Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Tierlist - The Best Competitive Decks (Updated May 2025)

Now that it has been a while since the April 2025 banlist and the release of Alliance Insight in early May 2025, Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG's Advance Format is finally shaping up. Furthermore, a few big events that happened recently have clearly shown us which decks are standing out in the current meta.

Check out below the best Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG decks in May 2025!

Mermail

Mermail lost practically its entire end board after the banlist hit Abyss Dweller and Bahamut Shark (which gave you Toadally Awesome), but it is still very strong.

In this new format, this deck's main strategy when you go first is locking down the game with Barrier Statue of the Torrent, besides, of course, setting up the scary handloop this deck could already set up before. When you go second, it is quite aggressive and can easily OTK the opponent because of how many cards it can play in one turn.

Crystron

Crystron is quite fun, as well as better-positioned after the banlist hit Abyss Dweller and Dimension Shifter. Now, it has more "space" to play, particularly when you go second.

Its overall game plan hasn't changed, though. You'll still set up a solid combo that punishes enemy interactions whenever you put Crystron Tristaros in play.

However, just like before the latest banlist came out, this list still struggles with cards like Artifact Lancea. Currently, they are popular because of Maliss, but they also disrupt Crystron considerably, particularly in competitive tournaments.

Memento

In the short period post-banlist and pre-Alliance Insight, I daresay Memento was the best deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. However, after Alliance Insight came out, it was quickly surpassed by the other competitors, which got more support and, as a result, became a lot more powerful.

Memento's strategy is basically spamming monsters to "swarm" the graveyard and summon its boss monster, Mementoal Tecuhtlica - Combined Creation. As you do this, you'll be able to "dodge" target interactions and lean on this deck's efficient Quick Spells.

It is still quite decent, but what makes it weaker now is that it is no longer a "surprise". After standing out and winning big events like the YCS, most players tried to understand how it works so they could beat it.

Blue-Eyes Primite

Blue-Eyes Primite is quite popular, not just because it is nostalgic, but because it is still very solid, resilient, and can recycle resources rather well.

Its biggest strength is that half of its interactions affect the board (with Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon and/or Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres) and half affect the backrow (Majesty of the White Dragons and Primite Drillbeam). Furthermore, it also plays a decent number of tech cards.

Fiendsmith

Fiendsmith is the most powerful and versatile engine in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG nowadays, and is in many interesting decks. It is often why these decks perform so well, too.

Its main variant in the current format is Fiendsmith Kashtira. It takes advantage of how versatile Fiendsmith is and how aggressive Kashtira is to get ahead after simplifying the game with its multiple handtraps.

Ryzeal Mitsurugi

Ryzeal Mitsurugi got a lot stronger after Alliance Insight came out because it included some excellent support for its two engines.

The new "version" is far more consistent and resilient than before, and also has more ways to break boards when you go second.

Another advantage is that it still has a lot of space for tech cards. They are essential in this new format, as it is a lot more powerful than before the banlist and the new set.

Maliss

Maliss is clearly the deck that Alliance Insight favored the most. Part of this new set brought direct support for it, like Maliss [P] March Hare and Maliss in the Mirror, but it also brought new @ignister cards that actually fit Maliss a lot more than their own archetype.

This new Maliss now has exquisite extenders that make it even more resilient against interactions and better at breaking well-established boards. Furthermore, now this deck also plays an omni negate in its final board, Allied Code Talker @Ignister.

Besides all of this, the new cards made Maliss a lot better against Artifact Lancea, its main counter in previous formats. The main reason why is that the cyberse engine doesn't rely on banishments to set up its combo.

Do you agree with our picks? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

If you'd like to explore the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG universe a bit more, keep browsing our articles.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!