Table of Contents
Deck Overview
I believe Ryzeal will be one of the most powerful archetypes going into 2025.
Ryzeal is an archetype of LIGHT Pyro and FIRE Thunder monsters released in Crossover Breakers. Fitting with the typing and attribute, Ryzeal monsters are named after different engine parts with the overall themes artwork and names having some mechanical similarity.
The archetype consists of a Rank 4 toolbox strategy which revolves around summoning lots of Level 4 monsters and then using those monsters to Xyz summon rank 4 monsters.
The deck focuses on summoning the main boss monster of the archetype, which is a rank 4 Xyz monster called Ryzeal Detonator. This card is a fearsome monster with a staggering 3000 ATK and the ability to disrupt your opponent by destroying their cards during either turn.
The Ryzeal archetype is very flexible in that it can play around hand traps and has a small engine size. This means it can still combo through disruptions by your opponent and you have a lot of space in your deck to play non-engine cards such as staple hand traps. Ryzeal has been seeing more and more competitive play and with the December 9th 2024 Forbidden and Limited List hitting Snake-Eyes, Yubel and Tenpai it is one of the current best decks. It even won the most recent YCS Anaheim 2024.
Now that I have given you an introduction on Ryzeal, I will be going through each of the most important cards, explaining what they do, combos and giving you an example deck list.
Key Monsters & Utility
Ice Ryzeal
Ice Ryzeal is one of three main cards of the Deck and a combo starter as well as combo extender.
When Ice Ryzeal is normal summoned you can special summon any other Ryzeal monster from your deck. This effect is only once per turn.
Its second effect allows you to special summon itself from your hand by sending one card from your hand or field to the grave, however this locks you into only being able to summon rank 4 Xyz monsters from your extra deck.
This card is normally used to start your combo by summoning Sword Ryzeal or Ext Ryzeal from your deck.
Ext Ryzeal
If this card is normal or special summoned and you control no other monsters except level/rank 4 monsters you can add one level 4 FIRE Thunder monster from your deck to your hand. This effect can only be used once per turn.
You can special summon Ext Ryzeal from your hand by sending one monster from your Extra Deck to the Graveyard, however you can only summon rank 4 Xyz monsters from the extra deck or the rest of the turn.
A good rule of thumb is remembering the LIGHT Pyro Ryzeals can search for the FIRE Thunder Ryzeals and vice versa.
Sword Ryzeal
When this card is normal or special summoned you can add one LIGHT Pyro monster from your deck to your hand once per turn.
If you have a Ryzeal monster on your field or in your graveyard you can also special summon this card from your hand, but this locks you into only being able to special summon rank 4 Xyz monsters from your extra deck once again.
Sword is a FIRE Thunder Ryzeal so it can search for one of the LIGHT Pyro Ryzeal monsters such as Ice Ryzeal or Ext Ryzeal.
Node Ryzeal
Both of Node Ryzeal's effects are once per turn and this card is only an extender.
If you have a Xyz monster on your field or in your graveyard you can special summon this card from your hand. This effect results in the same restriction as the previous Ryzeal monsters, locking you into rank 4 Xyz monsters.
When this card is on the field you can send one card from your hand or field to the graveyard to special summon one Ryzeal monster from your graveyard but negate its effects.
Ryzeal Cross
Ryzeal Cross is the field spell of the deck that lets you place two Ryzeal cards from your graveyard on the bottom of your deck in order to draw a card. This effect can only be activated once per turn and Ryzeal Cross has the overall restriction of not being able to summon an Xyz monster with the same name as one you already control.
Its most useful effect is its ability to negate the effect of an opponent’s monster when it resolves by detaching a material from a Xyz monster you control. This card is very useful as you can use it to negate an opponent’s hand trap such as Ash Blossom or Nibiru.
Ryzeal Plugin
Ryzeal Plugin is a quick-play spell card with a once per turn effect with the restriction of not being able to attack in the same turn, except with rank 4 Xyz monsters.
However, it has the powerful effect of being able to summon any Xyz or Ryzeal monster that has been banished or is in the graveyard and then attaching one Ryzeal card from your deck to any one rank 4 monster you control.
If your opponent activates a monster effect such as Nibiru or Ash Blossom and you control Ryzeal Cross with no monster on the field, you can chain this card to summon a Xyz monster and negate that monster's effect using Ryzeal Cross.
Ryzeal Plasma Hole
This trap card has two good once per turn effects that (1) allow you to disrupt your opponent through destruction and (2) extend your plays by summoning a Xyz monster.
The first effect lets you destroy face up cards your opponent controls up to the number of Ryzeal Xyz monsters you control and then attach a Ryzeal card from your grave to one rank 4 Xyz monster you control (such as Ryzeal Detonator).
The second effect lets you banish this card from your graveyard to summon any Xyz monster using a Ryzeal monster you control.
Ryzeal Duo Drive
For each material this card has your monsters gain 100 ATK and your opponent's monsters lose 100 ATK.
The following two effects are only once per turn with the second effect being crucial to combos as it is a huge extender:
- If this card is special summoned (not just synchro summoned) you can attach one Ryzeal monster from your graveyard to this card as Xyz material.
- The second effect of Ryzeal Duo Drive lets you detach two Xyz materials from a monster you control to add two Ryzeal cards with different names from your deck to your hand. This effect is normally used to search the Ryzeal spell and trap cards.
Ryzeal Detonator
What makes Ryzeal Detonator a fantastic boss monster isn’t just the fact it’s easy to summon with a high ATK stat, but also the following effect can be used multiple times a turn.
When your opponent activates a card or effect during either players’ turn you can detach one Xyz material from this card to destroy one card on the field.
This card has a minimum of two material requirements to summon, however there is no upper limit and with additional ways to equip material to this card, sometimes you can activate this destruction effect three or four times a turn.
It also has the two following effects that are only once per turn:
- If this card is special summoned, you can attach one monster from your graveyard to this card as material.
- Detonator also has built in protection for itself and other Xyz monsters. If an Xyz monster or monsters you control are destroyed by battle or card effect you can detach one material from Detonator instead.
Bonfire
This card lets you add any Level 4 or lower Pyro monster from your deck to your hand. This is a simple combo starter as it increases the chances of drawing into your Ryzeal engine by searching for Ice Ryzeal or Ext Ryzeal.
As the Ryzeal engine is fairly small, by playing this card you are essentially playing an extra three copies of either card.
Deck List
As Ryzeal as an engine is very small you can be flexible when deck building. Your Ryzeal deck core normally wouldn’t exceed twenty cards, which means you can fill up the other half of your deck with hand traps, generic staples, anti-meta cards, an extra engine or honestly whatever cards you like.
The following is a deck list you can use to begin your Ryzeal journey.
Main Deck Monsters
3 x 
3 x Main Deck Spells/Traps
3 x 
3 x 
2 x 
1 x 
3 x 
2 x Extra Deck
1 x 
1 x 
1 x 
1 x 
1 x 
1 x 
1 x 
1 x 
1 x 
1 x 
1 x Optional Upgrades/Changes
Combo Guide
There are many combos you can do with the Ryzeal cards. There are combos that start with the same card and end on different boards as well as a combination of starting cards that end on the same board. Ryzeal excels at one card combos and I am going to take you through two of my favourite Ryzeal combos.
Combo #1
The first combo is a one card combo that utilises Ice Ryzeal ending on a board of both Ryzeal Xyz monsters as well as Traptrix Rafflesia and up to six forms of interruption in one turn.
- Normal summon Ice Ryzeal and use its effect to special summon Sword Ryzeal from the deck
- Sword Ryzeal's effect activates to add Ext Ryzeal from your deck to your hand
- Special summon Ext Ryzeal from your hand by sending Mereologic Aggregator from your extra deck to the graveyard
- When Ext Ryzeal hits the field, activate it’s on summon effect to add Node Ryzeal from your deck to your hand
- (You can chain Mereologic Aggregator's graveyard effect to block your Ext Ryzeal's summon effect from being negated by your opponents’ hand traps)
- Xyz summon Traptrix Rafflesia using your Sword and Ice Ryzeal
(Rafflesia is only your fourth summon of the turn and has a built in effect that can negate the opponents’ hand traps such as Nibiru.) - Special summon Node Ryzeal from your hand
- Xyz summon Ryzeal Duo Drive with Node and Ext
- Use Duo Drive's effect to detach both of its materials (Node and Ext) to add Ryzeal Cross and Ryzeal Plugin from your deck to your hand
- Activate Ryzeal Cross from your hand (for monster negation)
- Activate Ryzeal Plugin from your hand to special summon Node Ryzeal from your graveyard and attach any Ryzeal monster from your deck to your Traptrix Rafflesia (which now has three materials for each of the three Hole normal trap cards played in the deck, giving you three forms of disruption or negation)
- Activate Node Ryzeal's effect to send any one card from your hand to the graveyard to special summon Ext Ryzeal from your graveyard
- Xyz summon Ryzeal Detonator using Node and Ext
- On summon of Detonator, use its’ effect to attach Mereologic Aggregator from your graveyard to itself as Xyz material, giving it three materials
(This gives Ryzeal Detonator up to three destructions in a turn as well as being able to use Mereologic Aggregator's graveyard effect once detached to negate another face up card on the field)
Combo #2
The second combo I am going to talk about is a two card combo that starts off with Ice Ryzeal and Ext Ryzeal and ends on both Xyz Ryzeal monsters, the field spell and the trap on the field. As well as still having four cards in your hand at the end of the combo you will have seven forms of disruption set up.
- Normal summon Ice Ryzeal and use its effect to special summon Sword Ryzeal from the deck
- Sword Ryzeal's effect activates to add another Ice Ryzeal from your deck to your hand
- Special summon Ext Ryzeal from your hand by sending Ryzeal Detonator from your extra deck to the graveyard
- When Ext Ryzeal is summoned you can use its effect to add Node Ryzeal from your deck to your hand
- Use Ext Ryzeal and Sword Ryzeal to Xyz summon Ryzeal Duo Drive
- When Ryzeal Duo Drive is summoned you can equip your Ryzeal Detonator in the graveyard to it as Xyz material using its effect
- Use Ryzeal Duo Drive's second effect to detach the two level 4 Ryzeal monsters and add Ryzeal Cross and Ryzeal Plasma Hole from your deck to your hand
- Activate Ryzeal Cross for protection against hand trap monster effects
- Special summon Ice Ryzeal from your hand by sending any one of the additional three remaining cards from your original starting hand
- Xyz summon Number 60: Dugares the Timeless by using your two Ice Ryzeal on the field
- Detach two material from Number 60: Dugares the Timeless to activate its first effect drawing two cards and then discarding any one card
- As you control a Xyz monster special summon Node Ryzeal from your hand
- Use Node Ryzeal's effect to send Number 60: Dugares the Timeless from your field to the graveyard to special summon Ice Ryzeal from your graveyard in DEF position
- Xyz summon Ryzeal Detonator using your Node Ryzeal and Ice Ryzeal
- Use Ryzeal Detonator's effect to attach Ext Ryzeal from your graveyard to itself as material
- Activate Ryzeal Cross to place Ice Ryzeal and Sword Ryzeal on the bottom of your deck to draw one card
Final Thoughts
Ryzeal is an extremely strong and diverse archetype that allows for a lot of variance. It might be one of the best decks at the moment without feeling broken.
It’s a theme full of combo starters and extenders built into one card. This doesn’t mean that the one card combo starts with the exact same card every time or even that they end on the same board.
Whether using one or two cards, each combo is different and adaptable. I like its ability to disrupt the opponent through both Ryzeal Detonator and the many hand traps that are playable in the deck.
For any returning players who haven’t played in a number of years I think this is the perfect competitive Xyz based deck to play which isn’t too difficult to pick up either.
Well, that’s all for today, have fun testing, building and buying your Ryzeal decks.
If you’re looking for the perfect place to purchase your Ryzeal cards, Yu-Gi-Oh cards, booster boxes or structure decks, why not support us here at Gathering Games.
See you and stay safe.
