With the Legend Anthology event wrapping up, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel’s duelists have geared up for the current event, the 2023 XYZ Festival. Curious to find out which XYZ decks come out on top?
As the name of the event implies, the XYZ Festival is focused on XYZ monsters. The event began on February 21st and ends on the 28th. This is the first recurring Master Duel event. The first XYZ festival took place on February 2022.
The event is making Fusion, Synchro, Link, and several Pendulum monsters forbidden to encourage the use of XYZ monsters.
The Basics of XYZ Monsters
If you’re new to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, XYZ monsters are extra deck monsters that are generally summoned by having two monsters of the same level on your field. You can use those two monsters and overlay them to summon an XYZ monster whose rank is equal to their levels.
XYZ Summoning Tutorial by Cimoooooooo
For example, you can XYZ summon a rank 4 XYZ monster by overlaying two level 4 monsters on your field.
Another unique thing about XYZ monsters is that to use their abilities, you’d have to send an overlay unit (the cards below them) to the graveyard.
As with most rulings in Yu-Gi-Oh!, there are exceptions and workarounds, but these are the basic rulings that apply to most XYZ monsters.
If you are familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh!, but just haven’t gotten around to playing Master Duel, it is free to play on Steam and the App Store, so you can go check it out for yourself.
Best Decks for the 2023 XYZ Festival
Keep in mind that these deck lists aren’t set in stone. Adjust them to fit your playstyle. Maybe you’d prefer Cosmic Cyclone instead of Twin Twisters or want to add a Raigeki, have fun with it!
Utopia
The Utopia and Onomat archetypes are what Yuma Tsukumo, the protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal uses. It’s no surprise that these archetypes have received a ton of support throughout the years and now makeup one of the most versatile XYZ decks out there.
Your boss monster here is Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray. If you can bring it out, equipped with the ZW monsters, you’ll have a couple of monster negates on your board. You’ll also have decent protection on both Leo and its equip cards.
Utopia Deck
Utopia Decklist
Monsters
- 1x Astral Kuriboh
- 3x Maxx “C”
- 3x Ash Blossom
- 2x Utopic Onomatopoeia
- 2x Zubababancho Gagagacoat
- 2x Dodododwarf Gogogoglove
- 2x ZS – Armed Sage
- 3x ZS Ascended Sage
- 1x ZW – Lightning Blade
- 1x ZW – Pegasus Twin Saber
- 1x Nibiru, the Primal Being
Spells
- 1x Monster Reborn
- 1x Reinforcement of the Army
- 3x Onomatopaira
- 2x Lightning Storm
- 3x Zexal Construction
- 1x Hyper Rank-Up-Magic Utopiforce
- 1x Onomatopickup
- 2x Double or Nothing!
- 2x Twin Twisters
- 2x Called by the Grave
- 1x Crossout Designator
Traps
- N/A
Extra Deck
- 1x Number F0: Utopic Future
- 1x Number F0: Utopic Draco Future
- 2x Number 39: Utopia
- 1x Diagusto Emeral
- 1x Number S39: Utopia Prime
- 2x Number 39: Utopia Double
- 1x ZS – Utopia Sage
- 1x Ultimate Leo Utopia Ray
- 1x Number 39: Utopia Beyond
- 1x Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy
- 1x Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder
- 2x Number 99: Utopia Dragonar
Utopia’s Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Lots of ways to dodge targeting negates like Infinite Impermanence.
- There are OTK options through Utopia Double. Most of your extra deck monsters also have extremely high attack points.
- You don’t have to worry about the enemy messing with your graveyard since this deck doesn’t use a lot of graveyard effects.
Cons:
- Double or Nothing! and both of the ZW cards are bricks if you draw them in your opening hand.
- This deck has no reliable way of getting rid of your enemy’s back-row. Decks that focus on spells and traps can be hard to play against.
Exosisters
During the latest update, the Exosisters got an incredible buff with Exosister Martha, Exosisters Magnifica, and Exosister Stella coming into play.
There are now multiple ways to bring out your powerful XYZ monsters. You can even bring them out on your opponent’s turn to banish their monsters and stop their plays.
Exosisters Deck
Exosister Decklist
Monsters
- 3x Maxx “C”
- 3x Ash Blossom
- 3x Exosister Elis
- 3x Exosister Stella
- 1x Exosister Irene
- 3x Exosister Sophia
- 3x Exosister Martha
- 1x Nibiru, the Prima Being
Spells
- 3x Dark Hole
- 1x Harpy’s Feather Duster
- 2x Lightning Storm
- 2x Called by the Grave
- 1x Crossout Designator
- 3x Exosister Pax
- 1x Exosister Arment
Traps
- 3x Infinite Impermanence
- 2x Exosister Vadis
- 2x Exosister Returnia
Extra Deck
- 1x Number F0: Utopic Future
- 1x Number F0: Utopic Draco Future
- 1x Evilswarm Exciton Knight
- 1x Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir
- 3x Exosister Mikailis
- 2x Exosister Kaspitell
- 1x Exosister Gibrine
- 2x Exosister Asophiel
- 2x Exosisters Magnifica
- 1x Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder
Exosister’s Pros and Cons
Pros:
- This deck has lots of banishing quick effects, allowing you to remove important cards from your opponent’s board or graveyard even on their turn.
- Not a lot of decks in the 2023 XYZ festival can use cards that are banished. You don’t need to worry about your opponent triggering effects from their banish pile.
Cons:
- The monsters themselves generally don’t have a high attack value. If you leave your monsters on the field without any negates or protection, your opponent could clear it with high-attack monsters.
Rhongomyniad
As much as the fanbase has hated this card, Number 86: Heroic Champion – Rhongomyniad is available for the 2023 XYZ festival. So, get ready to fight with it or fight against it.
Use your Floowandereeze cards to stall. Once you can activate Sales Ban and Numbers Eveil, use them to Summon Rhongomyniad. You can swap the Number cards in your extra deck for other Number cards as long as their numbers add up to 86.
A 4-material Rhongomyniad with Sales Ban is virtually unstoppable, so just wait for your enemy to deck out or beat them to death.
Rhongomyniad Deck
Rhongomyniad Decklist
Monsters
- 1x Floowandereeze & Robina
- 3x Floowandereeze & Eglen
- 2x Floowandereeze & Stri
- 1x Floowandereeze & Toccan
- 3x Maxx “C”
- 3x Ash Blossom
- 1x Mist Valley Apex Avian
- 1x Raiza the Mega Monarch
- 1x Floowandereeze & Empen
Spells
- 3x Upstart Goblin
- 3x Triple Tactics Talent
- 3x Sales Ban
- 3x Numbers Eveil
- 2x Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map
- 1x Floowandereeze and the Unexplored Winds
- 2x Called by the Grave
- 1x Crossout Designator
- 3x Floowandereeze and the Advent of Adventure
Traps
- 1x Evenly Matched
- 1x Infinite Impermanence
- 1x Floowandereeze and the Dreaming Town
Extra Deck
- 1x Number 78: Number Archive
- 2x Lyrilusc – Assembled Nightingale
- 1x Number 1: Numeron Gate Ekam
- 1x Number 29: Mannequin Cat
- 1x Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
- 1x Number 3: Cicada King
- 2x Number 39: Utopia
- 1x Number 86: Heroic Champion – Rhongomyniad
- 1x Number 4: Stealth Kragen
- 1x Number 76: Harmonizer Gradielle
- 1x Number 84: Pain Gainer
- 1x Number 77: The Seven Sins
- 1x Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder
Rhongomyniad’s Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Once you get a 4-material Rhongomyniad out while a Sales Ban is in effect, your enemy is basically dead in the water.
Cons:
- This deck can be very inconsistent. Pulling off the perfect combo may assure you a win, but you’d have to work for it and rely on a bit of luck.
- Rhongomyniad is this deck’s only trump card. If you can’t bring it out, you’ll be in a lot of trouble.
Zoodiac
Zoodiacs were one of the most popular decks in the last XYZ festival, and they’ve only gotten better. With the addition of Mathmechs, they’re now even more reliable in bringing out big bad ZEUS.
The deck’s main goal is to stack up Zoodiac XYZ monsters and bring out a ZEUS with about half a dozen or more XYZ materials. After that, you can repeatedly wipe out your enemy’s board with ZEUS’s effect.
Zoodiac Deck
Zoodiac Decklist
Monsters
- 3x Effect Veiler
- 3x Maxx “C”
- 3x Ash Blossom
- 1x Zoodiac Whiptail
- 3x Zoodiac Thoroughblade
- 2x Zoodiac Ramram
- 1x Mathmech Sigma
- 1x Mathmech Nabla
- 2x Mathmech Diameter
- 3x Mathmech Circular
- 1x Nibiru, the Primal Being
Spells
- 2x Cynet Mining
- 1x Lightning Storm
- 2x Fire Formation – Tenki
- 2x Called by the Grave
- 1x Crossout Designator
Traps
- 3x Infinite Impermanence
- 1x Mathmech Superfactorial
- 3x Solemn Judgment
- 2x Red Reboot
Extra Deck
- 1x Number F0: Utopic Future
- 1x Number F0: Utopic Draco Future
- 1x Evilswarm Exciton Knight
- 1x Zoodiac Tigermortar
- 1x Zoodiac Drident
- 1x Zoodiac Boarbow
- 1x Zoodiac Hammerkong
- 1x Zoodiac Chakanine
- 1x Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir
- 2x Mathmech Laplacian
- 1x Primathmech Alembertian
- 1x Drill Driver Vespenato
- 1x Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder
Zoodiac’s Pros and Cons
Pros:
- ZEUS can easily avoid multiple targeting effects because not only is his effect a quick effect, it isn’t a once-per-turn.
- XYZ summoning is not considered an effect. So, once you summon even just one Zoodiac XYZ monster, there’s little your opponent can do to stop ZEUS from coming out.
Cons:
- Destruction effects can easily get rid of ZEUS and leave you helpless. Always remember to summon ZEUS in defense mode unless you can attack that turn. This way, you can at least avoid a Lightning Strike.
Lyrilusc
Lyriluscs are extremely fun in the 2023 XYZ festival. They basically ignore your opponent’s monsters and hurt their life points directly. This is a very fluid deck, meaning your end board would depend on what your opponent has.
As long as you can determine what cards are a threat to you, Lyriluscs can almost always find a way out of a sticky situation. And if push comes to shove, you can always just go for a ZEUS or Utopic Draco Future to have a strong boss monster on the board.
Lyrilusc Deck
Lyrilusc Decklist
Monsters
- 1x D.D. Crow
- 1x Effect Veiler
- 2x Lyrilusc – Cobalt Sparrow
- 3x Lyrilusc – Sapphire Swallow
- 3x Lyrilusc – Turquoise Warbler
- 3x Lyrilusc – Beryl Canary
- 3x Lyrilusc – Celestine Wagtail
- 3x Maxx “C”
- 3x Ash Blossom
- 1x Nibiru, the Primal Being
Spells
- 1x Harpy’s Feather Duster
- 1x Lightning Storm
- 3x Lyrilusc – Bird Call
- 3x Time Thief Hack
- 1x Lyrilusc – Bird Sanctuary
- 2x Book of Moon
- 2x Called by the Grave
- 1x Crossout Designator
- 2x Forbidden Droplet
Traps
- 1x Infinite Impermanence
Extra Deck
- 1x Number F0: Utopic Future
- 2x Lyrilusc – Recital Starling
- 3x Lyrilusc – Assembled Nightingale
- 1x Number F0: Utopic Draco Future
- 3x Lyrilusc – Ensemblue Robin
- 3x Lyrilusc – Promenade Thrush
- 1x Downerd Magician
- 1x Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder
Lyrilusc’s Pros and Cons
Pros:
- This deck can reliably bypass your opponent’s field of monsters and attack them directly.
- If your enemies have monsters with incredibly high attack points, you can use them to your advantage. Use Recital Starling to deal that monster’s attack damage to them.
Cons:
- This deck’s monsters don’t have a lot of protection. If your monster’s effects are negated on your opponent’s turn, their low attack points can lead to your defeat.
That’s all you should need to get ready for Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel’s 2023 XYZ festival. Now get out there because it’s time to duel!
