Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer – #ANGU-EN045
Pendulum Effect
Once per turn, if you have a card in your other Pendulum Zone: You can destroy that card, and if you do, add 1 card from your Deck to your hand, with the same name as that card.
Monster Effect
Cannot Special Summon Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Monsters using this card as material, except “Dracoslayer” monsters.
Date Reviewed: July 3rd, 2024
Rating: 4.08
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,
Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer was one of the most popular Pendulum Monsters of all-time and remains a staple often in any Pendulum-based archetype.
As a Pendulum Spell, Luster can destroy another Pendulum Monster in your Pendulum Spell Zone and fetch you another copy from the Deck. Cost-free deck thin and getting to another copy of a good card is a win-win, on top of whatever effect(s) you may get off the Pendulum Monster’s destruction. It also sets up that monster being Pendulum Summoned either the same turn you destroyed it, or later. Having Luster carry a Pendulum Scale of 5 is kind of a balance, as it limits you no matter which way you go, but Pendulum Decks can play around that, especially if it gets them advantage.
As a monster, Luster is pretty lack-Luster. Locking you into Dracoslayer Extra Deck monsters only, on top of having 0DEF, it’s pretty standard for Level 4. The 1850ATK will put it above standard attackers, but that isn’t much of a thing anyways. It does its best work as a Pendulum Spell, but it is a Tuner, and can be used to get you to your Dracoslayer Synchro plays.
Luster Pendulum is a great Pendulum Monster. It gets the job done by thinning the Deck and making it like you never lost what you traded for its effect. It likely sets up an immediate Pendulum Summon as well and will trigger any effect(s) that your other Pendulum Monster has when destroyed as a Spell. It was limited for a bit because it gave too much advantage, but now with the mechanic out of favor it is back at full power.
Advanced- 4/5 Art- 3/5
Until Next Time,
KingofLullaby
Crunch$G
Coming in at #8 is probably one of the early Pendulums that were good generically, from Clash of Rebellions we have Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer.
Luster Pendulum as a Pendulum Scale is a Scale 5, which is alright, and its lone Pendulum Effect is a soft once per turn where if you have another card in the other Pendulum Zone, you can destroy it to search for a card with the same name directly from the Deck. Great in the early days to destroy your other Scale to search it out again to have more monsters to Pendulum Summon. It was especially powerful with Performage Plushfire to summon Performages from the Deck as well. The card was Limited now, but considering now you don’t really see this as a staple in Pendulums anymore, it’s fine at 3 and good in a dedicated Dracoslayer Deck since it can destroy Ignis Phoenix to trigger his effect to summon a Dracoslayer from the Deck.
As a Monster, Luster Pendulum is a Level 4 LIGHT Dragon Pendulum Tuner with 1850 ATK and 0 DEF. A good ATK stat, LIGHT/Dragon is great, and Level 4 Tuners are nice. The lone Monster Effect, however, prevents you from using this as a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Material for any monster that isn’t a Dracoslayer. The Dracoslayers are good in terms of solid Extra Deck monsters at least, and this can be used as Link Material since it wasn’t future-proofed for something like that. Another case of good Pendulum Effect, not so good Monster Effect. Luster Pendulum thankfully has a home in Dracoslayers, so it isn’t a complete relic of the past, and other Pendulum Decks can still run it. Fine card.
Advanced Rating: 4/5
Art: 4/5 Cool armor.
My #8: Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer
Mighty
Vee
Swinging in at number 8 is a playmaker of the Dracoslayer archetype, and an enabler of the dreaded “Dracopal” hybrid of Pepe; Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer is a level 4 LIGHT Dragon Pendulum Tuner monster with a scale of 5– not great in general, but it’ll do what we need it to do. Aside from Beyond the Pendulum, the easiest ways to get to it will be Duelist Alliance and Odd-Eyes Revolution Dragon. Luster Pendulum has a fairly odd stat spread, with 1850 attack but an abysmal 0 defense, so it’ll only be fighting in absolute emergencies. This guy is currently free in the TCG, but stuck at limited in the OCG, and we’re about to find out why.
Luster Pendulum has a single soft once per turn Pendulum effect, simply destroying the monster in your other Pendulum Zone to search a card with the same name. To an inexperienced player, this would seem pretty pointless, but everything changes when you realize that with the right scale, you can immediately bring back the monster you just destroyed by Pendulum Summoning. In the Dracopal hybrid, you would destroy Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, place another one, then Pendulum Summon your first Sorcerer and use its effect for a double search, letting you grab infamous Performapals like Performapal Monkeyboard and Performapal Plushfire (hint hint). That’s not the only thing Luster Pendulum can do, but it is a fairly strong example, and likely why it’s still hit in the OCG.
Consequently, with a strong Pendulum effect like that, it’s not surprising that Luster Pendulum’s sole monster effect is a restriction, preventing it from being used as material for a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz material unless it’s a Dracoslayer. With the advent of Link monsters, this is much less of an issue, though it does prevent you from making Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon with it. Luster Pendulum is still a nasty card on paper, but with Pendulum in general being in a rather precarious spot, Pendulum decks will appreciate all the tools they can get.
+Extremely powerful combo potential
+Restriction is bypassed by Link monsters
-Can’t meaningfully combo by itself
-Somewhat less useful when searched by Beyond the Pendulum
Advanced: 4.25/5
Art: 3.75/5 He’s pretty simple as far as Dracoslayers go, but I like the color palette; white, gold, and dark green is an underrated combo.
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