A Look Back, Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist Pack 1 Jaden Yuki

     I decided to start going through these set by set, and I decided as the Duelist Packs were the smallest sets that I'd try and cover these a little bit.  First up is Duelist Pack Jaden Yuki.
     Released back in early 2006 for us in the TCG, this was a new concept for us.  Rather than having a set of cards that were usually based on a few concepts, we got a set of cards belonging to the main character, well kind of.  We didn't get all of them (and to this day I wonder what the list of cards Jaden used in show and manga adds up to, but I'm certain it probably is not legal for deck size).
     Elemental HERO Steam Healer was the cover card, and outside of the packs that made up the Slifer Red Mega Packs in The Legendary Collection 2, the only place to pull one.  With a seemingly unimpressive 1800 attack and 1000 defense points, this fusion of Elemental HEROs Burstinatrix and Bubbleman has the nice effect of gaining Life Points equal to the attack of any monster it destroys in battle and sends to the grave.  This means all you really need is some proper buffing.  Worst case scenario it is a Water attribute so if you have Masked Hero Vapor (or the soon to be released Acid for us in the TCG) then Mask Change will be useful.  But enough on the signature card, let us break down the card list quickly.

      The first four cards on the list are Elemental HEROs Avian, Burstinatrix, Clayman and Sparkman, the four basic and non-effect signature HEROs (before Neos was introduced) as well as Bubbleman showing up a few more down.  Winged Kuriboh and its LV 10 form as well as Transcendent Wings are also included, and I've rather liked the Winged Kuriboh cards as the base form can splash into a deck rather nicely.  Wroughtweiler and Dark Catapulter are the only other non fusion monsters included in this pack.  On that note, Flame Wingman, the rather nice Thunder Giant, and Rampart Blaster, along with Steam Healer, are the four HERO fusions included, and thankfully this pack includes the cards Polymerization and Fusion Sage to help search that out to make this pack playable pretty much on its own.  The Warrior Returning Alive is a nice addition to any HERO deck and any warrior deck.
     Feather Shot, Bubble Shuffle, Spark Blaster (which is always a fun card), Bubble Blaster (somewhat fun, also only printed here), Bubble Illusion (great card, also only printed here), Feather Wind, and Clay Charge (only here, or in Legendary Collection 2's Mega Pack) are all HERO specific cards that require Avian, Burstinatrix, Clayman, Sparkman, or Bubbleman to use, but nonetheless interesting cards in their own right, Bubble Illusion, Spark Blaster, and Clay Charge being personal favorites, as well as Burst Return being really fun when multiple HERO decks are involved.  Skyscraper was also included in the HERO themed set, as well as Hero Signal.
     The last three cards of note are Draining Shield, Negate Attack, and A Hero Emerges, which are all nice additions to any deck, as despite the name A Hero Emerges is does not even require a card in the HERO archetypes (Elemental, Destiny, and Evil, Masked and Vision are really fusion only cards based on the other two)
     Overall the set was nice and fun when it came out, I remember after a while being hard pressed to find it, as it included such cards as Draining Shield and Negate Attack, among the other fun cards in there.