Yugipedia:Featured Card/Archlord Kristya
Ah, special summons. By now, they're the bread and butter of many a deck. With the advent of synchro monsters, many decks focus exclusively on their ability to synchro summon - if something locks them out of their synchro summons, or special summons in general, then they're generally beaten right then. When that something is a level 8 monster with 2800 ATK and the ability to come back right after you get rid of it, they're toast. Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present Archlord Kristya, the card you definitely don't want to see on your opponent's side of the field.
Krystia has not one, not two, not even three noteworthy effects - it has a grand total of four. First of all, you can special summon it by having exactly four Fairies in your graveyard. This makes its summon fairly easy - many Fairies like "Honest", "Hecatrice", and "Herald of Orange Light" can dump themselves into the graveyard with ease. Of course, Kristya doesn't have to be special summoned by this effect - you can use "Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen" or "Call of the Haunted" to special summon it, or even tribute summon it. You'll want to use its effect, though, because if it's special summoned by its own effect, you can return one of those Fairies to your hand! One obvious choice would be Honest, which allows this card to power over anything, including on-field synchros. That 4000-ATK Colossal Fighter isn't so powerful now, is it?
Third is the most powerful effect of this card, the one most dreaded by duelists - "Neither player can Special Summon monsters". Sorry, but it looks like the monsters that you'd be using to take out this huge threat - "Judgment Dragon", "Dark Armed Dragon", "Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier", and others - are just going to be useless. And not much that's normal summoned can deal with it either. Finally, whenever it would go from the field to the graveyard, it returns to the top of your deck instead. Meaning that even if your opponent uses "Mirror Force" or "Smashing Ground" to deal with Archlord Kristya, it'll be back next turn - and this time your opponent will have even less ways to stop it.
So, the question is, where do you put this powerful card? The answer is actually a bit unexpected - Lightsworns! It's counter-intuitive, as Lightsworns rely on special summons with "Wulf", "Lumina", and "Judgment Dragon". The trick here is to summon Kristya after you make those special summons, ensuring your opponent can't counter with their own. It's a strategy that's been in use for a while - Tele-DAD and Synchro Cat decks often main-decked or side-decked "Royal Oppression" in their heyday. With Lightsworns, it's even better, because that Royal Oppression now has 2800 ATK and recycles itself. And with many Fairies being used in Lightsworns, such as "Celestia", "Honest", and the TCG-exclusive "Shire, Lightsworn Spirit", it's easy to summon. Otherwise, you can build a deck based around Kristya itself - using cards like "Nova Summoner" and "Shining Angel" to thin the deck and fill the graveyard for Kristya's summon.
So, how do you get rid of Kristya? There's really only one good answer - remove it from play. Use "Bottomless Trap Hole" to get it as soon as it enters the field. Alternatively, if you can keep a monster around to tribute, use "Caius the Shadow Monarch". "D.D. Crow" can also keep your opponent from fulfilling the requirements for its special summon. You'll want to have at least one of these options in your main deck or side deck, because Archlord Kristya can tear through most decks out there, and stopping it will be a priority.
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