Looking Ahead 19 - Light and Darkness Dragon

Well, turns out the Truth was a Lie. (I hate it when people scam like that, but it happens. Oh well.) So, I'm redoing 19 with something I've kept referencing for awhile that is another very popular card right now.

Light and Darkness Dragon
Light/Dragon/8/2800/2400
This card cannot be Special Summoned. This card's Attribute is also treated as "Dark". When this face-up card is on the field, negate the activation and effect of all Spell, Trap, and Effect Monster cards (this effect can only activate once per chain). Each time this effect activates, decrease the ATK and DEF of this card by 500. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, select 1 Monster in your Graveyard, destroy all cards on your side of the field, and then Special Summon the selected Monster to your side of the field.

Where From: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Comic Book
Likely TCG Appearance: Shonen Jump Magazine

The most popular deck type in Japan right now all revolves around this card so much so that many feel like it will end up beind Restricted come September 07. This card shuts down everything: Spells, Traps, and all non-Continuous Monster effects. As an added bonus, when it's destroyed, you can get the monster of your choice back to the field.

Now maybe it's me, but I don't get it. For starters, this card must be Normal Summoned, either by 2 Tributes, Kaiser Sea Horse, or spend 2000 for Mausoleum of the Emperor. Second, it shuts down anything you want to do as well as your opponent. Third, while being able to get a monster back when it's destroyed is good, your field is completely destroyed in the process. Fourth, Light and Darkness Dragon just negates the effect, it doesn't destroy the card. So, there's nothing stopping you from summoning say... Zaborg, Mobius, Raiza, etc. use the effect to lower him to 2300, then attack/destroy in battle. Of course Treeborn Frog can completely kill this card since even when its effect is negated, you can just reactivate it.

Also, Light and Darkness Dragon must have at least 500 ATK or DEF in order for its Negation effect to work. If both stats are less than 500, whatever you activate will go through.

No rating simply because I really have to see this card in action before being able to give an opinion. On paper, it doesn't seem to be worth the effort. However, this is a Tier 1 deck in the OCG right now so I'll just have to say "wait and see".
 
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The negation effect is mandatory? That makes it quite a bit less useful. It also cannot revive itself (or another Light and Darkness Dragon), because it can't be Special Summoned.

I'm surprised a card like this is a favourite, actually. I figured it would be something like Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys or similar, where there'd be some fans but not a significant amount.

I think this card restricts itself too much to be a really good card. It's interesting, certainly, and contains the current fad of being able to replace itself somehow, but just not worthy enough of the amount of attention it seems to have.
 
Very manditory.

Also a couple of other notes about it. 1, the part about activating only once per chain isn't in the original text on the card, but that is the official ruling on it. So, you could get rid of it with the following: It attacks, respond with Sakuretsu Armor, its effect activates, then chain Mirror Force and its effect won't activate again and it just dies then.

Also, the trap card Reverse Trap has a special ruling in regards to Light and Darkness Dragon. Normally Reverse Trap changes increases/decreases to ATK and DEF to a decrease/increase instead for all changes for the whole turn. The special rule is that Light and Darkness Dragon can only benefit from this only once per turn (so the first negation would raise it 500, but it will start decreasing again after that). Otherwise he and Treeborn Frog = GG (a near infinite ATK monster? Right).

So it already has 2 rulings made just for it that's different for everything else. So it is a bit of a headache. And yeah it is a fad, but more than a few people in the TCG are all over this card and want it in a very bad way. Personally, I'd sooner run Vennominaga over this. Why worry about negating things when I can simply be immune to it all.
 
I've seen this card in action plenty of times while playing the WC2007 game online against others. I can easily say, there is no easy counter to it, and it's way too easy to get out right now in the game, especially the OCG, with Treeborn Frog, Dandylion, and Destiny Hero - Malicious. We lack a lot of support cards the deck uses, like Dandylion perhaps, but especially Foolish Burial. With the Destiny Draw engine, Disk Commanders, Malicious, Fear Monger.... it's so fast to draw into a Foolish Burial and a L&DD, with Stratos, and Reinforcement of the Army as well, you get to Malicious really fast too, once you've dumped both into the Graveyard, he's a cinch to summon.

The rest of the deck revolves around the "Good Stuff" usually. Jinzo, perhaps a couple of choice monarchs like Mobius or now Raiza perhaps, and you have your monster to special summon back from the graveyard when the dragon's destroyed... even if it's not a big one, you can still bring Disk Commander back and draw two cards, if nothing else.

Once he's out on the field, he's an extreme pain to get rid of, unless you're actually lucky enough to have a Monarch in hand and something to tribute on the field.....
Now here's where I think there's an OCG-TCG rulings difference, BUT don't quote me on it. In the TCG, if Treeborn Frog is negated and sent back to the graveyard when it's trying to be special summoned, you can just summon it right back again, so it would completely strip the L&DD down to nothing, fast..... however....
At least as far as know, in the OCG anyway (at least in the WC2007 game, I know, games are bad rules sources, but...) I've never been able to keep activating the Frog in the same standby phase that it was already once negated.... either by "Death Caliber Knight" or the L&DD. Instead of a game glitch, or problem, it might be a rulings difference, since the Enemy Controller/Treeborn Frog trick works.

That alone could be a huge difference why the deck does so well in the OCG, compared to how it might work over here. It's yet to be seen just what rulings it might have. The card had been out a while, and was originally deemed not all that great at first, due to how hard it was to summon. Then Malicious was released, and that gave the card another other easy tribute fodder to get it out besides just Treeborn and using Brain Control/Soul Exchange (which most of those decks run in multiples anyway.)

Back on my original train of thought, though, once L&DD hits the field, it's pretty much only going to be destroyed in battle, and allowing a special summon from the graveyard, so that just makes the card all that much better. You don't really lose anything for playing it, you get a special summon, and to sit behind it, attacking at anything that your opponent might set, or play, and draw your hand back to good shape, while your opponent keeps losing card after card. It usually takes a minimum of three cards to work around the L&DD, often more than that, giving a huge advantage, while your opponent drains resources, just trying to get rid of it.... and then the cycle just begins again often the next turn, when you bring Treeborn back again, activate another Malicious, and then summon yet another L&DD (one reason I think Malicious's effect is really broken as it is.)

In Summary:
IF and when the card gets over here, unless we get at least Foolish Burial from SD13 or some other source, the card won't be quite as easily playable, and then unless the Treeborn Frog ruling would change in the TCG, you'd have to pack D.D. Crows just to hopefully get rid of it before you summon L&DD, so your opponent just doesn't kill your dragon off with a puny frog.

If the rulings are the same in the TCG and OCG for Treeborn, then I'm surprised that nearly every deck out there wouldn't run or at least sidedeck Foolish Burial and Treeborn Frog just to counter L&DD. I have no idea where to look online for any official OCG rulings though.
 
The "ruling" for the game is wrong. Treeborn Frog's effect (like Sinister Serpent) can be reactivated during the same Standby Phase in the actual card game. But remember, Monarchs are far more prevalent here than they are in the OCG and really, any 2400 monster will take it down just by activating 1 thing.
 
yeah, he's like Des Calibur Knight, effect MUST be manditory unless he's stats are below 500ATK/DEF

And yeah, a 2 tribute monster. You better run Frogs, Dandylion, Malicious, Kaiser Seahorse, etc.
 
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