Don’t look into the light!

January 16, 2014

When I introduce new players into Kaijudo, I tell them the difference in Kaijudo from other Trading Card Games is that any deck can win. I still believe that is true, but players may not be willing to take risks to test that theory. There are many different decks that are considered the best decks in this format, they all have something in common though, the light civilization. Many of the cards that are considered the best in the game come from the light civilization, which may be true, but I feel like they can out shine other cards from different civilizations that can be just as good. When building a deck is important to broaden your play style and not just play the same deck over and over. It will help you understand Kaijudo more and become an all around better player. Let us go into more detail and see how much the light civilization is used in competitive play.

I’m using the resource of http://www.madebymatt.com/kaijudo/ which breaks down all the cards and civilizations that were used in both KMC Seasons from last year. If you look at the data, every person who won a KMC in the Winter Season used the light civilization in their deck. That is 100% that just blows me away. Out of the top 10 cards that were most commonly used from the top 4, 6 of them are light cards. Also if you look at the top 8 deck lists from the Winter Championship, which can be found here http://www.kaijudo.com/top-8-decklists-from-the-winter-championship, you can see that every deck used light in it. Somehow as a community we have gotten tricked into thinking light is the only way to win. Did this recently just happen or has it always been that way? I am going to look further into this by breifly breaking down each set and talking about what I believe were the top decks at the time and what cards they used.

Evo Fury

I am going to start with Evo Fury because that is when I started playing. Evo Fury came out before Organized Play was even announced. Local stores held Win-A-Box tournaments and held tournaments once a week to keep competitive players interested. When it first came out a deck called Blurple was on top. It consisted of Water and Darkness and used cards like [ccProd]Emperor Neuron[/ccProd] and [ccProd]Hydra Medusa[/ccProd] to beat your opponent as fast as you can. Quickly after that became popular, Cobalt Control came around, inspired by my friend Robby Stewart, This was the beginning of the powerful Light decks. It was a Light/Water/Darkness control deck that utilized the shield regeneration from Cobalt and tap down with [ccProd]Blinder Beetle[/ccProd]. The same type of control deck is still one of the most popular today. Another key in the deck was [ccProd]Keeper of Dawn[/ccProd], back then everyone used three copies of Fumes and [ccProd]Razorkinder Puppet[/ccProd], so Keeper of Dawn was a great counter to cards like that. Near the end of the format people starting using [ccProd]Orion, Radiant Fury[/ccProd] because it was one of the strongest creatures in the game and had an amazing ability at the time. The only card to prevent it from using its effect was [ccProd]Root Trap[/ccProd] and there simply weren’t that many good nature decks at the time. This deck pretty much dominated the format and did not have a bad match up against any other deck besides itself which was very skill based.

DragonStrike Infernus

This set introduced us to the most powerful Dragons in the game, [ccProd]Andromeda of the Citadel[/ccProd] and [ccProd]Lyra, the Blazing Sun[/ccProd], both light creatures. This format was dominated once again by LWD control but it did introduce a new deck called “Greed” Dragons. Greed Dragons was a deck that used the big dragons like Andromeda and [ccProd]Infernus the Awakened[/ccProd] and many Shield Blasts. The deck really focused around Bottle of Wishes because pretty much everything in the deck was a good target for it. People relied a lot on Andromeda which caused control people to build decks with 50+ cards in it, to help them from not decking out because of how much they used Andromeda.

Clash of the Duel Masters

This is one of the only sets that the Super Rare light cards were not good. We were given [ccProd]Sasha, the Observer[/ccProd]and [ccProd]Truthseeker Forion[/ccProd]. Both of them never see use in competitive play because their abilities just are not that practical. However the rare light cards we were given were extremely powerful. We were given Keeper of Laws and [ccProd]Piercing Judgment[/ccProd]. LWD control and LWDN control were some of the most powerful decks in this format. I used a LWD Leviathan control deck at the Summer Championship that led me to win it. My strategy in the mirror match was the get out Keeper of Laws as fast as I could. I would always [ccProd]Crystal Memory[/ccProd] and search it out. Piercing Judgment is debated to be one of the best Shield Blasts in the game because not only does in remove a creature from the battle zone, but it also taps another one down for only 4 mana. Another deck that made its debut at the Summer Championship was mono light rush. Not only did light have to most powerful control cards, but they also had the best rush cards. This deck dominated the tournament, luckily I was using [ccProd]King Coral[/ccProd] and was able to beat two of those decks in the tournament with it.

Shattered Alliances

Now enters Eternal Haven. This is the strongest light creature in the game so far. People thought this card was so powerful that they designed decks to mana ramp as fast as they can to this card. At the beginning of the format control was pushed aside and turned to Haven decks. All people were doing were playing Haven, have double breaker creature out to attack with, and then play [ccProd]Squillace Scourge[/ccProd] to finish off your opponent. Outside Stormspark Blast, there were pretty much no outs in the game to stop that combo from winning. Light was also given one the best aggressive cards, [ccProd]Blinder Beetle Prime[/ccProd]. This essentially is a fast attacking double breaker that can tap down 2 creatures the turn it is played. This card helped tempo decks become popular because you could play Prime on turn 5 and follow it up on turn 6 with [ccProd]General Finbarr[/ccProd].

Invasion Earth

Many people were skeptical about most cards in this set but two of the cards stood out more than all the others. They are [ccProd]Cassiopeia Starborn[/ccProd] and Reverberate. Cassiopeia found its way in LWD control and Dragons. It was an amazing finisher because it just stopped your opponent in their tracks. It was also a great Anti-Haven card. You and your opponent could be at a Haven and Haven standoff, someone plays this card, and now Cassiopeia is stronger than your opponents Haven because of the +4000 boost from your Haven. Reverberate has made LWD control mirror matches absolutely miserable. It is just a race to Reverberate pretty much, you always Crystal Memory for this card because it allows you to draw 5 cards on turn 6. I used one in my LWDF Dragon control deck at the Winter Championship it is how I won every single one of my control match-ups. My opponent would try their best to discard my hand, but as long as I had this card, their efforts were in vain.

As you can see the light civilization has been given many good cards. Are they really the best in the game or is everyone afraid to try other things because it is what they are used to? Right now I am trying my best to build highly competitive decks that do not use light but are able to win. It is a struggle, but if you put the pieces together right it really can work. Please feel free to tell me about decks that you use that does not use light. Next week I am going to go over cards I believe are really good and are not from the light civilization. Remember it is not all about winning, but having fun and enjoying the game. The Circuit Series makes its next pit stop in Nashville, Tennessee this weekend January 18-19th!

Bobby Brake