Veteran Duelists will remember a time when Dueling was ruled by Vampires. Specifically, Vampire Lord, whose effects let him both ravage his opponent’s Deck while always returning from the Graveyard. Vampires are poised to make a comeback, now that Shadow Specters is bringing a host of new cards to their ranks!

Shadow Vampire is a powerful new addition to the Vampire strategy. When it’s Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon any other DARK Vampire from your hand or your Deck. Only the recently Special Summoned monster can attack that turn, so you’ll want to bring out something like Vampire Lord, or the new Vampire Duke.

Vampire Duke has two effects, depending on how you Summon it. If you Normal Summon it, you get to Summon a Vampire from your Graveyard. If it’s Special Summoned (such as with a Shadow Vampire), Vampire Duke lets you send a card from your opponent’s Deck to their Graveyard. Both Shadow and Duke can only be used as Xyz Materials for a DARK Xyz Monster, but it just so happens there’s one for them to work with: Crimson Knight Vampire Bram!

Crimson Knight Vampire Bram is a DARK Rank 5 Xyz Vampire Monster. It not only has 2500 ATK, but also steals your opponent’s monsters, resurrecting their fallen under your command! As if that weren’t enough, Bram is also even more resilient than the original Vampire Lord! Any time he’s destroyed, by any method, Bram will simply return in the next Standby Phase of either turn, in defense position. While he has a paltry 0 DEF, Bram defends your Life Points turn after turn. If your opponent doesn’t continue to destroy him, he’ll be able to change back to attack position, where his 2500 ATK can start wreaking havoc again!

To assist you in building your own vampire empire, use the magic of the Vampire Sorcerer. If your opponent sends it to your Graveyard in any way, you can add a “Vampire” card from your Deck to your hand! Now that Sorcerer is in your Graveyard, its second effect can be activated. By banishing it, your next “Vampire” Normal Summon is free, without Tribute! So you can use Vampire Sorcerer’s first effect to get Shadow or Duke, then play them for free and use their effects!

Finally, there’s a card you might already have from Judgment of the Light Deluxe Edition: Vampire Kingdom! While it’s active, your Zombies gain 500 ATK while battling. That pushes Sorcerer to 2000 ATK, all of your Level 5 Vampires up to 2500, and Crimson Knight Vampire Bram to 3000! In addition, Vampire Kingdom takes advantage of the Vampires’ other common trait. Whenever a card is sent directly from your opponent’s Deck to the Graveyard, you can target a card on the field. Next, you’ll send a DARK Vampire from either your hand or your Deck to the Graveyard, and destroy that target!  And if you’re having trouble making your Vampire Kingdom a reality, activate it straight from your Deck with Vampire Takeover to win the Field Spell War once and for all!

You can get all of these cool new Vampire cards from Shadow Specters, available now!