Legendary Collection 2: The Duel Academy Years is finally out, and I’m pumped!  Not only are there a ton of awesome foil upgrades for some of my all-time favorites, but there’s a bunch of cards I couldn’t play before – they just weren’t available.  First up, here are my top picks that you’ll find in every Legendary Collection 2.

Up until now, 3 of the Darklord cards were only available as YCS prizes – there was no way most of us were going to get our hands on them.  But every Legendary Collection 2 comes with reprints of all 3 former prize cards: Darklord Asmodeus; Darklord Edeh Arae; and my personal favorite, Darklord Superbia.  Combined with The Dark Creator and DarklordZerato, Superbia makes a flashy combo that lets you destroy all your opponent’s monsters, then attack for 8000 Battle Damage.  I’ve been itching to play the Deck since the Darklords debuted.

Elemental HERO Great Tornado and Parallel World Fusion are highlights as well, taking HERO Fusion Decks to new heights.  Great Tornado uses an Elemental HERO and a WIND monster for its Fusion Materials, so you can finally make a Fusion Summon with any Elemental HERO plus Elemental HERO Stratos.  Parallel World Fusion is alot like Miracle Fusion: a powerhouse Spell that lets you unleash a big Fusion Monster with just 1 card from your hand.  Banish your HERO monsters with Fusion Gate or Miracle Fusion, then use the same monsters next turn for another Fusion Summon with Parallel World.

The guaranteed cards are great, but for me, Legendary Collection 2 is all about the sparkle!  Each Collection comes with 5 Mega-Packs, and each 1 gives you a shot at some awesome foils.  For years now, I’ve wanted to see Test Tiger as a Secret Rare.  Gladiator Beast Decks get a boost from Photon Shockwave’s Rescue Rabbit, so Gladiators may see more play come November.  When they do, Test Tiger will stand front and center in its all-new Secret Rare glory!

Instant Fusion is a sleeper hit for me this format: I’ve been playing it in everything from Fableds to Wind-Ups, but it’s only ever been a common.  Legendary Collection 2 fixes that problem, giving us a gorgeous Ultra Rare version that I’ll be running in all sorts of cool Decks.

Super Polymerization is kind of the same – it’s never been more than a regular rare, but now it’s  upgraded to Secret Rare.  With HERO Decks seeing more play, this is a top pick for me; and with new HERO Fusions like Elemental HERO Nova Master, Super Polymerization has never been so effective as a counter-measure to your opponent’s cards.  It’s especially good as a Side Deck pick for Gladiator Beasts, where you can bring it in against opposing HERO strategies.  With your opponent’s Elemental HERO Neos Alius and Super Polymerization, you can use Gladiator Beast Murmillo to Summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero, orGladiator Beast Laquari for Nova Master.

Cyber Dragon was 1 of the most powerful cards of the Duel Academy era, and now it’s 1 of the best ways to Summon Rank 5 Xyz Monsters.  Zane’s signature beatstick was released as a Secret Rare before, but not quite like this!  The Secret Rare Cyber Dragon in Legendary Collection 2 is the sinister alternate-art version Zane wielded when he turned to the dark side; previously only a regular rare in Zane’s Duelist Pack.  Now it gets the full foil treatment, and it’s never looked better.

There are tons of cool cards in Legendary Collection 2, and these are just some of the best.  Crack your Mega-Packs; see what you get; and find your new favorites!