Achts of War

Hey Everyone! I’m here to give a breakdown of my Chevaleresse Acht, Thousand Blades (TWS-022) deck that I played at the Games N Geek April Grand Prix. I finished 4-1-0 in Swiss and ended Top 8 in 3rd. Coming into this event after the March GP I could feel that most decks were built more so to deal with Hyde, Solitary Assassin (TUS-068)/Aristella, Twin Prince (NWE-057) meta than a red aggro deck where every card is playable at 1 Will or less. While there are key cards to combo within this deck, the fact that every card is cheap to play means that even with counterspells, it’s hard to keep this deck’s aggression down in the early game.

DECKLIST

The majority of the cards in this deck can be played at quickcast speed, which means even if your opponent uses Angelic Battle Barrier (NWE-001), as long as you play your non-quickcast cards first in the proper order, you can still play your quickcasts in response and either go for kills, or set up your board to go for kills during your opponent’s draw phase. With how popular Angelic Battle Barrier (NWE-001) is, several opponents will end up tapping out their stones during your end phase to avoid getting silenced on their turn, which leaves them vulnerable pre-recovery phase to using your Child of War (TWS-024)’s god art combined with Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021).

Gameplan

Whether going first or second, the majority of the time turn 1 is simply calling a stone and passing. What you end up doing ultimately depends on what tools you have in your opening hand, the order you play your cards in due to Angelic Battle Barrier (NWE-001), and adjusting to any counterspell/removals or if your opponent is running Child of the Light Moon (NWE-003) and/or The Great Wall of the Twelve Sacred Knights (NWE-083). 

The most straightforward way to go for kills on turn 2, if not responded to, is to just play a Phantasmal Ascendant (GOG-026) during your opponent’s end phase before you take your 2nd turn. You can use the new stone to bring out a Rogue Spectator (GRL-021) for another resonator to gain War when your actual turn starts and begin pressuring your opponent. Between the two 400/400s swinging, your contract and J-ruler resolving, and swinging with everything again, it’s possible to deal 3600 damage to your opponent with an opening hand of 2 cards while still having two stones up.

The other main wincon of this deck is to use Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021) after building out a board with War. I’ll go into more detail in the card breakdown below, but due to Child of War (TWS-024)’s God Art and several other card interactions in this deck, it’s possible to swing for game with Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021) on either player’s turn at any point.

The best way to gain War on your resonators during your opponent’s turn is to go for Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021) plays to win the game. 200 damage pings may not seem like much,  but the damage adds up quickly, especially after resolving a Necromancy of Cursed Spirits (TWS-027) for free to get 3 more resonators to ping with and be used with Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021).

Great card for retrieving Sealed One-Eyed Dragon (NWE-079) from the discard or Raging Messiah (TWS-028). The mill 2 cards can be useful depending on what you foresee if you hit a Fire Moon Fragment (NWE-102). Very rarely will you ever play Raging Messiah (TWS-028) at 3 cost, so milling off the top of your deck after foreseeing it can be useful if you have a play in hand.

3x Daji, Mass-Produced Queen (GRV-013)

Great card to use against life gain/drain decks during your opponent’s turn if you have it in your hand over a Rogue Spectator (GRL-021). Let’s you bury a Sealed One-Eyed Dragon (NWE-079) in the discard for easy retrieval with Child of Death (TWS-073) on top of letting you dig for key cards with its activated ability, also instantly gains War with its enter effect.

A cool interaction to note on the wording of this card is that it deals 500 damage + the life gained all at once, which synergies well with Raging Messiah (TWS-028) depending on how much life was gained by your opponent. I ran 3 copies as I generally don’t like to see more than 1 during a game.

4x Phantasmal Ascendant (GOG-026)

As noted above, getting this card to resolve before your 2nd turn starts with a contract in hand can be enough to end games if not responded to. Even without a contract just having the extra stone resource early on can help you expand onto the board with more swiftness resonator entities to pressure your opponent’s life and setup for Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021). Even if this gets Laurite, Seven Luminaries Astrologian (TSW-094)‘d it still stays on the field and benefits you as an entity that can gain War.

4x Rushing Dinosaur (TUS-024)

Not an amazing card, but it gets the job done and works well in several situations that are beneficial to this deck’s playstyle. It’s a great way to cleave down Laurite, Seven Luminaries Astrologian (TSW-094) if they were used against Phantasmal Ascendant (GOG-026) to open the board up for your resonators to get by and gain War. It can’t be blocked by cheap resonators to prevent War, has swiftness,  and hits for 600 when adding its effect, which is much more consistent damage compared against Spirit in Dis (TWS-031), which requires 2x War stones to out damage this card without the added beneficial effects.

2x Warring Dragon (TWS-033)

Super situational card that can be cut. This card has been a brick in hand and baited me into losing games several times and has also won me games. Playing Necromancy of Cursed Spirits (TWS-027) and getting War on the tokens on top of another resonator/War stone can be great as this card drops down to 0-1 cost and is a 10/10 flying/swiftness body. It’s also a great target for your contract to blast your opponent for another 1000 and recovery. However, the majority of the time this card is a brick in hand, and if you play it after Necromancy of Cursed Spirits (TWS-027), odds are you’re going to get Angelic Battle Barrier (NWE-001)’d before you play your contract.

4x Ethereal Princess (TUS-053)

Great card to use, especially as an opener against non-The Great Wall of the Twelve Sacred Knights (NWE-083) users if Phantasmal Ascendant (GOG-026) isn’t available. I feel this card does what Warring Mercenary (TWS-034) was supposed to do but much better. It pings for only 200 instead of 300, but can activate its ping effect on either player’s turn since it doesn’t need to rest, gain War on either player’s turn, can attack, and has sticking power as if your opponent tries to deal with it, they are forced to discard. 

Great interaction with this card is to swing with it before pinging, as if your opponent spends a resource to deal with it, you can always respond with its ping ability to gain War and sacrifice Ethereal Princess (TUS-053) with Necromancy of Cursed Spirits (TWS-027), forcing your opponent to discard after spending resources.

Also, if you have Ethereal Princess (TUS-053) on the field and a Necromancy of Cursed Spirits (TWS-027)/Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021) in hand, your opponents might feel safe to spend their Will during your end phase or their draw phase and not expect to get pinged, sacrificed for 3 more entities that can gain War with your God’s Art, and swung at with Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021).

4x Sealed One-Eyed Dragon (NWE-079)

Great card to ping stuff off the field with or to finish off an opponent with. Note that with a Raging Messiah (TWS-028) on the field you are paying 600 life to deal 1200 points of damage, though it’s rare to get a Raging Messiah (TWS-028) on board successfully. Can be put in the grave with Daji, Mass-Produced Queen (GRV-013) for easy retrieval with Child of Death (TWS-073). If you have this in hand and Child of Death (TWS-073) God’s Art up, you essentially have a 1200 damage burn available, as long as The Great Wall of the Twelve Sacred Knights (NWE-083) and Child of the Light Moon (NWE-003)‘s God’s Art aren’t available.

If needed, it can be played from the grave by using Magic Stone of Moon Shade (MPR-100) to lose life if the discard effect wasn’t used for the life loss requirement.

3x Raging Messiah (TWS-028)

Didn’t actually get much use out of this card during the GP. Most games were ending on turn 2-3 and the extra damage wasn’t really needed/worth the Will that early on in the game. While the card is not cancellable it can still be stopped with Memory of Worlds (TUS-043) // Recorder of Worlds (TUS-043J) or Persephone, the Eleventh Olympian (GRV-082)‘s discard effect. I may cut this down to 2 copies to move some Angelic Battle Barrier (NWE-001) into the main deck. This can be a game changer depending on the matchup.

Keep in mind, when discarding this card for use with Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021), make sure you discard it AFTER using Child of War (TWS-024)’s God’s Art. The way Child of War (TWS-024) is worded, it deals 200 SEPARATE damage with each resonator, not all at once. Raging Messiah (TWS-028) will only amplify one of the 200 damage pings so be sure you get the timing right with her discard.

4x Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021)

One of the main wincons of the deck besides relying on your contract resolving. With the use of Necromancy of Cursed Spirits (TWS-027) and Child of War (TWS-024)’s God’s Art, this card generally hits my opponent on either player’s turn 2 or 3 for 1600-2800 depending on how games play out. I’ve had several games end just due to the combined damage of Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021), God’s Art War, and a Sealed One-Eyed Dragon (NWE-079) discard.

4x Necromancy of Cursed Spirits (TWS-027)

One of the best cards to use with Chevaleresse Acht, Thousand Blades (TWS-022). This card synergies so well with her contract and Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021) but can be difficult to use at times. Trading in one resonator with War for three new resonators to power up Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021) is one of the main wincons of this deck. The other wincon being getting your J-ruler on the field, swinging with your resonators and sacrificing them to get 3 more resonators that get buffed up to 600/600 tokens that can swing is game ending.

The downside of using this card for free is that if it gets counterspelled, your resonator is still destroyed. On rare occasions this card can be used at cost during your opponent’s end phase or to sacrifice a resonator about to be destroyed to refresh your hand if there are no other plays available, most of the time though I’m using this for the 3 extra bodies to gain War for Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021).

4x Summon the Charger of War! (TWS-032) // Ifrit Glass Chronogear (TWS-032J)

The other main wincon of the deck. The chant side of the card can be used to give a resonator that may have blocked War before the J-ruler comes in to untap it. Generally you want to swing with everything before playing this contract just so everything can swing again with a boost later. Don’t get baited into playing this card when your opponent is playing Child of the Light Moon (NWE-003). They’ll gain barrier and cause your contract to fizzle. I debate about dropping this card down to 3 as it can be a brick in hand until turn 3 if Phantasmal Ascendant (GOG-026) doesn’t resolve. Keep in mind, no quickcast, try to play it as one of your first 2 cards due to Angelic Battle Barrier (NWE-001).

4x “Ki Lua: Fossil Girl in the City” (TWS-090)

Pretty self-explanatory card, the main way to deal with The Great Wall of the Twelve Sacred Knights (NWE-083) users and stop key enter effects such as The Witch of the Fallen Kingdom (ADW-072) from searching out a combo or stopping Laurite, Seven Luminaries Astrologian (TSW-094). Since A Duet of Light (MSW-001) brings The Great Wall of the Twelve Sacred Knights (NWE-083) back I would try and save this card for when you are going for an actual kill on The Great Wall of the Twelve Sacred Knights (NWE-083) users.

SIDEBOARD

1x Child of Eclipse (TWS-053)

The main card of my sideboard outside of Rogue Spectator (GRL-021). I side out Child of Death (TWS-073) for Child of Eclipse (TWS-053) against Child of the Light Moon (NWE-003) users just because it forces out the activate before calling a third stone. Don’t forget Child of the Light Moon (NWE-003) activate gives barrier as well which causes your contract and Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021) to fizzle. I’d rather have Child of War (TWS-024) with this card over Child of Death (TWS-073) since it gives War on the opponent’s turn to use Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021) with.

The rest of my side deck was not used during this event, however Angelic Battle Barrier (NWE-001) could be brought into the main deck to replace cards such as Warring Dragon (TWS-033), or dropping a copy of Raging Messiah (TWS-028)/Summon the Charger of War! (TWS-032) // Ifrit Glass Chronogear (TWS-032J).

Mumu Tribe Straggler (TUS-005) is present to deal with Ethereal Defense Trooper (TUS-027) on the off chance you get matched against Reinhardt, Descendant of the Ethereal King (TUS-078).

Replicant: Scarlet (TWS-029) can be useful in certain situations to target key resonators in certain matchups, but is too situational. Don’t get baited into running her just to contract off a 1 drop for 1000 damage. She can’t attack your opponent and can get pinged off the board very easily with only 200 defense. You’re better off just contracting off any of the other 1 drops that are able to swing again at your opponent after Ifrit buffs them with +400/+400.

Strengths:

Similar to most red decks this build can go for quick wins on turn 2 or 3 against most decks. The wincon of the deck can focus on either resonator aggression or going for heavy chant damage relying on Charge of Infinite Blades (TWS-021). With every card in the deck being playable at 0-1 cost it can be hard for opponents to deal with every card early on in the game with limited Will generation available.

Weaknesses:

• The main weaknesses of this deck mainly revolve around keeping your resonators on board, and being able to gain the War keyword. Minor board pings of -200/-200 can shut down Necromancy of Cursed Spirits (TWS-027) from building up the resonator count.

• The other issue involves cards such as The Great Wall of the Twelve Sacred Knights (NWE-083) and Aphrodite, the Tenth Olympian (GRV-071)/Athena, the Seventh Olympian (GRV-076) entering the field as they prevent resonators from gaining War, which prevents the deck from doing what it needs to win.

• Lastly, the other weakness of all red decks is that outside of “Ki Lua: Fossil Girl in the City” (TWS-090), there isn’t really a way to stop cards like Dexia’s Advice (TUS-026) from resolving, which can cause major issues when your opponent is trying to combo you as you don’t have a way to stop it.

Hope everyone enjoyed the article! Special thanks to my locals for helping me test out Chevaleresse Acht, Thousand Blades (TWS-022), until next time!