Infernity

"Infernity" (インフェルニティ Inferuniti), a portmanteau of the words "Infernal" and "Infinity", are all DARK monster cards whose effects activate when a player has no cards in hand. This archetype's artwork owes much to stereotypical depictions of the "wild west," with cards such as "Infernity Archfiend", "Infernity Necromancer", and "Infernity Mirage" alluding to the native Americans, while cards like "Infernity Avenger", "Infernity Randomizer", and "Infernity Launcher" (whose original Japanese name was "Infernity Gun") relate to cowboys. More recent "Infernity" monsters like "Infernity Knight," "Infernity General," and "Infernity Archer" bear strong medieval overtones. This archetype was used by Kalin Kessler in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. In episodes 33 - 35 in the English version of ''Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's'', the archetype was referred to as Infernalty.

The first "Infernity" cards were released as promotional cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: "Infernity Archfiend", "Infernity Dwarf", and "Infernity Guardian". "Infernity Destroyer" was released in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator - World Championship 2009 Game Guide in Japan.

The first "Infernity" card released in a booster pack was "Infernity Beast" in Ancient Prophecy. Two additional "Infernity" cards soon followed with the release of Stardust Overdrive: "Infernity Necromancer" and the first "Infernity" Trap Card "Infernity Force". With the release of The Shining Darkness, fifteen more cards were added to the "Infernity" archetype. The Shining Darkness also included the "Infernity" Synchro Monster "Infernity Doom Dragon," Photon Shockwave introduced "Infernity Knight" and last, Cosmo Blazer introduced Infernity Archer.

The "Infernity" Deck received some major boosts with the advent of Xyz monsters. The first is "Leviair the Sea Dragon", which can be made with two "Infernity Necromancer"s, two "Tour Guide From the Underworld"s, or a combination of the two. "Hundred Eyes Dragon" or "Infernity Break" can banish "Infernity Mirage" with its effect, and "Leviair the Sea Dragon" can then revive the "Infernity Mirage" for a Synchro Summon and an "Infernity Archfiend" search, as the restriction on its Special Summon only applies to the Graveyard.

Another handy Xyz monster is "Lavalval Chain". Its effect can place "Infernity Archfiend" on top of your deck, which can lead to its Special Summon on the following turn if your hand is empty. While it is on the weaker side in terms of ATK and DEF, if "Lavalval Chain" manages to survive into a second turn, it can use its other effect to set up your Graveyard with whatever "Infernity Archfiend" searched out.

One more useful Xyz monster is "Constellar Ptolemy M7", which can be used with level 6 Infernity monsters like "Infernity Destroyer" to put "Infernity Mirage" in your hand. It can then be used to resummon the detached monster.

Lastly, "Void Ogre Dragon" is a welcome addition to the "Infernity" arsenal of Level 8 Synchro monsters, having great synergy with the deck and able to fend off threats such as "Dark Hole" and "Heavy Storm."

Play Style
The deck relies on an empty hand. Using discarding effects like those of "Raigeki Break" and "Phoenix Wing Wind Blast" which also generate advantage is the fastest way to empty your hand while setting up your Graveyard for cards like "Infernity Archfiend" and "Infernity Avenger".

"Fabled" cards can be added to an "Infernity" Deck with varying degrees of success. "Fabled Raven," a Level 2, 1300 ATK Tuner monster is a great discard outlet that can increase its level and ATK to accommodate as needed for the situation. "Fabled Soulkius" is a Level 6, 2200 ATK monster that can revive itself at the cost of 2 discards, which is hardly a cost to an "Infernity" Deck. As an added perk, the "Fabled" are all LIGHT monsters, while the "Infernity" cards are all DARK, allowing for Chaos-oriented variants.

With the release of The Shining Darkness, the "Infernity" archetype's strategy became Graveyard-centric. Because the most common way of emptying the hand is through discarding effects, the Graveyard should load up very quickly with "Infernities" to Special Summon with the effects of "Infernity Mirage" and "Infernity Launcher." As a bonus, "Infernity Avenger" can Special Summon itself from the Graveyard in response to the destruction of an "Infernity," maintaining field advantage while also potentially returning as a level 5+ Tuner.

Note, it's best to avoid cards like "Full Salvo", "Fine", and "Rope of Life", because although they empty the hand, they typically don't generate more than momentary advantage. An "Infernity" player should always plan for the long-term.

A well-built "Infernity" Deck can churn out several high-level Synchro Monsters per turn. "Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier" used to be the go-to pick, but "Mist Wurm" has filled in since Trishula's banning. "Infernity Launcher," whether in the hand or on the field, can allow for a second "Wurm" via "Infernity Necromancer", "Infernity Archfiend", "Infernity Beetle" and another copy of "Infernity Launcher" to clear the opponent's field. "Infernity Mirage" can Tribute itself to Special Summon two more "Infernity" monsters from the Graveyard, for yet another Synchro Monster or an Xyz, if need be.

Another good Synchro Monster is "Hundred Eyes Dragon": its ability essentially makes it a fourth copy of any "Infernity" monster, provided it exists in the Graveyard. However, "Infernity" monsters typically serve better in the Graveyard, making its banishing requirement somewhat of a double-edged sword (with the exception of "Infernity Mirage", which is used with "Hundred Eyes Dragon" to gain advantage).

Strengths
The most noticeable strength of an "Infernity" Deck is its easy Synchro Summoning capabilities. The archetype also boasts its own Counter Trap Card in the form of "Infernity Barrier", a card that can Negate virtually anything. "Infernity" decks create long chains of Synchro Summons, which concludes with three primed "Infernity Barriers" backing a field of powerful Synchro Monsters. This set up is nearly invincible if achieved.

Weaknesses
"Infernities", despite their enormous Synchro Summoning and Xyz Summoning ability, have a number of crucial weaknesses. Cards that banish or negate effects, like "Macro Cosmos," "Dimensional Fissure," and "Skill Drain," are major threats. These shortcomings can be combated with side-decked copies of "Imperial Iron Wall", "Chaos Hunter" or "Burial from a Different Dimension", and "Mystical Space Typhoon" or "Twister" can deal with "Skill Drain". "Necrovalley" also poses a major threat. Cards like "Effect Veiler", "Maxx "C"" "D.D. Crow" and "Battle Fader" that can be activated from the hand can also pose problems, due to the fact you need to empty out your hand and you may have no more plays left if victim to these cards. "Mind Drain" will help greatly against these threats, rendering them all useless to your opponent but not hurting you, as you need no hand and therefore cannot run them.

Without a strong Extra Deck, "Infernities" are a fairly weak archetype, with their most powerful non-Synchro card being "Infernity General," sporting 2700 ATK. Furthermore, the deck's dependency on an empty hand is a weakness in itself. Field-wipers like "Judgment Dragon" or "Black Rose Dragon" can seriously cripple the deck if a player decides to set his or her entire hand in order to gain access to "Infernity" effects. "Infernity Guardian" could be a life-saver in such a situation.

However, it is also possible to capitalize on this said internal weakness by simply forcing your opponent to have cards in their Hand. Directly, cards like "Dark Bribe" "Destiny HERO - Defender", "Chainsaw Insect", "Level Modulation", "Hiro's Shadow Scout", "Morphing Jar" "The Bistro Butcher" and "The Gift of Greed" can be good in doing this.

A huge weakness of "Infernity" is you will often find yourself in situations where you are top decking if your opponent has responses to your initial plays, putting you in a situation where you are banking on drawing a lucky card, such as top decking an "Infernity Archfiend". Because of the requirement of having no cards in your hand, you also will sometimes draw too many monsters even when keeping the monster count low and therefore be unable to make any plays, or you will draw too many Spells/Traps and be unable to make any offensive plays.

Post-September 2010
After the September 2010 Forbidden list's restriction on "Infernity Launcher", the "Infernity" Deck began to lean on its control aspect. "Infernity Avenger" replaced "Infernity Beetle" as the deck's primary Tuner. It allows "Infernities" to Summon level 8 Synchro monsters with relative ease, which, without the OTK potential offered by a full play-set of "Infernity Launcher", is necessary for the deck's continued viability.

Given that, "Hundred Eyes Dragon" is arguably the most important Synchro monster in the "Infernity" arsenal. As touched upon, it can banish "Infernity Mirage," copy its effect, and then Special Summon "Infernity Archfiend" and "Infernity Necromancer". This triggers a search out of "Infernity Archfiend", usually for "Infernity Barrier", "Infernity Launcher", or "Infernity Mirage". Then, "Infernity Necromancer" Special Summons "Infernity Avenger", which is used to Synchro Summon for another Level 8 Synchro monster. Note that this monster could be another "Hundred Eyes Dragon", which would restart this cycle with the addition of a set "Infernity Barrier." These loops are best finished with "Infernity Doom Dragon": not only a 3000 ATK beatstick equipped with a Burn and destruction effect, but more importantly, an "Infernity" monster with which to fulfill the activation requirement of "Barrier."

"Stygian Street Patrol" has some synergy with the deck, although it can be a bit slow if drawn as opposed to being sent straight from the Deck to the Graveyard. It acts as a Special Summon outlet for "Infernity Archfiend" if it's the last card in hand, and as a means of barraging an opponent with Synchro monsters by Special Summoning an "Infernity Mirage" searched by "Infernity Archfiend" after a Normal Summon.

If included, a balance between "Armageddon Knight" and "Dark Grepher" as opposed to just "Dark Grepher" is preferred, as "Infernity" Decks tend to have a lower monster-to-Spells/Traps ratio than most Decks, rendering "Dark Grepher's" discard unwieldy.

This archetype can easily Summon "Red Nova Dragon". "Infernity Archfiend", "Infernity Necromancer" and "Infernity Avenger" are used to Summon "Red Dragon Archfiend", at which point "Infernity Beetle" is Summoned and Tributed for two additional copies of itself. These are then tuned with "Red Dragon Archfiend" to Special Summon "Red Nova Dragon".

Another way of Summoning "Red Nova Dragon" is by having "Infernity Archfiend" and "Infernity Beetle" in the grave. Once you have this, if "Infernity Mirage" is drawn, it can be used to summon both "Infernity Archfiend and "Infernity Beetle" from the grave allowing you to add "Infernity Launcher" to your hand and activate it. Then, tribute "Infernity Beetle", to summon two copies of it, to Synchro Summon with one "Infernity Beetle" and "Infernity Archfiend" for a Level 6 synchro monster, then again for "Red Dragon Archfiend", then use "Infernity Launcher" to re-summon the "Infernity Beetle" and Synchro for "Red Nova Dragon"

Post-Duel Terminal 7
After the release of "Lavalval Chain" in Duel Terminal 7, some players began focusing the "Infernity" Deck solely on Xyz Summoning rather than Synchro Summoning. As a result, the deck has greater resistance to the dreaded "Evilswarm Ophion".

The Xyz version of the Deck now focuses entirely on Rank 3 and Rank 4 Xyz Monsters. The only "Infernity" Monsters that are needed in the Deck are "Infernity Archfiend" and "Infernity Necromancer". "Archfiend" is everything to this deck; it searches the key cards and facilitates the negation ability of "Infernity Barrier". "Lavalval Chain" can place him on top of the Deck every turn, netting you a free "Infernity" card every draw phase.

This Deck attempts to Xyz Summon "Lavalval Chain" as soon as possible through the use of cards like "Stygian Street Patrol", "Instant Fusion" and "Summoner Monk". By using "Chain", you can draw into "Infernity Archfiend" every turn, allowing him to search out the Deck's key trap cards, "Infernity Break" and "Infernity Barrier". These traps negate or destroy your opponent's cards, giving the "Infernity" Deck more of a Stun feel than ever before.

"Monster Gate" also works well with "Lavalval Chain"'s effect, allowing you to special summon an "Infernity Necromancer" easily. If it's necessary to tribute "Lavalval Chain", any "Infernity Archfiend"s attached to it will be sent to the graveyard, setting you up for an "Infernity Launcher". However, be aware this play puts you at risk of milling your key Trap and Spell cards, such as your "Infernity Barrier"s and "Infernity Launcher"s.

"Master Key Beetle" is a very useful Xyz monster in this deck. If you have the option to Xyz summon a second Xyz monster after "Lavalval Chain", "Master Key Beetle" can send another "Infernity Archfiend" to the graveyard while also allowing you to protect your "Infernity Barrier"s from "Mystical Space Typhoon", a card often used to pick off your "Infernity Barrier"s.

"Seven Tools of the Bandit" is a good trap card for protecting your "Infernity Barrier"s and monsters from cards like "Mirror Force" and "Compulsory Evacuation Device".

"Archfiend Heiress" and "Archfiend Palabyrinth" work incredibly well in this deck. "Dark Grepher", "Armageddon Knight", "Lavalval Chain", and "Foolish Burial" can all activate the effect of "Archfiend Heiress", which allows you to add 1 "Archfiend Palabyrinth" to your hand from your deck. Using "Archfiend Palabyrinth", you can banish either a used-up "Infernity Necromancer" or another "Infernity Archfiend" to special summon "Infernity Archfiend" from your deck. Usually, banishing "Infernity Necromancer" doesn't put you at a disadvantage if you have already used its effect to special summon an "Infernity Archfiend" from your graveyard, because special summoning another "Infernity Archfiend" will allow you to add "Infernity Barrier" to your hand, setting you up for an OTK in the second turn with the +500 ATK boost "Archfiend Palabyrinth" offers.

Another way some players run this deck is by still using 1 "Infernity Avenger" as a Tuner, and focusing primarily on Synchro Summoning but using the "Lavalval Chain" combos and other combos from the Xyz deck to help you Synchro Summon and gain advantage faster. Also, you may possibly use 1 "Infernity Mirage" for the Hundred Eyes combos.

This version of the deck can easily Synchro Summon "Hundred Eyes Dragon", "Void Ogre Dragon", or "Infernity Doom Dragon" (and on occasion two of the forementioned in one turn depending on how well you drew) first turn whilst also having Infernity Barriers searched the same turn, and not slowing down the deck at all because "Lavalval Chain", "Summoner Monk", "Armageddon Knight", "Instant Fusion", "Transmodify" and "Dark Grepher" make it extremely easy to get your Graveyard set up with everything you need for your Level 8 Synchros.

You simply use the same combos as in the Xyz version, but send an "Infernity Avenger" to your Graveyard at some point then use "Infernity Necromancer" to resurrect him after having an "Infernity Archfiend" out on your field as well. Getting these three out on the field at once is extremely easy, you can use "Summoner Monk" to summon whatever monster you need at the time, then "Instant Fusion" for another "Lavalval Chain" if need be to send another card you need to your Graveyard, and "Infernity Launcher" to resurrect them all. You can send "Stygian Street Patrol"s to your Graveyard as well, then Special Summon the the cards you need for the combo using his effect.

Alternatively, you can use "Transmodify" after Special Summoning an "Infernity Necromancer" for an extra "Infernity Archfiend" search, then with "Infernity Launcher" discard the "Infernity Avenger" you added to your hand and Tribute the Launcher for a Level 8 Synchro. Or using the same combo, Special Summon the "Infernity Avenger" using a "Stygian Street Patrol" you had previously sent to your Graveyard.

Another great way is using "One for One" to both discard a monster you need in your Graveyard whom you had already searched using "Infernity Archfiend", then summon "Infernity Mirage" to Special Summon from your Graveyard Archfiend, Necromancer, and Avenger. There are many combos to make the first turn Level 8 Synchros and you do it using almost the same ways you make multiple Xyz first turn.

This version of the deck gives the player extra negation power using "Void Ogre Dragon", good plays for future turns using "Hundred Eyes Dragon" (especially when combined with "Lavalval Chain"), and easy monster destroying with burn damage without the risks attacking brings using "Infernity Doom Dragon". All three of these monsters also have an extremely powerful 3000 ATK, whereas the Xyz variant's strongest monsters are only 2500 ATK.

By Synchro Summoning "Hundred Eyes Dragon" while also having a "Lavalval Chain" out (which you normally will), you can use "Lavalval Chain" to send whichever monster you want from your Deck to your Graveyard, then use "Hundred Eyes Dragon" to copy that monster's effects and use this combo to have new plays every turn.

Also, since you will normally have a Level 4 monster out, "Infernity Avenger" can resurrect himself as Level 4 if that monster gets destroyed, and make another easy Level 8 Synchro play then next turn, and the 1 "Infernity Avenger" is easily ressurectable via "Infernity Necromancer".

Additionally, you can still easily Xyz Summon if you need to, giving you no hassle against "Evilswarm Ophion".

Infernity Randomizer Deck
This deck focuses on controlling the field thanks to the traps and cards like Offerings to the Doomed which let you gain advantage but don't let you you draw, you use Infernity Randomizer to draw cards.

Infernity World
This deck revolves around the not having any cards in your hand as well but use the "Dark World" swarm engine.

Infernity Lightsworn
This deck focuses on using the milling effects of Lightsworn monsters to get the monsters you need in the graveyard, like Infernity Archfiend, Infernity Necromancer and Infernity Avenger. Also, getting Stygian Street Patrol in the graveyard does good, especially with the searching effect of Infernity Archfiend. The advantage of this deck is that you don't need the sending effects of Armageddon Knight and Dark Grepher, as the Lightsworn monsters take care of it. Another plus with this deck is that since Infernity monsters are DARK and Lightsworn monsters are LIGHT, there is room for chaos monsters, like Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning and Chaos Sorcerer.

Advantages like using Lavalval Chain with Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and Infernity Archfiend, or another Level 4 Lightsworn monster to send Stygian Street Patrol to the graveyard, or put Infernity Archfiend to the top of the deck. Also, if using Effect Veiler in your deck, and you get to summon it with Infernity Archfiend and Infernity Necromancer on the field, then Chaos Goddess is a very good card to run, as it can bring back a DARK Synchro monster in your graveyard back to the field, like Hundred Eyes Dragon, Void Ogre Dragon or Infernity Doom Dragon.

Trivia

 * In the Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's when Kalin says Infernity, you can hear him mispronouncing it Infinity.


 * In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 54 and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 55 the word Infernity was used instead of Infernalty (ep. 33-35). For example, when Kalin played his "Infernality Fiend" in episode 33, he then later called it by its TCG name when Dueled Yusei again (ep. 54-55). This may have been because the "Infernity" archetype was not officially released when episodes 33-35 premiered, so the name was not completely decided yet.


 * The new "Infernity" cards used in the manga have a Medieval theme.


 * The handless effect of the "Infernity" archetype is identical to the "Hellbent" effect of the "Rakdos" related cards from Magic: The Gathering.
 * Additionally, the "Rakdos" cards use Red/Fire and Black/Darkness mana, while "Infernity" monsters are DARK-Attribute monsters and their artwork generally depicts them in some fiery location.