Digimon TCG – Paildramon Primer

Paildramon is a very fast and effective multi-check deck. It banks very heavily on setup to try and end a game by turn 3 or 4, depending on the circumstances. The key playmaker, Paildramon, is a Starter Deck card with multiple strong effects. First, if he’s DNA Digivolved into, he bounces 1 of your opponent’s digimon with 6000 or less DP to the bottom of their deck. Second, he can unsuspend himself once per-turn when attacking.

DNA Digivolution is a new mechanic introduced with the set of starter decks that Paildramon comes in. To set up a DNA Digivolution you’ll need to 2 corresponding Digimon of a specified color and level. Paildramon needs 1 blue and 1 green Lv4. Since the setup for DNA is so restrictive and costly, there’s no memory cost for going into a DNA Digimon. There are also a bunch of other benefits you gain post-Digivolution:

-Any DNA digivolved Digimon enters the field unsuspended, even if its materials were suspended.

-A DNA Digivolved Digimon can attack the turn it enters the field.

-DNA Digivolved Digimon reset their stats. This means any buffs or de-buffs on its materials are gone, and any once per-turn effects it has in its materials are able to trigger again.

Paildramon feels a bit like a Lv5 card masquerading as a Lv6 with all of the DNA benefits combined on top of his already strong abilities. It’s very easy for Paildramon to setup kills on the turn he comes out or the turn after, and there are plenty of effective ways to make sure you have enough memory to wipe your opponent out as quick as possible.

Your Digitama will almost always be BT3 DemiVeemon. Getting a draw off of [Jamming] is pretty much guaranteed in this deck since at least 2 of your main cards will come with it naturally, and Paildramon can gain it through material effects. If you want to run 5 Digitama, then a 1-of BT1 Upamon is always a solid choice.

Your Lv3s are almost always going to be a Veemon package, as so many of them just end up working perfectly with what the deck is trying to do. BT3 gives a low-cost [Jamming] option, ST9 is a searcher for most of your deck, BT8 is another searcher for most of your deck, and EX1 gives a cheeky memory recovery option. ST8 Veemon is a good honorable mention if you want to split him with EX1. ST8 gives you a draw as long as your hand is 7 cards or less, giving you good restock options early, but he falls off hard if the game drags on. Most cards in the deck can replace themselves, so having a hand count specific max weakens your returns after turn 4 or so.

As far as Lv4s, Paildramon makes great use of Lighdramon. The card can fulfill either of his DNA Digivolution requirements since it is both a green and a blue. This is the other reason you want to run almost all Veemon for your Lv3s, since Lighdramon has a cheaper Digivolution cost when played on top of a Veemon. Paildramon’s other Lv4 options tend to step away from Armor types, since it’s more important to load him with strong inheritance skills like [Jamming] off of EX1 ExVeemon or ST9 Stingmon’s effect to draw when attacking. Stingmon also has the added benefit of being a 3-cost Lv4 when control a blue Digimon. I’ve seen some decks that try to use [Security] effect Digimon like Snimon or Coraldramon as other choices.

The deck tends to be pretty restrictive with Lv4 cards. Your gimmick is getting to Paildramon as fast and efficiently as possible, loading him up with skills he needs to win, and hopefully checking multiple security cards in a 1 go. I have seen some decks that splash in BT8 Magnamon to act as a blocker, but you need to remember to keep a balance of green and blue Digimon so you can hit your win condition. That said though, Magnamon can make or break games as a very powerful wall or attacker, if you can find the space, then squeezing in 2 is never a bad choice.

With Paildramon as the win condition, you don’t really need a Lv6, but ST9 Imperialdramon is an amazing extender if you have the memory for him. If you’re somehow sitting at 4 memory after Paildramon attacks, you can go into Imperialdramon, remove the Lv4s you used for Paildramon, and then go into another Paildramon to finish the game. Kimeramon is another amazing card for the deck, since it’s yet another DNA Digivolution option without any color restrictions, and can pull a level 5 or lower Digimon from your trash to slap under his materials. If you’re running Magnamon or Flamedramon as Lv4 options you can even trigger Kimeramon’s effect that grants it an extra +4k DP on your turn and give your opponent’s board -4k DP until the end of your turn. Kimeramon works very nicely with Imperialdramon since you can grab back either a utility Lv4 like Magnamon if you don’t have another DNA Lv5 in-hand, or a searcher, like one of your Veemon.

Tamer space is also pretty tight in Paildramon. There are 3 specific Tamers that help the deck operate: Davis, Hiro, and Davis & Ken. The original Davis reveals the top 3 cards of the deck and lets you add 1 blue and 1 green Digimon card to your hand, and he’s also a starting memory fixer. He’s a potential +2 anytime you play him, letting you grab setup pieces for Paildramon, or Paildramon himself.

Hiro is a sort of anti-meta pick. He lets you run Delicate Tactics, a card that makes it so your attacking Digimon ignores Option card Security effects. This lets Paildramon attack without having to worry about any problematic removal cards. Hiro also lets you run Fire Rocket without needing an Armor type to play it. Fire Rocket grants any 2-color Digimon [Security Attack +1], which turns Paildramon into a 4-check attacker on the turn he’s played. Keep in mind that Fire Rocket needs to be played AFTER you DNA Digivolve into Paildramon. DNA Digvolution removes all buff and debuff effects on the two material Digimon. The only exception to this is if you Digivolve normally by paying Paildramon’s steep 4-memory cost.

Davis & Ken are incredibly powerful. At the start of your Main Phase they grant +1 memory if you control a blue Digimon and another +1 memory if you control a green Digimon. If you have a dual-colored Digimon, like Lighdramon, it’ll count as both and grant +2. They also have an ability to rest themselves when a dual-colored Digimon is Digivolved into to then unsuspend that specific Digimon. Their second effect isn’t as prevalent in a Paildramon-focused deck, since DNA Digivolved cards will enter the field recovered anyways, but gives some survivability against attacks if you choose to run Imperialdramon. They work great with any memory fixing Tamer, like Davis or Hiro. You’ll commonly start with 4 or 5 memory each turn; more than enough for any blue deck to work with.

Options tend to be pretty bog-standard. Ice Wall, Vulcan’s Hammer, and Blue Memory boost are all solid choices, but strong removal like Mega Death is also good. Fire Rocket and Delicate Tactics are auto-includes if you’re running hero; but can be side-decked if your want a more standard memory manipulation package.

Paildramon gains a few new options in EX2 and BT9, none of which were intended support. First is Attack Plug-In A, which has a similar effect to Fire Rocket. It grants [Security Attack +1] to any Digimon you control, and you can ignore its color requirements as long as you control a Tamer. If Attack Plug-In A is revealed from your security cards, you get to look at the top 3 cards of your deck and add a Tamer to your hand as well as Attack Plug-In. If you’d rather not run Hiro, then Plug-In is a solid replacement for Fire Rocket, even if it costs a bit more.

Leomon also ended up being a solid inclusion following BT9. Leomon X is a green and blue Lv4, so he helps you set up Paildramon like Lighdramon does. Leomon X also lets you play a Leomon from its sources whenever it’s deleted in battle, and EX2 Leomon comes with a wide array of effects that make him a worthwhile 2 or 3-of. First, he’s a blocker as long as you control a Tamer, and secondly he grants +2 memory and a draw when he’s deleted. Leomon is a solid staller for a deck that typically doesn’t run blockers. He can also force an opponent’s turn to end prematurely, giving you the time needed to setup a beefy Paildramon swing on the following turn.

Here are 2 different Paildramon decks:

The first is based on BT8.

The second is based on BT9.

Paildramon was a strong deck in Japan when he came out, but ended up overshadowed by Security Control and Mastemon. ST9 and ST10 came out a month before BT8 did, and also before the banlist whacked “Mega Digimon Fusion,” which gave easy access to Susanoomon in Security Control and Zwart in Mastemon. Those two decks can still be very difficult for Paildramon to deal with, but Hiro gives the deck a fighting chance it didn’t have when it first released. Paildramon is also very budget-friendly, coming to a little under $60 or so with most of the cards being starter deck options or cheap commons.

The Veemon-line is one of my favorite archetypes in the game so far, and I find the OTK style of Paildramon to feel really rewarding when pulled off proper.