Yu-Gi-Oh!is rolling out a new archetype of “Ashened” cards as part of its Phantom Nightmare set, and if the name hasn’t given away what inspired it, the art will.
In-universe, the term Ashened refers to the inhabitants of a volcano-adjacent city who were obliterated by a dragon called Vados, burning their souls to the point where they survive and continue fighting beyond death. Outside of Yu-Gi-Oh!, we have theDark Soulsterm “Ashen One”, i.e. the player character in the third game. They are undead who failed to link the First Flame, reborn anew to continue their fight beyond death. As many Yu-Gi-Oh! and FromSoftware fans have pointed out, the similarities are striking.
They’re Pyro-Type, so their low-level guys will be searchable with the card…Bonfire -CinnabarSteam.
Vados, the Eruption Dragon of Extinction’s card shows him shooting a purple laser from his mouth, a lot like Darkeater Midir does in Dark Souls 3’s Ringed City DLC. His actual design is reminiscent of the Dragon God fromDemon’s Souls. Then we have a towering, brutish knight with a bushy grey beard, who looks a lot likeGodfrey from Elden Ring.
The third card shown depicts a slender, taller knight with a sword that looks like it was ripped right from the hands of Dark Souls 2’s Raime. The last card shows a woman in a white robe emitting a blue aura, with a very similar design to Dark Souls 3’s Firekeeper. The two wear a crown-like mask that covers their eyes. You can see all of them embedded below.
It’s not the first timea Yu-Gi-Oh! archetype has taken from another property. Over the years, we’ve seen sets like Super Quant lift from Super Sentai, Magikey fromKingdom Hearts, Spyral from James Bond andMetal Gear, and Time Thief from Doctor Who. Now, we can add Dark Souls and Elden Ring to the list.
The Phantom Nightmare launches on February 8, a 100-card set bringing back Yubel, the Boy of Light, who debuted in 2008’s Phantom Darkness. Yu-Gi-Oh!’s website even encourages players to pick up Maze of Milennia to ensure they have a few copies of Bonfire ready, if all the other nods to Dark Souls in this set weren’t obvious enough already.
But Yu-Gi-Oh! isn’t stopping there. On February 14, it will release the 24th OTS Tournament Pack, a booster containing three new Ultimate Rares including Rock of the Vanquisher.
