User blog:Romanoff Blitzer/The Hitchhiker's Guide to Tawil (Tawil Deck Primer Redux)

So WX-06 Fortune Selector finally came out, and Tawil is already topping tournaments, with at least three decks posted on Twitter by hobby stores (recorded by the [wixooshanayosan.blog.fc2.com WIXOSS Hanayo] blog). At the same time, TradeCardsOnline finally added WX-06 Fortune Selector to its list of WIXOSS sets, and with that, I finally got some practical experience with Tawil in.

It appears she is a lot better than expected, and quite a few assertions I made from the first Tawil article were incorrect. I'm glad to be proven wrong, but mildly embarrassed that I complained at all. Let that be a lesson to all complainers out there.

Of course, I wasn't entirely wrong.

How to Tawil Redux
Tawil is a primarily defensive LRIG that sets up fields of high-powered SIGNI. Between Munkarun, Aphrodite, and Gabrie, with Tawil=Fyra's Constant on top, Tawil's SIGNI generally cannot be killed by opposing level 4 SIGNI. Then, using Rabiel, Xeno Multiple, and her own abilities, Tawil pokes down the opponent's Life Cloth, until she can drop Wish Crisis into double Aphrodites for the win.

To support her defense, Tawil has many ways to search out exactly the SIGNI she needs. Nakirun is the main card advantage generator of the deck, while Haniel and Michael ensure that you fill up all of your SIGNI spaces each turn. Wish Crisis, while it searches, is more of a finisher card with Aphrodite, although it can ensure SIGNI consistency as well.

Tawil is not a very ener-hungry deck. Due to the generally low cost of white ARTS, Tawil=Fyra's abilities costing no ener to use, and Angels not having many ener abilities, you end up with a good chunk of ener and nothing to spend it on. Since you need Angels in your trash to use Tawil=Fyra's abilities, this can actually be a problem. Frequently, your Angels will get stuck in your ener, and you are unable to move them into the trash. Since nearly all white ARTS are defensive, and there are few options for offensive white ARTS, you usually can't move cards to ener as you choose.

LRIG
Standard vanilla LRIGs. Not particularly exciting, but always useful. Better than Umuru=Ett, Wielder of the Key of Creation. The only talking point here is the art. Tawil=Fyra is a great card that serves many purposes, unlike Umuru=Fyra, Wielder of the Key of Creation. (Poor Umuru.)
 * Tawil=Noll, Prolonged of Life
 * Tawil=Ett, Prolonged of Life
 * Tawil=Två, Prolonged of Life
 * Tawil=Tre, Prolonged of Life
 * Tawil=Fyra, Prolonged of Life

Her Constant is useful, although less that it would normally be, since Gabrie and Munkarun already have over 12000 power. However, it makes Kiuael bigger than most level 4 SIGNI and Nakirun and Archold bigger than most level 3 SIGNI. It also lets Munkarun hit level 4 vanillas and level 5s, and lets Gabrie wall those level 4 vanillas and level 5s.

The main draw to Tawil=Fyra is her second Action, which trashes enemy SIGNI for no ener cost. It's not hard to get seven Angels of different names in your trash, especially if you set your deck up correctly, and you will usually hit 7 by the time you hit level 4. Trashing is much stronger than your typical banish or bounce, as it prevents your opponent from gaining ener for defensive ARTS. A lesser function of Tawil's Action is to return Angels to your deck, letting you search for them again and makes it so that you will never end up refreshing.

You will almost never use Tawil=Fyra's first action, as the second action is very easy to set up. It's generally used if you really really need that banish, if there's an Angel you need to return to your deck, or if you get 14 angels in your trash. Somehow.

ARTS
The nice thing about Tawil is that, since she's not ener-hungry, you'll always build a nice stack of ener each game, which means you always have the opportunity to use ARTS. Unless your opponent FracLocks you.

The other thing about Tawil is that she already generates SIGNI very well, making things like Oversalvage and Avon unnecessary. You can devote nearly all of your ARTS space to defensive ARTS. Classic spot defense card. Generally used to plug small, one-lane holes in your defense, like if your opponent has a Miao, Phantom Beast or Ordnance, Roaring Gun. Tends to be an expensive, conditional Don't Move. At best (which isn't too often), it's very strong, single-handedly stopping final turns for no cost. At worst, it's dead useless and Rabiel fodder. Thankfully, being ener-light, Tawil can afford to pay the 5 cost, and sometimes even the 8 cost.
 * Baroque Defense
 * Idol Defense

Dead useless against Piruluk. Premier defense card. Blocks two whole attacks for only two ener. Generally you shouldn't use it when you can only block one attack with it, but sometimes you will need to do so. Usually, you use this during the first few turns to ensure that you play as much SIGNI as you can each turn. If you're unlucky and end up with no level 1 SIGNI in your starting hand, you can use Soap Summon to grab Haniel, which can search for another level 1 SIGNI itself, to ensure that you play two SIGNI at level 1.
 * Pinch Defense
 * Soap Summon

If your Soap Summon survives the early game, it becomes a decent defensive ARTS against SIGNI. It's particularly strong if your opponent opens up two SIGNI lanes expecting easy crushes; just drop Soap Summon into Rabiel and use Rabiel's ability to bounce one SIGNI and block the other. Tawil is very, very dependent on drawing Wish Crisis when she needs it. If she doesn't draw one, or is forced to expend Wish Crisis to build her field, then she can have trouble finishing opponents. This is where Spell Salvage comes in. With it, you can ensure you can Wish Crisis into Aphrodite exactly when you need it. A second copy of whatever ARTS you need. You will usually retrieve Baroque Defense or Pinch Defense with it, although it can be used to recur Soap Summon or Spell Salvage. Another classic defensive card. However, since the only blue sources you have are Multi Ener cards, it can be difficult to get the two Servants in your ener, especially since you need to save some for guarding. Also, it can only directly stop one SIGNI attack. Still good, though.
 * Spell Salvage
 * Spirit Salvage
 * Xeno Multiple

SIGNI
Due to Tawil=Fyra's second Constant, you should run one copy of as many Angels as you can. Generally, you will end up running one of every Angel, aside from important ones like Munkarun, Nakirun, and Haniel. You could take out one or two of the unimportant Angels for utility spells, though.

Level 4
Tawil's premier SIGNI. Always run four.
 * Munkarun, Elder Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb

With Tawil=Fyra's Constant and its own Constant, Munkarun always bigger than most enemy SIGNI. If you have all three Angels out, Munkarun reaches 15000, allowing her to hit level 4 vanillas and level 5 SIGNI.

Munkarun's second Constant makes her presence nearly impossible to remove, sort of like Piloted Sky Golem. Removal is mostly useless against her, forcing the opponent to resort to things like Don't Move and Ansap Aztec. Very helpful when you're trying to end the game, or are faced with mass removal like Hanayo-Five or Black Desire.

Munkarun's Life Burst is amazing, refilling your hand with strong SIGNI when you need it most. At its worst, it's redundant, but that's not a big deal. Primarily for use with Wish Crisis. Run two or three, depending on whether you want to ensure having Aphrodites in your deck.
 * Aphrodite, Flower Bloom of Late Beginnings

With a hardcast Wish Crisis, you can drop two Aphrodites and trash two SIGNI at once, a very strong finisher. Tawil can afford to pay the cost when it counts. Oftentimes, though, you will only need one Aphrodite, and the other SIGNI from Wish Crisis can be Munkarun or Gabrie.

A frequent problem you will run into is not having enough Aphrodites in the deck to combo with Wish Crisis. Sometimes your Aphrodites will wind up in your hand, or worse, your Life Cloth. In that case, you can use Tawil=Fyra to recycle your Aphrodites back into the deck, but that isn't always easy. Sometimes you will need to expend Spirit Salvage or Spell Salvage just to put Angels into the trash. If you want to ensure having Aphrodites, run three, although two of this and two of Gabrie is sufficient.

As an aside, Aphrodite's second Constant can trigger off of Wish Crisis's Life Burst, because it's not an on-play. Level 4 vanilla. Run at least one, maybe two.
 * Gabrie, Future of the Archangel

With Tawil=Fyra's Constant, Gabrie outpowers pretty much all SIGNI, preventing her from being killed by battle. Generally, the only way for your opponent to overcome Gabrie by battle is with Adamasphere + Diabride or Seiryu + Beiar. Otherwise, your opponent is forced to use removal. Running Arcgain in Tawil is not unheard of, both for her Life Burst and the fact that she's another distinct Angel for Tawil=Fyra's effect. Due to Tawil's lack of Life Burst options, running Arcgain seems especially attractive. I don't think she's necessary, however, and the deck can be set up to not require her.
 * Arcgain, Archangel of Pioneering

Level 3
Main card advantage generator. Run four. Running three is possible, but a big stretch.
 * Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb

Cards like Shark Lance and Valkyrie have proven to be very strong, generating a card with a simple down, and Nakirun is no exception. Nakirun replaces herself, guarantees that you have two SIGNI on the third turn, and unlike Valkyrie she can search out level 4s. Downing her followed by trashing her with Wish Crisis has many uses, from guaranteeing Munkarun/Gabrie/Kiuael to fetching MORE Nakiruns to generate MORE cards. She should be placed in front of a SIGNI smaller than her, so your opponent has to get rid of that SIGNI themselves if they want to get rid of Nakirun. Kiuael stands out from the other clones in that she is a level 3 SIGNI with 12000 power. As such, she has 13000 power taking Tawil=Fyra's Constant into account, walling level 4 SIGNI. Best when grouped with two other level 4s, but can also be searched out at level 3 with Nakirun for a 12k body. Kiuael, but weaker.
 * Kiuael, Faint Smile of Sacrifice
 * Raphae, From Your Tomorrow

Like Kiuael, she can outpower most opposing level 3 SIGNI, but unlike Kiuael, she can't fight level 4 SIGNI. Fetch her if you don't want to play Kiuael yet, or if Kiuael is stuck in your trash or Life Cloth. Notable for being the only unrestricted Angel SIGNI with Life Burst. Otherwise not that strong. Since 7000 power is relatively low, her power boost is unlikely to stick, and your opponent will simply banish her first before attacking your other SIGNI. As a SIGNI with Life Burst, though, you should still run Archold, since Tawil is sorely lacking in Life Burst variety.
 * Archold, Gospel of the Future

Level 2
Great for final pushes, and for defense with Soap Summon. Against fast decks where you won't use up all of your ARTS anyways, or against slow decks without threatening finishers, it's worth using Rabiel. However, in slow, grindy match-ups where you need all of your defensive ARTS to survive, like Piruluk, Tama, and Iona Mayu, it's not worth using up an ARTS for Rabiel. Similarly to Haniel, she ensures SIGNI consistency. Can fetch Urie or Ciel for a solid body or ensure that you hit Nakirun on turn 3. Having 8000 power compared to 7000 is a notable distinction when dealing with level 3 SIGNI with 7000 power, but the difference really isn't that important. Ciel and Urie are interchangeable, and both serve the same purpose of being solid level 2 bodies.
 * Rabiel, Protector of Holy Arts
 * Michael, Voice of Reconciliation
 * Ciel, Fictitious Love
 * Urie, Sudden Ruination

Level 1
Necessary card.
 * Haniel, Thoughts of Seeking

Haniel helps immensely when she's the only level 1 in your starting hand, as she can search out another SIGNI to guarantee two SIGNI on the first turn. If you end up with no level 1s in your starting hand, then you can grab Haniel with Soap Summon, which has the same effect. The discard also helps fuel Tawil=Fyra's abilities.

Haniel isn't very useful outside the first few turns, though. Since you're running four of her and you usually don't have a reason to put her on the field, she can interfere with the different-names requirement of Tawil=Fyra's ability. You could chain-search with her though; use her to search for Michael, who searches for Nakirun, who searches for the Angel of your choice. Pretty draining on the hand, though.

You should run four; however, it is possible to go balls-in and run little to no level 1s in your deck at all, relying on a first-turn Soap Summon to grab Haniel. This allows you to reduce space in your deck for stronger SIGNI or utility spells, which is great because in Tawil decks, deck space is tight. However, it comes at the cost of possibly not having a level 1 during your second turn, and giving up having Soap Summon for later. Not much different between Saniel and Sarie, except the fact that Sarie is cuter. Saniel has a higher power through her ability, but during the early game your other Angels are easily killed, lowering Saniel's power. On the other hand, Saniel can kill 5k SIGNI such as Servant D that Sarie cannot.
 * Saniel, Focus of Philanthropy
 * Sarie, Improvement of Historical Fact

Spells
Due to Tawil's limited Life Burst options, you usually cannot afford to run non-Life Burst spells. If you want to, you'll have to get rid of either Raphae, Ciel, or Urie. Kiuael is too useful and Saniel and Sarie contribute to your level 1 count. Wish Crisis used to suck. Tawil made it usable.
 * Wish Crisis

Tama has absolutely no need for Wish Crisis. She already had amazing search options, like Get Index and Valkyrie, and generally did not run many Angel SIGNI (the most prominent ones were Arcgain and Athena). She got better and better options as more sets were released, leaving Wish Crisis dead useless.

But now, we have Tawil, whose unique circumstances make Wish Crisis good.


 * The existence of Aphrodite opens up a possible combo with Wish Crisis.
 * Unlike Tama decks, Tawil decks don't use that much ener, making a Wish Crisis + Aphrodite combo viable.
 * Tama already has insane finishers, such as Mega Ultra Spoiler and Arc Aura. Tawil is relatively lacking in finishers, so she must run Wish Crisis Aphrodite.
 * Tama has plenty of Life Burst options, while Tawil has extremely limited Life Burst options. As a result, you have to run many copies of Wish Crisis to compensate.

If it sounds like Tawil compares unfavorably to Tama, that's because everyone compares unfavorably to Tama. Tama OP.

As it is now, though, Wish Crisis is an excellent card in a Tawil deck. Wish Crisis is mainly there to combo with Aphrodite, but it can also be used to secure SIGNI consistency. Especially good if used with a downed Nakirun. Also good if used to play Nakiruns, as you can down those to grab SIGNI anyways. The other Life Burst option for Tawil decks. As a result, you have to run at least one. Two is fine too.
 * Soap Sudden

Soap Sudden is okay. It is primarily used to clear a SIGNI lane while you have your SIGNI wall set-up and your opponent has three SIGNI up. The SIGNI downed for Soap Sudden can also be combined with Wish Crisis to produce fresh SIGNI. Soap Sudden isn't as highly-impacting as Wish Crisis can be, but in combination with your other removal options, Soap Sudden can help clear the opponent's field for a finish.

Due to Tawil's lack of ener constraints, you can easily use Soap Sudden for 3 or even 5 ener, which is useful if you need some SIGNI to stay upped for attacks.

As a Life Burst, Soap Sudden is very strong. Outside of the early game, you will always have one Angel SIGNI that can survive the enemy's attacks, long enough for Soap Sudden's Life Burst to trigger and trash a SIGNI. Two cards for one makes Get Almandal decent, but the fact that it doesn't have Life Burst makes it hard to put into the deck. Note that you can search out Haniel or Michael with the first part of the effect, which can then chain-search into Nakirun to get the SIGNI you want.
 * Get Almandal

Note that the second part of the effect has no restriction in what SIGNI you search, which is useful if you're desperate for guards. Decent card advantage. Tawil doesn't quite need it, though, since she already has plenty of other card advantage options.
 * THREE OUT

The fact that it's blue makes it hard to pay for, and it can step on the toes of your Xeno Multiple, but it can also be used to pay for Xeno Multiple's cost. What else are you going to do with the LRIG cards under Tawil?
 * Next Ready

Next Ready is mostly for the draw. The ener charge is nice, but not always useful due to Tawil's lack of ener constraints. The mill is useful for fueling Tawil=Fyra's abilities and possibly putting your opponent closer to refreshing. The ability-taking is generally not that useful, but it has its niche uses.

Next Ready is a solid card, but, like Get Almandal and THREE OUT, is hard to put into the deck since it doesn't have Life Burst.

Example Decklist
LRIG: Tawil=Noll, Prolonged of Life Tawil=Ett, Prolonged of Life Tawil=Två, Prolonged of Life Tawil=Tre, Prolonged of Life Tawil=Fyra, Prolonged of Life ARTS: Idol Defense / Spirit Salvage Pinch Defense Soap Summon Spell Salvage Xeno Multiple SIGNI: (35) Level 1: (10) W 4x Haniel, Thoughts of Seeking C 4x Servant O (LB) W 1x Saniel, Focus of Philanthropy W 1x Sarie, Improvement of Historical Fact Level 2: (8) C 4x Servant D (LB) W 1x Ciel, Fictitious Love W 1x Michael, Voice of Reconciliation W 1x Rabiel, Protector of Holy Arts W 1x Urie, Sudden Ruination Level 3: (9) W 4x Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb C 2x Servant T (LB) W 1x Archold, Gospel of the Future (LB) W 1x Kiuael, Faint Smile of Sacrifice W 1x Raphae, From Your Tomorrow Level 4: (8) W 4x Munkarun, Elder Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb W 2x Aphrodite, Flower Bloom of Late Beginnings W 2x Gabrie, Future of the Archangel Spells: (5) W 3x Wish Crisis (LB) W 2x Soap Sudden (LB) W: 30 C: 10 Angels: 25

Levels 1 and 2 are where you are at your weakest, as you have to scrounge around for SIGNI. Often you will have to lay down your Servants rather than save them for guarding, which makes a large difference if you're up against Piruluk. Use Soap Summon if necessary to ensure that you have all of your lanes filled.

At level 3, you gain access to Nakirun, which near-singlehandedly ensure that your SIGNI lanes will be filled. Nakirun can search for Haniel or Michael to search for more SIGNI if necessary, but it is more likely that you will grab Kiuael or Raphae to further your board position or Munkarun to secure a strong SIGNI for level 4.

Level 4 is where you hit your stride. Between Munkarun, Gabrie, and Kiuael, you can wall your opponent's SIGNI easily, forcing your opponent to find alternate ways of dealing with your SIGNI. You tend to hit seven Angel SIGNI in the trash around the time you hit level 4, as well, so you can trash a SIGNI.

On any given turn, if you don't think you can finish off your opponent by clearing all of their SIGNI, then poke holes in your opponent's defense and attack their SIGNI to wear them down. Unless they're Anne or Piruluk or something, their Life Cloth will eventually be worn down to 2 or so, allowing you to final turn by playing Wish Crisis into Aphrodite, bouncing with Rabiel or Xeno Multiple, or trashing with Tawil=Fyra. Since all of your removal comes in the form of trashing or bouncing, removing your opponent's SIGNI won't give them ener to use ARTS. Make sure that they can't react to your assault, though; don't go all-in and burn all of your resources only to be rekt by Ansap Aztec. Always watch your opponent's ener and predict what defensive ARTS they may be using. If your opponent has too much ener, then you will eventually have to spend some of your removal anyways just to threaten your opponent enough to root out your opponent's defensive ARTS.

Matchups
Maybe later.

I will guarantee sections on Piruluk, Hanayo, Yuzuki, and three-stop Midoriko, since I've played those. No one plays Tama or level 4 Midoriko at TCO, I need to study Iona more, and the rest of the decks are bad. (Banalrun with Mind Mines and Fortune Five runs rampant. I really need to get to that Mirurun article.)

(Why don't people play Tama? Is she boring? She's crazy ridiculous, being meta in Japan. Of course, I'm only counting the good Tama decks, of which I have seen none...)

P.S.
This article turned out to be a lot more detailed that I expected. It's certainly a lot larger than the Hitchhiker's Guide's entry on the planet Earth.

I regret nothing.