Budgetguard 31: Alk Bermuda

Hey Cardfighters,

With the advent of the new Bermuda extra booster I wanted to take a look into new budget options that might be available for the clan!

Winning Image: Power Columns


(Image Courtesy of Cardfight Wikia)
     OOOH look at the pretty full art!!! Anyway Alk is the main boss of the deck because she allows you to ride a grade 3 from your hand after she attacks and then retrun her to your hand and then draw a card! this is extremely useful for reusing breakrides but that isn't quite in our budget. Instead we are using Alk for her infinite loop with herself to draw and extra card everyturn! This also powers up cards which get +10k when a grade 3 is placed on VG which will be the main focus of the deck.





Deck List:
Starter: Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Shizuku
8 crit
4 stand (Dreamer Dreamer, Kruk)
4 heal

G1s:
4 Mermaid Idol, Elly (4.30)
4 Prism-Duo, Loretta
4 Duo Happy Diary, Sheryl (0.90)
1 Diva of Silence Iska

G2s:
3 Afternoon Tea Party, Couver
4 Top Gear Idol, Sanya
4 Mystery Solving Time, Ithil

G3s:
4 Costume Idol, Alk (4.40)
4 Dancing Fan Princess, Minato
1 Duo Lady Canotier, Salinas

G4s:
2 Fluffy Ribbon Somni (0.90)

Final Cost: $39.3 (USD) 

Deck Comments:
     The core of the deck is obviously Alk and Minto/Ithil so we max them all out at 4. Next we have 4 LBE to make sure we can combo off early. Sheryl is a good card to include in the combo to net extra draws each turn. Iska is an 8k to be a good ride target and sometimes to make Ithil hit even harder.The last card of note I think is Dreamer Dreamer Ithil which lets you activate Sheryl and is useful for multi attack chains combining Ithil or Minato with Alk.

Match ups:

Overall Performance:
      The deck is pretty inconsistent to be honest. You need 2 Alk to go infinite and then you need copies of Ithil or Minato to have it do anything more than draw you a card every turn. The other big draw back is that you have to attack with alk meaning you lack a lot of power and threat from your vanguard. I'm sure the deck can get a lot better with strides but I'm iffy at its overall ability to be competitive. Stride will mainly help by letting you play a strong game and then finish off once you've got all the pieces for your combo.

Tips for Mastering:

• Think about when it is better to use Alk's skill or stride. Both are very strong but they accomplish different things.
• Sheryl is the key method to drawing you might want to consider riding other grade 1s over her to enable your plusses.
• The Stand trigger is insanely good, but practice makes perfect and you'll need to try it out to know how to maximize its potential.

Tips for adding money:
     To add money the first thing I would suggest is investing in Breakrides. Alk has an amazing breakride game since you can repeatedly breakride with Alk's skill as long as you have more in hand. That being said I think Meer is the best because you can call Ithils or Minato's from your hand and then Alk's skill will activate after the attack powering them up. After getting some breakrides you'll want to flesh out the stride zone. Olivia is probably out of budget reach for most of my readers and it doesn't really suit the deck anyway. I would advocate for more Somni's to provide on hit pressure and set up your field for Alk's combos and probably Atmos for a high powered vanguard attack. There are definitely a lot of directions you can take this deck so give it a try!

Do you have any comments on the deck? Want to request a budget deck from me? Please leave a comment and help me help you.

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Thanks for reading,

Chris

Budgetguard 23: Bermuda Bounce

Hey Cardfighters,

This week we look at the lovely and quite expensive mermaid clan of Bermuda Triangle. I had to work around a lot with this clan to come up with a budget build but here it is!

Winning Image: Bouncing units to gain power and draw cards.


(Image Courtesy of Cardfight Wikia)
     The main goal of this deck is to be able to repeatedly stride this unit which is why I have put it as the main boss card. The reason for this is that many of the more powerful boss cards in Bermuda triangle are too expensive or just expensive enough to prevent me from running PGs along with strides. Also being able to bounce 2 cards for free is crazy good when we look at cards like peace which will net you even more cards.


(Image Courtesy of Cardfight Wikia)
    The primary grade 3 of this deck is Ciao, This is mainly because she is inexpensive money wise and gives us the duo name. The second reason is for her limit break ability which will let you bounce two units with the same name. Provided that you have the right field set up then you should be able to gain power while adding extra cards to your hand.



Deck List:
Starter: Duo Lovers Singer, Darling
8x Crit
4x Draw
4x Heal

G1s:
4x Duo Petit Etoile, Peace (0.20)
4x Mermaid Idol, Elly (5.00)
4x PRISM-Duo Yarmouk
2x Duo Clear Parason, Kura

G2s:
4x PRISM-Duo, Avon
4x Duo Kelpie Jockey, Syr Darya (0.50)
3x Duo White Crystal, Ricca

G3s:
4x Duo Delicious Girl, Ciao (0.30)
4x Duo Lady Canotier, Salinas

G4s:
4x Legend of the Glass Shoe, Amoris (2.75)

Final Cost:  $26.25

Deck Comments:
     This deck focuses on two types of cards. ones that get effects from bouncing and ones that are gaining power whenever another unit is bounced. By focusing on the cards that draw first you can set up an appropriate field for getting large power boosts. Its a little pet peeve of mine to have cards that draw more cards that draw cards. This is why we include the power gainers and Salinas who can discard your extra cards to gain power. There are also a few unflipping sources (Kura and Ricca) which will help you continue drawing using your Peaces even when you aren't able to draw 3.


Match ups:

• VS. Aqua Force (Loss)
• I got to go first and I started of with riding Kura beause my other grade 1s were important to my main strategy (yourmak and peace). I do an early rush at grade 2 but he guards to stop me. A 10k attacker comes out for him. I respond by calling the rest of my field and using Darling to get some draw power going with my 2 Peaces and powering up my Avon. He gets to grade 3 and strides with the Maelstrom stride but isn't able to get off a 4th battle. I ditch a 2+1 to stride and bounce a ricca and peace to continue drawing. 4-3. He rides into Glory Maelstrom setting up the crossride and uses the Maelstrom stride again. I have the perfect guards to live through the turn. 4-4. I stride again bouncing both peaces to draw. I call Kura to set up my next turn with more counterblasts. His crossride status really messes up my numbers and I'm unable to make a good push. 4-4. He strides into lambros this time. I barely survive but he got a heal which is gonna make this hard. I stride and draw more with my peaces. He no guards but I get the cursed draw trigger and draw the crit I need to finish the game. His crossride makes guarding my attacks easy and I fall to lambros the next turn. 5-6.
• VS. Aqua Force (Loss)
• For some reason everyone is playing aqua force today... This time I'm playing second. I get a crit on my first drive check. 2-0. He goes on the offensive but I use my crit to guard. I reply with an aggressive field of my own, checking another crit and letting my rearguard hit which gets  aheal trigger. 4-1. He drive checks a heal on his turn 3-1. My turn comes and i go to stride setting up a weak field but double missed heal trigger puts him to 5 damage again. 5-2. He strides Tidal-bore and I protect my field from his attacks. Not having a grade 2 to stride I use Darling to bounce 2 Avons the make another weak field. I get no passed and can't break through his hand. With only 4 cards in my hand I can't stop lambros and thats game. 5-6.

Overall Performance:
    The deck was okay. Its not incredibly powerful and its very dependent on drawing the right cards and having the right field setup. I would have to play around with the deck again to get the numbers right and make it less reliant on getting everything at the right time. I think there is potential for the deck but it just needs to have more consistency.

Tips for Mastering:

• Managing counterblasts is super important because you can't draw off peace if all your CB are closed off.
• Don't be afraid to use Peace's skill even if you don't have all 3. The extra draw will help you get other important cards.
• When you are bouncing cards choose carefully to maximize the power of your field. 

Tips for adding money:
     The first thing you should probably do is choose a new boss card to power the deck through its non-stride turns. I would suggest using the Promo legions that came with the first G-trial decks or if your willing to drop a lot more money get some breakrides/Reits for restanding or powerful effects. The next thing will be to fix the cards as you don't hit powerful numbers. I would switch out Avons and Ricca's  for more powerful rearguards such as Rhone or the legion mate. Finally you should finish off the strides with Nectaria and maybe an Atmos or Blizza.


Do you have any comments on the deck? Want to request a budget deck from me? Please leave a comment and help me help you.

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Thanks for reading,

Chris