True! Before I implemented Determination into my deck he won me a couple of games against mages. But I had to replace him with Iro the duelist, to increase my damage output.

_________________
Though the past the unwanted memories
Are holding onto you,
All the power in the universe
Conspires to carry you.
Truth you find through your adversities.
Will defend you.
As your powers and all your energies
Conspire to carry you.

I think that Borrowing would be a very good addition to this deck.

True, and your warrior can "borrow" the same weapon twice :p.

_________________
Every 5 seconds a prinny is thrown.

If you could own Iro the Imperial Champion, would you replace Gakyusha with him? I dont see why Gakyusha is still such a good pick.. +1 attack for all allies isnt as good as it used to be.

In addition, mabye it is a good idea to take some cards out. a 30 card+deck in my experience does not yield desirable, hands, and from what I see, you want at least one Glory to the Emporer or Determination first turn.

I suggest either taking out Smash that Iron! because Tessen seems to do the job, or vice versa. It might be overkill to have that many discards, esp since you already run 3 clumsiness. Instead of Keep Your Guard Up!, I suggest another Glory to the Emporer. Kensensei, if you can afford it, is good. If you lower the deck size, you can drop an Origami. Speaking of Clumsiness, mabye you can drop one of those as well.

Ya, but he's not exactly a 'bargain'
ANd btw Gakyusha goes pretty good with Iro the duelist (gets additional +1)

_________________
Though the past the unwanted memories
Are holding onto you,
All the power in the universe
Conspires to carry you.
Truth you find through your adversities.
Will defend you.
As your powers and all your energies
Conspire to carry you.

I know my deck seems a bit loaded. I am permanently balancing it though. I keep adding and removing cards depending on the experiences in fight.
I have that many discards (Tessen, smash that Iron and clumsiness) because the only deck that REALLY is giving me a hard time is immortals at the moment. I need to get rid of their discards and healing weapons (they have these annoying habit of having weapons that discard every 3 turns and desertification, etc.).
Normally I can make it through turn one without a determination on hand, I DO really need it on hand when I have initiative against a mage deck though to get the most out of it. My goal is not to keep my characters alive, but to keep my weapons in play and to inflict more damage than my opponent in the end. If one of my guys survives... the better.

_________________
Though the past the unwanted memories
Are holding onto you,
All the power in the universe
Conspires to carry you.
Truth you find through your adversities.
Will defend you.
As your powers and all your energies
Conspire to carry you.

Due to the recent Kotoba update I of course made some major changes to the deck.
At the moment I am running this setup:

Characters

Master Ma
Asajiro the vagabond
Gakyusha the imperial Lord (I am thinking about replacing him with Furagu though since Gakyusha's bonus is weak and without Iro the duelist in the deck he loses half his worth and vice versa. Maybe one day I am lucky enough to get Iro the imperial champion from a booster )

Cards

3 x Okugi
3 x Daikatana
1 x Kusanagi
1 x Tessen
2 x Teslarms (To get rid of Attracts lightning, Draconis, etc. just in case. And even if not it is still a decent chainable attack +2)
2 x A strong allied
1 x Back to Noz'Dingard (Goes perfectly with Asajiro)
1 x Blade master (it barely happens that I can use it to fullest potential)
2 x Clumsiness
3 x Masamune's Armor
2 x Concentrate the Chakra
2 x Hand of the empire (Can be pretty devastating if played after Concentrate the chakra on a fully armored character: direct damage of 10 points easily, followed by the physical attack still.)
2 x Determination
1 x Keep your guard up
2 x Smash that iron
3 x Surprising movement (THE opener for a Kotoba warrior deck.)
1 x Weapon throw (Just in case I have a damaged, very annoying opposing character out of combat I want to get rid of, and with Asajiro's ability it opens completely new doors.)

I got completely rid of the Taichi swords, since Daikatana seems to be the better deal.
Glory to the emperor I dropped completely as well, since nearly all my weapons activate immediately anyway.

_________________
Though the past the unwanted memories
Are holding onto you,
All the power in the universe
Conspires to carry you.
Truth you find through your adversities.
Will defend you.
As your powers and all your energies
Conspire to carry you.

Best thing about this deck is: I just noticed I just have to get rid of Keep your guard up, Weapon throw and Tessen to make this deck playable in Standard as well.

_________________
Though the past the unwanted memories
Are holding onto you,
All the power in the universe
Conspires to carry you.
Truth you find through your adversities.
Will defend you.
As your powers and all your energies
Conspire to carry you.

i would add some victory dance becouse its giving you some of the best bonuses in game.
Plus in the second fight you can still play a bunch of wapons or armors.
and add a kensensei