[VG] [1000 Posts!] [Royal Paladin] Light Recollection - Seekers of Hope [Guide]

[Cherry]

Grade 0: 17

1 Advance Party Seeker, File
4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron
4 Seeker, Harold Breath Dragon
4 Margal
4 Seeker, Loving Healer

Grade 1: 14

4 Holy Knight Guardian
4 Knight of Lauryl, Cycirlz
2 Bravogal Seeker
2 Grangal Seeker
2 Sacred Wielding Seeker, Octavius

Grade 2: 11

4 The Avatar: Blaster Blade Seeker
4 Romance Seeker, Cerdic
3 Lightning Bow Seeker, Gildas

Grade 3: 8

4 Light Origin Seeker, Alfred XIV
2 Seeker, Sacred Wingal
1 Sacred Beast Seeker, Claude
1 Blue Sky Knight, Altomile

Generation Zone: 8

2 Divine Sacred Dragon, Saint Blow Dragon
2 Holy Dragon, Religious Soul Saver
2 Vague Sacred Knight, Gablade
1 Flash Flame Divine Knight, Samuil
1 Rain Element, Madu

Guide

Index:
• I - Clan Overview
• II - Build Explanation
+ IIb – Grade 0 Explanation
+ IIc - Grade 1 Explanation
+ IId - Grade 2 Explanation
+ IIe - Grade 3 Explanation
+ Iif – Generation Zone Explanation
• III - Controversial Choices
• IV – Playing with Your Allies
• V – Matchups (Coming Soon)
• VI - Conclusion

I - Clan Overview



Click the picture for the entire list of Royal Paladin cards.

The Royal Paladin clan, usually abbreviated as RP, are a clan that have been around since the beginning of the game. They were introduced as the game's very first Trial Deck: TD01: Blaster Blade, then proceeded to spearhead the advertisement of BT01: Descent of the King of Knights - the game's initial booster pack. The heroes of signature snowy white, blue, and light shades of yellow serve as the single most popular clan in the entire game of Vanguard. Despite being sealed away in lore in favor of Gold Paladin debuting, Royal Paladin still stayed vastly ahead in sheer numbers.

A major part in this clan's explosive popularity is due to the fact that many players enjoy reflecting the deck, ideology, and playstyle of a poster character. In this case, Aichi Sendou, the main character himself through Seasons 1-3, and being the central focus of 4, along with his lead role in the movie. The new era of Vanguard G has passed on a new legion of heroes to Shion Kiba. While not the leading protagonist of G, he is still doing a fine job with our team, and is only going to get better. Additionally, Kourin Tatsunagi was also one of the first to advertise this clan, and then proceeded to use it again in the future with Garmore to start and Jewel Knight cards to finish. Furthermore, the much beloved Kai Toshiki utilized the warrior saints long before anyone else did. Having given out the trademark Blaster Blade and temporarily using Seeker cards in Legion Mate hen.

Royal Paladin oozes diversity with their numbers, having an absurd amount of alternative plays that still ultimately revolve around the Power of Friendship. Swarm tactics are the sanctuary's army's forte, and powering up each other or the Vanguard capitalizes on overwhelming force of their infinite waves.

II - Build Explanation – Pure Seeker

Who are the "Seekers"?

The Magi of "Oracle Think Tank" have foretold an ominous disaster, "the disappearance of Blaster Blade, the swordsman of light". It is also foretold that "Two Hopes" are required to prevent this disaster. To seek the unknown existence and confront the fate, the search party "Seeker" is formed, with "Blaster Blade" as its leader.

The Seekers and the Sage of Guidance.

Their journey was the past that has become a legend, and it happened before the rebellion of Shadow Paladins. They have met Sage of Guidance, Zenon, who revealed to them fragments of the future. They saw people who worked their best to live such as Brawlers and Metalborgs. The Seekers vowed to seek the hope in order to protect the world and the future. Moved by their solidarity, Zenon made attempts to summon someone, even at the cost of violating the taboo of intervening the past.

Who are the "Seekers"? (15th October 2014)

In order to investigate the aberrant condition "Interdimensional Crosstalk", "Royal Paladin" dispatched messengers to garrison troops all over the Sanctuary, and established several search parties. The search party "Seekers" is one of them. It is named after the troop lead by a great knight, who stood against the fate of his own disappearance and returned successfully after a long journey.

The phenomenon known as "Stride", and the mysterious party whose members use "Stride" intentionally... in order to seek out the truth, knights proceed to investigate around the world.

The heroes that transcended time and space were the harbingers and forerunners of Legion, the evolution of Vanguard beyond Limit Break. An ACT ability that returns four cards from your drop zone (even triggers!) to the deck, and seeks a written Mate of a Grade 3, placing it on the Vanguard Circle with them. This skill was beyond revolutionary, came with even more benefits that gave it a vast superior edge, and is still pioneering the meta today. Seekers marked their place with a Guardian Dragon and their own King who traveled through time to save his best friend.

This build is a form of Pseudo-Pure. The reason I say pseudo is due to the fact that not all the cards are Seekers, but the ones that aren't are not archetyped. The reason why this is not the Jewel Knight-Seeker hybrid is simply out of personal preference.

The deck plays similarly to how the clan played from the very beginning. Swarm tactics via Superior Calls and the like to rush down your opponent, always maintaining a full field to maximize the power of each lane. In addition to that, the deck does not have to wait until performing Legion to kick off, nor does it have to wait on Stride either. The flexibility of Glynngal with your ridden Grade 2 or Legioned Blaster Blade Seeker is an example of taking advantage of early setups. Bravogal Seeker is another of making future setups. This build is to be able to function as a swift early buildup into a snowballing lategame monster with Critical 2 behemoths at 31000 power minimum, taking at least three shields to stop per turn (2 10000 shields and 1 5000 shield, which is still 1 to pass). Even more so that it works to thin your deck out of everything you want on the field to make a path for your Triggers.

IIb – Grade 0 Explanation

Click on pictures of all cards to open new tabs to their Vanguard Wiki page.



It's so small... and so ridiculous?!

• Advance Party Seeker, File – This is your go-to forerunner for Seekers that play Blaster Blade Seeker. No matter what. Seriously, there is no real other choice that's better except maybe Barcgal, but he's restricted from being a starting vanguard. File was the very first of two forerunners that pioneered Legion support. He does an interesting thing and caters to fans who enjoy making the prized poster card of the deck more powerful. By that, I mean he literally calls him out of the deck the second you perform Legion, which is basically your fourth turn in most cases. He has a standard 5000 power, making it so you're hitting 11000/12000, 14000, and 16000/18000(Claude and Wingal) turns 1-3. These are all important numbers that make it so you can break a 1-to-pass guard and your opponent has to risk if they want to stop you. Then, once you're ready to put something behind your Vanguard, you trade him for a Grade 2. You also blast him out of soul with Octavius, so you're benefiting no matter what. Milihus gives you any Grade 2 for Generation Break 1 and a Counterblast, but in a Counterblast heavy deck, if you can plus without doing so, all the better.

This card is really old. … Doesn't show it, but it is.

• Margal – The reason you take him over a Seeker Draw Trigger for Alfred's Especial Counterblast is the sheer utility of it. It can make anything break a tier of shield breaking, and feed into Octavius. And with Legion, you can recycle it! You should not be throwing in and calling this whenever, though. Not having that extra 5000 shield has cost me some games I could've won after I failed to break a 2-pass. You basically only call this when you're doing one of the above. Which is: feed into a Soulblast to subsequently recycle, feed into a Soulblast to use Octavius early, put Alfred XIV or Saint Blow Dragon at a magic number. Alfred XIV will be at 33000 with a full field if he has a 7000 booster behind him, meaning Margal puts him at 36000. Saint Blow is the same, but he's at 48000 with a 7000 booster instead, so you'd put him at a massive 51000 for one card. There's also if putting Cerdic over the edge all the same as well. Thing Saver Dragon, who isn't in this build, is a major reason why this card is always played in Seekers entirely.

Modoron wasn't good enough for that sample art, so Hallowed gave up his to match and make him feel good.

• 8 Critical Triggers – This is standard, but also to capitalize on the Critical 2 behemoths of the deck. Still needing to be able to apply heavy pressure, the abundance of Criticals ensures your opponent will be utterly terrified to let you hit while they're at 3 damage. Take advantage of that fact and don't push them to 4 unless you're aiming to end the game anyway while they have little to stop you. Or, think of it this way, if you plan to give them beyond 3 damage, make them at least get to 5 (not if facing Ultimate Breaks!!). If they're using Limit Breaks or needing Counterblasts to make plays, don't push them unless you plan to win or you can deal with it. You're the one playing with the game-making pressure.

I forgot to add her picture, honestly.

• Four Heal Triggers are standard. It usually doesn't make which one you pick, but Loving Healer is a Seeker for Especial Counterblasts.

IIc – Grade 1 Explanation



GEE, I WONDER WHO PASSED “GENERIC NAMING 101” WITH FLYING COLORS?

• Holy Knight Guardian – The first of the unveiled G Era Perfect Guards. If they have copies of themselves in drop zone when you use them, you get an unflip. The only drawback is basically leaving yourself open to The X and Laurel, since these new sentinels can only stop attacks on the Vanguard. Having these is really huge for counterblast heavy decks though. Especially since if they're your first ride you can Soulblast them and have unflips ready right off the bat. That doesn't mean throw them out at everything though, and do remember that Alfred XIV can't counterblast these. Make Blaster Blade and Gildas do it like they would Margal.

This guy's mistranslated name on CFA still makes no sense.

• Laurel Knight, Sicilus – This thing right here is why Stride is literally nothing but advantage. You discard cards whose grades equal 3 or higher to perform Stride. You have 7 Grade 3s (your eighth on Vanguard circle) and 4 of this guy. Then G Units Triple Drive. 1 – 3 = +2. On top of how the skills are either sheer advantage or cheap/free devastation, this guy is utterly ridiculous. Even more so the fact that he searches a Grade 3 for you to thin out/use for fuel. Having 7000, he's a good call regardless too. This deck revels in keeping ahead in advantage, so maxing Sicilus gives you an edge.

The face of cuddles.

• Bravogal Seeker – A bit of a shot in the dark in G-BT01: Generation Stride. One of the legacy support cards for Legion-centric archetypes like Seekers and Perditions alike. Honestly a card I'd like to put at 4 if I had the space. He's live the second you draw him, able to fetch your Grynngals and Octavius and Gildas for later, even a Blaster Blade snipe. His cost? Putting himself in drop zone to fuel your oncoming Legion. Quite literally the only downsides to this are when you have your perfect setups or your opponent is on 5 damage. The reason he isn't put in at more copies is mostly because there's other important things you want for this deck, and the two most important Grade 1s are already maxed. If you're confident in your Grade 2 rushdown though, I'd encourage putting him at either 2 or 4, not 3 and 1 is unreliable.

I'm not sure what dog looks like this.

• Grynngal Seeker – In Legion, the combined power of both your Vanguards is used for attacks. Did you know that you can boost the Mate and get the same result? You probably did, this has been known for a year now. Why that's important is because this can be used on your Blaster Blade Seekers that are in Legion. He can be as live as Turn 2 though, if you ride the avatar. As one of your only unflipping methods, he proves very vital to have behind your Vanguard. Filtering out a bad hand doesn't hurt either. Royal Paladins are scary with open counterblasts though, so this piles on some nice pressure. Even with only 6000 power, your Turn 2 will still be a 15000 Vanguard swing, hitting even 10000 vanilla Grade 2s, and Legions just make up the power by themselves. You only want one to use and another as backup, however. Narukami's permanent retires on the rise and Kagero generally retiring everything normally, you don't ever want to clog your deck with more than 2 of these. As important as he is, it's not world ending if you lose both of your copies.

You look like Marron.

• Sacred Wielding Seeker, Octavius – If you don't want to play Thing Saver, then this Marron-ripoff is your salvation. He takes the soul you're doing nothing with and throws it out for a draw. Best part is if you got a good Grade 2 rush on Turn 2, he lets you capitalize on that and setup Legion for Turn 3. Otherwise, just nab him with Gildas after you Legion to get your next ready while your Superior Call like mad. While he has heavy conditions compared to the generic Soul Blast 2 Draw 1 cards, he gets to be a 7000 booster with an important archetype name. You're still not running more than you would those generic clones though, but he's a lot more valuable for you. Keep him at 2. If you're really racking up soul though, you can throw him in at 3 to keep your soul nice and clean. Remember that your Legioned Vanguards count as two units in the frontrow, but also that he himself cannot count as one of the three units in your frontrow!

[Cherry]

Guide Continued

IId - Grade 2 Explanation



Not only does he have THREE arts, but he looks exactly the same as his old self!

• The Avatar: Blaster Blade Seeker – You know, as much as I trashtalk Thing Saver for being out of theme, Blaster Blade functions more as a Kagero unit... Anyway, ridiculously versatile unit because of support that's built for him. … That, and he is the mate of THREE UNITS. Do you realize how flexible this guy is?! Because of Wingal's utility, he can be in literally every Seeker deck except, what, two or three? For the small cost of a single counterblast, he can nuke anything in your way from the frontrow that's a problem. Problematic Grade 2 that can intercept, keeping you from winning? Nuked. Problematic Grade 3 like Palamedes or just generally a Generation Break 1 unit that applies pressure from a scary on-hit skill? Zapped. He can't hit boosters... but it's still something. Because of one of your Strides, along with how you can throw all four copies of this guy all over the place with six cards that Legion with him, he's the best Grade 2 ride in the deck. Starts your Grynngal plays, sets up for Religious Soul Saver, and is the one unit that hurts the least to ride because you can soulblast him into drop zone and prepare him to be seeked out. Don't forget the fact that he can Counterblast anything, unlike his King, so get those Margals shot face-down. Unless your deck is just playing Wingal as a filler Grade 3 or your deck has more important things to use for counterblast like Light Saver, you want him maxed and all over the place with File as your forerunner and Grynngal lying in wait.

I thought the Japanese Sample arts looked neater than the other available arts, okay?!

• Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic – The beatstick. Little explanation needed, just play a lot of him. No less than 3 if you really have to make room for a tech or something. Gets your rushes started hard and keeps them going, along with being able to hit 19000 with a 7000 booster to blow up the opponent's 9000 powered units. Be wary they can do the same to you, though. Vallod is a pretty valid(HA) choice over him for reasons I'll explain later if you're turned off by the idea of having to ride this guy.

more like Great Playmaker am i right

• Great Crossbow Seeker, Gildas – You really don't have to max him anymore since you have three thousand ways to put him on the field. He's the start of your plays when you Legion and is the core of making your field setups for minimal cost. Get him on the board in the safety of your backrow with Gablade unless you're pushing. When you're desperate, get him with Alfred for a total of Counterblast 3 to make plays (ow). Wingal also nabs him for later, too. Use this to call Grynngal and Octavius. Or a Grade 2 if you already have those and you used File already. Once you have your perfect setup, unless they're playing Kagero, you can throw him out as intercepts to make room for Blaster Blade and Cerdic.

IIe - Grade 3 Explanation



Where and how in the hell did you get a jetpack?!

• Light Origin Seeker, Alfred XIV – Embodying hype itself from the Neon Messiah trailer, his imperial majesty that traversed time itself to save his comrade entered the fray once more in the Movie Booster 1: Neon Messiah. The golden foil on the card is Legion Rarity, as it deserves to be. Alfred naturally sets an example for what a boss of friendship should be. He gains power for each Seeker on your board during your turn. The best part is if you have five rearguards (not all of them have to be Seekers!), he gets a Critical for free. F R E E. That's the key word to this card and why it's so good. A full field with Seekers puts him at 26000, and one Sicilus puts him at 25000. Grynngal boosting? 31000/32000. A 7000 booster? 33000 with all Seekers. He makes himself a massive problem for literally nothing more than playing the deck. In addition to all of this, his Especial(Archetype Restricted) Counterblast lets him drop any Seeker from your deck on the field. Counterblast 2 hurts, but damn, that's breathing utility. A magnificent boss card who keeps himself in theme and carries games on his jetpack. If you're playing him as your center, you play 4. If you're playing him as your secondary win condition, you play 2-4.

She's all grown up now...

• Seeker, Sacred Wingal – You know, for BIG DOG who supported Blaster Blade, it sure as hell is on the other side of the foot now. … That's not the saying, not the point. BIG DOG is one of the very first Legions we ever got and is utility incarnated. Like his king, he's free. But instead of pumping criticals, he makes you a frontrow. Nets you Gildas, sets off File, lets you make your opponent decide if they should guard if you boosted with Grynngal because it's less pressure than Alfred. If they guard, that's less they have to stop Alfred. If they don't, start unflipping and cycling. Claude eliminates the reason to play 4-4 with Alfred and Wingal. BIG DOG is useful, but he also clogs at too many copies. Stick to 2, use other slots for Claude. If you have your boss ridden and you don't need to refresh your field, BIG DOG becomes Stride fuel for the rest of the game.

You're not Akane.

• Sacred Beast Seeker, Claude – This is why you're not maxing Wingal. He's very important, despite doing nothing but searching one card. It's the simple fact that he searches said card. Riding this filters out something from your soul quickly and gives you fuel that you can IMMEDIATELY USE TO STRIDE WITH. If the opponent is on Grade 3, anyway. But that is really goddamn efficient. He just nabs a Grade 3 out of your deck that you will not longer run into from Drive Checks and can dump or Legion with the proceeding turn. It's overall more efficient to the deck's flow to move Grade 3s out of the way, and Claude does just that with Wingal. You're never going to need 7-8 Legions anymore anyway.

You're pretty hot, but that's all I'm giving you.

• Blue Sky Knight, Altmile – Shion Kiba uses this fine hunk of a man as an avatar introduced for G Trial Deck 2: Divine Swordsman of Shiny Star as the cover card. This guy... does nothing for your deck. Sure, his skill isn't bad. He does a good job of being a desperate power-turn finisher or pusher. He makes your frontrow +5000 each for free for Generation Break 2, and his Heartbeat (skill activated upon Striding over it) costs a counterblast to push harder. What you really use him for is Sicilus to thin yourself out of Grade 3s more. That's it. Don't play him in any archetyped deck at more than 2.

IIf – Generation Zone Explanation



Weren't your boobs bigger?

• Holy Dragon, Religious Soul Saver – Soul Saver Dragon returns as her alternative future self. Right now she's heavily underrated and I'm going to explain why she's better than people make her out to be. First, she's a +26000 total to your field. +11000 to herself for picking Alfred as the Heart you take name/power from to Stride. Then, since Blaster Blade Seeker is also a Heart (just not the one you selected to copy), you hand out three +5000s. She also has Triple Drive, don't forget. You field should be 21-32-26 from left to right in columns (not including Cerdic and Margal boosts!), which is insanely powerful. If the game is prolonged and you got to reride a few times, getting two Blaster Blades in soul, you get a Critical on her as a plus. Don't focus on that Critical. The Holy Charging Roar bit is the only part that's important, the latter bit is just icing on the cake. Don't use this willy nilly either, otherwise, you waste a power turn. Use this to push them when they're at 4-5 damage (5 preferably) and watch their hand get destroyed or watch them concede. When you Stride this before or after Saint Blow is extremely situational, wait for the right moment, then burst. 0, 2, or 4, there's no inbetween.

Gave “DIVINE BLOWING” a whole new meaning.

• Holy Dragon, Saint Blow Dragon – For anyone who didn't get the joke: Glory Maelstrom has that as an attack name. Anyway, this card is stupid. This card is REALLY stupid. Anytime during your Main Phase you want, you can simply flip a copy of itself, and it gets more than even the original Alfred for each rearguard you have. A full field puts it at 41000 without a boost. Did I mention he gets an extra Critical if you have TWO or more rears? Yeah... He's going to get Perfect Guarded, but that's why you play to either force one out for Soul Saver bursting them next turn, or you wait until they have none and watch Saint Blow make their hand explode. The best part is even if Link Joker weighs you down, as long as your entire field isn't gone, you'll get to 32000 Critical 2 if you're Triangle Locked (having your two frontrow rearguards and vanguard's booster locked). Remember, he needs two cards face-up in your G Zone to get that Critical. So you need to Stride at least once first. As mentioned above, your timing with using this in tandem before or after Soul Saver is critical and based on the game's pacing. 0, 2, or 4, there is no inbtween.

We're not against homosexu- what do you mean that isn't “gay” in his name

• Shrouded Divine Knight, Gablade – One of the first two G Units revealed for clans specifically. He's simple and absurd. If he hits, you get a Grade 2 from your deck for nothing else. Grab Gildas and get ready, grab Blaster Blade and snipe. Or, hell, give yourself an extra attack regardless, even if it's to make a fourth swing. This is usually your first Stride and the only reason it wouldn't be is in favor of Samuil situations or using Madu early.

who are you

• Flash Flame Divine Knight, Samuil – For some reason this clan got a Dragruler... It's really good, but I still find it weird. Anyway, if you're doing good or aiming to push a game as hard as possible (aka putting from on 4 damage immediately), this is your go-to Stride. Being counterblast 2 hurts still, but it's well worth it once you get it off early. Just make sure your field is established. If you had no chance to use this early, don't stress. You don't need to break your neck to make him work. If it's late and you're out of G Units, just use him to get a 26000 Triple Driver.

sO CUTE I CAN ALREADY FEEL THE DIABETES

• Rain Element, Madu – The Cray Elemental choice. A recent newcomer that replaced Snow Element, Blizza with good reason. Blizza is a devastating monster lategame, but this is your best friend for Legion. Blaster Blade Seeker is a Heart, and he has less than 10000 power. This means you can get Stride fuel or another Legion back for free by simply using this normally to do nothing else. The deck drools over advantageous trades like this. Blizza is a endgame choice that's if you didn't win, but this is one of your very first choices to play to start capping off of pluses.

There is currently a bit of ruling confusion on the calculation of the original 10000 or less power applying only to the Heart you chose. So you might not be able to pick Alfred or Wingal, giving you only a 9000 boost. If this is true, don't fret. You have an excuse to pick Blaster Blade because of getting a free trade and using Grynngal.

III - Controversial Choices

There's a number of cards that are likely questioned as “y u no play this”. I'm going to address some.



Did you think I was kidding on him having three different arts?!

• Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon – I'm not going to deny this thing is the level of busted it takes to make it to the metagame. This card is why Seekers stayed in the top. It can make THREE attacks (you have to get lucky for the third) in a single turn, keeping twin drives and all, while not needing a single rearguard for at least two swings. This eliminates the weakness of the deck that comes from being locked or mass retires that the deck may not be able to keep up with. While the Soulblast cost seems like a lot, Margal and some rerides are your friends. This card is also even more destructive when coupled with Alfred XIV's constant pressure of Critical 2. Once they're out of cards, you just end them.

The reason I don't play this is simply because I don't like it. It doesn't fit the them of Royal Paladin at all. Legion barely holds its place in the clan together as it is. It finds no use for its comrades and simply uses Blaster Blade for his power to Legion Attack.

the english sample art was cleaner okay leave me alone

• Archetyped Sentinels – Alfred XIV must counterblast Seekers for his utility skill. Not only that, but The X being able to attack rearguards to stand again calls for emergency Perfects at times. The only reason I'm not playing them is because the unflip is too valuable to pass up. Also, Quintet Walls have never been something I really favored. Even less so in the era where less Legions are played in this deck. They're nice for one-card walls, but they're too much a hefty gamble in an era where units are at insane powers constantly and costing a counterblast just kills the desire to even so much as tech one.

BEHOLD MY BEAUTIFUL V SHAPED BODY

• Natural Talent Seeker, Valrod – Entirely viable replacement for Cerdic, albeit a more defensive one. His 10000 wall body blocks off some bits of an enemy rush, and the extra 1000 lets your 10000 shield guards halt their early criticals effortlessly. Unfortunately, he doesn't hit very good numbers offensively. Even in a Crossride format, this deck has no 8000 boosters. In addition to that, he can't get himself to 11000, so he absolutely needs a booster to remain effective. He's fine for a more defensive approach to keep yourself ahead in damage, but that's about it. I rather enjoyed him when I tested him, but Cerdic and his brutal aggression are more worth it in the long run.

Click on the card to the entire list of Jewel Knights.

nyan sukka

• The Jewel Knight Engine – The card above that represents them is Swordmy, an absurdly powerful Mate that carries the entire sub-clan. For a single Especial Counterblast, she drops a Grade 1 Jewel Knight on the board. The thing that's important is the fact that she doesn't need a Jewel Knight vanguard, and neither does most of their support. They just want three or more of each other out for their skills. Swordmy makes your field for a more cost-efficient price, and piles on heavy pressure from Gablade to make a whole column from your deck for that one counterblast.

It's not played here solely because I don't want to mix the two. I won't deny that it's superior due to the fact that it lowers the amount of counterblast prices you need for a cost heavy deck already. If you want to play it, drop Gildas, a copy of Cerdic, and replace your Seeker triggers with Jewel Knight triggers. You can also swap your Perfect Guard for the Jewel Knight Perfect too. Drop Octavius and/or Bravogal to make room for the Grade 1 Jewels.

Tachiagare, boku no bunshin!

• Blaster Blade – I used to have this in the deck at one copy. Believe me, taking him out killed me inside. The original form of the Sanctuary's ace and the poster boy of Royal Paladin had an amazing return into the game (not metawise). Alfred XIV has the mindblowing ability that will probably be revisited in the future to seek not one but TWO different mates. The reason why this was so important is because this Blaster Blade is the first Mate beyond the Revival of Grade 3 Campaign that can use its Vanguard skill when in Legion. All you do is seek him and you nuke ANYTHING on the board. Its extremely cost heavy for the deck. Not just because counterblast 2 but you also miss out on a +1000 to Alfred, and you can't use Grynngal, also Octavius won't count him for his soulblast either. Even so, the sheer fanservice of this tech is a cute investment if you really want it. You're only to play it at 1 though. It's a hella sweet ride and a great Final Turn secure. But for all the clogging it'd do to your combo flows if it fails and sits there... you're better off without it, which pains me.

[Cherry]

Guide Continued

IV – Playing with Your Allies



stand up zA/MUH VANGAADO

• Turn 1 - Your preferred Ride order is from most to least favorable: Holy Knight Guardian > Grynngal Bravogal > Sicilus  > Octavius

If you went first, ride normally. The positioning of File depends on your hand. If you have Bravogal or Grynngal, move File to the left or right. Otherwise, keep him behind the vanguard. When they take their turn, guard only in the following situations: Your opponent's vanguard's base power is less than yours (guard with 10000), your opponent's vanguard is unboosted (10, guard with 5 if they're 1k lower than you), you want to risk it to take an early lead in dealing damage. If you have Sicilus, call him and use his skill to search Altmile.

If you went second. Ride normally and the positioning bit still applies. However, If you have Sicilus like above, call him immediately and use his search. Even if you have no triggers or no other desirable cards to discard. Discard Altmile in this case. He did his job of getting a Grade 3 out of the way of your Drive Checks. Attack with your rearguard Sicilus first to ensure he inflicts damage/makes them block him. If you swing with vanguard first, they could get a damage trigger, making your rearguard unable to land a hit at all. During their turn, guard if they're not boosting or you want to risk to take an early lead in advantage.

Guarding early fuels Legion and also drains your hand quickly until you build it back up again. Choose carefully on when you want to stop their attacks.

ENGAGE BUNSHIN WARS

• Turn 2 - Preferred Ride order: Blaster Blade Seeker > Gildas > Cerdic

Depending on your matchup, you want to either play passively and keep your rearguards out of harm's way for the time being, or you want to start your rush and beat them down. Move your Sicilus to the back row unless you don't have an extra Grade 2 and you want to do damage if you went first. If you have Bravogal, use him. If you have enough units to use Octavius, you can use Margal now if you want. If you used Bravogal and hit, call Gildas to the back row. If you have a Gildas in hand, call a Cerdic or Grynngal.

If you went first, ride Blaster Blade and call at least one Cerdic. Don't move Sicilus to the back unless you have a third Grade 2. You front row should be 7-9-12, the 12 being Cerdic and his skill. This isn't including which unit File is behind, but it should be behind Blaster Blade if you don't have Grynngal. If you do have it, put Cerdic in front of File. Now, if Cerdic has a booster, begin the standard Rearguard > Vanguard > Rearguard attack order. If he doesn't, attack with rearguards first.

If you went second, move Sicilus to the back row, he isn't going to be able to hit. Do the same as you would if you went first, just be aware that Cerdic won't hit a magic number against their 9000 powered vanguard unless he has a 7000 booster.

ENTER THE FRAY, KING OF ALL SWAGS

• Turn 3 - Preferred Ride order: Claude > Alfred or Wingal > Altmile in emergencies

If they're on Grade 3, Stride Gablade. If the only Grade 3 in your hand is Wingal after searching it with Claude and you have no Sicilus, just hold off on Striding. You want to be sure you can Legion without banking on triple driving into a Grade 3.

If you didn't get Claude, just ride one of your Legion units and Stride. If you have enough cards in drop to Legion without recycling a Grade 3, do so.

What you want to do for your Legion combo is have Gildas on the board. Then, since you can resolve skills in the order you desire, just make your field as you want it to be. Use File to get a Blaster Blade, then have Gildas put Grynngal behind your Vanguard. If you used Wingal, put a Cerdic behind one of your rearguard Grade 2s. They're going to intercept next turn so he can go to the front. That, or you're putting him in front now if they have no rearguard for your 9000 to hit.

If you used Alfred, get your field full and start making them cry with Critical 2.

If they're not on Grade 3, you have two choices: remain on Grade 2 and miss out on the first Twin Drive, or just ride Grade 3 and get ready. Staying on Grade 2 is an entirely valid tactic to stop their Legion and Stride so you can get one card ahead. If you have Claude though, or if you just have enough units to push in general, you may as well get the ball rolling first.

The game beyond this point depends on matchups and certain situations. The main thing you want to do is just keep pressuring with Criticals. Use Heals to move your Perfect Guards and Blaster Blades and Triggers to drop zone for recycling. Use Grynngal to cycle out of Grade 3s clogging your hand or other cards you don't need, and unflip Seekers to counterblast or units you don't plan to heal.

CHOO CHOO ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN

• When to Legion - Having to figure out when to Stride or Legion is sort of difficult. You don't want to never Stride, you'd be starting late on getting Saint Blow to work. At the same time, you don't want to always prioritize doing so over Legion, since they get you going, but for one less check. The snowball effect of the opponent getting one more check over you is going to harshly overcome you in advantage.

At the very least, you want to perform your first Legion as fast as possible. Usually after your first Stride. This way you have a field buildup for Soul Saver and Saint Blow, even Samuil. You then want to prioritize the first Legion of Alfred. After that, the game's progress determines what you want to do out of the two. If you need to set yourself up or you have triggers that you want back in the deck to raise your number of chances to rip one, Legion. Even if it's just to put Heals and Draws back in to keep you in the game, do it. You'll find yourself in need of remaking your setups a lot against retire heavy decks, so don't immediately throw away those copies of Alfred and Wingal.

come on now this just looks ridiculous

• When to Stride and in what order – You want to Stride first while it's early unless you're ready for a Legion combo set up already. You basically want to do so whenever you have your field done or you're getting prepared. Gablade is first to get your things going. If you have already already, go for Samuil. Later on, Saint Blow and Soul Saver are your winning G Units. You want to use one or the either to remove a problem from the opponent's hand. If they have a Perfect Guard but they're on 4-5 damage, you can move it out of the way with Saint Blow and bully their hand more with your rearguards. Next turn, Soul Saver will win since they won't have enough to stop Holy Charging Roar's +15 to her field. In other cases, you can use Soul Saver first to shred their hand to pieces while they're on the edge, leaving nothing to stop Saint Blow and his massive column. Even if they have a Perfect still, your previous burst will have done so much they don't have anything to stop your rearguards.

You want to use Madu early, like the turn after you Legion early. You'll get ahead by an extra card to use for another Legion or Stride fuel.

Samuil depends on the state of early game. If they're already on 4, you don't need to prioritize trying to get him off unless you want to push them to 5.

Your second Gablade is basically a vanilla if you're using it lategame. Unless it's a retire matchup where you need to remake your set up. Whenever you use the second copy depends more on the matchup than the situation, because you still have a million other ways to put Grade 2s back on the board.

this gif has nothing to do with pushing or bursting but i can assure you this is the kind of stuff that happens when you push and burst at the worst times

• Pushing and Bursting

The definition of “Pushing” I use here is trying to force the opponent on five damage. The reason why deciding on when and why you want to do this is crucial. You have the advantage of enormous vanguard lanes, and constant rearguard lanes. You usually hit the right numbers (except against Crossrides), so your opponent will always be forced to use at least 10 to stop you. The problem with this is you give them more Counterblasts and skyrocket their chances of a successful Heal, letting them make more plays. It's a double edged sword since you can easily tear apart their generated advantage at the cost of giving them more ways to counterattack.

You have the advantage of being able to leave them on 3 damage. Alfred, Saint Blow, Soul Saver, and Samuil (in a different case) will make the opponent fear the thought of you ripping a single Critical Trigger, which would end the game unless they healed. Even worse when they're on 4 damage and can no longer hope you won't get a trigger, because you'll already have the game winning Critical 2.

The definition of “Bursting” I use here is more for your big plays. Not just your combo plays but more of Saint Blow and Soul Saver. It's when you let loose your big power turns in an attempt to overwhelm your opponent. You shouldn't be doing this if they're not on 4-5 damage or you're not sure you'll be able to win against their current hand. All you'll do is push uselessly and lose all your potential game enders.

V – Matchups

Being developed with play history.

VI – Conclusion



HELP YES HELLO 911 I ACTUALLY READ ALL OF THIS I LOST CONTROL OF MY LIFE

Royal Paladin is still a strong contender in today's era. Even if it's falling out of favor for the G Era support for Aqua Force and Nova Grappler, including some others, mostly from G-BT02: Soaring Ascent of Gale & Blossom. Thing Saver is a carry-card that can win the game before it gets overwhelmed. Seekers with the Jewel Knight engine are swift in rushing and overpowering the opponent from Samuil guaranteeing they get pushed and you still have the resources to punish them as they sit on 5 damage. The addition of Religious Soul Saver makes this hurt even more.

Don't forget your brothers in arms.

Despite Thing Saver being out of theme, it was the only flomp of the clan's design. The Royal Paladins from every era have stuck with their guns – with their allies. They're not a deck that can fight alone, nor are they meant to be. Their decks are all worthy of those with bright attitudes and ideologies toward the game and the thought of victory through companionship. I won't stop you from picking them just because they can win,  But I implore you to not forget their purpose and how they're meant to work.

Even if Royal Paladin begins to fall off of the face of the Earth, they always return stronger each time they get new support. And they'll keep rising again over and over to keep their place as the eradicators of evil. More so, the protector's of the Sanctuary, Cray, and all of its light.

[Cherry]

In-Depth guide finished. Still subject to changes and adding additional explanations.

In addition to that, matchups need to be added. But this will come at a later date as I gradually play against all the different types of decks with this one.

For the first member who hit 1000 on CFA, despite how small an achievement it is, I still wanted to do something special to leave proof of the fact that I rose up to someone notable. Someone who played Royals and people could say "Hey, remember that Royal devotee? lmao wat a scrub". ... pls no bully ;_;

A couple years back, I wrote an in-depth guide to generic Alfred-Soul Saver Paladins. I revisited the format I used for that guide and heavily revised it for today's mechanics. Special thanks to Luquier (member on here) for being the person I got this format from, and also giving me advice on Soul Saver's numbering. More to the Japanese Decklist that gave me the idea of Claude, and the Jewel Knight engine. And Bushiroad for finally ceasing wussing out on making an Alfred Seeker, giving it to us as soon as the Legion era was ending. Credits to tumblr blogs for those gifs too.

I don't expect anyone to read it all, but I did it anyway just to get it out there. Just to have it done and put on display.

I haven't done my best for the community like I said I wanted to, but looking at all these posts and all the time I spend here, I think I have some responsibility to just contribute as a member if nothing else. I'll keep doing just that, even if the length of my posts are unnecessary and uncalled for.

I still have more decks of Royals to play. and this still has tweaks to be made in the future. Though, I can say that this one will remain my main. Above the Jewel Knight engine, Thing Saver spearheading, and all else.

[Rank Up]

Wonderful guide C: Though I dont like Altomile in Seekers at all - other that clear your deck from g3s using Cycirlz, he is not needed at all, imo.

[Cherry]

He isn't beyond that, honestly.

As stated, he's a thing to ride in emergencies. Otherwise, he's fuel and nothing else. Him not being a Seeker and being unable to be used with Soul Saver hurts him a lot. He makes up for Saint Blow's personal boost by giving two other units a solid boost, but he'd need more than that for a selling point.

[Princess Akemi]

Wow, well this just blew me away when I looked at it Great work and it looks like a solid deck. ^^

[Cherry]

Thank you, Akemi!

I'm going to test putting 4 Saint Blow back into the deck. In exchange, I'm dropping Samuil and possibly a Gablade. I want to keep Madu in here and also have Soul Saver as a endgame push. Samuil isn't worth it in a deck of severely heavy counterblasts, and for other reasons involving letting your opponent make plays that I'll explain in the rectified guide.