Deck Analysis : Royal Paladin

Deck Analysis

The deck we’ll put under the microscope for today is Royal Paladin. Considered by many as Tier 1 deck at the moment , Royal Paladin is really the most player’s choice. But enough talk let’s see a  representing decklist.

Grade 0

1x Durengal

1x Llew

4x Elaine

3x Margal

4x Epona

4x Alabaster Owl

Grade 1

4x Isseult

3x Marron

3x Powngal

4x Galahad Knight of Quests

Grade 2

2x Akane

2x Blaster Blade

2x  Gordon

2x Gallatin

4x Galahad Knight of Trials

Grade 3

3x Alfred

2x Soul Saver

2x Palamedes

This is the 1^st place deck of  Vanguard National convention of 2011 Grand Prix Fight.

Let’s review the  deck starting from grade 0.  He choose to play Durengal instead of wingal brave. Galahad engine it’s a little risky though but it gives a nice rotation to your deck and also keeps you from getting stacked with a 5k booster like Wingal Brave.

Trigger-like the deck is focused around critical triggers running 9 of them while keeping draw triggers to 3. That’s because Royal Paladin needs to apply pressure to keep up with your opponent while building your field to achieve an exploding Turn utilizing Soul Saver soul blast.

His Grade 1 are pretty much standard , 4 Galahad in order to superior ride and get your engine going. 3 Marron cause 8k boosters under Palamedes resulting in 21k which means 2 cards at least in order to guard successfully.  Powngals are there for utilizing akane and Soul Saver to its max potential. Giving you an option of getting your Finisher while boosting for 7k is great. Isseult is just absolute defense no need of explanation there :P.

Grade 2  are well balanced giving him the right push to move around. Blaster blader can blast your opponent creating an opening to finish him, as well as akane can fetch a booster if needed for Alfred which can result into a Finisher. Gallatin is a beatstick , Galahad is there for the rotation engine and Gordon cause S- interceptors  are great especially with Alfred in your Front Rows.

Grade 3 : Alfred is the materialization of Royal Paladin Theme. Supported by rear guards is pushing opponents vanguard dishing out plenty of dmg when combine with 9 crits. As for Soul Saver and Palamedes these 2 units are able to cripple your opponent with their skills. One with its fearsome Soul Blast which in most cases is game-ending and in all cases game-breaking while Palamedes is just too tough to mess with considering his high-powered atk.

Generally Royal Paladin is the more consistent deck. All units are balanced and supporting each other, they form mighty combos and have great finishers. Their counterblasts are surely feared as they lead to +1 and in some cases +2 advantage.

 In the end of the day its just a matter of taste to be honest. Pick your clan and your deck to your liking and have fun.  In my next post  I’ll introduce the remaining clans and analyse a different deck.  I want to focus in basics at first but I promise we’ll take a look on strategic moves and deck building picks and more advanced stuff. Until then have Fun and Let’s Vanguard.