Evil Hero Lightning Golem

Light/Fiend/Fusion/Effect

Level 6

ATK 2400/DEF 1500

“Elemental Hero Sparkman” + “Elemental Hero Clayman”

This Monster can’t be Special Summoned except with the spell card Dark Fusion. Once each turn, you can destroy 1 monster on the field.

Not bad, huh?

All of the “Evil Hero” monsters are of the Fiend monster type. Lightning Golem brings an awesome effect to the table for the price of three cards. That cost isn’t so bad, since he balances it out  with his effect and his attacks, and keeping Lightning Golem on the field is a lot easier than it might look at first. However, you can’t summon this monster without first using a special card:

Dark Fusion

Normal Spell

Send from your hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard, Fusion Materials 
that are listed on a Fiend Fusion Monster Card, and Special Summon it from your 
Fusion Deck. (This Special Summon is treated as a Fusion Summon). The monster 
cannot be targeted by the effects of other Monsters, Spells, or Traps this turn.

 

I liked this card the moment I saw it. Though its use is only limited to Fiend-type Fusion monsters, you can best use it with Evil Hero monsters. The non-target effect allows you to attack through defenses fairly easily in most metagames. If duelists in your area run with a lot of Sakuretsu Armor, Enemy Controller, and Shrink cards, then you’ll be all right.

Avoiding targeted monster effects is a plus too. Hitting a face-down Old Vindictive Magician or Night Assailant is not fun when playing Fusions, but it’s not a problem when you’re playing with Dark Fusion.

What Happens to The Elemental Hero Deck?

The nifty thing about the Evil Hero Fusion monsters is that they require Elemental Hero monsters in order to fuse together. The Evil Hero monsters are a superb addition to the Fusion deck of Elemental Hero builds. All you need to do is splash some Dark Fusion cards into your main deck and you’re all set. As if they didn’t already have enough ways to summon Fusion monsters, right?

The Elemental Hero deck is definitely playable. It takes work to build, but that’s no biggie. It’s not like Miracle Fusion is a difficult card to play. It’s actually one of the best in the arsenal, and it gets even better with Dark Fusion.

How Does This Affect The Overall Metagame?

That’s hard to tell. I don’t like to make predictions. What decks will be stronger depends more on the players than the cards available. Sometimes a deck just doesn’t have what it takes to make it to the top, and can explode once it gets what it needs. Look at Zombies for example. They received Zombie Master and Il Blud, and suddenly they’re winning Shonen Jump Championships.

I think the Elemental and Evil Hero Fusion strategy, built well, can do some real good for the environment. I have little experience with current Elemental Hero Fusion builds myself, but I think the main problem with Fusion monsters has always been the amount of cards it takes to execute a Fusion.

Using three or four cards for a Fusion is hard to recover from with just your one draw per turn. Over time, I’ve seen the Elemental Hero monsters gaining more worthwhile effects that make up for the amount of cards used to Fusion summon them. Miracle Fusion is one of the best cards to use in an Elemental Hero Fusion deck, because it’s less risky than other Fusion options.

Taking advantage of the graveyard seems to be the theme of most decks in the format now (except for Stall burn of course). The graveyard is so easy to exploit that playing Miracle Fusion should be a cinch. Since Dark Fusion sends the monsters to the graveyard, Miracle Fusion can pick up the slack by utilizing those spent monsters and removing them from play.

You could Fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Clayman with Dark Fusion to form Evil Hero Lightning Golem. Then, just use Miracle Fusion to bring out Elemental Hero Thunder Giant. You drop two big Fusion monsters essentially for the price of one, and one of them gets protection from targeted effects too.

Fusion strategies are definitely viable. You just have to get a bit creative with them. If you can make up for the cost of their summoning and protect them well enough, then perhaps you may have a shot at creating a good Elemental Hero deck. If you want a good way to keep your monsters on the field after Dark Fusion’s protection runs out, try Solemn Judgment or Dark Bribe.

How You Can Create a Good Elemental Hero Deck

Don’t limit your options to what the latest Top 16 deems viable. Granted, the Top 16 decks are a good representation of what the best of the best are using. However, this does not mean that that’s all there is to your metagame as a whole.

There are talented deckbuilders out there that you can get help from if you need ideas. I’m not the most talented deckbuilder in the world, but I have good help and reliable friends. My strengths are mostly in playing, inner-game, rulings, theory, and strategy: I leave the deckbuilding to the more apt individuals in the dueling world. Remember that article I wrote about knowing your strengths and weaknesses? Read it again. You don’t have to be great at everything. Trust me.

Final Thoughts

The Evil Hero monsters present interesting possibilities for the Elemental Hero deck. Gladiator’s Assault seems to be a fine set from what I have seen so far. The most exciting part for me is opening brand-new packs and making interesting decks. Don’t miss the next Sneak Preview event. Be sure to check out the official site to search for the Sneak Preview nearest to your location.