Cardfight Vanguard: Descent of the King of Knights Kagero Deck Profile

The second of 4 available deck builds that we’re gonna focus on today is the Kagero archetype. Kai Toshiki is the young man who originally gave Aichi his very 1st Blaster Blade Card eventually leading to their destined meeting at Card Capitol. The Kagero deck relies heavily on brute force led by it’s Iconic Powerhouse “Dragonic Overlord” that forces opponents to the edge time and time again! Relentless attacks, Kagero’s also try to place heavy emphasis on drawing their Critical Triggers during matches, it’s not unheard of for players to build their deck’s around 8-12 Critical Triggers and only 4 Heal’s. What fits your style of play?! there’s a ton of cool tricks that you can use to tweak out your Kagero deck from only Set 1 and the Trial Deck, but it’ll get even more exciting with the upcoming release of Set 2: Onslaught of Dragon Souls (See Spoiler List with effects here)

Read up below on a recent deck build one of our players used in a recent Tournament:

Let’s take a look at a few starting tactics and key strategies to victory that Kagero’s like to incorporate. At it’s base the Kagero Trial Deck, features “Lizard Runner, Undeux” as a starting vanguard. Similar to the Royal Paladin’s “Stardust Trumpeter”, it is a Grade-0, 6,000 power Normal Unit which serves its only purpose of being the starting Vanguard. Much like the Royal Paldin’s Barcgal starting vanguard, there is an alternative in “Lizard Soldier, Conroe“. This Unit’s 5,000 power Normal-Unit also boasts a fetch effect. After being ridden over by a Grade-1, it can be called to any Rearguard position. You can utilize a counterblast on your second turn or later activating Conroe’s effect, Search for ANY Grade-1 or less Unit from your deck and add it to your Hand. A powerful effect indeed, you can search for your strongest Grade 1 Boosting Unit “Embodiment of Armor, Bahr” or search for your defensive trump card “Wyvern Guard, Barri“. Barri, is what Vanguard players call a “Perfect Guard”, when used to defend another unit of the same Clan no damage can be received for that Battle. Keep in mind all Perfect Guards must be guarding and discarding a card of their same Clan. For those of you thinking about playing “Hybrid” decks this is a topic to seriously think about when building your deck.

At least Conroe allows you the freedom to decide your style of play based on your hand along with countering your opponent’s play style.

Your Opening play can be instrumental in your mid-to late game victory or equally damaging based on your decisions. Your first ride will likely be “Dragon Monk, Gojo” or “Wyvern Strike, Jarran” both are also great cards to fetch in your opening turn, and helps your hand situation. If in the event after a mulligen you redraw unwanted cards, you can still use Conroe to alternatively fetch a “Dragon Monk, Gojo” Call it to your Rear Guard and activate it’s effect to discard and draw another card from your hand.

In another instance if you had a Grade-2 “Wyvern Strike, Tejas” in hand, why not fetch “Wyvern Strike, Jarran” to utilize the bonus ATK power when Tejas is boosted by Jarran!? Of course, these are secondary options/strategies in comparison to fetching a “Bahr” or “Barri” from your deck but remember key basic strategy for any Card Game is to analyze and perform the most efficient option at-hand!

It’s time to Ride to Grade 2, and for my picks I chose “Wyvern Strike, Tejas“, “Berserk Dragon“, and “Dragon Knight, Aleph“. Each card has their own strengths for building a successful deck.

“Wyvern Strike, Tejas” can attack any Rear-rearguard in the same column as itself. Useful for picking off a Royal Paladin’s Barcgal or other pesky unit(s) hiding in the Back Positions. His added bonus when boosted by Jarran is also a very nice compliment to keep in mind.

“Berserk Dragon” is akin to the Royal Paladin “Blaster Blade” because when this unit is called to the field, activate “Berserk Dragon” Counterblast 2 Effect will retire any Grade-2 or less Rearguard. It’s even more powerful when used during the Main Phase, because you can Superior Ride a “Demonic Dragon Berserker, Yaksha” from your hand, if you successfully send an opponent’s Rearguard to the drop zone. Although Yakasha only has 9,000 power, it is important to note that you already have a Unit with Twin-Drive!! on the field before your opponent has a chance to even put up a Grade-2 Vanguard. This is the first option of 2 Superior Ride Options that can be utilized in a Kagero Deck.

The final Grade-2 Unit I’d like to spotlight here is “Dragon Knight, Aleph“, probably the Superior Ride of choice for Speed and Combo-loving players! Aleph’s Counterblast 1 Effect is to send an “Embodiment of Armor, Bahr” and “Embodiment of Spear, Tahr” from any Rearguard position to your Soul and Superior ride into a Grade 3 “Embodiment of Victory, Aleph” from your deck. A strong combo for Mid-to-Late game is when you have an Aleph in your Vanguard position and Dragonic Overlord called to a Rear Guard slot, and 4 or more Counterblasts’ to work with.

• Flip 3 Counterblasts to activate Dragonic Overlord’s Stand Effect >
• Send Aleph + Tahr + Bahr from your Soul to the Retired pile and unflip all of your Damage Counters face-up >
• Flip 4 Counterblasts to activate your “Embodiment of Victory, Aleph” ability to gain +300 ATK power and 1 additional Critical

Talk about a “Final Turn” push this is possibly one of the strongest combos amid the 4 clans. This simultaneous attack from both a wing guard and your Vanguard can literally eat up your opponents shields and cards in hand.

Grade 3’s for all races are limited but what would Aichi’s greatest rival be without his fair share of Superior Units!? As I mentioned above a powerful combo lies within “Embodiment of Victory, Aleph” and “Dragonic Overlord” after the Superior Ride takes place. However even on his own standing at an impressive 11000 ATK power, Kai’s embodiment and true self has so much utility and way to be played that it will forever baffle your opponents strategy.

There’s another Grade 3 that goes unmentioned in many Kagero decks, “Dragon Monk Goku” whose sweet Drive Check Ability comes in quite handy throughout the match. Goku must be your Vanguard to utilize this ability but anytime your Drive Check reveals a Grade 3 Kagero unit you can retire an opponent’s grade 1 or less rear-guard. You’ll be amazed at how handy this effect can be forcing your opponent to lay cards his next turn to boost his front row attackers.

I personally end up challenging Kagero based decks all the time and they are without a doubt a hassle to defend against, and it gets enormously worse when they end up with card advantage. Have fun and stay cool… Vanguard baby!

Also stay tune, the next article will be on Nova Grappler..

Want a look at a different deck recipe, just click below...