Budget Deck: Nubatama (Afterimage)

It's been, what, 2 years now since we posted a Nubatama deck here for y'all budget players to use?

Nubatama is a bit of a hype clan at the moment, with the new Domination mechanic. It's not too expensive at the moment due to Mujinlord being the only pricy card at the moment, but knowing the market it's bound to shoot up in price. Dominate is a hype deck, after all.

Nubatama was a difficult deck to budget build for the longest time due to the only viable options being Shura Stealth Dragon, which is heavily undersupported, and Afterimage, which is ungodly expensive with heavy amounts of RRR and GR, with few budget options to chose from due to, again, a heavy lack of support.

But funnily enough, with the newest hype addition to the Nubatama clan, we have so much more to work with in the budget department to make a very cheap, very effective Nubatama deck. Two Trial Decks, a couple Rares and Commons, and some solid, cheap Double Rares and you're good to go!

The biggest thing that made a difference was a new effective budget boss with the Shiranui name in the form of Shiranui "Oboro".

Yes, he's obviously meant to be run in Dominate decks but he's still very effective in Afterimage decks. Providing extra aggression/control and the Shiranui name, for free and cheap no less, he'll fit our needs perfectly.

For backup I run Hagurejishi. He's a really bad ride, but he's a really strong rearguard. He gets real big when you use him right and is very potent at ending games.

Kujikiricongo is decent enough if you really want to, and is a pretty decent ride that gives you access to Shura Stealth Dragon strides. You can also meme with Voidmaster's on-hit on RG, but Hagurejishi pulls a lot more weight as a rearguard so yeah.

Afterimage has... kinda poor Grade 2 options. It has very strong early game, but that's mostly carried by Tamahagane and the Afterimage keyword itself. At the moment, your only real options are Tamahagane to enable early Afterimage, and Nibikatabira, who's basically overcosted +3000 to two units.

The last slot's sorta filler, but most of the options we have are filler. Miyabi is a strong aggro card that can cheat out wins really easily, but has the weakness of not having Afterimage and can't be bounced early(she can be bounced with Nibikatabira though). Hashiribi's just a filter which, at the moment, is decent enough to get dead cards out of hand so he's who I'm gonna be using. Genkai is another option for draw power, but with the only things that are able to trigger it being Oboro and Maguntenbu he's not gonna go off often. 10k Vanillas are there as well. Cheap and effective. Calling them to side to act as solo beatsticks that take some more effort to kill isn't the worst idea

There is a new afterimage Grade 2 that will be coming in G-Set 12 in the form of Teruyoshi, who can get you sweet, sweet soul that nets you more plus with Chigiregumo and Aramatatabi. But alas, Set 12. We'll have to wait.

Last few slots are pretty autofill. Aramtatatabi is our PG because she's cheap and she has the Afterimage keyword. Also its skill to kick things out of bind for a soul is hella strong. Stride Fodder is in the TD now and easy to get copies of. Chigiregumo is really solid plus for, again, a soul(You can start to see just how much Teruyoshi's gonna do for the deck now, don't you). Last slot goes to Fuuki or Dreadmaster. Fuuki increases consistency and lets you do your early game Afterimage shenanigans when you don't have Tamahagane and Dreadmaster is just a troll as hell card early game.

The only valid starter choice is Kamojigusa. Well, we get Kazemomo later who can be used in conjunction with her but for now just play Kamojigusa. Afterimage keyword, easy countercharge, and kicking cards out of bind all in one card. Way too good.

Trigger lineup has alot of variance to pick from. Crits and Stands are obvious choices because of how well they work with the deck's early aggression strategy. Draws are pretty nice at a low count for some hand size early.

Now for that G-Zone.

Kurehalord is your bread and butter in this deck. On-attack Bind 1 from hand really helps to put the pressure on your opponent. And wait, she's a rare? Perfect! She's also completely free of cost? Perfect! Run four in budget build, she's just awesome.

Maguntenbu is your secondary stride and the main thing that's ending games. He's about $4, which is fairly affordable. 2 at minimum, but try to get the full four copies if you can.

Outside of that, it's mostly just filler strides. Three different on-hit options, GB8, whatever. Get Mujinlords if you can, cus he's potent stuff, but he's still $15.

The TD comes with 2 Abutadaishi, so throw those in. 20k free shield is perfectly fine. Old Abutadaishi is solid as well. Zakishihime is also a strong choice, but for some ungodly reason got bought out. Run if you can find any. Gehourakan is pretty alright in certain situations and is real cheap to pick up, so get those if you want.
                                                                      

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.

1x Stealth Rogue of the Wintry Wind, Kamojigusa

16x Triggers of Choice(4x Stealth Dragon, Onibidoshi)

4x Stealth Beast, Aramatatabi

4x Stealth Beast, Katarigitsune

4x Stealth Dragon, Chigiregumo

3x Tempest Stealth Rogue, Fuuki

4x Stealth Beast, Tamahagane

4x Stealth Dragon, Nibikatabira

3x Stealth Dragon, Hashiribi

4x Demon Stealth Dragon, Shiranui "Oboro"

3x Stealth Beast, Hagurejishi

4x Enma Stealth Dragon, Maguntenbu

4x Rikudo Stealth Rogue, Kurehalord

1x Rikudo Stealth Dragon, Gedatsurakan

1x Enma Stealth Dragon, Kingoku Tenbu

1x Rikudo Stealth Dragon, Gounrakan

2x Jinx Stealth Hermit, Abudataishi

2x Secret Message Stealth Hermit, Abudataishi

1x Stealth Dragon, Gehourakan

                                                                      

Price: $50-55

Effectiveness: 8.5/10

Competitive: Maybe

Final Words: It's a bit too glass cannon to definitely say it's competitive, but if you're able to pilot it well you can go pretty far with it. It feels really effective and really potent for it's price cost and I recommend giving it a shot on CFA or something to see if you like it. I fell in love first try.

See you in the next one!

-Chang