We are just a few weeks away from the release of the Ultraman Card Game’s 3rd booster set, Shadow of Undying Vengeance. There have been card reveals for brand new characters, existing favorites, and exciting new strategies. In the meantime, I have been playing around with a few different deck ideas with the cards we do have available. I’m finally getting around to trying out characters that I had put off due to various reasons. One character combination really pushes the boundaries of the game’s design and has a very unique playstyle. Ultraman Gaia and Ultraman Agul, rivals turned allies, combine to make one of the most fun experiences I’ve had playing this game.
Background: Ultraman Gaia was critically considered a success. Releasing in 1998 with a massive budget. It introduced ideas that were expanded upon and still seen in Ultra series today. The titular hero, Ultraman Gaia, was a protector of the Earth, focused on saving humanity. Whereas his rival-turned-ally, Ultraman Agul, was also dedicated to saving the Earth. However, Agul was not convinced that humans were beneficial to the planet at large. The two heroes were at odds early on but eventually reconciled their differences to form a strong partnership as the series progressed. There was also a heavy emphasis on the supporting cast as members of the science team, XIG (eXpanded Interceptive Guardians). Ultraman Gaia is remembered fondly, as it has been called a “perfect” series on more than one occasion.
But this isn’t an article about the history of Ultraman Gaia. We’re here to talk about the card game. So, what exactly is this Ultraman Gaia and Ultraman Agul deck trying to do? I could give you a decklist and just tell you to figure it out and call it a day. However, that is lazy. And while it is tempting to do that, and use the time saved to catch up on sleep, I want to talk about this deck. So, let’s build it up, piece by piece, and try to give you the complete picture of how this deck will accomplish its goal as we go. There is one logical place to start, and that is with the first card released that plays into this gameplan. Ultraman Gaia, BP01-049.
You send your own card in play back to your hand as a “cost” to then resolve the rest of the card. That will be a common theme moving forward. In this case, the rest of that effect is to give a character of yours +1000 BP. Little did we know when BP01 released, but this card was giving us a hint as to how the Ultraman Gaia strategy would play out. I think it makes the most sense to show you the rest of the cards we use in this deck that also send a card back to your hand as a cost: Ultraman Gaia BP02-006 and Ultraman Agul BP02-058.
All 3 of these cards need to be in your deck at 4 copies each. They are the crux of this engine. The majority of cards in this deck specify that Gaia or Agul must be the target, which won’t be an issue here, because every character in this deck is either Gaia or Agul. Gaia BP01-049 sends a card back to your hand to give a BP bonus, Gaia BP02-006 sends a card back to your hand to also pull a card from your discard area to your hand, and Agul BP02-058 allows you to draw 2 cards and place a card form your hand on the bottom of your deck. Both BP02 card are both built towards gaining more cards to your hand. As many players quickly realize, the longer a game goes on, the less cards you typically have to play. Gaia/Agul focuses on sending cards back to your hand from play to also gain additional cards in your hand. But how do you avoid instantly losing when you start removing cards from play? Behold: the scenes.
Both of these scenes are powered by returning your own cards from play back to your hand. The Silver Eyes of Izak lets you give an opposing character a BP grade decrease, while Resurrection of Agul lets you give your own character a BP grade increase. ‘Silver Eyes’ is much more effective that ‘Resurrection’. The only time you can’t decrease an opposing character is when they are at BP level 1. In that case, you’re probably already defeating them. Whereas your own character cannot receive an additional BP grade increase from ‘Resurrection’ if they are already using their triple BP. Which, will hopefully be the case often. For this reason, I include 4 copies of ‘Silver Eyes’ and only 2 copies of ‘Resurrection’. It’s still useful, but there are definitely tiers here. But these scenes are not the only card fueled by sending cards back to your hand.
Ultraman Agul BP02-061 is the workhorse of the deck. You get this guy in play as a double, and boost him up to that triple BP anytime you resolve one of the 12 cards in your deck that bounce a card back to your hand. And that 17,000 triple BP is nothing to sneeze at. Even characters with 18,000 BP aren’t so scary when there are cards that reduce your opponent’s BP grade or give your own character a BP bonus. Let’s flesh out this deck with some of the basic building blocks. The rare level 1s that allow some card draw (Gaia BP01-046 and Agul BP02-055). We need a scene-searcher (Gaia BP02-002). A few more generic level 1s and 2s to get our numbers up. These can vary by preference. But then we get to our level 3s. We need some good level 3s to really finish this deck off. First, I present Agul BP02-062.
He resolves his ability when played at any level, and can give +1000 BP to an Agul or Gaia with the POWER type. First off, he is POWER himself, so at least he can target himself. In addition to this, there is a level 2 uncommon Agul with the POWER type (BP02-060) that we can use. We did need some more level 2s after all. Both of the Gaias that send cards back to your hand are also POWER type.
Finally, you knew we would get here, the cherry on top. I present to you, Ultraman Gaia BP02-005. When he enters play, send the top card of your opponent’s character back to their hand. This can get a problematic Ultra out of play before the activate phase. Or, if you’re lead player, you can send an opposing character back to their hand before it even has an opportunity to resolve. And this Gaia has a whopping 18,000 BP as a triple. What great about this RRR card is that it is not a key part of this deck’s strategy. This is an amazing card, sure. And you’ll absolutely want to run 4 copies of this if you have them. But you can run this deck sub optimally, just substituting another level 3 Gaia in its place until you acquire the cards needed. (I recommend BP01-052 to deal with opposing scene cards that are round 3 or higher while also providing a card with POWER typing.)
So, here is my Gaia/Agul deck list
Ultraman Gaia
Level 1 – BP01-046 (4x)
Level 1 – BP02-001 (3x)
Level 2 – BP01-049 (4x)
Level 2 – BP02-002 (4x)
Level 3 – BP02-006 (4x)
Level 3 – BP02-005 (4x)
Ultraman Agul
Level 1 – BP02-055 (4x)
Level 1 – BP02-056 (2x)
Level 2 – BP02-058 (4x)
Level 2 – BP02-060 (4x)
Level 3 – BP02-061 (4x)
Level 3 – BP02-062 (3x)
Scenes
The Silver Eyes of Izak – BP02-099 (4x)
Resurrection of Agul – BP02-107 (2x)
Now that you have the card explanation and how I arrived at the deck list above, let me give you some tips for playing this.
First, you need your scenes in play to really be effective and get the most bang for your buck when you start sending cards back to your hand. Keeping lead player is always an important facet to the game, but this deck REALLY needs you to keep lead player. Thankfully, these scenes help you do that. If you are able to send cards back to your hand, you will most likely want to target the current battle with either scene you have in play.
Selecting which cards to send back to your hand is also important. In a perfect world, you will want to resolve a card that sends a card to your hand every turn. Always making sure you have one to play and have a target to send to your hand is key. This may look like playing two cards that have this ability, and using one to send the other back to your hand. You’ll also want to send a card back to your hand that has an “enters play” effect that you want to resolve again. The RRR Ultraman Gaia is great for this. Since you get to choose the order you resolve your effects, you can choose to resolve RRR Gaia, sending a card back to your opponent’s hand, then resolve a card that can send that Gaia right back to your hand.
This deck always wants you to set up for next turn. If you’re not winning this turn, then is there anything you can do to win next turn? This deck is good at giving you the tools to use and figure out what to bring back to your hand, all to avoid losing because you’re setting up to win next turn.
It is a complicated deck, compared to others. There are plenty of times that I tell my opponent, “sorry, I just need a second” as I run through my options of what to play, what to bounce, what I can pull from my discard, or what to give a BP bonus to. There are a lot of tools in this toolbox. But this deck is an absolute blast to play. It goes to show the depth of gameplay and variety that Ultraman Card Game has to offer. A deck like Mebius/Hikari uses cards in your discard as a holding ground to pull from. Ross/Blu uses scene cards uniquely without needing to be lead player. Zero wants to give card advantage by achieving triple BP as a double. And Gaia/Agul use cards in play as a resource.
Have you tried playing a Gaia/Agul deck? Do you have more questions? Or do you have your own decklist that puts mine to shame? Leave a comment or reach out to us.
Be the first to comment