Deckbuilding: Deck Ideas (ZEXAL)

Here's a list of over sixty ZEXAL-era decks you can use for the Cup of Greed. There are just too many for me to write about extensively, so instead I'm going to give some brief comments and a link to the deck on Format Library (if it exists there). You may also wish to look at Format Library's gallery of HAT decks.

Remember that Vanity's Emptiness and Kaiser Colosseum are banned in the tournament, so some strategies will need to be modified in light of that.

If you're just looking for an easy-to-learn Xyz deck, I recommend Goldfish Gadget, Evilswarm, or Hunder.

 

1. The Agent: Small number of useful members with a strong boss which can synergize in several different directions (Sanctuary in the Sky, Heralds, Artifacts, LIGHT/Fairy support, etc). Format Library: Artifact Agent
2. Archfiend: Archfiend Palabyrinth can pull out various Archfiends from the deck for Xyz Summons. Heiress is a flexible searcher and a Tour Guide target. Can Xyz a variety of Levels.
3. Artifact: Set themselves in the S/T zone and trigger when destroyed. All are Level 5 for Rank 5 plays. Artifact Sanctum is extremely good. Hard but possible to play pure, usually used to supplement another strategy. (Many variants on Format Library)
4. Atlantean: See Mermail. 
5.  Banisharks (Banished Fish): Airorca, Flyfang, Skystarray, Wingtortoise, and Spearfish Soldier. Temporarily banish themselves alongside their effects. Don't benefit from WATER support, are neat but hard to use. Deep Sea Diva (which is Limited) is a big boon.
6. Batteryman: Benefit from new Batteryman AAA and Thunder Sea Horse for Xyz, and can Synchro 7 for Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn with Debris Dragon or Masked Chameleon. Short Circuit remains viable.
7. Blackwing: Functionally the same as in 5D's. Black Whirlwind is Unlimited now. Can Xyz for Master Key Beetle and Ice Beast Zerofyne.
8. Blue-Eyes: Use Maiden with Eyes of Blue to spam BEWD. Dragon Shrine is great for deck-thinning. Can be combined with Chaos Dragons or Dragon Rulers.
9. Bujin: Play protect-the-castle with Bujin Yamato (and friends) supported by hand- and grave-traps. Use Fire Formation - Tenki to quickly search out Yamato. (Format Library: Bujin)
10. Chain Beat: Uses Wind-Up Rabbit and Evilswarm Thunderbird alonside Compulsory Escape Device and various removal to out-survive and out-advantage the opponent. (Format Library: Chain Beat)
11. Chaos Dragon: Uses Lightpulsar and Darkflare Dragon alongside Black Luster Soldier. Weakened due to loss of Future Fusion.
12. Chronomaly: Very good at making Rank 3 and Rank 5 Xyz, most notably Gorgonic Golem. Can also perform the Machu Mech OTK.
13. Constellar: Go for Rank 3-5 Xyz via multiple normal summons. Constellar Pleiades is particularly good.
14. Cyber Dragon: Got a bunch of new support, of mixed quality. Cyber Dragon Core is especially good. Can Xyz (mainly for Cyber Dragon Nova) or fuse, though Future Fusion is now banned. (Format Library: Cyber Dragon Artifact)
15. Dark World: Gain advantage when discarded by effects (not when discarded for cost). Grapha goes crazy. Can make good use of Deck Devastation and Eradicator Epidemic Virus. (Format Library: Dark World)
16. Dark Magician: The Eye of Timaeus has been released, meaning you can 1-monster fusion into Amulet Dragon or Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight.
17. Doppel Synchro/Quasar: Combo-centric Synchro deck that has weathered the loss of Hyper Librarian and Glow-Up Bulb. Can potentially climb to Shooting Quasar Dragon. (Format Library: Doppel Synchro) 
18. Dragon Ruler: Banned and limited into oblivion, but still function as an engine in several different decks. Some of the Dragon Rulers are helpful to their own Attribute, independent of Dragon Ruler combos. (Many variants on Format Library)
19. Duston: Fill both sides of the field with Dustons, then make Starduston.
20. Evilswarm: Simple but effective Rank 4 engine that specializes in making Evilswarm Ophion. Master Key Beetle would be used to protect Vanity's Emptiness, but that's banned here. If you're looking for Evilswarm support, you'll find it under "lswarm", because all Evilswarm support also support Steelswarms. (Format Library: Evilswarm)
21. Evol: Mediocre main deck that 'evolves' from weak Reptile-Type Evoltiles to mediocre Dinosaur-Type Evolsaurs to mighty Dragon-Type pseudo-Legendary Evolzar Xyz Monsters. They have a wide spread of Levels, which is awkward but does give them access to a broad array of Xyz Monsters. (Format Library: Evol)
22. Fabled/Catsith Control: Obedience Schooled swarms with The Fabled. Unbanning Black Luster Soldier makes Chaos builds better. (Format Library: Fabled Chaos)
23. Fire Fist: Gorilla and Bear can be splashed in basically anything. Has Level 4 and Level 3 lines which (I am told) are best combined. (Format Library: Fire Fist)
24. Fire King: They destroy your own cards, and gain advantage from being destroyed. Use Onslaught of the Fire Kings into Fire King High Avatar Garunix or Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. Have several Beast-Warriors, so can benefit from Fire Formation - Tenki. (Format Library: Fire King)
25. Fish: Use new Fish/Water support, plus Deepsea King Coelacanth (HoJ 77).
26. Frogs: Can still flood the graveyard even without Substitoad. Try to make use of Ronintoadin. (Format Library: Frog OTK, Frog Monarch)
27. Gagaga: Focus on Level modulation. Linked with "Gogogo", "Zubaba", and "Dododo" via Onomatopair.
28. Galaxy: Use Galaxy Wizard, Knight, Expedition, etc to make various Rank 8's. Cross-support with Photon. 
29. Geargia: High-speed, high-resource Rank 4 engine. Known for pure, Machine, Karakuri, and Stun variants. (Format Library: Geargia)
30. Gem-Knight: Infinitely recurring fusion spell and multiple ways to plus before or while fusing. Hampered by mediocre endboards.
31. Ghostrick: Slow, annoying stall deck with unclear win condition. Notable variants include Trick or Treat (combo with Madolche) and Ghostrick Spirit. (Format Library: Ghostrick, Ghostrick Spirit)
32. Gimmick Puppet: A Rank 8 Turbo deck. Rank 8 Xyz Monsters are really good, but the Gimmick Puppet ones (which Dreary Doll locks you into) are generally mediocre. (Format Library: Machina Gimmick Puppet)
33. Gishki: Strong Ritual monsters (especially Zielgigas), good search power. Usually played pure, can be combined with Hieratics. (Format Library: Gishki Control)
34. Gogogo: Mass revives from grave for Rank 4 Xyz or Golden Form. Linked with "Gogogo", "Zubaba", and "Dododo" via Onomatopair. (Format Library: Gogogo)
35. Goldfish Gadget: Gadgets plus Tinplate Goldfish and Kagetokage. Gear Gigant X searches Goldfish, King of Feral Imps searches Kagetokage. (Format Library: Gadget)
36. Gravekeeper: Can now make Rank 4 Xyz plays. Tsukuyomi may be useful. (Format Library: Gravekeeper)
37. Gusto: Uses Pilica to make Xyz or Synchro plays, especially Daigusto Sphreez. Benefits from Emergency Teleport and Instant Fusion. (Format Library: Gusto)
38. Hands: One-third of HAT (Hands Artifacts Traptrix). Replace themselves while destroying the opponent's cards. Yet Another Rank 4 Engine.
39. Harpie: Good points -- make Lightning Chidori and Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack, the two best Xyz Monsters in the game. Bad points -- only one good member. The rest are filler. (Format Library: Harpie)
40. Hazy Flame: Unplayable cluster of Level 6's played by weirdos. Can't be targeted, which is...interesting? Try to stack as many materials as possible on Haxy Flame Basiltrice.
41. Heraldic Beast: Yet Another Rank 4 Engine. Has some of the best cards of the time, balanced out by also having some of the worst. (Format Library: Heraldic Beast)
42. Hero: Bubbleman Beat is a Rank 4 engine. Masked Heroes are strong 1-monster fusions. Hampered by loss of Stratos. Other main deck monsters still bad. (Format Library: Hero Beat)
43. Heroic: Theoretically a Rank 4 Warrior engine, but other Warriors do it better. Extra Sword is a good supplement, and Heroic Chance is notable.
44. Hieratic: Dragons that summon material when tributed. Dragon Shrine goes crazy. Can be mixed with Dragon Rulers or Chaos Dragons, or played pure. Number one goal is making Hieratic Dragon of Atum and pulling Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon out of the deck. (Format Library: Hieratic Ruler)
45. Hunder: Access LIGHT Rank 4's. Thunder Sea Horse for searching. (Format Library: Thunder)
46. Ice Barrier: Medallion and Prior of the Ice Barrier are the good cards. Use these to put as many big guys on the field as you can. This deck is still bad.
47. Infernity: More consistent and control-oriented with Xyz access. Also can make new, strong Level 8 DARK Synchros. (Format Library: Infernity)
48. Inzektor: Use Dragonfly, Hornet, and Centipede to massively plus, and then Xyz into a few different Ranks. Ladybug is an extra name. (Format Library: Inzektor)
49. Karakuri Psychic: Karakuri with Psychic Commander + Emergency Teleport for even greater speed. (Format Library: Karakuri)
50. Koa'ki Meiru: Use the Rock-Type guys for a Stun build, or Urnight for rapid Xyz. Core Overclock has high beatdown potential. (Format Library: Koa'ki Meiru)
51. Laval: Attempts to rapidly flood the graveyard with Lavals and then accrue advantage. If you mill Laval Volcano Handmaiden, you can use it to mill a second, which will mill a third, which can mill a Lakeside Lady. (Format Library: Laval)
52. Lightsworn: They're still good. Raiden and Michael are both strong. Patrick Hoban made some devastating turbo build with Dragon Rulers and Lightrays. (Format Library: Lightsworn Ruler)
53. Madolche: Strange gimmick that actively makes the deck worse. Makes Madolche Queen Tiaramisu, loops with Madolche Chateau and Ticket. Can be combined with Ghostrick for "Trick or Treat". (Format Library: Madolche)
54. Malicevorous: You kind of need to draw them in the exact right order, but this tiny anime archetype is unusually good at making Rank 2 which need DARKs and/or three materials, like Djinn Buster, Dark Mist, or Manipulator of Souls. 
55. Mecha Phantom Beast: (HoJ 67) A slow but really cool deck. Easily modulate to very high levels for Xyz or Synchro Summons. Mainly make Rank 7 (Dracossack and Big Eye).
56. Mermail: Mixed with Atlantean, they combo by discarding WATER monsters. Theoretically a high-ceiling combo deck, but the limiting of Abyssgunde lowers that ceiling. Can make a variety of Ranks. (Format Library: Mermail)
57. Ninja: Hanzo and Upstart Golden Ninja are great, as is Ninjitsu Art of Super-Transformation, but otherwise they're hurting for useful names. Great at making Rank 4 Warriors. (Format Library: Ninja)
58. Noble Knight: Rapidly put Noble Arms Equips onto the field and into the grave. Summons the two Artorigus bosses and other Warrior Xyz Monsters. (Format Library: Noble Knight)
59. Penguin: Halfway between joke support and super-strong. The Penguins have differing Levels, meaning it's hard for them to make a boss.
60. Photon: See "Galaxy". 
61. Prophecy: See "Spellbook".
62. Psychic: Much stronger not because of new cards, but because Emergency Teleport is unlimited now. Banish Psychics can both Synchro and Xyz.
63. Raccoon: Obedience Schooled is a crazy card with a halfway decent payoff in Ronin Raccoon Sandayu. There are a variety of Level 2 Beasts you can trying playing, including...Ojamas! They still combo with Junk Synchron to make Frozen Fitzgerald... (Format Library: Raccoon Turbo)
64. Spellbook: Uses "Spellbook" Spell Cards in combination with a series of monsters with "Prophecy" in their names (for reasons, this isn't strictly an archetype). Floods the grave with Spellbooks to use as fuel for High Priestess of Prophecy. (Format Library: Spellbook)
65. Sylvan: Strange archetype whose effects trigger when "excavated" from the top of the deck. Use cards that either stack the top of your deck (Sylvan Charity) or excavate en masse (Kuribandit). (Format Library: Sylvan)
66. Traptrix: One-third of HAT (Hands Artifacts Traptrix). They do a couple things, but mainly operate with a stun strategy via the various Trap Holes. (Format Library: Artifact Traptrix)
67. Umbral Horror: They exist.
68. Vampire: Can potentially make some very strong boards, but are limited by being mostly Level 5, and depending on their Field Spell to destroy the opponent's cards.
69. Wind-Up: Magician is limited and Zenmaity is banned, but they've still got some plays. Magician and Factory can work together to add Wind-Up Shark to hand and summon it for sequential Xyz Summons.
70. Worms: The core is Xex and Yagan, supplemented with Kagetokage. King of the Feral Imps can search all these cards. The Worms are LIGHT, Kagetokage is DARK. Black Luster Soldier requires you to... (Format Library: Traptrix Worm)