Weiss Schwarz is a Collectible Trading Card Game originally released in Japan in 2007, and translated officially to English in 2013. Produced by Bushiroad, who also make Cardfight Vanguard and Future Card Buddyfight, Weiss Schwarz is the 4th most popular TCG in Japan! It is essentially the anime equivalent of Smash Bros, but as a card game. Each new set is based on a different anime, barring a few exceptions, and can be played against each other. The most popular and powerful decks are incredibly varied. Persona 5, Adventure Time, Attack on Titan, The Idolm@ster and BanG Dream! have all had their time at the top. This deck, Nazarick: Tomb of the Undead, is based on the popular light novel and anime Overlord.
Lord Of The Dead
Overlord is an Isekai story about a player of a popular MMORPG who wants to be the last person in it. When the servers go down, instead of being kicked out he is pulled in and becomes a powerful Lich in this world! Taking the name of his guild, so any other player left would recognise him, he tries to work out what happened to him. The set is called Nazarick after his guild’s original base.
The set itself consists of a lot of the important characters from the show. Ainz, the protagonist, and his Floor Guardians make up a lot of the cards, as do some of the wider Adventurer characters from the New World. The meta decks that came out of the set primarily use both Ainz and his alter ego Momon to mill both yours and your opponent’s decks. As you don’t lose the game in Weiss Schwarz for running out of cards, this allows you to put pressure on your opponent to play the correct cards fast. You also have a powerful Level 1 and Level 3 spike, giving you the ability to win even with your back against the wall!
Commanding The Legion
One of the most powerful archetypes right now in Nazarick uses Resurrection Ritual, Ainz and 5th Floor Guardian, Cocytus to swing for huge damage at Level 2. With Ainz’s ability to cost one level less if there are 4 Grotesque Races in play, you can put him out early. Using Shalltear’s Resurrection you can even revive any card in your Waiting Room!
The best cards to get Resurrection Ritual, Ainz out are Nature of a Floor Guardian, Albedo and Crimson Red Battle Maiden, Shalltear. Master of Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz and Unreliable Nature Manipulator, Mare are also incredibly good for this purpose. These cards have the added bonus of milling yourself, letting you find the cards you need faster, and all provide some sort of hard removal to the enemy Stage.
Digging Up Some Graves
The chase cards in Nazarick: Tomb of the Undead are also great. Consisting of signed cards, Endless Devotion, Abedo and Boundless Obsessive Love, Albedo are two of the best. Crimson Red Battle Maiden, Shalltear and Beautiful Princess, Nabe are also high up there. These printed signed cards are “Special Rares”, and they aren’t guaranteed in a booster box, however.
All in all, Nazarick, Tomb of the Undead is a very interesting and creative deck that definitely packs some power in the modern meta!