Dark counterpart The Dark counterparts are a series of DARK monsters that is identified by an existing non - DARK counterpart and 「 ダーク 」 in their Japanese name . Dark counterparts also have a twisted , sinister appearance compared to their original forms , which can be especially striking if the original form was that of a benevolent monster . Almost all Dark counterparts share the same ATK , DEF , and Level with their non - DARK counterparts . Dark counterparts were first released in the " OCG " and " TCG " in " Phantom Darkness " , but dated back to the anime with " Paladin of Dark Dragon " . The " TCG " exclusive Dark counterpart monsters were introduced in " OCG " in the " Extra Pack " . Playing style . Dark counterparts have no external support but are highly playable and powerful , particularly " Dark Armed Dragon " , which supported one of the most competitive tournament Decks around ( " Tele - DAD " ) . " Dark Armed Dragon " can also be supported by Monarch Spell / Trap cards , such as being searched by " Return of the Monarchs " or being revealed while in your hand to activate " Tenacity of the Monarchs " , due to having 2800 ATK and 1000 DEF . Dark counterparts usually have effects similar to their counterparts ( with the exceptions of " Dark Grepher " and " Dark Valkyria " , whose counterparts are Normal Monster s ) , but reworked to go with the theme of manipulating DARK monsters you own or control , typically either Summoning them , sending them to the Graveyard , or banishing them ( from the Graveyard ) to trigger effects . Although they do not explicitly support Dark counterparts , several cards released in " Phantom Darkness " work very well with them . " Doomsday Horror " gains power from banished DARK monsters and can " reload " your Graveyard with the banished DARK monsters . " Escape from the Dark Dimension " can Special Summon one of the banished DARK monsters , and " Allure of Darkness " increases your draw power while banishing another DARK monster . " Veil of Darkness " can also vastly increase a DARK - user ' s draw power while flooding the Graveyard with DARK monsters to use as a resource . Deck . The deck itself has no natural play style on it ' s own , and alone the Dark Counterparts cannot make a functioning deck . However many players from Phantom Darkness until now have found decks or strategies to support these cards . Or sometimes it is better to say that the Dark Counterparts help those decks instead . " Destiny HERO " was a fantastic choice for the deck , as cards like " Destiny HERO - Malicious " , " Destiny HERO - Plasma " and " Destiny HERO - Disk Commander " would have fantastic effects for DARK monsters , and could easy be sent to the Graveyard with " Destiny Draw " and then Destiny HEROs like Malicious or " Destiny HERO - Fear Monger " could manipulate the Graveyard for cards like " Dark Armed Dragon " , " The Dark Creator " , and " Darklord Zerato " . While this is a perfect example of playing the Dark Counterparts in a deck , this is not set in stone . Other DARK decks or decks with large DARK monster Engines can also find use for these cards . As long as they have DARK monsters can easily manipulate the Graveyard or place a lot of themselves in the Graveyard at a fairly quick pace . Weaknesses . As you would expect from a deck that relies on the Graveyard , cards like " Masked HERO Dark Law " and " Macro Cosmos " will extremely disrupt the deck . Also your cards send a lot of cards from the deck to the Graveyard , Add cards from your deck to your hand , and Draw Cards . So " Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring " and " Thunder King Rai - Oh " will slow your deck down . " Dark Armed Dragon " is one of your most powerful and easy to summon monsters in your deck . However If you no longer can manipulate your Graveyard , or you have so many DARK monsters in your Graveyard you cannot possibly have only 3 left in a Late Game state . The card will no longer have use outside of a Banish outlet for " Allure of Darkness " . This will also a more frequent occurrence as long as Dark Armed Dragon remains Limited in the " TCG " . Most decks that use a large number of Dark Counterparts usually have to play a large amount of Monsters and Spells . At the same time either a handful or no Trap Cards . This means any play that you make that gets interrupted might leave you entirely defenseless . Disputed cards . " Adreus , Keeper of Armageddon " is seen as the Dark counterpart of " Tiras , Keeper of Genesis " , both cards sharing rank , ATK , DEF and having a similar name . However not having " Dark " in its name and being of a different type ( " Adreus " being a Fiend and " Tiras " a Fairy ) result in " Adreus " not being placed in the series . " Shadowpriestess of Ohm " is occasionally placed within this series , since she is a DARK monster with an effect related to other DARK monsters and bears a strong resemblance to another existing card ( " Lady of Faith " and " Elemental Mistress Doriado " ) , as well as having been released in " Phantom Darkness " alongside many of the Dark counterparts . However they possess differences in ATK and level , and as a result , she is not a Dark counterpart . " Darkflare Dragon " is often considered a Dark counterpart to " Lightpulsar Dragon " , since it is a DARK monster and has " Dark " in its name . However they possess differences in ATK , DEF and level , and as a result , it is not a Dark counterpart . Also , judging from the story of " Dragons Collide " in the official site , " Darkflare Dragon " is more of a companion or comrade to " Lightpulsar Dragon " , than a counterpart . Trap cards that may fit are " Dark Mirror Force " and " Darkfall " . For the former , the effect is somewhat reversed from the original and with the latter the effect is just watered down . However , the effect has nothing to do with DARK monsters . Archetypes composed of DARK monsters based on previous monsters , like " Malefic " , " lswarm " , and " Shaddoll " are not considered part of the series because they lack the attributes that compose it ( like sharing the ATK , DEF and Level with their non - DARK counterpart , or having " Dark " in their name ) . Instead those archetypes ' attributes and appearance transform their members into different versions of the original card , like Corrupted versions ( " Malefic " ) or infected versions ( " lswarm " and " Shaddoll " ) . In " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ZEXAL " , the ZEXAL power allows the user to create " Zexal Weapon " cards , while its dark counterpart , Dark ZEXAL allows the user to create " Dark Zexal Weapon " cards , though only one was observed when the power was used . " Twilightsworn " monsters were introduced in Code of the Duelist as Dark counterparts to existing " Lightsworn " , following the corruption of " Lightsworn " monsters at the hands of " Grapha , Dragon Lord of Dark World " , as seen in the artwork of " Dark World Brainwashing " . Similar . The " Lightray " Series can be thought of as the inverse of Dark Counterparts , as they represent LIGHT versions of existing monsters that exhibit synergy . " Warrior Dai Grepher " has both a DARK counterpart and a " Lightray " counterpart .