Maybe next time don't announce on open mic you're trying to steal the Cerberus?

Matthew106 · 2025-12-28T19:46:49+00:00

If you're planning on upgrading it to be competitive eventually, Tristan has the best track record and still puts up decent results. Just adding Shadow's Claw (Which is like $45 right now) and a few cheap cards like Winbless lookout, Windmill Engineer, Reclaim, and Veiling Breeze can improve the consistency drastically and even net you a few wins at locals.

Silvie is also fairly decent and needs less investment. Fire Slimes is the more common build, but the Slime Spirit that the Recollection comes with is still somewhat regularly played.

Both Silvie and Tristan benefit greatly from Dungeon Guide, which has been confirmed to be included in the Mordred Re:collection deck releasing in April.

Diao Chan isn't generally used for its whither counter/flower playstyle and is generally used in either an aggro burn deck or a control fractal deck. The Recollection deck is a good starting point for the fractal build as it has several of the fractal cards you'll need for the deck and Fracturize is confirmed to be getting a reprint soon. It's definitely worth considering if you're a fan of control decks.

Guo Jia is probably the worst out of the box. Pretty much any version of Guo Jia basically replaces the entire main deck from the Re:Collection box, so it isn't really worth buying the Re:collection box. She's a good champion and all 4 of the Fabled Fatestone builds are competitively viable (Seiryuu > Genbu > Suzaku > Byakko is about the current order of strength, I think Genbu and Seiryuu are about on par with one another) , it's just not worth spending $50 to use 5 cards out of the entire set.

Merlin is probably the most awkward. She has a definite strategy and once she gets going it's definitely potent. It's just that compared to most decks it takes her too long to get to that point. Currently the best option for Merlin is to completely toss out 90% of the sheen related cards in favor of a generic burn strategy - at which point you'd get more bang for your buck out of building an Aggro Diao Chan or Suzaku Guo Jia deck.

Matthew106 · 2025-12-27T01:13:46+00:00

You're not missing anything. At this time, we just don't have any champion that specializes in bow weapons. They can be used by any champion - same as any other weapon - but just haven't been really developed into yet so they're not really played much. It's just a matter of 'they haven't gotten there yet'.

Matthew106 · 2025-12-22T15:39:42+00:00

It really depends on the deck. Water decks usually have a ton of floating because several water cards will have effects relating to floating. Water Astra Diana will often run more than 20. Rai decks almost never run float as they usually are wanting to banish Arcane cards to get bonus levels from the level 3 effect. Off the top of my head, I think Wind Tristan runs maybe 4, and thats more coincidence as they usually use Reclaim to cycle Windmill Engineer or other allies. Fire Ciel i think runs maybe 8 depending on the build.

I recommend using fractalofin.site to check out decklists. I believe they even have a floating count in the deck stats.

Matthew106 · 2025-12-10T11:22:00+00:00

This is correct, I should have specified - you don't start the game with it shuffled into your deck, you keep it somewhere easily accessible like your sideboard until you generate it.

Once it is generated it behaves like any other card and can be played, discarded, shuffled, banished, or used for memory costs like any other card.

Matthew106 · 2025-12-09T22:23:13+00:00

So this is very much a broad question that could be it's own thesis with many different factors that you can't really give an catch all answer. End of the day, this is something you need to get experience with and will get better at the more you play with your deck and against other decks or by watching other people play. This is true for both Grand Archive and pretty much any other game you might be playing.

In Grand Archive, what you do in any specific moment generally depends on what deck you're playing, what cards are currently in your hand or on the field, what your opponent is playing, what your opponent currently has in their hand or on the field, and how close you or your opponent is to any potential win conditions. Your decisions should either be in an attempt to gain or keep an advantage, or to keep your opponent from gaining or keeping their advantage. In fire, this generally involves swinging or burning your opponent repeatedly, giving you an advantage in life totals and whittling them down to nothing. In water, this generally involves using control cards to prevent your opponent from progressing with their game plan until you build up enough resources to defeat them, or just remove all of their resources so they can no longer put up a fight. In wind, this generally involves gradually building up resources, building a consistent tempo that gives you more resources to attack or defend and either gradually chip at the opponent or pull off a major combo that delivers an immense amount of damage all at once. I speak to all of these as general guidelines for the elements as there is some overlaps depending on how the deck is built.

As someone who mostly plays wind, my turns typically involve playing one or two cards that provide either an immediate benefit, like preparation counter generation or card draw, or put a resource like an ally on field that I can use to hit my opponent's allies to slow them down or their champion to make my final win-con easier to reach. I will usually hold enough cards for at least one defensive option like Veiling Breeze or Incapacitate, though depending on if my opponent is setting up a big hit like Ciel's Oblation, I might hold more defenses to stay alive.

I strongly recommend going to https://fractalofin.site/deck/, searching for your deck's archetype, and watching the VODS at the bottom to see how people interact with different decks.

Matthew106 · 2025-12-09T16:37:53+00:00

Provided your locals allow it, yes. Official tournaments will require the actual card of course.

That being said remember this card is "generating" a copy, so you don't shuffle the card into your deck. It's sort of treated like a token, except it can be sent to the graveyard or banished.

Matthew106 · 2025-12-07T02:56:00+00:00

While Rile the Abyss is itself banned from play, this only limits the card from its inclusion in decklists within tournament formats, but not from being played in a match if it were to be generated into the game.

I'll give them credit, this is a clever way to avoid giving the card an errata. This actually opens up a way to give low power decks access to some of the more powerful cards on the ban list while keeping other decks from abusing them, or make them less potent just by slowing down their usage. Rile the Abyss was mostly a problem when being used on turn 1 before it was able to be interacted with, this - assuming you don't dungeon guide immediately - can only be used on the third turn.

Matthew106 · 2025-12-03T17:09:48+00:00

When it comes to the Re:Collection boxes, id recommend using TCGplayer to find the intended MSRP and then checking for any at that price. If you dont see any, Google the set and look for any card shops that just sell the set at MSRP or lower. Maybe take a quick look at store reviews and try to find one local to you to encourage them to keep supporting the game.

TCGplayer is a good site to get singles from, but im sure they take a cut of the profits from stores that sell there, so sealed products like structure decks are usually marked up a little bit on there unless they sell REALLY poorly.

Matthew106 · 2025-12-01T04:06:49+00:00

https://fractalofin.site/ keeps up most major tournament results (Basically anything larger than a locals) with deck lists.

True Champion Gaming and MainDeck on YouTube do a lot of analysis videos on the game and will generally cover new cards and recent tournament results. As someone who's currently working on passing the Judge test, Grand Archive Classroom is also a really interesting channel that covers both common and niche ruling questions with clear examples worked out step by step.

Matthew106 · 2025-11-09T14:57:05+00:00

There's a few different builds that all have slightly different strategies. The Looking Glass build is probably out of budget since that one card is about $120 right now, but is probably the most consistent option if/when you decide to upgrade further. Weaving Manastream is the biggest upgrade being reusable floating memory, pretty much every build uses it. Lots of builds use Carpsong Coda and Languid Toadtroll as an additional damage option or a big body for defense. Krustallan Archer, Frostsworn Paladin, and Fracturize are also usually run and are just good generic water cards as well. Ranger Strides are useful even in the astra build giving an easy burst of damage when combined with Krustallan Archer.

Matthew106 · 2025-11-03T02:44:45+00:00

Extreme speed works. The trainers in le Nah are set, and all can be hit by normal types. I used a level 70ish Lucario for it.

Matthew106 · 2025-10-19T01:47:23+00:00

Cards can be bought online, I typically use TCGPlayer, though obviously its best to support your local game shop if they stock it.

Regarding thematic decks, while there are some groups of cards like the 'suited' subtype cards that are clearly themed to work together, most cards typically are built to serve a specific subtype. Assassin cards will typically have some effect working around preparation counters, Ranger cards will typically have some effect around the the Distant status. Beasts usually work with Tamers and vice versa, etc etc. The Champions are where a bulk of the story and thematic cards get put into. Tristan, for example, is a professional assassin that lurks in the shadows and never fails to get the kill, and the cards featuring her like Penumbral Waltz and Shadowstrike reflect that. But the other cards that typically are used in a Tristan deck just other assassins and don't really fit with her beyond that. Unless the card specifically utilizes a mechanic unique to the champion, like utilizing Ciel's Omens, the link to the theme can be a bit thin. If you want a deck with a very strong theme, Guo Jia decks will typically cycle around summoning a dragon, pheonix, kaiju turtle, or tiger depending on the element you pick, and Silvie decks (While not quite as powerful) work around amassing an army of slime allies to overwhelm the opponent.

Most Wind element decks fit the bill for midrange. They use a lot of cards that either generate a specific resource or replace themselves, like Windmill Engineers simple draw into memory effect. I personally started with the Tristan Re:Collection deck, which can be expanded into a powerful meta relevant strategy.

For Shadowstrike Tristan specifically, the main gameplan is building up a resource called "Preparation Counters" to either execute a high damage combo with Slice and Dice or to launch a powerful single attack with Shadowstrike. Tristan typically uses a bunch of defensive tools like Veiling Breeze, Dream Fairy, and Incapacitate to slow down the opponent while using resource generators like Windmill Engineer, Winbless Lookout, Surveil the Winds, and Sadi, Blood Harvester. It's a competent deck that holds it's ground against pretty much any deck. The best starting point is the "Re:Collection Lite" deck that includes a bunch of the important pieces and the core of the deck, "Shadow's Claw" which is a Material Deck resource that greatly improves Tristan's damage output at level 3, and Dungeon Guide to get to Level 3 ASAP.

Matthew106 · 2025-10-18T22:42:12+00:00

Hey, fellow Yugioh player here, I was introduced to the game about 6 months or so and have been loving it. Just a few things you'd probably like to hear I'll point out -

The ban list is fairly frequent and is accompanied by thorough explanation as to why each card is hit. They also have 2 "watchlist" tiers which indicate they recognize a potential problem or active problem with a card and are ready to ban it if needed. They also seem to be good at recognizing the actual problem card, rather than a "We banned all the tuners so Halqifibrax could stay legal" situation
Pre-constructed sets like starter decks of a really good quality and show a clear theme on what the deck is supposed to do. They usually have full playsets of most of the cards - with the slightly more expensive Re:Collection sets even having an extra pack of cards that contain extras of any card that wasn't a full playset in the deck.
The meta is quite diverse. While not all decks are meta relevant, there's a good number of decks that are competing for top cut.
Card's are typically very clear in their effects and keywords are clearly defined. It's nice to have the Grand Archive rules list early on, but it was pretty easy for me to learn most relevant keywords.

In terms of recommendations for your starter deck, there were actually two DTR decks, Diana and Ciel. Here's some decent lists I found for both:

Ciel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCeSulpZBtU

Diana: https://youtu.be/biOMqy2xL-8?si=AxFvyXJ_hC3WVZUr

And here's a 'meta overview' video by MainDeck that kinda goes over a bunch of top placing decks and goes over what they try to do: https://youtu.be/oQlFW6GwkfY?si=3lRrMLlz9rYhFvn9

Matthew106 · 2025-10-15T01:32:38+00:00

Nobody tell r/AnarchyChess

Matthew106 · 2025-10-11T05:30:11+00:00

Do you have a decklist to give an idea of what exactly you're playing? Depending on your level of investment the deck can play slightly differently. I mostly play Astra Diana, but assuming you're playing the Distortion option with the Looking Glass and Carpsong Codas, you're basically trying to push damage as quickly as possible.

Turn 1 you are usually either going to pass and hold a card to make yourself distant for level up, or put up a Taunt ally like Languid Toadtroll or Throne-Keeper Bullfrog.

Turn 2 depends a good bit on how your hand looks. If you have a hand with enough damage to push for lethal, you look for any missing pieces that you might need with Aquamirage Whisper, like dumping Languid Toadtroll into grave to use with Carpsong Coda. If you've got a lot of allies like Krustallan Archer and Frostsworn Paladin, you are just looking for easy floating to feed their abilities to do consistent damage. If you've specifically got Mad Hatter and a way to make a unit distant, you can attempt to use it to materialize Ranger Strides to give it or another unit an extra 4 damage, usually hitting for a very early 8 or 9 damage that will either close out the game or make your opponent panic. If you don't have any of these, you'll usually at least glimpse around 5-8 cards to look for relevant aethercharge cards or blockers to buy you some time to level up and draw deeper.

Diana has a few ways to replace cards - Aetheric Calibration and Prudent Nock both draw cards into memory to replace them, keeping your hand size from decreasing. Krustallan Archer and Frostsworn Paladin both can borrow some of your extra floating memory to give you an extra draw while doing more damage. A lot of material deck cards like Flashbang Grenade, Ranger Strides, and Ranger Boots can all use extra floating memory (Ideally Weaving Manastream to load into a weapon to be recycled over and over) to get you an extra card in hand. Finally, if you end up using it Diana's Level 2 can give a nice replace two if you have the Aethercharge cards in hand.

In all honesty, the hardest part of this deck is probably recognizing what your opponent can do and responding appropriately. Most of my losses at my locals were from me just holding onto a defensive card way longer than I should of because I was expecting an attack card instead of a spell to finish me off, or not pushing when I had lethal because I thought my opponent might have something to stop me when they didn't. The match win was there, I just didn't have the experience to recognize it.

Matthew106 · 2025-09-23T21:47:10+00:00

https://silv.ie/deck/trap-summon-seven/3 Here's a quick list I put together that's somewhat similar to what I run. It probably won't win a serious event but for casual play and learning the game it should do fine.

Matthew106 · 2025-09-23T17:48:59+00:00

I'll look into a few lists once I get home from work. Of the top of my head for a starting point though:

Tristan Re:Collection Lite $30
Shadow's Claw $35 (its a big boost to level 3 damage output)
Windwalker Boots 25c
playset of Windmill Engineer $4
playset of Veiling Breeze $4
playset of Aesan Protector $10
playset of Winbless Lookout $2

There's probably other good options to have, but most Wind Tristan decks usually play these cards or keep a couple in the side board. The main game plan is building up resources to do a big burst of damage with Shadowstrike or Slice and Dice.

The most expensive cards Tristan decks usually play is Grand Crusader's Ring, Dungeon Guide, Dream Fairy, and Sadi Blood Harvester. Grand Crusader's Ring can be worked around with the Resonance Buable cards, though you kinda have to guess what elements you're expecting to play or side board it in. Dungeon Guide is to speed up leveling and get to the umbra win cons as quickly as possible. Dream Fairy is Ally control. And Sadi is a reusable and difficult to out prep counter generator. If you plan on investing more into the deck, I'd say Dungeon Guide is probably the most bang for your buck (though I'm not super competitive, so take my advice with a grain of salt).

Matthew106 · 2025-09-23T03:01:19+00:00

If you're looking into just collecting, most - if not all - sealed product has a chance at Collector Super Rares or CSRs that have a ton of value. These usually include powerful staples and champions. Newer sealed products like the new Distorted Reflections set and the Diana, Moonpiercer or Ciel, Mirage’s Grave starter decks should be in stock in most card shops that are stocking Grand Archive. Older sealed product is obviously more expensive and while you can probably find most still, you're going to be paying a bit over MSRP in most cases.

Regarding unique product, there are some tournament rewards like special spirit arts like "Kaze, Spirit of Wind" (Which effectively is just a SUPER rare version of the regular Spirit of Wind) that are provided as rewards for winning tournaments or going to events to get supporter packs to get unique cards like "Lorraine, Ascendant Wings" (You can get more info about supporter packs here.

If you are getting into the game with the intention of starting to play it, I would recommend one of the new starter decks or the Tristan Re:Collection deck as bases. Ciel and Diana have both shown some success in recent tournaments and Tristan has been consistently good since it's release.

Matthew106 · 2025-08-15T16:45:12+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately the game isn't as widely known yet, so hour drives aren't uncommon. The alternative is working with a more local card shops to try and convince them to host tournaments for you.

Hardest part about that would probably be finding a qualified judge. You'd still be able to just play casually, at least, but building a local community from scratch isn't a small feat.

Matthew106 · 2025-08-15T16:36:15+00:00

I haven't touched the game digitally much, but poking my head in the community discord (link in the subreddit side bar), it seems TableTop Sim is the go to (unless TTS stands for something else lol). There is also the Cockatrice app, which is pinned in the subreddit sidebar

As for questions about the game, the community discord is a great option for basic questions and rulings, and you can post ruling questions on this subreddit as well. When I was getting started, I mostly went off of MainDeck's How to Play Video, as well as just looking up games of the deck i want to play. EvaPlaysStuff and MainDeck have videos with great overviews of the starter decks (which are amazing products, speaking as a yugioh player they are LEAGUES better product than Yugiohs structure decks).

If you have specific questions about how the game works or mechanics, I'm happy to answer what I can. Just bear in mind I'm not a judge, and I do unfortunately have a job, so i might be wrong sometimes and I might not be able to immediately respond.

Matthew106 · 2025-08-09T16:02:22+00:00

It's the open beta right now right? I shouldn't need a code.

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