Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: 8 Classic Monsters That Got Glow Ups

The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG has countless memorable Monsters that made their debut in the anime or quickly became staples in the early days of the game. While these cards could remain in the past, there are times when they receive major glow-ups that give them new abilities or a refreshing redesign.

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These cards may have been powerful only to become more so with their glow-ups. Meanwhile, other cards never really made an impact before coming back out again as important meta cards. From era-defining boss Monsters to less powerful ones you remember from the anime, here are ten classic Monsters that got glow-ups in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.

8 Time Wizard Of Tomorrow

Your Opponent Might Die This Time

The original Time Wizard is iconic, to say the least. In the anime, Joey would use this card to spin the wheel on its staff to destroy Monsters and make his Baby Dragon age 1000 years. In the actual game, there is no roulette but a coin toss. Time Wizard of Tomorrow updates the original version of the card by making it a Fusion Monster.

While the Effects remain mostly the same, it does add one major quality of life to the results of the coin flip. While calling it wrong always results in you taking damage, this retrain makes it so that if you call it right, the Monster destroys everything on the field but also does damage to your opponent instead.

7 Apprentice Illusion Magician

The Illusions Take You Back In Time

The Illusion type is a fairly recent addition to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. It takes plenty of older Monster designs and archetypes and puts them all under one banner. One of the most iconic cards introduced in the Battle City arc is Dark Magician Girl.

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While this card is not the most meta magician to come out of the Illusion typing, Apprentice Illusion Magician gives the Dark Magician Girl a brand-new look. This time she resembles the original Dark Magician more with her purple outfit but keeps her stat lines. This card fits best in a Dark Magician deck since it helps you search out cards and hand out power boosts.

6 Mimicking Man-Eater Bug

There Is A Bug On The Field

When Flip Monsters were a viable strategy in the metagame, one of the best Monster destroyers was Man-Eater Bug. This sneaky bug can be played face down and if your opponent flips it over, you can destroy a Monster on the field.

Mimicking Man Eater Bug is the reversion that first appeared in Burst of Destiny, and while this version of the card can choose target, it does get a few upgrades. This time, it cannot be destroyed by battle, and if it manages to pop a Monster on the field, it copies its attack and types. It also cannot be destroyed by Card Effects from Monsters of the same type.

5 Dragon Master Magia

The Dragon Master Knight Returns

Dragon Master Knight combined two of the most attack-heavy cards in the game into the ultimate Monster. While 5000 attack points is a huge number, it took too much effort to bring out just to get a big beat stick. Dragon Master Magia, on the other hand, improves the card in every way.

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The retrain gives Dragon Master Magia three omni negates that can be used once per Spell, Trap, or Monster. The only downside to this amazing retrain is that it is only available in one set and in the highest rarity. This has made Dragon Master Magia one of the most expensive cards in Battles of Legeds: Terminal Revenge, and in the entire game.

4 Gate Guardians Combined

Gate Guardian Finally Gets Real Effects

The biggest problem the original Gate Guardian has is that the Effect is more of a Summoning Condition than an actual benefit for Summoning it. Gate Guardians Combined is a Fusion Monster introduced in Maze of Memories that no longer requires you to set up three Level Sevens on the field to bring out.

Instead, Gate Guardians Combined merely requires you to have at least one copy of Kazejin, Suijin, and Sanga somewhere visible. This can mean on the field, in your hand, or face up in the grave. Gate Guardian gives your field protection from all targeting Effects. It has three negates that also destroy cards on the field. Also, if it gets removed from the field, it floats into smaller pieces from your Extra Deck.

3 Magician Of Faithfulness

A Brand New Costume Change

The original Magician of Faith was a popular Flip Monster due to its ability to fetch a Spell from your graveyard if it gets flipped up. This made it easy to get back important cards such as Raigeki, Monster Reborn, or Change of Heart in the old-school days of Yu-Gi-Oh!

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Magician of Faithfulness does the same thing but has a sleek new look and a few added Effects. This time, if it gets flipped face up, you not only get the Spell from your grave but you can also replace her on the field with another Magician of Faith or Magician of Faithfulness. This makes it easier to get even more Spells back.

2 Memento Angwich

A Forgotten Card Turned Meta

The best glow-ups occur when a card that was considered completely forgettable comes back with a vengeance. The Valiant Smashers set introduced the Mememento cards, which are all retrains of classic Monsters. One of the most expensive pieces of the Memento engine is Memento Angwich.

This card was originally known as Fairywitch or Angel Witch when translated. If that sounds unfamiliar, it’s because the Monster was never released in America and was Japan-exclusive. Regardless, it was a vanilla Monster with no Effects. As a Memento Monster, Angwich can search out others from its archetype for you to add to your hand. It can also bring back Memento Monsters from the graveyard.

1 Black Luster Soldier Envoy Of The Beginning

The Ruler Of The Chaos Era

One of the most significant retrains of a classic Monster didn’t occur recently but rather during the Duel Monsters era of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Black Luster Soldier was originally a Ritual Monster that matched the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in terms of power. However, its retrain in Invasion of Chaos defined the meta.

Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning was too powerful for the time. All it took to Special Summon it to the field was the banishment of a Light and a Dark. Besides having 3000 attack points, it could also banish your opponent’s Monsters in an era when negates were far and few between.

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