Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Deck Tech: Ryzeal Fiendsmith

The Ryzeal archetype plays class 4 xyz monsters, namely Thunder monsters with the Fire attribute, and Pyro monsters with the Light attribute. It also focuses on interactions that destroy enemy cards, and its game plan is quite consistent and resilient.

The Fiendsmith engine, in turn, plays Fiend monsters with the Light attribute. With it, you'll spam these monsters on the board until you can access a class 6 xyz monster, or at least, force your opponent to interact with you. Furthermore, this archetype also includes a negate, which makes the entire engine quite versatile.

The combination of these two strategies made this deck more consistent and resilient, and raised its power level. This build also allows many tech cards, which probably made it the best deck of the current format.

Let's see how Ryzeal Fiendsmith works!

Main Deck

Ice Ryzeal, Sword Ryzeal, and Ext Ryzeal are the most important cards in this archetype because they're quite versatile, both as starters and extenders. The same goes to Bonfire, which can give you both your best normal summon ("Ice") and your best extender ("Ext").

Node Ryzeal and Ryzeal Cross are essential extenders. "Node" lets you play more xyz summons when you play your combo, and "Cross" is essential if you want to play around a possible enemy Nibiru, the Primal Being.

These "old" cards from the Fiendsmith engine made Ryzeal more resilient and raised its power level. They also made its extra deck a lot more versatile.

Meanwhile, a few new cards - Lacrima the Crimson Tears and Fiendsmith in Paradise - let you spread your interactions, and give this deck more ways to follow-up.

The only tech cards in this list are handtraps, which is a popular approach in this format right now. Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Mulcharmy Fuwalos are the most generic handtraps in the game. Effect Veiler and Infinite Impermanence are a bit less generic, but still quite useful against most decks. Meanwhile, Nibiru, the Primal Being, and Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit are incredibly strong against the main decks in the format, particularly when you play them with another handtrap.

Extra Deck

Ryzeal Duo Drive is this archetype's main searcher, as it draws you 2 cards at once! Besides making this strategy more consistent, it makes your interactions more resilient as well, as it can get you extenders and negates.

Ryzeal Detonator is this archetype's boss monster. Its Quick Effect lets you destroy 1 card whenever your opponent activates a card by detaching 1 material from them. This means you can destroy up to 3 cards on a single turn.

Mereologic Aggregator is the number 1 card you'll send to the graveyard so you can special summon Ext Ryzeal. It is quite useful when you go second and need to break boards, but it is also another interaction if you use it as material for Ryzeal Detonator.

Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir will buy you time during the game, either when your opponent plays a high-impact interaction like Mulcharmy Fuwalos or when you need to use it as a win condition.

Evilswarm Exciton Knight is incredibly useful when you go second, as it can force your opponent to interact with you, or even break their board. Furthermore, if you have this card when you go first, you'll be able to combine both engines, Ryzeal and Fiendsmith.

Moon of the Closed Heaven plays a similar role, as it turns 2 monsters on your board into Fiendsmith starters.

Fiendsmith's Requiem is this archetype's main starter. You can get it with the monsters in your main deck or extra deck.

Fiendsmith's Sequence is a way to put Fiendsmith's Desirae in play. This card, in turn, is a negate interaction when it is on the board, but it is also an interaction when you send it to your graveyard with Lacrima the Crimson Tears.

Necroquip Princess is a combo piece that makes your Fiendsmith engine even more powerful, as it gives you access to your "final product", D/D/D Wave High King Caesar, quite easily.

S:P Little Knight earned a spot in this deck because it is quite generic. However, you'll only use it in grindy matches or if your opponent interrupts your combo. This might be the best link monster in the game, but it isn't essential for your strategy.

Chaos Angel is the best tower in the game nowadays. You can access it with the Fiendsmiths in your main deck or Bystials if you use them. This card is well-positioned in the current format because most decks can't answer it that easily. After all, most builds are centered around handtraps right now.

Besides incredibly consistent and resilient, Ryzeal Fiendsmith is very efficient, as it spreads its interactions well: D/D/D Wave High King Caesar and Ryzeal Detonator (using Mereologic Aggregator as one of their materials) will be in your monster zone; Ryzeal Cross will be in your backrow; and, finally, Lacrima the Crimson Tears will be in your graveyard, ready to give you Fiendsmith in Paradise.

Standard Combo

I'll leave the standard combo down below if you open with Ice Ryzeal:

> First, normal summon Ice Ryzeal, and activate its effect to summon Ext Ryzeal from your deck;

> After you summon Ext Ryzeal, use its effect to get Sword Ryzeal from your deck, and add it to your hand;

> Now, use Ice Ryzeal and Ext Ryzeal as materials to summon Evilswarm Exciton Knight. Then, use this card as material to summon Fiendsmith's Requiem;

> Activate Fiendsmith's Requiem's effect to tribute it and summon Lacrima the Crimson Tears from your deck. Then, use this card's effect to send Fiendsmith Engraver to your graveyard directly from your deck;

> Activate Fiendsmith's Requiem's effect in your graveyard to equip it to Lacrima the Crimson Tears;

> Now, use Lacrima the Crimson Tears, equipped with Fiendsmith's Requiem, to summon Necroquip Princess;

> Next, use Fiendsmith Engraver's effect to summon it from the graveyard by returning Evilswarm Exciton Knight to your extra deck from the graveyard.

> Use Necroquip Princess and Fiendsmith Engraver as materials to summon D/D/D Wave High King Caesar;

> Now, special-summon Sword Ryzeal from your hand and use its effect to get Ext Ryzeal from your deck, and add it to your hand;

> Special summon Ext Ryzeal from your hand by sending Mereologic Aggregator to your graveyard from your extra deck;

> Use Ext Ryzeal and Sword Ryzeal as materials to summon Ryzeal Duo Drive;

> Use Ryzeal Duo Drive's effect to get Node Ryzeal and Ryzeal Cross from your deck, and add them to your hand;

> Activate Ryzeal Cross, and, next, special summon Node Ryzeal from your hand;

> Activate Node Ryzeal's effect to summon Sword Ryzeal from your graveyard by sending Ryzeal Duo Drive to your graveyard from your board;

> Now, use Sword Ryzeal and Node Ryzeal as materials to summon Ryzeal Detonator. Activate this card's effect to attach Mereologic Aggregator to it from your graveyard;

> To finish, use Ryzeal Cross' effect to return Ryzeal Duo Drive and Ext Ryzeal to your deck and draw 1 card.

If you play this combo correctly, this will be your board:

Ryzeal Fiendsmith has one of the best going first openings in the game, as it can dominate any deck, including other tier 1 decks, that is, other Ryzeal variants, Maliss, and Yubel. Furthermore, its going second opening is quite interesting, and has enough strategies to force your opponent to play a few interactions. This deck also uses a significant number of handtraps, which all make your going second opening even stronger.

This way, Ryzeal Fiendsmith's going first and going second openings are quite balanced, which is crucial for any strong deck. Because of this, its performance in the current meta is quite consistent. I believe this is the best option in the game if you want to compete in high-level Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG tournaments in 2025.

So, what did you think of this deck? I hope you enjoyed learning more about it, and that you have a lot of fun with it.

Please share your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!