And the Sun Sets
Hello people! Today, I'll be doing a deck analysis of Twilight in the current meta ... and just after that sentence I can already see some heads rolling. After all, aren't Twilight and Lightsworn decks too inconsistent in the current format? Don't they have trouble competing against the meta decks? The answer, we will find out, is "no, not really."
So first off, let's have a brief talk about what Twilight is for those who don't know. Twilight is a deck that adds DARK monsters to a Lightsworn deck in order to run Chaos Sorcerer and Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning alongside Judgment Dragon. Twilight runs quite a bit differently from a pure Lightsworn (LS) deck. It doesn't have a huge mass of LIGHT monsters, so it can't run LS staples like Lightrays or Guardian of Order. While Twilight is still capable of making some big plays, it cannot pump out huge special summons every turn in the way a LS deck can. So if that's the case, why not just run LS? The reason is because Twilight allows us to summon monsters with more versatile effects, while also slowing down how much we're milling from LS effects so that we are less likely to deck out. It adds a solid amount of control to the deck, which we can find useful in the current meta ... if we make the deck correctly.
One of the big problems with pure LS is that, when running a bunch of Lightrays, Guardian of Order, and Judgment Dragons, it means that you can end up with a lot of bad starting hands. While for some builds of Twilight this can also be the case, the build we'll be looking at can be considered a "lean" build that uses as few dead draws as the deck will allow. By cutting back on some big monsters, we enable the deck to run a bit more consistently, while still having answers to the current meta.
So, some changes you're going to see in this deck versus the traditional Twilight decks of old:
1. 3 Rykos mained. Why? Dino Rabbit. They kill Laggia without letting it get off its effect, which is huge.
2. Only 1 copy of Wulf. While it's great to be able to mill Wulfs left and right, we're cutting back the fat so that there's less chances for that dead draw.
3. Only 2 copies of Chaos Sorcerer instead of a maxed 3. Again, we don't want a hand full of things we can't summon right away.
These changes may seem small, but they make a big difference when it comes to what we'll be drawing and how fast the deck is going to play. For fans of pure LS and normal Twilight decks, this deck is going to feel slower than you're used to. That being said, it is still fast enough to keep up with the current meta. So, before I show you the deck in full, I'd like to share with you some stats from the extensive testing I've done with this deck.
Current Record vs Tier 2 and better: 19 - 8
Current Record vs Tier 3 and better: 48 - 16
Decks that had a win/loss rate >1 vs this deck: 2 (Blackwings and Six Samurai)
Now, these were duels against actual duelists, not just random trash. I do believe a 70% win rate against Tier 2 and meta decks, and an overall 75% win rate should put this into your consideration as a competitive deck. So, I'll now show you the deck itself, and I'll then have a bit more discussion about how it functions, and specifically how it can side against specific meta threats.
Twilight
Monsters: 28
1 Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
1 Celestia, Lightsworn Angel
2 Chaos Sorcerer
3 Effect Veiler
1 Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
1 Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1 Honest
1 Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
3 Judgment Dragon
2 Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
2 Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
2 Necro Gardna
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
3 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
2 Tragoedia
1 Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
Spells: 12
1 Burial from a Different Dimension
1 Charge of the Light Brigade
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mind Control
1 Monster Reborn
1 Monster Reincarnation
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Avarice
3 Solar Recharge
Traps: 1
1 Treacherous Trap Hole
Side: 15
2 D.D. Crow
1 Night Assailant
2 Shiny Black "C"
1 Book of Moon
2 Soul Taker
2 Chain Disappearance
3 Royal Decree
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror
Extra: 15
2 Ally of Justice - Catastor
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Dark End Dragon
1 Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth
1 Mist Wurm
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
2 Number 39: Utopia
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
I reiterate that the point of this deck is to have enough speed to keep up with the current meta while minimizing dead draws. With that in mind, we have Black Luster Soldier, 2 copies of Chaos Sorcerer, Gorz, 2 copies of Tragoedia, and 3 copies of Judgment Dragon giving us 8 big monsters to summon (not including our synchro and Xyz monsters). We have the standard LS draw power of Light Brigade, Solar Recharge. and Pot of Avarice. Our goal is to play things slowly (well slowly for LS anyway) in order to set up powerplays with our big monsters.
That's right, our big monsters are there primarily as finishers, not as the way to clear the field. We want to drain the opponent's hand and clear out the back row as much as possible before summoning our big guns. The reason for this is something that I know someone is going to call me on. We are currently in a slow format, and that means people will play defensively and attempt to stop us from making our big plays moreso than they'll be trying to make their own big plays. And now that I've said we're in a slow format, let me back that up with a history lesson.
Before the LS monsters hit the Yugioh scene, people were playing decks like Monarchs and Chaos. These decks were able to summon a single big monster each turn while clearing out cards on the field and unless you played Gadgets with Ultimate Offering you weren't going to OTK your opponent hardly ever. I hear someone shouting at me "BUT NEKO! I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE NOWADAYS I'M 1 WRONG MOVE AWAY FROM BEING OTK'D! IT MUST BE A FAST FORMAT!" Well, let me continue. Lightsworns were introduced into the game and suddenly between LS and TeleDAD, people were able to summon multiple beatsticks in a single turn very consistently, resulting in a rapid-paced OTK format that was difficult for stun decks to defend against. You see, stun and "anti-meta" decks don't operate well in a fast format for the simple reason that although they are made to slow down a duel, if the opponent can continue to summon more and more monsters, then those decks are unable to keep up. This issue became even more rampant as time went on, but in recent times a slurry of very strong defensive cards have been making their way into the Yugioh scene. The current format sports most everyone running cards like Effect Veiler, Solemn Warning & Judgment, Torrential Tribute, and Fiendish Chain, to name a few. In response to all these very powerful defensive cards, decks have been forced to slow themselves down, to make room for cards like Forbidden Lance, not to mention running those defensive cards themselves. All those cards take up valuable deck space that slows down strategies. Can you still get OTK'd in this format? Yes, most decks are at least capable of it. However, the chance of them succeeding in OTK'ing you is slim, and it is because of that, that stun decks like E Hero Beat and T.G. have also been able to grow in popularity. I'll conclude this argument with a simple statement. Stun decks are strong right now, therefore it must be a slow format.
Ok, too much of a tangent? Well too bad, because this all reflects back on how we're going to be using the cards in our deck. Rather than summoning out big monsters right away to clear the field and swing big, we instead have the leisure to slowly chip away at our opponent until he/she has very few cards left at his/her disposal. Then, when we summon a big monster, our opponent has very few good responses to it. That is the strategy of this deck. So, how are we going to accomplish this?
Aside from the simple enough Dark Hole and Heavy Storm staples, we're running 3 copies of Ryko. They are only to be used for getting rid of monsters when there are particularly annoying monsters (like Evolzar Laggia) on the field. In most circumstances, we will be using them to clear away back row cards, again to limit our opponent's available options when we summon a big monster. The other cards we have to help with this are Lyla, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Treacherous Trap Hole. The rest of the cards in the deck are either Lightsworns needed for Judgment Dragon, or staples and techs generally useful for the strategy.
So, before I wrap up this article, let's look at some more specific strategies against 6 of the biggest decks in the game right now: Dino Rabbit, Inzektors, Heroes, Chaos Dragons, Wind-Ups, and Dark World
Dino Rabbit:
This is simple enough. The deck is made to handle these goons. Three mained Veilers shut down obvious Rabbit and Tour Guide plays, while 3 mained Rykos can take care of Laggia if it shows up. You can side in Night Assailant to act as a 4th Ryko against Laggia. Book of Moon can stop Rabbit plays, and Chain Disappearance can take Rabbit or Tour Guide completely out of the game.
Inzektors:
Again, the mained Effect Veilers are going to be helpful here in stopping the main Inzektor combo before it starts. Twilight has an advantage in this duel, because Inzektors are not well-equipped to deal with the multiple ways and speeds in which this deck can summon monsters. In the side deck, you can put in D.D. Crow to cripple Inzektor combos, along with Chain Disappearance and Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. Don't worry too much about your own DARK monsters. If the mirror is on the field, you won't need their abilities because your opponent will be crippled. If the mirror isn't on the field, it's best to keep them in your deck to prevent OTK's (Gardna) and to give you more options in dealing with what's on the field (Plaguespreader).
Heroes:
Heroes can be a bit tricky, if only because Super Polymerization really rips up this deck. D.D. Crow can help stop some plays, and Night Assailant is good to side in, since your flip effect monsters will be put to good use against Heroes. Soul Taker is another important card to side in, since it can take out Absolute Zero without wasting a monster, and can not only take out The Shining, but will also make it miss its timing to bring Heroes back to the hand.
Chaos Dragons:
This is actually simply enough. Black Luster Soldier, Chaos Sorcerer, and D.D. Crow can banish many of the important monsters in the deck and really cripple it, while Effect Veiler and Gardna can stop most OTK's. Again, make sure to add in Night Assailant for defense, and Soul Taker, which can knock out Lightpulsar and make it miss the timing on its effect.
Wind-Ups:
Basically, these are easy. They may get lucky and rip up your hand, but they won't have a lot of strong monsters out, so most of your monsters can be used as a follow-up and with Wind-Ups sending many cards to your graveyard, it makes it even less likely that a drawn Black Luster Soldier, Chaos Sorcerer, or Judgment Dragon will be a dead draw. For funnsies, add in Night Assailant to amuse them when they take it from your hand and you get to add Ryko from your graveyard to your hand. Other than that, you can add-in Crow, Book of Moon, and Chain Disappearance as combo stoppers.
Dark World:
Mostly the same as Wind-Ups, with the added bonus that they have a lot of difficulty taking out Judgment Dragon, they freely load up your graveyard, and you have Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror in the side to really bring the hurt.
So there you have it. That is the fullest explanation I can give of the Twilight deck that I've been working on for the last 2 months. Play around with it some. If the techs aren't to your liking, don't tell me to change it here, just make the changes for your own version.
Here's to all of you having the best of "luck" in your duels! Of course, the best luck, is the luck you make yourself by making a deck that has as few potentially dead cards as possible - last words of wisdom for today! This is nekofjung, the King of Cats, signing off. =3
Hello people! Today, I'll be doing a deck analysis of Twilight in the current meta ... and just after that sentence I can already see some heads rolling. After all, aren't Twilight and Lightsworn decks too inconsistent in the current format? Don't they have trouble competing against the meta decks? The answer, we will find out, is "no, not really."
So first off, let's have a brief talk about what Twilight is for those who don't know. Twilight is a deck that adds DARK monsters to a Lightsworn deck in order to run Chaos Sorcerer and Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning alongside Judgment Dragon. Twilight runs quite a bit differently from a pure Lightsworn (LS) deck. It doesn't have a huge mass of LIGHT monsters, so it can't run LS staples like Lightrays or Guardian of Order. While Twilight is still capable of making some big plays, it cannot pump out huge special summons every turn in the way a LS deck can. So if that's the case, why not just run LS? The reason is because Twilight allows us to summon monsters with more versatile effects, while also slowing down how much we're milling from LS effects so that we are less likely to deck out. It adds a solid amount of control to the deck, which we can find useful in the current meta ... if we make the deck correctly.
One of the big problems with pure LS is that, when running a bunch of Lightrays, Guardian of Order, and Judgment Dragons, it means that you can end up with a lot of bad starting hands. While for some builds of Twilight this can also be the case, the build we'll be looking at can be considered a "lean" build that uses as few dead draws as the deck will allow. By cutting back on some big monsters, we enable the deck to run a bit more consistently, while still having answers to the current meta.
So, some changes you're going to see in this deck versus the traditional Twilight decks of old:
1. 3 Rykos mained. Why? Dino Rabbit. They kill Laggia without letting it get off its effect, which is huge.
2. Only 1 copy of Wulf. While it's great to be able to mill Wulfs left and right, we're cutting back the fat so that there's less chances for that dead draw.
3. Only 2 copies of Chaos Sorcerer instead of a maxed 3. Again, we don't want a hand full of things we can't summon right away.
These changes may seem small, but they make a big difference when it comes to what we'll be drawing and how fast the deck is going to play. For fans of pure LS and normal Twilight decks, this deck is going to feel slower than you're used to. That being said, it is still fast enough to keep up with the current meta. So, before I show you the deck in full, I'd like to share with you some stats from the extensive testing I've done with this deck.
Current Record vs Tier 2 and better: 19 - 8
Current Record vs Tier 3 and better: 48 - 16
Decks that had a win/loss rate >1 vs this deck: 2 (Blackwings and Six Samurai)
Now, these were duels against actual duelists, not just random trash. I do believe a 70% win rate against Tier 2 and meta decks, and an overall 75% win rate should put this into your consideration as a competitive deck. So, I'll now show you the deck itself, and I'll then have a bit more discussion about how it functions, and specifically how it can side against specific meta threats.
Twilight
Monsters: 28
1 Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
1 Celestia, Lightsworn Angel
2 Chaos Sorcerer
3 Effect Veiler
1 Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
1 Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1 Honest
1 Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
3 Judgment Dragon
2 Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
2 Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
2 Necro Gardna
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
3 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
2 Tragoedia
1 Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
Spells: 12
1 Burial from a Different Dimension
1 Charge of the Light Brigade
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mind Control
1 Monster Reborn
1 Monster Reincarnation
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Avarice
3 Solar Recharge
Traps: 1
1 Treacherous Trap Hole
Side: 15
2 D.D. Crow
1 Night Assailant
2 Shiny Black "C"
1 Book of Moon
2 Soul Taker
2 Chain Disappearance
3 Royal Decree
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror
Extra: 15
2 Ally of Justice - Catastor
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Dark End Dragon
1 Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth
1 Mist Wurm
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Thought Ruler Archfiend
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
2 Number 39: Utopia
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
I reiterate that the point of this deck is to have enough speed to keep up with the current meta while minimizing dead draws. With that in mind, we have Black Luster Soldier, 2 copies of Chaos Sorcerer, Gorz, 2 copies of Tragoedia, and 3 copies of Judgment Dragon giving us 8 big monsters to summon (not including our synchro and Xyz monsters). We have the standard LS draw power of Light Brigade, Solar Recharge. and Pot of Avarice. Our goal is to play things slowly (well slowly for LS anyway) in order to set up powerplays with our big monsters.
That's right, our big monsters are there primarily as finishers, not as the way to clear the field. We want to drain the opponent's hand and clear out the back row as much as possible before summoning our big guns. The reason for this is something that I know someone is going to call me on. We are currently in a slow format, and that means people will play defensively and attempt to stop us from making our big plays moreso than they'll be trying to make their own big plays. And now that I've said we're in a slow format, let me back that up with a history lesson.
Before the LS monsters hit the Yugioh scene, people were playing decks like Monarchs and Chaos. These decks were able to summon a single big monster each turn while clearing out cards on the field and unless you played Gadgets with Ultimate Offering you weren't going to OTK your opponent hardly ever. I hear someone shouting at me "BUT NEKO! I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE NOWADAYS I'M 1 WRONG MOVE AWAY FROM BEING OTK'D! IT MUST BE A FAST FORMAT!" Well, let me continue. Lightsworns were introduced into the game and suddenly between LS and TeleDAD, people were able to summon multiple beatsticks in a single turn very consistently, resulting in a rapid-paced OTK format that was difficult for stun decks to defend against. You see, stun and "anti-meta" decks don't operate well in a fast format for the simple reason that although they are made to slow down a duel, if the opponent can continue to summon more and more monsters, then those decks are unable to keep up. This issue became even more rampant as time went on, but in recent times a slurry of very strong defensive cards have been making their way into the Yugioh scene. The current format sports most everyone running cards like Effect Veiler, Solemn Warning & Judgment, Torrential Tribute, and Fiendish Chain, to name a few. In response to all these very powerful defensive cards, decks have been forced to slow themselves down, to make room for cards like Forbidden Lance, not to mention running those defensive cards themselves. All those cards take up valuable deck space that slows down strategies. Can you still get OTK'd in this format? Yes, most decks are at least capable of it. However, the chance of them succeeding in OTK'ing you is slim, and it is because of that, that stun decks like E Hero Beat and T.G. have also been able to grow in popularity. I'll conclude this argument with a simple statement. Stun decks are strong right now, therefore it must be a slow format.
Ok, too much of a tangent? Well too bad, because this all reflects back on how we're going to be using the cards in our deck. Rather than summoning out big monsters right away to clear the field and swing big, we instead have the leisure to slowly chip away at our opponent until he/she has very few cards left at his/her disposal. Then, when we summon a big monster, our opponent has very few good responses to it. That is the strategy of this deck. So, how are we going to accomplish this?
Aside from the simple enough Dark Hole and Heavy Storm staples, we're running 3 copies of Ryko. They are only to be used for getting rid of monsters when there are particularly annoying monsters (like Evolzar Laggia) on the field. In most circumstances, we will be using them to clear away back row cards, again to limit our opponent's available options when we summon a big monster. The other cards we have to help with this are Lyla, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Treacherous Trap Hole. The rest of the cards in the deck are either Lightsworns needed for Judgment Dragon, or staples and techs generally useful for the strategy.
So, before I wrap up this article, let's look at some more specific strategies against 6 of the biggest decks in the game right now: Dino Rabbit, Inzektors, Heroes, Chaos Dragons, Wind-Ups, and Dark World
Dino Rabbit:
This is simple enough. The deck is made to handle these goons. Three mained Veilers shut down obvious Rabbit and Tour Guide plays, while 3 mained Rykos can take care of Laggia if it shows up. You can side in Night Assailant to act as a 4th Ryko against Laggia. Book of Moon can stop Rabbit plays, and Chain Disappearance can take Rabbit or Tour Guide completely out of the game.
Inzektors:
Again, the mained Effect Veilers are going to be helpful here in stopping the main Inzektor combo before it starts. Twilight has an advantage in this duel, because Inzektors are not well-equipped to deal with the multiple ways and speeds in which this deck can summon monsters. In the side deck, you can put in D.D. Crow to cripple Inzektor combos, along with Chain Disappearance and Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. Don't worry too much about your own DARK monsters. If the mirror is on the field, you won't need their abilities because your opponent will be crippled. If the mirror isn't on the field, it's best to keep them in your deck to prevent OTK's (Gardna) and to give you more options in dealing with what's on the field (Plaguespreader).
Heroes:
Heroes can be a bit tricky, if only because Super Polymerization really rips up this deck. D.D. Crow can help stop some plays, and Night Assailant is good to side in, since your flip effect monsters will be put to good use against Heroes. Soul Taker is another important card to side in, since it can take out Absolute Zero without wasting a monster, and can not only take out The Shining, but will also make it miss its timing to bring Heroes back to the hand.
Chaos Dragons:
This is actually simply enough. Black Luster Soldier, Chaos Sorcerer, and D.D. Crow can banish many of the important monsters in the deck and really cripple it, while Effect Veiler and Gardna can stop most OTK's. Again, make sure to add in Night Assailant for defense, and Soul Taker, which can knock out Lightpulsar and make it miss the timing on its effect.
Wind-Ups:
Basically, these are easy. They may get lucky and rip up your hand, but they won't have a lot of strong monsters out, so most of your monsters can be used as a follow-up and with Wind-Ups sending many cards to your graveyard, it makes it even less likely that a drawn Black Luster Soldier, Chaos Sorcerer, or Judgment Dragon will be a dead draw. For funnsies, add in Night Assailant to amuse them when they take it from your hand and you get to add Ryko from your graveyard to your hand. Other than that, you can add-in Crow, Book of Moon, and Chain Disappearance as combo stoppers.
Dark World:
Mostly the same as Wind-Ups, with the added bonus that they have a lot of difficulty taking out Judgment Dragon, they freely load up your graveyard, and you have Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror in the side to really bring the hurt.
So there you have it. That is the fullest explanation I can give of the Twilight deck that I've been working on for the last 2 months. Play around with it some. If the techs aren't to your liking, don't tell me to change it here, just make the changes for your own version.
Here's to all of you having the best of "luck" in your duels! Of course, the best luck, is the luck you make yourself by making a deck that has as few potentially dead cards as possible - last words of wisdom for today! This is nekofjung, the King of Cats, signing off. =3
Last edited by nekofjung on Fri Jul 06, 2012 2:09 am; edited 1 time in total
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