UNION ARENA: Red Kagurabachi Deck List and Guide
Red Kagurabachi is here and it’s going to massively define the meta. In fact, I could see this deck topping the UNION ARENA English meta for some time with just how powerful it is. Think about it this way – if you could somehow combine two of UNION ARENA’s historically most powerful decks Red Kenshin and Roy Mustang into one powerhouse deck, you’d get Red Kagurabachi.
Below, we’ll be looking at this next-gen deck that’s about to take UNION ARENA by storm.
Breaking down Chihiro’s Raid
This Chihiro Raid is an absolute monster of a card – certainly one of the strongest Raids we’ve seen in the game to date. This card really has two parts that make it so deadly.
For starters, he has a When Played effect that lets him remove an opposing character with 4000 BP when attacking. All you have to do is discard a single card from your hand.
Second, he has an insane Activate: Main that lets you discard three cards to grant him Double Attack.
Together, these two abilities wrapped conveniently into one card is pretty insane – it really is like putting Roy Mustang’s famed When Attacking removal with booster pack Kenshin’s handy double attack.
Of course, with both of these abilities packaged into one card does come a few drawbacks. For example, Chihiro can’t use the When Attacking effect turn-after-turn the way Roy can. Also, while Chihiro has Double Attack capabilities, the cost of using this ability is substantially higher (at least at face value) than Kenshin’s Raid that only requires one card to be discarded.
Any Raid is only as strong as its target
Of course, a Raid character is only ever as strong as its targets. Luckily for Chihiro players, his Raid targets are incredibly versatile. Let’s look at them below to see what this deck is working with.
Zero-and-one-cost Chihiro are your typical draw-one-discard-one Raid targets – always nice to have. Meanwhile, three-cost Chihiro offers some pretty crazy utility for a deck like this, letting you place cards face down under it when attacking and granting him 2000+ BP. Meanwhile, he’s also got a solid When Blocking effect that grants him BP while also further placing cards underneath him.
Hakuri is the ideal supporting Raid for Chihiro
At risk of drawing further comparisons between this deck and Red Kenshin, Hakuri fills a similar role to the Starter Deck Red Kenshin – the on that pushes characters to the energy line while also having Impact. While Hakuri lacks impact, he does have a handy draw effect built-in as well as the powerful “push-to-the-energy-line” play that is a massively effective offensive and defensive Raid ability.
Hakuri Raid Line
Hakuri’s Raid Line isn’t as powerful as Chihiro’s, but it still has some solid characters. Zero-cost Hakuri is your standard Raid target get trigger character, while one-cost Hakuri has a pretty powerful 3000 BP if you just have Chihiro or Togo on the field. The two-cost is the most interesting of the three, however, with a solid search/filter effect that can be paired with the Raid to let you pick a card from the top three to add to your hand.
Togo is a powerful secondary attacker
While this deck is really all about Hakuri and Chihiro, you have yet another very strong attacker thanks to the four-cost Togo. This guy is pretty unprecedented in the game as he plays himself for free – no AP-cost required.
In fact, it’s this Togo that worries me perhaps the most in this deck. Being able to play a 4000 BP character for free is a huge flex for a deck like this, one that unlocks a huge amount of offensive potential. It really goes to show you how much UNION ARENA is changing as a game with all the free play potential getting unlocked in more recent sets.
You’ll need both a Chihiro and Hakuri on the front line to activate this effect of course so there is some check on its power – but it’s still a solid card for what it is.
Char is a helpful supporting character
Even I’ve read enough of Kagurabachi to know that Char’s a pretty important supporting character. In this deck, she fulfills two roles. Her zero-cost is mostly here for being your Nullify Impact character, but it’s the three-cost that’s really strong. Using the three-cost Char, you can bring back one card discarded via your Chihiro effects to your hand. Suddenly, the Raid Chihiro’s discarding costs feel much more feasible.
Two-AP Chihiro backup
Two-AP Chihiro is primarily here for its Impact, but it also has a bunch of other handy effects, like a BP buff for your other attackers and the even more helpful draw when played, essentially ensuring you can use his Impact effect the turn he is played.
All-in-all, Red Chihiro is a strong deck, and it should become an instant favorite for players who want something with a Red Kenshin vibe but with a bit more power. It should do very well into the likes of Gaius, and also a strong counter to aggro decks. The only matchup that could be a big problem for Chihiro is something like the Purple Yuna deck – a strong removal deck in its own right that could hinder Chiro via the protection granted via smile from you.
Regardless, it’s Kagurabachi’s time to rule the meta. Just enjoy the ride!
