Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is one of the marquee monsters of the Zexal era!  You can play Photon Dragon as a powerful attacker on its own, or to make massive Rank 8 Xyz Summons, and with 3000 ATK it packs an effect that can whisk away opposing monsters, or dodge cards like Dimensional Prison and Mirror Force.  It’s a big threat that can be really tough to beat, and there are plenty of cards to help you play Summon it quickly and efficiently.  While you can Tribute Summon it or Special Summon it with its own ability, Photon Dragon’s real power lies in the themed cards that can help bring it into play straight from your Deck.

Legacy of the Valiant brought us a new Ritual Monster that caters to the Galaxy-Eyes theme: Paladin of Photon Dragon.  You Ritual Summon it by Tributing 4 Levels of monsters for Luminous Dragon Ritual, and when it hits the field it has two effects.  One ability lets you draw a card when Paladin of Photon Dragon destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the Graveyard.  The other ability lets you Tribute Paladin to Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from your Deck or hand.

Since you have to play a Ritual Spell and pay Tribute to Summon a Ritual Monster like Paladin of Photon Dragon, you want to try and save as many cards as possible to balance everything out.  Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands is awesome for that: when you Normal Summon it, it searches a Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell and adds it to your hand for free.  Since Manju’s a Level 4 it doesn’t just set up your Ritual Summon: it becomes the Tribute.  With a hand of Manju and Paladin, or Manju and Luminous Dragon Ritual, you can make your Ritual Summon with just two cards.  From there you’ve got two cool opportunities.

First, you can score a free draw with Paladin of Photon Dragon by attacking and destroying an enemy monster with it: your opponent will lose a card to your attack, and you’ll draw with Paladin’s ability.  Right there, that balances out your Ritual Summon.  You can then Tribute the Paladin in Main Phase 2 and basically Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon for free.

But Luminous Dragon Ritual has another effect; one that works in your Graveyard.  You can banish the Ritual and another 4 Levels of monsters from your Graveyard, i.e. to Summon another Paladin of Photon Dragon from your hand.  That makes your second Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon even easier.  You can play three Manju, two Paladin, and just one Dragon Ritual, and drop two Paladins per game without giving up a ton of cards from your hand.

Starliege Lord Galaxion’s another awesome way to get out Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.  You Xyz Summon Galaxion by overlaying two Level 4 “Photon” Xyz Materials; Photon Thrasher and Photon Crusher are prime, because they both have high ATK, and Thrasher’s Special Summon effect lets you Summon both Materials in one turn.  They also work nicely with Manju, since they’re all Level 4 LIGHT monsters for basic Rank 4 Xyz Summons, or special LIGHT-only Xyz like Starliege Paladynamo.  You can banish either Level 4 Photon for Luminous Dragon Ritual’s Graveyard effect, too.

Starliege Lord Galaxion has 2000 ATK, and its effect lets you detach to Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon right from your Deck!  All you need to do is stack Thrasher and Crusher, and you’ll instantly upgrade them into Galaxion and Photon Dragon: a total of 5000 ATK combined.

What do you do once you get your first Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon into play?  You could just use it as an attacker: 3000 ATK is really tough to beat right now, and Galaxy-Eyes’ ability can banish any monster it can’t eliminate through battle to give your other monsters a chance to attack directly and create a defensive roadblock for your opponent. You can even Chain it in response to a Trap Card like Dimensional Prison or Mirror Force; you can make your opponent waste their removal, or keep them from playing it at all.

But you can also go big!  Galaxy Knight and Galaxy Expedition let you Special Summon another Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from your Graveyard or your Deck respectively, once you already have one in play.  With two Photon Dragons on the table, or one Photon Dragon and a Galaxy Knight, you can Xyz Summon Rank 8’s like Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon.  Here are some more Rank 8’s you’ll want to have for your Galaxy-Eyes Deck…

–Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand can protect any monster of your choice from card effects, once per turn.  If you need to swing into a bunch of face-down trap cards, it’s an awesome option: like Photon Dragon, you can wait for your opponent to flip their trap and then Chain Felgrand’s ability to waste your opponent’s card.

–Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis packs 3000 ATK and an ability that lets you toss cards from your hand to destroy cards on the field.  It’s a great because it doesn’t target: your opponent might make responses, but you can change your plans as the Chain resolves.

–Number 15: Gimmick Puppet Giant Grinder’s effect lets you blow away up to two Special Summoned monsters in one turn, and deals damage when it destroys Xyz.

-And finally, don’t forget Kite’s upgraded Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!  If your opponent controls one or more Xyz Monsters, Neo Galaxy-Eyes can detach their Xyz Materials.  It gets extra attacks when it does and it wields a terrifying 4500 ATK, so Neo Galaxy-Eyes can win duels all on its own.

With the new support from Legacy of the Valiant, dedicated Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon Decks are finally a reality! And you’ll be able to upgrade yours into sweet Gold Rare versions when Premium Gold drops on March 28^th!  If you love playing huge monsters and making big, powerful combos that come out of nowhere, give this strategy a shot.