NIKKE – School Girls [Strikers] (Y) [12/13/2024]

According to my friend, Ciki, Naga and Tia are best friends who are NIKKEs and high schoolers. Apparantly, one of them wants to meet a dragon and make a wish to it while the other one just really enjoys accessories. Ciki himself enjoys long walks on the beach, basic drinks from Starbucks, and complaining about not getting a pink Prada bag for Christmas.

Naga and Tia serve as the endgame for this deck. Both girls come out early at level two if you have a copy of each of them in your level zone. Comboing with the same climax, Naga will shuffle two cards back into your deck at the start of your encore step meanwhile Tia will gain a large amount of cross turn power and both hexproof and bodyguard effects. Naga and Tia don’t necessarily finish your opponent, but they can do a great job at stalling your opponent out and increasing your odds of cancelling while defending themselves.

To pair with our lovely school girls, Anis in her swimsuit joins the team. As they are visiting Blue Water Island, Anis has some animosity towards the colour blue, giving her additional power during your turn if her opposing opponent is blue coloured. In addition to that, Anis gains burst power during your turn, perfect to work in conjunction with that of her climax combo, allowing you to search out a character at the start of your encore phase if the zone in front of her is empty or has a reversed character.

Now it may appear that we are in a predicament since our combos don’t really have any finishing capacity. This is where our three girls hop in and take the spotlight. Starting with Laplus, our grand hero, she gives your team one more encore attack if you meet her specific condition. When three of your characters on field become reversed, you may pay her hefty cost, and then bring Laplus back to life in the front row for one final swing. Anis in the center is another finisher that carries a hefty burst of power on play and a reverse condition damage burst. Lastly, Neon deals additional damage based on the level of the card on top of your deck when she swings. You may also pay her costs to grant herself additional power and a soul on swing.

At the Helm of our cards that have additional triggers, get it, HELM (I’m so funny), is Helm who, if played last on a full stage, refunds a stock from waiting room. Helm is also a climax swapper for choice climaxes specifically. Mast is another useful tech card that is a Fumio profile. Lastly, Neon carries a stock Adachi ability while also milling your deck and potentially sniping another one of your opponent’s characters in the front row if you mill a climax.

One cute synergy the deck has is with the use of Crow and Maxwell. When Crow attacks, she can optionally sacrifice one of your other characters on stage and reveal the top card of your deck. If that card is a character, you can add it to hand. Maxwell is a Koume profile for yellow climaxes when sent to waiting room, perfect as a sacrifice target for Crow after she swings to help you mill through your deck and potentially net a climax in hand for next turn.

One special mention is that of Princess Privaty, delicate on the inside but hard on the outside soldier. Privaty is a draw brainstorm profile that also allows you to stock a card from hand, one of the few non-climax combo ways to generate excess stock for our expensive early play duo.

In terms of defense, the ever reliable Elegg dives straight at danger as our backup of choice, being an anti-change counter that sends any cheated cards into memory.

For some other Nikkes that join the squad, Jackal begins our suggestions as a tap two search brainstorm that also packs a punch during your turn. Mika gains power during your turn and can accelerate to give one of your other characters the Oboro ability. Tia holding a fleur-de-lis is a Chiyuri profile when sent to waiting room that can add any character to hand. Anchor is a Kazuma profile based on your opponent’s number of characters on field. She is especially useful in making sure you have copies of both level three Tia and Naga in clock to level up with. Lastly, Anis is a Riko profile that also has a soul icon, perfect for our choice triggers.

Grab your spiced pumpkin latte. It is especially good if it’s from Starbucks. Just make sure they get your name wrong as you do a photo op for Instagram so all your friends can go “OMG, that’s so me!”. Make sure all your texts are exaggerated, ideally with an LOL at the end of each line. Remember, you are the world’s littlest princess, and you must let everybody know. Wear those friendship bracelets, girl. UGGs and leggings all the way!

– Ciki, certified basic b*tch