Honestly, I don’t think “amazing” is the word I would use to describe this set. Hello Pojo Readers, Crunch$G here to discuss the first set of 2023: Amazing Defenders. This is a Deck Build Pack, meaning for the TCG we will get 15 Collector’s Rares alongside the 3 new archetypes we usually get in sets like this. We got a fire fighter based archetype focused mainly on their fire hydrant. There’s a new Xyz-centric archetype based on a little monster using the archetype’s Quick-Play Spells to help make certain Xyzs. Then, we get a new Ritual-focused archetype that centers around Equip Spells as well. This set honestly hasn’t had a ton of positive reviews from what I’ve seen, so let’s go down the entire set and analyze why players might feel that way.
The Collector’s Rares
As always with Deck Build Packs, we’ll start with the Collector’s Rares in this set by looking at what each archetype got in the rarity and then see some generic reprints. Rescue-ACE got the short end of the stick in this set with just 2 Collector’s Rares for Rescue-ACE Hydrant and Rescue-ACE Turbulance. Purrely got all the love in this department, as the archetype has 5 Collector’s Rares for Purrely, Expurrely Happiness, Expurrely Noir, My Friend Purrely, and Purrely Pretty Memory. Mikanko got the standard ratio for Collector’s Rares as they have 3 for Ha-Re the Sword Mikanko, Ni-Ni the Mirror Mikanko, and Mikanko Reflection Rondo. As for the reprints that were chosen to be Collector’s Rare, there’s 5 left and they went to Infernoble Knight – Renaud, One for One, Card Trooper, Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher, and Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights.
To The Rescue
We start looking at the 3 new archetypes with the Rescue-ACEs, an archetype full of FIRE Warriors and Machines that fight fires with their fire hydrant. Rescue-ACE Impulse is a Level 3 FIRE Warrior who during the Main Phase can choose a monster the opponent controls with the highest ATK (your choice, if tied) and prevent either player from using that monster’s effects for the turn, also it has a Quick Effect when the opponent activates a monster effect on the field to tribute itself from the hand or field to summon any Machine Rescue-ACE from your Deck. Rescue-ACE Air Lifter is a Level 4 FIRE Warrior who on Normal or Special Summon can let you add a Rescue-ACE Spell from your Deck to your hand, and it has a
Quick Effect when the opponent activates a monster effect on the field to tribute itself from the hand or field to summon a Rescue-ACE from your hand besides another Air Lifter. Rescue-ACE Monitor is another Level 4 FIRE Warrior who upon Normal or Special Summon can let you add a Rescue-ACE Trap from your Deck to your hand, and it also has a Quick Effect when the opponent activates a monster effect on the field to tribute itself from the hand or field to revive a Rescue-ACE monster from your graveyard besides Monitor. Rescue-ACE Hydrant is a Level 1 FIRE Machine who the opponent cannot target for attacks or card effects while you 
control another Rescue-ACE monster that isn’t another Hydrant, can let you activate a Quick-Play Spell or Trap the turn it was set by the effect of a Rescue-ACE monster, and can let you search for a Rescue-ACE monster that isn’t another Hydrant during each of your Main Phases. Rescue-ACE Fire Attacker is a Level 6 FIRE Machine who can be Special Summoned from the hand if a Rescue-ACE monster that isn’t another Fire Attacker is Normal or Special Summoned to your field, and if the opponent adds a card from their Deck to their hand, except by drawing it and except during the Damage Step, you can draw 2 cards and discard 1. Rescue-ACE Fire Engine is a
Level 7 FIRE Machine who can be Special Summoned from the hand if a Rescue-ACE that isnt another Fire Engine is Normal or Special Summoned to your field, and can let you summon a Level 4 or lower Rescue-ACE from your hand, Deck, or graveyard if the opponent Special Summons a monster(s). Rescue-ACE Turbulence is a Level 9 FIRE Machine who can be Special Summoned from the hand by banishing 2 Rescue-ACE cards from your graveyard, during your Main Phase can let you set up to 4 Rescue-ACE Quick-Play Spells or Traps with different names from your Deck, and can let you target a card on the field and destroy it if another card 
on your field leaves the field by an opponent’s card effect. Rescue-ACE HQ is a Field Spell that gives all your Rescue-ACE monsters a 500 ATK/DEF boost while the opponent controls a monster, can let you Normal Summon a Rescue-ACE monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set during your Main Phase, and can let you shuffle 4 of your Rescue-ACE cards that are banished or in your graveyard to draw a card. RESCUE! is a Quick-Play Spell that’s always treated as a Rescue-ACE card and lets you target a Rescue-ACE monster in your graveyard, or a monster in the opponent’s graveyard if you control Rescue-ACE Hydrant, and Special Summon it. ALERT! is a Quick-Play
Spell that’s always treated as a Rescue-ACE card and can let you add a Rescue-ACE monster from your graveyard to your hand, or you can add a Rescue-ACE monster from your Deck to your hand instead if you control Rescue-ACE Hydrant. CONTAIN! is a Normal Trap that’s always treated as a Rescue-ACE card and can let you target an Effect Monster the opponent controls if you control a Rescue-ACE monster to have that monster be unable to attack and have its effects negated, also if you control Rescue-ACE Hydrant then that monster also can’t be used as Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link material that turn. Finally, EXTINGUISH! is a Normal Trap that’s always treated as a Rescue-ACE card and if you control a Rescue-ACE monster, you can target an Effect Monster the opponent controls and destroy it, then if you control Rescue-ACE Hydrant, your opponent cannot activate that monster’s effect or effects of monsters with the same original name that turn.
Purrely Pals
Now we get to our new Xyz archetype that probably has the most hype from this set, Purrely. This archetype is focused on your Main Deck monster using specific Quick-Play Spells in order to Special Summon your Rank 2 monsters, and once those monsters get 5 or more material, you get to summon your big Rank 7 boss monsters. Purrely is a Level 1 LIGHT Fairy who upon Normal or Special Summon can let you excavate the top 3 cards of your Deck to add an excavated Purrely Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand while the other cards go to the bottom of your Deck in any order, also it has the effect during your Main Phase to reveal a Purrely Quick-Play Spell in your hand to summon an Xyz from your
Extra Deck that mentions the revealed Quick-Play Spell by using this monster and the revealed card as material, being treated as an Xyz Summon. Epurrely Happiness is a Rank 2 LIGHT Fairy who needs 2 Level 2 monsters to Xyz Summon, at the end of the Damage Step where it battled can let you add a Purrely card from Deck to hand and then if this has Purrely Happy Memory as material, you can half the ATK of a face-up monster on the field, and up to thrice per turn can attach a Purrely Quick-Play Spell you activate to this card as material and then return a Spell/Trap the opponent controls to the hand. Epurrely Beauty is a Rank 2 WATER Fairy who 
needs 2 Level 2 monsters to Xyz Summon, can once per turn target an Effect Monster the opponent controls and negate its effects, with this becoming a Quick Effect if it has Purrely Pretty Memory as material, and also up to thrice per turn can attach a Purrely Quick-Play Spell you activate to this card as material and then change the battle position of a monster the opponent controls. Epurrely Plump is a Rank 2 EARTH Fairy who needs 2 Level 2 monsters to Xyz Summon, can target up to 2 Spells and Traps in either graveyard and attach them to this card as material, with this being a Quick Effect if it has Purrely Delicious Memory as material, and up to thrice per turn can
attach a Purrely Quick-Play Spell you activate to this card as material and then banish a monster on the field until the End Phase. Expurrely Happiness is a Rank 7 LIGHT Fairy who needs 2 Level 7 monsters to Xyz Summon and can also be Xyz Summoned using a Rank 2 monster with 5 or more materials as material, during your Main Phase can detach a material to negate the effects of all face-up cards the opponent controls until the end of the turn with the opponent being unable to respond to this effect if you have a Level 1 Purrely monster as material, and can inflict 1500 damage to the opponent when an attack is declared involving this 
monster with 5 or more materials. Expurrely Noir is a Rank 7 DARK Fairy who needs 2 Level 7 monsters to Xyz Summon and can also be Xyz Summoned using a Rank 2 monster witth 5 or more materials as material, is unaffected by the opponent’s effects while it has 5 or more materials, and can detach 2 materials from itself to return a card the opponent controls or in their graveyard to the bottom of the Deck, with it becoming a Quick Effect if it has a Level 1 Purrely as material. Stray Purrely Street is a Field Spell that doesn’t let the opponent target your Purrely monsters for effects the turn they are Special Summoned, can let you summon a Level 1 Purrely
monster from your Deck or graveyard if a face-up Purrely Xyz monster(s) you control leaves the field due to an opponent’s card, and during the End Phase can target a Purrely Xyz you control and attach a Purrely Quick-Play Spell from your Deck or graveyard to it as material. My Friend Purrely is a Continuous Spell that lets you pay 500 LP to reveal 3 Purrely cards from your Deck that isn’t another My Friend Purrely and have the opponent randomly pick one to add to your hand while the rest are shuffled into the Deck, also if a face-up Purrely Xyz monster(s) leaves the field because of an opponent’s card, you can add up to 3 Purrely Quick-Play 
Spells with different names from your graveyard to your hand. Purrely Happy Memory is a Quick-Play Spell to choose a card on the field and until the end of the next turn that card cannot be destroyed by the first effect that would destroy it, also you can then discard a card to summon a Level 1 Purrely monster from your Deck, also a Purrely Xyz that has this card as material gains the effect where it can attack a number of monsters each Battle Phase up to the number of Purrely Happy Memory it has as material +1. Purrely Pretty Memory is another Quick-Play Spell that lets each player gain 1000 LP and then you can discard a card to summon a Level 1 Purrely from your Deck, also a Purrely Xyz that has this as material gains the effect to let you send a card you
control to the graveyard to target a card the opponent controls and attach it to the monster as material. Purrely Delicious Memory is a Quick-Play Spell that lets you choose a monster on the field to have it unable to be destroyed in battle until the end of the next turn, then you can discard a card to summon a Level 1 Purrely monster from your Deck, also a Purrely Xyz that has this as material gains the effect where it gains 300 ATK/DEF for each card it has attached as material. Finally, Purrelyeap!? is a Normal Trap that targets a Purrely Xyz you control to summon a Purrely Xyz with a different Rank by using that monster as material, but it returns to the Extra Deck at the end of the next turn (this is treated as an Xyz Summon and any Xyz Materials attached to the targeted Xyz are transferred to the new one), also you can banish this card from the graveyard to target up to 3 Purrely monsters in your graveyard and return them to the Deck.
Reflection of the Mikanko
Finally for all the archetypes, we got the Mikanko archetype focused on their Ritual Monster, Equip Spells, and reflecting any damage you’d take from battles involving them to the opponent. Ha-Re the Sword Mikanko is a Level 3 FIRE Warrior who while it isn’t equipped with an Equip Card prevents you from taking damage from battles involving this card, and while eqiupped with an Equip Card cannot be destroyed in battle and makes your opponent take damage from battles involving this card, also if an Equip Card is equipped to this monster, you can add a Mikanko Equip Spell from your Deck to your hand. Ni-Ni the Mirror Mikanko is a Level 3 WATER Spellcaster who while it isn’t equipped with an Equip Card
prevents you from taking damage from battles involving this card, and while eqiupped with an Equip Card cannot be destroyed in battle and makes your opponent take damage from battles involving this card, also during your opponent’s turn while you control this monster equipped with an Equip Card, you get a Quick Effect to target a monster the opponent controls and take control of it until the End Phase. Ohime the Manifested Mikanko is a Level 6 LIGHT Fairy Ritual who can be Ritual Summoned with Mikanko Kagura, cannot be destroyed by battle and the opponent takes damage from all battles involving it, can reveal itself in the hand to add a Mikanko card from your Deck to your hand that isn’t another 
Ohime, and then you discard a card, also it has a Quick Effect to target a Mikanko Equip Spell in your graveyard and equip it to an appropirate target on the field. Heavenly Gate of the Mikanko is a Field Spell where while you control a monster equipped with an Equip Card, all monsters your opponent controls that can attack must attack monsters equipped with Equip Cards, prevents the opponent from using cards or effects when your Mikanko monster battles, and at the end of the Damage Step where your Mikanko monster attacked, you can send an Equip Card you control to the graveyard to let that monster attack another monster once again in a row. The Great Mikanko Ceremony is a Quick-Play Spell that lets
you Special Summon a Mikanko monster from your hand, ignoring the summoning conditions, but it returns to your hand during your opponent’s End Phase, also you can banish this card from the graveyard during your Main Phase to send a Mikanko card from Deck to graveyard besides another The Great Mikanko Ceremony. Mikanko Fire Dance is an Equip Spell that Special Summons a Mikanko from your hand or graveyard and equips it to this card, then you can Special Summon a monster from the opponent’s graveyard to their field with its effects negated, also the monster equipped with this card cannot be destroyed by card effects. Mikanko 
Purification Dance is another Equip Spell that can only be equipped to a Mikanko monster to prevent the equipped monster from being destroyed by card effects, also when a monster is Special Summoned to the opponent’s field you get to target a monster you control and a monster the opponent controls to return them to the hand. Mikanko Water Arabesque is another Equip Spell that prevents the equipped monster from being destroyed by card effects and during your Main Phase can let you Special Summon a Mikanko monster with a different original name from the equipped monster from your Deck and equip this card to it, then return the monster originally equipped with
this card to the hand. Mikanko Reflection Rondo is an Equip Spell that equips only to an opponent’s monster where while you control a Mikanko monster, you gain control of the equipped monster, neither player can activate the effects of the equipped monster, and when this card is sent to the graveyard, the equipped monster is also sent to the graveyard. Mikanko Kagura is a Ritual Spell that lets you Ritual Summon any Mikanko Ritual Monster by tributing monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels equal or exceed the Level of the Ritual Monster, then you can apply the effect to destroy cards the opponent controls up to the 
number of Equip Spells with different names in your graveyard and inflict 1000 damage to your opponent for each card destroyed. Mikanko Promise is a Normal Trap that lets you Special Summon a Mikanko monster from your hand or Deck and then you can equip it with an Equip Spell from your hand or graveyard, also the summoned monster is banished when it leaves the field. Finally, Mikanko Rivalry is a Normal Trap where if you control a Mikanko monster, you can target a face-up monster on the field to equip it with an appropirate Equip Spell from your Deck, also if an Equip Spell(s) is sent to your graveyard while this card is in your graveyard, you can banish this card from the graveyard to add an Equip Spell from your graveyard to your hand.
Noteworthy Reprints
Finally, we reach all the reprints for this set with all reprints in this set being usable in at least one of the three different strategies. For the Rescue-ACE related reprints, you get Gizmek Naganaki, the Sunrise Signaler, Reinforcement of the Army, One for One, Card Trooper, Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher, Limiter Removal, Machine Duplication, and Sacred Scrolls of the Gizmek Legend. Purrely reprints (though One for One does qualify here) include Xyz Import, Xyz Tribalrivals, Overlay Regen, and Xyz Reborn. Finally for the Mikanko related reprints you get Infernoble Knight – Renaud, Hidden Armory, Infernoble Arms – “Durendal”, Double-Edged Sword, Armed Protector Dragon, Immortal Phoenix Gearfried, Infernoble Knight – Roland, Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascendned, Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights, Preparation of Rites, Sprite’s Blessing, and Piri Reis Map.
In Conclusion
Overall, I can see why this set doesn’t have the strongest reputation and I kind of agree with it. The archetypes are cool, but they certainly need more to be viable in the meta. Rescue-ACE really needs Turbulence to resolve and really wants Hydrant on the field. Purrely doesn’t have a lot of ways to summon their Xyzs so far, and the ones they do summon besides Noir don’t do much to disrupt the opponent. Mikanko is a decent engine so far, but certainly needs more cards. The reprints are pretty weak, but some nice Collector’s Rares. It’s a shame we didn’t get cards like Preparation of Rites, Limiter Removal, Machine Duplication, or Sauravis as Collector’s Rares. Infernoble Knight – Renaud honestly feels like a waste of a Collector’s Rare reprint choice, but the others are cool, even Card Trooper for past formats. I mostly agree with the choices for the archetypes. Purrely got a little too many maybe, and a little nitpick I have is all the Rank 2s and Quick-Play Spells can’t match in rarity. Mikanko was a massive miss with Ohime not getting a Collector’s Rare if you were to give the archetype any, and the Field Spell being an Ultra over the more important Mikanko engine cards is a questionable choice. The set is kind of weak, though there’s more potential here than everything from Ancient Guardians, so we’re above that low bar. Hopefully Cyberstorm Access and beyond can really boost these 3 archetypes.
Thanks for reading,
Crunch$G
