While I might not have managed to play in YCS Providence, I did spend a day exploring the tournament, talking with friends, and getting some insight into the meta post-Alliance Insight. Two things immediately became clear: Maliss had a severe issue with choking out in top cut, and Ryzeal variants are here to stay. The question then becomes which Ryzeal variant is best; while there’s three in contention, each presents its own upside. Mitsurugi Ryzeal took the event, flexing a tiny Mitsurugi package courtesy of their powerful new Ritual, Ame-no-Habakiri-no-Mitsurugi, but Fiendsmith Ryzeal also secured a seat at top tables. The variant which went unsung, however, is the one I aim to focus on: Heraldic Ryzeal. As Maliss appears worse and worse with tools to counter the strategy in the Main Deck, I want to lean into a variant of Ryzeal that has far more interesting things to do going first than its contemporaries. Presenting, Heraldic Ryzeal.
This is the first format in a hot minute that necessitates Droll & Lock Bird, which is potentially the reason why Heraldic Ryzeal didn’t see the expected success at its first YCS. Droll punishes searching in a way few other cards do, so you need to make the searches you can manage count. Enter Heraldic Beast Stad Whale, which searches twice on Summon, each card it’ll be searching representing an individual Xyz Monster. This is because of Advanced Heraldry Art, which Summons back 2 Heraldic monsters from the GY, immediately going into an Xyz; while tools like Abyss Dweller are now banned, there are still solid alternate options! One such tool unique to the TCG is Sakra Vendirage, which can itself revive a Psychic Xyz, something we’re quite keen on doing. This is because of Number 69: Heraldry Crest, which can copy the effects of other Xyz Monsters without needing to detach a material. By going into Crest first, via 2 monsters including Heraldic Beast Gryphon, we can Xyz it off for Eclipse Twins, detaching the Crest, then make Sakra before even touching our Ryzeals, ranking it up into the brand-new Number 69: Heraldry Crest - Shatter Stream.
If we’re spending our only search on Stad Whale the end board doesn’t seem all that formidable, as while it does greatly harm Maliss (or anything requiring its proper name, by way of the deck’s boss monster & Sakra), this is generally a low ceiling for what’s expected in 2025. That of course is why the Heraldics see play for a more sinister reason, as alongside 2 copies of Evilswarm Ouroboros, we can remove all 5 cards from our opponent’s starting hand, while also ending on Shatter Stream & another Rank 4 of our choice.
This is by way of Gryphon’s final effect, which allows it to be counted as 2 material for the Summon of an Xyz Monster that requires 3+ materials, clearly intended to allow for easing into Crest, but backfires by making Ouroboros exceptionally freely. Ouroboros, meanwhile, lacks a hard once-per-turn, and Crest can even copy its effect (also not once per turn) meaning you can cycle between Crests & Ouroboroses via Eclipse Twins until your opponent is out of resources. Now, this combo is both very high ceiling and very fragile, so it requires you to confidently know the opponent won’t interact with you, on top of opening Ext Ryzeal. If that’s the case, however, they’re at minimum being ripped of 2 cards in their hand.
Does that really matter though, in a world with so many 1-card combos? What’s to happen if they discard a Fiendsmith, or open Ame-no-Habakiri? To answer that, we need only look to the other engine present, being a substantial Ryzeal package. Ryzeal is the king of backup strategies, right alongside Fiendsmith, and it’s no different here; if your opponent stops you from performing the Heraldic combo, you’re more than happy to just end on Detonator and 1-2 Ryzeal Spell/Traps. The main consideration for how Ryzeal needs to be flexed comes from whether you aim to remove 3, 4, or 5 cards from your opponent’s hand. You’ll need to use 2 Ryzeal effects, including Ext, in order to make the 4 or 5 line function, so it’s imperative you decide early on in the combo how deep you plan to go. After all, if your opponent has Effect Veiler or Infinite Impermanence, you don’t need to rip that card from their hand, as the interaction trades for individual discards.
Ext is the card which opens both halves of the deck, by way of sending Number 18: Heraldry Patriarch, which in turn sends 2 Heraldics from Deck to GY, often Leo & Gryphon. Leo then searches Whale, and you’re off to the races…but hang on, if they Droll the Leo search, you’ll never be able to activate Whale, surely. This is why it’s vital to test for Droll before Ext, as knowing whether you need to send Patriach vs Mereologic Aggegator defines your core opening lines.
Paradoxically, in a format with a ton of handtraps, handrips after they use a few of their tools in hand should be fantastic; not only do they have fewer potential dud discards, but both players will be down cards in all likelihood. Enter: The Mulcharmies. If you get hit with Fuwalos, you either need to wholly abandon your combo plan, or pivot into exactly Detonator pass. While we can rip a whole 5 card hand to bits, Fuwalos can ensure your opponent draws more cards than you can physically deal with using Ouroboros.
This is of course why we’re on triple Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and 3 Drolls of our own, as it sometimes actually makes sense to Droll mid-combo, given an opponent who discards Fuwalos, and then draws 1, is still sitting at a 5 card opener at most. Flexing our reactive handtraps during our turn is essential, because a Droll against 0 cards doesn’t really do anything, as one might surmise.
As for what this deck is playing in the Side Deck, it’s really more of the same in the format: Artifact Lancea, other Mulcharmies, etc. Some unique tools you have access to however are cards like Extra Foolish Burial, as if you can avoid the need to use Star Ryzeal, you can actually kickstart your combo by way of sending Patriarch with Extra Foolish, rather than Ext. Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries is also a consideration in this Ryzeal-heavy meta, as well as Dimensional Barrier & Triple Tactics Thrust. Maliss no longer autoloses to Lancea, as it has access to the new @ignister tools, meaning you’re better off jamming something like a Mulcharmy Meowls or Purulia than other anti-banish tech.
This is a list that got worse, in theory, with the limiting of cards like Talent & Crossout, to the point where Main Deck Crossout isn’t a consideration for me. It could be worthwhile in the side, but against a deck like Mitsurugi you’d almost want to banish Ame-no-Habakiri, entailing a Main Deck hard garnet.
Sakra Vendirage is the main consideration that was missed in early testing for this deck, as it was only revealed as a TCG-exclusive after the Heraldics made their debut in the OCG. Not only does it readily help you extend past removal or negation, cycling through a Crest, it can also mess up opposing plays including monsters that need to be named certain things. Of course, that won’t stop Ryzeal Duo Drive, but Detonator still needs to be made with 2 Ryzeal names. Maliss likewise requires its own monsters as material, at least for higher-ceiling endboards. Additionally, Crest eventually ranks up into Number 69: Heraldry Crest - Dark Matter Demolition, which does something similar to Sakra, with the added bonus of negating the effects of monsters whose names it changes. Where this falters is again against Mitsurugi, the TCG-Exclusive that’s putting every other stateside design to shame. We don’t really have much against the deck outside of the handloop, as other than Ame-no-Habakiri (or cards that find it), they lack a consistent 1-card option.
While I don’t think this is necessarily the best version of Ryzeal after my testing, I do think it’s been written off too quickly. Mitsurugi is exciting, and Fiendsmith is efficient, but little beats the sheer unfairness of going second against Heraldic Ryzeal without real handtraps. Even if you don’t get to combo, it’s still fundamentally Ryzeal and some extenders, and you can do far worse than that in this meta!
That being said, Alliance Insight on the whole has been an absolutely incredible shakeup for the meta. Not only are we seeing brand-new takes on previous meta decks, but even something like Horus Crystron managed a top16 placement at Providence, and if you look just a bit lower, there’s tons of Rogue options in this format. One odd disappearance, however, is Blue-Eyes—it’s nowhere to be seen. For those looking to play the most famous monster in Yugioh, this format is looking rough, but maybe I’ll take a look at what’s done well in a future Rogue Report!
With that, we conclude an overview on Heraldic Ryzeal! How have you been enjoying the new format? Are you planning to pick up Mitsurugi, and if so, play it pure? Do you wish ALIN changed more about the format, given we still have essentially a 2.5 deck top cut? Let me know in the comments below!
