Loud And Proud

The Asia Plus and Top Shop season has arrived! It is rather quick if you ask me seeing that WCQ has just ended less than a month. Regardless, it is once again time to pick up your game and train to your hardest to be able to compete in the upcoming tournaments. Recently Chaos Dragons fever has hit Malaysia because of the success it has seen in WCQ though it was only truly represented by one player which is the champion, Sung Lee. I must admit I was surprised by his deck choice but that doesn’t really matter. Today I would like to introduce a new tech that should be seeing play in Hieroglyphs. Some of you might have tried it, some might have not even imagine using it. Yes, the card I am talking about today is none other than this guy! Say hello to my little friend!

                                                 

Lightpulsar Dragon, ace of Chaos Dragons. If Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon would be considered the king of all dragons then Lightpulsar Dragon is most definitely the most loyal knight in the dragon empire. Its ability to be summoned rather easily and the bonus of Lightpulsar being able to call forth another DARK dragon when it falls is definitely not a joke. Though some might consider it easy to deal with and not a big problem however such abilities are sure to become an annoyance or disturbance. Having said that, the only form of Hieroglyphs that is capable of using this tech is, of course, Hanzo Hieroglyphs. This is due to the fact that Hanzo Hieratic plays more DARK monsters compared to a standard Hieroglyphs deck. I am not supporting the idea of running Tour Guide of the Underworld in Hieroglyphs. Honestly, I don’t see the point even though she can become a life savior when all else fails. Personal preference I guess.

Why is Lightpulsar Dragon a formidable tech in Hanzo Hieratics? The answer is quite simple. When you talk about Hieroglyphs you are most likely thinking of how well they can One-Turn-Kill. But many seem to forget how easily the deck breaks if it fails to close the game the turn it commits to the field. Massive back-row threats are another factor. Typical of a combo deck, if your combo fails it probably means the end for you depending on the cards you possess at that time. Depleting hand cards means GG. Lightpulsar Dragon solves that problem for you. It is common to see an end field of two random dragons or Exceeds accompanied by a REDMD, now, imagine an end field that consists of REDMD and Lightpulsar. Pulsar acts as a back-up plan when a Hieroglyphs player fails to close the game. Simply because of its ability to Special Summon a DARK Dragon-type monster when it leaves the field means giving you the opportunity to restart your combos or hold your board to avoid getting killed. A back-up plan that works both ways, to save you or to allow you to go for the kill once again. 

Asia Format Hieroglyphs find it hard to OTK with 3 Dragons in hand but at some point of the game one find themselves in a situation where they need to establish field control but is afraid to end up dying to power cards like Dark Hole. Lightpulsar says “Fuck You! Try Again” to those scenarios. In Asia Format, we do not have access to Gustaph Max which is the most common 3-Cards-OTK route for this deck. End product of two Gaia Dragoons, 1 Gustaph Max and 1 random Dragon. Now picture an end field of two Gaia Dragoons, one REDMD and Lightpulsar. Seems pretty solid to me as your opponent will likely find it difficult to clear your field at one time. If they kill REDMD, getting rid of Lightpulsar is no longer an option. If they pop the whole field they have a REDMD to deal with. Either way you do not flat out die to random or broken cards.

Apart from being a back-up plan, Lightpulsar Dragon is also a combo enabler that puts in a lot of work when you think about it. May it be in your hand or Graveyard. Though the best possible scenario of utilizing Lightpulsar at its fullest is by having it in your deck or in your Graveyard when you have a REDMD in the grave. Atumus allows you to Special Summon Pulsar from your deck and the fact that Hanzo Hieratic runs Ninjitsu Art of Super-Transformation is also a plus point since you can swap your Hanzo and an opponent’s monster to Special Summon Lightpulsar from your deck to control the field or to use it as a combo piece. By playing Trap cards that requires you to discard as a cost helps to fuel your Graveyard for possible Lightpulsar loops. Such costs because rather minimal with Lightpulsar Dragon around. It doesn’t hurt that much to chuck REDMD into the Graveyard I suppose. Now enjoy the view of how ninjas steal your stuff.

                                                        

How this dragon is made useful as a tech depends on how well the player knows his deck. Lightpulsar in Hieroglyphs is a form of creativity for me as the level of effectiveness it performs varies in different situation thus why I say it depends on how creative the player is. Some combos are rather obvious as it is partly related to how Lightpulsar and REDMD works in Chaos Dragons but to make it an effective tech means you need to fully understand how to play it in different situations. I must say I prefer having Lightpulsar Dragon in my Graveyard when I am holding a REDMD and several Hieroglyph Dragons. There really isn’t a time when Lightpulsar Dragon is bad to have. Even if you do top-deck it when the game has come to such an extent one can banish monsters to Special Summon this guy and possible win from there. Overall,  Lightpulsar Dragon is a very versatile tech in Hanzo Hieratic. How many copies to play is up to the player itself but do not be stupid to try to run three copies. One is enough in my case. Anymore than that I might as well run Chaos Dragons. This is all for today and hopefully you have found this article informative and interesting. Thanks for dropping by!