Product Review: YuGiOh 2021 Mega Tin!

Date Published: Wed, 15th September, 2021

Tuesday, the 14th of September brought forth one of the biggest collaborative reveals in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh, as over 10 YouTube channels belonging to prominent Yugitubers across the world simultaneously uploaded opening videos of what's come to be the most anticipated product of the year: the Legendary Tin of Ancient Battles. Continuing in the legacy of the 2020 Tin of Lost Memories, this year's tins feature the same overall design with a compact size and stackable indentation which allows them to be fitted on top of the 2020 tins to add another layer to the Tablet of Lost Memories. Aesthetics aside, what you're here for is undoubtedly to discern the quality of the contents within: and that's exactly what we're doing this week! Join us as we review the 2021 Mega Tins; the good, the bad and everything in between!

Outnumbering last year's tins by 8 cards, the whopping 257 member strong cardpool for this year's tins features the most prominent cards released across 2020, with the most notable sets being targets for reprints, such as Ignition Assault, Rise of the Duelist, Phantom Rage, Eternity Code, etc. Ironically enough, the most sought after cards from at least 2 of these sets were not included in the tins, much to the disappointment of the community at large- a sentiment that continues to prevail in reaction videos on YouTube so far. Nevertheless, the tins boast several inclusions which more than redeem the initial disappointment expressed by many. Perhaps the first green flag in this regard would be the rarity inclusions per pack, which continued with the trend set last year of 1 (Prismatic) Secret Rare, 2 Ultra Rares, 2 Super Rares, 1 Rare and 12 Common cards, making for a very bloated pack size of 18 cards, with 3 such packs per tin!

Another point of appeal was the release of several World Premiere cards meant to support the Dark Magician and Blue Eyes strategies. These include Magician's Salvation (a Field Spell which searches Eternal Soul), Piercing The Darkness (a Continuous Spell which acts as generic normal monster support), and True Light (the analogue of Eternal Soul for Blue Eyes). Following suit with last year's cards, all 3 of the aforementioned entities reside within the Ultra Rarity bracket of the cardpool. The difference, however, lies in their utility: in stark contrast to the mediocre nature of the cards introduced last year (not counting Dragoon of course!), these 3 inclusions hold great promise and have all seem significant experimentation from the community in online testing, which is likely to drive up their prices and overall value in the long run, both as collector's items and as viable inclusions in the competitive front as well, especially when Dark Magician recieves more support with the release of Battles of Chaos in 2022.

However, as far as tin exclusives go, you'll be hard-pressed to find any entity capable of matching what's come to be the most coveted card within this entire project: Crossout Designator! Touted as a more versatile Called By The Grave and a staple in the competitive scene in the OCG (where it has enjoyed a much longer run), this card is set to reshape the entire meta and change the way handtraps are played forever! It's spot in the Ultra Rare bracket also ensures its relative scarcity in the market, making it the natural successor to Dragoon as far as card value and inflation are concerned; and we promise you, it'll be quite a concern in the weeks to come!

Now for a deeper glance into the reprints of note. The glaring absence of Accesscode Talker and Forbidden Droplet aside, this product boasts the presence of some of the most desired cards released last year; with the deficit between supply and demand accentuated by the interruption on business that was  Covid-19. Nevertheless, the playerbase will have yet another opportunity to pick up staple singles such as:
1. Cross Sheep
2. Paralled eXceed
3. Fusion Deployment
4. Ice Dragon's Prison
5. Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight
6. Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill
7. Animadorned Archosaur
8. Gravedigger's Trap Hole
9. Triple Tactics Talent
10. Alpha, the Master of Beasts
11. Divine Arsenal AA-Zeus - Sky Thunder
12. Gravity Controller
13. The Phantom Knights of Stained Greaves
14. Arc Rebellion Xyz Dragon
15. Raider's Knight
...and many more!

Also worth mentioning is the fact that the entirety of the Tri-Brigade, Dogmatika, Adamancipator and Virtual World archetypes are present within the tins, meaning that 4 of the top meta contenders of this year are making their way into everyone's deck boxes for a budget price! The deck also includes isolated archetype-specific support in the form of cards like Shaddoll Schism, Sky Striker Ace- Roze, A.I. cards and the Deep Sea family of monsters, giving it ample variety to meet the needs of players in every aspect of the community- casual and competitive alike, as is befitting of a good reprint product. With a Secret Rare cardpool of 30, an Ultra Rare pool of 48 and a Super Rare set size of 37, these tins offer rarity upgrades for several big names in YuGiOh, giving players a chance to add even more bling to their cardboard!

A closing note may be made on one of the more unique features of this year's tins: structure deck reprints. Oddly enough, two of last year's structure decks saw their core contents reprinted in the tins: Shaddoll Showdown saw all of its exclusive cards (except Resh Shaddoll Reincarnation) reprinted along with a rarity boost; the same was done for the core cards of the Sacred Beasts Structure Deck. While it may be somewhat understandable to see Shaddolls getting a reprint due to Schism and their continued meta relevance, the same cannot be said for the Sacred Beasts and a lot of people are will undoubtedly be left with a particularly sour taste in their mouths when faced with the realization that 3 secret rare slots are hogged by Raviel, Uria and Hamon. Imagine buying a tin and pulling these 3 as Prismatic Secrets... tragic indeed, so we'll wait for Cimooo to lead by example "so the viewers don't have to".

That said, this concludes our review for this year's tins! Here's a quick scale to summarize our opinions:

Meta Relevance: 4/5
Collector's Relevance: 4/5
Budget / Casual Relevance: 5/5

We'll catch you with an opening video in the weeks to come, so be sure and tune in to the Adilsons YouTube so you can witness this product's majesty firsthand!