April 11, 2025 marks the release of the new set, Quarter Century Stampede! This set is similar in structure to its sibling set Quarter Century Bonanza, and likewise, features many valuable reprints and rarity bumps. Let's first take a look at what is unique to this set.
Accessibility to the Ultimate-er Dragon
Dragon Master Magia was released originally in Battle of Legend: Terminal Revenge as a Quarter Century Secret Rare - and only as a QCSR. This resulted in a colossal $800+ price tag! While the master of magic and dragons isn't a competitive staple by a long shot, it has been relegated to a collector's piece due to its non-accessible price. If you're looking to add Dragon Master Magia to your Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck, Quarter Century Stampede has your back! Magia is now available in three different rarities.
AlternateArtworks
Quarter Century Stampede isn't only for accesibility! If you're looking to add flair to your existing decks, Stampede introduces new artwork for competitive powerhouses such as Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle, Sky Striker Ace - Raye, Called by the Grave, Pot of Extravagance, and Lightning Storm! If you're a fan of past formats, Stampede also offers alternate arts of cards such as Cyber Dragon Infinity and Tour Guide From the Underworld. The new alternate arts are only available as QCSRs.
Accesibility Reprints
The biggest news for competitive players is a reprint of Mulcharmy Fuwalos. This fluffy bird lets you draw a card every time your opponent summons a Monster from their deck or extra deck, you draw a card. In its hayday, this high-octane hand trap hit over $100! And if you're playing Fuwalos, you're likely playing three copies. Other staples include Lightning Storm and Transaction Rollback - cards that have been reprinted before, but accessibility also includes the ability to obtain cards as well.
Get Your Engines Ready!
Fiendsmith Engraver also headlines this set as a reprint for the popular engine. While this is great for its price, it also resulted in a huge price spike for Fiendsmith's Tract, which does not see a reprint in this set.
Feeling Familiar?
Quarter Century Stampede has its own unique set of cards outside of the main pool called the "nostalgia pool!" This features cards that were mainstays in their own format. With the advent of an official "Time Wizard" format, these cards also add accessibility if you didn't play in these formats..
The GOAT of Formats
The Goat format, known as such because of the prevalence of Scapegoat, was the first historic format to gain popularity. Goat format is known for its slower pace, with the main combo using a Scapegoat token alongside Metamorphosis to cheat out Thousand-Eyes Restrict. Cards reprinted from this era includes Delinquent Duo and Ring of Destruction.
Lighting Strikes Twice for the Edison Format
With a faster pace and more combos than Goat format, Edison is the current fan-favorite for players looking to get away from one-card starters. Edison format features a multitude of synchro strategies such as XX-Sabers, Plants, and Blackwings. Staples reprinted in the nostalgia pool include Royal Oppression, Trap Dustshoot, and Maxx "C"! If you haven't experienced Maxx "C" during its own time or Master Duel, think of it like a Mulcharmy that draws you a card every time your opponent special summons. Broken, or a lifesaver? The jury is still out on that one, but during Edison format, Maxx "C" netted you three or four cards, which was killer in a resource-heavy format. Other great reprints include Gottoms' Emergency Call and XX-Saber Hyunlei.
Life Finds a Way in Dino Rabbit Format
The bulk of reprints in Quarter Century Stampede is aimed at the Dino Rabbit format, aptly named for the best deck of its time, utilizing Rescue Rabbit to summon two of either Kabazauls or Sabersaurus and using them as the materials for either Evolzar Dolkka or Evolzar Laggia - both of which are reprinted in this set!
The second of the four popular decks from Dino Rabbit format was Inzektor. This explosive deck used Inzektor Dragonfly in combination with Inzektor Hornet to gain advantage while tearing the opponent's board. These two are now available in QCSR!
The third Dino Rabbit format deck was Wind-Up! This unique deck involved effects that could only be used once while the Monster was face-up, like a wind-up toy. However, this deck wasn't a one-shot wonder - it featured a great grind game and powerful combos that finished with the fearsome Number 16: Shock Master, a more modern-type floodgate that is banned nowadays.
The fourth and final competitive deck of Dino Rabbit format was a latecomer, but arguably the best suited for the format of smaller threats: Chaos Dragon. This deck used Lightsworn monsters to fuel monsters that were summoned by banishing a Light and a Dark attribute monster from the GY. The most fearsome among these included Lightpulsar Dragon, a monster that floated into an even larger Dragon upon its destruction, and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, which gets a new alternate art in this set!
Hats Off to this Classic Format
The "HAT" format is named after the most iconic deck of the format, "Hand Traptrix Artifact." Quarter Century Stampede features cards from each of these archetypes, including Ice Hand, Fire Hand, Traptrix Myrmeleo, Traptrix Sera, Artifact Moralltach, and even a familiar modern-day staple in Artifact Sanctum! HAT focused on slowly destroying the opponent's board while amassing traps to keep it that way.
Other strategies popped up during this format that countered HAT, taking on differing but effective approaches. Geargia used a slow-and-steady approach that blocked the destructive capabilities of Ice Hand and Fire Hand by setting a beefy Geargiarmor, then busting through with the search power of Gear Gigant X. Madolche on the other hand, used Madolche Anjelly and Madolche Hootcake to XYZ summon Madolche Queen Tiaramisu to remove threats without destroying them. Aside from Queen Tiaramisu, all of the cards listed receive a reprint and rarity bump in this set!
Is this Set Worth Stampeding to Your Locals?
Quarter Century Stampede is an amazing set for reprints both old and new. That being said, Stampede is a huge set - meaning you're not likely to get the exact card you're looking for. If you're looking for a fun set that has a chance of getting great rarity bumps without the need for specific cards, Quarter Century Stampede is a fun buy! But if you're a fan of only the modern or nostalgia pool, you may be better off buying singles.
