I’ve been waiting a long, long time to write this. The new Lightsworn monsters might be the most vicious, well-equipped theme the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG has ever seen, and now their release is just days away thanks to the Light of Destruction Sneak Previews. I’ve been testing these guys for months at this point, and I’m frothing at the mouth to tell you how awesome they are. The Lightsworn are going to change the competitive scene as we know it.
First, understand what the Lightsworn monsters are. Most of the level 4 or lower Lightsworns have pretty big ATK numbers, and that lends them to an aggressive pace that sees them making attacks as early as turn 1. There are a lot of ways to play Lightsworn: you can run them as a combo-oriented deck focused on big finishes, or as a sort of Monarch variant thanks to their special summon powers (and a Lightsworn that’s basically a Monarch monster). But in my experience, the most successful way to play Lightsworn is a two-pronged approach: first, as an aggressive beatdown strategy that dominates the field with big numbers and fast flurries of attackers. All those attackers will either defeat your opponent outright, or soften him or her up with a series of card-for-card trades that leaves the opponent helpless to your finisher.
That finisher is part two of the two-pronged strategy. It’s one of two cards I’ll be previewing today, and its name is Judgment Dragon.
Demise, Eat Your Heart Out
The first thing you’ll think when you read this card is "Hey, that’s way better than Demise, King of Armageddon! That’s not even fair!" And honestly, you’d be right. Here, read for yourself and see if you agree with me . . .
Judgment Dragon
Dragon / Light
Level 8
3000/2600
Judgment Dragon can’t be normal summoned or set. Judgment Dragon can’t be special summoned except by having four or more different-named "Lightsworn" monsters in your graveyard. You can pay 1000 life points to destroy every other card on the field. In each of your end phases, send four cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard.
Judgment Dragon has Demise’s effect, but for half the life point cost. It has a higher ATK, and instead of requiring a two-card combo (you needed Advanced Ritual Art to play Demise), you just build your graveyard and play Judgment Dragon on its own. Even if the Lightsworn monsters this card requires were sub-standard, they’d be worth playing just to unleash this world-stomping behemoth. After all, it does 3000 damage the turn it hits the field, and if it can’t be stopped it’ll cleanse the world again next turn and deal another 3000.
But what makes Judgment Dragon so good is that the Lightsworn monsters aren’t substandard. In fact, they’d be playable even without the Dragon. So the result is an incredibly powerful deck that comes out swinging, and then threatens the possibility of dropping this guy at any time. Since Lightsworn monsters can be played aggressively and will often leave both duelists with very few cards, Judgment Dragon is always very hard to stop. It ends games, and it ends them fast.
Especially With Its Favorite Backup
Most of the Lightsworn monsters have an end phase effect that requires you to send two or three cards from the top of your deck to your graveyard. That means you need to win before you run out of cards, but it also feeds your graveyard to help you special summon Judgment Dragon. Because of that end phase effect, it’s worth playing a big variety of Lightsworn monsters: they’re all good. But one Lightsworn is even better than the rest when it comes to supporting Judgment Dragon.
Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
Spellcaster / Light
Level 4
1700/200
You can change this card from attack mode to defense mode and destroy a spell or trap your opponent controls. If you activate this ability, Lyla’s battle position cannot be changed until the end of your next turn (unless with a card effect). In your end phase, send three cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard.
When your deck wins by attacking over and over, or plans to drop a big monster like Judgment Dragon, you really don’t want to run into things like Mirror Force or Torrential Tribute. Those cards can punish you for swarming and using your normal summon each turn, something you’ll want to do. In addition, Macro Cosmos or Dimensional Fissure can keep you from sending monsters to your graveyard, so you might not be able to fulfill Judgment Dragon’s four-monster requirement. When you do bring down Judgment Dragon, you don’t want it to be stopped by something like Solemn Judgment, Bottomless Trap Hole, or Divine Wrath.
Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress is the answer to all of these problems. Her ability is an ignition effect, so as soon as she’s summoned you can activate it and target a spell or trap card to destroy. That keeps your swarms safe, blows away remove-from-play cards or stuff like Gravity Bind that would hold you back, and clears the way for Judgment Dragon.
There are some very common plays you’ll find yourself making with this little lady. Frequently you’ll summon Lyla, destroy a spell or trap, and end. Next turn your opponent will look to take advantage of Lyla being in defense mode, summoning a monster to attack her. One turn later, you’ll drop a bigger monster and run the attacker over. The result is a one-card loss for you, a two-card loss for your opponent, and several cards removed from the immediate duel. Even if your opponent has a defensive card to stop your attack, it’s still two cards for two cards, and Lightsworn monsters topdeck better than virtually anything else out there. You’ll also have two of the monsters in the graveyard you need for Judgment Dragon, not counting the three cards Lyla sent to the graveyard.
Lyla’s also a common forerunner of Judgment Dragon. If I’m holding the Dragon and you have one card set in your back row, I’ll summon Lyla and use her effect to clear it out. That leaves me free and clear to special summon Judgment Dragon, because I know you won’t have Solemn Judgment or Bottomless Trap Hole to stop me.
In fact, the threat of that play puts a duelist who knows Lightsworn in a tough situation. In order to keep me from summoning Judgment Dragon, you’re going to have to set two cards to your back row: this is necessary because you know that if you only set one, Lyla might wipe it out and leave you defenseless. As a result, you’ll have to make plays that leave you wide open to Heavy Storm. It’s a common thread running in the background of the Lightsworn theme: their effects force good players to make bad plays.
At her worst, Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress is a slightly sub-par version of Breaker the Magical Warrior that you can run in threes. At her best she’s something far better. Lyla’s ability helps you to press with your swarm of monsters. Her end phase effect contributes to Judgment Dragon and some other powerful Lightsworn tricks, and she’ll frequently wipe out whatever your opponent was depending on for survival. She’s probably a definite three-of in any Lightsworn strategy, and she’ll see a ton of play over the coming months.
Together, these two cards are virtually unstoppable, and they’re just the tip of the Lightsworn iceberg. We’ve got three more previews covering Lightsworn cards this week, so stick with us, because by the time we’re finished you’re going to have a crystal-clear picture of what makes Lightsworn so good in any matchup!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer