NEXUS

Executive Summary

The Fiendsmith archetype is a hyper-efficient, recursive engine centered around LIGHT Fiend monsters. Its power is derived from a meticulously designed interplay between the Main Deck, Extra Deck, and the Graveyard. Each card is a cog in a larger machine, designed to search, extend, and recur resources with remarkable consistency. The strategy revolves around using the Graveyard as a secondary resource pool, with its Link Monsters uniquely transforming into Equip Cards to forge a path to victory by fueling its core monsters' effects.

The Forgemaster's Arsenal

The Fiendsmith engine is built upon a small core of powerful Main Deck monsters and a toolbox of Extra Deck monsters that enable its unique equip-and-destroy strategy.

The Initiators

Fiendsmith Engraver

The premier one-card starter. Discards to search a "Fiendsmith" Spell/Trap and revives itself from the GY to extend combos.

Lacrima the Crimson Tears

A key extender and archetypal "Foolish Burial" that sends any "Fiendsmith" card from Deck to GY.

Fiendsmith's Tract

The primary search target. Adds a LIGHT Fiend and then discards, enabling extenders like Fabled Lurrie.

The Extra Deck Toolkit

Fiendsmith's Requiem (Link-1)

The central combo hub. Tributes itself to summon a "Fiendsmith" from the Deck and equips from the GY to fuel other effects.

Fiendsmith's Sequence (Link-2)

Facilitates Fusion Summons from the GY and equips to provide crucial targeting protection to your boss monsters.

The Payoffs

Fiendsmith's Desirae

The primary end board piece. Provides multiple negations by sending its "Fiendsmith" Equip Cards to the GY.

Fiendsmith's Rextremende

The ultimate boss monster. While equipped, it is completely unaffected by your opponent's card effects, a true "towers".

Core Combo: The Engraver One-Card Starter

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This walkthrough demonstrates how a single Fiendsmith Engraver initiates the entire engine.

Fiendsmith Engraver
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1

Initiate Search

Discard Engraver to search Fiendsmith's Tract. Activate Tract to search Fabled Lurrie and discard it.

Fiendsmith's Requiem
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2

Summon the Hub

Fabled Lurrie summons itself. Link it away for Fiendsmith's Requiem. Tribute Requiem to summon Lacrima the Crimson Tears from Deck.

Fiendsmith's Sequence
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3

Recur and Climb

Use Lacrima to send a second Engraver to GY. Revive the first Engraver by shuffling Requiem back. Now you can Link climb into Fiendsmith's Sequence.

Final Endboards: The Forgemaster's Craft

The Generic Boss Route

D/D/D Wave High King Caesar
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  • Rank 6 Xyz: The combo easily makes two Level 6 Engravers.
  • Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal (currently banned): Can send any card from Deck to GY, bridging into other engines like Yubel or Snake-Eye.
  • D/D/D Wave High King Caesar: Provides a powerful, on-demand omni-negate.

The In-Archetype Double Negate

Fiendsmith's Desirae
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  • Fiendsmith's Desirae: The main in-archetype boss monster.
  • Multiple Negations: Uses equipped "Fiendsmith" Link monsters from the GY as fuel to negate monster effects or Spells/Traps.
  • Targeting Protection: Fiendsmith's Sequence can equip itself from GY to make Desirae untargetable.

Competitive Analysis

Strengths

  • Hyper Consistent: Multiple one-card starters and can be accessed with any two monsters.
  • Recursive Grind Game: The engine constantly recycles its own resources, making it very difficult to outlast.
  • Highly Splashable: A small main deck footprint makes it an easy and powerful addition to many top-tier strategies.

Weaknesses

  • Key Choke Points: Highly vulnerable to Ash Blossom on Tract or Droll & Lock Bird after the first search.
  • Graveyard Hate: Cards like Bystials or D.D. Crow can banish Engraver to break the loop.
  • Attribute-Locking: Relies entirely on LIGHT monsters, making it susceptible to cards like Dimension Shifter.

Meta-Defining Synergies

  • Yubel: The premier hybrid. Fiendsmith provides a direct route to the Yubel engine's GY setup via Beatrice.
  • Snake-Eye: Provides a powerful alternative combo line if the main Snake-Eye play is disrupted.
  • Unchained: A natural fit due to shared Fiend typing and a focus on destruction/GY effects.

Banlist Impact

LOW IMPACT: The Fiendsmith archetype has been moderately restricted by the TCG banlist, with Fiendsmith's Lacrima limited.

Archetype Cards

Limited

  • • Fiendsmith's Lacrima

Synergistic Cards

Forbidden

  • • Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal

Banlist Status Summary

+ analyzed • 2 total restrictions found • 1 archetype card • 1 synergistic card