Murakumo

Hello everyone, and welcome back to SO IMBA!,

where we learn how to be a better card fighter.

So, Twin Swords Awakening came out yesterday...

Everyone, did you manage to buy many boxes?

What did you get?


Today, we discuss Murakumo.

Now, most people would say "ooh it sucks" and "ooh they have low power"
Which, is effectively true.

Just comparing the decks and single prices, Murakumo's null guard is barely 200 yen, where Neo Nectar's are pushing 900 or more.
Mandalalord is 800 at most, and Maiden of Trailing Rose can even breach 1200.

Most of the core cards are worth LESS than Neo Nectar commons...

So, yes it is rather unpopular...

But that doesnt mean the clan is particularly weak.
It is a very high skill deck, rewarding or punishing even the smallest move.

Before we start, I'll quickly share a deck list I have been working and testing for a couple days.

G0 (18)
2 Evil Ferret (FV)
4/4/4/4 Triggers

G1 (14)
4 Shijimamaru (8k Boost)
4 Million Rat
4 Leaves Mirage
2 Leaf Racoon

G2 (10)
4 White Mane
3 Midnight Crow
3 Bloody Mist

G3 (8)
3 Void Gelger
4 ZANBAKU
1 Kuramalord

A few little changes, such as adding more grade 1s, Maxing Bloody Mist by dropping one null guard, Dropping one Kuramalord for Void Gelger shouldn't change how the deck is played much.

Mandalalord is good too, so if you want to run 4 Zanbaku and 4 Mandalalord, feel free...
It just limits your Grade 2 Line up significantly

Now, Murakumo might not seem so good at first glance, because of A: Their lack of power, and B: the lack of ability to gain direct advantage.

Which is very correct.
While other clans gain power, or superior call or superior ride using counter blast, Murakumo has no permanent advantage gain from using their counter blast abilities.

What Murakumo does instead is use this Temporary Advantage, to generate long term advantage.

BUT HOW!?

The two key cards I would like to draw your attention to today are:

Void Gelger, and Evil Ferret.

You may have noticed I put not one, but TWO Evil Ferrets in the deck.

This isnt a mistake.
You start with one, which will call itself to a rear guard.

Hopefully, during the mid game, you will draw back one of the two.
Hence, there are two in the deck.

In the late game, it will be another 10k Shield, something you would love to see at that stage.

Its effect is very good as well.
By returning to the deck(losing a 5k Boost), you can superior call one card from your hand, which will return to your hand at the end of the turn.

While you are at Grade 3, this might not seem like much(just normal call), there are two very excellent uses of this effect.

The first is to use this effect at the first chance or second chance you have to attack.
A superior call can be done regardless of your own grade, so if you are only at grade 1 or 2, you can superior call a Grade 3 to fight for you.

This is used to attack with much higher power than the opponent, without risk of losing such a valuable unit in the early game to Blaster Blade/Dark like effects.

For instance: You open by riding Leaf Racoon, and calling Evil Ferret to the rear behind him.
The opponent rides Caramel Popcorn, calling Shield Seed Squire to the rear. They call a Kalora Dragon behind Shield Seed Squire.

They attack with Squire, the attack goes through, allowing him to evolve.
Kalora dragon attacks, and gets a Stand trigger, standing Blade Seed Squire and adding 5k Power.
You get a draw Trigger.
They attack, which you guard.

Now, it rolls around to your turn.
You ride White Mane, with 2 Damage.

Activate Evil Ferrets effect, superior calling a ZANBAKU to the rear guard.
Normal call a Million Rat behind ZANBAKU, copying itself behind your Vanguard.

Your ZANBAKU has 17000 Power attacking, easily killing Blade Seed, and your Vanguard is 15000 Power, opening the counter blast you just used up.

Evil ferret, even though he went to the bottom of the deck, was shuffled, allowing you to draw into him again.

At the end of the turn, Million Rat will run away, and ZANBAKU will return to your hand.

Now, the opponent KNOWS you have a ZANBAKU, a confirmed Grade 3 ride that will severely limit his choice of Vanguard.


The other use of Evil Ferret is more common in the mid game.

A 5k Boost behind a 11k is quite useful, forming an 16k Line at next to no cost.
On top of that, Evil Ferret can transform itself into a temporary something else.

If you are in need of a quick boost for your Vanguard while waiting for an 8k Boost or 10k Boost, use Evil ferret to throw down a Million Rat, clone it behind to where it was before, and attack.
At the end of the turn, they will go back, and you can replace the empty circles with better units.

In this way, Evil Ferret makes for your rear Guards to be highly adaptive and fluid.


The next unit is Void Gelger.

This unit, with 9k power, shares the same ability as Million Rat and Midnight Crow.

The only difference is that it is at 9k Power, and is Grade 3.
Which means that they have no ability to guard.

When you are in mid or late game, the last thing you want to see are grade 3s in your hand with no null guard to support.

To solve this problem, Void Gelger has a unique ability.
When cloning itself, at the end of the turn, the clone will return to the bottom of the deck.
Which means, if you dont shuffle, it will never come up in the game again.

Call one, superior call another from the deck, and counter blast again to superior call from the deck, overwriting the first one.

While this consumes 2 counter blast, it ensures you will not draw into other Void Gelgers over the course of the game, since they return to the bottom of the deck.


In this way, murakumo proves to be an interesting and fluid and adaptive deck.

While lacking in offensive power, it makes up for this in unique and technical abilities.

Maybe Murakumo is the clan that you have been waiting for.