Game Design Article: Critical Role Challenger Series Deck Building For Standard
William Howard, Playtester
Hello community, my name is William Howard. Some of you may know me better as CrossFate on Discord. I am, what some of you would say, “an old head”. I have been around for over a decade, and I now have the pleasure of being an internal playtester for UVSGames. Today I, alongside fellow friend and teammate Clint Badger, would like to show you some of the ways you can level up your Critical Role Challenger Series decks for our standard format.
Vax’ildan, Cunning Thief
Vax gets to pick his own attack pattern. Either we get to string out incredibly long by playing a lot of attacks and burn our opponents down for a hefty amount of health, or burn them early so our entire turn is easier to play. Pushing the offense even further, Deft Maneuvers from My Hero Academia Jet Burn makes all of our weapon attacks hit that much faster and harder. Recent additions like Surprise Daggers from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament means the end of our strings are still just as deadly as the beginning. Like any master thief, we have tools to evade our opponents' offense. Genkai’s Guidance and Adaptable Anatomy are both from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament and help keep us alive. Guidance completely negating an attack when played, Anatomy saying if we completely block something we take no damage from it.
Vex’ahlia, Resourceful Hunter
As a master hunter, we always make sure to hit our mark. Vax is looking to play a ton of attacks on nearly no progressive for the entire turn. Dual Needle Lunge from My Hero Academia League of Villains when combined with Storm of Arrows means sometimes, we play 3 attacks on 0 progressive difficulty. What ties the offense together is Double Spirit Blast from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament increasing our opponents block modifiers for the turn. Being on the life symbol means our defense is far from lacking. Idun Box and Resting Up from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament makes it incredibly difficult to punish our character having no defense on her face.
Ochaco Uraraka .IV
We may be an Earth deck, but Ochaco is flying high in this take on a Storm of Arrows deck. Our character versatility means we can either make this move hit hard or fly fast. Storm of arrows being able to clear a card from our card pool using Echo means Razor Deluge from My Hero Academia League of Villains gets to clog our rivals card pool with ease. Rounding out our attack package with Ignited Arrow from My Hero Academia Heroes Clash and Dimension Sword from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament as sources of card advantage for our deck, we never feel we are without cards in hand. To make sure we are utilizing all of these cards, Skeptical and A Mother’s Embrace help keep our staging area ready. To make sure we can survive our rivals' onslaught, Referee Juri and Weapon Clash from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament both act as ways to decrease our rivals' damage and stretch our life total that much further.
Jester Lavorre, Prankster Priestess
Blazing her way onto the scene, Jester Lavorre is burning through her deck to make the biggest Big Freakin’ Explosion possible. One Man’s Inferno from My Hero Academia Jet Burn helps fuel our discard pile with more attacks, making this move burn that much brighter. Rapid Speed Slash from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament says that we get to double up on momentum, or refuel our hand, just for being our character. The deadly pair of Mischievous Doodler and Frightening Calm from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament will empower your spells and will leave your rival stunned. Jester isn’t all about offense however, with Twisty Surroundings from My Hero Academia League of Villains being able to use her fast momentum to fully block your rivals moves with ease.
Nott the Brave, Irritable Goblin
Nott’s chaotic energy really shines through with this deck. We are all about staying low on health and making the most out of it. Dragon of the Darkness Flame from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament may be risky, but that is precisely how Nott likes to operate. Paying the Cost, also from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament, will burn through our already low health for easy damage, and with our health total low we assure that we keep our rival stunned and our attacks lethal. What good thief doesn’t come with an escape plan though? Both Shinobi Prodigy and Unmatched Quickness from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament help preserve our low life total by making our rivals' attacks incredibly slow and easy to dodge.
Dabi .I
We end our journey together with a little bit of Chaos. If you are looking for an incredibly fun and explosive deck to try out look no further. All of our spells hit harder, and giving these powerful moves Echo makes them twice as lethal. Looking to Once Per Game on Hate Fish, a time shifted standard card from Yu Yu Hakusho Dark Tournament, to make it a 26 damage throw is exhilarating. Being able to follow up that 26 damage throw with another 12 damage right after just adds to it.
There are so many fun and unique combinations of cards to play with these new Challenger Series decks. We look forward to seeing everyone’s iterations on our heroes from Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein.
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Product information: Critical Role Challenger Series Product Page