Update Deck: Kagero (Blademaster)

Draconic Blademaster
"Tight In"

Ey, Tachimas here. Finally got around to writing this thing.

So.

Remember way back in the day when I wrote that Blademaster post? Yeah, me neither. Blademaster rose in price in the past few sets due to the amazing support it has gotten, and to be completely fair, he's now extremely viable in the metagame and very fun. However, Blademaster didn't rise in price that much, it's only about...... $7.

Welpies.

I mean, $7 a piece should be able to be considered budget technically, but that varies on the person. Anyways, a Blademaster deck built to be budget should cost only about... well, $40(Robot: Not) or so I guess. That's preety damned budget in my standards. That being said, I'll write a "casual-meant extremely cheap cheesy budget deck that costs $10 to make" cheapo Sutherland deck post soon either ways.


Anyways, Blademaster over the sets received an amazing load of support. Varying from Nouvelle Stride, Radiant Dragon (this thing is amazing), and Taiten (who we're not getting into because of the wallet corpses all over the place), etc etc. This made Blademaster preety damned good in the metagame. And assuming you have like... $50, it should be pretty easy to build him too. Overall, the only reason you shouldn't make this deck is that you're gonna lack Taitens to make your opponent get pressured damagely and push in damage, but you can work withought it, so it's all fine.

Grade 4

DONT RESIST MY
RAPE RETIRE

... My god, with the G-zone getting an expansion to 16, and not being able to use key cards you want to use like Taiten and Sebreeze, it was hard filling in the cards. Thankfully though, Nouvelle was dirt cheap, which is a lifesaver for us. However though, Nouvelle doesn't do entirely much but being filler in there, considering that he only acts as a finisher @5 damage and that G-Guardians are a thing, but it's better than nothing.

Mustafa is still damned good (not a staple anymore, but it's a different story when we talk budget decks), being able to retire a bunch of cards and giving Blademaster GB2, which can be useful at times. Zahm is as good as a tech as it always was.

Now getting to some of the new stuff.

First up on the list is Irresist Dragon. Of course, it's Irresist because it gets past Resist. Anyways, this is a great card to have. It can nuke the backrow, providing a lot of pressure and etc etc. It's a great tech to have in your deck. Following up on Irresist is Vortex Desire, which is a great card that can, like Mustafa, give you GB2, and acts as a good flipper for cards you don't need. You're hardly ever going to need, but it's better than having... Mahmud, so there's that.

FANBOIS, SCREAM OUT IN JOY. DENIAL GRIFFIN TOOK THE STAGE. Denial Griffin annoys the hell out the meta, stopping a bunch of comboes that will possibly kill you, some being a RRFD double restand, AqF Wave Shenanigance, and... Dogma. I hate Denial Griffin matches.
The man's like, $5, but it's worth buying him. I'd run 2 at minimum, 3 if I can help it. Even 1 works if you're that broke with money, just get him.

Then in the place of Taiten, there's something else that can give you a crit. Say hi to Crossorigin in Blademaster.dek.

... Don't look at me like that. This is better than... at least Mahmud :/

Grade 3

Max out Blademaster. MAX HIM OUT. DO IT

... if the deck had access to Taiten, maybe you could have gotten away with 1-2, but nope. Blademaster's the key card to the deck, since almost all your cards are gonna require a Blademaster VG, especially Radiant Dragons. You have searchers, but it's not worth risking. You could still go away with 1-2 doe.

Then for the backups, you have a couple choices. I personally use DOTL, which is something that makes a good backup thanks to the on-ride skill that can help tutor out stride fodders (And Blademasters), and a beautiful GB2. Other than that, your next best backup is Sutherland 2.0. Remember kids that Sutherland's second skill activates when you Stride on top of it too, so you can use it to snipe Starters and trigger Zahm.

Then... You could then use Basuit too, I guess, for the record, along with Galgi and Heroic Saga, but really, the above two should be the top choices.

Grade 2

So bright

Nadim is a great card. It has Blaze in it's initial card text, making it searchable by Serrated Dracokid, and it has an on-hit unflip skill, which is extremely good. Also, it can hit magic numbers on it's own. It's great.

Then we have the star of the deck; Radiant Dragon! Radiant Dragon is a great card. It helps earn power to beatdown hard on your opponent, and helps you do something other than just beatdown towards Magia. Overall, just hitting numbers in general is good. It's extremely fun. Would run 10/10.

Then the other options consists of Twilight Arrow, which is redundant nowadays with enough retires (but can be a decent asset if you couldn't ride into Blademaster that turn), Imhad, who is cheezy and fun, while being situational, Kimnara 2.0, who tbf, I don't like all that lot.

Grade 1

PG problem is solved by Reas, who in turn also synergizes well with Sutherland. Then proceed to 4 Stride Fodders.

That leaves you with 2 slots of G1 options. One of which, is going to be taken by Nadel. Nadel is a great card. When combined with cards like Imhad, Nadim and Radiant Dragon, it hits a lot of magic numbers, and it basically makes one of your retires free with that beautiful CC.

... and then what? We have a couple options for that, but I'll mention the most notable few. Marcel is the first thing that comes into mind. While she can't help make magic numbers (unless you run the 12k beater, which is unfortunate), she can help add (certain) cards to hand and provides pressure, which is sweet. Especially that hand, since it can help tutor out various cards (Reas and etc). The next option is a tech of Bellog, which is... well, Bellog. I guess Aethonic would still work.

Gyokuryu would work, but nowadays compared to before it isn't as worth since we're not as "RETIRE RETIRE RETIRE" compared to before.

Grade 0

Inspire Yell Dragon is a great card. It helps hitting power columns, and drawing stuff. You could run it, or you could go 12 crits, or you could run Gattling Claw, etc etc.

Now for starters, the best option for Blademaster (and most decks with Blaze) is Serrated Dracokid. Being able to refresh your hand, provide a fodder for Striding, getting out key pieces you would have liked to have and etc. You could still go for Sadegh, but I don't recommend it.

                                                                                                                                                         
Decklist:
NOTE: This is only an example decklist and should only be used as a base. I recommended that you create your own decklist through your own testing. I found this decklist to fit me, but it is up to you to find a decklist that fits you.

Grade 0:

1x Serrated Dracokid

16x Triggers of Choice

Grade 1:
4x Sentinels of Choice
4x Lava Flow Dragon
4x Dragon Knight, Nadell
1x Lizard Soldier, Bellog

Grade 2:
4x Dragon Knight, Nadim
4x Radiant Dragon
4x Dragon Knight, Ihmad

Grade 3:

4x Dragonic Blademaster

4x Dragon fang Chain-bullet, Sutherland/Dragonic Overlord "The Legend"

Grade 4:

4x Helldeity Seal Dragon, Crossorigin
2x Divine Dragon Knight, Mustafa
1x Divine Dragon Knight, Zahm
4x Transcendence Divine Dragon, Nouvelle Vague L'Express

1x Flame Emperor Dragon King, Irresist Dragon

2x Flame Wing Steel Beast, Denial Griffin

2x Flame Emperor Dragon King, Asyl Orb Dragon

                                                                                                                                                  

Effectiveness: 7.5/10

Price: $90-100 USD, $110-120 CAD, €90-100 EU

Competitive: More or Less

Final Words: With Radiant Dragon, retiring all over the place and utility cards in the form of Nouvelle, Irresist, Reas and access to Denial Griffin, Blademaster makes a preety damned decent deck to play in the metagame. He does have flaws though, it's that it gets countered by... every single bouncing deck ever, such as Tachikaze, Bermuda, and of course, PALE MOOOOOOOOOON. However, against these decks, you have Radiant to thank you. Also, Crossorigin is a little tricky to trigger, due to you wanting those Grade 2s dead (Damn it Taiten why you so expensive). Overall, Blademaster is a valid deck now and an extremely fun one.