With every new set of Kaijudo cards, new rules and new possibilities are released. The new Invasion Earth set is no different. It brings a new creature type called “corrupted.” Corrupted creatures work much like the infamous slivers from Magic: The Gathering. Singularly, they are weak, but together, they become a nigh on insurmountable force. The catch is that every single corrupted monster is at least part water civilization. That means creating a deck full of high powered corrupted creatures is going to probably need to feature two or more civilizations.
Enter the Choten’s Army deck. This new deck actually features four different civilizations. Everything but fire is represented. Not only does this put a heavy emphasis on making sure you’ve got all your mana types unlocked, you also have to figure out when to place dual civilization cards in the mana zone. There are a ton of them in the deck, and they come into the mana zone tapped. It’s an interesting risk/reward system. The risk is getting stuck and being unable to play what’s in your hand. The reward is an army of powered up corrupted monsters backed by powerful dual spells.
First, let’s talk about this deck’s exclusive card. That would be Vicious Squillace Scourge. It’s an evolution monster than can be placed on a leviathan, chimera, or a corrupted creature. At the cost of five mana, you get a whopping nine-thousand attack power and the double breaker ability. However, the real kicker is the “Crushing Assault” ability. This makes it so all of your corrupted creatures are unblockable! If that weren’t enough, they also get the slayer ability! Basically, you opponent won’t be able to stop your assault. If they try to retaliate against your creatures, they’ll lose one of their own for each one they take down. It’s a pretty nasty card to be sure.
Despite the fact that less than half of the cards are mono-colored, each color brings something of value into the deck. Darkness brings death to your opponent’s creatures while emptying their hand of cards. Ghost Bite is a shield blast card that lets you subtract three-thousand attack power from any opposing creature. It’s good for taking out weak combo pieces or bringing a big bad down to size. There’s also a play set of Mesmerize, which lets you choose and discard one of your opponent’s cards. Suffocate rounds out the mono-black cards, and it’s a decent shield blast card that can pay off in a pinch.
For mono-green cards, the deck only keeps three. Two are copies of Monstrify. This level two spell gives one of your creatures a bonus four-thousand to attack. It’s not a bad card, but I find other spells to be a bit more useful, and I usually ended up tossing this into the mana zone. The other green card is a Tusked Shouter. I love this guy. A level five with seven-thousand attack and the double breaker ability, he may seem initially overpowered. Add in the new “Protector” ability that allows him to block when your opponent attacks one of your creatures, and he gets better. However, he’s got one downside. That would be that he can’t attack shields as long as your opponent has at least one creature on the field. Still, he’s great at helping to keep your corrupted creatures alive.
Light brings with it only a couple copies of Containment Field. They’re good for tapping creatures, and they’ve come in handy every time I’ve drawn them.
Let’s talk water. First up is a play set of Aqua Trickster. A level two creature with only one-thousand attack, it’s kind of weak. However, it’s also corrupted, meaning it will get any bonuses from cards you play later. It also makes great bait for the Scourge if you have it. Things get really good if you get a copy of Seneschal, Choten’s Lieutenant on the field. This guy draws you a card whenever any of your corrupted creatures attacks, basically turning them all into Aqua Seneschal. It also shields your corrupted creatures from any opposing spell that is level four or less. That means no Bone Blades, no Ghost Bite, no Rock Bite, and host of other annoying removal spells. The water civilization rounds things out with a copy of Tenuous Trove in case you needed to draw some cards.
All right. Let’s talk about some of the many corrupted creatures in the deck. Essence Shade gives each corrupted creature a bonus thousand attack, while each of the deck’s three copies of Tainted Quartz adds another two-thousand. These guys can turn even a lowly trickster into a monster. Bronze-Arm Renegade puts all of your banished corrupted creatures into the mana zone, which is great for ramping up without losing card advantage. Skyvolt Mech is a lowly vanilla card, but it will soak up bonuses like a sponge. For defense, there’s Choten’s Stalker Sphere, which gives your corrupted creatures the blocker ability. Fallen Keeper untaps your corrupted creatures at the end of your turn, which goes great with the stalker sphere. Sabotage Worm forces your opponent to discard when you attack. Finally, there’s Luminar Unleashed. It’s a powerful evolution creature in its own right but it also taps an enemy creature whenever a corrupted creature attacks. So, you can see the sheer power at your disposal should you manage to get a good combination of corrupted creatures on the field.
Last up, let’s talk about the dual-civilization spells in the deck. They focus on keeping the creature count in your favor. Two copies of Calamity Bell ensure that you can tap a large number of enemy creatures. Foul Mana weakens an enemy creature and gives you an extra card in your mana zone. The last two cards are the real winners though. They’re both shield blasts with awesome effects. Oathsworn Call lets you bring in up to a level six creature from your hand, and gives it the blocker ability until end of turn. This is a great way to hold off an enemy attack while getting a powerful ally on your side. Perhaps my favorite card in the whole deck is Shadow Strike. It basically allows you to lower an enemy creature’s attack by the total of one of your own. With a tough guy on your side of the field, this card can take out anything.
When it comes down to it, this deck is the perfect start to creating your own corrupted deck. It features pretty much every staple you’d need, and has multiple copies of most of the cards. The deck can be a challenge to play with though. Managing four different civilizations is hard enough, but you only have a defensive line if you get the stalker sphere out. Most of your creatures are weak until you get boosters out, meaning you’ll likely have to sacrifice a shield or two before you’re read to take your opponent head on. The nice thing is there are a diverse group of spells that can help you stall or remove threats from the board. I don’t think this deck is all that great in terms of winning a game, but it’s got a lot of great cards that can do some magic together.
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