Ghoti

Ghoti aims to end its turn with Ghoti of the Deep Beyond either already on the field or primed to drop during the opponent's turn, backed by disruptions that trigger from the banished zone. Because so many of the archetype's effects activate when a card returns from being banished during the Standby Phase, the deck constructs a kind of delayed engine: monsters such as Ixeep, Omen of the Ghoti and Keaf, Murk of the Ghoti banish themselves through their own effects and then revive a turn later, generating ongoing advantage without requiring the player to commit new resources each turn.

The early-game priority is seeding the banished zone as quickly as possible. Psiics, Moonlight of the Ghoti searches any Fish on Normal or Special Summon, then immediately banishes one to fuel follow-up plays, while the Level 2 Tuners Paces, Light of the Ghoti and Shif, Fairy of the Ghoti each carry a Quick Effect that lets them Synchro Summon during the opponent's Main Phase. Zep, Ruby of the Ghoti extends this further by banishing itself from the hand to send a Fish from the GY to the banished zone, then returning to the field on the opponent's turn to immediately Synchro Summon. Arionpos, Serpent of the Ghoti bridges these plays by banishing a Fish directly from the Deck on arrival and tutoring another on its way out as Synchro Material.

Ghoti of the Deep Beyond is the centrepiece of this sequence: Synchro Summoned on the opponent's turn, it banishes the entire field upon arrival, and its ATK scales with the number of banished monsters the deck has accumulated. Ghoti Chain and Ghoti Cosmos provide further reach, with Cosmos capable of Synchro Summoning directly from the Extra Deck once eight Fish are banished. Because so much of the deck's activity resolves at the Standby Phase rather than in response to specific opponent actions, disruption that prevents the Standby Phase triggers — such as negating the Synchro Summon of Ghoti of the Deep Beyond itself — can delay the deck's rhythm considerably.