Fiendsmith Control

Updated Fiendsmith Control for the May 2025 format. The basic idea of this deck is to play 5 card packages and lots of non-engine. I like this version of Fiendsmith a lot, because of a few reasons. One thing is that it plays really well into hand traps with cards like maindeck Lacrima, Kashtira Unicorn, and Wedju Temple. Another nice thing is that the deck doesn't have to play a lot of bricks. Kashtira Birth is sometimes a brick, and so is Paradise, but Paradise is actually good in any hand that successfully makes Des Irae, and Kashtira Birth is actively pretty good if you draw it with Fenrir or Wraithsoft. Birth was better in the Musket version, but I honestly don't think there's space in the deck to play Musketeers anymore. Another thing I like is that it has good play into Nibiru with the Millennium Engine and Photon Lord, and technically Caesar helps beat Nibiru too, though generally maindeck Lacrima makes the Caesar line into Nibiru suboptimal, there are a few games at least that I've won by making Caesar earlier than expected. Another thing I like about the deck is the space for non-engine, particularly Mulcharmy Fuwalos, which is a good normal summon in this version, and also can be placed with Wedju Temple, making it less costly to draw going first. The last thing I like about this version of Fiendsmith is that unlike other versions, it can actually create some pretty substantial boards if you see multiple starters, so it's not always just Caesar send Paradise. Thanks to Agnumday and fusion Lacrima the deck does have lines to OTK, and the Millennium and Kashtira cards also put a lot of attack points on the board very easily. I was on Talent, but I cut it because it didn't feel very good right now. 

Into the card by card.

We play a 10 card Fiendsmith package, including 2 Engraver, 3 Lacrima, 3 Tract, 1 Lurrie, and 1 Fiendsmith in Paradise. Engraver and Tract are full combo and follow-up without using the normal summon, and Lurrie and Lacrima are good normal summons. 4 normal summons is a little low, but Fuwalos and other hand traps can serve as combo pieces thanks to Moon of the Closed Heaven, and I honestly don't mind skipping my normal summon. Lacrima as a normal summon typically sends the Paradise right away if it doesn't bait Imperm, Veiler, or Ash. These cards are the heart and soul of the deck, and I think these ratios make a lot of sense. All in all there are 9 1 card starters, which is not bad.

The Millennium cards are pretty broken in the deck. Because they can make Moon + Doomed Dragon they can help OTK and break boards and represent Des Irae lines as well as Caesar ones. Because they can summon Photon Lord in 4 summons, you can summon a Kashtira monster or Lacrima and still beat Nibiru. Sengejin is obviously the best starter of the bunch, but Wedju Temple and Golem are still good cards to draw. Because all 5 of these are 1.5 card starters that gives us 9 1.5 card combos, for a total of 18 starters or over 90% to combo, without eating into non-engine space.

The last 5 card package is the Kashtira cards. Fenrir can help break boards, though usually this requires using up your battle phase. It also searches Unicorn, which can either be placed in the spell and trap zone with Wedju Temple to get your Millennium engine going, or just sit in the hand for follow-up. Birth is the biggest brick in the deck, but it is good to see with exactly Kashtira Fenrir or Wraithsoft. Kashtira Unicorn is incredibly good right now. Blue-Eyes often plays Lightstorm Dragon, Ultimate Spirit, and Crimson Dragon for its Spirit Dragon targets, and ripping Ultimate Spirit means Spirit can only tag into Lightstorm of them. I've even encountered Blue-Eyes players on only 1 Spirit with Eyes of Blue, which is a great card to rip. Some Fiendsmith players are only on 1 Requiem, which cripples the deck if ripped, and all of them are on only 1 Sequence which can buy you an extra turn. Dragoon is somewhat popular in Master, and is usually a one-of. There are also high priority targets in almost any extra deck, from Ty-Phon to Moon. Additionally, the rip can allow you to have more information going into turn 2, which is invaluable. It also scares some people out of using their hand traps, and for this reason I often opt not to use Birth's effect if I don't need to. Birth's GY banish is also incredibly effective in a world of Fiendsmith and Blue-Eyes.

The non-engine should be pretty self explanatory. I don't like Ghost Belle very much even though it is a good call in the meta, because I'd rather run more generic hand traps that are useful in every matchup. Additionally, I'm not on Dominus Purge. This looks kinda weird, after all, our engine is Light, Earth, and Wind monsters. However, very often you need to make a rank 6, usually Caesar, and turning it off seems really bad in a deck that is in some ways just turbo Caesar. Doomed Dragon is another effect you don't want to turn off, and M7 is awkward if you turn off your Ash Blossoms and run Imperm Purge. What are you recurring in that case? Similarly, Ty-Phon is pretty important in a lot of situations, and turning off its effect is a bad idea. I ultimately cut M7 and Purge after trying them briefly, they just felt really bad in this version of the deck.

The extra deck is pretty self explanatory. 2 Des Irae is so that you can make one and send another with Paradise. 2 Requiem is essential vs Kashtira Unicorn, and is also important to have in the pure Fiendsmith deck in case Requiem gets hit with Ash Blossom or Dominus Impulse before you get Lacrima in rotation. The only non-essential monster is Lars, but because Golem and Bystials are level 6s it does come up in a lot of the combos, gives you a back-up rank 6 for turn 3, and gives you another tool for spell and trap negation, which can be really good depending on the matchup. I often forget to make Necroquip before I activate Engraver, but when I remember to it feels pretty insane, and it comes up in the basic combo. In some situations you can make Necroquip to put Engraver in the graveyard rather than under Caesar, meaning if they don't bait your negate you still have follow-up. Lacrima and Agnumday enable OTK lines, and boosted Des Irae plus Caesar is also often enough to close out games. Notably, the ability to place Fiendsmith link monsters in the backrow enables more consistent access to Doomed Dragon, though very often you're making it turn 1 to put up a Photon Lord ahead of your Fiendsmith plays. S:P is just a good tool for breaking boards and dealing with the GY, but it also comes up in turn 1 Sequence combos. Typically, the opponent just beats over it by going battle phase early, but that frees up your EMZ and means you survive the turn, so I'm okay with that.