Deck Spotlight: Budget Brave (Royal Paladin)

So after me asking on the Budgetfight discord what my next post should be, mah boi Phantast said he wanted an updated Brave list on the blog. So, with the help of Phantast, Bluish, and Verz , we worked out a final list and a post. Now, I present to you budget Brave in 2k17!

Glancing at the market, Brave at first seems like a money deck due to the expensive Royals stuff. Blasters and Sanc Guard have caused some of the generic stuff to be stupidly expensive, and hard to get for budget players. Thankfully, a lot of the Brave-specific support was practically untouched by this market inflation, and is easy for players to get. In addition to being way cheaper than most Royals decks, it's strong. Sure, it's overshadowed by Sanc Guard and Blasters, but it can still be a tough deck to beat.


Moving on, the sweetspot of the deck, and where a lot of the money is going into, will be the G Zone. Luckily, most Brave G Units are at a low right now, and are relatively cheap to grab. Fides, Brave Lancer, and Luminous Hope are all affordable. Fides enables hand filtering, calling, power distribution, and a retire. Brave Lancer can fill a field easy as heck, and has no downside if you have no hand. In addition, it gives all your units +3, making it easier to make numbers and giving solo-call G2s 12k numbers. Finally, Luminous Hope serves mostly as a finisher, applying crit pressure and giving power to itself and your rears.

Phantast 2k17: "I luminous 
hope it doesn't jump 
in price again."

Brave has a ton of options due to their ability to tutor out any G2 at will, and can make numbers, enable multiattacks, or fill a board when necessary. Due to the fact that some of the expensive G2s, namely Suleiman, dropped in price and are cheap now, it makes the deck that much more accessible.  

Moving on to G1s, we put Sicilus in the deck despite to current high pricetag. The reason is that the deck needs to stride consistently, because of the potential you already have to minus during your Brave turns. And because I already mentioned that the G Zone is one of the best parts of the deck, going without striding hurts a ton. Aside from that, the G1 lineup is simple enough. Hope Keeper is in there for shenanigans with Hopesong, and Reguis because his skill can save games. Discarding can sometimes be hard/impossible to do after a turn of Bravespam, so having a 1-card PG is great. Support Sorcerer of Damascus does a great job balancing resources, increasing hand size and counter charging with minimum restrictions. Headwind Knight, Selim making itself a G2 gives the deck more options when calling units from the deck, and helps make numbers. 

Trigger lineup has Gororo because m u h  c o n s i s t e n t  s t r i d e, and Sargul because of its skill. Because Brave is such an offensive deck, filling deck with triggers while replenishing hand size is great. In addition, stand have the potential to increase attack chains by using the skill of the stood unit. More Crits are fine, but Sarugal is still a nice card to have. Lastly, Belenus is an option if you have the money, but isn't completely necessary. 

Royals, of course, do have some money cards that I need to point out. One of the most expensive cards in the deck is Heavenly Altmile, and although he's incredibly good and we recommend picking him up if possible, he isn't completely necessary to the deck. OG Altmile is easy to pick up and the stride skill can be used as a final push to kill, and is useful in some situations. King of Light Order is the backup if not running Heavenly, and is a quality on-hit, is cheap, and is waifu. Aerial Altmile is another good card for the deck, because of its flexibility. It's basically free, doesn't have the Brave restriction, and makes numbers while tutoring a unit out. It's situationally better than some of the Brave strides, but isn't needed.
          
Decklist:
NOTE: This is only an example decklist and should only be used as a base. I recommend 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:
2x Knight of Discipline, Alectos
4x Critical
4x Thunder Elemental, Gororo
4x Sarugal or Critical Triggers
4x Heal
Grade 1:
4x Headwind Knight, Selim
3x Security Knight, Regius 
1x Hope Keeper
4x Support Sorcerer of Damascus
2x Laurel Knight, Sicilus 
Grade 2:
3x Counteroffensive Knight, Suleiman
3x Knight of Ambuscade, Redon
3x Knight of Encouragement, Albion
2x Hopesong Angel
Grade 3:
4x Blue Sky Knight, Altmile
2x Knight of Light Order/Knight of Heavenly Decree, Altmile
Grade 4:
4x Holy Dragon, Luminous Hope Dragon
4x Divine Knight of the Rainbow Brocade, Clotenus
2x Blazing Sword, Fides
2x Holy Dragon, Brave Lancer Dragon
2x Divine Knight of Godly Defense, Igrane
2x Holy Dragon, Laserguard Dragon
          

Other choices: Escort Eagle and Scouting Owl are choices for defensive players, but weakens multiattack capability and numbers. Considering control is coming back to the meta, Escort's resist helps a ton, though, and having defensive fields after using a hand for offense is great. Coming in GB12, we have Alonegal, which is a generic Crit with a move to soul for +3 to a rear skill. It's pretty useful, and can fill trigger space. Heroic Divine Knight, Halbwach is basically a late game Gouche on steroids, and I highly recommend picking up if it's cheap. 
Effectiveness: 8/10

Price: $80-100+

Competitive: Yus

Final Words: Brave doesn't really have a bad matchup against any of the current meta decks, and it can definitely hold its own. Most people assume it's weak because it isn't Sanc Guard or Blasters, but can do surprisingly well with a good pilot. In addition, it's a main character deck, and thus is bound to get support in the future and is a good investment.

Anyway, thanks to my boiz Bluish and Phantast, this was much easier to me. Thanks a ton, and I hope we get a chance to work together in the future!