Lswarm " lswarm " , known as " Verz " ( ヴェルズ " Veruzu " ) in the " OCG " , is a " Duel Terminal " archetype of DARK monster s which was introduced in " Duel Terminal - Sacred Star Knights ! ! " . Despite being released prior to " lswarm " , the " Steelswarm " archetype is an " lswarm " sub - archetype , thus all " Steelswarm " monsters are supported by " lswarm " support cards . " Evilswarm Exciton Knight " and " Steelswarm Origin " are the only non - DARK members ( being LIGHT instead ) . The most significant feature of the non - " Steelswarm " " lswarm " , except " Evilswarm Kerykeion " and " Evilswarm Exciton Knight " , is that their ATK / DEF end with " 50 " , and all known " lswarm " , except " Evilswarm Golem " and " Evilswarm Coppelia " , are Level or Rank 4 . The archetype has received largely mixed responses from players , predominantly because its boss monsters ( Evilswarm Ophion in particular ) can efficiently and effectively shut down Synchro - focused decks . These reactions have become marginally more luke - warm with the rise of Xyz - centered decks , however . Members . Each non - " Steelswarm " " lswarm " is based on a member of a previous " Duel Terminal " archetype , corrupted by the " lswarm " virus that was released from " Steelswarm Cell " , shown in " Infestation Infection " . There is an " lswarm " Counterpart for each " Duel Terminal " archetype except " Vylon " and " Steelswarm " . From " Duel Terminal Overlay Guide 2 " and " Duel Terminal Master Guide " . Story . A crisis has struck the " Duel Terminal " world . Nearly all living things across the planet have been corrupted , their bodies warped , and their minds slowly seized by a desire to destroy that is so strong , it becomes impossible to interact with others . The elders of the planet linked it to ancient lore of an identical plague , and so dubbed the infection , and the infected , the " Evilswarm " . Strategy . The non - " Steelswarm " " lswarm " s is a sub - archetype that focuses on Summoning Rank 4 " Evilswarm " Xyz Monsters using " Evilswarm Castor " , " Evilswarm Mandragora " and " Evilswarm Kerykeion " to swarm Level 4 " Evilswarms " . The " Evilswarm " Xyz Monsters are very powerful : they add field control to the Deck with " Evilswarm Ophion " , which prevents the Special Summon of any Level 5 or higher monsters , shutting down many popular Decks such as " Agent s " and " Chaos Dragons " , " Evilswarm Nightmare " , which disrupts Special Summoned monsters , and " Evilswarm Bahamut " , which can permanently take control of your opponent ' s monster for a cost . " Evilswarm Ouroboros " can be used to gain hand and field advantage and by banishing a monster from the opponent ' s Graveyard ( disrupting cards like " Grapha , Dragon Lord of Dark World " or " Steelswarm Scout " / " Treeborn Frog " ) , but it requires 3 Level 4s to Summon . " lswarm " Decks can also potentially utilise " Chaos Zone " effectively , as " Evilswarm Salamandra " and " Evilswarm Thunderbird " provide large amounts of counters ( repeatably ) and are useful in their own right . An " lswarm " Deck using " Chaos Zone " can also benefit greatly from " Creeping Darkness " , as it adds the core type of monster , Level 4 DARK , as well as 2 " Chaos Counters " , making the re - Summoning of the monsters used for the cost relatively easy . " Allure of Darkness " can also be very useful in this type of Deck , with its negative effect partially offset . The latest " lswarm " monster , " Evilswarm Kerykeion " , works particularly well in a " Chaos Zone " / " Xyz " Deck by recycling a monster as well as adding an extra Summon and a " Chaos Counter " . Some might say that 3 copies can replace some or even all copies of " Evilswarm Castor " , " Evilswarm Salamandra " and " Creeping Darkness " . " Dark Armed Dragon " is a relatively easy card to Summon in an " lswarm " Deck , with its high level of Graveyard manipulation through Xyz costs and " Evilswarm Salamandra " / " Creeping Darkness " / " Evilswarm Kerykeion " and large proportion of DARK monsters . Whether or not to use the higher Level cards like " Evilswarm Golem " or " Evilswarm Coppelia " is a matter of personal preference , as they are powerful cards but are not useful for Xyz Summoning . Also , " Golem " is low in ATK , making it almost useless against another " DARK " Deck . However , it may be a good idea to place " Golem " in a Side Deck in a tournament to deal with Decks like " Naturia " or a particularly strong non - DARK key card , such as " Master Hyperion " . Use of a set " Infestation Pandemic " chaining to the player ' s own " Torrential Tribute " or " Dark Hole " can also be an effective strategy , clearing the opponent ' s monsters without risking the player ' s . Using " Evilswarm Salamandra " with " Chaos Zone " can also make the Summoning of " Evolzar Laggia " and " Evolzar Dolkka " possible , so it is worth running as an optional extra . A good addition to this Deck is " Foolish Burial " , it can combo well with " Evilswarm Kerykeion " , " Evilswarm Salamandra " , " Dark Armed Dragon " and " Creeping Darkness " . A recent development is a version of the basic non - " Steelswarm " " lswarm " Deck using " Evilswarm Heliotrope " , " Evilswarm Castor " , " Evilswarm Kerykeion " , " Evilswarm Mandragora " and " Rescue Rabbit " as the only monsters in the Main Deck . The rest of this Deck is given over to protection cards such as " Forbidden Lance " , " Dark Illusion " and " Infestation Pandemic " ; controlling cards such as " Bottomless Trap Hole " , " Solemn Judgment " and " Dark Bribe " ; and cards such as " Pot of Duality " , " Allure of Darkness " and " Reinforcement of the Army " to add consistency . This type of Deck uses " Evilswarm Ophion ' s " effect to block opponents ' Summoning their strongest cards while keeping it on the field through the strong control elements in the Deck , eventually using up its " Xyz Material " s on the turn a replacement is Summoned . In a way , this type of Deck could be compared to " Dino Rabbit " decks , given its propensity for high - ATK Level 4 monsters and continuous use of disruptive effects . Another way to swarm using this Deck is to add a " Summoner Monk " to your Deck and Summon " Evilswarm Kerykeion " with it , then use " Kerykeion ' s " effect to add another " lswarm " monster from your Graveyard and perform another Normal Summon , together with " Evilswarm Castor " allowing you an additional Summon of another " lswarm " monster once you Normal Summon once done , having a total of 4 level 4 monsters on the field , which can be used to Summon " Evilswarm Ophion " and a support Xyz Monster that will protect " Ophion " ( A good option would be having " Abyss Dweller " to prevent monster effects that activates from the Graveyard ) . If you were able to Summon " Evilswarm Mandragora " before " Summoner Monk " , you could even Summon " " which would lock your opponent ' s card effects . Relationship . This archetype shares a close name with " Steelswarm " ( " Inverz " , インヴェルズ ) , an archetype from the previous " Duel Terminal " story arc . They both consist of DARK monster s . Furthermore , the " Inverz " could be seen as a shortened version of " Insect Verz " or " Insectoid Verz " , meaning the " Verz " virus might have come long before the " Steelswarm " did , and the " Steelswarms " are a heavily - infected species of creature . Even the " lswarm " symbol can be seen as an outline of " Steelswarm " symbol ( best seen on the horse of " Evilswarm Thanatos " ) . Another possible theory is that the " lswarm " virus is a defense mechanism the " Steelswarm " implement upon extinction that works to reconstruct their race . This can be seen by the goal of the " lswarm " controlled " Gishki Noellia " being to resurrect " Steelswarm Hercules " , the overlord of the " Steelswarm " . It is also possible that with the destruction of the " Steelswarm " at the hands of the " Vylon " , the virus then could have corrupted or even copied the other " Duel Terminal " archetypes . In addition , " Ver " is French for " Worm " . This may signify that their role is similar to the " Worm s " in the previous " Duel Terminal " story as the first , horror movie - like antagonist ( " Worms " being aliens , " lswarm " being the zombie virus ) , followed by a holy / unholy antagonist that at first appeared to be an ally ( " Fabled " and " Vylon " ) . More parallels can be drawn , for example Las Plagas the parasitic - organism featured in both and were buried underground by a Spanish Castellan , while the " lswarms " , the carriers of the " Evilswarm Virus " , were sealed underground after losing against the " Vylon " , also both of them can equally corrupt their hosts while making them stronger . They are not considered " Dark counterpart s " because they lack the attributes that compose it ( Like sharing the ATK , DEF and Level or Rank with their Non - " DARK counterpart " , or having " Dark " in their name ) . However , one might consider them similar to the " Malefic " archetype in that manner .