Deck Profile - Entaku Kaigi (Outdated)

Take a moment to think about the Hero archetype in general. What outstanding attributes do they have? The ability to link attack for bonuses and the ability to switch between a variety of weapons stands out as their defining characteristics. They bear similarity to both Dungeon World with the link attack strategy and Dragon World with the weapon variety, but they also have Legend World's very interesting spell selection. In other words, you have to approach the Hero deck a bit differently as compared to other triple formation decks like Adventurers or Thunder Knights.

So what you see here will be my take on how I envision Heroes working the best. The playstyle is moderately aggressive with a lot of control and stall options. You need to be careful about committing hand to field, since you often want to stall for tempo and the right moment to strike. By alternating between periods of stall and bursts of field clear and damage, while rocking ability negate along the way, you can weave in and out of the battle and make efficient and meaningful trades to bring you closer to victory. The winning image is a difficult but well-calculated and well-planned siege.

Entaku Kaigi - Heroes

Size 3

• 4 Fairy King, Oberon

Size 2

• 4 King of Forest, Zlatorog
• 4 Valkyrie, Brilliant Brynhildr

Size 1

• 4 Great Magician, Merlin
• 4 Fairy Knight, Daione Shee
• 4 Knights of the Round Table, Gareth

Items

• 3 Divine Protection, Prydwen
• 3 Divine Spear, Gugnir

Spells

• 3 Book of Illusions, Mabinogion
• 4 Heroic Spirit
• 4 Holy Grail
• 4 Symbel Gard
• 2 Breathen Gard

Impacts

• 3 King's Wave, Caliburn Grief

Deck Deconstruction

Let's address the elephant in the room first. I know all of you are probably wondering why in the world I run 4 Zlatorog. Yes, I know he's not a Hero. Does that even matter? He's way too good in this deck. I mean, look. You have Assault Cara, who trades 2 gauge for a free kill. You have Galahad, who trades 3 gauge to salvage a negate. You have Breathen Gard, which trades 2 gauge for spell negate. And finally, Prydwen uses 2 gauge to basically give you a free Shield of Achilles. You can use gauge for so many different purposes in this deck, so why not ramp your gauge up like crazy? Zlatorog, with his ability, allows you to open up your entire game. He charges for no charge.

You might be worried that you won't get the link attack bonuses but come on, all 10 weapons in this deck have the Hero attribute. You can link attack with Prydwen to get it off if need be. There's virtually no risk in running Zlatorog, and he doesn't mess up any ratios whatsoever. He makes for a fantastic first-turn play as well. Not to mention he burns through your deck faster, allowing you to hit the 10 Heroes in drop threshold a lot faster.

Also, choose Zlatorog as your buddy. Not only does it completely hide the fact that you're playing Heroes (the jukes!), but you can also use Waweldrache if need be.

Your next best Size 2 is Valkyrie, Brilliant Brynhildr. Getting soul for only 1 gauge is really solid, but Move on top of that is almost unfair. This card is just as cost-effect as Drum and probably more playable in a deck that utilizes such strong weapon options. It also gives the deck a bit more early-game stall that the deck was sorely missing. You can fish for turns and resources, allowing you to have a better chance of getting Excalibur out.

After some goading by HunterSerge, I've decided to maindeck Oberon as a boss. Mainly because some draw-tests found me needing another stall target because you can only draw so many Brynhildrs in the early game. Seeing that all but 6 cards in this deck are Hero, getting 7 cards in the drop is not a hard requirement. And if you can start the game off with Zlatorog, the gauge isn't much of an issue either. You have several options for Oberon's placement: in the center if you start with him first-turn (don't have 7 in drop yet) or if you need to soak damage, or to the side after his ability is active to create pressure for your opponent. Oberon is a huge annoyance when he negates all effects, all but denying your opponent of any unique advantage they might have. Though you need to be wary of the deck you're facing, since beatdown decks can simply ignore Oberon if they have enough crit to end you.

Oberon synergizes with a lot of cards in the deck, but most notably with Heroic Spirit. You finally have a good target for the Counterattack spell.

Merlin usage in this deck is to mainly filter out cards you don't need for cards you do. For example, you can ditch extra Mabinogions and weapons for live-r cards like Holy Grail and Heroic Spirit. The existence of Mabinogion helps Merlin miss less often and simultaneously grants him another ditch option. Remember, ideally you want to be ditching (Alwidol, but she's not in the main deck) weapons first, then spells, and finally monsters. 

Though you can afford to ditch monsters now that Oberon gives a tanking option and Caliburn Grief a reset button.

The other Size 1's are Gareth and the new Daoine Shee. Daione Shee mostly because she's cute. But also 6000 power is very relevant and helps the deck not have to link attack as much, or link attack even higher to get past really annoying tanky threats. With Gugnir, she hits 110000 or 8000 + 3000 which gets past a lot of the newer tank numbers.

Gareth is quite powerful as well. Move is a huge bonus for any weapon-based deck, essentially netting you a +1 while allowing you the flexibility of having a center monster. Gareth handily punishes Magic and Katana World for having a lack of Penetrate and against heavy Penetrate decks, Gareth simply doesn't Move. He's great in all situations, an all-around pick that can be substituted for more targeted purposes later.

Moving on to the weapons, we used to have to choose between Durandal and Hrunting and then have to deal with the awful task of exchanging the two every turn to meet the situation (which meant holding onto a dead card for potentially the rest of the game). While it was cool and min-maxed like a boss, we're no longer called to suffer that anymore. Divine Spear, Gugnir is basically Durandal + Hrunting except better. 5000/2 consistent with Penetrate attached on a free weapon. It really doesn't get better than that. You have to "take" 1 damage at the beginning of your turn but your many Prydwens can negate that damage so you don't have to sweat it. Sometimes, taking that extra damage is even a lifesaver if it hits you from 7 to 6 so you can cast Symbel Gard.

Excalibur went away because deckspace. If you want to run it, try a Fairy deck now, where it actually fits better.

Did your opponent just cast an Item destruction spell? Not to worry! Just Counter Equipment Change Prydwen and both your weapons are saved. How does that work? It's because a target has to be selected upon the payment of the cast cost. This isn't anything new - this is the case for all card games, a prime example being Yugioh. Since the target is declared before the Counter timing, you can Counter Equipment Change, resolve your item swap, and watch as your opponent's destruction spell fizzles into the void. Oh, and now since you have Prydwen, you can pay 2 gauge to, essentially, cast Shield of Achilles for free. This card is so good.

(This discussion is now mostly moot, but it's a talk about Prydwen gimmicks in general) I'll take some time now to discuss some advanced strategies with Prydwen. Let's say you have King Arthur on the left, Gawain on the right, and Durandal equipped. Your opponent has Brave, Drum in their center with 1 soul. The obvious course of action would be to link attack Arthur and Gawain for the 4 damage Penetrate followed up with Durandal, but this puts all your eggs in one basket. What if your opponent has a Divine Protection of Shalsana? Maybe the obvious move isn't the best move. So you resign yourself to link attacking Arthur with Durandal and using Gawain as a single attack. That's not a bad move and forces your opponent to decide between using Shalsana on only a 2 damage Penetrate or letting Drum eat the dust.

But what if I told you you could have your cake and eat it too? Why give up on 4 damage when you don't even have to? Link attack Arthur with Durandal as usual. Then, during the damage step's Play Timing, Counter Equipment Change to Prydwen. Prydwen comes in standing, and use Prydwen to link attack with Gawain, proccing Gawain's Penetrate as well. Now your opponent will be taking 4 damage, and if they cast Shalsana they'll still be taking 2 damage. You've objectively increased the damage output by 2 in your worst case scenario. What did you lose for doing this? Absolutely nothing. It's sick, I know.

Unfortunately, since Equipment Change can only activate once per turn (after that, you'll have to destroy Durandal and -1 if you Counter equip over it), you can't abuse this way of spreading out link attack bonuses ad infinitum. But you shouldn't have to anyways, and this tactic is only meant for hitting that next level of play and outmaneuvering your opponent ever so slightly. To be honest, this is just imitating what Tetsuya already gives Adventurers the ability to do, but the Durandal-Prydwen combination is more foolproof. There's no way your opponent can actually stop it, given that Durandal cannot be destroyed and even if Prydwen gets hit it'll have done its job by then.

Anyways, Prydwen is pretty awesome. That was just one example of awesomeness.

Your spells are pretty straightforward. 4 Holy Grail 4 Heroic Spirit are musts, giving Merlin more targets and also strengthening your control over the game. Symbel Gard draws (you definitely need 4) and Breathen Gard guarantees finishes as well as forces your opponent to play your game by stopping their key spells. Breathen Gard is a bit iffy sometimes, though, especially with Caliburn Grief costing the same and doing oftentimes more, so it's a very likely card to side out if you're having trouble adding stuff in.

Your new spell of choice is Mabinogion, a Set spell that allows you to draw every time you link attack with Hero cards. Once per turn, of course, but it really gives the deck back a lot of advantage that it was hemorrhaging before. Prydwen strats also work really well with Mabinogion, allowing you to get essentially a link attack without really linking, kinda. You might think devoting a link attack per turn is a waste, but oftentimes you get your resources back and extra card draw is so important for this deck.

Finally, we're now running Impacts for massive control. King's Wave, Caliburn Grief is a counter board wipe for only 2 gauge. The downside is that it kills your own field and your own Set spells too (nooo Mabinogion) but it's definitely worth it in the long run. There's a cheeky gimmick with Caliburn Grief, Gleipnir, and Oberon that you can try out, but I feel like it's devoting too many cards to a single combo that isn't that impactful.

Sideboard Ideas

Beowulf is definitely a must in the sideboard. The funniest thing with Beowulf and Balmung is that, since their abilities activate before the attack hits, you actually perform a Double Attack with the first hit being a guaranteed kill. That's pretty funny. Against any Dragon-based deck (All Dragon World, Ancient World, and DDW, Wild Dragons, etc), Beowulf and Balmung wreck face.

You can also run Siegfied for massive anti-Dragon, which is very potent in the right matchup. Especially since Buddyfight is always best-of-three, you can tank up a game with the standard deck and switch over to Dragon massacre (-4 Dainoe Shee, -2 Gugnir) and utterly destroy their souls.

All-Knowing Alwidol is a great card with lots of synergy with Merlin. Why isn't it maindecked? Because it's a two-card combo that doesn't always show up, and oftentimes it's difficult to even play it (if Oberon is on the field). The worst part is that Alwidol is dead in hand without Merlin, and Merlin will die on field if he's called before Alwidol gets to hand. You end up sitting on dead cards way too often just to attempt to be efficient, which screws the deck up a lot. A good side choice, though, especially in matchups where you need to spam Caliburn Grief a lot more (and Mabinogion becomes a difficult choice).

Sample Sideboard:

• 4 Dragon Vanquishing Emperor, Beowulf
• 2 Dragon Vanquishing Sword, Balmung
• 2 Dragon Extermination Knight, Siegfried
• 2 Valkyrie, All-Knowing Alwidol

Other Options

I really like Valkyrie, Assault Cara - I'd honestly run some if we didn't already have a weighted Size 2 lineup. Her spot removal is actually quite rare for Legend World and very precious, allowing you to bypass a lot of counterplay and forcing even trades in your favor. Unlike Rising Flare Dragon, she can target Size 3's as well which makes her a perfect answer to Danger World's big bosses. And she's a Hero.

Another option for your Size 2 is the PR Salvation Eir. She's a good choice because for Heroes, your monsters are more quality than your opponent's monsters - most of the time. Especially your Size 1's. Salvation Eir converts all that Zlatarog gauge into more cards, link attack bonuses, and Movers. Not to mention that she has some lovely stats herself, both offensively and defensively. We're ditching her because Brynhildr is just better in this metagame.

Oswira Gard is a good idea with 8 Move targets, so you might want to try experimenting it replacing Symbel Gard and running more Caliburn Griefs for the updated synergy.

Avoid Running

Berserk Gard, since Heroic Spirit is just better (the "synergy" with the other Gards is not worth it). Shield of Achilles, since you already have Prydwen.

Please don't make Durandal your buddy. I don't care if you're using my list or not, just don't do it. Yes, I know it's cool. Yes, I know it's swag. Resist the temptation. Deal with the ugly faces.

Counters

On-attack counter destruction really hurts this deck. Especially Pillar of Fire, Death Grip, and Dragon Breath, as all of them can hit King Arthur and most of your attackers and knock them out. Also, since Symbel Gard requires Life Break 6, the deck kinda struggles in the opening turns (Zlatorog and Brynhildr helps a lot though).

Once the deck gets going though, it has a very favorable matchup against most, if not all worlds. Dragon and DDW are mostly toast. Ancient might take one game before siding, but after Beowulf hits, it's game over. Magic is always the wildcard. Against Dungeon, it's basically a slugfest until one side gives way. The Danger matchup is similar, but Breathen Gard is more flexible and your engines are better. Your real problem is Katana World. They have the tools to shut down your plays before they even hit the field and, depending on the build, can slowly burn Heroes down. 

Final Words

This deck plays very powerfully. Similar to Adventurers but can guarantee a finish much, much earlier. God forbid Legend World gets a Penetrate weapon, that would be the end. IT HAPPENED LOL. If you already have a Heroes deck, try my build and see how it differs. Pretty sure you'll fall in love with Zlatorog before long.

Like my other decklists, I'll need a name for this. For one week after this is posted, I'll be accepting names in the comments section below - please be as creative and awesome as you can! I'll choose my favorite at the end of the week (along with some honorable mentions) and the deck will be dubbed in your honor. Looking forward to it!

Update: The names turned out great, and I loved all the different themes that popped up: Arthurian, samurai, even Sonic? But in the end, I'm just an anime lover at heart. And what better way to name a Saber-inspired deck than to dub it the title of the in-fantasy reincarnation of the original Round Table of Elder Tale?

Winner of the deck-naming challenge: Dubblestep @ Entaku Kaigi

- updated to BT05, CP01, EB02, TD07, 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.