Art

When Evil Spirit Leader, Kimaris was printed as a PR with 72 Pillars/Art, everybody didn't give it a second glance. 6000/2/7000 for 2 gauge is too expensive, so Kimaris was never considered as even a remotely playable option. So nobody really gave that secondary Art attribute any notice, and the few that did probably dismissed it as some cute thing Bushiroad did.

Little did they know...

Art as it stands now is a high-crit high-play archetype. The playstyle centers around being able to negate spells with ease and constantly pushing damage into your opponent's face. Alongside some good gauge save/ramp mechanics, Art can afford to also play fast and risky with high-cost spells. But the most interesting thing about Art is the cooperation between 72 Pillars and Wizards in the same deck, something you wouldn't think could be possible.

Good Game University

The entire deck centers around Magic School, Sephirot. I discussed this card when BT05 came out, but I'll go over it again in the context of Art-only. This card is pretty good when more than half your deck can be used as a target. Math says you need to negate 3 spells before this card is better than Abra Cadabra!, but that's not bad if you can negate your opponent's key spells, like Dragon Shields or draw spells. And remember, once per turn means you can use it on both player's turns, so the 3 spells comes up pretty fast. And it helps filter your hand to have no dead cards, and extra negates don't cost extra gauge.

How to make Sephirot hurt more? Unryu Togetsu and Amon can help. 4 and 3 crit is usually stuff that your opponent wants to block, and moreso if you link them with a 2-crit Size 1 like Andy or Eligos. When your opponent wants to negate the attack, just Sephirot and laugh. Literally force-feeding your opponent damage. It gets better with Gunrod, Del Gesu, because if you didn't use the 1 damage ping you can then sack either Merlin or Amon for another high-crit attack. You can only negate once per turn with Sephirot though, so don't do this unless you think your opponent used their last negate already.

Me smurt, read bic buks

That unblockable 5-6 damage strike must have hurt a lot. How about rubbing that damage even further in? Overstand! can be cast at this time and gives you + gauge for damage dealt. That's 5-6 gauge from one spell there, which means you can afford lots of really expensive spells and Impacts. Like Judge Asmodai for more draw, or Diabolical Hardcore for 3 more damage and OTKs. In fact, opening a hand with Sephirot, Overstand, Merlin, any 2-crit Size 1, and 4 more damage is an OTK. Which is pretty scary.

We've seen how this deck can kill, but how can this deck get the parts together? Well, Sephirot is searchable by Demon Realm Architect, Gamigin - who is also an Art, by the way. Demon Sommelier, Zagan gives you cheaper spells so you can Set Sephirot for free, and also Nice One! without gauge cost either. In fact, your best turn 1 play would probably be Gamigin-Zagan + Sephirot and Nice One, this costs 1 gauge and you end up with 6 hand. Andy gives you cheaper calls for your other monsters, which is great when you can Mary Sue and search a card for only 1 gauge. Don't forget Axia, who can push for damage and help solidify OTKs. Finally, Demon Realm Scholar, Purloin is a great card with great stats for field control as you slowly whittle down on your opponent's resources. Burn or bang, every victory is a work of Art.

- updated to H-BT02, CP01, H-EB02, 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.