Top 5 Cutest Archetypes: May 2023

1. Nemurelia

This is probably the most well-known of everything on this list other than Marincess for coming out in the past year or sooner. The deck revolves entirely around Dreaming Nemleria and popping everything on the field for some aggressive plays. Speaking of, the entire archetype is full of cute cards like the sleeping princess, Dreaming Nemleria, and her imaginary knights Oreiller and Couette. Did you know that the word Nemure is the Japanese word for “sleeping?” Yep, and the main battlers of the deck also have French terms, Couette meaning Comforter and Oreiller meaning Pillow. Cool that we’re also learning some new words while also being bellowed with total cuteness!

2. Lunalight

Also known as Moonlight, is a Light and Dark Beast-Warrior deck that debuted in Shining Victories and was used by Celina in Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. This is the first fusion-summoning focused deck I played when I first started dueling, and it was so cool getting the main boss monsters like Lunalight Leo Dancer and Lunalight Sabre Dancer. It was super cool to continuously bash my opponents with multiple attacks and increasing ATK, all with cards like Leo Dancer who stayed unaffected. And hello, the cards are super cute bunnies, rabbits, cats, and chicks. At the time, it was one of my main joys. Now, it’s sort of hard to play, but definitely, one that can come back with a bit of support (especially on the ban list, cough cough).

3. Melodious

Also coming from Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V was the Melodious archetype, used by another queen Zuzu Boyle. If you like music-related archetypes then look no further because they’re as musical as it gets with their vivid and colorful clothing and bodies shaped like musical notes! They also have names related to the musical genre like Opera, Mozarta(Mozart), and Maestra (Maestro).

This was another deck that focused on fusion summoning, which I’m guessing was a big deal back when I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh because I also picked this up. The deck, similar to Lunalight, focused on offensive power and aggressive plays to summon out Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir, Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir, and Schuberta the Melodious Maestra. All incredible boss monsters that destroy monsters can’t be destroyed by monsters or effects or even reflect back the damage you’d receive. Another incredible deck that may come back one day.

4. Mikanko

The word Mikanko has several meanings and verbiage. It could be read as Mikan (Citrus), and Ko (Child) in Chinese honorifics. It can be an alternative to the Mikannagi or a court lady who served in Shintō. One of the main cards of the deck, Ohime the Manifested Mikanko, is even named after the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu and the “Mikanko” members are descendants who inherit her three sacred treasures.

Now enough about the lore. What do they do? Well, using their new gifts from Lady Ohime, they can throw back any and all damage taken from attacks. And with cards like Heavenly Gate of the Mikanko, you can make your opponents hit you even if they don’t want to! I actually have a deck profile coming out on my own Mikanko deck that I’ve been using in online tournaments, and it’s highly successful going second. But hey, despite their overpowered effects, they’re just the cutest, aren’t they?

5. Marincess

You’ve probably seen them and admired the neverending combo of summoning multiple Links. Those Link monsters become equip cards, and you get either negated by Marincess Wave or attacked for game by Marincess Aqua Argonaut. 

All the monsters are related in some way to sea creatures such as Mandarin, Marbled Rock, Coral Triangle, and the obvious ones like Sea Angel, Sea Horse, and Sea Star. I really find the artwork cool and cute, and I would play it more if it weren’t because it’s incredibly easy to undermine the Link process with sometimes only one-hand trap like Dimension Shifter or Ash Blossom. Nevertheless, this list is about cuteness, not playability, so it’ll stay right here! While it’s one of those easy to learn hard to, master decks, it’s still pretty consistent and a great combo deck for beginners just wanting to get into advanced decks or Links altogether.

Honorable Mentions

Harpies (Duh, but I made a whole article about them, so they’ve had enough prime time)

Trickstars (Cute, but I’ve had bad experiences with them in the past, draining me of my LP. But, I used them, so no harm, no foul.

Purrely (They look cute, but I need to play them more to figure out how they work. I did have one experience going against them, but they lost to my Nemurelia deck so I wasn’t that impressed.)

Madolche (Another super cute deck, but I didn’t use much of it when they were relevant. I wonder if there’re any Madolche players still out there?)

Labrynth (Super cute cards but I just haven’t used them much yet. I will, but only when I scrap up enough gems on Master Duel.)

And that’s it! Hope you liked my picks!