Light End Dragon – #RYMP-EN067
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner LIGHT monsters
At attack declaration, if this card battles another monster: You can have this card lose 500 ATK and DEF (permanently), and the monster this card is battling loses 1500 ATK and DEF until the End Phase.
Dark End Dragon – #RYMP-EN066
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner DARK monsters
Once per turn: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; this card loses 500 ATK and DEF, and you send that target to the Graveyard.
Date Reviewed: September 19th, 2024
Rating: See Below
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,
Throwback Thursday is a two-for-one today with the original Light End Dragon and Dark End Dragon Synchro Monsters.
Light End Dragon is needing a LIGHT and a Tuner to summon. Level 8 and decent ATK for that Level, LED being able to drop its ATK/DEF by 500 to drop an opponent’s monster it battles by 1500ATK for the turn is better than the newer version of this monster that only allows for this effect when an opponent attacks. Unlike the new version though, Light End Dragon can do this up to four times, making a field of monsters small or have 0ATK for other monsters of yours to attack over with ease. Against anything that loves the Battle Phase, this card can become problematic unless negated.
While it can boast battle power, it lacks anything in terms of negation, protection, or advantage to you. These reasons made it the lesser option when compared side-by-side with its better half.
Advanced- 3/5
Art- 4/5
Dark End Dragon was an absolute boss card when first released to the public at large. DARK monsters were easy to come by and combine that with the ease to spam out Level 8 Synchro Monsters, this was a top choice for any player. Even at once per turn you were using Dark End Dragon to take care of a problem on the field and without as much negation as we have now in the game, when this card came down it was taking something with it and even at 2100ATK it was still a great card to have. Unlike its newest form that has to target an Attack Position monster, Dark End Dragon can go after any monster on the field regardless of position. Naturally most of the time all monsters will be in attack, but it is nice to have this just in case.
A nice piece of removal from long long ago that was power crept out of the game by time and increase of cards into the play pool. Easy to summon, easy to use, the best combo.
Advanced- 3.5/5
Art- 4/5
Until Next Time,
KingofLullaby
Crunch$G
While Light and Darkness Dragon would have been an easy choice for Throwback Thursday this week, I thought it was more interesting to look at the game adaptations of Light End Dragon and Dark End Dragon from the manga that they turned into Synchros for some reason, so here we are.
Light End Dragon is a Level 8 LIGHT Dragon Synchro with 2600 ATK and 2100 DEF. Basically already said my thoughts on the stats, Type, and Attribute with the retrain. Synchro Materials are any Tuner along with any non-Tuner LIGHT monster(s), so generic for LIGHT strategies and that’s it really. After attack declaration, if this card battles an opponent’s monster, you can have this lose 500 ATK and DEF to debuff the opponent’s monster by 1500 ATK/DEF. I thought you can target any monster at any time, but this is worse and better. Worse that you don’t get to choose when to use it, better in the fact it isn’t a soft OPT like I thought initially. The lack of OPT is more relevant for the opponent’s turn when they would run into this. At least you can attack with it into a stronger monster to weaken it. Run into a 3600 ATK monster when this has 2600 ATK and both crash. It’s harder to use as its stats get lower since even with the debuff, you can’t get over stronger monsters as this loses ATK itself. It might have seen more play over the years if it was generic, but the requirements made it super specific when you already got better effects on generic Synchros. It can still come up I’m sure, but it was super niche back in the day and it’s even more niche now.
Advanced Rating: 2/5
Art: 4/5 It’s at least pretty looking.
Now for Dark End Dragon, same stuff stat wise, only swap LIGHT for DARK. Same goes for the materials, any Tuner and any non-Tuner DARK(s), which is solid considering there’s probably been more good DARK Decks over the years that can Synchro, at least Synchro strategies having more DARK non-Tuners like Destiny HERO Malicious and stuff. Only effect is a soft once per turn, having this lose 500 ATK/DEF to target any monster the opponent controls and send it to the graveyard. You can use this up to 4 times over 4 turns, but as it gets weaker, the opponent is more likely to run over it. Still, it’s a great removal effect to get rid of any monster without destroying it, only negatives being it does still target and the monster does go to the graveyard for any grave effects. This probably would have seen more play in past formats as they were happening if it wasn’t for the fact this was a prize card for whatever reason while Light End Dragon was thrown into Raging Battle as a Secret Rare. Now that you commonly see players revisit past formats like Edison, where a card like Scrap Dragon isn’t legal, you see this played more often as it was legal at the time and more people have access to it now. It can still see play in modern day sometimes I’m sure since it’s removal that doesn’t destroy still, though Extra Deck space is getting tighter and tighter as we get more good generic cards. Dark End Dragon still at least feels more playable in the modern day, and for past formats like Edison, it’s staple if you can summon it.
Advanced Rating: 3.25/5
Art: 4.5/5 Dark End Dragon will always be the cooler of the two.
Mighty
Vee
I was hoping to cover Light and Darkness Dragon, but this works too! Appropriately, Throwback Thursday brings us a double whammy of the Synchro duo, Light End Dragon and Dark End Dragon, the original playable forms of Chazz’s manga cards. They’re both level 8 Dragon Synchro monsters, but obviously LIGHT and DARK respectively. Their materials are the same deal, requiring a Tuner and a LIGHT non-Tuner for Light End but a DARK non-Tuner for Dark End. Making either of them isn’t terribly hard since Dragon Link has both LIGHT and DARK non-Tuners, though it’s probably not a good idea in a real duel. They also share the same stat spread, with 2600 attack and 2100 defense– again not great, but okay.
Light End has a non-once per turn effect that triggers if it battles, letting you drop its attack and defense by 500 (which they specify permanently, for some reason) to drop the opponent’s monster’s attack and defense by 1500 in turn until the End Phase. Essentially, it’s a permanent loss in stats to effectively reduce the opposing monster’s stats by 1000. In 2009, they probably thought this was okay, but if you’ve seen how I judged Light End Sublimation Dragon, this is not a useful effect. It might work once on your turn to beat a monster with 3500 or less attack (you’re effectively down to 2100 attack here), but on your opponent’s turn, they will almost certainly strike back with a monster with more attack than Light End can chew on. In other words, stay far away unless you really, really, need a level 8 LIGHT Dragon that has a mostly pointless beater effect.
+Can overcome monsters with 3500 attack
-Extremely telegraphed on the defense
-Permanent stat drop makes it weaker with every battle
Advanced: 2/5
Art: 3.5/5 Y’know, looking at it again, it’s not so bad! But Sublimation is still better.
Dark End, much like Evaporation, has a completely different (and better) effect, a soft once per turn effect to drop its own attack and defense by 500, targeting an opponent’s monster and sending it directly to the Graveyard. While it hasn’t aged too well with the advent of more generic monsters that get the job done, this effect was exceptional for its time– incidentally, it was good enough to be a prize card. Non-destruction removal is always welcome, and since it’s not tied to battle the stat drop isn’t as horrendous as it is for Light End. I recall it seeing fringe play as part of the Synchro toolbox in Duel Links, and I wouldn’t doubt if it was played eons ago as well. It’s not a card of choice for the modern era compared to other boardbreakers (Draco Berserker is right there), but if you can make it and have literally no other options, you could do much worse.
+Non-destruction removal can come in handy
+Generous level and materials
-Stat decrease harms its staying power
-Outclassed by modern level 8 Synchros and other generics
Advanced: 2.75/5
Art: 3.5/5 Piggybacking what I said about Evaporation, I prefer the overall proportions here even if the background is a rather bland blue.
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