYZ Effect
Rank 6 | ATK 2100/DEF 1600
3 Level 6 LIGHT Machine-Type monsters


You can also Xyz Summon Cyber Dragon Infinity once per turn by using a Cyber Dragon Nova you control as the Xyz Material. (Xyz Materials attached to that monster also become Xyz Materials on this card.) This card gains 200 ATK for each Xyz Material attached to it. Once per turn: You can target 1 other face-up Attack Position monster on the field; attach it to this card as a face-up Xyz Material. Once per turn, during either player’s turn, when a card or effect is activated: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it.


At the first look you might wonder how a normal, level 4 based, deck can summon this mean dragon. The answer is simple: Tellarknight Ptolemaeus. You just use Tellarknight Ptolemaeus with 3 Level 4 Monsters, detach 3 to overlay into Cyber Dragon Nova (an old card from the Cyber Dragon Structure Deck) and put Infinity on top. Infinity itself is super strong because it gets rid of opponents monsters; additionally it negate one card per turn which is insane! As you can attach your own monsters to him, you can refill his Xyz Materials as much as you want.
Speaking of really good Rank 4 Xyz Monsters here is the next powerhouse!

Traptrix Rafflesia
Light | Plant | XYZ Effect
Rank 4 | ATK 300/DEF 2500
2 Level 4 monsters


Unaffected by Trap effects while it has Xyz Material. “Traptrix” monsters you control, except “Traptrix Rafflesia”, cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, and cannot be targeted by an opponent’s card effects. Once per turn, during either player’s turn, when the activation timing of a “Hole” Normal Trap Card in your Deck is correct: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card and send an appropriate “Hole” Normal Trap Card from your Deck to the Graveyard; apply this effect as the sent Trap Card’s effect.


This card is super strong against any deck, but especially against the PePe deck, because you just have a searchable Bottomless Trap Hole or Time-Space Trap Hole! It is also great in combination with Treacherous Trap Hole to destroy two Monsters on the field!
Last but not least we get a new super strong staple card in BOSH called:

Twin Twisters
Quick-play Spell Card


Discard 1 card, then target up to 2 Spell/Trap Cards on the field; destroy them.


Twin Twisters is, in my opinion, the best card of BOSH, because it’s so strong in nowadays pendulum decks. You can just discard Performage Damage Juggler to you get a double Mystical Space Typhoon! Also, it has all the good attributes, which we love about MST: it’s a quick play spell what means you can just destroy your opponents trap cards end of their turn, since it can destroy your own cards, it has works well with in combination with Performage Plushfire or Guiding Ariadne.

BOSH offers a way more than just the support for Pendulum Decks. It also gives us some crazy support for our old decks like Mermail:

Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince
Water | Sea Serpent
Level 1 | ATK 800/DEF 0


You can send 1 “Atlantean” monster from your Deck to your Graveyard, except “Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince”; add 1 “Atlantean” card from your Deck to your hand, except “Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince”. If this card is sent to the Graveyard to activate a WATER monster’s effect: Target 1 “Atlantean” monster in your Graveyard, except “Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince”; Special Summon it. You can only use each effect of “Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince” once per turn.


This just change the whole strategy of Mermail Decks. In the OCG they basically dropped nearly all the Mermails except Megalo as they’re not needed anymore.
It also contains support for Buster Blader, Chimeratech, Burning Abyss and Black Luster decks.

Now you know why I think BOSH is one of the best sets in Yugioh history. With the current leaks it seems that Solemn Strike, Cyber Dragon Infinity, Traptrix Rafflesia and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer are Secret Rare so better keep track of your spare money over the next weeks.

I hope you guys enjoyed my article, see you next time in Prague!

ABOUT NICLAS LEICHNITZ
Niclas Leichnitz finished middle school in Cologne (Germany) and plans to study in the mercantile area. Niclas has been a member of United Gosus since 2015, serving on our Intern, Player roster. To learn more about Niclas, please visit his member profile.