To start off this week’s set review of Legacy of Darkness (LOD), I would like to give you a small excerpt from a common duel you might have seen at the release of this set.
Bill: Okay Tom. I have you down to 500 life points, and I have a Jinzo with a Mage Power and a Gemini Elf equipped with United We Stand. You might as well surrender, since you only have one card in hand.
Tom: Wow, I’m not in a good situation. I draw.
Bill: Sorry, but after using my entire hand to wipe you out, there’s no way you can win.
Tom: I’ll play Dark Hole and then summon this 200 ATK bird into attack position. I think I just won even though you’re at 8000 life points.
Bill: I really hate you, dude.
That 200 ATK bird, Yata-Garasu, is without a doubt one of the most famous cards of all time, and Legacy of Darkness gave birth to that little demon spawn. In fact, Legacy of Darkness brought a lot of new and interesting cards into the tournament environment, and it brought a massive boost to a few overlooked monster types. It’s also littered with restricted cards, which means that you’ve probably seen these cards abused constantly already. It’s an interesting set, especially if you like collecting holofoil cards.
Possessed Dark Soul: This little Fiend-type monster has a unique effect. If you’re playing against a Gravity Bind–heavy deck, this monster can win you the game easily. Offer it when it’s face up to take control of all of your opponent’s face-up Hayabusa Knights, Giant Germs, Nimble Momongas, or even the dreaded Injection Fairy Lily (one of the cheesy, yet cool, secret rares of this set). It’s great for a side deck, especially if you’re running Dark Necrofear.
Life Absorbing Machine: Certain decks will usually go for massive life drain. For example, a duelist can be a masochist and run a Toon deck, where the life payments made for the monsters can be, in a way, countered by this continuous trap. The Life Absorbing Machine is an interesting card—as long as you can keep it active without being destroyed, you’ll be able to use some of the deadliest cards in the game without the risk of killing yourself . . . too easily.
Throwstone Unit: Legacy of Darkness made the seemingly unplayable Warrior monster into a vicious threat. Throwstone Unit can act as solid defense for Warrior decks, and its effect may come in handy too. Most face-up monsters won’t have a defense less than 800, but with a power up such as The A. Forces, you can give Throwstone Unit enough ATK to tribute itself off in order to take out Jinzo. With removal on top of a good defense, Throwstone Unit is a nice choice, especially if you’re on a budget.
Frontier Wiseman: A level 3 monster with 1600 ATK is nothing to laugh at. A level 3 monster that can negate spells that target your Warriors is even better. The Wiseman can easily provide the tactical support that your Warriors need for the defense, as long as you can keep it alive.
Emergency Provisions: This is one of the best commons in Legacy of Darkness. Its effect may appear pointless, but you can’t forget that it is a quick-play spell. This means you can chain to a Heavy Storm that would destroy it, chain it to an opponent’s attack, or chain to the activation of your own cards for a small life point boost. Try this out with cards like Mirage of Nightmare and Ring of Destruction, and you’ll see what I mean.
Spirit Ryu: This monster is surprisingly easy to power up with its effect. The advantage to this card is that you can use the effect multiple times, so by using low-attack normal Dragons with Backup Soldier, you can pump this little Dragon up to 4000 ATK. For a direct attack, that’s not bad at all. Just be careful with the effect, as it requires strategic planning so it won’t completely destroy your hand.
Troop Dragon: This stall card is considered pretty good for protection, though I personally have no attachment to it. It’s okay if you want to make the opponent waste a Dark Hole, but it’s pretty easy to punch through these little monsters. While this Dragon duo is an option, I’d much prefer monsters like Nimble Momonga. While they’re restricted to being destroyed through battle, they have some pretty positive effects too.
Stamping Destruction: For those who cannot afford Mystical Space Typhoon or haven’t found anyone willing to get them one from the Pegasus Starter Deck, Stamping Destruction is a great replacement in a Dragon deck. However, the effect is rather easy to counter if the opponent can activate the targeted card in response to its destruction. The damage effect will hardly get used, but Dragon decks might find this useful.
Dragon’s Rage: Is your opponent playing with cards that cannot be destroyed through battle, like Spirit Reaper? Do they enjoy activating Scapegoat? Do you like laughing at your opponents and their use of low-DEF creatures for defense? This continuous trap is for you. Use it with Lord of Dragons, Flute of Summoning Dragon, and Dragons like Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Tyrant Dragon, or Luster Dragon #2. Nothing else has to be said about this card.
Burst Breath: The ability to chain this card to effects that would destroy your monsters makes it a suitable monster removal card in Dragon decks. If your opponent has field control and you summon a high-attack Dragon, use this to easily make him or her regret using monsters with lower defenses than your mighty Dragons.
Patrician of Darkness: Not many Zombies have come out that are decent enough to play. Patrician is not only a decent Zombie, but its effect is a royal pain. By having high-defense monsters on the field, or Zombies like Spirit Reaper, you’ll be able to keep your life points protected until your opponent can destroy either the Patrician or the Spirit Reaper. That’s not bad at all.
Gradius Option: LOD is the third set in a row to have a Gradius theme card. This one has its uses as well, allowing for a quick and painful swarm of the opponent’s field. Try equipping the targeted Gradius with United We Stand, and watch your opponent’s mouth drop in shock from the bum rush you’ll pull off.
Otohime: Legacy of Darkness features a new type of monster known as “Spirit”. These monsters cannot be special summoned, and they return to your hand at the end phase of the turn they were summoned or flipped face up. Most of the common Spirit monsters are average or lack good effects, but Otohime can be an annoying wall. Using Ultimate Offering, you’ll be able to keep your opponent from attacking . . . as long as you have enough Otohimes in your hand. It’s also great for setting up the destruction of a high-ATK monster on your opponent’s field, such as Jinzo, since its defense is pretty low. The life point payments for Ultimate Offering are easy to counter if you’re able to run Spring of Rebirth.
Spring of Rebirth: This card is pretty easy to understand. When monsters return to their owners' hands, you gain 500 life points. It’s made for Spirit monsters, especially when you're using them for a rush with Ultimate Offering.
Inaba White Rabbit: This is the direct attack Spirit monster of LOD. Combine this with Spring of Rebirth and Ultimate Offering, and you’ll deal a good amount of direct damage every turn.
A Legendary Ocean: Not to mention this as a key card in Legacy of Darkness would be to say that Raigeki is the worst card in Yu-Gi-Oh!. This field spell makes the Legendary Fisherman playable, and it allows your 7-Color Fish squad to sneak past Gravity Bind. With the release of Invasion of Chaos, it also allows the standard summoning of Giga Gagagigo.
Bad Reaction to Simochi: This trap card is the reason why Upstart Goblin, a seemingly average card, would be restricted to one copy per deck. If you can deal 1000 damage to your opponent’s life points and draw another card, I would say that’s pretty destructive. There are many combos with this deadly trap, including Eye of Truth and Rain of Mercy.
Lesser Fiend: While this Fiend may only have average attack, its effect is pretty destructive. This means you can easily remove monsters like Sinister Serpent, Sangan, or Mystic Tomato, thereby negating their effects since they don’t go to the graveyard. It’s a pretty good choice for any Fiend deck.
The A. Forces: At first, this continuous spell won’t provide a strong attack boost for your Warriors. However, as the game progresses, your Warriors can easily be boosted by 400 to 600 ATK. Marauding Captain loves this spell.
Fusion Sword Murasame Blade: The ATK increase that this spell gives Warriors is up there with Lightning Sword, but it falls behind other cards such as Axe of Despair. However, this equipment gives you a good trade off. If you can settle with 200 less ATK than the Axe, you know you’ll be keeping this card equipped until the monster using it is destroyed—or if someone uses Dust Tornado, but Mystical Space Typhoons are more common.
Magic Reflector: Legacy of Darkness takes pity on the poor Toon monsters, as this card is another barrier for the fragile Toon World. Magic Reflector forces the opponent to waste spell removal on the chosen spell for this effect before they can destroy what you gave the barrier to, such as Toon World or a field spell you set out.
Bottomless Trap Hole: Originally, Trap Hole was a very popular card. Many duelists used it before the release of a variety of spell and trap removal cards. Bottomless Trap Hole puts the original to shame. By targeting a higher ATK monster, you can remove the summoned monster from the game instead of merely destroying it. On top of that, this also works on special summons, unlike its little brother. For budget decks, this is a great addition for monster removal. For true tournament decks, you may find a use for it in the future, thanks to the release of a few “Chaotic” monsters that aren’t Dragons . . .
Thunder Nyan Nyan: Labyrinth of Nightmare brought forth the first 1900 ATK level 4 monster. Legacy of Darkness brings another one to the game, except this one requires you to use a theme. Thunder Nyan Nyan relies on having a Light monster out (or no monsters out) in order to be summoned and kept alive. However, if you run a Light deck, this acts as protection from cards like Snatch Steal, as your opponent cannot summon non-Light monsters onto his or her field without destroying this.
The Scientist’s Favorite Trio: This little trio of super rare Fusion monsters consists of Dark Balter the Terrible, Ryu Senshi, and Fiend Skull Dragon. Each one is hard to summon out through Polymerization, but their effects are usually devastating. For example, Ryu Senshi easily negates traps, and Dark Balter negates effects like Witch of the Black Forest.
However, with the release of Magical Scientist, there is no need to Fusion summon these terrors. For one turn, you can get one of them at the cost of only 1000 life points. That’s not bad for the amount of destruction they cause, and they’ve seen massive use at tournaments thanks to the restricted Magical Scientist.
Exiled Force: Warrior decks have lacked solid support for a long time. Legacy of Darkness was the solution to that drought of good Warriors. Exiled Force is an easy removal card. By summoning it, you can immediately tribute it to destroy one monster of your choice on the field. It can be face up, face down, yours, or your opponent's. It’s that versatile, which is why it’s restricted to one per deck.
Reinforcement of the Army: As if a monster like Exiled Force wasn’t good enough, Legacy of Darkness decides that duelists who use it should be able to summon it as quickly as possible. Reinforcement of the Army is am astounding spell, giving you any Warrior of level 4 or less from your deck. Monsters like Gearfried the Iron Knight, Exiled Force, or Marauding Captain are one spell away from hitting the field in a flash.
Spear Dragon: Another 1900 ATK monster is in this set besides Nyan Nyan. Spear Dragon adds the first high-attack level 4 monster to the Dragon type, with a crippling Goblin Attack Force effect. However, this is not due to its 1900 ATK, but due to its ability to deal damage even if the opponent’s monster is in defense. Scapegoat, which had just started gaining popularity around the release of LOD, was losing its popularity just as fast with monsters like Spear Dragon being used.
Asura Priest: The only super rare Spirit monster in the set, Asura Priest has an interesting ability. In a way, if its attack is high enough, Asura acts like a mass removal spell to the opponent’s field that can be stopped with monster-removing traps. However, the effect can easily bring the game back into your favor if used wisely, and it can easily damage the opponent with spells like Fairy Meteor Crush and Big Bang Shot. Your opponent better hope you don't have Big Bang Shot and Asura after activating Scapegoat.
Drop Off: Control decks were gaining popularity near the release of LOD, and this trap made the theme even more popular. Drop Off not only destroys your opponent’s hand, but it also keeps him or her from having any new choices during that turn. Of course, it can drop a high level monster, so the opponent can use recursion to bring it back, or you can drop off a quick-play spell and have the opponent use it against you anyway. That doesn’t change the fact that the card is useful, and it remains popular even in today’s environment.
Dark Ruler Ha Des: The mighty ruler of the Yu-Gi-Oh! underworld, Ha Des is the true king of Fiend monsters. Its love of the graveyard is a bit irritating, since it’s a great candidate for Monster Reborn, but the effect just won’t allow it. However, its attack is well above average—just 50 points below Summoned Skull. Its effect, however, is what makes Ha Des such a threat. Like Dark Balter, Ha Des negates effects like Witch of the Black Forest and Mystic Tomato. Having this on the field easily gives you the advantage until your opponent can find a way to deal with it that doesn’t rely on having it destroyed.
Freed the Matchless General: As the ultimate level 5 Warrior, Freed has earned his title of General. His first effect proves menacing, as it prevents cards like Change of Heart or Snatch Steal from even bothering him. However, this prevents you from powering him up with equipment spells. His second effect, if he stays alive, is even better. By skipping your draw phase, you gain a Reinforcement of the Army effect, and by now you should know how good that spell is in a Warrior deck.
Marauding Captain: Topping off the supreme Warrior support in Legacy of Darkness, Marauding Captain adds to the field rush capabilities Warriors have now. Using this with Exiled Force, you can destroy an opponent’s monster and still have a monster left for attacking. Use this with another Marauding Captain, and you create a “no attack” situation—a Warrior’s wall. If you need time to increase your field size for a card like The A. Forces, this is the monster duo you should use.
Tyrant Dragon: The ultimate Fire dragon takes flight in Legacy of Darkness. Tyrant Dragon is just 100 ATK shy of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and by giving up that 100 ATK, Tyrant Dragon negates any traps that target it. This means you don’t have to worry about Magic Cylinder of Ring of Destruction. Tyrant Dragon also provides good field control by demolishing the opponent’s monsters if he or she has more than one monster out. Of course, with two strong effects, it needed a drawback when being revived, but that’s easy to get around when using a Dragon deck.
Fiber Jar: This monster is an instant reset button for the entire game, excluding life points and cards removed from play. It can also be used more than once in a duel. It’s one of the most irritating flip effects to be released, hands down. It almost always turns the situation to your favor, whether the opponent attacks it or whether you flip summon it.
Airknight Parshath: As if there weren’t enough reasons to stop running low-DEF monsters, Legacy of Darkness decided to add one more monster that will deal damage if its attack is higher than the destroyed monster’s defense. Airknight Parshath may have low attack for its level, but its effect is still deadly. On top of that, the Airknight will also replenish your hand over time, which is incredibly useful against this set’s demon-spawn secret rare.
Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi: The most powerful Spirit monster is in Legacy of Darkness. At 2800 ATK, Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi is a big threat to the opponent, even if it’s on the field for only one turn. However, the threat doesn’t end there, since Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi forces the opponent to dump his or her entire hand if he or she is damaged by it. It’s one of the most devastating effects in the game, making Spirit monsters worth a try if you haven’t thought of them as serious cards.
Last Turn: This trap card is the third alternate victory condition to be released. It takes time, effort, and a load of strategy to get your life points down to 1000 or less without hitting 0 after that, but if you can, setting up the opponent for a loss is easy. All you need is Jowgen the Spiritualist, and you have your opponent as good as dead once you activate Last Turn.
Injection Fairy Lily: This spellcaster starts off with a small attack that nobody would even think of caring about. However, by paying the hefty cost of 2000 life points, you can increase her attack by 3000 ATK! That’s enough to pierce through Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Tyrant Dragon, or even the Masked Beast! This also means she can deal 3400 points of direct damage, which can easily spell death for the opponent. Lily may be extremely powerful, but her abusive effect doesn’t even come close to the Hobby Box secret rare of Legacy of Darkness.
Yata-Garasu: The last Spirit monster and Legacy of Darkness card to be analyzed in this review is Yata-Garasu, a tiny 200 ATK Wind Fiend Spirit. However, its effect is not only enough to make it a secret rare, but to give it nicknames such as “the bird” or “demon spawn.” If this monster does damage to the opponent’s life points, he or she must skip his or her next draw phase. That may not seem like much at first, but what if your opponent has no hand? This means he or she will have zero cards in hand, and if Yata was able to damage him or her, he or she must also have no monsters. If the opponent has no options and isn't going to be drawing any more, it’s pretty much over. It’s one of the most commonly used tournament cards, but it’s also one of the most irritating, most hated, and also the most cheesy/cheap. Be nice to your opponent and don’t use this card, especially when you have the choice of so many other great cards in this set. Be merciful.
Legacy of Darkness has some of the greatest cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!, and also some of the most hated. That would explain why it’s still sought after to this day, as everyone wants the chance to get a card like Injection Fairy Lily or the “demon spawn.”