Astral Pack 3 Set Review

Hey guys, today I'll be doing a quick review of Astral Pack 3. Let's check out each rarity by itself, then check how many of the cards in the set were good choices. Before we start, here's a refresher of the spoiler:

Ultimate Rare
001 Atlantean Marksman
002 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
003 Fire Formation - Tenki

Super Rare
004 Spellbook Library of the Crescent
005 Mermail Abyssgunde
006 Falling Down
007 Miracle Fertilizer
008 Noble Arms - Gallatin
009 Serene Psychic Witch
010 Noble Arms - Arfeudutyr
011 Spellbook Star Hall
012 Pollinosis
013 Wall of Thorns

Common
014 Curtain of the Dark Ones
015 Jowgen the Spiritualist
016 Swarm of Scarabs
017 Swarm of Locusts
018 Des Lacooda
019 Imprisoned Queen Archfiend
020 Vampire Dragon
021 Kamionwizard
022 Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend Shield
023 Deck Lockdown
024 Super Solar Nutrient
025 Archfiend's Roar
026 Heavy Slump

Ultimate Rare
For the second Astral Pack in a row, Konami is being pretty insufferable by insisting on making the Atlantean monsters Ultimates instead of just bringing Marksman and Infantry up to Super and being done with it. Maestroke is obviously a good choice with wide appeal since so many decks can play it. Tenki on the other hand is a little surprising. It looks good as an Ultimate (like most cards would), but I really expected it to become a Super so that it's easier to get a playset. Overall none of these are bad choices, I just think that Marksman definitely should have been Super.

Super Rare
I'm just going to come out and say what everybody is thinking: Those Plant cards were a waste, and there are a few Spellbooks that probably should've become holo before Library of the Crescent did. Just give us a Super Gigaplant and Eternity, jesus. In other news, the Noble Arms cards could've been seen from a mile away since that's Konami's newest pet deck. I think the last three cards (Abyssgunde, Falling Down, and Witch) are all obviously nice choices.

Common
We know to never expect much from the Commons, and Konami has managed to shock and disgust us once again by reprinting cards that are almost completely irrelevant. However, there's a bunch of hidden gems this time around:

-Jowgen benefits from its first reprint in years, as well as being updated with PSCT and actually being a relevant card from a recent format
-Vampire Dragon is a neat first reprint of a core set Secret Rare
-I'm no Gladiator player, but Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend Shield seems like it's definitely playable in that deck.
-Deck Lockdown is actually relevant, holy shit
-Super Solar Nutrient is a good card that many modern Plant decks rely on, so it doesn't hurt to give it a new printing. It'd probably be better as a Super since it's already been common though, which would easily replace the three other Plant-related Supers.
-Archfiend's Roar is not only useful with the second coming of Archfiends, but also sees play in Infernities
-Heavy Slump is, again, a bit too late, since it was occasionally used against Spellbook of Judgment and Super Rejuvenation last format. But one format late is better than no relevance whatsoever.

So with all of that said, here's a final list of what I think were good or at least decent choices in this pack:

002 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
003 Fire Formation - Tenki
005 Mermail Abyssgunde
006 Falling Down
009 Serene Psychic Witch
011 Spellbook Star Hall
015 Jowgen the Spiritualist
020 Vampire Dragon
022 Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend Shield
023 Deck Lockdown
024 Super Solar Nutrient
025 Archfiend's Roar
026 Heavy Slump

That makes a total of 13 good cards out of 26, a solid 50%! Compare that to Astral Pack 1's 48% (12/25) and Astral Pack 2's 32% (8/25), and I'd call this a pretty good Astral Pack! Not to mention this is without factoring in Supers that other people may find perfectly appealing that I didn't care for, like the two Noble Arms cards and Spellbook Library of the Crescent.