In the weeks leading up to the release of Light of Destruction, Lightsworn were all the rage. As perhaps one of the most anticipated archetypes of all time, Lightsworn had everything to offer: Judgment Dragon, Solar Recharge, an 1850 attacker, and their own Zombie Master in the form of Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner. Honest also happened to work perfectly with the deck. The general consensus was that Lightsworn would succeed where Zombies had not. Judgment Dragon was the ultimate trump card, something the Zombie deck was missing.
Then Lightsworn came and went. In the first Shonen Jump where it saw play, only Dale Bellido managed to crack the Top 16, but he was eliminated in his first match on Day 2. After that, Lightsworn never cracked the Top 4. The deck believed to be the answer to Gladiator Beasts was being thwarted by the very deck it was aimed at taking down. Most of the top players dropped it as a tournament option.
Having never played Lightsworn myself, I begged the question to my teammates:
"Why aren’t we playing Lightsworn?" The answer was that Lightsworn aren’t versatile, either in deckbuilding or in actual play. There are so many necessary cards that you can’t really afford to stray from the standard build. Then, once in the game, you have to stick to a very straightforward plan. Aggressive play in order to keep monsters on the field to send cards to your graveyard during the end phase is the only way to win. While this will be successful a lot of the time, there will be too many matches where your opponent will have the right cards to deal with your strategy. Without a back-up plan to rely on, you’ll be out of luck and out of the tournament.
Dwayne Delamotta defied all odds by finishing in the Top 4 at Indy with his version of the Lightsworn. Delamotta’s build looks very strange indeed. The trap line-up is one we haven’t seen Lightsworn use before, but it’s without a doubt the reason he was able to advance so far. Let’s take a look:
Monsters: 27
3 Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
3 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3 Judgment Dragon
1 Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
3 Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
1 Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
3 Honest
3 Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
3 Celestia, Lightsworn Angel
1 Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
Spells: 9
2 Foolish Burial
3 Solar Recharge
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Premature Burial
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
Traps: 4
1 Crush Card Virus
3 Solemn Judgment
Like most Lightsworn builds, Dwayne’s is heavy on the monsters. Three copies of Necro Gardna and Wulf, Lightsworn Beast are cards you’re hoping to send to the graveyard with one of your Lightsworn monster’s effects. Gardna is amazing tech for the Gladiator Beast matchup, negating their attacks entirely and disabling their ability to tag out, at least for the turn. Against Gladiator Beast Gyzarus this means trapping the Fusion on the field.
Keeping Gyzarus on the field is incredibly important. Doing so means that you’ll only have one monster to deal with on your turn. Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Honest are very good cards against Gladiator Beasts, but their usefulness drops drastically when your opponent has two copies of Gladiator Beast Laquari on the field and the opportunity to summon another monster next turn. With just Gyzarus, Ryko and Honest can be used to deal with the lone threat. Your opponent will also likely not want to contact Fuse with the Gyzarus, wanting instead to multiply his or her field presence.
Should your opponent decide to contact Fuse with the leftover Gyzarus, most Lightsworn builds would be in trouble. Without many defensive cards, they would have to accept the loss 
of Ryko or the monster that was going to be used with Honest and take the 2400 damage. The Gladiator player would then turn his or her one Gyzarus into three or four Gladiators, ready for another contact Fusion next turn unless you deal with the whole field.
Dwayne’s ready for that though. His build plays three copies of Solemn Judgment as well as Crush Card Virus. Solemn Judgment has only started to appear in Lightsworn builds starting at SJC Honolulu. It’s a great card, and one that’s been dominating the format. The reason? Solemn Judgment is the perfect card when it comes to setting up a good battle phase. You can stop your opponent’s defensive answers to your monsters or your opponent’s offensive moves. Torrential Tribute, Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, and Crush Card Virus can win games, and all fall to the Judgment. But perhaps most importantly, it’s one of the only answers for your opponent’s own Solemn Judgment.
When playing Lightsworn, your opponent is going to rely quite heavily on his or her Solemns. Judgment Dragon can’t just be stopped by Bottomless Trap Hole—it’ll still wipe the field clean even if it’s removed from play. Instead, your opponent is going to have to Solemn it. If you’ve got your own Solemn Judgment to answer back, Judgment’s effect will clear the field, leaving your opponent with no defense and at most 4000 life points. From that point, normal summoning any fourteen monsters will allow you to finish the game, and that’s not including Foolish Burial, Monster Reborn, or Premature Burial.
Of course, most of the time you’ll have to worry about two things when playing your own Solemns. The first is Gladiator Beast Bestiari. A simple attack from any Gladiator means a tag out for Bestiari and the destruction of your Solemn. Therefore you’d have to Solemn the summoned Gladiator. Of course that’s usually not a good play, as it drops your own life points low enough that you’ll probably lose the game. Fortunately for Lightsworn, they have many ways of preventing the opponent from attacking. Necro Gardna and Honest are your trick cards in the battle phase, and both will stop Gladiators from tagging out.
But Lightsworn also boast some good ATK power. Wulf, Lightsworn Beast, Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior, and Jain, Lightsworn Paladin are all too big for any normal-summoned 
Gladiator to handle. Celestia, Lightsworn Angel is also a big beater, and with Solemn Judgment around to protect her she can lean on an opponent and force him or her to play right into your Solemns.
One thing Dwayne did that most other players didn’t do was max out on Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and include a copy of Mystical Space Typhoon. Conventional wisdom states that "the best answer to Solemn Judgment is Solemn Judgment." That’s often true, but if you can remove Solemn before it can be activated, that’s just as good. Lyla and Space Typhoon do just that. Both can also make way for Judgment Dragon or Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, ensuring they aren’t negated or destroyed. Lightsworn have the ability to end the game incredibly fast. Removing opposing defenses is the perfect way to accomplish this.
Lightsworn are about to gain even more power and popularity with the release of The Duelist Genesis and the new Advanced list. Charge of the Light Brigade is insane, and Lightsworn are well-equipped to handle the projected top decks: Synchro variants and Gladiator Beasts. Dwayne’s build is the new template, and the most successful Lightsworn players will be the ones who learn from his deck choices.
—Matt Peddle