With the release of the new set, one of the most talked-about characters is definitely Basara. With built-in discard and building denial, as well as an inherent burn effect, he sports great abilities that are just looking for abuse. Add in the fact that he has three very strong symbols (Death, Evil, and Void), and you have a very potent character waiting to be discovered. I'd like to open up a discussion on ways to play him.

Personally, I feel that the strongest path for him is an Evil/Void hybrid deck that focuses first on discard, and then his burn effect, while still maintaining a solid amount of control and counter-control, like No Memories, Red Lotus, Chester, etc.. And the deck I have pictured in my head features solid Void attacks backed by the burn and discard effects to make sure it sticks. Unfortunately, I think that means I can't play Demon Scourge, which sucks, because I like it =(

Anyway, something like Kuzuryu Reppa, Friendly Rip, Shadow Exit, and maybe Charlie's Fierce Punch would be interesting, I think. But enough from me! What are your thoughts on this wonderful character?

I actually tried to start a discussion in a thread a page or two back, by starting with my own deck and trying to get others to build one. The idea was much like yours. A Evil/Void build using Mortal Strike, and Martial Arts Champion to stop the opponent from generating momentum and card draw, so Basara could burn them faster. The problem was replacing those cards for B3, but I'm working on a build. Feel free to have a look at it. Tried to do one also for the new Alex, but no one seemed interested...even though he has a built in Scourge of Zeus...

If you can find good attacks with Evil or void with low blocks, you could use a combo I came up with to make him more effective. Use Know Wrong From Right to bring Instinctive Sword Swinging back to your hand during your attack and play it again for potential burn. Or use Instinctive in conjunction with Chain Of Command for a 3 card discard combo. And with Evil being a base, you can include Billiard Player to recur ISS if used as a block or The Gorgeous Team to pull it back during an attack. Just my thoughts on him and his support...

I also think one of the bigger issues he's going to face is the incredibly high number of four-checks you would likely be running - ISS, Living Shadow, A Beautiful Nightmare, The Evil-Doer Destroyer/No Mems, etc...not to mention the high difficulty on a number of the actual foundations and assets he might be likely to play.

o_0

Self Sacrifice + Hugo's card drawing stuff

MegaGeese said:

You have no idea how much I know that. The whole time I was trying to get some kind of nice ratio for the checks and diffs. All of his support are 4 checks, and almost all the good evil/void cards are high diff. It's really bothersome.

Yeah. I think I may have to stick with the important stuff - ISS, Living Shadow and No Mems. Red Lotus, Oral Dead, TWOP, and then trying to track down good solid 1 and 2 drop 5 and 6 checks. Immature is normally a terrible foundation, but a 1/6 that kills a momentum (assuming your opponent has more, and since you're only ever going to need 1, that's not much of a stretch) isn't half bad. End it All would be PERFECT...except it requires you to drop two cards and keeps you from hacking their block on Kuzuryu with Bert =/

Maybe Aquakinesis is worth looking into?

Aquakinesis is a must if you're using Living Shadow (and if you are not, please tell me what you're smoking). Not only that but The Ways of Punishment must go there, so you need the extra cards. As a lesser card draw, you could use Familial Loyalty. Also, Tough Outer Shell is a must sideboard to prevent mass drawing characters to get the upper hand.

Now, arguably Demon's Scourge isn't a good idea, but after having dealt 23 damage JUST from Basara support burn because of it (myself), you might as well consider it if not for the 5 check and +0L block.

I keep looking at Basara. He's interesting and the burn looks fantastic. The main thing that's putting me off building him is an impending sense that he could be very rare intensive. I don't want to pull copies of BRT/Owlface/Rejection and the like from my other decks just to try Basara out (though in the future I probably will!).

I'm not so much of a fan of Ways of Punishment in Basara. On a finisher, sure, it's good, but otherwise it's forcing yet more card discard on a character who is already very, very hand intensive. Because of this, Glare from the Abyss might be a better bet for him.

Symbol wise, taking into account Basara's need for cards in hand, I'm not sure Evil may be the best way to go with him. Void has Aquakinesis, Kuzuryu Reppa and the joy that is High Tide for card cycling. In particular, the void/evil hybrid looks fantastic. Even more than Kuzuryu, High Tide just seems to fit Basara very well (and it's another 5cc).

Also to mention, Death has Hugo's draw-based support. Hugo's Body Press, Giant Wrestling Army and Hulking Brute all feed Basara cards at lower difficulties and greater consistency than void. If Hulking Brute didn't have the draw restriction, death may be better for this than void.

Characters: 1

Basara**

Foundations: 39

Martial Arts Champion x4

Living Shadow x4

Rat Chaser x4

Mortal Strike x3

A Beautiful Nightmare x3

Billiard Player x3

The Ways of Punishment x4

The Glare from the Abyss x4

Red Lotus of the Sun x3

Instinctive Sword Swinging x3

Vast Resources x4

So the foundation base has been changed. Since I’m stuck in Block 2, it only makes since to use more Block 2 cards. MAC replaces TOS for being cheaper and allowing myself to draw cards. Vast Resource and Rat Chaser is a pretty obvious combo that gives me card draw and foundation placement. Red Lotus was added to protect my foundations, and A Beautiful Nightmare is there for its great control and synergy with the Billiards/Sword Swing combo. Overall, the 4 checks has gone up from 13 to 14. However, the overall difficulty has gone down as there are no 4 diffs.

Actions: 8

Kung-Fu Training

Rejection x4

Attacks: 16

Friendly Rip x4

Shadow Exit x4

Kuzuryu Reppa x4

Hidden Base x4

Attack base has changed a bit. Hidden base added for efficiency and a discard attack. Reppa added for hand refilling, as well as damaging. Shadow Exit I like as its cheap, off zone, with a good enhance.

Assets: 4

Owl Face x4

Well, its owl face. I’m holding of Evil-Doer Destroyer, since its another 4 check, and Basara’s support is just full of them.

Total: 68

This was the Basara deck I came up with after a little discussion in my thread. The idea was to use MS and MAC to stop my oppoenent from gaining cards/momentum, so I could burn them quicker. Of course this isn't completely B3 legal so I'll try to come up with one. Hopefully this deck will be decent enough to be a spring board to better ones.

Hewittzil said:

You make an excellent point there about TWOP. Glare is definitely the better option, particularly with random copis of ISS and such in the staging area.

Not sure about Death, insofar as draw power. Body Press and the like are great, but methinks Basara might need mass hand replenishment along the lines of Reppa. Iunno. I'm tired and can't think very clearly =P

Now if I could just get some copies of High Tide, and a way to discard cards from the card pool =/

Death is less about burn and more about board control.

Self Sacrafice, Shadow Blade, Basara's own ability. Short of Sakura, any character would have a hard-time getting out what they need. Even red lotus isn't that big of a deal after the first turn cause you can get rid of it from their card-pool via his R.

The main reason it's less about burn is because all the good draw cards are 4 checks >_<

I get that Death is board control more than anything else...just worried about replenishing his hand for his discard effect on their turn.

That's why I think Evil/Void is the way to go - and want copies of High Tide.

I've hit a wall in building the deck - the difficulty and 4-check barrier is very, very strong.

Looking at foundations that could be played and that serve a use in the deck, you come across:

1/5 Aim High (this is one of the only ways to generate momentum across these symbols!)
1/5 Aquakinesis
2/5 Blood Runs True
2/5 Destiny (this is one of the only ways to generate momentum across these symbols!)
2/5 Familial Loyalty
1/5 Light-Hearted (this is one of the only ways to generate momentum across these symbols!)
2/5 Oral Dead
1/5 Selfless Giving
1/6 The Glare from the Abyss
2/5 The Red Lotus of the Sun

You see the bare-bones Evi/Void suite. Selfless Giving is another way to draw, but it's uncertain as to whether or not it's worth it (readying an opponent's foundation can mean trouble). Aim High, Destiny, and Light Hearted are the some of the only cards that generate momentum that are worth playing, Destiny being the best of these; it's problem, though, is that it only chains off of Death, which is not the deck's strength. Aim High does clear the pool of blocks, and works nicely with Chain of Command, but it's not exactly the best card to be using for the sake of the deck just because it grants momentum. Light-Hearted is guaranteed momentum when playing Friendly Rip, but is it really worth it when it costs you a card from your hand (even with the needed card draw)?

On the flip side, you have the more powerful foundations, which either have high difficulty or a 4-check...

3/4 A Beautiful Nightmare
3/4 An Effective Method to Slay People
3/5 Billiard Player
3/4 Chain of Command
4/6 Chester's Backing
2/4 Instinctive Sword Swinging
3/4 Living Shadow
2/4 Marksman
2/4 Miserable Existence
4/4 No Memories
4/5 Tough Outer Shell

Ouch. Just...ouch. And you'd want to play Beautiful Nightmare, Living Shadow, and probably Chester's Backing at the bare minimum! Slaying People is just double discard (possibly unnecessary). Biliard Player seems like an almost-staple, given the ability to tutor your discard pile for foundations, which can help with those high difficulties. Chain of Command seems like a very solid choice for the deck itself as well, just like its very good companion, Instinctive Sword Swinging. Miserable Existence is a great way to deny momentum generation while also getting your own, but again that 4-check! Lastly, NoMems is fantastic, especially as it's one of the only forms of Enhance negation, and you can also play the Void ability on it...but where's that momentum coming from? TOS stops mass-draw decks, but is probably best for sideboard, really.

Granted, you'll likely only ever need 1 momentum in order to play the Multiple ability on Kuzuryu Reppa, but sometimes that ability on NoMems wil lsave your bacon, like skipping the Enhance Step on that Feline Spike/Spinning Beat. Blah!

So it's partially a question of "hey, how to slim this crap down?" and partially "dear Lord, what's with these difficulty and check issues?!" >_<

Just a quick heads up. As was noted in my Basara deck thread, TOS stops Billiards from happening as it "adds a card to hand". Which kinda disrupts the synergy in your deck if you plan on using Billiards. Also, another reason why I'm gonna miss MAC...even with the 4 check.

I believe basara is one of those sleeper characters since he works best with multiples and there are no really good multiples for his symbols yet, but when the right cards come out he will be really good.

hey i have already built a block 3 basara deck and it seems to be working just as i thought it would im running it of complete void so i dont have to worry about deul resorcing

this is my deck list

attacks

3x kuzuryu reppa

3x freindly rip

3x shadow exit

actions/assets

2x malicious intent

2x psyco rolling (only until sumthing better comes up)

3x the evil-dooer destoryer (only because of the remove from game abuility)

foundations

4x aqua kenisis

4x living shadow

3x chain of command

3x no memories

3x psyco style

3x familial loyalty

4x glare from the abyss

4x mind over matter

4x unauthadox training

3x the ways of punishment

3x son of a tycoon (just until somthing better comes up)

3x kens shotokan

Anyone notice how he can negate blocks? chaos flare anyone?

NVM, missed the "as a form" part

Actually melencholic would prolly work really well with him. He just dosnt have a good way to generate momentum.

Military combat arts?

Makingsenseofus said:

How did I miss that little gem. Also there is la superba. For death anyway. As for evil, they don't have anything for momentum that isn't a character.