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Lightrays – Magical Daedalus
Beau Butler
7/3/2012 3:15:00 PM  While it’s true that the Six Samurai are “my deck”, and I’ll be using them essentially forever, I do test and play with other strategies and make sure to stay up to date on what’s being released. There have been a lot of interesting and fun archetypes as well as independent cards coming out recently, but the newest thing to catch my eye were the Lightray monsters – more specifically, two of them in particular: Lightray Daedalus Level 7 / LIGHT / Sea Serpent / Effect 2600 ATK / 1500 DEF Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by having 4 or more LIGHT monsters in your Graveyard, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. Once per turn: You can target 1 Field Spell Card and 2 other cards on the field; destroy them. ...and... Lightray Grepher Level 4 / LIGHT / Warrior / Effect 1700 ATK / 1600 DEF You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by discarding 1 Level 5 or higher LIGHT monster. Once per turn: You can discard 1 LIGHT monster; banish 1 LIGHT monster from your Deck. They’re both available in Galactic Overlord, and both have some really unique and powerful attributes that let them shine in ways that other cards haven’t. Daedalus has a few traits reminiscent of its less-worthy counterpart Levia-Dragon - Daedalus, having a destruction effect related to a Field Spell and an equal ATK and level. But this new Lightray iteration brings with it a level of flexibility that was previously unknown to the Levia-Dragon family. Being able to be Special Summoned on its own merit is a beacon of light in the stormy seas of fast-paced competition, where big attackers come out as the result of 1-for-1 or even +1 plays in terms of card presence so regularly. Also, working now with any Field Spell instead of just “Umi” and “A Legendary Ocean” means this version of Daedalus can be used as a tech choice in decks with LIGHT monsters and Field Spells (though most metagames aren't exactly packed with them right now). Beyond that point, the destruction effect is laser-focused to wash away only your opponent’s cards while yours are free to flood for damage. In exchange for these advantages, cards like Monster Reborn and Call Of The Haunted no longer have dominion over Daedalus’ safe Return to the field, but that seems to be a small price to pay, especially when getting access to key support cards like Honest. Grepher had gone on a long journey down the road of darkness and made a descent to a new level of evil incarnate, but now we get a look at what things would be like had he chosen the path of righteousness and light. With this new alignment comes a set of boosts not unfamiliar to his alternate form, including an inherent Special Summon at the cost of a single Level 5 or higher LIGHT monster from your hand. This discard outlet can prove useful for Xyz plays and for putting spare LIGHTs in the Graveyard for the summon of a Daedalus. The other of his two powers is, while akin to his DARK self, a bit twisted: this time the monster sent away from the deck is banished instead of being sent to the Graveyard. This has some unique ramifications on his ability to synergize with an array of cards. Today we’re going over a decklist that’s going to try to take advantage of both of those things as much as possible, to control and dominate the board and march to victory.
This is the build that I’ve been testing, and given how new the combo cards actually are and how recently I’ve picked up the deck, there's a lot of room for editing and customization. Nothing here is set in stone, and it’s still under rigorous training in the hopes of reaching whatever the next level might be. Right now, there are a lot of tricks in this bag that you can pull out really frequently. Using Grepher, you can banish focal elements of your plays and grab them back with Light of Redemption – an old Spell Card that lets you net back a Banished LIGHT monster to your hand at the cost of 800 Life Points. It increases your chances to have your most important cards when you need them, allowing you to do things like searching out a Daedalus or Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. Also, with Garoth and Jain, Grepher can lead to Blade Armor Ninja plays that end the game quickly in conjunction with Lyla, Heavy, and Daedalus breaking holes in your opponent's defenses. Since Lightray Daedalus is really our biggest focus, there are a lot of ways to search for and Recycle him (and his effect) that you should try to take advantage of. Herald of Creation and Beckoning Light can both get you back a Daedalus that met with a destructive spell or trap, or was milled away by your Lightsworn compatriots. He can also be removed from the deck by Lightray Grepher or from the graveyard by Bazoo the Soul-Eater or Black Luster Soldier and Returned to your hand with Light of Redemption. Bazoo may seem like an odd cameo appearance, but you can make use of him in some interesting ways, since you only need to keep four LIGHT monsters in the Graveyard at a time and his ATK can become a solid 2500 for the duration of your opponent’s turn. His primary inclusion is just for the Redemption tricks, but you’d be surprised at the amount of times you’ll be using him to attack over things like Evolzar Laggia in a pinch. Another seemingly peculiar inclusion may be the Spell Counter-oriented Field Spell Magical Citadel of Endymion. While it’s true that you aren’t going to be taking advantage of its ability to activate Counter-cost effects, it’s really a star player for its compatibility with Daedalus’ effect. If it’s holding a Spell Counter, it can survive a destruction effect by removing one from itself. The significance of that effect is that it will endure through your Daedalus play to generate a free +2 every time it's successfully employed. Not only that, but an immunity to Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm can mean that you’ll really never need another Field Spell, but two copies are included as a contingency plan. Luckily, if you find yourself with dead duplicates of either it, or the search spell Terraforming, they can be discarded and replaced with live cards through Lumina or Herald. The main focus of Daedalus in this build, while making use of your everlasting Citadel, is going to be poking away continuously at the enemy's defensive line, rather than destroying monsters, whenever the opportunity arises. A lot of the time, you’ll find yourself with the opportunity to destroy two set cards and then score more card advantage in battle, with your respectable 2600 ATK and access to Honest. That can also be compounded by dropping Black Luster Soldier onto the field against whatever monsters you just left defenseless with Daedalus’ wave of assault. Having Heavy Storm, Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress can further accent the idea of breaking defenses and rendering a target susceptible to your battle tricks, but the real key to their usefulness is in soaking up cards that would stop Daedalus from getting to the field. Because they can happen before his Special Summon with no hindrance to your plays, they can take shots at any opposing Solemn Warning, Bottomless Trap Hole or Torrential Tribute that may be lurking around. Making sure Daedalus is Summoned safely can lead to victory a staggering amount of the time, since the opponent's back row can be dealt with so easily. A large element of this style of play is that it'll force the opponent into a mindset that forces them to play less defensively, because setting cards turn after turn will lead to so much card loss. By putting the opponent in an aggressive stance that's not of their own choosing, you can make them use up resources on plays that might have been better spent later in the game, and then capitalize on having so much opportunity to reuse your big monsters. A player can only activate so many Solemn Warnings and make big pushes before they’re going to run out of steam, and you benefit from that fact. There are plenty of monsters in the sea, and with so many chances to bring Daedalus back to the field, your opponent's going to think you have them all. Another facet of the deck is the large Xyz variance. Since Lumina can give you easy Rank 4 Xyz Summons be reviving her Lightsworn friends, and you also have Grepher providing similar access, you’ll find that you can perform a lot of roles with your Extra Deck; from protecting Lumina and keep the milling live to making a Steelswarm Roach for holding back Chaos Dragons. Lumina can also bring back a second copy of herself to make Leviair the Sea Dragon, and start reviving your Grepher-banished monsters and exhausted Necro Gardnas. She can even maintain the field with Zenmaines. There’s a lot of Xyz versatility in her effect that can really be shown off in a lot of situations. The attack cap in the deck doesn't often surpass 2600, though, since the biggest monsters you'll be packing are Gem-Knight Pearl and Gaia Knight. Black Luster Soldier raises it to 3000, but since it's not going to be your main play and nearly all of your games will be on the back of Daedalus, it’s more realistic to see the cap from a standpoint without the Soldier. Because of that, your opponent dropping Gorz after you’ve already used Daedalus’ effect for the turn can be ruinous, so saving your pop for when you need to secure an attack or making sure you’re swinging over monsters is a much safer play.
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Match-Ups and Play Styles This deck is unique, in that playing against different strategies can make your playstyle vary wildly, even with the same opening hand. Against Dino Rabbit, Summoning a monster that’s too big for them to deal with or holding an Honest in your hand can be the key to victory, since no Evolzars are big enough to walk over Daedalus without Forbidden Lance to curb the difficulty of such a jaunt. Having Ryko will also be a relevant factor in that match-up, since Laggia falls to his powerful jaws rather routinely. You should be aware though that Dolkka will be a thorn in your side with regularity, since it can negate and destroy a Lightsworn at the End Phase, stop Daedalus from ensuring a successful attack or even bluff away Black Luster Soldier with the threat of a Forbidden Lance hiding face-down. Mitigating the stressful play-around from a Dolkka’s presence can be tricky business, depending on the protection they’re sitting behind. The match-up seems bleak in that regard, but it’s certainly not an auto-lose situation, and pulling away a victory is usually going to be the result of good use of the Side Deck. Luckily, Daedalus can take a heavy benefit from slipping in Effect Veilers, since they’ll fuel your Graveyard while halting the opponent's advance. Chaos Dragons make the deck play a little differently, since there are so fewer trap cards to worry about. The Side Deck should probably reflect that, and carry monster removal options, like Soul Taker or Dimensional Prison. Shifting to a largely aggressive paradigm is going to be a big thing for you in this match-up, since it becomes a game of beaters. With the ease of getting in a quick 5200 damage with two Daedalus or 7000 with Daedalus and Blade Armor Ninja, sealing the game can really just be a matter of getting the Lightsworns rolling to your Graveyard. You aren’t going to have a direct answer to Future Fusion in the Main Deck, so pack accordingly in the side if you’re thinking you'll run into Dragons frequently. D.D. Crow can be included to help reduce their Chaos summons and push your own Luster Soldier to the field a bit more easily, and finding alternatives to Macro Cosmos or Dimensional Fissure can be important, since this deck can’t really take advantage of them. Wind-Ups, having gone for the whole nine yards in more than one Nationals this season, also facilitate a unique play style that's a bit on the aggressive side. Your Xyz plays should be focused on Utopia and holding the field with something bigger than Tiras, Keeper of Genesis or Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon. Since the deck’s essentially comprised solely of LIGHT attribute monsters, Gozen Match can make an appearance there and hold things still until you can smash through like a raging shark. The Wind-Up Hunter hand loop can happen, but this deck’s boss monsters are good topdecks, so at least you have a degree of advantage in that regard. With the Lightsworn monsters sending LIGHTs into the graveyard and Grepher to try to search for Daedalus, his summoning should be pretty consistent, and not a “hope and pray” scenario like it could be in other builds. The deck has a lot of open-ended versatility and can be changed or expanded with a lot of flexibility that you should take advantage of! I could see this strategy being really effective at a local tournament right now, and maybe making a splash at a Regional event. With the right pilot and more testing, who knows how far it could go? Since there’s so much that can be done with the main combos in this strategy, and the fact that alterations can be made to fit your play-style and comfort level, this deck could be good for a lot of players who want to experiment with something new! I’d encourage everyone to check it out and see what cool things you can do with it. -Beau Butler 
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this card!