LV " LV " ( " Reberu " ) is an archetype of cards used by Yugi Muto , Jaden Yuki , Chazz Princeton , Taigo Sorano , Gill Randsborg , Scorch and Chills , that are capable of send ing themselves to the Graveyard to Summon a more powerful version of themselves once certain conditions are met . Typically , the higher Level monsters of a series can only use their effects when Special Summoned by their predecessor , with the highest Levels only Summonable by the effect of their predecessor . Some " LV " monsters automatically " level up " into more powerful cards during the Standby Phase , while others have to fulfill conditions , such as destroy ing an opponent ' s monster by battle . Most of the high - end " LV " monsters tend to have extraordinary powerful effects , ranging from the fearsome lockdown of " Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 " that prevents the opponent from using Spell Card s to the ability of " Armed Dragon LV10 " that wipes out many opposing monsters at once . The use of " LV " Monsters in a player ' s Deck typically grants easy access to something very strong and very quickly without the need to have the stronger monster in the hand first , and grants an additional Deck Thinning effect because of this as well . Strategy . Most of the more powerful " LV " monsters fall under heavily supported Type s , and can benefit from their support cards as well : Types of " LV " Monsters . All " LV " monsters have a basic setup : A low - Level " base " that has some basic defense that will help it survive until it can level up to the next one , a mid - Level form that acts as the primary monster , and a final , powerful form that has devastating effect s and stats . However , there are distinctions between the different sets that sets them apart . Also , in the artwork of the card , the first of the series is usually an " immature " and comical version of the series , with the mid - level being typical of other monsters , while the final one shows something akin to the trump cards of other archetypes . An exception to the above are the " Armed Dragon " and " Ultimate Insect " series , which both has 2 mid - level forms ( however , " Armed Dragon LV7 " was originally the trump card of the series , as evident by its lack of an ability to Summon its final form ) . Type One . The first type of " LV " monsters mimic the " level up " mechanics of RPGs fairly well . The first monsters in each set will also have a fairly easy time leveling up to the next Level ( similar to the many " training dungeons " at the beginning of RPGs ) . The " Silent Magician s " are slightly different - each time a player draws a card , it gets a Spell Counter which gives it a boost of 500 ATK . Once it has 5 Spell Counters , it can be Tribute d to Summon its greater form , which has a permanent 3500 ATK and immunity to Spell Card s . However , all of the final forms of these monsters are Nomi monsters , meaning they are unusable unless you have already exhausted all of their previous forms . The advantage to these types are that their mid - level forms can be Normal Summon ed without restrictions , making them quite usable in other Decks , not just " LV " Decks . These will also likely be the ones used most during the course of the Duel , due to their usefulness compared to relative ease of Summoning . Note that the mid - forms of these sets are all 1 - Tributers , so there is some difficulty in Summoning them normally , giving a reason to use their base forms . The following are all of this type : Type Two . The second type is exclusive to the " Mystic Swordsman " series . These were perhaps the ' prototypes ' for the third type , as each card was theoretically usable , since they could be Set normally ( but only the base form could be Normal Summon ed ) . However , due to the low DEF of these cards , they are not likely to survive their first turn , and any protection cards could be better used for other occasions ( since these could be Special Summoned easily in a Deck dedicated to them ) . Apart from this , this type of card has few drawbacks compared to the first type , namely that all three versions could be used with devastating effect regardless of whether or not you plan to Level them ( Namely , " Mystic Swordsman LV2 " was an improved version of the once popular " Sasuke Samurai " ) : Type Three . The final type are perhaps the easiest to Summon , but hardest to use . This type has no restrictions on Normal Summon ing . However , the trade - off is that they only obtain their effect s when they are Summoned by their predecessors . This makes it especially hard for the " Allure Queen " and " Dark Lucius " series to level up , as the mid - Level form requires the effect to level up , and the support card " Level Up ! " cannot give them their effects , since they are not Summoned by their predecessors . The condition for their effects also makes them especially vulnerable to " Swords of Concealing Light " , " Book of Moon " , and even " Darkness Approaches " , as they will no longer count as being Summoned by the effect of their predecessor . However , their final forms are quite powerful and , with the exception of " Allure Queen " , could still be used either for its reduced effect ( " Dark Mimic " ) or simply for its brute strength ( " Ultimate Insect " and " Dark Lucius " ) : Type Four . These were only used by Yugi Muto in the manga and the " Dawn of the Duel " arc of the anime . They traditionally go up a Level every Standby Phase , while gaining 500 ATK . These are anime - only and essentially served as prototypes for the other " LV " Monsters . Other . The " Winged Kuriboh " series , while technically " LV " monsters , do not follow the normal " LV " system , as they are more akin to upgraded forms ( such as " Jinzo " and " Jinzo - Lord " ) . " Winged Kuriboh LV9 " doesn ' t have any relations to the normal " Winged Kuriboh " and " LV10 " whatsoever .