As many are aware, Blue Archive released its second set of support this week. This set was focused entirely on the anime, meaning it only featured characters that appeared in the series. For the uninitiated, the anime mainly follows the story of the Countermeasures Committee, a sort of club consisting of the last five members of the Abydos High School, an ancient school which used to thrive but now is on the edge of full desertification. Sensei (the player character) joins the Countermeasures Committee as they seek solutions to fix up and encourage other students to sign up to join the school.
Front-line member and unhinged criminal #2 acts as the finishing combo for the gang here. A bright eyed wolf student, Shiroko loves nothing more than being with her pack (friends) and committing crimes in broad daylight. Shiroko only allows you to combo “once” with her climax, letting you choose between swapping a character on stage with your level zone or giving her the ability to sacrifice her climax on attack to deal damage to your opponent.
BAV/W129-081R アビドス高等学校 セリカ (center)
BAV/W129-082R 対策委員会のひととき ノノミ＆ホシノ (right)
Shiroko isn’t exactly alone in her plight for treasure and fun. She’s joined by her other members here to close out the fight. Nonomi on the left acts as the mother of the group, carefully making sure all the members are properly cared for, including Sensei. Her ability allows you to pay her costs when she attacks if she is in the center slot of your field, letting you ping your opponent once x times multiplied by the number of Countermeasure Committee (対策委員会) members you have on your field. In return, Nonomi gains a massive amount of power but a heavy soul demerit. In addition, you may also level swap at the start of your climax phase which is important for checking many of the experience [経験] requirements of this deck and getting a finisher in level for Shiroko to bring out.
Serika, the hardworking labourer of the group, is in the center, offering cantripping abilities to the team while also having its own Moca finishing effect. Nonomi and Hoshino together is another finisher that also carries its own anti-burn effect on the backswing.
In the early game, you can choose between Nonomi spraying her handheld gatling gun or that of Shiroko sitting atop of her desk. The new gatling gun Nonomi is a large beater with hand encore and increased power during your turn (fair as she has a stock cost). Nonomi refunds her stock costs at the end of her attack with her combo, letting you perform a Maguro ability, and then, depending on your stock situation, Nonomi lets you stock a number of characters that were revealed as well. Shiroko is an on-attack salvage combo; simple, but it gets the work done. Their respective climaxes are shown below.
Since Blue Archive is heavy on requiring experience for its mechanics, you need to make sure you have the appropriate cards in level zone. Shiroko is a perfect card to enter the level zone as a Riko profile that also counts for three experience in level. Nonomi is a way to guarantee that you meet your level requirements as she can swap your level zone on play while also being a large beater during your turn.
As a reward for running pure or close to pure Countermeasures Committee (対策委員会), these two cards above provide you some rather powerful effects. Nonomi lets you cantrip on play while also letting you discard any level three or higher character to salvage herself or any of her friends. Hoshino is a clock from hand search profile that only searches for her friends from the deck for free. Keep in mind that you can also use Hoshino to force 0/0 Shiroko into clock for experience.
In terms of backups, there is another Hoshino option but it doesn’t really do much without the use of a specific Shiroko that isn’t in this build. Ayane is the best backup of choice as she’s costless and can be salvaged with any arc trigger.
The Countermeasures Committee isn’t without their own specialized array of weapons. 0/0 Ayane acts as the logistics for the squad, providing backline support as their salvage brainstormer with a unique ability to heal the top card of your clock when you refresh if you refresh a climax or a copy of herself. Additionally, when you play a climax, you may also perform a level swap to make sure you meet your experience requirements. 0/0 Serika wielding her gun is a frontline fighter that has a double drop search ability on attack during the turn she’s played from hand. 1/0 Hoshino staring into space has an Operation Tornado ability on attack, helping you salvage a key character from your waiting room while milling your deck. 2/1 Nonomi holding a teacup and saucer is a level assist that can tap itself to empower your early game Nonomi combo while also refunding her stock cost if you have less stock than your opponent. 0/0 Nonomi staring into the danger can sacrifice herself to let you freely play any level one or lower character from hand at level one (like level one Nonomi) without paying their costs and can also mill three. Lastly, returning from the original set, 3/2 Hoshino returns as a Fumio profile that can also pump power and soul to all her friends on swing.
The true power of the Countermeasures Committee is the strength of their bonds. As long as the girls are together, they remain invincible against all odds.