Deck Dissection: We are United!

Hey guys, miss me? Haha, jokes aside, I'm finally back after a month's hiatus due to work (yeah, I know it's always the same old reason). As a compensation for me being MIA for such a long time, today I'll be doing a double dose just to give you guys more stuff to read. And rest assured, I won't be missing for so long again in the near future. Without further ado, let's start with part 1.

In part 1, I'll be providing a deck dissection for those long overdue decks post BT-09 which I haven't mentioned about. I guess you guys already try most of the new archetypes out already, but nevertheless, I still hope to share some of my ideas here, and also as a response from some of my readers (no worries, I'll try my best to fulfill all of your requests).

As the title suggests, I'll be talking about Platinum Ezel today. Platinum Ezel, which most of my gang prefer to call it Pezel, is the upgrade for most Ezel-based decks, by providing an element that most players always wanted - Crossrides. After the inclusion of Pezel, the deck included a very lethal game ender in the form of Pezel's Ultimate Break (the official designated name for LB5), which gives a +5000 power boost to up to 5 RGs. In terms of power output, GP now has the highest 'burst of power' output, with only Spike Brothers capable of matching it. Now, let's have a look at my version of the deck:

Grade 0
Crimson Lion Cub, Kryph x1 (FV)
Silent Punisher x3 (Critical)
Flame of Victory x4 (Critical)
Speeder Hound x3 (Draw)
Arms Dealer, Gwydion x2 (Draw)
Elixir Sommelier x4 (Heal)

Grade 1
Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth x4
Halo Shield, Mark x4
Advance of the Black Chains, Kahedin x2
Silver Fang Witch x1
War Horse, Raging Storm x3

Grade 2
Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains x4
King of Passion, Bagdemagus x4
Master of Pain x2
Blaster Blade Spirit x1

Grade 3
Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel x4
Blazing Lion, Platinum Ezel x4

As with most crossride involving decks, the card pool for those type of decks are seriously restricted because not all cards can work with the core of the deck well enough. You may see some random one-offs in the deck, which somehow might contradict with what I mentioned, but I'll be explaining the reasons of those inclusions.

Grade 0

Our preferred starter here is Crimson Lion Cub, Kryph. The reason why I choose this over Coron (the Ezel tutor) is if you get nothing from Coron, you basically is at a -1 CB and -1 Field presence. On the other hand, Kryph can ensure you a early G3 lead, or to catch up when you go second, while doesn't cause you to lose field presence as well. Even though you did not manage to Superior Ride, you still have a 5k booster, which can help boosting.

As for the triggers, my setup is always standard 7-5-4 for aggressive decks like these. So if you managed to derive a setup that works better for you, by all means go ahead.

Grade 1

Mark and Gareth is at the standard 4-off, because Gareth is one of the Superior Ride materials besides being a 8k booster. Raging Storm is included because Paladins always have this luxurious option to ensure a 13k VG, and so why don't we utilize it? basically, Raging Storm's purpose is to Soul In Blond Ezel in case you have no choice but to ride into Pezel first. This mitigates the hidden worry of not being able to hit a 13k whenever you need it.

Kahedin is the new card given to us in BT-09. Besides having a 7k statline, he offers you a chance to Superior Call out new units by recycling older ones. Let's say you accidentally called out a Draw Trigger via Ezel, you can cycle the unit and hope to get a better one. The reason why he's not more than a 2-off because of the fact that he doesn't get a free call, but you need to retire one to call one.

Silver Fang Witch is a tech choice, which you can opt not to play her. The reason why she's in is because she can utilize your Soul, which will be left unused (just remember not to blast out Ezel) by replacing herself with a new card drawn from the deck.

Grade 2

Beaumains is at 4x, do I need to explain more? Basically the logic is as same as Gareth. Bagdemagus is the Burning Horn Dragon clone for Gold Paladins. He turns into a 12 attacker whenever you VG has the name 'Ezel', which is quite impossible to not have one unless you're stuck with Master of Pain or Beaumains (but if you have Beaumains, you are just that close to have Ezel right?) Definitely a auto 4-off for such stats.

Master of Pain is basically the damage manipulator and UB enabler for the deck. When your opponent decides to stuck you at 4 damage, slap this fella down and UB all the way and bring pain to your opponent. The added bonus of being able to reshuffle a trigger back in also tempted me to play him.

The tech card here is Blaster Blade Spirit. being a 10k and having a retire skill, it is actually very tempting to put 4 pieces in the deck, but sad to say the restrictions and his drawback backs me off from doing that. His drawback is the moment he's attacked, he must be retired during the end of battle, which means a measly unboosted 5k attacker can just say 'Shoo!' and he's gone for good. Whether to include this guy in, it's all up to your preference.

Grade 3
Without a question both Ezels are at maximum to ensure consistency of getting at least one of them in your hand. Ezel doesn't require much explanation, since the Superior Ride gives you speed and his LB4 generates field advantage and grants you massive power boost.

As for Pezel, he's actually considered a vanilla before you hit LB5, but despite that, he's good as a vanilla if he hits 13k, because you can save cards from hand to guard for him, turning all possible 15k and 10k guards into  10k and 5k respectively. Also, his game ending UB, Spirit Unite Platina, gives a super powered Soul Saviour Dragon boost to up to 5 RGs, giving you a full three lines of 25k++ attacks. If your opponent can't plan his guards well, it's just game over for them. Basically Pezel is kind no-brainer I would say, due to the fact that you only need to time the UB well, while whacking painfully before that time comes.

So, this concludes my first part of the Double Dose for today, and hopefully I can come up with another article before I sleep tonight. Thanks a lot for sticking with me, and hopefully I'll be more active as time comes by, and also providing more for you guys.