3. Deck breakdown: size 1 Passcode (100DP PvE, 100DP PvP)

Deck breakdown: size 1 Passcode (100DP PvE, 100DP PvP)


  • Last updated 8th May 2017

    Edit: swogitools-v2 seems to be having hosting issues so links have been replaced. As a result some links may display outdated effects. Where possible check the cards in-game for up-to-date effects.

    Who am I?

    I'm Nietono, aka OhGodShana (not to be confused with shananyan). I'm one of the more experienced players on fakeSG and I have a reputation for being a walking player guide. I also have a reputation for writing walls of text, but please at least try to read the guide before throwing up your hands and giving up. :sweat_smile:

    What is this guide?

    This is a breakdown of a size 1 Passcode deck: what it is, options for what to include, and the strengths and weaknesses of the deck. Since this is a suggested early grinding deck I will mainly focus on the deck as an initial deck to aim for. This also means I will focus mainly on PvE versions, though PvP versions do exist.

    In the future I aim to create similar guides for other types of deck. I am aware that threads about size 1 Passcode already exist but it still seemed like the ideal starting point for this series of guides.

    Edit:
    Next: Resurgence

    What is size 1 Passcode?

    Size 1 Passcode is a deck based around playing multiple size 1 followers and buffing them with mass buffs such as the spell Passcode. It can also run other spells that have synergy with playing multiple followers at once.

    The deck typically aims to plays 1-2 spells per turn, usually buffs, with 3-4 followers. PvP versions typically aim far more towards 2 spells with 3 followers, however playing 1 spell with 4 followers does allow for a single follower to be removed or resized without preventing Passcode from working and suffices for PvE versions.

    The deck is cheap to build and a basic version can be constructed using a number of starter deck cards. It is also rather strong for how cheap it is to build and is actually rather fast for grinding easier dungeons. It does however have a low cap on how strong it can get and struggles a lot with more difficult dungeons, as well as many bosses. As a result it merely serves as an initial grinding deck to get started rather than a finalised grinding deck.

    The deck is particularly swarmy and hence PvE versions tend to be extremely follower heavy, running around 18-21 followers with 9-12 spells. Versions using a Clarice character need fewer followers as she spawns followers for you, so a PvP Clarice version can instead run around 14 followers with 16 spells.

    Buffs

    Being based around mass-buffing this is a core part of the deck. Possible buffs include:

    • Passcode: The spell the deck is named after. As long as you have 3 or more cards of the same size on the field (which can include spells) this will give a +3/0/+3 buff to all followers of that size on your field. This can give a nice buff to 3-4 of your followers at once. This can fail however if too many followers are resized or removed before it activates. This is simple to obtain and should be included in any Passcode deck.

    • Rookie's Debut: The strongest cheap mass buff the deck has access to. All followers on your field with ATK equal to their STA gain a +4/0/+4 buff. This can give a substantial buff to any number of your followers at once. The restriction on what it can buff limits which followers and which other spells you can run, and it can fail or become a dead card in your hand if your followers are damaged. Being a season 2 card this is somewhat difficult to obtain early on and whether to include it is a major decision as it affects how the rest of the deck is built. I personally recommend it though.

    • Summer Day Memory: A reliable buff with no restrictions on what it can buff. 3 followers on your field get ATK and STA buffed by the difference between 4 and their size, which is a +3/0/+3 buff on size 1 followers. This gives a nice buff but can't buff 4 followers at once. The effect can't fail but having followers resized can weaken the buff. This is fairly simple to obtain and should be included if there is room in the deck.

    • Hot Item: The most reliable but weakest mass buff the deck has access to. It gives a +2/0/+3 buff to your whole field with no limitations. The buff is not as strong as the rest but will work on all of your followers no matter what happens to them. The difference between the ATK and STA buff means this doesn't work well with Rookie's Debut. This is simple to obtain but generally only serves as a placeholder for better buffs.

    • 4 Messages: A size-increasing buff to act as a finisher. 2 followers on your field get size set to 4 and get ATK, DEF, and STA increased by the size increase, which is a +3/+3/+3 buff on size 1 followers. On top of a nice buff the size increase allows you to deal extra direct damage and the extra DEF makes those followers more durable. The effect can't fail but having followers resized beforehand can weaken the buff and the extra size makes your field too large to play any further buffs later. Being a season 2 card this is somewhat difficult to obtain early on but should be included in PvE versions if you can obtain it, though only 1-2. This is probably too risky to use in a PvP version.

    • Sage's Counsel: A reliable and low size buff with no restrictions on what it can buff. It gives a +3/0/+3 buff to 2 of your followers. This gives a nice buff but only to 2 followers, though its low size makes it easy to play at the same time as another buff. The effect can't fail. Being a reward from the boss of 2S Detective Agency this is difficult to obtain early on and not being a mass buff means it's best used as an additional buff in PvP versions.

    • Vanishment: A reliable combined buff and debuff with no restriction on what it can buff. It gives a +3/0/+3 buff to 2 of your followers and a -1/0/-1 debuff to 2 opposing followers. This gives a nice buff and also debuffs but only buffs 2 followers. The effect can't fail. Being a season 2 card this is slightly difficult to obtain early on and while it is an option I personally don't recommend it over other options.

    Edit

    • Vampiric Rites (EP0): An emergency option to create a single strong follower. All followers on your field get size/ATK/STA set to 1 then the first Darklore follower on your field with the lowest size has its size/ATK/STA increased by the respective reductions. As all followers in the deck are size 1 the target follower will remain size 1 unless any of your followers were previously resized. This can be used to quickly create a follower strong enough to destroy an opposing threat. This however requires a Darklore follower and leaves your other followers at 1/0/1. This is a starter deck card and can be included as a safety option if you want, though probably only 1-2.

    Size 1 followers

    This is the other core part of the deck. Possible size 1 followers include:

    • Crescent Conundrum (EP0): Works with Rookie's Debut, has a self ATK buff against NPCs, has a nice DEF stat and slightly above average stat total, and is a starter deck card - what's not to like? Include in any size 1 Passcode deck unless there's a specific reason not to, such as specifically avoiding followers with skills against certain NPCs.

    • Game Starter: Works with Rookie's Debut and has an above average stat total. Simple to obtain, include in any size 1 Passcode deck unless there's a specifc reason not to. Note that this card has a limit of 1.

    • Cook Club Member (EP0), Gardening Maid, and/or New Knight: Starter deck cards with a self ATK buff against NPCs. Useful for early versions of the deck before you obtain other followers. Gardening Maid is good in non-Rookie builds, Cook Club Member is potentially useful in non-Rookie builds too, but New Knight should be replaced with another follower when possible.

    • Burning Guardian, Youngest Knight, GS Fighter, and/or Library Club Librarian Milka: Basic 5/0/5 size 1 followers that work with Rookie's Debut. Simple to obtain except Milka who is slightly difficult to obtain early on due to being a season 2 card. In a Rookie's Debut build you pretty much have no choice other than to use these, otherwise you may want to use some sturdier followers. Note that GS Fighter has a limit of 6.

    • Student Council Roroa: Has a useful once-per-turn temporary deskilling attack skill. Include in any non-Rookie build unless there's a specific reason not to.

    • Cook Club Poplar, Chief Maid Carie, Knight's Assistant Clarice, or Wind Witch: Work extremely well with 4 Messages but not with Rookie's Debut. Being season 3 cards these are rather difficult to obtain early on but whichever one matches your faction would work very well if you wanted to use a non-Rookie build past just an initial grinding deck.

    Other spells

    Other spells that work well in the deck include:

    • Meteor Call: Can easily deal high STA damage due to the number of followers the deck plays at once. However it damages your own followers too and interferes with Rookie's Debut. This is fairly simple to obtain but is typically a placeholder for Warning.

    • Warning: Can rather easily inflict a -5/0/-5 debuff to all opposing followers since the deck often plays its entire hand at once. Can also act like a shuffle if needed. Overall makes the deck far more consistent in PvE. Being a season 2 rare card this is difficult to obtain early on but is certainly worth the extra effort to obtain and should definitely be included once obtained.

    • Mass Recall (EX4): A good and cheap low size removal option for PvP versions. Risks removing one of your own followers as part of the cost but having multiple followers on the field means you can afford to let this happen to try removing a threat. Being a season 2 card this is somewhat difficult to obtain early on.

    Character

    Possible character choices include:

    • Fugitive Iri Flina: The recommended character for PvE versions due to her potential combined 2 life damage per turn to NPCs. Is a starter character.

    • Street Idol Clarice: The recommended character for PvP versions due to the followers she spawns which can start as high as 9/1/9. Reduces the number of followers needed and on early turns spawns followers with higher starting stats than those in the deck. However the spawned followers are graved at the start of each turn so can't accumulate multiple buffs. Being a transformation this is very expensive.

    • Dress Luthica: A buffing option. Can mass buff but doesn't work with Rookie's Debut. Being a transformation this character is very expensive.

    • Vampire Sisters Shion and Rion: A buffing option. Has synergy with the follower-heavy nature of the deck but doesn't work with Rookie's Debut. Being the boss character reward of Shadowland this takes a while to obtain and is more of a personal preference option than a suggested option.

    • Horseback Rose: A buffing and prebuffing option. Has a nice buff or prebuff depending on the number of cards in your hand and can delay deckout by recycling followers. Both the buff and prebuff work with Rookie's Debut. Being a transformation this is very expensive.

    • Child Helena: A prebuffing option. Has an extremely strong STA prebuff. Doesn't worth with Rookie's Debut. Rather expensive though not as expensive as some of the other listed options.

    Possible additional rares and DRs

    Size 1 Passcode generally doesn't benefit much from extra rares and DRs so your extra resources are generally better spent making another deck. However if you wish to make a more expensive version, such as for use against certain specific NPCs where size 1 Passcode happens to remain a useful tool, here are some options:

    • Morals Committee Layna Scentriver: Extremely tanky for a size 1 but doesn't work with Rookie's Debut. Can potentially gain 6 STA upon being attacked if your hand is full or 5 STA if you only played a single card that turn. Being an EP1 rare this card is unusually cheap for a 33pt rare but still expensive compared to the other PvE build suggestions.

    • Shock: A combined buff and debuff that drastically increases the survivability of your followers that turn. Buffs all followers on your field by +2/0/+5 if used with a Crux character and debuffs all opposing followers by -2/0/0. However it requires a Crux character to get the full benefit and doesn't work with Rookie's Debut. Rather cheap for a DR but still extremely expensive.

    • Relieve Post: A 2-turn buff. Buffs 2 of your followers by +4/0/+4, becomes size 1, then buffs 2 followers next turn. Works with Rookie's Debut and can count as a size 1 for the purposes of making Passcode's effect work. Extremely expensive.

    • Cursed Totem: A continuous debuff and spell delay tool. Easily gets the 4 or 5 card effect each turn for a -2/0/-2 or -2/0/-3 debuff to 2 opposing followers and counts as a size 1 for the purposes of making Passcode's effect work. Extremely expensive and a season 2 card.

    • Dark Sword Menelgart: A potentially strong buff and hand prebuff. All followers in your hand and field have their ATK swapped with their STA then if used with a Darklore character gain 3 ATK and/or 4 STA if their new STA or ATK respectively are 10 or less. Being able to buff your field and hand at the same time is powerful in this deck but it doesn't work with Rookie's Debut and requires a Darklore character to be good. Extremely expensive and a season 2 card.
      Note: This spell in unfortunately generally underwhelming outside of Passcode decks, which is a huge shame.

    Advantages and disadvantages

    The advantages of size 1 Passcode:

    • Cheap to build.
    • Simple to use.
    • Strong for its cost.
    • Rather fast at grinding.

    The disadvantages of size 1 Passcode:

    • Low cap on how strong it can get.
    • As a result can only comfortably handle some of the easier dungeons.
    • Reliant on shuffles.
    • Decks out easily due to playing so many cards at once.
    • Doesn't teach the basics of 'normal' deck building due to being so follower-heavy.
    • Vulnerable to effects that punish low sizes or off-faction cards.

    Example decks

    Here are some example deck lists:

    I hope this guide will help players (if the length of it hasn't driven them away already :sweat_smile: ).

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    First of all thanks for including my pvp version of passcode to the guide.
    Secondly i would like to place an quite important additional option you didn't mentioned. But before few words on my pvp version of deck.

    Street Idol Clarice PvP version (based on akihito's build) - 100DP is a deck purely oriented at pvp. It's as much antideckout as possible for passcode and it allows to get strong field presence ASAP. What wasn't mentioned it's that recycle follower on field allows you to be rookie target at any case. This is why it needs to be played with Rookie debut. I strongly advice this setup (or similar) for pvp purposes and it can be done with basic Alchemist Clarice as well even though it isn't so strong. Main key for good cheap versions of pvp passcodes is to make use of free dp left and include lukif. In lowest pvp bracket it can be very hard to counter or even in some cases impossible which allows you to get some freerolls. Lukif is also highly recommended in 300 dp versions as well as grinding decks. Of course if you can allow the cost of crafting.

    Crux Passcode - PvE/ 300 DP pvp is the more expensive passcode version but better one and can be improved a lot. This deck I put in is just general idea deck - aim is to exchange rookie buff for Sisters Reunion buff (4x +4/0/+4 or 3x +3/0/+3 with added possibility to get rid off lukif due to -3/-3/-3 debuff if only 1 follower is put) and Demotion (possibly +4/0/+4 but may be as low as +2/0/+2) and improve deck with d.rare crux followers oriented spells like Luthicas Ward/Dignity/The Truth Revealed/Shock/Forced Return/ Pacifism maybe Sanctuary Pillar or Totem. In addition you can use very funny but powerfull in this setup spell called Smallification and maybe Sending information if you feel lucky and adventorous (very risky option but may give buff as much as +6/0+6 for 3 followers).
    Char is usually picked up from crux chars but it doesn't have to be, you may decide to pick up mighty child Helena for example, it's really up to you but you can't play Clarisse chars. This deck has possibility to improve up to around 350 DP and than you can switch your followers to 2 sizer crux followers and play so-called Crux mass deck (similar idea just 2 sizers with some twists) which you can improve further up to around 500 DP.

    But... before we clap our backs till no tomorrow there is something to be said about passcode decks. It's aim is mainly to be cheap grinding deck and quick improvement for beginners. As for pvp stage there is quite number of better decks even with buffing abilities. Passcode is safe all-around choice with decent outcomes but can't be treated as Holy Grail. As i mentioned it can be used as a pit stop before achieving crux mass deck evolving itself into stronger version which is capable of doing more damage, but main goal of passcode is just to be very cheap and as effective in it's price as possible.

    Hope i helped :)

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