It’s pretty clear that Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World pulled out all the stops to give his army every possible edge in this weekend’s battles. But Duelists who didn’t join his side fought back, and prevented any Dark World Decks from making it to the Top 32! Check out some of the tech cards that Duelists used to retaliate against the Dark World forces trying to conquer them!

1.) Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror

Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror is one of the most popular choices for defeating Dark World Duelists. Dark World Decks rely on the effects of their monsters to carry them through Duels. But since all Dark World monsters are DARK, all of their effects are negated by Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror.

Monsters like Broww, Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, and Snoww are helpless to use their effects while Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror is face-up on the field. Even Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World won’t be able to destroy any cards with its effect while Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror is up.

But as great as Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror is against Dark World Decks, it’s not an automatic win against them. Grapha has come up with ways to fight around it. Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror only negates the effects of monsters that activate. Grapha’s power to revive himself from the Graveyard by recalling a Dark World monster to the Duelist’s hand doesn’t activate. So even while Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror is face-up, Grapha can continuously Special Summon itself from the Graveyard and take control of a Duel.

2.) Debunk

Some Duelists sought a permanent answer to Grapha, instead of just a way to negate its destruction effect. That’s why they resorted to using Debunk.

Debunk has the power to negate any monster effect that activates in the hand or the Graveyard, and then banish that monster. Again, since all of the Dark World monsters have effects that activate in the Graveyard, all of their effects can be negated by Debunk. It’s just like Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror in that respect.

But unlike Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, since Debunk banishes the monster whose effect it negates, it has the ability to get rid of Grapha for good. When an opponent discards Grapha and tries to destroy a card on the field with its effect, Debunk will negate Grapha’s effect and banish Grapha so that it can never return to the field.

Unfortunately for the valiant heroes fighting against the darkness, Debunk also has the same weakness as Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. Since it negates monster effects that activate, it won’t work against Grapha when he Special Summons himself from the Graveyard. That Special Summon is an inherent Summon, which Debunk, like Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, is powerless to stop. Debunk is also a sitting duck for Dark World Lightning, unlike the Mirror which can be Chained to it.

3.) D.D. Crow

Some Duelists are using D.D. Crow to try to stop Grapha’s army. D.D. Crow can banish any card from an opponent’s Graveyard, so Duelists fighting against the darkness are using it to stop Dark World monsters before they can reach the field.

Even though Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World and Sillva, Warlord of Dark World Special Summon themselves from the Graveyard when they’re discarded, their effects use the Chain. By Chaining D.D. Crow to one of their effects, a Duelist can banish the Dark World lords and prevent them from ever reaching the field.

A Duelist can also use D.D. Crow to banish Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World from the Duel! But unlike Goldd and Sillva, Grapha’s effect doesn’t use the Chain, so D.D. Crow needs to be used to stop it before Grapha tries to Special Summon itself from the Graveyard. We saw someone lose early in Day 1 because they forgot about this important fact.

4.) Gemini Imps

Some Duelists have chosen to use Gemini Imps against Dark World Decks. By discarding Gemini Imps from the hand, a Duelist can stop any card effect that would force him to discard a card. Plus, the Duelist who uses Gemini Imps gets to draw a card. Unlike the previous 3 tech cards, Gemini Imps can completely stop Dragged Down into the Grave, Morphing Jar, and Card Destruction. Many Duelists consider these to be Dark Worlds’ strongest cards, so by stopping them, they think they can triumph over the Dark World beings.

The Dark World forces appear to have been vanquished from the tournament this time, but when they resurface in Kansas City, Dark Smog in hand, it’ll be important to have these tech cards in reserve to use against them.