Cyberdark

"Cyberdark", spelled "Cyber Dark" (サイバー・ダーク Saibā Dāku) in Japanese, is an archetype of DARK Machine and Dragon-Type monsters, as well as a sub-archetype of the "Cyber" archetype. These cards were first introduced in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime as a forbidden "Underworld Deck" (called "Cyber Art Reverse" in the original) that was used exclusively by Zane Truesdale following his "rebirth".

In the anime, The Deck's unquenchable thirst for battle and improvement forces its owner to go past his/her limit, slowly damaging the user's body over time. Because of this drawback, only Duelists with strong wills and dreams of progression can use this Deck for long periods of time. Depending on how strong-willed the Duelist is, the Duelist using this Deck will experience heart trauma, which may lead to death, as displayed by Zane Truesdale after using this Deck for so long. Even Syrus Truesdale experienced some cardiovascular pain when he decided to take over Zane's Duel against Makoto Inotsume. However, Syrus was able to overcome this problem by respecting the Deck, something that Zane had not done.

Playing style
As a supporting theme, these cards can be inserted into many Dragon Decks, given there are enough Level 3 (Level 4 before the 2010 duel rules overhaul) and lower Dragons for support (such as "Masked Dragon", "Armed Dragon LV3", "Hunter Dragon", some of the "Dragunity" cards, etc). You can also build a Deck based on those cards, by using some three copies of "Hunter Dragon", some other Dragons and cards that sends them to the Graveyard. Apart from being 2000 - 2500 ATK beatsticks, "Cyberdarks" also works very well with all three Virus Cards - "Eradicator Epidemic Virus", "Deck Devastation Virus", and after the equipped Dragon is destroyed, "Crush Card Virus". Note that since they only get to equip monsters when they are Normal Summoned, returning them to the hand with "Compulsory Evacuation Device" or "Relieve Monster" when their Equip Card is destroyed is a good idea. In the latter case, you can even discard a Dragon for the Cyberdark to equip. An even better support card is the card "Dark Eruption", which can add all the "Cyberdark" monsters to your hand without the discard cost. If there are two or more DARK monsters in the graveyard you are willing to banish, you could search your deck for a Level 4 Dark monster like the "Cyberdarks" with "Creeping Darkness".

A "Cyberdark" Deck is a varied Deck spanning Beatdown, Burn, and Control Deck methods. The Deck uses Machine-Type monsters primarily and Dragon-Type monsters secondarily as support.

Each "Cyberdark" monster has a different offense-based effect. The four monsters are all DARK Machine-Type and each has two Trigger Effects and a Continuous Effect. Each of the Level 4 "Cyberdark" monsters can equip themselves with a Level 3 or lower Dragon from the Graveyard when they are Normal Summoned and they have their ATK increased by the equipped Dragon, which can be destroyed in place of the "Cyberdark" if they would be destroyed by battle. The equipping and "destroyed in place of" Trigger Effects could be manipulated to start a Chain and utilize cards like Chain Strike and Chain Summoning. Their fusion, "Cyberdark Dragon" can do the same when it is Special Summoned, but with a Dragon of any Level.

"Cyberdark Horn", "Cyberdark Edge", and "Cyberdark Keel" in addition to having equipping effects each have a unique addition damage ability that punishes defensive play by an opponent. "Cyberdark Horn", "Cyberdark Edge", and "Cyberdark Keel" deliver piercing, direct, and Burn damage respectively, while "Cyberdark Dragon" gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard. The potency of the Deck lies with its ability to quickly Normal Summon "Cyberdark" monsters with comparably higher ATK than your opponent could possibly muster.

Using a lower amount of "Cyberdarks" will require a recycling technique to maintain them in your hand to change the flow of the game by going aggressive. "Monster Reincarnation" has more span and can discard a card (preferably a Dragon) but cost -1 hand advantage. "Dark Eruption" will do this with no cost, thus it has a plus 0 hand advantage, but will only target the "Cyberdarks".

Equip options for the basic "Cyberdarks"


"Hunter Dragon" is probably the most effective Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type monster because it is able to raise ATK by 1700, thus resulting in 2500 ATK which makes the "Cyberdarks" strong enough to deal with most Level 4 or lower monsters, a good amount of Level 5 and 6 monsters (including all "Monarchs"), and few lower ATK Level 7 or higher monsters. "Twin-Headed Behemoth", "Dweller in the Depths" and "Delta Flyer" are second to "Hunter Dragon" in terms of ATK increase (They all have 1500 ATK which would raise ATK to 2300), but they also have effects. "Masked Dragon" is a searcher who can search a majority of eligible targets for the "Cyberdarks", except "Hunter Dragon". "Armed Dragon LV3" can be Tributed for "Armed Dragon LV5", making it available for the "Cyberdarks". "Magna Drago", a Tuner monster, can be used for Synchros which makes it available for "Cyberdarks". "Exploder Dragon" is would increase the ATK of a "Cyberdark" to 1800 but has a destruction effect useful in pinches. "Dread Dragon" when destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard can be used to add one Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type monsters from your deck to your hand for discard cost strategies, and raise the ATK to 1900 when equipped. "Dread Dragon" can also act as a Level 2 Tuner if you prefer searching strategies over the power "Magna Drago" could provide. "Red-Eyes Baby Dragon" adds a Level 1 Dragon from your Deck to your hand when sent to the Graveyard while equipped to a Monster. "The Black Stone of Legend" can be chosen and then used to summon "Red-Eyes B. Dragon", or incorporate a Rank 4 Xyz Summon with "Red-Eyes Retro Dragon" or "Red-Eyes Wyvern".

The fastest way to fill up the Graveyard with Dragon-type monsters is to use Future Fusion, during your next turn after activating you can reveal Five-Headed Dragon then send 5 Dragon-types from your deck to the Graveyard. Most ideal would be to send 4 level 3 or lower Dragon-types and 1 Dragon-type with the highest ATK (such as Malefic Truth Dragon). This would provide a wide range of choices for CyberDarks to be equip with and if Future Fusion exists long enough, Five-Headed Dragon would be summon as well giving you a dominate presence on the field.

Despite the low ATK range, the "Dragunity" archetype is suitable for "Cyberdark" Decks as they are tuner monsters that posses abilities that activate only while equipped, providing "Cyberdarks" with interchangeable abilities for attacking, searching for Level 4 DARK Machine-Type monster, or Synchro Summoning more efficiently. Use "Dragon Mastery" to boost each Cyberdark's attack by 500 (Remember though that equipping Cyberdarks with Dragunity monsters from your hand will not give them an extra ATK boost, but they still acquire said monsters' equip effects). Level 4 Dragon-Type monsters such as "Infernal Dragon", "Blizzard Dragon", and "Spear Dragon" are usually kept at a minimum, if not at all, but are useful for their effects and to serve as targets for "Cyberdark Dragon".


 * Dragunity Aklys (When a Cyberdark would be destroyed By Battle, destroys a card your opponent controls)
 * Dragunity Brandistock
 * Dragunity Corsesca (Searches for more "Cyberdarks")
 * Dragunity Partisan (for Synchro support)
 * Dragunity Phalanx (to Synchro Summon faster)
 * Dragunity Pilum (for Direct Damage; best used with Cyberdark Keel and Cyberdark Horn)

High Level/Rank Dragons


High level Dragon-Type monsters are usually kept to a minimum, since the only monster they can be equipped to is "Cyberdark Dragon". "Cyberdarks" are DARK monsters, thus "Dark Armed Dragon" can be used effectively here. Chaos Deck themed strategies could be applied when using Blue-Eyes White Dragon/The White Stone of Legend which could fuel the special summoning of cards like Darkflare Dragon and Lightpulsar Dragon. When paired with "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon", you could search your deck for specific dragons and special summon them from the graveyard. This recyclable strategy could be used to swarm the field with Dragon-Type monsters for a Synchro Summon, Xyz, or a simple Beatdown. "Light and Darkness Dragon" can be added to the Graveyard and clears out your field, which is usually a bad thing, but can serve to an advantage because it makes many cards available to be equipped. "Cyberdarks" may mix well with "Armed Dragon" Decks because of the high ATK beatsticks and because their tribute fodder effects make them easy targets for the equip effect of the "Cyberdarks". The "Malefic" archetype can be very useful to "Cyberdark Dragon", as they are fairly easy to summon, have high ATK, and they send themselves to the graveyard if there isn't a Field Spell Card like "Dragon Ravine", easily setting them up to power-up "Cyberdark Dragon".