Well, boys, another SCIV set is waiting in the wings, so let's get the party started with what is IMHO the most fearsome aggro character in there: Mitsurugi* .

The Blademaster

Starting Character:

Mitsurugi* (6 HS 28 Vitality) ( All , Fire , Life )

Actions (6):

4 Mist Stance (2/5 +2M) ( All , Fire , Life )

2 Quick Strike (4/5 +3H) ( All , Fire , Life )

Attacks (18):

4 Tiao Wu Kick (3/3 3H3 +1M; Kick, Stun: 1) (Air, Life , Water)

4 Hilt Impact (4/3 3H3 +1M; Stun: 2) (Earth, Good, Life )

4 Yi Shan's Tiger Claw (4/3 3H5 +3H; Stun: 1) (Earth, Life , Water)

2 Fire Brand (5/3 4H4 +2H; Combo, Weapon) ( All , Fire , Life )

4 Full Moon Disembowel (5/3 3H6 +2M; Combo, Weapon) ( All , Fire , Life )

Foundations (36):

4 Hunt for Jin (1/5 +2L) ( All , Good, Life )

4 Know When to Talk... (1/5 +3L) (Good, Life , Water)

4 The Strength Within (1/5 +2M) ( All , Fire , Life )

4 Torn Hero (1/5) (Earth, Good, Life )

4 Battle Tested (2/5) ( All , Fire , Life )

4 Defeated the Rifle (2/5) ( All , Fire , Life )

4 Genius Alchemist (2/5) ( All , Life , Void)

4 Just Kidding (2/5 +3L) (Air, Life , Water)

4 Looking for a Thrill (2/4 +3H) ( All , Fire , Life )

Side Deck (8):

4 Atoning for the Past (2/5 +3M) (Earth, Life , Water)

4 Tieh Lei, Iron Thunder (2/5 +1H) (Earth, Life , Water)

General Deck Strategy:

This is a rush-oriented Life beats deck: you set up for a bit, then come in with all guns blazing. You have a couple of nice tricks you can pull off with your foundations to keep chains and strings going a step longer, which adds a bit of depth to what seems to be just a "rawr beat face" deck at first glance. It's all about the High zone for this deck; you gain a very large advantage by going straight for your opponent's head, and all the attacks are geared towards that. Add in all the meaty buffs and Stun power available to Mitsurugi* , and you have yourself an offensive juggernaut.

Card-by-Card Breakdown:

Mitsurugi* - Absolutely incredible. Good vitality for his 6 handsize, and two absolutely murderous abilities, especially combined with other cards in his support.

Mist Stance - Speak of the devil. This beauty hands you a free +2 damage for nothing (since it draws a card to replace itself), and gives +2 speed to the next attack you play.

Quick Strike - Another very strong action, this provides a buff to all relevant numbers when playing an attack, and sets up my Combo strings. Awesome.

Tiao Wu Kick - This little fellow reminds me of Block 3's Ichi no Tachi ; a poke with good stats and a committing effect. While Tiao Wu may not quite be up to the par as Ichi in the effect department, the stats are undeniably better than its predecessor's.

Hilt Impact - A good-sized Stun on a very solid attack overall. About as reliable as it gets, this one.

Yi Shan's Tiger Claw - An attack with big damage, a Stun rating, and the ability to pass the Stun on to other attacks. Can be violently powerful.

Fire Brand - Some pretty insane damage on its own, and Mitsurugi* only makes it even better. The Combo E is not really that big a deal IMHO... though +2 damage is never something you dismiss on hand.

Full Moon Disembowel - A brutal attack with big damage and that combos with these actions? Nuts...

Hunt for Jin - A good low block, with the opportunity to draw, and cheap to play. Pretty good overall.

Know When to Talk... - Keeps your opponent's card pool clogged so they'll have less chance to hurt you.

The Strength Within - +2 speed or +2 damage in a foundation with these stats is almost criminal.

Torn Hero - Keeps a commit-heavy deck from getting too greedy in the early turns, and definitely commands respect against Stun in particular.

Battle Tested - Card draw for hitting someone OR from getting hit? Nasty...

Defeated the Rifle - Speed and damage in the same E , as well as asset destruction, all in the same foundation. Goodness.

Genius Alchemist - Keeps my progressive difficulty from grinding a kill turn to a halt.

Just Kidding - A low block, and a solid speed boost as well, if you can get lucky and guess if it's wrong.

Looking for a Thrill - Turn all that speed into damage... without sacrificing said speed! The opposite is also true.

Atoning for the Past - Cleans out my card pool, which in turn allows me to keep attacking. If you manage to send a Tiger Claw this way, fun times will be had.

Tieh Lei, Iron Thunder - A great utility action, it pumps speed and damage simultaneously, bites discard back (this is actually becoming very important nowadays), and can make this deck's Stun engine go through the roof if it manages to snag a Tiger Claw or two and put them in the face up momentum.

As usual, thoughts of any kind are appreciated here.

It's tough to decide but I would include Defeated the Rifle mainboarded instead of Just Kidding. I know the stats aren't the best but 1) you don't NEED to look in their hand with Defeated the Rifle and 2) while it sacrifices 2 speed, you get a surefire +1 speed and +2 damage AND you can deal with any kind of asset at any time with a card that doesn't JUST destroy assets. See what I mean? Or you could do without Hunt for Jin.

Test everything and let me know.

Also, I'm going to PR on Dec. 22 until Jan 10., and I'll be bringing sets of almost everything from this set. If you have anything to trade, bring it on to Mayaguez at some point.

To be honest with ya, bro, Just Kidding got the nod over Defeated the Rifle only because it offers me a low block, which is very important IMHO. I'll be testing Battle Tested (no pun intended) to see if it lives up to what I think it'll do. If it doesn't, Defeated the Rifle goes right in there. As you aptly mentioned, surefire pump is awesome.

On the cards topic, none of my stuff ever LEAVES Mayagüez, so we're good on that regard.

Well, boys, I've decided to trim down on the face-up momentum strategy, which has allowed me to make a side deck out of it. Thoughts on the current lineup are appreciated.

*bump*

Any more comments? I've seen quite a few builds off of Fire , so what does everyone think of this one off Life ?

This is a chase UR, and will only become even moreso of that, but...smoke'em if ya got'em: Quick Exit.

Truth. What would you suggest I axe in favor of that chase rare?

TBH, i think Just Kidding is a bit superflous in this deck. I know why you put it in, but Mitsu already pumps speed by +2, and you already have 8 Foundations that have Low Blocks on them. Seriously, i don't think Mitsu's games are going past T3 or T4 (latest!!).

You have a point; however, I only got 1 Quick Exit , so I'll put that plan on the back burner... for now.

Also, quick tweak: Quick Strike is too nice to not have, so I trimmed my copies of Fire Brand down to 2 in order to accommodate it.

Here's a thought...replace either Tai Wu Kick or Yi Shan's Tiger Claw with Pointing Thurst, esp since you're adding Quick Strike...imagine the Aggro-centric shennanigans that will ensue with even one copy of Quick Strike + one copy of Pointing Thrust + one other attack.

To be honest, I'm thinking about replacing Fire Brand with Pointing Thrust , because of all the shenanigans it offers me, whereas Fire Brand just offers me damage. I'll try it out and check.