Kaoru Kamiya strategy

Red Kaoru Kamiya in Rurouni Kenshin is the raid face this page is about. TCG Contender files it as a midrange list, Standard tier 3. This site is hosting 36 public 50-card lists, including 15 recent top 8s. The tier list has Kaoru Kamiya in B.

How the raid face works

UE11ST/RNK-1-101 · cost 3 · 2500 BP · Red

The printed trigger on Kaoru Kamiya (UE11ST/RNK-1-101) is: [Draw] Draw a card. Raid printings in the current 50: Ayato Kirishima (UE18BT/TKG-1-075), Kotaro Amon (UE18BT/TKG-1-083), and Kenshin Himura (UE11ST/RNK-1-106). In Union Arena, [Raid] lets you add the card to your hand or perform Raid if the energy is there. The expensive copy is the ceiling. The cheaper copies with the same name are the steps. Contender's snapshot calls out that extremely deep character redundancy - with essentially every printing of Kaoru Kamiya and Kenshin Himura run at or near 4 copies, the deck rarely whiffs on finding its core pieces. The same snapshot flags that against Tier 1 aggressive decks like Sakamoto Days - Shin Asakura and Rurouni Kenshin - Hajime Saito, the deck's midrange stabilization plan can be outraced before the Kenshin Himura engine fully comes online.

The current 50-card core

From 36 lists on this site

Four-ofs: Kenshin Himura (085) (Box Topper Foil) (UE11BT/RNK-1-085), Ryuutsuisen (UE11BT/RNK-1-100), Ayato Kirishima (UE18BT/TKG-1-072), Ayato Kirishima (UE18BT/TKG-1-075), Kotaro Amon (UE18BT/TKG-1-080), Kotaro Amon (UE18BT/TKG-1-082), Kotaro Amon (UE18BT/TKG-1-083), and Amon's Pushups (UE18BT/TKG-1-096). Common two-ofs: Kaoru Kamiya (UE11BT/RNK-1-071), Kenshin Himura (UE11BT/RNK-1-087), Kenshin Himura (UE11BT/RNK-1-090), Kaoru Kamiya (UE11ST/RNK-1-101), Kenshin Himura (UE11ST/RNK-1-105), and Kenshin Himura (UE11ST/RNK-1-106). That average is taken from the featured list on Rurouni Kenshin - Kaoru Kamiya, then checked against the 36 hosted files.

The curve

Energy line · hosted 50

Energy 0-2. Kaoru Kamiya (UE11BT/RNK-1-071), Kenshin Himura (085) (Box Topper Foil) (UE11BT/RNK-1-085), Kenshin Himura (UE11BT/RNK-1-087), Kenshin Himura (UE11ST/RNK-1-105), Ayato Kirishima (UE18BT/TKG-1-072), and Kotaro Amon (UE18BT/TKG-1-080) keep the early turns honest. Energy 3-4. Kaoru Kamiya (UE11ST/RNK-1-101), Kenshin Himura (UE11ST/RNK-1-106), Ayato Kirishima (UE18BT/TKG-1-074), Ayato Kirishima (UE18BT/TKG-1-075), Kotaro Amon (UE18BT/TKG-1-082), and Kotaro Amon (UE18BT/TKG-1-083) are the mid-curve bodies. This is read off the hosted 50, not a hidden playbook. If your locals file plays a different 3-of, trust that file.

Mulligan

What the 50 implies

Keep a Raid Kaoru Kamiya, at least one 0-2 cost setup card, and one Kaoru Kamiya (101) if the cheap card missed. Ship a hand of only 7+ cost finishers. That is inferred from costs in the hosted list, not a coach sheet from a hidden room.

Tech and flex

First cards to argue about

Kaoru Kamiya (UE11BT/RNK-1-071), Kenshin Himura (UE11BT/RNK-1-087), Kenshin Himura (UE11BT/RNK-1-090), Kaoru Kamiya (UE11ST/RNK-1-101), and Kenshin Himura (UE11ST/RNK-1-105) are the first slots to shave if your room is all one matchup.