Persona – Protagonist.deck (Y) [12/23/2021]

Have you ever been to the fictional city of Shibuya? Do you ever look in the mirror and wonder to yourself, who are you? Does being slapped by a talking black cat and being forced into eternal slumber entertain you? Does running around a city, talking to random folks, and raising your social links seem to mimic your falsified idealisation of your high school career?

If any of those questions above relate to you, then this is the perfect deck that personifies (haha, get it, PERSONA) your identity.

We are all born as shadows deep within our mother’s wombs. As we develop, breathe our first breaths and dwell in the mesmerising strangeness of reality, our personalities change, adapt and grow based on our experiences and those around us. Reaching into the aria of the soul, we unlock our inner selves, pulling out what we truly are and what we were meant to be.

Alright, enough with the jokes. Yes, yes, we all know that you as the reader was probably one of the cool kids who played the SMT predecessor, the Persona series, before anyone played it. Yes, yes, Persona began with 5, and then 3 and 4 came out shortly after. You were probably one of those lounge kids wearing some form of black clothes with a loner sort of motif that tried to emulate the protagonists of this series (though in reality, I really had a friend who admitted he tried that for a bit back in high school). I get it.

Jokes aside. Yes, the real final jokes aside. This is a Protagonist deck. What that means is we’ll be using cards that synergize with Protagonist (主人公) to gain advantage and defeat our opponent. As shown with the three cards above, we will be using each of the protagonists from the various games of Persona 3, 4, and 5. For the sake of simplicity, since the protagonists are named inconsistently on the cards, we’ll give them the names of the following: Makoto (P3), Yu (P4), and Joker (P5).

The best combo finisher that gives tribute to the Protagonist profile is shown above. Makoto effectively heals and carries a punish burn with the climax to the right. More importantly, there’s no reliance on traits which is something that will be conflicting indefinitely.

While we’re here, another protagonist, Yu from Persona 4, is a great addition to the party with his spawn ability with the same climax and a cancel draw ability to potential regain hand.

So what synergies does the deck have? Well of course, since all our Protagonists have the name, Protagonist, we’re able to essentially use a bundle of supports throughout all the sets that target the name, Protagonist. Supports like the ones above are great options as they grant a variety of effects for your Protagonists. Nanako (the most powerful character in the franchise), in particular, carries tons of supportive effects that target Protagonist specifically.

The Nanako to the left, ready to consume the flesh the weak, provides hexproof to all your characters with Protagonist in name while providing power in front as well. Ideally for its power effect in the back, you pair it up with another card with assist like the two other cards suggested. Sae, herself, is an assist in front, but more importantly, she can resurrect any of your fallen Protagonists. Lastly, our boy Yu, on the right, can be used as an additional assist piece.

Given the cards shown above, the game plan is pretty straight forward. Just as the protagonists do in their games, we’re literally going to wham our opponent to death with raw power.

There are no specific plus-sing combos for the deck. As such, we’ll just have to compromise by doubling down on killing power. Similarly to the Makoto level 3, this Yu performs a similar effect but carrying a cost since its combo begins at 2 rather than 3.

Since the deck does not generate much hand, alternative means will have to be used to generate hand. Joker on the left is one of the more immediate ways of getting hand upon being reverse. His condition is very important since he can fetch anything off the top two cards. Yoshida provides two very supportive abilities with the latter being important to swap itself for another card and fill the waiting room. Lastly, Joker in the back with his friends on the right lets you save another card and shuffle it to the back assuming you fulfil his condition.

A protagonist is always equipped to deal with any situation. That is why we have our two Joker bros in the left and center. You may alternatively swap them to the one that you need to counter the opponent’s cards. Protagonist reading a book with Nanako is built to spank any card during your turn while being able to retain his presence with his encore ability. He can also be bonded by P4/S08-003R.

On the defence, the protagonists are highly protected by the powerful backups above. The Naoto in particular lets you split the backup power to protect your side lanes potentially. The Joker to the right helps permanently remove any annoying threats.

Look, most of you are probably still stuck in that teenage dream wearing your Anti-Social Social Club hoodies and lounging in the back waiting for your fool card to arrive with a chance meeting with some creepy old man in a velvet room. Even though you may have the body of someone hitting their late 20s or more, with the delusion of an average teenager unwilling to pass the adult maturity check, with this deck, you’ll be able to revive those old memories of you with the trench coat and fedora. Keep in mind that not all the Protagonists carry the name in their card name but rather the name when they are on field.