We saw Fili Luna in action with a Lightsworn Vayu Deck very similar to this one in our Round 1 Feature Match. But while Luna suffered a narrow defeat in that Match, 3-time SHONEN JUMP Championship winner Jerry Wang was undefeated when we last checked in with him! Here’s what Wang’s build looks like:

(Deck list will be posted after Day 1 of competition is over – check back later!)

The idea is pretty simple: Lightsworn Decks send lots of cards from the Deck to the Graveyard, and Wang uses that to load his Graveyard with copies of “Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn” and “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor.” Together, they let Wang Special Summon “Blackwing Armed Wing.” At the same time, he’s loading his Graveyard with copies of “Necro Gardna” for defense, DARK monsters to fuel “Dark Armed Dragon,” and Lightsworn monsters for “Judgment Dragon” and “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner.” The result is an explosive Deck that can Special Summon up to five monsters in one turn with over 2000 ATK each.

At the same time, this Deck theoretically carries all the turn-to-turn advantages of a regular Lightsworn Deck, by drawing cards with “Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior,” destroying them with “Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress,” and so on.

To make sure the big cards appear when they should, Wang’s Deck plays 2 copies of “Gold Sarcophagus” and “Monster Reincarnation.” Reincarnation is more than just a tool to return monsters to the hand. As we saw in Luna’s Feature Match, it can be used to place Vayu, a DARK monster, or whatever else is needed into the Graveyard. In Luna’s case we saw him put his fourth named Lightsworn monster into the Graveyard, allowing him to Special Summon “Judgment Dragon.”

Opening plays for this Deck are very similar to a normal Lightsworn Deck. A Set “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter,” or a side-by-side pair of Lumina and Garoth is ideal. Double Lumina with Garoth is more viable here than it may be in a regular Lightsworn Deck, because this Deck makes so many more plays from the Graveyard, due to “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor.”

Luna held back on cards like “Charge of the Light Brigade” in Duel 1 of his Feature Match, as he clearly didn’t want to reveal his Vayus until he could get the most out of them. It ended up being smart, as his opponent was packing plenty of cards that let him manipulate the Graveyard in that Match, and those cards could have come into play sooner against Luna if his opponent realized what kind of Deck he was facing.

While a lot of Lightsworn players have abandoned “Cold Wave” over the past several months, Wang, Luna, and the others are playing it here. This is to protect those big swarms of monsters against the opponent’s cards effects. Opponents with “Threatening Roar” or “Waboku” on the field will usually activate them in a Chain to the activation of “Cold Wave.” By activating “Cold Wave” before deciding to Summon a bunch of monsters like “Judgment Dragon,” Wang can see if his opponent has any tricks like that,  and avoid Summoning too many monsters that he won’t be able to attack with.