Yu-Gi-Oh! The Chronicles Deck - The Fallen & the Virtuous (All-Foil Edition) is a new structure deck that coincides with the short, animated episodes of the "Story of White" made by Konami Animation. This deck is the first of its kind, with future Chronicles decks already planned for next year and beyond. The deck includes 50 cards with 1 bonus card that can be 1 of 6 different cards in an upgraded rarity (Secret rare or Starlight rare), similar to the Blue-Eyes White Destiny structure deck. All the cards come in foil with some cards coming in alternate artworks. The Fallen & the Virtuous offers a strong starting point for competitive play with a fan favorite archetype.

Notable Reprints

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The Chronicles deck includes reprints of cards many duelists have been waiting to get their hand on.

Firstly, The Bystial Lubellion and Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous are two cards in demand that haven't seen printings since the 25th Anniversary Dueling Heroes Mega Pack (excluding Cartesia's new alt art). Triple Tactics Thrust and The Black Goat Laughs are powerful staple cards that held higher price points before this but can go in nearly every deck and swing the tide of a duel in your favor. Lastly, Nibiru, the Primal Being and Super Polymerizations are staples that have seen several reprints at this point but are always nice to include regardless, since they are so widely used.

New Cards

While this new structure deck is mostly a reprint deck that catches players up with the current Branded lore, there are a couple of new cards to enjoy. The first is the new Spell card, The Fallen & the Virtuous. As the namesake of the deck, this card is a perfect new addition to compliment the Branded playstyle. The effect is that you send 1 monster that mentions Fallen of Albaz from your Extra Deck to the GY, then either target 1 face-up card on the field and destroy it. Or if you have an Ecclesia Monster in your field or GY, you can target 1 monster in either GY to special summon it to your field. The versatility is nice because you can use the card's first effect to either get rid of one of your opponent's problem cards or destroy your own monster to dodge effects like Effect Veiler or Infinite Impermanence. Also, similar to MirrorJade the Iceblade Dragon, the cost of the card's activation is to send from your Extra Deck to the GY, which cannot be negated. So, at the very least you're likely to benefit from the sent monster's End Phase effect. Lastly, the card is always treated as a "Branded" and "Dogmatika" card, so it becomes searchable by a few other cards.

The Chronicles deck also comes with a brand-new Fusion monster, The Dragon that Devours the Dogma. This 3000 ATK power boss monster uses Fallen of Albaz + 1 light or dark monster + 1 effect monster. Since it requires 3 materials, you won't be able to summon this directly from the effect of Branded Fusion. However, you can still summon it from the effect of Fallen of Albaz itself if your opponent controls the other two materials needed. When it's special summoned, you can shuffle up to 2 cards from any GY(s) and/or banishment into the deck. Also, while an "Eccleisa" monster is on the field or GY, it gains 500 ATK and is unaffected by other cards. The Dragon that Devours the Dogma really showcases the strong bond between Albaz and Ecclesia and promotes deck-building with both protagonists in mind.

How to Upgrade

Now that we know what the deck offers, here are the cards not included that you could add to the deck to make it stronger. First off, Albion the Sanctifire Dragon is another one of Fallen of Albaz's Fusion monsters with a strong effect. It offers targeting protection for itself and can also reborn two monsters from each graveyard to the field during your opponent's turn. You can use this effect to bring back Fallen of Albaz to your side of the field and use its effect to fuse with an opponent's monster as a form of disruption. Next, we have Despian Quaeritis, a fusion that requires 1 Despia monster and 1 light or dark monster. Despian Quaeritis is a good card to summon off of Branded in Red or Branded Banishment on your opponent's turn to stop them in their tracts. Its effect lowers the attack of all monsters on the field to 0, except level 8 or higher Fusion monsters. Moving on with more staple recommendations are Garura, Wings of Resonant Life and Mudragon of the Swamp. These are your generic targets for Super Polymerization, which is included in the deck. Other more generic Fusion monsters that play well with Albaz and friends are Khaos Starsource Dragon and Borreload Furious Dragon. Both of these monsters offer offensive capabilities by being able to destroy cards your opponent controls.

It's great to see a fan-favorite archetype continue to get new cards adding to it's playability in the modern format.