Black Luster Soldier - Failed Cards, Archetypes, and Sometimes Mechanics in Yu-Gi-Oh 

Boys, we all know what this means. Konami about to announce some busted Black Luster Soldier support soon.

"oh... Black luster soldier no one can ever know of our forbidden Love"

DuelLogs summoning more support to a failed archetype

Me: [finds a archetype I like in duel links] DuelLogs: Now lemme tell you why this archetype is a failure

It’s worth noting the connection to Gaia the Fierce Knight is because in the Duelist Kingdom arc, rituals seemed to be used to evolve specific monsters. So Yugi uses Gaia in the ritual to evolve it into BLS the way Dark Magician similarly rituals into Magician of Black Chaos

Thanks for the Busted support,Duel logs.

What still puzzles me up to this day is how Konami decided to make BLS - Sodier or Chaos as Earth attribute 🤔

And now we wait for Konami to make support for the deck…

Don’t forget, the original, _normal monster_ version of Black Luster Soldier is now in the game and completely legal alongside its ritual version, down to having the exact same name. Meaning that Blue-Eyes White Dragon is tied for being the strongest normal monster in the game as far as ATK goes.

Big Luscious Soldier

Am I the only person who originally thought Black Luster Soldier was female based on the original ritual monster's card art? The more slender-looking figure and the long ponytail made BLS seem more feminine to me, but then I saw the anime episode where Yugi summoned it and the card art of Envoy of the Beginning and was like "oh wait that's a dude".

You know an archetype isn’t great when you have to write a busted skill where 7 cards are added to the GY at the start of the duel just for it to see any meta play

Fun fact: “Beginning Knight” was originally called “Black Luster Soldier - Child Soldier” but had to be changed

I recall it was ruled for awhile that the lv 4 Knights would not give their inherited effects to a BLS Ritual monster if you used Synthesis since it sends and not tributes for the summon. Even lost a round at locals back in the day since the judge ruled it that way and checked with other judges about it. I guess its finally cleared up or my local judges were just stupid.

Oh, Black Luster Soldier. No one must ever know of our forbidden love.

I've won so many duels with BLS Legendary Solider. The effect is quite powerful in non BLS focused decks 😁 I ran one copy in my Shinobird deck, since Advanced Ritual Art is the Ritual spell I used primarily

I’m surprised that they never made a SYNCHRO Chaos version of BLS.

Correction on the Duel Links skill: You do not get Super Soldier Soul in the Graveyard, only the six monsters for Ritual material and as fodder for Envoy of the Beginning along with a Super Soldier Ritual so you can use the Graveyard effect of Ritual, and they don't get sent from your deck; they get automatically generated in your Graveyard at the start of the Duel from thin air. In its heyday BLS would splash in Endymion, Magistus of Mastery with a Magistus ED package because they didn't need a Normal Summon or Extra Deck space (there's only so many Link Monsters the deck reasonably needed), so Endymion would give them some extra draw and toolboxing, and the deck only died out when the banlist made it so that wasn't an option anymore.

Black Luster Soldier was always my favorite. Here’s to hoping for a future

Idc if it was bad, the name "Black Luster Soldier" is the most raw thing in Yu-Gi-Oh for me

The duel links portion of this video is wrong though. The skill doesn’t put the level 1 monster in the graveyard. It puts the ritual spell that can banish itself and a dark and light monster to summon a BLS monster. It is still very good though! Not a tier 1 atm, but very good

Whoa.... when did Duellogs change their avatar from Aki to this cool spider-thing?

It’s weird that both Dark Magician and Black Luster Soldier ended up being failed mechanics but also having very important tech options that people would use IE Dragoon and Envoy of the Beginning. DM is Yugi’s most important monster and BLS was literally the ka of Yami Yugi

To me BLS always worked better as a single powerful monster rather than the centerpiece of an archetype. Like Yugi always used him more as a secret final boss character while most of his other monsters have some sort of small engine built around them (at least in battle city and beyond). That's why Envoy of the beginning and Solider of Chaos are much better representations of how the original card felt as opposed to Super Soldier. They're way cooler as these lone wolf style power cards that kind of show up anywhere. Honestly the fact that he's had multiple powerful cards that saw wide use is a good enough legacy for me, even if the actual archetype didn't work out.

As a Gaia player i only play BLS as a extension of Gaia. But I can't wait for the New Blue Eyes fusion card that ties in to the BLS deck

Grampa, no...... "GRANDPA YEESSSSS....."

For the record, the Chaos cards randomly name BLS without doing anything with it because its Japanese name is "Chaos Soldier." So it's stuck in a bit of a reverse "Frog the Jam" situation. (Though I don't know why they don't just give it the "this is always treated as a Chaos card" treatment like Summoned Skull.)

Favorite card in the game. Still have my old BLS from the 2004 Yugi starter deck!

I was waiting for this archetype

You should do a why amazoness failed video

No ritual spell should, under any kind of circumstance, require to match the monster's level with the materials, nor be hard to seek with generic support.

On todays episode of duel logs makes you want to play an archetype

Oh, right. Chaos Soldier. The Soldier of Chaos, the Soldier chosen especially to be Chaotic, Black Luster Soldier...

I'd suggest Archfiends for one of these, but there are so many cards with Archfiend in their name that aren't really part of the actual Archfiend archetype. To narrow it down, Summoned Skull is overdue. I can't think of any other card that's been retrained, like, 8 times and *none* of them are good.

That pre-preparation of rites really pissed me off. If it had worked with BLS Super Soldier and they got better counter traps, I think it would have done so much better.

One of the best things about Duel Links are the skills that allow lower tier archtypes to thrive. While BLS has fallen off in usage, it's still super powerful. Battle Chronicle makes a combo Dark Magician/Blue-Eyes deck ultra successful. Eternal Hero allows you to summon whatever Yubel form or Neos fusion you want on Turn 1, including Wiseman/Kluber. Tachyon Dragon was so strong they had to nerf the skill and ruin its viability. Of course, the current scourge is Shiranui Style Successor, which gives you four Shiranui Synchros in your Extra Deck plus Spectral Sword already in your Graveyard to start, then allows you to send a Level 4 to the Graveyard for a Shiranui Monster from your deck or return all your Synchro/Link monsters in the Graveyard/Banish Zone back to the Extra Deck.

Funny how BLS is one of the free-to-play decks in Master Duel but I've never seen anyone use it. I've seen Magnet Warriors and Gaia decks used more often. How did they make Gaia work and not a ritual deck with Chaos support?

I loved Envoy of the Beginning since its release and I also really like the Soldier of Chaos Link Monster for how much of a powerhouse it is for being very generic for a combo deck. It is a shame how the ritual retrains of BLS and the play style was very hampered by how slow it was and no quick interaction protection effects. However, I am happy to see the deck actually faring well in Duel Links. So, while Soldier of Chaos wasn’t a failed card and the play style itself is fine in Duel Links, the TCG environment is where the BLS retrains failed significantly.

With that closing line you MUST do a video essay about why it's alright to feel that about a 10+ year old monster but not a fresh new monster in a new archetype.

Despite it's failings, BLS has always had awesome artwork. So cool that it makes one tempted to add it to your deck despite how unreliable it can it be.

Black Luster Solider is my favorite card of all time :) looks so amazing as an actual card. That and toon world look so good

You forgot to mention the BLS normal monster, though at the moment it doesn’t change much until Konami supports it

BLS really needs its own field spell/some form of union monster/equip that keeps card effects in check, an xyz/synchro retrain that's easier to get out then ritual summoning, a reliable searcher, a good generic monster.

Feels like the archetype could use a Field Spell. Something that states something like "Once per turn you can add Black Luster Soldier or a card that mention it to your hand". Also provides some protection like "During the Main Phase, Black Luster Solider monsters you control are unaffected by your opponents card effects". Tenpai Dragon? What do you mean Tenpai Dragon? I don't know them.

Why is BLS (rituals and link) earth attribute? Gaia the Fierce Knight got infused with choas, the combination of light and dark, to become a "choas soldier." Ra almighty, he switched to wind when upgrading his mount to Curse of Dragon.

This is one of the archetypes I have no idea how they could support it, just so it doesn't end up bricking most of the time. Let alone make it meta. Especially due to the whole "being forced to be an anime reference one way or another" or how it is now permanently tied to the Gaia The Fierce Knight archetype and the Dark Magician & Blue-Eyes (due to Chaos form) 9:15 get why the gaia was made, but why the level 8 ? 13:11 I think that's the main problem of the Black Luster Soldier Archetype: they focus so much on is aspect of being "a boss monster" with many anime-like extra forms for different situations all focused on making a comeback... but barely try to give BLS something to actually bring the boss monster to begin with. let alone make sure it can actually make said comeback 15:45 shouts to endymion engine boosting the consistency of the deck

Bls is one of top 3 favorite monsters up there with red eyes black dragon, and the time wizard

Black Luster Soldier - Soldier of Chaos is the only Black Luster Soldier with a build in protection that is also good enough to not get destroyed after beeing summoned. It is and most likely will stay the best one for a long time.

I wish that rush duel or speed duel can be more popular because I like how these old decks are good like 70% of these failed decks are or were good in duel links

Classic Yugi cards. Classic Kaiba Cards. Classic Joey Cards. All Failed Decks.

I think the issue is that Konami is trying too hard to tie BLS with Gaia when it could lean better as a chaos warrior base deck

I wonder why they called it Black Luster Solider, when his name was just Chaos soldier.

Bro this is my favorite monster card, but I knew this video was coming LOL. Envoy of the Beginning is the GOAT.

Idea for an “Envoy of the Beginning” retrain (along with a retrain for Chaos Emperor Dragon): _Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of Creation_ (LIGHT) Level 12 Warrior/Fusion/Effect 2+ LIGHT monsters + 2+ DARK monsters (This card is always treated as a “Chaos” card) _Must either be fusion summoned OR special summoned by its own effect. If your opponent added to their hand (by card effect) and/or placed on the field 5 or more cards this turn (Quick Effect): You can banish 2 or more LIGHT and DARK monsters each from your hand, Field and/or GY, then special summon this card from your Extra Deck, GY or Banishment (This is treated as a Fusion Summon). This card can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each. You can banish 1 other card from your hand or field (Quick Effect): Banish 1 card from the field or either players GY._ ATK/5000 DEF/4500 _Chaos Emperor Dragon- Envoy of Destruction_ (DARK) Level 12 Dragon/Fusion/Effect 2+ LIGHT monsters + 2+ DARK monsters _Must either be fusion summoned OR special summoned by its own effect. If your opponent destroyed and/or banished 5 or more cards this turn (Quick Effect): You can banish 2 or more LIGHT and DARK monsters each from your hand, Field and/or GY, then special summon this card from your Extra Deck, GY or Banishment (This is treated as a Fusion Summon). This card can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each. Once per turn, you can pay 1000 LP (Quick Effect): Send all other cards from the field and both players hands to the GY, then if you do, both players draw 2 cards._ ATK/5000 DEF/4500

At this point I'm waiting for him to call out the Harpie Ladies, since he's hit basically every Duel Monsters archetype

Watching this video while building my BLS deck with card that just arrived :')

BLS is carried by its skill but it's not currently tiered in Duel Links at this moment. Right now we have Sky Strikers, multiple Zombie decks, and multiple anime decks like TGs/Blue Eyes - all of these have god skills or work fine on their own. And if you have BLS, you also possess Tenyi which is also a meta deck. It can scam in first to 1 but it's the last of our problems right now.

I think that Konomi should try putting Ritual Monsters in the extra deck. They would have an easier time making them work then breaking their backs over and over again just to get rituals to function.

You are gonna have to fight me for this disrespect.

BLS isn't tier 1 or 2 in DL to this day, but it's certainly still a threat

DuelLogs presents The NEW Desperation from Chaos Booster Pack featuring " Maxx Chaos " " Soldier's Respect (Effect Veiler) " Queen of Lusters ((Zeus + Dragoon + Destiny Wing) × Rhongo) " BLS Part Time Soldier " (10000 ATK 1 turn only XYZ beater) " Chaos Circular " " Gaia The Slighly Menancing Knight " " Soldier's Regret " (all BLS cards return to your deck and you can't ritual summon for the rest of the match) " BLS Retirement Soldier (Tribute this card in your Main Phase. Your opponent wins the match)

Potential meta threats in the future Starry knight Darklords Dual avatars Cards starving for support Materiactor Cards that got nerfed hardddd Meklord Egyptian gods Orichalchos seal Number Cards

I actually play BLS in Master Duel, well, not quite, i've mixed it with Branded, which, together, have a lot of synergy, but as a friend said, "Branded combines with everything" lol

I swear they could write on any Ritual monster “Reveal this card in your hand: add any ritual spell to your hand, and if you do; you can add monsters to your hand whose levels equal the level of that monster (their effects cannot be activated this turn)” and still Ritual wouldn’t be a meta threat

These videos have always been the highlights of my day

Only BLS - The beginning and Chaos Soldier was used in the history, the rest is somehow unplayable. - i used both Chaos Soldier (link3) and Legendary swordsman on my DM deck at MD. You probably doesn't realise this but you can ritual summoning Legendary swordsman on DM deck at BP, if they didn't negate your ritual summon their board would be clear.

They need to errata all BLS support from only ritual to all BLS and give the normal BLS new support like blue eyes red eyes and dark magician

I would love to see a video on the burger arc type!!

Notably the gateway of chaos HAS to add on activation so if u can't add u can't activate it which is why in ABC format you'd give your opponent it with Set Rotation to lock them out of union hangar

I remember when Envoy of Chaos was printed, to say my local meta was warped is beyond simplifying it. Imagine going to a tournament and having 90% of the decks being the same deck, like down to the last card in the sideboard.

Plans to do any Lightsworn/Twilightsworn video? Best of, worst of, history. Anything really. One of my favorite archetypes

I really wish BLS would just get more consistency support. As much as I love the Ritual version of this deck its just so awkward.

The "failed cards" episode we've all been waiting for. Nonetheless, I love this black-clad guy, mainly his 'Envoy of the Beginning' for being a non-ritual monster who can be easily summoned and was relentless when it cames to attacks. There you have it, Black Luster Soldier, you deserve better.

I remember one of the rare times I went to locals with my Hopeless Dragons (Future Fusion live, 3x Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon). I had a Blackwing kid top decking, and he ripped BLS. I dealt with it, but then he top decked Monster Reborn bringing it back and ended up winning. Either extremely lucky, or he stacked. It is also funny when Konami releases retrains that don't even power creep (BLS vs 2014 Twilight). I don't envy the position their in trying to come up with new/retrain cards that are somewhat balanced, but they definitely way overstep or way underwhelm sometimes.

probably out of context but I wanted to point out that personally this video length was perfect !

This gives me an idea for a new mass summoning Ritual Spell: _Super Soldier Supreme Ritual_ Ritual Spell _This card can be used to Ritual Summon any number of “Black Luster Soldier”(s), and/or any number of other Level 8 or lower Ritual monsters from your hand, GY or Banishment. You must also Tribute monsters from your hand and/or field who’s combined Levels/Ranks/Links equal or exceed the combined levels of the Ritual monsters you summon. During either players turn, you can tribute monsters from your hand, field and/or GY who’s combined levels/ranks/links equal or exceed 8: Activate this card from your hand, GY or banishment._

I can still remember Black luster soldier envoy of the beginning + fortune lady engine with mind of plana hand sweep on duel links💀 Also the new skill that gave em free graveyard like whyyy😭

I use a couple of these cards that mention Gaia along with the og BLS in a Gaia deck in MD, not even close to meta but it's fun and always keeps me in platinum so not awful either.

Glad to see the option 2 cute spider got used for the pokemon channel! :)

the problem that plagues Super Soldier Ritual needing monsters who's levels equaled EXACTLY 8 is the original problem I had with synchro monsters when they first came out. I still don't like that aspect, but all the high-level synchros that are out now combined with the lower level tuners and other tuners that can manipulate levels of itself or other materials give it enough of a margin of flexibility that I only kinda dislike synchro summoning

Deck Idea A ritual deck whose gimmick is to place and summon ritual monsters from the extra deck. Example: A ritual monster with the effect if you draw into it, place it face up on your extra deck and draw again. If the card is a ritual card then you can choose to instantly activate it without having its effect negate.

My favorite thing about black luster soldier is that the original one looks like a fusion between Warrior of light from the first final fantasy and the hero of the first dragon quest

We need Black Luster Influencer - Envoy of the Trend. Your game immediately turns in to a series of shorts.

Me and my brothers used to put rituals in the fusion deck to make them more accessible.

Failed in OCG and TCG make it viable in Duel links. Konami truly milk out all their creations.

All this deck needed was for super solider ritual to say Exceeds the cost of the ritual summon. It would make the gaias work better.

BLS would be crazy if djinn lock was still allowed since it revolves around a level 4 dark monster but as it stands at least you can bully synchro monsters since there is a level 4 dark djinn monster that makes it so that all synchro monster effects are negated while BLS is on the field.

Thanks for explaining the dl power

I'm sure Triamids will be a great addition to your collection!

My Gusto are going to be in this series sooner than I anticipated at this rate. Let's hope that being on this list makes Konami finally making strong support for it.

Advanced Ritual art made BLS Legendary Swordsman a menace for Duel links, Gateway into Legendary use Legendary to pull Advanced Ritual art and you can then yeet a blue eyes white dragon to summon it, this makes running BLS somewhat viable since you can also run loads of BEWD Support instead of just praying BLS is enough but having BLS Legendary Swordsman is usually a strong extra strategy for the deck, unfortunately even duel links is catching up to the TCG in a big way and there are quite a few ways to counter this strategy since Konami thought it would be great to put Effect Veiler into the game. 🥴

I've always loved the design, looks like a Final Fantasy character

Gonna invest in BLS now

The Soul of Light and Darkness was truly the beginning of BS skills in DL. Screw The Bond that illuminates the Future, BLS made it into tier 1 status for the first time thanks to the yellow button. A truly ladder slayer with the acces of limit 3 traps, a draw engine that can negate a monster or pop one backrow and forcing the opponent to use the disruptions before entering the battle phase. It didn't last longer, but it might return sooner with the Magistus unlimits.

BLS was so disgusting in Due lLinks, they just played 4 MST before to summon anything and the skill searched the Super Soldier Card and they start with 7 cards in the graveyard to summon 2 Rituals and 1 Envoy. I still hate them with passion.

Ah yes , The song "Secrets of the Earth" by Lama House in the background. I recognized it.

BLS is not tier 1 in Duel Links. BLS is pretty frequently seen in tier 1 Blue eyes decks though

The moon spider in the Intro and the ad without segway felt pretty off

Konami where is our Chaos ritual spell Chaos Max Synthesis and our Magician of Black Chaos Legendary Master of Dark Magic Ritual Monster.

Wait, I haven't played this game in over 10 years lol so sorry if sounding ridiculous - but, is BLS EotB still actually banned?? I looked on Konami's Official Forbidden list and it wasn't there - is there a separate Red list?