The Narukami is one clan that has been a fierce competitor, yet buried under the more well known clans to not have an appropriate spotlight. At least, that's the case in this Sub-Clan who packs the mightiest of punches: The Brawlers.
Rarely have I actually seen top Legion players view this deck as a threat, as more are focused on more concrete clans like Liberators, Star-Vaders, and Perdition Dragons. But Brawlers have an amazing pressure threshold that is very much underestimated.
Putting away the effects gained from their days as Eradicators, Brawlers aren't all about shooting down rears before attacking. Rather, they embrace rushing head first into the fray as they are focused more on destroying rearguards while they attack. While it may seem like they have become more predictable, that's not a bad thing for these cards. They get the job done right, gaining power when you least expect it and comboing off the destruction of units. And to show you how, we are gonna look at the major bosses of this clan: The Big Bang Brawlers.
Let's start with the base Legion of this Sub-Clan:
Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon
LEGION: Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon
ACT: (V) [Counter Blast 2-card with "Brawler" in it's card name] If this unit is Legion, until the end of turn, this unit gains +5000 power and "CONT: (V) This card battles all of your opponent's units in the front row in one attack".
AUTO: (V) [Soul Blast 1] When this card attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, this unit gains +3000 power until the end of turn.
Behold, the successor to Vermillion! This Brawler shows force that hasn't been seen since Season 2. Attacking the front row not only prevents intercepting, but it also forces off 2 attacking cards as well as press for guard against the Vanguard. This helps to control their offense and defense, as they must refill their front lines for effective attacks.
His Soul Blast skill may not be the most potent in power, but when you think of the materials needed to Legion, it is good to get units from the soul out for more use in the deck. That, and this allows Legion to hit another stage, even with Cross Rides.
Now lets look at this card's mate:
Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon
This card may seem like the skill is short, but even short abilities can be deadly. This card works like Bruno or Upright Lion, in that it can combo off the main premise of the deck. Every time your Vanguard hits, it gains an extra 3000 power. However, since Big Bang Knuckle Dragon can potentially hit 3 targets, that makes this card even more destructive due to the possibility of a 9000 power boost! With typical 7000 power boosters, that puts the potential to 25000 power columns!
So that's the first part of the Big Bang cast, but compared to these next two cards, these two are slacking on their power!
Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster
LEGION: Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster
ACT: (V) [Counter Blast 1 & Choose a card with "Big Bang Knuckle" in its card name from your hand, and put it into your soul.] if this unit is in Legion, until the end of turn, this unit gets +5000 power and "CONT: (V) When this unit would choose a unit to attack, choose four of your opponent's units instead, and this unit battles all of the chosen units in one attack".
CONT: (V) If you have a card named "Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon" in your soul, this unit gets +2000 power.
If Big Bang Knuckle Dragon is the successor to Vermillion, then Big Bang Knuckle Buster is Vermillion "The BLOOD." Not only is this card the only true Cross Legion card, but it's ability takes the power of Brawlers to new heights! Not 3 attacks, but 4 attacks in one turn, meaning the potential to destroy 3 rearguards while still attacking the vanguard! And not only that, you don't even need to ride Big Bang Knuckle Dragon first to get the Cross Ride, since you can put him into the soul using the Legion Skill. This also puts Slash Dragon's potential to a 12000 point gain! Since there are Brawlers that gain power when a rearguard is retired, this also gives them the potential of a 9000 point boost! Can this get any better?!
Oh wait, it can!
Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster
AUTO: When this unit attacks, if you have a vanguard with "Big Bang Knuckle" in it's card name, this unit gets +2000 power until the end of that battle.
AUTO: When your vanguard with "Big Bang Knuckle" in it's card name's attack hits, this unit gets +3000 power until the end of turn.
Slash Dragon also gets an improvement, though seemingly not by much. Slash Buster has gained the ability of an extra 2000 power should you have a Big Bang Knuckle Vanguard. It's second ability has been modified to only be used with Big Bang Knuckle cards, but since your only Grade 3's are Big Bang Knuckle, it's a small nit pick that doesn't affect it's usage in this deck. with the combination of Knuckle Buster, this Rearguard can power up to 23000 power by itself under the best conditions!
Brawlers definitely have the intimidation factor. But it's not just these cards that make up the deck.
Grade 0s x17
1x Spark Kid Dragoon (Starter)
4x Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle (Heal)
4x Brawler, Heavy Trailer Dragon (Draw)
4x Brawler, Plasma Kick Dragon (Critical)
4x Heaven Rising Brawler, Yohzen (Critical)
Grade 1s x14
2x Rising Phoenix
3x Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld/ Wyvern Guard Guld (PG)
1x Hardship Brawler, Toshu (QW)
4x Threatening Brawler, Kohmei
4x Tonfa Brawler, Arc
Grade 2s x11
4x Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster
4x Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon
3x Brawler, Sky Howl Dragon
Grade 3s x8
4x Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster
4x Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon
Winning Image:
Grade 0's are meant to help supply the hand to get a few cards, but really packs in the criticals for the combos this deck can produce.
The starter actually Spark Kid Dragoon, who can help when searching out any of your Big Bang Knickle cards.
Grade 1s were a bit tricky, as not many seem to help the deck as much. Since Brawlers do not have their own Perfect Guard, you'll need to use Guld. However, I recommend only using one Quintet Wall Toshu, as you'll need to conserve Counterblasts for later.
Rising Phoenix helps use your soul charging for some extra card advantage. Kohmei helps you fill your drop zone and get those Big Bang cards faster. However, the real star of the show is Tonfa Brawler, Arc. He is a rearguard that gains 3000 power every time a rearguard is put into the drop zone. This means you can get a 9000 power boost from Knickle Buster's Attack!
Grade 2's were easy, since we need to have the Legion mates. And after consulting and seeing reviews, I actually decided to include Skyhowl Dragon into the deck. The reason being that Knickle Buster may not be able to go off, yet you can still retire a rearguard and give power to your Arcs for a balanced attack.
And for Grade 3s, only the Big Bang Knuckles should be in this lineup. Your main goal is to ride Knuckle Buster and get the Cross Ride with his ability, but even if you are stuck with Knuckle Dragon, he can put on pressure until then.
Final Turn:
Brawlers pack a mighty punch, and while Kagero seems to be gaining the spotlight more for rearguard control, I personally think these cards handle it much better because they can combo off the destruction with amazing results. I personally recommend this deck, even to non-Narukami players, since when playing this deck, it's a lot easier to destroy head first rather than picking off one by one.
If you have any thoughts, questions, or any suggestions about future decks, please leave a comment below.
Until next time:
Daltorus
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