Assault Lily: A Brief Set Overview

Welcome back everyone. It’s been a bit since I’ve written something here, and since my last two posts were some old deck profiles, I figure it’s time to try something new. Assault Lily is the JP set I’ve probably played the most over the past year; I think I’ve sleeved nearly every card in my playset at least once. Before the spoilers for the new expansion set start, I wanted to publish my brief thoughts on the set as a whole, quickly going over the set’s key cards, current strengths, and what possible new profiles to look out for in the upcoming release. In the interest of everyone’s time, I’ll shut up and just get on with it.

oh shush, it’ll be fun i promise

Current Builds

If you’re still playing ALL right now, you’re probably trying to do one of two different things:

1. Delete your opponent from mid level 2 with your ridiculous top end climax combo.

2. Break boards and remove your opponent’s back row with the field removal package.

Both have their obvious draws, popping off with crazy finishers and deleting brainstorms every turn can be a whole lot of fun (at least for you), but they can also leave a little bit to be desired. I’ll dive into each one separately, starting with the NUT finisher since that’s the thing that likely comes to mind for most people when discussing Assault Lily. So I don’t waste time or screen space reiterating card effects, I’ll link all images out to LittleAkiba so y’all can go read the translations if you don’t already know what some of these cards do.

Slap down two of this Riri on the left and one of this Yuyu on the right with the Door, and you should be killing people from around 2-3 to 2-5. I say should because this never fucking happens. I have had people live this theoretically insane finisher from as high as 3-3, even when they’re in deckstates that are favorable for “icy tail”. Your raw damage output here is your 4 vanilla attacks + whatever you reveal from your 6 instances of mill-bottom-3, so you’re undoubtedly going to have games where your opponent mills 18 clean off the bottom of their deck (or decks if you push them to refresh), then cancels all your normal attacks. 

Yes, there’s a lot of bias here: the more games you play, the more times your opponent will sack the ever-living shit out of you, but the frustrations lay in your play patterns leading up to that turn. When you play this 8-stock “super finisher”, you’re playing like Konosuba without the bite; even though “icy tail 18 cards” sounds like effective decompression, it’s a lot less effective in the long run at punishing strong deckstates than something like Foreclosure + Fumio + Burn 5. I know this reads like a lot of complaining (and that’s because it is), but I just need people to know that for every person I’ve killed from 2-5, there are two or more that lived from 3-1 or higher.

Still, my grumblings aside, it’s an objectively good finisher. You’re pushing an extra attack while milling your opponent out for a guaranteed point of refresh penalty. Hell, sometimes you even get 2 free points of damage if you manage to mill out your opponents twice. Remember, damage also pushes your opponent through their deck, even if they happen to cancel. That 8 stock threshold I was just complaining about is actually pretty reasonable to hit with Book/Door builds that have become more popular after our lord and savior MilkTea won some events and published a note about it.

If you aren’t focusing on your top end, there’s a good chance you’re playing the field removal package instead. The 1/0 Yuija is like KanColle’s Hoppo but with a lot more support: the 1/1 Shenlin level-x lets her pop higher-leveled cards, the brainstorm helps make sure she hits her topchecks so you can keep up your hand, and the “level 1 and higher” grants you better access to a couple of nice events. Riri and Shenlin bombs hard remove Standby targets from the board in combination with the same level-down mechanic that Yuija abuses, and if that wasn’t enough, Tazusa can come down at level 2 and start memory-kicking problem cards. If you’re stuck in a Standby-ridden hellscape, no other set breaks boards as often and effectively as Assault Lily, and even if you aren’t against Standby, you can still pop your opponent’s backrow cards like Brainstormers and supports.

mfw i trigger bar every turn as my opp tears their hair out

This sounds great on paper, but presents its own slew of problems. Yuija being unreliable and non-selective is enough of a problem on its own a lot of the time. It’s made better by the brainstorm, as mentioned earlier, but it’s all still random. There are going to be lots of games where you find yourself down on hand, hoping how much you’re hurting your opponent is enough to balance out your lack of resources. The other biggest issue is that you introduce a massive stock crunch; all of the field disruption abilities outside of Yuija’s CXC require stock expenditure in one way or another. This directly hurts your ability to finish games unless you’ve set your opponent behind to the point where they’re struggling a lot to refill their board each turn, which brings us to our final drawback. 

Yuija loses a lot of value against non-board-based strategies, and is even worse against opponents that know how to play against her correctly. If your opponent simply opts to not play their backrow cards until the very last moment, her field disruption ability becomes nothing but coin flips for extra first deck damage by removing front-row cards for some cheeky direct attacks. This compounds with her hand plus being unreliable to begin with, making her a risky choice if you expect a large volume of highly skilled players. Personally, I find that field disruption is a bit undervalued, as even the best opponents will struggle to sculpt extra copies of backrow cards when they lose them as often as Yuija can be recurred, but I can’t deny that the strategy is definitely better in a “Swiss” environment than it is at the top tables. 

Key Cards

Other than the two shells/combos/whatever above, there are a lot of strong cards and other shells in ALL that you should keep in mind as the spoilers start rolling out over the next two months. Even if they’re ones that don’t shine in either of the two more “meta” builds running around, we have a 13-RR set coming, so the chances that some of these more unique and fringe cards get some support is pretty high.

No discussion of Assault Lily can be complete without bringing up this brainstormer. Fumi lets you check your deck’s top card at the beginning of every main AND climax phase, which are two times you can directly abuse this information. In your main phase, you can move a clean card, or draw-ditch into a climax, event, or other card if you see something you need on top. The second check informs your attack order and damage output, letting you possibly set up nasty sides, or hit any mid-attack topchecks more consistently. It’s because of this card alone that a lot of other cards become more scalable utility throughout the game, so definitely keep it in mind as we see spoilers come out: it gives Console and draw-ditch abilities infinitely more value.

Similarly, I don’t think any of these other level 0 staples are going anywhere either. The 3K “freerunner” is too good into the meta right now, being an out to both clean-cuts and slow, utility-only strategies. The Shenlin bomb is just stupid as a card that (nearly) always trades with your opponent’s card, while possibly going +2 when it dies. Using Shenlin in combination with the Mai Chiyuri as a first-deck deckspeed engine is an effective option, since you can use Shenlin’s plusses to fuel Mai’s mill. A selective Riki getting revealed might cut into Shenlin’s representation a bit, but I’m pretty confident this deckbuilding option will still see some play on that merit alone, especially in builds running the field removal package.

This little package is a massive overperformer in pretty much every deck I’ve run it in. The Kaede’s two effects are decent utility on their own, but it’s the “change” ability stapled to it that really shines. The TD Riri is a check-x on play and has a CX-less burn ability, so it’s a pretty efficient option for some extra dig at just 1 stock and a card, while dodging color requirements with as low as a 3-card deckbuilding investment (2 Kaede, 1 Riri). Depending on the level 1 lineup you choose to run, the Kaede is also useful as a card to tap down for the blindstocker we’ll talk about later, or puts 1/0 Yuyu at 6000 before backups.

Speaking of Yuyu, here’s the climax combo I just mentioned. Currently, this is in a bit of a rough spot; while Assault Lily does have a good number of decent level 0s, none of them scale particularly well on their own. Yuyu’s “lowroll” case is the same as any cigarettes-style combo, so you need to have some good utility 0s available to pick up when your mills go sour. Some level 0s are really good once the Fumi brainstorm is already down, but in the case where you’re looking to pick up a brainstorm with Yuyu (a pretty normal case for cigs combos), the “scalable” utility filters are blind for an entire turn cycle. ALL doesn’t exactly have a ton of good auxiliary level 1 characters to pick up with Yuyu either, so that leaves Yuyu currently with nothing much to her name other than her good power line. If the new set gives us some good independently scalable level 0s and 1s, Yuyu could easily become the go-to combo, so go out and pick her up while she’s still cheap.

This is the level 1 package from the MilkTea Book/Door build that’s been exceedingly popular in Japan, and it’s one of the most unique packages ALL can choose to play at that level. The Yuri combo off the Book is a Shima-kai that gives another card on-reverse search, which wouldn’t be interesting on its own if it couldn’t also activate from the backrow. Since ALL has a decent amount of CX-assurance, we can use that in tandem with our backrow-chilling Yuri to loop our selective combo again and again. This gets really nuts when you add the TD Shenlin into the mix, letting you pump her to ensure a reverse while also leaving you a standing card to tap down for Shenlin’s blindstock ability. Since you can give that on-reverse effect to any character, you can also tech in a copy or two of this Tazusa, which can hit 10K just on her own, letting you freely deal with Standby turn after turn. If there’s another payoff for building a lot of stock in the new set, whether that’s a combo or some kind of midgame strategy, I’m confident you’ll see this level 1 lineup resurface.

This Kaede is currently one of the most unfortunate cards in ALL. It’s a power-crept version of Ainz from Overlord, letting you bounce any of your characters back from stage to hand before standing AND buffing the character you Standby out to the board. The problem is that there’s both no good target that you’d want to attack with immediately at level 1 or 2, and there’s no good utility card to pop back to your hand. If this card gets either of those in the upcoming set, Standby instantly becomes a very desirable shell to explore. I don’t even think the cards have to be that good to bring Kaede online, they just have to be doing something; Kaede herself will do most of the heavy lifting. The 2/2 Riri pictured will likely shine in that deck as well, since she's bigger than most typical Standby 2/2s at a beefy 11K + hand encore.

EPs are thankfully an area where ALL needs little help, as both their options for healers are very solid. Mai is a 2-or-less condition normal healer that sits at 10.5K and can bounce herself back to your hand when she’s front attacked, while Tazusa is a Mesmerizing Water Goddess clone that also has an on-turn memory kick ability to boot. Being able to mix two different EP conditions to produce a big board has always been a big boon for the sets that have access to it, so depending on how set 2 influences how ALL is built, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a heal-looping strategy involving these two, especially when you consider that the Kaede+TD Riri package is easily-summoned EP as well.

On to some other level 3s, ALL has not one, but 2 free-summoning options, the Fumi being an on-attack stockswap the summons from hand while the Yuija summons from clock (effectively healing) and being an anti-backup wall-buster. Both these cards allow you to aggressively tech out your level 3 lineup… if you had better options to do so. Right now, all these 2 do is effectively save you some stock on your endgame turns (they work well with 3/2 Miriam since she has no real CIP abilities), or when chained together let you summon an entire board of 2-soul beaters for 3 cards and 2 stock. If the new set drops any spicy level 3 utility, expect to see these cards supporting them; both are efficient and interesting options that help you play lean at the top if need be.

This card is literally just bracelet from Quints. Given the right shell, a big defensive payoff card like this can be incredibly powerful. It doesn’t currently have that shell right now (except sort of with the efficient Miriam top-end), but if the second set supports such a strategy, this will slot right in at the top.

Cards I’d Like To See

A lot of these are probably sure bets simply due to the number of new cards we’ll be getting; you can only have such a large set before good profiles from other sets start bleeding over. I’ll run down my unordered wishlist pretty quickly, with some brief reasoning:

• Scalable Level 0 Utility

• Yuyu really needs a card like a double filter to support her failcase, and having good utility cards that don’t need another card already on board would go a long way in shoring up any deck’s resilience.

• Splashable Auxiliary Level 1s

• ALL has very few options for level 1 cards that aren’t climax combos. You have the Riri bomb and the Shenlin blindstocker, but those are “locked” to very specific builds. The set could use a more generalized off-level 1 like a twin driver or filter card to help round out its level 1 options.

• A payoff for Standby

• Either a good card to stand and attack with at level 1 (think like Cocytus, although it doesn’t have to be THAT good), or a decent, reusable utility card to pop back to hand with 2/1 Kaede. I’d be happy with anything better than what the set currently has, which is close to no support for the shell at all.

• A good dropsearch

• The set’s only current deck access is a TD dropsearch, or building for Yuri combo at 1. A modern dropsearch option with any amount of extra utility would be a welcome addition to the set for some splashable deck access.

• A selective clock-plus

• A true search Riki would be preferable, but at this rate I’ll take anything. The Shenlin bomb is great, but having bad options for sculpting at 0 is one of ALL’s biggest weaknesses. A way to better sculpt into setups for level 1 would make generalized combos like Yuyu more attractive, rather than very specific, build-around combos like Yuri.

• A playable top-end combo on Choice trigger

• The field removal package is gasping for a Choice trigger to shore up its stock crunch. The combo doesn’t even have to be very good, it just has to be remotely playable; the trigger alone will add a large degree of stability to the strategy.

• A more traditional top-end that doesn’t rely on Icy Tail for burns

• I’m personally pretty sick of seeing my opponents mill 18 clean when I play down double Riri and a Yuyu. The Yuri package at 1 does a great job of selectively building a lot of resources, so a more traditionally destructive finisher (even if it might be inefficient) would be interesting to build towards.

I’d say that at least 3 of these are likely to happen since they’re pretty “vanilla” asks; I don’t think there is any way a 13-RR set can stay as only tri-color, so we’ll likely see a lot of variety injected into the cardpool with the inclusion of more characters from the mobile game. Assault Lily has the benefit of already having a fair bit of available profiles, so the only room left is to either add the few things it’s missing, or print functional copies of what it already has. Let’s hope it’s the former.

Promos You Should Know

It’s easy to forget that ALL is a Bushiroad-original property, so there’s quite a few promos out there you might want to pick up before they spiral upwards and out of control. None of these have official translation resources that I can easily find, so I'll describe the effects quickly for y'all.

Console on play and a level 0 bomb. Pretty simple but works well with the Fumi brainstorm to grab either a character you want from the top of your deck, or enable a 5 card brainstorm for the turn. If the set gets a better clean-cut, or there’s some sort of new reason to play the TD one, this gets a little better than it already is. Currently 300 yen on YYT, I’d nab 2-3 if I was to pick this up right now.

Scuffed version of the Yoshino adachi from DAL. Literally the same text but it’s a 2/1 instead of a 1/1. Still a good form of field disruption for Standby strategies, although conflicts a bit with 2/1 Kaede since she will stand the card you summon from your grave immediately. It’s a bit steep on YYT too right now at 680 yen, but it’s probably worth picking up 1-2 copies just in case.

This is probably the most important card to pick up on this list; it’s a 2K Leafa counter. The chances we get Choice trigger in the new set is very high, so a card like this vs. a normal 2K backup instantly becomes a premium pick. Only 300 yen on YYT right now, so I’d grab 2-3 copies just to be safe. It’s pretty likely for a card like this to be reprinted (as there are only so many 1/1 backup profiles), but even then, a possible color difference might end up being relevant.

Closing

I wanted to keep this as brief as possible, and I think I got there for the most part. There’s a lot more to talk about when it comes to Assault Lily, but I think I’ll save that for after we get some Volume 2 reveals. For those of you interested, I’ll be joining Strictly Broken TCG’s Kevin (@KeeluahWS) and Jason (@PrinzEugen_WS) for their “Best Ever Set Review Show” to talk about the new release after we get all the reveals. I’m super excited to be a part of it for one of my favorite sets, so make sure you check that out when release week rolls around come January!

If you want to check out translated reveals as they happen, be sure to check out WeissTeaTime, and if you want to grab an ALL Volume 2 playset for yourself, head on over to NovaTCG. This isn’t an ad and they didn’t ask me to do this, but I’m doing it anyway because I use both their services on a near daily basis. Support the creators and businesses you love!