Judgment Dragon is a card that is best summed up as “one step forward, two steps back”.  I wish I could tell you the latest news on this card, but I can’t: I’m still playing catch-up myself.  If there are no major changes I missed, this card is still quite overpowered.  Yes, it is themed support and can only initially be Summoned via its effect.  This does indeed lead to it being a card that has to be run in its own deck and on theme.  Unfortunately it’s so powerful that the rest of the format has to adjust around it.  Card that are either balanced or at least less unbalanced this will either be forced out of play because they can’t compete or ironically find themselves staples because they do indeed counter Judgment Dragon and that means you have to run them.  Don’t believe me?  Remember Solemn Judgment.  I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh when the original Yugi and Kaiba Starter Decks were new: basically the beginning of the U.S. game.  Two sets in we got Solemn Judgment, and by the third set I had not one but three in my deck at all times.  I kept at it set after set, year after year, and finally gave up.  My schedule changed and I couldn’t attend tournaments regularly.  Suddenly I start paying attention and Solemn Judgment is being run in triplicate.

 

Judgment Dragon wasn’t the only reason, but it’s a perfect example of why: card design had shifted.  We were getting themed cards like this, but they were so overpowering that suddenly their deck became the standard by which the others were measured, and half your LP (even second turn) was worth it when the alternative was a loss.  When people realized that the best counter to Solemn Judgment was their own Solemn Judgment, it became a staple at three per deck.  Then after restriction, the single copy allowed remains a must.

 

Wait, isn’t this Judgment Dragon’s CotD?  It certain is.  So to do my duty, let me highlight the actual card’s stats and abilities.  You get a Light Level 8 monster.  Light is great: as history proved, there are some great Dark monsters you can sprinkle into a Light themed deck and still get a good Chaos build.  It also gave a way to counter what should have helped balance Judgment Dragon out.  Lightsworn cards mill their own deck, of course.  So getting four different Lightsworn into the Graveyard is fairly easy for the deck, nerfing much of the difficulty of getting Judgment Dragon into play.  Accidentally milling your copies of Judgment Dragon was probably supposed to keep it balanced: can’t just review it with cards like Call of the Haunted after all.  Too bad Light cards can use Beckoning Light to dump unneeded cards into the Graveyard while snagging the needed ones back to the hand… like copies of Honest and Judgment Dragon.  It even further nerfed the “4 or more Lightsworn” summoning requirement.

 

Now all this wasn’t a big deal, except the rest of the card is stellar.  3000 ATK and 2600 DEF handle all but the biggest monsters, and the option to destroy everything else on the field for a mere 1000 LP usually means you’ll net at least 2000 LP of advantage.  At least the four cards of self-milling it also “blesses” you with actually is about as beneficial but costly as it was meant to be: by the time the designers expected Judgment Dragon to get out, that was supposed to finish off what little of your Lightsworn deck was supposed to remain.  Unless they actually meant for it to be another unbalancing card that turns the game on its side.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional: 5/5 – It (and the rest of the Lightsworn crew) work in Chaos and its almost as potent as they are on its own.

 

Advanced: 4.5/5 – It basically defined one format and is still a major force in the next.

 

I’d also like to add I’ll be selling quite a bit of my soon-to-be-former possessions on eBay.  You can take a look here at my second auction if you’re interested in some N64 games.  Just a reminder, Pojo is in no way responsible for this and was merely kind enough to let me mention the auction here. ;)