Standard Budget Deck: Divine Gauge (Genesis)

   

There's more than one Genesis player here

Did you ever want to build a deck with reasonably affordable waifus tied to Greek and Norse mythology? Have you ever wanted to call down a board but were in fear over your opponent's control options against it? Have you ever thought to yourself, "Man, wouldn't it be cool if my board couldn't be touched whilst still allowing me to get the big swings and restands other popular decks have?" Well do I have the deck for you!

Gauge was a new mechanic introduced during the V Era. To explain loosely, a card is placed from one zone to under your rear guard face down, as if they had a soul. These face down cards can then be used to meet the requirements for various effects. Different types of gauge have been categorized based on the clan they are associated with, and at the time of writing there are only two clans that use this mechanic. Tachikaze, where it is labeled "Equip Gauge," and Genesis, where it it labeled as "Divine Gauge," which brings us to today's post. 

While Equip Gauge is the main mechanic for Tachikaze during the V Era, Divine Gauge was a side mechanic to Genesis' main focus on soul manipulation, as well as the subset of Astral Poets.
Divine Gauge was introduced in the first wave of Genesis V support, but wasn't seen again for another two years after that. Many believed it would never receive support again in favour of the other Genesis playstyles, but V-BT12 shattered those expectations. So with that, let's go into the deck itself. 

 Grade 3

Play of the Game goes to....

The deck focuses on two of Misaki's ace units back when she played Genesis: Artemis and CEO Yggdrasil. Both units have excellent built-in field protection and work with the other Divine Gauge units to provide constant offensive power. The former's ability to share trigger effects makes it the general ride target, especially as it is a less valuable rearguard. However, the latter's ability to call her ally Norn in addition to providing gauge means the board can be set up pretty reliably, as well as her rear guard protection ability being slightly safer than Artemis's. You can ride into her if the opponent uses non-targeting control options, because of her more general protection. Pleione doesn't directly aid Divine Gauge, but her ability to stack triggers and provide soul is very valuable to the deck, so I recommend running it as well. Vanargandr can be used for similar purposes while also working as a control tech, but I prefer setting up in the main phase to get more value with Artemis. 

Grade 2

Twilight and Norn are the Grade 2 gauge support options. Twilight was initially a weak point in the deck. Her ability being gated by the infamous on-hit clause led to her being guarded easily and killed before she was able to snowball. Now, though, we have Norn and Yggdrasil providing gauge in the main phase, and she has turned into the decks main beater acting as a pseudo-Sweeper for Genesis. Norn is easily searchable via Yggdrasil and increases the attack ceiling the deck has. For the last spot I would recommend Ulixes or Prometheus, as the former maintains hand size, while the latter stacks the deck a little more. Counterblast will mainly be reserved for Ygg and Norn, which is why I won't go into the other options that require them, but you can try them out if you wish and see how they work out.

Grade 1

So many arrows just for one target

For Grade 1 gauge support we have Bowstring, who... doesn't do much except fuel her own gauge. She can be used to snipe units, though you should limit how often you use it as the deck doesn't have reliable countercharging options. To round out the normal units, Skoll searches your Grade 3s for consistency, Hati can fuel soul further, and Melissa can be used for both mirror matchups and as an anti-accel tech, or any board setup reliant decks in general.

Grade 0

Aiming for the Stars is the starter, no questions asked. For triggers, Mixing crits and draws is good, crits for pressure, and draws for a little extra plussing. I personally do a 7/5 split of crit/draw respectively, with Kushinada as my sentinel of choice. Thviti is an option too if you want. As always, the heal of choice rounds out the build.

Editor's Note: Imagine playing a Genesis starter that isn't birb. Ignore the part about Aiming for the Stars, Artemis

Second Editor's Note: Imagine going off-theme with your starter. Ignore the first editor's note.

                                             

Decklist:

Grade 0:
1x Aiming for the Stars, Artemis (V)

4x Battle Maiden, Kukurihime (V)

3x Cyber Tiger (V)

4x Goddess of Self-sacrifice, Kushinada (V)

1x Talisman Angel 

4x Witch of Big Pots, Laurier (V)

Grade 1:
4x Bowstring of Heaven and Earth, Artemis (V)
4x Mythic Beast, Skoll (V)

3x Witch of Frogs, Melissa (V)

Grade 2:
4x Twilight Hunter, Artemis (V)

4x Regalia of Fate, Norn (V) 
3x Prometheus of Dancing Lights 

Grade 3:
4x Battle Deity of the Night, Artemis (V)
4x Cosmic Regalia, CEO Yggdrasil (V)

3x Goddess of the Milky Way, Pleione (V) 

                                             

Price: $50-70

Effectiveness: 7.5/10. As mentioned multiple times, the ability of both vanguards allows the player to maintain board presence against a good number of opponents, and it doesn't lose out on much since it can keep aggressive output with either vanguard. However, the deck would still benefit from more direct gauge support to better round out it's Grade 1 lineup, and in general having more than Yggdrasil and Norn providing gauge would improve the deck's performance.

Competitiveness: 7/10. While there are options for early plays, it's often much safer to wait until you have your Grade 3 ride to start setting up the field in order to provide the most resistance against the opponent's options. The deck lacks countercharge which can lead to it running out of good ways to put gauge on the field when the opponent plays around your deck, and going into the wrong ride at the wrong time can also lead to the opponent getting around board protection. Additionally, there aren't many options to increase hand throughout the game, so the deck more relies on the board state to give itself a fighting chance, and will lose if the game goes on for too long. Overall, though, the deck got a huge boost from when there was only a single booster with relevant support. 

Final Words: Divine Gauge is doing a lot better from when it started, and with more Regalia support on the way I look forward to how the mechanic performs in V and Premium. Getting Twilight up to ridiculous numbers is pretty fun when the opportunity is given, and having two powerful vanguard options keeps the deck relevant to me as a budget deck. Give it a go if this is more appealing for you in comparison to Genesis' other options.

This is actually an elaborate trailer for my next prem post