[ECG] Deck Check: Blaukluger's Blitz!

[ECG] Deck Check: Blaukluger's Blitz!

  Tuesday, June 03, 2014    byak

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Kagero wasn't the only clan to be graced with support this weekend. Nova Grapplers got a lot of support as well in their own Extra Booster, revitalizing old strategies for the current metagame!

Welcome back to Deck Check, where today we'll be going over the main supported deck type of Extra Booster 8: Blau! The last time we even saw the archetype was all the way back in Booster Set 4, when they were just introducing a new kind of ride chain.

The ride chain functions exactly like the more popular Blaster Dark ride chain. You'd start with a starting vanguard that didn't come with forerunner (Blaujunger), but if you rode the specific grade 1 (Blaupanzer), you got to add the grade 2 of the ride chain (Blaukluger) from your deck to your hand, guaranteeing you your grade 2 ride. Additionally, when the grade 1 was called to a rear-guard, instead of adding the grade 2, you could discard a grade 3 to add the specific grade 3 of the ride chain (Stern Blaukluger) from your deck to your hand, which ended up tying everything together.

This was nice and all, but how playable was the actual ride chain? The grade 2 of each ride chain came with their own skills while on the vanguard circle. Blaster Dark got to counterblast 2 on ride to retire a unit, which was fairly lackluster. Blaukluger got to un-flip a damage on hit, which was even more lackluster considering it was only usable on your vanguard circle.. But to compensate, Stern Blaukluger was actually a pretty strong unit in its time.

Stern Blaukluger was actually one of the first units able to stand itself, along with Commander Laurel, who was released in the same set. Stern Blaukluger had a 10000 base, but if Blaukluger was in the soul, it would become an 11000 base, making it much more significant. If its attack hit a vanguard, you could counterblast two and discard two cards to stand him, along with the unit behind him, except he would lose Twin Drive during this turn. Regardless, he didn't require anything else to activate, unlike Dragonic Overlord the End, which would be released in the set right after. Losing Twin Drive makes it lose effectiveness after the turn, but it came with extreme pressure, especially at the time. Checking a critical trigger would make him even scarier, and this was even before Limit Break, so once you had two damage he became terrifying.

As with most decks at the time, the strategy fell off soon after the advent of Limit Break, along with the addition of a lot more self-standing vanguards, which were much more efficient than Stern Blaukluger, so the deck was shelved for the time being. Now, Bushiroad decided to bring it back into the spotlight, with new Blau units, including a Cross Ride!

The star of the new Extra Booster is Galaxy Blaukluger, a Cross Ride of the old Stern Blaukluger. He follows in Stern's footsteps by being another self-standing vanguard, but achieves this in a much more efficient way. His Limit Break triggers when the first Blau unit, vanguard or rear-guard, hits a vanguard. When that happens, you can counterblast two and discard two Nova Grapplers to stand Galaxy Blaukluger and the unit behind him, allowing him an extra attack. He doesn't lose his Twin Drive either, making him a lot more effective than his pair.

The fact that he can trigger off of your rear-guard attacks makes your Limit Break turns extremely scary, but keep in mind, you can only use it when the first Blau hits during your turn. This includes before Galaxy even attacks, so if you don't use it then, you can't use it all during that turn. What does this mean? To simply put it, make sure Galaxy Blaukluger attacks your opponent's vanguard first. Otherwise, your opponent could just take the first attack from a rear-guard and completely nullify your Limit Break.

Nova Grappler also received a new Break Ride that can work hand in hand with Galaxy Blaukluger. Mond Blaukluger amplifies the stand motif of Nova Grapplers to a new level! During the turn you Break Ride over Mond, when your vanguard attacks, you can counterblast one to stand all of your rear-guards. This promotes an attack pattern where you swing with your rear-guards before your vanguard, so keep in mind, when using this with Galaxy, make sure your Blau units are attacking other rear-guards. After Galaxy attacks and Mond's skill stands everything, that's when you let loose on their vanguard. Additionally, if you get to trigger Galaxy's Limit Break, you can also trigger Mond's skill a second time, resulting in a huge offensive turn!

With all of this on the table, how can we mesh it all into a deck? There are many benefits to be had, such as Mond's combinations with your boss units, Stern Blaukluger's early game, and Galaxy Blaukluger's late game. The result is a versatile and powerful deck.

Granz Sternenlicht!
17 / 14 / 11 / 8

1 Morgenrot
4 Red Lightning [Critical]
4 Schones Wetter [Critical]
4 Schneeregen [Draw]
4 Regenbogen [Heal]

4 Blau Dunkelheit
4 Clay-doll Mechanic
3 Stoic Hani
3 Blaupanzer

4 Blaukluger
4 Jupiter Blaukluger
3 Mars Blaukluger

3 Galaxy Blaukluger
3 Mond Blaukluger
2 Stern Blaukluger

In this build, I try to maximize all aspects of Galaxy Blaukluger by including Stern Blaukluger and Mond Blaukluger, so I can have the power of a burst Break Ride turn and the potential 13000 defense. There are three optimal strategies that you can take in this deck, and they're all possible in this build. The first strategy is obviously to go Mond into Galaxy, increasing the tempo of the game dramatically from that point. This isn't bad, as long as you can retain a field after you go into Galaxy, as Galaxy's power scales with your Blau rear-guards. Secondly, you can go from Stern into Galaxy. While you don't have the power of a Break Ride turn, you create a lot of early pressure with Stern, which certainly isn't that bad of a card. In addition to the early pressure, when you transition into Galaxy Blaukluger later into the game, it becomes a lot easier to guard thanks to the Cross Ride bonus.

The third strategy is a bit more difficult to accomplish, but in my opinion it's the most rewarding. The best game for Blaus involves going from Mond into Stern, and then Stern into Galaxy. In theory, Mond into Stern is just about as good as Mond into Galaxy. The only difference is the power of Stern's standing ability, but in compensation, your first two rear-guard attacks can be fired at your opponent's vanguard, increasing damage pressure. The turn after, you want to Cross Ride with Galaxy, which makes your field even scarier than before. At that point, you should be able to force your way to your Limit Break while having 13000 defense to back you up.

The three copies of Blaupanzer helps you set up your strategy the way you want it. While I don't use Blaujunger, Blaupanzer can still be used to exchange any grade 3 for a Stern Blaukluger. Granted that you can call it to the field, you can turn any grade 3 into a Stern, which is useful if your only option to ride is Galaxy Blaukluger, or if you want Stern over Mond. Either way, it helps with the consistency of the deck and lets you get away with only 2 Stern Blaukluger.

Stoic Hani is the grade 1 damage inducer for Nova Grappler. He doesn't seem that useful with Mond, since going from three to four damage accomplishes nothing if it happens after your ride phase, but he's really useful with Galaxy Blaukluger. There are games where you have to end up riding Galaxy, which is the least desirable route to take, and there are also games where you go from Stern to Galaxy. In both of these cases, Stoic Hani can really help you out if your opponent tries to keep you below four damage. Being able to use Galaxy early on is really strong in general as well, since it's hard to guard early in the game. It's still a questionable card choice in my opinion, and if it doesn't work out for you, I recommend Polar Stern or Screamin' and Dancin' Announcer, Shout as replacements.

The new starter for Blaus, Morgenrot, actually sticks out to me as one of the stronger starting vanguards in the game right now. It is not a Blau itself, though this doesn't really change anything, but it works directly with them. When it boosts a Blau vanguard and the attack hits, you can counterblast one to check the top three cards of your deck and add a Blau from those three to your hand. Considering how easy it is to land hits in the early game, you can see this unit going off at least twice per game if necessary, and the units it can pull are really useful too. It can keep you from being gradelocked by looking for a grade 3 with your grade 2 ride, plus you can grab units like Blaupanzer and the Sentinel, Blau Dunkelheit. Odds are this card will take priority in getting retired or locked early on, but he's not actually a necessity to the deck, so losing Morgenrot won't shut you down completely.

The grade 2 line-up for the deck is a lot simpler than the rest of the deck. Playing four Blaukluger may seem questionable to some, since it's a 9000 grade 2 that doesn't do anything as a rear-guard. However, it's absolutely necessary. Your grade 2 line-up needs to be entirely Blaus to maximize Galaxy Blaukluger's effectiveness, plus Blaukluger enables Stern Blaukluger's 11000 defense. In addition, he can be a solid 10000 ride if you ride Blaupanzer, and his vanguard skill synergizes with Morgenrot, since you can use Morgenrot and then un-flip the damage you just counterblasted, giving you more damage for your grade 3's to use. It's fairly understandable how important this card can be, and most of the time it's a must-ride for the deck.

Mars Blaukluger is unique support designed for Blaus, but I don't think it's the best either. When your Blau vanguard attack hits, you can counterblast one to stand Mars and give him +5000 power. It's cool and all, but useless when you're trying use Galaxy. It has uses early game, but you also don't want to eat too much of your counterblasts, since they can be used for better skills, like for your grade 3's. Of course you still need to play it since it's a Blau, but don't go using this card whenever possible, or else you won't have the damage available for your late game pressure.

There are two things to keep in mind when playing Blaus. While the deck is powerful and Galaxy gives your whole field pressure, it is fairly dependent on your rear-guards. You can't commit early with this deck without confidence, because if you do, your opponent can focus your rear-guards, which then keeps you away from Limit Break and reduces your resources greatly, making it difficult to make an impact late game. Morgenrot can help you regenerate lost advantage, but it's not always guaranteed to bring you back into the game.

The other thing to keep in mind is your counterblasts. There are a lot of counterblast units in the deck, and while you have units like Clay-doll Mechanic and Red Lightning, you don't want to spend too many counterblasts early on, as you might end up missing them in the late game. As I mentioned before, Blaukluger gives you a free un-flip if he hits, so try to reap that advantage whenever possible. Conserve your Clay-doll Mechanics and try not to use them without un-flipping damage. As long as your conscious of your resources, you should never really exhaust yourself of counterblasts.

In conclusion, I find this deck to be very fun to play, but not the best. Maintaining a field is its biggest weak point, especially with Nouvelle Vague hitting the competitive scene alongside it. If it gets the right setups, you'll be able to play out long combo turns and steal games to early game tempo pushes. Either way, hopefully you enjoy this deck, and thanks for reading!