When Darklords were first released, they were an extremely messy archtype with no endgame or any form of synergy. The first three members of the Darklords: Darklord Asmodeus, Darklord Superbia, and Darklord Edeh Arae were prize cards that didn’t combo with each other, eliminating any potential synergy. Darklord Superbia was splashed around in other decks, the main decks was Athena OTK. Other than that the archtype hadn’t done much since.

But that is all about to change, thanks to the release of Destiny Soldiers that will be hitting the TCG metagame in the coming week. The Archtype will finally see real support and synergy.

I’ll take this moment to go though the cards, and the general deck-building, the strategies that can be made with them, along with each of their strengths and weaknesses will do talk about in future parts.

Monster

Starting off with the monsters, there are currently 12 members to the archtype, all of them are Dark monsters, with a majority of them being Fairy-type, this allows them to be targets for Allure of Darkness. I’ll go through each monster and list out their strengths and weakness with them.

Darklord Marie – The card formally known as the “Marie the Fallen One” was the 1st monster released for the archtype. She was created before the “Darklord” archtype was released, and is part of the “Darklord” archtype due to her name. Her effect is mediocre, you gain 200 LP every turn as long as she remains in the graveyard. It doesn’t help that she is level 5. She’s not played in the deck. Darklord Nurse Reficule – The card formally known as the “Nurse Reficule the Fallen One” was 2nd member released that also got a name change to match the archtype naming scheme. She has no real place in the Darklord deck, but that doesn’t stop her being played, as her role is played in her own deck style; Nurse Burn. But we’re not here to talk about Nurse Burn. She’s played as a 0 in the deck. Darklord Zerato – The 3rd member released in Phantom Darkness. Being a Level 8 means he’s a target for Trade-In, (which we’ll talk about later) a 2800 beater and has no Special Summoning restriction, which makes him a power card in this deck. His effect to send a Dark monster to the graveyard to become a Raigeki isn’t too shabby either. He’s played at 1-2 depending on your build. Darklord Superbia – Originally released as part of a YCS prize card set. Darklord Superbia is one of the main cards for the deck. Darklord Superbia acts as a Monster Reborn for the deck, being able to revive any Darklord monsters or Fairy-type monsters, but not himself when he’s summoned back from the grave. He’s also a target for Trade-in. He’s played at 3 in every build. Darklord Asmodeus – Originally released as part of a YCS prize card set. Darklord Asmodeus is also a target for Trade-In, the effect to Summon 2 Tokens; one that can’t be destroyed by battle, the other by card effect. But its main weakness for him is that he can’t be Special Summoned from the Deck or Grave, so no Special Summon by Darklord Superbia or any other effect. Because of that, he’s played at 0 in the deck. Darklord Edeh Arae – The final member of the YCS prize cards set. He’s not that great, since all he does is gain Piercing when he’s Special Summon from the grave. Being a Level 5 also doesn’t help his case. He’s played as a 0 in the deck. Darklord Desire – The final member of the “original” Darklord before Destiny Soldiers released. Darklord Desire sadly doesn’t add much, being able to not be Special Summoned in any way. His effect to send an Opponent’s Monster to the Grave by losing 1000 ATK is nothing that special, as the Darklord decks have a non-targeting Trap card that does that. He’s played as a 0 in the deck.

Now, this is where we start by going into the Darklord monster that will be released that’ll make the deck playable.

To start, nearly all the new members have the 2nd effect of:

“During either player’s turn: You can pay 1000 LP, then target 1 ‘Darklord’ Spell/Trap Card in your Graveyard; this effect becomes that target’s effect when that card is activated, then shuffle that target into the Deck. You can only use each effect of “Darklord [NAME]” once per turn. You can only Special Summon “Darklord [NAME](s)” once per turn.”

This is an incredible effect, as it allows you use the same Spell/Trap cards twice in a turn and you are able to react during your opponent’s turn. Now to start off by looking at all the new Darklord monsters.

Darklord Amdusc – A level 6 that has the ability to get back your Darklord cards by discarding himself and another “Darklord” card. He is generally used to recycle your monsters or the Spell/Trap cards if you discard them earlier. He doesn’t make that much of an impact that you need for the deck. He’s played as a 0 or 2 in the deck depending on your build. Darklord Nasten – A level 7 that can special summon himself by discard 2 other “Darklord” cards. His ability to load up your graves with Darklord cards while giving you a free 2600 ATK/DEF monster is amazing. You can discard your “Banishment of the Darklords” to summon him and then uses his effect to copy its effect to get a free search. Or load your grave with Trap cards that can be activated during your opponent’s turn. He’s played as a 2-3 in the deck. Darklord Tezcatlipoca – A level 9 2800 ATK beater that offer the ability to become a hand protection for your Darklord monster(s). While effect destruction isn’t a big threat in this metagame, due to Spot Removing being mainly through Bouncing, Banishing, or being Kaiju’d. Darklord Tezcatlipoca ability to protect your monster(s) from cards such as Raigeki, Dark Hole , or even Interrupted Kaiju Slumber is a good effect, but will rarely come up in this metagame. He’s played as a 0-1 in the deck. Darklord Ixchel – ARE YOU READY TO HAIL YOUR NEW WAIFU OVERLORD?!?! Darklord Ixchel is essentially one of the best monsters card in the deck. A level 10 whose effect to discard her and another “Darklord” card to Draw 2 cards is amazing. She’s able to speed up a deck that is already played 3x Trade-In , 3x Allure of Darkness, and 3x of its own generic searcher is a godsend. She’s able to set up so many potential combo plays for the deck. Being able to send Darklord Superbia to set up a revival play is a key play. She’s played at 3 in every build. Darklord Morningstar – Finally we have reached the end of the Darklord monsters. The level 11 “boss” monster is sadly underwhelming. He can’t be special summoned in any way, so no Darklord Superbia plays with him. Unlike the other Darklord monster in Destiny Soldiers, Darklord Morningstar doesn’t posses the same effects as his other members. His first effect: When he’s Tribute Summoned he is able to summon any number of Darklord monsters from your Hand/Deck equal to the number of face-up Effect monsters your opponent controls. Sadly the problem here is summoning monsters only from your Hand and Deck, and not your Graveyard, which is a main place your “Darklord” monster will mostly be. His second effect: He can’t be Target by your opponent’s card effects when you controls another “Darklord” monster. It’s a nice protection to him since most of the time, you’ll always have another “Darklord” monster on the field. His third and final effect: You are able to mill cards from the top of your deck equal to the number of Darklord monsters you control and then you’ll gain 500 LP for every “Darklord” cards sent this way. It’s a nice effect to load up grave with more Darklord cards and the LP gain is good, since you’ll be using a lot of monster effects that uses up your LP. But it’s pretty mediocre in the long run since it’s mainly a late-game effect that you won’t be using much.

In the end, Darklord Morningstar is pretty disappointing card as his hard summoning condition and effects aren’t that helpful. He’s played as a 0 in the deck.

Spell

Now we move on to the Spell card supports for the archtype, Darklord have 2 extremely powerful Spells at their disposal. It should be noted that you can only activate each of the Darklord spell once per turn, but that doesn’t stop the deck, as you can copy the effect of them through each of your Darklord monsters.

Banishment of the Darklords – A generic search that can search out any Darklord cards, except itself. Meaning you can search out your Darklord Ixchel. discard her and another Darklord card to draw 2 cards right away. It also allows you to search out your Darklord Contact or your Trap cards to set up your future plays. Played at 3 in every build. Darklord Contact – Essentially a Monster Reborn for the deck, able to revive any Darklord monster back from the grave. If you have a Darklord Superbia in your grave, you can bring him back and then uses his effect to bring back another monster. Played at 3 in every build.

Trap

Next, we finally move onto the Darklord Trap cards, 2 powerful Trap cards that allow disruptive plays. Like the Spell cards, each can only be activated once per turn, but can also be copied by your monsters.

Darklord Rebellion – The first Trap card, is basically a Raigeki Break for the deck, but with the added effect of non-targeting. By sending a Darklord monster from your hand or field, it allows you to destroy 1 card on field. It allow you to play around those pesky card that can’t be targeted by cards. Played at 2-3 depending on your build. Darklord Enchantment – The second Trap, a Brain Control for the deck with the added effect of non-targeting. By sending a Darklord monster from your hand or field, it allows you to take control of one of your opponent’s monster until the end of the turn. It allows you to disrupt their play, such as stopping a potential Synchro Summon or a Xyz Summon. You can also uses it to take control and go for game end. Played at 1-2 depending on your build.

It should also be noted that with the Trap card, that the first text to “Send 1 “Darklord” monster from your hand or face-up from your field to the Graveyard” is a cost, while the second text is the actual effect, meaning if you copy their effect from the grave and you won’t be paying the Send cost.

So that’s it for the Darklord cards and their effect, next time I’ll go into cards that can be used for the deck that help the deck reach its full potential.