UNION ARENA: Purple BLEACH Deck List and Guide (Vol. 2)
UNION ARENA: BLEACH Thousand Year Blood War Vol. 2 is here and it’s going to have a huge impact on BLEACH decks, especially the popular and powerful BLEACH Purple deck. Thanks to additional support in the Vol. 2, BLEACH Purple is once again at the top of the heap in regards to UNION ARENA decks. But the way you play this deck is decidedly different than it was in the original BLEACH base set.
Don’t worry: below I’ll be walking you through the new version of BLEACH Purple and giving you the ins-and-outs of how this deck works.
Purple BLEACH Deck List (Vol. 2)
BLEACH Purple deck – quick start guide
Begin fueling your sideline with “When Played” effects from zero-cost Uryu and one-cost Ichigo as soon as possible. Bounce them and recycle their effects with Orihime.
Set up your two and three cost Rukia characters on the board so that you can raid your four-cost Rukia whenever possible. Look to use Rukia’s “Activate: Main” effect whenever possible to continue fueling the sideline.
Build up energy line to five and take key removals with five-cost Ichigo whenever possible.
Look to close out the game when possible via a combo of four-cost Ichigo’s Impact and Raidless Ichigo’s damage 2 pressure.
With BLEACH Vol. 2 we get two key new cards that pretty dramatically change how you build and play Purple BLEACH. Those two cards are two-cost Rukia and the new raidless four-cost Ichigo. Notably, Purple BLEACH in the English version of the game will look decidedly different than it did in the Japanese version of the game because we don’t have the zero-cost Rukia. I won’t got into why the zero-cost Rukia was left out of the game in too much detail as I already wrote about that in my Building Purple BLEACH without zero-cost Rukia article. You can check that out if you are interested in getting into the weeds of why Rukia plays such a huge role in Purple BLEACH’s continued success.
Suffice to say losing the zero-cost Rukia does somewhat reduce the consistency of Purple BLEACH, but two-cost Rukia is still a huge improvement as a raid target for four-cost Rukia, essentially transforming Purple BLEACH into a Rukia/Ichigo deck.
Two-cost Rukia is a star player in Purple BLEACH
I won’t try and make the claim that two-cost Rukia is superior to Purple BLEACH’s strategy than zero-cost Rukia. But that doesn’t take away the fact that two-cost Rukia is still a very solid card, and helps hugely improve the consistency of this deck. She should be a four-of in any Purple BLEACH Rukia/Ichigo build, making it considerably easier to hit that Rukia Raid target, see more cards, and simultaneously fuel your sideline.
However, she’s not only good because she is a raid target. What really makes her a solid raid target for Rukia is her 3000 BP, low cost, and active trigger. Even without the effect that enables her to boost to 3500 BP, those alone are enough reason to include her in your deck at full capacity.
Because BLEACH Purple doesn’t need Renji anymore (something of an end-of-an-era as Renji was once synonymous with Purple BLEACH), you can and should run a lesser number of the three-cost Rukia as well. Running about two of these in your build will help increase the odds of hitting that raid – something which this build really needs to pop-off.
Raidless Ichigo is a powerful new tool for Purple BLEACH
Since you won’t be running the Renji package in this deck anymore in order to make room for more consistency with Rukia, it’s nice to have another Damage 2 attacker around, and it’s especially nice if that attacker has Nullify Impact – a keyword previously hard to come by in Purple BLEACH.
Raidless Ichigo is a very nice card to have around, with his only downside being he doesn’t come in active. Assuming you have ten cards in your removal area (or just two of your Squad Zero Characters) he gets Damage 2 – no paying an AP required.
The Nullify Impact is fairly huge, as well, eliminating the need to tech in a Nullify Impact but instead having it when you need it on a character that’s core to this deck’s strategy anyways.
Squad Zero Characters fill out the deck
One piece that was somewhat missing from Purple BLEACH before Vol. 2 was a solid two-energy generating character. While many made-do with two-cost Kisuke, it always felt like a bit of a bummer to run him as you have to wait a turn for him to start generating extra energy. He also doesn’t have a trigger.
Meanwhile, Purple BLEACH now has access to an all-around better energy generator thanks to Nimaiya.
While you won’t be looking to use his “When Attacking” effect in this build, his When Played grants additional filtering when played. He’s also got the “Active” trigger, which is certainly a bonus for this deck.
Speaking of filtering, as you won’t be running the zero-cost Rukia, this deck has room for another character with the filtering effect, and that’s the zero-cost Tenjiro.
Another added benefit of running both of these guys in your deck is if you manage to get one of each into your removal area, Raidless Ichigo buffs to Damage 2 without the need for ten cards there instead.
Increased Rukia Consistency means increased effectiveness for your Raid Ichigo characters
Essentially, bolstering the consistency of Rukia in Purple BLEACH only serves to bolster the effectiveness of your Purple BLEACH characters. Whereas before hitting the numbers necessary to get the full effect of both your Raid Ichigo characters was something of a hassle, assuming you hit a few Rukia Raids in a game combined with your zero-cost Uryu and one-cost Ichigo, you should have plenty of sideline fuel to use both of your Ichigo raid characters, whether that’s to reduce the BP to zero of 5000 BP characters or to grant multiple Impacts to four-cost Ichigo in a turn.
Purple BLEACH matchup guide
The meta has changed a lot since BLEACH’s base set. You’ll need to study up on the latest decks dominating the UNION ARENA meta if you want to succeed at store tournaments or in rare battles. Below, let’s look at some of the key matchups to prepare for.
Vs Green BLEACH
I start with Green BLEACH because this will likely be your biggest threat in the BLEACH Vol. 2 Rare Battle format. Green BLEACH has some big advantages against you, primarily thanks to the eight copies of Kenpachi this deck runs with anti-BP reducing effects. Essentially, Kenpachi renders your five-cost Ichigo’s BP reduction removal play useless.
This is not an un-winnable matchup for you but it will require additional skill and practice to work around, while also forcing you to save your Getsugatensho for that particular card.
Vs. Blue Sukuna
For now, the Blue Sukuna matchup is favorable for Purple BLEACH. Even if Sukuna runs the Nanami Build and sends cards to the bottom of the deck, that won’t be much of an issue thanks to your added sideline fuel via Rukia.
Additionally, they’ll think twice ab out bouncing some of your stronger characters with “When Played” effects back to the hand.
Vs. Yellow Saitama
Yellow Saitama is a tough matchup for Purple BLEACH, but it’s less bad with Vol. 2. Essentially, you’ll need to dominate the board with your removal against anything that isn’t Saitama, while using Raidless Ichigo to block powerful Impact attacks that would otherwise cost you the game (and significantly lessen your chances against this deck).
It’s a better matchup than it used to be, but still not a favorable one.
Vs. Lancelot
Purple BLEACH used to have a somewhat tough time against decks that field 5000 BP characters. With the new build however, I see that as being less of an issue. While you won’t be swinging through those guys, they’re relatively easy to take out with your additional Rukia support. Look to remove the 5000 BP characters whenever possible and you should be fine in this matchup.
Vs. Purple Code Geass
Before Vol. 2, Code Geass has the decided advantage in this matchup. After Vol. 2, it’s looking much closer, with Purple BLEACH having the upper-hand. Its BP reduction is stronger than the other’s deck, and it’s removal also superior. Additionally, the Nullify Impact Ichigo can get you out of tough situations towards the end of the game against the Impact Guren characters.
Essentially, Purple BLEACH is faster and more powerful than Code Geass, making it the top deck in the format after Vol. 2.
While Purple BLEACH has been part of the UNION ARENA metagame since it came out, it’s seen significantly less play lately. With the Vol. 2, however, it should once again move to the zenith of the format. With speed, power, and consistency, Purple BLEACH is one of the most impressive UNION ARENA decks we’ve seen in the English version to date, and is a powerful advantage to anyone capable of wielding it thanks to the fact that it’s the first Vol. 2 deck in the game.
