Sword Girls Maid Deck Strategy Guide

Sword Girls Maid Deck Strategy Guide by shawnreed343

Cinia Pacifica
3x Gardening Maid
3x New Maid
3x Private Maid
3x Guard Maid
3x Aristocrat Girl
1x Sempai Maid

2x Magic Stone Found
3x Meadow Leisure
3x Curse
3x Accident
3x Lineage Maintenance

At first glance, it looks like a standard maids deck- but this maids deck has been optimized to work on a size/slot curve. In essence, you try to drop a size 1 into slot 1, a size 2 into slot 2, a size 3 into slot 3, and if you can’t or have extra… spells go there. At least ideally this is the case, so that you can get Lineage Management to go off at an equivalent +9 damage, +9 stamina, though +6 on each is pretty common. If Lineage Management can’t hit two of your allies, don’t play it. Likewise, don’t play Accident unless you have at least 2 maids on the field. Breaking the curve to get an extra maid for Accident is just fine- the effect is incredibly powerful if you have 3 maids out and just fine if you have 2.

Here’s a breakdown on some points of game theory:
Debuffs can be more powerful than buffs. Reasoning: An opposing character debuffed to below the defense of a character you control deals no damage on an attack or counter: ie, free damage for you. And, whatever the size of the opponent’s debuffed card is that much less wiggle room they have on playing spells or more allies to do something about it. (Ie, a waste of space and a sitting duck) Also, because spells activate before attacks, when you debuff instead of buff, it can mean your characters will live through more attacks/counters, which then translates into that character being able to do more damage in the long run. There are times when I have an ally that’s at 6/2/1 being attacked by a 2/2/4 (debuffed), where I kill it on the counter… whereas if it had been a 4/2/6 it would have killed my ally.

The meta theory of many decks right now is to place a couple of ‘big’ characters out that get bigger over time, and buff them. In these cases, debuffing can win you the turn by keeping your allies alive long enough to kill these big allies or reducing them to a point where they take up a portion of the opponent’s size allowance without being able to kill your allies, then doing a lot of damage to the opponent when they do die.

This deck tries to keep 3-6 cards on the field all the time. A smaller ally is more expendable- it deals less damage to you when it dies, and if it deals damage to or kills a bigger opposing ally first, you’re gaining value from the card. Also, having more options for an opponent to attack helps the odds of your allies with a high attack and low current health to live long enough to attack, even if another ally dies. An additional benefit to playing more cards: it cycles through your deck faster, allowing more of a chance for the cards you want to see entering your hand. -You automatically draw 1 card (and discard 1 card) each turn if you don’t play anything. If you play 1 card, you draw 1 card but don’t discard. If you play 2 or more, you draw that many cards… so the lower size curve of each card in the deck means more chances to dig for a card you want to see the next turn. -IE, more options/card draw. Card advantage. Keep in mind, though, that you do not automatically need to play cards to have 9 or 10 size for the turn. Sometimes playing nothing, with 6/10 size on the field, is the right move.

Opposing characters who would be intimidating but are in the danger zone on health- 2-3 (don’t forget Cinia’s debuff) can be Curse/Accidented to death; good for multiple reasons. Really excellent when your opponent has another ally out also that’s now debuffed and ‘the’ target for your attacks.

A note on opposing defense: You have direct answers with this deck in the form of Aristocrat Girl and Magic Stone Found. Your own buffs should also be sufficient to simply whittle away at an ally at 3 or less defense. A big character under the opponent’s control that is debuffed enough to pose little threat surviving on their defense is not bad for you: it is good because that ally is taking up part of your opponent’s size allotment.

The deck should play intuitively, but there are times when you should use your shuffle option or both shuffles in a turn to get cards you need to dig for. I recommend against shuffling with 3 cards in hand, and don’t if you have 2 in hand. Shuffle primarily to make Accident and Lineage Maintenance go off smoothly (at least 2 maids or at least 2 allies in the right slots). Some common formations:
1 drop, 2 drop, 3 drop, 2-3 drop.
3 drop, 2 drop, 3 drop, 1-2 drop.
1 drop, 3 drop, 3 drop, 2-3 drop.
2 drop, 2 drop, 3 drop, 2-3 drop.

Try to make sure 2-4 of your allotment is open for spells– don’t fill that last 3 with a size 3 ally (usually) no matter how tempting. You may draw a well-timed spell next turn that you won’t be able to play if you play the ally.

The deck is reasonably forgiving- both in recovering board position and in the occasional lapse of judgement on slot/size placement. Just try to keep at least 2 cards in slots equal to their size, and play a spell in a slot as a placeholder if you have to. The triple threat of having a small size curve, buffs for your own allies, and debuffs for your opponents gives you a lot of board and card advantage compared to many decks that can currently be built, and I’ve had good success against decks based on ‘large’ characters by not letting them build up.

Disadvantages? The deck is vulnerable to the card ‘Mass Recall’… luckily this card is -very- difficult to craft at 50 points. A massive buff can be trouble if your opponent can one shot your characters. You can often still recover from this simply by having many characters that can attack, but a defense rating on such a character can pose a problem if that character has a high health from the massive buff. And other debuff decks, which become something of an endurance test. In these cases, Lineage Management and Meadow Leisure help you pull out the win.

I encourage you to try the build out and see what you think, and let me know your success ratio.

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