Kagero - Lawkeeper (personal variant)

So I thought I'd start with something simple for my first actual article: a deck list.
This one just so happens to be my own deck.

EDIT: If you are looking for a more "general"/"typical" Lawkeeper deck, I recommend this: http://triggercapital.blogspot.com/2013/01/kagero-lawkeeper-pure-variant.html



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YOU WANT FULL FIELD?  TOO BAD!

Grade 0
1x Lizard Soldier, Conroe
4x Blue Ray Dracokid (Critical)
4x Embodiment of Spear, Tahr (Critical)
4x Demonic Dragon Mage, Rakshasa (Critical)
4x Dragon Monk, Genjo (Heal)

Grade 1
4x Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
3x Iron Tail Dragon
2x Dragon Monk, Gojo
1x Lizard Soldier, Raopia
2x Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara
2x Wyvern Guard, Barri

Grade 2
4x Dragon Knight, Nehalem
4x Cross Shot, Garp
3x Berserk Dragon

Grade 3
3x Dragonic Lawkeeper
3x Dual Axe Archdragon
1x Dragonic Overlord
1x Dragonic Vanisher
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Explanation for unit choice:

I use Conroe because I'm clearly not running amber dragons.  As for why I don't run Undeux...do I need to make an article on this?  In particular, Conroe helps in searching out Raopia.



At least this one has nice card art!
*cough*goldpaladins*cough*

Criticals are good for this deck.  Maybe someday, I shall try it with 12 stands, but I do believe crits work better here.  With grade 3s that can reach power stages that require at least 15k of guard, criticals can punish the opponent for failing to guard (or force them to guard in the first place).

Please run heal triggers...really, trust me......this deck needs the heals.

As for grade 1s, Bahr is the best booster for this deck as it allows the grade 3 units to hit 21k power when boosted.  Iron Tail does the same for a counterblast.  They're the same if your opponent has a 10k vanguard.  Same for the 7k Gojo, who also has the benefit of card rotation (especially if you ride him 1st turn going first).  Iron Tail can also counterblast twice to allow Overlord to hit 20k (this is really situational but it HAS happened).  Not that running 3x Gojo and 2x Iron Tail is any worse.  Personal preference.  You might run even less of each in a standard build with 4 perfect guards.



He was clearly meant to be Lawkeeper's personal booster!

Raopia will come in handy when crossrides hit.  Lawkeeper will be hitting 23k and crossrides will still have to guard with 15k or more.  It also saves Bahr for rear guards.  Until crossrides actually hit, I will use 1 as a tech (Conroe can search this out).

Kimnara is a good card for retiring dangerous boosting units.  It also helps clear the field in case I was forced to ride Archdragon.

Before anyone starts saying "4 perfect guards or GTFO", I have reasons:
-They're expensive.
-I'd rather have more boosters.
-It's more fun that way.
If you play to win, do run 4.





Grade 2 lineup is mostly 10k vanillas.  They hit most things without being boosted, and if you're grade stuck, at least you have a defensive 10k.  They really are consistent.  I've tried other things like Tejas (it's fun, but sometimes, that 8k is a bit suffering) and Berger (less useful than I thought, and also 8k).  Bellicosity Dragon (which will be out soon; fans of amber dragon and overlord can celebrate!) isn't needed in this deck as counterblast use is already well paced and balanced.


They end up being very very consistent.

Berserk Dragon retires an intercept or a booster at a cost of 2 counterblasts.  It gets rid of things that cause problems (like Silent Tom) and clears the field for Archdragon and Lawkeeper (early/mid game, retiring a unit often drops their rear guard count to 2 or lower, allowing +3k skills to kick in).

Grade 3 lineup is subject to change.  I have seen decks that use 4x Lawkeeper (more consistent in riding) which in turn makes it safer for them to use 4x Dual Axe Archdragon.  I don't have the perfect guards to dump extra Lawkeepers with, and I'd rather not use Aermo which is awful behind Lawkeeper and Archdragon.  Lawkeeper himself is a terrible rear guard; a 10k vanilla that can't intercept (which your opponent will likely not try to get rid of).  Having this in mind, I settled with 3 of each Lawkeeper and Archdragon.

The last 2 spots originally both went to Dragonic Overlord as his 11k power is good both as a defensive vanguard (if forced to ride), and as a standalone rear guard.  His skill also works in the rear guard (this deck actually has the counterblasts left for it quite often).

Wait, is he ambidextrous?  Oh wait...*remembers JI ENDO*

Recently, I acquired a Dragonic Vanisher from a friend as a Christmas present.  It's a very pretty card.  It pretty much does the same thing as Dual Axe Archdragon in this deck...except its 9k power means you don't ever want to ride it.  It also can't hit 11k vanguards for 3 stages.  But I've convinced myself it has its uses and swapped out an Overlord for it.  Once again, it's a very pretty card.  (Point is, if you want to use it, this isn't a bad deck to use it in.)

And, that about wraps up the unit explanations.

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Winning Image: Moderate field control early/mid game (retiring boosters and intercepts) to possibly delay the opponent in getting a proper field.  In late game, the deck focuses on using Lawkeeper's limit break to create power columns with 7-8k boosters and Dual Axe Archdragon, while taking away the opponent's ability to intercept.

Helpful Tips:

Don't use limit break if you don't need to that turn.  Sometimes, you don't want to.  Reasons for this include:
-Your opponent has less than 3 rear guards.
-Your opponent has no intercepts.
-You need to kill a rear guard (can't do that if it's bound).
-You cannot gain additional stages of power using Archdragon or Lawkeeper (due to having the wrong boosters).
-Your opponent has the absolute worst field arrangement possible and it can be fixed if Lawkeeper's limit break is used (and I mean, a column with 2 perfect guards and another column with 2 Lop Ear Shooters, and a trigger boosting the vanguard; DON'T LET THEM REARRANGE THIS).
(Exceptions apply to most of these situations.)

Sometimes, you can't ride Lawkeeper.  The backup vanguard is Overlord...unless your opponent is using Lawkeeper (they can use Lawkeeper's limit break to lower Overlord's power to 9000).

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Deck cost: $60 + $15-$80 worth of perfect guards