Hello and welcome back, everyone! I appreciate you all for joining me in today’s article. It is a highly requested topic; Side Decking! Let's dive right in!
Side decking is one of the most intricate aspects of Yu-Gi-Oh!. It’s an area where I’ve personally encountered considerable challenges throughout my time in the game, and it continues to test me now and then. Every day, I’m discovering new insights and refining my approach to side decking.
Mastering the art of siding is no small task. More often than not, I notice players overly fixated on what 15 cards should make up their side deck.
However, the real focus should be on what cards can be removed from the main deck when siding, allowing for optimal side-ins without compromising your deck’s overall consistency.
General Lightsworn Deck List
Here we have our most basic, run of the mill, Pure Lightsworn deck.
When you look at the deck as a whole, you are trying to absorb a lot of information at one time which can often leave you feeling confused and overwhelmed.
One approach I’ve devised to simplify side decking is to categorize certain cards into a “never remove” category, so we can set them aside and forget about them, Making our decisions much easier.
These essential cards include but are not limited to; Lumina, Judgment Dragon, Charge of the Light Brigade, Honest, Solar Recharge, and most of your other core Lightsworn monsters and spells.
There are, however, a few exceptions. For instance, if your Lightsworn deck includes three copies of Lyla, you might consider side-decking one out against strategies with fewer traps, such as Frog decks, Lightsworn mirrors, and Dragon Turbo. But for the most part, we will never be touching the core pieces of our strategy.
Highlighted in green are the cards that we will generally never touch, Of course; Some exceptions can apply. "There are No Absolutes in Yu-Gi-Oh!" - Frazier Smith
For the most part, we aim to keep our engine intact, as it is crucial for executing our game plan effectively.
Instead, we should focus on substituting our Game 1 utility cards with those that are more advantageous in specific matchups.
For example, below is the side deck strategy for facing Frogs. You’ll notice that we remove cards like Mystical Space Typhoon, Heavy Storm, Card Trooper, Plaguespreader Zombie, Threatening Roar, and the one Lyla (as previously mentioned) in favor of cards such as 2x Imperial Iron Wall, 2x Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, Lightning Vortex, and Book of Moon.
General Idea of Frog Side Pattern
Frog decks typically run little to no backrow, and the backrow they do have is generally chainable (e.g., Raigeki Break, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Threatening Roar, etc.). Thus, backrow removal is less critical in this matchup. Additionally, with a reduced likelihood of being OTK’d, it is safe to remove Threatening Roar. Threatening Roar is particularly effective when your opponent has limited means of bypassing your monsters without attacking, but Frogs excel at utilizing Caius the Shadow Monarch, Raiza the Storm Monarch, and Dark Dust Spirit, which can diminish the effectiveness of Threatening Roar.
As you can see, knowing what to remove from your main deck is just as crucial as knowing what to substitute in.
A useful strategy is to sit down and map out all the possible decks you could face throughout a tournament run and memorize which cards to add and which to remove. With practice, you’ll begin to recognize patterns and might even discover new ones as you progress.
Given the current state of the Edison format meta, you’ll want to ensure your side deck has sufficient coverage for decks like Blackwing, Vayu Turbo, and Frogs. It’s also wise to account for less popular but potentially troublesome decks, such as Dragon decks with Koa'ki Meiru Drago and Macro Cosmos strategies.
Make sure you do take into consideration the hurdles that come with going up against these rogue decks & how you should modify your deck to give yourself the greatest chance of victory. A good example of this is that it's appropriate to side out your two copies of Honest when you're up against Macro Stun as they wont do you much good there, as Macro Cosmos, Dimensional Fissure, & Banisher of the Radiance render them useless.
Now, let’s discuss overlap.
In my experience, the best sideboard plans often have the most overlap across multiple matchups, giving you more flexibility to counter rogue strategies as well.
Take Imperial Iron Wall, for instance. This card can be a pivotal piece of your side deck against Frogs, shutting down threats like Caius the Shadow Monarch, Miracle Fusion, D.D. Crow, and more. However, it also proves to be highly effective against Vayu Turbo, as it neutralizes their core strategy in addition to acting like a pseudo Royal Decree in some instances; shutting off Dimensional Prison & Bottomless Trap Hole. It also will prevent other key pieces of their strategy from being used, such as Allure of Darkness & Dark Armed Dragon.
Here are a few of my favorite cards to include in my Lightsworn side decks that have a plethora of overlap applications;
Lightning Vortex (Left) & Book of Moon (Right)
These cards are not only useful at various points in the game, but they also help mitigate some of the more challenging obstacles you might face. For example, they can nullify threats like Vanity’s Fiend, Koa'ki Meiru Drago, and Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo.
In addition to shutting down these powerful cards, they have overlap in virtually every situation you’ll encounter. Vortex, for instance, can be used against a multitude of strategies—whether it’s Amaryllis with Tytannial, Heroes with Absolute Zero, or even Lightsworn to clear Judgment Dragon and/or Kristya.
Book of Moon, on the other hand, does the same and can also be paired with Ehren to deal with otherwise difficult threats like Blackwing Armor Master. It can also flip down your own Ryko or Hamster for multiple uses and protect your Judgment Dragon from cards like Bottomless Trap Hole.
These are always solid inclusions that can be utilized in various ratios, depending on how much space you have access to in your side.
In Conclusion:
Today, we explored the critical importance of selecting the right cards to include or exclude from your deck, and how to optimize their effectiveness across various matchups. This ensures you have adequate coverage for the majority of encounters you’ll face during your tournament. There is no one-size-fits-all formula; your side deck could consist of five copies of three different cards, fifteen individual cards, or any ratio in between. My hope is that the insights I've shared today will prove invaluable on your journey.
Below, you’ll find a couple of examples of side deck plans. Keep in mind, these are simply examples, as your own side deck plan will depend on a number of factors in order to be executed correctly. I’ve also included some of my other favorite side deck choices for you to consider when building your side deck for Lightsworn.
General Side Plan VS Blackwing
You may notice that we've pulled Card Trooper from the fight when going 1st in the Blackwing Matchup. This is generally due to the threat of Blackwing- Shura The Blue Flame. Shura loves to run over defenseless monsters and receive its free +1. Removing trooper is just one less card in our deck that is weak to Shura.
Going second, however; you can consider throwing trooper back into the ring for another round. Having a 400 base attack means that he beats Bottomless Trap Hole & He also mills 3 cards, pumping himself up to 1900 making him just 100 points over Shura & accelerating your tempo.
You'll also see that Plaguespreader Zombie has been removed from the main deck. This is due to the inherent nature of Blackwings being a beat down strategy. We need to do our best to insure that when we go first, our opening hand is strong so we don't get rushed down too quickly. Drawing a combination of weaker cards like Plaguespreader, Wulf, and Necro Gardna can spell doom in the early game for us.
General Side Plan VS Vayu Turbo
Theres not a lot to say here; shutting off their banishing is pivotal. Iron wall will prevent most of their deck from functioning properly, here is a small list of cards rendered useless while Iron Wall exists on the field;
Blackwing- Vayu the Emblem of Honor
Caius the Shadow Monarch
Necro Gardna
Dark Armed Dragon
D.D. Crow
Allure of Darkness
Bottomless Trap Hole
Dimensional Prison
Soul Release
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
Also, having the help of Twister ensures you have a plethora of answers for the dreaded Royal Oppression, one of their key pieces to slowing us down. Always be mindful of the cards you have a hard time dealing with, and take the necessary precautions to not be caught off-guard.
Consecrated Light may not be worth it to some players. In my mind I always side in 1 copy into this matchup. Vayu Turbo is a very multi-dimensional and aggressive deck. Having a card that makes most of their strong monster cards useless can give you a chance to get ahead, even if its just for a turn or two.
General Side Plan VS Frogs (Primarily HERO Frogs)
Frogs have to be one of my favorite decks to play against with Lightsworn. Frogs are severely lacking in the department of defense, giving Lightsworn the opportunity to get the ball rolling very quickly. Fossil Dyna, Book, Vortex, and Iron wall are going to do a great job at answering many of the troubles you'll face against frogs.
Dyna turns off Treeborn Frog, Substitoad, One for One, Miracle Fusion, & more.
Book & Vortex answer both Vanitys Fiend & Absolute Zero. Two of the main powerhouses you often are forced to stare down in this matchup.
Iron Wall is similar to Dyna in most cases, rendering Miracle Fusion, Caius the Shadow Monarch, & D.D. Crow useless.
Some Cards That Are Always Up For Consideration:
- My Body as a Shield: Ideal for countering Blackwing, mirror matches, and Gladiator Beasts.
- Twister: A reliable choice for generic floodgate removal that is faster than Royal Decree & Dust Tornado.
- Cyber Dragon: A staple in any matchup when going second, particularly against machine decks. It often serves as additional bait for trap cards, similar to MST, but can also apply pressure and synergizes well with Honest.
- Cold Wave: If not already in the main deck, this powerful card offers immense value when resolving Judgment Dragon or Celestia. However, exercise caution if your primary method of reviving Judgment Dragon is through Monster Reincarnation, as Cold Wave can cause conflicts—trust me on this one.
- Sasuke Samurai #2: (I’m fairly certain I’m the first to give this card serious consideration.) I almost always include it when I’m maining Reinforcement of the Army and siding One for One for better access to Consecrated Light. The ability to search out Cold Wave comes up frequently and can be game-changing.
-Trap Eater: I've taken to nickname this card; "Big Beautiful Lips" Very effective of being a +1 against cards like Royal Oppression, Skill Drain, & Light Imprisoning Mirror. I still haven't included it in any of my tournament lists to date. Perhaps since I have shifted my primary focus to Twilight Lightsworn, he could finally make his big debut!
I always say, "Don’t be afraid to experiment, explore, & if someone think's your crazy, prove them wrong!"
Thanks for reading, until the next one!
Much love, Mike. 🫶
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