Lightsworns are one of the most unique archetypes in Yu-Gi-Oh! Pretty much every single one mills your deck in some way or another, sending the top few cards to the graveyard. Milling can trigger some seriously powerful effects, and they could allow you to take the duel by storm – especially with these guys at your side!
15. Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
Starting off simple, let’s take a look at Jain, Lightsworn Paladin. This card has a ludicrously high ATK stat for a level 4 monster, with a startling 1800 base attack. What’s more, Jain can boost herself to even higher attacks every single turn. Here’s how: When this card attacks an opponent’s monster, it gains 300 attack until the end of the damage step. That’s a full-on Cyber Dragon, all on one level 4 monster. And like most Lightsworn cards, this one has a mill effect too. During your end phase, you have to send the top 2 cards from your deck to the graveyard. While this may sound like a steep cost, just check out some of the other Lightsworn cards on this list and you’ll see how beneficial milling can be.
14. Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
While flip effects aren’t exactly the most meta of options right now (Shaddolls excluded, one of the best fusion decks out there!), Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter is an exception to the rule with 2 seriously strong flip effects. When this card is flipped face-up, you apply two effects simultaneously: You can destroy any 1 card on the field, while also milling the top 3 cards from your deck. This incredibly versatile piece of removal made Ryko a popular choice in pretty much every single deck when this card was released. It can deal with monsters, spells, and traps… whatever you needed to fit the situation! Most decks took the mill 3 as a cost for some amazing card removal. Yet in a Lightsworn deck this effect was incredibly useful for putting more Lightsworn monsters in your graveyard.
13. Realm of Light
Now this is where milling half of your deck becomes insanely beneficial. Realm of Light is a field spell, and here’s what you get with it: Every time a card is sent from your deck to the graveyard, you can place a “shine counter” on this card. For every shine counter this card has, all Lightsworn monsters on the field gain 100 attack. Considering this deck can easily mill 5 or 6 cards a turn, your monsters are going to get seriously strong in no time at all. On top of that, this field spell comes with its own protection as well. Because if this field spell would be destroyed by a card effect, you can simply remove 2 shine counters from it instead, leaving it safe to buff up your monsters for the rest of the duel!
12. Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon
For one tribute, 2000 base attack isn’t too bad by Yu-Gi-Oh! standards. However, there’s more to this guy: For every Lightsworn monster in your graveyard with a different name, this card gains 300 attack. Combine that effect with this deck’s field spell Realm of Light and you can easily get this attack stat well over 4000, all off of a one-tribute monster. Gragonith also inflicts piercing battle damage, meaning if it attacks an opponent’s defense position monster and destroys it, your opponent takes the difference in LP damage. With monsters like Gragonith by your side, you can already see why this deck is so strong.
11. Michael, The Arch-Lightsworn
While Lightsworn decks made their debut in the GX era of Yu-Gi-Oh, Lightsworns also dipped their toes into synchro summoning as well. This card provides a couple of important tools for the Lightsworn strategy. Firstly, you can pay 1000 life points to target and banish any card on the field, providing the deck with some amazing non-destructive removal. Secondly, when this card leaves the field, you can shuffle Lightsworn monsters from your graveyard back into the deck, gaining 300 life points for each one. In a deck that’s all about milling, it’s incredibly important to have a card that prevents you from decking out. Because it’s all too easy to go too hard on the milling, and before you know it, you can’t draw for turn.
10. Curious, the Lightsworn Dominion
When link monsters were first announced, a whole bunch of new monsters for various archetypes came out. In fact, we got so many that basically any deck could play in the Link format! This is the Link monster for Lightsworns, and boy is it good. When this card is initially Link summoned, you can send any card you like from the deck to the graveyard. This can set up some seriously spicy combos if you send the right card, and either way, it’ll load up your graveyard with more Lightsworns to use later. But on top of that, when a card is sent from the deck to the graveyard (once per turn), you can mill the top 3 cards of your deck. His first effect triggers the second, allowing you to add 4 cards to your graveyard overall, just off of this one card alone.
9. Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn
Level 4 tuners are worth their weight in gold in Yu-Gi-Oh. They make synchro summoning into level 8 incredibly easy, as well as being available for rank 4 XYZ summons. Raiden is one of the best contributors to the mill strategy. Once per turn, you can mill 2 cards, and if any Lightsworn monsters were sent to the graveyard by this effect then you can boost Raiden up to 1900 attack! On top of that, Raiden has the classic end phase mill effect, forcing you to mill 2 cards. This mills 4 cards overall, ideally setting your graveyard up for whatever’s coming your way next.
8. Felis, Lightsworn Archer
Speaking of level 4 tuners… Felis is such a versatile card that many non-Lightsworn decks opted to play this – which isn’t surprising, given how broken her effect is. When this card is sent from the deck to the graveyard by a monster effect, you can immediately special summon it. Pretty helpful, right? From here, you can either use it to synchro summon into some seriously powerful extra deck monsters, or you can tribute Felis to activate its second effect: By tributing this card, you can target and destroy a monster your opponent controls, while also milling your deck for 3 cards. Whatever strategy you go for, Felis is one of those cards you always want to be milling off of another Lightsworn – and could easily be run at 3 copies in any sort of Lightsworn deck.
7. Solar Recharge
If there’s one thing a deck needs to be successful in modern Yu-Gi-Oh, it’s draw power. It’s all well and good being able to mill a bunch of cards, but if you haven’t got any actual cards to play in your hand, then you’ll have a hard time getting any monsters out. Solar Recharge is one of the best draw cards this archetype has ever seen. By discarding a Lightsworn monster, you can draw 2 cards from your deck, and then you can mill 2. In terms of card advantage, this is essentially a +0 with a free mill. You can trade in your “bad” Lightsworn cards for better ones from your deck, while also loading up your graveyard with even more Lightsworns to use later.
6. Celestia, Lightsworn Angel
Tribute summons are pretty rare in modern Yu-Gi-Oh, but Celestia is one of the few monsters that are actually worth the cost. By tribute summoning this card using a Lightsworn monster, you can mill the top 4 cards from your deck to destroy up to 2 cards your opponent controls. This is (yet again) one amazing way of loading up your graveyard, as well as giving your deck some generic removal. This effect can deal with any cards on the field, all by itself, leaving you free to get rid of whatever stands between you and victory.
5. Charge of the Light Brigade
This card is easily the best searcher among any Lightsworn deck. By milling your deck for 3 cards, you can add any level 4 or lower Lightsworn monster from your deck to your hand. Lightsworns have so many powerful level 4 monsters in their arsenal that this card alone can set you up for a whole bunch of different plays. And if you’re thinking of playing a Lightsworn deck, then Charge of the Light Brigade is a must-have for your main deck.
4. Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
Whenever you’re milling cards, this is the guy you always want to see hitting the graveyard. And here’s why: When this card is sent from the deck to the graveyard, you can special summon it to your side of the field, for free! I’m not one to turn down a free 2100 attack beater – especially with field spells like Realm of Light that can boost it even further. The only downside is if you draw Wulf, Lightsworn Beast on your opening hand, it’s a complete brick, as you can’t normal summon this card. For that reason, I’d play this card at 1-2 copies in a deck… maybe 3 if you’re feeling lucky!
3. Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
Garoth makes the milling power of this deck go from great to extraordinary! Whenever you mill a card from your deck due to another Lightsworn monster, Garoth chips in and mills an extra 2 cards for you. On top of that, for each Lightsworn monster you mill from this effect, you can draw an extra card! The crazy thing about this card is that it isn’t once-per-turn in the slightest. Every single time your Lightsworn monsters mill, Garoth will be milling and drawing cards for you too. I’d say Garoth is easily the best way to draw a bunch of cards in this deck, and possibly one of the best Lightsworn monsters of all time!
2. Minerva, The Exalted Lightsworn
As someone who loves playing Lightsworns, let me tell you, the wait for this card to be released was agonizing. It was initially released in 2015 as a YCS prize card. That means if you wanted a copy at that point, you had to go to an official tournament, win most of your games, and then manage to get a hold of this card. Luckily it was later printed in a Battles of Legend set, and finally my deck could know true peace. All that said, Minerva is a ludicrously powerful XYZ monster. It has a similar effect to Garoth, in that by detaching an XYZ material you can mill the top 3 cards of your deck, while drawing a card for every Lightsworn monster that was milled this way. But on top of that, when this card leaves the field as a result of battle or by your opponent’s card effect, you can again mill your deck for 3 cards – and this time, for every Lightsworn monster that you mill, you can destroy a card on the field!
1. Judgment Dragon
Judgment Dragon is the signature card of the Lightsworn series. While it’s not a Lightsworn monster by name, you’d be mad not to include this guy in a Lightsworn deck. Here’s what it can do: While you have 4 or more Lightsworn monsters with different names in your graveyard, you can special summon Judgment Dragon from your hand for free. Off to a great start already. And when this guy hits the field, your opponent is in some serious danger, as Judgment Dragon has one of the best removal effects that Yu-Gi-Oh has ever seen. By paying a mere 1000 life points, you can destroy every other card on the field! This isn’t even a once per turn effect either. So if your opponent has pesky cards that can’t be destroyed once per turn, you can simply pay another 1000 life points and get them on the second time around. And in true Lightsworn fashion, this card also mills you 4 cards during the end phase. There’s not a single card in Yu-Gi-Oh! as ferocious as Judgment Dragon, making this guy into a must-have Lightsworn monster.
