Good morning class, we are back again after a short break from articles and with DZ-BT01 now being fully out in English, it's time to start covering the remaining decks from the set. Today we are going to look into the support that Stoicheia got, and with us having already covered Lascaria Veleno before, that leaves us with Magnolia having the remainder of the support. This article is going to dive into Magnolia Elder over Magnolia Masque, as the support pairs better with Elder. So let's get started with the rideline, as we got a new rideline in the latest support.
Rideline Discussion
So as I mentioned above, we gained a new rideline in the latest set, and its honestly an interesting one to look at, so lets get started with the grade 1 - "Blossoming Flowers Sylvan Horned Beast, Charis"
So "Blossoming Flowers Sylvan Horned Beast, Charis" is an upgraded version of what we originally gained in the Start Deck back in the start of overDress, now letting us look at the top 3 and choose one to call, instead of just calling the top card. We then also gain the option to either mill the remaining cards to the Drop Zone or return them back to the bottom of the deck in any order, depending on what the other cards are creating a lot of flexibility. And to top it all off, it just needs to be ridden by any "Sylvan Horned Beast" so we get a lot of options to ride into. So, lets first look at the option that was in the same set, in "Mercy, Sylvan Horned Beast, Lattice".
With "Mercy Sylvan Horned Beast, Lattice" we gained a card that has both Vanguard and Rear Guard abilities. The Vanguard ability lets us grab either a normal order or a grade 3 or greater card from our drop and add it back to our hand when rode upon by a "Magnolia", all for the cost of a soul blast. This combos off really well with "Sea Strike Dragon, Enlargulv" as we can get the draw off of his skill because we rode up to grade 3 and then add it back into hand to then utilise one of the other skills at a later point. But there are other options to look at, and the next one is a bit of a weird one.
So this may seem a weird option due to no Vanguard Circle skill, but "Slyvan Horned Beast, Goildoat" is actually been used within the rideline as an option, due to the fact that "Blossoming Flowers Sylvan Horned Beast, Charis" only checks for the "Sylvan Horned Beast" part. So why put this in the rideline I hear you ask. Well, the reason it's in here is that we have a fair few cards that can move it out of soul to either Drop Zone or Rear Guard, which then allows us guaranteed access to this card for turn 3 onwards without having to hope to draw into it, which is good as Goildoat allows us to draw into even more cards, finding all our combo pieces easier.
So with the new line gained, we have now opened up even more options for Magnolia Elder, but let's look at what key cards we can add into the deck to improve our list even further.
Key Cards
Well we cannot have a Magnolia Elder deck without adding in "Sylvan Horned Beast Emperor, Magnolia Elder". This card is the main focus of the deck, allowing us to attack with all of our rear guards, for the simple cost of having a Magnolia in either our soul or on a Rear Guard circle, and with this being a Grade 4, we just ride this on top of the grade 3 Magnolia from the rideline. But it isnt just attacking that this skill provides, it also allows us to intercept with cards from the back row as well, but do take note it only allows you to intercept, it does not grant cards cards the ability to intercept, so they will need to already have that skill. On top of all that, when we place this card, we can call a card from our soul to Rear Guard circle, with a good example being our "Slyvan Horned Beast, Goildoat". But with Magnolia Elder being a grade 4, is this not seen as kinda slow?
Well that is where our friend in "Friendship Fairy" comes in, allowing us to jump up into Magnolia Elder that turn earlier, as long as the opponent is grade 3. The interesting part is, we can use this whilst on Magnolia Elder if we want to get a second activation of the Auto, as there is no 1/turn restriction or anything. Its a shame that we cannot search Friendship Fairy out, outside of cards such as "Mythiarq Habitat" randomly giving it to us, but it feels like a way to balance it. But both of these have been older cards, what do we have that is new that we can slot into the deck?
Well DZ-BT01 did more than just give us a new rideline for Magnolia, we also gained a really good support card in "Sylvan Horned Beast, Banaspati". This is a really good card that works for both Magnolia Elder and Magnolia Masques, but we are only going to look at the uses with Elder in this article. So what this allows us to do is create a board for a Counter Blast and a Soul Blast, 1 for every 2 grades of our Vanguard, capping at 2 if we are on Magnolia Elder. But this really shines on our grade 2 turn, as we can use it to call out higher grade units to start swinging with straight away, such as "Sea Strike Dragon, Enlargulv" who can then combo off further to help us set up even more in preperation for our first Magnolia Elder turn. But even after being placed, Banaspati still has uses as can also be a solid beater for no cost at all, making it a well rounded card for the deck
The cards here really do help strengthen the deck and push it to greater heights, but let's look at an example list to see how well it all slots together.
Example List
As per usual, I want to stress here that this is just an example of what the list I am currently testing, you do not have to copy my list card for card. Magnolia Elder has so much flexibility that it is easy to change and adapt it to suit your own playstyle.
Clicking the image will open it up in Decklog (new tab)
So a lot of familiar faces above, but let's take a few of the undiscussed cards that are there and talk about them, starting off with the ever faithful "Blue Artillery Dragon, Inlet Pulse Dragon"
So, "Blue Artillery Dragon, Inlet Pulse Dragon" is still here within the deck as its just a solid card to use, being able to put itself into soul and draw at the end of turn, converting itself into shield value to survive is really good. This gets even better with this set as "Sylvan Horned Beast, Banaspati" can soul blast this card to then call it straight back to the board to combo off again the following turn to really keep up the draw power helps out the deck a lot. Adding on the fact that we have "Forbidoll Surrogate" to search our deck or drop for copies to call to rear guard, along with "Mythiarq Habitat" looking at the top 7 as well is really consistent in helping us grab the draw power every game. But defense isnt the only route we have gone with this list, we have also gone with some offense in our next card - "Sylvan Horned Beast, Alpin"
So "Sylvan Horned Beast, Alpin" creates some massive power for the deck, reaching a maximum power gain of 15k just from the effect, which when combine with Magnolia Elder's 5k power gian on top, leads to a 2 card guard situation to block the attack, but on top of that, we can also then bind this to counter charge and soul charge, leading to be able to fund more calls off of "Sylvan Horned Beast, Banaspati" skill. Plus, removing it off the board helps us keep our front row clear so its not retired, like in matchups vs "Fated One of Unparralleled, Varga Dragres"
Overall, Magnolia Elder is a strong and fun deck to play, that can easily stomp over the opponent if they are not prepared for it. But that is all there is for this article. I will be cutting back a bit on the articles for a while, as work is now taking full swing and a lot of my time, so expect the next one in about 2 weeks time, so catch you all in the next article, bye!!!!
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