Light and Darkness Dragonlord – #INFO-EN034
1 Level 8 LIGHT Dragon monster + 1 Level 8 DARK Dragon monster
Must be Fusion Summoned. While face-up on the field, this card is also DARK-Attribute. Once per Chain, if a Spell/Trap Card, or monster effect, is activated (Quick Effect): This card loses exactly 1000 ATK/DEF, and if it does, negate the activation. If this card in its owner’s possession is destroyed by an opponent’s card: You can target 1 Dragon monster in your GY; Special Summon it.
Date Reviewed: September 20th, 2024
Rating: 3.58
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is awful. 3 is average. 5 is excellent.
Reviews Below:
King of
Lullaby
Hello Pojo Fans,
Light and Darkness Dragonlord is the newest Dragon Fusion and ends our week.
Again, was really hoping for some Light and Darkness Dragon support, but here we are. Level 8 LIGHT Dragon monster and a DARK Dragon monster are the necessary materials, props to them for keeping this dedicated to its name for materials needed for the Fusion Summon. The new Light End and Dark End Dragon entities will do nicely to be the materials, but there’s so many more Level 8 Dragon-Type monsters in the game that also fit for this summon. Has to be Fusion Summoned is a good way to cut off any abuse of this card with the multitude of ways to Special Summon from the Extra Deck and Graveyard.
Considered a DARK Attribute fits with the original Light and Darkness Dragon, as does its effect. Higher ATK/DEF drop for the same effect the original Light and Darkness Dragon has, and while this card has higher ATK that the original, it’s higher cost to activate the negation ability makes it slightly weaker than the original. Old school L&D Dragon could negate four times, while new L&D Dragon can only negate three times. The Special Summon ability of a Dragon monster in your Graveyard upon this card’s destruction is better than the board-wipe you suffered from the original, but the one less negation can prove costly. The negation ability is good though, and its pretty easy to summon especially with the new Light End and Dark End Dragons being about to conduct Fusion Summons without a Fusion Spell.
Positives and negatives to this card much like its half and half status. Easy to summon, high ATK, negation ability, and pays for itself when it is destroyed, potentially leading to another Fusion Summon of another copy of this monster. One less negation than its previous Main Deck form, and can only be Fusion Summoned. You don’t even have to gear the deck towards this monster when playing it, just as long as you Fusion Summon and have a few LIGHT and DARK Dragon-Type monsters lurking in the deck. A good monster, and one that will cause an opponent problems, but could it have been better? Maybe have 500ATK/DEF drop like the original and no board-wipe, that would have made it better.
Advanced- 3.5/5 Art- 4/5
Until Next Time,
KingofLullaby
Crunch$G
The week ends off with the new Light and Darkness Dragon retrain that is now a Fusion Monster: Light and Darkness Dragonlord.
LADD 2 is a Level 10 LIGHT Dragon Fusion with 3400 ATK and 3000 DEF. Great statline, LIGHT/Dragon is solid for the Type/Attribute combo they chose to put on this, though should be mentioned it has the effect to be treated as a DARK on the field. Fusion Materials are any Level 8 LIGHT Dragon alongside any Level 8 DARK Dragon, which is somewhat specific, but achievable with the new cards we got. It must be Fusion Summoned, similar to how the original can’t even be Special Summoned. Once per chain, when a Spell/Trap Card or monster effect is activated, you got a Quick Effect to have this card lose exactly 1000 ATK/DEF to negate the activation of that card/effect. It’s 3 negations on a card that, while once per chain, isn’t an OPT at all. The issue from the original Light and Darkness Dragon remains that the negation is mandiatory, so you can’t really use cards or effects yourself without this negating them, which I guess is fair for a Fusion that isn’t all that hard to summon still. If this card in its owner’s possession is destroyed by an opponent’s card, you can revive any Dragon from your graveyard, which while you no longer get to revive any monster like the original LADD, you also don’t nuke your whole field. It’s a nice Fusion to end on after all your plays. Just sit on this for a bit til all 3 negates are used, then everything else you setup to back this up becomes live again since it can no longer negate with 400 ATK and 0 DEF. A fun card to end on, you can dedicate a Deck to Light and Darkness Dragon or play this along with the Light End and Dark End retrains in other Decks, it’s up to you.
Advanced Rating: 3.75/5
Art: 3.5/5 It still looks nice, just the orange feels weird to me when the original Light and Darkness Dragon was just white and black, which was more simple, but looked better.
Mighty
Vee
Light and Darkness Dragon finally makes its return as Light and Darkness Dragonlord to finish the week, the titular boss of this theme. A level 10 LIGHT Dragon Fusion monster, Dragonlord will take a level 8 LIGHT Dragon and a level 8 DARK Dragon, naturally referring to Light End Sublimation Dragon and Dark End Evaporation Dragon, but others will fit the bill, including popular level 8 Dragons like Nebula Dragon and Chaos Emperor, the Dragon of Armageddon. Dragonlord also has a substantial boost to Light and Darkness Dragon’s stats, with a nasty spread of 3400 attack and 3000 defense this time. Of course, if you know Light and Darkness Dragon’s gimmick, it won’t have those stats for very long…
Dragonlord must be Fusion Summoned, so you won’t be able to cheat it out. Thankfully, it’s not very hard to make– in fact, Branded Fusion can make it very easily by fusing Lubellion the Searing Dragon and any level 8 DARK Dragon of choice. Making it in Light and Darkness proper isn’t difficult either, but still luck-based since Sublimation and Evaporation rely on having a Dragon of the other attribute somewhere to actually fuse. Just like its predecessor, Dragonlord becomes DARK as well while on the field. It’s not very relevant outside of fringe scenarios, but it is a neat touch of flavor. Dragonlord’s primary effect is lifted from the original’s, a famously once per Chain Quick Effect that (forcibly) triggers when any card or effect is activated, dropping both of its attack and defense by 1000 and negating the activation. Omni negates are nice and all, but this is a textbook example of being careful what you wish for; not only can you only fire it off three times because of only having 3000 defense, but the effect is mandatory, meaning as soon as Dragonlord hits the field, you’re pretty much relying on only Dragonlord itself for disruption. It can still be devastating against certain decks, especially if they have no irresponsible answers to it, but preventing you from having layered boards is a massive blow against this card’s usability. A few Branded decks experimented with running it, but it was quickly discovered that turning off your search from Albion the Branded Dragon wasn’t a very good idea. Dragonlord’s last effect, curiously also not once per turn, triggers if it’s destroyed by your opponent, simply letting you revive a Dragon monster in your Graveyard. Unfortunately, because of Dragonlord’s condition, you can’t revive another one and soft loop! Instead you’ll probably just revive Sublimation or Evaporation and pray you have more Fusion fodder to make another one. Dragonlord is a strong boss monster on paper, but the game has moved in a direction where layered disruption is prized beyond raw omni negates, and carefully sniping choke points is much more effective than blindly being forced to negate the first three effects. It’s even more disappointing when you consider how Dragon’s Light and Darkness could have made this card quite deadly, but alas! Maybe it’ll have a home eventually paired with floodgate effects (which would have to be activated before it hits the field), but for now Dragonlord is stuck in the casual corner as a sub-boss for Dragonmaid.
+Effectively 3 omni negates is not a joke
+Easy to make in Branded hybrids
-Mandatory negate makes for awkward board states and is easy to bait for many decks
-Struggles for follow up since it will likely have horrible stats on turn 3
Advanced: 3.5/5
Art: 4.5/5 At first I thought the orange part was kind of ridiculous (Armed Dragon reference?), but it grew on me. Plus the pose makes up for it!
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