Metalfoes

Metalfoes can get something meaningful done off a single Pendulum Monster in the Pendulum Zone. Every main-deck member — Goldriver, Silverd, Steelen, Volflame, and the rest — shares the same Pendulum effect: once per turn, destroy another face-up card you control and Set a Metalfoes Spell or Trap directly from the deck. That one action simultaneously thins the deck, loads the backrow with Metalfoes Fusion or Fullmetalfoes Fusion, and destroys whatever card was targeted — which can be a second Pendulum Monster in the Pendulum Zone, triggering Heavymetalfoes Electrumite's draw effect, or a card whose own destruction trigger is worth firing. The speed of setup is what defines the archetype: two Pendulum Monsters on the field is typically enough to start a chain of effects that ends with a Fusion Monster and fresh resources.

The Fusion suite gives the deck its actual teeth. Metalfoes Orichalc provides double piercing damage and destroys a card when it leaves the field; Metalfoes Mithrilium recycles graveyard resources and revives Pendulum Monsters when destroyed; Parametalfoes Azortless shuffles Extra Deck Pendulum Monsters back to destroy an opponent's card on summon, then can relocate itself to the Pendulum Zone if destroyed. Fullmetalfoes Alkahest operates on the opponent's turn, stripping effect monsters off the field by equipping them to itself.

Raremetalfoes Bismugear and Parametalfoes Melcaster add further resiliency by replacing themselves when destroyed, recruiting from the deck or recovering face-up Extra Deck monsters respectively, while Metalfoes Counter and Metalfoes Combination ensure the deck rarely runs out of bodies to work with mid-game.