Guardian of Order

Dark Armed Return and the variety of One Turn KO decks we’ve seen over the past several months have done a lot to speed up the game. While a slow, controlling deck could have theoretically turned this format on its ear, no such strategy really emerged, and the result has been one simple mantra for competitive duelists: keep up or sit down. If a deck isn’t fast enough to match the pace of the most competitive stuff in the environment, it’ll probably be relegated to casual play.

And that’s what makes Guardian of Order so good. Light of Destruction isn’t just about one big theme: it has several different monster groups all vying for time in your deck box, just like many sets before it. In the past, the Sneak Preview promo for each set was largely tied to just a single theme, and since there can only be one promo for each Preview, some themes missed out. The Six Samurai got Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, while other big groups in Strike of Neos ended up collecting dust (think Neo-Spacians and Dark World). Because Volcanics got Volcanic Rocket in Force of the Breaker, Crystal Beasts had to fend for themselves. Each Sneak Preview promo save Dark Grepher was tightly tied to a single monster group.

But Guardian of Order is different, building on Dark Grepher’s flexibility and taking it to a whole new level. Because three of the biggest monster groups in Light of Destruction share the Light attribute, Guardian of Order can work for all three, making them more competitive. There are even decks from past sets that this card can bolster, making it a really useful monster to add to your arsenal. There are some finer details—since the Guardian is level 8 it’ll work with Trade-In. As a Warrior, you can bring it back with The Warrior Returning Alive. But the really cool thing about this card is how it makes so many decks so much stronger. Let’s start by looking at one of the biggest.

In fact, Lumina is particularly good with the Guardian and shares a tactical trick with Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. Both of these monsters have awesome effects, but if they’re sitting out in attack mode, they tend to look tempting to your opponent (who’s going to want to attack and destroy either monster to press home some damage). If you can bait out an attacker by giving up either monster, your opponent will be set up for a pounding with Guardian of Order next turn. In creating this type of exchange, you force simplification: removing cards from the field and making it tougher for your opponent to answer your 2500 ATK beatstick.

Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress is also ideal with Guardian of Order. Playing the Guardian means over-extending and committing cards to the field, which might leave you open to Mirror Force or Torrential Tribute. But Lyla’s effect can destroy those cards before you ever risk the Guardian, clearing the way for your big push. It’s the same trick she does to support Judgment Dragon, and it can make for some pretty easy wins.

Judgment Dragon itself is actually a great combo with the Guardian. Just special summon Judgment Dragon, use its effect to clear the field, summon another Light monster, and follow up with Guardian of Order. Since the Dragon has 3000 ATK and Guardian of Order has 2500, you’ll be well on your way to a win no matter what your second Light monster was. If you have two copies of Judgment Dragon (say, thanks to Beckoning Light returning two copies to your hand) then you’ve got a definite win and you can even afford to play Lyla first in order to bait out anything that might stop you.

The Lightsworn may not need Guardian of Order to be competitive, but it’s certainly something that any Lightsworn duelist is going to want to consider when putting together his or her build. The Guardian makes a fast deck even faster, and it’s the perfect combo with many of the cards Lightsworn already wanted to run.

Sartorius’s signature cards have access to some amazing effects, but in order to use them you need to win coin flips when your Arcana Force monsters come into play. If those coin flips don’t work out, your monsters will often be at a severe disadvantage and your opponent will have an easy time wiping them out. But since every Arcana Force monster is a Light, Guardian of Order can swoop in when the coin flips fail you and give your opponent something else to worry about. By dividing your opponent’s attention and keeping the pressure up, you’ll keep yourself in the game.

Working our way through the ranks, there are some great combos in the Arcana Force arsenal. Whether you get the coin flip or not, Arcana Force 0 - The Fool can’t be destroyed by battle. Play it to the field one turn, let it survive until your next, and it shouldn’t be hard to summon another Arcana. Then you can play Guardian of Order and swing away.

Arcana Force III - The Empress and Arcana Force VII - The Chariot both let you special summon monsters, helping you get to the two Lights you need for Guardian of Order. Arcana Force VIII - The Moon will even special summon a Light attribute Moon Token each turn during your standby phase: as long as you keep The Moon on the field for a single turn, it will let you special summon Guardian of Order all on its own. Guardian of Order even helps you get out Arcana Force EX - The Dark Ruler, which can only be special summoned by sending three monsters you control to the graveyard: the Guardian speeds up that process by a turn.

Arcana Force needed a boost if it was to hang with the competitive themes duelists are already playing, and Guardian of Order is a huge step in the right direction. It’s a high-risk strategy, and when things don’t go exactly as planned, the Guardian can bail you out.

Consider Batteryman Micro-Cell, the Batterymen’s new flip-effect monster. When Micro-Cell is flipped, it brings another Batteryman to the field from your deck for free, meaning you’ve got what you need to special summon Guardian of Order. Your field can balloon from one face-down Micro-Cell to four monsters in a single turn very easily, and that’s the kind of move that wins games.

Tribute for Batteryman Charger and its effect will also bring a second Batteryman from your deck. Again, you’re set up for Guardian of Order and a big attack, and all it cost you was easy tribute bait like Treeborn Frog.

The biggest combo for Guardian of Order in the Batteryman strategy may be their new trap card, Portable Battery Pack. It’s a double Call of the Haunted for Batterymen, so when you flip it, you get an extra card beyond what you invested plus the two monsters you need for Guardian of Order. With your normal summon kicked in for good measure, your field goes from nothing to four monsters all because of one two-card combo: Portable Battery Pack and Guardian.

On their own, the new Batterymen were fast, but they often lacked the muscle they’d need to compete. With Guardian of Order’s 2500 damage thrown into the mix, these guys are going to be breaking some hearts in upcoming tournaments.

It’s not hard for this deck to get two Light monsters on the field. Counter traps can keep things secure during the early game, and if you happen to run Gellenduo alongside more important Light monsters like Bountiful Artemis, things get even easier. The Guardian’s presence actually does a lot to protect the all-important Artemis, dividing your opponent’s attention and forcing him or her to use removal tricks on your beatstick instead of Artemis.

In addition, if you play Freed the Brave Wanderer to capitalize on the high count of Light monsters this deck plays and keep big attackers in check, then Guardian of Order becomes more fodder for Freed’s effect when it hits the graveyard.

Finding room for Guardian of Order in this deck may be a challenge, but it has a lot of rewards. The Guardian continues to shore up what might be Counter Fairy’s single remaining weakness, and it has great synergies with cards you were already running. I think the fact that an all-new promo designed to work with completely different cards can boost an old theme so cohesively is very cool, and I think Counter Fairy players are going feel the same way.

Cyber Dragon is the most obvious pick. Zane’s signature powerhouse has seen some serious bench time lately, but it’s still the perfect card to punish those turn 1 Armageddon Knight cards, and since it’s a Light monster it leaves you just a normal summon away from bringing out Guardian of Order. From there, you could play any number of level 4 or lower Lights and then complete your trifecta with the Guardian. The result is a lot of pain for your opponent.

In fact, if your normal summon is The Calculator, the result just might be game. With Guardian of Order, Cyber Dragon, and The Calculator on the field, you’ll be commanding 15 levels of monsters—making The Calculator a 4500 ATK behemoth. With the added ATK from the other two monsters, that’s a potential 9100 damage on the table. Your opponent will probably control at least one monster since you special summoned Cyber Dragon, but that’s still a ton of damage even if you don’t have removal to clear the field and sweep the duel all in one turn.

More conservative players may like to try Honest, the new monster from Light of Destruction that Jerome previewed two days ago. Just special summon Cyber Dragon, normal summon Honest, and special summon Guardian of Order. If you think your opponent might have Mirror Force set, use Honest’s effect to return it to your hand: that lets you deploy Guardian of Order without risking a third card in the battle phase.

Getting to Guardian of Order isn’t very difficult either. Arsenal Summoner is a flip-effect monster with quite beefy stats by today’s standards, and he can search Guardian of Order from your deck with his effect. You can even use Herald of Creation to return Guardian of Order from your graveyard. Since the Herald is a Light monster, one more Light is all you’d need to then special summon the Guardian.

Guardian of Order does some amazing things for an impressive range of decks, and since it combos with so many different cards, it’s definitely going to see play. Speed is still the order of the day, and in an era where Mirror Force is seeing less and less table time, Guardian of Order seems set to make a big impact.

And it’s free! I’ll be picking up my copy tomorrow at the Light of Destruction Sneak Preview in San Diego—if you’re going, I’ll see you there!