Oracle: This ability is active when you have five or more cards in your hand.

In theory the Oracle keyword is based on the old restriction on cards like CEO Amaterasu, Battle Sister, Parfait, Weather Girl, Milk, and Battle Sister, Maple. However, in reality the difference between the four cards required for those pre-G era skills and the five cards required for Oracle is HUGE. So Bushi fucked up in GBT05 when the Oracle keyword debuted. However, instead of admitting their mistake and fixing it by errata-ing the keyword, or simply creating a new keyword Domination-style, Bushi simply decided to ride on with their mistake. Sure, the support in CHB02 tried to patch it up using loose fitting band-aids, but the damage was already done. So where are we now? Oracle Think Tank, formerly the meta clan of a major character in the original series has become the laughing stock of the entire game, the punch-line to many jokes. Bushiroad has a bad track record with OTT now, and will need to do a lot to bring it back to its former glory. But if a formerly discontinued clan, Nubatama, can make a comeback, then there is no reason that Oracle Think Tank will be in this situation forever. Despite the crummy support, the mistake of a keyword, and the extremely poor treatment of both Kumi and Tsuneto, Oracle Think Tank is still a beloved clan. There’s no telling whether the support in GBT12 can truly fix what has already been broken, but if you’re interested in picking up the deck just in case (while the prices are cheap), then you’ve come to the right place!

Grade 0:

Forerunner:

There’s only one forerunner you should consider running in pure Oracle decks.

Ikutsu-hikone is far from being broken, but he does have two nice skills that are welcome in Oracle. The first of which the the ability to counter charge, which is useful since the decks runs low on CB a lot of the time. However, the skill I find most useful is the second. Since the second ability is pre-GB, you can use it to maintain a semblance of early game rush, which is very important in this deck because the fact is that if you try to play Oracle like a Luard-esque wall deck, you will lose… by deckout. This isn’t Luard, you can’t stall like that and heck, you can’t even draw like that either. Play with your strengths, and rush down early. So use his skill when you ride up to grade 2 or 3. It helps.

Triggers:

The standard OTT 12 crit days are gone. Oracle plays better using a line up of 8 Crit, 4 Stand, 4 Heals. O r you can follow my lead because I actually play 9 crit, 3 stands.

Kusanagi and Muffin are the two major triggers you want in this deck. Kusanagi serves three purposes:

You can drop him on board for early game pressure. He helps to feed your soul. He powers up your vanguard for more pressure.

So why not Psychic Bird? Sure, Psychic Bird fulfils the first two purposes, but fails on the third. Since Psychic Bird and Kusanagi serve essentially the same purpose, you might as well choose the one that gives you more. Actually I do play 1 Psychic Bird. It’s my 9th crit.

Muffin serves a different purpose. Mainly she’s here to prevent deckout in the late game. She can also be used for her skill on Miroir turns.

NoNo may compete with Susanoo for soul, but she’s really good for what she is. She allows you to place her on board as a boost while maintaining your hand size. Now that’s pretty cool especially since we need that hand on the opponent’s turn more than we need it on ours.

Lozenge Magus is the standard generic heal trigger. You can either use the classic version to help prevent late game deckout or you can use the new version which does speed up deckout, but can also save you by drawing a card that you need at the cost of a card you didn’t need.

Grade 1:

This card needs no introduction. It’s an auto 4-of.

You can choose between the classic counter charge PG or the new Oracle PG. The Oracle PG is the one that I’m favouring right now, but it’s only because of it’s search-ability, not it’s skill. Any Oracle PG would be better than hikone, but he’s the only one we’ve got.

Ebisu is the MVP of Oracle decks right now due to his ability to effortlessly create 21k columns. He can even help the GR Susanoo hit an easy 41k + 1 crit, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. As such, he’s your key grade 1 right now. No, you cannot replace him with something else. Play 4.

Ophidian is good, of course, but it doesn’t rival Ebisu’s numbers. Play 2.

Miss Haze is a decent tech, but nothing more. If she doesn’t go off, that’s fine. You can ride her, or drop her if needed. Run 1.

Grade 2:

Because of Ebisu, your search criteria for Grade 2s is:

Can hit 11k easily. Has the Oracle keyword.

And since there are only three units that match this description, this line-up will be easy.

Oshiho is good in the early game because he has the potential to refund himself if needed for an Ame-no-sagume turn.

Rigid Crane is the card I usually just ride. I treat him like a vanilla GB1 Oracle 11k, because his skill will almost never proc anyways.

Crepe is my essential rearguard for Miroir turns, so I like to save her, rather than call her out recklessly like the other two.

Run 4 of each.

Grade 3:

Your key unit is Spiritual Sword, so run 4. Mainly you use him for the ability to look at the top card and move it. That’s it. You can get better value out of your soul than his stride-on, though it is nice to have when you just need 1 more card.

Battle Deity is your back-up, so run 2. He’s not very useful as the Vanguard, though his stride-on skill is decent. You will run out of counterblasts pretty quickly with him though.

Suggested Deck List:

Grade 0: 17

Deity Spirit Loyalist, Ikutsu-hikone x1 (SVG)

Lozenge Magus or Lozenge Magus Fine x4

Or, like me, you could play 3 Lozenge Magus Fine, and 1 Lozenge Magus

Divine Sword, Kusanagi x4

Battle Sister, Muffin x4

Nebula Witch, NoNo x4

Or, like me, you can play Nebula Witch, NoNo x3

Psychic Bird x1

Grade 1: 15

Heigher Deity Protecting Official, Amatsu-hikone x4

Divine Sword, Ame-no-Murakumo x4

Flourishing Trade, Ebisu x4

Pecious Ophidian x2

Astrologer, Miss Haze x1

Grade 2: 12

Battle Sister, Crepe x4

Rigid Crane x4

Deity Spirit Loyalist, Ame-no-oshiho x4

Grade 3: 6

Spiritual Sword of Rough Deity, Susanoo x4

Supreme Heavenly Battle Deity, Susanoo x2

Grade 4: 16

Dragon Battle Destroyer Deity, Kamususanoo x2

This card serves as my first stride if I can’t achieve Oracle pre-drive check.

Spiritual Deity of Benevolence, Ame-no-Sagume x1

This card is the ideal first stride.

Lord of Guidance, Wakahirume x1

This is card is Ame-no-Sagume or Miroir flip fodder.

Excite Battle Sister, Miroir x2

This is the main second stride if I have Crepe on board.

State Affair Subjugation Deity, Kamususanoo x2

This is good to make a comeback if my hand was depleted. It’s also sometimes used for the crit alone.

Chief Deity of the Heavens, Amaterasu x2

If it gets to this point in the game, the first GB8 likely won’t kill them.

Sun of Eternity, Amaterasu x2

Soul charge and big shield option.

Sunrise-on-high Godhawk, Ichibyoshi x2

Easy guard option.

Preserving One, Lozenge Magus Apex x2

GB8 rush option.

Game Plan:

The main idea of the deck is to apply as much early game pressure as possible by placing units that can refund themselves on board. Then first stride into Ame-no-sagume if possible. Next stride should be Miroir, and then maybe another Miroir after that. You should always aim to make 21k columns with the rearguards and swing as hard as possible, while still maintaining Oracle. No, it’s not easy, but THAT is how you win with Oracle.