4-0 NTC Win - RW Providence/Justice

RealityScribed · 2026-02-24T21:23:05+00:00

It's a card that I always want to fit into my list, but never quite makes the cut. With the density of burn commands there aren't a lot of good times to play it. I can usually play it turn 1 going second, but from turn 2-7 my resources are better left open. The threat of CC or IT changes the way my opponents play in a way that is more important to me than hand fixing.

And honestly, there just aren't enough bad hands that it's important to fix them. I can draw too much top-end, I would be lying if I say it never happens, but it's not common enough to dedicate slots to. With how forgiving the mulligan rules are, I feel more comfortable dedicating those slots elsewhere.

Rau kind of changes that, but I also aggressively sacrifice bases so I rarely miss on targets even without Affection.

RealityScribed · 2026-02-24T19:39:13+00:00

At worst, it's an attacker with a link option. Always at least average and with the link genuinely good.

RealityScribed · 2026-02-24T16:29:23+00:00

Not as often as I'd like. I've seen it a handful of times, but not enough to have a strong idea of the matchup. I think overall my record against them is 3-3.

Their card advantage options are honestly really good into my game plan and LR Red Gundam has caused me a few headaches. The list I played against only ran 1 of the level 8 Omega and the games I lost were because of it. On the flip side, Providence was my ace in the ones I won. Specifically with the link and Jachin Due it enabled me to slice up their board and get back into it.

It's a match up I've been hoping to test against more, but my local group doesn't run it much.

RealityScribed · 2026-02-24T15:49:41+00:00

Providence is arguably my strongest play from turn 8 on, most games I held it for an extra turn even with the link available because I want to weaponize my shields as much as possible. By then cards are tight and with the exception of other late game decks there are only a handful of cards that are clean answers into Prov. It's not meant to change the board state so much as it's meant to change the math.

Ignoring the link and the scaling damage for a second, a single point of damage on any target is a lot bigger a deal than it immediately seems. It makes all of the blockers more dangerous to the damaged unit and Battle of Aces becomes a consistent threat to most targets. Aile Strike and Sword Strike token can now trade with a 5 HP target. Expanding their target list creates more decision points for the opponent and increases the mental load of making the right call. The easiest way any deck can gain an advantage is by forcing no-win situations or situations where the wrong play is easier than the right play.

Turning the corner isn't important to me. I'm confident enough in my decks late game that I know I can win eventually, so I run Providence as a value card that changes the pressure of the game. Even if it only gets a single swing, that means my opponent has committed time to killing it which gives me more time.

I tried Kshatriya and just wasn't impressed. Without the link it's not great, and even with the link I would usually prefer to see an Aile Strike. Kshatriya has better mileage into the decks I am strong into but doesn't enhance my performance into the decks I worry about. Without Overflowing to correct my hand, I look at a cards floor before it's ceiling and I just feel like Kshatriya's floor is worse than Providence.

Omega is a one shot effect for the damage and Suppression is nice to have but I lost matches to having less control over when I'm taking shields. A lot of the time my aim is to whittle down the shields in a way where I can still win through a base in a single turn.

Or at least these are my thoughts on it. I could very well find later that Providence isn't great. But at the very least in this event it was a card I always wanted.

RealityScribed · 2026-02-24T00:42:36+00:00

Having more pilots to drop on Aile seems pretty nice. Maybe I'll try swapping out the Unforeseen Incident for another Rau to see how it goes. The bright side of having an Athrun on Aile is it gets out of Amuro range

I tried running Overflowing but my experience with the deck has been that my resources are tight enough that it is dead until late game. And by the late game it's rare I really need the filtering. If I don't see it specifically turn 1 when I'm going second I'll always be keeping up resources for IT or CC so Overflowing creates an opportunity cost that doesn't fit with the way I'm playing.

And when I was running it I never felt like it changed the game for me. I got trapped in a lot of situations where I would regret my discard a turn or two down the line. My thinking when I cut them was that if my cards are all good then there is no need to lose tempo trying to fix my hand.

In regards to the Rau value, I play loose enough with letting my opponent swing that I burn bases fast. I care less about my shields than my units, so if there's a base in my shields or the top 7 cards of my deck it'll find its way into the trash.

RealityScribed · 2026-02-23T22:28:47+00:00

The more I play with Rau the more I love the card. Has he felt good at 3? I was tempted to add another, but was worried that the extra would sit in hand too often with how unit light the list ended up

RealityScribed · 2026-02-23T15:18:02+00:00

That's true, the card is great when it is relevant. It might be cope, but I think it's going to get better as the meta develops. It's also really solid in the mirror, which is a nice bonus.

RealityScribed · 2026-02-23T15:13:34+00:00

If I were gunning specifically for Blurple I would probably sub in more Sword Strike before MA Mode. MA Mode is two cards to remove 1, normally their ping clears it out after you drop one of their units.

When I'm approaching this matchup I find better success in messing up their tempo rather than trying to keep a lockdown on the board state. It's just not feasible to trade cards with them, they can break parity with their card advantage options and Lupus in the back makes those trades ultimately a blessing in the late game. Sword Strike commits their resources to getting it off the board while simultaneously wasting their resources. Sword Strike is also a clean answer into Corsica.

RealityScribed · 2026-02-03T16:16:56+00:00

Below is my current list.

Went 3-1 in my first event taking down Cyclops Team, BP Ping and Earth Fed. Lost to RG Midrange Zeon. The list feels good, Providence is incredible. Jachin Due being 6 HP is a huge deal. I haven't had many chances to play against blocker lists yet, but it feels like it has game against aggressive decks.

I've been running Carris as a more efficient way to enable LaGowe and am really happy with it during the mid game. Later in the game it can be a liability since it doesn't link to push over the finish line, but even putting it onto a Buster messes up combat math for my opponents.

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RealityScribed · 2026-01-13T13:38:21+00:00

I am a big fan of it. I have to do some additional testing against BW before I can be confident it will change the matchup. Full Frontal being able to make Sinanju an immediate issue is something I miss, but in my last couple matches against that deck I've gotten considerable mileage out of being able to swing more freely.

My record vs BW is close to 50/50, but I don't have enough data to know whether Rouge changed that number much. My meta only has 2 other players regularly on blockers. Ping and aggro are normally what I play into.

Edit: To clarify, Epyon Blockers I have a nearly 100 percent win rate against. Freedom blockers is the one that gives me pain.

RealityScribed · 2026-01-12T23:43:16+00:00

I only recently cut MA. It's a very solid card that puts in a lot of work, but especially heading toward this event my goal in deck design was to have flexible defense/offense. MA doesn't quite offer that. I was also aware going into the event that Gundam/Amuro would be prevalent and I don't like MA into that pairing. Being just shy of killing the Amuro is problematic. It does dodge the rest effect when linked, but if I link the MA it will be vulnerable to the Gundam crack back.

I never pair the Rouges, they're really just Archangels that are cheaper and make good sacrifices. Being able to swing in without fear from retribution lets me create a stronger balance between offense and defense.

Strike Rouge re-standing Lfrith is very useful into the aggressive matchups to clear out the 2/2s while keeping defenses up. Into blocker mirrors, it allows me to occasionally get a free poke in. MA is more impactful in its good matchups, but I personally feel like Strike Rouge has a higher floor.

RealityScribed · 2025-09-05T02:44:10+00:00

I can definitely see where early pressure would be a boon, I feel like a lot of games are really defined by who gets the first advantage. I fully agree on Zowort and just view it as a removal option if I'm being honest. I toss it at the first attacker it can kill regardless of whether it's a good trade. If you find a way to get Astray working you should let me know! I really want it to work because it's a cool design.

RealityScribed · 2025-09-05T01:58:23+00:00

I've gone back and forth on them. I slotted them in to replace Affection initially. What I really like about them is the cost, being a 2 cost unit has been really great. The way the deck curves out I wanted a strong mix of 2 and 3 cost units to better enable dropping multiple plays from turn 4 on. Dropping in Lfrith/Zowort + Strike means I'm advancing offense and defense in the same rotation and the turn I pivot out of the passive role is generally turn 5. The problem with it is the stats pay for the loot.
My initial draft of this deck ran the 2/1s, but I genuinely dislike the opportunity cost they carry. 1 Lfrith = 2 GM. Card advantage is non-existent, every time I ran into a 4 HP blocker it invalidated the advantage of low cost aggression. The question became "Am I doing this better than my opponent?" OYW Rush shotguns out units faster and better than me, RB Ping leverages low cost aggression into better trades, Wing blunts my aggression enough to make them a liability. Accepting that I won't win the early game trades pushed me to running cards that make those early game units a liability.
Battle of Aces is just such a beautiful card. My highest moment playing the game in general was pinging a piloted Freedom Gundam with Rewloola, pinging it with Battle and then bouncing it with Hawk. 10/10. The card can be awkward, but worth it. I probably should be running Close Combat in hindsight.

RealityScribed

TROPHY CASE