Deck Profile - Secret Ninjas (Outdated)

Like my Devil's Era (Creation Control) deck, this is another deck that attempts to utilize a certain mechanic available to a World and take it to the extreme. This time, we'll be heading over to Katana World. While there are multiple unique builds in Katana outside of the standard Ninja and Skull Warriors decks (like Water), I've been more interested in trying to get Secret Swords to work. They cost a lot of gauge and they require a lot of forethought, but each Secret Sword is really worth its weight in gold. 3 damage and the ability to negate an effect is incredibly powerful - it all just comes down to how you build and prepare for it.

This deck not only tries to catch your opponent with Secret Swords, but also constantly reuse Secret Swords in a massive counterfest. To complement this heavy-resource strategy, the only other cards we're running are gauge-ramp and stall-related. Essentially, you burn your opponent down until they have no choice but to step on your Secret Sword landmine, where you kill them off anyways. Win-win.

I'm sure there are a lot of skeptics out there, but rest assured - I actually based this deck off a real deck I saw my friend playing with moderate success. By streamlining some of the numbers and adding more resource engines, I think I've got it to the point where it does what it wants to do best.

Secret Ninjas

Size 3

• 4 Tsukikage, Giant Shield / Fang Style Ninja, Kibashachi

Size 2

• 4 Agent Ninja, Linzo

Size 1

• 4 Agent Ninja, Mamiya
• 4 Lock Ninja, Setsui
• 4 Hidden Sword Ninja, Sekitetsu

Items

• 4 Tempest Sword, Makiarashi / Fiendish Blade, Urahonekui

Spells

• 4 Clear Serenity
• 4 Ninja Arts, Steel Ball
• 4 Sword Skill, Sen no Sen
• 2 Ninja Arts, Half-kill
• 3 Shinobi Scrolls

Impacts

• 4 Super Lethal Formation
• 1 Secret Sword, Moon Fang
• 1 Secret Sword, Shooting Star
• 1 Secret Sword, Star Crusher
• 1 Secret Sword, Comet
• 1 Absolute Sword, Azure Cascade Formation

Deck Deconstruction

This is the first deck that I'll be posting direct alternatives on the list itself. This is because both cards fit the exact same role and, while each has its own advantages and disadvantages, I just couldn't find a clear winner between.

For your Size 3 tank, you have the option between Giant Shield and Kibashachi. Both have Double Attack, 2-crit, cost 2 gauge, and wall up with some monster defense. Giant Shield is bigger by default, sporting a nasty 9000 defense off the bat. He's the goto option, but unfortunately 5000 power has some issues when it comes to field clearing. I've seen Giant Shield get walled before, and that really hurts this deck a lot. So as an alternative, you can run Kibashachi. He trades 2000 defense for a nice 4000 power, hitting 9000/2/7000 which is also very tank-acceptable. Note that Giant Shield's ability is worth 2 gauge and although it's very nice to have, it isn't really that necessary in this deck.

Remember, if you're really stuck between the two options you can always just split them halfway. Or any split, really. They fulfill the exact same position in the deck so there's actually no harm im splitting other than a consistency conflict.

4 Linzo's to search out Super Lethal Formation. A great T1 play, this unfortunately drains your gauge by a bunch - but that's why we have a lot of ramp in this deck.

Your Size 1 is all about resources. 4 Lock Ninja and 4 Sekitetsu give gauge for doing cool things. Lock Ninja, with 0 crit, is a dedicated field clearer with nice 5000/4000 stats that get buffed even more by Super Lethal. Every kill gives you a gauge, and since he'll likely stick around you'll be getting a nice bundle of gauge. Sekitetsu has both Shadow Dive and on-damage topgauge, so he'll most likely be targeted - but he almost certainly guarantees a gauge or a negate. You think you're spending a lot of gauge setting up until suddenly you have 7-8 gauge that you don't know what to do with. Happens all the time, it's pretty funny.

And then 4 Mamiya to round out the style. See, this deck gets so much gauge that you can actually reuse Secret Swords for plussing. Especially Star Crusher, that's always a good target. Additionally, Mamiya can grab Secret Swords that got gauged so they won't go to waste. He doesn't cost anything to grab them, so it's an inherent +1. You can also use him to sneak a Secret Sword from hand into Super Lethal Formation - it's a minus, but you retain the element of surprise.

For your weapon, you once again have two options. Makiarashi is the safer play since it doesn't cost any gauge, but Urahonekui has an extra crit permanently. 1 gauge for 1 crit on the rest of your attacks is a big deal. It's a tough call. There will be games where you'll have way too much gauge, but there will also be games where you don't get monsters and be gauge-screwed and die. Again, you can split it, but this one is more dangerous to make inconsistent. I think you should try both and see which one ends up being more useful and relevant.

Clear Serenity for emergency gauge ramps. It's actually a real plus in this deck because Giant Shield can convert gauge into extra lives for itself. 4 Steel Ball is nasty, Giant Shield very easily hits 13000. 4 Sen no Sen because come on, who isn't going to be link attacking your Size 3? So effectively this becomes a free negate and a free kill. 2 Half-kill is the meta call, there's a lot of scary soul out there and this is a good answer. Note that you can use Half-kill in response to link attacks, as long as one of the attacking monsters has Soulguard. Also note that they don't need to actually have soul, just Soulguard. Also also note that if multiple monsters with soul are attacking, Half-kill nukes all the soul. All of it.

So far we've solved the issues of field and gauge, but we're going to be losing hand really fast in this deck. Enter 3 Shinobi Scrolls to trade 1 gauge for more cards to use. Remember, you can set multiple Shinobi Scrolls and use each of their abilities once. Every Spell in this deck is a Ninja Arts, and you can even stuff Super Lethal Formation and Azure Cascade Formation in there. Best of all, Star Crusher protects your Shinobi Scrolls from most destruction effects (and Moon Fang handles the fringe cases).

Impacts. There's a lot, yeah. 4 Super Lethal Formations can stack on top of each other to get +4000/4000 to your Ninjas. And because they're not spells, they can't be targeted by Set spell destruction. They also grab cards out of your deck and deck thin, which is nice. You're basically using them as +1000/1000 Set spells with bonus effects.

The Secret Swords we're carrying are Moon Fang (anti Impact), Shooting Star (anti weapon), Star Crusher (anti spell), and Comet (5000+ power single direct attack). I think Comet is the one that needs the most explaining. There are a lot of threats with 5000 or more power nowadays, and Comet can be a lifesaver in those situations. Plus, if they're committing to a single attack by a high-crit monster with no protection (*cough cough Ziun) then Comet absolutely wrecks them.

Finally, why Azure Cascade Formation? Well, this card simply opens up the world to you. You don't have to put it under a Lethal Formation to cast, but you can. You don't have to cast it on your turn, but you can. It saves you from defeat, it gives you an extra chance, and it pushes damage whenever you need it to. Even if you have no cards in hand, you can sneak this into the soul of Lethal Formation (using Mamiya) and cast it from there. Oh, did I mention Mamiya can recycle it? As long as you can maintain gauge, you have the ability to punish your opponent in every way possible.

Sideboard Ideas

Side some more Secret Swords like Glittering Star for options if you need it, especially since Shooting Star is not always applicable.

Your monsters won't be changing, but Katana has a lot of spell options that you can abuse. Sword Skill Bare Hand Intercept is by far the best. Not only do you stop weapon attacks and link attacks, but you also draw a card afterwards. And it costs nothing.

Sample Sideboard

• 3 Sword Skill Bare Hand Intercept
• 2 Hundred Demons' Tome of Judgement
• 1 Secret Sword, Star Crusher
• 4 Ninja Arts, Snake Gaze

Other Options

Gokuen is a Size 1 tank, but they're pretty easy to blow up using spells. Use at your own risk. Size 2, you can run the 5000/2/5000 Jiraiya if you don't like Kashinkoji. 

Since it is a Stall deck, you actually have the option of forgoing a lot of Secret Sword stuff for Poison Mist Formation and steady damage. Mamiya would change to Yamigarasu for more burn, and you'd have an entirely new deck in your hands. It's an idea.

This deck avoids a lot of good cards for consistency's sake, but you can always put Shiden, Art of Explosive Hades Fall, and the like back. I don't think it makes the deck better, though. Just less optimized.

Avoid Running

Stupid stuff that costs too much gauge. Like Art of Item Blasting is good, I get you, but there's a time and another deck. Anything that costs gauge is pretty much taboo if it doesn't plus, and even then it's an iffy subject. Remember, 2 gauge is another Giant Shield so if it doesn't get that good it's not worth.

Counters

You are the counter deck lol.

If your opponent somehow runs a bunch of indiscriminate removal, like if they're siding 4 Death Damage, then you're majorly screwed (also dies to Asmodai). Otherwise, you're not really countered by anything other than your own lack of resources, especially hand. Nothing gets over your monsters, and any big plays they want to make get cut short by "You've fallen into my trap!" As long as you can draw decently (starting with a Shinobi Scrolls goes a long way), you'll be absolutely fine.

Final Words

Really excited about getting another deck out to you guys. These take a lot of time and effort, so I apologize if there's more decks you guys want to see. I'm very against publishing unpolished products, so be assured that you're only getting the best from over here.

Unlike my other decks which are pretty much all theory-based, this deck has roots in some real deckplay that I've seen. So I've a better idea of how this deck actually plays out in real life, and it seems to work generally speaking. It would work a hell of a lot better if Buddyfight ever got a mulligan system, that's for sure (opening on all Impacts is the worst).

Please submit deck names below in the comments and I'll choose the one that I think fits the best. Look forward to the results in a week!

- updated to H-BT01, CP01, H-EB01, 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.