Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World – #SR13-EN043
You can Special Summon this card (from your GY) by returning 1 “Dark World” monster you control to the hand, except “Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World”. If this card is discarded to the GY by card effect: Target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy that target, then, if this card was discarded from your hand to your GY by an opponent’s card effect, look at 1 random card in your opponent’s hand, then, if it was a monster, you can Special Summon it to your field.
Date Reviewed: December 15th, 2022
Rating: 3.69
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,
Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World is the Throwback Thursday choice and the one monster that got people hyped back in the day to play Dark World again.
Big Level 8 Fiend with an easy Special Summon ability, Grapha is a prime discard target so you can Special Summon it simply by popping a Dark World monster back to your hand. Being in the grave leaves it vulnerable to stuff like D.D. Crow, but that’s beside the point. If used as discard fodder you got spot removal of any one card on the field. Discard Grapha for something, then bounce your Beiige, Goldd or Sillva back to your hand, summon Grapha and enjoy your 3000ATK monster.
If your opponent were to discard Grapha from your hand, or you change a card effect of theirs to “your opponent discards a card”, then you get to look at a random card your opponent has in their hand. If you chose a monster you get that Special Summoned to your field. At the worst you get to know something your opponent has in their hand, the best, you get a monster for Link, Xyz, or Synchro Summoning, or another attacking monster. The Special Summon could backfire, any effects that result in that monster going to the grave or being in the grave would help your opponent, but that is a risk many take.
Grapha alongside the Field Spell: The Gates of Dark World were the best cards Dark World had to offer in regards to consistency and generating advantage. Now with the structure deck they have more ammo for their archetype, and this boss has a new form we’re reviewing tomorrow.
Advanced-4/5 Art-4/5
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby
Crunch$G
Throwback Thursday this week brings us to the classic Dark World boss monster that still sees play today: Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World.
Grapha is a Level 8 DARK Fiend with 2700 ATK and 1800 DEF. Not as good as Reign-Beaux 2, but good stats still and DARK/Fiend remains. First effect lets you revive this by bouncing any Dark World monster that isn’t another Grapha, so more revival while putting monsters back in your hand. This doesn’t have a Level restriction, so you can at least bounce the new Reign-Beaux back to summon this. The revival will always be great. Second effect triggers upon being discarded by a card effect, letting you target and destroy a card the opponent controls (which is mandiatory, but I don’t think you’ll mind), and then if it was discarded by an opponent’s effect, you can look at a random card in their hand and Special Summon the card to your field if it was a monster. The destruction is the main thing you’ll resolve, but the ability to get hand information and potentially summon an opponent’s monster to your field is nice. Grapha is a card that has aged extremely well, especially with the lack of any HOPTs anywhere limiting it. It was a Dark World staple back when the original Structure Deck was released and it remains a staple with the new one.
Advanced Rating: 4/5
Art: 5/5 Every GX archetype has to have a dragon.
Alex
Searcy
Throwback Thursday gives us one of the more fun Dark World cards in Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World. Level 8, Dark/Fiend, 2700 atk and 1800 def here, so nothing not to like initially. Free Special Summon from your Grave by returning a Dark World Monster other than itself to your Hand. That’s so easy it’s almost sick, and given it can be ANY (no specific clause or restriction pertaining Level or anything else) as long as it’s in the Grave and you control a Theme Monster, this can be done. Targeted destruction of any 1 card your opponent controls upon being sent to the Grave by any Card Effect is another cool and honest 1-for-1, and like most things Dark World, can turn into more. And for a unique final spin, if this was done via opponent’s Card Effect, you get to look at one card randomly from their Hand and if it’s a Monster, Special Summon it to your Field. The Effect, is optional, and I can imagine there could be a random time you actually don’t want to take whatever Monster you stumble upon. It’s nice to have the choice. It does things a bit differently for Dark World, but Grapha is still a fun and useful piece of this engine, should you so choose. Strong enough body, disruptive enough, and certainly easy to bring to the Field.
Rating: 3.5/5
Art: 4.5/5 Certainly one of the more menacing and Dark pictures in the Dark World family. Kinda gives occult and Zombie vibes if I’m being honest.
Mighty
Vee
Throwback Thursday brings a classic boss monster that I have some bitter memories of; Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World is a level 8 DARK Fiend monster (ironically, not a Dragon, to both its benefit and hindrance), and as such reaps the benefits of being a DARK monster. In addition to being searched by Snoww, Unlight of Dark World, the new Reign-Beaux, Overking of Dark World can search it as well. Its stats are a little on the low side, with a below average 2700 attack and mediocre 1800 defense for a level 8 monster, but it’ll be a serviceable beater when necessary. When I started taking Yugioh seriously in middle school, Dark World was the deck to beat, and I’m still haunted by Grapha to this day. Does it stand the test of time?
Neither of Grapha’s effects are once per turn, which is actually pretty normal for a Dark World monster, and not much to worry about considering the archetype’s current lack of meta domination despite the structure deck. Grapha’s first effect will let you Special Summon it from the Graveyard by returning any Dark World monster you control back to your hand; dumping Grapha should be the easy part, so just like Reign-Beaux it’s a double-dip that lets you reuse your Dark World effects while also fielding bodies. Grapha’s other effect triggers if it’s discarded by card effect, letting you target and destroy a card on your opponent’s field. This’ll naturally be a boardbreaker, though with new cards like Dark World Accession, triggering Grapha on your opponent’s turn allows it to be good disruption as well. As a bonus, if Grapha was discarded by your opponent’s card effect, you can look at a random card in your opponent’s hand and Special Summon it to your field. This effect isn’t entirely reliable, but when it does come up, it’s hand knowledge at the minimum and a game changer at its best, potentially ripping a combo piece or providing more Link fodder for yourself. Overall, Grapha is still quite a powerful card for the deck, even if it’s a little bricky.
Advanced: 3.75/5
Art: 4.5/5 He might haunt my middle school memories, but he still looks really cool! Could easily pass as a Dragon or Zombie, but it makes sense that he’s a Fiend in the end.
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