Wight

"Wight" (ワイト Waito) or "Skull Servant" (limited TCG usage) is a series of Zombie-Type monsters.

The most famous "Wight" monster is "Skull Servant", a Normal Monster with low ATK and DEF that appears in several card artworks.

Playing style
Cards like "Armageddon Knight" and "Dark Grepher" are used to populate the Graveyard with "Wights" to increase the ATK of "King of the Skull Servants". Powerful Zombie support such as "Zombie Master", "Goblin Zombie", and "Mezuki" are required. "Wightmare" can be used to retrieve banished cards by discarding itself, either into the Graveyard for "King of the Skull Servants" or Special Summoning "The Lady in Wight". The archetype has continued to receive support cards since the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's era with the addition of numerous Spell and Trap Cards that involve Level 2 or lower monsters, such as "Graceful Revival" and "One for One".

Some "Wight" Monsters appear in Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. This archetype appears in some Video Games as well such as Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force, Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour and more.

This Deck's main strategy is to populate the Graveyard with "Skull Servant", "The Lady in Wight", "Wightmare" and "King of the Skull Servants" to Summon a "King of the Skull Servants" with up to 11000 ATK. However, with the addition of "Wightmare", ironically, many "Skull Servant"s Decks have stopped including "Skull Servant".

The advantages of this Deck include its ability to produce extremely high-ATK monsters very quickly (which may not be affected by Spells or Traps if "The Lady in Wight" is on the field), as well as its resilience in Summoning said monsters repeatedly. A major weakness is its total reliance on the Graveyard. If "Macro Cosmos" or "Dimensional Fissure" is in play, it can easily ruin your ability to power up "King of the Skull Servants". This was partially solved thanks to "Wightmare", which is capable of returning "Wight" Monsters that are banished back to either the Graveyard or Summoning them to the field in exchange for discarding itself - especially helpful as it does not need to reach the Graveyard itself to work.

Getting "Wights" from the Deck
"Wights" are numerous in the Deck. With many copies available, Removing them quickly and placing them in the Graveyard is key. Multiple ways have been made to remove them quickly.

Direct Deck to Graveyard

 * Armageddon Knight - Capable of milling a "Wight" Monster with no cost. When using it, you may want to consider it after "Dark Grepher", however.
 * Chain Destruction - Can send up to two "Wights" to the Graveyard, from any Summon. It is even capable of activating from the Special Summoning from "Zombie Master", "One for One", "Book of Life", or "Graceful Revival". Particularly useful for "The Lady in Wight" because there are few ways to search it out of the Deck. Cannot be used on "King of the Skull Servants" if there are already more than two "Wights" in the Graveyard.
 * Dark Grepher - Though it creates a disadvantage of 1 DARK Monster, it can effectively richen your Graveyard with ease.
 * Elemental Hero Prisma - Only sends "Skull Servant", but can send 1 every turn by revealing "Flame Ghost" or "Zombie Warrior" from your Extra Deck.
 * "Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord" can be used in conjunction with "Skull Servant" Decks. "Exodius" can send "Skull Servants" to the Graveyard, powering itself up at the same time it powers up "King of the Skull Servants".
 * Foolish Burial - Can send any one "Wight" to the Graveyard.
 * Koa'ki Meiru Gravirose - Can send one Level 3 or lower monster from your Deck to the Graveyard each of your Standby Phases. Have a second in your Hand to prevent its Self-destruction.
 * Lavalval Chain - A Rank 4 XYZ Monster capable of sending a "Wight" monster from you Deck to your Graveyard each turn in exchange for one of its materials.
 * Painful Choice (Traditional Only) - A god-send for this Deck, choose 5 "Wights" and let your opponent have it soon enough. Avoid "Skull Servant" or your opponent will likely choose for you to keep that one. Choose as many "The Lady in Wights" as possible because they are hard to search out of the Deck.

Indirect (Milling) Deck to Graveyard
Milling the cards from your Deck can be useful when you do not have enough ways to remove the "Wights" from your Deck alone. Caution should be used to prevent useful cards from being lost.


 * Advanced Ritual Art - Sends a Normal monster to the Graveyard to Summon a Ritual Monster. "Relinquished" can work well.
 * Card Trooper
 * Fiend Comedian
 * Hidden Armory - Can be used to search "Opti-Camouflage Armor"
 * Jain, Lightsworn Paladin and other "Lightsworns"
 * Magical Merchant - Use a high deck ratio of monsters to Mill lots of cards at once.
 * Needlebug Nest - Mills five cards from your Deck.
 * Veil of Darkness - While this is not a true mill card, this acts similarly. You can send a drawn DARK monster to the Graveyard during your Draw Phase to draw another.
 * Jewels of the Valiant- You can send a "Wight" once per turn simply by using "Mezuki".

Deck to Hand
By adding the "Wights" to your Hand, the cards can be discarded for card costs as well as allow you to easily use "Wightmare" to its fullest capacity.


 * Generation Shift
 * Goblin Zombie - Can add "Skull Servant", "King of the Skull Servants", and "Wightmare". Other options include "Zombie Master", another 'Goblin Zombie", "Pain Painter", "Beast of the Pharaoh", and "Plaguespreader Zombie"
 * Sangan - Can search for any "Wight", except "King" (it has "?" ATK).
 * Where Arf Thou? - gives "Wights" more consistency. It makes many plays possible but the easiest example is having a 3000 ATK "King" on the field while having a banished "Lady in Wight". If you fear a "Mirror Force" or "Dimensional Prison", you could activate this card to search out "Wightmare" and then discard it to Special Summon "The Lady in Wight" and boost your "King of The Skull Servants" by 1000 ATK.

Special Summons from Deck
Special Summoning from the Deck will allow "Wights" to be used for Tributes as well as be used as a shield. This also allows using "Chain Destruction".


 * Inferno Reckless Summon - Great way for getting the "The Lady in Wight"s out of your Deck and can possibly set up a Xyz Summon for "Baby Tiragon"
 * One for One - Also has a discard of one monster from the Hand. Easily can search out "King of the Skull Servants" with another "Wight" added to the Graveyard.
 * Pyramid Turtle - Can search out "Skull Servant", "Wightmare" and "King of the Skull Servants" plus many other Zombies such as "Zombie Master" and "Shutendoji".
 * Mystic Tomato - can search out the "The Lady in Wight", "Goblin Zombie", "Plaguespreader Zombie", "Spirit Reaper", and if you use "Armageddon Knight" you can search it out and send a "Wight" to the Graveyard when it is Special Summoned.

Hand to Graveyard, Deck to Hand
This Deck needs to empty the Deck of cards quickly in order to get the "Wights" into play. These cards focus on drawing cards from the Deck but also enable sending "Wights" into the Graveyard.


 * Card Destruction
 * Hand Destruction
 * Morphing Jar

Sending "Wights" from the Hand to the Graveyard
With twelve copies of "Wight" cards in your Deck, some will inevitably find their way into your Hand. These make ideal fodder for cards with discard costs, thereby letting you populate your Graveyard with "Wights" while taking advantage of other cards' effects. Cards like "One for One" and "Zombie Master" will even let you discard a "Wight" from your Hand to Special Summon one from your Deck or Graveyard, respectively. It is a good idea to use other cards which benefit from being discarded or otherwise sent to Graveyard so that if you have to mill or discard them due to lack of "Wights", you can still benefit. Some such cards include "Mezuki", "Necro Gardna", "Plaguespreader Zombie", and even "Night Assailant", who will return a "Magical Merchant" to your hand when it is discarded (or even sent by the effect of "Veil of Darkness").

Some cards that are good for sending "Wights" from your Hand to the Graveyard are:
 * Card Destruction
 * Lightning Vortex
 * One for One
 * Raigeki Break
 * Snipe Hunter
 * Zombie Master
 * Dark Crusader
 * Magic Jammer

Synchro Summons
Arguably the two best Zombie Tuners are "Plaguespreader Zombie" (limited) and "Pain Painter". Each has a nice little bonus attached to it to entice Synchro Summoning. "Plaguespreader Zombie" can Special Summon itself while "Pain Painter" can change the Level of any two Zombies on your field to Level 2. That sets up a perfect Synchro Summon for "Archfiend Zombie-Skull". Possibly, "Beast of the Pharaoh" can be used to revive the Tuner for another Synchro Summon.


 * Archfiend Zombie-Skull - This prevents all your Zombies from being destroyed by card effects. Pull it out and use "Torrential Tribute" or "Dark Hole" to have an improvised "Raigeki" in the Advanced Format.
 * Revived King Ha Des - Great for those monsters with annoying effects like Searchers and Flip Effect Monsters. This also disables effects of monsters like "Spore", "Treeborn Frog", "Plaguespreader Zombie" and other monsters with effects in the Graveyard.

Baby Tiragon
"Baby Tiragon" is a Rank 1 Xyz Monster and requires three Level 1 monsters for its Summon. This card works well with "Wights" because "King", "Skull", and "Wightmare" are Level 1, and "Tiragon's" effect allows a Level 1 monster to attack directly. Detach 1 material (ideally a "Wight") and target a Level 1 monster you control ("King"), which can now attack directly. This might work better than "Opti-Camouflage Armor", due to that card potentially becoming a Dead Draw.

Summoning this card is made truly easy with "Tri-Wight". If you have 3 regular "Skull Servants" in the Graveyard, Summon them all for an immediate Xyz Summon.

Graveyard/Banished Zone Manipulation
This Deck thrives off having "Wights" in the Graveyard. While that is the focus, there are still some potential for banishing your cards. "Wightmare" can return a banished "Skull" or "Wightmare" to the Graveyard by discarding itself. This is an instant +2000 ATK to a "King". Additionally, a banished "King" or "Lady" can be Special Summoned by discarding that "Wightmare". The following are some cards that can banish a "Wight" to set up similar plays.


 * Allure of Darkness - A draw two with one DARK monster banished. Sadly, you cannot fail to banish a DARK monster if you have one so this cannot be used to fill the Graveyard with "Wights". But you can turn a potential minus into a plus by removing your "Lady" or "King" then Special Summon that "Wight" with "Wightmare".
 * King of the Skull Servants - "King" can still be destroyed by battle. If this happens, banish a "Wight" by "King's" effect to Special Summon the destroyed "King", then discard a "Wightmare" to increase its ATK.
 * Shutendoji - This can banish two Zombies to draw a card once per turn. You can also possibly return a "Wight" to the top of your Deck to be milled by "Veil of Darkness" or another card.

Situational Cards
The "Skull Servant" Deck uses many effects to mill, discard, and send "Wights" from the Deck to the Graveyard. Naturally, it is beneficial to have cards that take advantage of the Graveyard and/or protect it from the opponent's attempts to remove your "Wights". The following cards are generally good to include in "Skull Servant" Decks, which help them adapt to various opponents.


 * Burial from a Different Dimension
 * Chaos Hunter - This is useful when dueling "Macro Cosmos"-based Decks. It prevents your opponent from banishing their or your monsters.
 * Debris Dragon - Can be used with "The Lady in Wight" or "Beast of the Pharaoh" to nuke the field with "Black Rose Dragon". You can use "Beast of the Pharaoh" afterward to Special Summon the "King" for the kill.
 * Leviair the Sea Dragon - This can be Summoned with two "Lady in Wight"s or "Spirit Reaper"s (or any other 2 Level 3 monsters). You can use it to send a "Lady" (as an Xyz Material) to the Graveyard to Special Summon a "King of the Skull Servants" (and additionally power it up), "The Lady in Wight", "Mezuki", "Plaguespreader Zombie", or any other banished Monster (even your opponent's) to your side of the Field.
 * Glow-Up Bulb - A Level 1 Tuner that can be Special Summoned by "One for One" that is usually used in this Deck. This card Mills one when it is Special Summoned by its own effect. Also, you can use it to Summon "Formula Synchron" for card advantage and that Synchro is a Tuner as well (Traditional only).
 * Gold Sarcophagus - This card can be used to search out key cards like your "Burial from a Different Dimension", "Soul Release", or you can banish a "King", "Lady", "Skull", or "Wightmare" to then use "Wightmare's" effect to Special Summon the "King" or"Lady" to the field or power up an existing "King of the Skull Servants" on the field by returning a "Skull Servant" or "Wightmare" to the Graveyard.
 * Gravity Bind - Stops your opponent from attacking, but allows you to attack freely since most of your monsters will be Level 3 or lower.
 * Xyz Gift lets you use the Xyz materials of "Baby Tiragon" or "Number 83: Galaxy Queen" to draw 2 cards, at the same time, sendong Skull Servants to the Graveyard. A drawback is that you need 2 Xyz Monsters to use "Xyz Gift".
 * Inferno Reckless Summon - Can Special Summon many different monsters from your Deck including any "Wight" (aside from "King" if there is more than 1 "Wight" in the Graveyard) which can allow Xyz Summons of Rank 1 and 3 quite easily.
 * Mezuki - Quickens the process of Summoning a "Wight" Monster.
 * Opti-Camouflage Armor - lets "King of the Skull Servants" attack directly. However, if "The Lady in Wight" is in play, "King" will be unaffected by it.
 * Pain Painter - This card is a substitute "Plaguespreader Zombie". It makes Special Summoning "Archfiend Zombie-Skull" much easier. It makes up to 2 other Zombies Level 2 for the remainder of the turn. This enables you to use those three monsters for any of the three Zombie Synchros or Xyz Summoning as well as allowing all three Zombies to be protected by "Lady"
 * Phalanx Pike - An interesting optional card for "Skull Servant". Good chance for a possible OTK, even higher if paired with "Opti-Camouflage Armor". Will NOT work if "The Lady in Wight" is active.
 * Plaguespreader Zombie - if it gets milled, just revive it with its own effect. Also adds the possibility to mill a "Wight" from the hand by returning it into the Deck. This card will additionally allow you to Summon Zombie Synchro Monsters.
 * Recurring Nightmare - This is a great card to recover two Monsters with 0 DEF. Examples include "Zombie Master" and "King of the Skull Servants".
 * Sangan - search for "Wightmare", "Snipe Hunter", or "Armageddon Knight", in Traditional Format only.
 * Shutendoji - This card helps set up "Wightmare" plays and provides a +1 by banishing two Zombies (usually "King" and "Lady") in order to allow you to Draw a card. Then, "Wightmare" is used to Special Summon one of them back. It can also recycle banished Zombies by returning them to the top of your Deck. Good targets for this include "Mezuki", "Plaguespreader", or "Wightmare" (for another use). It can be searched out by "Goblin Zombie" and "Pyramid Turtle". If you are using "Dark Armed Dragon", it provides much needed Graveyard control.
 * Soul Release - Can be used with "Wightmare". You can not only banish key cards from your opponent's Graveyard, but also banish a "King" or a "Lady" to then be Special Summoned by "Wightmare's" effect. This card can disrupt your opponents strategy and give you the edge.
 * The Dark Creator - This works well with "Skull Servant" mill engines or DARK heavy "Wight" Decks. If you don't control any monsters, you can Special Summon this card. Then, you can banish a DARK Monster ("King" or "Lady") to Special Summon a "King" to the Field. You can later discard a "Wightmare" to Special Summon the banished "King" or "Lady" to the Field. It also provides great Graveyard control. For example you have 5 DARK Monsters in your Graveyard, you then banish one to Special Summon one from the Graveyard which leaves you with three, the exact amount needed to Special Summon "Dark-Armed Dragon".
 * Dark Crusader - This lets you discard a "Wight" for an instant ATK increase that stays until the card is gone.
 * Doomsday Horror - Works similar to "Burial from a Different Dimension" but can also get a boost if your "Wights" are banished.
 * Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower - Whenever you Special Summon a Zombie (with "Mezuki", "Book of Life", "Zombie Master" and "King of the Skull Servants"), it costs your opponent the top of their Deck, which can be very frustrating. Also if you control a "Lady in Wight", it can stall moderately.
 * Mask of Restrict - You probably won't Tribute in this Deck, while many others do. Useful in the Side Deck.
 * Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - On your second turn or after a wipe, reveal any "Wight" except "Lady" and you get another one from the Deck. This can provide you an instant defense with two "Kings" with both at 4000.
 * Message in a Bottle- allows you to Special Summon three monsters with different Levels which is easy in a "Skull Servant" Deck. You can Summon a "King", a "Lady", and "Goblin Zombie". Then Summon your choice of a Rank 1, 3, or 4 Xyz monster.
 * Slacker Magician- allows an Xyz Summon with two Level 1 monsters. This is great for "Skull Servants" because it gives you more options for your weak Level 1 "Wights" other than just using them as defense.

Wightsworns
This Deck utilizes the milling effects of the "Lightsworns" to mill multiple "Wight" Monsters. Given all "Lightsworns" are LIGHT, you can also use "Chaos Sorcerer" and "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" with ease. You may want to lessen the number of Spells and Traps to about 3 to 8 in order to use "Magical Merchant" as a very abuse-able Deck engine. In this case, it is highly recommended to use "Royal Decree" in order to stop possible counters against you. Many common Spells and Traps will have to be taken out in this case, leaving only those such as "One for One", "Monster Reborn", "Dark Hole", and "Giant Trunade" (Traditional Only).