This article is from the official strategy site by P.J. Tierney

Link: http://www.konami.com/yugioh/articles/?p=1330

Lightsworn Decks have been doing very well in tournaments for the past year or so, winning many National Championships around the world this year, and making it to the Top 16 of numerous SHONEN JUMP Championships as well. And for the first time ever, a Lightsworn Deck won the SHONEN JUMP Championship in Los Angeles this past weekend. The main reason for Lightsworns’ success is that the Deck has a very wide range of powerful cards that allow it to win games very quickly, and Duelists have tried many different things with these cards to help give them an edge in tournaments.


Lightsworn or Twilight?

Recently, a new version of Lightsworn has done very well. A Twilight Deck is a Deck based around powerful LIGHT and DARK monsters, using various Lightsworn cards to fill up the Graveyard very quickly. Once the right monsters are in the Graveyard, the player can Summon various boss monsters like “Judgment Dragon”, “Dark Armed Dragon” and “Chaos Sorcerer” to absolutely devastate the opponent. Twilight Decks often use DARK monsters like “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness,” “Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind” and “Tragoedia,” along with the Spell Card “Allure of Darkness” to speed up the Deck. It was only a matter of time before such a fast and powerful Deck would do well at a major tournament, and these additions to the standard Lightsworn Deck have helped it to win 2 recent SHONEN JUMP Championships.


New cards to play with.

You don’t have to add a whole lot of DARK monsters to improve your Lightsworn Deck though. There are also some new cards available that work well in dedicated Lightsworn Decks. The first two are “Rinyan, Lightsworn Rogue” and “Shire, Lightsworn Spirit”, which can both be found in Stardust Overdrive. Rinyan is a Flip Effect monster that returns 1 Lightsworn monster from your Graveyard to your Deck, and also lets you draw 1 card. You can use it to send back key cards like “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner” and “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” to use again.

“Shire, Lightsworn Spirit” is a Level 3 monster, which means you can Special Summon it with Lumina, and search for it from your Deck with “Charge of the Light Brigade”. Shire starts with 400 ATK, but gets an extra 300 ATK for every Lightsworn monster with a different name in your Graveyard. Shire is also a Fairy-Type Monster, which lets Lightsworn Duelists make the most of “Archlord Kristya”, another new card from Stardust Overdrive.

Kristya can be Special Summoned when you have exactly 4 Fairy-Type monsters in your Graveyard, and while it’s on the field, neither player can Special Summon monsters. You also get to return a Fairy-Type monster from your Graveyard to your hand when it’s Special Summoned. Since its effect does a lot of damage to lots of different Decks, your opponents will be doing everything they can to get rid of it, but if they do, it goes back to the top of your Deck so that you can Summon it again later on! Kristya can be a very troublesome card for opponents to deal with, and with many different Fairy-Type monsters like Shire, “Honest” and “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel” in Lightsworn Decks already, “Archlord Kristya” is another strong card that can win games on its own for you.

Both of the top 2 players at the SHONEN JUMP Championship in Los Angeles used “Archlord Kristya” in their Lightsworn Decks. It’s a great example of a familiar Deck being upgraded with new and exciting cards.

40: the magic number.

Many Lightsworn players have been cutting the size of their Decks down as much as possible, and there are many advantages to having a 40-card Lightsworn Deck. The first is that you have a better chance of drawing key cards like “Judgment Dragon” and “Charge of the Light Brigade” in your opening hand. Since there are fewer cards in your Deck, you’ve also got a greater chance of sending important cards to the Graveyard. Having many copies of “Necro Gardna” in the Graveyard is very important as they’ll protect your monsters on the field from battle. Being able to send “Wulf, Lightsworn Beast” to the Graveyard that bit quicker will also help you end Duels that little bit faster than before. Also, if you happen to draw Wulf or “Necro Gardna” at any time, you’ll be able to draw into cards that can discard them a lot quicker in a 40 card Deck than in anything with more cards.

PART II

In Part 1 of this article, we looked at some of the new cards and major changes to Lightsworn Decks recently. Today we’ll be finding out what other Decks are doing to try to beat Lightsworn, so that you’ll be ready for them at your next tournament.


Watch out for new Synchros!

Lightsworn isn’t the only Deck that’s gotten stronger recently. Hidden Arsenal gave Duelists two very powerful Synchro Monsters to use against Lightsworn Decks. “Ally of Justice Catastor” can cause lots of problems for you and your Lightsworn since it destroys any non-DARK monster it battles with its effect. Since most of your monsters are LIGHT, Catastor can take down almost everything in your Deck, even stronger monsters like “Judgment Dragon.”

“Honest” won’t do anything to Catastor either, so you’ll need to deal with it in a different way. “Bottomless Trap Hole” is a very useful card against lots of Decks, and it can destroy Catastor before it even gets a chance to attack. You could also use “Shiny Black “C.”” Since you’ll be sending lots of cards from your Deck to the Graveyard every turn, you’ll have a good chance of sending a “Shiny Black “C,”” to the Graveyard before your opponent Summons a Catastor. Once it’s in the Graveyard, you can remove it from play to destroy any Synchro Monster that your opponent Summons, including “Ally of Justice Catastor.”

The other new Synchro to be aware of is “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier.” This card can send back any card on the field to its owner’s hand by discarding a card. This might not be too much of a problem if your “Judgment Dragon” goes back to your hand, since you can Summon it again next turn, but it will be a lot harder to Summon any “Wulf, Lightsworn Beasts” that end up in your hand. Again, you can use “Shiny Black “C”” to destroy Brionac when it’s Summoned, but your opponent will still get a chance to use Brionac’s effect before it’s removed from the field. You can stop Brionac from doing anything at all to your “Lightsworn” monsters if you’ve got “Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid” on the field. Aurkus stops both players from selecting “Lightsworn” monsters as the targets of effects, which means your “Lightsworn” monsters will be safe from Brionac’s effect. If you combine this with “Shiny Black “C,”” the only thing your opponent will be doing with Brionac is sending it straight to the Graveyard.

Gimme back my Plaguespreader!

Zombie Decks are very popular right now, and one of their most useful Synchro monsters could cause you a lot of problems. Most Lightsworn Decks use “Plaguespreader Zombie” since they can send to the Graveyard by using various card effects, then get it back with its own effect to do a Synchro Summon.

Zombie Decks have “Doomkaiser Dragon” though, which can take one Zombie-Type monster from the opponent’s Graveyard when it’s Special Summoned. If you’ve got a “Plaguespreader Zombie” in your Graveyard, you could be giving your opponent a major boost. When they Summon Doomkaiser, they’ll take your Plaguespreader, and use it to make a Level 8 Synchro Monster like “Stardust Dragon” or “Colossal Fighter.” If they’ve got a “Mezuki” in the Graveyard, they can bring back Doomkaiser and use your Plaguespreader for another Synchro Summon. With the right cards, your opponent could be using your “Plaguespreader Zombie” to Summon 4 Synchro Monsters, and it’s very difficult to get rid of 2 “Stardust Dragons” and 2 “Colossal Fighters” before they reduce your Life Points down to zero.

When you’re playing against a Zombie Deck you never want to be able to let them use your “Plaguespreader Zombie,” so as soon as it’s in the Graveyard you should use its effect to Special Summon itself to the field. Then, when you use it for a Synchro Summon, it’ll be removed from play, and your opponent can only put it back in the Graveyard with “Burial from a Different Dimension.” If your opponent does happen to bring out a lot of Synchros with your Plaguespreader, you’ll have to get rid of them as soon as possible. One way to do that is with “Mist Wurm.” First you Summon “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner,” and use its effect to Special Summon any Level 4 “Lightsworn” monster. Then, you send a card from your hand to the top of your Deck to Special Summon “Plaguespreader Zombie.” Now you can Synchro Summon “Mist Wurm,” and use its effect to send 3 of your opponent’s Synchros back to the Extra Deck where they belong!

Getting Your Own Lightsworn Cards

If you don’t have a Lightsworn Deck of your own, yet, here’s a guide on where you can find Lightsworn cards to get your started:

Most Lightsworn cards can be found in Light of Destruction packs. You can find Light of Destruction in every Twilight Edition box.

Twilight Edition also includes 1 “Honest” in every box. “Honest” isn’t a Lightsworn monster, but he boosts all your LIGHT Attribute monsters (including all of your Lightsworn).

Stardust Overdrive Special Edition includes “Charge of the Light Brigade,” which lets you search your Deck for a Lightsworn monster and send cards to the Graveyard.

Ancient Prophecy Special Edition includes “Solar Recharge,” which lets you draw 2 cards when you play it.

Stardust Overdrive packs can include the new Lightsworn monsters, Rinyan & Shire.

Cool good info