Budget Deck Profile: Genesis Witches

Today I will preview one of my more favored cheaper deck. While it is nothing too flashy in terms of mechanics, it is very streamline (beat with columns) and its full of our cute and lovely witches from genesis, here's the list:

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Mahou Majo Columns

Grade 0: 17
1 Koroha (FVG)
4 Shiroma (crit)
4 Kukurihime (crit)
4 Lemonccino (crit)
4 Laurier (heal)

Grade 1: 13
4 Framboise (PG)
4 Melissa (CB1 call when SB)
3 Thyme (on call mill 3, 1 to soul)
2 Skoll (stride fodder)

Grade 2: 12
4 Chicory (12k attacker, mate)
4 Jasmine (SC3 12k attacker, mate)
4 Cardamon (CB1 call when SB +2k)

Grade 3: 8
4 Mint (Finisher)
4 Fennel (Main Ride)

Grade 4: 8
3 Doom brace (Your main stride)
1 Madew (fetch grade 3 from drop)
2 Varnagandr (Situation stride)
1 Blizza
1 Dione



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How to play this deck

The deck has a few focus, each helping the other somewhat:

• Soul Chaining by looping Doom Brace SB3 and SC3 if 5 or less soul
• Pushing 21k RG columns (Doom Brace, Mint, +3k with 12k attackers)
• Legion returning triggers after thinning the deck for trigger density
• Fennel Loop late game by shuffling back Fennel, Jasmine and 2 Heals once deck reaches 6-7 cards

Soul Chaining

Your main objective is to "chaining" through your deck to reach a reasonably low deck count while still pushing opponent every turn for damage. This deck aims to "soul Chain" through Doom Brace till the deck is thin, and then legion back triggers for high trigger density. That means you will try to maintain around 3-5 soul for Doom Brace every turn till you either need to Varnagandr or Mint's legion skill, which allows Doom brace will SC 3 every time you stride. This means at least 7 cards per turn will be removed from your deck (draw phase, sc3, triple drive) and you will reach the goal within 3-4 turns of striding.

Fennel Looping

This occurs when you have only 6-7 cards left in your deck. When this occurs you can permanently loop Fennel repeatably by shuffling back 2 heal, another Fennel and Jasmine to legion with. And after the attack, use Fennel's legion skill to SB the legion pair +1 card and search your top 5 for up to 2 witches, in which case we will just take a Fennel and add it to hand, to repeat this loop. Do note that this is a last resort tactics and cannot be repeated a lot of times unless you have an abundance of soul left (each loop cost 3 soul, 1 card + the legion you ride over). 

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Card Breakdown

I am just a messenger...of your
DOOM

This deck is basically a Doom brace deck in a witch engine. Doom Brace is you main damage pusher by providing 21k RG columns each turn and letting you build field through Cardamon and Melissa calling. Its not easy to guard multiple 21-26k RG columns and a 26k stride every turn, specially in a 12 critical deck.

Typical Game Sequence:

1. Ride Fennel. CB1 to SC3.
2. Stride Doom Brace.
3. Call a RG so that each column has at least 1 RG.
4. Doom Brace SB3 to pump both columns. SC3 due to only having 2 souls left.
5. Call any Melissa or cardamon you SC.
6. Swing with stride, triggers to your 21k+ RG columns.

Framboise and her are BFFs

Fennel is your ideal main ride and by herself she grants you the 3 soul required to start the "soul chaining". She is also your recovery legion as she can help build hand size to survive big turns through her legion skill by adding 2 witches from your top 5 to hand (only Skoll and Kukurihime can't be taken with her effect), sometimes getting that one PG you really need. You can also infinitely loop Fennel when you are at your last 7 cards due to how you can take a fennel you legion back and SB the previous legion pair every time, allowing you to keep looping, so long as you can survive guarding by looping back all your heal triggers. Her mate Jasmine is our 2nd set of 12k beater and like Fennel, helps us to SC3 to start the set up or help pay for bigger effects (Mint or Vanagandr).

These 2 are a god send for this deck. They help to get Melissa and Cardamon to the soul while also filling drop zone for legion. Shiroma is also a self-recycling trigger replaces itself, which makes the legion process much easier should you need to legion early. They add 1 card to the soul without needing GB or legion should you need to fix the soul before either (either from 2 to 3, or 5 to 6). Ideally try not to use their effects if it push you to 6+ souls as it prevents Doom Brace from soul looping, and only if you direly need to fish for Cardamon/Melissa or need the 3rd soul if you miss Fennel/Jasmine.

The deck gains its card advantage through SB effects, either through Fennel or Cardamon and Melissa. Shiroma is technically a wash, but can help you try to fix your soul count while sometimes letting you put either Cardamon or Melissa in the soul while cycling itself and helping early legion. You ideally want to ride Melissa and Cardamon as VG so they are guaranteed in the soul to be used and your other units are better used as RG. Do note that Cardamon allows some big plays through Koroha and Kukurihime as she is 11k when called from soul, making any 7k booster and her into a 21k column.

I am RNG-sus; hear me roar

Vanagrandr does not guarantee 21k columns, but he is special as he can help dig for multiple triggers and cards you need. He can also set up for surviving by leaving a heal trigger as the 4th card, which is useful sometimes. Unfortunately since the deck does not try to reach 6 soul consistently, I only opted to run 1 pair. Also not that you can possibly generate multiple attacks if there are a few Cardamon in the soul. Genesis has never really have consistent drive checks due to the rapid soul charging, but Vanagrandr gives you a shot at changing that fate.

She's strong, cute, and straight to the point about the beat down

Mint's legion is another push turn as we are reaching the end of our deck and cannot afford another Doom Brace. She will shuffle back our triggers, and grant us a 37k VG column (which rivals most strides) with boost and 21k Column. With a thin deck and high trigger density these columns can and are usually lethal. Like Vanagrandr she also can generate multiple attacks through Cardamon/Melissa, although they will be 16k/12k each instead of just 11k/7k.
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Variations

Skoll and Thyme are the only units main deck that can be tinkered with as everything else has a role to play. You can opt to run Bellini(10k attacker) instead of Skoll for more early game and more backup attackers, but this deck is more lacking of boosters than attackers. Last option is Hati, which allows us to always generate 21k columns or even 26k column (Doom Brace turn) every turn if you have 11k+ unit in front of it. Of the 3 Hati fits best into the game plan of "huge columns every turn", but as Genesis is already SC rapidly at times, I prefer the added consistency that Skoll gives, but Hati would be a close 2nd of cards I would try to run.

For starter wise 2 other options stand out: Leyding and Pray Angel. Cinnamon, while being a witch unit, doesn't help our cause (we want to stay around 5 soul) and we cannot time her effect to our needs unlike Koroha. Leyding can replace itself for a proper unit, but only after striding, which leaves him vulnerable to early retires. Pray angel has similar issues as Leyding, but can give us the burst soul count should we are forced to legion a lot (easily from 2 to 6 soul) and do not have CB to spare for Fennel/Mint/Jasmine. I much prefer running Koroha because I will call starter to rearguard column regardless to have at least 1 unit in column for Doom Brace, and always boost 12k attackers with her. She can also make 21k columns outside of Doom Brace turns, and can be used early if you are afraid she gets retired early by Gatling Claw. All are decent choice and are playable, so pick which you prefer.

Alternative List

Grade 0: 17
1 Leyding (FVG)
4 Shiroma (crit)
4 Kukurihime (crit)
4 Lemonccino (crit)
4 Laurier (heal)

Grade 1: 13
4 Framboise (PG)
4 Melissa (CB1 call when SB)
4 Hati (+ power on SB)
1 Skoll (stride fodder)

Grade 2: 12
4 Chicory (12k attacker, mate)
4 Jasmine (SC3 12k attacker, mate)
4 Cardamon (CB1 call when SB +2k)

Grade 3: 8
4 Mint (Finisher)
4 Fennel (Main Ride)

Grade 4: 8
4 Doom brace (Your main stride)
1 Madew (fetch grade 3 from drop)
2 Varnagandr (Situation stride)
1 Blizza

Card Review: Excelis Messiah

Yes, I is beautiful and we all know it...

So today we have the full previewed effect of Excelics Messiah. And here is the GR in its full glory:

Savior of all things...except LJ wallets

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card named "Genesis Dragon, Amnesty Messiah" from your G zone, and turn it face up] When this unit attacks a vanguard, if you have a face up card named "Genesis Dragon, Amnesty Messiah" in your G zone, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose any number of locked cards, and unlock them. All of your units unlocked with this effect get [Power]+3000 until end of turn. Retire all of your opponent's units unlocked with this effect. If the number of units unlocked with this effect is three or more, this unit gets [Critical]+1 until end of that battle.

Firstly, my condolences to all the messiah players: your wallet will feel the pain for this one. You need at least 2 Amnesty just to get this to work, and 3 if you are planning to run 2. Having a stride zone full of GR is very bling, but also very VERY expensive... 7 GR (4 Amnesty and 3 Excelics) is quite painful...

All Hail Wallet Messiah

That aside, this effect is relatively strong. You have to stride Amnesty at least once, so this follows up another turn of critical pressure while buffing RG columns. So instead of having high power itself, it grants power to RG column. making it a very offensive stride, the flip of Big Crunch Dragon. Which is good considering link joker will need the offense to compliment their locking game. And it is actually easier than it looks to set up. You just need 2 self lockers and columns that reach at least 18k (easier than it looks with neuron, awakening and gravity well)

The retire component has resemblance to Chaos Breaker Dragon but without a cost. Although it seems counter-intuitive, but there are merits for it. It firstly allows you to actually kill problematic units so you can spend your lock on other effects. Also in combination with Big Crunch, you can actually retire problematic resist units if you managed to lock a column with resist.

You'll get a kick out of her...

It is mostly tied to g-era support, as self-locking is non-existent for star vaders or deletors. But you have few options to go about self-locking. Alter Ego already does this, but you also have access to Gravity Well (grade 2), Neuron Star (grade 3), Heavymaterial Dragon (grade 2) and Spiral Nebula (grade 0), we also have no news as of any further self locking support (as of 6/9/15).

With this in mind, 2 main ways of getting 21k column involves locking 1 unit (18k column) or locking 2 in a column (<18k). First lock is easy with Alter Ego stride skill, and 2nd can easily be achieved with Gravity Well or Neuron Star. Awakening is also interesting in this because with proper setup, you can make 4 attacks that turn. Example:

Awakening Set up:

Gravity well / Excelics /Arousal
dark metal    / Spiral     / destiny

1. CB1, Alter Ego lock Dark Metal (self 1,enemy 1)
2. Gravity well lock Awakening (self 2,enemy 1)
3. spiral to soul, lock Destiny (self 3, enemy 2)
4. swing with Gravity (14k, 5k guard)
5. CB1, swing with Excelis unlock all your units (31k 2 crit)
6. Awakening will stand Gravity Well and +2k to it, Dark Metal will unflip 1
7. Awakening column will swing for 22k+ (9+7+3+3)
8. Gravity Well will swing for 25k+ (9+4+7+2+3)

Total guard required: 5k + 30k(PG) + 15k + 15k + triggers, ~ 7-8 cards to guard that turn

You can replace gravity well with neuron star or a 2nd spiral nebula, so this combination is quite flexible. You also do not need to unlock your opponent's front row either as you unlocked 3 units, so you can keep them locked and save guard. Its very demanding to guard all of it without trggers. A very strong combination of offense and defense.

Drawing cards is good...

Alternatively Heavymaterial can be used instead of Awakening for less offensive but added hand cycling, in which case you do not have to use Spiral/Neuron Star, but your opponent has 1 less locked unit, so it is ideal if opponent only has 1 front row. (8+7+3+3=21)

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Pros/cons

Pros:
Better final turn pushes (assuming Messiah deck) compared to just Amnesty
Can retire some annoying Units
Finally resolve the lack of attack pressure LJ is plagued with

Cons:
Not suitable for all LJ decks (Not all want to stride amnesty first)
Probably crit the wallet due to needing amnesty in multiples
Constraints G-zone if running in multiples

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How I would go about Messiah deck now? I'd probably go full aggro at this point (4 Amnesty, 3 Excelics, 1 Blizza) as I am a more offensive orientated player, but there is merits for swapping a Amnesty/Excelics pair for a pair of Big Crunch Dragon. You just need to keep in mind to always have at least 1 more Amnesty than Excelics, Also the choice is between Judgement or Blizza for last slow, as Blizza allows GB2 immediately for digging through the deck, and judgement being the better pressure unit with a potential lock. So either:

Full Blown Aggro
4 Amnesty
3 Excelics
1 Blizza/Judgement

or

Utility
3 Amnesty
2 Excelics
1 Blizza/Judgement
2 Big Crunch Dragon

or

Control Based
2 Amnesty
1 Excelics
1 Blizza/Judgement
4 Big Crunch Dragon

or

Non-Messiah Decks
1 Amnesty
1 Blizza
2 Judgement
4 Big Crunch Dragon