Destiny HERO

"Destiny HERO" ( Desutenī Hīrō) is a "HERO" sub-archetype of mostly DARK Warrior-Type monsters used by Aster Phoenix in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and released in Enemy of Justice, with further support in Duelist Pack 5: Aster Phoenix and Phantom Darkness. Since their debut, they have been believed to be an anti-thesis to the "Elemental HERO" archetype, as specific cards somewhat resemble certain "Elemental HERO" monsters.

The main focus of "Destiny HERO" Decks revolves around taking defensive action and stalling while increasing the user's card advantage and field presence. This is necessary to summon "Destiny HERO - Dogma" and "Destiny HERO - Plasma", both of which are extremely powerful monsters that require three Tributes to be Special Summoned from the Hand. The majority of all other "Destiny HERO" monsters have low ATK and are poor offensively, but often have great utility for maintaining field presence and forms of card advantage over the opponent. For example, the first "HERO" monster to be Forbidden, "Destiny HERO - Disk Commander", has very weak ATK and DEF but lets its controller draw two cards when it is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, and "Destiny HERO - Defender" has such an enormously high DEF that most monsters cannot destroy it by battle (thought it does allow the opposing player to draw more cards per turn if it is in Defense Position).

References to British culture
These cards resemble British anti-heroes and there are several references to British culture within the cards. There is an emphasis in the passage of time in most "Destiny HERO" card effects, as opposed to the more immediate effects of "Elemental HERO" monsters.

Naming
In the OCG, the names of all "Destiny HERO" monsters begin with the letter "D" and end with "Guy" with a few exceptions such as "Destiny HERO - Bloo-D" and "Dread Servant".

Appearances
The "Destiny HERO" monsters were designed by Aster Phoenix's father. After he was killed, Aster inherited the cards, although one was stolen by The D.

The stolen card was known as the "Ultimate D Card". Aster made it his business to find this card in order to avenge his father.

The "Ultimate D Card" was "Destiny HERO - Plasma", while the "Final D Card" was "Destiny End Dragoon".

Relation to other "HERO" monsters
Currently, the only "Destiny HERO"-related card that involves the "Elemental HERO" archetype is "D - Time". However, "Elemental HERO" cards such as "Elemental HERO Stratos", "Elemental HERO Ocean", "Elemental HERO Divine Neos", "HERO's Bond", and "Elemental HERO Absolute Zero" all support "Destiny HERO" monsters, as does the "Evil HERO" "Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy". "Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer" and "Elemental HERO Shining Phoenix Enforcer" can be considered pseudo-"Destiny HERO" monsters as they have only been owned and used to date by Aster Phoenix, and their Japanese name also have "Guy" at the end. "Destiny HERO" monsters are also supported by the "Masked HERO" and "Vision HERO" monsters, such as "Masked HERO Goka", "Masked HERO Vapor", "Mask Change", "Vision HERO Trinity" and "Vision HERO Adoration"

Strengths and weaknesses
The "Destiny HERO" archetype is perfect for stalling an opponent until you draw key cards you need to resolve a tight situation or to finish an opponent off. Some classic examples of "Destiny HERO" effects are that they cannot be destroyed by battle during the turn they are Special Summoned with the effect of "Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster", or that when "Destiny HERO - Fear Monger" is destroyed by battle, it can Special Summon a "Destiny HERO" monster during your next Standby Phase etc. With the Field Spell Card "Clock Tower Prison", in 4 turns you will be impervious to Battle Damage and when it is destroyed, you can Special Summon a "Destiny HERO - Dreadmaster" to swarm the field with "Destiny HERO" monsters and overtake your opponent's card advantages.

Despite this, they have 2 great weaknesses: Their ATK points are very low and a player can be defeated easily with Battle Damage if they don't have a card like "Clock Tower Prison" to protect themselves with. For example, "Destiny HERO - Dasher" has ATK points of 2100, but in-order to power it up, you need to tribute 1 other monster. That will make you lose Field Advantage and when it attacks it must be changed to Defense Position. The other weakness is that they defend too much which allows an opponent time to draw cards that have the ability to destroy Destiny HERO defenses. For example, "Destiny HERO - Defender" has a colossal DEF of 2700 and can be Normal Summoned or Set, but its effect is that during each of your opponent's Standby Phases, they get to draw 1 card, which sooner or later will give them a huge Hand Advantage.

"Destiny HERO" monsters also have several advantages due to their weaknesses: Since they are DARK monsters and they usually have 1500 ATK or less, they can be Special Summoned through the effect of "Mystic Tomato" and "Dark General Freed". Since their card effects usually activate in the Graveyard, you can let them activate first then remove them from play to Special Summon "Rainbow Dark Dragon" which will give you a chance to defeat your opponent.

Basic Destiny HERO Deck
Basic "Destiny HERO" play revolves around stalling the opponent (using "D-Shield", "Destiny HERO - Defender" or a 4-counter "Clock Tower Prison") long enough to gain enough hand and field advantage to summon "Destiny HERO - Dogma" and "Destiny HERO - Plasma" and sometimes even "Destiny HERO - Dreadmaster". "Foolish Burial" is an important staple in this Deck to get Malicious and Dasher into the Graveyard, as is "Elemental HERO Stratos". The quickest way to get the top-level cards summoned is to have one monster on the field (usually Defender or a D-shielded monster), Special Summoning another monster to the field using one of the many available effects, then Normal Summoning "Elemental HERO Stratos", and using the effect of "Stratos" to search out "Dogma" or "Plasma" before tributing all three for the top-level summon.

"Destiny HERO" Decks, when properly used, have immense drawing power, thanks to the effects of "Destiny Draw" and "Destiny HERO - Disk Commander" (now banned). You can also use cards like "Allure of Darkness" or "Veil of Darkness", both of which work for Dark Monsters. The former removes the monsters from play, so it isn't always the best card for the decks, but "Veil of Darkness" will put your monsters right into the Graveyard and allow you to draw another card. It is not uncommon to be ten or more cards ahead of your opponent thanks to this. Using "Appropriate" in combination with the effect of "Destiny HERO - Defender" can allow you to draw even more cards while stalling your opponent. You could also combine the effect of "Destiny HERO - Defender" effect with "Greed" to stall your opponent and do an additional 500 points of damage a turn. A wonderful, general use counter trap card, "Dark Bribe" can also be coupled with "Appropriate". For example, you can use Destiny Draw on your Destiny Hero Malicious and then draw two cards and you can special summon a malicious from your deck.

In addition to that they can be easily used with powerful cards like "Dark Armed Dragon", "Allure of Darkness" and other "DARK" support cards.

Other staples important for "Destiny HERO" Decks include "Reinforcement of the Army", "The Warrior Returning Alive", "Dandylion", and, due to their low ATK and DARK attribute, "Crush Card Virus" (Traditional Format only).

"Fires of Doomsday" may be used as tributes to Special Summon "Plasma" or "Dogma".

Diamond Dude Turbo
Diamond Dude Turbo (DDT) is a popular Deck type that takes advantage of the effect of "Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude". Because costs are not necessary for using Spell Cards with the effect of "Diamond Dude", players can gain card advantage with cards such as "Destiny Draw" and "Magical Stone Excavation". Also, using the effect of "Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude" effect with "Convulsion of Nature" will allow you to see what Spell Cards you will use.

"Destiny HERO - Dasher" and "Destiny HERO - Malicious" (whose effects can be activated in the Graveyard) are included, since the Deck features many discard effects capable of sending "Malicious" and "Dasher" to the Graveyard.

"Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade" is used to Banish "Destiny HERO" and other Warrior-Type monsters from your Graveyard. "Dimension Fusion" would be used to Special Summon the removed monsters. Using the effect of "Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude", players could get around the large costs associated with "Dimension Fusion".

With the release of Phantom Darkness, players gained access to "Allure of Darkness" and "Dark Armed Dragon" which provide more ways to Banish. "Allure of Darkness" also works well with the general theme of the Deck as the main focus of the Deck is quickly drawing cards and overwhelming your opponent with powerful monsters. "Dark Magician of Chaos" was also a popular monster to have in the Deck as it helps to bring back powerful Spell Cards. "Fires of Doomsday" can help you summon powerful monsters like "Jinzo" and "Destiny HERO - Dasher".

Currently this Deck is no longer viable, since most of its key cards (namely "Reasoning" and "Monster Gate", "Dimension Fusion", and "Return from the Different Dimension") were either Limited or Banned.

Perfect Circle
A popular type of Destiny HERO Deck that used to be in tournaments was popularly known as Perfect Circle. This Deck utilizes "Destiny HERO" monsters that can generate a lot of resources and field advantage, such as "Destiny HERO - Disk Commander" and "Destiny HERO - Malicious". Other cards that help the player getting these cards out quickly include "Reinforcement of the Army" and "Elemental HERO Stratos". "Destiny HERO - Fear Monger" is also used to help use the effect of "Destiny HERO - Disk Commander". The revived "Destiny HERO - Disk Commander can then be Tributed to Tribute Summon any "Monarch" or "Light and Darkness Dragon".

"Destiny HERO - Disk Commander" was Forbidden as of the 1st of September 2008 on the Forbidden and Limited Lists, thus severely damaging this Deck.

However, with the September 2009 Lists, "Raiza the Storm Monarch" is no longer Limited, making this Deck more powerful, but "Malicious" is still restricted to 2.

Destiny End Dragoon Decks
This Deck revolves around the card "Destiny End Dragoon" and its abilities to revive itself and inflict damage while destroying a monster. This type of Deck can have many variations, from a traditional beatdown to a control Deck with the Virus cards ("Crush Card Virus", "Deck Devastation Virus" and "Eradicator Epidemic Virus").

This Deck has an enormous amount of Deck-thinning, using searching abilities that Warrior-Type monsters are famous for, and using cards to draw from your Deck. "Destiny HERO - Dogma" and "Destiny HERO - Plasma" are the two best fodders in the game for drawing power, since they can use all of these cards: "Trade-In", "Destiny Draw", and "Allure of Darkness". Since you will be needing those monsters to fuse into "Destiny End Dragoon" ("DED"/"D-End"), you can also use "Pot of Avarice" to recover them, but the best option is to use "Chain Material" to make Fusion Summoning easier while the effect of "DED" makes the drawback nearly non-existent. Also, with "Fusion Gate" on the field, it is possible to Fusion Summon up to three copies of "Destiny End Dragoon" to the field in a single turn, at the cost of removing all the copies of its Fusion Material Monsters from your Deck. However, with enough "Destiny HERO" monsters in the Graveyard, each "Destiny End Dragoon" will simply revive themselves and wreak havoc on your opponent next turn. Try to use "Future Fusion" to get "Dragoon" out quickly. If your opponent tries to return "Dragoon" to your Extra Deck or remove it from play, which most likely will get rid of it permanently, use "Destruct Potion" to not only save your Dragoon but gain 3000 Life Points. "Dragoon" is easy to resurrect from the Graveyard, but it is harder to Fusion Summon him again or bring him back into play.

For more ideas on how to use/make a "Destiny End Dragoon" Deck, see Card Tips:Destiny End Dragoon.

Dragoon Rush
Just like a typical "Destiny End Dragoon" Deck, this deck is focused on calling out "Destiny End Dragoon" as soon as possible. Unlike the original though, this deck does not use the "Chain Material" "Fusion Gate" combo, and rather relies on the traditional "Polymerization". Due to this deck not using cards like "Trade-In" it is recommended to run "Elemental HERO Prisma" as well as "Destiny HERO - Plasma" and "Destiny HERO - Dogma" in threes. In order to quickly get the cards required, a good combo to use is "Elemental HERO Ocean" "Elemental HERO Woodsman" and "Elemental HERO Stratos". With these cards you can quickly gather the cards for "Destiny End Dragoon" into your hand.

In the event that your opponent's deck is moving faster than yours, due to the high amount of "Elemental HERO" monsters used, you may want to use "Super Polymerization".

Plasma Perfect Lockdown
A lockdown that involves "Destiny HERO - Plasma" is as follows: "Destiny HERO - Plasma", "Sorcerer of Dark Magic", "Secret Village of the Spellcasters". "Sorcerer of Dark Magic" is a Spellcaster that has an effect that negates traps, thus fulfilling the requirement for "Secret Village of the Spellcasters" which negates any spell card of your opponents as long as a spellcaster is on your side of the field. This leaves only monsters effects, which "Destiny HERO - Plasma" covers. To summon "Sorcerer of Dark Magic" you can use Fortune Ladies Levels 1-4 to summon for his two Level 6 or higher summoning requirement.

Another lockdown strategy involving "Destiny HERO - Plasma" is to cancel out your opponent's cards. This uses "Destiny HERO - Plasma", "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8", and "Royal Decree". "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8" is a Dragon that has an effect that negates spell cards, and "Royal Decree" is a trap card which negates any trap card on the field. This leaves only monster's effects, which "Destiny HERO - Plasma" covers. "Spell Canceller" is a way to cancel out spells if you're not willing to go with the "Horus the Black Flame Dragon" route, but it has only 1800 ATK so it might be hard to keep on the field.

In order to summon "Destiny HERO - Plasma", cards like "Dandylion", "Fires of Doomsday", "Scapegoat" and "Phantom Skyblaster" help you accomplish this as quickly as possible

DestinyDarks
This Deck is similar to a regular "Destiny HERO" Deck, but swaps out some "HERO" monsters for strong DARK monsters like "Spirit Reaper", "Dark Resonator" and "Tragoedia" to swarm the field in order to provide fodder for the Deck's aces, "Destiny HERO - Plasma" and "Destiny HERO - Dogma". Cards like "Allure of Darkness" and "Destiny Draw" help draw the right cards, and being dark monsters with a lot of potential speed means that "Dark Armed Dragon" works very well. "Foolish Burial" can send either a Malicious or a "Dandylion" to the grave to provide tokens, and "Fires of Doomsday" can summon tokens to your side of the field.

Destinysworns
Destinysworns are ran like a normal "Destiny HERO" Deck except they are modified to use "Lightsworn" monsters effectively with the Draw Engine that "Destiny HERO" Decks provide. The Deck itself is at risk of Decking Out in a few turns so "Pot of Avarice" is a must unless the player is capable of winning in a few turns. "Destiny HERO - Plasma" and "Destiny HERO - Dogma" can be of use providing shields and the ability to halve the opponents Life Points. "Chaos Sorcerer" is a Semi-Staple in this Deck because all "Destiny HERO" monsters are DARK and all "Lightsworn" monsters are LIGHT. "Elemental HERO Stratos" is also useful to add important "Destiny HERO" monsters to your hand or plain out use as fodder for "Destiny Draw".

Destiny Ditch
A Deck that puts cards like "Destiny HERO - Malicious" and "Destiny HERO - Dasher" in the Graveyard to summon out "Destiny HERO - Plasma" or "Destiny HERO - Dogma". Cards like "Vortex Trooper", "Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy", and "Elemental HERO Stratos" help draw cards like "Destiny HERO - Dasher" and "Destiny HERO - Malicious". Then, cards like "Lightning Vortex", "Destiny Draw", "Allure of Darkness" and "Hand Destruction" can get rid of Malicious and Dasher to get out Plasma and Dogma.