The harshness of reality settled on young Illyasviel von Einzbern. Her father had left her out in the winter cold, and her mother was gone. All Illyasviel had left to her was the comfort of her two homunculus maids, Sella and Leysritt. For years, she lives practically alone in Einzbern Castle, without a friend to speak to other than that of her heroic spirit, Berserker. However, when the Fifth Holy War came to fruition, she came to meet an unexpected younger brother of hers.
Berserker, the strongest servant, dashes straight into the forefront of battle with his mighty sword. Rivaling even that of Saber, nothing trumps Berserker in raw power. Reaching 15000 power without considering his climax, Berserker is a destructive beast, ready to pummel any opponent in his way or challenging his master, Illya. However, there comes a downside to Berserker’s raw damage strikes. After performing his restand combo, Berserker fades to memory at the start of your encore phase as his lives run out.
FS/S77-091C 雄叫 バーサーカー (center)
FS/S77-099RRR 天の杯 (right)
Illya, donning the dress of heaven, comes in as our way to maintain hand advantage. Though, not even a fraction as physically powerful as Berserker, she acts as Berserker’s “heart”. Piercing through his darkness, Illya helps fetch hand from the deck and fill the waiting room. The Berserker in the middle is a nice bonder to Illya with a bonus filter from the top of the deck attached.
Illya and Berserker’s bond is inseperable. The Illya above is a good example of this where she can act as a hand filter to search your deck for any character card named Berserker [バーざーかー]. Additionally, if you pay her second cost when she is front attacked, she can swap herself into the mighty Berserker to the right, likely surprising your opponent and catching them off guard.
Another example of their great bond is the pairing above. Berserker is a powerful 0/0 4000 with some pretty big conditions. Furthermore, he is the condition for the early play Illya to the right if he is in clock. As master and servant, the bond that ties this pair is unbreakable. If you’d like, the Berserker to the left also has his own bonder.
FS/S03-080SR “残虐ちびっ子”イリヤ (center)
FS/S64-091U 御三家の一角 イリヤスフィール (right)
Illya is also an expert in supportive abilities. She has a variety of different functions that provide a number of effects that can be tailored towards your liking. Keep in mind that the Illya to the left states any Servant (サーヴァント) for her filtering effect.
FS/S77-088C 覇気 バーサーカー (center)U
FS/S36-096U バーサーカーの意志 (right)
In terms of counters, two come directly to mind. Illya is an oversized counter. The Berserker in the center is a pseudo “free” 2000 power backup that refunds its stock if you meet his conditions. The counter to your right is an event that lets you filter through the top four cards of your deck and add any card to hand. It’s cost is to sacrifice either an Illya or Berserker on your stage. But keep in mind that doing so, and assuming the card is a Berserker, it will trigger the Illya 2/1 mentioned before as well since the Berserker is ending up in the waiting room from stage.
Make good use of Illya and Berserker’s multiple bonds. You can use these cards to filter your hand. The fact that both triggers are arcs allows you to potentially combo several times. Keep in mind that the 1/0 Illya combo does have a strict stock limit when performing her ability. Burst through your opponent’s defenses with Berserker’s raw power while supporting him from the sidelines with Illya.