The Nijisanji WIXOSS Battle Set is the Wixoss TCG’s 39th preconstructed deck, and 16th released for the “Key” format, and focuses on Machine Spirit: Electric Machine SIGNI. Unlike most other starter decks, it has 3 different LRIGs you can use, based on virtual youtubers from the Nijisanji group (your LRIGs, Key, and one of your level 4 SIGNI are the cards that change - these aren't fully individual decks like Dual decks). As part of the third wave of starter deck releases for the Key format (after the decks with Phantom Garden and the “Dual” decks), this deck has no included foils.
Mito Tsukino (white), Kaede Higuchi (red), and Rin Shizuka (blue) each have their own level 1-4 LRIG, level 4 SIGNI, and a unique key. Since only 4 SIGNI change in the main deck, and the level 1-3 LRIGs all have the same abilities, the deck only has a meaningful difference between their configurations at level 4. Even as Kaede or Rin, the deck is still primarily white.
(For a full list of contents, visit https://wixoss.fandom.com/wiki/WXK-D16_Nijisanji_WIXOSS_Battle_Set)
The LRIG deck:
Level 1 LRIG - Mito, Kaede, or Rin
No matter which LRIG you choose, they all have the same effect. This deck doesn’t use Coins, so you get an immediate discard / draw effect, which makes it a lot easier to judge if you want to discard for it. As usual, if you have a spell to discard, it’s usually worth it, as the starter deck spells are all quite weak.
Level 1 SIGNI
This deck contains the obligatory level 1 Servants (O and O2) and 3000 power / no effect SIGNI (in this deck, Code VL Tamaki Fumino), as well as Code VL Black Shiba. Deploy Black Shiba first if you have it, as you might get lucky, but with only 8 level 1 Electric Machine SIGNI in the deck, your chances are only around 20% to hit off the top, so expect the ability to do nothing most of the time.
Level 1 Arts
Fight Ghost does several things for this deck. It gives you a subscriber boost, which is really important as a lot of the deck’s abilities don’t work unless you have a certain amount of subscribers, and hitting those numbers off just your LRIG bonuses takes way too long. It also cancels out any bad starting hands with 1 or fewer level 1 SIGNI. Since it’s 0-cost, you want those subscribers either way, and this deck has plenty of late-game card draw, there’s not much value in holding this Art for later.
Level 2 LRIG - Mito, Kaede, or Rin
No choices to be made here, just collect your subscribers and move on. Do note that your level 2 LRIGs have a limit of 5, opposed to the usual starter deck level 2 limit of 4, so you can play out 2 level 2 SIGNI if you have them and still have limit left to play a level 1 for a full field.
Level 2 SIGNI
Wow, it’s nothing! You have your obligatory level 2 servants (D2 and D4), and Code VL Azuma Takao, who has no abilities. This deck doesn’t do much until level 4, so hold back on defense, unless you have your spell, Child Cookie, and some spare SIGNI to feed into it. Like most starter deck spells, it’s pretty weak, though, as not only does it cost 2 cards (the spell and the SIGNI you trash), letting your opponent choose what to return is usually not great, as they’ll often have a Servant or useful on-play effect SIGNI to return.
Level 2 Arts
Remember that Fight Ghost is an option if you haven’t used it yet and need some help filling in your SIGNI zones.
Level 3 LRIG - Mito, Kaede, or Rin
No choices to be made here, just collect your subscribers and move on.
Level 3 SIGNI
Level 3 continues to be quite boring. Code VL Ririmu Makaino only enercharges 1 on play, which is nice but has no effect on the board, and this deck generally doesn’t have much trouble getting the ener it needs without it. Code VL Kasumi Izumo is a little better with its pseudo-card draw, although it’s more impactful once you hit its subscriber threshold and it becomes a lot more reliable. You’re still playing a pretty simple defensive game at this point.
Level 3 Arts
Rays of Edge is a solid defensive option if your opponent is pressing an early offense. Most of your defenses only really come online past level 4, though.
Level 4 LRIGs
All the level 4 LRIGs you can choose from are quite strong, and come with an on-play, a constant that builds your subscriber count, and a powerful once per game ability that you can only use once you hit a certain subscriber threshold.
Kaede Higuchi (red) is the most offensive focused LRIG option. She banishes one SIGNI on-play, and banishes all opposing SIGNI at 800 000 subscribers with her once-per-game. She gains 100 000 subscribers at the end of your turn as long as you banished at least one SIGNI (attacking an opposing SIGNI counts), and so is trivially easy to build your subscriber count.
Mito Tsukino (white) is the most defensive option. She also gains subscribers the easiest, only requiring a LRIG attack to gain 100 000 a turn. Her on-play searches for a SIGNI, and her once-per-game searches for two SIGNI at 1 million subscribers, in addition to trashing an opposing SIGNI (the trashing a SIGNI part happens regardless of sub count, so sometimes it can be worth it to fire it off without the subscriber threshold, but usually you’ll gain subscribers quickly enough you’ll get the bonus search whether you need it or not). Both search abilities can get servants, so you can search for defense (servants) or offense (her unique level 4), depending on what you’re lacking.
Rin Shizuka (blue) is an interesting balance between offense and defense, in the vein of the original Piruluk decks - she draws cards to shore up her own defense (although not as effectively as Mito), and discards the opposing hand to force through LRIG attacks and weaken the opponent’s ability to assemble a counterattack. She draws 2 cards on-play, and discards 2 cards from your opponent as her once-per-game at 700 000 subscribers. Her +subscriber ability is the hardest to trigger, requiring you to end your turn with 4 or more cards in your hand, but between her on-play and the deck’s plentiful draw and search, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Since the deck already has a good amount of raw search and card draw, I prefer the offensive focus of Kaede, but the power levels of these LRIGs are close enough that you might as well pick whichever one best matches your style, or whose visual design you like the most.
Level 4 Signi
The level 4 SIGNI shared by all 3 decks is Code VL Moira, which draws a card on-play if you have 800 000 or more subscribers. It’s nothing exciting, but it is quite powerful, and helps keep the deck running smoothly well into the late game. Of the unique level 4s, two of them, Code VL Himawari Honma (red) and Code VL Yuika Siina (white), have a ‘remove on attack’ ability, banishing or returning to hand, respectively. These abilities start slightly restricted, then become an unconditional banish or bounce once you hit a million subs. Much like the rest of the deck, these cards are simple, but effective, and give the main deck a solid offensive core. Code VL Saku Sasaki (blue) is a bit different, as she forces a discard on-play, upgrading to a random discard at 1 million subs. Rin is the most difficult to get to 1 million, but fortunately the main use of Saku Sasaki is emptying the opponent’s hand, making the upgrade at 1 million much less important. Since these level 4 SIGNI are the only real offensive engine in the main deck, and there’s no way of reusing them short of a refresh, it’s important to ration them. There are many other effects that can open SIGNI zones from the LRIGs, Arts, and Keys, and it’s possible to overextend your offense one turn and find yourself with no offensive options later in the game.
Level 4 Arts
Harvest Force, like Rays of Edge, has become a standard Arts inclusion in starter decks - a 6-cost remove 2 attack phase Art. It’s a powerful effect, but only useful later on in the game when you have the ener to spare. Unlike some decks, however, this deck never really struggles to get enough ener to reliably deploy it, as the deck plays a longer, more defensive game, and also has Ririmu Makaino’s enercharge on-play. Rounding out the Arts is Must Hide, which is pretty weak early on, but once you hit 1 million subs, it stops 2 SIGNI and a LRIG from attacking, effectively locking your opponent out of an entire turn of combat.
Keys
I separated the section for Keys from Arts as they are just that important. These are the cards that set this deck apart from the every other starter in the game, as despite only being useable at level 4, they are insanely powerful. They each have a powerful on-play that often opens up multiple lanes for attack, on top of building resources and subscribers. Then they have a powerful attack phase ability that trashes them, which will often blank an entire turn of combat. This double wammy of powerful effects is often enough to completely leave behind any other starter decks trying to compete. Note that these Keys do not have a coin cost, but do cost ener.
Rin and Kaede, Mito's Supporters (white)
Don’t be thrown off by the odd cost, as Mito’s constant allows you to use white ener to pay red and blue costs. Ability-wise, the on-play is super straightforward - it banishes 2, draws a card, and gives you +200 000 subs. Because of the subscriber bonus, it’s usually best to deploy this earlier, and to hold other offensive options for later turns (such as your level 4 Yuika Siina or your once-per-game LRIG effect). The attack phase action is quite costly, but because Mito is the most defensively oriented LRIG option, it shouldn’t be too much trouble to get the ener together to use it. Banishing all opposing SIGNI and drawing 3 new cards is one of the craziest effects I’ve seen on an attack phase anything, as not only does it blank an attack, but it also clears the way for a counterattack next turn.
Rin and Mito, Kaede's Supporters (red)
The only Key here that doesn’t banish on-play, but given Kaede’s LRIG abilities, she’s not feeling that left out. Choosing a card in your opponent’s hand to discard, then searching out two Electric Machines isn’t crazy, but it’s a solid bit of advantage - as before, use it early to gain the subscribers. The action effect is the only one you can fire off without ener, and downs all opposing SIGNI and LRIGs, completely shutting down an attack phase. Once again, it doesn’t banish, so you’re relying on Himawari Honma and your LRIG effects to push in damage.
Mito and Kaede, Rin's Supporters (blue)
The on-play clears two SIGNI zones (1 bounce, 1 banish), and as usual, it’s better to use it early to get the subscriber bonus online. The attack-phase effect is somehow even stronger than the first two, as it only costs 1 ener, and banishes two SIGNI and blocks the LRIG attack. Rin doesn’t have a ton of ways to poke through damage, and this Key compensates for this with a ton of field-clearing ability.
Wrap-up
Although this deck has 3 different options, it’s not super relevant which one you choose, as the Keys help offset any weaknesses the LRIGs may have (they give offensive power to Mito, extra cards to Kaede, and field removal to Rin). I’ve not noticed much difference in power between the three, but there is absolutely a huge difference in power between any of them and the rest of the starter decks this game has to offer. Your main deck is acceptable but uninteresting, and your LRIGs and Arts are solid, leaving an overall solid deck pushed well over the top by its powerful Key effects. It doesn’t really do much of anything before level 4, but once at level 4, it has so many ways of stopping damage that even a strong early lead isn’t enough to beat this deck. Rays of Edge and Harvest force are solid defensive options that also open SIGNI zones for counterattacks, you have a decent amount of extra card draw and search to help dig up Servants, and Must Hide and the Key actions will blank entire combat steps on their own. If you like Nijisanji vtubers, or just like the idea of a deck that has 3 different configurations, this is a solid deck to pick up, but be aware it’s so solid your friends might get tired of getting stomped by it rather quickly.
