I got top 8 at the Rosemont BCS regional this past weekend with book/pants Frieren, so I’m making a deck tech.
Table of Contents
Deck List
Deck code: 1G0FA
Overview
I’m playing the TD finisher, one of the two common finishers you tend to see in Frieren decks. I’d say this is the core of the deck: with a very cheap finisher that burns for 4, and a very cheap stockshuffle, it’s aiming to push decently big chunks of damage into a deckstate that isn’t especially likely to cancel them (while also being untargetable, just because). The fact that the brainstorm can bring the finisher out for free means that you hardly have to worry about stock at all, and the fact that the stockshuffle event also salvages means that there’s basically no downside to playing it; oftentimes it’s also selecting into your 3rd finisher, or maybe another brainstorm. It’s also notable that the brainstorm is, well, a brainstorm. It may be a draw brainstorm, but it’s still a nice card to have sitting in backrow throughout the game, and you can also brainstorm with all of the ones you play on your finishing turn, if you want. What that means is that if you have 4 stock, you can play the stockshuffle event and brainstorm 3 times, and so long as you’re reasonably compressed, it’s quite likely that you made back the hand you spent to play any brainstorms that weren’t already on stage, and then some. In a good game, it’s not uncommon to do triple combo and still have hand left over, and in a bad game, you can probably still at least get double + stockshuffle. (A bad game resource-wise, that is; where it gets rough is when you just don’t have the level 3s at all.)
For the level 1 combo, I went with the book combo, which is where my deck diverges notably from the norm. I’ve never tried the pants level 1 combo (because I’m not a fan of the events it forces you into), so I can’t say for certain that this is better, but I do think the book level 1 is quite good. In particular, I feel like the point where I really started liking it was when I realized that the true combo was the backrow Fern that lets you draw at encore step if you have a book in play. (By “the true combo”, I suppose I just mean that I prioritize selecting into that before selecting into the Frieren.) Drawing at encore step in itself isn’t the best, but the fact that it works from the back means that that initial selection gets you repeated plusses so long as you can find more books, and if you draw 2-3 times then there’s a decent chance that you find something useful. The literal climax combo itself is a basic cigarettes combo, which is quite nice (particularly for getting additional copies of the brainstorm), but not great at looping itself or selecting into level 3s. Still, there’s a decent chance that you can get at least one level 3 off of it over the course of the game. Ideally you play double combo and the yellow level 0 Himmel on the first turn, salvaging one combo from the combo itself and then bouncing one combo back to be able to double combo again the next turn; but even if you only manage single combo, you’re still plussing so long as you have the backrow, so you’re primarily concerned with finding books, and then you take however many combos you can find.
Individual Card Notes
Level 3
SFN/S108-TE17 Frieren the Slayer
As mentioned above, this is part of the core of the deck. Obviously a 4-of, since you want to do triple pretty much every game. (In the 9 games I played in Rosemont, I think I had triple combo 6 times and double combo 2 times; the remaining game I died from level 2. Weirdly, the 2 games I only got double were the 2 games in top cut.)
SFN/S108-E105 Magic to Create a Field of Flowers
Another core part of the deck. I generally try to hold onto a copy of this throughout the game, though there’s a decent chance of finding it on the finishing turn anyway. The big thing about it is that it does 2 things you want at once, while also being cheap (in particular, going hand neutral, which is very nice given that the finisher needs hand). Also notable is that the stockshuffle is optional, so if you want the selection but the opponent just triggered a bunch, you can just leave their stock alone. One nice thing about this combined with the brainstorm is that you don’t really mind if a finisher gets buried as the bottom card of stock, since you can just pay it out and salvage it with this, and then you don’t need stock to summon it. A 3-of because you want to see it every game, and it’s often nice to have 2 of them (particularly when you’re looking to use the bottom-deck moca).
SFN/S108-E009 Reason to Go on a Journey, Frieren
This bottom-deck moca is there to deal with the situation where the opponent has a lot of clean stock but only 1 or 2 cards in deck. It lets you refresh the opponent during main phase, so you can then stockshuffle them, instead of having to swing into their compressed waiting room. It can also be used before a stockshuffle on a larger deck, or when you expect the opponent to refresh during your attacks, to have a chance of just sniping a climax out. It’s a bit awkward that the best way to select into this card is the stockshuffle event itself, since you often want to play it before stockshuffling, but you can potentially just use one event to salvage it and a second one to stockshuffle. It’s also a global 1.5k, which is kind of nice, though generally not especially impactful. I didn’t end up getting much use out of this card during this tournament, but I think it’s still important to have access to. As an end-game tech card, it’s just a 1-of.
SFN/S108-E002 “Homeland Flower” Frieren & Himmel
Full-field EP healers are generally nice when you want to take an extra turn at level 2 before going for the finish, and this one can also let you push a bit of extra damage at level 2 (though that’s quite expensive, and thus generally not something I actually go for, especially if I want to attack with it first just in case the opponent has an antichange counter). It can also serve as an extra copy of the finisher combo, if you have the stock & hand for it. It’s a 2-of because I don’t generally aim to play it as part of the main gameplan. I previously had it at 3, before cutting one for the alarm, and I think that’s also plenty reasonable: even if you don’t always play it, it’s nice to have the option, and it’s also just another level 3 to help you get level 3s off the level 1 combo, as well as another yellow card (this deck doesn’t actually have that much yellow).
Level 2
SFN/S108-E106 Magic That Turns Sweet Grapes Into Sour Ones
This event is nice because it can let you deal with your opponent’s board while going effectively resource-neutral, so long as you can get some use out of the stock. Indeed, with the 5-card brainstorm, it’s distinctly possible that you could actually go net positive in resources, if you’re compressed. On the other hand, the finisher needs a decent amount of hand but not much stock, so there are definitely times where it’s effectively just -1 hand; but even that can still be quite cheap for removing an annoying character. I run this as a 4-of to have a decent chance of being able to find 2 of them if necessary, and because at one point I felt like I was often low on stock; I don’t feel like that as much anymore, so perhaps it could be cut down a bit.
Level 1
SFN/S108-E079 New Year's Celebration, Frieren
I went over my reasons for playing this instead of the Fern level 1 combo earlier. A 4-of because you want to see it in multiples early, and to be able to grab it off itself.
SFN/S108-E077 Days in the Northern Lands, Fern
Another card that was talked about earlier, and probably the biggest reason to play the book level 1 combo. It’s not actually an especially good card, if I’m being honest: the power pump is kind of awkward and unreliable, and the plus is unselective and at a timing that means you can’t use it to inform many other decisions you make that turn, and it’s not a good attacker itself (which can be relevant because you ideally push it up on the turn before your finisher turn). But at the end of the day, it’s still a repeatable plus that you get on top of your normal combo, and that’s all you really need. Plus, sometimes you do just draw into the card you want (or a card you’ll want later). A 2-of because you want to see it early; honestly it could maybe be a 1-of because it’s generally the first thing you select into, but this deck doesn’t have great waiting room access, so it might feel bad if you only run 1 and it comes out in damage or triggers early.
SFN/S108-E037 Words of Deceit, Lügner
I put this in kind of on a whim, with the idea being that it could help you play utility cards (particularly Kanne) and still take out the opponent’s characters. It’s also kind of nice that it can let the combo swing at 10.5k with a climax. However, I think I’ve only used this once since putting it in; generally it’s just not in my hand, or else I heal it off with the EP. Perhaps there’s an argument for running more than 1 in order to actually see it, but I think if anything, I’d probably just cut it for something else, likely an extra copy of one of those utility cards.
Level 0
SFN/S108-TE01 Pursuit of Magic, Frieren
A core part of the finisher package. Technically this card isn’t necessary for the finisher, but it’s what makes the finisher actively good, I’d say. A 4-of because you ideally want to use it to bring out all 3 of your finishers, particularly when the hexproof is relevant, and it’s also just a nice card to draw into early on, because it’s your brainstorm. I would admittedly prefer it if it was a selective brainstorm or a check 3, but that’s just gravy; being a (self-tap) brainstorm to begin with is the important part. And of course, being a 5-card brainstorm is nice as well, in terms of raw milling and plussing potential.
SFN/S108-TE13 Blue Moon Weeds, Himmel
This card is necessary to let the brainstorm summon the finisher, but it turns out it’s just a really nice card anyway. In particular, being able to clock yourself and get selection without spending stock is quite nice. Since this card and the riki can both search out each other (or themselves), it’s pretty hard for the opponent to trap you at level 2 or level 0. (In my Rosemont run, there were two games where I used those two cards to clock up to level 1 and take out a card that would have survived if I was still level 0.) It can also search out the finisher, which can be quite useful on your finishing turn, when you don’t particularly expect to have another turn anyway. So even if the opponent denies it at level 0, you don’t actually care that much (unless your current hand is bad and you really wanted that filter immediately); attacking with it or playing over it later in the game is fine as well. A 4-of because you want to play it down turn 1, and don’t mind seeing it later on. (It’s also my go-to card to level for blue, perhaps behind the second copy of the level 1 backrow.)
SFN/S108-E025 “The Great Mage” Serie
It’s a riki; it can get your level 1s, and it can help you clock up if necessary. I generally run on-play rikis as a 3-of, since you don’t need to see them until turn 2, and you generally only want to play one of them, and this deck is no exception. It could potentially go even lower since the blue Himmel overlaps its role to some extent, but I generally just use both of them anyway. (Having 2 searches is quite nice; in 6 of the 9 games I played in Rosemont, I did double combo + backrow on my first turn at level 1, which was turn 2 in all but one game.) The riki also being an event swap is just dead text most of the time, but can occasionally come up, for example if you’re holding onto the 3/1 event for level 3 but realize you want the 2/0 event now.
SFN/S108-E001 Precious Memory, Himmel
This card is very nice in the early/midgame. It’s a plussing level 0, it trivially swings at 3.5k, it can help you loop your level 1 combo, and as a bonus it can help you ensure you don’t trigger a climax on the first attack and bury it for the rest of the game (or alternatively, it can help you dig for a climax trigger if you’re low on hand). It’s also the best card to level for yellow; all the other yellow cards are ones you’d rather like to have access to in the lategame. It does cost stock, but that’s not generally a big deal for this deck; and it’s vulnerable to hard removal (unless you have two of them), which can be annoying but isn’t the end of the world. A 4-of since it’s quite nice to see one or two of them at level 0 and one or two more at level 1 and 2.
SFN/S108-E033 Kanne
In general, I’m a big fan of this profile; clock access is nice, particularly when you can get any card, and it’s very efficient (at least if you attack with it, though it is only 500 power). It also makes the blind clock from the riki feel better, since if you clock the card you wanted (or maybe a climax), you can just search out Kanne instead and grab it that way. The top check is also a nice little bonus. This tends to be my default level 0 to grab off the combo when I don’t have something else that I specifically want. It probably doesn’t specifically need to be a 2-of, but I’m never especially disappointed to see it.
SFN/S108-E076 Unnecessary Spendings, Frieren
I didn’t include this card initially, thinking that I tend to want to hold onto climaxes and events, but it’s proven to be well worth it. This deck doesn’t have much else in the way of ditch outlets for climaxes or main-phase selection, and this does both. And while the events can be nice to hold in hand, they can also just be bricks, particularly if the matchup doesn’t call for the 2/0 event; or even if you’d prefer to hold onto them, you can still ditch them if necessary and hope to get them back (off of the finisher, for example). A 2-of as a general utility card; I could definitely see bumping it up to 3. Depending on the meta, you could potentially run Wirbel instead (or as well), which can only ditch climaxes (and is in a less relevant color) but can also prevent an opponent’s card from moving or bouncing.
SFN/S108-E059 “Magic to See Through Clothing” Fern
This card is a way to try to dig into the book if you don’t have it (technically the draw brainstorm can also do that, but that’s not something I’d particularly want to bet on), and then it also randomly kills some decks and inconveniences some others with its marker removal ability. In particular, this card is known for wrecking Overlord, and I did actually play against that in top 16 at Rosemont, where this card was able to remove the markers and make it so they didn’t have much of a finisher. If I don’t already have the book, I tend to look to salvage this off the combo (or search it with the riki or the blue Himmel), but it’s not uncommon for it not to be in the right zone, so I could definitely see this as a 2-of rather than a 1-of. Still, between the pants triggers and the various draws, you often don’t need this to loop the book.
SFN/S108-TE11 “Mage” Frieren
I want at least one climax swap in pretty much any deck, though it’s generally not necessary for this finisher (between the check 3s and the draw brainstorms, you can likely find the pants). Honestly, this deck doesn’t have a ton of ability to select into this card if it turns out that it’s necessary, so it maybe doesn’t make much sense as a 1-of, and should be either run at a higher quantity or cut altogether. Still, “not a ton” isn’t “none”, and at worst it’s still just another level 0 (that happens to be a bomb).
Cards Not Included
SFN/S108-E073 “Mage” Fern
The big thing that put me off this combo initially was the red event costing stock. I’ve come around on it a bit (though not enough to actually try it) because the synergy with the salvage brainstorm means that, if you play other events first, you can use it to dig for the climax at the same time. Of course, even if you already have the climax, you potentially still have to pay that stock to get your combo back. Though I do know that sometimes the opponent simply can’t answer 3 lanes of 6k+, whether because they’re having a bad game or simply because their deck isn’t really built that way (indeed, my deck itself falls into that latter category, where I tend to have 1 or 2 lanes of combo and then the others are level 0s). Though even then, I think the board with this combo is often 2 lanes of combo and 1 lane of the level 1 that pays out triggers, so even if 1 lane survives, it’s probably the non-combo lane. That’s still a plus, of course, but it doesn’t help with looping the combo. Probably the bigger issue, though, is simply the deckspace that the events take up; even with the level 1 backrow, the book combo takes up notably less space in the deck.
SFN/S108-E074 Favorite Magic, Frieren
This is the other finisher that you tend to see in Frieren builds. Like the pants level 1 combo, I haven’t actually tried it so I can’t say for sure that it’s worse, but unlike the pants level 1 combo, I honestly don’t see much reason to try it. The primary benefit is that it heals, I guess? I did actually have 2 games in Rosemont where I had 2 turns at level 3, so I suppose that does happen sometimes, but in one of them I clocked up to level 3 so a heal wouldn’t have done anything anyway. The other benefit of this finisher is not being locked into the draw brainstorm and the blue level 0 Himmel, but I don’t think either of those are especially bad. And in general, it seems like it costs more to do less: it takes 6 stock to play down 3 of them, it doesn’t dig for cards, it’s not hexproof, and the hand cost for the burn means you’re almost certainly not doing 3 of them, which makes it difficult to take advantage of a decompressed deckstate. Both of the other two options are decent but not great at dealing with compressed deckstates, but the fact that the set has a stockshuffle that’s practically free means that that’s not a huge concern (and almost certainly not worth all the other downsides).
SFN/S108-PE02 Frieren Dozing Off | SFN/S108-E088 Passing Through the Checkpoint, Frieren
These two cards are common tech cards to deal with the opponent’s board. I didn’t bother with these because I rely on the 2/0 event for that, but I could certainly see running one or both of these alongside it. The big benefit of these is that, as characters, they’re easier to select into, but honestly, in this deck, the difference isn’t that big; characters aren’t that easy to select into either. The bouncer costs the same amount of hand as the 2/0 event but effectively 2 more stock; it can certainly be relevant that it doesn’t let the opponent encore, but you can potentially just play a second 2/0 event in that case. The adachi takes less hand than the 2/0 event (to the extent that the 2/0 event doesn’t convert into a brainstorm or two that hit), but it’s also more limited in what it can deal with; in particular, it’s not particularly helpful on the finishing turn. This deck also doesn’t run a large number of events (and probably at least one is sitting in hand), so I’m not sure how big the power pump would end up being; and it’s likely that it’d just be pumping the level 1 combo, which would need quite a bit of help to take out something that’s aiming to win board.
SFN/S108-E071 Dependable Mage, Fern
There simply isn’t space on the board for this; while you could potentially try to have this on board to begin with and then push it up and replace it with the draw brainstorm, that just seems like more moving parts, and probably a lot of the time you don’t really have enough turns to get sufficient value out of it before moving it up and probably crashing it in (and unlike the level 1 backrow, you can’t benefit from it and attack with it in the same turn). Plus, the draw brainstorm is arguably better in first deck, on account of milling more and being a bit more likely to hit in the first place.
SFN/S108-E107 Ordinary Offensive Magic
I initially had the hope that you could use Zoltraak alongside triple finisher combo, but I don’t think you realistically make enough resources for that, outside of very good games. It’s also a card that you kind of need to either hold onto from early on or run a decently high count of, but you don’t want to see 2 of them and you already need to hold onto the rest of the finisher package (ideally 2 combos and 1 stockshuffle event). There’s certainly some potential to just do Zoltraak + double combo, where Zoltraak fills the same role as the bottom-deck moca (of refreshing the opponent during main phase to allow the stockshuffle to be effective), so I could maybe see adding in a single copy and treating it sort of like having 2 copies of the moca, just a bit more flexible if you have both in hand. But honestly, I’d probably just actually play 2 copies of the moca at that point; 4 stock is quite expensive, even alongside this finisher.
SFN/S108-TE19 Defensive Magic
This deck isn’t particularly likely to have a full field on the opponent’s turn past level 1, since there’s a decent chance that it’s crashing at least one lane at level 2, and the finisher eats the brainstorm(s) that you hopefully had in back going into the turn. It’s certainly possible that you have to play other cards (like the riki or the moca) or have other cards still sitting on stage (like the level 1 backrow), so it’s not impossible that this could come up, but I doubt it’s worth the deck slots.
SFN/S108-E091 Present to Stark, Frieren
This is a decent card, but I already have 2 self-clock cards, and I don’t really want to be clocking myself in the midgame, which is where I’d most want a check 4 (to dig for the book).
SFN/S108-E011 “The Party of Heroes” Heiter
I initially ran this card, but didn’t feel like I got much use out of it. I think the big thing is that the deck already has selective filtering from the blue level 0 Himmel, and there are diminishing returns on ditching more cards for more selection; you only have so many cards in hand that aren’t the ones you’re looking for. Also, this card costs stock without plussing you, and it’s not very useful when you’re going first. It could potentially be useful to set up for level 3, but I didn’t feel like that happened very often. Perhaps that was just a matter of not planning for it or prioritizing it enough; but then, I’m not sure that it’s actually worth prioritizing. I don’t feel like I have too much trouble setting up my finishing turn anyway.
SFN/S108-E072 Winter Clothes, Frieren
I don’t think I gave this card too much thought, honestly. Without a good level 1 event, there aren’t that many level 1 or higher cards that I want to see early on, though I guess it’s still more than 4. But overall it just doesn’t seem super useful; I’m not especially worried about deckspeed either, with a combo that mills and a 5-card brainstorm.
SFN/S108-TE02 Next Work, Heiter
This card is a bit redundant when you’re already running the blue level 0 Himmel; both cards get you selection from deck at the cost of a hand. The benefit of this is just that you don’t have to clock yourself and you don’t need to be able to play over it (and I guess it’s a better ditch outlet for climaxes), but this isn’t a card you’d want to be playing a ton anyway, since it costs hand, so most of the time the Himmel probably works well enough.
SFN/S108-E078 An Older Woman, Frieren
Since this deck doesn’t often play events, this card is likely 4k rather than 7k, which makes it notably worse. I also tend not to worry too much about triggers, and honestly I’d probably prefer to just play the yellow level 0 Himmel and be able to put a climax on the bottom of the deck rather than triggering it (and if I trigger on the 2nd or 3rd attack, just pay it out next turn).
SFN/S108-E104 Flight Magic
There’s an argument for just running this even without the pants combo, but if I’m playing a 1/0 event in a modern deck, I generally want it to be more selective than this. Maybe I’d consider it if I felt like I didn’t have enough deckspeed, but even in that case, I’d probably go for a level 0 character instead.
Closing Thoughts
I think this deck was quite well positioned even before the banlist (Rosemont was the last tournament before the banlist update took effect, incidentally). It doesn’t care too much about Slime building a lot of clean stock, or presenting defensive backups, or threatening stockswap in the midgame; it can aim to hit level 3 first and kill SDS from level 2; and it doesn’t have to put much effort into dealing with Ainz (or tap counter). And with Quints getting more support, the finisher being able to be hexproof becomes even more relevant, since I believe both Nino and Miku tend to play the -3 soul counter. The 2/0 event also lets it not worry too much about random decks that present scary boards.
The weaknesses of the deck probably come down to a certain amount of randomness inherent in a lot of the deck’s gameplan. Stockshuffle + burn 4 could simply result in the opponent cancelling; stockshuffle never has the same certainty that stockswap sometimes does, and there’s not much ability to modulate damage to avoid overswinging. And a lot of the plussing comes in the form of single draws: the backrow, the brainstorm, the book trigger. If you draw your climaxes, you can lose compression quite quickly (and pants doesn’t help with that either); or you could simply not draw into useful cards. That randomness can be overstated, though. In particular, I’ve often seen people consider stockshuffle to be meaningless, but if your opponent has stock that’s notably less compressed than their deck, it does in fact decompress them; it’s just that compression in general involves randomness. And there are other sorts of randomness that the deck is more resilient to: in particular, it’s pretty good at dealing with fast games where both players eat a lot of damage (I had an 8-turn game and a 9-turn game in Rosemont where I was still able to do triple finisher combo). It also has quite a few 4-ofs (and effectively 7 rikis and 6 level 1 combos), so it’s not too unlikely to just draw into those.
Overall, I’m quite happy with this deck; I’d probably make a change or two, but nothing major. I can’t say I didn’t get lucky in Rosemont, of course; I wouldn’t even be surprised if I got luckier over the course of the day than the other players who ended up in top 8, though of course that’s impossible to know. But by and large, the deck did what it was supposed to do. I’m not going to claim that it’s the best deck in the format, but it’s definitely up there, in my opinion.
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