[Part 1] What Will You See At Qualifiers? (Royal Paladins and Oracle Think Tank)

Introduction
With Qualifiers coming up, I am sure that many of you have been preparing in some way or another. The best way to prepare, other than by having a solid deck that you know through and through, is knowing your opponent's deck through and through. If you can become familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of popular decks, you'll be much better off against them - and in the best of 1 format - it can make all the difference. I will cover some of the more popular decks that you'll most likely see at your Qualifiers, including their strengths, weaknesses and any game-changing cards you should watch out for. This part will cover Royal Paladin and Oracle Think Tank. Enjoy!

Royal Paladin
I will start with the OP (original Paladins), the Royal Paladins. With Set 3 just released, there are really two different builds for Royal Paladin - Galahad and non-Galahad. To be frank, I see absolutely no reason to not run the Galahad line from the Grade 0 to the Grade 2. I would much rather have a potential +2 than a guaranteed -1 from my rides. But anywho, Royal Paladin - after Alfred Paladin's success in Japan - are definitely going to be popular, especially with the release of Palamedes in Booster Set 3. 

The deck's ability to tutor (to retrieve a unit from the deck to the field or hand) is unparalleled due to units such as Alfred, Pongal and Akane. The ride chain also provides a safety net in terms of not becoming grade stuck, as does Pongal - providing some of the best consistency in the game. Their ability to tutor units such as Toypugal and attackers such as Gallatin, nearly at will if counterblast allows, also makes for some amazing field scability and much quicker set-up. 

With the newly released Palamedes, who single-handedly can make any column amazing, swinging for at least 20k in the rearguard circle (unless you're boosting with an Iseult) you can continously force cards out of your opponent's hand if he goes unchecked. Topping this Royal Paladin sundae is Soul Savior Dragon, who has the ability to finish off opponents like no other. Essentially free, you can potentially have all 3 columns swinging for 26k+, creating a  nearly unstoppable onslaught. 

So what can you possibly do against this monstrosity of consistency and advantage? Well, outside of out-sacking the Royal Paladin player, simply play your game. The thing about Royal Paladins is that they aren't disruptive to your own deck, outside of Palamedes taking 15k shield from your hand for no reason. Assuming you have a winning image with your deck and know it well, just work towards that while dealing with pesky cards such as Toypugal and Palamedes along the way if you can - although that's highly dependant on the deck you're playing. Don't let their advantage and consistency get into your head - just do your own thing and hopefully it's enough to take the game. Triggers of course play a significant role in outcomes of matches, so having that in your favour would always be nice. In the end, there isn't much you can actually do to "counter" the deck, you just have to do whatever your deck does best in terms of winning image which will hopefully be enough to counteract all the advantage that the deck can create.

 
Pros:

• Great at tutoring cards to the hand and field
• Grade consistency high with Pongal and ride chain
• Not dependent on ride chain for winning image; no consequence to missing a Galahad ride
• Can easily create 20k+ columns
• Great finisher

Cons:

• Not disruptive
• All Vanguards are 10k; can be exploited
• Relies on Counterblast for tutoring

Oracle Think Tank
Tsukuyomi. We can expect many people to be playing this deck due to their popularity in playstyle, gimmick and of course, the character in the anime that plays them. The deck revolves around stalling by creating hand advantage until a trigger stack, created by cards returned to the bottom of the deck by the ride chain's ability, is reached in order to overwhelm the opponent with multiple triggers per turn. The deck is extremely reliant on the ride chain, not only to get the 11k Full Moon Tsukuyomi, but also to be able to cycle as many cards to the bottom of the deck as possible in order to create a reachable trigger stack. Missing even one of these rides can not only screw you over due to a 9k Vanguard, but make the stack of triggers you created much harder to reach. 

However, if Tsukuyomi gets comfy, gets hand advantage and just draws you into the late-game  (see what I did there), it's going to be an uphill battle dealing with all the triggers coming your way. So what do you do against them? Take them out early. Play as aggressive as possible in the early to mid game to push them to 4-5 damage as soon as possible. This will force them to guard, using up cards from their hand and hopefully dry them up before they reach their stack. If you don't think you'll be able to do that then plan B is keeping track of their stack. This is extremely important, as knowing when the trigger onslaught is coming will allow you to prepare and get ready to deal with it. I would try to save my perfect guards for the late game as well, as to not have to overguard with 20k-25k in shield when you know they've reached their stack. Also keep count of their triggers in their damage zone, drop zone and if your memory allows, in their hand. Knowing what triggers they have left in their deck will allow you to take a calculated risk (ie. Guarding for 2 triggers to pass, or not guarding at all) depending on the triggers the Tsukuyomi player has left in their deck. 

Also be aware of Oracle Guardian, Red-Eye and Silent Tom. Red-Eye, when it hits will allow you the Tsukuyomi player to soulcharge. Why is this important? Full Moon Goddess Tsukuyomi requires 6 soul in order to be able to use her counterblast 2, draw 2, add 1 card to soul ability. That means that the longer you keep your opponent at 5 soul, the slower they can reach their stack and the less cards they'll have in their hand overall. If you see your opponent playing a Red-Eye Turn 2 or 3, they most likely do not have a Psychic Bird for that easy 6th soul. Preventing that Red-Eye from hitting prevents them from getting that 6th soul, so it's recommended that you do not let it hit. Silent Tom can also be problematic but for different reasons. A good Tsukuyomi player will most likely keep at least one Silent Tom in their hand until they reach their trigger stack, in order to force out at least 3 cards or a perfect guard due to the power of their trigger(s). Picking off Silent Toms before they reach their stack can prove to be game-winning as outside of Silent Tom, there are no rearguards you have to worry about in the late game.

The key to handling Tsukuyomi is to not let the player get in a comfortable position. If they do, then your best bet is to prepare ahead of time, by saving your perfect guards and picking off annoying rearguards so that you won't have to deal with them once the trigger stack hits.

Pros:

• Create raw hand advantage
• Potential 11k Vanguard
• Ride chain can create early advantage

Cons:

• Requires impeccable attention and memory
• Potential 9k Vanguard
• Too dependent on the ride chain

And that's the end of Part 1! Next two clans that I will look at will be Gold Paladin and Kagero in Part 2.

HerO

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