Still, it can be said to be pretty darn expensive. Not surprising though, several key cards go about being RR and above (Leo-pald, Binoculars Tiger, Cable Sheep, and then we have the promo Sea-Stamp Otter, which I wager is going to be a serious staple in most builds, but hopefully not going in the same direction as Purple Trapezist), which does increase the price of a deck quite a bit.
So naturally, I'm not willing to fork out SGD$12 (it could be different in other areas, but let's use Singapore as a reference 1st) a piece for 8 RRRs (SGD$96, can you believe that?), so of course, the first thing is that we look for an alternative. The great thing is that BT-08 gives us something that can substitute or be run alongside Binoculars Tiger and Leo-pald, and is a mere fraction of the cost:
Compass Lion
Grade 2/ Great Nature/ High Beast/ 11000
Effects:
AUTO【V/R】: At the beginning of your end phase, choose one of your rear-guards, and retire it.
R rarity (BT-08)
Going by the market rating for rares (or R), they should go for about SGD$1 to SGD$2 a piece, a lot less if you are savvy and would be sniping some off those booster box crusades or know somebody. In that sense, a playset would go for about SGD$8 at the most. Comparing it to the initial prices, there's definitely a difference. Considering that retiring effects are the bread (more on the butter later, and then let's talk jam, see what I did there, haha), and there's hardly many decent options outside the RR to RRR range, let's start by putting him as a 4-of, which means I want to try and draw him most of the time.
Other pieces of the deck:
Pencil Squire Hamsuke
Grade 1/6000/Great Nature/High Beast
AUTO: [Counter Blast (1)] During your end phase, when this unit is put into the drop zone from Rear-guard Circle, if you have a «Great Nature» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one card named "Pencil Squire, Hammsuke", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.
R rarity (BT-07)
Pencil Knight Hamsuke
Grade 2/8000/Great Nature/ High Beast
AUTO: [Counter Blast (1)] During your end phase, when this unit is put into the drop zone from Rear-guard Circle, if you have a «Great Nature» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one card named "Pencil Knight, Hammsuke", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.
C rarity (BT-07)
These are quite simply put, your butter. It's very difficult for a deck that aims to retire its units to function without them. With them you can thin out your deck of non-triggers cards, replace the card you lost, and when you staple on other effects, get more cards. What's there to not love? Again, 4-of. The reason why I'm not playing the Grade 3 Hamsuke is because of his lack of shield value, meaning that his effect is only good to phase out your unit for a better one, and used as perfect guard fodder at best. Also, we have better units to use (I hope?)
Schoolyard Prodigy, Lox
Grade 0/4000/Great Nature/High Beast
AUTO: When a card named "Bringer of Knowledge, Lox" rides this unit, look at up to seven cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one card named "Guardian of Truth, Lox" or "Law Official, Lox" from among them, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.
AUTO: When a «Great Nature» other than a card named "Bringer of Knowledge, Lox" rides this unit, you may call this card to Rear-guard Circle.
Bringer of Knowledge, Lox
Grade 1/7000/Great Nature/High Beast
CONT【V】: If you have a card named "Schoolyard Prodigy, Lox" in your soul, this unit gets Power +1000.
AUTO: When a card named "Law Official, Lox" rides this unit, if you have a card named "Schoolyard Prodigy, Lox" in your soul, choose up to two of your «Great Nature» rear-guards, and those units gets "AUTO: During your end phase, when this unit is put into the drop zone from Rear-guard Circle, draw a card" until end of turn.
Law Official, Lox
Grade 2/9000/Great Nature/High Beast
CONT【V】: If you have a card named "Bringer of Knowledge, Lox" in your soul, this unit gets Power +1000.
AUTO: When a card named "Guardian of Truth, Lox" rides this unit, if you have a card named "Bringer of Knowledge, Lox" in your soul, choose up to two of your «Great Nature» rear-guards, and those units gets "AUTO: During your end phase, when this unit is put into the drop zone from Rear-guard Circle, draw a card" until end of turn.
Guardian of Truth, Lox
Grade 3/10000/Great Nature/High Beast
CONT【V】: If you have a card named "Law Official, Lox" in your soul, this unit gets Power +1000.
ACT【V】: [Counter Blast (2) & Choose a card named "Guardian of Truth, Lox" from your hand, and discard it] Choose one of your «Great Nature» rear-guards, and that unit gets Power +4000/Critical +1 until end of turn, and at the beginning of your end phase, retire that unit.
I think for budget reasons, we can fit this in. This goes somewhat well with the "Sword and Shield" idea because only Lox has that 11k static defense that the others don't, in exchange for an unwieldy sword. I know some people are against these sort of ride chains citing inconsistency claims, but I beg to differ. These cards increase your chances of pulling off a successful Grade 1 to Grade 3 ride, they give some bonuses if you can pull it off (and have the cards to do so), and even if you don't get them off, you still get a 4000 starter that you can eat (either feed him to Lion or dump a +4000 bonus on him), ever useful 7k boosters and 9k attackers, and believe me when I say that you ain't missing much riding a 10k Lox or using him as cannon fodder. Not to mention, because so many people are quick to dismiss them as inferior to other Great Nature VG, those can be picked up on the cheap (Guardian of Truth, Lox goes for about SGD$5 if you know where to look, look below for other options if you aren't) Sounds fine to me. 1-4-4-3-of.
If you aren't too convinced, here are some another option below:
School Dominator, Apt
Grade 3/10000/Great Nature/High Beast
AUTO【V】: Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage): When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets Power +5000 until end of that battle.
AUTO【V】: [Choose one of your «Great Nature» rear-guards, and retire it] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to one «Great Nature» from your hand, and call it to Rear-guard Circle.
This card is very good. He swings for good numbers, and if he does hit, I get another free attack in exchange for killing off a weak card. I might, for example, kill off my last copy of Pencil Knight Hamsuke and put in a high attacking unit like Magnet Crocodile or Compass Lion. I'll put him as a 2 to 3 of, but he's ridiculously cheap and easy to find due to his not meshing properly with other Great Nature cards (poor little guy). Playing him also means that you have more space to run other cards.
For now, let's go with the Apt Route since I like penguins, we don't have the cards to make running Lox a more consistent option (or maximise his benefits) and I want some flexibility in my starting builds (We'll try out the Lox Route next week).
Loop-the-Loop, Duckbill (R, BT-08)/ Tic-Toc Flamingo (C, BT-07)
Grade 1/7000/Great Nature/High Beast
Honestly speaking, I'm getting a little lazy. The former lets you draw a card when you retire the selected unit, while the latter unflips a damage. Essentially, they are the "jam" that we are talking about. Thank god for their convoluted wording, otherwise Leo-pald would have had a ridiculous combo going.
Blackboard Ohm (C, BT-08)/Flask Marmoset (R, BT-07)/Acorn Master (C, BT-07)
Alternative starters if we are not playing the Lox series. Use according to taste.
Right, let's throw in some 8k Vanillas, some beat sticks, some strange options, and we have something like this:
Great Nature On A Budget Mk. I (nuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, not budget cuts, a school's worst nightmare~)
1 Blackboard Ohm
4 Ruler Chameleon (Crit)
4 Triangle Cobra (Crit)
4 Fortune-bringing Cat (Draw)
4 Dictionary Goat (Heal)
4 Silver Wolf
4 Loop-the-Loop, Duckbill
4 Pencil Squire, Hamsuke
2 Feather Penguin (Apt Personal booster)
4 Compass Lion
4 Pencil Knight, Hamsuke
4 Geograph Giant
3 School Dominator, Apt
3 Magnet Crocodile
1 Scientist Monkey Rue
Some might be a little surprised to see Rue. I'm currently playtesting him as a 5th retire outlet, although expect to see him gone soon, since he competes with Hamsuke for counterblasts. I think this deck might be a decent candidate to have stands considering the average power of its frontline attackers. Admittedly, I wanted to try Canvas Koala, but I did not think that Great Nature has the swarming power nor the continuously large hand size to use it.
How does it run? I'm going to leave it on a cliffhanger here, because I'm a jerk like that (amen to that)
Signing off,
Me.
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