Hello there! Today, I’ve got something special for you. While testing The Condemned, a few deck types shot to the top of the list of being very potent, very powerful, and a lot of fun to play. RipperStrike was one of these decks. This deck list comes from an early tester, one who broke more than a few cards. So thank you Potvii, I appreciate your contribution!

• Condemned: Kona Yuki
• Weapons
  • 3x Masamune
  • 3x The Ripper
• Events
  • 3x Break Apart
  • 3x The Best Laid Plans
• Preparations
  • 3x Prison Medic
  • 3x Aggressive Charge
  • 3x Alpha Strike
  • 3x Devil’s Bargain
  • 3x Friends in High Places
  • 3x Memory Poison

Now, this deck was built using a very, very early version of Enter The Arena. But it’s spot on in its design, and very straightforward! Let’s break it down and talk about how it works.

First off, Kona Yuki is a very integral part of the deck. Her ability lets her drop a Masamune currently equipped to search her deck for a weapon of the same damage type as the weapon dropped. In this case, she will always search for the other weapon in the deck, The Ripper. All of the other preparations and events feed into this aggressive strategy. Devil’s Bargain lets you refill your hand, digging for cards like Break Apart and The Best Laid Plans, clearing space for your Alpha Strike to get through. In a pinch, you can also use Prison Medic to force your opponent to drop something, giving you another option for building an opening. Aggressive Charge gets you back into melee range if your opponent tries to run away, and Friends in High Places serves as another search card in the event you’re running a little short. Memory Poison is the only dead card in this list, used only for the “draw a card” effect on it. Once you have everything set up, drop your Alpha Strike and attack with The Ripper for 33 damage in one swing!

Here’s why this works. Multi-Hit makes your attack apply X times, where X is the number listed after Multi-Hit. In the case of The Ripper, that number is 3. Each hit applies all modifiers, which in this case, is +10 thanks to Alpha Strike. Each hit on The Ripper’s attack now hits for 11 damage, multiplied by 3. It’s incredibly powerful! Bear in mind, your Ripper MUST be in the main hand for this to work. You cannot have it equipped in the off hand. Also, your opponent must have at least one Armor slot open and no Weapons equipped. You cannot target the enemy Condemned if there is armor in all three slots and your opponent can use Weapons to parry your attack. Which you don’t want when attacking with Alpha Strike!

So how do you deal with a deck like this? Thankfully, there’s several great counters to the deck. The first is having lots of weapons equipped for parrying or a full set of armor. That’ll work, too! Force this deck to make an opening, and make it as difficult as possible to do so. Armor with Shielding is very useful here, as Kona Yuki will need to target and deal with that armor before swinging for the fences.

In addition, there are several great events that stop this deck in its tracks:

Each of these events will literally kill this deck on the next turn. Repossess The Ripper that just got buffed, then pass your next turn. Play a weapon of your own with Hidden Pocket, then parry the damage. Prevent it entirely with Evasive Maneuvers or Dodge Roll, moving out of range before the attack connects. Literally all of these options will completely trounce this deck. As such, RipperStrike is a high risk, high reward deck that requires serious thought when playing. Make sure your opponent is exhausted of all other options, and then go for the kill!

If you want to make this deck your own, consider adding other slash weapons to complement the existing roster. Tripoint Shuriken can be a useful Ranged Weapon that can also be used to parry in a pinch. The Tenchu can also be a useful weapon as a candidate for an Alpha Strike, as it’ll still hit for 14 damage if it connects. Having options is a good thing! Consider adding Grappling Claw if you know your opponent likes to dodge your attacks. You can use this to keep them close to you, forcing them to come up with something else. No escapes allowed here, you know! If you’re running into survivability issues and your opponent likes to play keep away, Medical Nanobot Field can be a nice resource for healing yourself. You can also use Punji Board to punish a mobile opponent, doing damage to them and their Leg Armor.

It’s always fascinating to see what people come up with for new deck ideas. If you create something awesome, tag us on Twitter with your deck list! @condemnedccg is the handle. Who knows? We might share it with our followers! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in The Arena!