Duncan's Sparring Grounds #2: Water / Lightning Knights (Opus V)

Knights? Hmm ... no thanks!

That was my attitude towards a well-supported job class in FFTCG until very recently. I was not interested in playing Knights as soon as I learned that Terra's "Magitek Knight" did not count, and that was quite a long time ago. I had no other real reason, other than that, which is silly.

So, when I saw Knights in one of the Gunslinger decks shared by the Hobby Japan team at Crystal Cup Kansas City, I thought I would give it a go! It looked a bit different than anything I had seen before, and I thought it might be worth changing my stance on Knights. Here's the list.

My first impressions here were mixed. I was a little confused about Cait Sith 1-132C was in the list, as well as two Al-Cid 2-097H. The rest of the list made some sense to me, and I know that the Category IX package of cards have been really powerful since I first played against them.

The Forward count seems a little high, but that is a style choice that some deck builders prefer. The summons are good enough for me, although I am not personally big on Odin 1-124R, especially at just two copies. 

The Backups seem nice and comfy. A count of 17 is solid, and almost all of these cost 2 CP which makes casting very easy. The most important Backup here is probably Ovelia 1-156C, and the single copy of Agrias 1-151R makes it easy to play it out.

I took this list to a local Friday tournament. We had 17 participants, and I finished 5-0, surprising my expectations. Unfortunately, we had some tech issues and those matches did not record. The next day, I was lucky enough to get a few friendly matches on camera.

What makes this deck work so well is that it has a very natural fix to Ramza 5-118L. The downside to this Ramza card is that he forces you to overextend your board and play aggressively, in order to be the best version of himself. But, if you have Ovelia and Trion 5-11R in play, Ramza only needs to be your third forward. When you can play Ramza for 4 CP and he will attack that turn as a 10k and break an opponent's 3CP or less Forward, then you are playing one of the best Forwards I can imagine in this game.

I was very wrong about Cait Sith in this deck. With Ramza, Cait Sith is a net 0 CP, as he reduces Ramza's cost by 1 CP. He was a real winner for the deck in an unexpected way, and I am a big fan of the card.

Gordon 1-160H is also sneakily good with Claidie 5-128R, as Gordon can soak up two attackers in combat without taking any damage if you sequence the abilities correctly.

Should I play this deck, and what updates do i make with opus vi?

If you want to play a Knights deck, I am challenged to think of a better card combination. Heading into Opus VI, it would be silly not to consider Garland 6-002L as an option and the Fire element. That being said, I will not go that route, as this deck would lose a lot of its smooth play with a third element.

Here are the cards I want to consider with Opus VI. I think that Ramuh 6-102R is too good of a card to ignore. I am willing to give Pieuje 6-121C a try, too. Since Pieuje has a cost reduction from Destin 5-109R, and since he also draws a card, he is a net 1 CP to play. With Ramza, Pieuje is a net 0 CP.

Scott 6-155H is a card I am not very sure fits in here, but since a majority of the Backups are easy to cast, I want to try him out. Since I'm running a few copies of Scott, I've added in Hilda 6-122H. This card feels out of place here, but it may not be too bad considering the deck's plan is to flood out Forwards quickly. If you have three Forwards in play, Hilda nets at 0 CP after you draw three cards, and that is a theme of the deck. I think 1 copy is okay.

I have left the Al-Cid Forward package on the bench for Opus VI, opting to bring the new Al-Cid 6-085C Backup along. This card is pretty powerful and could close a game out, so I am curious to see how it plays.

Thanks for reading! We shall see how my edits do, and if this deck survives the Opus VI meta. If you decide to give it a run, let us know your thoughts and any changes you think are necessary.