With the recently revealed legacy support, it seems as good a time as any to dive down the rabbit hole and analyze the Duel Sieger archetype as a whole. Specifically, how does it function, is it viable at the moment, and if not, will it be viable in the future? So without further ado, let’s get right into it.

Present Decklist

Having stuck with Duel Sieger ever since his introduction during the first season of the Buddyfight anime, years ago, I’ve done my best to refine the archetype over various meta periods. Those who are familiar with the original state of this Dragon Lord deck may remember that it was often slow, inconsistent, with the main cards requiring too much investment for very little benefit. Furthermore, with the introduction of more destruction and bounce effects, effect damage such as Penetrate, plenty of stat boosters, and blanket access to multiple attacks, the attrition win condition began to fizzle out.

Support was unfortunately sporadic, but since it was a fan favorite, that meant it would occasionally receive a card or two during legacy sets. It wasn’t until the end of the Buddyfight X era though, that the archetype would be the recipient of an essential card, that kept the archetype on life support during the Ace era of the game. I am of course referring to Duel Sieger, “Centurion”, the card that allowed Sieger to break away from his preordained evolution chain and offered the soulguard ability to any Dragon Lord that had him in its soul.

With the attrition plan out the window and Sieger having close to zero protection effects, unlike his spiritual successor Duel Jaeger, I had to significantly modify the game plan to give Sieger any semblance of a fighting chance during Ace. Following the old adage of “the best defence is a good offence“, I went about styling the deck to be as aggressive as possible, stripping it of all defensive options and adding in an FTK. The deck thus warped into a pure Glass Cannon capable of only lasting a turn. Options were limited to a First Turn Kill or a subsequent 20+ Damage combo. Failure would result in a loss since, given the nature of the deck, Lifelink Lose would trigger upon the destruction of your end game; Pinnacle of Martial Arts, Duel Sieger “God Eclipse”.







Decklist

[Flag] Ancient World

[Buddy] Duel Sieger, “Centurion”

Monsters (20)

Size 3

x4 Duel Sieger “SD”

x4 Duel Sieger, “Centurion”

x3 Duel Sieger “Tempest Enforcer”

x3 Pinnacle of Martial Arts, Duel Sieger “God Eclipse”

x1 Duel Sieger, “Sieger Turbulence!”

x1 Martial Arts Imperial Dragon Emperor, Duel Sieger

Size 1

x4 Fortune Dragon, Forbolka

Spells (24)

x4 Hundred Demons Sorcery, Rineryusho

x4 Linkdragon Order’s Links

x3 Divine Dragon Creation

x3 Dragon Emperor Legend

x2 Brawling Dragons

x4 Makings of a Great Dragon

x4 Sturdy Dragon Strike

Impacts (6)

x4 Evil Crusher, Steel Dragon Barrage!

x2 Explosive Happiness, Endless Magnum!

Present Win Condition

As you could probably imagine, with the deck having been stripped of all unnecessary and suboptimal defensive cards, the list would have to be quick on its feet and consistent enough to allow for multiple wins against Ace regardless of whether it would be going first or second. To achieve this, it is purported to function as follows:

First Turn Kill (FTK):

Barring any sort of damage reduction or attack nullification, your goal would be to increase your God Eclipse’s Critical to 6, by sending different Duel Siegers from your hand, deck, gauge, and field to the drop zone. This could be achieved in any number of ways. Primarily through the use of Sturdy Dragon Strike, discarding Duel Sieger “SD” from hand, burning gauge to unlock any trapped Siegers and even using cards like Hundred Demons Sorcery, Rineryusho or Linkdragon Order’s Links to send a Sieger from the soul to the drop. The remaining four damage would be provided by the Impact Evil Crusher, Steel Dragon Barrage!.

Alternatively, since there is no limit on the number of impacts you can cast each turn, it is quite possible to FTK with a 2 or 3 crit Duel Sieger in conjunction with a combination of impacts i.e. Evil Crusher or Explosive Happinnnes, Endless Magnum! One Turn Kill (OTK):

If you happen to go second, things become a tad more complicated since the combo requires four separate pieces to function properly. In essence:

(a) Duel Sieger, “Centurion”,

(b) Duel Sieger “Tempest Enforcer”,

(c) Hundred Demons Sorcery, Rineryusho or Linkdragon Order’s Links and

(d) Pinnacle of Martial Arts, Duel Sieger “God Eclipse”.

The goal is to deal 9 damage with Enforcer before forcing the evolution via a destruction effect and calling God Eclipse during the battle-phase, who in turn will typically have a minimum of 3 critical to a maximum of 6.

As it stands, this current (soon-to-be-eclipsed) edition of the deck is fairly consistent on both fronts. While the FTK has a proven consistency of 54% across 50 games, a little better than flipping a coin, the OTK averaged out at 80% across the same number of games.

For the first time in about a year, Duel Sieger is set to receive an extremely powerful support card that, on the surface, seems enough to revitalize the entire archetype. The card will be released, in English, on January 24th, 2020 in the “Perfected Time Ruler” set; S-BT07.

In and of itself, without waiting on further reveals, this new Sieger form is more than enough to revitalize the Dragon Lord archetype, in addition to serving as spicy tech in other decks. It has gained similar protections afforded to MAX Dragons by virtue of Domilord Zerberos and Overcrest and in addition, has the added benefit of allowing the player to swarm the board with multiple size three units. It has, of course, retained certain weaknesses, which will be analyzed below.

Deckbuilding a New List

With the above analysis complete, we come to what is most likely the reason you clicked on this article in the first place. How do we build around the original Dragon Lord’s new form? Well, I actually have two preliminary builds to share with you all. Subsequently, we will also discuss possible tech cards.

The original decklist set out above will be used as a blueprint for the builds contained in this section. As you will undoubtedly surmise, not a lot of the cards have changed, contingent on the build you wish to follow.

However, before we actually review the theory crafted deckbuilds below, it is important to note what has changed with the deck. Utmost and foremost, Sieger, in his new form, is no longer vulnerable to Destruction and Bounce effects. Furthermore, his abilities cannot be nullified nor can he be rested. These newfound protection effects stipulate that his board presence can now be sustained with minimal effort thus removing the need for a game plan based purely on aggression. Coupled with his newfound increase in both defence and attack power, as well as the soulguard ability, the Dragon Lord will comfortably be able to handle decks that struggle to reach increased attack levels.

With these facts in mind, let’s review what the potential new lists might look like:





It should be noted that while preliminary testing has been conducted, this is in no way the final draft of the particular lists. The builds may be subject to change upon further card reveals or the decision to splice non-Dragon lord size 3 monsters in the deck as well.

Tech Cards

While it is important to note what has changed with the new support, as mentioned above, it is also crucial to identify what has remained the same. In essence, what weaknesses have remained and how do we address them?

As with most Ancient World decks, Duel Sieger continues to be plagued by Lifelink Lose limitations and vulnerability to Effect Damage. While there are no great solutions to any of these issues, that do not require giving up precious deck space, there are nonetheless realistic options. Specifically:

Lifelink Tech: Deluge of Life | Dragon Blessing | Guardian Dragon Emperor, Amuray

Effect Damage: Links Glove, “Bonds Glove”

Of course, as it has become obligatory for modern-day competitive Buddyfight, one must not forget about the existence of Generic tech cards, that can be added to the deck on top of the existing build. Essentially: Loyalty | Buddy Option |Prevention of Prosperity and Vanity, ReAc: Empress and Recover Veil, to name but a few.

On a final note, please do be warned. Quite a few of the cards recommended are old and just because I have them in my collection does not mean you have to seek them out no matter the cost. Review the tech section and at the very least, you can definitely find budget alternatives that work just as well.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, the question persists! Is this card enough to make Duel Sieger a competitive archetype in today’s meta? That remains to be seen. However, with at the very least a cursory understanding of the present tier one decks, it can be submitted that Sieger, even with his new form, will most likely struggle to gain a competitive edge. But do not despair, for he will still be a force to be reckoned with!

Well Buddyfighters, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the content and if you have any constructive feedback, I’d be happy to listen. While I have been playing the game from the beginning and have stuck with certain archetypes and predominantly Ancient World for years, I do not consider myself the end-all-be-all on knowledge about these decks. This happens to be my personal take based on my experience and ensuing expertise at hand. As such, I maintain that this article should be treated more like a helpful guide, a nudge in a particular direction if you well, to allow you and other players to get creative and play the archetype as you see fit. Until next time, have a great day!