Asgard

Asgard is by no means a complete archetype. The support is abysmal, the options are few and while the Norse theme is amazingly awesome, thematic coolness (ha) is all that they have going for it. And where's my Jörmungandr?

But expect some solid support in the future for one of the most intricate archetypes yet. Asgard involves playing the time game, using different abilities and spells to prolong the match and stall out a game. With their advantage-over-time engines and elaborate setup, Asgard moves slow but steady, buffeting the opponent like a long-winded blizzard. And when the clock hits zero, Asgard erupts with an explosive one-turn burst that all but wins the game.

It's only fair to start off with the most convoluted spell combo in the game, the apocalypse of the Norse mythos.

The alt art is so much
better

Great Spell, Ragnarok is quite the complicated spell. In order to cast it in the first place, you need to have a soulless Fimbulwinter on the field. So I guess it's appropriate to address Fimbulwinter, first. Great Spell, Fimbulwinter top-soulcharges twice when Set. Every turn after that, you remove 1 soul. When Fimbulwinter empties, you draw a card. I don't get why people think this is a plus...it's a total wash. And even worse, a delayed wash. You lose one card from your hand to get another two turns later, which means that for two turns you're playing from behind. That's not good.

When Fimbulwinter finally storms to an end, you then have the option to cast Great Spell, Ragnarok. By paying the quite costly 3 gauge and 2 life, you can destroy everything. Like everything. EVERYTHING. All hand, all field, all set spells, even all soul of Soulguard. Only life and gauge remain intact after Ragnarok. It's the greatest reset button ever created in Buddyfight.

At least its legit based on
Norse mythology

By itself its not much, but there are certain cards that work well in conjunction with it. First is Gleipnir, a Set spell that puts a Size 3 monster into its soul. When Gleipnir is destroyed, the monster inside is called for free, albeit not able to attack (unless the monster says otherwise). There's also Ice Blade, Joker that can be called en route from hand to the drop. Finally, the weapon Rune Staff allows the life cost of Great spells to not be paid, which will net a +1 from Ragnarok and an overall wash.

Like many others, I was also caught up in the Ragnarok hype train. I mean, 10 unblockable damage sounded too good to be true. But the problem with Ragnarok is the ridiculous setup. You need at least 3-4 cards to be in the exactly right places over the course of two turns that you're playing from behind with. Additionally, Gleipnir is a completely wasted spell if Ragnarok never goes off. To make matters worse, Ragnarok itself can be spell negated, which means that 3 gauge and 2 life went down the drain for nothing. While its a nice trick to have in the back pocket, but putting all your eggs in Ragnarok is probably not the wisest choice.

Besides, both Jackknife "Goldritter" and Immortal Sword, Durandal won't be destroyed by Ragnarok either.

My Norse sensor is
tingling

Gleipnir has very few targets as of now, but Demon Wolf, Fenrir is probably all the targets you really need. 10000/6/7000 is so scary, a ridiculous +2.5 in stats for a call cost of 5 gauge (it's a wash!). Problem with it is that A. that's a lot of gauge and B. that's a lot of crits on one monster. Do you know why crit stacking never works, whether in Vanguard or Buddyfight or wherever? Unless you have a way to negate their shields/guards (*cough cough Breathen Gard *cough cough), that attack is basically never going to hit. Don't give me this BS about how "you can't guarantee they'll have a shield", if they see an Asgard deck then they're going to be saving all their shields for the Fenrir in the first place, or using it right before Ragnarok drops.

So the best way to guarantee that Fenrir hits is through Ragnarok combo. Yeah, that's not easy to pull of by any means. And if they spell negate Ragnarok, then GG scoop. I personally think Fenrir is an okay call even without using Gleipnir, as long as you have a Breathen Gard to troll your opponent. That's a lot of gauge though, so Fenrir ends up being a little too expensive overall, and not very flexible.

Why so serious?

So, Ice Blade, Joker. It's a thing, and it's really good. First off, it's a Size 0. That alone makes it awesome. Second, it has 6000/2/3000 stats. On a Size 0. What? That's something I'd expect from a Size 2. It's obvious that a +1.5 in stats needs to be balanced, so Joker has a call cost of 3 gauge, making him a really high-maintenance wash. That's not something we want to be doing all the time, especially since Joker is pretty easy to sweep with only 3K defense.

But Joker has another way of being called, and that's through discarding him from the hand. He's cheaper this way by a whole 2 gauge. And Asgard has a lot of ways to discard cards from the hand. You can do it with Ragnarok, of course, but also Breathen Gard, Berserk Gard, Thunder of Zeus, and best of all, Corpse Swallower, Hraesvelgr. Hraesvelgr allows you to discard a card to draw a card, greatly improving hand quality, and Ice Blade, Joker makes that wash an easy +2. This combo gives Asgard a great midgame and honestly makes me want to disregard Ragnarok altogether.

In fact, with the way upcoming support is looking, Ragnarok won't be the focus of Asgard for long. A well-played Asgard deck can easily outpace and outmaneuver other decks as long as you maximize Hraesvelgr and Ice Blade, Joker.

Serving the Vanadis
of the winds

However, the best card in all of Asgard is a promo. Valkyrie, Assault Cara has subpar stats for a Size 2 (-0.5), and she has a call-cost of 2 gauge. Her on-call effect allows you to pop any monster on your opponent's field. It's reminiscent of Rising Flare Dragon, but there's no Size restriction. And in Legend World, Assault Cara is nigh broken. Remember, gauge is cheap as hell, and we've got really good Size 1s and Size 0s. Assault Cara basically makes sure that your opponent can't keep up with your advantage gain by converting gauge to guaranteed field advantage.

If you have her on the field, your Ragnarok is guaranteed. If you have her in hand, you can +1.5 from any -1 ditching. She's the All-knowing Alwidol! Actually, the deal about +1.5 from any -1 is really a huge misconception, since anytime you -1 from hand in Legend World you're likely getting at least a +0.5 from it, often a +1. So using Hraesvelgr and dropping Alwidol actually gets you +1 gauge and +2 cards for that same -1. Alwidol is just a plussing machine. And against worlds with Spell Negate, dropping her to guarantee Ragnarok is not a bad play in the slightest.

I've grown bigger!

People really like Ice Blade "Astralkus" but I actually don't really. You need to discard it from hand to get it out at reduced cost but most of your good discard options are from monsters on field, like Hraesvelgr and Hraesvelgr. Actually you really shouldn't any discarding thing other than Hraesvelgr, but with Alwidol I suppose Thunder of Zeus is also not a bad option.

In any case, I definitely prefer using Astralkus instead of Fenrir for the Ragnarok combo. It's a lot less retarded and actually consistently achievable, especially if you're a good player and actually run a Zlatarog engine for max gauge.

Oh God why is this card a thing. Counter calling should not have been a thing but Sleipnir is like all my nightmares come true. At worst, it acts as a body shield. At best, it completely messes up well-calculated and efficient strategies that many decks rely on to get an edge. Like, you can Counter call this to mess up so many restriction requirements its not funny. Final Phase! Oh hang on, let me Counter call this douche into the center slot. Hey look, I just nullified all Gargantua-based abilities and that stupidly cheap Ancient World Impact. Declare an attack on Navalbonds (card not released yet)! Oh, just joking, Counter call Sleipnir, now it doesn't die. Gah, with so much midgame control, Asgard has become a real pain to deal with.

What's the matter with
Heim?

If Asgard wasn't completely viable before, it just became really viable now. Dekalfar Demon Swordsman, Heim gives Asgard a desperately needed Size 1 that contributed to its winning image. Heim costs 2 gauge and gives you the ability to call a Size 2 monster from your drop zone. Guess what? Both Zlatarog and Hraesvelgr's abilities can activate entering from the drop too! So you can just immediately charge those 2 gauge up or cycle a card out from your hand. Hraesvelgr can also discard either Alwidol or Ice Blade Joker for further combo potential. Heim's stats are also fantastic to boot.

Catching up to Japan's already released cards, we finally get Loki. Loki's fantastic. As a Size 0, his stats are off the wall (cuz he does no damage) so that's a pretty decent choice to call to center. To top it off, his free on-play effect screws over the soul of anything on the field. See that Fimbulwinter? It's primed already. See that Sieger? Boom, two lives down. See that Defeat Monsters? Quest restarted. See that Lethal Formation? More like Lethal Nothing. See that, wait for it, Death Tallica you have?

The world can be so cruel.

Secondary Gleipnir target that also doesn't screw you over when you call it normally.

What is this
monstrosity?

Nevel Vans is an interesting card. It's supposed to be this indestructible wall that stays in place as long as you have another Asgard monster, but it's a Size 0. With no stats. You can destroy it with literally any kind of effect removal in the entire game. Thankfully, its wording prevents Penetrate and Spectral Strike from happening so you don't have to worry about that. Just don't expect it to stay for very long if your opponent has any form of removal.

We Druid now? Vodan Shadow gives us the ability to use 2 gauge for either one of two effects: equipping an item or setting a Set spell. Both are viable options, and Vodan Shadow gives Asgard the ability to set up Rune Staff, Fimbulwinter, Gleipnir, and more with ease. Even better, it allows you to reuse destroyed copies of the cards that you played from your hand. Teching Vodan's Shadow into other archetypes also allows grabbing stuff like Durandal, Hrunting, and Frozen Stars. Vodan has no restriction besides his personal Asgard trait.

NO. I WON'T ACCEPT THIS.

And the story continues...

Asgard Saga is a wonderful Impact. Being able to do two things with one Impact is pretty great. The first effect activates anytime, and in addition to cycling the card out you can get +1 gauge no problem. If you're in a pinch and have less than 4 life, you can instead search for one Asgard spell. The condition is pretty simple - two or more Asgard monsters, but it's deceptive since a lot of Asgard builds revolve sitting on a fat Size 3 at some point in time. Make sure you don't misplay with this card and use it to get your gauge and hand into the right positions to take advantage of your opponent.

We finally get our hands on Deity of Sun and Death, Bloody King. As both an Asgard and Star and the premier Size 3 boss of either archetype, Bloody King has a place as a solid investment for both card quality and field presence. Good stats and a good ability, Bloody King is one of those Size 3's that actually can be called to any position on the field and still thrive.

The other card we get is from the Double Buddy deck, Flame Giant, Sutr. Sutr allows you to discard a card (read: Alwidol) to deal 1 damage, effectively transforming any card in your hand into Trans-flame (hey, that sounds familiar). In other words, it's pretty good. Not as much of a plus as Hraesvelgr, but definitely more aggressive (especially when counting Sutr's 2-crit). Choose what fits your deck and style best.

Final Battle Ground, Vigrior is like a cute Great Spell synergy card. You basically are allowed to get advantage from repeatedly jamming the Great Spell Impacts and/or Fimbulwinter, so it also helps Ragnarok decks maintain consistency.

- updated to H-BT03, CP01, H-EB04, H-TD02, PP01 -

All images used obtained from the official Bushiroad website and used here solely for reference purposes. Future Card Buddyfight!, logos, and respective content belong to Bushiroad. Large images belong to the Buddyfight! Wikia.