Tabletop Review: Kaijudo: Clash of the Duel Masters Psychic Assault Competitive Deck

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Multi-Civilization cards are another great way to move Kaijudo forward as a game. Kaijudo functions best when you have decks that pull from multiple civilizations anyway, so cards that embrace that idea are more than welcome. Yesterday, we covered the first of the new battle decks. Today, we tackle the other.

Psychic Assault features the classic combination of water and light cards. What it lacks in sheer power, it makes up with trick abilities and devastating blockers. These civilizations are my two favorite in the game, and I couldn’t wait to try out this deck.

General Finbarr is the exclusive for this deck, and he’s pretty darn sweet. While four thousand attack for a level six monster may seem low, he more than makes up for it with his two special abilities. Firstly, he bounces an enemy back to your opponent’s hand which is like a free Veil Vortex. I use that card all the time, so I can appreciate its uses. Secondly, when this sucker is out, you draw a card whenever any of your creatures attack! If that’s not a surefire way to get the card advantage, I don’t know what is. It’s like having an endless supply of Aqua Seneschals.

250px-General_Finbarr_(7CLA)The rest of the water cards are mere support though. You’ve got a low level blocker in Aeropica. I don’t care for it much because it’s susceptible to every removal spell in the game. It won’t sit long in your battle zone. Tenuous Trove is a fun shield blast card that lets you draw two cards so long as you discard one. It’s not as good as other drawing cards that water offers, but it is a shield blast, which might make it more useful than Spy Mission to some people. Cyber Cyclone is an interesting card. Both you and your opponent choose a creature to return to your hand. While they might not remove something important, it still lessens their force on the board. Also, you can use this card to return something that comes into play with some sort of effect. Aqua Rider is a low power creature, but he bounces back to your hand when he dies, which is incredibly useful. He’s just a stronger version of Aqua Commando. You’ve also got Time Rune, which keeps an enemy from attacking, and Queen Sargasso, which allows you to glance at your opponents next card when you attack. It’s not great stuff, but it can definitely support you while you build up.

This deck is all about controlling your opponent, and the light cards do a great job of letting you do that. Cards like Containment Field, Beliqua the Ascender, and Shimmerwing allow you to tap your opponent’s creatures at various times during the game. Forcing your opponent to tap a creature can keep them from attacking or blocking, as well as open up a monster for a counter attack. Light creatures are great for that, as there are a number of blockers with the “skirmisher” ability. Skirmishers are tougher than your average blocker, but they can only attack monsters. This makes them great for taking out a creature that you’ve just tapped with another ability. Spire Zealot mixes things up by allowing a skirmisher to attack as though it didn’t have that ability for a turn. This is classic control stuff, and a great way to throw a sneak attack at your opponent while putting another blocker on the field. You’ve also got the Virtuous Imager, which gets bonus attack and the double breaker ability when you play a spell. It makes him a great attacker.

250px-Panopter_(7CLA)While the water cards may have disappointed, their influence on the multi-civ cards more than makes up for it. Wave Lancer is a typical skirmisher, but he also has the water ability to return to your hand when he dies, making him a viable blocker you can play every turn. Piercing Judgment is a great spell that allows you to return one monster to your opponent’s hand, and then tap another of his guys. That’s just incredibly useful when setting up an attack or simply clearing the field when you need a breather. Panopter is yet another skirmisher, but his water side allows you to draw a card whenever you play a blocker. There are so many of those in this deck to make that card a game changer if you can get it out. Sunspout Quartz is the light/water booster that makes your skirmishers even more deadly. The best card is Crusader Engine, which untaps at the end of your turn, breaks two shields when it attacks, and bounces back to your hand if your opponent actually finds some way to kill it. Get this sucker out when you’ve got a host of skirmishers on hand to block for you, and it’s lights out for your opponent.

I love this deck. There is very little I’d do to change it, and that would be to switch out some of the water cards for more useful card from other sets. Light and water were already great for control decks, but these new cards take it to the next level. You’ll put an opponent into fits as you’re constantly bouncing their creatures or tapping them before coming out with powerful skirmishers. Of the two new decks, this is easily my favorite. I can’t wait to tinker with it and use it against unsuspecting foes.


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