Destiny Soldiers: The Titular Destiny Soldiers
Invasion: Vengeance may have just arrived, but Destiny Soldiers is right behind it! Destiny Soldiers is a pack that focuses on the powerful Darklords, the all-new Abyss Actor monsters, and some of my personal all-time favorite cards, the Destiny HEROes!
Like all the Destiny HERO monsters, Destiny HERO – Celestial is a DARK Warrior-type monster. It’s a Level 4 monster with 1600 ATK, making it one of the highest ATK Destiny HERO monsters (not counting those that must be Special Summoned), and it has two effects that make it a presence both on the field and in the Graveyard.
Each time Destiny HERO – Celestial attacks, you get to target a face-up Spell Card your opponent controls. Celestial will destroy it, and dish out 500 damage to your opponent! Celestial is an easy answer to troublesome Spell Cards, such as Field Spells and Equip Spells. It’s also a reliable way to take out Pendulum cards in the Pendulum Zones. The 500 damage is also very welcome – that will easily start to add up over just a couple resolutions of Celestial’s effect.
And like so many other Destiny HERO cards, Destiny HERO – Celestial continues to help his comrades once he lands in the Graveyard. If you have no cards in your hand, and Celestial wasn’t sent to the Graveyard on this same turn, you can banish Celestial and another Destiny HERO monster from your Graveyard to draw two cards! You’ll often get Celestial in the Graveyard through the natural course of a Duel – you’ll Summon it and attack to use its first effect, and it will eventually be destroyed. Destiny Draw is the quintessential Destiny HERO card, and it helps set up Celestial’s effect here as well.
Celestial is a great card to help you break apart fields early on in a Duel and give you some recovery power midway through, but the real game-changing Destiny HERO is still to come!
You’ll notice that Destiny HERO – Dark Angel is a Level 1 monster with 0 ATK and DEF. That makes it instantly the weakest of all Destiny HERO monsters. Luckily, its three effects more than make up for it, and those low stats will end up working in your favor!
If you’ve got at least three Destiny HERO monsters in your Graveyard, you can discard Destiny HERO – Dark Angel then target a Destiny HERO in your Graveyard, and Special Summon it on your opponent’s side of the field in Defense Position. It’s a bit like Destiny HERO – Departed, but easier to use and you choose what you hand over to your opponent. You can give them Destiny HERO – Defender and use it to draw a bunch of free cards, or hand over Destiny HERO – Fear Monger so you can destroy it and use its effect. The coolest play, however, is to discard Dark Angel and have it target itself. You’ll Special Summon it to your opponent’s field, where its terrible power will activate!
Whoever controls Dark Angel certainly won’t feel very blessed – more like cursed. Dark Angel will see every one of their Spell Cards and effects negated, and their spells destroyed upon resolution! Since you’ll only ever see Dark Angel played to your opponent’s side of the field via its first effect, you don’t have to worry about it negating your cards. Plus, its 0 ATK means it won’t be doing any damage. You can let it mess with your opponent while you put together a winning field.
Your opponent will do their best to get rid of their “gift” of course. They could send it to attack one of your Attack Position monsters, though they will probably be taking a fair amount of damage. They could also Tribute the Dark Angel, or get rid of it with Trap Cards or monster effects. You can actually keep Dark Angel on the field for long periods of time simply by using some cards you probably already had in your Main or Side Deck: Rivalry of Warlords and Gozen Match! Destiny HERO monsters are exclusively DARK Warriors, so Rivalry and Gozen are great cards in your Deck already. Pair them up with Dark Angel, and you’ve got a crazy lockdown.
Your opponent cannot use Spell Cards or Spell effects. They can only Summon either DARK or Warrior monsters, depending whether you have Gozen or Rivalry (hopefully both!). Because of that, they probably can’t Tribute Dark Angel or use monster effects to get rid of it. They can’t play Twin Twisters or Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Continuous Traps. You, on the other hand, are free to play like normal! Just remember – keep your monsters in Defense Position until you’re ready to strike, or your opponent could purposely get their Dark Angel destroyed in battle and break the lock.
All of that makes Destiny HERO – Dark Angel a unique and very strong addition to the Destiny HERO lineup, but it doesn’t stop there! Once Dark Angel ends up in the Graveyard for good, it still has one more effect! During your Standby Phase, you can banish Dark Angel and another Destiny HERO from the Graveyard. Doing so will allow both players to take a Normal Spell Card from their Deck, and place that card on top of their Deck. Cards that can straight up search for spells are extremely rare – such an ability would be far too powerful in most strategies. Dark Angel offers this power to both players, but you’ll be the one coming out ahead.
Destiny Draw is the most obvious choice. So many of the Destiny HERO cards can use Destiny Draw to get them in the Graveyard, and it works perfectly with Dark Angel too. Not only can Dark Angel place it on top of your Deck, but you can also use it to quickly get the three necessary Destiny HEROes in the Graveyard to use Dark Angel’s effect. If you aren’t finding the opportunity to give Dark Angel to your opponent, Destiny Draw is also an outlet to discard Dark Angel and use its Graveyard effect faster.
This is one more reason to consider using Dark Angel to give your opponent Destiny HERO – Defender. You can discard Dark Angel to Special Summon Defender to their side, and they’ll have to decide whether to keep it in Defense Position or not. If they switch it they’ll just have a weak monster – but hopefully they leave it in Defense Position. On your Standby Phase you can use Dark Angel to search for a Spell Card to put on top of your Deck, and then you can draw it during the same Standby Phase thanks to Defender! Similarly, you can use the effect of the new Destiny HERO – Celestial to instantly draw the card you searched for.
Finally, the most stylish and exciting Destiny HERO is a great choice to use with Dark Angel. I’m talking about Destiny HERO – Diamond Dude! With Diamond Dude’s effect, you get to reveal the top card of your Deck. If it’s a Normal Spell, it’s sent to the Graveyard; then you can use that card’s effect next turn, without technically activating the spell itself. This completely avoiding any costs or activation requirements it had, and avoids many cards’ limitations! In its heyday, Diamond Dude was notorious for throwing around free Destiny Draw, Magical Stone Excavation, Dimension Fusion, and other great effects. Some dreamers even tried to pair Diamond Dude with cards like Des Croaking and A Feather of the Phoenix for some huge combos. With Dark Angel placing any Normal Spell on top of the Deck, Diamond Dude will never have been so consistent! You’ll get free activations of Destiny Draw, Trade-In, or any other Spell Cards you probably normally played, but now with even better results. Plus, if you’re so inclined, you can put a new spin on the crazy Diamond Dude combos of old. Pick your favorite “impossible to play” card like The Law of the Normal or Final Inzektion and go wild!
Destiny Soldiers is making huge changes to the Destiny HERO strategy, and Destiny HERO – Dark Angel is only the beginning. Keep watch when Destiny Soldiers hits tomorrow!