THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS Booster Pack Introduction Part 2: The Combo Dream!
Last week, we promised you more THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS content, so this week we have a deck showcase, featuring a build by yours truly!
Unlike the previewed cards last week which focus mainly on character-relationship-related effect synergy, this deck idea I’ve cooked up relies mainly focuses on an interaction between 2 level 3 cards that can help you finish the game.
Level 3 Combo! Ranko & Mika
The main idea behind the combo is Ranko’s ability to deal bonus damage to the opponent when she attacks with the “-LEGNE- Opposing Blade, Melody of Light” in play. Ideally, you’ll want to reveal 1-2 climax cards every time you use the effect, so you can deal hefty amounts of damage to your opponent while reducing the risk of them cancelling damage.
One way to increase the “hit rate” of the effect is with Mika’s level 3 character card, which allows the player to discard “TOKIMEKI Escalate” from their hand to search for 3 level 0 cards to place as markers underneath it.
There’s a bit of math involved here and the set-up is pretty difficult, but if you can get it to work, you’re looking at 7 climax cards in about 25-30 cards, which is a pretty decent hit-rate for Ranko’s effect. If you’re looking for the combo dream, look no further – a legend will be built right here!
| Card No. | Card Name | Lv/Cost | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Character Card | |||
| IMC/W41-E077 | Riina Tada | 0/0 | 2 |
| IMC/W41-E082 | My First Star, Anastasia | 0/0 | 2 |
| IMC/W41-E078 | Rin Shibuya | 0/0 | 4 |
| IMC/W41-E003 | Rika Jougasaki | 0/0 | 4 |
| IMC/W41-E001 | Mio Honda | 0/0 | 4 |
| IMC/W41-E006 | Team KBYD, Yuki | 0/0 | 2 |
| IMC/W41-E085 | Black Fallen Angel, Ranko | 1/0 | 3 |
| IMC/W41-E086 | White Angel, Ranko | 1/0 | 3 |
| IMC/W41-E079 | Minami Nitta | 1/0 | 4 |
| IMC/W41-E092 | Camp with Everyone, Anastasia | 1/1 | 4 |
| IMC/W41-E046 | Sae Kobayakawa | 1/0 | 2 |
| IMC/W41-E080 | Ranko Kanzaki | 3/2 | 4 |
| IMC/W41-E005 | Mika Jougasaki | 3/2 | 4 |
| Climax Card | |||
| IMC/W41-E038 | TOKIMEKI Escalate | -/- | 3 |
| IMC/W41-E110 | -LEGNE- Opposing Blade, Melody of Light | -/- | 2 |
| IMC/W41-E112 | Everyone’s Leader | -/- | 3 |
Key Cards
A combo deck always needs two things: a good search engine, and a way to generate stock.
This deck’s main search engines are “Rin Shibuya”, “Riina Tada” and “Minami Nitta”, which are all low-cost options to go through your deck and get cards you need. In particular, Minami’s effect is exceedingly powerful when you have 3 copies on the field. You can go through a total of 12 cards in your deck via her effect, and for absolutely no cost whatsoever. Each of them can also give the other more power as well, to help them overwhelm the opponent’s field to use her effect. Brainstorms and effects that cycle cards from your deck like this are often the cheaper alternatives to outright deck search which are slightly less effective, but much more efficient, and in a deck where you want to conserve stock, these cards are welcome alternatives to fill in the gap.
Another card that is good to have is “Team KBYD, Yuki”, which lets you discard a climax card to search for another. With so many climax synergy effects going on, you definitely want to have something like this in your deck to make sure you’re not holding onto the wrong cards!
The main way of generating stock without having to invest too much hand cards for this deck lies in characters that can maintain presence on the field Encore effects and high power for low cost. “Camp with Everyone, Anastasia” is a great option for this, as her Encore effect does not consume hand size. “Black Fallen Angel, Ranko” & “White Angel, Ranko” is a more biased pick on my part (because I like Ranko) but is cost-efficient and should have enough power to last through the whole of level 1, especially when used with “Sae Kobayakawa”, a 2000 power backup for Music characters.
Play Style
Try and be as conservative as you can in the early turns. Keep cards like “Rika Jougasaki” on the field with its ability to change its position, and use “Mio Honda” to get rid of the more pesky level 0s. At level 1, you’ll want to get “Camp with Everyone, Anastasia” or the “Black Fallen Angel, Ranko” & “White Angel, Ranko” combo onto the field ASAP, so they can start getting stock for you.
At level 2, you’ll want to focus on ‘fixing’ your hand with the various search effects in preparation for level 3, and your main combo. Going into level 3, you’ll ideally want to get at least 2 copies of Ranko and 1 copy of Mika with their respective climax cards ready with your deck close to refresh. Do try and keep “Riina Tada” on the field for last-minute searches if you need them!
Wrapping Up
It sounds like I’m stretching the “synergy” a little far, doesn’t it? I’ll admit the scenario is a bit difficult to set up, but the more difficult it is to set up, the more rewarding it is to pull off, is it not? Take this list out for a spin and let us know your results!
What’s Next?
Stay with us because we will have more introduction on the upcoming booster of Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] Vol.2
The Writer
Ronin
The Wandering Columnist
An avid card gamer who dabbles a little in every card game he can get his hands on. Considers weakness a sin. Thinks that the weak ones should just go home.
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