Link Joker Deck List; Lock is Love, Lock is Life

Perverted Purpose, Heroism Corrupted

AKA Link Joker, Binary Star Build 1.0

"I am full of rage and sin. Locked inside this cage again. Where evil reigns because people like to win... it may seem sweet, but we won't like the end. So we shine brightly from the light within." 

As a long-time player of Aqua Force, right from the day Link Joker were announced, they have been the personal bane of my existence. Many players find the clan notoriously frustrating and stressful to play against because of their mechanic's nature limiting the actions that you can take. Essentially preventing you from playing the game. Which I HATE.

But this does not mean that I shun the clan completely. Their aesthetic is undeniably cool. And in being forced to all but memorize their abilities in order to combat them most effectively, I know the gist of how to play them! While we already have another resident of this blog far more adept in using the invaders than myself *coughDaisycough* I have decided to step outside my usual comfort zone in order to try my hand at designing a casual deck which under normal circumstances I would utterly hate to play against! Based on the budget Grade 3 promo Binary Star Twin Gunner, who is often neglected by most players.

Cue someone inevitably making this deck and turning my own creation against me. Alas, such is the course of life... again, not naming any names here.

Grade 0 - 17

[1] Star-Vader, Dust Tail Unicorn (Starter)

[4] Recollection Star-Vader, Tellurium (Heal)

[4] Beloved Child of Superstring Theory (Draw)

[4] Star-Vader, Weiss Soldat (Crit)

[4] Star-Vader, Apollonel Dragon (Crit)

Dust Tail Unicorn is just about everything you could need in a starter for a unit like Binary. Upon locking one of your opponent's cards, he enters the soul and locks one more for just 1CB, which is standard value for a lock effect. Binary Star's ability locks two rearguards in one go, and requires soul to boot, thus Unicorn can assist twofold by providing the third lock needed to create a triangle lock while replenishing the soul in one fell swoop.

Beloved Child of Superstring theory is the other Grade 0 of note, being the clan's resident Margal clone capable of being placed into the soul as an ACT ability to give a 3k boost to any one unit for the remainder of the turn. She replenishes a dwindling soul, and can also be used with some of your more powerful rearguards to hit the magic numbers required to force out guard.

While I have not opted to use them here, it is also worth mentioning that stand triggers can be viable in this build. Most of your Grade 2 attackers either possess on-hit ability or can get very large very quickly, making re-standing such units a legitimate threat.

Grade 1 - 14

[4] Flowers in Vacuum, Cosmo Wreath (Perfect Guard)

[4] Demon Claw Star-Vader, Lanthanum

[4] Prison Gate Star-Vader, Palladium

[2] Destiny Dealer (Stride Fodder)

Using the Perfect Guard with the counter charge ability is an essential measure in this deck, as most of your abilities are very hungry in their consumption of your resources. Flipping over spent counterblasts whenever possible will greatly extend the longevity of your skills. With the downside being that you cannot PG the rearguard if it should become necessary. Thankfully you have no real dependence upon them, making it a moot point most games.

Lanthanum is your ideal rearguard booster whenever you can lay him down. With many of your abilities locking at least two cards at once, he can accumulate power very quickly and provide some offensive pressure to supplement your mostly defensive playstyle. 

Meanwhile Palladium, while included as a useful means of replenishing the soul and keeping a pesky column out of action, is to be used with discretion rather than spammed at every opportunity. Otherwise you will run out of resources too fast for your own liking. Rather than using him at the first opportunity, watch and wait to see when his use will hurt the opponent most, or just when you need the soul to pull off your next Binary.

Grade 2 - 11

[4] Furious Claw Star-Vader, Niobium

[4] Heat Elemental, Bwah

[3] Chain-battle Star-Vader, Technetium

Just like we discussed already with Palladium, use the skill of Technetium with due care. Whenever he hits with his ability active he soulcharges one and countercharges. Making him support Binary Star's skill perfectly while attacking for high numbers for pressure. Discarding a card is the price to pay for such an ability, and while in most cases you can afford to do this due to needing less guard to deal with an opponent on average, spamming him without thinking can drain your hand surprisingly fast when coupled with the fact you're technically minusing yourself to place Palladiums and Superstring theories into the soul too.

Popping up again, as he is sure to do in many decks, Heat Elemental, Bwah is the unit with the name nobody can take seriously and the effect that enables so many possibilities. Use him to fetch out Binary as your main ride, breakrides, and stride fodder as appropriate. He's such a versatile little unit, and one many people will go out of their way to guard because of that fact. Letting you toolbox while putting out pressure at the same time... and so cute.

Niobium rounds off your selection by being a solid 11k or 13k attacker on most occasions. Out of all your Grade 2 units, protect him the most, because he is an essential player in making your final offensive pushes possible. Putting a Lanthanum behind him and then locking half of their field is a sure way to put them out of the misery you've been putting them through all game long. Link Joker is all about psychological warfare. Seeing big numbers swinging their way while they languish in helplessness is soul-breaking. 

And that's exactly why you play this clan in the first place, isn't it? You terrible human being.

Grade 3 - 8

[4] Binary Star Twin Gunner

[4] Star-Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon

Now we come to the big players. Breakriding as a practice fills up the soul indirectly, which can be used by Binary Star to further effect. By riding Binary atop Infinite Zero you lock two units automatically, with the further option of using Binary's skill to lock two more at your own personal leisure. Remember Niobium and Lanthanum from earlier? 

Yeah. This is where having those two units out in play becomes quite terrifying. 

Between riding Infinite Zero, using Binary's skill, and the striding we will talk about in the next section - it is quite easy to keep a whole column out of action consistently for 3-5 turns. You can adapt this at your choosing. If you have your power gainers in play, you can lock their entire field for a massive boost and attempt to go for game. But generally it is more effective to stagger out your lock effects and consistently benefit from them while playing the long game.

Grade 4 - 8

[4] Nebula Dragon, Big Crunch Dragon

[4] Nebula Dragon, Maximum Seal Dragon

Infinite Zero locks a column worth of units. Binary Star locks a column's worth. Guess what Big Crunch does...? Yes! He retires all your opponent's units. Not really. Far worse, he locks a column outright, or rather, omega locks them. For the price of 1CB. Utterly infuriating. 

Using these three units in combination, for a very sustainable cost, it isn't hard to keep more than half your opponent's field in a state of complete chaos. While Lanthanum and Niobium profit off each lock to provide you with pressure, having at least four units locked also gives you a prime opportunity to bring in Maximum Seal Dragon. While normally this unit would not be viable, given just how many units you can keep locked on an average turn, he can easily be brought in and gain 10k-20k extra power still during the first couple of stride turns. 

Striding won't be a problem for you anyway, as Bwah can fetch copies of Binary Star to be tossed, and you also run a minimum number of Destiny Dealers to make it no hassle. 

_________________________________________________________________

So there you have it folks. My first stab at a casual deck for the clan I hate the most of all. Would it run well? Is it viable? Well, I know that personally, it's a recipe for everything I hate neatly rolled up into a single accessible article. But it was enjoyable to expand my horizons a little and see the world through the eyes of the enemy. Until next time!