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. 

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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!

A "Fun" Deck List: A Wonderful Magical Basket of Chimeras

Please enjoy, and look forward to what will appear next!

While waiting for Pale Moon support reveals, I've been driving myself mad with theories, ideas, and possible crazy combos. To mitigate this, I've built a fun little deck based around Nightmare Doll, Chelsea, that I'd very much like to share with you. 

Now, this deck is far more casual in nature compared to the current meta- don't take this to a tourney and expect to top, but if you're like me, waiting on tenterhooks for news, and you have these cards lying around- why not have fun and build your own little combo deck, to remind you of the good old days? Think of the satisfaction when you win.

Deck List is as follows:

Grade 0 - 17

Girl Who Crossed The Gap x1

5 [Draw] 7 [Crit] 4 [Heal]

Grade 1 - 14

Perfect Guard x4

Midnight Bunny x4

Purple Trapezist x4

Egg Juggler x2

Grade 2 - 11

Flying Hippogriff x4

Heat Elemental, Bwah x4

Dancing Princess of the Night Sky x2

Nitro Juggler x1

Grade 3 - 8

Nightmare Doll, Chelsea x4

Miracle Pop, Eva x4

Grade 4 - 8

Miracle of Lunar Square, Clifford x4

Rain Elemental, Madew x2

Snow Element, Blizza x2

Now to break it down, section by section.

Grade 0 Summary

The Grade 0 section is fairly straightforward, special triggers are preferred if available,but this current set up works fine. It's what I call the "Dark Irregular Set Up", where 6 Draws feels like too many, but 4 draws leave you with death hands. With 5, you'll hit them often, which helps you keep up, since you don't really have any way to plus outside of Egg Juggler and getting off Chelsea's skill.

Girl Who Crossed the Gap does her job well- she essentially becomes anything you have in soul, all for one counterblast- call a Midnight Bunny behind something for pressure, call a Purple Trapesist to rescale your field, or simply call Egg Juggler to draw- she's never really dead. Before choosing Gap, I did consider Starting Presenter, despite the completely offputting artwork- but you will soul charge enough sitting on Eva, with Dancing Princess giving you what you need, if you didn't just ride it. 

Grade 1 Summary

Everything here is pretty straightforward, too- Midnight Bunny pressures further attacks if her column hits, and considering the unit she boosts will hit 16-18k, that's a nice bit of pressure. The ages old combo of her with Purple Trapezist also still stands- simply keep a Purple or two in soul ready for this effect (keeping a Purple or two in soul also works out great for Chelsea).

Purple Trapezist needs no explanation, it's wonderful- shame it's 6k, but this doesn't matter so much when your ideal RG will be 11k anyway.

Egg Juggler gives you hand, while filtering out the cards Eva soulcharges- she also combos with Girl Who Crossed the Gap for an easy draw. Getting her into Soul and calling her out from it is a doddle.

Grade 2 Summary

Sporting surprisingly apt art for Pale Moon, Heat Elemental Bwah fits right in- on hit, he retires himself and searches one of your G3's. Hitting by himself will help mitigate Chelsea's persona blast, or even search you Stride Fodder. He's a helpful little bugger, and his name is fun to say. Go on, say it now, while sat in your chair. Say "BWAH." Go on, there's no shame, I do it too.

Flying Hippogriff reads as a trashy common, but 11k once you hit G3 is nothing to sneeze at- you could alternately play Crimson Beast Tamer, but she requires a little more set up, while Hippogriff also makes an amazing Eva swap target, as he can naturally hit vanguards on his own, and makes low power rearguards like Purple Trapezist and Egg Juggler safe to use, hitting a respectable 17k, pushing for a 10k. He doesn't reach 11k on Stride Turns, but usually you use those as either finishers (pushing that Blizza for games where it's REALLY crunch time and you have NOTHING else) or set up and hand fillers- Madew and Clifford.

Dancing Princess and Nitro Juggler are tech options- Nitro is filler, I'm considering using a vanilla, since on-call soulcharge really isn't what Pale Moon should be right now. Dancing Princess will get you those things you just HAVE to have in soul- spare Purple, Hippogriff to surprise the opponent with later, she helps you plan several turns ahead. Sure, she's 8k. Intercept with her. She's there to usher your next act in, not rush the opponent herself. It's no loss of guard to call her. 

Grade 3 Summary

Eva is fun, you'll want to sit on her until you reach 4 damage and you can REALLY go off. Against most decks, you can reach 4 damage easily (once we get LB enabler we can probably rely far less on the opponent and just rush rush rush, but I guess when we get enabler we won't be playing hype.dek, so that's a catch 22, isn't it?). You'll reach 4 damage easily, while keeping combo pieces in hand- while getting to 4 damage, you'd play as normal, setting up, pushing and pressuring with Bwah and Bunny.

Chelsea will populate your field a little for a price that's actually quite affordable, and much easier to activate with Bwah. She also works in the battle phase, like Eva, meaning she can push 2 more attacks if you've got the soul for it, or at least get out a nice column. If you combo both her AND Eva in the same turn, you can get a full field "restand". Not bad, really. Usually, though, I like to stagger their effects, especially since I like to have Trapezists on field for Eva's breakride. 5 attacks in one turn, then another 5 the following turn, without taking into account how many more potential attacks you can pressure with Midnight Bunny, or how many Egg Juggler calls you make- you'll eat hand rather nicely for a casual deck.

Grade 4 Summary

Fairly standard, here- we have no options outside of Clifford, and Madew is nice if you're sat on Chelsea and want a Stride, but don't really want to pay for it- or if you used a Chelsea earlier and want to search it back from drop zone.

Blizza is a "finisher" of sorts, which can hit for high numbers, if you've had to stride several times in the game, but it's mostly filler. You won't stride Clifford 4 times, but as we've yet to get more support, fill the space if you want (I only run 2 Clifford in real life. I never stride him more than that, the on-hit has more variables than other on-hits, but it's usually one your opponent will guard).

Backstage Preparation

Remember to just have fun with the deck- it's mainly designed for fun with friends, and to inspire them to try similarly zany or interestingly creative builds, while you're waiting for further support. Think of it as an appetizer - albeit an appetizer with a little more bite than your opponent will bargain for- and may the new card reveals be swift and beautiful for us all.

mawile   x

One Card Review - The Link Joker Classic

The First Lockdown

Now all fellow Jokers out there probably have their evil smiles well-practised. I mean, we probably all have First-Class Honours uni qualifications in them. And this is all thanks to our good friend: the Lock.

I don't know about you, but I always get a rush to see my opponent's units Locked. There they are, wasted space, and there's not a thing they can do about it as we reap the benefits like power boosts along with the reassurance that potentially their defence for this turn, and most likely their offense for the next turn is hurt to some degree.

The Lock has evolved over time, and now those wonderful Messiahs seem to be taking centre stage. I'm not going to lie, I've got my eye on some of the Messiahs.

But there will always be a place in my heart for evil and terror, relishing in the frustration of my opponent as they can't do anything to stop the onslaught that I have built up. And in the foreground of that dream - or nightmare - is still, after all this time, a certain dragon.

Yep, some of you may have guessed it.

This bad boy:

Star-Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon.

Some people may disregard this unit because it's pretty old now. But I've still kept at least one in my Joker deck. With an 11k attack on it's own (13k if attacking a Vanguard, which it most likely will be), it can build up a pretty good attack column. 

But the Break-Ride.... The glorious Break-Ride. The universal +10k to your next Vanguard is welcome enough, as that's a massive offensive pressure to put on your opponent. This guy's effects were suddenly devastating in one fight where I rode a Legion unit on top of him. The two-card Lock is the best part though. Even when running some of the Messiahs, this guy would be awesome to use to build up the number of Locked cards just to undo it all for whatever advantages the Messiahs see fit, while also giving you the benefit of choosing whether to keep some of their cards Locked for the added detriment to their attack/defence. 

Advantages? It's a Break-Ride, so any advantages you want to take of the Lock is available right at the start of your turn, plus using the Lock's bonus combined with the massive power boost. Use combos effectively, and you've got one badass mofo.

Disadvantages? It's a Break-Ride, so any advantages you want have to wait until you find someone decent enough to reap all the benefits of riding on top of him. Break-Rides promise future destruction, but have very little to recommend themselves in the meantime. Also, you have to wait for four damage before you gain access to this future destruction. Not a great idea when you have epic Strides and Legion units to use before you even get near four damage. Unless you have a Break Enabler, which are really useful, and not too shabby themselves. Eclipse Star-Vader, Charcoal has 7k power, so is great for boosting while simultaneously giving you access to aforementioned destruction. Just make sure you have enough of them in there for you to draw, or they won't be much good to you.

But, yeah, I have a lot of love for this awesome reptile. And I hope this has helped a few of you as well.

Tell me how I did!

- Daisy