Here are the top 5 Archtypes in the game of YuGiOh, as of right now.
5. Dark World
Strengths
Though they are heavily looked down upon, Dark World monsters are actually one of the best types of cards to use. They are, in my opinion, the more advanced versions of Blackwings. Dark World monsters revolve around the activation of effects after being discarded. For example; Beiige, Vanguard of the Dark World can be special summoned if it is discarded from your hand by a card effect. The Dark World monsters really punish mill archetypes, and other archetypes that like to discard cards from the foe’s hand; a popular archetype being the X-Sabers. Dark World is also a great swarming archetype especially with effect of Brron, Mad King of the Dark World. The Dark World archetype also goes great with the Infernity archetype, creating a nearly unbeatable deck (I would know, since I used a mixture of Dark World and Infernity and made it to nationals).
Weaknesses
Besides the fact Consecrated Light would kill this deck, the only weakness I noticed in a Dark World deck is that it is hard to function if you don’t draw a card that discards other cards, such as a Morphing Jar. Unless you can activate their effects, Dark World monsters are pretty weak so a lot of the Dark World archetype is based on luck. Plus, Dark World monsters are very against D.D. decks, since they utilize cards like Dimensional Fissure and Macro Cosmos which send monsters out of play rather than the graveyard. Also, Dark World decks can be a bit predictable, so you need to have a strong extra deck.
4. Blackwings
Strengths
One of the best OTK decks around, Blackwing monsters are one of the, if not the most used archetype in Yugioh duels. With their vast swarming capabilities, Blackwings could create obstacles for your opponent early in the turn. Cards like Sirocco the Dawn also help out by improving the attack stat of other Blackwings. One of the most dangerous attributes about Blackwings is how quickly they can create an OTK. Because Blackwings swarm so much, they can quickly create OTK situations or quick-kill situations. The difficulty of preparing for those types of situations makes Blackwing monsters very deadly. Because of their swarming prowess, Blackwings also focus on summoning many synchro monsters.
Weaknesses
Blackwing monsters are a very one-dimensional archetype. Besides the fact they swarm to create OTK situations, they aren’t really capable of doing anything else. Plus, the fact they are all winged-beast, dark attribute monsters, means that you can easily defeat them with Tribe-Infecting virus or Consecrated Light. Also, because Blackwing decks focus on swarming synchros, cards like Gravity Bind make it very difficult for a Blackwing deck to function.
3. Aliens
Strengths
Duffer’s choice of running an Alien deck intrigued me enough to do some more research about the archetype. They are one of the most underrated archetypes, but if you play them right the Aliens can be extremely dangerous. The focus of this archetype is to equip the opponent’s monsters with Alien Counters. Monsters equipped with ‘A-Counters’ are effect in negative ways, for example they lose 300 attack and defense points during battle calculation. Alien monsters are similar to a chess pieces. There are weaker monsters (pawns) that focus on distracting and penetrating through defenses by equipping A-Counters (Alien Dog). Then there are higher-ups (bishops, knights, and castles) that apply damaging effects on the foe’s A-Monsters (Alien Mars). Finally, there are the king and queen, in this archetype, Mystic Fortress Gol’gar and Cosmic Horror Gangi’el (they aren’t Alien monsters but are used in every Alien deck that they are considered to be part of the archetype). What I’m trying to say is that the Aliens are a very structured archetype that utilizes the powers of each and every member of the team. Their functionality makes Aliens an archetype that can destroy opponents with ease.
Weaknesses
Because they were recently being mainstreamed, Aliens don’t have a good amount of support yet. There are some spells and traps that apply only to Aliens (Code A Ruins, Planet Pollutant Virus,etc…) but it’s not a big amount. Because they don’t have a great amount of support, Aliens are very prone in close, low-card situations.
2. Infernities
Strengths
Infernities are one of the star archetypes of the 2010 meta. With the introduction of Kalin Kiryu in Yugioh 5Ds, Konami decided they just had to create Infernity cards due to Kalin’s rise in popularity. Like their winged-beast counterparts the Blackwings,Infernities are pretty good swarming archetype as well. They are a very flexible archetype for their decks can mesh other types of monsters such as the Dark World monsters and (especially) Zombie type monsters. Infernity decks are great for Instant Synchro Summons thanks to cards like Infernity Launcher and Infernity Necromancer. There are a few OTK opportunities in an Infernity deck as well. The biggest reason for the Infernities popularity is the fact they are more powerful when there is little-to-no cards in the user’s hand. Thus, instead of worrying about discarding your cards to the grave, or playing to many spells and traps, having an Infernity deck gives you relief because by doing that, you are just opening a door to more combos and strategies.
Weaknesses
Another deck that would be killed by Consecrated Light. The Infernities have very little spell and trap card support compared to other meta decks. Because they are so reliant on having no hand, cards like Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier and Penguin Soldier could instantly halt a developing Infernity combo. In an Infernity deck, players are too reliant on special summoning Infernity monsters and stocking them in the graveyard. This Infernity characteristic makes it very easy to form an Anti-Infernity deck (a D.D. deck or a deck that revolves around cards like Royal Oppression/Special Hurricane, etc..). Though an Infernity deck is mighty, Infernities are at their full potential when meshed with similar archetypes (zombies, Dark World).
1. X-Sabers
Strengths
X-Sabers became immensely popular the day Ancient Prophecy came out. X-Sabers are another versatile archetype that have a great amount of battle strategies. Though they are mainly focused on swarming, a lot of X-Saber have effects that revolve around things such as discarding cards from your foe’s hand. X-Sabers have amazing combos, (a notable one is known as the Faultrolls Loop, facilitated by two XX-Saber Faultrolls and XX-Saber Ragigura). X-Sabers have strong spell and trap cards, a notable and powerful support card is Gottam’s Emergency Call. They are a premier archetype and with more support and mastery, could be an even more destructive archetype.
Weaknesses
The most notable weakness that X-Sabers have is lack of support. Though their spells and traps may be strong, they still need more spell and trap card support if they want to remain number one. Also, some X-Sabers require others to be on the field, slowing the deck down a bit.Other than that, X-Sabers are a near-perfect archetype. With more X-Saber oriented cards being released in Duelist Revolution and Starstrike Blast, they will be an unstoppable force.
Originally posted on yugiohblog.com
5. Dark World
Strengths
Though they are heavily looked down upon, Dark World monsters are actually one of the best types of cards to use. They are, in my opinion, the more advanced versions of Blackwings. Dark World monsters revolve around the activation of effects after being discarded. For example; Beiige, Vanguard of the Dark World can be special summoned if it is discarded from your hand by a card effect. The Dark World monsters really punish mill archetypes, and other archetypes that like to discard cards from the foe’s hand; a popular archetype being the X-Sabers. Dark World is also a great swarming archetype especially with effect of Brron, Mad King of the Dark World. The Dark World archetype also goes great with the Infernity archetype, creating a nearly unbeatable deck (I would know, since I used a mixture of Dark World and Infernity and made it to nationals).
Weaknesses
Besides the fact Consecrated Light would kill this deck, the only weakness I noticed in a Dark World deck is that it is hard to function if you don’t draw a card that discards other cards, such as a Morphing Jar. Unless you can activate their effects, Dark World monsters are pretty weak so a lot of the Dark World archetype is based on luck. Plus, Dark World monsters are very against D.D. decks, since they utilize cards like Dimensional Fissure and Macro Cosmos which send monsters out of play rather than the graveyard. Also, Dark World decks can be a bit predictable, so you need to have a strong extra deck.
4. Blackwings
Strengths
One of the best OTK decks around, Blackwing monsters are one of the, if not the most used archetype in Yugioh duels. With their vast swarming capabilities, Blackwings could create obstacles for your opponent early in the turn. Cards like Sirocco the Dawn also help out by improving the attack stat of other Blackwings. One of the most dangerous attributes about Blackwings is how quickly they can create an OTK. Because Blackwings swarm so much, they can quickly create OTK situations or quick-kill situations. The difficulty of preparing for those types of situations makes Blackwing monsters very deadly. Because of their swarming prowess, Blackwings also focus on summoning many synchro monsters.
Weaknesses
Blackwing monsters are a very one-dimensional archetype. Besides the fact they swarm to create OTK situations, they aren’t really capable of doing anything else. Plus, the fact they are all winged-beast, dark attribute monsters, means that you can easily defeat them with Tribe-Infecting virus or Consecrated Light. Also, because Blackwing decks focus on swarming synchros, cards like Gravity Bind make it very difficult for a Blackwing deck to function.
3. Aliens
Strengths
Duffer’s choice of running an Alien deck intrigued me enough to do some more research about the archetype. They are one of the most underrated archetypes, but if you play them right the Aliens can be extremely dangerous. The focus of this archetype is to equip the opponent’s monsters with Alien Counters. Monsters equipped with ‘A-Counters’ are effect in negative ways, for example they lose 300 attack and defense points during battle calculation. Alien monsters are similar to a chess pieces. There are weaker monsters (pawns) that focus on distracting and penetrating through defenses by equipping A-Counters (Alien Dog). Then there are higher-ups (bishops, knights, and castles) that apply damaging effects on the foe’s A-Monsters (Alien Mars). Finally, there are the king and queen, in this archetype, Mystic Fortress Gol’gar and Cosmic Horror Gangi’el (they aren’t Alien monsters but are used in every Alien deck that they are considered to be part of the archetype). What I’m trying to say is that the Aliens are a very structured archetype that utilizes the powers of each and every member of the team. Their functionality makes Aliens an archetype that can destroy opponents with ease.
Weaknesses
Because they were recently being mainstreamed, Aliens don’t have a good amount of support yet. There are some spells and traps that apply only to Aliens (Code A Ruins, Planet Pollutant Virus,etc…) but it’s not a big amount. Because they don’t have a great amount of support, Aliens are very prone in close, low-card situations.
2. Infernities
Strengths
Infernities are one of the star archetypes of the 2010 meta. With the introduction of Kalin Kiryu in Yugioh 5Ds, Konami decided they just had to create Infernity cards due to Kalin’s rise in popularity. Like their winged-beast counterparts the Blackwings,Infernities are pretty good swarming archetype as well. They are a very flexible archetype for their decks can mesh other types of monsters such as the Dark World monsters and (especially) Zombie type monsters. Infernity decks are great for Instant Synchro Summons thanks to cards like Infernity Launcher and Infernity Necromancer. There are a few OTK opportunities in an Infernity deck as well. The biggest reason for the Infernities popularity is the fact they are more powerful when there is little-to-no cards in the user’s hand. Thus, instead of worrying about discarding your cards to the grave, or playing to many spells and traps, having an Infernity deck gives you relief because by doing that, you are just opening a door to more combos and strategies.
Weaknesses
Another deck that would be killed by Consecrated Light. The Infernities have very little spell and trap card support compared to other meta decks. Because they are so reliant on having no hand, cards like Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier and Penguin Soldier could instantly halt a developing Infernity combo. In an Infernity deck, players are too reliant on special summoning Infernity monsters and stocking them in the graveyard. This Infernity characteristic makes it very easy to form an Anti-Infernity deck (a D.D. deck or a deck that revolves around cards like Royal Oppression/Special Hurricane, etc..). Though an Infernity deck is mighty, Infernities are at their full potential when meshed with similar archetypes (zombies, Dark World).
1. X-Sabers
Strengths
X-Sabers became immensely popular the day Ancient Prophecy came out. X-Sabers are another versatile archetype that have a great amount of battle strategies. Though they are mainly focused on swarming, a lot of X-Saber have effects that revolve around things such as discarding cards from your foe’s hand. X-Sabers have amazing combos, (a notable one is known as the Faultrolls Loop, facilitated by two XX-Saber Faultrolls and XX-Saber Ragigura). X-Sabers have strong spell and trap cards, a notable and powerful support card is Gottam’s Emergency Call. They are a premier archetype and with more support and mastery, could be an even more destructive archetype.
Weaknesses
The most notable weakness that X-Sabers have is lack of support. Though their spells and traps may be strong, they still need more spell and trap card support if they want to remain number one. Also, some X-Sabers require others to be on the field, slowing the deck down a bit.Other than that, X-Sabers are a near-perfect archetype. With more X-Saber oriented cards being released in Duelist Revolution and Starstrike Blast, they will be an unstoppable force.
Originally posted on yugiohblog.com
,flamcelss ftw !!!!! anyways,nice article 
