Chaos (series)
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Chaos (カオス Kaosu) refers to a series of LIGHT and DARK monsters that focuses on banishing LIGHT and DARK monsters to Special Summon monsters or activate effects. Many of the monsters in this series cannot be Normal Summoned/Set.
While many of these monsters are also members of the "Chaos" archetype, they are not directly supported by "Chaos" support cards, due to not being Ritual or Synchro Monsters or belong to certain Chaos subarchetypes. The Chaos Dragon classic deck, probably singlehandedly responsible for the establishment of the Forbidden status, involves cards and the playstyle belong to this series.
Contents
Design[edit]
Thematically, most Chaos monsters are variants of existing monsters or are magical Dragons. The Japanese names of Chaos monsters typically contain カオス (Kaosu, "Chaos") or 混沌 (Konton, "Chaos") in their kanji or furigana names.
In terms of both name and card art, the "Black Luster Soldier" ("Chaos Soldier" in the OCG) is thematically a subseries of the Chaos series.
Many of the later Chaos monsters are counterparts to existing monsters, in the same vein as Dark counterpart, Lightray, and Metaphys monsters.
| Chaos counterpart | Original monster |
|---|---|
| The Chaos Creator | The Creator |
| Chaos Daedalus | Levia-Dragon - Daedalus |
| Chaos Valkyria | Dunames Dark Witch |
| Chaos Grepher | Warrior Dai Grepher |
| Chaos Nephthys | Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys |
| Chaos Mirage Dragon | Mirage Dragon |
Members[edit]
The Chaos series is primarily defined through its gameplay effects, and secondarily through its card themes. Effect-wise, monsters considered to be in the Chaos series are typically LIGHT or DARK Main Deck Special Summon Monsters that can be Special Summoned by banishing LIGHT and/or DARK monsters from the Graveyard.
- Pure LIGHT and DARK Chaos
The following monsters are near-universally considered to be members of the Chaos series, due to both their theme and their effects.
These Chaos monsters typically feature a dark blue and gold color palette, and usually have luminous auras as backgrounds in their card art, reflecting their relations to light and dark.
| Monster | Attribute | Summoning procedure GY banish requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End | DARK 
|
1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
| Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning | LIGHT 
|
1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
| Chaos Sorcerer | DARK
|
1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
| Lightpulsar Dragon | LIGHT
|
(Summon from hand) 1 LIGHT + 1 DARK (Summon from GY) Send 1 LIGHT + 1 DARK from hand to GY |
| Darkflare Dragon | DARK
|
1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
| Black Dragon Collapserpent | DARK
|
1 LIGHT |
| White Dragon Wyverburster | LIGHT
|
1 DARK |
| Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Evening Twilight | DARK
|
All LIGHT or all DARK (from GY), while there are an equal number of each in GY |
| Chaos Emperor, the Dragon of Armageddon | DARK
|
(Summon from hand/Extra Deck) 1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
| Chaos Dragon Levianeer | DARK
|
3 LIGHT and/or DARK |
| Chaos Betrayer | DARK
|
(Summon from GY) 1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
| Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon | DARK
|
(Summon from GY) 1 LIGHT + 1 DARK (from hand and/or GY) |
| The Chaos Creator | DARK
|
1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
| Chaos Daedalus | DARK
|
1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
| Chaos Valkyria | LIGHT
|
1 LIGHT or DARK |
| Chaos Nephthys | DARK
|
(Summon from hand/GY) 1 LIGHT + 1 DARK |
- Chaos-themed monsters that lack Chaos effects, but support the playstyle
A number of other monsters are thematically similar to Chaos monsters, have effects that support the LIGHT and DARK and banish-based playstyle, but lack their own banish-based Special Summoning effects. This group includes members such as "Black Luster Soldier - Sacred Soldier", "Eclipse Wyvern", "Chaos Grepher", and "Envoy of Chaos". They are typically also considered to be in the Chaos series due to their theme.
- Chaos-themed monsters that lack Chaos effects and do not support the playstyle
A number of cards have great thematic similarities with Chaos monsters, but have effects that only tangentially or do not at all support the Chaos playstyle. Examples of this include "Light and Darkness Dragon". These monsters are usually not considered to be in the Chaos series, despite their thematic similarities.
- Non-Chaos themed monsters with Chaos effects
A number of monsters are not thematically related to the Chaos series (usually due to having their own themed archetypes), but have similar Summoning conditions and/or effects as the Chaos monsters. Examples of this include "Thunder Dragonduo" and the "Sky Scourge" monsters. They are sometimes considered to be Chaos monsters due to their effects.
Playing style[edit]
The Chaos playstyle focuses on banishing LIGHT and DARK monsters from the Graveyard to Special Summon powerful Chaos boss monsters. However, Chaos monsters are themselves quite ineffective at setting up the Graveyard with LIGHT and DARK monsters, meaning that Chaos playstyle needs to be supplemented with other cards and engines to work effectively. Popular engines that complements the Chaos playstyle include:
- "Lightsworn", which can rapidly mill the player's Deck and set up the Graveyard with LIGHT targets to Summon Chaos monsters.
- "Thunder Dragon", which has both LIGHT and DARK monsters that can discard themselves and can gain advantage off of being banished.
- "Danger!", which can discard cards from the player's hand to set up the Graveyard, and also provide DARK targets.
- Dragon monsters and their support cards; many Chaos monsters are Dragons and benefit from Dragon support, while the Dragon type itself provides many LIGHT and DARK targets and many ways to consistently search or mill them (e.g. "Dragon Ravine", "Dragon Shrine", "Rokket"). The Dragon monster "Starliege Seyfert" can search out some of the Chaos monsters, discard monsters, and provide a LIGHT target by itself.
The Spell Card "Chaos Space" is a vital search card for the Chaos series, being able to set up the Graveyard, search out Chaos monsters, and recur banished monsters for reuse.
Often, the Chaos series is compacted into a Chaos engine focusing on two Chaos monsters, "Black Dragon Collapserpent" and "White Dragon Wyverburster". Both monsters can be searched out and easily Summoned with the use of "Chaos Space", who can then search out the other if they're sent from the field to the Graveyard, which is easily triggered by using them as Link Materials, and the searched out monster can then be immediately Summoned. The Special Summoned "Collapserpent" and "Wyverburster" can be used as materials to enable the plays of other decks, such as Dragon Link.
Recommended cards
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Anti-Meta Chaos Deck[edit]
Chaos Dragon Deck[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- The original trio of Chaos series monsters, "Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End", "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning", and "Chaos Sorcerer", were notable for their extremely high power levels relative to their contemporary card pools. For several years in the early 2000s, the Chaos series dominated the metagame, and all three Chaos monsters had been placed on the Forbidden list in the game's history.
- "Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End" was made Forbidden in the very first Forbidden/Limited lists on September 2004 in the OCG and August 2004 in the TCG, due to its role in the infamous Yata-Garasu Lockdown. It would later receive a functional erratum more than a decade later that made the card Limited (2015 in the OCG, 2019 in the TCG) and are finally Unlimited as of the October lists of their respective years.
- "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" was made Forbidden in September 2005, after the "Chaos Phoenix" Deck using "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" and "Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys" won the 2005 World Championship. It was made Limited in both the OCG and TCG in September 2011, after 6 years of being Forbidden. It was then Semi-Limited 5 years later in the OCG and 6 years later in the TCG and is Unlimited as of July 2017 in the OCG and February 2018 in the TCG.
- "Chaos Sorcerer" was made Forbidden in both the OCG and TCG in September 2006. It was made Limited in both the OCG and TCG in March 2009, and from 2009–2014, its status repeatedly shifted between Limited, Semi-Limited, and Unlimited, before finally settling in Unlimited as of July 2014 in the OCG and November 2015 in the TCG.
- "Chaos End Ruler - Ruler of the Beginning and the End" is an anime-only Chaos monster featured in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, whose effect partially merges and upgrades that of both "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" and "Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End".
