In order to Summon Ritual Monsters, you need a Ritual Spell. Nekroz Mirror from The Secret Forces is a standard Ritual Spell that works on any Nekroz monster as long as you Tribute monsters with Levels exactly equal to the monster's Level that you want to Summon or banish them from the Graveyard. Nekroz Cycle from Secrets of Eternity can't banish monsters from the Graveyard to replace Tributes, but it can Ritual Summon a “Nekroz” monster from the Graveyard. Both are integral parts of a Nekroz Deck, but both pale in comparison to Nekroz Kaleidoscope!

Nekroz Kaleidoscope breaks every single rule of Ritual Spells. First, it can Ritual Summon any number of Ritual Monsters all at once, instead of just one. Second, instead of Tributing any number of monsters to get the required Levels for the Ritual Summon, you can only Tribute one…or you can avoid Tributing altogether and send one monster from your Extra Deck to the Graveyard. Then you can Ritual Summon monsters whose Levels add up to the Level of the sent monster. The highest Level monster available for your Extra Deck is Level 12, so dust off your Shooting Quasar Dragons and get ready!

There are two common pairs of Nekroz Ritual Monsters that you’ll want to Summon with Nekroz Kaleidoscope. The first is Nekroz of Trishula and Nekroz of Clausolas. Nekroz of Trishula is Level 9 and replicates the “banish 3 cards” effect of Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier when it's Ritual Summoned. It can also be discarded to negate a card or effect that targets one of your “Nekroz” monsters. On the other end, Nekroz of Clausolas is Level 3 and can negate the effects and drain the ATK of monsters that are Summoned from the Extra Deck. It can also be discarded to grab any “Nekroz” Spell or Trap from the Deck, which is handy when you have a hand full of Ritual Monsters and nothing to Summon them with.

Eight and four also add up to 12, and they also happen to be the Levels of Nekroz of Valkyrus and Nekroz of Unicore, two monsters that used to be “Fabled” Synchro Monsters. Fabled Valkyrus let you discard a Fiend each turn to draw one card. Nekroz of Valkyrus takes things a step further, letting you Tribute up to two monsters from your hand or field each turn and draw that many cards. It can also be used to negate an attack and end the Battle Phase by discarding it and banishing a “Nekroz” card from your Graveyard, which is great for protecting Nekroz of Unicore! Nekroz of Unicore can be discarded to retrieve any “Nekroz” card from your Graveyard, but when it's on the field, it continuously negates the effects of monsters that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, keeping Xyz, Fusion and Synchro Monsters from unleashing their powerful abilities.

If you're thinking about building a Nekroz Deck when The Secret Forces launches on February 13, keep these two monster pairs in mind, because they'll form the backbone of your new Ritual strategy! And if you happen to be in the Tacoma area that weekend, try out your new Nekroz Deck at the YCS, at the Tacoma Convention Center!