So last week I decided to pick up Kagero out of the blue. I suppose it was inevitable considering I own at least 13 decks. For this week’s update I want to talk about my first impression with the deck and discuss improvement options for both Overlord and Blademaster, in terms of the current support (I’m not too good at theory crafting cards).

BACKSTORY TIME 8D.

While I did dabble with Blademaster when G-BT 07 first came out, I never really bothered with the clan too much. Overlord kinda dominates the clan’s image. I never liked Kai in the anime so seeing his boss unit all over the place kinda turned me off. What finally prompted me to forget by bias and try the clan was a legacy format my friend recently started. He had dug up an old Phantom Blaster Overlord deck he had, and decided to start a pre break ride era format (BT-09 and before). I was originally planning to build Maelstrom for this format, but when I started looking I couldn’t find time relevant cards anywhere. Revival Collection had just released, so while I couldn’t find Maelstrom anywhere DOTE was all over the place. The shop I was visiting also had a bunch of ancient Kagero cards lying around in their common box. So since DOTE was staring me in the face, and I could easily acquire 80% of a legacy deck for him, I said fuck it and bought the cards. In addition to the legacy cards the shop also had a DOTL/Blademaster deck for sale. Because I am an impulsive idiot I bought that too. I’ve since split the hybrid deck into individual Blademaster and Overlord decks, so at least I made my money’s worth.

First Impressions

Overlord is more fun than my bias would let me admit. There is a lot of nuance in figuring out what Overlord you want in the deck, rear guards options, when to use certain cards, trigger lineup, ect. I really like the idea of harassing rear-guards with Overlord and restanding to keep up pressure. My main decks at the moment, Blue Waves and Prisms, are both rush/combo focused so I don’t deal in removal too much. There have been many games where I wish I could just pop an annoying rear without slowing down my combos. In that sense Overlord is really fun and gives me a good change of pace from my usual rush tactics.

Unfortunately, Blademaster hasn’t wowed me as much as Overlord. A lot of my recent test games have been slog fests where my opponent refuses to play any cards. But bad experience aside, it did reveal some problems the deck has. Taiten doesn’t feel as powerful since he’s relatively easy to guard. Rear guard pressure is lower since it’s hard to make columns without Nadel or Radiant Dragon, and the deck can’t multi-attack. Nouvelle is really stupid, but because previous turns aren’t as strong compared to Overlord she’s also easily guarded. The deck just seems to lack some oomph right now. However, I think Blaze is an incredibly solid foundation to build on so the deck has a high ceiling if Bushiroad treats Blademaster well.

Improvement

With my first impressions out of the way let’s talk about improving my newbie decks. I have a pretty good idea of what I want out of Overlord, but I think Blademaster could use work. I’ll put up my planned deck profiles for both and talk through my thought process behind them.

The format I used for deck profiles last time seemed a bit cumbersome, so I’m trying out a table like card game wikis use.

Overlord

Grade 0 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 G-Zone 1x Lizard Solider Conroe (SVG) 4x Flame Dragon PG 4x Dragon Emperor Kngiht Nehalem 4x Dragonic Overlord “The Legend” 2x Transcendence Divine Dragon, Nouvelle Vague L’Express 8x Critical Triggers 3x Lava Flow Dragon 3x Dragonic Burnout 4x Perdition Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord the Great 2x Supreme Heavenly Emperor Dragon, Vortex Desire 4x Gatling Claw Dragon (draw) 3x Spear of the Flame Dragon Tahr 3x Dragonic Neoflame 1x Supreme Heavenly Emperor Dragon, Defeat Flare Dragon 4x Mother Orb Dragon (heal) 3x Lizard General Conroe 2x Dragon Knight Nadim 4x Supreme Heavenly Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Blademaster “Taiten” 2x Flame Wing Steel Beast, Denial Griffin 2x Flame Emperor Dragon King, Asyl Orb Dragon 1x Air Element, Sebreeze 2x Supreme Heavenly Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord “the Ace”

Christ Kagero stride names are long. Anyways this is my current planned build for Overlords. Since I come from a primarily aggro mindset, I prefer the Legend/Great style of harassing rears over hand trap. Nehalem is a lock in since he helps create columns for pressure. Burnouts are here for tempo plays when Taiten isn’t being used, but I’m considering Berserk Lord as well. The Overlord recycle can be done early with Conroe, but it can also be slowed down by that restriction. Nadim is more of a tech option than anything. My current lineup has a bit of G2 room so I’m kinda throwing him in as a test, my alternative would be burning horn. He can make columns combined with Tahr’s skill, and the on hit CC can be a help when Conroe isn’t around. My G1 lineup runs Tahr instead of Bellog because, again, not huge on the handtrap. I think Tahr’s skill can help find Overlord fodders, thinining the deck, and the extra 4k can boost up Nadim to make numbers. Conroe helps us manage the heavy CB costs and can search out the correct Overlord if you don’t like the one you have. Lava flow is important because we like to save our G3s for Legend or Ace’s costs.

As far as our G-zone lineup, Taiten is the only lock in at 4 since he helps us out when there’s no field to harass. I’m debating heavily between 4 Ace, vs having extra flip fodder to extend Taiten and 5 g-guards. Deinal Griffin and Defeat Flare are both quite powerful but they don’t have extra shield value. I like 2 Asyl Orbs because he adds some defense for dealing with Glories, or just bad luck and not having a PG. At the same time though, hit n run is more popular now with Gears and (proper non rush) Granblue topping much more in Japan. Taiten is sort of a recourse but since he gains no power he’s kinda middling in effectiveness. The Ace, despite heavy costs, does give us a better out since he’ll still make Nehalem huge. Ace also helps to deal with counter-control, since he functions regardless of your current field state. But, his 2CB and drop an overlord clauses make him a bit cumbersome to use repeatedly. I think with the meta being faster and more aggressive 4 Ace might become a better option, especially since a Legend/Great lineup is field dependent. For now he’s at 2 but as time goes on I may switch up my lineup to fit 4. Nouvelle is at 2 because she should only be out as a definitive finish.

Finally for my starter choice I’m currently planning Conroe, for toolbox options but Undeux can also help with finding Overlords if you’re stuck. This choice will need testing

Blademaster

Grade 0 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 G-Zone 1x Lizard Solider Conroe (SVG) 4x Escort Dragon Attendant Reas 4x Radiant Dragon 4x Dragonic Blademaster 4x Transcendence Divine Dragon, Nouvelle Vague L’Express 4x Dragon knight Jannat (crit) 3x Lava Flow Dragon 3x Dragon Knight, Jabad 4x Dragon Knight Basuit 1x Supreme Heavenly Emperor Dragon, Vortex Desire 4x Gatling Claw Dragon (draw) 3x Dragon Dancer, Marcel 2x Dragon Knight, Imahd 2x Dragon Knight Mustafa 4x Mother Orb Dragon (heal) 3x Dragon Knight Nadim 3x Dragon Knight Nadim 4x Supreme Heavenly Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Blademaster “Taiten” 4x Inspire Yell Dragon 2x Flame Wing Steel Beast, Denial Griffin 2x Flame Emperor Dragon King, Asyl Orb Dragon 1x Air Element, Sebreeze

At least Blademaster has shorter names. I’m running rainbow triggers in this deck because the deck needs some way of multi-attacking and stand triggers are currently the only way. I tried to run a higher volume of Blaze units because I want the best chances to hit on Marcel’s search. The idea with this deck is to keep recycling Inspire Yells back in while slowly thinning out with Blaze searches if Marcel can hit. I’m running Jabad and Imahd in this build because I’m trying to find the best ways to make pressure in the deck. Jabad can hit magic columns with Marcel which is why he’s here. Imahd can force over guarding or just no guarding with his retire skill, though because of the conditions attached to him I’m only running 2. Radiant is at 4 because he’s can make magic numbers alone, which this deck needs. Nadim is mostly there for the keyword. The on hit does help though since we don’t have Conroe and Nadel is inconsistent if there’s no field. I run Basuit as my Blademaster backup because I like the Rear-guard power. There’s nothing wrong with Galgi, but he can’t search Blademaster and his GB1 is negligible since you prefer to be striding anyways.

In my G-deck Nouvelle is at 4 because what else am I gonna use. Vortex/Mustafa are for first striding and then it’s usually Taiten the rest of the game. Not enough decks run a heavy amount of resist so Root Flare is sorta so-so these days. It does mean Thavas is a bitch and a half for Kagero though, so I might tech in 2 Roots over 4 Nouvelles.

Like with Overlord I’m debating between Serrated and Conroe. Conroe gives me options to find stride fodders, PGs, and boosters as needed but Serrated can help me pull a field out of a bad hand and can also hit PGs since I’m running Reas.

I’m still in pretty new territory as far as Kagero goes. I’m enjoying my time with the clan so far but I’m not nearly as well versed compared to something like Aqua Force or Bermuda Triangle. I think I have an idea where I’m going but I would appreciate comments/criticism. Thanks for reading and as always I hope you enjoyed.