Prioritizing impactful uniques (Basira & Kaizaimon) [Standard]

I’ve made a couple of tweaks since the last time I played Basira, but the biggest change comes with my approach to unique selection.

There’s something to be said for demanding an immediate power spike from your uniques when you draw them. Previously, I was running a Bravos Pathfinder (U) and Dracaena (U) that smoothed my deck’s function with persistent stats and resupplies. I still think they’re very strong, but their full value is spread over several days, and they’re best with some additional investment.

I tried swapping them out for flashier uniques from my collection. I hadn’t included them earlier for various reasons: the Bravos Trailblazer (U) is weak to removal; Chiron (U) is exclusively for the late-game and prevents me from playing a copy of one of Basira’s best commons.

That said, their ceilings are much higher: Bravos Trailblazer (U) can draw a card, get a character into reserve to be Haven-boosted, and boost itself. Chiron (U) can end the game by distributing 5+ boosts across your entire board.

Especially for a hero like Basira who’s already fairly consistent off the back of her commons and rares, I think I’d prefer a unique that I have to put into mana half of the time but that swings the game for me the other half of the time.

Changes

The last time I played Basira & Kaizaimon.

Axiom Salvager (R) didn’t feel impactful enough unless I already had multiple Havens out. Its strength early on was a 1-mana 1/1/1 boost target for Chiron (C) and Fire Rabbit (C). Tiny Jinn (R) and Bravos Bladedancer (R) are more impactful 1-mana boost targets, and Issun-bōshi (C) does the job at common.

I went down to two copies of Haven Bouncer (C). It’s felt unimpressive unless you’re sabotaging a high-value target, and Akhlut (R) now fulfills a similar role.

There are great Helping Hand (C) targets like Akhlut (R), Bravos Bladedancer (R), and Mighty Jinn (R), but it’s weak into removal and sometimes not an impactful enough card. I still wanted enough of the effect for my Red (U), though, so I tested a copy of the rare, which seems more likely to land a mid-game blowout. Fleeting is fine since the I don’t always find the back-side of the common worth playing anyway.

Uniques

My rating system

Red: 6/7

Chiron: 6/7

This Chiron closes out games. Both arrow abilities have the same trigger condition, so if you’re able to set up two boosted characters, it will Charge! (C) the board +2.

This is a dead weight early-game, but it’s not hard to set up the boosts later on: any two characters plus a way to apply a single boost triggers Basira to place a boost on the other character. It becomes even easier when played from reserve with a Haven out, especially because the boost condition doesn’t exclude itself.

A minor downside is that this prevents you from playing one Chiron (C), one of Basira’s strongest commons.

Bravos Trailblazer: 5/7

Card draw is valuable enough for Basira that I’m still happy to get it on a 3-mana character that requires some extra work and gets blown out by removal.

I mistakenly wrote the from-hand ability off when I first pulled this. While it will rarely get more than one boost, if that, the fact that it can self-trigger the draw condition can be huge if you have no other way to apply a boost.

Thoughts

Akhlut (R) should be at three copies. I was worried last time it might be awkward as a 4-drop alongside Mighty Jinn (R), but it’s just so impactful when you land two back-to-back double-exhausts. If I’m prioritizing impactful uniques, surely I can prioritize an arguably even more impactful rare.

Chiron (U) went into mana in two games and was a game-winning bomb in two others.

Bravos Vanguard (R) hasn’t carried its weight. It’s mostly that 3 mana is a steep cost for a character that needs a target to boost onto, but it also plays poorly with all-star common Haven Seiringar (C), which doesn’t necessarily want to lose fleeting and is also heavy in forest.

Helping Hand (R) didn’t come up enough on the day for me to have an opinion on it one way or another.

The games

I brought the deck to the AQZ championship on 2025-04-03 where it went 5-1 for 12th of 107.

Matchups:

• R1 (L): Afanas & Senka Nilam
• R2 (W): Basira & Kaizaimon
• R3 (W): Sierra & Oddball
• R4 (W): Kojo & Booda
• R5 (W): Fen & Crowbar
• R6 (W): Afanas & Senka

• I chose to take the 2-0, but I think it might have been right to go for the draw. Boosting onto the Red (U) also makes for a stronger play on the following day. What’s more, even if my opponent has removal, the Red (U) will draw again since it’ll have the seasoned boosts. When I went for the D2 Red (U), my opponent went for an Off You Go! (F) before I could boost onto it, denying the draw.

• Both characters need to go companion-side. If you contest hero-side, Afanas can distribute boosts evenly among the two characters in the expedition, making for a weaker Intimidation (C) target.