Poetica has been an archetype I have been tinkering with for some time, with a wide variety of rulers. Sadly, for the majority of that time the experimentation produced some lackluster strategies, which although decent still paled in comparison to the likes of Genesis and Reginleif. It was thanks to our friends in Japan, Good Time, and subsequent experimentation by the English community that the strength of a Shuriken build was practically evidenced, prompting me to settle on something I had previously discounted.
As a result, I went back to the drawing board and envisioned my own version of the deck, which had a strong showing in GateRuler’s most recent Discord Tournament, despite being rather hastily put together in about an hour. After the tournament, I explored the possible deckbuilding pathways one could take to improve it further and consequently have arrived to this write-up, where you will be made privy to my deckbuilding thought process, or at least the most relevant fractions of it.
The Decklist
While this may not be the definitive decklist, as I am still doing some tinkering with it myself, a lot of the cards included are deemed necessary for the current metagame, although perhaps not adamantly at their prescribed ratios. In essence, there is a fair bit of experimentation that one can perform with the current decklist, whether that includes opting for different units or an alternate Martial Skills line-up. Potential options will be explored in detail below, to take the guesswork out of the formatting (special attention should be paid to cards like Scheherazade of the Endless Nights and Marguerite of the Destiny which although may be different, still have the same named ability “Fateful Encounater” that may only be used once per turn).
The Warrior Package
While we do not have specific lore for the Poetica attribute, it does seem clear that they have a specific affinity with warriors. As a result, picking what warrior attributed cards will make an appearance in our decklist is of paramount importance.
Our bread and butter of the warrior package are without a doubt Glorious Champion and Grau. The former undoubtedly should be featured as a four-of. Not only is it a searcher for any poetica that we may need at any given time but it also initiates a deck reshuffle, something extremely important especially when we are placing CNTs to the bottom of our deck. The latter, while strong can certainly prove to be somewhat clunky. To combat this issues, I reduced his number from four copies to three and plan to potentially reduce it further to two, pending experimentation.
To round off our list of potential warriors, we also have a relative wealth of options in the ‘one-cost’ category. Zarsheed is an absolute monster purely in terms of his stats, a great inclusion if you are struggling to effectively deal with large units. Duchess possesses a similarly high attack and has the added benefit of increasing STK and dealing effect damage. In theory she offers greater utility over the aforementioned warrior unit but which one you ultimately opt for will depend on your local metagame. The final option is Shemyaza, allows the deck to be a tad more defensive and also provides the utility of healing key cards out of the damage zone. Unfortunately, her relevance (if any) is going to be limited to the current set, pending the release of the advertised future support.
Event Inclusions
Undoubtedly, you would have seen this coming, from the pictures alone. As is the case with all top tier hand-decks in the current meta game, that feature ATLAS, Poetica thrives on the utilisation of both Dimensional Lamination and Armor of Ambition. Comboed with cards like Flauri of the Yearning Heart, when the former defensive tool is in effect, it is quite possible to take 0 damage in a turn, even in the face of multiple attacks.
With that out of the way, we can now move onto the Martial Skills (OMG they are actually playable!!!!). Apart from the archetype staple that is Chrysalis of Memories (which we run at 3, as a full playset proved to be too clunky), it took a bit of time to discern what should fill up the second CNT slot. While my gut reaction was The Golden Blade, the fact that it cannot be played from hand, and that it requires 3 DR to be played from the dropzone, can be a bit of an issue. As a result and after weighing the concepts of “cost”, “utility” and “tempo” the best choice proved to in fact be Wild Fury (a card I never thought would be meta relevant but apparnetly have been proven thoroughly wrong).
Essentially, while on the surface there might be other cards with “better” effects on paper, the level of the CNT and the simple nature of its ability as an effective removal tool, permits it to combo better with the effects inherent to Poetica and company. That being said, there are variety of other Martial Skills that can be considered for the deck e.g. A Blow of the Sacred Blade, Dragon Rider Reconnaissance but have not found their way into the current list. In a similar vein, Renaissance is also a consideration but not directly applicable at the moment.
Last but certainly not least, we have skystrike arrow. While it may not be as big of a focal point as it has been in the past, nonetheless it is a great utility card that allows for a clutch disuption play, especially in the mirror match.
Deck Weaknesses
Although I do believe that the archetype at hand may serve as another solid entry in the tier 1 meta ranking, as a newly introduced archetype, it does come with a few glaring flaws. Utmost and foremost is ‘consistency‘ or lack thereof. Specifically, the deck requires a turn or two to appropriately setup its win condition. Sometimes longer, contingent on draws and CNTS. While that theoretically is not a problem if you obtain your defensive tools early, it does mean that the deck can effectively be rushed down if you do not, considering the low life total and absence of a defensive zone in Shuriken. This issue is compounded by the relevance of Berserker in the metagame.
A secondary issue, although this is a relatively minor one by comparison, are the ‘low stats‘ of its units. Incredibly vulnerable to spreadable effect damage or large center units, it is quite feasible for the deck to be stalled by a high-health defending unit alone. I do stipulate though that is is a bit of a lesser issue, due to the inclusion of cards like Wild Fury and Azar, the Incandescent.
While this last point may not be considered a weakness, it is something players should be aware of. The deck at hand, has a decently high skill ceiling, requiring optimised decision making for it to be utlised in a positive manner. As a result, while the basic combos are simple enough to pick up, being able to exercise the charge link mechanic well, will definitely take some practice.
Final Thoughts
I’m genuinely thrilled that the archetype at hand has a very competively viable build this early on. Furthermore, it has been confirmed through card reveals that future support will in fact speed up the deck enough, to compensate for its current slow start. While seemingly only a small fix on the surface, it is in fact exorbinantly impactful in practice, due to the fact that the deck already has amazing recovery. This bodes well for players that are seeking a good deck to invest in, that will retain a competitive edge in future sets.
Overall, the archetype presents itself as a healthy meta contender. The deckbuilding requirements of the Shuriken Ruler effectively balance out the aggressive nature of the deck by limiting its defensive capabilities and confining them to specific tools. It is amazingly fun and easy to pick up. As a final sendoff, once again I will reiterate that the skill ceiling is quite high and thus requires extensive practice for consistently high competitive performance.
Disclaimer
All commentary at hand refers to the English format of the game. As such the only data in relation to deck viability taken into consideration is that resulting from the ENG tournaments and local scenes. This is due to the fact that Japan has a variety of powerful cards that allow certain archetypes to remain viable or exceed their English counterparts. This disclaimer applies to the entirety of Set 5.
gunnolfbjorn 