Aoi's Guide to Vanilla Twilight.

Let me preface this article by saying something I feel is very important: This deck is designed to be fast, but not very offensive. It can hold its own if you use it to strike quickly, rather than giving your opponent a chance to amass a force. It has very little defense, and if you let your opponent get a monster advantage, you will have to do your best to defend until you get one of your boss monsters ("Judgment Dragon," "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning," "Sephylon, the Ultimate Time Lord") onto the field. That said, if you can get a good feel for the finesse this deck takes to play, you can do wonders with it.

Now, I suppose I shall start with my deck list.



I've grouped it in such a way that makes sense to me for this article. In other words, if you hit sort deck, if will not look like this. Now, let's start with the Lightsworn Monsters, shall we?

1x Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid
2x Celestia, Lightsworn Angel
1x Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
1x Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
1x Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
2x Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
1x Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
2x Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
1x Wulf, Lightsworn Beast

Nine separately-named Lightsworn monsters. Each one is useful for milling cards (With the exception of Wulf, and Garoth [if he's alone on the field]), which is great for this deck. Ehren, Lumina, and Lyla will all mill three in each of your End Phases, Aurkus and Jain mill two, Ryko mills three on flip, Celestia mills four when tribute summoned by using a Lightsworn as tribute (Her effect is optional), and Garoth mills two everytime another Lightsworn makes you mill.

Aside from the milling, it is important to realize that these cards have other effects. Lyla can be shifted to defense mode to destroy a card in your opponent's backrow. Celestia can mill four cards when you summon her from using a Lightsworn as tribute to destroy up to two more cards your opponent controls, Ehren sends defense position monsters back into the deck without damage calculation (Great, if your opponent is starting to play defensively, or you don't know what they have set - not triggering flip effects is great against, for example, a mill deck), Lumina allows you to discard a card from your hand to special summon a level four or lower Lightsworn from the graveyard (Use Lyla to destroy a backrow card, tribute for Celestia, then bring back Lyla from Lumina to destroy another spell - Excellent combination). These effects allow you to control a field very effectively, or swarm it for Synchros (Lumina to bring back any level four Lightsworn, use Plaguespreader's effect from grave for a Trishula).

The Lightsworns are crucial for getting other Lightsworns into the grave, for good reason. Having four separately-named Lightsworns in your Graveyard lets you special summon Judgment Dragon from your hand. He can then clear all cards on the field (sans himself) by paying 1000 lifepoints. Even better, it can be used multiple times per turn. So, if you use it, attack, and your opponent brings out Gorz, just go to Main Phase 2 and clear the field again; not a problem.

Other than the fact that these cards get other Lightsworns into the graveyard for Judgment Dragon, they also allow for a special "Beatstick" from the middle to end of the game. Sephylon, the Ultimate Time Lord is an OCG-only card right now, with 4000 attack an defense points. He also has a useful effect for Fairy decks, but for the purpose of this deck, his effect doesn't matter. As a summoning condition, you must have 10 monsters in your graveyard. However, with all the mills you will be doing, this isn't a problem.

Black Luster Soldier is pretty self-explanatory, but I felt it important to cover which dark monster you should be throwing out, if given a choice. Honestly, if given the chance, Tragoedia or Chaos Hunter (If he's already in your grave) are best. You have no other way of getting Gorz into your hand, so once he's hit the graveyard, he'll not be of much help, which means you may consider using him as well. Tragoedia is great for getting out a level nine Synchro, and then banishing for Black Luster Soldier. I would advise against using Plaguespreader or Necro. Plague should be used for Synchro if possible, and Necro is one of three cards targeted at defending yourself against an attack.

Lastly for the Light cards is Honest, an awesome effect creature with the ability to cause your opponent to lose the lifepoints of any monster they decide to attack, as long as it's Light. It's a great way to protect Lumina (The card I use it for most), or another your opponent would choose to attack. It's also pretty amusing if you have Black Luster Soldier or Judgment Dragon out, and your opponent attacks you with a Malefic/Five-Headed Dragon/Some other giant "Beatstick." The card can also be used on the field as a last resort, since it can be put back into your hand from the field (Assuming it survives an attack). Monster Reborn puts it back into your hand for free, but other support cards like Beckoning Light also do the trick.

As for the Dark Monsters in the deck, they pretty much speak for themselves, in various ways. Chaos Hunter is highly underrated in a Twilight Deck, but it prevents your opponent from removing cards from play (Stopping Black Luster Soldier, Chaos Sorcerer, Malefics, Red-Eyes Wyvern from summoning Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, etc), which can really hinder them. At 2500 attack, it has survivability, as well. And since it can (and should) be summoned on your opponent's turn, it can really throw a wrench into their plans.

Everyone knows what Gorz does. Tragoedia is pretty much the same, without needing a clear field; 600 attack and defense for every card in you hand, however. Gives it a lot of potential, and a lot of ability to be insignificant. Plaguespreader is mainly used for the 2/3/4 Trishula Synchro, but has other uses as well. Glow-up Bulb is your other Tuner, and can be used for a 1/4/4 Trishula or a 1/3/4 Stardust/Scrap Dragon.

Spells now. Staples are a must. Charge of the Light Brigade and Solar Recharge are archetypal cards for the Lightsworns. Charge mills three for free, and gives you a Level four or lower Lightsworn to your hand for free. Solar recharge discards a Lightsworn, draws two, then mills an additional two. These are free, easy ways to get Lightsworns from your hand to the grave. I would also consider Foolish Burial in exchange for either a Pot of Duality, or the Mirror Force. Drawing that lets you put Wulf into the grave, and subsequently onto the field, for free. Although, if Wulf is already in hand, it can also be used to put your fourth Lightsworn into the grave for Judgment Dragon, or a Dark monster for your Black Luster Soldier. Very versatile.

As for your traps, Mirror Force is completely optional. I tend to use it as a measure of defense in the early game, as preventing my opponent so early can give me a major advantage on the field. Pretty useless late-game, unless you know your opponent has some face-downs you want to check on, or if you need something for Lumina to throw away and you don't want to toss anything else. Beckoning Light is key, though. Especially late game. With all the milling you're going to be doing, you're bound to throw away something you don't like, right? Well, this fixes that situation. Judgment Dragon, Sephylon, Black Luster Soldier, Celestia/Lyla or something situational can all be returned to your hand, to be used once again for destroying your opponent. Three of these are too amazing to pass up on.

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There are four Lightsworn monsters I don't have in my deck, and for good reason. Gargonith requires tribute, which slows down the deck, first off. Further, he and the other three aren't for fast-based play enough that I would use them in a Twilight deck. In a pure deck, I would consider it, but I can't justify it here. We need space for Dark monsters, and the spells and trap(s) we need to maintain consistency and speed. This build accomplishes that without the other four Lightsworns. Nine is more than enough to get out Judgment Dragon, and 26 monsters is more than enough for Sephylon and Black Luster Soldier. If you feel you need a Gargonith, I would recommend taking out a Celestia for him. If you really felt you -needed- another Lightsworn, consider a Pot of Duality for it (I wouldn't recommend taking out both Dualities though. So consider that along with the aforementioned situation with Foolish Burial).

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If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or recommendations, feel free to post, and I will do my best to address any and all issues.

Late props to Xanatos, for helping me edit and test my deck.

You forgot Reinforcement of the Army. Also I think Super-Nimble Mega Hamster is needed in LS after they lost 2 charge of the light brigade. It has decent defense, searches out arguably the best Lightsworn, and sets up ridiculous Celestia plays.

Those weren't "Forgotten." Super-Nimble slows down the deck too much (Either he becomes a useless discard, or I draw him when I easily could have simply drawn any monster I may have needed). I prefer not to use him in this deck. As for Reinforcement, I don't like it here, either. Pretty much the same reasoning. Useless discard, or I get something I would likely have had anyway. If it were for Spellcasters rather than Warriors, I would -consider- it, but even then, I don't think I would add it to the deck.

I'd rather not have search cards (I use Charge of the Light Brigade, which mills AND searches, and isn't limited to one type of Lightsworn, but can choose -ANY- Lightsworn) which will merely become useless discards, or achieve a minimal purpose. If it was a pure deck, I'd consider, as I would have seven or eight free slots to play around with. But with the limited space, I feel the deck can't afford it.

The main issue with lightsworn is consistency. Reinforcement of the Army adds consistency by allowing you to freely search out Jain/Garoth/Ehren. You can't exactly rely on always having CotLB because it's limited to 1, and while RotA clearly isn't as good, it's certainly more than helpful in a ton of situations. As for hamster slowing the deck down, ever since CotLB was limited, LS hasn't exactly been a fast crazy deck. It's mostly built around biding your time while searching and drawing out key cards, then in one turn Dropping JD to get insane amounts of board presence and card advantage and attacking for game. Hamster helps the early game set-up and is a very strong turn 1 card, since it not only walls pretty much every level 4 monster in the current meta except Thunder King Rai-Oh, but it searches out arguably the best lv4 or lower lightsworn not named Lumina.

I understand your points, I do. However, I don't consider them strong enough positives to outweighs the negatives. If you don't draw them on your first, second, or third turn, and you very well may not, they will inevitably slow down the deck. The one situation you provide with Super-Nimble is just that - Situational. If he gets milled off, he is a hinder to the deck, as much as any spell or trap card.

As for Reinforcement of the Army, how many would you suggest I add? Two? Three? Yes, they add consistency, but again, that is only if I draw them. I may not be able to count on having Charge of the Light Brigade in my hand, but that is as true as any other single card in the deck. Especially if only one Reinforcement was added. To further upon that, if I wanted to add multiple copies of it - We'll say two, since there are only three cards in the deck it can even search out - I would need to find something to take out. Same for Nimble. Add three cards in, find three cards to take out. So, what would you choose? I traded in a Foolish Burial for a Pot of Duality, and I took out Mirror Force, so now you have 40 solid cards to choose from, for a card that adds risk at the sake of possibly increased consistency. Maybe it adds consistency in one game, but I believe it hinders the overall consistency of the deck.

Further, while Ryko is, in your own words, "arguably the best lv4 or lower Lightsworn not named Lumina," I see him as one in the same with many of my Lightsworn monsters. He's nice to have on the field, but he's nicer to have in the grave for Judgment Dragon. His milling effect only happens once, whereas Lyla and the others do it every turn. I consider them to be incredibly useful for that. Especially because the milling (Though it would seem otherwise) isn't uncontrolled, and anything unfortunate I might lose, I can recover with Pot of Avarice and Beckoning Light. That is where I find consistency in my deck - Throwing away a ton of cards, and using Beckoning Light and Pot of Avarice to bring back the ones I need - Judgment Dragon, Sephylon, and Black Luster Soldier are all easily recovered, while the monsters I don't want/need at any given time are then in my grave.

Glow-up Bulb and Plaguespreader Zombie further help with that, by returning a card to my deck (For subsequent milling), and milling a card in and of itself. That gives me fast-paced Synchro material, as well as puts Lightsworns in my grave. I do not consider any part of my deck useless (sans a late-game Mirror Force, and as I pointed out originally, it was optional), and I do not feel either of your aforementioned cards help my deck anymore than they hurt it.

reinforcement is limited...lol. decent article, i like it. consistancy still is a problem with lightsworn...reinforcement could help i guess but i don't think it's a staple. chaos hunter seems pointless. i'd use a different dark or cut it completely. super nimble is useful, besides being a plus to set up another possible plus with ryko, it also sets up for ANOTHER possible plus with Celestia. with 1 lumina ls don't stay on the field as long as they used to. it's nice at 1 or 2. also i think torrential may serve you better if you're just running one trap. otherwise...it looks ok to me

Necro Gardna is a Warrior btw. So the deck has 5 targets. I agree with Harper though on Chaos Hunter. It just seems like a crappy card to me. Sangan would be way better since it gets Honest & Lumina, the two best lv4 or lower monsters in the deck.

Mm. I don't use Reinforcement much, so I didn't even realize it. I got it mixed up with E - Emergency Call (I only use Reinforcement in E. Heroes, which is obviously where I use Emergency Call.

As for the Chaos Hunter, you'd be surprised how much effectiveness I get out of him. Instant +1 off any special summons my opponent does, and it prevents the BLS/Chaos Sorcerer/lots of other things people are afraid of.

Nimble, I still don't consider worth it. I will test it out later today and see what I think, since everyone suggests it. I'll report back in a few days with my final decision, based on those tests.

Torrential might, indeed. I was considering it before, but never tested it, and I was satisfied with Mirror Force.

funch: yeah, because rota into guardna is pro xD
ryu: hunter is a minus actually...a plus in field maybe but you're discarding one of your cards and they don't lose anything. hamster is worth a test, maybe also trooper may be a good card since it's Sephiron Lightsworn, but then again you just run the 1 Sephiron...so yeah. lol

The biggest problem I see is that he is trying to mix to many varients of lightsworn and adding many uneeded cards. You should drop chaos hunter and arkus for sure and add in 2 card troopers, but my biggest suggestion is that you should decide if you want to run lightsworn, twilight or temporal sworn and not mix them.

Aurkus certainly isn't one of the cards I would personally drop. Preventing targetting of your LS monsters is usually a pretty solid move, and the 1800 defense isn't too shabby either. Definitely axe the Chaos Hunter though.