LV Monsters (an abbreviation meaning "Level Monsters") are capable of sending themselves to the Graveyard to summon a more powerful version of themselves once certain conditions are met. Typically, the higher level monsters of a series only get their special effect, when special summoned by their predecessor, with the highest levels only summonable by the effect of their predecessor.
Some LV Monsters automatically "level up" into more powerful cards during the Standby Phase, while others have to fulfill conditions, such as destroying an opponent's monster by battle. Most of the high-end LV Monsters tend to have extraordinarily powerful effects, ranging from Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8's fearsome lockdown of preventing the opponent from using Spell Cards to Armed Dragon LV10's ability to wipe out many opposing monsters at once. The use of LV monsters in a player's deck typically grants easy access to something very strong very quickly without the need to have the stronger monster in the hand first, and grants an additional Deck Thinning effect because of this as well.
Notably, though they happen to have "LV" in their name, "Winged Kuriboh LV9" and "Winged Kuriboh LV10" are generally not considered LV monsters except for the purpose of LV support cards, since they are not summoned by the effects of their predecessor, and the "original," Winged Kuriboh, does not even have "LV" in its name. This is especially true for Winged Kuriboh LV9, which has no gameplay relationship to the other two cards at all.
LV Monster Card List
All LV monsters have a basic setup: A low-level "base" that has some basic defense that will help it survive until it can level up to the next one, a mid-level form that acts as the primary card, and a final, powerful form that has devastating effects and stats. However, there are distinctions between the different sets that sets them apart. Also, in the artwork of the card, the first of the series is usually an "immature" and comical version of the series, with the mid-level being typical of other monsters, while the final one shows something akin to the trump cards of other archetypes.
An exception to the above are Armed Dragon series and Ultimate Insect series, which both has 2 mid-level forms (however, Armed Dragon LV 7 was originally the trump card of the series, as evident by its lack of an ability to summon its final form).
Type One
The First type of LV monsters mimic the "level up" of RPG games fairly well. The first monsters in each set will also have a fairly easy time leveling up to the next level (similar to the many "training dungeons" at the beginning of RPGs). However, all of the final forms of these monsters are nomi monsters, meaning they are unusable should you have already exhausted all of their previous forms. The advantage to these types are that their mid-level forms can be normal summoned without restrictions, making them quite usable in other decks, not just LV decks. These will also likely be the ones used most during the course of the duel, due to their usefulness compared to relative ease of summoning. Note that the mid-forms of these sets are all 1-tributers, so there is some difficulty in summoning them normally, giving a reason to use their base forms. The following are all of this type (Note that Armed Dragon LV10 is an exception, as it was created after the Armed Dragon series was published):
Type Two
The second type is exclusive to the Mystic Swordsman series. These were perhaps the "prototypes" for the third type, as each card was theoretically usable, since they could be set normally (but only the base form could be normal summoned). However, due to the low DEF of these cards, they are not likely to survive their first turn, and any protection cards could be better used for other occasions (since these could be special summoned easily in a deck dedicated to them). Apart from this, this type of card has a few drawbacks compared to the first type, namely that all three versions could be used with devastating effect regardless of whether or not you plan to level them (Namely, Mystic Swordsman LV2 was an improved version of the once popular Sasuke Samurai):
Type Three
The final type are perhaps the easiest to summon, but hardest to use. This type has no restrictions on normal summoning. However, the trade-off is that they only obtain their effects when they are summoned by their predecessors. This makes it especially hard for the Allure Queen and Dark Lucius series to Level up, as the mid-level form requires the effect to level up, and the support card "Level Up!" cannot give them their effects, since they are not summoned by their predecessors. The condition for their effects also makes them especially vulnerable to "Swords of Concealing Light", "Book of Moon", and even "Darkness Approaches", as they will no longer count as being summoned by the effect of their predecessor. However, their final forms are quite powerful and, with the exception of Allure Queen, could still be used either for its reduced effect (Dark Mimic) or simply for its brute strength (Ultimate Insect and Dark Lucius):
Type Four
These were only used by Yugi Moto in Season Five. They traditionly go up a level every stand by phase. They also gain 500 attack with this. Each of them has silent in thier name.
Other
The Winged Kuriboh series, while technically LV monsters, do not follow the normal LV system, as they are more akin to upgraded forms (such as Jinzo and Jinzo - Lord). Winged Kuriboh LV9 doesn't have any relations to the normal Winged Kuriboh and LV10 whatsoever.
LV Monster Support Cards
Some common support cards for LV monsters in general:
- Horus' Servant (For the Horus LV Series)
- Healing Wave Generator for increasing your life points
- The Calculator
- Level Down!?
- Level Modulation
- Level Up!
- The Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension
- Transcendent Wings (For Winged Kuriboh LV10)
- Queen's Bodyguard (For the Allure Queen Series)
- Royal Decree or any other cards that stop the use of traps during the battlephase. As most LV monsters need to attack to level up, you cannot afford falling prey to a Sakuretsu armor. This is also necessary for the infamous "Horus Decree" lock, as well as a more total "Silent Swordsman Decree" lock.
In addition, most of the more powerful LV monsters fall under heavily supported types, and can benefit from their support cards as well:
- Armed Dragon greatly benefits from the Dragon searcher Masked Dragon, as it can summon the base form during your opponent's turn, allowing you to instantly search out and summon Armed Dragon LV5. Since it is also a WIND-attribute monster, Flying Kamikiri #1 can be used in the same fashion.
- Ultimate Insect can, likewise, benefit from Howling Insect and Flying Kamakiri #1 in a similar fashion, as well as Insect Imitation to further the process along.
- Both of the LV Dragons (Horus and Armed Dragon) can benefit from Dragon Support cards, namely many of those released in Legacy of Darkness. Dragon's Rage in particular can be very useful, as it can fill a similar purpose to Fairy Meteor Crush, but will still be able to be used when the dragon levels up (any equip cards would be destroyed when a LV monster levels up).
- Mystic Swordsman also benefit from many of the warrior support cards, such as Reinforcement of the Army and The Warrior Returning Alive, and can bypass the "no normal summon" rule by using Marauding Captain. Book of Moon, Swords of Concealing Light, and even Darkness Approaches can also help Mystic Swordsman to destroy powerful and problematic monsters (such as Dark Armed Dragon). Silent Swordsman can also benefit from these cards as well.
Other
Cards with LV in their name, but with no relation to LV Monsters:
Trivia
- The 1 tribute versions of Horus, Silent Swordsman, Mystic Swordsman, Masked Knight and Ultimate Insect all have 2300 ATK.
- The Dark Mimic series is the only one without a tributer in its set. Additionally, Mystic Swordsman is the only series to have a final form that's a 1-tributer.
- The Ultimate Insect and Armed Dragon series have the most evolutions, but only the Ultimate Insect set can summon its various forms through its predecessor's effect.
- Silent Magician and Dark Mimic are the only two LV monsters to only have 2 forms/evolutions.
- Silent Magician is the strongest LV monster
- With the exception of Armed Dragon LV10 and the Silent Magicians (and the Winged Kuribohs), all LV monsters level up by intervals of 2 LVs.
- Silent Swordsman is the Rarest of the LV monsters; all three of its forms are ultra rare and come from different sets. Its final form is only available as a limited edition Promo card.