Lyserg Deck / Deck Building Tips

by Siren

 

Ok this is my first deck post.  You probably won’t be seeing to many posts from me but I will explain in some detail how this deck works.  I made this deck with the cards I own, this isn’t a proxy deck and this isn’t a really expensive deck.  It only has a handful of rares in it.  Also you'll bee seeing a lot of deck building tips in this article, so if you are a new player this is a must read.  I’m not sure why I am writing this but I have some time on my hands and very recently built this Lyserg deck and play tested it a few times.  This deck went undefeated and works well; it’s very fast paced and can stop a lot of deck types.  If you are wondering what certain cards do head over to www.pojo.com and see their Shaman King site.  At the bottom of the page is the Reincarnation set spoiler.  This is a pretty long article so you may want to print this and read it some other time.

 

Let’s start by taking a look at the deck:

 

SHAMAN: LYSERG

FRONT: HOMING PENDULUM

BACK: DOWSING PENDULUM

 

TEAMWORKS - 16

2 Duncan, Crusader

2 Venster, Punisher

4 Liliala, Keeper of Memories

2 Lyserg, Fresh Recruit

4 Venster, Tactician

2 Marco, Commander

 

ADVANTAGES - 15

4 Decipher the Runes

2 Reposition

3 Brain Grab

4 Cleanse

2 Focal Point

 

STRIKES - 31

4 Thread the Needle

3 Rogue Shot

4 Groundswell

4 Strafe

1 Stalefish Grab

3 Rush to Judgment

4 Concussive Blast

4 Rail Bird

1 Unerring Garrote

3 Shared Purpose

 

TOTAL - 62

 

* Cards in bold text are rares. *

 

The first step when building any SK deck is to pick your Shaman out.  Now out of all the Lyserg shamans this combination I listed above is simply the best.  Let’s take a closer look at it:

 

Homing Pendulum- HP is a 4/4 with a small cost of 1 green.  What’s even better than its cost is its effect, especially in an X Laws deck.  HP gives you +1, +1 for each teamwork you control that you put back on top the owners deck.  So its potential is to give your HP a total of 7/7 stats.  Of course the downside is you now have 3 teamwork’s on top of your deck that you will eventually draw, but so what? you can put them on top in any order.  So take the one you want in your green zone and put it on top last.  Then the one you can do without next, followed by the one you want in your yellow zone.

ex. >>> You have 3 teamwork’s on the field and you place all three on top of  your deck to get HP's effect.  Now on your next turn you flip the teamwork you placed last, you use it.  Then you flip into the same zone the teamwork to place on top second.  And most likely focus it.  Now in the yellow zone you can play your teamwork you placed on top of your deck first. <<<

Of course that’s if you have indeed used its effect to the fullest by placing 3 teamwork’s, if you have that many, on their owners decks.  And that’s providing all of the teamwork’s went to your deck and not someone else’s, here is where Captivate would play a role. That’s one reason I’m not using Captivate. Anyway it’s a good effect for one green.

 

Now to the backside- Dowsing Pendulum.

Its free, yes free cost.  Can’t beat that.  Not only is it free but it has 8/6 stats.  Great stats for a free card.  And last but not least it lets you stack your deck. And not just two or three cards but a staggering 5 cards you can place in any order you want from the top of your deck. This sig move has no downsides, thumbs up from me.

 

So now that we have our shaman and his moves let look at possible deck types.  Since Lyserg is an X Law we can expect a lot of teamwork’s, in this deck I have 16 listed which is more than usual.  But since it’s X Laws who cares?  These teamwork’s will really help this deck and you'll hear about them later in the article.  Now there are two primary strategies with this deck aside from getting out a lot of teamwork’s and boosting your own furyoku.  They are to: 1. Destroy opponent’s teamwork’s and 2.  Uncharge or prevent the charge of your opponent’s zones.  This really shuts down charge decks and decks like this one that rely on teamwork’s.  OK now that we have our strategy in place lets take a look at the cards starting with teamwork’s:

 

TEAMWORKS:

Ok we are dealing with X Laws here so we’re talking about great teamwork’s in abundance.  So let’s look at what I am using. 

·                     4 Lillala- Great for stacking your deck, especially with a shaman who is using the mind trait.  Lyserg is all about getting what you wish for and Lillala helps a lot.  Since you discard her you don’t have to worry about hogging too many zones.  Lillala is a non X Law, and is really great in any deck.

·                     2 Venster, Punisher- Great against weenie decks.  This card really adds the extra punch you need but because the other Venster is better in this deck we only use two here.  Punisher works best in green zone since you want to stuff your opponent and really prevent him from gaining furyoku while also hitting him with force.  If you’re playing a deck where you need high intercept just focus Punisher away.  Last but not least he has no "per turn limit" so feel free to spend your green and get your boost on.

·                     4 Venster, Tactician- Tactician does more than just the obvious in this deck.  He is useful in your green and red zones.  In your green zones he helps stuff your opponent by boosting intercept, great against those decks that spend a lot of furyoku in order to hurt you.  In the red Tactician can save your ass big time.  Unfortunately he is a "once per turn" effect so you can’t go crazy with this.  He also offsets costs.  By increasing intercept with Venster you can spend more intercept for cards like "Stalefish Grab".  So rock on Venster, Tactician.

·                     2 Lyserg- Lyserg is great for zone charging.  Especially since I’m only using an average 15 advantages, I think Lyserg comes in handy especially for charging those pesky yellow and even red zones.  But beware he does drain your intercept and playing against a high force deck may make you consider focusing Lyserg. 

·                     2 Marco, Commander- You can only use Marcos effect once.  At a -2 intercept he lets you add a green furyoku, which may not seem like a lot but this deck goes through a lot of green furyoku so any little bit can help.  Against smaller force decks there’s no harm in using his ability.  There are only 2 here so there’s not reason not to play him.

·                     2 Duncan, Crusader- Great Card here...  Duncan is just a solid card that can benefit even the smallest of strikes in this deck.  Whenever your opponent plays a non strike your force gets increased by +1.  This is a solid effect that really adds up. Whether you play a small force card that needs help against punisher decks or are looking to go for the killing blow with a larger card such as Unerring Garrote Duncan is a fine addition to this deck and with 2 copies you'll find plenty of use for him.   I would almost be so bold to add 3 - 4 copies of him but not for this deck type. 

 

ADVANTAGES:

Lyserg uses his mind in order to take advantage of the odds, hence the term “Search and Destroy.  We can stack our deck and draw just what we want.  Oh, and did I mention we can destroy teamwork’s and prevent the opponent’s from charging or playing his sig?  Evil, very evil...

·                     4 Decipher the Runes- a mind trait staple.  Here is one card that can put the odds in our favor.

·                     2 Reposition- Lets you move teamwork’s around, this benefits you to some extent.  And it can also hurt your opponent, say he’s running an X Laws deck also or even a “Yoh charge” deck.  Id say teamwork placement is key.  Therefore this card can add some problems to people and even help you out.

·                     3 Braingrab- personal favorite.  Braingrab prevents your opponent from charging or playing his sig move.  Great for late game come backs.  This is a pretty frustrating card, even if your opponent at the time doesn’t think he'll be affected by this card, he will.  And this can be a second chance for you if your opponent has all his zones charged and is attempting to unleash that devastating sig move he's been hiding.  Did I mention its only at one green to play?

·                     4 Cleanse- This card is devastating against those decks that rely on teamwork’s, like this one.  The downside here is that your opponent gets to choose which teamwork’s is going.  But if you use 2 or 3 of these it wont matter much because he'll be low on teamwork’s in no time.  Especially combined with cards like Strafe, which we'll see in a minute. 

·                     2 Focal Point- Here’s another card that lets you get what you need.  You can cycle through 3 cards and pick the one that you need and discard the rest.  At one yellow its easy on your wallet. 

 

STRIKES:

The almighty ranged strikes; they are deadly no questions about that.  And in this deck except for the three Shared Purpose cards all the strikes are Ranged. 

·                     3 Shared Purpose- the debate ensues on which is better, shared purpose or directors cut.  Well in this deck I’m going with shared purpose because its easier on green furyoku.  And you will have a ton of red furyoku by the end of it. And aside from furyoku costs it does have a higher intercept which can always help out and better for you when using cards like Venster, Punisher.  Overall 3 of these do just fine, and if you pitch it you can move a teamwork to an empty zone.

·                     4 Thread the Needle- costing an average expense, thread the needle comes in at 6/4 stats and in your opponents green zone he gets +2 force.  This actually helps you get furyoku; hopefully it'll push your opponent into the yellow giving you at least one green and one yellow furyoku next turn.  I'll take 4 copies.

·                     4 Groundswell- Well the ruling on this cards is as follows, "Groundswell is worded a little confusingly. Its text box is essentially meant to say, "While defending this strike, unless your opponent plays a non-strike, Groundswell has +5 Force." So in essence, it checks the NEXT turn, rather that the previous one."  So here we have a 4/1 which at the beginning of your opponents turn is 4/6, and if he is heavy on strikes it may stay 4/6.   if he plays a non strike then down to 1 force groundswell goes.  Either way its not a bad card to have in the deck and at 1 green 1 yellow cost I cant see not playing it. 

·                     3 Rogue Shot- Did I mention I like this card?  Well I do and I only have three of them, but three is all you need really.  With an ability that says, “-3 intercept uncharge any zone" Rogue Shot is perfect in combination with Venster, Tactician.  Rogue Shot adds that spice that makes this decks strategy come to life in a whole new way.  You can uncharge an opponents zone if you use RS's effect, that just hurts.  And if your opponents force is weak enough and you added to the intercept of Rogue Shot then you can possibly use this effect twice and uncharge two of your opponent’s zones.  That’s downright mean.

·                     4 Strafe- Strafe serves one purpose eliminate teamwork’s.  At 4/4 stats he can block average cards and combined with Venster, Tactician he can intercept even more.  Against teamwork decks Strafe is a must have.  I like strafe a lot of and just so happen to have 4 copies.

·                     1 Stalefish Grab- I wish I had one more of these.  Stalefish is expensive as all hell but really helps this deck.  I used this card in conjunction with Venster, Tactician today and added a whole bunch of green furyoku.  Since this cards isn’t limited to "once per turn" you get moneys worth from it. 

·                     3 Rush to Judgment- At 5/2 stats this card is good and in your opponents green zone he gets a +4 force boost.  This is another one of those cards that add furyoku to your deck but pushing your opponent back to at least the yellow zone.  Beware of punishers though...

·                     4 Concussive Blast- Here’s a solid 5/3 strike that uncharged whatever zone your opponent counterattacks from.  Good card here, I have 4 listed but 3 of these would be ideal.  Most decks made from this reincarnation set are going to want zones charged so the odds of actually getting this effect off aren’t as bad as you may think.  Plus 5 intercept is good enough to get most jobs done. 

·                     4 Rail Bird- This is a 6/3 strike that for a -2 intercept can add a yellow furyoku when you counterattack.  This does boost your yellow which is needed in this deck.  Rail Birds a solid card and I wouldn’t consider using less than 4. Plus this isn't a "once per turn" effect so with 6 intercept you may be able to use this effect 2 or 3 times and add 2 or 3 yellow furyoku.  Good Stuff!

·                     1 Unerring Garrote- 6/7 stats make this a powerhouse, if only I had 2-3 more of these bad boys.  Not only are the stats good but you can eliminate a teamwork when you counterattack with it.  The downside of course being that it costs a lot.  But in this deck you'll see that you'll have some extra furyoku set aside for cards like these since the rest of the deck isn’t so expensive to play.

 

There you have it a complete breakdown of the card list.  As you can see this deck has a lot going for it and can almost mold to defend against a variety of deck types.  After playing with this Lyserg deck you'll realize you have better furyoku management then your opponent.  Also when they lose their ability to capitalize on sig moves and teamwork’s that leads to their inability to capitalize with their strategy.  This is the closest thing I’ve seen to a control deck in the Shaman King TCG.  Unless you are running a deck that eats your opponents furyoku this deck really goes after the heart of your opponents strategy while at the same time giving yourself great furyoku management.

 

Now I’ll break this deck down two other ways; Furyoku and Strategy.

 

The furyoku breakdown lets you see first hand how your deck will handle the furyoku curve.  In an deck building article by Inquest they suggest the average deck should have no more than 12 cards with red costs and 30 with yellow.  That’s a general estimate and is a great tip for new players. 

 

Furyoku Breakdown:

 

Green – 56

Yellow – 35

Red – 4

 

The furyoku breakdown looks pretty normal.  I am running a few more yellow than I like but I have Rail Bird to offset that plus I’m only using 4 cards with a red cost.

 

Strategy Breakdown:

 

Teamwork Destruction (9):

4 Cleanse

4 Strafe

1 Unerring Garrote

 

Furyoku Gain (7):

2 Marco Commanders

4 Rail Bird

1 Stalefish Grab

 

Charging Problems (10):

3 Rogue Shot

4 Concussive Blast

3 Brain Grab

 

Stacking the Deck (10):

4 Lillala

4 Decipher the Runes

2 Focal Point

 

Ok we have plenty of cards dedicated to this decks strategy.  The only thing that seems to be lacking here is extra furyoku gainers but this is a pretty inexpensive deck to play so you’ll be stock piling furyoku by the end of it. 

 

By now you have probably realized where the title “Search and Destroy” came from.  The strategy for this deck relies on stacking your deck for cards that can counter your opponent’s strategy.  Sometimes I see decks trying to do too much; well at first glance you may think that this is one of those decks.  But really this deck only focuses on one strategy, and that strategy is to counter whatever your opponent is playing.

 

You'll also notice that this deck is running at 62 cards which is not so much over the 60 card minimum.  This game doesn’t really rely on you having 60 cards like other games do.  Plus with Lysergs mind trait advantages you'll be sucking through this deck picking out cards you enjoy more than others.  Lillala, Decipher the Runes, and Focal Point help with this matter.  Those cards also help you get the cards you need, since no strikes in this deck are too overpowering you will need to do some searching to find the cards you need to defend.  They also help when you are going to get different combos going with your teamwork’s.  Searching your deck for certain cards is the key to this deck.  And by searching I really mean skimming, no cards let you search your deck but the mind cards I’m referring to do let you stack the top of your deck in a certain way.    Make sure you know this deck inside and out and make sure you remember what you are drawing and how many copies of each cards you’re using. 

 

This isn’t a template for all Lyserg decks this is just a template for the one I am using.  You can feel free to do whatever you please.  Some will disagree with my ratios and others will enjoy this deck.  This deck was just made from the cards I have and really I could only see making a few modest adjustments to it.  The addition of Captivate (Lysergs Spectergram) would be helpful but in this deck the red furyoku of Captivate wouldn’t be the best move, I think the cards I listed are good for what this deck is supposed to do.  After play testing this a few times I am tweaking it as I go along, I have to say I haven’t lost a match yet and this deck is doing very well.  What turned out to be a spur of the moment Lyserg deck actually has become an interesting deck type.  I hope everyone will experiment with Lyserg and unlock his potential. 

 

And if any new players are looking for a ratio to use I like the one mentioned in an Inquest magazine.  For beginners 2/3 (35-40 / 60) of the deck should be strikes.  Obviously the deck I made above has about half the deck strikes but that’s because this is a different deck and once you experiment you will find out how many are working for you.  This is a good way to breakdown your deck.  When play testing your deck write down what’s working and what’s not working, then refer back to your sheet and see what adjustments can be made.  By breaking a deck down into Deck, Strategy, and Furyoku Costs you can pinpoint any problems your deck may have.

 

For you new players out here are some resources for you:

 

Pojo's Reincarnation Spoileriler:

http://www.pojo.com/shamanking/index.shtml

 

 

Shaman King Rulings Thread- This is a thread I started and has become the largest thread on the SK forum.  It has a ton of official rulings and If I were you I would print the whole thread out.  If you have any questions I suggest you post them there:

http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=126352

 

 

Ok enjoy this article because they won’t come often.  I hope this helps any new players find their style and any advanced players find a new strategy.

 

Happy Gaming,

 

Siren

bpbernardi@gmail.com

 

Note: Don’t send me decks that need fixing.  If anyone wants to discuss the SK TCG feel free to correspond.