[CFV] Cocytus "Яeverse" and Granblue post-BT17 Granblue

[Blake]

 

[ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Put three cards from the top of your deck into your drop zone & Choose one of your «Granblue» rear-guards, and lock it] Choose one «Granblue» from your drop zone, call it to (RC), and that unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of turn.

(The locked card is turned face down, and cannot do anything. It turns face up at the end of the owner's turn.)

[CONT](VC):If you have a card named "Ice Prison Necromancer, Cocytus" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+2000.

[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

 

So, thanks to Brutal Shade, on your T3 at earliest, you can Mill 3 to use one of your many draw 1s (Dancing Cutlass, Rough Seas Banshee, Sea Stroll Banshee)... up to 4 times a turn. Which means you can thin the deck by 12 mills and 4 draws. This is 16+ thin in one turn, not to mention your Twin Drive.

 

Normally, this would be very bad as you would risk Deckout for a power turn. However...

 

 

Now we have Negrobolt. We have a legion that works with this. And cutlass allows you to thin the soul and recycle back the copies over and over as long as you have counterblasts to pay for it.

 

This gives you turn after turn of "there's a very real chance of double crit", which means they have to guard a f***ton or they get killed immediately.

 

For starting VGs, you have:

 

Peter gives you Legion and/or Grave set up and a guaranteed draw. It's also 5K, which means you're more likely to hit better numbers.

 

Skelly Captain is your run of the mill Shizuku clone. Given how important hitting copies of Negrobolt is/hitting Cocytus early is, it makes a lot of sense to run it, and it's not like a singular -1 is going to hurt you a lot. However, using up a CB without reward seems more harmful.

 

 

Nightkid's a technical option, but his -1 that doesn't really do anything doesn't seem worth it. It can set your grave up for later, but it's a CB that's not giving you real value as opposed to Peter or Skelly Captain.

 

Guiding Zombie is another technical option. Unlike the other three, his skill is free, meaning that it + Cutlass can singlehandedly set you up for legion. That said, he isn't pinpoint and he is a -1. The deck can create advantage, but that doesn't mean you want to throw it away. He doesn't cost a counterblast though, so if you decide that either Skelly or Peter is costing too much, you can use this instead.

 

Pinot Gris is the on-legion Starter. When you perform Legion, it can slidee itself into soul to revive any unit from your Drop Zone. This is useful because it doesn't require a CB and it's a free revive... But it's slow, and it doesn't help you hit Cocytus first. It can be a power play, but it's not necessarily the optimal starter.

 

From what builds have been doing in the JCG since release, the trigger line-up appears to be either:

2 Heal/14 Crit

or

16 Crit

 

This is because what they are aiming for is the pressure of "I'll likely double crit". This means a likely 40K 3 crit swing, post triggers, which leads them to valuing heals less.

 

In testing, I'm not so sure this is optimal. I'm still testing of course, but the fact that when you run out of CB you die unless you hit a heal makes me think maybe the 4/12 approach is better. Still, will be testing multiple ways.

 

You don't use draws in this deck because of the fact you thin more than enough on your own to need the draw power, and you'd rather focus on pressure.

 

Stands also aren't worth it due to wanting to pressure them with 28-30K legion swings, though there is a potential exception...

 

 

These are your two non-generic trigger choices.

 

Banshee is Psychic Bird for Granblue. Needless to say, she's insane and great draw power. She also helps you clear the board to continue Cocytusing as well as fuel for the Cutlass and Banshee while you're thinning with them. 4-of, no questions.

 

Performing Zombie is Nightkid's skill on call. While Nightkid is overcosted, Performing Zombie is juuuuust right. Being a stand isn't the best, but it's not a bad 2-of if you want to add a card to aid in consistency. It could technically be one of the cards you revive off of cocytus to thin out dead draws and increase your chances of hitting more Negrobolts. Which would mean 12C/2H/2S or 10C/4H/2S. It's only a tech option, though ,so keep that in mind when building.

 

 

There's also Hades Steersman here. There is no real point to running him, he's got a mediocre effect for a mediocre power and a mediocre trigger type. He's a technical option, but has no point.

 

So, with G0 covered, lets go on to G1.

 

 

First up is Gust Jinn. He's just a perfect guard. However, hand advantage is something that comes fairly easily to the deck. With such in mind, it's not a very expensive card to play to sponge attacks.

 

Dancing Cutlass is a Rising Phoenix clone, despite being older than Rising Phoenix. SB2 Draw 1. This is very useful as it allows you to maintain hand advantage while also thinning the deck and soul, both of which are valuable abilities.

 

Samurai Spirit is just a generic 7K from the drop for CB1, meaning it makes the mediocre boosters known as Sea Strolling Banshee, Dancing Cutlass, and sometimes Performing Zombie upgrade while filtering cards you want in the drop zone back to it. Eating up valuable counterblasts for a +0 in the form of a "permanent" +1-3 power isn't worth it when you nee to conserve your CB on the whole.

 

Deadly Nightmare is the same thing as Samurai Spirit, but instead costs SB2. In this deck's case, this is more optimal, and may even be worth running. It can thin the extra Negrobolts out of your soul without eating CB or digging into your stack. It seems like a decent option that I intend to test, due to its ability to increase the longevity of the deck and make it not as dependent on CB in the long run. In addition, each Legion you ride over fuels it, and it in turn fuels the next Legion's cost.

 

Sea Strolling Banshee's a Dindrane clone for Granblue. As such, it's when she's called up. She's a more powerful and cheaper Dancing Cutlass, but she requires setup/hitting G3. She's more payoff in the long run, though, and should be run at 2-4, probably leaning towards 4.

 

Up next is Reef Banshee, the Qunintet Wall. If you've been reading thus far, you can probably tell already that this is in no way optimal. Sure, it's a mill 5 for CB1... But your CBs are precious and limited, and milling 5 past the early game is liable to deck you out. It's too dead in the late game and too heavily costed to be truly usable in Cocytus/Negrobolt.

 

Then there's the card that enables this deck to be its most consistent. Brutal Shade. It's a LB Enabler, which means Cocytus can go off as early as T3 for you. This means 16-20 cards thinned out from your deck, most likely. Which means you're in a prime position to turn your deck into nothing but Critical Triggers (heals if you must) and Negrobolt and his Mate. Easily a 4-of, given that it has optimal stats for a G1 unit with a skill.

 

Also, it's unofficial to my knowledge, but it may stay in effect under lock.

 

The G1 line-up should end up looking something like:

4 Brutal Shade

4 Gust Jinn

2-3-4 Sea Strolling Banshee

1-2 Dancing Cutlass

0-1-2 Deadly Nightmare

 

The main problem with Deadly Nightmare isn't how helpful its skill is, but where you fit it in. You desperately need to hit a Sea Strolling Banshee for the Cocytus turn to go off without a hitch, and Nightmare being run over copies of her could ruin that. You could run it over Cutlass completely, but Cutlass helps early game thinning and setup to hit Cocytus.

 

On to Grade 2!

 

 

Up first is Ruin Shade, a generic 11K attacker. This is a great G2 ride, especially paired with Peter, as it can enable you to mill 4 total between the two, meaning you have a guaranteed legion (if you must ride Negrobolt first) and a higher chance of hitting the cards you need early. Not to mention it's a 16K column with Peter if you don't use Peter immediately, meaning it hits decent numbers against anything 11K. This means you can theoretically sit on Ruin Shade for a turn or two against a Grade 3, while digging and thinning to hit a Cocytus before you ride to Negrobolt. It's not great the further you go into the game, though, so only run in lower numbers. Like 2.

 

Deadly Spirit is a G2 version of Deadly Nightmare... That's it. The issue is that it's a 9K that doesn't do anything when you have other cards to run, which I will go into.

 

Pietro's not terrible, but you don't really have the space for it, even though it can alleviate your troubles with running out of CB... but by the point you're running out, the opp will likely be guarding every hit anyways, so shrug.

 

Corrupt Dragon is a 12k attacker when it's revived. This is decent on its own, but in conjunction with either Cocytus or Negrobolt it's even better. With Cocytus, it's a 15K swinger. This means that, even with a Banshee, it swings for 21. If that Banshee or a Cutlass was revived by Cocytus, this means it hits 23/24, meaning even Crossrides have to guard it a decent amount or get hit. With Negrobolt, it can be revived to a column that was already used, meaning it's a 12k for picking off cheap amounts of guard or the opp's rearguards. If you get triggers off of the swing, or a performing Zombie if you run it, all the better. 3-of, in my opinion.

 

Ghoul Dragon is the best Grade 2 in Granblue. Its condition is laughable for a card that pressures the opp immensely, meaning you wreck their setup and they take a damage if it hits. Off of Cocytus, it's a 12K that has this attached. While not relevant to this build, it's 14 off of Nightmist, which is virtually the same but can have an easier time with Crossrides in the right cirumstances. 4-of, because it's Negrobolt's mate and it's a powerful card.

 

Pinot Blanc is a deceptively okay card. It looks stupidly good, but it's really only good. It's not bad by any means, but it's only when you perform legion and it costs CB1s... see where this is going? It's great in matchups like Perdition or Brawler, but it's still rather costly for its +1. 2-of, really.

 

So, from this, the G2 lineup should look like:

4 Dragon Undead, Ghoul Dragon

3 Dragon Corrode, Corrupt Dragon

2 Pirate Belle, Pinot Blanc

2 Ruin Shade

 

 

So now we've reached the bosses; Negrobolt and Cocytus "Яeverse"

 

Negrobolt is your Legion boss of choice, because he beats out Pinot Noir in utility. It has a useful Tachikaze-like effect that, instead of gaining power or critical, it revives a unit for the cost. Banshee, Cutlass, your G0 Banshee, possibly Performing Zombie, Corrosion Dragon, and Ghoul Dragon all play off of this; It's Granblue, it's what it does. This means that you can gain another swing and some decent advantage off of Negrobolt's skill. The fact that it's a legion means that, as long as you play smart, you'll never deck out. Deadly Nightmare, again, assists with this.

 

Cocytus' main gameplan is thinning your deck like hell, but it can be used as a standing Vanguard. On its power turn, you'll lock a large number Rearguards in order to gain massive advantage over the gamestate... Wait, doesn't that sound familiar...

 

 

Thaaaaaaat's right, Dragon Overlord the "Яe-birth". Cocytus does the majority of what this guy does, but better, and not as awful in the hand advantage department. It doesn't apply the pressure immediately, but it sets up for the threat of consistent triggers. It loses some of DOTR's power in exchange for better handling of the advantage it gives.

 

Eat your black heart out, Dragonic Overlord.

 

Anyways, Cocytus can make plays on its own, but it's main purpose is the DOTR-like play seen above. This obviously doesn't work against LJ, specifically Dark Zodiac/Glendiose, Paladium, and lolChaos Breaker, but... LJ isn't the best at the moment, anyways. Vanguards are too powerful for losing rearguards to truly matter, in the long run.

 

So, given the importance of both and need for more testing, I'd suggest running 4-4 for the time being. Maybe this can be fine tuned, but both of these Vanguards are of the utmost importance. Cocytus may as well be a more versatile Breakride, and Negrobolt's the bomb casing when your deck is about to explode from the pressure you've packed into it.

 

It may not be the best, but it's certainly potent, and I feel like we should have more discussion/articles like this in the section.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Great in depth run in of the interesting deck, Black.

 

Could you also make one for RPBA Seeker, for the sake of playerbase awareness?

[Blake]

Great in depth run in of the interesting deck, Black.

 

Could you also make one for RPBA Seeker, for the sake of playerbase awareness?

May I redirect you to-

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

Also, biggest issues the deck faces, LJ aside?