- This card can be searched by "Dogu", "Single Purchase", "Soul Rope", "Resonator Engine", "Vampire Dragon", "Summoner Monk", "Dragunity Corsesca", "Photon Veil", "Chaos Zone", "Shining Angel" and "Nova Summoner".
- With "DNA Transplant", you make any monster you control get this monster's effect to win a single battle with a stronger monster.
- Another worthwhile note of "Athena" is that you can summon a Fairy for 600 direct damage, use Athena's effect to send that fairy to the grave to summon "Honest" for another 600 damage, and then return that "Honest" to hand for use later, or to attack for 2600 or more if the opponent controls an ATK position monster and you are confident the attack will succeed, for 4000+ life points in one turn.
- The effect of "Asura Priest" to attack all monsters on your opponent's side of the field makes the ATK boost very effective in combination.
- Similarly, this can be done with "Ruin, Queen of Oblivion" or "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning".
- This card works well in combination with "Cyber Twin Dragon" and "Cyber End Dragon". In decks specifically built around the summoning of the "Cyber Dragon" and it's Fusion Monsters.
- This card is a staple in most Lightsworn, Worm, Fabled, Batteryman, Bujin, Constellar, tellarknight, Vylon, Photon, Watt, Hieratic, Blue-Eyes and most Fairy-Type Decks.
- Combine "Honest" with "Rainbow Dragon" or "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder" for a possible OTK.
- Setting this card can be a good bluff. Its high DEF means it will be difficult to destroy through battle, and if the opponent attacks and doesn't destroy it that turn, simply return it to your hand when it's your turn.
- You can combine this card with powerful LIGHT Attribute monsters like "Judgment Dragon", "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", "Super Conductor Tyranno", etc.
- Use this card's effect to boost the attack of "Victory Viper XX03" during you battle phase in order to increase the attack of its Option Tokens as well. This also works with "Gradius" and "Gradius's Option".
- "Lord British Space Fighter" can be substituted for "Victory Viper" - simply use the effect of "Lord British Space Fighter" to attack a second time.
- If your opponent is using "Five-Headed Dragon", any LIGHT monster will be able to destroy it when you use the effect of "Honest".
- You can discard "Honest" to use the effect and activate "Monster Reincarnation" or "Beckoning Light" to add "Honest" to the hand and use it in another attack.
- A way you can recycle this card again and again, is to combo this card with "The Creator". When your opponent attacks, just use the effect of "Honest" until it comes to your turn, then use the effect of "The Creator" to bring it back on the field, then use "Honest's" ability to bring it to your hand, and then you can continue to loop this process which will virtually create a "The Creator" that can not be destroyed by battle.
- In a deck based around "Archlord Kristya", this card can be retrieved with the the effect of "Kristya", making your "Kristya" even more difficult to get rid of.
- You cannot respond to your opponent's "Honest" with cards like "Rush Recklessly" because "Honest" increases the LIGHT monster's ATK by the ATK of your monster when the effect of "Honest" resolves. It will automatically match your 700 ATK increase with a 700 ATK increase of its own, rendering your "Rush Recklessly" useless.
- The same can be said about your opponent using "Honest" against your "Honest".
- Use this card against "Light and Darkness Dragon" by activating its effect to return it to your hand over and over again.
- Never use this card when being attacked by an opponent's "Clear Vice Dragon" because the effect of "Clear Vice Dragon" will recalculate its ATK, even after "Honest" is used, resulting in the Attack Points of "Clear Vice Dragon" becoming six times the ATK of your monster.
- Unless you used "Dimension Wall". Doing so would likely result in an OTK.
- Equip "Armed Changer" to a light monster and you can use the effect of "Honest" again and again!
- Alternativly, keep recycling it back in your hand using "Drill Warrior".
- A very deadly combo is to use "Honest" while you have a high ATK Light Attribute Machine type monster on your field, and then immediately combo it with "Limiter Removal" for massive damage, and even a possible OTK.
Against This Card
- "Mind Crush" can be a more reliable alternative. When your opponent attacks your monsters with a weaker LIGHT Monster, it can be assumed that they have "Honest" in their hand. Using "Mind Crush" before the Damage Step prevents the opponent from using their "Honest" by sending any copies of it in their hand to the graveyard. As an added bonus, their weaker monster is also destroyed in battle. This method can eliminate all copies of Honest in the opponent's hand, leaving their weaker monsters defenseless unless they draw another copy.
- An alternate method is to avoid "Honest" by switching all your opponent's monsters to defense position with "Swords of Concealing Light", "Enemy Controller" or "Book of Moon".
- "Macro Cosmos" or "Dimensional Fissure" will prevent "Honest" from being used, as the cost to activate the effect of "Honest" cannot be paid.
Traditional Format
- "Trap Dustshoot" can be used against "Honest".
- With "Athena" and "Ultimate Offering", you can use this card's effect to return to the hand during the Main Phase and continuously summon it again, dealing Damage for a slightly effective OTK. Bear in mind, you can't be at a noticeable Life Point disadvantage to do this. If you run "Spring of Rebirth", your Life Points will stay the same while your opponent's go down.
- If you do run "Spring of Rebirth", an alternative to "Athena" is "Fire Princess".
- If you run two "Spring of Rebirths", "Ultimate Offering", "The Sanctuary in the Sky" and "The Agent of Judgment - Saturn" you can pull off a deadly combo. Continually summon "Honest" using "Ultimate Offering" to increase the disparity between you and your opponent's life points until the disparity is great enough to use the effect of "The Agent of Judgment - Saturn" for the OTK game.