For my second Deck Profile I’m going to be looking at my No Attribute Deck, which as you might have guessed is based solely around card which don’t have any Attributes. The deck has a lot more options available to it than the Tabitha Deck, however cards which actually support No Attribute are few and far between. As such there isn’t necessarily any linking theme between all the cards in the deck, beyond their lack of attributes. More through coincidence than anything else, they do seem to mostly be High School students though. By no means is this the only way to play the deck, since you could also mix in Hideyoshi from Sengoku Basara for example.
For the deck name I’ve just gone with empty Japanese quotation marks, 「」, since the Deck is based around cards which lack attributes, it makes sense that the deck would also lack a name.
Level 0: 18
3x Classmate Kunikida
3x Classmate Taniguchi
3x Jun Samukawa
4x Hare, Watching Over
2x Shu in the Academy
3x Akane, A Bit of Memories
Level 1: 10
4x Maya Ibuki
4x Normal Girl Saten
2x High School Student in Academy City Touma
Level 2: 8
2x Touma Kamijou
2x “First Date” Lucia
2x Eight Extremities Fists Miyako
2x Haruna Annaka
Level 3: 6
3x Saten by the Water
3x Lucia Konohana
Climax: 8
4x What I Can Do
4x Receiving Power
Level 0
At Level 0 the deck is mostly reliant on power, since it doesn’t have access to any Reversers or cards with Encore. It isn’t completely without a few tricks of its own though, and also contains the best No attribute support card there is.
For power the deck has several different ways to go about it, thanks to Taniguchi, Akane and Shu. Of these Shu is the strongest, since he can reach 4000 when accompanied by 1 of fewer other characters, 4500 if that’s support, hopefully allowing him to overpower many other Level 0 cards. This makes him a great opening play. It might be sensible to use more copies of him, but then there could potentially be the issue of what to do when the opponent has lots of characters on Stage.
Both Taniguchi and Akane can reach 3500 from their 2500 base, and have fairly common effects. Taniguchi gains 1000 in your turn, whilst Akane gains it when she’s accompanied by 2 or more other No Attribute cards, making her one of the few cards in the deck that actually fits directly into the theme. Taniguchi can be useful for punching through some of your opponent’s defenses, but may not last too long whilst defending. Akane on the other hand should be able to both attack and defend, provided you can maintain your Stage.
For support I opted to use [Hare, Watching Over], since she had an extra effect over merely just being an Assist card. She can give a +1000 boost in exchange for a Stock and Resting her, the latter of which shouldn’t conflict with any other cards, since she’s the only card in the deck that requires Resting. I decided that I would go this way to further enhance the attacking capabilities of the deck, since there’s not too much else it can do.
To provide even more power to the deck I’m also using [Jun Samukawa], who provides an added out against Reversing cards. Thanks to her Shift ability it’s relatively easy to get her into your Hand, and you’ll have less thinking to do when considering what to Clock during the early portions of the game. When she attacks she can give a character Power +500 and Level +1, meaning she has a dual use. On the one hand she can be used to give that final little push you need to get over your opponent’s cards. On the other it also provides a means to get rid of Reversing cards without having to sacrifice one of your cards in the process. Since many Level 0 Reversing cards have a base Power of 1500, she can even defeat them on her own, leaving your other cards to take down bigger threats.
The final Level 0 card is Kunikida, probably one of the strongest cards in the deck, and the reason I wanted to build the deck in the first place. He has an Alarm effect that allows all of your No Attribute characters to search for another one when they defeat a character in battle. Thanks to the power level of some of the cards in the deck, winning battles shouldn’t be too hard to achieve. In theory this makes it very easy to set up all of the decks combos, and can give you an easy way to pay Climaxes out of your Stock, whilst keeping your Hand count high. However you have to be careful not to use up too much of your Stock in the process. At the right time though, he can allow you to swarm the Stage without sacrificing your Hand.
During Level 0 you’ll mostly be relying on your large characters to clear out your opponent’s cards, and hoping Jun can deal with any Reversers. Ideally you’ll also use it as a chance to build Stock.
Level 1
During Level 1 the Deck is once again about power, thanks to Touma and Saten, but it is also able to maintain field presence with Maya.
For consistency the deck can rely on Maya, who is a 1/0, 5500 with Encore once you’ve satisfied her Experience requirement of 2. This means she can stand up to 1/0 vanillas, and defeat those which sacrifice power for a beneficial effect. She also allows you to keep a character on the Stage to build Stock. Given that this deck can usually maintain a good hand size thanks to Kunikida, you should be able to afford the Encore. Whilst Maya does fit into the theme of the deck, she’s really more in here simply because I like the character. It’s just a happy coincidence that she’s also a useful card.
For cheap power the deck has [High School Student in Academy City Touma], who sacrifices a Level on the Stage for an extra 500 Power over other 1/1s. This will usually allow him to defeat most other Level 1 cards, and at least suicide into other strong 1/1s. His detrimental effect fortunately doesn’t impact on your ability to use him and play with him, it does however make it much easier for your opponent to defeat him. You’ll need to be very careful not to lose him to a Level 0 Reverser.
The final Level 1 cards is [Normal Girl Saten], the Deck’s trump card. Normally she’s only a 5000, but with her Climax combo she can gain a massive 6000 power, pushing her above Level 3 Power. Add on the boost from the Climax itself and she’ll reach 13,000 before considering support cards. This can break through most defenses, and it would usually take a Level 3 with support, and a powerful Counter to block her. Even in those rare instances it still won’t be too bad for you, since it didn’t cost you too much Stock. With multiple copies of her, you can probably make quite a few holes in your opponent’s Stage with her baseball bat.
Hopefully during Level 1 you can build up more Stock, and try to match the power of your opponent’s cards. Unfortunately the deck is a bit defenseless during your opponent’s turn, since it lacks any Level 1 Counters, and Touma can fall to Level 0 cards.
Level 2
Once the deck gets to Level 2, it can start preparing for the end game, and it can finally start to upgrade its support and defend itself. Ideally you want to be using [“First Date” Lucia] to get [Lucia Konohana] out as quickly as possible, ultimately meaning you’ll be paying 3 Stock to get a Level 3 down a turn early. Hopefully thanks to Kunikida you should be able to pull this off fairly often. Unfortunately because I really wanted to use both the Saten Climax combo, and the Level 3 Lucia Climax combo, there wasn’t really any space for this Lucia’s Climax combo.
For pure cheap power the deck has [Touma Kamijou], who can match a 2/2, but for 1 Stock less. However like his Level 1 counterpart, he also drops to Level 0 whilst on the Stage. He allows you to conserve Stock, whilst taking out powerful characters, without sacrificing your ability to cause damage, but he is quite vulnerable. It can be quite embarrassing to watch your 9000+ card lose to a Level 0 for example. If you’re up for taking the risk, he will allow you to use your Stock instead for your Saten and Lucia cards.
In terms of support, the deck can unfortunately not do any better than [Haruna Annaka], who provides +1000 to cards in Front. Unless we one day get a set mainly dedicated to No Attribute cards, I doubt the deck will ever get access to Level support, or global support, since their inclusion would otherwise detract from the rest of the set. Haruna’s boost is still a useful upgrade from Hare, and will still be important for the deck, but will get outmatched by other decks eventually.
The final Level 2 card is [Eight Extremities Fists Miyako], who finally provides the deck with a Counter card. She’s essentially a 2/1 vanilla counter, meaning she can provide an extra 3000 power to one of your cards, helping you defend against some of your opponent’s attacks. I believe there was a similar card in Guilty Crown, but Miyako also has an extra effect that in rare circumstances could make her better. If you’re ever facing an «動物 Animal» deck, you could actually put her on the Stage, where she can become a 7000 when battling them. This has never yet happened for me, but maybe one day.
The deck’s strategy at Level 2 is relatively straightforward, with you once again focusing on power, but also trying to upgrade to Level 3 cards early. Hopefully all that Stock you’ve been trying to build can be put towards the Change, with hopefully some left over for Level 3.
Level 3
As you might expect, there aren’t really an awful lot of choices when it comes to Level 3 cards, so I opted to go with Lucia and Saten. There are other choices like Hideyoshi from Sengoku Basara, but I think he might be better suited to a deck more focused around him.
Lucia is able to heal you and can also deal out burn damage to the opponent, meaning that she can extend your game, whilst trying to cut your opponent’s short. In order to cause the burn damage though, she needs her Climax card and to win a battle. The latter being the bigger issue. Since the Climax itself does not give a power boost, and this Deck’s support cards are a bit lacking, she can struggle to defeat characters who make it past 12,000 Power. This will often mean you’ll either need to get the burn off during Level 2, when it’s less useful, or try and pick off your opponent’s weaker characters. If they know this is coming, they can take steps to prevent you doing this though.
Saten on the other hand can restrict what your opponent can do, and help to keep you in the game longer. She does this by reducing her opponent’s Soul by 1, making just about all Side Attacks futile, and meaning only 2 Soul characters have a real chance to cause damage. On top of this when you play her, for a Stock, she can also prevent the opponent from playing Event cards until the end of their next turn. The usefulness of this will of course depend on the deck you’re facing. If you know the opponent uses Event cards as Counters this can allow you to make safer attacks for example. However if they don’t use Event cards, you’ll just be relying on the 1000 Power boost it also provides. As a final ability, she will gain 1000 Power when you have 5 or more Stock, making her your strongest character. This can conflict with the Lucia change though, so you have to be careful when making use of your Stock. Sometimes this might mean Saten will have to wait until last to attack.
During Level 3 you’ll be trying to defeat the opponent as quickly as possible with Lucia’s effect, whilst Saten will hopefully aid you in this. If you’re facing any truly powerful cards you can always still fall back on Normal Girl Saten to beat them up for you.
Climax
The Climaxes in the deck were chosen for the Climax combos that go with them. Saten needs [What I Can Do] for her insane Power boost, whilst Lucia needs [Receiving Power] to cause burn damage. [What I Can Do] can also be used to help other characters win battle, without losing resources, whilst [Receiving Power] can also help you build Stock. They both offer the chance for lots of damage when Triggered.
Overall
The deck is fairly straightforward to play, relying mostly on simply overpowering other cards. The Saten Climax combo should be able to defeat nearly anything your opponent puts in front of you for example. It will be very important to save her for important battles, rather than wasting her early in the game. At other times you’ll try to rely on your high Power, low Stock cards, in order to save your Stock for the end of the game, or for using with Kunikida.
Kunikida can be a blessing for the deck, since he means you should have little worry about getting your most powerful cards into your Hand. You do have to watch out for those games where they all end up in the Waiting Room though. Since Kunikida can quickly replenish your Hand, you can afford to swarm the Stage more than some other decks, since you won’t run out of resources. Just be careful about your overall Stock levels. Kunikida will deplete it, but your ability to put out a full Stage fairly regularly should help you gain Stock back.
For a deck built around these two gimmicks it can be pretty fun to play, and gives a few background characters a chance to shine.
TCG, shiyo? 