Hello, my name is ElPresidente or wkim564 (depending on where you find me), and this is my set review of Gigant Shooter Tsukasa. This was my main tournament set for a while, winning me three local 20-30 man tournaments, and I’m here to present the set in all its blocky glory. As a general overview of the set, there are some key notes that make this extra booster extra special. For one, every card in the set comes in a special Gigant Rare version, with the cards being 4-5 times thicker than the regular versions. Secondly, the card art is pretty terrible.

Beyond the visuals, the set has a few notable things going for it.

Features a host of unfair card effects at level 0 and level 1

A very strong early play level 3

Lots of ridiculous climax combos

However with these strengths come a few notable weaknesses

Limited cardpool, 30 card extra booster with no other sets neo-standard with it, though certain promos could be added

0 search tools

A weak level 3 game overall

As the meat of the article, I will be presenting the cards in order by ID as a set review, then I will talk about my personal decklist at the end.

Tsukasa, Stable Gigant Brain

One of the most interesting cards in the set, featuring a never-before-seen effect. If you go first and it is the very first turn of the game, you may draw 2, then send a card from hand to stock. Afterwards, you may not attack for the turn. What this ultimately leads to is 1 selected card in stock, 1 card in clock (after clocking), and a full 7 card hand. Right from the get go you receive a full hand and a host of options. It doesn’t even end there, though. When the card comes to play, you actually get to look at the top card of your deck. If it’s a trait card, you can add it to hand, then discard any card from hand. This is a less unique ability, but a no-less-powerful one, making this card worth playing, even in the lategame. It’s worth noting that this ability synergises well with the unique turn-1 ability.

Simply put, this card is very good. Even if you don’t get the turn-1 effect every game (you won’t), the other ability is invaluable, digging you to the cards you need. This is particularly relevant because the series lacks search power. Hell, the hand filtering alone makes the card useful, and the turn-1 effect is merely icing on the cake.

Miruko, Hates to Lose

Another very strong card. Much simpler than the first card of the set, this second Level 0 card allows you to pay 1 and clock your topdeck on attack to salvage any character in the waiting room. The effect is super good, and allows you to pay out early climaxes that may otherwise get stuck in stock. Again, due to the lack of search this set has, this card stands out as an excellent tool for plussing in the early game.

Miruko, Tsundere Beauty + Miruko, Goddess of the Clear Water

The first card is a fairly typical level support with a fairly generic secondary effect. Comparable to cards like the Nisekoi level support, you get to ditch a climax from hand to exchange it for some other character card in your waiting room. However, the real reason this card is so strong relates to the Level 3 it synergises with.

Miruko, Goddess of the Clear Water, has the standard level 3 effect of draw 2 ditch 1, making her a cantrip. Her real strength lies in the early play condition she has. To advance summon this Level 3, you must control two of the Miruko level assist.

This condition is much, much easier than it might first appear. The level assist salvage effect allows you to grab another level assist, which then lets you repeat the process again to fetch what you may still be missing. While this does cost 4 stock and several cards in hand, you shouldn’t have a problem accruing the resources needed. The Level 3 is nothing special after coming down, but you’ve already gotten your cantrip out of her, meaning you still maintain hand in the worst case scenario (anti-change counter, because they aren’t getting over a 13k). The level assists are cards you quite probably wanted on field anyway

Tsukasa, Loves Gigant

One of the two finishing options in the set. It has a couple of unique features. First, it has the lowest base attack power of any character in the game, boasting a magnificent 1 power. Secondly, it has a strong support effect, but it comes with a few conditions. Firstly, this card must be in the front row, and secondly, it must not be reversed. Finally, it only gives power to cards without Tsukasa in the name. While it does appear to be finicky, it does give +5500 power to your field, which is nothing to scoff at.

The second effect is a very cheap version of other equivalent burn effects. You may pay 1 and ditch 2 with the climax in play (a stock + soul) to burn your opponent for 5, then the Level 3 gains the ability to save itself when it reverses – until the end of your opponent’s turn. The burn is most likely going to cancel, so just think of it as removing a climax from their deck. The second effect, however, is what makes the +5500 power relevant. Ignoring death by reversal means it will be pumping your other cards quite significantly until your turn comes back around. The biggest problem is the existence of Level 3 removal – topdeckers, clock kicks and stock kicks are all relatively common, meaning that the effect is still quite hit-or-miss. That being said, it’s still quite a decent card.

Tsukasa’s Mother, Surprisingly Skilled + Tsukasa, Searching for King Manger

Another two card combo. This one, however, functions as a midgame strategy. The first card is a clock bond, with the additional startup ability to pop an opposing frontrow Level 0 for 1 stock. Logically, the second card in the combo is the clock bond target. It is a unique 1/0 7k which immediately kills itself when front attacked. While you may be wondering why they printed such a bad card, it really isn’t that bad. For one, the card has a clock bond, meaning it can easily come back to hand. Secondly, the whole combo is entirely costless, enabling you to build stock easily with each cycle. The last part is a bit less obvious, but no less powerful. By sending himself to waiting room, effects such as clock kicks, on-reverse restands, or on reverse search effects cannot and will not activate when characters front attack him. It can prove to be a frustrating card to deal with, depending on what set the opponent is playing.

Miruko, Victory for the Dream

This Level 0 is absolutely insane. Its first effect is another topcheck effect. This time you get to either leave it or mill it. It synergises quite well with many other cards in the set, and is generally just a very good ability. The second effect is a climax combo, which is similar to the 1/0 Archer’s effect from Fate Zero. When you play the relevant climax (a gate), this card becomes a cost 1 level reverser. This is particularly devastating against decks that attempt to capitalise on their immunity to normal bombs – iDOLM@STER, Girlfriend Beta and Terraformars all come to mind. If they play 2/1 cards, this innocuous Level 0 can be even more threatening. This combo is a little heavy on the hand, but considering how this can break through fields with ease, it’s worth it.

Tsukasa’s Father, Missing

1/0 2k counter, fairly standard effect, good to have if you run certain blue cards.

Tsukasa, Illegitimate Child of the Burning Flames

The worst card red has to offer in this set. a 2/1 9500 clock encore is almost entirely unnecessary once you realize that you have a strong advance summon. The drawback can be pretty terrible. While you can mitigate its activation using the Level 0 topchecking Miruko, the chance of randomly losing cards makes this one a pretty bad fatty to rely on.

Manabu, Admiration for Tsukasa

An ok backrow support. The global 500 power never goes amiss, but the important part however is the brainstorm effect, which actually already existed in SFE. Though expensive, the ability to get climaxes to hand in this deck is invaluable. For one, it enables the strong climax combos to go off far more reliably than they would otherwise, and just as importantly, it makes the advance summon significantly more consistent.

Kirito, Part of the Power

This card is awesome. The first effect doesn’t exist on a level 0 anwhere else. It gives the front center slot a conditionless +1500 power, which is often enormous. The second effect is very good as well. It allows you to compress your deck while growing a 0-cost threat in the back row, threatening the eventual possibility of trading it for a far more valuable card. While blind markers can (as always) hit climaxes, the Level 0 Miruko can help you control which cards get stuck under him.

Ataru, Burnt out

The other ridiculous climax combo this set has to offer. You gain insane amounts of power for free on a costless character, letting you beat over basically anything. Additionally, you usually get free plusses, which is arguably more important. While the body itself can leave a bit to desire on defence, the ability to go up to 8500 without backrow more than makes up for any downsides. This is easily the most unfair card this set has to offer, and puts many similar effects to shame.

Manabu, Ready for Battle + Ruri, Ataru’s Little Sister

Hitting these two at the same time, as they fill the same role. This are your filler level 1 cards. The first is a costless 6k beater, while the latter is a 1/1 7k hand encore. They both have their pros and cons, and it ultimately boils down to personal preference. I personally prefer the latter due to the higher base and the fact this set generally builds a ton of hand.

Editor’s note: I would totally play the 1/0 6k, unless you are already running four of the 1/0 red Tsukasa and four of the 1/0 climax combo Ataru.

Ataru, Pinpoint Tsukkomi

Another level 3 option. Not a very interesting card, but it is super reliable. It’s basically an 11k healer, which never hurts to have.

Kirito, Secretly Skilled

Going from uninteresting to completely unique, this one of a kind card has so much text it will leave you and your field spinning. The first effect is a doozy. If your field is empty (save for this card), you may pick a level 3 or lower card on your opponents field and move it to clock, then this card gains 7k power for the turn. But it doesn’t stop there. Oh, it doesn’t stop there. It also gains the ability to restand and change positions on stage, all for the low, low cost of 2 stock and 2 hand. All up, you get a free clock kick, then you get to blow up the rest of their field.

Now some may be wondering how difficult it can be to get an empty field. However, Bushiroad thought of that too, and gave you a very easy way to circumvent any problems. Kirito’s second effect allows him to send characters from field to waiting room, gaining 1k power each time until the end of your opponent’s turn. It’s a strong all-in finisher reminiscent of Wooser’s field-wrecking bomb. While it competes with the Tsukasa + climax combo for finisher slots, I think we might have a winner. This card does have an extreme weakness to antidamage counters, but otherwise, there isn’t much which can prevent this card from wiping the whole field.

Ruri, Adorable Beauty/Ataru, Silent Fighting Will/Delinquent Elementary School Student/Kirito, Hidden Message in Speech

These are level 0 filler options for color fixing blue. That all they do, and they provide no real interesting utility.

Kirito, Dark Magician of the Abyss

The only spammable brainstormer of the set. This is a fairly standard effect which allows you to assign 2k power for every hit. Sadly, it’s a Level 1, which can mean it fails to get you out of some very specific (but also very horrible) situations.

Ataru, Blessed Child of the Fertile Land

2/1 3k counter, as standard as vanilla counters come.

Ruri, the Tiny Strength

2/1s are kinda bad, even when they become 2/1 10ks on opponents turn.

Manabu, Refreshing Breeze Blowing Through

So while this is an interesting card, it is also a fairly bad card. The effect is sort of reminiscent of Time Machine Miku, but with the added bonus of getting a marker on his return to the field, and the unfortunate downside of flying to memory at Climax Phase. With the marker, however, he becomes an 11500 2 soul character, which is a lot more than Miku’s 8.5k for one turn.

However, there are a few issues with the combo. Firstly, you have a good Level 2 play already in the form of the advance summon Miruko, which not only cantrips, but is a 2 soul beater immediately. Speaking of speed, this is a two turn effect. Next, because this goes to memory when you play the climax, it essentially requires you to put him in backrow and have a full front row to take advantage of his climax, making him objectively worse than other Time Machine variants. The one potential saving grace is the fact it combos with a +2 soul, which does things no other card can, but in this case, it probably isn’t enough. Overall, this card is rather weak, and is unnecessary in the deck.

Manabu, Moved to Tears

The last card of the set. It’s ok. The first effect can be super useful if you need to get rid of a field-based antiheal in order to maximise value from the Ataru level 3, while the second effect allows him to gain power for the turn. The package as a whole is rather meh, and ultimately he won’t make an impact in the majority of your games. This makes his inclusion into GST decks rather questionable.

For the last section will be the build I use and why each card is in the deck

Level 0

4 Tsukasa, Stable Gigant Brain

4 Miruko, Hates to Lose

4 Miruko, Victory for the Dream

2 Manabu, Admiration for Tsukasa

2 Kirito, Part of the Power

Level 1

4 Ataru, Burnt Out

4 Ruri, Ataru’s Little Sister

2 Kirito, Dark Magician of the Abysss

2 Tsukasa’s Father, Missing

Level 2

4 Miruko, Tsundere Beauty

Level 3

4 Miruko Goddess of Clear Water

4 Ataru Pinpoint Tsukkomi

2 Kirito, Secretly Skilled

Climaxes

4 Gates/Comebacks

4 Books

For the Level 0 game, you see all the strong utility options as 4-ofs. The salvager, the topcheck/reverser, and the first turn Tsukasa all give me good control over my hand and topdecks, and the topcheck/reverser in particular has good synergy with other cards. The other Level 0s are the back row cards – 2 of the brainstormer for the global 500, and 2 of the Kirito for the compression and further support.

At level 1, you see the Ataru at 4 of because the combo is simply that good. The next four cards are my filler of choice – a maxed count of Ruris. The last 2 cards are the spammable brainstormer Kirito in case I’m climax screwed, and 2 counters which work well in tandem with with the Ruri.

At level 2, we have 4 level assists. This makes the early level play a lot easier, letting me clock level supports early on and still ensuring the combo comes out each game.

At level 3 there are more cards than usual because the Miruko can be advance summoned, which makes her a Level 2 card. I run 4 of the healing Ataru because it heals, and only 2 Kirito, as it can be a dead draw in certain matchups (besides it being a 2 soul beater).

The climax spread is maxed out on the two climax combos which are run in this deck, being 4 Gates/Comeback triggers and 4 Book triggers. These are also good triggers in general, giving me more hand when I do happen to hit them.

The overall gameplan for the deck is to abuse the combos, reversing fat bodies with the Gate combo or going over the top (and plussing) with the Ataru combo. A climax should be dropped every turn or two to push damage. You maintain hand with the Book combo quite easily. 1/1 Ruri looks to turn the cards in hand into cards on the field, allowing me to maintain a steady flow of stock while setting up for the early play Miruko.