Prologue
When it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh, few cards are more iconic than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Released in the early 2000s, Blue-Eyes White Dragon and its archetype are among the most beloved cards in the game. It's also one of the most supported archetypes over the years.
Back in 2016, Blue-Eyes was one of the strongest decks of the meta. It took 1st and 2nd place at that year's World Championships making it the strongest deck of that event. This was due to the joint TCG and OCG Ban List which left the archetype basically untouched. At the time, Blue-Eyes was a strong deck due to its ability to pressure the board. The deck was great at consistently dropping big Dragons thanks to cards like Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon and Return of the Dragon Lords. This gave the deck a lot of firepower letting them end games in an instant.
In the modern meta, having just firepower isn't all that impressive. While the deck continues to receive support, it also has failed to return to the meta. But, that might change with the new support from Battles of Chaos. In Battles of Chaos, Blue-Eyes receives 5 new cards that all look to be pretty good. Will it awaken Blue-Eyes from its 5 year slumber? Or is it just Kaiba's newest venture? Let's find out!
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv4e7J-Vx_c&ab_channel=BlueRainTCG
New Cards
Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon
Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon is a new Blue-Eyes monster with 3 effects.
Jet's 1st effect activates if a card(s) on the field is destroyed by battle or card effect and lets you special summon it from the hand or GY. This effect is great over the course of a long game since you'll be able to get a lot of value out of it. Since Blue-Eyes is great at destroying stuff, you'll have no problem triggering this time and time again. Usually, these type of effects come with a clause where the monster will be banished if it leaves the field. But, fortunately for us, it seems like Kaiba paid off the creators to skip that part for an infinitely recurring Dragon.
Jet's 2nd effect is a continuous effect which protects your other cards from destruction by your opponent's card effects. This is great against cards with mass destruction like Lightning Storm, Twin Twisters, and Raigeki. Just note that this doesn't protect your cards from your own effects.
And lastly, Jet's 3rd effect lets you bounce a card at the start of Damage Step if it battles. This effect is good since it has both offensive and defensive uses. If attacking, Jet is great at chipping away at your opponent's board. If defending, Jet is a good card to sit on since your opponent may not want to attack it. Either way, this effect can be used to bounce cards like problematic floodgates or Extra Deck monsters.
Overall, Jet is a great card that I'd recommend for any Blue-Eyes deck. It helps you push, protect, and even grind in longer games. Just make sure you have Blue-Eyes White Dragon on your field or in your GY so you can activate Jet's effects.
The Tyrant of D.
The Tyrant of D. is a new Blue-Eyes support card that is similar to Magicians' Souls.
D.'s 1st effect sends a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from your hand or deck to the GY to special summon itself. This effect is great for setting up True Light, Jet, Abyss, and a new Blue-Eyes fusion spell that we'll talk more about later. Naturally, this also makes D. an extender, although it might not be great one since it's a Dark Spellcaster (which doesn't synergize too well with Blue-Eyes).
D.'s 2nd effect lets you discard a card that lists Blue-Eyes White Dragon in its text to special summon a Blue-Eyes monster from your GY. This effect is great for reviving any of your Blue-Eyes monsters including Fusions and Synchros if applicable. You can also use this effect to discard and revive Jet and Abyss Dragon since D.'s 1st effect will provide a Blue-Eyes in the GY.
D.'s 3rd and last effect lets you choose the attack targets for your opponent's attacks if you control a Blue-Eyes monster. This effect is good defensively since it basically prevents your opponent from attacking if they can't beat over Blue-Eyes. Jet also works well here since if your opponent does beat over Blue-Eyes, Jet can revive itself giving you another Blue-Eyes monster.
Overall, D. is a card that adds a lot of utility to the archetype. It gives you an easy way to get Blue-Eyes in the GY and works well with most Blue-Eyes monsters. The attack re-direction effect also comes in handy since it lets D. protect itself.
Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon
Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon is Blue-Eyes's new fusion monster. It's a combination of Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Tyrant Burst Dragon but you can summon it by fusing Blue-Eyes and just a Dragon monster. Tyrant is a powerful attacking card wielding 3 offensive effects.
Tyrant's 1st effect is a continuous effect that gives it protection from the effects of trap cards. This makes Tyrant good against trap-heavy decks as it's a difficult card to deal with. It's also worth mentioning that this makes Tyrant also unaffected by the drawback of True Light.
Tyrant's 2nd effect is also a continuous effect that let's it attack all of your opponent's monsters once each. This effect is great for running through boards with a lot of monsters. Since Tyrant has a respectable 3400 ATK, it should have no problem beating over most monsters in the meta.
And lastly, Tyrant's 3rd effect activates at the end of Damage Step and lets you set a trap from your GY if it battles. This effect is great for recycling any trap but can be even better with Blue-Eyes traps. For example, The Ultimate Creature of Destruction is a great card to recycle that synergizes well with Tyrant. Some other good choices are True Light and Destined Rivals.
Overall, Tyrant is a good monster to summon when you need to beat over a lot of monsters. It has high attack so it can run over most things and will be pretty safe doing so since it's immune to traps. The only issue is summoning it, but that might change with the next card that we're going to talk about.
Ultimate Fusion
Ultimate Fusion is a Quick-Play spell that acts as Miracle Contact for Blue-Eyes but with an additional effect. Like Miracle Contact, Ultimate Fusion also lets you fuse by shuffling monsters from the hand, field, or GY into your deck. But unlike Miracle Contact, Ultimate Fusion can also destroy your opponent's cards if the conditions are met.
Ultimate Fusion is a card that gives Blue-Eyes an easy way to summon their big fusions. Blue-Eyes have always had these huge fusion monsters, but lacked a way to summon them efficiently. With Ultimate Fusion, you can finally make use of that Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon that has been sitting in your Extra Deck since it came out. Ultimate Fusion's additional effect is also nice since it gives you removal. If you need to get rid of something like a floodgate, you can use a Blue-Eyes on the field to get rid of that annoying Summon Limit. In some situations, you can even use Ultimate Fusion on your opponent's turn as a form of disruption.
Overall, Ultimate Fusion is a card that Blue-Eyes has gone too long without. Just be careful when using it. Even though it's a Quick-Play spell, it can only be used in the Main Phase so you won't be able to slam it down during battle and create that surprise OTK.
Apparition with Eyes of Blue
Apparition with Eyes of Blue is our final new card and it's a continuous spell. It has 2 effects which helps summon Blue-Eyes from your hand and maybe another monster along with it.
Apparition's 1st effect lets you reveal a Blue-Eyes White Dragon in your hand upon activation. If you do, you can special summon 1 monster from your hand. Since this effect has no restriction, you can summon almost anything. One good option is Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon which has an effect if it's special summoned. Another good choice is the new Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon which provides early protection. Since this effect has no restriction, you can even summon something like Archlord Kristya with this effect if you choose to play it (though this would be quite bricky).
Apparition's 2nd effect lets you bounce a monster you control to summon a monster from your hand. If you bounced Blue-Eyes White Dragon, you can summon any monster from your hand. If you bounced anything else, you can only summon a Blue-Eyes monster from your hand. This effect synergizes with Apparition's 1st effect and is good for getting on the board. You can also use this effect to cycle your normal summons like Sage with Eyes of Blue.
Apparition is a decent card but might be misplaced in Blue-Eyes. While it does help you establish presence, that wasn't really a problem to begin with. Though you can use it to cycle your normal summons, its uses outside of that are questionable or maybe just undiscovered. Who knows, maybe this card can enable some Dragon Link Blue-Eyes combos.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, this wave of Blue-Eyes support is pretty good. It gave the archetype more utility, easier setup and a stronger grind game. This new support is especially good since it works with almost every Blue-Eyes variant. Since Blue-Eyes is a deck that can go many different ways, it's nice that these new cards don't lock you into just one playstyle. While the control variant will probably benefit the most from the new support, Chaos MAX and OTK variants can definitely make use of them as well.
Although this support probably won't make Blue-Eyes top tier, it does give them a lot of new tools that makes them more competitive than before. While the deck still doesn't have a definitive ending board, it does have its own redeeming qualities. Summoning huge Dragons is always fun, and what better of a Dragon to summon than Blue-Eyes?
