R/F: Sky Strikers

[taznkid]

Considered posting this in the Decklist discussion, but decided I wanted dedicated space because I am egotistical like that. Rate and fix please :)

Monsters (15)

Sky Striker Ace - Raye (3)
The primary pilot of the deck, her amazing floating effect means you run 3 no questions asked.

Sky Striker Ace - Roze (2)
Roze counters Raye in mirror match ups and helps out against monsters in the extra zone, and her hand special summon effect is something I use often use as fodder for spell effects like Multirole or Zeke.

Effect Veiler (3)
Hand trap that is also a core part of the link climb to Accesscode Talker.

Maxx "C" (2)
Has just always been a great hand trap since the day it was introduced. Who doesn't special summon nowadays?

Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit (2)
Another hand trap, this one is meant to partially help with covering Effect Veiler's blind spot (Effect Veiler only works on Opponent's Main Phase). Importantly, does not negate the effects.

Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring (3)
The hand trap that everyone should have at least one copy of from the bundle pack. Like Maxx "C" and special summons, any decent deck nowadays triggers at least one of its conditions.

Spells (25)

Raigeki (1)
Monster Reborn (1)
Harpie's Feather Duster (1)
Back when I was most active, we had something called the holy trinity: Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, and Monster Reborn. Same thing here, but with two of the cards replaced with better alternatives.

Reinforcement of the Army (1)
An oldie but a goodie. Mandatory search card in any warrior-type deck.

Terraforming (1)
Searches the field spell, but also fills the grave for that important 3 spell cards condition.

Upstart Goblin (3)
Deck thinner and fills grave. Perfect.

Pot of Avarice (2)
Recycles my Links. Two might seem cloggy, but consider this: A single combo can go like Raye -> Hayate -> Kagari -> Shizuku. Opponent removes Shizuku, special summon Raye -> Kaina/Shizuku. Link into Hayate when it is your turn again. It is ridiculously easy to fill the grave for the conditions, and being able to recycle (especially that Kagari at 1) is a lifesaver. Having said that, part of the reason is that my games grind long since I do not have Accesscode Talker, so might drop to 1 or even 0 after testing with Accesscode Talker.

Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage! (2)
Along with Kagari, the card that put Sky Strikers on the Banlist. It's secondary effect basically turns it into a Pot of Greed but better since you search the first card, and we all know Pot of Greed is never being unbanned. So use this instead.

Sky Striker Maneuver - Afterburners! (2)
Sky Striker Maneuver - Jamming Waves! (2)
Your primary field removal. Alot of decks run these at 1, but the spares give me flexibility in terms of either recycling from grave or searching from deck, as well as using the effects more often.

Sky Striker Airspace - Area Zero (2)
Adds consistency and acts as a Raye tutor (or Roze if you want her instead for some reason). I find it dead in my hands often without decent fodder to send to grave though, so I keep it at 2 with the 1 Terraforming.

Sky Striker Mecha Modules - Multirole (2)
An extremely powerful card when used correctly. This is what makes people tear out their hair as you spam your normal spells to gain advantage on your turn, then set your quick spells to stifle any response on your opponent's turn. It is important to manage your grave spell count with this card, however. You only need 1 on the field, so I just use the 1 as a spare.

Sky Striker Mecha - Hornet Drones (1)
Flexible card. Can be used to block, Link when you do not have Raye or Roze, or as fodder material but effects. It is not a great card itself though, which is why I run just the 1. A single cast of it is all you tend to need anyway.

Sky Striker Mecha - Widow Anchor (2)
My personal favorite. Stifle's opponent's monster effect plays on their turn, and I can steal their boss monsters to swing for big damage, then tribute them off for spell effects or Link into Zeke. Definitely considering bumping it up from 2 to 3.

Sky Striker Mecha - Eagle Booster (1)
Decent, but niche effect. I've used this to save my Raye/Kagari from banishment, as well as keep a Sky Striker on the board to prevent me from losing. Also protects that fat Accesscode Talker when you are going for game.

Sky Striker Mecha - Shark Cannon (1)
Another niche card. Enough decks use graveyard for this card to see use, but not enough for us to spam it.

Extra Deck (15)

Sky Striker Ace - Kagari (1)
The "boss" monster of the deck, Kagari's ability to recycle Sky Striker spells makes her amazing. Nothing feels quite as good as drawing 2 with Engage, then recycling it with Kagari for another 2.

Sky Striker Ace - Shizuku (3)
Powerful spell searcher, if your opponent leaves a Raye on the field, you can quick effect into Shizuku and get the search off on your opponent's turn as well.

Sky Striker Ace - Hayate (3)
Main source of chip damage, and between Kagari and Multirole. the mill effect is basically a search.

Sky Striker Ace - Kaina (2)
Considering how easy it is to run over Sky Striker monsters, Kaina serves as damage control, slowing opponent aggression until you have your engine fully online and ready to respond to anything.

Sky Striker Ace - Zeke (2)
When your opponent pops a Kaiju on you or you just stole a monster with Widow Anchor/Shark Cannon, Zeke helps immensely in clearing main monster zones so that you can keep using those Sky Striker spells. Its first effect is not bad, and it can also become a big body with its second effect. Can definitely replace it with better Link-2's though (not that I have any), but keep in mind that Raye will not float into those.

Crystron Halqifibrax (1)
Knightmare Unicorn (1)
Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians (1)
Accesscode Talker (1)
The Accesscode Talker package. Use a tuner with a Sky Striker to Link into Halqifibrax, into Selene who summons Effect Veiler, into Accesscode Talker with 5300 Attack and many attributes in the grave with which to pop cards with. Unicorn is an alternative Link-3.

[croggle]

how much play does Feather Duster get? Backrow seems a bit slow for modern unless you are going up against something like Eldrich or a deck that lives or dies by its spells like Toons.

[Abracadaver]

I can't say much about it because I'm unfamiliar with Sky Strikers, but I think it's solid advice that if you can run a third Maxx "C" you definitely should.

[taznkid]

Originally posted by croggle:

how much play does Feather Duster get? Backrow seems a bit slow for modern unless you are going up against something like Eldrich or a deck that lives or dies by its spells like Toons.

I've actually had the same thoughts. I keep it in for now, for the following logic:

1.Just about every deck I have played against runs SOME form of backrow, and at worst its a 1 for 1, at best I get major advantage. Frankly, since I am only in Silver right now, I have had Maxx "C" be more dead in hand than Duster.

2. Duster and Raigeki helps cover a weak point of my field control: namely, that Afterburner and Jamming Wave require their first target to be face up and face down respectively. The only other way to get around that sort of problem, for example, is having the three spell cards in grave for secondary effect then targeting my own cards with the first effect, which is hardly ideal. Much easier to just Raigeki/Duster and save Afterburner and Jamming Wave for better scenarios.

Even putting the above aside, I just don't really have anything to replace it with: I am pretty happy with my archetype ratios, and in terms of useful generics, off the top of my head I do not have anything else besides maybe Solemn Judgment.

[Mikeaveli]

I've been playing Striker since the game came out. My deck differs from yours in a few ways.

-1 Roze
-2 Ghost Ogre
-1 Raigeki
-1 Monster Reborn
-1 Pot of Avarice
-1 Afterburners
-1 Jamming Waves

+1 Maxx "C"
+3 Kaiser Colosseum
+1 Shark Cannon
+3 Evenly Matched

IMO Kaiser Colosseum is too good of a floodgate to pass up. It completely destroys most combo decks when you go first and doesn't affect you so you can still Accesscode OTK under it. Evenly Matched is a great card for when you go second especially against Eldlich or any other control matchup. Shark Cannon is also very good against Eldlich which is the main reason I play 2. It can also help you OTK by summoning your opponent's Ash Blossom or any other tuners they may have.

-1 Hayate
-1 Zeke
-1 Kaina

+1 Barricadeborg Blocker
+1 Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior
+1 Knightmare Phoenix

If you get into a super slow game state Barricadeborg can help lock up the game by protecting your Multirole and KC, or if you're desperate can bring back those two or Area Zero from the grave. I have missed the third Hayate though so that one could go either way. Phoenix is basically the deck's only out to Imperial Order so that is 100% mandatory IMO. Ningirsu is a good generic out to any monsters that can't be targeted or destroyed. I've never wanted more than 1 Zeke or Kaina so I think the extra utility of those two monsters is worth playing over more Striker names.

[taznkid]

Originally posted by Mikeaveli:

I've been playing Striker since the game came out. My deck differs from yours in a few ways.

-1 Roze
-2 Ghost Ogre
-1 Raigeki
-1 Monster Reborn
-1 Pot of Avarice
-1 Afterburners
-1 Jamming Waves

+1 Maxx "C"
+3 Kaiser Colosseum
+1 Shark Cannon
+3 Evenly Matched

IMO Kaiser Colosseum is too good of a floodgate to pass up. It completely destroys most combo decks when you go first and doesn't affect you so you can still Accesscode OTK under it. Evenly Matched is a great card for when you go second especially against Eldlich or any other control matchup. Shark Cannon is also very good against Eldlich which is the main reason I play 2. It can also help you OTK by summoning your opponent's Ash Blossom or any other tuners they may have.

-1 Hayate
-1 Zeke
-1 Kaina

+1 Barricadeborg Blocker
+1 Ningirsu the World Chalice Warrior
+1 Knightmare Phoenix

If you get into a super slow game state Barricadeborg can help lock up the game by protecting your Multirole and KC, or if you're desperate can bring back those two or Area Zero from the grave. I have missed the third Hayate though so that one could go either way. Phoenix is basically the deck's only out to Imperial Order so that is 100% mandatory IMO. Ningirsu is a good generic out to any monsters that can't be targeted or destroyed. I've never wanted more than 1 Zeke or Kaina so I think the extra utility of those two monsters is worth playing over more Striker names.

Maybe it is just me, but I keep bricking with Maxx "C"s in hand, which is why I run the two instead of three. I don't know about the Shark Cannon and Evenly Matched (it seems like more a side deck card, which this game doesn't really support since you know, no match format). I definitely agree with the Kaiser Colosseum though: I guess I'll drop a Pot, a Roze...and I guess a Ghost Ogre?

My issue with the suggestions is that some of them are "situational": great if you go second, great if you go first, etc., assuming you have it in hand early. But what if you end up without it to start, and instead draw into it? For example, let's say opponent has four monsters to my 1, and I draw a Kaiser Colosseum that I put in place of a Raigeki. I just got boned.

TLDR: I like useful in all/most situations, not side decking/specific scenarios. Again though, maybe those Gold and Plat ranks have Eldlich players running around everywhere and it warrants those changes, so I will definitely keep it in mind. Definitely going to figure out how to fit in the Kaiser Colosseum though.

As for Extra Deck: When I can afford that stuff, lol

[KanyeWest]

This might be the reason why I finally make an Eldlich deck, the turns against Sky Strikers take too long, my god, last match I had felt like over an hour.

[Kitsune GG]

Both the original version and the altered version posted here look like what I've stared down often in Gold/Plat. So I'm just commenting based on facing Sky Strikers and not a player of them.

With Endymion it becomes a battle of how fast I generate my spell counters vs the striker Engine,

I've had games where I'm on my second turn with Master Cerberus, Jackal King, and Citadel of Endymion with 10 counters each thanks to the initial spell set up by both players and able to start my destruction/bounce loops and it turns into a battle of attrition. But I've also had games where I just get steamrolled by well timed backrow pops. and both versions have that backrow control.

D/D/D I need Bright Armageddon or Kali Yuga as protection from striker's back row and you have the handtraps to both stop them or generate resources from me bringing them out in both versions.