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It's HERO Time: The Best Looking HERO Cards in Yu-Gi-Oh

Masked HEROs

Masked HEROs were originally released nearly 7 years after the original Elemental HERO cards came out in America. Similar to the Elemental HEROs they were used by the Yu-Gi-Oh GX main protagonist Jayden Yuki, but they were never actually shown in the Anime version of the series. They were only ever used in the Manga version of the series when Jayden's rival copied his deck and Jayden decied to make a deck all his own. It's a good thing he did too because one is far greater than the other.

Masked HEROs are compirised entirely of extra deck fusion monsters. Well thats not entirely true. In the manga they had main deck normal monsters that were also called Masked HEROs, but there is not much known about them and they were never made into real cards. The entirety of the sub-archetype have designs based on Kamen Rider, or Masked Riders fittingly enough. It can also be said that there may be some influence from Power Rangers as well since both are originally Japanese shows.

The Masked HERO archetype has a fairly similar play style to the Elemental HEROs. Focusing solely on fusion monsters can be very powerful especially when you need one less monster than Elemental HEROs. For Masked HEROs their method of fusion is called Transformation, and the change is brought about by the Change quick-play spell cards. By tributing one HERO they can transform into one Masked HERO of the same attribute. For example Elemental HERO Bubbleman can change into Masked HERO Vapor by himself. This is an overall improvement to the Elemental HERO strategy as it allows you to create more monsters while using less resources.

There has not been a lot of support for the Masked HEROs since they came out, but there have been a few new members to the archetype over time like Masked HERO Dian, the only female Masked HERO.

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Masked HERO Dark Law is a member of the Masked HERO archetype which is made up entirely of fusion monsters. To make the Masked HEROs you must use another card on this list called Mask Change. To do this you send one HERO you control and send it to the graveyard, then you special summon one Masked HERO of the same attribute from the extra deck. Masked HERO Dark Law has a constant effect which forces all of your opponents cards to be banished if they would be sent to the grave. This effect is considered the best effect in the entire HERO archetype due to the fact that none of your opponents effects that would activate in the graveyard can activate which stops many different strategies. What I like the most about all the Masked HEROs is that they all resemble Kamen Riders and have similar armor. Dark Law is specifically appealing because of his armor theme The armor is meant to resemble a lion which you can see in the mask, the chest plate, and the shoulder pauldrons.
Masked HERO Vapor is a member of the Masked HERO archetype which is made up entirely of fusion monsters. To make the masked HERO's you must use another card on this list called Mask Change. To do this you send one HERO you control and send it to the graveyard, then you special summon one Masked HERO of the same attribute from the extra deck. Masked HERO Vapor has a constant effect which allows it to not be destroyed by card effects. What I like the most about all the Masked HEROs is that they all resemble Kamen Riders and have similar armor. Vapor is specifically appealing because of his mask and weapon. The weapon makes me think of a trident, and the mask is meant to resemble an elephant which reminds me of one of the spirit rangers from Power Rangers: Jungle Fury.
Masked HERO Goka is the only fire Masked HERO monster. Along with Earth and Light this is the only attribute that doesn't have two members in the Masked HERO sub-archetype. Goka is not a card that see's much play in modern HERO decks primarily because the only way to summon him is to tribute a fire HERO. There is only one fire HERO that is semi-decent and that is Elemental HERO Blazeman, who is also on this list. Blazeman shares a similar effect to Vision HERO Vyon, yet another card on this list, but Vyon's is unrestricted so you just play him instead. Still Goka is one of the best looking HEROs in the game solely based off or his armor design. The first thing to mention is his belt buckle which says "Fire" in Chinese/Japanese characters. The second are his shoulder pauldrons which resemble a fire themselves with multiple rounded points on each side. Then of course the large amount of red gives the card a sort of power just in color.
Masked HERO Acid is one of the best Masked HEROs in the game. He doesn't see much play in Yugioh currently, because the only good water attribute HERO main deck monster is Elemental HERO Bubbleman (another card on this list). Bubbleman does not see much play seeing as how he doesn't help the strategy except for one interesting combo. The combo requires Elemental HERO Bubbleman, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero, and Masked HERO Acid. You can make Absolute Zero using Bubbleman from the hand. Then you use a change quick-play spell card on Absolute Zero to make Acid. When Absolute Zero leaves the field it destroys all monsters your opponent controls, and when Acid is summoned you destroy your opponents back row. So you completely wipe your opponents field using Acid which is awesome. Acid is my favorite Masked HERO solely because of his card art. His belt buckle, chest plate, and helmet are meant to resemble the Japanese Kanji for water, which is fitting since he is a water attribute. The far shoulder pauldron has a very cool tower design. Lastly, he is stanced up like Han Solo from Star Wars which makes him infinitely cooler than the other HEROs.
Masked HERO Blast is an excellent in theme card for the archetype that it is in. Blast see's some play in modern Yugioh due to the fact that Elemental HERO Stratos, another card on this list, also see's a lot of play. Being able to take Stratos off of the field by making Blast can be very beneficial against certain match ups. This is because Blast has two effects. The first reduces a monsters attack by half. Against beaters this is very useful. The other effect allows you to pay 500 life points to return a spell card your opponent controls to their hand. This effect is amazing because your total life points are 8000 so you essentially get to do this for free. Also it is some of the only back row removal in the deck which is very beneficial. Blast has a very interesting design . He doesn't have a solid color scheme or flashy armor. But he does have an interesting pose and background that make it seem like Blast is controlling a storm, which makes sense with his wind attribute.
Masked HERO Dian is the only Earth attribute Masked HERO card. With Fire and Light being the only other two. Dian is also unique in another way, and that is that she is the only confirmed female Masked HERO in the game. Being the only female Masked HERO it is nice that she is played in pretty much every mainstream HERO deck. This is due to the fact that Elemental HERO Solid Soldier, another card on this list, is a great card that is played in HERO decks. Dian is played for her really great effect. When she defeats an enemy monster and sends it to the graveyard, you can special summon a HERO from the deck. Special Summoning directly from the deck in Yugioh is extremely powerful because you don't have to waste a resource adding it to your hand or to summon it. It also helps that her card art is fantastic. She shares a similar theme with other Earth HEROs where they have diamond worked into their design. She has some flashy heels, a chest piece made out of diamond, and the coolest helmet of all the Masked HEROs

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Masked HERO Dark Law Masked HERO Dark Law is a member of the Masked HERO archetype which is made up entirely of fusion monsters. To make the Masked HEROs you must use another card on this list called Mask Change. To do this you send one HERO you control and send it to the graveyard, then you special summon one Masked HERO of the same attribute from the extra deck. Masked HERO Dark Law has a constant effect which forces all of your opponents cards to be banished if they would be sent to the grave. This effect is considered the best effect in the entire HERO archetype due to the fact that none of your opponents effects that would activate in the graveyard can activate which stops many different strategies. What I like the most about all the Masked HEROs is that they all resemble Kamen Riders and have similar armor. Dark Law is specifically appealing because of his armor theme The armor is meant to resemble a lion which you can see in the mask, the chest plate, and the shoulder pauldrons.