u/Antique_Range1521

Let's recap:

1- We have to start with Mitsurugi, which has the peculiarity of being a competitive Ritual and Reptile deck, two things we never thought we'd see together, given this company's tendency to ignore them in favor of other summoning methods and monster types.

It turns out to be a fairly competent archetype on its own (in short, when you can play Droll, Shifter, Spark, and Dominus, and mock all the Charmie monsters, it's not too difficult to get into competitive play), but it shines more as an engine because it greatly strengthens the field to the point that it's better to surrender unless you have a card like Droll, and even then, it could still leave a decent field if its hand is functional enough.

Furthermore, they wanted to sell it at all costs, making it a budget deck, which granted it powerful protection against the banned list, affecting at most only Habakiri.

They even had a combination with the new Demisse, released later, that allowed them to further exploit its field-destroying ability, going from one Raigeki with legs to two Raigeki with legs.

B) Then came Herald, where many excused itself by saying that it didn't deserve to be banned and that the blame lay solely with Yummy: which is a complete lie, since that card had so many unbalanced effects that, had it continued to exist after Yummy, it would have been a sign that sooner or later Konami would create another archetype to exploit it, as history would repeat itself. As an additional note, although Herald wasn't affected in the OCG, Pre-Preparation was the card that suffered a major blow with the banned list.

Konami compensated for these blows to Rituals by releasing a Link-2 card that facilitates Ritual searches, such as the weakened version of Pre-Preparation.

3. We can add Harmonia, which, although everyone mentions its use with KT, is actually wonderful in any archetype that doesn't rely on the Extra Deck, such as Labyrinth, Dogmatika, Regenesis, Nemleria, Voiceless Voice, Mitsu (obviously), and the list goes on. This gives us an idea of ​​how versatile this card is, allowing it to fit perfectly into the vast majority of Ritual-focused decks.

4. The Yugi archetype, centered on his battle against Pegasus, was also released, revamping some of the old monsters he used, resulting in an excellent combination of nostalgia, playability, and competitive potential.

I'm probably forgetting some crucial details, but this brief summary shows that Konami is starting to pay more attention to Ritual mechanics.

I usually face different archetypes, but I've never actually encountered this one. The only time I saw it in action was on a Yu-Gi-Oh! YouTuber's live stream when it had just been released in Master Duel.

I would appreciate it if someone could explain how this archetype works and what its weaknesses are that have prevented it from becoming more relevant.

I have a long list, but for now, if I had to choose just two, from among the most popular monsters in the franchise that have appeared in the anime, I'd say one of the Cyber ​​Dragon versions.

As for monsters that haven't appeared in the anime, it would be Eldlich, the Golden Lord (although that's a bit of a cheat considering he appears in that Konami promotional video showcasing various archetypes).

Artist: hjjeon02

As a user of Horus cards, let me explain:

When playing Horus, you can search for Sarcophagus with Imsety or use your Field Spell Card to search for Imsety, thus gaining access to Sarcophagus. This allows you to perform XYZ or Link Summons to prepare your field while your preferred archetype or engine complements what you've built with Horus.

Basically, the ways to initiate plays are to have Sarcophagus from the start, search for it with Imsety, or use the Field Spell Card. However, Canopic Protector is impossible to search for, even though it could provide the archetype with excellent recovery by allowing your monsters in the Graveyard to be Special Summoned and even forcing the opponent to think about how to remove the card if they don't want to give you more resources.

First, its existence is curious, since it's a promotional card for Master Duel, not for physical formats, and it has very good effects, although its Link Summon 3 cost is extremely high.

Second, its predecessors, I:P and S:P, function in the opposite way to WP. They are low-cost cards that offer great benefits, serving as generic tools for decks with few monsters in their Extra Deck, or as filler if there are no other options available.

The interesting thing is that it's precisely a card for long games, where you first summon I:P to activate its effects on your opponent's turn, thus making the most of S:P's effects, and then finish it off with WP on your turn. The problem is that, by then, you'll probably have other resources to help you.

Now, regarding its effects, it has:

A) Negation of monster effects combined with the ability to banish. Your opponent can save their card from banishment by using it as material for a Summon or effect activation, but this won't prevent the negation. Furthermore, the card is resistant to conventional removal methods because it banishes itself, protecting it from conventional removal methods if it were to be banished.

On the other hand, banishment is incredibly powerful because very few decks can, at best, take advantage of a banished card or, in a normal situation, recover it.

Essentially, it has the abilities of SP, but enhanced.

B) It has the ability of IP, which received a slight improvement, with the sole addition of being able to use an opponent's Link 1 or 2 monster as material. However, the problem is that, aside from cards like Underworld or Bao, it has almost no cards for generics options, because its other option... may it rest in peace, Goddess of the Bow... Getting back to the point, almost all Link 4 and 5 monsters fall into three categories: powerful but situational cards compared to cheaper options, and themed cards (yes, that's why I'm making an exception for them, since they're themed, by not including them in the next category) that were obviously not made to be played but only to look good, and absolute garbage that doesn't justify its cost.

My opinion: a good generic card, although a bit expensive.

How difficult would it be for Aluber to survive Diabellstar?

I dare say he can't defeat her, because we must consider what Diabellstar does in her story:

A) She single-handedly defeated Poplar in her Flamberge form, as well as her henchmen (the other Snake Eyes). She then continued fighting Diabellze, who arrived to take Poplar, and even the Goblin biker gang before collapsing from exhaustion after so many consecutive battles.

In the story guides published by Konami, it's described that this dragon can paralyze people with her gaze (which in the game translates to turning them into Continuous Spell cards).

B) She was able to defeat the heralds of the corrupting goddess Azamina (Silvy and Rucia in their corrupted forms) without suffering significant damage. It was an ambush attack to take her down, and Goblin bikers also often ambush Diabellstar, so we can assume the element of surprise won't help Aluber at all.

C) Her sister Diabellze is another powerful force to consider, as she single-handedly defeated Moa Regina (one of the flesh puppets Azamina manipulates). Aluber doesn't play fair, as we saw in the Ice Jade massacre, where she didn't hesitate to use henchmen or servants, so we can count on the characters' allies.

Furthermore, Diabellze managed to hold out against Azamina long enough before her sister came to her rescue.

D) Poplar attracts oddities, absorbing magic from the environment, which could put Aluber at a disadvantage.

And let's not even talk about Diabellstar Vengeance or Snake-Eyes Vengeance Dragon, her enhanced forms. In one of them, he can fight Azamina, forcing her to assume her true form, while his final form is summarized as being annihilated by something very similar to Santifuego's fire (in short, Santifuego's fire not only burns, but also incinerates the soul).

P.S.: If you think Aluber has any chance, I'm interested in hearing your arguments.

In my case, I imagine they recruited Diabellstar in exchange for money, and Diabellze decided to join them on their adventure, thus completing their party.

Another fun scenario is that they recruit their child versions (Elzette or Astellar), since the story published by Konami mentions that the sister duo sometimes gets bored with the tranquility of the forest; that means it would be easy to convince them to join, although I then imagine their whole family accompanying the silent duo.

Or they could summon Dragoon, which basically means bringing back an old friend.

I find this card quite interesting because it allows Branded to not rely so heavily on Branded Fusion, which was its main function within the archetype, and to have easy access to F&V or any other card that might be useful depending on the situation.

It also serves quite well in Dogmatika, opening up possibilities for their plays by giving them search capabilities, acting as an initiator by bringing a monster from the Extra Deck to the table, and reliably providing an Ecclesia.

After a while, many noticed that this card can create a small engine, whose main user is Dracotail, by allowing the summoning of Cartesia without having to sacrifice the Normal Summon, and providing some consistency against the reduction in the number of copies of Ketu that can be run (there were already DT versions that played Mululu to one, making the blow less painful).

In my case, I've paired it with White Forest, and I plan to do the same with Regenesis later, as I explore its viability within other archetypes.

It's not the most optimal setup, but the upcoming metagame will be dominated by Kewl Tune, and that's probably why I'll be playing more relaxed, knowing what that deck is capable of with perfect hand information; so, well, time to experiment.