Tour Guide From the Underworld: A Competitive History and Impact

Introduction

Tour Guide From the Underworld is an iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG card that has left a lasting imprint on competitive play since its debut in 2011. A Level 3 DARK Fiend with a modest 1000 ATK, Tour Guide’s strength lies in her effect: When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3 Fiend monster from your hand or Deck, but negate its effects, also it cannot be used as Synchro Material. This simple effect – a one-card combo to pull another monster from the Deck – made Tour Guide a powerful engine for Rank 3 Xyz Summons and later Link plays.

By investing only your Normal Summon, she enables quick access to Xyz monsters like Leviair the Sea Dragon or Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, or Link-2 monsters, without losing card advantage. Tour Guide’s arrival coincided with the dawn of the Xyz era, and Konami clearly intended her to push the new mechanic. In fact, Tour Guide was a secret rare in Extreme Victory (May 2011) – a set right before Xyz monsters debuted – and quickly became a chase card fueling top decks.

Players recognized that Tour Guide could generate field presence and searches with ease, making her a staple in many strategies. At her competitive peak, a playset of Tour Guides commanded extremely high prices (upwards of $600 for three copies) due to insatiable demand.

Over the years, Tour Guide has seen multiple Forbidden & Limited list changes, reflecting her fluctuating impact on the metagame. She spent years on the Limited list (at 1 copy) when her combo potential was deemed too strong, especially during the heyday of Burning Abyss decks.

Only in recent years, as power creep introduced even faster engines, was Tour Guide finally returned to unlimited status in both TCG and OCG. This guide will delve into Tour Guide’s competitive journey from 2011 through 2025, examining:

• A historical overview of her release and the major deck archetypes that utilized her each era.
• A detailed timeline of her banlist status (Limited, Semi-Limited, Unlimited) and how each change affected the meta.
• Notable OCG innovations involving Tour Guide that later influenced TCG play.
• The best Tour Guide targets in each era – from classic picks like Sangan, Graff, and Scarm to modern options in 2023–2025.
• Concrete combo examples from past and present decks (e.g. Burning Abyss, Wind-Ups, Infernity, Phantom Knights, Labrynth), with step-by-step breakdowns.
• Technical rulings, interactions, and mechanics involving Tour Guide, including how her negation clause works with various monsters, and any relevant errata or rule changes.

By exploring her rich competitive history and utility, we’ll see why “Tour Guide From the Underworld” is often regarded as one of Yu-Gi-Oh!’s most famous combo starters and how she continues to find niches even in the modern game.

Historical Overview: Tour Guide’s Journey Through the Meta

Debut and Early Impact (2011–2012)

Tour Guide From the Underworld was first released in the TCG in Extreme Victory (May 2011) as a TCG-exclusive card (OCG players would not receive her until October 2012). Immediately upon release, Tour Guide became a driving force in the competitive scene. Her effect allowed players to summon another Level 3 Fiend straight from the Deck with no cost, enabling easy Rank 3 Xyz plays and preserving card advantage.

The most common early play was to Normal Summon Tour Guide and use her effect to Special Summon the Fiend Sangan from the Deck. Sangan’s effect (when sent from field to graveyard, search any monster with ≤1500 ATK) was not negated by Tour Guide because it activates in the Graveyard, outside of Tour Guide’s negation window.

This meant by using Tour Guide to Xyz summon a Rank 3, Sangan could be detached or destroyed to fetch a key combo piece, essentially making the Tour Guide play “free” in terms of card advantage. As one article put it: “Tour Guide’s single purpose in most decks is to obtain a Level 3 Fiend monster to make a Rank 3 Xyz. Most of the time, we will go for Sangan, whose effect is not negated when hitting the graveyard…making Tour Guide a completely free play with almost no loss.”

Early Decks:

The emergence of Tour Guide gave rise to the so-called “Tour Guide Engine” – typically 2–3 Tour Guides plus 1 target (usually Sangan, or later alternatives) – which could be splashed into many decks. In mid-late 2011 (“Tengu Plant” format), top players like Billy Brake incorporated Tour Guide into their Plant Synchro/Chaos decks (often called Tengu Plants) as a powerful starter.

For example, the YCS Toronto 2011 winning Plant deck ran three Tour Guides to grab Sangan or another Tour Guide, then Xyz into Leviair the Sea Dragon or Leviathan Dragon, generating pressure and a Sangan search. The Agents fairy deck (Sept 2011 format) also teched Tour Guide: by summoning Sangan, a Tour Guide play could lead to a Rank 3 Xyz while putting Dark monsters in grave to enable Chaos boss monsters like Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning.

In fact, Chaos Agent builds were the most expensive variant precisely because they ran Tour Guide; as a retrospective noted, “a playset of Tour Guides hit near $600 at its peak” – highlighting how sought-after she was.

By early 2012, Tour Guide was ubiquitous in competitive decks. Notably, the Dino Rabbit deck (which centered on using Rescue Rabbit to summon Level 4 dinos and make Evolzar Xyz monsters) ran Tour Guide as a secondary engine. Tour Guide in Dino Rabbit served to make Rank 3s like Leviair, which in turn could revive banished rabbits to continue the cycle. A typical Dino Rabbit sequence was: Normal Summon Tour Guide, Special Summon another Level 3 Fiend, overlay into Leviair, then detach to Special Summon your banished Rescue Rabbit – letting you use Rabbit’s effect again for two more Dinosaurs and a second Evolzar Xyz.

As a strategy, post explained, “The Tour Guides are there to Xyz summon Leviair, who can special your banished Rabbit; then you can summon 2 vanilla dinos again, ready to Xyz into Laggia/Dolkka.” This potent combo helped Dino Rabbit maintain grind game and was key to its tournament success in 2012. Other decks of the era that leveraged Tour Guide included Wind-Up decks (using Tour Guide to make Rank 3s like Wind-Up Zenmaines as protection or Leviair to extend combos), Dark World (using Tour Guide as a reliable Normal Summon to fetch Broww or other Fiends to enable their discard effects), and even some Inzektor and Chaos Dragon builds that valued Tour Guide’s ability to tutor Sangan. By mid-2012, Tour Guide was so prevalent that many top decks mirrored each other’s small Tour Guide + Sangan package for consistency.

First Banlist Hits: Tour Guide’s dominance did not go unnoticed. In the September 2012 Forbidden & Limited List (following the 2012 World Championship), Konami took action to curb the consistency of several top decks.

Tour Guide From the Underworld was Semi-Limited to 2 copies in both the TCG and OCG, effective Sept. 2012. This was the first sign that Tour Guide’s power was format-warping: by limiting her count, decks would draw the combo starter less frequently.

Notably, Rescue Rabbit was also semi-limited at the same time, indicating the hit was aimed at Dino Rabbit and other decks abusing these engines. Despite the semi-limit, Tour Guide remained a staple – 2 copies were often still played, and players found workarounds for the reduced consistency.

In the absence of Sangan (which itself would soon face a ban), some innovative duelists even resorted to using Tour Bus From the Underworld or Night Assailant as alternate Tour Guide targets. Tour Bus was a Level 3 Fiend whose effect could shuffle a card from either graveyard into the Deck when sent to grave; while not as universally useful as Sangan, it gave Tour Guide a target to summon and some graveyard disruption utility.

Night Assailant (a Flip Effect Fiend) was another option – Tour Guide would negate its flip effect on the field, but Night Assailant served as a generic Fiend target and had a graveyard effect (retrieving a Flip monster from grave) that could occasionally be useful. Players also discovered that if no good target was available, Tour Guide could even Special Summon another copy of Tour Guide from the deck (Tour Guide has no restriction on summoning a monster with the same name).

The second Tour Guide’s effect would be negated, but you’d have two Level 3s to Xyz with. This trick came up if Sangan was already used or banned – essentially Tour Guide could fetch a duplicate of herself to make a Rank 3 Xyz.

Shifting Meta and the Burning Abyss Era (2013–2015)

Going into 2013, the meta was shaken up by new archetypes like Dragon Rulers and Spellbooks, which did not lean on Tour Guide. In March 2013, the TCG and OCG both banned Sangan (long a Tour Guide target) – in part because Tour Guide made Sangan too easy to abuse for searches, and also due to some looping interactions with cards like Tour Bus and Birdman. With Sangan gone and Tour Guide still semi-limited, the usage of Tour Guide temporarily dipped in late 2013 as the format was dominated by Dragon Ruler variants (which had their own engines).

Still, some rogue and secondary decks kept Tour Guide in their arsenal. Notably, Chaos/Plant players replaced Sangan with the next best thing – Night Assailant or Tour Bus – to continue making Rank 3 plays. The OCG, which got Tour Guide in Extra Pack 2012 in late 2012, also kept her Semi-Limited through 2013. By late 2013, both OCG and TCG list makers still considered Tour Guide sufficiently powerful to leave at 2 copies.

Tour Guide’s fortunes rebounded massively in mid-2014 with the introduction of the Burning Abyss archetype. Burning Abyss (BA), debuting in TCG’s Duelist Alliance set (August 2014), was an archetype of Level 3 DARK Fiend monsters – in other words, perfect Tour Guide targets. Decks built around Burning Abyss (featuring monsters like Scarm, Graff, and Cir) could make Rank 3 Xyz plays all day, and Tour Guide instantly became the best Normal Summon for the strategy.

A single Tour Guide could fetch Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from the deck; although Graff’s on-field effect was negated (and it would normally self-destruct for being alongside a non-BA), this actually worked to the BA player’s advantage: Graff would destroy itself (due to Tour Guide being a non-BA), then Graff’s graveyard effect would trigger to summon another BA monster (usually Scarm) from the deck.

Even though Scarm would also self-destruct from Tour Guide’s presence, it would end up in the grave ready to search a BA monster in the End Phase (Scarm’s effect). Meanwhile, Tour Guide remained on the field as a lone Level 3, which could then be paired with any revival or another BA effect to Xyz summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss.

In short, Tour Guide could kickstart a chain reaction of Burning Abyss effects: “Tour Guide combos with Graff to set up the classic ‘double Dante’ plays. Double Dante is delicious,” as one guide humorously noted.

Even with Tour Guide still technically Semi-Limited (the TCG briefly moved her to 3 in late 2014 to promote the deck, whereas OCG kept her at 2), Burning Abyss decks were dominant through late 2014 and into 2015. In fact, through multiple top events (e.g. YCS events in late 2014), Triple Dante Burning Abyss was a leading strategy, and most of those builds ran the maximum allowed Tour Guides (2 or 3) as the primary starter.

Burning Abyss’s rise led to Tour Guide’s return to the Limited list. In the TCG’s April 2015 banlist, Tour Guide From the Underworld was Limited to 1 copy. This was a direct attempt to curb Burning Abyss, which could generate a huge advantage if Tour Guide resolved early. (The OCG similarly had Tour Guide Limited by mid-2015, since BA had arrived there via imports.) With Tour Guide at 1, Burning Abyss duelists had to rely more on their archetypal cards to get plays going – yet the deck remained competitive.

One Tour Guide was still so valuable that BA players often ran Rhongo Bongo (Fiend Griefing) or Lake of Firethe to send Tour Guide to grave and reuse it with Cir, etc., and notably they would search that one Tour Guide using Scarm’s End Phase effect whenever possible.

Tour Guide had essentially become a one-of power card akin to Reinforcement of the Army – if you drew it, your opening was strong. Despite the limitation, Burning Abyss continued topping events (sometimes paired with Shaddoll or Chaos variants). Other decks in 2015 that used Tour Guide included Dark World (which got new support and sometimes teched a Tour Guide engine for additional Graffa fodder) and Infernoid decks (which could use Tour Guide to mill via Dante).

By late 2015, the TCG and OCG both had Tour Guide locked at 1 per deck as the norm.

Phantom Knights, PK Fire, and the Link Era (2016–2019)

In 2016, Tour Guide found a new home alongside Burning Abyss when the Phantom Knights archetype was introduced. Phantom Knights (PK) are Level 3 DARK warriors that synergize with the graveyard, and players quickly combined them with the BA engine to form the hybrid deck nicknamed “PK Fire” (Phantom Knights + Dante’s Inferno = PK Fire).

Tour Guide remained Limited to 1, but that single copy was still crucial. Now, with Fiendish Rhino Warrior (released early 2016) in the mix, Tour Guide’s one-card combo potential was even greater. Fiendish Rhino Warrior is a Level 3 Fiend that prevents your Fiend monsters from being destroyed by card effects (other than itself). So if Tour Guide summoned Rhino from the deck, Rhino’s effect would protect any Burning Abyss monsters on field from self-destructing. This meant a Tour Guide -> Rhino play could successfully keep both on field, allowing an immediate Rank 3 Xyz without losing the BA monster.

Moreover, if Rhino went to the GY (e.g. as an Xyz detach), it would send another Fiend from Deck to GY – typically Graff or Farfa for additional effects. A common PK Fire sequence in 2016 was:

1. Normal Tour Guide
2. Special Summon Fiendish Rhino Warrior from deck
3. Overlay both into Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss
4. Detach Rhino for Dante’s mill effect
5. Rhino’s GY effect sends Graff
6. Graff Special Summons a BA like Scarm from deck
7. Scarm (now protected by Rhino’s effect still being applied before Rhino left) can stay on field or be used for a Link/Xyz next, and in the End Phase Scarm searches a Tour Guide or a Phantom Knight.

In this way, Tour Guide became a one-card engine to get Dante plus a search. Even with only one copy available, decks would search or recycle Tour Guide whenever possible (e.g. via Leviair or Scarm) because of these powerful sequences.

Mid-2016 also saw the Burning Abyss / Phantom Knight hybrid take the World Championship title – a testament to the engine’s strength even under the one-copy Tour Guide restriction. The OCG and TCG kept Tour Guide at 1 throughout 2016 and 2017, as the card was still considered a potent starter in any deck that could leverage Rank 3 or Link plays.

During this time, however, the overall meta shifted towards new mechanics and themes that didn’t rely on Tour Guide. The Pendulum Era decks (2016) like Performapal/Pepe and Kozmo, and later the dawn of the Link Era (2017) with decks like Zoodiacs, Spyrals, and Trickstars, all had their own central engines.

Tour Guide’s usage in top tiers thus lulled for a while, mostly appearing in lingering BA/PK decks or rogue dark decks.

In September 2017, the new Master Rule introduced Link Summoning, which indirectly gave Tour Guide some fresh utility: links allowed turning two monsters into link material regardless of type/level.

A single Tour Guide (still limited) could grab a Level 3 Fiend and immediately become material for a Link-2 monster. For example, when Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (a Link-2 that requires 2 Level 3 monsters) was released in the OCG in 2018, Tour Guide became a convenient way to make Cherubini.

An OCG player could Normal Summon Tour Guide, bring out any Level 3 Fiend (like Graff), and Link Summon Cherubini with those two; Graff would then trigger to summon a BA from deck, and Cherubini could send a Level 3 (like Farfa) from deck to grave for its effect.

This combo essentially gave removal (Farfa banishing an opponent’s monster) and follow-up. The OCG’s innovation of using Tour Guide + BA pieces to turbo out Cherubini and subsequent plays later carried over to the TCG when Cherubini was released globally in 2019.

During 2018–2019, however, Tour Guide remained a niche include; she was limited to one, and many top meta decks had stronger Normal Summons. Some Danger Dark World builds in late 2018 toyed with Tour Guide as well (since Tour Guide could summon Sangan or Scarm to search a combo piece while the Danger engine did its thing), but these were not dominant strategies.

One noteworthy change: in 2017, Sangan was finally unbanned in the TCG, but with an erratum (its search effect now prevents the activated effects of the added card that turn). This allowed some modernized Tour Guide combos, like Tour Guide -> Sangan -> Link into Salamander (Almiraj) -> Sangan search Hand Trap.

In practice, though, with Tour Guide at 1, such plays were limited. Nevertheless, by 2019, veteran players recognized that Tour Guide’s relative power had diminished compared to the new, explosive engines. This set the stage for her eventual liberation from the banlist.

Unlimited Again in the Modern Era (2020–2025)

After nearly eight years of restrictions, Tour Guide From the Underworld finally saw a return to higher allowed copies in 2020. The TCG January 2020 Forbidden/Limited List moved Tour Guide from Limited (1) to Semi-Limited (2), signaling Konami’s confidence that the card was no longer overly problematic in the contemporary meta.

Indeed, by 2020 the competitive landscape was dominated by themes like Sky Striker, Thunder Dragon, Salamangreat, Orcust, Spirals, etc., where a lone Tour Guide engine wasn’t game-breaking. A few months later, in September 2020, the TCG list removed Tour Guide from the list entirely, making her Unlimited (3 copies) again.

The OCG followed a similar trajectory: after keeping Tour Guide Limited for years, they bumped her to Semi-Limited in 2020 and eventually to Unlimited (OCG’s list in early 2021 had Tour Guide at 3 as well). As of 2025, Tour Guide remains unlimited in both TCG and OCG.

The freeing of Tour Guide breathed new life into older strategies. Burning Abyss/Phantom Knight fans rejoiced at being able to play triple Tour Guide again, even if those decks were no longer tier-1. In 2020, some players experimented with 3× Tour Guide in “PK Fire” or pure BA builds, making use of the consistency to summon Cherubini and fuel graveyard combos.

For example, a 2020 build could run Tour Guide along with Graf, Scarm, and Fiendish Rhino Warrior at max copies (since by then even Graf and Cir were semi-limited in TCG), restoring much of the deck’s former power.

However, the meta had also introduced powerhouses like Adamancipator, Eldlich, Prank-Kids, and later Virtual World and Drytron, which somewhat overshadowed Tour Guide’s slower Rank 3 plays. As a result, Tour Guide mostly found herself in rogue decks or as a tech rather than a core of championship-winning lists.

Intriguingly, the OCG innovated a new use for Tour Guide in 2022–2023 with the advent of the Labrynth archetype (a Trap-based Fiend deck). OCG players popularized a variant dubbed “Tour Guide Labrynth”, which splashed a small Burning Abyss engine into Labrynth decks.

The idea was that Tour Guide could fetch Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, then be linked off to generate advantage.

For instance:

1. Normal Summon Tour Guide
2. Special Scarm
3. Link into Muckraker From the Underworld (a Fiend Link-2)
4. End Phase Scarm searches any Level 3 Fiend (often another Tour Guide for next turn, or Arianna the Labrynth Servant).

This gave Labrynth decks a higher-ceiling opening play that didn’t conflict with their trap usage. The Tour Guide engine also let them mill or send Farfa, Malebranche of the BA via Cherubini for spot removal, while still executing the normal Labrynth “furniture” combos.

The success of Tour Guide Labrynth in OCG (where it topped some events) influenced TCG Labrynth players to try similar packages once Labrynth was released in TCG in 2022. By 2023, Tour Guide was occasionally seen in TCG Labrynth builds as well, although not all players adopted it.

Aside from Labrynth, Tour Guide found usage in other rogue or Tier 2 strategies in the modern era. Danger Dark World (post-2022 Dark World Structure Deck) is one such deck – it can utilize Tour Guide to summon specialized Fiends that facilitate its fusion plays.

A notable example: in YCS Rio 2023, a Danger Dark World player ran Tour Guide to summon Versago the Destroyer from the deck, using Versago as a Fusion material for Grapha, Dragon Overlord of Dark World. As the tournament report noted, “Faria chose to run Tour Guide as his Normal Summon of choice as her talents are quite useful for Dark World. TGU can summon Versago the Destroyer from the hand or Deck, which lets you get to both Grapha, Dragon Overlord of Dark World, and Clorless a lot easier.”

Here, Tour Guide essentially acted as a one-card enabler for the Dark World fusion boss. Similarly, some Unchained deck variants include Tour Guide, since Unchained are Fiends and Tour Guide can pull an Unchained monster (or a BA) to make Rank 3 or Link plays (Unchained Souls are Level 3 Fiends that could be Tour Guide targets).

In general, any deck that can benefit from easy Link-2 fodder or Rank 3 Xyz and has synergy with Fiends might consider Tour Guide in the modern format, now that she’s freely available.

To summarize Tour Guide’s journey: She went from being the hottest card of 2011–2012, propelling multiple meta decks, to a staple of one of the longest-standing competitive engines (Burning Abyss) through the mid-2010s, to a lengthy period on the Limited list.

By the time she was unlimited in 2020, power creep meant she was no longer an obvious auto-include in every deck – but clever duelists continue to find ways to exploit her unique ability to summon any Level 3 Fiend from the Deck, a testament to the card’s fundamental strength and flexibility.

Banlist Timeline and Impact

Tour Guide’s banlist history is a reflection of her evolving impact on the game:

• Sept 2012: Semi-Limited to 2 copies in both TCG and OCG. Reason: Curb the consistency of Tour Guide engines in Dino Rabbit, Wind-Up, and other decks. This was simultaneous with hits to Rescue Rabbit. Impact: Decks running Tour Guide had to cut to 2; still widely used, but players added alternate targets (Tour Bus, etc.) to compensate for Sangan’s impending ban.
• March 2013: Sangan banned (TCG/OCG). Reason: Not a direct hit on Tour Guide, but effectively nerfed Tour Guide’s best target. Tour Guide remained Semi-Limited. Impact: Tour Guide engines lost the free search advantage; usage dipped slightly until new targets were adopted.
• Late 2013 – Early 2014: Tour Guide stayed Semi-Limited (2) in both formats. Impact: Reasonably balanced; saw less play during Dragon Ruler format, but remained a strong combo piece in rogue decks.
• April 2015 (TCG) / 2015 OCG: Limited to 1. Reason: Burning Abyss dominance – Tour Guide was a key starter Konami sought to throttle. OCG followed suit during their adjustment (OCG had Tour Guide at 1 by 2015 as well). Impact: BA decks lost their 3-of starter; they became more reliant on multiple normal summons or other tech (like Mathematician). Despite this, BA continued to thrive with 1 Tour Guide, proving the deck’s resilience.
• 2016–2019: Kept Limited (1) in both TCG and OCG. Reason: Caution. Even if Tour Guide wasn’t dominating the meta, Konami kept her at 1 due to potential abuse with new cards (PK, etc.). Impact: Any deck using Tour Guide had to treat her as a one-of power card. BA/PK decks in this era often used Rhino Warrior and tried to search or recycle Tour Guide via Scarm whenever possible. New support like Cherubini (2018/2019) meant even one Tour Guide could lead to big combos, perhaps justifying her continued limitation.
• Jan 2020 (TCG): Semi-Limited to 2. Reason: Meta shifts (Sky Striker, Orcust, Thunder, etc.) made Tour Guide less central; testing the waters for a comeback. Impact: Little negative impact on meta balance. BA/PK fans gained a slight consistency boost.
• Sept 2020 (TCG): Unlimited (3). OCG around Jan 2021 also Unlimited Tour Guide. Reason: Tour Guide was proving fair in the modern game; Konami loosened many long-held limits around this time as older cards were power-crept. Impact: Enabled full 3× Tour Guide engines again. Rogue decks and fan-favorites could play Tour Guide at max and enjoy her classic combos. No tier-1 meta deck broke as a result – confirming that the game had moved past Tour Guide being a balance concern.

As of 2025, Tour Guide From the Underworld remains Unlimited (3) in Advanced Format. Her journey from 3 → 2 → 1 → 2 → 3 spans over a decade, something very few cards have experienced. Each move told a story about the meta: when she was too efficient (early Xyz era, BA era), and when the game’s power level eventually surpassed a 1-card Rank 3 play. It’s a testament to her design that Tour Guide was carefully monitored for so long.

Notably, Tour Guide was never Forbidden (0) on the list; the closest she came was the long stint at Limited. Instead, Konami managed her influence by limiting her copies and eliminating her most broken partner (Sangan, until its nerf). When Sangan was errata’d and returned, and the game introduced even faster combo enablers, Tour Guide was finally deemed safe to roam free. Competitive players keep this history in mind – whenever a new Level 3 Fiend archetype is released, one of the first questions asked is, “Can we run Tour Guide in this?” Now that she’s at 3, the answer can always be yes if the synergy is there.

OCG Innovations and TCG Influence

Throughout Tour Guide’s tenure, the OCG (Japanese format) occasionally used her differently due to card pool or rule differences, leading to innovations that later affected TCG play.

One early difference was that Tour Guide remained legal in OCG while being a TCG exclusive for over a year. OCG got Tour Guide in October 2012 (Extra Pack 2012), and by then they had seen TCG decks abuse her.

The OCG quickly semi-limited her (Sept 2012) even before most players could use her, indicating a preemptive measure. When Burning Abyss arrived in OCG (late 2014 via imports and fully by Extra Pack 2015), they already knew Tour Guide would be central – and indeed OCG BA decks leaned heavily on Tour Guide.

The OCG, however, had an interesting card called Kagemucha Knight available earlier – a Level 3 Warrior that could Special Summon itself from hand when you Normal Summon a Level 3. OCG players in 2014–2015 used Kagemucha in conjunction with Tour Guide to chain block hand traps and to have an extra body.

For example: Normal Tour Guide (Chain 1 Tour Guide effect, Chain 2 Kagemucha Knight summon) – this made it harder to negate Tour Guide with Effect Veiler (Veiler would miss timing in OCG rulings).

The result was Tour Guide bringing out a BA (which might die, triggering an effect) but still leaving Tour Guide + Kagemucha to Xyz into Dante. This tech eventually found its way to the TCG BA players as well, who adopted Kagemucha in some builds to ensure Tour Guide resolved through opponent’s disruption.

Another OCG innovation was Cherubini combos. As mentioned, the OCG had Cherubini in early 2018, almost a full year before the TCG. OCG Phantom Knight and Burning Abyss players mastered using Tour Guide as a one-card Cherubini maker. One combo noted on forums was:

1. Tour Guide → Graff
2. Link into Cherubini
3. Graff summons Scarm from Deck
4. Cherubini sends Cir
5. Cir revives Scarm (or Dante).

This play could end with Cherubini plus a revived Dante or a free monster, gaining advantage and setting up an End Phase Scarm search – all off one Tour Guide.

When the TCG got Cherubini in 2019 (Dark Neostorm), players who followed OCG trends quickly picked up these lines to enhance their BA/PK decks. It showed how even in a Link-focused format, an old card like Tour Guide could enable cutting-edge combos discovered overseas.

Perhaps the most significant OCG-to-TCG influence recently was the Tour Guide Labrynth variant described earlier. Labrynth, introduced in OCG mid-2022 (Deck Build Pack Tactical Masters), was performing decently, but OCG players discovered the Tour Guide package could boost its power.

By mid-2023, several top OCG Labrynth lists included Tour Guide and a small BA engine, which gave them plays beyond setting Trap Cards. This idea was shared globally, and TCG players looking for a twist on Labrynth tried the same.

Master Duel (which uses OCG rules/card pool) even published a guide highlighting Tour Guide Labrynth as a strong build: “Tour Guide Labrynth…originally rose to fame through the OCG.”. That guide explains how Tour Guide lines don’t interfere with Labrynth’s normal trap usage, and how Tour Guide can force opponents to respond early or suffer a snowball of advantage.

By seeing the OCG success, TCG duelists were influenced to experiment accordingly. While Tour Guide Labrynth isn’t the most common build in TCG (some prefer pure Labrynth), it’s a great example of cross-regional innovation.

It’s worth noting that not all OCG innovations caught on in TCG, sometimes due to card availability. For instance, the OCG had a longer period with Maxx “C” legal; a Turn 1 Tour Guide in OCG often had to contend with Maxx “C” being dropped in response (prompting the Tour Guide player to consider stopping at just the one summon).

TCG players in the no-Maxx “C” environment could be more liberal with Tour Guide extending into multiple summons. Conversely, the TCG during 2014–2016 allowed some cards OCG didn’t (like Tour Guide itself earlier, or later Sekka’s Light for BA decks), leading to divergent approaches.

Overall, however, Tour Guide’s uses converged once card pools aligned and she was at the same limit status in both regions by the late 2010s.

In summary, OCG players confirmed that Tour Guide was more than just a “TCG hype card” – she proved her worth in their formats too and occasionally offered new tricks for the rest of the world. This back-and-forth ensured that Tour Guide remained a well-understood and utilized tool in the competitive community worldwide.

Best Tour Guide Targets by Era

One of Tour Guide’s greatest strengths is her versatility – she can summon any Level 3 Fiend from your hand or Deck (with effects negated). Over time, the available “best targets” for Tour Guide have evolved. Here’s a breakdown of the prime targets in each era and why they were chosen:

• 2011–2012 (Xyz Era Debut): Sangan was the premier Tour Guide target in the early days. With 1000 ATK, Sangan was easily fetched and, when detached or destroyed, would search a crucial combo piece (anything from a boss monster like BLS, to a hand trap like Effect Veiler, depending on the deck’s needs). Sangan essentially turned Tour Guide into a one-card +1 advantage. Tour Bus From the Underworld also saw fringe use after its 2012 release; Tour Bus (another Level 3 Fiend) would shuffle a card from grave into Deck when sent to grave, giving Tour Guide some utility if Sangan wasn’t available. In Dark World decks, Broww, Huntsman of Dark World was a viable target – Tour Guide could summon Broww (effect negated on field), then use Broww as Xyz material or as a cost for Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World’s revival (bouncing Broww to hand to summon Grapha). Some players also ran Night Assailant as a target once Sangan was limited/banned; although Tour Guide negated Night Assailant’s flip effect, its presence as a Fiend target kept Tour Guide live, and its grave effect to retrieve a Flip monster could occasionally recover an Assailant or Ryko from grave. In niche cases, if no other targets were left, Tour Guide could even grab another Tour Guide from the Deck (since nothing in her text forbids summoning a copy of herself) – the second Tour Guide wouldn’t activate its effect, but it provided a material for Rank 3 plays.
• 2013–2014 (Pre-BA Transition): With Sangan forbidden by 2013, Tour Guide’s targets were more sparse until new sets arrived. Tour Bus and Night Assailant became default targets in many builds (often 1 copy of each alongside 2 Tour Guides in late 2013). Neither was as impactful as Sangan, but they ensured Tour Guide wasn’t a dead draw. Mystic Tomato was even experimented with by some (since Tomato could float into Tour Guide, which could then fetch another Fiend), but Tomato was Level 4 so Tour Guide couldn’t summon it directly. By mid-2014, when Burning Abyss were introduced, Tour Guide’s targets shifted to that archetype: Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss became the top choices. Typically, Tour Guide would summon Graff first – Graff would be destroyed (due to Tour Guide being on field) and then Graff’s grave effect would summon Scarm from the Deck. (If Tour Guide was limited to 2 at this time, players ran 1 Graff, 1 Scarm as targets.) Scarm in turn would get destroyed and search in the End Phase for any Level 3 Dark Fiend – usually fetching Tour Guide herself for the next turn, or another BA like Cir. This one-two punch (Graff then Scarm) leveraged Tour Guide to set up follow-up plays. In BA mirror matches, some also tech’d Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss as a Tour Guide target if removal was needed – Tour Guide summoning Farfa would cause Farfa to self-destruct and banish an opponent’s monster for the turn (useful for outing extra-deck monsters temporarily).
• 2015–2016 (BA/PK Era): With Tour Guide at 1 copy, choosing the optimal target was critical. Scarm was often the go-to target if the goal was to get an End Phase search (especially since Graff and Cir were Limited by late 2015 in TCG). Summoning Scarm with Tour Guide, then immediately using them to Xyz into Dante, was common – Dante would detach Scarm (sending it to GY where its effect could trigger). The search could fetch any important Fiend (including the next Tour Guide or a missing BA/PK piece). Fiendish Rhino Warrior, introduced in early 2016, became arguably the best target when available: Tour Guide → Rhino would not trigger BA self-destruction (Rhino itself would die because Tour Guide isn’t a BA monster, but Rhino’s effect would send any Fiend from Deck to GY). For example, Tour Guide summons Rhino, Rhino is sent to GY and in the process sends Graff from deck to GY, and then Graff’s effect summons a BA like Farfa from Deck. This effectively turned Tour Guide into a double-foolish combo (Rhino dumps one fiend, Graff summons another) setting up a strong field and grave. In Phantom Knight variants, sometimes Tour Guide even pulled a Phantom Knights’ Silent Boots from hand (since Tour Guide can special from hand too) if the player already had Boots ready – but usually BA monsters were preferred. Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss occasionally was a target in time-sensitive games: Tour Guide → Barbar (negated) overlay into Dante, detach Barbar to burn for up to 900 damage – a cheeky way to win in time. But under most circumstances, Scarm and Rhino Warrior were the prime targets in this era.
• 2017–2019 (Link Era Rogue): During this time, Tour Guide was seldom seen in top meta decks, but in the decks that did use her, familiar faces remained the targets. With Sangan’s errata and unbanning in 2017, Sangan made a comeback as a Tour Guide target in some combo decks. Though Tour Guide negates Sangan’s on-field effect, players found new value in Sangan: after using Tour Guide and linking off Sangan, Sangan could search hand traps like Ash Blossom (0 ATK) or combo pieces with <1500 ATK (e.g. Crusadia Arboria) – with the caveat that the searched card’s effect couldn’t be used that turn (per errata). Still, having Tour Guide pull Sangan and then link into, say, Cherubini or Security Dragon, could set up your hand for the opponent’s turn with an Ash Blossom or D.D. Crow ready. Scarm remained a useful target especially once Cherubini came out – Cherubini could send Graf, Graf summon Scarm from Deck, giving an End Phase search as well. In pure Phantom Knight decks (post-2019), a niche target was The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak if one wanted to get a PK in grave via an Xyz detach, but since Cloak is a Warrior (not Fiend), Tour Guide cannot summon it directly. Thus, BA Fiends were still used as intermediaries (Graf to bring Cloak from hand, etc.). It was around 2019 that some players also experimented with Tour Guide in Danger! Dark World or Sekka’s Light Burning Abyss decks: here, Farfa and Fiendish Rhino Warrior were valued targets to set up grave effects for disruption (Farfa banish) or extension (Rhino sending Graf). Farfa, in particular, became more useful as a targeted removal option that Tour Guide could enable indirectly.
• 2020–2025 (Modern Options): With three copies of Tour Guide now available, the range of targets widened and creative uses emerged. Classic picks like Scarm, Graff, Farfa, Rhino Warrior, and Sangan remain strong choices depending on the deck’s gameplan. For instance, a 2022 Phantom Knight list with Tour Guide might use TGU → Graff → Cherubini line, so Graff is chosen to maximize getting more bodies. Control-oriented trap decks (Labrynth variants) favor Scarm as the Tour Guide target, because Scarm in GY can fetch another Tour Guide or a crucial monster for next turn. As the YCS example showed, Versago the Destroyer became a surprise modern target in Dark World decks – Tour Guide summoning Versago (a Level 3 Fiend Fusion-Substitute) directly enables powerful fusion summons like Grapha’s Fusion form. This is a great demonstration that even old, obscure Fiends can become “viable targets” when new support arrives. Another modern target worth mentioning is Absolute King Back Jack – while Tour Guide cannot summon Back Jack (it’s Level 1, not Level 3), some Tour Guide-based decks like Burning Abyss try to mill Back Jack to gain trap advantage. Instead, what Tour Guide can summon is Lilith, Lady of Lament in certain trap decks: Lilith is Level 3 Fiend with 2000 ATK but becomes 1000 ATK on field (Tour Guide can’t summon from Deck because Lilith is Level 3 Dark Fiend but must be Normal Summoned first to use effect—so actually Tour Guide summoning Lilith won’t allow Lilith’s trap-fetch effect, making it an impractical target). A more practical new target is Stove or Chandraglier from the Labrynth “furniture” monsters – they are Level 3 Fiends that could be summoned by Tour Guide if one wanted a body. However, since their effects activate by discard and they have no on-field effect worth using when negated, Labrynth players found BA monsters like Scarm/Farfa to be superior Tour Guide targets rather than the Labrynth furniture themselves.

In summary, Sangan and Scarm stand out as historically the most important Tour Guide targets (each defining an era: pre-2013 and post-2014 respectively). Others like Graff, Rhino, and Farfa were crucial within specific engines. With each new Fiend released, players consider if it’s Tour Guide-able. For instance, if Konami releases a Level 3 Fiend archetype in 2025, you can bet one of the first community discussions will be whether Tour Guide can jump-start it. Tour Guide’s ability to adapt to different partners is a reason she has stayed relevant for so long.

Below is a summary table of key Tour Guide targets by era and their purpose:

This table highlights how Tour Guide’s value is tightly linked to the available pool of Fiend monsters. Throughout, her ability to negate the summoned monster’s effects is usually not a detriment – players either choose targets whose effects activate in grave (Sangan, Scarm, Graff, Farfa, Rhino etc.), or whose on-field effects aren’t needed. This is a key insight when picking Tour Guide targets: prefer Fiends that will trigger upon being sent to GY, or that serve as combo pieces without needing their own on-field effect.

As the card pool expands, Tour Guide’s “Rolodex” of targets only grows. Being aware of the best options in each format is crucial to maximizing her potential.

Combo Examples: Past and Present

To fully appreciate Tour Guide’s impact, let’s walk through some signature combos involving Tour Guide From the Underworld. We will cover both historical combos from past meta decks and more modern plays. Each example will be broken down step-by-step:

1. Dino Rabbit Leviair Combo (2012)

Deck: Dino Rabbit (Evolzar Laggia/Dolkka deck) – Goal: Use Tour Guide to extend the Rescue Rabbit engine by recycling the banished Rabbit.

• Step 1: Normal Summon Tour Guide From the Underworld. Activate Tour Guide’s effect to Special Summon Sangan from the Deck (in defense position).
• Step 2: Overlay Tour Guide and Sangan to Xyz Summon Leviair the Sea Dragon (Rank 3).
• Step 3: Activate Leviair’s effect, detaching Sangan. This Special Summons your banished Rescue Rabbit back to the field. (Sangan’s effect will trigger upon hitting the grave: search a monster ≤1500 ATK. In Dino Rabbit, you might search a hand trap like Effect Veiler, or a combo piece for later. Notably, if you plan to reuse Rabbit this turn, you’d search later; if not, you might search now. In modern play, remember Sangan’s errata forbids using the searched card’s effects that turn.)
• Step 4: Now use the Rescue Rabbit (now on field) again: banish Rabbit to Special Summon two Level 4 Normal Dinosaurs (e.g. Kabazauls) from the Deck.
• Step 5: Xyz Summon an Evolzar Laggia or Evolzar Dolkka using those two dinosaurs. Now, thanks to Tour Guide, you’ve ended with an Evolzar plus a Leviair on field.
• Step 6 (Follow-up): The next turn, Leviair can detach Tour Guide to revive the banished Rabbit again, or detach whatever material remains. Also, Sangan’s search from Step 3 would have added a card to your hand (in 2012, Sangan could search important combo pieces like Sabersaurus, or even Tour Guide itself if you ran multiple – though typically one didn’t search Tour Guide with Sangan since Tour Guide was limited later on). This combo exemplified how Tour Guide multiplied the threats a Dino Rabbit deck could produce – instead of just one Laggia from Rabbit, Tour Guide enabled making Laggia and reusing Rabbit for possibly a second Evolzar next turn. It was a huge swing in card advantage and board presence. No surprise Dino Rabbit decks of that format ran 3 Tour Guide despite the card not being a “dinosaur” – the engine was just that good.

Why it mattered: This combo was a staple in Dino Rabbit play. It forced the opponent to deal with an extra boss monster (Dolkka/Laggia) they otherwise wouldn’t see so quickly. It also demonstrated Tour Guide’s synergy with Leviair, which would show up in other decks (Wind-Ups, Infernity) as well – any deck that banished key monsters could use Tour Guide->Leviair to retrieve them. The Tour Guide + Sangan into Leviair play was so strong it frequently dictated mirror matches and was one reason Sangan was later banned (to reduce the power of such combos).

2. Wind-Up Hand Loop Extension (2012)

Deck: Wind-Up (Hand loop variant) – Goal: Use Tour Guide to supplement the Wind-Up combo by searching pieces and making Rank 3s for additional pressure.

• Context: The infamous Wind-Up hand loop involved using Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity and Wind-Up Hunter to rip cards from the opponent’s hand. Tour Guide wasn’t the centerpiece of the loop, but it provided consistency and follow-up Xyz options. A common inclusion was Tour Guide + Sangan.
• Step 1: Perform the standard Wind-Up combo (using Wind-Up Rat, Wind-Up Shark, Zenmaity, etc.) to loop 2–3 cards out of the opponent’s hand. Often this left a Wind-Up Zenmaines or Zenmaity on field and some pieces banished (like a banished Wind-Up Rat or used Shark).
• Step 2: After or during the combo, Normal Summon Tour Guide to help extend. Use Tour Guide to Special Summon Sangan from the Deck (if Sangan is still legal; post-ban, Tour Guide might summon Tour Bus or Knight Assailant instead).
• Step 3: Xyz Summon Leviair the Sea Dragon with Tour Guide and the Level 3 (Sangan). Detach Sangan from Leviair to activate Leviair’s effect, bringing back a banished Wind-Up monster (for example, a banished Wind-Up Hunter or Wind-Up Rat). Sangan’s effect triggers and adds a monster ≤1500 ATK to your hand. In a Wind-Up deck, Sangan could fetch Wind-Up Magician (600 ATK) or Effect Veiler (0 ATK) or any tech monster needed.
• Step 4: The revived Wind-Up monster from Leviair can now be used for further Xyz or Link plays. In 2012, you might overlay two Level 3s (the revived monster and maybe another spare Level 3) for a defensive Wind-Up Zenmaines to protect your board. Or, if Wind-Up Rat was revived and you hadn’t used its effect, Rat could revive another Wind-Up from GY to extend into a Rank 3/Rank 5. Tour Guide basically gave the deck an extra push after executing the main loop.
• Step 5: End with a field of multiple Xyz monsters (perhaps a Zenmaines from Tour Guide’s play and a Tiras or Adreus from earlier plays) plus you plucked cards from the opponent’s hand. Sangan’s search would ensure you had follow-up (searching another hand trap or even another Tour Guide for next turn if one remained in deck).

Why it mattered: While Tour Guide wasn’t essential to Wind-Up combos, it provided stability and backup. If the main combo pieces weren’t drawn, Tour Guide + Sangan could dig for them. If the combo succeeded, Tour Guide made the end board stronger. It also drew out hand traps – opponents often had to negate Tour Guide (with Veiler/Warning) or risk facing Leviair bringing back more threats. The phrase “Tour Guide into Leviair” was nearly synonymous with high-level play extensions in this era. Wind-Up decks that ran Tour Guide had an edge in grinding out games once the initial explosion was over.

3. Burning Abyss “Double Dante” Opening (2014)

Deck: Pure Burning Abyss – Goal: Use Tour Guide to generate two Dante Xyz monsters and multiple searches in the first turn.

• Step 1: Normal Summon Tour Guide From the Underworld. Use her effect to Special Summon Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from the Deck (Graff’s effect is negated, and note: since you control Tour Guide (a non-BA), Graff will immediately self-destruct by game mechanics). Graff is sent to the Graveyard.
• Step 2: Graff’s graveyard effect activates: Special Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from the Deck in defense position. (Now, Scarm also sees a non-BA (Tour Guide) on the field and will self-destruct as well, sending itself to the grave. At this point, Tour Guide remains as the only monster on field. Both Graff and Scarm have been put in GY.)
• Step 3: Overlay Tour Guide (still on field) with a Burning Abyss monster from your hand, or use Tour Guide and a token/other Level 3 if you had one, to Xyz Summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss (#1) in defense. If you had no other monster to pair with Tour Guide, an alternative was to not Xyz immediately and instead wait to use Tour Guide as link material later – but the classic play assumed you had another BA to Special Summon from hand (Burning Abyss monsters can Special Summon themselves from hand if you control no backrow). Often players would Special a BA like Cir from hand at the start, then Normal Tour Guide – in that case, the BA from hand would self-destruct when Tour Guide hit the field, but Cir’s effect could revive that BA from grave. There were many nuanced lines; we’ll stick to the straightforward one involving drawing an extender.)
• Step 4: Detach Tour Guide from Dante (#1) to activate Dante’s effect, milling 3 cards from your Deck. This sends more BA cards to grave potentially (hitting a Scarm or Cir here is bonus). Tour Guide is now in grave. Dante #1 now has 1 material remaining (the other Level 3).
• Step 5: Scarm’s effect in the grave (triggered by being sent earlier) will activate in the End Phase to add 1 Level 3 DARK Fiend from your Deck to your hand. Usually, you add Tour Guide (for your next turn) if you haven’t used one this turn, or add a missing BA monster (Cir/Graff) if you already have Tour Guide. In this combo, since Tour Guide was used this turn, Scarm might search another extender like Rubic or Farfa, or even Barbar if anticipating time. Often though, BA lists ran 2 Tour Guide in 2014 (when semi-limited), so Scarm would search the second Tour Guide for follow-up.
• Step 6: Now, how do we get Double Dante as mentioned? The above sequence yields one Dante. To get a second, typically you needed an extra extender in hand. For example, if you had Cir, Malebranche of BA in hand initially: you could Special Cir (no backrow, so allowed), then Normal Tour Guide → Tour Guide brings Graff. Graff and Tour Guide could overlay into Dante #1 directly (before Graff dies, you overlay immediately – here, some ruling technicalities aside, assume you overlaid before state-based destruction or used an extender to keep Graff around via Rhino etc.). Detach Graff, Graff brings Scarm, Scarm and Cir (from hand, still on field because Cir is a BA and you had no non-BA on field once Tour Guide became Xyz material) can now overlay into Dante #2. Dante #2 detaches Scarm to mill 3. End Phase, Scarm searches Tour Guide. This double Dante setup was achievable with the right extenders and was a huge turn1 power play for BA – giving two 2500 DEF monsters that each milled cards (fueling more effects) and setting up two searches (often Cir added back Dante from GY if any died, Scarm added Tour Guide). The key was that Tour Guide started the chain, and cards like Cir/Graff amplified it.
• Step 7: End Phase, resolve Scarm’s search (and any other BA effects like Cir retrieving a BA from grave if that occurred). Typically, you searched Tour Guide or Alich (if you wanted a Fiend to normal next turn for a Rank 3). With double Dante on board and possibly a set Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss trap (if milled and added via Dante’s effect), you were in a commanding position.

Why it mattered: This combo showcased why Tour Guide was considered the heart of Burning Abyss. Even at 2 (in 2014 TCG) or 1 (later), Tour Guide’s ability to fetch Graff/Scarm gave the deck immediate momentum. The “double Dante” opening became a hallmark of early BA format – it was so strong that opponents would do everything to stop Tour Guide (using Effect Veiler or Breakthrough Skill to negate her effect, or Maxx “C” to dissuade the special summons). If Tour Guide resolved, the BA player would often generate more resources than the opponent could handle. It directly led to Tour Guide’s limitation in 2015, as hitting her was the easiest way to tone down BA without killing the archetype completely. Even with 1 Tour Guide, BA adapted, but never quite had the explosive turn1 as freely again until Cherubini arrived.

4. PK Fire Cherubini Combo (2016)

Deck: Phantom Knights Burning Abyss (PK Fire) – Goal: Use Tour Guide and Phantom Knight extenders to summon Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss, setting up graveyard combo pieces.

• Step 1: Normal Summon Tour Guide. Activate her effect to Special Summon Fiendish Rhino Warrior from the Deck. (Rhino’s continuous effect protects Fiends from destruction by card effects, which in ruling interpretations does prevent BA self-destruction – meaning if you summon Rhino, your BA monsters won’t blow up from Tour Guide’s presence. Rhino himself is not a “Burning Abyss” by name, but he prevents the destruction effect on BAs.)
• Step 2: If you have any Level 3 extender (say The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots can Special Summon itself if you have another PK on field – not applicable here yet; or Kagemucha Knight in hand, which would’ve jumped out with Tour Guide’s summon), you’d use it here. Let’s assume you have Graf, Malebranche of BA in hand (since Tour Guide was at 1, BA players often loaded the deck with other starters). You can Special Summon Graf from hand because Rhino is on field and you control no Spell/Trap (Graf’s condition allows summon if no backrow). Normally Graf would self-destruct seeing Tour Guide (non-BA) on field, but Fiendish Rhino’s effect prevents that destruction. So now you have Tour Guide, Rhino, and Graf all on field.
• Step 3: Link Summon Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss using any two Level 3 monsters – here, use Tour Guide + Graf. Cherubini hits the field (notably, Cherubini has “Burning Abyss” in its name but is a Fairy-type; Rhino’s job is done regardless). Graf’s effect triggers upon hitting GY: Special Summon Scarm from Deck. Now you have Cherubini, Rhino, and Scarm on field. (Scarm is a BA monster, but Cherubini is a “Burning Abyss” monster by name, and Rhino prevents destruction anyway, so Scarm stays safely.)
• Step 4: Activate Cherubini’s effect: send 1 Level 3 monster from Deck to GY to boost Cherubini’s ATK. You send Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the graveyard. Farfa’s effect triggers, targeting an opponent’s face-up monster and banishing it until the End Phase. This gives you a free removal of a threat on board (if going second) or can even banish one of your own problematic monsters if needed (rarely). If going first, you might choose a different send – for example, sending The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak or Silent Boots to grave for later PK setup instead of Farfa if no targets to banish.
• Step 5: Now resolve any Phantom Knight grave effects if applicable (say you sent Silent Boots; you could banish Boots from GY to search a PK Spell/Trap like Fog Blade). Also, you have Scarm on field and Rhino on field. At this point, you can use Rhino and Scarm to Xyz into Dante if desired, or Link them off into something like Masquerena for an IP play on opponent’s turn, etc. A common play: overlay Rhino + Scarm into Dante in defense, detach Scarm to mill 3. Dante and Cherubini now both present sizable threats and you milled more BA/PK cards.
• Step 6: End Phase, Scarm’s effect (whether Scarm went to GY via detach or was still on field and goes to GY in end phase due to Cherubini’s effect that sends a linked BA to GY if Cherubini leaves – but Cherubini stayed, so anyway): Search your Deck for Tour Guide (for next turn) or another Level 3 Fiend you need. Often, grabbing Tour Guide for follow-up was ideal since Tour Guide was at 1, this was a way to have it for the next turn again.

Why it mattered: This combo (which became common after Cherubini’s release) demonstrated Tour Guide’s continued relevance long after her heyday. Even at 1 copy, Tour Guide could, with the aid of just one extender like a BA in hand, produce Cherubini – a powerful Link-2 that turbo-charged the deck. Cherubini in turn could dump whatever Level 3 was most needed (Farfa for interruption, or PK monsters to grave to set up Rank-Up plays, etc.). In the PK Fire deck, this combo gave access to both the BA arsenal (Dante, mills, BA floats) and the PK arsenal (Fog Blade, Break Sword plays) all in one sequence. It’s effectively the 2016 evolution of the Burning Abyss combo, adjusted for Link format. TCG players learned this combo by watching OCG players perform it in 2018, as mentioned earlier. It kept Tour Guide as an important – if one-of – card in those strategies until eventually Tour Guide went to 3 and BA/PK was no longer topping often. Even so, any modern fan of Phantom Knights or Burning Abyss will know this Tour Guide → Cherubini line.

5. Labrynth Tour Guide Opening (2023)

Deck: Tour Guide Labrynth (Trap-based Fiend deck) – Goal: Utilize Tour Guide to gain advantage and extra interruptions in a Labrynth deck, without hindering the trap strategy.

• Step 1: Normal Summon Tour Guide From the Underworld. Activate her effect to Special Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from the Deck (in defense). Scarm’s effect is negated on field, and since Tour Guide is a non-BA, Scarm would normally destroy itself. However, in this build, players often ensure they have no other non-BA besides Tour Guide or have a way to use Scarm immediately. One trick is to link off quickly (see next step).
• Step 2: Immediately Link Summon Muckraker From the Underworld using Tour Guide and Scarm. Muckraker is a Link-2 Fiend that requires 2 Fiends. Tour Guide and Scarm satisfy that. When they leave the field: Scarm’s effect will trigger in the Graveyard during the End Phase to search a Level 3 Fiend. Now you have Muckraker on field. (Alternative: Some builds instead link Tour Guide and Scarm into Cherubini (if they run it) to dump a card like Back Jack or Farfa, but let’s stick with Muckraker which is more Labrynth-focused.)*
• Step 3: Activate Muckraker’s effect: discard 1 card to target a Fiend in your GY and Special Summon it. Here you can discard a Labrynth Stovie or Chandraglier (which have grave effects) or any trap you want in GY (to later recur), and revive Scarm back from the GY. Muckraker locks you into Fiends for the rest of the turn – not an issue in Labrynth as nearly all monsters are Fiend. Now Scarm is back on field (its effects negated by Muckraker’s summoning effect, but that doesn’t matter since its search will happen anyway when it goes to GY).
• Step 4: Set your normal Labrynth trap cards (like Welcome Labrynth or Dogmatika Punishment) and end your turn. In the End Phase, Scarm (which was sent to GY either by being used as link material or if you later link it off) will activate and add Tour Guide or a needed Fiend to your hand. Often, you add another Tour Guide for next turn, or if you need a Labrynth monster like Arianna (if Arianna had ≤1500 ATK, but it has 1600, so not Scarm-searchable). If not Tour Guide, Scarm could fetch a tech like Absolute King Back Jack (which is Level 1, so it can be searched by Scarm’s “any Level 3 DARK Fiend” because Back Jack is Level 1, actually Scarm can only grab level 3 Dark Fiends, so scratch that – Back Jack is level 1, not eligible; Scarm would grab maybe Ariane if it was level 3, but Ariane is level 4). In practice, Scarm usually gets Tour Guide itself or Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle if Lady was level 3 (she is level 8, no). So Tour Guide is the main thing to grab, or another BA like Farfa if you want a particular interruption next turn with Cherubini.
• Step 5 (Opponent’s Turn): You now have Muckraker on field (which has 1600 ATK and protects your Fiends from being destroyed by battle while you control it). You’ve also likely set a trap like Welcome Labrynth. You can activate Welcome Labrynth to summon a Labrynth monster from deck (usually Lady Labrynth or Arianna). From here, your regular Labrynth grind begins, popping opponent’s cards with Labrynth effects when you use traps. Muckraker adds value by being a Fiend link that doesn’t conflict with Labrynth locks and can on a later turn revive a Labrynth monster by discarding (for example, revive a Lovely Labrynth from GY by discarding a dead card).
• Step 6 (Next Turn): Use the Tour Guide that Scarm searched to do it all again or to make Cherubini. For example, now you might Normal Summon Tour Guide (that you added) → summon Farfa from deck → Link into Dark the Dark Charmer or Cherubini, etc. Farfa could then banish another card. Essentially, Tour Guide provides a recurring engine of advantage and removal that complements the Labrynth deck’s trap tricks.

Why it mattered: This combo is a contemporary example (in Master Duel and some TCG local metas) of Tour Guide being repurposed in a modern control deck. Labrynth normally uses normal summons like Arianna to get its engine going, but Tour Guide offers an alternative route that puts two bodies on board (for Link plays) and guarantees follow-up via Scarm’s search. It forces the opponent to possibly use hand traps early (on Tour Guide) or face an uphill resource game. What’s impressive is that all this is done without hindering the Labrynth strategy: Tour Guide’s line doesn’t prevent you from using traps, and in fact can set up Backjack or Ghastly Glitch if one chooses to send different fiends. It shows that even in 2023, with careful deck building, Tour Guide can find synergy with new archetypes. The Labrynth variant proved that old and new can mix for greater effect. While not every Labrynth player runs Tour Guide (some prefer purely Labrynth cards), those that do have a flashy and fun opening that harkens back to Tour Guide’s glory days.

These examples scratch the surface of Tour Guide’s combo potential. Over the years, players have come up with many more, such as: Infernity Loop Extension (2014) – Tour Guide fetching Stygian Street Patrol (Level 4, so not directly – instead Tour Guide would get Dark Grepher in hand via Sangan, then Grepher discard Stygian, etc.), or Sekka’s Light BA (2018) – Tour Guide into Rhino into massive mills to trigger multiple BA effects at once, and even Gimmick FTKs (Tour Guide into Archfiend Heiress to search Archfiend’s Oath for an old FTK deck). If a combo involved Level 3 Fiends, Tour Guide was often in the mix. The cited five combos above, however, represent some of the most influential and illustrative uses of Tour Guide in competitive play.

Rulings, Interactions, and Technical Notes

Tour Guide From the Underworld is generally straightforward to use, but there are several important rulings and interactions to be aware of:

• “Negate its effects” – On-field only: Tour Guide negates the effects of the monster it summons while that monster is face-up on the field. This means if that monster has a Trigger effect that activates in the Graveyard (or upon leaving the field), it will still activate normally. The classic example is Sangan: if Tour Guide summons Sangan and then Sangan is sent from field to GY as Xyz material or by being destroyed, Sangan’s search effect will still activate, because at the time it activates (in GY) it is no longer negated. In contrast, if the summoned monster has a continuous or ignition effect on field, that effect cannot be used. For example, if Tour Guide summoned Fiendish Rhino Warrior, Rhino’s continuous effect (“Fiend monsters you control, except itself, cannot be destroyed by card effects”) would be negated while Rhino is on field under Tour Guide’s effect. This is why in some instances BA monsters still self-destruct even with Rhino – if Rhino’s protection was negated by Tour Guide. (However, due to some quirk in how BA self-destruction is ruled as a “card effect” of the BA monster, many players found Rhino did prevent BA self-destruction. It’s a technical detail: Rhino prevents destruction by card effects, and BA monsters’ text “destroy itself if you control a non-BA” is treated as a condition that causes a self-destruction effect. So Rhino can shield them. This nuanced ruling allowed combos like Tour Guide → Rhino → keep BA on field to exist.) The key point: effects that activate in the Graveyard or banish zone are not negated by Tour Guide’s effect, since the monster is no longer on field.
• Synchro Material restriction: Tour Guide explicitly prevents using the summoned monster as Synchro material. This was written to avoid easy Synchro climbing (back in 2011, Xyz were new and Konami didn’t want Tour Guide to also buff Synchro strategies). There is no such restriction on Xyz, Fusion, or Link usage. So you can Xyz or Link with the summoned monster freely. You cannot, however, perform a Synchro Summon with it. For example, if Tour Guide brings out Graf (Level 3 Tuner? Graf isn’t a tuner – but suppose it brought out a hypothetical Level 3 Fiend Tuner), you couldn’t use that monster and Tour Guide to Synchro summon Virgil, Rockstar of the Burning Abyss. This rarely comes up now, as most Tour Guide targets aren’t Tuners, but it’s good to remember. (Fun fact: Rubick, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss is a Level 3 Tuner Fiend. If Tour Guide summoned Rubick, you cannot Synchro with Rubick. Instead you’d have to use Rubick for Xyz/Link. This is exactly what BA players did – Rubick would just be material, never actually tuning while Tour Guide-negated.)
• Xyz Materials and “sent from the field”: When a monster is used as Xyz Material, it is not considered to be on the field. Therefore, if Tour Guide summons Sangan and you overlay Sangan into an Xyz, Sangan’s effect will not trigger when detached, because Sangan was not “sent from the field to the GY” – it was in the Xyz material state. Tour Guide players in 2011 learned this quickly: to get Sangan’s search, you needed Sangan to actually hit the grave from the field (either by Leviair detaching it or by it being destroyed on field), not by being used directly as material. As a result, often the play was Tour Guide + Sangan → Leviathan Dragon (detach Sangan) so Sangan’s effect goes off. If instead you went Tour Guide + Sangan → set them and not detach, you’d lose the search if Sangan remained an Xyz material. Another example: Cir, Malebranche of BA has effect “if sent to grave: revive a BA from grave”. If Tour Guide summoned Cir and you overlaid it, when Cir is detached it wasn’t “on field”, but Cir’s text doesn’t require “from field” (just says if sent to GY). Interestingly, detaching Xyz material is not treated as a card effect, but Cir just needs to be sent to GY by any means, so Cir will trigger upon being detached (this was a common ruling confusion – Konami clarified that if a BA says “if this card is sent to the GY” it will trigger even if sent as cost or material). So cards like Cir, Graff, Farfa still work when detached under an Xyz, whereas Sangan (which specifically needs to be sent from field) does not. Tour Guide users should know the difference: BA monster effects and similar “if sent” effects will trigger when detached; older cards like Sangan with “from field” clauses will not, unless you detach them after Xyz summoning (meaning they were on field, attached, then detached – no, in that case still not from field, they were in material).
• Interacting with hand traps: Tour Guide is a prime target for hand traps and negation. Effect Veiler or Infinite Impermanence used on Tour Guide will negate her effect, meaning no monster is summoned from the Deck. Players must be ready for that – a common tactic in 2011–2014 was to chain Forbidden Lance targeting Tour Guide to protect her from Veiler/Skill Drain, ensuring her effect resolves. Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, introduced later, can also negate Tour Guide’s effect (Ash specifically negates any effect that Special Summons from Deck). So if the opponent has Ash, Tour Guide will be stopped cold. On the flip side, Maxx “C” can be chained to Tour Guide’s activation – since Tour Guide will guarantee at least one Special Summon (the Fiend from deck), the opponent will draw 1. Usually Tour Guide players would still proceed (1 draw is acceptable) but be cautious about extending further under Maxx “C”. In formats where Maxx “C” is legal (OCG, Master Duel), Tour Guide is often that mandatory draw card for the opponent if they have Maxx “C”. There’s no way around it except not using her effect, which is rarely an option. Called by the Grave: If Tour Guide did successfully summon a monster like Sangan, but then the opponent used Called by the Grave on Sangan after it went to GY, it would negate Sangan’s search. This is a corner case – basically, Tour Guide’s negation is no longer applying, but the opponent can manually negate the grave effect. So plan your plays: if you fear Called by the Grave, maybe Tour Guide should summon something other than Sangan if possible.
• Order of Operations – BA self-destruct timing: As detailed in the BA combo, the timing of Burning Abyss monsters self-destructing can be tricky. The rule is: the moment a BA monster is on the field with a non-“Burning Abyss” monster, the BA is destroyed as a state-based action. This occurs before any player can manually overlay or link off the monsters (since you can’t jump to perform an action until the game handles that destruction). In practice, that means if Tour Guide summons Graff and no protection is in place, Graff will blow up immediately, and you cannot overlay Tour Guide and Graff for Dante because Graff isn’t around to use. This is why early on, BA players did Tour Guide → Graff, Graff dies and brings Scarm, Scarm dies rather than Tour Guide immediately Xyz. However, one subtlety: if you have a chain blocking that (like Kagemucha Knight chaining to Tour Guide’s summon), the resolution might allow an overlay before a check – but generally, no, you can’t avoid it. The solution was Fiendish Rhino Warrior. Rhino prevents the BA from being destroyed by its own effect (since that’s considered a card effect of the BA itself). So Tour Guide → Graff (Graff would die, but Rhino says no if Rhino is present) or *Tour Guide → Rhino (Rhino doesn’t die from Tour Guide because Rhino doesn’t mind non-BAs? Actually Rhino would die because Tour Guide is non-BA and Rhino is not “Burning Abyss” by name, but Rhino’s own effect does not protect itself. So Tour Guide + Rhino still ends with Rhino self-destructing – unless you overlay immediately, which you can’t before check. Thus Tour Guide → Rhino typically results in Rhino dying, which is actually fine because then Rhino sends Graff from deck, achieving a similar result). The safest sequence was Tour Guide → Rhino (Rhino dies -> dump Graff -> Graff effect -> summon BA that now stays cause Tour Guide left or something). The interactions are complex, but the main point: understand BA self-destruction. If you have a non-BA (Tour Guide) on field: any BA that is face-up concurrently will attempt to destroy itself. Use Rhino or chain clever summoning to either avoid or take advantage of that. Often BA players want the BA to die to trigger effects (Graff, Scarm). So Tour Guide triggering those could be part of the combo. Just don’t expect to overlay with a BA that’s about to blow – it won’t be there.
• Tour Guide vs. Nibiru: In modern play, if you summon Tour Guide and use her effect, by the time you Special Summon 1 monster from deck, you have conducted 1 Special Summon. If you then Link into Cherubini, that’s a 2nd summon. Summon something with Cherubini’s effect (Graff brings Scarm), that’s 3rd. Dante summon might be 4th. Only if you do one more summon do you hit the 5 summons threshold for Nibiru, the Primal Being. Practically, pure BA rarely put 5 monsters on board turn 1. But in some extended Tour Guide combos (like in Phantom Knights), watch the count if Nibiru is in format. Leaving a Cherubini + Dante might be safer than pushing into a 5th summon if you suspect the rock.
• Tour Guide can summon from hand: Don’t forget this! It’s often overlooked. If you happen to have a crucial Level 3 Fiend stuck in hand, Tour Guide can pull it out onto the field. For example, if you draw a copy of Graf and it would be better spent in the Deck, you can normal Tour Guide and summon that Graf from your hand (rather than deck) – Graf’s effect is negated on field, but if it then goes to GY, it will still trigger. Summoning from hand can also allow some neat surprise: if your Deck has no valid targets (say you drew your only target), Tour Guide isn’t useless – she can still summon one from hand. A real-life scenario: you run 1 Scarm as your Tour Guide target. You drew Scarm. Now Tour Guide’s effect would fail if you tried to summon from Deck. But Tour Guide lets you choose hand or Deck. So just special Scarm from your hand with Tour Guide, effect negated (Scarm won’t search in end phase since it was negated on field and then presumably detached as Xyz material? Actually Scarm would be negated on field, but its search happens in grave at End Phase – question if negation still applies… It does not, because once Scarm is no longer face-up, it’s not negated. So if you detach Scarm, it would get its end phase effect normally. If Scarm stays on field and is negated continuously, then if it dies in end phase, might not get it… ideally detach or link it off). Regardless, summoning from hand saved you from a whiff. Always remember that clause in tight situations.
• Public knowledge of targets: A subtle tournament rule: when you activate Tour Guide’s effect, your opponent is allowed to ask how many valid targets remain in your Deck. Because if you have no Level 3 Fiends left in Deck or hand, you cannot legally activate Tour Guide’s effect. This rarely matters, but consider if all copies of your intended targets are drawn or banished. Don’t accidentally activate Tour Guide with no target – that’s an illegal move. Good deckbuilding (multiple targets or at least one always in deck) avoids this. If you draw your only target, use the from-hand summon trick as above.
• No direct errata to Tour Guide: Tour Guide herself has not received any functional erratum. The only change was a text template update: early prints say “Its effects are negated” and later “but negate its effects” – meaning the same thing. So any older ruling around Tour Guide still applies. Notably, Tour Guide’s effect does not target (it simply summons any Level 3 Fiend). So you declare the effect, and resolve by choosing a monster in Deck/hand on resolution. This means cards like D.D. Crow cannot preemptively stop the choice (they’d have to guess and banish a Fiend from grave, which doesn’t stop summoning from deck anyway). Also, because it doesn’t target, if you have multiple copies of possible targets in Deck, the opponent can’t chain something like Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror to specifically foil one target – SIM would blanket negate if applied though.
• Priority (older formats): In older rulings (pre-2012), turn player after a summon had priority to activate an ignition effect. Tour Guide’s ignition effect (on Normal Summon) could be activated before opponent responded with something like Bottomless Trap Hole. This meant back in 2011, if you Normal Summoned Tour Guide, you could declare her effect immediately, and opponents had to chain Bottomless or Torrential to that if they wanted – meaning you’d still get the monster out (since Tour Guide was already activating). In modern rules, “priority” for ignition effects is gone; however, Normal Summon trigger timing is still effectively the same: Tour Guide’s effect is a Trigger effect (actually it reads “When… you can”), which means it starts a Chain automatically when Tour Guide is Normal Summoned (players don’t “choose” to give priority – the trigger just happens). So practically, the opponent cannot Bottomless Tour Guide before she attempts to summon – they can only respond in Chain to her effect. If they chain Bottomless Trap Hole, Tour Guide will be banished/destroyed, but her effect will still Special Summon the monster from Deck (since the effect wasn’t negated). However the summoned monster appears mid-resolution and then Bottomless might also try to apply to it if still applicable on resolution (rare scenario). Actually, rules say if Bottomless’s conditions met when it resolves, it will banish any monster(s) that were summoned and have ≥1500 ATK. Tour Guide had 1000, so Bottomless only hits Tour Guide at activation; the monster from Deck could be something like Rubic (100 ATK) or Barbar (1700 ATK). If Barbar was summoned, Bottomless would then also banish Barbar as it resolves. So chaining removal to Tour Guide’s effect can lead to the summoned monster still coming and potentially being removed. On the other hand, if the opponent flips Solemn Warning on Tour Guide’s summon (Warning negates the summon, not an effect), Tour Guide never hits the field, hence no effect triggers at all. So counter traps that negate the summon (Warning/Strike) will stop Tour Guide entirely, whereas traps that destroy after summon (Bottomless/Torrential) will still allow Tour Guide to bring out her friend from the Deck.
• Interactions with Links/Xyz materials (negation): If Tour Guide summons a monster and you immediately use that monster as Link or Xyz material, note that while it was face-up on field its effects were negated, but once it’s used as material, if it later hits GY it could trigger. Example: Tour Guide summons Cir, you link Tour Guide + Cir into Cherubini. Cir’s effect in GY “if sent to GY: revive a BA” will trigger – will it? Actually, careful: Cir’s effect is “if this card is sent to the GY” which includes from field as material. However, when Cir hit the GY, was its effect negated at that moment? Tour Guide’s negation stops applying as soon as Cir left the field (it’s no longer face-up, so not negated). So yes, Cir will trigger and resolve normally. So linking off or Xyz-ing the Tour Guide-summoned monster is generally fine for grave effects. On the flip side, if the monster has a lingering negation attached to it from something like Skill Drain, that can sometimes carry over if the effect tries to activate in GY. But Tour Guide’s negation is not a lingering one; it’s only while face-up.
• Chain Blocking with Tour Guide: If you have multiple trigger effects on summon (e.g. Kagemucha Knight and Tour Guide), you can order the Chain to your advantage. Suppose you Normal Summon Tour Guide while controlling Mistake (just hypothetical) – Mistake doesn’t stop adding from Deck? Not relevant here. A better example: Chain block Ash Blossom. If you Normal Summon Tour Guide and also have Graphite (just hypothetical card) that triggers on normal summon in chain, you could attempt to chain block Ash. But realistically, not much to chain block with Tour Guide except Kagemucha Knight as mentioned. In Master Duel (OCG ruling), Kagemucha Knight’s special summon effect doesn’t start a chain, it just happens – but apparently they ruled it such that it cannot be used to chain block Tour Guide’s effect in OCG. In TCG, Kagemucha Knight’s summon would be Chain Link 1 (trigger effect to summon itself) and Tour Guide Chain Link 2 (since turn player can order). But OCG ruling might treat Kagemucha as simultaneous trigger you can’t stack? Regardless, in TCG historically players did use Kagemucha to avoid Veiler on Tour Guide by making Tour Guide’s effect CL2. This is a complex interaction where rule differences matter. But since it’s niche and only in retro formats, just know that some effects that summon themselves when you normal summon (like Crane Crane? No, Crane Crane is normal itself) might help push Tour Guide plays through.

In conclusion, Tour Guide is generally a plug-and-play card, but the above technical details show how high-level players extract maximum value from her while avoiding pitfalls. Remember these guidelines:

• Leverage grave-triggering Fiends as targets (so negation on field is irrelevant).
• Do not overlay away important “from field” effects like Sangan unless you plan to detach them.
• Be mindful of Burning Abyss destruction timing – sometimes let them self-destruct to get effects, other times protect them (with Rhino) to keep them for Xyz/Link.
• Expect and play around common responses (Veiler, Ash, Called by Grave).
• Use the hand-summon option if your Deck targets are gone.
• Lastly, manage your deck building: always include at least one good Tour Guide target in Deck so you don’t accidentally stranded Tour Guide (this is usually obvious, but in weird cases like late game, make sure you haven’t drawn or banished all targets before activating her).

Tour Guide From the Underworld’s long tenure in competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! owes not just to raw power, but to the skillful ways players navigated these rulings and interactions. She’s a card that rewarded technical play and clever combo construction. Even today, a duelist well-versed in Tour Guide’s nuances can squeeze out extra advantages that a novice might miss – like grabbing that clutch Sangan search or baiting an Ash Blossom at just the right time.

Conclusion

“Tour Guide From the Underworld” is a legendary card in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG/OCG for good reason. From her origins as an Xyz summoning prodigy in 2011, through format after format of usage, she has consistently enabled plays that few other Normal Summons can match. We watched her usher in the Xyz era by making Rank 3s ubiquitous, become a cornerstone of one of the most enduring archetypes (Burning Abyss), endure years of limitation due to her strength, and finally re-emerge in modern play as a savvy tech choice. Along the way, Tour Guide proved her adaptability – whether it was fetching Sangan to set up Chaos combos, recycling banished Rabbits via Leviair, fueling multiple Dante mills and searches, or even helping fusion-summon a Dark World boss in 2023, she’s done it all.

Perhaps most impressively, Tour Guide has bridged the gap between eras: she’s a 2011 card that still finds uses in 2025, which is a rarity as power creep usually leaves old cards behind. Her design – summoning a monster from Deck – is inherently powerful in a game where Deck is often likened to a toolbox. Konami’s balancing act (limiting her, banning partners like Sangan, then freeing her when the time was right) shows how influential she was at different points in time.

For duelists, Tour Guide is also a card full of personality and nostalgia. Many remember the “Tour Guide + Sangan” play as a defining move of early 2010s Yu-Gi-Oh!, and the card’s artwork and theme (a cheery demon bus guide ferrying Fiends from the underworld) made her an instant fan-favorite. She even spawned spin-offs (Tour Bus From the Underworld, Tour Guide’s Mission Throughout the Underworld, and a Link-2 Muckraker as her “older self”), cementing her as part of the game’s lore. Competitively, being able to say “I normal summon Tour Guide, effect?” has often meant you’re about to execute a strong combo or force a response from your opponent – a situation every duelist should be prepared for.

In summary, Tour Guide From the Underworld’s impact on competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! is profound:

• She accelerated early Xyz strategies and set a template for “engine” Normal Summons.
• She was pivotal in multiple championship-winning decks (Dino Rabbit, Wind-Ups, Burning Abyss) and shaped banlist decisions across years.
• OCG and TCG both took advantage of her, sharing tech and ensuring she stayed relevant through mechanic changes (Xyz to Link).
• Her list of viable targets grew over time, reflecting the game’s evolving card pool – from Sangan to Scarm to new tech like Versago.
• Even at the combo level, Tour Guide has a catalogue of famous plays named around her (Tour Guide -> Leviair, Tour Guide -> Dante, etc.), underlining how often she’s been the start of something big on the field.
• And not least, she exemplifies a card that requires mastery of rulings: those who know how to use her effectively can leverage negation and timing interactions to their advantage, squeezing out extra pluses that casual players might overlook.

As of 2025, Tour Guide is a balanced, fair card in the landscape – no longer the boogeyman of formats past, but still an extremely solid play if you build around what she offers. She often finds herself in “rogue” strategies that can catch opponents off-guard. And who knows, if Konami releases a new Fiend-heavy archetype, we just might see Tour Guide hitch a ride back into the top tables once again.

Whether you’re a returning player reminiscing about 2011 or a new player seeing Tour Guide for the first time in a Labrynth deck, understanding this card’s rich competitive history and uses will undoubtedly improve your deck-building and play. Tour Guide’s tour through the Underworld of competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! has been one wild ride – and as she cheekily winks in her card art, she’s always ready to take us on the next trip. All aboard!

Sources: High-level event reports, Konami F&L list announcements, and expert commentary have been referenced throughout this guide. Key sources include Konami’s published banlists and articles (via YGOrganization), Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki/Fandom entries on card history, and tournament coverage from TCGplayer, YGOPRODeck, etc., detailing decklists and innovations. These citations highlight factual details such as banlist dates, combo explanations, and notable use cases to ensure the guide’s accuracy and depth.