Cyberdark

For the archetype of Spell/Trap Cards with the same name, see Cyberdark (Spell/Trap archetype).

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

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[]

A "Cyberdark" Deck is a varied Deck primarily focusing on Beatdown and Control. The Deck uses Machine monsters primarily and Dragon monsters secondarily as support, and they can be featured in Dragon-oriented Decks that use enough low-Level monsters.

The main draw of the "Cyberdark" archetype is its ability to quickly and constantly Normal Summon "Cyberdark" monsters with high ATK. Each of the Level 4 "Cyberdark" monsters has a Trigger Effect to equip itself with a Level 3 or lower Dragon monster from the Graveyard when it is Normal Summoned; it gains ATK equal to the ATK of the monster equipped by this effect, and the monster equipped by this effect is destroyed instead if the equipped monster would be destroyed by battle. They also have additional effects (piercing, direct attacking and minor burn) to punish defensive play on the opponent's part.

"Cyberdark Cannon" and "Cyberdark Claw" are Level 3 Dragon monsters, allowing them to be treated as Equip Cards by the Machine members. They both have 1600 ATK points, allowing the Level 4 "Cyberdark" monsters to increase their ATK to 2400. When sent to the Graveyard while equipped to a monster, its possessor can add a card to their hand (drawing in the case of "Cannon", adding a "Cyberdark" monster from the Graveyard in the case of "Claw"). Each can also be discarded from the hand to add a "Cyberdark" card from the Deck to the hand (a Machine monster in "Cannon"'s case, while "Claw" adds a Spell/Trap Card). When the equipped monster battles, the player can send a monster to the Graveyard (from their Main Deck in the case of "Cannon", their Extra Deck in the case of "Claw") which helps perform further Graveyard setup and trigger certain effects.

The "Cyberdark" Fusion Monsters, "Cyberdark Dragon" and "Cyberdarkness Dragon", can equip themselves with a Dragon-Type monster upon their summon similarly to the Level 4 Machines, but with no restrictions beyond the target being Dragon-Type. "Cyberdarkness" is also able to equip itself with Machines. "Cyberdarkness Dragon" has 2000 original ATK, compared to "Cyberdark Dragon"'s 1000 ATK, and it can send Equip Cards to the Graveyard to negate the activation of any opponent's card or effect. However, "Cyberdark Impact!" being searchable by "Cyberdark Claw", using only 3 monsters compared to "Cyberdarkness Dragon"'s 5, returning them to the Deck instead of banishing them, and gaining 100 ATK for each monster in its owner's Graveyard, keeps "Cyberdark Dragon" as a usable option on its own right.

The Field Spell Card "Cyberdark Inferno" prevents "Cyberdark" monsters from being targeted or destroyed by opponents' card effects while equipped with a card, and also allows the player to return a "Cyberdark" monster to the hand and Normal Summon it again to change or restore the monster equipped to it. Additionally, if it is destroyed by the opponent, its owner can add a Polymerization/Fusion Spell Card to their hand, giving them access to "Future Fusion" and "Overload Fusion".

Due to their focus on Normal Summons, Cyberdarks can use "Pot of Duality" and "Card of Demise". Being DARK Machines, they can use "Black Salvo" and "Desperado Barrel Dragon" as backup as well.

"Cyberdark" monsters can also work very well with Virus cards: "Eradicator Epidemic Virus" and "Deck Devastation Virus" can be easily activated by using a "Cyberdark" equipped with "Hunter Dragon" or "Leng Ling", while a Level 4 "Cyberdark" Machine that is not equipped with anything can be used for "Crush Card Virus" instead.

"Future Fusion" is a fast way to fill up the Graveyard with Dragon monsters. During the next turn after its activation, the player can reveal "Five-Headed Dragon" and send 5 Dragon monsters from their Deck to the Graveyard. If "Future Fusion" remains on the field until the following turn, the player will Fusion Summon "Five-Headed Dragon", which is a powerful monster on its own. It can also be used to summon "Cyberdark Dragon" or "Cyberdarkness Dragon". "Dragon Shrine" can be used for faster and more reliable dumping of Dragon monsters.

Equip options[]

For Level 4 "Cyberdark" monsters[]

	Japanese name	Primary type	Attribute	Level	ATK	DEF	Monster type
Tenpai Dragon Paidra	天盃龍パイドラ	Effect Monster	FIRE	3	1700	1000
Hunter Dragon	ハウンド・ドラゴン	Normal Monster	DARK	3	1700	100
Feedran, the Winds of Mischief	いたずら風のフィードラン	Effect Monster	WIND	3	1700	0
Autorokket Dragon	オートヴァレット・ドラゴン	Effect Monster	DARK	3	1600	1000
Cyberdark Cannon	サイバー・ダーク・カノン	Effect Monster	DARK	3	1600	800
Tenpai Dragon Fadra	天盃龍ファドラ	Effect Monster	FIRE	3	1600	1000
Roxrose Dragon	ロクスローズ・ドラゴン	Effect Monster	DARK	3	1600	1200	Tuner monster
Cyberdark Claw	サイバー・ダーク・クロー	Effect Monster	DARK	3	1600	800
Attachment Cybern	アタッチメント・サイバーン	Effect Monster	LIGHT	3	1600	800
Guardragon Garmides	守護竜ガルミデス	Effect Monster	EARTH	3	1600	1000
... further results

"Hunter Dragon" has the highest original ATK of all Level 3 or lower Dragon monsters with 1700, resulting in 2500 ATK for the Level 4 "Cyberdark" monsters. "Leng Ling", while having only 1500 ATK, will also set the ATK of any "Cyberdark" it is equipped to at 2500 ATK, and it can summon itself to the field while equipped. "Cyberdark Cannon", "Cyberdark Claw" and "Autovarrett Dragon" are second to "Hunter Dragon" in terms of original ATK, with 1600 ATK each. "Masked Dragon" is both an eligible target for the Level 4 "Cyberdark" monsters and can search most other eligible targets. "Armed Dragon LV3" can be Tributed for "Armed Dragon LV5", thus sending itself to the Graveyard to then be targeted by a "Cyberdark" monster. "Magna Drago" and "Delta Flyer" are Tuner monsters and can be used to perform Synchro Summons. "Exploder Dragon" is useful for destroying opponents' monsters. "Dread Dragon" can search for other Level 3 or lower Dragon monsters when destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, and is also a Tuner monster. "Red-Eyes Baby Dragon" can add a Level 1 Dragon monster from the Deck to the hand when sent to the Graveyard while equipped to a monster.

Despite their low ATK range, the "Dragunity" archetype can be a suitable complement for "Cyberdark" Decks as they have Tuner monsters with effects that only apply while equipped. The ideal monsters to equip would be "Dragunity Aklys" (destroys a card on the field if it is sent to the Graveyard while equipped to a monster) and "Dragunity Phalanx" (for Synchro Summoning).

Level 4 Dragon monsters (such as "Infernal Dragon", "Blizzard Dragon", and "Spear Dragon") are usually kept at a minimum, if included at all.

For Fusion Monsters[]

	Japanese name	Primary type	Attribute	Stars	ATK	DEF
Malefic Truth Dragon	Ｓｉｎトゥルース・ドラゴン	Effect Monster	DARK	12	5000	5000
Malefic Rainbow Dragon	Ｓｉｎレインボー・ドラゴン	Effect Monster	DARK	10	4000	0
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon	ブルーアイズ・カオス・ＭＡＸ・ドラゴン	Effect Monster Ritual Monster	DARK	8	4000	0
Soul Drain Dragon	魂食神龍ドレイン・ドラゴン	Effect Monster	LIGHT	8	4000	0
Rainbow Dark Dragon	究極宝玉神レインボー・ダーク・ドラゴン	Effect Monster	DARK	10	4000	0
... further results

High-Level Dragon monsters are usually kept to a minimum, as most of them do not contribute to the main strategy and can only be equipped to "Cyberdark Dragon" and "Cyberdarkness Dragon". "Cyberdark" monsters are DARK monsters, so "Dark Armed Dragon" can be used effectively in a "Cyberdark" Deck. Chaos Deck-themed strategies could be applied when using "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and "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", the player can search for specific Dragon monsters and Special Summon them from the Graveyard. This recyclable strategy could be used to swarm the field with Dragon monsters for a Synchro, Xyz or Link Summon, or a simple beatdown. "Light and Darkness Dragon" can be sent to the Graveyard in a number of ways, and it will clear the player's field upon destruction to revive something else - however, in-theme, only "Cyberdarkness Dragon" benefits from being revived. "Cyberdark" monsters 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 "Cyberdark" monsters. The monsters of the "Malefic" archetype are fairly easy to Summon, have high ATK, and they send themselves to the Graveyard unless there is a Field Spell Card such as "Dragon Ravine" on the field, easily setting them up to power-up "Cyberdark Dragon" or "Cyberdarkness Dragon".

Recommended Cards

Extra Deck

Fusion Monsters

Synchro Monsters

Shooting Quasar Dragon
Shooting Star Dragon
Other generic Synchro Monsters

Xyz Monsters

Gear Gigant X
Other generic Rank 4 monsters

Link Monsters

Weakness[]

The Deck is very heavily reliant on Normal Summoning.
The Deck can constantly summon high-ATK monsters with little investment, but due to the Cyberdarks powering themselves up via an equipped card, they are vulnerable to all forms of removal. Even under "Cyberdark Inferno"'s protection, the equipped cards are still vulnerable.
Cards that lock access to the Graveyard, like "Necrovalley" or "Macro Cosmos".