QuincymccoyIntroduction:
On the Fire King island, there dwells an empire of FIRE monsters that all benefit from being destroyed. Whether it is rising from the ashes, searching a new Fire King card or bring a fallen comrade back into the battle, the Fire King archetype revolves entirely around the cycle of destruction. Each monster plays a pivotal role in the strategy, and each support card adds a bit more fuel to the fire to keep the cycle going, blazing eternally throughout the entire duel.
But this theme never took off well enough, as they were in dire need of further support. In later main sets, the Fire King archetype would receive Fire King Island, a field spell that could destroy any monster in your hand or field to add any Fire King to your hand from the deck. Then the last support card really cemented the disruptive nature of the archetype, Fire King Avatar Arvata, which includes an effect to negate the activation of monster effects as well as an effect to bring back any FIRE Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast from the GY when it is destroyed. These two cards brought the theme back into viability, but it wasn’t enough to break back into being a solid deck choice in the TCG… That is, until now.
Decklist:
Click to view the Interactive Decklist in the Official Card Database.
Spoiler
Monsters: 16
| Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear
| Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Buffalo
||| Fire King Avatar Avrata
||| Fire King Avatar Yaksha
||| Fire King Avatar Barong
|| Fire King High Avatar Garunix
|| Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
| Nine-Tailed FoxSpells: 24
||| Circle of the Fire Kings
||| Island of the Fire Kings
||| Onslaught of the Fire Kings
||| Fire Formation – Tenki
|| Fire Formation – Tensu
| Fire Formation – Domei
||| Rekindling
|| Super Polymerization
| Terraforming
||| Pot of DesiresExtra: 15
|| Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Swan
| Salamangreat Violet Chimera
| Abyss Dweller
| Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Tiger King
| Bujintei Kagutsuchi
| Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir
| Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Chaos
|| Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Eagle
| Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Peacock
| Hiita the Fire Charmer, Ablaze
| Knightmare Phoenix
| Salamangreat Heatleo
| Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf
Strategy:
The other major weird tech that you probably identified was Super Polymerization. With the arrival of the first generic Beast-Warrior Fusion monster in Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Swan, Fire Kings finally have an additional way to OTK the opponent. But since you also can run some of the Salamangreat Link monsters, you can also tech in Salamangreat Violet Chimera as an unexpected OTK option OR to simply give you an extra leg up in the Salamangreat matchup. Either way, you have even more power being added to the deck in the form of new disruption capabilities outside of simple destruction.
Alternative Pairings:
Alongside the breaking of new ground with a more condensed CDS format, I’m also going to debut additional strategic pairings that work well with the Fire King archetype.
Sample Chains of Play:
The following scenarios came up in test duels. Rather than giving a full rundown for each, I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some play chains to show what this deck is capable of to swing the duel back into your favor.
Scenario One:
Spoiler
Opponent has a set backrow and a face-up Salamangreat Heatleo that was not ‘reincarnation summoned’. I have a face-up Garunix and Island, a Barong in the GY, & Avrata, FF – Tensu, Onslaught, and Rekindling in hand.
Start by activating Island, destroying Avrata and adding Yaksha to hand. Avrata then activates, bringing Barong back to my field. I then Normal Summon Yaksha, using both it and Barong to Link Summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Eagle. Next, I activate Tensu, then immediately use Eagle’s effect to bounce it back to hand and send Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Buffalo from my deck to the GY. Next, Buffalo summons itself back via the help of Eagle. Then, I activate Rekindling bring Avrata, Barong, and Yaksha back to my field.
Following the summon, I then use Buffalo and Yaksha to Link Summon Knightmare Phoenix, who discards Onslaught and destroys a set Salamangreat Roar.Next, I Xyz Summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Tiger King using my two remaining Fire Kings, who then sets a FF – Tenki directly from my deck. Tenki then is activated, searching Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear. I activate Tensu from my hand for the second time, then use its effect to Normal Summon Bear. I then use Bear’s eff on Tiger King, so that Tiger King activates and summons an Avrata and Barong from my deck, both effects with the help of Eagle. Then, I swing over their Heatleo with Garunix before attacking with the rest of my monsters for game.
Scenario Two:
Spoiler
I open the duel with Barong, Island, FF – Bear, FF Tensu, and Garunix. I start by using Island to destroy Barong and search Avrata. Then due to my pretty bad hand, I just normal Avrata and end my turn. During the Standby Phase, Barong activates and I get to add a Circle to hand.
My opponent summons Raphion the Timelord. He attacks my Avrata, then at the end of the BP attempts to use its effect to inflict damage. I chain with Avrata, negating the activation and destroying Garunix in my hand. He then sets 1 backrow and ends.
I then start my turn drawing Yaksha. During my Standby Phase, Garunix returns and destroys Avrata. So, I use its effect to bring back Barong and chain the eff of Yaksha in hand to Special Summon itself. I then Link Summon FF – Eagle, then activate Tensu from my hand. I use the eff of Eagle; however, my opponent responds with an Ash Blossom to stop that attempt. So, I use Island on Garunix, searching another Yaksha from my deck. Using Tensu’s extra normal, I normal Yaksha and then Bear. Using both Bear and Yaksha, I then Xyz Summon Tiger King. Tiger King activates, setting a Tenki from deck, which I promptly activate to search a Bar0ng from deck. Next, I use the other eff of Tiger King to negate the effect of my opponent’s Timelord. So, with my opponent wide open, I activate Circle to destroy Tiger King and summon back Garunix. Tiger King then activates with the help of Eagle, bringing Barong and Avrata straight from my deck. Then I attack for game with all 4 of my monsters.
Conclusion:
Thanks for reading this article! As noted earlier, I wanted to try out a new format with this CDS article to see if it is preferred to have a shorter, more easily digested article posted alongside the creative decklist. Please leave your feedback across our various platforms so that I can better inform how I approach future articles.
The Fire King archetype surely benefits from its patented cycle of destruction and rebirth, but due to its close relationship with other FIRE themes and support cards, it can truly shine in the current TCG environment. I hope you all take the time to explore the potential this archetype offers – it truly can allow for some creative and flexibile deckbuilding, and some really neat strategies will emerge. At the end of the day that is what deckbuilding is all about – reinventing cards to exploit their best potential in a coherent and hopefully consistent fashion. So in closing, I wish you all the best of luck destroying your opponent’s with the crushing wings of Garunix!
Reminder, I also take suggestions for future CDS articles! I really want to see some input from you! If you wish to see a CDS article about the archetype, theme, or strategy you love, feel free to private message me on the YGOrg Discord server, the YGOrganization Forums, or just post a comment in response to this article on our Facebook page with your ideas to keep under consideration. On most YGO-related communities my username is Quincymccoy, so feel free to reach out.
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