As of February 2025, Yugioh is in about as much of a 2-deck format as it’s ever been. In terms of strict top cut representation, we’re nearing the degree to which famous rivalries like Eldlich & Adamancipator or Dragon Ruler & Spellbook stood, and while the new Blue-Eyes deck has many great reasons to see play, it’s ultimately another tertiary midrange choice like Fire King. Moreover, we’re quite a ways away from the next Forbidden & Limited List, expected in early April, and the only non-reprint release is Maze of the Master in March until that time. What is the most interesting thing to do in what appears to be a nearly solved format, including its peripheral Rogue strategies? Speculate, in some regards, and take a look at how the format has evolved in the OCG whose cardpool reflects ours a few months from now. To that end, let’s take a quick dive into the TCG’s 2025 present, and what’s to come in the near future.
First and foremost, let’s talk about the evolution we’re seeing in terms of the two relevant meta strategies at play, Ryzeal & Maliss. While stock versions of both decks have done well, we’ve also seen variants that buck the trend of playing pure or Fiendsmith builds, eschewing standard midrange tools to somehow break parity. For Ryzeal, that involves the use of the Mitsurugi cards, the first time in a good while since TCG-exclusive cards have had a space in the best deck. Mitsurugi brings to Ryzeal a far higher ceiling than it has in a pure version, as well as a far more difficult-to-interact-with boss monster, in Ame no Murakumo no Mitsurugi being Summoned mid-chain. The fact it can be accessed by way of any Rank 4, via King of the Feral Imps, is all the more impressive, even as it gives a Ryzeal list one clear target for Ash Blossom they otherwise wouldn’t have. Beyond Mitsurugi, variants of Ryzeal including Fiendsmith, Melodious, and even Primite have popped up, although the purer versions are likely your best bet for a competition.
Maliss on the other hand is the second-best deck, but only really because its counterplay is far more pronounced, and devastating when resolved. I speak, of course, about Artifact Lancea, which has gotten so popular that some duelists are playing a 3:1 package of Triple Tactics Thrust & Artifact Sanctum in the side, with a flex slot for non-Maliss matchups. Sanctum, which hasn’t seen play in earnest since HAT format over a decade ago, showcases the lengths players are willing to go in order to combat this telegraphed, but potent, strategy.
That being said, Maliss variants have evolved to combat this, most recently by including as many as 9 Bystials, practically maxing out in order to increase their density. The philosophy around this stems from the idea that, even if hit with a Lancea, you can kickstart your Maliss line on the opponent’s turn using a Bystial, and snowball advantage into your next turn. For that, Bystial Baldrake and Bystial Druiswurm are standouts, with usually each seeing play at 3, the limited Magnamhut at 1, and often a single Bystial Saronir bringing up the rear. Further still, some are even experimenting with deeper packages, but the most successful ratio is ~8, no more, and no less.
On the edges of the format, the decks I would expect to see at events in the Rogue category are Blue-Eyes White Dragon, followed by Mermail Atlantean, Fire King, and Crystron. BEWD is notable for several reasons, being practically one of the game’s mascots, and its deck being exceptionally accessible, aside from exactly Primite Lordly Lode. Each of these decks asks a simple question — Would I rather lose to the tools which dunk on Maliss, or Ryzeal? Crystron is at the back of the list, losing to both a Detonator pop against its Continuous Spell, and Lancea stopping Smiger’s resolution, with Fire King somehow managing to scrape by against cards like Dimension Shifter with about as close to a 100-0 Ryzeal matchup as possible. Mermail Atlantean similarly concedes against Shifter, but has plenty of extension to fight past Detonator boards, if not ones including Mitsurugis. Blue-Eyes is perhaps the third best deck, but in an odd twist of fate, it’s not anti-meta, but simply the third-best midrange pile. Compared to other third-best decks of their day, such as Evilswarm, this is an odd spot to be, and why one chooses BEWD as their strategy likely lies more in fun & nostalgia, than being a legitimate parity breaker at Rogue. In my eyes, Fire King is likely the best among questionable options.
Coming up, Maze of the Master introduces a slew of OCG imports, primarily from the LIGHT Duelist Pack which was never brought stateside. The critical piece from this set is Seventh Tachyon, a Cynet Mining of sorts for nearly every strategy, but most notably Sharks & Ryzeal (and Ryzeal Shark). Beyond this, we also receive the new Union monsters in this pack, which lacked a position of dominance in the OCG for very long, but did see scattered experimentation when they debuted. The other wrinkle here is the fact that we’re receiving a full 11-14 card wave of Odion support, cards that reflect the pieces used by the master of Traps in the original Duel Monsters.
Going out on a limb in saying so, but I’m actually bullish on this release. Every year since this trend emerged, first with Gate Guardian and then with Flame Swordsman, our yearly levy of DM support has only gotten better. Moreover, the fact this likely has synergy with Trap Monsters, which have received profoundly competent cards like Silhouhatte Rabbit, implies it may be a home for the new Argostars cards which so far have failed to do anything. Between TCG-exclusives with actual teeth this year, in Mitsurugi, and potentially building on an already reasonable core, the Odion cards are what’s worth looking out for in Maze of the Master.
But beyond the Odion pieces, we really know every single card that’s going to enter our format until the next banlist. The unfortunate truth is that these known quantities won’t be a shakeup, and in fact, per the OCG’s trends we’ll only see more of the top 2 decks when Alliance Insight drops. Both Ryzeal & Maliss receive absurd new pieces, and Mitsurugi is due for another wave, meaning we are heavily reliant on the Forbidden & Limited List to actually alter what sees play at top tables. In the OCG, this meant a banning of Abyss Dweller and curbing of Maliss’s non-engine, but I frankly doubt that will be enough. In an ideal world, something like an Ice Ryzeal limit is what is highest on my wishlist.
By limiting Ice, you essentially force it to be h1opt, ensuring savvy duelists need to choose between its Normal Summon & Special Summon effects, as most Ryzeal builds currently aim to abuse both during the course of a turn. In that same vein, I don’t think there’s a world where we see something like Dimension Shifter live again, and further still, it’s not unlikely Bystials also receive an indirect hit. Not only does Konami want to push Maliss to use the new @ignister pieces in ALIN, but Blue-Eyes is greatly impacted by the weight of Bystials currently played — it’s in their best interest to make Blue-Eyes playable, to drive interest.
As for things I’m personally excited for, the TCG-exclusives of Odion & the new Mitsurugis have me greatly interested, as I’ve felt the modern iteration of the TCG has some of the best card design in Yugioh. Further still, the support for two of my favorites decks, being Tistina & Ashened, might actually push the latter into playability alongside Ryzeal via Chaotic Elements, one of the best search Spells they’ve printed in a long time.
That being said, the spectre of cost looms over the game, and the fact that Rogue is at its least playable in years, and even subpar decks are expected to pack no fewer than 3 Mulcharmy Fuwalos does mean paper play might dry up for the time being. Tournaments in the current meta are somewhat foregone, even in spite of deep Rogue runs ala Dinh Kha Bui’s Fire King. Unless things change drastically to drop the playrate of Ryzeal, and Fiendsmith specifically, I fear that midrange dominance in this 2-deck format is going to last into the spring of 2025.
With that in mind, I hope to be the first to cover Odion’s new cards once they drop! The game is a bit solved at the moment, and I’d be lying if I said my interest was as strong as earlier this year. How have you enjoyed the current format? What do you want to see on the upcoming banlist? Let me know in the comments below!
