Mist Valley

The Mist Valley archetype is a series of WIND Attribute monsters whose effects involve returning cards to their owner's hand. Many of them have their own effect(s) triggered when they are returned to the hand themselves, or involve returning one's own cards to the hand as a cost for triggering their effects. Naturally, this makes them very good cards to combine with "Spring of Rebirth" and very easy cards to cripple with "Degenerate Circuit". The "Mist Valley" monsters are predominately either Winged Beast or Thunder-Type monsters, so collectively they benefit from the Field Spell Cards "Rising Air Current" and "Mountain"; "Icarus Attack" and "Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi" can be used alongside them. They were released to the TCG through Hidden Arsenal.

In particular, the only "Mist Valley" Synchro Monster, "Mist Valley Thunder Lord", is a very powerful and versatile monster in terms of its ATK and effect. By returning one card on your field to your hand, this monster's ATK increases by 500 to 3100, the highest ATK among common Synchro Monsters. Cards best to return include activated continuous spell or trap cards like Call of the Haunted, as well as used Effect Monsters. Also when combined with Archetypes like the Blackwings, "Dark Simorgh" becomes very playable, not to mention the addition of the Draw cards; "Allure of Darkness" and "Hand Destruction" become more available. This archetype also has swarm capacity thanks to cards like "Mist Valley Divine Wind" and "Genex Ally Birdman"

Avian Lock Down
This deck focuses on using the Lockdown effect of "Mist Valley Apex Avian" with the effect of "Mist Valley Thunderbird", which Special Summons itself when returned to the hand. Apex Avian is the harder-to-summon monster, but the deck can employ cards such as "Tribute Doll", "Cost Down", or monsters that Special Summon themselves, such as "Genex Ally Birdman" or "Cyber Dragon". You can also Special Summon Apex Avian with cards like "Monster Reborn".

The only way for an opponent to stop the Lockdown would either be to destroy either monster by battle, use Counter Trap Cards, or use multiple effects on a chain: if the targeted Mist Valley monster is no longer on the field when Apex Avian's effect resolves, the opponent's card will not be negated, and thus running out of Mist Valley monsters during the Chain will result in the loss of Apex Avian's effect. To protect your monsters from being destroyed by battle, use cards that can prevent this in some way, such as "Book of Moon", "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow", "Waboku", or "Mirror Force", or destroy the monster before it can attack with cards like "Bottomless Trap Hole" or "Solemn Judgment". "Royal Decree" or "Seven Tools of the Bandit: can be used to stop Counter Trap Cards, but the former will stop all of your Trap cards as well, and "Dark Simorgh" can prevent them from being Set in the first place. A variety of cards will also be needed to stop your opponent from utilizing multiple effects on a Chain, depending on which cards they use: "Divine Wrath" can stop Monster Effects like "Stardust Dragon" or "Effect Veiler", while cards like "Dark Bribe" and "Solemn Judgment" can stop Spell or Trap Effects.

Black Valley
Black Valley Decks combine Mist Valley and Blackwing monsters. The Deck uses "Future Visions", "Royal Oppression", "Anti-Spell Fragrance", and "Dark Simorgh" to force your opponent into a turn by turn lockdown where they cannot Special Summon or Set. Also, any monsters they Normal Summon will be removed from play the turn they are Normal Summoned, thanks to Future Visions. Due to the fact that many Mist Valley cards return cards back to the hand, you can use this to your advantage and return "Future Visions" to your hand to keep your opponent's monsters from returning to their side of the field. Mist Valley and Blackwings have many good Tuners, such as "Mist Valley Soldier" and "Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind", which makes this Deck very Synchro-friendly. Most Mist Valley and all Blackwing monsters are Winged Beast-Type monsters so "Icarus Attack" is a good support card. Another card that could help this Deck is "Begone, Knave!", because many Mist Valley monsters, such as "Mist Valley Falcon", "Mist Valley Thunder Lord", and "Mist Valley Executor, can avoid this effect by returning it to your hand and you can reset it during your Main Phase 2. "Mist Valley Thunderbird" returns to your field when it is sent back to your hand can avoid it completely. "Mist Valley Apex Avian" can send another Mist Valley on your side of the field to your hand to negate its effect and keep it from returning to your hand. Many Blackwing monsters can Special Summon themselves from your hand to the field so they are not very affected either. The trump card of this Deck is "Dark Simorgh". However, keep in mind that "Royal Oppression" can negate "Dark Simorgh's" Special Summon so use the Mist Valley monsters to return cards to your hand on your turn to avoid this problem.

Fabled Valley
This Deck is very similar to Black Valley, but replaces the "Blackwing" monsters with "Fabled" monsters. With this Deck, the turn by turn lockdown of Black Valley and "Dark Simorgh" effect becomes less important if even playable at all and more focused on the increased Synchro capability. You can also utilize cards like "Dark World Dealings" and "Card Destruction" because many of the "Fabled" gain effects while being discarded. They may seem like an unlikely union at first, but when you consider that "Mist Valley Baby Roc" also gains effects when discarded plus the fact that it is a "Tuner" you have a very playable monster with this Deck. Also, remember that "Mist Valley Falcon" who has 2000 ATK requires you to return 1 card on the field to your hand and "Mist Valley Shaman", who is a Tuner, can use its effect to return cards to your hand to gain 500 ATK. This gives you the ability return your "Fabled" monsters to your hand for reuse if you wanted to attack with high attack Fabled monsters but also want to utilize their effects. "Begone, Knave!" also works well with this deck.

Useful Cards

 * "Flying Kamakiri 1": This card is useful for searching out "Mist Valley Thunderbird", one of the deck's most important cards, and "Mist Valley Shaman", a useful tuner. It also helps block attacks.
 * "Delta Flyer": Although this card is not part of the Mist Valley archetype, it can still benefit from many of the archetype's cards that support WIND monsters - "Mist Valley Divine Wind" and "Flying Kamakiri 1" (if you choose to use it) both count. Its level-boosting effect can help with Synchro summons too.
 * "Genex Ally Birdman": This card was practically made to work with Mist Valley. It's easy to summon, and triggers the effects of Thunderbird and Divine Wind = at the cost of being a one-use card. Use wisely.
 * "Terraforming": Considering how well Mist Valley can use the free special summons from "Mist Valley Divine Wind", it makes sense to have at least one "Terraforming".
 * "Begone, Knave!": This card is quite good in Mist Valley. It makes your opponent wary of attacking, but can work in your favor with "Mist Valley Thunderbird" and "Divine Wind". It's also particularly good with "Flying Kamakiri 1", as you can attack a high-ATK monster with the Kamakiri, destroying your monster and special summoning another from your deck. Meanwhile, because your opponent's monster dealt battle damage, it is returned to their hand! Finally, when you don't want to be hampered by this trap card, you can easily return it to your hand with "Mist Valley Falcon" and "Mist Valley Thunderlord".
 * "Compulsory Evacuation Device": You can return your own monster to your hand, triggering an effect - or return a difficult monster of your opponent's. The Evacuation Device is very versatile.

Monsters

 * Mist Valley Apex Avian
 * Mist Valley Baby Roc
 * Swift Birdman Joe
 * Mist Valley Falcon
 * Mist Valley Shaman
 * Mist Valley Thunderbird
 * Mist Valley Soldier
 * Lady Ninja Yae

Spells

 * Mist Valley Divine Wind
 * Spring of Rebirth
 * Monster Reincarnation
 * Cost Down

Traps

 * Icarus Attack
 * Royal Oppression
 * Compulsory Evacuation Device
 * Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi
 * Begone, Knave!

Extra Deck

 * Mist Valley Thunder Lord
 * Mist Wurm
 * Vortex the Whirlwind
 * Vindikite R-Genex