Event Breakdown: YCS Mexico City 
Date: April 19 - 20, 2025

Overview

YCS Mexico City Top 32 Breakdown

7 Maliss (2 Sky Striker, 3 Fiendsmith, 1 Kashtira)

4 Memento (2 Fiendsmith)

4 Primite Blue-Eyes

3 Ryzeal (1 Bystial Fiendsmith, 1 Fiendsmith Mathmech)

2 Bystial (Maliss Fiendsmith)

2 Crystron (1 Kashtira, 1 Adventure)

2 Atlantean Mermail

2 Kashtira Fiendsmith

2 Snake-Eye (1 Fiendsmith Azamina Kashtira, 1 Fiendsmith)

1 Fiendsmith White Forest 

1 Fiendsmith Yubel

1 Mitsurugi (Ryzeal)

1 Salamangreat

Rene Ybarra won YCS Mexico City with Memento! This marks the deck's second YCS win and a back to back one at that. There were 1432 duelists in the event, which broke record numbers! He dueled against Christopher Alvarado De La O in the finals, who was on Sky Striker Maliss.

Mexico showed us a lot of interesting results for this mini format, the last YCS before the release of Alliance Insight which will completely shift the format. Both Pure and Fiendsmith Memento performed admirably well at the event, with the former taking home the crown.

March (May?) Hare Waiting Room

Maliss had the best showing out of this YCS, with skilled duelists from all over Latin America unveiling different variations of the deck post-April banlist. The Sky Striker engine saw an interesting comeback, getting 2nd and 3rd place and arguably the Archetype's best performance yet! Other variants include Fiendsmith and Kashtira to supplement the deck. The "bait" Maliss Fiendsmith Bystial strategy was largely unaffected by the semi-limits, remaining a viable choice. Despite the consistency hits, it's still a force to be reckoned with and the eventual release of Backup @Ignister and Maliss P March Hare will make it rise to the top. Maliss in the Mirror is another flexible card that slots itself nicely into the deck, giving Maliss Q Red Ransom some much needed extra utility.

Kashtira Renaissance

Safe from the clutches of the Forbidden and Limited List, the Kashtira cards have been performing very well across both Regionals and in YCS Mexico City. They're low commitment and hard to deal with boss monsters that many decks are able to splash. Kashtira Unicorn threatening the ever living daylights out of Fiendsmith's Requiem, Maliss Link monsters, and the newly limited Ryzeal Detonator is nothing to scoff at. Meanwhile, Kashtira Fenrir is able to chew through the likes of D/D/D Wave High King Caesar and helps a lot in simplified gamestates, regardless if going first or second, 

Javier Torres Campos teched Terraforming in his Fiendsmith Maliss list to fetch either Pressured Planet Wraitsoth or Maliss in Underground, depending on what was needed. We saw Yacine Sahli go back to back with Kashtira Crystron, preferring the added safety and power these Psychic warriors provide over the "redundancy" of Speedroid Terrortop and Speedroid Taketomborg. With a bit of help, the Kashtira cards are able to bridge into Crystron plays thanks to Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack summoning 2 tokens to make Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss, dumping Crystron Smiger. Alternatively, they make great Synchro material to enable Tristaros combos thanks to Vermillion Dragon Mech. Even the small comeback that Snake-Eye managed to make this event was largely due to the strengths and synergies the Kashtira cards provided them.

Life After Bahamut

Atlantean Mermail may be down, but it's not out! Popular WATER duelist Hiram Montecillo finished strong with the strategy, opting to run Magikey Spirit - Vepartu and Wow Warrior to not only wow the competition, but still generate tons of advantage with Atlantean Dragoons. The Normal Monster isn't a total death sentence if you draw it, as it can be pitched for your Mermails or Atlanteans and be retrieved from the GY if needed! The deck still has other dangerous tools to work with like Moulinglacia to decimate hands, and Barrier Statue of the Torrent to lock duelists out of their summons.Other duelists have also been considering Snowdust Giant for those who dislike having to run a Normal WATER monster.

Neo Kaiser Takes Center Stage!

Primite Blue-Eyes remains a reliable choice in this mini format, garnering 4 finishes in the Top 32! Rodrigo Ivan Herrera Bellizia made use of the incredibly underrated Neo Kaiser Sea Horse in his build, running 2 copies. Bystial Magnamhut is able to search it and enable a LIGHT/DARK Chaos Angel should things line up. NKSH is also another 1-card starter in the Blue-Eyes strategy while also acting as a serviceable extender, letting the deck get to Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres much more often alongside the Spirit Dragons. Dominus Purge is a premium hand trap that both this deck and Kashtira Fiendsmith are able to slot in effectively.

Diabellstar's Dramatic Chase

Snake-Eye made two top cut appearances in big 2025 thanks to the semi-limiting of both Snake-Eye Ash and Snake-Eyes Poplar. While it's a far cry from the best deck, there's still a lot to like about the strategy and it has potential. Snake-Eyes Doomed Dragon is a versatile new toy that the deck now has access to, and Fiendsmith's Requiem freely enables summoning it with a bit of help. Now the tables have turned and Poplar is the one getting you Diabellstar the Black Witch, as you can opt to get Dramatic Snake-Eye Chase if you already have Divine Temple of the Snake-Eye access. The Kashtira cards have returned once more to aid the deck, having great synergy with both SE cards and the Black Witch herself. Azamina and Fiendsmith are standard fare, as the deck's old tools still slot in nicely, despite the multiple banlist changes.

Chain Tristaros

Crystron is another sleeper hit which appreciates the format shifts that took place. Jorge Siqueiros brought Adventurer Crystron, while Yacine Sahli topped back to back with Kashtira Crystron. This Synchro deck is very resilient to hand traps with the help of Crystron Tristaros and Crystron Sulfefnir, and has a lot of unique lines that can let you weasel your way out of tight spots. Cyber Dragon Infinity, F.A. Dawn Dragster (two at times), and Crystron Citree are rare and powerful interactions compared to its contemporaries. The deck's grind game is also no joke thanks to its host of GY effects and recovery from Crystron Eleskeletus and Crystron Inclusion. The supplementary engines used should be to help execute and enhance the deck's main combos, and both Adventure and Kashtira are able to do so in their own ways. Aspiring Crystron duelists should remember Crystron Smiger and Crystron Thystvern's secret effects, as they will come in handy in awkward situations.

Conclusion

Other familiar faces include White Forest, Ryzeal Mitsurugi, Fiendsmith Yubel, and even Salamangreat all getting a spot in the Top 32, respectively. This has been the most diverse Top Cuts this year and it's very fitting for one of the largest Latin American YCS in recent times.

Alliance Insight is projected to shift the format significantly thanks to its high powered additions to already strong decks such as Maliss and Mitsurugi, so we'll just have to wait and see how that goes. Until next time folks, Renren out!