It’s arguably never been a more exciting or eventful time to be a card gamer. In 2023 alone, we saw Magic: The Gathering celebrate its 30th anniversary, Pokemon launching the incredibly nostalgic 151 set, Disney launching Lorcana, their first ever trading card game and (back to Magic again!) the sale of a single card to none other than Post Malone for an incredible $2 million!
Unbelievably, that’s only a few of the seismic events that sent card games into the stratosphere last year, and now it’s the turn of Yu-Gi-Oh to celebrate a significant milestone, with 2024 marking its 25th anniversary! That’s right, the manga and anime derived game of duelling monsters and devious traps has been in existence for a quarter of a century.
So what does 2024 have in store for Yu-Gi-Oh? Do Konami have big plans for the game’s 25th anniversary? Let’s find out!
1. Maze of Millennia (January 19th, 2024)
It’s fair to say that the first Yu-Gi-Oh release of 2024, Maze of Millennia (check out the full card list here), caused quite a stir; mostly because of one card that was long overdue in being added to the real world version of Yu-Gi-Oh.
I hear you: what do I mean by the real world version of Yu-Gi-Oh? Well, the cards themselves have often been seen in the anime, on occasion making their debut in the show before heading into print so that players can get their hands on them for their own decks.
In the case of a card named Eye of Illusion, it took more than 20 years for it to be added to Yu-Gi-Oh as an actual card! Eye of Illusion was featured as an incredibly powerful card, with it being at the centre of a huge plot point in the second ever episode of the anime.
Of course, with the supernatural, teleporting nature of the card in the anime being somewhat difficult to replicate in reality, it’s not exactly a genuine adaptation of the show’s Eye of Illusion, but it is a powerful card and does utilise at least some of the abilities it displays in the show.
2. Yu-Gi-Oh 2 Player Starter Set (January 26th, 2024)
One of the biggest problems that long running TCGs (Trading Card Games) have is that they can be incredibly intimidating to newcomers. Though long term players only have to pick up on the odd keyword or new card type whenever a new set releases, new players can often find it difficult just to find out where and how they can jump on board.
Which is where the newest Yu-Gi-Oh 2-Player Starter Set comes in; this handy set contains to 44 card decks that players can initially use to play a ‘scripted’ game of Yu-Gi-Oh, following along with the rules on a step by step basis, learning not just from the rules themselves, but by playing through a game together too.
With extra cards that can be added into each deck as you learn more about how the game works, this is the perfect jumping on point for new players; it’s definitely something that publishers Konami should have had available some time ago, but better late than never, eh?
3. Phantom Nightmare Booster Set (February 9th, 2024)
Another set that draws on the 25 year history of Yu-Gi-Oh, Phantom Nightmare featured a new version of Yubel, the antagonist from the 2008 Yu-Gi-Oh GX anime. In this set, we also saw the introduction of the Ashened, Goblin Biker and Voiceless Voice archetypes to Yu-Gi-Oh, making it a pretty impactful set overall!
Phantom Nightmare is also notable for featuring support for the Skull Guardian, White Aura and Yubel archetypes for the first time. Drawing further on Yu-Gi-Oh GX, it also features cards used by the show’s Paradox Brothers, as well as cards used by Sergey Valkov from Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V.
4. Battles of Legend: Chapter 1 (February 23rd, 2024)
The Battles of Legend: Chapter 1 set reprints cards from Battles of Legend: Light’s Revenge, Battles of Legend: Relentless Revenge, Battles of Legend: Hero’s Revenge, and Battles of Legend: Armageddon, as well as a select few cards from other sets too.
Each Chapter 1 pack contains two booster packs of 18 cards each, plus a Secret Rare variant card (1 of 10 to collect overall) and 1 collectible, 6-sided die; there are six different versions of the dice to find, each featuring a different monster. The monster can be either Cyber Dragon, Judgment Dragon, Elemental HERO Stratos, “Number 11: Big Eye, Salamangreat Almiraj or Black Luster Soldier; note that, for some reason, the Black Luster Soldier die is exclusive to specific stores in many different territories worldwide.
5. Legendary Decks II (March 15th, 2024)
As previously mentioned, Yu-Gi-Oh has a rich lore to draw from, which has built up and expanded considerably over the last 25 years. The Legendary Decks II set is, as you’d expect, a follow up to the original Legendary Decks.
This new set features another three classic decks, each of which will be familiar to fans who’ve been on the Yu-Gi-Oh train since the beginning: Yugi’s Exodia the Forbidden One/Dark Magician deck, Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck and Joey’s Red-Eyes Black Dragon deck.
Ultra Rare token cards and three Secret Rare promo cards are also included in this excellent, beautifully packaged set.
6. Speed Duel GX: Midterm Destruction (March 29th, 2024)
The Speed Duel GX format of Yu-Gi-Oh is really interesting, because it adapts the basic gameplay of Yu-Gi-Oh and makes it a much faster paced, slightly simplified experience. It’s also notable in that, if you have cards from a Speed Duel EX set, they’re compatible with the standard Yu-Gi-Oh TCG (unless they’re Skill cards), but the reverse isn’t true; so for example, unless they’re specifically marked as Speed Duel cards, the cards intended for the standard format of Yu-Gi-Oh aren’t compatible with Speed Duel GX.
In the Midterm Destruction box, you’ll find four ready to play decks: Jaden Yuki (with the ‘Neos’ deck), Sartorius Kumar’s ‘Arcana Force’ deck, the Dinosaur deck belonging to Tyranno Hassleberry and, finally, Jim Crocodile Cook’s Fossil deck.
Slight modification of decks is possible with the box’s contents, as there are a further 9 common cards and 4 Secret Rares (of 20 to collect overall) included, along with a play mat featuring Jaden and Sartorius.
7. Legacy of Destruction (April 26th, 2024)
Given that Konami are celebrating Yu-Gi-Oh’s 25th anniversary, it’s no surprise that Legacy of Destruction is another set that has one foot in the past, as well as an eye on the future! The very first series of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime ended with a duel between Yugi and Atem, and it’s cards from that classic battle that Legacy of Destruction features.
Legacy of Destruction isn’t all about nostalgic reprints or updates though; it also features no less than three new archetypes: Ragnaraika, Sangen and Tenpai Dragon.
Further support for the newly added Ashened archetype can also be found within this booster set’s cards.
8. 25th Anniversary Rarity Collection II (May 23rd, 2024)
A sequel set to last year’s 25th Anniversary Rarity Collection, the Rarity Collection II boosters are incredibly exciting for loyal, long term Yu-Gi-Oh fans. That’s because each card in the set is a reprint of a popular card from across the vast history of Yu-Gi-Oh, and each one can be found as one of seven different types of card rarity!
There are even new card treatments, such as the new Prismatic Collector’s Rare and Ultimate Rare cards too. Making their return to Yu-Gi-Oh after a long, eight year absence are popular ‘Silent’ cards, Silent Magician and Silent Swordsman, with powerful cards such as Accesscode Talker and Magicians’ Souls also making a comeback.
9. Realm of Light Structure Deck (June 6th)
Always a popular way for new players to quickly get up and running with Yu-Gi-Oh, or for more experienced players to try out a new archetype, Realm of Light is the 27th deck in the Structure Deck series.
It focuses on the popular Lightsworn archetype, and addresses some gaps and weaknesses that Lightsworn players are likely very familiar with. For example, Extra Deck monsters for Lightsworn have not previously available; however, in the Realm of Light Structure Deck, support comes in the form of a new Synchro Monster, named Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn. In addition to this, there are 2 Lightsworn Tuner monsters and, to combat a specific vulnerability of Lightsworn Decks, a new Spell Card named Lightsworn Sanctuary can also be found here.
10. Battles of Legend: Terminal Revenge (June 20th, 2024)
Konami really are doing a great job of bringing lots of new archetype support to Yu-Gi-Oh with this year’s releases, and that’s continuing with the Battles of Legend: Terminal Revenge set. Within this set, there’s support (and new members!) for the Ice Barrier, Genex, R-Genex, Infernoid and numerous Ritual Beast related archetypes.
In addition to that, you’ll also find support for cards that were introduced in recent sets, Phantom Nightmare and Legacy of Destruction. Furthermore, there’s cards in Terminal Revenge that cover different eras of the manga and anime, including Sky Strikers.
11. The Infinite Forbidden (July 18th, 2024)
The striking booster pack art for The Infinite Forbidden reveals that the set will feature Exodia, the history of which (in keeping with the 25th anniversary celebrations) goes way back to the very first episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime!
There’s also going to be support for an incredible range of archetypes, along with the first support for Emblema, Exod, Millennium and Sennen, plus the introduction of a further three new archetypes: Fiendsmith, Multchummy and White Woods.
However, the star of the set is undoubtedly going to be the new Exodia Fusion Monster, which can’t be destroyed by card effects; additionally, it can also add your current Life Points to its Attack Points, every single turn.
12. Retro Pack (23rd August, 2024)
Though the Yu-Gi-Oh Retro Pack was initially released back in 2008, interestingly it never made it to America. That changes, very belatedly, this year; the Retro Pack is finally arriving, with an upgrade or two to the set!
The original purpose of the Retro Pack was to bring cards to European Yu-Gi-Oh fans, which hadn’t previously been released in the territory. The Retro Pack reproduces the cards with their original names, frames and text, even reproducing the ‘Limited Edition’ label on the ultimate classic card, Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Just one change has been made, but it’s one that collectors and fans are very unlikely to complain about; the pull rates for foil variants has doubled from those in the original set!
As more releases are revealed, we’ll make sure to update this article with more details; while you’re here, why not check out our best trading card games list, to see if you find any new games beyond Yu-Gi-Oh that pique your interest?
