Sistermons Blanc and Noir are introduced in BT-06 Double Diamond mainly as supports for the Jesmon lineup, but never forget that there are already around 10 Royal Knights introduced thus far, that also synergizes well with Sistermons.
The LV3 Sistermon Blanc gives draw power when played at 3 cost while also granting all Sistermons in the battle <Blocker>. The LV4 Sistermon Noir buffs +2000 DP to your Digimons with [Huckmon] in its name or is a [Royal Knight] in their type, while getting +1 memory when played.
Craniamon, a Royal Knight
In the current meta, with the absurd strength of option zoo decks such as the 2 Musketeers deck, Craniamon becomes a de-facto blocker that is able to protect other blockers from your opponent's deletion effects, making him a potential "come-back" candidate for black in this meta. He is also a member of the Royal Knights.
I would like to introduce a new black deck that utilizes the synergy between Cranianmon (Royal Knight) and Sistermons.
I play tested using 3 Sistermons Blanc and Noir respectively to avoid destablizing my digivolution routine.
I will build Craniamon through digivolution, inheriting the digitama [ST5-01] Kapurimon to gain +1000 DP during my turn. At LV3, I will ideally inherit either the promo [P-033] Sunarizamon for <SecurityAttack+1>, or [BT2-055] Toyagumon for <Reboot>. Inheriting Sunarizamon will bias Craniamon towards a sword, while Toyagumon biases Craniamon towards a shield.
At LV4, the idea is to run as many blockers as possible since their inheritable effects are not very potent at this level. I played 3 copies of [BT3-067] Tankmon but it would be ideal to run 4 copies of [ST5-08] Darktyrannomon instead (I got lazy to dig my cards when building for playtesting). I also ran with 4 copies of [BT5-065] Shademon for <Blocker> and that additional security effect, and finally 2 copies of [BT2-058] Guardromon for being a high DP blocker.
At LV5, I ran a mixed bag of Digimons: 2 copies [BT6-062] Volcamon for <SecurityAttack+1>, 2 copies of [BT5-066] Warumonzaemon for efficiency, 2 copies of [BT6-064] Mamemon for <Decoy>, and a copy of [ST5-09] Metalgreymon for a flexible <Blocker> effect.
I intended to use Mamemon to shield my other LV6 Alphamon in the event that Craniamon is not available, but found out later that this was not necessary hence you may replace him with other LV5 Digimons.
Although Craniamon is a blocker, I will attack with him under appropriate conditions therefore it is important for him to inherit <SecurityAttack+1> to maximize the damage (since I may not attack very quickly or often). Below are some of the conditions which I consider appropriate for Craniamon to attack:
1. If he inherits <Reboot> from Toyagumon so he can unsuspend at the beginning of my opponent's turn.
2. When I have [ST5-14] Tai Kamiya is in play, with another blocker Digimons so I can block with the other blocker and unsuspend Craniamon through Tai Kamiya.
When Craniamon attacks, he should be at least 13000 DP big (larger if I have more Sistermon Noirs in play) so he will be effective against both suspended Digimons or security checks.
Alphamon, another Royal Knight
I also play 2 copies of [BT6-111] Alphamon mainly for reasons below:
1. He is also a [Royal Knight] Digimon hence gains support from Sistermons.
2. He may be able to stop OTK Digimons such as Jesmon and Gabumon BOF.
3. He can become bigger than Craniamon when attacking (by paying memory) hence flexible in many occasions.
German Option for Board Reset
With many blockers and a very big Craniamon, it is possible for the opponent to attempt a wide board to overcome my blockers. Therefore, I use the German option card [BT6-105] Gewalt Schwarmer to wipe the board when such opportunity presents itself. While this card can be a double-edged sword (deletes my 7 cost and below too), I can control the timing and decide if the sacrifices are worth it or not. This can often surprise the opponent since they would often not expect a move that hits both sides, potentially catching them off-guard and derailing their momentum.
Some Weaknesses
There are not many cards that are effective against Craniamon in this meta, with cards like Milleniummon and Cocytus Breath falling slightly out of favor. For yellow however, [BT5-099] Spiral Masquerade and [BT6-101] Wyvern's Breath can be fatal for Craniamon but when he is sufficiently buffed (through a couple of Noirs or even [BT6-061] Gigadramon) then it would be difficult for even DP-reduction effects to remove Craniamon.
[BT5-032] Hexeblaumon can also disable this deck, since I do not run any LV6 removals. Perhaps running a couple of [BT4-090] Chaosmon would help deal with Hexeblaumon decks (but luckily they aren't very meta right now).
The OTK capabilities of [BT6-016] Jesmon is still much feared, and there is no blocking a 18000 DP Jesmon with Piercing and multiple attacks. However, Jesmon is a fearsome foe for any deck anyways (which is why he is sitting up there in Tier-1) so luck is needed against him. I run multiple copies of [BT3-061] Chuumon to slow down a Jesmon deck that relies on delay option cards and Sistermon Noir combos that grant memory, and while Jesmon can clean up my security in one turn, he will still need to go through my blockers for the win and that is where I can prevent that easy win and hopefully launch a counterattack.
Summary
This deck, with Craniamon, should fare very well against security control decks or option zoo such as 2 Musketeer decks, and also against rookie rush decks. I think Craniamon deserves another look and hopefully someone can optimize this engine enough for a win at competitive tournaments!
