Neo Nectar [Deck List and Guide]

Grade 0: 17
1 Shieldseed Squire
4 Dungan (Bullet) Chestnut
4 Dancing Sunflower
4 Sweet Honey

Grade 1: 14
3 Caramel Popcorn
4 Carolla Dragon
4 Maiden of Blossom Rain
3 Lady of Kamorebi (the Sunlit Forest)

Grade 2: 11
3 Glass-Beads Dragon
4 Iris Knight
4 Hey Yo Pineapple

Grade 3: 8
4 Valkyrie Laurel
4 Maiden of Trailing Roses



IIb - Grade 1 Explanation

• Carolla Dragon - Like you could possibly make a deck without an 8k vanilla booster. Carolla's a good first ride for Nectars unless you start the game; in which case, the better option becomes Lady of the Sunlit Forest. He helps you, in your winning image, achieve many of your heavy swings against your opponent's 10k VGs. Useful for reaching 18-19k in your columns.

• Maiden of Blossom Rain - Another staple in most decks. Blossom Rain's your null/perfect guard to guard against dangerous swings from your opponent. Probably the only thing keeping you around when facing crossrides, as well as Limit Breakers like GARmore and Thunder Break. Always run her at 4 to keep yourself from getting wrecked.

• Lady of the Sunlit Forest - Your Lien/Arianhod for Neo Nectars. Useful for recycling your Dancing Sunflowers (draw triggers) for more effective rearguards/boosters, in addition to picking up nulls and copies of Trailing Roses. Also a 7k booster in itself, which is good if you're short on Carollas.

• Caramel Popcorn - A 7k g1 booster with the effective, yet underused skill of gaining 1k power per counterblast at "sorcery speed." For those of you unfamiliar with Magic: The Gathering, "sorcery speed" is the concept that your skill/ability can only be activated during the main phase, and not at any other time. While this can limit the potential power of cards such as Glass-Beads and Trailing Roses, it proves to be one of the key ways to handle crossrides/force nulls. Considering the only 10k booster in Neo Nectars is a Wingal clone, using CB 3 doesn't seem that bad when you can reach 21k without a booster. In fact, frequently, this card has proven to be a good end-game tool, when using CBs with the other cards in the deck isn't as significant. Still, I have optimism that BT08 will rectify this, and so I will be able to retire this card (or perhaps Lady if I feel I don't need a drawing engine) as a booster for a 10k that actually does its job.

IIc - Grade 2 Explanation

• Glass-Beads Dragon - There aren't really that many other 9ks in Neo Nectars that you can run. CB 2 for a draw isn't that bad, since you need more rears to play, and mid-game, your foe is more than likely to guard against a draw that could be devastating, but again, BT08 can hopefully offer a flipper/something else that can reasonably replace this card. Never play him for anything more than a 5k guard late-game, as his skill will never get used once you get to g3.

• Iris Knight - See Carolla Dragon. Again, very few standard clan-based decks run well without their 10k vanilla. With Carolla, you swing for 18, and with CB 3 on Popcorn, 20. Not really that much else to say; in the winning image, Iris Knight is one of your best options, for the sake of the ability to intercept, unlike one of its rearguard comrades that I'll talk about in a moment.

• Hey Yo Pineapple - This card, along with Trailing Roses, is the main reason this deck gets remotely offensive. Like Mermaid Idol, Flute, of the Bermuda Triangles, Pineapple gets a 3k boost when four or more other rearguards exist on your side of the field. This gangsta-fruity rapper drops hardcore beats when paired with Corolla, since he rises to 19k at optimal conditions. 20k at CB 2 with Popcorn. Unfortunately, he falls short when focused by other rearguards, since he bears only 8k base power. Still, a great card for this deck's purpose.

IId - Grade 3 Explanation

• Maiden of Trailing Roses - The trump of this deck, and, without a doubt, one of the best cards in the entire clan. It's an 11k Vanguard with a Persona Blast for 1 CB. One. Counterblast. I don't think you understand how many opportunities this opens up. Let me clarify here. For one counterblast and dropping a copy of Maiden, you get to check out the top five cards of your deck, drop up to two cards into the rearguard, and then shuffle the remaining cards back in. For one counterblast, you get to effectively move your triggers around, as well as expand your forces into the winning image established below by producing an entire column. Without a doubt, she's sticking around through BT08, even if a decent Limit Breaker is developed for Nectars.

• Valkyrie Laurel - There are very, very few Grade 3s worth playing in Neo Nectars, but Laurel is one of the best in terms of solid rearguard support. Gaining +2k when attacking Vanguard, Laurel swings for 20 with Carolla behind it, and 21 with Popcorn and CB 2. One of the recommended choices for the rearguard of the winning image, and not essentially the worst ride to get if you don't have Trailing Roses straight off. Just be aware; unlike Iris Knight, Laurel can't intercept, so you'll need a good hand to keep it and your Vanguard around. As a sort of note-to-self, I expect, when the new Limit Breaker for Neo Nectars pops up, to drop my usage of this card to 2x, since it's still a very good rear to play. Probably going to test 3x/3x/2x for the sake of continuity, and potentially drop the card in general if it doesn't work out.


• Simorgh, Sky Covering Wings - The S Special Intercept of Neo Nectars. I used to run this a long time ago, but took it out due to a lack of need for it in this deck plan. If you're playing offensively in Vanguard (which is usually the case), S-Type Intercepts cover for a lack of 10k guards in hand, but are usually not the best thing to use in the end.

• Sage of Holywood, Irminsul - A card in my very first build that let me bring out more Neo Nectars, as long as they were Grades 1 or 2. Not a good card due to its 7k status, which is harsh on a g2, and its skill is not as effective as it would like.

• The Gene line - I'll be honest. I haven't actually tried using the line in the deck, but I fear it takes away a considerable amount from the other choices in this deck, such as Glass-Beads, since the cards are similar in that they have to hit the Vanguard to work. Plus, forcing a 10k Grade 3 without any use beyond bolstering the rearguard with two Grade 2s that are resting isn't very helpful, regretfully. So, I'm going to keep my verdict that the line isn't very helpful for the core of this deck until I do some further testing.


IVa - With

Your starting Vanguard is Shieldseed Squire. It's a 5k booster---in essence, a vanilla trigger that you can use early to support your Vanguard---so take advantage of it when you ride. Move it to where you think you'll need it, whether that means Circle 1, 2, or 3. For this deck, don't move Squire up front, since you don't have the Gene line to work with.

Your grade 1 ride should be Carolla to start, unless you're beginning the game. Then, if you have Lady, go ahead and ride her to utilize her skill and draw into something worthwhile if you have a draw trigger or non-useful card you want to drop (e.g. an early Pineapple, Popcorn). Carolla's 8k is usually enough to handle most situations, and allows for simple guards against 12/13k swings by dropping 5-10k in guard. Although, you're going to want those counterblasts later for your key cards.

Grade 2 rides depend on your situation. If you have 2 CB to spare, you could ride Glass-Beads and hope to hit, so that you can draw a card. In most situations, though, you're better off riding Iris Knight and getting Carolla/Popcorn to boost. At this point, you're going to start wanting to swing for 18k against some of the opponent's rearguards so that he/she is forced to start paying attention to the situation that's slowly unfolding. Never ride Hey Yo Pineapple, because it is much more effective as a rearguard in mid-to-late game, since it counts towards its own ability.

Grade 3 should always be Maiden of Trailing Roses. As an 11k Vanguard, she has the best defense in the clan against 10k Vanguards' swings, and you're going to want her Persona Blast once or twice to optimize your field for the winning image. The deck's best field is usually any combination of Valkyrie Laurel and Iris Knight in the front row, assisting Trailing Roses, with 2-3 Carollas, and maybe a Popcorn, in the back in order to swing for 18-19k. While it's not 20k just yet, Nectars still force some heavy hand usage, especially due to their on-hit effects. Keep cracking at your opponent's Vanguard and Grade 2 rears, and you should be able to achieve victory.

IVb - Against

Neo Nectars have their glory moments, but they fall short to decks with crossrides/11k Vanguards all their own. Kageros' retire/bind skills remove a lot of the protection/intimidation the plants have on their foes, which allows for clean hits on the Vanguard. Remember that Maiden is an 11k and swing for 21+ optimally, and you should be fine. Crossrides and Limit Breakers that can swing for 25k+ should consider this clan a pushover until BT08 actually rolls around, since you effectively shut down their swings by sitting at 12-13k, or prevent them from having a hand to use for their rearguard.

Be sure to null Maiden when at 4 damage, so that you don't get overwhelmed with more Neo Nectars, and make certain you pick away at cards like Iris Knight and Hey Yo Pineapple. Making your opponent choose whether to protect his/her forces or the Vanguard really cripples the deck.

Bumping for potential comments/suggestions, despite this clan's limited pool.

Deck's currently 3-1. Lost with it yesterday because I made an incredibly stupid mistake in terms of guarding. Won three straight today. :V

Bump #2. Made a few grammatical changes to some things that were bothering me before, and added a few notes to Popcorn and Laurel.

Also fixed a mistake I made in describing Maiden of Trailing Roses. It's two Rearguards for her Persona Blast, not three. Still, that's a column, which can really mix things up.