So, there was no poll this week, as this will be my last tournament for a couple of weeks, due to Christmas affairs. I wanted to play a deck that I would enjoy playing for this tournament, as well as one that was new. So here it is, right after release, my Phantom Blaster Shadow Paladins. You can judge if I’m doing it right. Here’s the list:
Grade 0:
1 x Fullbau
4 x Abyss Freezer
4 x Abyss Healer
4 x Darkside Trumpeter
4 x Grim Reaper
Grade 1:
4 x Blaster Javelin
4 x Black Sage, Charon
4 x Dark Shield, Mac Lir
2 x Gururubau
Grade 2:
4 x Blaster Dark
3 x Skull Witch, Nemain
3 x Cursed Lancer
2 x Darkness Maiden, Macha
Grade 3:
3 x Phantom Blaster Dragon
2 x Dark Dictator
2 x Dark Mage, Badhabh Caar
There is not much to say about the grade 0 line-up. I have no choice, it’s all that’s released. I will say that I think that the Fullbau ride chain is one of the strongest in the game, although places almost too much emphasis on the grade 1s importance in the deck.
The grade 1 line-up is done in such a way to maximize the effectiveness of the deck, allowing the weaker power grade 2s to continue attacking for the proper numbers while still being able to use their powerful effects. You definitely need to play 4 Blaster Javelin, as they are the heart of the deck. Allowing you to search for your ideal rank 3, and when ridden adding Blaster Dark to your hand, it’s a really powerful card. 4 8k boosters is also really important, as with Darkness Maiden, Macha and Skull Witch, Nemain, you need that 8k boost to be able to hit the 11k vanguards properly. As always, I like 4 perfect guards in a deck, and to round it all off, Gururubau allows for a nice attacker in a pinch, while still bringing a 7k booster to the table.
For the Grade 2 line, I went for a little diversity. As you probably realize after seeing the line-up, I do not place emphasis on using Phantom Blaster Dragons effect, as it is very costly and usually not worth the cost. I opted to play it more like a Royal Paladin meets Oracle Think Tank, so we’ll see how it runs. I run 4 Blaster Dark, as to ensure that I have it in soul for Phantom Blaster Dragon. I run 3 Nemain, as even though she has weak power, her effect more than makes up for it. 3 Cursed Lancer allows me to reuse different effects if he hits, as well as setting up for a final turn scenario. 2 Darkness Maiden lets me tutor any grade 1 from deck, which is very strong in it’s own right.
For Grade 3’s, I run a 3-2-2 line-up. I run 3 Phantom Blaster as I usually want him as my main vanguard, with 11k power. Dark Mage allows for some easy calling from deck and is also one of the only good rearguard grade 3’s for Shadow Paladin. Dark Dictator allows me to have 2 separate final turn scenarios. I can either use Phantom Blaster if I have the hand to do it, or I can ride Dark Dictator and use his effect to go for game. Both require some sort of setup and future planning, but if you can’t afford Phantom Blaster, you don’t want to cripple yourself if you can avoid it.
Shadow Paladins have some very strong abilities, being able to tutor from deck, draw cards, as well as having different final turn scenarios allows for a very strong deck with lots of potential. I look forward to seeing how this deck performs in a tournament setting and whether it has what it takes to capture peoples attention.
EpicHippo's Cardfight Vanguard 
3 skull witch is too much, you won’t want to risk drawing her as your only grade 2 to ride.
You say that, but in over 100 games, I have only had to ride Skull witch once, and I even won the game that I needed to do that. The consistency of the ride chain combined with the ability to mulligan makes it a null concern. Combined with her extremely powerful ability, it makes her invaluable to the deck.
In my opinion, running any more than one to two Blaster Darks and Peanut Butter Dragons is too much. I personally only run two copies of each, and that’s purely for the ride chain mechanic. Fact is, you’re either going to hit that ride chain or you’re not. Blaster Dark is a bad card in the sense that he’s only useful on the vanguard circle, and his effect is too expensive for early game in Shadows. He becomes nothing more than a vanilla 9k on your rear guard, and in shadows you don’t want something like that.
The same thing goes for Peanut Butter Dragon. He’s only a 10k vanilla on rear guard, and quite frankly, not even the card you want on your vanguard circle until final turn. Instead, you’d want to start off with Origin Mage, Ildona (David Bowie), who will allow you to gain massive card advantage in order to replenish your field after using Peanut Butter’s effect. Not only that, but David Bowie will allow you to consistently hit for 21k + with an 8k booster behind him, increasing pressure, whereas Peanut butter will only reach 19k before triggers.
As for two Dark Dictators, again I feel like that’s too much. You’re only going to get his effect once per game, and you’re only going to be using that to push for final turn, assuming you are not using Peanut Butter Dragon to do that. He’s a good card, of course, but he’s not a main goal card. He’s that guy you throw in there to just say “Hey, you’re at 4 damage, and I’m going to end you now. Kay Thanks Bye!” If he gets damaged out, it doesn’t matter, because you don’t necessarily need him anyways.
Anyways, these are just my personal opinions on the deck, and sorry if it seems a bit winded.
Don’t worry, I like it when people explain their reasons behind different decisions and you did an excellent job of it. I’ll explain my thought process behind my decisions.
For the Blaster Darks, I am making Phantom Blaster the main vanguard of my deck, as he is an 11k vanguard and as the game stands right now, it is very easy to abuse a 10k vanguard, with assorted 20k rows, Silent Tom being easier to setup, etc. This wasn’t the case in Japan when this deck first came out, hence the assorted builds that ran things like Dark Metal Dragon as their main vanguard.
Another card that wasn’t out in the Japanese meta until after set 5 was Dark Dictator. He is a card meant to combat crossrides, hence his very strong power in our meta. Due to so many decks running 10k vanguards, simply riding Dark Dictator can boost all of your attacks to stage 3, making it very difficult for an opponent at 5 damage to survive the turn. While it’s true I only need him for 1 turn, he is one of my end game scenarios, so I always would like to have his option available. If I draw both of him, this deck has many options that I can use to get rid of the extra copy, with 4 perfect guards and 3 Nemain allowing me to turn him into extra shield or even 2 extra cards.
For your point on Ildona, you are correct on all aspects of how he can be better then Phantom Blaster except for one. It is a general misconception that Origin Mage provides card advantage. He doesn’t. He sacrifices 2 units on the field for 2 draws. That is a +0 overall. While it’s true you can use his effect to kill unideal uints and receive cards from it, this effect becomes useless if you are killing off strong rows just to get the 2 draws. I also don’t like the fact that I MUST have an 8k booster behind him in order to ensure that he is superior to Phantom Blaster. Any other booster and he is hitting for the same numbers and yet provides less defence then Phantom Blaster. And if I DO have the 8k booster behind him, then the +3000 from his limit break is suddenly useless as it doesn’t boost me up a stage. Overall I find him a very situational card that isn’t worth the 10k vangaurd.
Thanks for your reply and I hope you continue to visit!
I can see what you mean by Daivd bowie being a +0, however, I use his effect sparingly. There’s a big difference between spamming the effect and using it wisely. David Bowie has helped me in a lot of tight spots, and I only use him till I’m ready to push for final turn with Peanut butter or Dark Dictator. I like to maintain my hand advantage through my opponents turn, essentially I’m going for perfect defense.
I totally see how you’re going for a more agressive build though, and I agree with your choice of three nemains, Imo, she’s very broken.
if u put 4 perfect guard it will waste,..
imagine if in game u just got 2 perfect guard the other will be waste,..
in my opinion try to put just 3 and 3 blaster dark too ..
and put 2 card that more usefull…
I think what you’re trying to say is that 4 perfects guards are too much, and that I should try 3 Blaster Dark as well. As I’ve said previously, the reasoning behind 4 Blaster Dark is consistency. With 4 Blaster Dark I pretty much guarantee that I will have an 11k vanguard, which is pretty important with this build. Once the crossride is out, I will be dropping it down to 2. For Perfect Shields, I have had plenty of games where I have used 3 – 4 of them. I gain plenty of advantage in the deck, and they are extremely useful. As long as there are cards like Garmore, Ezel, and the like, 4 perfect guards is a mainstay for me. Besides, I’ve also had plenty of times I’ve been forced to ride one and then damage checked one. If I was running 3, that leaves me with 1 shield in deck. That’s a pretty touchy situation.
If you don’t mind me asking, what are your plans for a PBO build?
I’ll be posting a full decklist sometime soon, but basically as it stands right now, my plan is to cut down to 2 Blaster Dark, run 4 and 4 of the grade 3’s, and add in Void Knight, possibly taking out a couple of my cursed lancers to do it. I also may lower my Nemain count, the lowest I’d probably go is 2 though. Macha will most likely remain the same. I may run nightmare painter, as it runs really well in the deck. I’ll havta wait and see what happens.
Can you show me next time shadow paladin legion deck