General Lesson 11 - Lightsworn Meta

Another reminder - this is general. This is for everybody, not not just for those of one dorm. I will post the pictures of these cards when I get a few moments (probably the day after this post)

I am sure many of us know of lightsworn. They are light monsters that make themselves mill their own deck. This appears like hindrance as it can cause deck outs, but the chance of it is so slight even with 40 cards because they kill so quickly and the milling actually helps them. I for one have never seen any lightsworn deck run out of cards. The more cards that get milled usually puts them at a greater advantage.



One thing about lightsworn is that they have a lot different cards that do different things that you should be aware of. There are a few cards to have some concern for.

Ehren, Lightsworn Monk: This card shuffles a defense monster back into the deck. This stops many effects. On top of that monk mills 3 during endphase, unlike other monsters that mill 2.



Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress: This card switches to defense and destroys a spell/trap on the field. It has a low defense and can't switch back into attack for a couple rounds, but the back row removal plus 3 milled cards during end phases is harsh.



Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter: When flipped this card destroys any card on the field and mills 3.




Jain, Lightsworn Paladin: When this card attacks a monster, it goes from 1800 to 2100 attack and mills 2 during end phases. This is less common to see but a 2100 beat stick is underrated.



Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner: This card can discard to special summon a lightsworn from the grave and mills 3 during end phases. This leads to xyz opportunities, attacking for good damage, and milling a lot.



Raiden, Lightsworn Assailant: This guy is new and I do believe (correct me if I am wrong) is not out yet in real life packs, but it will be soon. This monster can mill 2 every turn on top of milling 2 during the end phase. It can gain attack if lightsworn monsters were milled. The biggest issue with this guy is he is the preferred of one of two new lightsworn tuners, giving access to a more synchro potential including a new boss monster that i will discuss later.



Wulf, Lightsworn Beast: If this monster is sent from the deck to the graveyard, it is special summoned. Other than that it does nothing. It is a 2100 beat stick and it is really easy to get milled into the grave with lightsworns.



Plaguespreader Zombie: This monster is often milled which gives more synchro potential.



Honest: There are so many light monsters in this deck it is most likely in the deck.



Beckoning Light: This trap card can easily pull Honest, Black Luster Soldier, Judgment Dragon, Sephylon, etc. back into the hand.






Michael, Lightsworn Ark: Sitting at 2600 attack and the ability to banish whatever it feels like once per turn is a hardship to tackle. The player can make a recovery if it is destroyed because he can shuffle lightsworn monsters from the grave into the deck (including himself!) and gain lifepoints per lightsworn monster (300 each).



Judgement Dragon: This card sits at 3000 attack and has a really good ability. By paying a small cost of 1000 life points, judgment dragon destroys every card on the whole field except himself. The only way to get this monster out is by special summoning it from the hand if 4 or more lightsworn monsters of different names are in the graveyard. This is very easy to achieve considering the variety and the intense milling and discarding that occurs in this deck.



Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord: a 4000 beat stick that can be special summoned from the hand if there are 10 or more monsters in the graveyard. For lightsworns that is no sweat at all.



This is by no means the end of the boss monster list, as there are still chaos cards, lightray cards, etc. but these are some of the most common beat sticks to handle that are more likely to be seen per duel.

You can earn up to 40 CS by giving card examples that can be sided against this deck as well as the explanation as to why they would work. You get 20 CS for each example given.

Some very good cards to side in include those that can stop the OTK ability of Judgment Dragon, and even turn it against him, or prevent him from being summoned at all. Even though there are several other Boss monsters of the deck, you're most likely to see a spam of two or more Judgment Dragons on the field plus some Lightrays for a swift and annoying OTK. Here are some cards that can STOP this:

-Gorz, The Emissary of Darkness: Pretty common sense card. If Judgment attacks, not only can this card hinder the assault of the lesser-attack monsters the opponent has (Every boss monster aside from Sephylon has lower Attack than Judgment), but you get a token with 3000 Atk, and if the opponent chooses to pay 1000 to wipe it out, they risk destroying their own monsters.

-Book of Moon/Eclipse: Although it doesn't seem like much, these cards can stop a full-on assault by flipping all of their monsters face-down. Even though they get some draws out of it, it can buy you another turn to turn things around.

-Light-Imprisoning Mirror: Oh yes, the card that can royally screw over Lightsworns. With this on the field, all Lightsworn monsters lose their milling ability, making their swarming tactics with Judgment near impossible. If they get the new Synchro out, he can't banish it, as his effect cannot be activated either.

-Skill/Mind Drain: These prevent their milling abilities and the Boss monsters' summoning abilities in a heartbeat, respectively.

-Summon Limit: Although it doesn't seem like a strong card at first, if the opponent plans to summon a massive swarm of Judgment and Lightrays, this card can hinder that play into a small attack. It isn't the best choice but can come in handy at times.

-Vanity's Emptiness/Fiend/Ruler: These cards are the EPITOME of lockdown in decks like Lightsworns. Emptiness and Fiend can be used to hinder the opponent's SS abilities (As well as your own), but if you stall for enough time you can get out Vanity's Ruler, which only prevents THEM from Special Summoning as well as having a 2500 Atk beatstick, which easily topples their monsters.

-Breakthrough Skill: This can negate any Lightsworn's effect one turn, and then Judgment's in another with just one card.

Soul release can be helpful in getting lighsworns and necro gardnas out of the grave, conversely imperial iron wall to halt necro gardnas and the summon of bls and chaos cards, depending on what the lightsworn player seems to be going for more. Rivalry of the warrior if timed right can be a thorn in lightsworns sides, but probably isn't the best option. Crimson blader is always a nice tech to handle decks who's biggest threats are high level monsters as well, stopping JD, Micheal, and bls for at least a turn

CS awarded