Tribute summons: the original weird summon method. Before Synchro, before Ritual, before even Fusion, we had this restriction on level 5 or higher monsters. Level 5 and 6 monsters require you to tribute1Basically “sacrifice” from MTG 1 monster you control in order to normal summon, while level 7+ need 2. If you’ve ever wondered why Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the ace monsters of the protagonist and his main rival, are butt doodoo in the real game, this is why (a rule which wasn’t present in the Duelist Kingdom arc, it’s worth noting!)

But it’s not all doom and gloom for high level monsters. There are plenty with effects strong enough to offset their summoning cost, as well as plenty of ways to efficiently pay said cost. Honestly this whole group can be thought of as “Frogs pt. 2” because Treeborn Frog is a near staple for any tribute heavy deck. Though, you can go off the beaten path, there are Dimensional Fissure/Macro Cosmos D.D. Survivor decks that go heavy on tribute summons as well.

Raiza is an incredible card that sees limited play in Edison entirely because Caius outcompetes it in the free marketplace of ideas. Spinning a card to the top of the deck is not guaranteed to be a real solution to a threat in the way banishing generally is, but in exchange it’s so much better when you’re ahead. You get to effectively skip your opponent’s next draw phase, stepping on their neck to deny them any chance of getting back into the game. This blowout potential once landed Raiza on the limited list, something Caius can never claim, but in Edison he is unlimited.

Thestalos is the next man up after Caius and Raiza. He doesn’t affect the field but his effect can still be backbreaking if it snipes out the right card. The burn damage is pretty minor, but since Edison sometimes comes down to racing every little bit counts.

Mobius is sided more than mained, as there are backrow-light decks in the format that make this effectively vanilla. But Mobius can go +2, while most other monarchs can only go +1. Since tribute-heavy decks tend to be grindy, that can really pay off long term.

Dark Dust can be really mean if it gets going. As a spirit monster, you can summon it every single turn if you like (especially with a repeatable tribute source like Treeborn Frog) to keep sweeping up all your opponent’s face-up monsters. Heavy tribute decks are really the only time in Edison you really see Spirit monsters, and the few that get played here can really put in work.

Soul Exchange can be a massive reversal card, especially given how many tribute monsters remove something when they’re summoned. This is a very hard to answer removal spell that lets you establish a board at the same time. The battle phase restriction is frankly necessary, this would be an oppressive, format warping card otherwise. Note that you don’t have to tribute summon, necessarily. You can tribute that monster for anything that needs a tribute, such as the effect of a Substitoad, or….

Enemy Controller is another great reversal card. It has synergies with Soul Exchange, but honestly its best synergy is with Treeborn Frog. Since it’s a quickplay, you can play it from your hand during the standby phase, after summoning Treeborn, to tribute Treeborn and take something from your opponent. Then, because it’s still the standby phase, you can just get your Frog right back. This is especially useful for setting up double tribute monsters, such as…

LaDD is a beast of a card, with one of those paragraph effects. Basically, any time something happens that goes on the chain, LaDD loses 500 ATK and DEF to negate it. This has all sorts of fun edge cases2That’s something I really appreciate about floodgate cards in this era of Yu-Gi-Oh. They usually go about their business in an unusual manner, letting a crafty player bypass them without needing straight-up removal. Future floodgate effects are usually just no-foolin’ hard stops to the thing they prevent, and they make counterplay so much less interesting as a result.; it can only activate once per chain (so you can sometimes get it with traps or quickplay spells with loose activation requirements), it doesn’t actually destroy what it negates (so you can activate monster effects for free to drain some ATK and DEF), it’s mandatory (so an opposing Treeborn Frog can just keep activating to fully drain it) and of course if you don’t have at least 500 ATK and DEF you can’t negate anything at all. Still, despite the fine print LaDD often gets to eat several cards from your opponent, and then replace itself when it dies. A great way to grind someone down.

These two spirits are tricky to play, since they require 2 tributes and lack the built-in protections of LaDD. But in exchange, if they get a clean shot to your opponent they can be game-enders. Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi strips their entire hand, while Yamata Dragon lets you draw as many as 5 cards. Both can generate insane advantage. High risk/high reward for sure.

A great defensive card, especially for a deck type that usually runs few to no traps. Fader lets you survive a battle phase and generates a tributable body as well, the total package.

Treacherous Trap Hole is somewhat outdated, as most Monarch decks these days play discard traps (Raigeki Break, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, Karma Cut) instead. But if you otherwise aren’t playing any trap cards, this is a fun one to slot in. It’s a powerful effect and will catch your opponent off guard every time.

Next time, we leave this regimented world of monarchs and tribute and return to nature as we cover the plant engine.