5 ghost rares in a single set?! Welcome to Ghosts From The Past, Konami’s yearly Spring reprint set. Previous sets which included ghost rares typically only featured one ghost rare. But now you have the opportunity to add 5 of them to your collection. I’ll be taking a look at what you can pick up in Ghosts From The Past. We'll dissect the new support it brings. And, most importantly, if it lived up to the incredible pre-release hype.
Which Cards Have Been Included In Ghosts From The Past?
Overall, the set contains 132 cards. This is slightly more than usual. The set is made up of the 5 ghost rares and 127 ultra rares. That’s right, the minimum rarity in this set is ultra-rare. This is something to think about when assessing the cost of this set. Each box contains 3 packs of 5 cards. You’re getting a total of 15 cards per box of Ghosts From The Past.
The 5 ghost rares are the following:
- Dark Magician
- Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon
- Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon
- Firewall Dragon
- Black Luster Soldier - Soldier of Chaos".
Elsewhere in the set, you’ll find cards used by Akiza Izinski, Bastion Misawa, Breo, Chazz Princeton, Jaden Yuki, Jack Atlas, Kite Tenjo, Sayer, Seto Kaiba, Shay Obsidian, Specter, Theodore Hamilton, Yugi Muto, Yusaku Fujiki, Yusei Fudo, Yugo and Yuto.
This is a great chance to pick up new members/support for the "Armed Dragon", "Black Luster Soldier, "Blue-Eyes", "Dark Magician, "Dragunity", "Phantom Knights", "Raidraptor", "Shaddoll", and "Xyz Dragon" archetypes.
Going For Ghosts
Obviously, the main attraction of this set is the 5 ghost rare cards listed above, with Dark Magician being the most popular, most sought-after and most valuable card in the set. Duel Monsters era fans will be pleased with Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon. Syncro players receive a Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon to prepare them for the upcoming Legendary Duelists: Synchro Storm booster. Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Chaos finally gets a reprint, only in ghost rare form. And finally, Firewall Dragon makes a return with brand new artwork in the ghost rarity. As expected, these ghost rare cards are incredibly difficult to pack but provide excellent value for collectors and duelists if you manage to get your hands on one or more of them.
Archetype Assists And Newbies
The archetypes supported in this set include Vampires, Lavals, Hieratics, Shaddolls, Nekroz, Fairy Tails, Cipher, and Time Thief. In terms of brand new archetypes, the first one to mention is the Sunvine/Sunavalon archetype from the VRAINS anime, which is a Plant archetype focused on Link Summoning. We also receive the Starry Knight archetype, a gang of Level 4 Fairies (plus Spells & Traps) focused on summoning Level 7 LIGHT Dragons from your hand. Finally, Dragunity cards from the OCG’s Structure Deck make an appearance here in Ghosts From The Past, with “Dragunity Arma Gram”, “Dragunity Legatus” and “Dragunity Remus”, among others.
Noteworthy Reprints
80+ cards have been reprinted in Ghosts From The Past. These include recently supported archetypes, a few classics and a couple of staples. Among the most noteworthy, you can find Laval, Hieratic and Dragunity reprints. There are also Galaxy/Photon, reprints of the entire Time Thief archetype. In addition, a few Madolche reprints, some Salamangreat foil upgrades and miscellaneous reprints for cards. This includes “Armed Dragon LV10”, “Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste”, “Ojama Country” and the very playable/popular “Evenly Matched”. Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste is a personal favourite of mine.
Ghosts From The Past - Final Comments
Overall, there are a few nice reprints but the new Starry Knight and Sunavalon cards aren’t that powerful. You can find “Evenly Matched” which is used in a lot of competitive decks, but apart from that, the 5 ghost rares are the ultimate prize. I like the fact that the minimum rarity is ultra-rare, so you do see some rarity upgrades. Now that the set has been released, you can buy boxes from Zatu, so I’d say it’s probably worth trying your luck on a couple of boxes to see if you can pack those elusive ghost rares. Happy hunting!