Table of Contents
The fourth Yugioh main set in English
Also known as Pharaoh's Servant, or PSV for short, which was released in Germany on 20.10.2002 (only about 1 month after the release of Spell Ruler), it contributed a lot to the meta at the time. Here too, we have cards that are now banned. But PSV also delivered beautiful cards from the popular anime, just like the other sets!
Pharaoh's Servant
Contents of the 4th TCG Main Set
PSV also contained more than 100 different cards, or more precisely, exactly 105. While it was also the case here that there were only 2 Secret Rares in the entire set, it was the first time that a Trap Card was among them! So let's take a closer look at the distribution of the cards, and especially the 2 Secret Rares, one of which is extremely popular and is one of the favorite cards of many players!
- 2x Secret Rare
- 10x Ultra Rare
- 10x Super Rare
- 17x Rare
- 66x Common
➡️ including:
- 25x Normal Monsters
- 20x Effect Monsters
- 1x Fusion Monster
- 17x Spell Cards
- 42x Trap Cards
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Highlights of the Fourth Yugioh Main Set
As you can see very clearly from the distribution of the cards, this set is more about Trap Cards this time. The predecessor (Spell Ruler) was mainly about meta-changing Spell Cards. These were also present in this set, but it was mainly the Trap Cards that contributed to the meta with this set. We're actually starting right away with the first Secret Rare, which is a Trap Card!
Imperial Order
Secret Rare
The first Secret Rare that is NOT a monster! And what a card! Imperial Order really didn't make it easy for Yu-Gi-Oh! players. As you can read from the short effect text, this card says NO to all Spell Cards. This is of course far too strong, especially since the cost of the card hardly bothers you. You prevent the opponent from almost all of their plays, as most decks are/were dependent on Spell Cards. So you could play a deck with mainly Trap Cards and almost win the game with this card alone. Logically, Imperial Order is also on the blacklist today! It has been banned for a long time, and this will probably not change.
Jinzo
Secret Rare
We think we don't really have to explain to anyone what this card can do or what it stands for. Jinzo is one of the favorite monsters of many Yu-Gi-Oh! fans. Many of us know & love this card especially from the 1st anime. After Joey managed to seize this card, it was used very often by him and basically became one of Joey Wheeler's ace monsters!
But apart from that, Jinzo was also very meta relevant. Especially when you look at cards like "Imperial Order", you can guess the reason. Because Jinzo did the opposite! He said NO to all Trap Cards, and Trap Cards used to be a very important part of every deck! Which was also the reason why Jinzo was played in an extremely large number of decks!
The 2 Secret Rares from PSV were therefore not only great collector's items, but also extremely meta-relevant, which couldn't necessarily be said for the previous Secret Rares. But there's more! We have some pretty strong cards here that turned the meta upside down again back then! Let's start with an Ultra Rare that after a while was not only extremely meta-relevant and played in pretty much every deck, but just like Jinzo, is extremely popular with Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, as this monster is also very well known from the anime!
Thousand-Eyes Restrict
Ultra Rare
When this monster was released in PSV back then, it didn't really have anything to do with the meta yet. Thousand-Eyes Restrict was more of a monster that people knew and liked from the anime. After a few years, after a certain Spell Card was released, you saw this monster in pretty much every deck! The Spell Card in question is Metamorphosis! With this card, you could summon many Fusion Monsters extremely easily, which made Restrict a very popular target.
Now let's take a closer look at the Trap Cards that dominated the meta apart from "Imperial Order" and are even allowed today!
Call of the Haunted
Ultra Rare
A very powerful continuous Trap Card that immediately made you think of "Monster Reborn". With Call of the Haunted, you now had a Trap Card that allowed the player to summon a monster from their own Graveyard in Attack Position. The card was extremely strong because you could react to an opponent's monster's attack during their turn and possibly even summon a stronger monster! But what was even more intense was the fact that you could use it to summon Jinzo from the Graveyard. As soon as Jinzo is on the field, he negates all Trap Cards, including this one. This means that Jinzo is no longer "connected" to Call of the Haunted from that point on, and is therefore not destroyed when Call of the Haunted leaves the field.
Dust Tornado
Super Rare
This time it's a Super Rare and Normal Trap Card. Dust Tornado was really seen in every deck for a long time. After all, it also gave you the opportunity to destroy cards like "Imperial Order", which was simply not possible with Spell Cards! Precisely because so many Trap Cards were played back then, cards like this were a must-have for every deck.
Gravity Bind
Rare
Then we've already reached our first Rare card! Relatively low rarity, and yet so good. Gravity Bind, a continuous Trap Card that was often used to stall the opponent for as long as possible. As long as this card is face-up on the field, no player can attack with Level 4 or higher monsters. Thus, this card alone stopped many of the opponent's monsters, and you could wait for your own combinations in the meantime, or even for Exodia!
Time Seal
Common
Now we've already reached the first Common on this list! But although this is only a Common card, it was banned for several years until recently! Today, it is limited to 1. After all, it simply skips the opponent's next Draw Phase! Now imagine activating it for 3 turns in a row! Definitely an extremely strong card that was played multiple times in many decks in the past.
Those were the highlights among the many Trap Cards in this set. Of course, there are other Trap Cards that were relevant. But now we would like to show you the 3 important Spell Cards of this set, 2 of which are still banned today!
Premature Burial, Nobleman of Crossout & Cold Wave
Ultra Rare, Super Rare & Common
Let's start with the Ultra Rare Equip Spell Card "Premature Burial". It worked similarly to Call of the Haunted, but as a Spell Card. You had to pay 800 Life Points and could summon a monster from your own Graveyard. If this Spell Card was destroyed, the monster was also destroyed. However, there were some very nasty combinations; for example, you could return this Spell Card to the hand through an effect, and thus the monster remained on the field. Then you could activate it again. In addition, there are still one or two cards that allow you to search for Equip Spell Cards from the deck. So there were enough reasons to ban the card. And so it is still banned.
today. Now to the Super Rare "Nobleman of Crossout". Today it is allowed at 3 and is not played. Back then, you couldn't imagine a deck without this card. It was really in pretty much every deck because it destroyed a face-down monster and removed it from the game. Additionally, if it was a Flip Monster, all copies from both players' decks were also removed from the game. In the past, many monsters were played face-down, which basically doesn't happen anymore today.
And finally, the Common card "Cold Wave". This Spell Card says that neither player can activate or set Spells/Traps until the next turn of the player who activated this card. So a truly too powerful effect that can completely paralyze the opponent for 2 turns. Therefore, this card is still banned.
today. Those were the meta-relevant highlights of the 4th TCG Main Set. However, we don't want to end this blog with the meta cards, but with highlights known from the anime! Here are the last 3 cards of this blog that many Yu-Gi-Oh! fans celebrate, as these were very important cards in the 1st anime and were therefore often used! These are a monster often used by the main character "Yami Yugi" and 2 other monsters we know from Joey Wheeler, just like Jinzo!
Buster Blader, The Legendary Fisherman & Gearfried the Iron Knight
Ultra Rare, Ultra Rare & Super Rare
Let's start with the swordsman, whom we know better by the name "Buster Blader". A monster often used by Yami Yugi, which has 2600 ATK and gained an additional 500 ATK for every Dragon-type monster on the opponent's field and in their Graveyard. Against a Dragon deck, it could happen that this card had more than 8000 ATK! Today a great collector's item, which is incredibly beautiful in Ultra Rare!
The Legendary Fisherman also became one of the main monsters of Joey Wheeler. This card works very well with the Field Spell Card "Umi". Definitely a very nice card, and especially as an Ultra Rare, a popular collector's item!
And finally, the Super Rare, Gearfried! The monster that is among the most used of all Joey Wheeler's cards! Very nice look, 1800 ATK, and simply iconic. You just have to love Gearfried!
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