Infernoid

"Infernoid" (インフェルノイド, Inferunoido) is an archetype of FIRE Fiend-Type monsters that debuted in Secrets of Eternity. This is the first archetype whose Main Deck monsters were all Special Summon Monsters, until the release of Clash of Rebellion. The name of the archetype is a combination of the words Inferno and Void, and also a play on the word's Infernal and Android. They are supported by the "Void" archetype of Spell and Trap Cards.

Lore
In times immemorial, these messengers of the inferno were sealed away inside the Sacred Tree of the Naturia along with the "Qli". Their forms are said to be based on those of ancient monsters who were seized and captured.

Appearance
The revealed "Infernoid" monsters look like mechanical demons. The armor on their bodies is decorated with the thick, latticework lines, similar to those that also adorn the "Qli" monsters. Each "Infernoid" has a number of canisters (as seen in "Void Seer") in their body equal to their Level, and the colors are the same as the spheres of their corresponding "Qli" Monster.

Etymology
Each of the revealed Level 7 and lower "Infernoid" monsters' names are corruptions of the names of biblical demons, such as "Lucifuge" and "Beelzebub". The revealed high-Level monsters, "Nehemoth" and "Adramelech", use non-corrupted versions. Those demons are said to be the rulers of the Qliphoth. Their Spell and Trap Cards are named after the Purgatory (in Japanese) and Void (in TCG).

Additionally in the TCG — presumably to avoid references to demonic or satanic entities — each Infernoid monster is named after an ordinal number in a different language that corresponds to its own Level ("Antra", for example, means "second" in Lithuanian, while "Onuncu" is Turkish/Azerbaijani for "tenth").

Playing Style
The "Infernoid" monsters cannot be Normal Summoned/Set, and must be Special Summoned by banishing other "Infernoids" from the hand and/or Graveyard while the combined Levels or Ranks of all Effect Monsters you control is 8 or less. The Level 4 and lower "Infernoids" all require exactly one to be banished, the Level 5 to 8 require the player to banish two "Infernoids", and the Level 9 and 10 require three "Infernoids" to be banished. All of them have either 0 ATK and/or 0 DEF, except for the Level 9 and 10, that have mirrored high stats.

The Level 4 and lower "Infernoid" monsters can only be Special Summoned from the hand, and have effects that deal with individual cards on the field, by simply destroying them or by returning them to the hand or Deck. Also, during the opponent's turn, they can tribute one monster in order to banish any card in the opponent's Graveyard.

The Level 5 to 8 "Infernoid" monsters can be Special Summoned from either the hand or Graveyard and have offensive effects that activate when they battle a monster, allowing them to attack a second time in a row, disrupt the opponent's hand or banish any card on the Field or from the opponent's Extra Deck. Their second effects also allow the player to banish any one card from the opponent's Graveyard, but can be activated during either player's turn, rather than only during the opponent's turn. This effect is very useful as it can be used to dodge effects that target "Infernoid" monsters, as well as to disrupt your opponent's plans, when they attempt to activate a card that would target a card in their Graveyard.

Finally, their boss monsters, "Infernoid Lilith" and "Infernoid Onuncu" (Level 9 and 10, respectively), can also be Special Summoned from the Graveyard and have effects that destroy many cards at once upon their Special Summon, the former destroying all non-"Void" Spell/Trap cards, while the latter wipes out all other monsters on the Field. Their second effect rely on negating the activation of a monster or Spell/Trap card effect, and banish the negated card, at the cost of a Tribute.

Due to the necessity of banishing other "Infernoid" monsters from the hand/Graveyard in order to Special Summon, cards that fill the Graveyard, such as "Foolish Burial", "Reasoning", etc. are required in the Deck; for this requirement to be achieved, "Void Launch" is very useful, as it sends 2 "Infernoids" from the Deck to the Graveyard during its owner's Standby Phases; "Void Expansion" is another card that helps the Summoning process, once it Special Summons a Token during each of its owner's Standby Phases, and those Tokens can be used as fodder for the Special Summon of the "Infernoid" monsters. "Eye of the Void" and "Void Seer" are best used during the opponent's turn; the former can Special Summon an "Infernoid" monster ignoring its Summoning condition, which makes it useful for defensive strategies (against direct attacks, for example), by Summoning a monster with higher ATK or DEF than the attacking monster's ATK — or to simply Summon a monster in DEF position to protect your Life Points. The latter is like an on-theme "Forbidden" Quick-Play Spell Card can be used to protect 1 "Infernoid" from any opponent's effects during that turn; in addition, it can prevent an "Infernoid" monster from be destroyed by a card effect, by banishing itself from the Graveyard.

The following are some general cards that may help the Deck:


 * "Necroface": Can be useful in mid to lategame as a tool to recycle all currently banished monsters, giving your more "Infernoid" monsters to later banish again while also refilling your Deck. Keep in mind, however, that Necroface will also recycle all the opponent's cards that were banished by your "Infernoids" secondary effects or by either player's card effects, and can also accidentally be sent to the Graveyard by your own milling effects.


 * "Kuribandit", "Reasoning", "Monster Gate", and "Needlebug Nest": Used to fill the Graveyard with "Infernoids", setting up future "Infernoid" summons, and in the case of "Reasoning" and "Monster Gate", grabbing additional Monsters from the Deck to your side of the field.


 * "A Wild Monster Appears!": Can Special Summon any "Infernoid" from your Hand, ignoring its Summoning condition. To prevent that monster from returning to the Deck during your opponent's End Phase, you can activate it's effect to banish one card from their Graveyard.


 * "Burial from a Different Dimension" and "Miracle Dig": Can be used to recycle banished "Infernoid" monsters back to the Graveyard, setting up future "Infernoid" summons.


 * "Hate Buster", "Spiritual Fire Art - Kurenai": Can be used to inflict heavy damage to your opponent. Besides being useful to quickly end games, any "Infernoids" sent to the Graveyard by these cards can later be used as fodder for the Special Summon of another "Infernoid", or Special Summon themselves.


 * "Blaster, Dragon Ruler of Infernos": Can be used to destroy an opponent's card, by discarding itself alongside with any "Infernoid", who can later be used as fodder for another "Infernoid" summon, or can Special Summon itself from the Graveyard. Blaster can also Special Summon itself by banishing 2 FIRE Monsters from your Hand and/or Graveyard, providing another Monster with a large ATK to help beat down opponent's Monsters.


 * Non-Effect Monsters: Since only the Levels/Ranks of Effect monsters count towards the limit needed for the Special Summon of the "Infernoids", it may be possible to fit non-Effect monsters on the Deck, such as "Gem-Knight Pearl", "Scrap Archfiend" etc.

Weaknesses
While "Infernoids" can easily swarm the field quickly with Monster to win games, they must banish cards from their Graveyard or hand in order to Special Summon themselves, since all revealed Infernoids are Nomi monsters. Cards such as "Necrovalley", "Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer", and "Imperial Iron Wall" can prevent "Infernoid" players from being able to banish cards to Special Summon any "Infernoid", effectively preventing them from being able to Summon at all. If you require the ability to banish cards yourself, you can play cards such as "Macro Cosmos", "Dimensional Fissure", and "D.D. Crow" instead, preventing your opponent from having enough cards in their Graveyard to Special Summon any "Infernoids", while also being able to use your Graveyard as needed. Keep in mind, however, that some "Infernoid" players will run cards such as "Miracle Dig" and "Burial from a Different Dimension" to help keep their Graveyard full of "Infernoids", and that they can still banish "Infernoids" from their Hand or from the field via "Void Expansion", so this strategy may not always be effective. Cards such as "Vanity's Emptiness", "Evilswarm Ophion", and "Archlord Kristya" can also shut down "Infernoids", since the cannot be Normal Summoned or Set, and must be Special Summoned by their own effects. Keep in mind, however, that "Evilswarm Ophion" only prevents the Special Summon of Level 5 or higher Monsters; Infernoid players can still Special Summon their Level 4 or lower Monsters, such as "Infernoid Harmadik", and get rid of Ophion. This forces "Infernoids" to rely on the very few monsters in their Deck they can Normal Summon or Set until they can get rid of "Vanity's Emptiness", forcing them to play slower and more defensively until they can remove it from the field.