Duncan's Sparring Grounds #3: Kageyama's Dark Lord - Paradise

Dork Lord, or Dank Lord?

I did not appreciate Dark Lord 6-016 when I first saw it. The card seems flimsy, clearly a card that could fit in an aggressive deck, but not adding enough value to justify the downside.

Then, the creator himself, Tarou Kageyama found a great use for him. If you haven't read his article, here it is. This is the quote that made me want to try the deck:
"Removing 10 cards isn’t really too drastic if you think of them as cards that were at the bottom of your deck that you were never able to get to when the match is over. If you are able to use this card early in the match, then you can keep your opponent’s smaller forwards in check."

The other part of this list I was not sold on was Eald'narche 5-147, but only due to personal play choices. I am down with an aggressive deck, but Eald'narche wants you to push as aggressively as you can in this game. 

Having a chance to play with Vermilion Bird l'Cie Caetuna 6-010 made me excited, too. That backup makes Brynhildr 1-023 really powerful, putting some big forwards in range of the EX Burst and 3 CP removal.

I made a few edits, and here is the list I ran. I added Bomb 4-018 as Vikings are very popular in my meta. There are a couple of other choices I made because I did not have the full set of cards in my collection (happens).

Overall, I finished the night at 2 wins and 2 losses, which is better than I expected! I played an extra match against my Match 1 opponent, and ended up winning on the strength of some of the good Fire cards alone. 

In Match 2, Dark Lord and Emperor Xande 2-007 came online and the synergy became very clear. Removing a card like Cloud of Darkness 5-126 just by entering combat and attacking with one Forward, and doing so every turn, is very strong.

In Match 3, I managed to Paradise with Eald'narche to victory, but it felt extremely uncomfortable. My opponent had 5 cards in hand, but it still worked out. This is absolutely not my style, so I do not expect to play with the card again for awhile.

In Match 4, an early Kam'lanaut 5-148 turned into a Fire Forward, and I felt behind as soon as it happened. My opponent also created the most feared situation of the deck, by seeing Dark Lord returned to my hand right after it was played onto the field. 

Should you play this deck?

This deck played better than I expected. A lot of conversation has been had about whether or not Fire is a strong element, and it seems most people are not really in favor of running a Mono Fire deck. While I am not a big fan of the Dark Lord + Eald'narche strategies, it was a joy to play Fire cards. Fire might have the strongest and most aggressive Forwards of any element.

I would recommend this deck to someone who wants to play as aggressively as this game can offer. Dark Lord works, and so does Eald'narche. If you are not a big fan of some lines, like me, then this deck could be a great shell for you to make changes as you see fit.

Thanks for reading!