The Ally of Justice archetype, designed to counter the "Worm" archetype, is a collection of DARK Machine monsters with a hyper-focused design philosophy: to defeat LIGHT monsters. This created a fundamental competitive flaw, making the archetype unplayable against most of the card pool. Despite this, it yielded two iconic "tech" cards: Ally of Justice Catastor and Ally of Justice Cycle Reader, which transcended the archetype's original design.
The archetype's conceptual foundation is linked to the "Duel Terminal" lore, where Ally of Justice are a military force of DARK Machine monsters created to combat the invading "Worm" archetype, which consisted of LIGHT monsters. This lore-driven design resulted in a "silver bullet" problem, making the deck ineffective against most other attributes and playstyles.
| Characteristic | Ally of Justice | Worm |
|---|---|---|
| Attribute | DARK | LIGHT |
| Type | Machine | Reptile |
| Mechanic | Anti-LIGHT effects | Flip Effects |
Discards a card to flip an opponent's face-down monster, a now outdated and irrelevant effect.
Tributes itself to double another Ally of Justice monster's ATK, but is a strictly worse version of a generic spell card.
A powerful "hand trap" that banishes LIGHT monsters from the opponent's Graveyard. This card succeeded by breaking from the archetype's core design philosophy.
A classic staple Level 5 Synchro monster. Its effect to destroy any non-DARK monster it battles made it a universally useful tech card.
A powerful boss monster with high summoning requirements, but its effects are conditional on the opponent controlling a LIGHT monster, rendering it situational.
A detailed overview of each card's individual role and effects.
Synchro/5
Extra Deck staple that destroys any non-DARK monster it battles.
Tuner/3
A powerful "hand trap" that banishes up to two LIGHT monsters from an opponent's Graveyard.
Effect/4
A "silver bullet" floodgate that prevents the Special Summon of LIGHT monsters.
Effect/3
Destroys a LIGHT monster it battles at the start of the Damage Step.
Effect/2
Tributes itself to double the ATK of another Ally of Justice monster. It is a strictly worse version of Limiter Removal.
Synchro/10
A high-investment boss monster with various effects that are only active against LIGHT monsters.
The Ally of Justice archetype, with its anti-LIGHT floodgates, operates at full power with no restrictions on the current TCG banlist.
Play any card at your preferred ratio without restrictions
Access to all archetype synergies without limitations
No banlist constraints holding back your strategy
Banlist Status Summary
Core cards checked:
• Ally of Justice Catastor
• Ally of Justice Core Destroyer
• Ally of Justice Cycle Reader
• Ally of Justice Decisive Armor
• Ally of Justice Enemy Catcher
• Ally of Justice Quarantine
analyzed •
0 restrictions found •
All cards legal at 3 copies
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