Friday, September 27, 2013
Spike Brothers, one of the best clans out there is quite fairly underrated. Okay, I won't exactly say underrated but more of underused in the tournament scene is more likely the word that we are looking for. I've been playing with Spike Brothers in tournaments since the day BT02 was out with General Seifried and is a clan that complements my play style completely. After EB03 was released, Spike Brothers has shown a whole new rush play style that puts many clans on their knees with Dudley Emperor. Attacking 5 to 9 times is possible, though the 9 times is only in theory and extremely difficult to pull off. They are also the clan that can push your opponent with early pressure, forcing them to guard and use up their hands early or getting them to 3 or 4 damage before they even ride a Grade 3, being able to hit for the 6th damage on turn 3 even with you shouting "Touchdown!!!!" with great pride.
For those who know me personally - I'm an avid Spike Brothers user. Wherever I go, I definitely will bring along my Spike Brothers deck with me in case I feel like having a quick match. I'm proud to say that many players who sees me after our first meeting will remember me as the "Spike Brothers guy". I mean, who wouldn't if you're one of that 2 or 3 players in the area the only ones playing Spike Brothers, and is pretty damn good at it by beating top teared decks easily.
This is the clan that managed to let me qualify for the Team League Regional Qualifier. Sadly, I only managed to survive up to the 4th round during the qualifier and 3rd round for the open qualifier. Still, managed to one off all the crossrides and by turn 4 on all accounts feels darn good.
Spike Brothers are one of those decks that I always tweak. They never stay the same. Cards used in the deck yesterday has been changed to something else today. Lots of testing, tryouts, winning and losses, heck even tears were shed. Most deck recipes online isn't exactly my play style and don't give much pressure to opponents. It may work for them, but it fall flat when I tried them. Tried so many things, combinations and tactics - nothing worked. But after so many tests, brain raking, headaches and shop tournament losses, I managed to finally come out with a deck that not only pressures, but lets you win by turn 4 and at most 6.
Here's a deck list that I made after multitude of considerations and tests. It instilled fear to my opponents when they are at 4 to 5 damage and you attacking them 5 times. This build also allows me to address Spike Brothers' biggest concern; small hand size. Imagine having more than 10 cards in hand with Spike Brothers and a beautiful full field. Yes, this happened plenty times before and I'm proud to point that out. Without further ado, here's the deck list.
Grade 0: 17 units
- 1 x Mecha Trainer (First Vanguard)
- 4 x Cheerful Lynx (Draw Trigger)
- 4 x Sonic Breaker (Critical Trigger)
- 4 x Silence Joker (Critical Trigger)
- 4 x Cheer Girl, Tiara (Heal Trigger)
Grade 1: 14 units
- 4 x Wonder Boy
- 4 x Reckless Express
- 3 x Cheer Girl, Marilyn
- 3 x Medical Manager
Grade 2: 11 units
- 4 x Field Driller
- 4 x Highspeed, Brakki
- 3 x Panzer Gale
Grade 3: 8 units
- 4 x Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor
- 4 x Juggernaut Maximum
Grade 0 are pretty standard in most Spike Brothers deck. Almost all Spike Brother users will play the same triggers and first vanguard, so there's nothing much to explain here.
Line up for Grade 1, I would pretty say is quite standard. Most will play with similar units, but with different combinations. Most decks will go with 3 Reckless, 4 Marilyn, 4 Wonder Boy and 3 Medical Manager. I'm one of those who thinks 4 perfect guards is too much and decides to up my offences so I dropped a Marilyn for another Reckless. I used to play with 2 x Dudley Daisy but after many tests, I figure she's good to have, but can be too situational at times.
My Grade 2 line up is fairly...unique in a sense that they all can't hit crossrides for 10k guard, well except for one unit that is. Then again, you are pressuring them very early in the game that by the time they can crossride, they are at 5 damage. One of the best unit in this grade is not Highspeed Brakki, but Field Driller. He's a 7k unit that needs a full field to work. Sounds useless no? But here's where you're wrong. Unlike Fierce Leader Zachary, he does not return to the deck and nets you a +1. You want to actually ride him at turn 2, have a full field and force your opponent to guard. If he does not guard, great! You just earned yourself another card including that trigger check. If he guards, no problems either. He just wasted a card...at turn 2. If he guards and you got a trigger, even better! With a draw trigger, you net 3 cards, with a critical trigger he eats 2 damage. Either way, he loses a card and gets damage. If you have a field full of drillers, your opponent will have to make 2 choices; guard or lose a unit early game or not guard and let you draw. My choice of Panzer Gale instead of Treasured Black Panther is quite obvious. I always run into problems not having enough units to guard with. Panzer Gale is there to help you intercept for 10k defense. If you are on the losing side, and you know you can win if you just have one more turn, instead of calling out Juggernaut maximums, you can call out Panzers with Dudley Emperor just to last you for another turn. With cards like Silent Tom and Maelstrom locking your hands from guarding, Panzer Gale is there to pull you out of that tight spot.
Finally, the leader of the pack, Dudley Emperor. He's the unit you will always want to ride as he nets a 21k attack when boosted by Wonder Boy, forcing 20k guard to 11k vanguards as well as the ability to allow you to attack 5 times when comboed with Reckless Express, Brakki and Juggernaut Maximum. The awesome level of this unit is off the charts that one can't simply measure his greatness in words. This unit has caused great pain to my opponent that some simply concede without having me do the drive check, afterall they know they can't survive the onslaught even if they managed to get a heal trigger.
There you have it. It ended up as a rant I guess but being someone who loves this clan it has to be expected. That's all from me for today, signing off!
My Grade 2 line up is fairly...unique in a sense that they all can't hit crossrides for 10k guard, well except for one unit that is. Then again, you are pressuring them very early in the game that by the time they can crossride, they are at 5 damage. One of the best unit in this grade is not Highspeed Brakki, but Field Driller. He's a 7k unit that needs a full field to work. Sounds useless no? But here's where you're wrong. Unlike Fierce Leader Zachary, he does not return to the deck and nets you a +1. You want to actually ride him at turn 2, have a full field and force your opponent to guard. If he does not guard, great! You just earned yourself another card including that trigger check. If he guards, no problems either. He just wasted a card...at turn 2. If he guards and you got a trigger, even better! With a draw trigger, you net 3 cards, with a critical trigger he eats 2 damage. Either way, he loses a card and gets damage. If you have a field full of drillers, your opponent will have to make 2 choices; guard or lose a unit early game or not guard and let you draw. My choice of Panzer Gale instead of Treasured Black Panther is quite obvious. I always run into problems not having enough units to guard with. Panzer Gale is there to help you intercept for 10k defense. If you are on the losing side, and you know you can win if you just have one more turn, instead of calling out Juggernaut maximums, you can call out Panzers with Dudley Emperor just to last you for another turn. With cards like Silent Tom and Maelstrom locking your hands from guarding, Panzer Gale is there to pull you out of that tight spot.
Finally, the leader of the pack, Dudley Emperor. He's the unit you will always want to ride as he nets a 21k attack when boosted by Wonder Boy, forcing 20k guard to 11k vanguards as well as the ability to allow you to attack 5 times when comboed with Reckless Express, Brakki and Juggernaut Maximum. The awesome level of this unit is off the charts that one can't simply measure his greatness in words. This unit has caused great pain to my opponent that some simply concede without having me do the drive check, afterall they know they can't survive the onslaught even if they managed to get a heal trigger.
There you have it. It ended up as a rant I guess but being someone who loves this clan it has to be expected. That's all from me for today, signing off!
