Common Cards

## Red

Though it lacks a high volume of high tier MCs, Red is not to be underestimated as it has some excellent splash packages. Overclass cards have very powerful effects that you can get just at the cost of deployment, and there are synergistic packages of fliers and mages that work well with all kinds of MCs of the same type.

#### Common Cards

Caeda 4

Part of the red fliers package, Caeda is a perfect turn 4 play as she both can draw a card if she clears a non-MC enemy, and tempos out a 2 cost flier from hand (and conveniently, there are 2 very good 2 cost fliers in red). Almost always run in decks that have flier MCs or are almost all fliers since she doesn’t hit very well without a 30 support.

Delthea OC

Dealthea is run for her particularly nasty overclass skill, which randomly discards 2 of the opponent’s cards. Random discard is much more punishing than regular discard since you can make them discard key cards they may need to stay in the game. She is usually run in very slow decks that are splashing red for the discard from her and the healing from Genny.

Faye OC

Faye is a strong Overclass cards for a number of decks, as her effect is essentially a -2 (-1 for breaking the orb and another -1 for sending it to the retreat) and a buff that lets her become 80 base, resulting in another potential hit on the opponent’s Main Character. For that reason she is seen in some aggressive and midrange decks, though she also sees a bit of play in slow decks that want to whittle down the opponent’s orbs without giving them cards.

Genny OC

Genny is a control deck’s dream card. Her overclass skill is a free +2: letting you heal an orb with a card from the retreat means you can have another dodge, a card you may need to help stabilize, or even another Genny OC (it doesn’t say non-Genny!). Her second skill, meanwhile, is the perfect way to spend your bonds- flip 3 to heal 2 cards from Retreat is great value. It can get you a dodge, another OC piece you’re missing (such as Delthea), or anything you may need. Sometimes you may skip the overclass just to be able to use her skill 2 earlier.

Mae OC

One of the most unfair cards in the game, she basically creates a new archetype where all you want to do is class change this card over and over. Just by class changing her for 5 bonds, you can lock your opponent’s MC and whatever they deployed, allowing you to just focus on hitting their MC. If you can do it repeatedly, it creates a cycle where your opponent is locked, they’re forced to deploy new units that can actually attack, then those units get locked as well. You just keep ignoring their board and focus their MC until they run out of orbs or you run out of Maes. She also gets to swing at the opponent’s MC for 70 for free thanks to her skill 2, making the “focus MC” gameplan better. If you run out of Maes before you win the game, you can combine her with board clears like Rowan 5(4) or Celica Overclass and then continue to go at their MC.

Marth 4(3) B13

A good MC but also a good card to put in other midrange decks. His draw condition is quite easy since you typically end your turn after deploying units and clearing your opponents’, and if you get the draw, you’re usually pretty happy. His 3rd skill is pretty much just flavor text, but his skill 2 is interesting as it provides an interesting form of pressure where your opponent has to be careful not to go to 0 orbs, or they could instantly lose the game.

#### Less Common Cards

Boey 2

Part of the red mage package, Boey simply has very good stats for a 2 cost. If your MC is a mage, he hits for 60, which is the same as what 4 cost mages swing for. Only downside is because he is just a stat stick, he is relegated to more aggressive tome spam decks.

Est 1

This type of flier is the premiere 1 cost beater in flier decks. If your deck is all fliers, then she is 30 + 10 + 30 = 70 on turn 1, which can hit well and is hard for a lot of decks to hit. She only is played in decks that run almost all fliers, though.

Katarina

Katarina is a very interesting card, being one of the few that can swap who your main character is. Usually swapping your main character isn’t desirable since you want to build your entire deck around one main character, but some aggressive decks can use her to swap your MC around to move the buff and usually end up on Navarre to crit and finish the game. Her skill 2 is more what she is run for, though, since sending an orb to boundless is effectively a -2 (one for the orb break, one for losing the card). The biggest thing holding her back is that there is only 1 other Katarina in the game, making her skill 2 a bit trickier to pull off more than once.

Mae 4(3)

A part of the red tome package, Mae is great for buffing your tomes to hit higher benchmarks and refueling when you’re low on cards. This usually works better in more aggressive tome decks, though her first skill discarding a card from your hand means you can sometimes get to the 3 card benchmark in more midrange decks. Overall, she can discard 1 to destroy 1, and can potentially flip 1, draw a card, and buff all tomes, making her an excellent card in any tome deck.

Maria 4(3)

A part of the red flier package, Maria is a great card that offers value and range, something flier decks can lack. Her skill 1 is very easy to activate, and allows her to be tempoed out with Caeda from hand, making a very strong turn 4 play. Her skill 2 meanwhile helps flier decks get a bit of extra value they don’t normally get due to being very tempo-oriented. And arguably the most useful part about her is the fact that she has range, meaning she can either sit in the backline and be annoying to clear, or she can clear backline threats that fliers typically lack options to deal with.

Medeus

One of the more infamous cards in the game, Medeus is basically represents a last ditch chance to stabilize when you are almost dead. Some decks take advantage of him and plan around becoming him at some point, such as Henry MC, while in other decks he is a backup for an MC that is frail or doesn’t have many dodges, such as Asbel. Being 100 with range is a very good statline, he will be able to clear whatever he wants and is tough to hit, making stabilizing a bit more reliable even though you will only have 3 evades with him as your MC and no orbs. If you have a way to gain orbs and heal back dodges, his skill 2 will generate enough value to pull you through the rest of the game.

Palla 2

Part of the red fliers package, Palla is a very straightforward card- you deploy her with 2 other fliers on the board, and she is 60 base. She can be tempoed out by Caeda, and if you have a flier MC then on turn 4 you have 3 swings for 60. Her Canto skill is also somewhat relevant, since you can move her back to safety after attacking and then hit a flier emblem or use a move skill on your next turn and have her come back to the front line to swing again.

Tiki 1 (B01)

Red’s sole manakete, she is not too common since you can’t rely on hitting her on a relevant turn for ramp, but in certain decks the potential to ramp is a bonus on top of having a 1 cost 60 attack unit.

Tiki 5 (B01)

Tiki 5 is a very slow card, but her potential value is great. As long as you don't self, you get a free face-up bond card every time she attacks, and if you get enough bonds, she can become 90 base- very hard to clear. Typically reserved for very slow, value-oriented decks that can afford to spend a turn on a 5 cost 60 base.

Yubello

A potent card in the red tome package, if your deck is all tomes, he is a 1 cost 50 base with range. He is only run for his stats, but the staline is truly incredible for a tome card.

## Blue

Blue is known as the class change color, but it also has a lot of versatility in the cards it can run. In particular is has a great suite of dragonstone cards, both 1 costs you can kete with and late game options to manage your bonds. It also has a few tech cards that are unlike any others in the game that can make blue a great option for splashing.

### Common Cards

Gregor 2

Gregor is a great tool for slower decks that can be quite obnoxious to deal with. The idea is you play him on turn 2 and move your MC behind him, so your opponent has to choose between either giving you free ramp, or halting their aggression until the ramp doesn’t matter or they can deal with him. He isn’t perfect though- slower decks will just ignore him, and decks with inherent range can put off clearing him and leave your MC trapped in the backline.

Henry

Henry is one of the most infamous cards in the metagame. He is mostly known for his second skill, just class change him on a 1 cost Henry and flip 1, destroy to make your opponent discard 2. His first skill is also used in certain decks like Chrom, where you tend to class change multiple times. There are not many unrestricted discard effects in the game, and this guy shows why as he has 2.

Nah 1

The weakest of blue’s manaketes, but the fact she has a different name from Tiki and Nowi means you have 3 potential hits to ramp off, more than any other color. You would never run Nah over the other 2, her skill 1 is nice but pretty niche compared to just raw attack buffs the other 2 get.

Nowi 1

One of blue’s 3 staple manaketes, Nowi is arguably the best because she has the stats of the purple manaketes as long as she is in the front line, and she has range. If you’re in blue and want to ramp, blue having the most ketes means you have the most opportunities to do so.

Nowi 3

One of the 2 Nowi cards that pick up bonds, Nowi 3 is usually preferred by slower decks. Her lower deployment cost helps her fit into later game curves, and being 50 doesn’t matter when you aren’t going to play her until you’re at least at 7 bonds anyway and getting the +30. The most important thing to be aware of is her skill 1 is MANDATORY, so if you play her, you have to pick up a bond. If you play her on turn 3, you will be stuck at 3 bonds as long as she lives.

Nowi 4

One of the 2 Nowi cards that pick up bonds, this one is usually run in more midrange decks. Being a 4 cost 60 base is not ideal, but since she effectively gets you a card for free she is definitely worth playing, especially if you have some way to buff her. If you can get to 7 bonds though, she is a whopping 90 base. You also have the flexibility of choosing whether you pick up a bond that turn, and can do it in the middle of your turn if you want to use that card for a crit or something.

Robin F 5(4)

Robin F is one of the most unfair cards in the game just off her skill 1 alone. Since she likely isn’t your MC, when you CC her you just get to destroy 2 enemies for free, since she counts herself and your MC. If you have more class changed allies, such as in decks like Chrom, then that number only goes up. Her skill 2 is a good cycle, you basically get to put a card you don’t need at the moment (usually a dodge) into your orbs and replace it with a draw. Her 3rd skill is pretty nice as well since if you’re trying to hit something big or secure a hit on MC, it's an easy way to do so.

Robin M 4(3)

Robin 4(3) is great for aggressive decks or decks with on-hit effects, since he is basically a free card whenever they dodge. They likely are going to be able to clear him without critting during their turn, but if he can stick he can be quite annoying since he is a free card every turn they dodge. His skill 1 is also pretty good, pretty much guarantees a hit against all but the most tanked up units.

Sumia 3(2)

Sumia is a bit of a strange card, since you want to run her in decks that will be up on orbs to get her draw, which are usually more aggressive. However, deploying her basically kills your aggression since she’s a 50 base that is really better off buffing instead of swinging. She does find a home in flier decks that can tempo out 3 costs though, since they can keep the pressure up while getting the benefit of her card draw.

Tiki 1 (B08)

One of blue’s 3 manaketes, if you’re running her you are probably running the others as well to hit their dragonkin support. Tiki is interesting as she can potentially swing for 70 with range once you get to 4 bonds and she sticks around for a turn, which is pretty solid for a 1 cost card.

### Less Common Cards

??? (Morgan F)

??? (usually just called Morgan) is a funny card in that she techs against the color that she is in. There is also the ability to stop overclass cards and Sigurd CC, which is often when she is really run for, but screwing over her home color is also an upside. There is no other reason to run this card, it is purely a tech card, the other skills are pretty much useless.

Frederick (B08)

Frederick is a great card for decks that want to class change a lot, but also can be run in a few other decks as well. In decks like Lucina, he is pure tempo, flip 1 and he’s on the field, ready to swing. In other decks like blue Dimitri, he can be run as a way to control the pace of the game- if Dimitri needs to put more pressure on, tempo him out and hit face. If he is being overwhelmed by aggro, get him out and he can clear board, and he stops crits against your MC. In the latter deck, he works because the deck typically runs a lot of bridges and wants to always bridge and promote, giving him 2 solid opportunities to come out.

Grima 4

Grima is an interesting card in that she is just a raw +3, but the cards you get from that +3 are not that good. So she is often run in decks that can just use the raw cards for other purposes, or have some gimmick with risen being a specific type (Tailtiu + tome risen). Having the potential to be 80 base is also pretty sweet.

Lissa 4(3)

Lissa is effectively a fancy flip 1 draw, but the nuances behind it give her interesting versatility. Putting dodges in your orbs is great because it makes you harder to finish off, while getting random cards or something you put in your orbs is very useful. Her other skill is just a bit of a bonus, some MCs might run overclass cards, others might just class change multiple times like Lucina, but the attack buff is nothing to sneeze at.

Naga

Though she is locked to blue, her skill 1 is very strong for decks that like class changing a lot. Only needing 1 of the cards to CC is a lot easier than having both, or you could be CCing your MC that’s already there. Her 2nd skill basically also ramps you and gives a field rally, which can be nice in decks like Lucina that try to class change to end the game.

Nah 3

Nah 3 is very solid in midrange/slow decks that want to get some card advantage without lowering their bond count. Her skill 2 replaces whatever bond you pick up with a face-down one, meaning it is sort of like a pseudo-flip 1 heal. Not lowering your bond count also makes it easier to hit her 6 bond threshold to become 70 base, which is a pretty solid statline for a 3 cost.

Rainbow Robin

Anti-discard tech, but for slow decks. The most common reason this is run is for the purple matchup, since purple has darkness emblems it likes to spam, this turns the -1 into a +1. He can even be run without any other blue cards, since his effect doesn’t require you to play him. Only downside is this card is completely useless outside of the purple matchup and maybe the control mirror.

Robin M 2

A simple, efficient card for specific control decks. Flip 2 to heal an orb is the standard rate, if your deck is slow and doesn’t have colors that can heal orbs easily then he’s a fine pick. Only tricky thing is he isn’t a threatening unit and his skill is only on deploy, so your opponent can just ignore him.

Tiki 4

A bit more niche than Nowi 4, but she has some good applications in decks that either CC a lot like Lucina, or decks that want to cheat out a high cost CC early, like Corrin F. She also becomes 80 base in the late game, which is pretty solid for swinging with range.

## Black/White

Black and white have lots of good options for all kinds of purposes- draw, aggro cards, tempo cards, destruction, buffs, and a good dose of utility. The downside is that they are usually exclusive to each other, white handling the aggro / draw / tempo, while black has the slow / destruction / disruption half. There are also a lot more usable white cards than black, since draw and aggression are always solid effects while destruction is often overcosted.

### Common Cards

Azura 5

Azura 5 is the best dancer in the game because she only has to tap herself to do it, and she gives a +30 buff on top of it. She can also randomly nuke dragons, and her 3rd skill makes it possible for her to be your MC.

Corrin F 6(5)

Corrin F is expensive, but absolutely worth the cost of deployment. Her skill 1 lets you ramp a card and if you do, destroy a non-MC, which is perfect for control decks. The ramp gives them value, and the destruction helps them control the board. Her statline is also good, being 80 base is solid and she even can give a field buff if you have 2 black bonds. Great deploy off B20 Xander.

Corrin M 6(5)

Corrin M is an excellent card for white decks. He can pick up a bond to keep their fuel going, and at the same time spam out a bunch of low costs to swarm the field. He has a good statline at 80 base, and can even buff his field he just dumped with his second skill.

Elise 3(2)

Elise is the gold standard for an efficient heal. Tap flip 1 to get any card that is the same color as your MC (which will be most cards in your deck) is a great price for the value. If you’re a turn 4 promotion, you can even play her on turn 3 and heal back your main promo if you missed it but it passed by in support. Her skill 2 is also a nice little bonus that can help your MC hit.

Hana 4(3)

Hana is a staple of the white fliers package, as well as one of the best flier MCs. Though her effects seem small, her skill 2 basically makes all 60 base fliers attack and defend for 100, since all flier supports become 40 supports. This makes hitting easier for you and much harder for the opponent. Her first skill also is great, as it can put cards you want to draw back into your deck, or let you try to rig flier emblems in your deck to move your board as you swing.

Hinoka 5(4) (Queenoka)

Queenoka is a very common card in white fliers since deploying a 4 cost flier (which usually have lances) is very strong. The 4 cost fliers usually define their colors- Florina, Hana, Caeda, etc are all very strong, and Hinoka gets whatever one you want on the board. Her s2 is nice for being able to protect the board you’re building as a flier deck, letting you move them to the backline for safety. And her being a bow is great for clearing backline threats that flier decks usually struggle to deal with. The combination of tempo, mobility, and range make her fit in perfectly in most flier decks while also patching up some of their inherent weaknesses.

Kana F 1

The sole white kete still sees quite a lot of play in white aggro decks. Since white aggro swings a lot with low cost archers, they have a decent chance of hitting her support skill at some point. In the mid-late game, she is also a 60 attack unit that can be deployed for cheap, and can potentially hit with a 40 support.

Kaze 4(3)

Half of the “ninja engine”, Kaze allows any unit to crit with any 1 cost card in your hand. He is a great finisher for aggro decks, but also works especially well with other ninja cards that synergize with critting. His first skill is also quite nice for refueling after critting a lot.

Kiragi 1 / Setsuna 1 / Takumi 1

White’s 3 attack emblem archers, these 1 costs define white aggro. Although they are 30 base units, they have range, so they can be difficult for decks to clear, and they are 40 supports on offense, allowing them and other cards in your deck to hit stuff they really shouldn’t be able to at times. Kiragi has a minor upside in his skill 1, letting him hit beast and fang units a bit better than the others, and Takumi is the best because his condition to be +10 is easy, and it is in effect on both turns.

Oboro 4(3) & Oboro 1

The Oboro combo is a bit complicated to explain, but in effect it ends up as flip 1 draw 1 move Oboro. How it works is you can move Oboro 1 using her skill 1, which activates Oboro 4’s skill 1 in the retreat. You flip 1, class change, draw 1 from the class change. Then, you can use Oboro 4’s skill 2 to un-class change, leaving you with Oboro 1 again. Oboro 1 is considered a new unit due to the un-class change, so she can use her skill 1 again, and repeat.

This makes Oboro a good MC of course, but also a strong splash card. All you need to pull this off is the 1 cost Oboro in hand and the 4 cost in retreat, and you can flip 1 draw as much as you want. White decks in particular don’t tend to spend many bonds, so they can afford to just run Oboro as their only bond spender, and use all their bonds drawing cards.

Ryoma 5(4) (B20)

No matter how you slice it, Ryoma is an insanely powerful card. His first skill is amazing tempo, letting him take advantage of white’s ability to deploy lots of small units and use it to deploy a real threat. His skill 2 is more niche, but can allow him to hit really tanky enemies when needed. His skill 3 is just great, you can use his first skill to get your hand size lower, swing, and replace the card. It all works so well with so many white decks, it's harder to find a deck he doesn’t go in.

Silas 4(3)

Silas is an amazing card for any Black/White MC. He just gives them +20 for free with his skill 2, and if you have enough allies you can hide your board behind your buffed MC. His lowered deployment cost can also be nice, letting him get deployed off of cards like Corrin M 6(5).

### Less Common Cards

Asugi 1

Asugi is a go-to in ninja decks because he is basically a free cycle when you use his ninjutsu emblem. Getting him onto the board for basically free is perfect for ninja decks that want a bunch of units on the board to crit with.

Automaton

Auto is a great anti-aggro tech card that can also mess with decks that class change. You can just stick it in the backline, have it clear low costs, and your opponent will likely just have to accept one of their units is gonna be tapped next turn.

Azura 4

Azura 4(3) is most notorious in Vallui, who can take advantage of the 3 cards in boundless just as well as the 2 cards she gets to your hand. However, she is also just a solid flip 3 draw 2, but the 2 you draw will be the best 2 of 5 cards. If you have a way to take advantage of your boundless area at all, then this Azura is amazing.

Camilla 5(4)

Camilla is a bulky unit with great stats, attacking for 90 and having 30 support. She also gets to defend for 90 once, which can make her hard to clear. Her skill 1 is nothing to sneeze at either, letting you discard 1 to destroy and non-MC when any enemy is destroyed, including the opponent’s MC. This can let you focus on hitting their face, or help you clean up their board.

Hinoka 4(3) (Warpnoka)

Warpnoka is common in white flier decks as she provides solid tempo for a reasonable price. There are lots of solid 3 cost or lower fliers that are worth deploying, a few in color though most are in other colors. Her skill 2 also can be useful for maintaining your board against decks that rely on destruction to remove stuff.

Hisame 2

Hisame is a great tool for slower decks that can be quite obnoxious to deal with. The idea is you play him on turn 2 and move your MC behind him, so your opponent has to choose between either giving you free ramp, or halting their aggression until the ramp doesn’t matter or they can deal with him. He isn’t perfect though- slower decks will just ignore him, and decks with inherent range can put off clearing him and leave your MC trapped in the backline.

Kagero 1

A staple of ninja decks in conjunction with Saizo 1. The idea is if you hit this support and either have a Saizo in hand or already in retreat, you basically get a 2 for 1 deploy, which helps you get your board set up to crit spam with later.

Kagero 3(2)

Half of the “ninja engine”, she replaces whatever card you crit with so you don’t lose your hand size trying to kill the opponent. Her skill 2 is also excellent because it makes her very difficult to kill, meaning your engine can stay alive a lot easier. Only trick is her skill doesn’t trigger for herself.

Leo 5(4) (King Leo)

King Leo is sort of a tech card, it's just that 90% of the decks in the game are likely to have what he’s teching against. Tomes are very common in cipher since they have flexible range and strong skills to compensate for their lower stats. Leo not only wipes all of them off the board, he also prevents them from being redeployed, which can cripple decks that rely on them. His +30 buff is also nice for allowing him to hit after he uses his skill, or any other ally destroys something.

Lilith (B20)

Lilith is potentially a devastating tech card, capable of halting certain decks in their tracks. Her skill 1 stops all forms of deployment outside of the deployment phase, which kills the opponent’s tempo if they are trying to get multiple units out in a turn. It's an activated skill, so the effect continues even after she is killed, but you have to remember to declare it. Her other skill is only useful for decks that care about the boundless area such as Vallui, though moving an enemy is quite useful when it happens.

Nyx 4(3) (B20)

Nyx is a pretty nasty card- although she doesn’t hit for much, her lowered statline actually works in her favor a bit since it lets her use skill 1 on 60 attack units. Discard 1 to destroy 1 is pretty efficient, and it combos into her skill 2 which can be very obnoxious for decks that spend a lot of bonds or have multiple bond colors.

Reina 1

This type of flier is the premiere 1 cost beater in flier decks. If your deck is all fliers, then she is 30 + 10 + 30 = 70 on turn 1, which can hit well and is hard for a lot of decks to hit. She only is played in decks that run almost all fliers, though.

Saizo 1

A staple of ninja decks in conjunction with Kagero 1. The idea is if you hit this support and either have a Kagero in hand that you can discard or already in retreat, you basically get a 2 for 1 deploy, which helps you get your board set up to crit spam with later.

Shigure B20

Shigure is a pretty flexible card, having the ability to deal with backline that white typically lacks and the draw power that black usually lacks. Sending a card to boundless can also be an upside depending on the deck, too.

Xander 5(4) (B20)

Compared to Ryoma, Xander is a bit less good, but compared to the average card this card is amazing. Tapping any black or white ally to get something much larger from your hand is very strong tempo, and his skill 2 & 3 can combo together to name him hit hard or hard to hit.

## Green

Green is a solid color with great options for bond spenders and bond savers. It has early game options, midgame options, and even very late game options that work very well on their own or in conjunction with other green cards. The only tricky part about green is that though it plays well with itself and has strong standalone cards, it doesn’t tend to synergize with other colors.

### Common Cards

Elincia 4(2)

This Elincia is useful in 2 very different ways- her skill 1 is great for pulling backline in case the opponent tries to run or if they have annoying units in the back. Her second skill is also great for halting aggression, since she stops a swing for every time your MC gets hit.

Elincia 5(3)

Elincia 5 is great in Green because they have a lot of big, slow MCs, and she can let them class change a bit sooner or a bit more consistently. She can come out as soon as turn 3 if you have an Elincia 1 stick, but she can also be turn 4 thanks to her decreased CC cost. Her skill 1 is mostly only used once when she uses her skill 2, but it can be nice later to get a free untap if you have a growther MC or ally.

Ike 1

Ike 1 is just a solid aggro card for green decks- it hits the MC for 50, and has hero emblem for the potential highroll. What’s not to like?

Ike 4(3) (Tenku)

Tenku Ike is a pretty scary card, if you’re playing him in a deck your opponent has to respect him. His skill 1 makes it very easy for his swing to connect, and also makes triggering his skill 2 very easy. Destroying a non-MC when you attack the opponent’s MC is really nice since it lets you focus on killing the opponent harder. However, if there are no non-MCs, then skill 3 activates, which instantly breaks the opponent’s MC. So they instantly lose an orb, or if they have none, they lose the game.

Ike 6(4)

Ike 6(4) is yet another scary Ike card. His first skill is pretty niche, if you run a lot of Ikes in your deck then you can make him your MC. His skill 2 is pretty relevant since if he is not your MC, then your MC will be leveled up and you’ll always have a leveled up ally, meaning he always is 90 and double breaks. His 3rd skill is really where he gets scary though- if his attack is avoided, you can flip 1 and destroy everything else. This means if he swings at a non-MC and it evades, you can flip 1 to destroy the opponent’s MC and all their other non-MCs. Your opponent has to be on their toes when they see you running this card.

Jill 5(3)

Jill is a fantastic card, but only because she can deploy 1 other fantastic card- Kurthnaga 4. You won’t see her run in decks without him, but together they are quite a strong engine for a deck. You can play Jill, flip 2 to deploy Kurthnaga from the retreat, and now you have Jill that swings for 80, Kurth who will swing for 70-80 with range depending on if your MC is a 5 cost or not, and Kurth can heal back any 5 cost you want, including another Jill if you want. Her skill 3 is a bit more niche, but on hit growth can be useful if your MC or other allies care about it.

Kurthnaga 1

Kurth 1 is an excellent early game unit- he can potentially swing for 60 as a 1 cost unit, allowing him to hit the opponent even if they’ve bridged. His support skill is also very good if it works- though it isn’t like Dragonkin Emblem that works any time it's supported, if you’re going second and hit Kurth 1 as your support, it is the same thing, and ramp is ramp.

Kurthnaga 4

Kurthnaga is a fantastic card, both as a standalone unit and in combination with Jill 5. His skill 1 is great for getting back whatever high cost you may need for just flip 1, and his skill 2 allows him to be base 70-80+ depending on your MC and how many other high cost allies you have. He also has range as a front line unit, which is always a plus.

Micaiah 1

This Micaiah has amazing utility as a 1 cost unit, discard a Micaiah to heal anything is great for making sure you have main promo, grabbing a crit or deploy, whatever you may need later game. You'll probably want more than just 4 copies of Micaiah with it though, but luckily she has great options.

Micaiah 2

This version of Micaiah is almost exclusively run in conjunction with the B22 5(3) Micaiah, and for good reason. If your MC is a 5 or higher cost, you can play this micaiah, draw 1, then class change the 5(3) from hand, draw 1, making her hand neutral but still only costing 5 deployment. She is also just a 2 cost cycle in a pinch, that can possibly swing for 60 if you have other allies that level up or growth.

Micaiah 5(3)

Micaiah 5 is a very simple but very strong card. All you need is 1 Micaiah in your retreat and 4 or less cards in hand, and for free you get +30 and draw a card. Swinging for 90 with range is just great for hitting or clearing, and free draw is free draw.

Sigrun 5(3)

Sigrun is a great card for aggressive decks that want to run fliers. Her skill 1 is excellent tempo, and creates a lot of utility options depending on what you deploy. Plumeria is the go-to since it locks out a lot of common, powerful deploys. Her skill 2 is even more utility, letting you pull the enemy’s MC if they try to hide or help you clear backline, and her skill 3 is great for securing hits.

Soren 4(3)

Soren is a nasty card, and a potentially game-winning one. His skill 2, if used well, is already a -1 for the opponent, but potentially much more if they try to CC or just are unable to draw using their skills. The longer he sticks around, the more likely you are to win. His skill 1 is also not bad, potentially removing a threat in an annoying way.

Tormod 5(3)

Tormod is excellent as a deploy because when you CC him, you go hand neutral thanks to his skill 1. He also swings for 80 with range in the front line, which you want to do because he can move himself at the end of the turn anyway using his skill 3. This means each turn he can be in the front line, swing at the enemy front or back line for 80, then hide him away in your back line at the end of the turn, only to bring him back to the front at the end of your opponent’s turn.

### Less Common Cards

Elena 1

A green classic, if your MC wants to growth itself then you’re probably running her or one of her equivalents. Just a simple 1 cost that will growth your MC for flip 1, miracle emblem is a small upside.

Elincia 2

Elincia 2 is nice because she not only growths for just tapping, but also has backup utility as a cycler if you don’t need to growth anymore or don’t have a target. Only tricky thing is she costs 2, which can be awkward to fit into a curve.

Ena 3

Ena is a solid turn 3 play that essentially trades and Ena for 1 card of your choice among the top 5. Her second skill also lets her buff an ally or herself when she growths, which is a pretty solid upside.

Ilyana 5(3)

Ilyana is a pretty polarizing card that works very well in a small number of decks. Her first skill can allow you to wipe your opponent’s board or however many enemies you want, which can be great for aggressive or combo-oriented green decks. Her 2nd skill lets you either fuel up enough to use skill 1 or refuel after using it.

Jill 1

Jill 1 is a solid 1 cost aggro card that can still hit the opponent even after they promote thanks to her skill 1. She is more commonly run as dodges for Jill 5(3) or a way to play her on turn 4.

Leanne 2

Leanne isn't the most powerful card, but she is an excellent filler that can boost the consistency of your deck. You just play her, grab a dodge or your main promo if you don't have it yet, and then she either dies or you can bounce her back to your hand next turn and bond her.

Mist 5(3)

Mist is not the most flashy card, but she’s solid if you’re looking for another option to deploy. You want to run her in decks that’ll have multiple units out at the same time so her skill 2 is in effect, making her 70 with range and letting her use skill 1 for free. Skill 1 is just a nice little buff that can go on her to make her 80, your MC to make them a bit tankier, or whatever you might need.

Reyson 2

Reyson is a great card for MCs that can struggle to hit good numbers or want his buff for some reason. He is quite strong since he can be played for free when your MC promotes or when any ally growths thanks to his skill 1, and his skill 3 makes him tricky to remove.

Yune

Yune is an expensive, but potentially devastating card. She can be a win condition in herself- you play her when your opponent over-commits to the board, buff your MC, then wipe the whole board. Your opponent then has to decide if they waste time trying to hit your MC, who’s +30, try to build a board again at risk of being Yune’d again, or wait it out and then lose when you come back on the board.

## Purple

Purple is often regarded as the best color in the game, and for good reason- the central theme of the color is supporting and support skills, which are a fundamental part of the game. Having good support skills and rigging them can create insane advantage, which is why purple is often not run with other colors- it's just amazing on it's own. But even outside of stacking and support skills, purple still has a lot of very strong cards that can be used in a variety of decks.

### Common Cards

Canas 1

Canas 1 is one of the 2 staple darkness emblems that purple runs. His combination of free discard when he’s supported and ability to swing for 40 with range if the opponent is low on cards is an annoying combination for the opponent.

Canas 4(3)

A deceptively strong card- his first skill lets him swing for 80, which is great into the meta. His second skill may not seem that strong at first glance, but some of the best support skills in the game are tomes, namely B16 Lilina, who draws a card when her supported ally destroys something, and darkness emblems, which discard the opponent for free. Darkness emblems have the bonus synergy of getting the opponent to low cards which enables his skill 1.

Eirika 4(3)

Eirika is a solid deploy in decks that run low costs, which is a lot of purple decks since they often run ketes. Her skill 1 only needs herself, your MC, and some other deploy to activate, making her a pretty reliable draw, and her skill 2 is a nice consistency booster on offense and defense.

Eliwood 5(4)

This Eliwood is usually just run for the support skill in stacker decks. The ability to move anything you want is very nice, and you can even repeat the effect for a price if you wish. Yet even with his great support skill, he is still a pretty solid deploy- buffing all front line allies on offense and defense and having a way to move enemies with less attack than him.

Fae 1

One of purple’s 2 ketes, Fae and Myrrh are part of what defines purple. The combination of the ability to ramp when supported and the ability to rig supports means purple can ramp more consistently than blue, which has more ketes. The ketes themselves are also solid deploys, since they become 60 base once you reach a certain bond threshold.

Gerik 4(3)

Though Gerik seems like a simple card, he is a powerful staple in aggressive purple decks. His skill 2 seems expensive, but flipping 2 to tempo out a card from retreat is the standard rate, even if it's cost is 1. But since you’re in purple, your 1 cost can be a 60 base kete, which gets buffed by his skill 1. His skill 1 is very strong and easy to activate, since with him and your MC on board, all you need is 1 other ally to activate it, and he does this himself with skill 1.

Lilina 5(4)

Lilina is a card that defines purple through her support skill alone. Not only can she be random free draw when supported, but since purple has the ability to stack for cheap or even free, she can be consistent draw. Her other skills are alright, using her skill 1 twice will basically guarantee a hit and let you use her skill 2 to destroy something, not bad value. However, you really want her in the support zone more than on the field.

Lute 4(3)

Lute is another solid card you run for her support skill- when she’s supported, flip 1 draw is pretty simple, but it is still efficient card draw. If you deploy her, her skill 1 is not bad, basically giving you a change to redraw a chunk of your hand and enable her to hit for decent numbers.

Myrrh 1

One of purple’s 2 ketes, Fae and Myrrh are part of what defines purple. The combination of the ability to ramp when supported and the ability to rig supports means purple can ramp more consistently than blue, which has more ketes. The ketes themselves are also solid deploys, since they become 60 base once you reach a certain bond threshold. Myrrh has a slight edge over Fae since she buffs herself a turn earlier.

Nino 4(3)

Nino is one of the best stackers in the game, since she does it for basically free. Her skill 1 lets you rig whatever you have in hand and gets you a dodge in return, which can be great for surviving, critting, or even getting your main promo if you missed her. Her skill 2 is also just nice upside, sometimes you can randomly get flip 1 draw on either player’s turn, or you can rig it yourself.

Raigh 1

Raigh is one of the 2 staple darkness emblems that purple runs. His combination of free discard when he’s supported and ability to swing for 40 with range if the opponent is low on cards is an annoying combination for the opponent.

Roy 5(4)

Roy 5 is arguably the best hand stacker, since it is a free cycle due to his skill 2 getting the card back while also giving him +10 and range. This means he is 80 base with range, an incredible statline, but even his support is above average due to his support skill. He just has incredible stats, and a free stack from hand. What’s not to love?

Zephiel 5(4)

Zephiel is an extremely scary card that can turn a losing game into a clutch win alone. His skill 1 is solid since it guarantees he will hit and makes another ally like a 1 cost kete able to hit as well. But the main reason he is run is for his LIS- random discard is strong, but the ability to destroy whatever card you pull is what really matters, since it also includes the opponent’s MC. This means if you pull an opponent’s dodge, they lose a dodge and are instantly destroyed, losing an orb or the game if they have none. This, on top of the 2 hits he secures, means he is an amazing finisher for any purple deck.

### Less Common Cards

Al 1

Al is a staple aggressive purple card since he swings for 50, has 20 support, and can rig supports when he is supported thanks to his support skill.

Eliwood 2

Eliwood is a nice card for aggressive decks- you don’t typically see 2 costs played, but his skill 1 lets him swing into the MC for 60 once they level up, and his support skill is nice for rigging supports and draws on offense and defense.

Fiora 1

This type of flier is the premiere 1 cost beater in flier decks. If your deck is all fliers, then she is 30 + 10 + 30 = 70 on turn 1, which can hit well and is hard for a lot of decks to hit. Purple has the unique advantage of having 2 of these in-color, making it a great aggro flier color.

Florina 4(3)

Florina is the card every flier deck wants to have. She’s a turn 4 play, her skill 1 is a fantastic heal, and her skill 2 is fairly costed tempo. She is most of the reason you play purple fliers at all.

Galle 3(2)

Galle is a pretty simple card, he is a 3 cost flier that swings at the opponent’s for 70 + 30. He is noteworthy mostly because of his cost being right- a few fliers like Florina and Hinoka deploy 3 costs specifically, and his swing is meaty enough on its own to hit 80 + 20.

Guinivere 4(3)

Guinever is a bit less common than other stackers, but she has a solid niche. Her skill 1 is to enable her powerful LIS skill, which also happens to let her hit a very big number. Her skill 2 is nice since you both get a decent card from the top of your deck, and get to rig 2 supports, albeit with a 3 card restriction.

Guy 1

Guy is a staple of sword aggro decks, since he basically is a 50 base 1 cost as long as he doesn’t self, and he has attack emblem.

Hugh 2

Hugh is a very nice card for tome-centric decks, since he can swing for 60 and has on-hit draw when clearing the opponent’s low costs early, or even hitting the opponent’s MC if they haven’t promoted yet.

Joshua 1

Joshua is a pretty absurd 1 cost, and is a staple in sword aggro decks. His skill 1 basically lets him swing for 60 for free as long as you run all or mostly swords, and then his attack emblem support skill helps all the stuff in your deck hit throughout the game.

Juno 1

This type of flier is the premiere 1 cost beater in flier decks. If your deck is all fliers, then she is 30 + 10 + 30 = 70 on turn 1, which can hit well and is hard for a lot of decks to hit. Purple has the unique advantage of having 2 of these in-color, making it a great aggro flier color.

Marisa 4(3)

Marisa is a pretty effective aggressive card, flipping 2 to buff herself, untap, and destroy a non-MC. This lets you ignore the board and secure a hit on the opponent’s MC. You’d only play her in decks that run enough 1 costs to enable her skill 1’s full effect, though.

Myrrh 3

Myrrh 3 is one of the best bond fetchers in the game, since you can choose any point in your action phase to do it. She also has a fairly low threshold to be 80 base, 6 bonds is pretty reasonable for most midrange decks.

Roy 1

Roy is a very solid 1 cost that kind of embodies what purple is all about. His skill 1 is amazing since it lets you rig supports early game, especially critical ones like ketes for early ramp, and even his support skill can do the same if you get to use it. Just a great consistency booster to try to get the early game supports you want.

Roy 4(3) (HR)

HR Roy is not as commonly seen as other stackers, but he has a solid niche. His skill 1 is just free rigging from the top of your deck, and can also mill your retreat a bit which is always nice. His skill 2 is potentially helpful to protect against destruction skills, but likely the opponent will just kill him and then use their skills on the rest of your units.

Serra 4(3)

A less common mage stacker, Serra has a pretty solid use case since she can basically make you un-self support, or let you grab a card you want for next turn and replace it with something you actually want to support. Her skill 1 is also a nice little upside, making so if your opponent self supports, they can’t secure the hit with a crit.

Tethys

Tethys is a bit of a meme card, since she is mostly a combo enabler. Her buff helps whatever combo you’re going for work, and then her skill 3 lets you untap an ally so they can use their tap skill again. Her skill 2 isn’t really used, but it is the standard dance rate.

## Yellow

Yellow is most known for its ability to manipulate bonds and use their unique bond skills. Bond skills are quite splashable since you don’t need to deploy the cards in order to use their skills, meaning you could only be running a handful of yellow cards in your entire deck and it doesn’t matter. That on top with superb late game potential, ramp & unflip options, and some aggro cheese, yellow ends up as one of the most splashed colors in the game.

### Common Cards

Deirdre 1’s skill 1 is extremely useful for setting up your bonds. It can give you free unflip with Seliph BS, free draw with Larcei BS, whatever BS you might need in the future.

Deirdre 4(3) (B17)

This Deirdre is one of the best forms of ramp, since it is just flip 1 and you get it face-up from your deck instead of hand. It might be face-down, but even then it's still ramp that isn’t from hand. Her skill 2 is also not bad since dragonstones are not uncommon, giving her the opportunity to unflip is always nice.

Julia 5(4)

Julia 5 is a very strong late game option for yellow. Her skill 1 is a bond unflip & refresh, since you can throw away bonds you don’t care about and replace them with new stuff, and also potentially trigger BS skills. Her skill 2 is just nice because she basically always hits if you use her skill 1 or just do any normal yellow stuff.

Julius 5(4)

Julius is a late game yellow card that is meant to shut the opponent down by flipping their remaining bonds after you’ve ramped enough to totally surpass them. Him being 80 with range when he does is a nice upside since it helps him clear or hit the MC.

Lachesis

Lachesis is run in aggressive decks or decks that bond a lot. Her BS is great because it's basically a free bond as long as you have low cards in hand, so you can keep the pressure up without going low on bonds. As a deploy she’s okay, can swing for 80+ if you bonded your MC at all and can have range.

Larcei

Larcei is a great card for decks that want to crit, since her BS enables crits without needing the card in hand. She’s also a pretty good deploy since you can use her BS to have her crit and activate her skill 1.

Leif 4 (B22)

Leif 4 is an amazing late game card. His skill 2 lets you tempo out another yellow unit to keep setting up, and his skill 3 is great for grabbing a card you might need. His skill 1 is okay but not bad if you need the range but usually not necessary.

Leif 5 (Unifier)

Leif 5(4) is one of the cards that defines big yellow, in addition to helping the yellow BS package work smoothly. His BS can help you swap bonds out and trigger effects like Seliph BS for free unflips. His skill 1 is the “finisher” for big yellow decks, deploying 2-3 high cost yellow units that continue to generate value and also put pressure on the opponent. His second skill is also great for closing out the game, since if your opponent takes 2 orbs they can probably be killed, if they dodge you can stall for another turn.

Lewyn 0

Lewyn is an absurd card, one of the most unfair in the game. His skills amount to basically giving you an extra hand to deploy from for the turn. As long as you deploy 1 unit, you get 1 for 1 value out of him, and it only goes up from there. He is most often seen in aggro decks that want to spam low costs, but he also has some weird niches in meme combo decks due to being a 0 cost that gets a bunch of cards underneath him.

Nanna 5(4)

Nanna is a great card because she can be run just for her BS, but also as a deploy. Her BS lets you grab back any bond just for bonding her, which is great if you need a deploy or dodge or whatever. Her skill 1 is usually used just before big yellow decks grab back a bunch of their bonds using Seliph- you get 2 more cards to potentially pick back up. Her ability to get range from skill 2 is also not bad.

Seliph 5(4)

This card is part of what defines yellow. His BS is just free unflip if you have ways to get him into your bond area, which yellow has a bunch of. His skill 1 is a nice field buff hat can help you close out the game, but skill 2 is what really defines him. Final Holy War is part of what makes big yellow work- You spend resources ramping and getting tons of bonds, then deploy a bunch of units with Leif 5, and then grab your bonds back with Seliph so you have a big board and a big hand.

Sigurd 5(4)

Sigurd 5(4) is an absurdly strong card. His skill 1 is free face-up ramp from retreat, and if you put Seliph BS in you also get a free unflip. His second skill helps patch up the weakness of some yellow MCs by tanking them up, and you can use it even more if you have 7 bonds. He is often paired with the 0 cost Sigurd so you can CC him as soon as turn 4.

Tine

Tine is a pretty straightforward card- you bond her, you flip 1 draw. Decks that can use the draw power and don’t flip a lot of bonds can make great use of her. Her skill 1 is alright, if you deploy her when closing out the game you can potentially use whatever other tome you have to crit.

### Less Common Cards

Arvis 1

Arvis is run in a lot of aggro yellow decks for his skill 1, letting you pull the enemy MC if they try to run behind a board. The cost of sending a bond to retreat doesn’t matter as much to aggro since they are just all in on trying to kill the MC, so losing the long term value doesn’t matter.

Arvis 4(3)

Arvis 4 is not super common, but he’s a solid deploy in late game yellow decks. His skill 1 is never really used, you don’t really need to ramp that badly, but his other skills are quite nice since yellow decks typically lack straight up draw and destruction effects.

Deirdre 4(3) (B06)

This Deirdre is pretty straightforward- she just unflips a bond at the end of your turn. Great for slow decks that flip a lot of bonds, though not super common in mono-yellow decks since they usually can unflip enough on their own. Her skill 2 is not bad, potentially locking enemy dragons.

Edain

Edain is a solid tech card for slow yellow decks that don’t want to run Xfonse. Her skill 2 is technically better protection since it works on all allies instead of just your MC. Her skill 1 is also pretty useful for not dying, since you get a dodge and a small buff.

Erinys 4(3)

Erinys is a solid tempo flier, but can also be played in other yellow decks that deploy from bonds. Her skill 1 is pretty easy tempo, since you only need some low cost you don’t care about tapping to use it. Her skill 2 is mostly where she shines though, since you don’t end up losing bond count when you deploy from bonds.

Ishtar

Ishtar is a potentially nasty card depending on how bad your opponent needs their bonds. Her skill 1 is quite strong, flipping 2 bonds for 1 discard and also securing a hit is good value. Her second skill is also quite useful since it's likely the opponent’s bonds will be face-down if you use her, and flip 1 draw in yellow is always good.

Jamke

Janke is mostly run for his BS in MCs that care about on-hit effects. His skill 2 can be nice, but usually is too niche to actually work.

Julia 1

Julia 1 is nice just for swapping your bonds around, and triggering BS skills like Seliph to unflip.

Linoan

Linoan is basically a backup unflipper if you need one that isn’t named Deirdre. Her skill 2 is the exact same but with a bond requirement, she just costs a bit cheaper and has an okay skill 1 if you’re desperate for cards.

Mareeta 1

Mareeta is a staple of the sword aggro archetype- her skill 1 is trivial to activate if your deck is all swords, and having attack emblem helps stuff hit throughout the game.

Scathach 1

A sword aggro card, his skill 1 is trivial to activate if your deck is all swords, so he usually swings for 50, and attack emblem is great for helping your units hit throughout the game.

Shannan 1

Shannan is a great card for sword aggro- his skill 1 lets him swing for up to 60 as a 1 cost, and he has attack emblem, which great for helping your units hit throughout the game.

Shannan 3(2)

A combo card, this Shannan is just easy untap you can set up in advance. You only want to use it when you’re sure they’ll be dead since you lose the bond when you use his BS. The downside is he gives -30, but you can crit to get around it.

## Brown

Brown is strange because it doesn’t tend to synergize with other colors that well, but it's Crest Powers (CPs) are extremely splashable since they are just skills used from hand. You can potentially only run a few CPs that you might want and no other brown cards depending on what you need- cycle, healing, etc.

### Common Cards

Byleth M CP

Byleth CP is one of the cards that defines brown. His CP is a simple discard to tank up, acting sort of like a pre-emptive dodge that also helps you hit and can save you multiple hits. He is also an okay deploy, buffing other allies and having the option to get range, but his CP is what he is run for.

Dimitri 5(4) (B21)

One of Brown’s premiere deploys, he has the ability to get free destruction when he hits the opponent’s MC (which can be helped along with Sothis CP), and if you do keep hitting the opponent’s MC you end up higher in orbs which enables his draw skill. His CP is also useful, potentially allowing you to tap some fodder allies and flip 1 to untap your MC.

Edelgard 5(4) (B19)

Edelgard is another strong brown deploy, and a very straightforward one. Flip 1 untap is quite strong, especially if you also have Sothis CP up, and she can be 80 base pretty easily with her skill 2. Her CP is a bit niche, but if you have fodder you can potentially clear the opponent’s board with it.

Flayn 4(3)

Flayn is a staple in CP-centric decks, since she is basically free +1 when you use one per turn. Her skill 1 is also nice for helping you stall, it's only a defensive buff though since you have to be tapped.

Hapi CP

Hapi is a great card since she can deploy herself from hand for free any time the opponent has 4 enemies on the board, and then helps you clear those enemies. Her removal isn’t perfect since the opponent can keep the cards and redeploy them, and if they are CCd or something then they get more cards out of it, but the 2 for 1 flip removal and free deploy is still great value.

Linhardt CP

Linahrdt is run just for his CP, but it is a great CP. It is just a cycle, and you can look at an orb. This is great for decks that want to trigger CPs, or are digging for combo pieces.

Lysithea 4(3)

Lysithea has a solid CP if you have a Lysithea on the board, but her skill 1 is usually why she is run. Brown decks really lack draw power, and tend to bleed cards since CPs usually have a discard cost. The longer she sticks around, the more and more draws you get, which can really patch up brown’s biggest weakness.

Seiros 6(5)

Seiros is the peak of brown top end- a 6 cost 80 base is pretty strong, on top of her skill 1 that for free destroys a non-MC. Her skill 2 is also not bad, flip 3 heal an orb is a bit pricey but if you need the orb and don’t spend tons of bonds, you do what you need to do.

Sothis CP

Sothis is one of the cards that defines brown as a color. From turn 5 onward, you basically always have her skill 1 when you use her CP. Not only does it help with securing hits, but it also eats through the opponent’s dodges, which makes securing on-hit effects a lot easier. It also makes the opponent easier to kill late game, it will just for free eat a dodge every turn.

Yuri CP

Yuri is a consistency booster in decks that run CPs, even just a few. His CP just lets you heal back any CP you might need- Byleth for a quick tank up, Sothis to get her Divine Pulse skill, whatever you may need. As a deploy he is eh, if your deck isn’t mostly CPs he will whiff and is not really worth it.

### Less Common Cards

Ashe 3

Ashe is a solid turn 3 play, which a number of brown MCs need since they are turn 4 promos with no way to speed up. He can hit backline, but his ability to hit frontline for 70 as a 3 cost is mostly what he is run for.

Claude 5(4)

Claude is a solid deploy, not usually run for his CP but it can help at times. His ability to rearrange the board every turn means he can hit backline, then protect himself, hide your other units every turn, hide your MC, whatever you need. His CP can help secure kills and clear the board, and notably doesn’t require sending the card itself.

Dorothea 4(3)

Dorothea is an interesting card, usually found in combo decks. Her skill 1 lets you deploy any 4 cost for flip 1 which is great for setting up, and she has a good untap rate at flip 1 tap.

Hilda 5(3)

Hilda is an insane tempo card, deploying any high attack brown card you want for the cost of just a tap. Her skill 2 is not bad either, as your hand tends to get low as brown and doubly so if you’re tempoing out stuff from hand.

Kronya

Kronya is a bit niche since you need to be extremely low on cards for her to work, but her upside is pretty sweet. Her skill 2 lets you deploy her for from boundless for free and trigger her skill 3 to draw 1, which is nice since you are low on cards. Her skill 1 sets up skill 2 since you can basically keep her as an unclearable attacker in your boundless, or leave her on board if you need the meat shield.

Mercedes CP

Though not super common, Mercedes can be a nice consistency booster for certain decks. Her CP grabs 3 or lower costs for flip 1 discard, which is most commonly paired with the 3 cost overclass cards since it can get the 1 cost or the 3 cost depending on what you need. She is also an okay deploy, drawing a card and swinging for 80 with range for flip 2 isn’t great but it isn’t the worst.

Mercedes 5(3)

Mercedes 5(3) is a bit of a combo card, but can also just be used to dump units on the board. Her skill 1 is just a nice buff for the MC on the turn you play her, which may also help your combo if you’re going for one. Her skill 2 is solid tempo, but a bit tricky since you need a 1 cost and 3 cost worth playing.

Rhea CP

Rhea is exclusively run for her CP. Reshuffling the opponent’s retreat can be pointless, a minor inconvenience, or crippling depending on the deck.

Seteth 5(4)

Seteth is potentially a pretty devastating card, being able to flip 1 and rearrange the board can ruin the opponent’s gameplan. His second skill not only swaps him out for whatever you may want, but also lets you use his skill 1 again.

## Colorless

Colorless staples are usually tech cards, since they have no bond color requirements to play them. The most common ones help in multiple matchups, don’t cost much or anything to deploy, and have a good support value that make them very easy to run in any deck that wants them. The only downside to them is that they can be dead draws depending on the matchup and when you draw them, and their lack of color means bonding them can be awkward for multicolor decks or decks that want bonds of their own color to use for skills.

### Common Cards

Alfonse X

Alfonse X, also called Xfonse, is your go-to anti-aggro tech card. His deployment cost is reduced for each orb you’ve taken, meaning if you’re facing a lot of pressure and getting hit a lot, you can get him out sooner to help you deal with it. His third skill can all but halt aggression for a turn, since it totally prevents low cost units from destroying your MC, even if he dies (just make sure to declare the skill during your turn!).

Freyr

Freyr is a great tech card because he covers 2 different, meta-relevant cards: 80 base MCs, and decks that run manaketes to ramp. He also costs 0 to deploy and have a 30 support, meaning he won’t drag your deck down in terms of support and is easy to play since he costs no deployment.

His skill 1 locking the opponent’s MC can really throw off their gameplan, especially decks like Oboro who needs to be untapped to use her draw skill and Roy who wants to use his range to clear the enemy’s backline. His second skill, meanwhile, allows you to go even more positive off your opponent ramping than they do. Decks that run ketes, mostly Blue and Purple decks, will still likely ramp even if they know you have Freyr in your deck, which is great for you since you also get free ramp and draw off of it.

Mirabilis

Though she may not seem as impactful as some of the other tech cards, Mirabilis is the premiere anti-discard tech for any deck. She already has the 0 deployment cost and 30 support, making her easy to run and deploy in decks, and also has a cycling skill so she can do something while on the board.

However, the main reason she is used as a tech is for her second skill. Darkness emblem triggers if you have more than 4 cards in hand, which is pretty common. Mirabilis increases that threshold by 1, which is a bit more manageable. She is also great for uncapped discard, usually seen in control decks like Henry and Elise. Henry himself does the discarding, and stopping him from emptying your hand will win you the game. Elise is less dependant on it since she uses Delthea to discard, but it will force her to clear your Mira and you will get to keep your cards for a bit longer against her.

Even her 3rd skill is quite useful and even lets her see play in other decks outside of being anti-discard tech. She basically ignores one swing a turn, redirecting it to your MC instead, which makes her annoying to clear. This lets her be run as 0 cost tap fodder that is hard to clear for decks that want to tap allies, such as B21 Eliwood and Sigrun.

Peony

Peony is probably the most commonly run card in the game. Being colorless means she can be run in any deck, and the 30 support is always nice to have more of in your deck. After 5 bonds, she is a free deploy since she costs 0 and replaces herself if you have 3 face-up bonds, so she cycles and is a body on the board that can then buff other allies.

Some MCs brought up the power curve of the game, making hitting 80 + 20 a soft requirement for meta relevancy. Peony helps MCs that would normally struggle to hit that benchmark, allowing them to compete in the powercrept meta. She can also allow lower cost deploys or mages to hit decent numbers, let something punch through a defensively buffed unit, or just secure a swing you are likely to self support.

The annoying thing about peony is that if you enough enough face-up bonds, she is annoying or even bad to clear. For one, your opponent has to use a swing to clear her, which could be going at something else. Then, if you have 3 face up bonds, you just play her again for free and cycle a card, meaning they just helped you cycle. So you will often find situations where it's better to just suck it up and leave her on board, though you can clear her if you see enough copies of her in retreat / bonds.

Plumeria

Plumeria is such a strong tech card, it's almost hard to call her a tech. So many decks run 5+ cost units that blocking them out entirely is very strong if you can play her on the right turn, and some decks like Sigrun live off of the ability to have her constantly on the field. Even top tier decks like Vallui, Deirdre, and Sanaki have to respect this card and make sure they have 4 cost units to deploy, or else they end up basically losing a turn.

Her first skill is nothing to sneeze at either- in the early game, guaranteed clearing a low cost that would hit your face can be critical for surviving aggro. Combined with her low deployment cost, 30 support, and 0 bond color needed, Plumeria is a very solid card that has good utility and can be run without issue in a large number of decks.

### Less Common Cards

Shade 1

Shade is the OG anti-manakete tech card. Though she has fallen out of favor due to Freyr being cheaper early and a 30 support, Shade has the distinct advantage of being a unit that can attack and also completely shutting out ramp from hand instead of allowing it but you also get some upside. Her magic emblem support skill is also a plus.

Tiki 5 (B17)

Not a tech card, this Tiki is typically run in slow decks that don’t inherently have the ability to pick up bonds in their color, such as green and red. You very rarely use her to add a bond, though her skill to double her own attack is great for punching through a big unit or going to close out the game.

Triandra

Less common than some other cards, Triandra is less of a tech and more of a way to slowly whittle down your opponent. Slow decks will run her typically to get rid of whatever faceup bonds the opponent may have left so that they have a harder time using their limited cards to catch up. Her skill 1 can make her a free deploy which is always a plus, and her skill 3 can make her difficult to remove for certain decks.

Veronica (Spring Princess)

In exchange for being a bit more of a niche tech card that only certain decks care to run, Veronica makes up for it by also having a great effect. Removing the symbols of the opponent’s Main Character only matters to a handful of decks, though Brown in general dislikes it since Byleth CP and Sothis CP only work on Brown Main Characters. It can also be a bit awkward for Vallui, who has a few color-centric cards like Elise and Silas, and it just totally turns off Sanaki.

However, her deployment cost is awkward for a tech card, since most Main Characters want to promote on turn 3, and then on turn 4 play a good 4 cost card. This makes fitting her into a curve awkward, and so she is mostly run in decks that promote on turn 4. In those decks though, flip 1 to draw 2 and potentially screw your opponent is quite strong, and even if the opponent doesn’t care about their MC’s color, you still draw and thin your deck a bit.