[ECG] Deck Check: You are a Pirate!

[ECG] Deck Check: You are a Pirate!

  Tuesday, December 10, 2013    byak

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Welcome back to another edition of Deck Check! To keep introductions short, let's just dive into today's deck: Granblue!

Granblue has been around in Vanguard technically since the beginning. Booster Set 1 gave them a very small amount of cards, which was Bushiroad's way of saying, "hey! this game has pirate zombies!" They eventually became playable after Booster Set 2, and was revamped to accompany the current meta in Booster Set 6.

Booster Set 6 was a pretty good set for Granblue. They got a bunch of solid units and a very solid boss monster, Ice Prison Necromancer, Cocytus. The deck was all about consistency and it was that factor that led to its small success in its time. However, it didn't take long for the deck to fall out, especially in the Break Ride era, so Bushiroad decided to revamp them again.

People were excited when they heard that Granblue were getting more support in Booster Set 13. What they did get, however, was very minuscule compared to what other clans got in that set. However, despite them getting a very small amount of support, I think that some of the new units are very valuable, and can be used to make a powerful deck.

You are a Pirate!
17 / 14 / 11 / 8

1 Skeleton Assault Troops Captain
4 Ghoul Cannonball [Critical]
4 Knight Spirit [Critical]
4 Rough Seas Banshee [Critical]
4 Rick the Ghostie [Heal]

4 Gust Jinn
4 Deadly Nightmare
3 Samurai Spirit
3 Dancing Cutlass

4 Deadly Spirit
3 Ruin Shade
2 Captain Nightmist
2 Corrosion Dragon, Corrupt Dragon

4 Lord of the Seven Seas, Nightmist
3 Ice Prison Hades Emperor, Cocytus "Reverse"
1 Deadly Swordmaster

The core strategy of this deck comes from abusing Lord of the Seven Seas, Nightmist's Break Ride skill. When you Break Ride over Nightmist, you can revive two Granblue from your drop zone. They gain +5000 power and are retired at the end of the turn. The +5000 power can cause your rear-guard columns to force out 15000 per attack, plus your vanguard has a bonus +10000 during this turn, which can result in forcing out a lot of guard. Nightmist offers a lot of burst to a deck that was primarily about consistency, but it doesn't stop there.

Deadly Swordmaster was always thought to be a simple grade 3 that you could include to Superior Ride early on, or to be used as a back-up plan if you didn't have another grade 3. However, now with a Granblue Break Ride, it now offers a lot more combos to the deck. To put it simply, Deadly Swordmaster can Superior Break Ride from the drop zone.

Imagine this: you enter your ride phase, and Break Ride Nightmist over Nightmist, pulling out two fresh units with +5000 power on them. Then, you can tribute away Deadly Nightmare and Deadly Spirit to Superior Break Ride with Deadly Swordmaster, bringing up two more units that also have +5000 power, resulting with +10000 to both of your rear-guard columns. This combo can be quite deadly, especially if your opponent is at high damage. But be careful, because all of the units you revive die in the end phase. Therefore, this combo should only be used if you're trying to push for game. Though believe me, it is very good at pushing for game.

Before moving on, it should not be ignored that Cocytus "Reverse" also adds utility to the deck. Cocytus "Reverse" is cool in the sense that it can revive units from the drop zone without eating up your counterblasts. Though, instead of counterblasting, it begins to eat your deck through milling, while also locking up your field as you do so. It is for this reason that have to be careful not to overdose when using Cocytus "Reverse". You will gain a lot of card advantage from using it, but the more you use it, the closer you will get to decking out and losing the game. However, it is still a very effective card when it comes to recovery. If your opponent gets an advantage over you in the early game, you can use Cocytus "Reverse" to recur your draw power cards, Rough Seas Banshee and Dancing Cutlass, to rebuild your hand while locking down your field for a turn. Additionally, you can simply bring back your Deadly units to set up for Swordmaster combos later in the game.

Moving away from the bosses and towards the support units, Dancing Cutlass is perhaps the most useful support unit in this deck. Despite it being a weak grade 1 that only draws one card, it can offer a lot of value. Its weak power level can be mitigated by sacrificing it for a Samurai Spirit or Deadly Nightmare, plus its soul blasting skill ends up fueling your drop zone and gives you more to work with. It's also very easy to pull Cutlass out of your drop zone to gain more hand advantage. If you have the soul, you can bring up two Cutlass with Nightmist and draw two after putting two new units on the field. With Cocytus "Reverse", you can bring up Cutlass, draw one, then lock it away to bring up another unit.

You might be wondering at this point how I end up having a lot of cards to soul blast for skills, seeing as Deadly Spirit, Deadly Nightmare, and Dancing Cutlass have decently large soul blast costs. To answer this, it's very easy to build up your soul in this deck. Rough Seas Banshee soul charges itself to draw you an extra card, and after you soul blast it, it's very easy to bring it back to the field using your grade 3 units, making it a very flexible card. There are often times where I Break Ride and simply pull out two Banshees from my soul. This can be very beneficial when you're playing aggressive, because since they trade themselves for hand advantage, you don't have to worry about them retiring in the end phase. Plus, they build up your soul at the same time.

The deck also naturally soul charges through its burst combos. Each time you Break Ride, you are soul charging one, as the Nightmist you rode over is now part of your soul. This is very significant too, because the aim of the deck is to Break Ride as often as possible.

Another question: why am I ignoring the new Sea Strolling Banshee and using three copies of Dancing Cutlass? When you compare the units, Banshee has 1000 more power and it only needs to soul blast one. The power difference between the two is irrelevant mainly because every time they hit the field, you can easily either lock them away for Cocytus "Reverse" or just sacrifice them for Samurai Spirit, making their power meaningless. As for the soul blasting difference, I have almost never had a problem with Cutlass' heftier cost. Cutlass also has a lot more flexibility. It can trigger whenever it's called, while Banshee only triggers when it's brought up from the drop zone. I like Cutlass for the early game advantage, and Banshee struggles to provide that.

The rest of the deck is fairly basic. I use Skeleton Assault Troops Captain because you want your Nightmist more than anything in the deck, plus having multiple Nightmist is even better. Captain Nightkid and Peter the Ghostie are fun alternatives, but I personally prefer Skeleton Assault.

Samurai Spirit and Deadly Nightmare consistently offer you 7000 boosters, which can help you swing for 16000 and 18000. You don't have to worry about Samurai Spirit eating up too much counterblasts either, because none of your bosses use counterblasts at all. Ruin Shade and Corrosion Dragon are played because they come with decent 9000 bodies and can go up to 11000 or 12000 when needed. The only difference between the two is that Ruin Shade is there if you need help filling up your drop zone, and Corrosion is used when you don't need to fill it up.

I use two copies of Captain Nightmist to give my field even more flexibility. Like Samurai Spirit, you do not have to worry about its cost, and if you ever have too many Grade 1s at your disposal, you can trade one for Nightmist and get a free intercept unit. He doesn't make any good columns with boosters, but he still provides flexibility. Deadly Spirit basically does the same thing but with 9000 power, but Nightmist acts as a backup if I can't afford the soul at the time.

And that's about it for Granblue! As far as match-ups are concerned, the deck does decently vs retire heavy decks, as it's easy to regain advantage. Versus Link Joker, Nightmist's Break Ride can give you an odd advantage vs them. When Break Riding, you can set yourself up so your front-row dies at the end of the turn. Normally this wouldn't be the best route, but if your front-row is empty, they have nothing to lock, allowing you to continue your assault! Also, be careful when using Cocytus "Reverse" vs a Chaos Breaker Dragon, as you don't want its Limit Break to counter yours. I hope you enjoy trying out this Granblue deck, and feel free to make any changes you feel are necessary. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section below, and thanks for reading.