We are approaching one of the most hyped sets in Yu-Gi-Oh's history, Magnificent Monsters. This set brings us the new cards from Limit Over Collection: The Heroes and Prismatic Summon Box from the OCG, bringing in some big potential meta contenders, along with Grandmaster Rares for a massive chase. However, we are here today to talk about Genesys impact for these cards, which also means cards like Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Four Heavenly Dragons, Astrograph Sorcerer, the Starfrost Magician, Horoscope Sorcerer, the Stargazer Magician, Cyberse Contract Witch, Decode Talker Integration, and W:P Fancy Ball at least won't be legal for the format. As for the rest of the pool, there are some very powerful cards in this set that will likely shift the Genesys meta at the bare minimum, so we'll go over the cards given points in this set and see how they might be played with their values given.

Kuriboh - Multiply!

We start with Kuriboh - Multiply!, a new Kuriboh who Special Summons itself from the hand when the opponent uses a monster effect or declares an attack, and then, while it is on the field, it can add to your hand or Special Summon a Dark Magician or any monster with 300 ATK and 200 DEF when the opponent activates another monster effect on the field or declares an attack. The main use this card is going to have that is relevant for Genesys is to give Light and Darkness Ritual players even more access to Griffoh, who was previously given 10 points. There's also the potential of this being played alongside Detonating Kuriboh as a mini engine, which is more likely for a lower-ceiling format like Genesys. Considering how this Kuriboh alone basically negates most of the impact from giving Griffoh 10 points, Konami has matched that value here, giving Kuriboh - Multiply! 10 points as well. It's still a decent card; you can still use it with copies of Griffoh for consistency over using more copies of Griffoh, and there might still be merit to running it with Detonating Kuriboh, but these points should limit that purpose for this card.

Dark Magical Curtain

Next is arguably one of the most hyped cards in Magnificent Monsters overall, Dark Magical Curtain. This Quick-Play Spell lets each player summon any DARK Spellcaster from their Deck, at the cost of neither player being able to use their effects that turn; then you add a Spell/Trap that mentions Dark Magician from your Deck to your hand if you summon the classic magician himself, or Dark Magician Girl. This is a great card for Dark Magician, but there are generic uses as well. For one, you could summon a Witch of the Black Forest and send it to the graveyard to search monsters with 1500 or less DEF, like hand traps. There are also some floodgates you can summon with this that weren't pointed in Genesys, like Gravekeeper's Shaman. All this, not to mention the fact it'll be the de facto best target to search off of Dark Magician of Destruction if it remains free, so Konami gave Dark Magical Curtain 30 points. This will likely prevent generic use of the card, and the Dark Magician Deck likely won't even run 3 at this value. It's still powerful enough for the Deck and searchable enough to warrant a copy in Dark Magician, but this card might have been too powerful even in Dark Magician if left free. Now, could they have gone with 20 points on this? Maybe, but 30 seems to be the safe number.

Winged Kuriboh Sabatiel LV10

We got a second Kuriboh to cover in this set, this time supporting the HERO archetype with Winged Kuriboh Sabatiel LV10. This monster lets you reveal itself in the hand and pay half your LP to add any Polymerization Spell or Fusion Spell from your Deck to your hand, locking you only to summoning HERO monsters for the rest of the turn from your Extra Deck. There's also the effect to summon itself from the hand when your LP are 1000 or less on the opponent's turn, burning the opponent for the ATK of the strongest monster they control, but the primary use here is to search Polymerizations or Fusion Spells. This can also mitigate the costs on cards like Super Polymerization and Fusion Destiny in the HERO Deck, so Winged Kuriboh Sabatiel LV10 has been given 7 points. This is still a HERO exclusive card, but Genesys might have tried to play it generically for a Super Polymerization searcher instead of having to rely on multiple Super Polymerization, even if they can't use it the same turn they search it unless they summoned Favorite HERO Flame Wingman or Favorite HERO Shining Flare Wingman. The 7 points keep it HERO exclusive more than likely, prepping for the new Destiny HERO support in Beyond the Brave.

Stardust Dragon - Victim Sanctuary

Next up is the most generic card that will be Genesys viable in this set by far, Stardust Dragon - Victim Sanctuary. This generic Level 8 Synchro can negate any opponent's effect they use in response to your effect, destroying said card, and it can banish itself from the graveyard as a Quick Effect if a monster in your possession is tributed to summon any Stardust Synchro from your Extra Deck. Not only can this be a great way to protect your combos from hand traps if you manage to get it onto the field, but then you can be rewarded with either a second copy of this monster, or something like the original Stardust Dragon or Stardust Warrior for some backup. This was likely to be run in any Genesys Synchro Deck that can fit it in, so it's been given 15 points to start. This should still be a good generic Extra Deck option, but I doubt players will use 2, likely favoring Stardust Warrior as the monster you'll float into since he remains free of points and has Special Summon negation. Great card, but likely too powerful to be free in this format.

Starjunk Synchron

Next up is Starjunk Synchron, a retrain of the classic Junk Synchron that can be treated as any Synchron for a Synchro Summon of the monsters requiring specific Synchrons, can Special Summon itself from your hand along with a Level 2 or lower monster from your graveyard with its effects negated and locking your Extra Deck plays to Synchro Summons, and can banish itself from the graveyard to prevent your Junk Warriors from being destroyed by the opponent's card effects that turn. The best use here is likely to revive a Level 2 monster with his effect to Synchro Summon your Junk Speeder, also mentioning Junk Warrior gives you extra searchability on top of the fact he is a Synchron monster. Starjunk Synchron has been given a single point, likely to prevent it from being run with Junk Speeder's 100 points, just like other Synchrons like Jet Synchron or Assault Synchron. The points on Junk Speeder are already harsh enough for Synchron players that I don't know if we need to limit the Synchrons that can be run alongside it. Sure, Speeder is powerful, but 100 points does limit the generic Synchros that can be run alongside it, which the best Synchros in this format seem to get points at some stage already. It's minimal to how Synchron will likely already play in Genesys, considering they are likely skipping out on Speeder in favor of other options at the very least.

Synchro Emergency

The last Synchro-related card to get pointed is Synchro Emergency, a Normal Trap you can use from the hand if only the opponent controls a monster, letting you summon any monster from your hand with its effects negated; then if your opponent controls a monster summoned from the Extra Deck, you can summon any Synchron Tuner from the Deck. Until the end of the next turn after this resolves, you can only summon Synchros from the Extra Deck, but this lock isn't very relevant considering you're running it exclusively in Synchro strategies. It can also banish itself from the graveyard to immediately let you Synchro Summon as well. It's an amazing turn 0 play for any Synchro Deck, giving you two bodies on your side of the field and then immediately being able to let you Synchro Summon, which you could use for something like board breaking by making Black Rose Dragon, or to get some disruptive monsters on the opponent's turn like F.A. Dawn Dragster or Draco Berserker of the Tenyi while they make their plays. It's another card too powerful to be free, so it's been given 5 points. It keeps the card playable in Synchron at the bare minimum, since that Deck doesn't need too many high point values, and it's cheap enough if you want to play it generically in any Synchro strategy with your Synchron of choice as a brick.

Number 39: Utopia, Emissary of Light

Now for Number 39: Utopia, Emissary of Light, a monster that cannot be destroyed in battle with non-Number monsters, can detach a material from itself as a Quick Effect to prevent the first destruction of a monster you choose that turn via battle or card effect, and when the second attack of each turn is declared, this card can gain 2500 ATK and gain the effect where when it destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard, you can summon it to your field. A great generic Rank 4 for Decks that can make it, as it is difficult to destroy in battle at the bare minimum, and it can become a Goyo Guardian to steal whatever you destroy in battle when you attack with this second, helping make OTKs very easy. It's a powerful card, even with the 5 points in Genesys. It shouldn't affect the card's playability too much, but it gives you a slight inconvenience when building your Deck.

Gagaga Magician - Gagaga Magic

Now for a new Rank 4 tool for the Onomat Deck with Gagaga Magician - Gagaga Magic, a Level 4 who can Special Summon himself from the hand along with any Zubaba, Gagaga, Gogogo, or Dododo monster from your hand or graveyard, immediately letting you Xyz Summon any Zubaba, Gagaga, Gogogo, Dododo, Djinn, Heroic Champion, Number, ZW-, or ZS- by using those 2 monsters, letting you treat the Level of 1 of the monsters to be the same as the other. It gives you a wide range of good monsters to be able to Xyz Summon, mainly from the Number archetype more than any other. We've seen how good Onomat can be in this format before Dodododo Warrior became 70 points, and the Deck might become a bit more relevant again with this new Gagaga Magician, as well as Gagaga Girl - Cell Phone Subtraction. Considering the position Onomat is in Genesys after the hit to Dodododo Warrior, I don't think they needed more points on the new support, but Gagaga Magician - Gagaga Magic has been given 6 points in Genesys. It should still have a role in Onomat, but I don't know if the archetype would have risen to the top again with the new support. This seems the most likely to be walked back in the future out of any change here, but it's not too expensive to play at least.

Rainbow Bridge Bifrost

Next up is Rainbow Bridge Bifrost, a new Normal Spell to let you search any Field Spell by banishing 3 Level 10 or higher monsters from your Extra Deck, including a LIGHT Synchro. It's basically Terraforming with a "cost" to play. Many Decks that like certain Field Spells and don't need their entire Extra Deck are sure to run this as a staple, so it's been given 10 points. Still slightly less than Terraforming, only due to not being as generic, but the cost can be such a non-factor for many strategies that it didn't need to be any lower than 10 points. It's the simplest card here today, but also one of the most powerful.

Malefic Paradigm Shift

Finally is a new card for Malefic with Malefic Paradigm Shift, a Normal Trap that can be used from the hand by paying half of your LP, letting you add to your hand or activate a Malefic World directly from the Deck, then Special Summons any Malefic monster from your Deck or Extra Deck in Defense Position while ignoring its summoning conditions, then if your opponent controls a monster with 2500 or more ATK, all of their monsters lose 2500 ATK. It's a powerful card for Malefic, but it doesn't make up for the fact that Malefic is still an underwhelming Deck, so I don't really understand the 8 points on this card. Did Konami fear cheating out Malefic Truth Dragon or Malefic Paradigm Dragon? Were they worried about some generic plays that I'm missing? I don't see the power in Malefics, even in Genesys, so this might be another card they walk back and put to 0 points later, or some powerful play shows up that warrants the points. It can help make powerful Synchros thanks to Malefic Paradox Gear and Malefic Parallel Gear, I guess.

Conclusion

Overall, I do think Konami handled the most important cards that needed to be addressed, and a few they probably didn't need to worry about. Dark Magician, the Pharaoh's Servant will still be great for Dark Magician Decks and can also make up for 30 points on Dark Magical Curtain; the Favorite HERO Fusions both can be great Super Polymerization targets for coverage, and Assault Blackwing - Kusanagi the Gathering Storm can be a strong OTK tool for Synchro Decks, but nothing there needed to be addressed. Something toxic could come from Underworld Circle, but I'm pretty doubtful. It's fine for the point values for the new cards, just before we get some even stronger cards for Genesys to worry about, like The World's Greatest Gallant Thief, Spatial Trunade, and Mind Scan in Beyond the Brave and Magnificent Maestros, so we'll see how those cards and others are addressed when those sets release. We'll see how the meta shifts from here and if Blitzclique is dethroned as still the best Deck of the format, seemingly.