Artifact Durendal

Artifact Durendal was introduced to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game as part of the Ghosts From the Past set, released in 2021. The card itself represents a recurring theme of sentient, mythological relics within the Artifact archetype, which centers on monsters that can be summoned from the spell and trap zone. This specific design draws inspiration from the legendary sword Durendal, the fabled weapon of Roland in French literature, imbuing it with a sense of chivalric history recast through a futuristic, mechanical aesthetic.

The card serves as a rank 5 Xyz monster, noted for its tactical utility in manipulating the game state by forcing players to draw cards or changing an activated effect. Its inclusion in Ghosts From the Past provided a wider audience with access to a card that had previously appeared as a higher-rarity chase card in earlier sets. The design team focused on maintaining the thematic consistency of the Artifact line while ensuring the card remained relevant in competitive play through its unique disruption capabilities.