Deck breakdown: Resurgence (300-9001DP PvE)

Nietono

Last updated 14th July 2017

Disclaimer: Some links may display outdated effects.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 Resurgence deck: what it is, options for what to include, and the strengths and weaknesses of the deck. Since this is purely a grinding deck I will not be considering PvP viability. Use against skilled players at your own risk!

This is the second in my series of deck breakdown guides.
Previous: size 1 Passcode
Edit:
Next: grave

What is a Resurgence deck?

Resurgence decks use either Glacier of the Ice or Flores Altheim to automatically draw 4 or 3 specific Crux cards respectively including the spell Resurgence and a high sized follower. This works because a deck containing only 4 or 3 Crux cards has only those specific Crux cards for Glacier or Flores to send to your hand/the top of your deck.

This allows the deck to consistently create an oversized field on turn 1 that plays your entire hand regardless of size and potentially hits for a high amount of direct damage. A size 7 follower with 3 followers played at size 2-3 by Resurgence adds up to a size 13-16 field where the total original size could easily be over 20.

The nature of the deck means that you can't play any further cards until your field size drops back below 10. This means the deck relies on the opening field to be able to handle most or all of the fight itself. On the other hand this also means no decisions about which cards to play so you can just quickly hit the Ready button to skip your turns.

The combination of the predetermined turn 1 play, oversized field, and lack of further plays needed if things go well makes this likely the fastest general purpose grinding deck in the game. However the inability to play further cards generally means the deck needs to be expensive compared to what you're farming with it and cheaper versions of the deck tend to lack a suitable way to make a recovery if things go badly. The deck also tends to perform poorly against a lot of bosses unless using a very expensive build, and even then some bosses are out of reach.

The deck is typically incredibly follower-heavy, usually running fewer than 10 spells and possibly even running no spells other than Resurgence. The deck also evaluates cards differently from other decks since it aims to bypass the size of its followers but struggles to reliably buff them and has no control over which non-Crux cards get played by Resurgence. This makes Resurgence decks another bad example if you're looking to learn how to build more conventional decks.

Core cards

These cards are required to make the deck function:

Glacier of the Ice: The cheaper but weaker character choice for the deck. She used to buff the sent followers by +1/0/+1 but post-nerf she instead debuffs them by -1/0/-1 and lowers their size by 1. Given that the deck aims to create a large field both parts of this effect are undesirable. Sending the cards to your hand also makes the deck vulnerable to NPC character effects that discard cards from the hand. Being able to auto-draw 4 specific cards instead of 3 does however provide more control over your opening hand. Reasonably cheap for a character but is season 2.
Flores Altheim: The stronger but more expensive character choice for the deck. She buffs the sent followers instead of debuffing them and preserves their size. She also avoids NPC character hand discard effects by sending cards to the top of the deck instead of your hand. She only lets you auto-draw 3 cards instead of 4 though. Very expensive and is season 2.
Resurgence: The spell the deck is named after. Plays your entire hand at size 2-3, ignoring the previous size and allowing for an oversized field full of strong followers. Post-nerf this card deactivates any sent spells which makes playing it with other spells in your hand much weaker. This effect can fail if an NPC happens to play a card that empties your hand. Extremely expensive but is at least season 1.

High size Crux follower

The deck wants 1 of these to play along with Resurgence on turn 1:

Knight Supplier: A cheap season 1 option for early builds. Has high base stats and lacking an effect actually slightly speeds up fights. This should be replaced ASAP as it won't carry the deck very far.
Knight Quartermaster: A stronger season 1 option. Has high base stats and steals 1/0/1 from the attacker when attacked by a non-Crux follower. Being size 6 instead of 7 reduces direct damage but otherwise a decent option. There are however followers that are preferred.
Youngest Knight Rotori (UE1): The safer and more buff-oriented of the preferred options. She can self-buff rapidly when attacking followers, especially when her DEF is buffed by another follower, and she gains 2 STA when attacked by an NPC-controlled follower. Being a season 2 rare card makes this difficult to obtain but she's worth the investment.
Crux Knight Lukif: The initially stronger but riskier of the preferred options. Her huge base attack one-shots a lot of followers, especially as NPCs are typically bad at buffing followers. Her defend skill contrasted with her low STA is a double-edged sword as she can either be destroyed easily or be close to impossible to destroy depending on the NPC and the cards they play. However the random nature of NPCs combined with the generally early win turns of the deck generally make her safer than she initially seems. Being a season 2 rare card makes this difficult to obtain but she's worth the investment.

Note: the boss of Muzisitter Land cannot destroy Crux Knight Lukif once she reaches 3 STA, making Flores + Lukif a hard counter to the boss, albeit overly expensive for the task.

Other Crux cards

In addition to the possibility of running another of the above possible other Crux options for the remaining 1-2 Crux cards include:

Sword Girls Luthica: Provides a DEF buff and can start the loop of Sword Girls buffs. Low ATK weakens the initial field however. This card should only be used in the deck if running other Sword Girls followers, e.g. Sword Girls Sita, but starting this buffing loop can help overcome the buffing issues the deck suffers from. Misleadingly expensive for her pt value but is at least season 1. Should eventually be replaced by Crux Knight Fleta.
Crux Knight Fleta: Her previously somewhat unimpressive for a DR +3/0/+3 buff to your field got increased to a +3/+1/+4 buff and now buffs all of your followers regardless of their faction. This buff helps make your initial field much stronger, significantly expanding what the deck can reasonably handle. This card is expensive even by DR standards but is at least season 1. Highly recommended for any Resurgence deck.
Relieve Post: A 2-turn buff that helps with the deck's lack of buffing by providing a +4/0/+4 buff to 2 followers then buffing 2 followers again next turn. The nerf to Resurgence however means that this won't start buffing until turn 2 and not being a follower reduces the possible direct damage. Being a DR this card is expensive but is at least season 1. A viable option for a 4th Crux card in Glacier versions but Flores versions lack room as Fleta is preferred for being able to potentially buff sooner and also being a follower. This is a very useful card for other decks in general however.

Remaining cards - cheap(ish) options

Less expensive options for the remaining non-Crux cards, some of which are even useful long-term, include:

Cook Club Director Jamie, Head Maid, and/or Scardel Pinot Noir: Starter deck followers with a +1/0/+1 self-buff against NPCs. Rather strong for how easy they are to get, these are good choices for an early version though should eventually be replaced.
Sword Girls Sita: Provides a +2/0/+1 buff to all of your followers at once when she first attacks and regains this skill when brought out by another Sword Girls follower, which could even be another copy of herself. This source of once-per-turn buffing helps with the buffing issues the deck has. Misleadingly expensive for her pt value but is at least season 1. Highly recommended for any Resurgence deck, even the most expensive ones, but requires that at least 2 copies of a Sword Girls follower total are in the deck. You may opt to only run 2 of her to allow the self-buffs on each to stack up faster but this makes the Sword Girls Loop easier to break.
Sword Girls Cinia: Provides a 3 STA buff to all of your followers at once and reduces her own size by 1 when first attacked and regains this skill when brought out by another Sword Girls follower, which could even be another copy of herself. Like Swordgirls Sita she helps with the buffing issues the deck has but her pure STA buff is generally less useful than the mixed ATK/STA buff of Swordgirls Sita. Misleadingly expensive for her pt value but is at least season 1. Recommended for cheaper versions but should eventually be replaced.
Tennis Club Fiddle: Has high base ATK and gains 3 STA when attacked by an NPC-controlled follower. Being a season 2 card makes this harder to obtain. Highly recommended for all but the most expensive Resurgence decks.
Hot Item: A mass buff with no restrictions. With the Resurgence nerf this won't activate until turn 2 and not being a follower reduces the possible direct damage, but cheaper versions of the deck in particular can benefit from the buffing. This is simple to obtain and useful for cheaper versions of the deck but should be replaced long-term.
Sacrifice: A starter deck life burn spell. Can be used for a final burst of damage if the initial field is lost and isn't too bad if placed by Resurgence. Useful for cheaper versions of the deck and viable in more expensive ones but should still probably be replaced long-term.

Other ways to bypass size

Other cards for bypassing size to rebuild the field if the initial field is lost are mostly expensive but include:

GS Agent (EP 5): Used as a single copy with GS 1st Star in the deck she can bring out GS 1st Star at full size when attacked. Her own stats are weak when unbuffed however. This is fairly simple to obtain and is far easier to obtain than GS 1st Star herself. Useful as long as GS 1st Star is in the deck but you may wish to replace her eventually.
Trainer Iri: Can bring out another follower at full size once per turn albeit deactivated, buffs herself when she does so, and can even help create larger a field than you started with. She also gains 2 STA when attacked. Her effect can conflict with Sword Girls followers however and her base attack is somewhat low. Being a season 2 rare this card is difficult to obtain but is highly recommended for more expensive versions of the deck.
Visitor: Plays the first Vita follower in your hand at size 1-2 with a +3-5/0/+3-5 buff. Requires a lot of the deck to be Vita followers to work reliably and if played by Resurgence will be delayed by a turn. However there are a lot of good Vita followers the deck can use and the extra buff to the follower is helpful. Extremely expensive but is at least season 1 and is recommended for expensive Vita-heavy versions.
Forgotten God's Ritual: Brings out a follower with -1 size and a +4/0/+4 buff if the opposing field contains a spell. Being delayed by a turn when played by Resurgence means it can be your 1st spell to activate on turn 2 instead of your 2nd spell to activate on turn 1, meaning Resurgence no longer makes it less likely to work. The effect fails if the NPC doesn't have a spell when it activates but when it works it can help create an even larger oversized field and the extra buff is helpful. Being a season 2 rare this is difficult to obtain but is recommended in spite of the luck factor.
Entrapment: Brings out an Academy follower with an ATK/STA buff and/or size reduction. The follower-heavy nature of the deck means it can often provide at least a +5/0/+5 buff which is very helpful. Unlike Visitor this only requires that at least 1 Academy follower remains the in the deck. Being a season 2 DR this is particularly difficult to obtain but is highly recommended for expensive versions.

Safety and recovery

These options are expensive but can help prevent and/or deal with bad situations, making the deck more reliable:

Cosmo Lady Tikin: Has a one-off +2/0/+2 self-buff when first attacking and a one-off -2/0/-2 debuff when first attacked as well as being able to recycle a single follower, possibly Lukif or Fleta. Works better in Flores versions of the deck to redraw a recycled Lukif or Fleta the turn after without needing to play multiple cards. Recommended but not required.
Royle Academy Chairman Lady Linia: Can remove the DEF/STA buffs once per turn from a follower she attacks and the ATK/DEF buffs once per turn from a follower attacking her. This makes it more difficult for an NPC to outbuff you. Highly recommended.
Muzisitter Lady Sevia: Can heal you and self-buff but makes the defender size 1 when she does so. This can help you recover from the damage of losing an initial field. Recommended but not required.
Student Council Treasurer Amy: Can turn buffs on a defender into debuffs of up to -5 per stat once per turn. This makes it more difficult for an NPC to outbuff you. However her base ATK is somewhat low. Highly recommended.
Reunion: Can potentially steal a size 5 or lower follower on turn 2 if played by Resurgence on turn 1, or steal a size 4 or lower follower otherwise. This can either allow for more direct attacks or steal a threatening follower. Highly recommended.

Remaining cards - expensive options

Expensive options for the remaining non-Crux cards include:

Battle Sita and/or Vampire Hunter Iri: Among the most widely-splashed followers in the game, these are both extremely good followers and can still be useful even at their default size if the initial field is lost. Battle Sita deals STA damage equal to half of her ATK and buffs her STA by half the damage dealt, making any ATK buff to her even more effective. Vampire Hunter Iri buffs her ATK and STA once per turn by 2 + the difference between her size and the defender's. These are also unusually cheap for 33pt rares. Highly recommended in general as well as for this deck.
Student Council Executive Member Maron, Ice Lady, and/or GS 1st Star: The other faction versions of Knight Quartermaster. They all have high base stats and steal 1/0/1 when attacked by a follower of another faction. Solid inclusions but not required.
Southern Lady: Deals STA damage to the defender and followers adjacent to it equal to half her ATK divided by the number of targets, and has high base stats. Highly recommended.
Detectives Linus and Asmis: Spawns a Vita starter deck buff each time it attacks and removes 1 from the grave when attacked to gain +1/0/+1. The buff from New Student Orientation is nice on just her but is even better in a Vita-heavy Flores version. The spawned spells also delay your attacks to allow for more direct attacks. Highly recommended.
Witness of the End: Usually buffs herself by +2/+1/+2 each time she attacks as most followers have skills. Highly recommended.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of Resurgence decks:

Consistent turn 1 play.
Simple to use.
Very fast at grinding.
A lot of room for growth.

The disadvantages of Resurgence decks:

Requires a DR to function.
Generally needs to be more expensive than the decks it fights.
Strong versions are very expensive.
Can struggle with bosses, especially cheaper versions of the deck.
Cheaper versions struggle if the opening field is lost.
High damage to yourself if your oversized field is destroyed.

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: ).