Artical by David Taylor

 

This is an introduction to the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Yellow "Tanjiro & Nezuko" deck on Union Arena. We explain the deck recipe (list) and the reasons for using the cards.

 

Main Deck

The Tanjiro & Nezuko deck is designed for aggressive play, focusing on rapidly depleting an opponent's life points by leveraging three powerful raid attackers—Tanjiro and Nezuko. This strategy thrives on the synergy between Raid Tanjiro, which steadily chips away at life points, and Raid Nezuko, which lowers Tanjiro to the energy line while boosting his attack power.

When executed effectively, this combo allows Raid Tanjiro to reposition safely during combat, ensuring sustained offensive pressure and making it easier to maintain relentless attacks.

The strongest cards in this deck

"Use Impact & Raid to draw Nezuko into the ring with [Kamado Tanjiro]

Raid Tanjiro is a powerful attacker with the ability to summon a Nezuko with a cost of 3 or less from outside the field upon his appearance, placing it directly into play. This effectively grants him an extra card in hand and an additional AP, making his landing highly efficient by recovering the resources spent on the raid. Since his base raid ability has an impact value of 1, his effectiveness hinges on how much damage he can inflict on the opponent’s life points.

Notably, the Nezuko placed on the field doesn’t have to be the one retrieved from outside the field. The optimal strategy involves summoning a Raid Nezuko from outside, activating its effect to bring out another raid-source Nezuko, and then initiating another raid.

The starter raid version of "Tanjiro Kamado" can also be used as an attacker, though its ability is not particularly strong. Its impact only triggers upon appearance, and the BP boost is a modest 500, making it somewhat underwhelming. However, its ability to share the raid source makes it a viable secondary attacker within the deck’s strategy.

 

Kamado Nezuko’s raid enhances attack power while providing protection for Tanjiro.

 

Raid Nezuko is a character with the ability to swap the front-row Tanjiro with a character on the energy line during an attack. This maneuver allows Tanjiro to launch an additional attack while also positioning him safely to avoid removal effects in the following turn.

As a 3-energy AP1 card, Raid Nezuko can be retrieved by Raid Tanjiro’s effect, making it easier to maintain a steady raid source on the board through multiple "Tanjiro" effects. However, its effectiveness heavily depends on being played alongside Tanjiro, so deploying it carelessly may limit its potential.

 

Highly versatile support card 2 drop [Zenitsu Agatsuma]

2 Zenitsu has the effect of looking at 4 cards from your deck when he appears, adding Tanjiro or Nezuko to your hand, and discarding 1 card. You can move very flexibly because you can retrieve a powerful raid target while dropping Nezuko to be retrieved by the raid Tanjiro. At worst, you can discard unnecessary 0 energy surplus cards in the late game, so it's a card you want to play at any time from the early to late game.

Also, since it has a draw trigger, it's great that it can replenish your hand, which tends to run short in this deck that performs raids repeatedly.

 

The nine types above are the core of the deck. Since you want to have multiple copies of the two powerful raid attackers and their raid sources in your hand, you will want to use the maximum number of them.

 

Three new cards bearing the name "Tanjiro" have been introduced.

• 3 Drop Tanjiro has the ability to summon a Nezuko with power 2 or less from your hand to the front upon entering the field. While this effect grants an extra AP if triggered, its reliability is limited since there are only a few instances where a low-power Nezuko will be available in hand at the right moment. With no triggers attached, it can be replaced, but its value lies in serving as a raid source for Tanjiro, which is why it's included in the deck.

• 4 Drop Tanjiro is a 4000 BP attacker with a Color trigger. When played, he can remove an opponent’s character with 3000 BP or less, effectively clearing small blockers. However, with an Action cost of 2, he struggles to eliminate more significant threats, limiting his overall utility. Due to this drawback, only a few copies are included.

• Starter 4 Drop Raid Tanjiro functions as an additional raid attacker. On the turn he enters, he becomes a 4500 BP impact attacker, making it highly likely he will deplete at least one life point. However, beyond that initial turn, he reverts to a standard 4000 BP character, which somewhat diminishes his effectiveness. Due to occasional shortages of raid sources, only two copies are included in the deck.

Energy Spam

For the 0-energy slot, I’ve included two copies each of Genya Shinazugawa and Murata. While I value the abilities Impact Null and Step, I’ve opted for a balanced distribution to avoid an excess of these effects in the deck.

1 Mitsuri Kanroji occupies the 1-energy slot and helps streamline the energy line. Given that this deck tends to deplete its hand quickly, Mitsuri is a great fit since she increases energy while conserving card resources. However, drawing too many copies can be problematic, as it may become difficult to manage the extra cards efficiently. To mitigate this, I’ve limited the count to three copies.

Biggest Flaws with the deck

This deck relies on the synergy between Raid Tanjiro and Nezuko, making it essential to draw both the raid source and its target in a well-balanced manner. If the distribution becomes uneven, maintaining the front line becomes difficult, increasing the risk of disruptions in gameplay. Sometimes you just don't see Nezuko in a game, it is hard to win without her.