Lightsworn Decks got hit pretty hard by the most recent Forbidden & Limited List, but Duelists everywhere are still determined to find a way to play Judgment Dragon and exploit its power. Patrick Clarey is one of those Duelists, and he finished 10-2 in the tournament. To replace the lost copies of Charge of the Light Brigade, Necro Gardna, and Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, Clarey added a whole new engine to his Deck, which now plays Dandylion, Quickdraw Synchron, and Light and Darkness Dragon.

Monsters:
2x Judgment Dragon
2x Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
2x Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
2x Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
2x Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
1x Celestia, Lightsworn Angel
1x Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid
1x Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
1x Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
2x Honest
2x Dandylion
1x Quickdraw Synchron
1x Caius the Shadow Monarch
1x Light and Darkness Dragon
1x Plaguespreader Zombie
1x Necro Gardna
1x Card Trooper
1x Tragoedia
1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Spells:
1x Pot of Avarice
1x Foolish Burial
1x Brain Control
1x Heavy Storm
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Monster Reincarnation
1x Charge of the Light Brigade
3x Solar Recharge

Traps:
1x Trap Dustshoot
1x Mirror Force
1x Torrential Tribute
2x Beckoning Light
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
1x Threatening Roar

The cards that needed to be removed from Lightsworn Decks after the recent Limitations were cards typically used in threes in Lightsworn Decks. Removing these cards opened up a lot of free space in the Deck. Clarey filled that space with a new engine that combines the popular Lightsworn Decks of the previous format with the popular Dandylion Decks being played today. His result is a successful Dandysworn hybrid.

Clarey runs a total of 7 different Lightsworn monsters in his Deck, more than enough to accommodate the 2 copies of Judgment Dragon he uses. Each Lightsworn monster, other than the 2 copies of Wulf, Lightsworn Beast he’s running, also helps him get cards from his Deck to his Graveyard. Clarey cut Celestia, Lightsworn Angel down to just 1 copy in his Deck to go along with his decreased dedication to his Lightsworn monsters. Since Clarey will frequently want to Tribute Fluff Tokens over Lightsworn monsters, including different Tribute monsters instead of more copies of Celestia was a good call. The high number of Lightsworn monsters and the 3 copies of Solar Recharge Clarey plays are important to the way Clarey’s Deck runs, since he plays a lot of cards that he wants to see sent to the Graveyard.

In addition to the Lightsworn monsters he needs in the Graveyard in order to Special Summon Judgment Dragon, Clarey is also playing Necro Gardna, Plaguespreader Zombie and Dandylion, which each have effects that can be activated while it’s in the Graveyard or sent there. When Dandylion is sent to the Graveyard and Clarey gets some Fluff Tokens, he can easily put them to good use. Quickdraw Synchron, Caius the Shadow Monarch, Light and Darkness Dragon, and Plaguespreader Zombie can all be used in conjunction with his Fluff Tokens to bring a threatening monster onto the field.

“I can use Beckoning Light on my opponent’s turn to discard Dandylion and bring Light and Darkness Dragon back to my hand. Then, on my own turn, I can Tribute the Tokens to Summon it,” Clarey told me. Clarey knows that the old tricks of Lightsworn Decks won’t work in this new format since they lost a lot of the speed the previously had. He adapted his Deck by taking advantage of the recent Semi-Limitation on Dandylion and so far he rode his innovation to a successful 10-2 record.