lightsworn

"Lightsworn", known as "Lightlord" (ライトロード Raitorōdo) in the OCG, is an archetype of monsters introduced in Light of Destruction. They are all LIGHT Attribute monsters and their primary effect which involves self-milling, sending cards from the top of your Deck to your Graveyard, either as a cost to activate their effect(s), or as part of the effect(s) itself. They are used by Blair Flannigan inYu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3.

This archetype was localized to "Lightsworn" since the literal translation from Japanese ("Lightlord") had a male connotation attributed to it, and could not be applied to all members of this archetype. This was explained by a post from Kevin Tewart on Pojo.

PLAYING STYLE

Decking out is a risk sometimes associated with the milling done in "Lightsworn" Decks. However, milling improves the speed of the Deck and many "Lightsworn" cards benefit from having many "Lightsworn" monsters in the Graveyard. A primary focus of this Deck is to quickly summon "Judgment Dragon", which may be Special Summoned while there are 4 or more different "Lightsworn" monsters in the Graveyard. "Judgment Dragon" can quickly clear the field and attack directly. This strategy is most useful when running a small Deck, and has the potential to turn the tables in your favor before your opponent can get too much of a foothold.

This Deck is quite capable of a very fast OTK using their mill effects, and then Summoning "Judgment Dragon". "Judgment Dragon" alone would easily be able to create an OTK situation fairly quickly.

"Lightsworns" have been incorporated into many Deck types. Most notably, "Lightsworns" are combined with DARK monsters in a Deck type known as Twilight. Such a Deck uses a mixture of LIGHT and DARK monsters and tends to include Chaos cards, particularly since "Chaos Sorcerer" and "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" were removed from the March 2011 and September 2011 Forbidden lists, respectively.

Adding the Blasting the Ruins trap card can be effective strategy before decking out since it inflicts 3000 damage to your opponents life points if you have 30 or more cards in your graveyard.

Recommended Cards
Monsters

Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Card Trooper
Celestia, Lightsworn Angel
Effect Veiler
Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
Guardian of Order
Honest
Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
Judgment Dragon
Lightray Daedalus
Lightray Diabolos
Lightray Gearfried
Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
Necro Gardna
Plaguespreader Zombie
Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
Tragoedia
Wulf, Lightsworn Beast


Spells

Charge of the Light Brigade
Foolish Burial
Gold Sarcophagus
Heavy Storm
Monster Reborn
Monster Reincarnation
Mystical Space Typhoon
Pot of Avarice
Solar Recharge


Traps

Beckoning Light
Royal Decree

Extra Deck

Ally of Justice Catastor
Black Rose Dragon
Leviair the Sea Dragon
Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
Number 39: Utopia
Scrap Dragon
Stardust Dragon
Wind-Up Zenmaines
Steelswarm Roach
Number 16: Shock Master
Photon Papilloperative
Starliege Paladynamo
Constellar Omega
Daigusto Emeral
Lavalval Chain

Optional Support

"Lightray" : With the release of the Lightray Monsters, the Lightsworns become even more dangerous as the requirements for summoning are LIGHT type monsters in the graveyard. Lightray Grepher is a good choice, as you can discard a level 5 monster to special summon him, giving you two monsters on the field from turn one. He can also be used with Jain, Lightsworn Paladin, or Ehren, Lightsworn Monk to overlay into Heroic Champion Excalibur. Using his effect will send both xyz materials to the grave for a whopping 4000 attack power. Lightray Daedalus only requires 4 light monsters, and allows you to destroy a field spell and 2 other cards on the field, clearing the path for a strong 2600 beater. Lightray Gearfried Requires 5 LIGHT monsters with different names in the graveyard, and allows you to banish one warrior monster in the graveyard to negate your opponent's spell or trap cards, plus he has an attack of 2800. If you can get 2 Lightray Daedalus or Lightray Gearfried on the field, you can overlay into Number 11: Big Eye, Mecha Phantom Beast Dragossack, or even Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis, all 3 who have great effects for stalling, destroying or taking control of your opponent's monsters.

"Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord" : There should be at least 1 Sephylon in any Lightsworn deck. As a 4000 beater, he requires 10 monsters in the graveyard to summon, and his effect should you have another level 8 fairy monster can give you access to 2 4000 attackers on the field at the same time. 2 Sephylons can allow you to overlay into Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max for an easy 2000 direct damage to your opponent's life points, as well as a solid 3000 attack.

"Beckoning Light" : Works much the same way as "Monster Reincarnation" but allows you to retrieve a potentially higher number of "LIGHT" Monsters such as "Honest" and "Judgment Dragon" above all.

"Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite" : Before the release of the powerful Xyz monsters we see today, this card had yet to reveal its true potiential outside of the "Blackwing" archetype. With the large number of Level 4 monsters and the milling engine that "Lightsworn" contains, this card may have potientially shown us its capabilities in this deck. This monster allows the player to Xyz Summon powerful Rank 4 monsters such as "Number 39: Utopia and "Steelswarm Roach". The cost to be Special Summoned from the graveyard is proven to synergize well by returning unwanted monsters to prevent decking out, returning cards such as "Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner" and "Judgment Dragon" to reuse their effects for the upcoming turns, and to Xyz Summon powerful Rank 4 assets that we have yet to see more of.

"Card Trooper" : With the ability to mill during your Main Phase, most unlike the "Lightsworn" monsters for the exception of a few, you can use this card's effect to send up to 3 cards top of your Deck to the Graveyard once per turn. Using this card's effect, it can send "Wulf, Lightsworn Beast" to the Graveyard, which will Special Summon it on to the field. Unlike some of the Lightsworn monsters, you are able to do whatever you wish with the "Wulf, Lightsworn Beast" milled out by "Card Trooper". This card is doubly useful due to its low ATK because it will likely be destroyed by battle next turn and trigger its second effect, allowing you to draw one card. Then, during your turn, you get the added advantage of drawing your normal card, helping you maintain hand advantage.

"Eclipse Wyvern" : A monster whose effect works in conjunction with "Lightsworn" decks as it has it's place in the graveyard. It allows ensured access to "Judgment Dragon" or "Dark Armed Dragon" in Twilight variants. Once banished from the graveyard, you can retrieve the selected card with "Chaos Sorcerer" due to he's at 1 after september 2012 banlist along with the infamous "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning".

"Foolish Burial" : You can use this to instantly Special Summon a "Wulf, Lightsworn Beast" from your Deck, but you can also use it to send cards such as "Plaguespreader Zombie", or "Necro Gardna" to be utilized from the Graveyard, or to meet the requirements of "Judgment Dragon" if you don't have enough differently-named "Lightsworn" monsters in your Graveyard to Summon it.

"Gold Sarcophagus" : It can be very helpful to get cards in your hand that you don't want milled. You can get "Judgement Dragon" before you mill it, or you can get "Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner" to fix a bad hand. By the time the two turns have passed since "Judgement Dragon" was banished and is added to your hand you may already have four or more "Lightsworn" Monsters in your Graveyard.

"Honest" : Given that the common Attribute shared by all "Lightsworn" Monsters is LIGHT, "Honest" is pretty much a staple in every "Lightsworn" Deck thanks to its ability to boost the ATK of weak "Lightsworn" monsters to overcome the opponent's attacks. Also, being LIGHT itself, "Honest" can be easily retrieved with "Beckoning Light".

"Marshmallon" : Cannot be destroyed in battle and can stall for enough time for Judgment Dragon to be summoned. Also it deals a lot of damage. Marshmallon is also a LIGHT monster so it can be retrieved with "Beckoning Light" in case it did get destroyed and deal more damage.

"Monster Reborn" : You can revive a powerful Lightsworn from any Graveyard, like Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon or Wulf, Lightsworn Beast; or you could revive Honest and return it to your hand (if it's from your Graveyard) so if your Lightsworn monster hasn't got enough ATK points to win a battle, you can discard it so it has enough ATK to survive and destroy the monster it's battling.

"Necro Gardna" : Negate 1 attack from a monster your opponent controls and use the monster you've just protected to Tribute Summon "Celestia, Lightsworn Angel" or simply to protect any valuable asset, such as "Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner". Since its place is in the Graveyard, it can become a positive thing if milled by a "Lightsworn" monster or discarded by "Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner".

"Plaguespreader Zombie" : Grants access to Synchro Monsters, and its effect to revive itself is useful when coupled with "Wulf, Lightsworn Beast" or "Necro Gardna" and another "Lightsworn" Monster "Wulf, Lightsworn Beast" or "Necro Gardna" will be put on top of the Deck, and the effect of the "Lightsworn" will mill them, granting a free Summon or a defense). With "Imperial Iron Wall, this can be done as many times as the player wants.

"Pot of Avarice": In "Lightsworn" Decks, which mill indiscriminately, one is bound to have an abundance of monsters in one's Graveyard. Now, while 4 "Lightsworn" monsters allow for the Summon of "Judgment Dragon", and certain cards such as "Plaguespreader Zombie", and "Necro Gardna" are desirable to have in one's Graveyard, one will find that more than enough monsters that don't contribute towards these ends would be useful for "Pot of Avarice". This card represents almost free advantage to any "Lightsworn" Deck on the third or fourth turn.

"Spirit Reaper": Can't be destroyed by battle,dark fodder for "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" or "Chaos Sorcerer",gives extra protection in this OTK based format,very useful card for stalling and waiting for "Judgment Dragon","Solar Recharge" or "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning".

"Tour Bus From the Underworld": It's effect allows players to return important cards from the graveyard to the deck. Tour Bus will often be milled through the effect of a Lightsworn monster, and provides Dark fodder for twilight-based decks. Using this card in combination with Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, Monster Reincarnation, or Beckoning Light allows you do simply drop this card from your hand should it be drawn at bad times.

"Lavalval Chain": Can be easily summoned with the deck, allows players to drop Wulf or other Lightsworns into the Graveyard, and can place Judgment Dragon or other cards on top of the deck.

Further Strategy

With easily fulfilled Special Summoning conditions (having 4 or more "Lightsworn" monsters with different names in your Graveyard), high ATK, and a devastating effect (pay 1000 Life Points to Destroy all other cards on the field), "Judgment Dragon" is capable of dealing large amounts of damage, and could even create a OTK situation fairly quickly. Since it has no Cost to summon itself, only a condition, you can still summon your other dragon that turn.

"Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner" is a staple in a "Lightsworn" Deck, due to the ability to dump dead cards while summoning a "Lightsworn" monster from the Graveyard, giving you easy Field advantage. A common trick is to discard a "Wulf, Lightsworn Beast" and Special Summon the same discarded "Wulf" for an easy 2100 ATK beatstick. It is notable that one may Special Summon a "Lightsworn" monster discarded by Lumina with the same effect, but may not activate the effect if there is no "Lightsworn" present in the Graveyard upon activation.

Another good card in this archetype is "Celestia, Lightsworn Angel". When "Celestia" is Tribute Summoned by Tributing a "Lightsworn" monster you can send 4 cards from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard in order to target and destroy up to 2 cards that your opponent controls.

In terms of Spell support "Solar Recharge", "Heavy Storm", and "Charge of the Light Brigade" all represent good options.

Despite the fact that the player is quickly milling their Deck, 40 cards is plenty for it. If you add more cards it will only get slower and less consistent, and you won't draw your "Judgment Dragon" and other key cards when you need them. Because of the constant milling, however, they will be sent to the Graveyard frequently. In such cases, bring them back using "Beckoning Light".

In case your opponent uses cards like "Skill Drain" or "Light-Imprisoning Mirror", you might want to add "Royal Decree" to your Side Deck. Since a "Lightsworn" Deck most likely won't run any essential Trap Cards, you can side them out to get rid of the dangers coming along with negating effects.

Weaknesses

Despite its powerful assets, the Deck has major weaknesses, the first of them being luck. While luck is involved in any Deck it is doubly so in "Lightsworns", because the "Lightsworns" rely heavily on milling, usually the quality and quantity of cards milled will define a Duel in its mid-to-advanced stages. Another major weakness is that the "Lightsworns" will fall very quickly to Deck locks and stalls such as "Gravity Bind" since they will not be able to attack, and if there are 3 or more "Lightsworns" on the field such as "Jain, Lightsworn Paladin" they will be milling heavily, and unless they find a way to destroy the Deck-lock, they will likely lose. One must build one's Deck carefully to consistently do well.

While the aforementioned may be seen more as a unique characteristic of the Deck, rather than a weakness, the primary problems for a "Lightsworn" player come from cards capable of negating effects ("Skill Drain", "Light-Imprisoning Mirror" and "Brain Golem" above all), and cards that banishes other monsters from play, especially "Macro Cosmos" and "Dimensional Fissure", capable of turning the milling effect of the Lightsworn from a simple requirement to a severe disadvantage. As such, one will commonly find cards like "Royal Decree" and "Mystical Space Typhoon" in both the Main Deck and Side Deck of "Lightsworn" Decks.

Cards that add to the milling can be a threat to "Lightsworn" Decks, including "Iron Chain", "Needle Worm", "Voltic Bicorn", and "Ally of Justice"; however, these can be helpful since they can push the Deck into its win condition more quickly.

Most "Lightsworn" monster cards have very low DEF points; Lyla, Celestia and Wulf are the examples of the worst cards for Defense due to low DEF points. If a card like "Shield and Sword" is activated, their DEF points will be higher but the ATK will be low; or if they are in Defense Mode, you will easily lose your best monsters, and if there is a monster your opponent controls that has piercing effect, you would take a lot of battle damage. Try using "Jenis, Lightsworn Mender", "Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon", "Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid" and/or "Shire, Lightsworn Spirit" since they have between 1400 to 2100 original DEF points which is enough to withstand damage. Because of this, be careful of Ojama decks could easily hit a Lightsworn deck hard as they focus on reversing the ATK and DEF of all monsters on the field.

Stalling may force a Deck Out, although the high number of destruction effects the "Lightsworns" offer, such as "Celestia, Lightsworn Angel", "Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress", and "Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter", often make up for this.

Banishing Decks also cause some trouble, because the milled cards will be banished instead; this would cripple the effect of "Wulf, Lightsworn Beast" and "Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner", as well as make the summon of "Judgment Dragon" nearly impossible. It also disables the effect of "Celestia, Lightsworn Angel" since sending cards from the Deck to the Graveyard is a cost; and since cards like "Dimensional Fissure" and "Macro Cosmos" prevent this, "Celestia, Lightsworn Angel's" Effect cannot be activated. The same goes for "Charge of the Light Brigade". This may be counteracted by including spell/trap destruction cards (or at least putting them in your Side Deck) such as "Mystical Space Typhoon" and "Dust Tornado".