Celestial Dragonblade Deck Guide: Artifact Portalcraft (Rotation)

 

"Many years ago, an ancient civilization that advanced much further than any modern civilization was destroyed in the end by misuse of power. So, they left messages for later generations in the form of indestructible message plates written in ancient Hebrew, informing them that if they could not find a good use for their creations, they should be destroyed." Spriggan

With the release of the Shadowverse Flame anime and it's corresponding set in the game, Celestial Dragonblade, my overall interest in the game has been rekindled. The anime is a massive improvement from its predecessor, and the new set has brought up new decks while showing some love to older ones as well. Due to this, Artifacts have become a top performing deck in the early meta, and being an archetype I've enjoyed playing alongside Zhiff's ongoing contest, I've decided to try my hand at making articles for the game. 

Hey there! I'm Inferno, and welcome to Shadowverse Startup! While not as competitively involved I have played a bit of Shadowverse and reached Master rank in rotation last year. I also play other card games digitally and physically, such as Cardfight Vanguard, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Legends of Runeterra, and hope to use that experience here to talk about some of the different decks and ideas going around, providing some history and giving my opinion on their present and future developments. With that said, let's start digging into Artifact Portalcraft. 

How did they know?

History

Artifacts are one of the oldest archetypes of the game, being introduced as part of the core pieces to Portalcraft strategies. Visually they are artificial lifeforms and machines that assist in various tasks from combat to research. In game, artifacts are mostly token followers that come into play via effects, and have a wide variety of stats and effects from draws to boardclears to damage to searching more artifacts all for the purpose of adding to a deck's win condition, or acting as it themselves. 

They can serve as support in other decks but are mainly played pure, with the goal of establishing field presence and allowing the stronger artifact cards to eventually end the game. Early on this was done through intense cycling, taking advantage of Portal's resonance mechanic alongside play point recovery effects to keep sending out stronger artifacts until you could push for game. Later on, more effect damage options came into play, and the introduction of Paradigm Shift gave way for more One turn kill (OTK combos) after building up discounted copies in hand. Now, the deck sets up the initial condition of having at least six unique artifacts destroyed ("6" condition for future reference) to use the stronger effects of their cards while clearing the board in order to setup OTKs as quickly and consistently as possible. Let's take a look now at the cards used to enable this strategy. 

Core

Legendaries

No one escapes until you're satisfied 

Ralmia is both an excellent setup and payoff card for the deck. Early on she can helps you trade with other small followers and get an artifact name down, and once the "6" condition has been met she turns into a fairly good board wipe. Evolving her to gain storm also means outside of clearing she can be involved in otk setups or just be used to push as needed. You can generally keep her in your opening hand, sending back extra copies for other cards. 

Full Blast Gunner (FBG) is one of the key evolution targets in the deck, as the leader effect he grants is how you'll go through most boards and get to the opponent's defense. Generating an Analyzing Artifact also helps with names while setting up an additional draw for Resonance or to simply have a chance to find another card you need. Always keep this card in your opening hand. 

Vyrmedea is the newest support from Celestial Dragonblade which greatly speeds up the process of meeting the "6" condition with it's fanfare. Continuing a small trend of Portal borrowing other classes' cards and mechanics, Vyrmedea uses Burial Rite, letting you summon and destroy a follower in hand (which will usually be an artifact) to then summon Keenedge alongside itself. This potentially lets you set up to three names relatively early, and Keenedge can then also combat aggro if there are followers in play to swing at. Furthermore with the "6" condition met, Vyrmedea granting all of your artifacts ward allows forces your opponent to trade or deal with your board if you need to buy time for your win condition. It's a strong and welcome addition to the deck. You can choose to keep it in your opening hand if you think the opponent's deck will have aggro that you can follow up on, or is slow enough to let you possibly draw into a better target for burial rite/make up for what you use to play her early. Otherwise you can mulligan for another early option.  

Genesis Artifact is key in setting up and clearing the game. The evolve effect helps to potentially set up three names for the "6" condition, however you should try to save Genesis for after it has been met, as the Cannon Artifacts are the highest source of damage the deck can easily access and utilize, being one of the key pieces in many OTK setups. The evolve effect on Genesis also works toward this as you have exactly enough space for the two Cannons generated dealing 13 damage on it's own against an empty board. You can also hold onto the Cannon Artifacts to end the game on a following turn with Ralmia to clear and then playing other cheap artifacts for 17 damage. If there's no other choice in hand, Genesis is a fine to card play and evolve early as it can help slow down aggro or push against less board oriented control decks too, but do try to hold onto Genesis when possible. You can keep it going second if you don't have Full Blast Gunner, but more often you will send it back for other cards. 

Gold

Cyclical Fate gives artifacts access to an old friend, Deus Ex Machina. This is a great addition as the play point recovery allows you to have even more options for combos during your turn, and by keeping track of Resonance you can optionally dig through your deck at a much faster rate and find what you need in time. Correctly identifying when to keep resonance up for Deus Ex is something that you'll learn as you play the deck, and will separate good from great artifact players. Sometimes you have no way to adjust it in hand, but more often you will need to think about whether you want the effect up or not. Ideally playing her before evolving your other key followers between turns four and six gives you more options on what to do for the next turn, but if your hand has too many important cards when Resonance is up, or the opponent has a field that needs to be addressed, it may be a better idea to hold onto her for later since she will usually be your only play if you use her as soon as possible. It also shuffles an Analyzing Artifact for a future draw, and Bifurcation, which can adjust Resonance as needed while also adding more copies of needed artifacts into your deck. Always keep it in the opening hand as Deux Ex greatly increases the opportunities you have to find and perform OTKs. 

Melody's Return uses Burial Rite like Vyrmedea to accelerate the "6" condition while returning the card back to hand for further use. Once 10 followers have been destroyed, there is also the opportunity to highroll and get another copy of Vyrmedea and Genesis Artifact which can be used to defend your leader and push for game respectively, Generally though, getting a name for cheap is enough to make the card worth it in a match. You can keep it if there's an artifact you're holding onto for later like Genesis Artifact and another card you can use early, but if not it may be better to mulligan for something else. 

Artifact Impulse is the other key card for damage in the deck, dealing six damage with no cards on the opponents field after the "6" condition has been met. While it can summon an Ancient Artifact early on you want to hold it for damage in most cases like Genesis Artifact. On a cleared board it adds six damage for each copy in hand to your OTK combos. There are also more than enough options for two play points that you really wouldn't need to use Impulse early, so it's a card to send back in the mulligan to draw later. 

Zerk is the other primary addition from Celestial Dragonblade that help to dig and extend plays with it's accelerate effect. It can also be used early to get a name for the "6" condition, but you generally want to keep followers to push at that point. The effect also helps for adjusting resonance, and is the other main heal in the deck. Playing it as a follower is less valuable since it only summons destroyed followers at a point we'd prefer to set up past the "6" condition, and uses up play points that could be saved for more impactful plays. Since it's not an artifact you can choose to run this at two instead of three copies, but the destruction effect is too good to ignore as it also keeps you from boardlocking yourself. It's a play for later like Impulse so we can usually mulligan this card. 

Celestial Artifact is the main toolbox of the deck, since its accelerate effect gives us the most direct access to other artifacts. Searching two different names once the "6" condition is met is great, but feel free to use it before then if you don't have an artifact you need on time. If you have extra copies or are far enough ahead to not need the search, you can hold onto Celestial to play it directly since it can also close games in a pinch, dealing anywhere from 8 to 13 damage by the time you drop it from my experience with it. You can usually keep it in your opening hand since it's another optional turn one play and it can also combo with Melody's Return quite nicely.

Silver

Supersonic Breakthrough is a wonderful combo piece with artifacts. saving evo points gives you more opportunities to use notably Ralmia and Genesis Artifact to push for game while potentially letting you discount Deus Ex from Cyclical Fate or stall against the opponents effects that require them having more evolution points. Giving rush to any portal follower also lets you trade more easily if you need to, or you if you simply have it as a card to play before Deus Ex's effect forces you to discard it anyways. You can send it back in your opening hand if going first, and keep it going second should you also have a FBG or Genesis Artifact in hand to combo with.

Multiarmed Artifact provides another two-drop and another name for the "6" condition early on, and later it's effect to damage an enemy follower can help setup a win, though it usually doesn't last long enough to benefit from the stat increase aside from pairing it with Vyrmedea. You can put it at two copies with other cards having more priority, but three gives you more chances to use the full effect. Keep it in your opening hand unless you have another turn two play like Ralmia or possibly Melody's Voice and Celestial Artifact.

Merciless Voiding is another really good tool in the early game generating two to three artifact names if you meet the condition, though it doesn't take priority over your evolution targets or Deus Ex. Analyzing shows up once again, and this is also the main way you will access Ancient Artifact with the deck as another early rush option. Getting Mystic Artifact helps with names, and ward is still nice to have if the opponent doesn't have a way to touch your board aside from trades. Always keep it in your opening hand.

Bronze

Robopup is the best dog in Shadowverse. It is bronze (recognizes worth does not come from rarity but utility), is an artifact (can be modified humanely), and has a built in cannon feature (attack, protects, and makes sure the opponent is checked). It is an artifact that also destroys another one while adjusting your resonance count, letting you get two names relatively easily. It also serves in a bunch of cheap clearing setups like using it instead of the Analyzing on your FBG turn to potentially remove three targets which is nice if you want to hold onto other artifacts for future use. Also note that with Genesis, Robopup and Zerk can target the generated Guard Artifact so that you can maintain the maximum number of artifacts on the field for Cannon combos. Like Zerk, mulligan in your opening hand to use later on in the game.

Techs

I don't think this is what the Saints meant

There are a couple of legendary tech options you can opt to run, and with most techs you can run them at one or two unless you have a strong preference for them. Additionally, you'll mulligan techs more often in your opening hand unless you think they will be necessary for the matchup. Wielder of the Cosmos can be used primarily against Bahamut decks, but also potentially as a panic button if you brick and can't setup anything else. Evolving it does come at the cost of sacrificing your artifact strategy to a degree, but you'll usually play it far later into the game when it's possible, and if you don't need it you can sacrifice it with Vyrmedea or Melody in the worst case. Advent of Peace can serve as removal to save on artifacts against followers that can't be cleared normally,  Shion can be used with her accelerate or played fully to obtain her spell and nullify effect damage for a turn, which is is helpful against a number of opponents including the mirror matchup to stop their burst combos and buy you time to set up lethal. Absolute Chastity also used to be a consideration as banish is a powerful tool alongside the backup draw and cost reduction to enable more plays, but with the nerf changing the cost to 14 it often takes too long for artifacts to reduce it to something playable, leaving it out of most builds nowadays.

For gold options, Greater Will serves a similar purpose as Shion while drawing a card, and stopping a problematic follower for doing damage for a turn may give you the leverage you need to turn a situation around. Inauspicious Puppeteer can help you clear boards and get around problematic followers with it's stat reduction effect, and possibly give you more opportunities to save your other followers for hitting the opponent directly. Birth of the Ravenous provides a permanent draw effect that can be used to adjust resonance or generally grant more opportunities to unbrick your hand. Bellringer can also be used against aggro and help with resonance if you have the evolution points or destruction effects to spare. 

From the silver options, Cassim and Rosa help to fix the resonance count while also providing some light damage and healing respectively. Gunslinger Automaton also deals with most followers that can't be cleared easily to give you a means to push past them. A New Discovery does summon the other Paradigm artifacts but for four play points it may too awkward or slow to keep at max copies. It does provide a decent turn four if you happen to have it. 

For bronze cards, Craftsman's Pride can either provide puppets for you to use instead of artifacts to clear the board, or generate Forged Weaponry to deal more damage. Cultivate Life can be played without the enhance effect for another draw and chance to fix resonance. Mech Wing Attendant is a potential turn one play that also grants easier access to Mystic Artifact as something else to do on turn three, though it does fall off as you want cheaper options to draw or push for lethal later into the match. Inner Discovery generates another Analyzing, and while rush is nice there are a good number of cards that summon Analyzing already, You also risk losing the full benefit of Discovery either from Deus Ex ditching a copy with the effect, or if space means you'd have to run it at less than three. Skewering Snare can also act as a cheaper alternative to Advent of Peace, with some damage dealt over generating a follower that gives you more space for artifacts on the field.

Sample Decklist

This is a draft of the deck I've been using on the ranked ladder. What's apparent is that there is more of a focus on playing the artifacts as I've only included Gunslinger Automaton from the tech options.  In order to keep up with the speed of play in the current format, decks need to be very consistent in what they do and will largely play towards their win condition over techs for matchups unless the deck is designed to play around specific trends/decks. However this is also only a sample, and you are free to experiment with any of the cards I mentioned or other cards you feel would fit. 

Gameplay wise the plan is simple up until the OTK portion. Play different artifacts in the early game and meet the "6" condition as quickly as possible and prioritize getting FBG and Deus Ex of early. Then, use draws and searches to get to your damage cards and end the game with the combos available. With the leader effects from Deus Ex and FBG, you can also maintain board presence in the process which gives you more time to find enough pieces to win and can help you push your opponent into lethal range with what you already have. Because Deus Ex replaces your hand the OTK options are not quite linear since you must work with what you have, but you can keep in mind how much damage each finishing card represents when it comes to ending the game:

Cannon Artifacts: 3-13 damage depending on the number of other artifacts on the field

Ralmia: 4 damage if you can evolve it (Also the primary board clear, so try to use it with Cannon Artifacts and Impulse)

Artifact Impulse: 6 damage

Celestial Artifact: 8-13 damage

If you use the Cannon Artifacts, they should always be played after you play other artifacts to maximize their damage output, and when using Impulse it should be the last card in a combo to both make sure you've cleared the board before using it, and also to get into the habit of playing it last since it doesn't recover play points from Deux Ex Machina.

Counters/Matchups

Row, Row, fight the power!

Artifacts are performing fairly well in the current meta as there aren't really options across other decks to stop them from meeting the "6" requirement. Pure control decks with minimal board presence are particularly favorable since it give you more room to push and play freely in the early game. However, the deck still needs time to set up the requirement so forcing the Artifact player to respond to aggression may have them use combo pieces earlier than expected, or end the game before they can turn things around. There are also a number of cards that can slow down or stop their combos later on, as the deck is vulnerable to followers being banished, damage reduction/nullification, and indestructible followers. Some neutral examples would be healing/removal options like Gilnelise or Uranus. Greater Will is also strong as it shuts down FBG's effect for a turn, buying time to either fully shut down a potential OTK or to simply kill the Artifact player. 

Tempo/Aggro forest is slightly unfavored as the deck quickly plays fairies that have to be dealt with to reduce damage from both themselves and follow-up cards like Nobilis and Shining Valkyrie, so it can be difficult if heals or clears aren't out in time. There are also some damage reduction and healing effects for later, so you'll have to be wary and build up boardwipes and damage to ensure your OTK combo goes through. 

Evo Control Sword is unfavored as it not only sends followers early, but scales into Victorious Blader and Legendary Sword Commander, the former effectively nullifying Full Blast Gunner's effect, and the latter completely absorbing damage making it impossible to use Impulse or Cannon Artifacts effectively, so you'll want to try and end the match sooner than later. 

Spellboost Rune and Crystallize Haven are closer to even. The former has access to a number of stall spells and Meltina to banish artifacts and slow your game plan enough to achieve theirs faster, and the latter has access to a greater variety of banish tools and healing for a similar purpose, In both cases you either need to end the game before their larger threats hit the field on turn 7-8, or hold onto pieces to OTK if you believe you can survive their onslaught. 

Armed Dragon varies as Dragoncraft in general can highroll with their ramp to play their threats far earlier than expected. Forte in particular can't be removed by artifacts alone once she is fully setup. I'd say the matchup is slightly favored however since aside from that there isn't a lot that Dragon does to disrupt your plays.

Evo Blood is slightly favored since you can reach your condition before theirs, and as long as you can maintain your board presence early on it's easy to end the game before their threats hit the field. 

Ghost Shadow is slightly unfavored since there aren't as many followers to trade into for the 6 condition, but as long as you save a copy of Ralmia or two and a Genesis Artifact/Vyrmedea for later you can clear the Gargantuan Ghosts from Masquarade Ghost and set up wards to buy time as needed.

I think that this deck and Celestial Dragonblade's meta are fairly healthy, though I am also excited by the prospect of the mini-expansion giving way to more decks in the future. For me, I'm happy Artifact Portal is in a pretty good state considering it took a while to transition away from Paradigm Shift and find something that works, and while it is strong there are many techs and counters available to keep it in check. I do understand the frustration of people dealing with it in unlimited pre-nerf and how it always show up eventually, but I don't think it has been as oppressive as other top decks in recent memory. The deck is also difficult to master since the combos are flexible, so ending the game comes down to what the player realizes is available to them. It's a good deck for climbing and events, and also a good deck for long term investment with the learning curve, the ability for the deck to be adjusted as new pieces and strategies come and go, and how it can also transition easily into unlimited. Definitely give it a go if you're interested and have the means to build it. 

Thanks for checking out the guide! If you have any suggestions on things I missed or what you'd like to see next, let me know in the comments. Hopefully there's something to take away whether you're interested in learning the deck or want to be aware of some things when playing against it. Writing about Shadowverse is quite interesting as there's a lot more I feel can be covered due to the nature of classes and how open/consistent general information is on the game, However it also takes a bit longer when sorting everything out, but I find it a fun challenge and want to continue improving in future blogs, so we'll see how that goes. Once again, thanks for your time and I'll see you in the next article!

 

Wishes he had half the drip of Icey