Not only does Thunder End Dragon have an awesome artwork, it had great stats and a great effect. Boasting 3000 attack and 2000 points, Thunder End Dragon can destroy all other monsters on the field by detaching an Xyz material monster. While Thunder End Dragon is an offensive powerhouse, I was aghast when I realized what it would take to play it. I would need to have two level eight monsters in order to Xyz summon Thunder End Dragon. It’s pretty difficult to summon one level eight monster, but summoning two? That could become very difficult against today’s competitive decks.

The question I asked myself was, are Thunder End Dragon’s stats and effect worth its summoning conditions? I concluded no. However, I still it is a good monster to have in the extra deck, but I wouldn’t put it above monsters such as Number 83: Galaxy Queen, Number 96: Dark Mist, or Number 61: Volcasaurus. That is just my opinion though, what’s your’s?

Before you pro-Lightsworn readers start hounding me, here is my argument: Lightsworn decks revolve around summoning a monster who can be destroyed by a card effect at anytime. Sure you may have Dark Bribe or Solemn Warning/Judgement set, but a simple Dark Hole or a Lightning Vortex can eradicate it. Now, I know that logic applies to many monsters, like Dark Armed Dragon and Herald of Perfection, two monsters that are equally as powerful as Judgement Dragon. However, in DAD’s case, it doesn’t have a deck that revolves around specifically summoning itself (Tele-DAD was more about quick synchro summoning, with DAD as a key tool to do so). In Herald’s case, all good Perfection decks either have Royal Decree to negate Trap Holes and/or have several Herald-of-Light monsters that can negate Trap Holes/Solemns as well.

Another bad thing about Lightsworns is that they mill so much in order to bring out Judgement Dragon. If you summon Judgement Dragon and it gets negated, you just lost half your deck trying to futilely play it. I think Lightsworn decks are good, but I just don’t think they deserve the high-level status they have. What are your guys’ views?

What we know is that Astral world is being attacked by Haruto Tenjo, who has an ability to send things through rips in space. Dr. Faker is using him to send bombs to Astral world, which are destroying the world. But why? Why is Dr. Faker targeting Astral world. There could two reasons:

1. He wants to harness the powers of the Astral race for himself, as they are high intelligent duelists. By controlling the Astral race, he would be the most powerful man on Earth.
2. Astral world holds the secret to the Numbers. There might be some legendary numbers card(s) that he wants to possess and is destroying all of the inhabitants of Astral world so that Haruto can use his ability to bring the legendary numbers card(s) to Earth.

As they are foils, Agents have a very different style than Dark World monsters: rather than swarming the field, Agents focus on life points. Agents use differences in life points to give them an advantage. For example, Agent of Force – Mars, gains attacks points equal to the difference of you and your opponent’s life points (if your life points are greater). Unlike Dark Worlds, most Agents need The Sanctuary in the Sky to activate their effects.

While Dark Worlds have multiple monsters that can cause a lot of damage, Agents have one: Master Hyperion. Along with Herald of Perfection, Master Hyperion is easily the strongest fairy in Yugioh. You can special summon Hyperion by removing from play an Agent monster from your hand, field, or grave. He causes a lot of destruction on the field; by removing a light monster from your grave, Hyperion can destroy a card on the field, two if you have The Sanctuary in the Sky. Not to mention that Hyperion has 2700 attack and 2100 defense!

Unlike Dark World decks, which in order to be efficient, require cards that can discard, Agents are very versatile. For instance, you can put in Archlord Zerato to do some extra damage, which would be a good strategy since an Agent deck utilizes The Sanctuary in the Sky. Most decks put in Archlord Kristya so as to have an easily playable powerhouse monster. Honest is a must as well, because it can power up Agent monsters, whom are not known for their high attack points.

Agent decks are incredibly powerful and I have dueled against with a Dark World deck; I am 1-3 against them! Since an Agent deck is so fast, users get out Hyperion much faster than I can get out Grapha, and I end up losing. With a monster like Hyperion, agents have the potential to usurp X-Sabers from their title of ‘best archetype’. With their vast strength, who knows what Agents can accomplish?

Volcasaurus is a little tough to Xyz summon, as you need two level five monsters. Once you get it out though, Volcasaurus can devastate your opponent. It has an effect similar to Dark Armed Dragon’s. By detaching one Xyz material monster, you can destroy one face up monster your opponent controls. In addition, you opponent loses life points equal to the attack points of the destroyed monster. However, Volcasaurus cannot attack directly after activating the effect, but I think it is worth it, especially this effect helps brings down powerful monsters.

A good strategy with Volcasaurus is to use its while Number 19: Freezerdon, which also requires two level five monsters. Freezerdon is on your field as well. Freezerdon’s effect allows you to detach a monster from Freezerdon if an effect requiring detachment is activated. This means Volcasaurus can use its effect four times! Though this strategy would only work with a deck that swarms Xyz monsters, it is still powerful.

Dark attribute monsters are special in the sense that, many of their effects revolve around helping themselves or another dark monster. Same goes for many light attribute monsters as well, however, the difference between light and dark attribute monsters is that dark monsters have better stats. Monsters such as Dark Armed Dragon have a good stats (2800 atk, 1000 def) and have an awesome ability: You can remove from play and your graveyard, any amount of dark monsters. Dark Armed Dragon can destroy a card for each dark monster removed. It’s effects like these that really show the destructive ability of dark monsters

The Zombie Structure Deck and the Spellcaster’s Judgement are two great examples of how to use dark monsters. They each have specific strategies to use and they are both very structured. Both decks revolve around special summoning a specific monster or using powering up the deck’s secondary monster. Both yugioh decks have mostly dark monsters whom only benifit from more dark monsters. Thats how balanced and versatile dark monsters are. Plus you have the Infernity and Blackwing archetypes, two of the strongest monsters in Yugioh. Let’s not forget the Dark World archetype, that is seen a surge in popularity following the release of a Dark World structure deck. These are three of the strongest archetypes in Yugioh and they are all of the dark attribute.  Though monsters of other attributes are powerful as well (case in point X-Sabers, being of the earth attribute), but the sheer abundance of dark monsters and their destructive natures make them the strongest type of monsters in Yugioh.

Now don’t confuse Spell Counter Explosion with the deck Magical Explosion, as Magical Explosion focuses for on milling, stocking up on spells, and dealing great amounts with the trap card Magical Explosion. Spell Counter Explosion utilizes cards like Breaker the Magical Warrior, Pitch Black Power Stone, and Mega Ton Magical Cannon. The best thing about the deck is that it is fast and you can deal big damage pretty much any turn. As for the ‘Trump Card’ of Spell Counter Explosion, I’d say it is Arcanite Magician Assault Mode. Arcanite Magician Assault Mode is the power-form of Arcanite Magician and thus it has the same affect, but amplified: When this card is Special Summoned, place 2 Spell Counters on it. This card gains 1000 ATK for each Spell Counter on it. You can remove 2 Spell Counters from this card to destroy all cards your opponent controls. When this card on the field is destroyed, you can Special Summon 1 “Arcanite Magician” from your Graveyard. It’s a very powerful card as it is, and in a Spell Counter Explosion deck where you can stack spell counters on a monster with ease, just think how unstoppable this monster could be.

I think Spell Counter Explosion is another one those really underrated (yet powerful) decks, as I never see it used in duels. I can’t wait for the release of the ultimate spell counter monster; Arcanite Magician, the Supreme Wizard which will arrive in the Starstrike Blast booster pack. Spell Counter Explosion may not be a tier 0 or even tier 1 deck, but it sure is a strong and fun deck to play with! My overall record in Yugioh Network is currently 10-8, and four of those wins are thanks to Spell Counter Explosion!

I do not think Konami would change Slifer’s stats from the show, so I think its attack and defense will still be equal to the number of cards in your hand. Since I do not remember what Slifer’s effect was in the show, I came up with an effect that would suit Slifer:

By paying half of your life points, this monster can attack twice in your battle phase. If this monster is sent to the graveyard (except by its own effect), pay 1000 life points to have this monster come back to your side of the field, with its attack and defense points halved. This effect can only be used once per duel..

I believe a Japanese version has already come out via Shonen Jump magazine, but the American version of cards is often different than the Japanese, so a different effect is still plausible. I really want to see Slifer the Sky Dragon as an actual card so I can use it in a duel. While I haven’t seen a lot of Winged Dragon of Ra cards, Obelisk the Tormentor is used fervently in various decks. Just think about it, Slifer deck that utilizes monsters that can come back to life in order to swarm the field. Ah…

Decks consisting of low level monsters are often Stall Decks, as your own monsters can often get around cards that stall your opponent; examples include Skull Servant Deck or The Law of the Normal Deck. Another Final Stall method would be the “Ultimate Field” strategy. The strategy is a combination which can alternate between cards that negate your opponent’s opportunity to summon monsters, play spell cards, or play trap cards. Although it may not defeat your opponent, it does guarantee that you will control the duel.

One of my favorite Stall Decks is one that revolves around Dark Simorgh, known as Maximum Lockdown. It is a well-known method of completely disallowing your opponent to play spells and traps. There are many tactics variations of this strategy, all of which can be used to easily dominate and take over the duel. One of the most famous is the one that uses Dark Simorgh, Anti-Spell Fragrance, and The Last Warrior from Another Planet”, which will prevent your opponent from summoning monsters and activating spells and traps (absolute Lockdown). Since it is a hassle to fusion summon, you can use Ojama Trio to lock your opponent’s monster card zones instead.

Stall Decks are really nice if you want a nice and easy way to defeat your opponent. Most of the time, they do not require the player to take many risks. Because they revolve elongating the duel, Stall Decks can play with your opponent’s emotions, which is why I love them! Maximum Lockdown especially, is a deck that can really frustrate your opponent if it works.

The focus of this strong Yugioh deck is to swarm Elemental Heroes on to the field and play Yubel. The ultimate goal would be to bring out Elemental Hero Neos and contact summon Elemental Hero Neos Wiseman, which is a very strong Yugioh monster. Neos Wiseman has 3000 attack and defense points, it cannot be destroyed by card effects, plus if it attacks a monster, your opponent loses life points equal to the monster’s attack points while you gain life points equal to its defense points. In the scenario in which my main weapon is removed, the deck has counter measures: it has Rainbow Dark Dragon, Rainbow Neos, and other Elemental Hero/Neos fusions that can easily be brought out.

While I was making this strong Yugioh deck, I researched a lot online and found that many people hated this deck and felt it did not work. However, I have dueled six times on Yugioh Dueling Network (all against duelists with a rating of 500 or more, which is impressive) and I have lost once. If made right, this fusion between an Elemental Hero deck and a Yubel can be quite fearsome. After all, you are combining the powers of one of the strongest monsters in Yugioh and the strongest archetype in Yugioh!