NEXUS

A New Dynasty for an Old King

The modern Horus archetype, introduced in Age of Overlord, represents a complete conceptual and strategic reimagining of the classic "Horus the Black Flame Dragon". This new dynasty functions as a compact, Graveyard-centric, and relentlessly recursive engine. Its core identity is to rapidly deploy multiple Level 8 monsters from the Graveyard, providing a powerful and flexible foundation for a wide array of Extra Deck strategies, all thanks to the indispensable Continuous Spell, King's Sarcophagus, and the might of the four sons of Horus.

The Royal Court: Core Cards

The Sons of Horus

Imsety, Glory of Horus

The prime minister and primary starter. It sends itself and another card from hand to GY to search "King's Sarcophagus" and provides non-targeting removal.

Duamutef, Blessing of Horus

The draw engine. Its triggered effect allows you to draw cards, refueling your hand for longer combos or grind games.

Hapi, Guidance of Horus

The recursion specialist. It can recycle key cards from either Graveyard or the banished pile, providing critical resource loops.

Qebehsenuef, Protection of Horus

The royal guard. Its triggered effect protects all of your Horus monsters from being targeted by attacks or card effects for the turn.

The Pharaoh's Decree

King's Sarcophagus

The heart of the entire engine. This Continuous Spell protects your Horus monsters, sends them from Deck to GY, and enables their revival.

Canopic Protector

A Continuous Trap that provides reactive summons during the opponent's turn and can reset itself from the GY.

Horus the Black Flame Deity

The ultimate boss monster. A powerful finisher that can be Special Summoned from the hand and wipe the entire field of monsters.

The Engine's Blueprint: The One-Card Starter

This walkthrough shows how one card, Imsety, Glory of Horus, can initiate the entire engine's explosive plays.

Imsety, Glory of Horus
Missing: 84941194
1

The Search

Activate Imsety's effect in hand. Send itself and another card to the GY to add King's Sarcophagus from your Deck to hand, then draw 1 card.

King's Sarcophagus
Missing: 16528181
2

The Setup

Activate King's Sarcophagus. Use its effect up to four times, sending cards from your hand to the GY to mill all four Sons of Horus from your Deck.

Four Sons of Horus on Field
3

The Resurrection

With the Sarcophagus active, use the effects of all four Sons of Horus in your GY to Special Summon them, instantly creating a board of four Level 8 monsters.

Constructing the Endboard

Hope Harbinger

Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy
Missing: 63767246

A cornerstone Rank 8 that provides a powerful, once-per-turn Spell negate.

Photon Lord

Number 90: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Lord
Missing: 8165596

Offers crucial disruption with a Quick Effect to negate a monster effect.

I:P Masquerena

I:P Masquerena
Missing: 65741786

Enables a Link Summon on the opponent's turn for reactive plays into monsters like S:P Little Knight.

Competitive Analysis

Strengths

  • Explosive Potential: Can summon up to four Level 8 monsters from a single spell.
  • Recursion & Resilience: The Sons can be revived every turn, making the board difficult to clear permanently.
  • Compact & Flexible: Requires a very small main deck footprint, making it an ideal engine for hybrid strategies.

Weaknesses

  • Centralized Choke Point: The entire engine is critically dependent on resolving and protecting King's Sarcophagus.
  • Graveyard Hate: Highly susceptible to floodgates like Abyss Dweller (currently banned) or Dimension Shifter.
  • Hybrid Inconsistency: Can suffer from drawing incongruous hands in hybrid builds, leading to bricking.

Forging Alliances

  • Tearlaments: Discarding Tearlaments monsters for Sarcophagus triggers their fusion effects.
  • Phantom Knights: Discarding PK cards starts their GY-based combo chains.
  • Synchro Variants: Provides an endless supply of Level 8 non-Tuner material for high-level Synchro Summons.

Banlist Impact

Fully Unrestricted

As of the current TCG format, the Horus archetype is entirely unrestricted, allowing it to operate at full capacity.

Maximum Consistency

Play any card at your preferred ratio without restrictions

Full Strength Plays

Access to all archetype synergies without limitations

Strategic Freedom

No banlist constraints holding back your strategy

Banlist Status Summary

+ analyzed • 0 restrictions found • All cards legal at 3 copies