Milky Holmes – The Phantom Thieves (B/Y) [09/11/2024]

Often, villains are misunderstood individuals who have been mistreated and harmed by society. They are common everyday individuals just like the rest of us law-abiding citizens. These villains just take it upon themselves to release their pent-up energy and stress upon the rest of society. With proper rehabilitation and support, they too can become great working citizens who work collectively with all of us to better society. And then there are the Phantom Thieves.

Enter the busty Arsène, the legendary gentlewoman thief. Facing off against her rather unprepared and lacklustre rival, the rather dim-witted Sheryl Holmes, she deploys her toys as the two engage in their legendary battle take two.

Arsène is a sneaky finisher that can come out early with her level three assist changer in the center. With her climax ability, she mills the top four cards of your deck and deals damage to your opponent equal to the number of climaxes you mill while granting her a small boost of power as well. Defend Arsène well, and send the silly Milky Holmes team to the depths of despair where they truly belong.

Another finisher you can slot into your deck is this Arsène above who comes out early if you have a full field of Thief (怪盗) characters or characters with the name Henriette [アンリエット]. She gains power during your opponent’s turn, and when you have the same climax name in play as the other finisher (they share the same climax that has two different versions), you may heal the top card of your clock and give her further cross-turn power.

Borrowing assets from the Colour the Phantom troupe, White Mask and Black Mask act as the primary antagonists that the Milky Holmes and their crew must face first. White Mask is our early game advantage engine, being a Shimakaze combo and nabbing our pieces. The catch is that with Black Mask on stage, White Mask will gain an additional large burst of power with the caveat of sending herself to waiting room at the end of turn. This ability also affects Black Mask if White Mask is on stage. Black Mask works with the same climax combo, granting an additional burst of damage to one of your characters when she attacks with the combo in play. Keep in mind that as long as both named cards are on field, they will indefinitely go to waiting room at the end of turn, regardless of whether you encore them or not.

In the back row, supporting the other thieves, we have a variety of Henriette and Arsène helpers. As for why Henriette is in this deck, I’m confused as well, but she’s supposedly some secret supportive operative or something like that. She also bears a striking resemblance to Arsène, but that could just be my old eyes working up again. Anyways, Henriette on the left is a support with two functions. Firstly, when a climax is played, you reveal the top card of your deck and if that card is a Thief (怪盗) character, you may give one of your characters an additional soul for the turn. You may also tap and pay her costs to give one of your thieves the ability to draw upon reverse. Arsène cantrips on play and is a tap self search brainstorm for your other thieves. Lastly, there is the optional Henriette support on the right that has a unique ability to scry your opponent’s deck and filter draw the top card of your deck. Keep in mind that Henriette only carries a Thief trait on stage.

Given the relatively heavy costs of our early play Arsène, we need a way to generate the funds needed to keep our criminal mastermind happy. Captain Moran here has a bonder to a rather unique strange looking toy. His bear friend is a minus soul counter that also generates stock. When you use this counter, you place the top cards of your deck to stock equivalent to up to the number of your reversed characters and then choose a character in battle and grant them minus soul equal to the amount of stock gained. It’s a rather confusing effect, but you’d essentially want to use this card on your opponent’s last attack to make full use of its minus soul ability while generating you extra stock.

Speaking of Arsène’s squad, meet the true GOAT of the deck, Ra…..? Rat is a Time Machine profile that consistently sends himself to memory and back whenever he reverses a character. The best part about Rat is that he’s hexproof and gains a bit of power during your turn. 0/0 Rat in the center is a drop search specifically for Thief characters. Do keep in mind that Henrietta only gains Thief trait while she is on stage. Lastly, Henrietta biting bread is a stick hand-encore profile that gains additional power should you meet her experience requirements. Use these cards to assemble your squad and maintain field in the early game.

The last card to show, a secret card up our sleeve, is that of the Blue Phantom. This special Thief can duplicate himself by paying his costs when you play his climax, that is the same climax as that of your early advantage combo. As such, the Blue Phantom can be another way to compress your deck, draw out a beater, and retain hand all at the same time.

In terms of counters, Henriette is a great option in the late game for her raw power. Arsène herself is a 1/1 2500 counter, perfect for that added power early if that is what you wish for.

Some suggestions to assist Arsène and her fight against the useless detective girls are shown here. Porlock is a cheap way to get hand if your opponent cancels her damage. Her other ability allows you to sacrifice a climax in play when she swings to send it to stock. She’s great in the early game to just create that extra bit of stock advantage or to maybe cheat some extra hand. Twenty is a stock Adachi profile should you have a full board of Thief characters on stage. The Yellow Phantom is an early game beater that can sink an opposing level one or lower character and send them to stock if your opponent only has a single character in their front row stage on play. Arsène looking haughty is a draw Riki profile on play. Violet Shadow is an off-finisher that can restand itself while also filtering through your deck for cards.

Join the fight against injustice. Choose the right side, the side that fights for rights for everyone.