Lswarm

"lswarm", known as "Verz" (ヴェルズ Veruzu) in the OCG is a Duel Terminal archetype of DARK-Attribute monsters which was introduced in Duel Terminal - Sacred Star Knights!!. Despite being released prior to "lswarm", the "Steelswarm" archetype is an "lswarm" sub-archetype, thus all "Steelswarm" monsters are supported by "lswarm" support cards.

The most significant feature of the non-"Steelswarm" "lswarm", except "Evilswarm Cercyon", is that their ATK/DEF end with 50, and all known "lswarm", except "Evilswarm Golem" and "Evilswarm Coppélial", are Level or Rank 4.

Members
Each non-"Steelswarm" "lswarm" is based on a member of a previous Duel Terminal archetype, corrupted by the "lswarm" virus that was released from "Steelswarm Cell", shown in "Infestation Infection". There is a "lswarm" counterpart for each Duel Terminal archetype except "Vylon" and "Steelswarm".

From "Duel Terminal Overlay Guide 2".

Story
A crisis has struck the Duel Terminal world. Nearly all living things across the planet have been corrupted, their bodies warped, and their minds slowly seized by a desire to destroy that is so strong, it becomes impossible to interact with others. The elders of the planet linked it to ancient lore of an identical plague, and so dubbed the infection, and the infected, the "Evilswarm."

Strategy
The non-"Steelswarm" "lswarm"s as an sub-archetype focus on Summoning Rank 4 Xyz Monsters using "Evilswarm Castor" and "Evilswarm Mandragora" to summon multiple monsters per turn. The Evilswarm Xyz Monsters are extremely powerful, adding field control to the deck with "Evilswarm Ophion" and "Evilswarm Nightmare" against special summoned monsters as well as "Evilswarm Bahamut" being capable of taking control of an opponent's monster for the duration of the duel. Evilswarm Ouroboros can be used to gain hand advantage, as well as being one of the strongest Rank 4 Xyz Monsters, and can remove from play a monster from the opponent's graveyard which is useful against cards like "Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World" or "Steelswarm Scout"/"Treeborn Frog".

"lswarm" decks can also utilise "Chaos Zone" effectively, with "Evilswarm Salamandra" and "Evilswarm Thunderbird" providing large amounts of counters over time as well as being useful cards in their own right. An "lswarm" deck using "Chaos Zone" can also benefit greatly from the card "Creeping Darkness" as it adds the core type of monster; Level 4 DARK as well as 2 Chaos Counters, making the re-summoning of the monsters used for the cost relatively easy. "Allure of Darkness" can also be very useful in this type of deck, with it's negative effect partially offset. The latest "lswarm" monster; "Evilswarm Cercyon" works particularly well in a Chaos Zone/Xyzing deck by recycling a monster as well as adding an extra summon and a Chaos Counter. Some might say that 3 copies can replace some or even all copies of "Evilswarm Castor", "Evilswarm Salamandra", and "Creeping Darkness".

"Dark Armed Dragon" is a relatively easy card to summon in an "lswarm" deck, with its' high level of Graveyard manipulation through Xyz costs and "Evilswarm Salamandra"/"Creeping Darkness"/"Evilswarm Cercyon" and large proportion of DARK monsters.

Whether or not to use the higher level cards like "Evilswarm Golem" or "Evilswarm Coppélial" is probably a matter of personal preference as they are powerful cards, but are not useful for Xyz summoning. Also, Golem is low in attack, making it almost useless against another DARK deck. However, it may be a good idea to "Side" Golem in a tournament to deal with decks like "Naturia" or a particularly strong non-DARK key card.

Use of a set "Pandemic Contagion Infestation" chaining to the player's own "Torrential Tribute" or "Dark Hole" can also be an effective strategy, clearing the opponent's monsters without risking the player's.

Using "Evilswarm Salamandra" with Chaos Zone can also make the summoning of "Evolzar Laggia" and "Evolzar Solda" possible, and worth running as an optional extra.

Relationship
This archetype shares a close name with "Steelswarm" (Inverz, インヴェルズ), an archetype from the previous Duel Terminal story arc. They both consist of DARK monsters. Furthermore, the "Inverz" could be seen as a shortened version of "Insect Verz" or "Insectoid Verz", meaning the "Verz" virus might have come long before the "Steelswarm" did, and the "Steelswarms" are a heavily-infected species of creature. Even the "lswarm" symbol can be seen as an outline of "Steelswarm" symbol (best seen on the horse of "Evilswarm Thanatos").

Another possible theory is that the "lswarm" virus is a defense mechanism the "Steelswarm" implement upon extinction that works to reconstruct their race. This can be seen by the goal of the "lswarm" controlled "Gishki Noellia" being to resurrect "Steelswarm Hercules", the overlord of the "Steelswarm".

It is also possible that with the destruction of the "Steelswarm" at the hands of the "Vylon", the virus then could have corrupted or even copied the other Duel Terminal archetypes.

In addition, "Ver" is French for "Worm". This may signify that their role is similar to the "Worms" in the previous Duel Terminal story as the first, horror movie-like antagonist ("Worms" being aliens, "lswarm" being the zombie virus), followed by a holy/unholy antagonist that at first appeared to be an ally ("Fabled" and "Vylon"). Also, "Evilswarm Thunderbird" appears to be a "Mist Valley Apex Avian" More parallels can be drawn, for example Las Plagas were buried underground by a Spanish Castellan, while the "Inverz", the carriers of the "Evilswarm Virus", were sealed underground after losing against the" Vylon".

They are not considered Dark counterparts because they lack the attributes that compose it (Like sharing the ATK, DEF and level or rank with their Non-DARK counterpart, or having "Dark" in their name). However, one might consider them similar to the Malefic archetype in that manner.

Weaknesses

 * First, as all "Evilswarms" are all DARK-Type, the "Koa'ki Meiru" series plus cards like "Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror" can thickly meddle with these monsters. Also, cards like "Skill Drain", "Angel 07" and perhaps "Forbidden Chalice" can seriously lapse their functionalities on the Field. Many of the "Evilswarms" also have modest ATK; a "Luminous Soldier" that only uses its own ability to augment its ATK can easily dispatch every "lswarm" monster including one of the Xyz Monsters, "Evilswarm Bahamut".