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  • Referee Juri
  • Cape Of No Return
  • Botan’s Coaching
  • Sakyo’s Gamble
  • Risho’s Meteor
  • Idun Box
  • Zeru’s Flames
  • The Dark Tournament Looms

Ask any anime fan who grew up in the ‘90s what anime they watched, and you’ll get a few similar answers. Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Fruits Basket are all famous examples, but a severely underrated classic of the era is YuYu Hakusho.

Following underworld detective Yusuke Urameshi as he investigates the paranormal, it’s a funny, exciting adventure that recently got a pretty dang good live-action remake on Netflix.

With YuYu Hakusho: Dark Tournament, UniVersus, the TCG that brings everything from My Hero Academia to Critical Role into a single game, is bringing Yusuke and the world of YuYu Hakusho back for its second set (with reprints from the first set in Dark Tournament for those who missed out). UniVersus has given us eight cards from the set to show off ahead of its February 23 launch.

Alongside these eight cards, UniVersus will be revealing four more cards on the UVS Live Show later today.

Referee Juri

Dark Tournament was the second major arc of YuYu Hakusho, and saw Yusukei and his friends take part in an illegal martial arts tournament. Serving as referee in that tournament was Juri, a demon. She doesn’t have a massive role in the anime, but is a no-brainer for an ally card.

Referee Juri can enhance to buff an attack’s power, and even lets you draw a card if it successfully hits. Or, as a response, you can flip it and commit a foundation to force your rival to commit one of their own after playing an enhance ability. Denying resources and drawing cards all in one package is excellent.

Cape Of No Return

A fellow competitor in the Dark Tournament before being an ally to Yusuke, Shishiwakamaru is perhaps best known for his use of the Cape of No Return. Get wrapped up in this cape, and Shishi can warp you anywhere.

In UniVersus, you can use it to enhance an attack, removing it from the game entirely. If you’re on the backfoot and your rival’s coming at you with a big attack, using this to just blip it out of existence could keep you going for a few more turns.

Botan’s Coaching

The Grim Reaper tasked with guiding Yusuke throughout his quest to return to life in the first arc, Botan quickly became a lifelong friend and core part of his team. She had less of a role in Dark Tournament, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t want her coaching in your deck.

Botan’s Coaching enhance effect is simple: each player discards a card and draws another. This could help you draw into something you need, or force your rival to throw something they were hoping to keep away. It’s a nice, simple effect, especially for a zero-cost card you’re likely always going to succeed on checks for.

Sakyo’s Gamble

Don’t let the fact this is an ally card fool you. Sakyo was the head of Team Toguro, who fought against Team Urameshi in the Dark Tournament. His need to win was so great he tried to sacrifice every spectator of the event to enhance the powers of his competitor, with only Yusuke and his team able to stop them.

Sakyo’s Gamble has a regular enhance effect to give a +3 boost to an attack, going up to +6 if both players are forced to mill different types of cards from their deck to their discard pile.

Mill and buffs all in one effect is powerful, but Sakyo’s Gamble has a second effect that only kicks in if your deck’s character is on Team Toguro. If a foundation is destroyed, you can add Sakyo’s Gamble to your momentum. Considering losing foundations can be devastating, having Sakyo’s Gamble jump into your momentum in exchange helps keep your resources up just a little bit.

Risho’s Meteor

Risho is the closest thing YuYu Hakusho has to an Earthbender. A rival competitor in the Dark Tournament with the ability to control earth and make armour out of clay, Risho’s strongest attack is the Meteor.

As any earth-controlling demon fighter should, Risho’s Meteor messes with your opponent’s foundations. By enhancing it, you can flip a rival’s foundation and make their next check more difficult to succeed. Or you can enhance it and practically force your opponent to block it, less than flip two foundations instead of one.

Idun Box

The weapon of Ura Urashima, the Idun box has the ability to regress peoples’ ages, turning them into defenceless toddlers. Unfortunately, the one time we see this used was when Ura accidentally regressed a demon back into an even more powerful form.

The card is a bit more effective, though. By committing it, you can get rid of any buffs or nerfs on an attack and return it to its original attack zone. If the attack was unblockable, it now can be, helping you undo some sneaky attack shenanigans from your rival.

Zeru’s Flames

Like Risho, Zeru was the leader of an opposing team in the Dark Tournament. His entire skillset was based on his ability to manipulate heat, usually in the form of massive plumes of fire. He could even use this fire to make himself stronger, though his favourite trick was usually just incinerating anyone in his way.

Zeru’s Flames can force your opponent to commit their own cards from their hand. Need to get rid of their response, or an attack of their own? Use this to make them put it on the stage instead, opening the way for a huge amount of damage. It’s a costly card to play with a check of seven, but the results can easily be game-winning.

The Dark Tournament Looms

The final card shows Team Urameshi themselves, with Yusuke joined by fellow supernatural fighters Kuwaba, Kurama and Hiei as they take on the Dark Tournament. This action card’s effect may look simple, but it’s a real powerhouse.

During enhancing, you can remove The Dark Tournament Looms to add one card from your momentum to your hand. Then, on top of that, you also get to draw a card. Pulling things out your momentum to play is powerful on its own, and then you also get even more card advantage from the top of your deck. It’s also got an incredibly low check, so you’ll be able to get use out of this pretty easily.

YuYu Hakuho: Dark Tournament launches on February 23.

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