Fate/Stay Night – Sakura and Rider (G) [11/26/2021]

Sakura and Rider share a close bond as master and servant respectively. Rider, whose identity remains a secret, remains loyal to Sakura no matter what happens. She hopes for nothing but the best for her attached master. Wielding her signature chains, she dashes straight into battle as the two become involved in the Holy Grail War.

The Rider above is a healing stall card with an anti-front combo. When this card swings and you have the climax on the right, you may pay its costs and give the card the two following abilities:

1.) The character in front of this card cannot front attack.
2.) The character in front of this card loses 3000 power.

Keep in mind that neither of these abilities target. Any character that is played on stage with less than 3000 power will be immediately sent to the waiting room. The Rider itself is a powerful wall that can prolong games and potentially punish any reversing combos.

The best consistent form of hand advantage early on for the deck is shown above. Other combos have ways of getting hand or stock, but they are a little gimmicky or their requirements leave much to be wanted. This Sakura herself has a hard condition on having a character with Shirou (士郎) in its name on your stage to gain power.

To fulfil the Shirou name requirement for the early play combo, the following cards above are suggested. The Shirou and Rider combo on the left provides a power boost to one of your characters whenever you play a climax. You may also rest it to lower one of your opponent’s characters by 1000 power for the turn to further help you with the level 1 combo’s reverse condition.

The Shirou in the center provides 500 power to characters in front and also gives the same 1000 power effect that the Shirou and Rider on the left provide when a climax is played. Lastly, the Shirou to the right provides a clock encore ability to all characters with Master (マスター) trait. His second ability searches out a specific Shirou that is not ran in this deck. Keep in mind that this Shirou, FS/S34-004R, is currently, as of the writing of this post, on a pick one of five restriction list.

Since the deck will be running eight bars, bar support is highly recommended. The cards above are good additions to filter bars into other more useful resources. The Sakura brainstorm to the left is a tap self salvage brainstorm which also lets you discard bars when they are triggered to swap a card from clock into hand. The center clock bomb has a discard effect to turn a climax into a Master (マスター) or Servant character from your waiting room. Lastly, the Sakura to the right lets you filter any card into a green character from the top four cards of the deck. Unfortunately, she is of Sports (スポーツ) trait making her hard to fetch into hand.

At level two, there is a pretty powerful chain of cards shown above that further your advantage. The Sakura on the left acts as a filter that lets you exchange any green card for the Rider in the center. Additionally, her second ability lets your change into the Sakura on the right from your waiting room at the start of your draw phase.

The Rider in the center, FS/S64-039U, gains power during your turn for each of your other Master or Servant characters. When your other Master or Servant characters attack, she gains 1000 power for the turn. Upon reversing a character that is level two or higher, you may place the top card of your deck into stock.

Lastly, the Sakura on the right is a level assist that lets you salvage a Master or Servant character when she’s played from hand or FS/S64-040U ‘s effect. You can tap her to choose a Master or Servant character in your waiting room and place it into your stock. Effectively, all three of these cards help you establish board presence and charge stock for later plays.

The above are other suggested level three options for the end-game. The Rider to the left is an early play heal as long as you have four or more green characters on the stage. The center Rider and the Rider on the right are both alternative finishers to help close out the game.

The center Rider lets you power up one of your Master or Servant characters when she swings by 1500 power. Also, when she is played from hand, you may reveal the top of your deck and if that card is a Master or Servant character, she gains the ability to kick her opposing card to clock upon reverse.

The Rider on the right carries a similar finishing ability where she may also kick her opposing card to clock, but her condition requires a stock payment upon reversing. She also gains 1500 power on stage as long as you control a character with Sakura in its name. Either clock kick works as they both do the same job. Whichever one you choose is up to your preference and build. Both clock kick effects only occur the turn they are played from hand.

Alternatively, the above option is also a choice considering that he is a Rider. This Rider has a similar ability to FS/S64-033R where upon reverse when it is played from hand, you may pay a stock to kick its opposing card to clock. Additionally, at the start of your encore phase, you pay his costs and choose him and another character to send them to memory. Then at the start of your draw phase, they return back onto your field. You can potentially use him to dodge reverse effects or force direct damage during your opponent’s turn.

There are some interesting events that can be ran to interrupt your opponent’s plays. The event on the left lets you exchange your opponent’s stock with cards equal to the same amount from the top of their deck (stock flush). The event on the right lets you check the top three cards of your opponent’s deck and send one to the bottom of their deck. Then you may rearrange the other two cards on the top of their deck. You can use this card to gain information regarding your attacks potentially or to cheat out a climax away so they potentially do not cancel.

As for backups, it’s entirely up to you and your preference. The Rider backup to the left is a free 2000 power for Master characters. The backup in the center lets you filter the top card of your deck, add it to your hand and discard a card if it is a Master or Servant character. The final backup to the right kicks the opposing card to memory upon reverse.

There are many options to play around with for the deck. Take a look and browse through all the Fate sets. Keep in mind that certain cards require a check for Master or Servant trait, or they may even require a need for the colour green. Shirou is also required for the level one combo, so make sure that you have a character with his name on your field at level one to give your combo power. May Sakura and Rider’s bond bring you victory!