Feb 9, 2011
Loki, Lord of the Aesir may not have as many Attack Points as Thor and Odin, but the Trickster God is never about brute force! His effects reward Duelists that build their Deck around his unique powers, offering all sorts of tricks to clever competitors. Check ‘im out!
Even if you’re just playing a Triple-Aesir Deck that isn’t focused on Loki, you’ll find a lot of situations where Loki is the best Aesir to Synchro Summon. For instance, Loki can negate any 1 card activated during your Battle Phase – even ones that would affect other monsters you control. Odin can only protect himself. This is important for protecting your monsters from cards like Mirror Force. Loki’s Trap-recycling effect can get you just the card you need to win, and since Loki’s a Spellcaster-Type monster, you can even combo him with cards that only work with Spellcasters.
Here’s a look at how you can use Loki’s tribe of Nordic Alfar monsters to Synchro Summon their mischievous master…
When you Normal Summon Dverg of the Nordic Alfar, its effect lets you Normal Summon another “Nordic” monster that turn. Use that to Normal Summon Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar: its effect will let you choose another face-up monster you control, and then Special Summon a “Nordic” from your hand with an equal or lower Level. If you control a Level 5 or higher monster for Ljosalf’s effect, you can Special Summon Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar. Svartalf is a Level 5 Tuner, so combined with the Level 1 Dverg and Level 4 Ljosalf, you can Synchro Summon Loki! That’s a lot of cards for just 1 Synchro Monster, but Dverg packs an effect that lets you get back a Nordic Relic from your Graveyard whenever Dverg is face-up and sent to the Graveyard: you’ll trade your three Nordic Alfar for Loki and a Nordic Relic of your choice. Cards like Cyber Dragon and Metal Reflect Slime give you an easy way to make the most of Ljosalf’s effect.
If you’re playing a mixed Aesir Deck without many “Nordic Alfar” monsters, you can still bring out Loki with Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant. Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts lets you Special Summon 2 Level 3 Nordic Beast Tokens when it’s destroyed in battle; Tune them to Vanadis for Loki. Tanngnjostr of the Nordic Beasts can Special Summon another Nordic Beast from your Deck when it’s changed to Attack Position. Bring out Tanngrisnir with Tanngnjostr’s effect, and you can Normal Summon Vanadis to Tune for Loki. This is a great play if you control another attacker, and want to protect it from something like Mirror Force or DimensionalPrison with Loki’s effect– something Odin wouldn’t be able to stop.
When Loki hits the Graveyard, you can remove an “Alfar” Tuner like Svartalf to have Loki return with a vengeance! Not only will you Special Summon Loki back to the field, but he’ll let you return a Trap Card of your choice from your Graveyard to your hand. That’s a great way to sidestep the rules and play Limited cards like Solemn Judgment more than once, even though they’re Limited to 1 per Deck.
Loki can also help you reuse Aesir Traps, giving you lots of options to help you outwit your opponent. Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir can search a “Nordic” monster from your Deck so you can make more Synchro Summons. Nordic Relic Gungnir can destroy any card that’s giving you trouble, while Nordic Relic Laevateinn can demolish Gladiator Beast monsters, and can be played in response to your own Summons to ward off Bottomless Trap Hole.
Devote your strategy to Loki and you can also use Spellcaster support. Magician’s Circle will let you Special Summon Svartalf, Ljosalf, or another Spellcaster from your Deck. DiffusionWave-Motion will let Loki attack all of your opponent’s monsters in a single turn and disable their effects! And Secret Village of the Spellcasters will keep your opponent from activating Spell Cards as long as Loki is face-up on the field. With Loki’s effect protecting him from Traps, and the Village shutting down Spells, your opponent will have a tough time fighting back.
Loki, Lord of the Aesir may not have the muscle of his bigger brethren, but the Nordic Trickster packs a bag of clever combos and potent powers that often make him the right Aesir for the job. If you play a mixed Aesir Deck, you’ll definitely want to include Loki for his negation ability. And if you build your Deck exclusively around Loki, you’ll command a cache of cool combos!
