I started out as Arkz when I first got this game. Since then I've clocked 400 hours playing almost solely Arkz. I picked Arkz because it seemed more impressive than Hunter side, plus it was more like Pokemon, more like Shining Force (kick ass wargame with anthropomorphics). When I came online and realised that NOBODY else was Arkz, that made it all the better. Me against the world.

I died an awful lot at the start because Arkz are fundamentally weaker and require more strategic on-the-field skills as well as the forward planning required of Hunter decks. I eventually unleashed the exclusive Pouilly deck on Mintaka which is almost infallible, so I now win a lot more, and I don't think I'll ever switch to Hunter side. Lots of people copied my decks, which is why I'm going to release them here, but I'm not giving away my EXACT decks, decks are something for you to tailor yourself. It's unlikely that many people share all the same cards anyway.

Only run if absolutely necessary. Note that once an Ark has to run, this usually means they are already dead. Strategic maneuvering is often a better tactic than pelting it up the screen. If a hunter is close, it's best to block off all conceivable routes to you with monsters, rather than running away.

Tower is a BAD PLACE for Arkz. There's little space to manuever and Hunters can get to you before you have time to place your monsters. Avoid Tower at all possible costs. The best place for Arkz is the Cave area, though beach and plateau are almost as good.

Use low costers to block people in. This is fairly obvious, although be wary of using sacrificial pawns if there's absolutely no way to protect them. Always build a deck with enough cards to protect the pawns, or you'll find the enemy reaching you with enough exp points to equip their best items.

BE VERY WARY OF GIZONDE WHEN FACING A TECH USER! I learned this early on. One of my favourite habits was using a Shining Force strategy to avoid attack, ie. putting monsters in diagonal patterns. This would result in them all getting zapped at once. So pre-empt what your opponent will use - don't use diagonal blocking tactics if you can help it round tech users, or Hunters with a Slicer. Don't place monsters in a line near Sword users.

Flying enemies, those that warp or tunnel, and those that cost zero to move are the best blockers. Those that cannot move like Poison Lily are a bad idea - opponents often ignore these and leave them on the screen using up vital equip points. There's not a lot a Lily can do in fact, its TP is also lousy so try to keep them off your deck.

This goes for all characters, but the maximum equip points you have is 8. When building a deck, try to plan advance what you have on screen. Don't mix monsters with incompatible cost points, such as 6 and 3. That's going to destroy you when the 6 pointer is out on screen and you only have a 3 pointer in your hand.

Arkz that can move 3 spaces are better than Arkz that only move two. Arkz that can throw techs or have ranged weapons are better than those that don't. Weigh up all possibilities, but bear in mind that most people are going to use Break or Memoru. Ohgun's halfguard is also nice, but a rule of thumb is you don't really want ANYTHING hitting your Ark.

If you are going to run, bear in mind how many spaces the opponent can run, and how many +dice points they have. If they are right next to you, can run 3 spaces and have +2 dice points, running away will just result in them following and hitting you. The best plan in this case would be to stick where you are if it's hopeless, or plan how you can block with monsters. Remember, if you stick where you are, your Ark has another turn to hit them in. Don't be a coward if all is lost anyway, you may strike it lucky and be able to kill them in the round you just bought yourself.

This is a good starter deck for say, a level 5-ish Arkz who should have the above cards by now.

• 3x Pouilly Slime (note only 2 can be equipped at once, 4 if you double up with somebody using the same deck).
• 2x Card Return
• 4x physical Action cards (Stab, Round Slay, Beat, Split Boost, Slash etc.
• Don't use Attack 6 as Pouillys have 4 AP to begin with, so it's not a great help).
• 10x Tech Action cards (I have 2 Gizonde, this and Gibarta are the best techs, it's a good idea to make all the rest basic low costers.)
• 8x Def cards (Guard, Wall, AB Guard (VERY useful) TP Defence, Companion, Escape, Protection if you are teaming up, etc etc.)
• 2x Card Return
• 1x Cave Wind - Not really many physical attacks on this deck, so you only need one to counter those Action Disrupter users.

Best Arkz to use:
Break, Memoru. This deck is a good blocking deck, so versatile that you can be close to the enemies and still survive by blocking them off with the slimes. For this reason, tech casting Arkz are the best, as they can be getting hits in along with the slimes.

Why this deck works:
Many Arkz use Pouilly slimes. They are excellent blockers, because they move through things, have good range and movement costs nothing. Once you have one on the field, all others are free to place. They are good against Action Disrupter and AP/TP swapping strategies, because their AP is relatively high, as is their TP. They can use techs with excellent success. Really, the Pouilly Slime is arguably the best Arkz monster available, so everyone uses it. How many people however, would dare to use a deck like THIS? There are only 3 monsters total on this deck. It works though, because the odds against not getting a single Pouilly in enough hands for the opponent to reach you are very high.

How to use this deck:
The rules to this deck are simple. At the first go, if there is no Pouilly in your deck, chuck your hand. If there is still no Pouilly once in gameplay, discard ALL your hand. If the enemy is close and you have no Pouilly, discard all cards but the one or two defense cards you may need. If you get Card Return in your hand, save it for when a Pouilly is killed. If you have 2 Pouillys out on the field and you get another on hand, save it (you should keep at least one spare Pouilly or Card Return if at all possible). Use Pouillys to block, throw techs, and manuever around your Ark to protect them. This deck works excellently teamed up with another Ark with the same deck. In fact, it's pure evil. If the Ark with the highest ATK points places the Pouilly first, the other player's Pouillys are now free, so even if you throw snake eyes you have a great chance of getting an attack in.

Do not use this deck with rules that haven't got deck loop in place. This is a DISCARD HEAVY deck so if you run out of cards you are screwed. If you suspect that the opponent is also a Pouilly user (clear sign: are you facing two Arkz? Are they stalling an awful lot?) then wait for them to place their pouillys FIRST, so you can place yours for free and get a free hit on them.

Don't be tempted to put more monsters in this deck. It ruins it. You need that vast arsenal of techs for this to work. Also, Pouilly Slimes cost 4, so you can only equip 2. Equip even a one pointer, and you can't place the other Pouilly. Often I see people with a version of this deck, but they've placed a Mothmant first. I respond by ignoring the Mothmant, even to the point that it's hitting me, and rushing up the screen with all 4 Pouillys to wipe the other Arkz out.

Weaknesses of this deck: There are only 3 known weaknesses to this deck. These are Territory, bad luck with dice, and itself. Somebody else using the Pouilly deck WILL win if they have better luck. Bad luck with dice will not usually kill you with this deck, but if you are going to lose, with this deck you will lose EARLY. Much better to lose quickly than after a half hour fight.

Territory is a card that cancels all cards currently placed, for the entirety of the battle. That means once your Pouillys are dead, you cannot place more, ergo, you are screwed. However as far as I know, the card can be cancelled by playing another assist card over the top of it. I say as far as I know, nobody's bothered to successfully hit me with Territory as yet, so I can't tell if the effects disappear once the card is overwritten with another Assist. Anyway, if you are scared, put extra Cave Winds on the deck and play them over the top of whoever played Territory.

• 2x Rag Rappy
• 2x Al Rappy
• 2x Love Rappy
• 1x Hallo Rappy
• 1x Clippen (honorary Rappy) (other rappies optional - I only have these and they work nicely enough.)
• 5x physical Action cards (Stab, Round Slay, Beat, Split Boost, Slash, etc.)
• 1x Concentration
• 6x tech Action Cards
• 7x Defense cards (Guard, Wall, NA Guard, TP Defence, Companion, Escape, Protection if you are teaming up, etc etc. Cards with pictures of Rappies on! Escape is a good one as it's also very useful.)
• 2x Forest Rain (also has rappy on it!)

Why this deck works:
This is a novelty deck for those who want to show off their E cards, and also humiliate the opponent by beating them with nothing but Rappies. It also works best in a team, rappies all over the screen make for good blocking and good comedy. It's obviously not a foolproof deck, nor even an excellent one, but it does work. How to use this deck: Not much to it really. Just block, block block, play action cards on Rag, Love and Hallo Rappy, and tech cards on Al Rappy. Some points to observe are, if a Rappy must be sacrificed as a pawn, use Al as he returns to your hand. Keep Clippen in the back behind Rappies with physical attack as he boosts their AP by one. Don't play Love Rappy until you have EXP to lose, or he will die. Once your exp is down, retreat or use an Escape card on Love Rappy. Weaknesses of this deck: Heavy attacks (use NA defense to cancel them), plus Action Disrupters. This deck relies on Action cards, so anyone using an Action Disrupter like Kaladbolg is going to leave you doing a LOT of chipping away, which makes for a drawn out fight. Once Kaladbolg etc. comes out, try to rely on Hallo or Love Rappy for attacks, as they have nice AP.

• 1x Chaos Sorceror
• 1x Dark Belra
• 3x Claw
• 7x physical Action cards (Stab, Round Slay, Beat, Split Boost, Slash, etc.)
• 10x tech Action Cards
• 7x Defense cards (Guard, Wall, DF Guard, TP Defence, Companion, Escape, Protection if you are teaming up, etc etc.)
• 1x Ruin Brightness

Why this deck works:
This is an excellent jack-of-all-trades Ruins based deck that uses high-costers to good effect. It involves playing one of the two high costers and centering all play on them, using the Claws as blockers or, since they can use techs, for physical or tech based attack with Action cards. This deck works best on the Beach area, as the width of only 3 to the playing field makes it very hard to avoid Dark Belra or tech attacks from Chaos Sorceror. How to use this deck: This is another discard heavy deck. Chuck your hand until you finally get the high coster, then keep until you throw a 5 and can play it. Use the Claws to block the opponents and continue to attack them at the opposite side of the field. Often you may want to play whichever high coster you get on-hand first, but if you have the choice use Dark Belra against Action Disrupter users (it can't use action cards, but its base attack is 10, or 15 against guard items or mags.) Once you have your high coster, protect it at all costs, as it is the card that you are most reliant on. Both Belra and Chaos Sorceror have high HP and devestating attack ability, so it should not be hard to finish up the battle before your opponents get rid of the main card in play. Weaknesses of this deck: Not many. Even Action disruptors can be easily taken out if you play Belra. The main problem as with most discard heavy decks, is luck. But once you have the upper hand, there is very little going back for the opponent.