Branded Despia

🇯🇵 烙印・🇨🇳 烙印

A primarily Fusion-based strategy focused around end phase recursion, now with added Synchro support. Typical endboards will have 1-2 quickplay spells (either a fusion spell or a targeted removal spell), a quick-effect non-targeting banish, and a Despia or Dogmatika special summon, as well as a way to get the original Fallen of Albaz to fusion with an opponent's monster.

General Counter Tips:

Keep cards out of the Branded Player's Graveyard, as many of the cards in the deck will either add itself back during the End Phase, or have effects related to it's status in GY during the EP/opponent's turn. Try to keep big fusions like Albion the Sanctifire Dragon, Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon and Granguignol the Dusk Dragon off the field if possible. If playing a fusion-based deck, Secreterion Dragon has the potential to completely shut down a Branded deck.

Related Decks: Dracotail, Tearlaments

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Find how to counter your opponent, or Add new counter:

Card	Chokepoint	Explanation	Impact	Link
Anti-Spell Fragrance	Flip during the Draw Phase of the Branded Player's turn.	Situationally good card, Branded lacks Spell/Trap removal, and it's only real instance of it is tied to the quickplay spell The Fallen & The Virtuous. Prevents a lot of meaningful interaction and recursion from the Branded player, but won't prevent things like Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon from hitting the field, or effects like Titaniklad the Ash Dragon from setting up non-spell based plays.	Usable	View Edit
Artifact Lancea	- Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon - Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon - Albion the Branded Dragon - Branded in Red	Prevents Eccelsia from summoning cards from deck, as banishment is a requirement. Completely stops Mirrorjade effect. Albion the Branded Dragon and Branded in Red both banish to fuse, thus Lancea completely stops the fusions from happening.	Weak	View Edit
Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring	- Branded Fusion - Fallen of the White Dragon - Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon - Aluber the Jester of Despia - Fusion Deployment - Guiding Quem, the Virtuous	Branded Fusion is the best starter in the Deck. Only Ash Aluber if - the opponent is low card in hand - they don't have Branded Fusion in hand (you can guess by total number of - they don't have any effect that can retrieve Branded Fusion from the GY (like GY effect of Branded Retribution or Despian Tragedy) Sometimes it might be correct to Ash Branded in High Spirits if they use it first, especially if they reveal Bystial Saronir with it. It helps them get to Branded Fusion, and if they have it already in hand they can search other cards to strengthen their board by a lot. -Fallen of the White Dragon is the new best starter in the deck, as of Burst Protocol. White Dragon effect to special summon itself cannot be Ash'd, however, it's effect on summon can. Preventing it from getting Ecclesia on board CAN prevent the deck from putting up a board, but it can also lead to Branded Fusion being online as they wouldn't have summoned a Synchro monster yet. -Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon however, is a great Ash target. Preventing the player from summoning either Guiding Quem, the Virtuous or Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous can effectively stop the turn in it's tracks, especially since summoning the synchro shuts off Branded Fusion and Fusion Deployment	Great	View Edit
Book of Eclipse	Branded End Board	Branded can still fuse using face down cards, however, it will prevent the monster effects from being usable, buying a turn's worth of combos, provided a set Super Polymerization or Branded in Red is not in play.	Weak	View Edit
Bystial	- Branded in Red target - Albion the Branded Dragon in GY the turn it is sent - Titaniklad the Ash Dragon in GY the turn it is sent - Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon in GY - Granguignol the Dusk Dragon in GY - Lubellion the Searing Dragon in GY - Fallen of Albaz (during Albion's effect) - Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous in GY the turn a Fusion Monster was sent to GY - Guiding Quem, the Virtuous target - Block their Bystials	Banishing GY targets in Branded prevents recursion, end phase plays, or interaction during either player's turn. Some targets do benefit from banishment, however. Less usable than D.D. Crow due to summoning a monster that is vulnerable to getting used for Fallen of Albaz's fusion effect.	Usable	View Edit
Called by the Grave	- Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon - Albion the Branded Dragon - Albion the Sanctifire Dragon's Target- Usually ( Ido the Supreme Magical Force or Archlord Kristya	CBTG on Mirrorjade will prevent a board wipe during EP. On Albion the Branded Dragon will prevent a search/set of a Branded Spell during EP, potentially shutting down a turn 3 for Branded. Banishing Albion the Sanctifire Dragon's target will prevent you from getting locked out of summoning monsters, allowing you to play the game.	Great	View Edit
Chaos Hunter	- Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon - Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon - Albion the Branded Dragon	Prevents Eccelsia from summoning cards from deck, as banishment is a requirement. Completely stops Mirrorjade effect. Albion the Branded Dragon and Branded in Red both banish to fuse, thus Lancea completely stops the fusions from happening. Actively worse than Lancea, as Chaos Hunter's attribute and stats allow it to be fused via Fallen of Albaz effect.	Bad	View Edit
Contact "C"	First summon of turn	Completely locks the Branded Player out of Extra deck summoning, as there are no fusion monsters in the average Branded deck that Contact "C" meets the requirements for, however, if the player is running any Level 10 Synchro monsters other than Bystial Dis Pater, they can synchro it away, but that isn't very common.	Great	View Edit
D.D. Crow	- Branded in Red target - Albion the Branded Dragon in GY the turn it is sent - Titaniklad the Ash Dragon in GY the turn it is sent - Rindbrumm the Striking Dragon in GY - Granguignol the Dusk Dragon in GY - Lubellion the Searing Dragon in GY - Fallen of Albaz (during Albion's effect) - Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous in GY the turn a Fusion Monster was sent to GY - Guiding Quem, the Virtuous target - Block their Bystials	Banishing GY targets in Branded prevents recursion, end phase plays, or interaction during either player's turn. Some targets do benefit from banishment, however.	Great	View Edit
Dark Ruler No More	Branded End Board	DRNM completely shuts the powerful monster effects of the Branded down off, allowing for relatively uninterrupted plays, just be wary of set spells and traps.	Great	View Edit
Dimension Shifter	Prevents GY effects, can prevent re-use of Fusion Material.	Shifter destroys the main part of Branded's gameplan- the constant looping of Graveyard effects and Fusion material, however, cards like Lubellion the Searing Dragon and The Dragon that Devours the Dogma allow the Branded player to still recycle cards, enabling a grind game once Shifter ends.	Usable	View Edit
Dinowrestler Pankratops	- Guiding Quem, the Virtuous	Quem is the single best target for one-monster removal in Branded, as it's the monster that can enable plays during your turn. That being said, Pank is actively useless in the matchup, as 1 for 1 removal simply isn't good against Branded.	Bad	View Edit
Dominus Impulse	- Branded Fusion - Fusion Deployment - Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon	Preventing the resolution of Branded Fusion is the single most important thing for the deck, but if they go for the synchro plays, preventing the Ecclesia synchro from summoning anything is just as important, as summoning a synchro prevents them from using BraFu.	Great	View Edit
Dominus Purge	Aluber the Jester of Despia	It's the primary card in the deck that adds, and can prevent access to either Branded Fusion or Branded Lost	Usable	View Edit
Droll & Lock Bird	Situational, depending on Branded player's hand as well as player skill.	While Droll can prevent Branded from searching Branded Fusion, or extenders, most Branded boards rely on either setting cards during EP, or sending cards to grave and then adding them to hand.	Bad	View Edit
Effect Veiler	Guiding Quem, the Virtuous Aluber Cartesia Lubellion The Searing Dragon Albion The Branded Dragon	Veiler on any of these if its the only card on board is quite decent. If they have cartesia + Aluber/Quem then veiler gets checked by cartesia. Also decent against Lubellion and Albion if you know they don't have a quick effect/play to dodge veiler. For example, if you know they don't have Branded in Red or Branded Banishment set up.	Usable	View Edit
Evenly Matched	Branded Endboard	Evenly Matched is one of the most powerful board breakers in the game. For the price of giving up your Battle Phase, you remove the entire Branded board in a way that leaves those cards unable to be recovered (Banished Face-down), allowing you to remove powerful 1-of Boss monsters like Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon without worrying about the counter-board wipe when it leaves field.	Great	View Edit
Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay	N/A	Actively unusable against Branded, as they do not link summon.	Bad	View Edit
Forbidden Crown	- Fallen of Albaz - Blazing Cartesia the Virtuous	Shutting down the Fallen of Albaz fusion effect can protect your board, and preventing the Cartesia fusion effect can ensure the amount of interaction Branded can put up is limited.	Usable	View Edit
Forbidden Droplet	- Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon - Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon - Blazing Cartesia the Virtuous	Forbidden Droplet completely shuts down most Monster-based interaction that Branded can put up, and can prevent responses to other effects by sending the respective card type.	Usable	View Edit
Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion	- Branded Retribution (add Branded Fusion from GY) - Despian Tragedy (add Branded Fusion from GY) - Albion the Branded Dragon	Not Yet	Usable	View Edit
Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill	Lubellion the Searing Dragon (if no Branded Lost on the Field)	Not Yet	Usable	View Edit
Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit	- Branded Regained - Branded Beast	Not Yet	Bad	View Edit
Harpies Feather Duster	Branded End Board	Unlike other decks that run heavy on backrow, Branded doesn't necessarily need to hold their spells for interaction, however, forcing activations could make them burn through resources and allow you to hit a second major board breaker immediately afterwards.	Great	View Edit
Infinite Impermanence	Which ever they open first: 1. - Lubellion the Searing Dragon (if they open with Branded Fusion, and no Branded Lost on field) - Aluber the Jester of Despia / Springans Kitt (if they open with summon Aluber/Kitt. otherwise they will search Branded Lost and prevent us from using Imperm on Fusion) (however only if they don't have Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous on the field, since they can use Cartesia Quick effect to dodge the negate) 2. Albion the Branded Dragon (If started with Fusion Deployment- Cartesia)- Same use as Lubellion the Searing, preventing the further fusion summoning. 3. Guiding Quem, the Virtuous- Effect to dump a monster that mentions Fallen of Albaz, as negating the card for the whole turn will severely impact the ability to build a board.	Lubellion they have to discard a card for cost, and they usually play it as a 1 of 90% of the time, and it's the best resource looper, so if you imperm it they won't get it back	Usable	View Edit
Kaiju	- Secreterion Dragon	Kaiju-type removal is typically really strong, however, against Branded, it can be risky. Tributing Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon causes an End-Phase Board nuke. Tributing Granguignol the Dusk Dragon doesn't actually prevent her special summon effect, as it can be activated in GY. Albion the Sanctifire Dragon will typically have already summoned either Archlord Kristya or Ido the Supreme magical Force Ido the Supreme magical Force, which would prevent you from summoning a Kaiju at all. The main target should be something like Secreterion Dragon, as it potentially shuts off a floodgate.	Bad	View Edit
Maxx "C"	- Draw Phase - Branded Fusion - Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous	It's Maxx "C". You let that fire whenever you get the chance to. At worst, you get 1-2 draws off the Branded player setting up a play during your turn, but it's a much less usable board. At best, you're drawing 5-10 cards and draw into additional handtraps.	Great	View Edit
Mulcharmy Fuwalos	- Draw Phase - Fallen of the White Dragon - Branded Opening - Branded Fusion	As a fusion strategy, Branded constantly summons from Deck or Extra deck. You're guaranteed at least one draw off of Fuwalos, at most you might draw 6-7 times off it. The single best Mulcharmy to use against Branded.	Great	View Edit
Mulcharmy Meowls	Draw/Standby Phase	Branded does a lot of GY plays, but rarely actually summoning from Grave. You get maybe one or two draws of off Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon and Guiding Quem, the Virtuous, so Meowls is best left in the side deck.	Weak	View Edit
Mulcharmy Purulia	Draw/Standby Phase	Purulia will guarantee at least two draws, as Branded does tend to summon a few monsters from hand, however, it doesn't encourage a truncated turn like Fuwalos does. You'll see draws off of the normal summon, and maybe if Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous, but outside of that, you won't get much benefit.	Usable	View Edit
Nibiru, the Primal Being	-5th Summon	Branded tends to set up GY plays during the end phase, so using Nib risks allowing them to simply keep playing, however, it drastically reduces board presence, potentially keeping them off of cards like Albion the Sanctifire Dragon or Secreterion Dragon. Note: Using Nibiru will allow the opponent to use Granguignol the Dusk Dragon's effect to cheat a Despia from Extra Deck	Great	View Edit
PSY-Framegear Gamma	Albion, Lubellion (if no Branded Lost) Quem (normal summon)	Not Yet	Great	View Edit
Raigeki	End Board	Raigeki isn't particularly effective vs Branded, as it both triggers Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon's EP nuke, and can entirely be avoided through Branded Opening's GY Banish effect to protect all Fusion Monsters from destruction.	Weak	View Edit
Red Reboot	N/A	most branded lists don't really run traps, none that would have an impact on the game, at least. Leave the reboot at home.	Bad	View Edit
Retaliating "C"	- Branded Fusion - Branded Opening - Fusion Deployment	Banishing cards sent to GY can prevent a lot of recursion and EP plays, however, Branded plays enough in-engine removal that getting rid of Retaliating is not an issue.	Usable	View Edit
Skull Meister	Branded Retribution (to add Branded Fusion from GY)	Not Yet	Weak	View Edit
Super Polymerization	Branded Endboard	The Branded endboard is very weak to super poly, populated of both Light and Dark monsters primarily. Garura, Wings of Resonant Life and Mudragon of the Swamp are both valid targets, depending on the board. The new Favorite HERO Flame Wingman will also be quite useful.	Great	View Edit
Ultimate Slayer	- Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon	Ultimate Slayer is one of the single best forms of removal for dealing with Mirrorjade, as shuffling it back prevents the board wipe effect.	Great	View Edit

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