[Part 3] What Will You See At Qualifiers? (Spike Brothers and Narukami)

The third part of this segment takes is to Spike Brothers and Narukami. Spike Brothers have become quite the deck with the boost they've received in Extra Booster 3. Cards such as Reckless Express, Medical Manager and of course, Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor have pushed the deck to places it had never ventured before. With it's powerful Limit Break, you better have 65k shield in your hand if you're at 5 damage - because if you don't, you've probably lost against the Spike Brothers onslaught. Spike Brothers do have some weaknesses, and if you manage to exploit them, it could turn out to be a much easier game for you. Narukami on the other hand have never made too much of a splash in the competitive scene. To me, it feels like the deck is incomplete. They can definitely go head-to-head against top decks quite easily, but sometimes one can't help but feel that they fall just short of becoming a much more formidable force. They're ability for on-spot removal is only second to Kagero's. The removal can start extremely early in the game, with Spark Kid Dragoon. Dragonic Deathscythe is their Berserk Dragon clone, and lastly Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion can wipe out an entire front row with a swift Limit Break. This makes Narukami quite disruptive, and for some decks can spell disaster. Once again, being able to predict your opponent's moves while cutting your losses against the deck is the best way to emerge victorious.

Spike Brothers
With the release of Extra Booster 3, Spike Brothers have been fighting for a top spot for a while. With success at the Anaheim Kick-Off event, I expect Spike Brothers to make a good showing at Continental Qualifiers. Known as the most aggressive clan in the game, their ability to create an attack onslaught is nearly unmatchable - being capable of creating 5 attacks in a single turn, forcing around 65k shield from your hand if you must guard all the attacks. Of course, if the opposing player survives the onslaught through damage triggers, etc. the Spike Brothers deck is left at a huge disadvantage due to the amount of cards from the field and hand they've expended to make the onslaught possible. So what do you do about them? Well there's a couple of things. Disrupt their rearguards as much as you can. For their onslaught to be most effective, they need their Brakki's, Reckless Express and Juggernaut Maximums in order to tag out for the maximum amount of attacks as possible. If you see that your opponent is able to Limit Break and you don't think you can guard, snipe out their rearguards that tag out. Spike Brothers are not able to create any advantage at all, so the later games go against decks that can, such as Paladins or say Lawkeeper Kagero the scales start tipping in your favour. Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion is this deck's worst nightmare, able to kill both front rearguards (hopefully a card that can tag out) messing up their field set-up completely. Disrupting their field and delaying their attack as long as possible is the best way to deal with the deck. Also try to never leave yourself at 5 damage on your opponent's turn. If you need to drop 15k to leave yourself at 4 damage, it's completely worth it - better than dropping 20k to guard an Emperor attack or triggered up Juggernaut/Brakki. Leaving yourself at 4 damage will also hopefully get you a damage check trigger on your opponent's turn as he gets ready to Limit Break, either delaying it further or making it much easier to guard the other attacks, leaving you at a huge advantage. If you find yourself at 5 damage with less than 65k shield in your hand, then there's not a lot you can do. The best way to deal with this deck is to guard early, snipe important rearguards and control the pace of the game. If you do this successfully, you'll be able to survive what I call, the Spike Brothers Rape Train.

Pros:

• Most aggressive clan in the game
• Ability to create a maximum of 5 attacks in a single turn
• Strong rearguards

Cons:

• Weak defensively
• Cannot create advantage other than by constant aggression
• If Limit Break doesn't kill opponent, the player is at a significant disadvantage
• If they cannot rush early due to bad hands, damage triggers - can fall behind

Narukami

The cousins of Kagero, they haven't had much of a splash in the tournament scene. In Japan, the deck has only topped once in a Junior division, never in a Senior Division. To be fair, most of the clan's hype was behind Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, which isn't quite as good as some people, including myself, made it out to be. Narukami however can still be extremely disruptive - sometimes even straight from the start due to Lizard Soldier, Saishin and it's ability to snipe out your starting Vanguard if it's in a rearguard circle. Dragonic Deathscythe and Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's Limit Break pack a fair amount of removal that can definitely disrupt your play both in the back row and front row. They even have a easy 10k booster for the Vanguard, so chances are you will have a 21k Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion swinging at you for most of the game. So how do you handle the deck? Similar to Kagero, you just have to cut your losses. If I'm playing against Narukami, chances are that I'm not going to call both Palamedes that I have in my hand as Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's Limit Break will gladly take them both simultaneously. Keeping a couple backup boosters in your hand is also a good idea to deal with that pesky Deathscythe. Cutting your losses and not playing all your good rearguards at the same time will allow you to bypass some degree of disruptiveness and allow you to play your game.

Pros:

• 11k Vanguard
• Easy removal ability
• 10k Vanguard booster

Cons:

• No good rearguards
• Counterblast heavy
• Starting Vanguard leaves something to be desired

And that's it! The final Part will be of clans that YOU the readers will choose! Top 2 clans that have the most votes I will cover in the final Part.

Thanks for reading!

HerO

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