by Kyousuke Kousaka Sun Aug 12, 2012 3:36 pm
No, Alfred's ETCG. He's in BT01, the first set, as one of the top-priced cards, since he's the one on the pack art.
Let me try to explain the concept of this deck in a more detailed fashion. My friend Touya (who happens to be on this forum :3) wrote a very extensive article on his blog about Alfred and the "fifth Marron" that he happens to have within his 18-20k potential bulk swing. It's a pretty good article, because it addresses what Alfred has to offer to Royal Paladins and the effective engine he creates with a full field present. Needless to day, it's understandable why people feel the need to build a deck around him.
Yet, the main focus in the OCG, noted and touted by several members here as the reason for Alfred Paladins are so successful, happens to lie on the rearguard column with Palamedes/Toypugal, which swings for a hearty 22k against MLB, a card in one of the best decks in the game, to force 2+ card guards. It's clearly effective, as "Alfred" Paladins topped in Japan.
But again, it wasn't Alfred that made the deck what it was. It was the clamor for Palamedes' column power. 22k is vastly superior to 20k in that it allows Palamedes to hit MLB and 11ks in ways a lot of other columns wish they could. Casey and I spent some time examining this fact on MSN, crunching some numbers in terms of columns and potential threats.
What we came up with, in the end, is a deck focusing specifically on that column power Palamedes is praised for. The theory is that all of your columns swing for at least 21k, which lets you hit anything and everything in the ECG, since MLB and the crossrides don't exist yet. This is key in a meta where Royals also lack their superb first Vanguard, Wingal Brave, which keeps them in a different place from a lot of other decks, like Retire Kagero, the main deck expected to crush things in NA Nationals, especially now that they have their hefty rearguard tool, Dual-Axe Archdragon. Not having as much versatility as they would like forces Royals to adapt a different sort of playstyle until BT05 comes out, which in this case makes them act like Narukami/Great Nature and hit the Vanguard for hefty amounts.
Basically, you get to grade 3 and set up your lineup as Palamedes/Marhaus/Palamedes in the front row, Marron/Toypugal/Marron in the back. Each column is then able to swing for 21k, which is guaranteed to force 2+ cards as a guard, limiting the opponent's effectiveness as the game progresses. The Marhaus/Toypugal column is your Vanguard column, because the typical fashion is to have your Vanguard target the other Vanguard, and with Marhaus' skill, that's a good choice to make. The Palamedes/Marron columns sit at 21k as well so you can snipe rears and also hit Vanguards for the same amount as Marhaus. Once BT05 comes out, I expect to make the standard line more of a triple Palamedes setup with the same rearguard line, possibly with a Toypugal to allow for an extra hit on MLB. Marhaus will probably get negged/sideboarded for maxed Palamedes and Soul Saver.
Oh, right. Soul Saver. I forgot that people have such mixed feelings about it. Funny thing is, as main Vanguard in general, it's not half bad, since with Marron/Toypugal behind it, it's Palamedes swinging at Vanguard for 21/22k, which is a common theme in this deck. The main reason it's here, for right now, is an unparalleled Final Turn gimmick that Casey uses in her standard Royals: boost the RG columns to stupid levels and swing for 26-27k, numbers that cause egregious amounts of guarding if the opponent doesn't have a null to drop. Soul Saver is fantastic tech in this deck, and the reason I plan to max it in BT05 is to compensate for the work Wingal Brave will do alongside it in that meta change. Riding a set of Soul Savers isn't actually that bad, since you get another card for Holy Charging Roar.
Of course, the deck, like all Royals decks (except MLB, I guess), gets heavily crippled by Retire Kagero, a decktype that is essentially the only real way to run Kagero right now in ECG, and will get almost entirely replaced by Ji Enddo decks upon the release of BT05 internationally. Getting your rearguards sniped when on g3 is not an option. A lot of your cards will be spent trying to maintain your image, which may force you to take some hits on Vanguard to build yourself up. In addition, it lacks the Alfred-based Lien engine that allows for card cycling, which would be more of a problem if you didn't really need to cycle cards in hand. I don't really have much to say in regards of how to solve that problem, since again, Alfred decks face the same sort of trouble, as well as standard Royals. The best I can say is to snipe their rears as much as they hit yours, and see if you can get Blaster Blade out to help yourself get to that point. Although, with your columns, your main concern becomes the front row. And Retire Kags only have so many Kimnara, so your backrow may be slighty more safe than you think.
Also, yeah, I do a Bang/Platinum cross-main on Continuum Shift, although if you ever see me on PSN, all I do is Tagertroll to get myself ranked wins for laughs.
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