The next deck on the plate, my fellow duelists, is one that is near and dear to my heart.
This deck is able to completely and utterly dominate the advanced format, regardless of the
matchup, and in the right hands, can also shut down today's advanced format meta. I'm
talking, of course, about Kuraz Blade.
The purpose of Kuraz Blade, put simply, is to toolbox warriors from your grave and banish
zone; using the +1 effect of Divine Sword-Phoenix Blade in order to fuel a consistent use
of the spell card D.D.R.-Different Dimension Reincarnation. Normal decks will not want to
use D.D.R. because it gives you a -2 in the hand, but with this engine, and a well-placed
mill, you can completely mitigate the loss, turning it into a +1 in field presence, and
even a consistent draw engine that'll last the entire game!
The standard opening play for this deck is using gold sarcophagus to get Kuraz, the Light
Monarch from your deck, then activate Hidden Armory, milling a card (preferably a warrior
or Divine Sword-Phoenix Blade) and gaining D.D.R.- Different Dimension Reincarnation, either
from your deck or your graveyard. You then activate the D.D.R. to summon Kuraz instantly, and
use his effect on himself and the D.D.R. Don't worry about losing your field presence, for you
will draw 2 more cards from your deck, potentially replacing the D.D.R. with either another
Hidden Armory, a D.D.R., a Divine Sword-Phoenix Blade, or a Magical Stone Excavation!
The Loop continues when you banish Kuraz and another warrior from your grave to return
Divine Sword-Phoenix Blade to your hand, then discard it to activate another D.D.R.
It's main monster, Kuraz the Light Monarch, is a less-appreciated card due to it's
inability to battle the turn it activates it's effect.
Kuraz, The Light Monarch
Used to draw, this card turns Kuraz blade into a deck capable of not only beatdown, but
exodia, burn with magical explosion, whatever you happen to want to do with your deck.
use 3 always, he is the figurehead of this build.
This deck engine has fueled some of the most powerful decks in history. Most players prefer
one of two types of warriors for the engine to this deck, and you can see why. 1. Lightsworn:
one of the fastest milling archetypes in the game, with some of the most powerful control-based
effects in the game, Lightsworn monsters are ideal for the Kuraz deck because of their ability
to quickly get warriors and equips in your grave so you can quickly gain field presence. 2.
Destiny Heroes: These guys allow for synchro and exceed options that aren't as readily available
in a Lightsworn build, and allow the deck to use the Chaos engine, as well. First, let's look
at the best Lightsworn monsters for the deck.
Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
Used in the build to get over most level 4 monsters. Very rarely does Jain lose a battle to
the knuckle-draggers in the fight. Run 1-2, based on likelihood that you'll encounter mostly
lower level monsters, but don't run 3 because you want to control the degree of mill you are
outputting.
Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
Same concept as Jain, except you do not have to worry about mill. 1850 is usually JUST ENOUGH
to get over the knuckle-draggers, without being a mill liability to the deck. Run 1-2 if it
suits you.
Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
This little lady will help the deck tremendously. She eliminates walls, which is one of the big
problems this deck faces. She laughs at marshmallon and reaper, zenmaines, etc, without damaging
her wielder. Run 2.
Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
This monster is best used in traditional format only, as he is not a warrior and cannot be as
easily used as the others. He's in for field presence, and combos very well with the spell
A Painful Choice. In traditional format, run 3, and in advanced format, run 0. Too much of a
liability to the deck.
Now that the Lightsworn monsters have been identified, we will delve into the D Hero part of the
engine.
Destiny Hero-Diamond Dude
Used in the build to eliminate the cost and drawbacks of cards in the deck. For example, you can
play Hidden Armory, without losing your normal summon for the turn, Magical Stone Excavation
without discarding 2 cards, or Dimension Fusion without paying 2000 life points. Used in both
traditional and advanced format for the same purposes. Combine with A Feather of the Phoenix
to guarantee a normal spell target that will work. This card can do all the deck's work if
used with proper timing.
Destiny Hero-Malicious
Used in a chaos build to give you access to level 8 synchros and rank 6 exceeds with ease; simply
dump him to the grave and summon chaos sorcerer, use sorcerer's effect, then rank 6 overlay.
Destiny Hero-Dasher
Used in any build to enable fast summons of high level monsters.
Destiny Hero-Fear Monger
Used only in traditional format, where Disk Commander is legal. Used to gain more positive hand
advantage with the recursion of Disk Commander. Run 1-2, depending on deck space.
Destiny Hero- Disk Commander
Summon to draw 2, then use Kuraz to destroy it and itself to draw 2 more. Banish to get back
Phoenix Blade. Enough said.
Now that the Destiny Heroes have been given their due time, let's discuss the other monsters that often see play in Kuraz Blade.
Dark Magician of Chaos
Available only to traditional format, this monster is the deck's god. If he comes out, you win advantage
every time you summon him. He recycles your spells, banishes monsters he defeats, then retreats to the
banish zone for later use. Ideally, you want to use him to get either Hidden Armory, or A Feather of the
Phoenix, to recycle cards. This allows you to re-summon him every time he goes away. Combined with
Dimension Fusion and Spell Economics, he is a force all of his own.
Jinzo
More often used in traditional format, this monster is used to stop backrow from slowing your plays down.
Recurring Jinzo is always a nice idea, and can easily end games. Run 2 if you run him.
Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning
Oh my god, a level 8 light warrior type monster that uses dark and light monsters to summon itself,
banishing them for later use with D.D.R.? Say it isn't so. This bad boy will end games for you, and if
he is destroyed once he's successfully summoned, no worries, just D.D.R. him back into play, use the
warrior returning alive, you name it. If you run chaos for your Kuraz Blade deck, this guy will be your
biggest boss monster.
Chaos Sorcerer
A little less versatile than BLS to this deck, Chaos Sorcerer will give you field presence really fast
and give you a good overlay target afterwards, as well as fuel your grave with a dark you can then use
for your next Chaos monster.
Lightpulsar Dragon
Equal to Chaos Sorcerer in use, mostly successful in a build that quickly drops Red Eyes Darkness Metal
Dragon quickly to the grave. Run 0-1, depending on whether or not you use REDMD
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
Capable of not only quickly getting out, but recurring itself frequently without using your resources.
Combine this with Lightpulsar Dragon for the best results, and you can easily make rank 6 exceeds while
maintaining your hand advantage.
Esper Star Sparrow
Here's another amazing card. He is level 8, summons from the grave, then banishes when he dies. He's a
warrior, so don't worry about him dying. Just D.D.R. him back into play and equip him with the Phoenix
Blade, for a 3300 beater that can protect you from direct attacks. Run at least 1, he's too useful not to.
Summoner Monk
Quick rank 4 exceed, and put the phoenix blade in the grave fast. With the right hand, you can drop Dragon
Queen and get a Lightpulsar Dragon from your grave, to resurrect REDMD when destroyed. Couples well with
either the lightsworn or the d heroes, as he can search out lyla to snipe backrow, or diamond dude to
use his spell pitch effect. Run the max if you do, which is 2.
Elemental Hero- Stratos
Good target for Summoner Monk's ability, letting you plus your hand to mitigate the cost of monk's effect.
Stratos is also excellent to pick when resolving D.D.R. late game, as he can take out backrow with his effect.
Run him if you run the D-Hero engine. No exceptions.
Junk Collector
This guy is an overlooked gem for the deck. If you are running traps, don't worry about the LS milling them off.
He allows you to re-use normal traps that have been collected in your graveyard by banishing them, once during
either player's turn. Nice way to re-use that Magical Explosion. Keep in mind that you must still meet the
conditions to activate the trap card, so unlike Destiny Hero-Diamond Dude, make sure your trap cards are
properly fueled. Best with burn traps like secret barrel. Run 2-3 if you run traps.
Sinister Serpent
Instant +1 during the standby phase. Anyone who ever played traditional format sees the value of this card to a deck
with hand costs. run it in traditional format for sure.
Now we've pretty much covered all of the main deck monsters that typically see play in this deck, let's look at the spells.
Painful Choice
This card is a beast. Use it to select 5 cards from your deck, best targets would usually be 2 phoenix blade and 3 wulf, lightsworn beast, guaranteeing you will get at least 1 phoenix blade in grave, and summon at least 2 wulf. This is a great opening play and will give you plenty of field presence before you even summon. Use in traditional format for 100% sure.
Dimension Fusion
Pay 2000 lp to summon as many banished monsters as you can afford space for. This card is amazing. Diamond Dude
loves this card. In traditional format, drawing this card usually means game over.
Spell Economics
Used alongside Dimension Fusion to make it costless. Dark Magician of Chaos will recur it and it'll recur Dark
Magician of Chaos, along with any other warriors you've banished to the effect of Phoenix Blade. Run 2-3 in
traditional format.
Hidden Armory
At the cost of foregoing your normal summon, and a mill, you can add any equip spell from your deck or grave to your
hand. This searches out either D.D.R. or the phoenix blade immediately, allowing you to start toolboxing your banish
zone. Run 3 always
D.D.R.-Different Dimension Reincarnation
At the cost of one card from your hand, special summon a banished monster. This card sees very little play in decks
due to the loss of a card in your hand, but with Phoenix Blade always giving you a plus, this card will see plenty
of play.
Gold Sarcophagus
With this card, you simply banish a card you need 2 turns from now... or banish a monster you need now, and use D.D.R.
on it to get it instantly! Run 3 if you aren't running a heavy mill engine with lightsworns.
Monster Gate
Used mostly in a Magical Explosion Kuraz Blade deck, this card will quickly mill everything you need to the grave, and
give you (hopefully) a Kuraz.
Reasoning
This card is great for opening plays, when your opponent doesn't know what deck you're running. They will most likely pick
level 3 or 4, due to the exceed heavy format, imagine their suprise when you mill an Esper Star Sparrow and a Phoenix Blade!
Run 2.
Solar Recharge
Draw engine, run 2-3 in a lightsworn build
Charge of the Light Brigade
If running a lightsworn build, definitely use this to toolbox whichever Lightsworn you need for the current situation.
Destiny Draw
If running a D Hero variant, run 2-3 of this.
Allure of Darkness
Good for setting up D.D.R. plays. Run if you have enough darks in your main deck for this to have a consistent
target (5 is usually an acceptable range)
Magical Stone Excavation
Run the max, which is 2 at the moment. This card is a recycle for your spells, and a great Diamond Dude target.
A Feather of the Phoenix
Run at least 1 in a D Hero variant, to abuse Diamond Dude's effect.
The spells are varied, but these are the most commonly used cards in the deck. Next, onto commonly used traps.
Return from the Different Dimension
Pay half your life points to get back as many banished monsters as you have space for, then they banish at
end of turn. Perfect for setting up a game ending push, or controlling the field with synchros and exceeds.
Always run this.
Magical Explosion
When handless, you may do damage to the opponent equal to the number of spells in your grave x200. You can
quickly use this to win the game with Kuraz's combo, followed up by Junk Collector.
Wall of Revealing Light
Invest some life points to hold off the opponent's attacks. Good in a burn variant, especially life equalizer
otk.
Life Equalizer
This card lets you turn your life point disadvantage into a chance to quick kill your opponent with burn.
Couple this with the Magical Explosion/Junk Collector combo, and you only need 8 spells in your grave to
win.
Blasting the Ruins
A less versatile version of Magical Explosion. Only use this if your deck has a powerful mill engine and
consistent way to play Junk Collector, as you will need that extra use to be 100% effective.
That pretty much covers Kuraz Blade's strategy. now onto it's weaknesses. First of all, it needs to special summon. Any card that stops special summons would need to be removed from the board for this deck to function. For this reason, the deck has been unable to compete with the standard format due to it's often heavy use of a mill engine, and heavy reliance on the contents of the grave. Dark Hole, for instance, is more likely to be milled than used, and is therefore unreliable as a means of removal. Space Typhoons and Heavy Storm suffer the same difficulties. For this reason, most players choose to use only the mass removal cards in their main deck, then switch to a less mill reliant version using their side deck, should they encounter a deck that can control and overcome their strategy easily.
I will now upload a replay of a recent duel I played against a Merlantean deck. This player was admittedly new to the archetype, but this replay shows very well how easy it is to gain momentum with this deck, even without the use of the kuraz engine.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/c0hp4f I hope you enjoy this deck, build your own, and please, comment on your findings of this deck's strengths, weaknesses, and possible alternate combos I've neglected to mention!
waiting you all there...
by 
