I’d quickly thrown together another deck that I wanted to try out this week; Ice and Lightning. The aim of the deck was to dull opposing forwards to get damage through, and use just enough summons and abilities to slow them down.

There were a couple of new cards that I really wanted to test; Vayne and Amon. Amon seems generically awesome, and Vayne will either be amazing in some games or completely awful in others. Onto my decklist!

ICE/LIGHTNING TEMPO

Forwards (25)

3x Amon (2-098L)

3x Cait Sith (1-132C)

3x Laguna (1-059R)

3x Lightning (1-142R)

3x Nero (2-042R)

3x Snow (1-043H)

3x Squall (1-041L)

2x Vayne (2-026L)

2x Zalbaag (1-136C)

Backups (16)

2x Black Mage (1-130C)

1x Chemist (1-031C)

2x Devout (1-048C)

3x Jihl Nabaat (1-193S)

1x Jihl Nabaat (2-037R)

1x Maqui (1-209S)

2x Ninja (2-115C)

1x Serah (1-045R)

1x Seymour (1-137R)

1x Summoner (1-040C)

1x Summoner (1-138C)

Summons (9)

3x Adrammelech, the Wroth (2-117R)

3x Odin (1-123R)

3x Shiva (1-038R)

MATCH ONE vs JAYDEE (FIRE/WIND UNBLOCKABLES)

This was the situation after a couple of turns. I was going to lose this damage race, and with a Red Mage on the field already, my blocking options were going to be limited. Zidane and Capricious Thief were both quite resistant to my dull effects, so I decided to flood the board with forwards, resulting in this a couple of turns later.

With this many forwards on the field, I was able to overwhelm my opponent and win the game. WIN

MATCH TWO vs LIAM (EARTH/WATER)

The one forward I didn’t want to see played was Guy, so you can guess which one appeared almost straight away. He is excellent for shutting down Ice, and with his Brave ability he is able to strike with impunity. Luckily, I drew into an Odin and got rid of him, but the damage was already done.

With Cloud and Vincent on the field, Liam was able to continue the beatdown and win the game. LOSS

MATCH THREE vs AARON (ICE/WATER)

I was quite pleased to have a Vayne in hand after my opponent played Kuja, as it keeps him dulled. Still early days here, but off to a good start.

My opponent made a bit of a comeback, but I’ve got Snow and Kuja frozen here. Once my Snow attacked, dulling the Capricious Reaper, it allowed my whole array of forwards to attack for the win. WIN

MATCH FOUR vs ALEC (WATER/ICE)

I think that Alec is going to want to forget this game as quickly as possible, as everything just went right for me. As you can see in the picture above, I got him to four damage without reply. I dulled his forwards when I needed to, and had the right removal when I needed it. The game continued in a similar fashion, with me getting a Jihl Nabaat to keep his attackers frozen. WIN

MATCH FIVE vs LYNDON (ICE/LIGHTNING)

We were playing very similar decks here, but Lyndon’s was slightly more controlling. We got off to a cagey start, taking our time to put backups into play and only tentatively attacking each other.

Here’s me slightly on the back foot. Terra is such a pain to deal with; and along with Lightning this was going to go downhill fast.

At this stage I just tried to throw enough bodies in the way to stop him; it didn’t work. Well done to Lyndon for a good match! LOSS

FINAL STANDINGS

Rank Player Wins 1st Lyndon 5 2nd Liam 4 3rd Tim 3 4th Jaydee 2 5th Alec 1 6th Aaron 0

WHAT WORKED WELL?

Snow was fantastic, but that’s not really a surprise. Might include another copy of Serah to help keep him safe, as he’s instrumental in dealing damage.

Vayne worked well. Two copies seemed to be the right amount as it meant that I’d probably see one copy each game.

Jihl Nabaat was another great card, and now that there is another version of her, (released in Opus 2) it’s more likely that you’ll be able to use her special ability.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK OUT WELL?

Laguna was a bit rubbish to be honest. I think I might try out the new 3-cost version released in Opus 2.

Adrammelech was underwhelming. I’d probably swap this out for Ramuh, which while it is equally restricted in its target, it’s a lot cheaper for not much less damage.

I cannot make my mind up about Nero. I’m not running Weiss, so he’s never going to get the power boost, but that’s not really a big deal. Could be tempted to play Rinoa instead, particularly as I’m using Squall and Laguna.

I’d also be tempted to swap the Opus 1 Black Mage for the Opus 2 version.

WINNING DECKLIST – ICE/LIGHTNING by LYNDON O.

Forwards (20)

1x Amon (2-098L)

3x Capricious Reaper (2-039C)

3x Cid Raines (1-192S)

3x Lightning (1-141L)

2x Rygdea (1-211S)

3x Snow (1-043H)

3x Terra (1-046H)

2x Terra (1-047R)

Backups (18)

3x Black Mage (2-108C)

3x Devout (1-048C)

1x Duke Larg (1-057R)

3x Jihl Nabaat (1-193S)

2x Red Mage (1-121C)

1x Serah (1-045R)

2x Summoner (1-139C)

2x Time Mage (1-049C)

1x Zemus (2-148H)

Summons (12)

3x Cyclops (2-107C)

3x Mateus, the Corrupt (2-044R)

3x Odin (1-123R)

3x Odin (1-124R)

SUMMARY

Well done to Lyndon on the tournament win! Regionals are approaching, and I know that our community is planning on attending at least one event, so this was good practice. Saying that, I’ve got no idea which deck I’m going to use at regionals (I probably should sort that out sooner rather than later!). We’ve got another couple of local tournaments coming up, so plenty more time to decide.

Cheers!