Hey there Kaijudo duelists, Aiden Thorne here, and I am bringing you my second Alter Reality Games article! Last time I went over a few of the most popular decks that were likely to be all over the place at KMCs, but this time I'm going to be teaching you to build decks that keep your wallet as happy as possible. Now when I say budget I don't mean a deck that costs $150, I mean a deck that is going to cost you less than $50.
Kaijudo has been one the cheapest TCGs out there so far and that makes this article almost seem redundant, but this will help out those players who don't wish to spend too much and still be competitive. If you play Kaijudo, then you have no doubt heard the hype on cards such as [ccProd]Andromeda of the Citadel[/ccProd], [ccProd]Scaradorable of Gloom Hollow[/ccProd], [ccProd]Emperor Neuron[/ccProd], [ccProd]Tatsurion the Unchained[/ccProd], and even [ccProd]Crystal Memory[/ccProd]—these are cards that the casual player rarely has access to.
They are all powerful cards, but are they a prerequisite to winning? Of course not! Though it is certainly helpful to have them, but regardless, let's get started!
Cheap Decks Are Usually Fast
When it comes to being cheap, there is no question that rush is the easiest choice. There has been one deck that has been taking the spotlight more than others in this category, and that deck is Mono Fire Drakons. This is probably the most consistent deck you can build for under $20, and it is incredibly user friendly—just keep tapping your board!
The next deck I want to take a look at it is Saber-Bolt; you may remember this one from my last article as a deck I expected to be seeing quite often at KMCs, and that is because it doesn't cost much to make! I want to add an immediate disclaimer to that statement, there are two types of Saber-Bolt. There is Dark Saber-Bolt which utilizes [ccProd]Skull Shatter[/ccProd] and [ccProd]Terror Pit[/ccProd] and there is Aqua Saber-Bolt which utilizes [ccProd]Aqua Seneschal[/ccProd] and [ccProd]Rusalka, Aqua Chaser[/ccProd]. For the budget player one of those is going to be vastly easier to build than the other, and that leads us to my next point.
Darkness Is Not A Budget Civilization
As much as I hate to admit it, Darkness just isn't cheap anymore. [ccProd]Terror Pit[/ccProd], [ccProd]Scaradorable of Gloom Hollow[/ccProd], and [ccProd]Skull Shatter[/ccProd] are nearly staples of the civilization and all of them are on a constant rise in price. They are perfectly accessible to players willing to fully invest in the game, but if you want to teeter between multiple games this civilization is going to add up.
The Twenty Dollar Win - Mono Fire Drakons
Now I mentioned this deck earlier as being user friendly and that really couldn't be more true. The purpose of this deck is to attack as fast as possible and win the game within the first four or five turns; you'd be surprised how easily this deck can pull that off in optimal situations. The core component of this deck is what the title implies: Drakons. These decks are packed full of Drakons and Fast Attackers that just aim to create an overwhelming offense; the downside? If you don't win early you will lose. So let's take a look at one of these decks that you can build for under $20.
Creatures:
3x [ccProd]Blaze Belcher[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Jetflame Bodyguard[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Branca the Treacherous[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Drakon Weaponsmith[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Cliffcutter[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Jet-Thrust Darter[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Draglide the Swiftest[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Gilaflame the Assaulter[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Drakon Warchief[/ccProd]
Evolution Creatures:
1x [ccProd]Blastforge Captain[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Burnclaw the Relentless[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Laser-Arm Drakon[/ccProd]
Spells:
1x [ccProd]Barrage[/ccProd]*
2x [ccProd]Heat Seekers[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Comet Missile[/ccProd]*
Cards with an asterisk are Shield Blasts.
This is a pretty straight forward version; there are plenty of variants out there that you can use, and most of them will be quite cost effective. In terms of playing the deck there isn't all that much to say, there is a Drakon lineup that is supported by 12 Fast Attackers—6 of which are also Drakons! With the combination of Drakons and their evolutions you should easily be dropping a creature every turn and swinging at your opponent; if you run into blockers the deck runs [ccProd]Heat Seekers[/ccProd] and [ccProd]Comet Missile[/ccProd] to help you force your way through! Be warned though, rush decks can easily be stopped short by pesky Shield Blasts, and they're hard pressed to win in the late game.
Budget Saber-Bolt
Saber-Bolt is already a popular deck that is cheap to make, but not quite as cheap as Drakons; though that isn't too bad of a trade to be able to survive if the game does go late! As I mentioned earlier Darkness is not the best civilization to play for the players who don't want to spend a lot; so we'll be using Water, or the variant better known as Aqua Saber-Bolt. Similar to Drakons this is a very aggressive deck that uses [ccProd]Bronze-Arm Sabertooth[/ccProd] as offensively as possible, and when your opponent eventually banishes him (Which sends him to your mana zone), you follow him up with big late game Fast Attackers like [ccProd]Bolt-Tail Dragon[/ccProd]!
Fire:
3x [ccProd]Bolt-Tail Dragon[/ccProd]
1x [ccProd]Spellbane Dragon[/ccProd]
1x [ccProd]Tatsurion[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Gilaflame the Assaulter[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Barrage[/ccProd]*
1x [ccProd]Tornado Flame[/ccProd]*
2x [ccProd]Heat Seekers[/ccProd]
1x [ccProd]Comet Missile[/ccProd]*
Water:
3x [ccProd]Rusalka, Aqua Chaser[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Aqua Seneschal[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Logos Scan[/ccProd]
Nature:
3x [ccProd]Bronze-Arm Sabertooth[/ccProd]
1x [ccProd]Bronze-Arm Tribe[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Razorhide[/ccProd]
1x [ccProd]Moonhowler Tribe[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Prickleback[/ccProd]
3x [ccProd]Reap and Sow[/ccProd]
2x [ccProd]Root Trap[/ccProd]*
Cards with an asterisk are Shield Blasts.
As far as budget decks go, this deck right here should cost around $40 to build and will perform decently well. It has vastly more consistency than the rush variant, but it doesn't quite have the burst power that the rush list had. When it comes to competitive gaming though, we know that consistency can be absolutely crucial. In order to play this deck effectively you will need to be aggressive, but not so much to the point that you completely ignore card advantage. If you get a solid aggressive hand that will play out perfectly, then by all means, but normally you'll want to be attacking and then reassess the situation to judge how best to proceed.
Well, you guys just learned how to build two decks incredibly cheap! Feel free to throw your own spin on the lists and experiment; there are plenty of budget lists out there and these were just a couple of examples. Don't forget to pay attention to vanillas that would normally be shrugged off, such as [ccProd]Moonhowler Tribe[/ccProd]. He makes really good evo bait for [ccProd]Bronze-Arm Sabertooth[/ccProd] and he fits perfectly into the turn two slot! I'll be back next week with another article, see you then!
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