I am known as a Royal Paladin player, specifically Blasters. I have been playing them since I started the game back in 2013, and have not ever used another deck for competitive tournament play. I have had lots of practice with the clan and build, testing out which pieces work the best for certain scenarios, and created the list based off those results. However, as is the case with every aspect of life, there is always room for improvement. On to the deck list!
Used for Atlanta Standard Regionals:
1x Glyme (Starter)
4x Flogal (Crit)
4x Bringer of Good Luck, Epona (Crit)
4x Yggdrassil Maiden, Elaine (Heal)
4x Flash Shield, Iseult (Draw/Sentinel)
4x Knight Squire, Allen
4x Little Sage, Marron
4x Pongal
1x Wingal
4x Blaster Blade
4x High Dog Breeder, Akane
4x Sage of the Arts, Jauron
4x King of Knights, Alfred
4x Soul Saver Dragon
(And of course, lots of force tokens)
Explaining the deck choices:
So I will start off explaining the easy parts.
For Grade 0's, it is a very typical lineup. My only other choice would be to add Margal draw trigger, but I drew enough cards in this deck that I did not want to sacrifice the offensive power of a Crit nor the 15k shield. Draws are only beneficial to Crits on damage checks, but it is not worth it in my opinion.
For Grade 3's, the only other 2 realistic choices are Alfred Early and Gigantec Charger. Charger does not have a gift, so I did not want to put myself in a situation where I had to ride him and not receive a Force. It is a win more type of card. Alfred Early is also inconsistent if I do not have a Blaster Blade, so that steered me off him as well. King of Knights goes off in all the games I've tested, and Soul saver is necessary as a finisher. I wanted to max out my chances of drawing both of them (First KoKs, then finishing with Soul Saver), so I run 4 each. This was not an issue throughout the entire event and I never wished I ran any other combinations of Grade 3's. Riding Soul Saver first is worse, but not unwinnable at all, nor is finishing with King of Knights.
For Grade 2's, the other 2 choices I had in mind were Knight of Silence, Gallatin and Conjurer of Mithril. Mithril is a 9k so due to ride consistency I decided not to run him at all (even though his skill is good for certain matchups). Gallatin is a card I am going to test further and may replace Jauron for. Calling him can essentially force an opponent to waste an attack or retire skill on him, or you get a very nice intercept. However, Blaster Blade and Akane are must run 4 of's. I was sold on Jauron until I wanted to swing at the Rear Guard, but didn't get the +5k due to him needing to attack a Vanguard. Because of this, I am going to try Gallatin out more and will let you guys know what I find.
Grade 1's required the most thought. I wanted to be able to consistently draw an extra card on my turn (not as good, but similar to OTT with Amaterasu or Protect markers), so I opted for 4x Allen and 4x Marron. Pongal at 4 is a must because of Soul Saver and Blaster Blades Soul Blast skills, as well as making sure there are enough for Akane to fetch. I decided on Wingal because the alternatives were not worth it. Morgana wastes a Soul Blast that I can use elsewhere, and the others are either 7k (which I will not run due to ride inconsistencies) or just worse than Wingal. I will probably bump up Wingals count when Exculpate releases as having him behind a "ReRiding" Blaster Blade is ideal. I will publish another post regarding that later.
Things to keep in mind:
- The deck consistently builds a board for very little.
- Having Marron and then intercepting with whatever is in front of him is a good way to draw more every turn.
- Always put force markers on Rear Guards until Marker number 3 or 4 (Depending on the match up). This is critical against OTT where they will be PG'ing your Vanguard every turn.
- Be timely with Blaster Blade's retire and Crit skill. This means do not do it every time, but when it is convenient or when there is a problem rear guard. Accel clans hate this card.
- During Mulligan, prioritize Grade 1
- Do not forget any subtle power bonuses (Akane, Pongal, Marron/Allen, KoK buffs)
- Only use Soul Saver's soul charge skill when you have to. I've found it wastes deck and usually I hit a trigger to the soul :...(
- Try not to use Soul Saver's Soul Blast until your opponent is at least at 4 damage. Often times in tournament, I used it to bait OTT's PGs, and then won the following turn with KoK.
Now that you understand the deck, I will proceed to the report.
My company and I, Golden Phoenix Games, traveled from Miami to Atlanta by car drive to participate and make quality trades. I have topped previous large scale events with Royals (ARG Orlando 2016 and ARG Invitationals 2016), so I was not walking into unfamiliar territory. We arrived at the hotel late Friday night, and went to sleep to get ready for the big day. We arrived at the venue at 9am Saturday, and after making a few trades and greeting familiar faces we were ready for Round 1. Due to the large turnout, over 450 players, the tournament was split into two brackets a gentleman near us dubbed "Prison Block A" and "Prison Block B". I was Number 310 in Prison Block A.
Round 1: OTT
I go up against the best deck in the game right away, which I was kind of expecting. I had practiced against OTT many times and do not feel outclassed by them at all with my deck.
He goes first and is able to lay damage on me within the first few turns, but he spends his only 2 Counter Blasts doing so (CEO and Circle Magus). I then decide to not give him anymore for several turns as my hand was full of Grade 3's. I continuously Ride, then Attack his Rear Guards preventing him from freeing up Counter Blasts. It also locks his heal triggers out of the game because I am at more damage. He continuously rides Imperial Daughter and CEO for the gifts, but has extremely weak attacks. I end up being forced to attack his Vanguard due to him not having any more front row Rear Guards, which finally gave him damage. I had 6 Force tokens across my board at this point and was feeling very good because his deck count was also getting pretty low. He then rides his 4th Imperial Daughter and Deer's me. I live and swing back with Soul Saver. He lives easily due to protects and I am Deer'd again where I die. Looking back, I should have tried to go for Deckout, but it is a learning experience.
0-1
Round 2: OTT
I cue into OTT again, but this time I am able to tempo my opponent. She also forgets to grab her Gift, so due to that misplay it wasn't difficult to take the game.
1-1
Round 3: Nova Grapplers
Post Mulligan I end up with 4 Grade 3's and a Grade 1. Draw for turn, I draw my 4th KoK. /)_- that's Vanguard for you. I hit no defensive triggers, but a 6 damage heal LOL. I then swing with my Vanguard and drive check 2 more heals. Damage is tied at 3 a piece, but I still had a lot of these useless Grade 3's in hand. I die a turn after.
Typically against Novas, I use Blaster Blade's ability to hit the RG in the Accel circle, but I did not draw well enough to be able to stay alive against them.
1-2
Round 4: OTT
My third OTT out of four. This game was a boxing match. We were hitting each other and barely staying alive for about 5 turns consecutively. I hit a 6 damage heal, and win on the swing back.
Honestly, should have lost this game, but that's Vanguard for you.
2-2
Round 5: Shadow Paladin
This dude brought a Shadow TD with Promo Rapiers into a Regionals. He has 100% of my respect. However, there's a reason you don't see people do that often. The game was over the turn after he rode Grade 3. Royals have a very good matchup against Shadows (even post AL4), due to them calling a board back for little cost. It makes their retire skills not as detrimental.
3-2
Round 6: OTT
OTT again, but this time I go first and am able to Tempo and control the pace of the game similar to Round 2. I was able to put enough pressure to force him to pitch Grade 3's he needed for protect markers.
4-2
Round 7: Granblue
At this point, I am sitting at table 28 or so, so I am looking at my chances of topping fading away even if I finish winning every game. My teammates brought me food so I was ready to go.
She has to G Assist for Grade 2 I believe, so I am able to go off and swing with big columns for the rest of the game. She also had to pitch Grade 3's she needed for protect markers just to stay alive. I won with Soul Saver's Soul Blast.
5-2
Round 8: Spike Brothers
Sitting at Table 10 (the first long table), I look around and do not see any other Royals Players and am happy to see I have placed the farthest of everyone with the deck. After a delay due to computer round pairings being off, we start the game. I go first. Post mulligan, I have 3 G0's, a G2, and a G3. I G assist, and whiff. His turn, he G assists but gets the G1, pitching a Maximum in the process. I eat a damage, get a draw trigger and draw into Allen (Thank god). The game continues and we are both at low damage, low cards in hand, and a full board. He rides Seifried, places the force under him (making him a 23k) and attacks my RG hoping to get the skill off. For about three or so turns, he swings Seifried at my weakest RG, and I guard it successfully. He also tried damage locking me out of the game (similar to what I did in Round 1), but I take damage eventually setting up my skills. We are so focused in on this match, that I did not hear time being called and was surprised that we were the only ones still playing at our table (Table 10). It was his turn so it I was able to do the last turn. He attacks me, I trigger a defensive trigger and am able to live. I ride into KoK after a Soul Saver Soul blast turn and am able to get the win.
Spike Brothers go through a lot of units quickly (see wonderboy, brakki, maximum), so the longer the game goes, the better it typically is for me. He also pitched a Maximum for G assist so I had that in the back of my head.
6-2
At this point, I know my chances of topping 8 are very slim due to the people I lost to having worse records than me, but I still had hope because I was trying to be positive. In the end, after both blocks were combined, I got 29th Place out of the 450. I know I was the highest seeded Royals Players in Prison Block A, but I have no clue about B.
I had a spicy build for premium, but felt exhausted from Day 1, so we decided to sleep in and focus on trades and sight seeing for Day 2.
I had a very good experience in Atlanta and cannot wait for the next one.
Check out my team website at teamalleffects.com (It is a work in progress) and my website for singles and product at goldenphoenixgames.com
Message me if you have any questions about literally anything (sales, deck talk, whatever)
- Richard Garcia
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