Deck Profile: Saiyan Defiant Vegeta

Saiyan Defiant Mastery might not have had the strongest debut, but it's far from unplayable. Defiant Future Gohan was a pet deck of mine for some time, playing to the simple truth that all FG needs is a life card modifier to win games. Sadly the well-deserved limit of Saiyan Turning Kick robbed the deck of a good chunk of that "degenerate factor" that makes a strategy worth playing. Sure replacing the lost Turning Kicks with Saiyan Aerial Assault allows the deck to remain playable, but it doesn't have the zest that originally drew me to it. So instead we turn to the most powerful Defiant deck in the current format: Defiant Super Vegeta.

Saiyan Defiant Vegeta

Starting:

Saiyan Defiant Mastery

Vegeta - Aggravated

Vegeta - Prince of Bingo

Vegeta - Pissed

Vegeta - Super Saiyan Blue

Planning: 4
Bulma - Taking a Drag

Vegeta's Prideful Challenge x3

Events: 12

Vegeta's Fury

Unleashed x3

Confrontation x3

Heroic Energy Sphere x2

Time is a Warrior's Tool

Saiyan Rescue

Saiyan Combative Stance

Energy Attacks: 10

Vegeta's Final Flash x3

Saiyan Energy Flurry x3

Saiyan Burst x3

Saiyan Tracking Blast

Physical Attacks: 25

I'll Dig Your Grave x3

Heroic Dashing Punch x2

Devastating Blow x2

Saiyan Assault x3

Saiyan Flying Kick x3

Saiyan Legendary Strike x3

Saiyan Spin Kick x3

Saiyan Severing Punch x3

Saiyan Left Kick x3

Blocks: 9

Saiyan Energy Deflection x3

Saiyan Reversal x3

Saiyan Resistance x3

    The most obvious draw of using Vegeta is that he has access to both Saiyan !!! cards. Saiyan Assault is a pretty insane attack, especially with an MP that levels as effectively as Vegeta. Energy Flurry is a little less broken, but Vegeta's mods stack with the mastery to make it a devastating finisher. Some might consider our energy attack line a little too large for a physical beatdown deck, but each energy is too powerful to ignore. Vegeta's universal stage mods also ensure the stage pressure never lets up, even when we're throwing life card attacks.

    This deck plays to the most ignorant aspects of Defiant Mastery: The free mod makes all of your attacks hit harder, and dumping your hand in true aggro style activates the free prevention effect. Damage can swing in your favor incredibly easy, especially with Saiyan's terrific Endurance (this list effortlessly hits 54, almost an entire additional deck!). The timing on the prevent allows you to sneak in some clutch anger gain to secure levels that you might otherwise lose, or deny your opponent a level in order to slam home a Saiyan Burst for maximum value. We play as many auto-levelers as possible to ensure we climb to Vegeta's insane 3 and 4. Saiyan Legendary Strike not only bolsters our defense when necessary but also provides a critical damage effect when tutored from the deck by our level 4. Saiyan Flying Kick is a tutorable combo tool. While we lack Setup/Drill hate, Vegeta's Final Flash and Prideful Challenge do a respectable job of making sure we don't especially care about what our opponent is putting on the board. Saiyan Combative Stance is a mildly spicy 1-of that helps the deck with stage gain for all those energies, as well as recursion. Speaking of stage gain, Bulma offers similar support.

    With the energy attack lineup where it is, I don't believe there's room for Assisted Kamehameha, one of the best cards in Defiant. Heroic Energy Sphere is also a bit of a risky card. If your opponent doesn't have an Event it can be stuck in your hand and turn off your !!! effects. But with the mastery discard outlet and the abundance of Events worth stopping, it rarely happens. If it worries you, On the Move! could make a great replacement. Confrontation can occasionally have negative synergy with Final Flash, but it's one of the best cards in the game and easily wins combats for you on offense or defense. Run 3 in every deck unless you have specific reasons not to, i.e. Red Ascension Mastery. And if the lack of board hate really scares you, Saiyan Dive can be worth adding. Defiant's mod makes it threaten to crit from turn 1. Finally, remember that Saiyan Assault loses its effects when you're on Super Saiyan Blue.

    My previous article was a bit harsh on Defiant. And it can't be ignored that the mastery needs more support; it's unbelievable how fast this deck can run out of search targets. But if you take this deck for a spin, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the power the Mastery offers. And hopefully you'll be excited to see what further support could bring! Later dayZ!

-Seth