Winter is coming...

In all of the excitement of BT5, many players are seeing a lot of Lordknightmon, Shoutmon DX, and ChaosGallantmon decks floating around. There's honestly a little something for everyone and every color in this set, and it's a lot of fun. But one deck that doesn't seem to be getting quite as much love is Hexeblaumon. Admittedly, it's not the strongest deck in the new set, and it's not top tier in the meta, but this cold, Ice Dragon is certainly one that can hold its own by freezing your opponents, It hits hard and it's abilities can make it very frustrating to play against. 

Hexeblaumon ("Hex") decks revolve around trashing digivolution sources of opposing Digimon and activating effects based on the opponent having "naked" Digimon (those without any digivolution sources underneath). There are numerous Digimon, tamers, and options that play into this strategy, and there have also been plenty of cards scattered throughout BT's 1-4 that capitalize on these effects, so it's easy to build a Hexeblaumon deck if you've been collecting along the way. With effects ranging from gaining memory to increasing DP, Hex decks can quickly ramp up with the right cards and some know-how. Let's take a deep-dive and explore the build of this deck along with all of the blue cards printed thus far that can help it.

Digimon:

From top to bottom, nearly every Digimon in a Hex deck is going to operate on one idea: Clear digivolution sources. All of these cards are either going to cause a digivolution source to be trashed, or capitalize on the sources being trashed. To begin, let's look at the digitamas where there are a few options to choose from. Personally, I think the best option is BT4-002 Bukamon which, when attacking, allows you to trash the bottom digivolution source of an opponent's level 4 or lower digimon. A fun bonus about this card is that it's not a once-per-turn effect, so if you can find a way to unsuspend your digimon and attack again you can double-up on the effect. The other top option for digitamas is BT1-003 Upamon, which allows you to draw a card when attacking if your opponent has a "naked" Digimon. Other solid options for digitamas are BT1-004 Wanyamon and ST2-01 Tsunomon which both have DP-boosting effects, but ultimately these aren't going to trigger as easily.

For rookies, Hexeblaumon's baby is BT5-022 Bulucomon. It's a bit pricey to hard-play at 4 but it has an inheritable effect that allows you to gain a memory when an opponent's source is trashed. Another must-have option is ST2-03 Gabumon. This Gabumon allows you to trash a source from an opponent's level 5 or lower digimon when attacking. Additionally, P-003 Gabumon and P-004 Gomamon are two amazing promo cards that fit perfectly into this deck with their effects, but they're tough to acquire and can be expensive as singles. As for the rest of the rookies, you can rarely go wrong with a combination of BT3-021 Veemon, BT1-028 Elecmon, and BT1-029 Gabumon for their respective traits and costs. 

The champion lineup is another area with some freedom, as there are a plethora of cards that fit right in. For starters, the next step in the Hexeblaumon line is BT5-025 Paledramon, which in my opinion is a highly underrated card. When digivolving into this card, you can trash two sources from the bottom of any one of your opponent's Digimon. At a 2-cost digivolution this is an extremely powerful effect that can easily be triggered. Pair it with it's rookie friend Bulucomon and you're essentially digivolving for a cost of 1 while trashing two sources. After you've slotted Paledramon in, you can pick from any of the following Digimon that all trash digivolution sources when attacking: BT2-025 Ikkakumon, BT3-023 Angemon, and ST2-06 Garurumon. In addition, BT1-033 Dolphmon has an inheritable that gives it a DP boost if your opponent has a naked Digimon, and BT1-034 Ikkakumon has an inheritable that prevents it from being blocked by naked Digimon. It's always good to have blockers, and BT5 finally brings a 1-cost digivolution blocker to blue: BT5-026 Coelamon. It's a bit squishier at 5,000 DP than it's predecessor ST2-07 Grizzlymon, so you'll need to decide if the cost or the extra DP is more important. If all of these weren't enough options, I always think BT1-035 Leomon is a sneaky card as a kamikaze attacker that gives memory when deleted.

Now we deeper into the funnel with level 5's. Continuing the Hexeblaumon family line is BT5-028 CrysPaledramon. This one doubles up by having both an inheritable effect and a when digivolving effect. When you digivolve into it, you can delete the bottom source from all of your opponent's digimon! All of them! When combined with all the other cards mentioned, your opponent's sources should be looking pretty thin so far. On top of this, it's inheritable effect gives security attack +1 if your opponent has a naked Digimon. We'll say some more on why that's really, really good in a minute. After you've thrown three to four CrysPaledramon into your deck, make sure to throw at least one or two BT3-040 Shakkoumon in your deck. This card feels like it was made to ride in the sidecar of Hex's motorcycle. It's a yellow card that can digivolve from blue Digimon (and on your turn counts as blue) and has an ability that gives Security Attack -1 to all of your opponent's naked Digimon. It's almost like a blanket blocker for the field. Fill out the remaining level 5 spots in your deck with any of the following: BT2-029 MegaSeadramon, BT3-026 MagnaAngemon, BT4-028 Piranimon, and ST2-09 Zudomon. MegaSeadramon can't be blocked by naked Digimon and the other three all delete digivolution sources either through inheritable while attacking (MagnaAngemon and Piranimon) or when digivolving (Zudomon). BT1-038 Monzaemon, BT3-0028 Bastemon, and BT5-027 MarineDevimon are also decent options if you want slightly cheaper digivolutions. 

Now for the boss-mon itself, Hexeblaumon. Four of them. It's a scary card once it's on the field if you've been trashing enough sources. When attacking, it allows you to trash two sources from the bottom of one of your opponent's digimon. If your opponent has any naked Digimon, it gains my favorite word: Jamming. Now, remember when I said CrysPaledramon had a great inheritable effect that we'd talk about later? Well, if you've managed to clean out the sources of your opponent's digimon and they have any naked digimon, you now having Jamming and Security Attack +1! That is an insanely powerful combination. It's obviously not invincible and I'll tell you first hand that it hurts getting smacked in the face with a Gaia Force in security, but it's still a ridiculously powerful combo. If it's on top of a Bulucomon, you're also gaining a memory for trashing a source. Wow, this card is gr-what? That's not all? Oh yeah, Hexeblaumon also has an effect where on ALL turns, none of your opponent's naked Digimon can attack or block. I know I'm hyping this card up pretty heavily, but that effect is an absolute wall when played correctly. If you're running a straight Hex deck you likely won't have much more room for other megas, but you can always throw a BT1-043 SaberLeomon in for its when digivolving effect or an ST2-10 Plesiomon for its cheaper cost. Another fun tech that I've had very minor success with is BT2-030 MetalSeadramon. Gone are the days where the dark masters were being hard played left and right (I'm looking at you, Puppetmon), but in a pinch, MetalSeadramon can do a little bit of board-wiping and is immune to naked blockers. There are some Hex-Imperial hybrids floating around but I personally haven't found the right combo to make that work yet.

For level 7's, Omnimon is never a bad option, and the new BT5-086 Omnimon with Blitz is incredible, and its abilities can steal a game. BT5-111 X-Antibody is also a decent inclusion, but running 1-2 of literally any blue-lined Omnimon will do just fine.

Tamers and Options:

There are no shortage of blue tamers that help this deck, but it's fitting that the tamer in BT5 goes right along with the strategy. Sora & Joe is the best tamer to run in a Hex deck, as you're going to be getting at least 2 free memory at the start of almost every turn. On top of that, it also helps you clear sources when attacking. BT1-086 Matt is the best "memory tamer" (tamers that allow you to start at 3 memory if your opponent left you with 2 or less) for this deck and he can also clear sources, though not as easily. BT3-093 Davis is a decent choice as well for being both a memory tamer and a good way to dig a little for cards. ST2-12 Matt is a great budget option that will trigger almost every turn as well, and BT2-085 Joe can fit just as nicely, although he costs more than the starter deck Matt.

Let's get this out there first: It's a blue deck, so add three or four ST2-13 Hammer Spark. Now, with that out of the way, just about every set thus far has dropped some viable option cards that either help clear sources or capitalize on naked digimon. There's a bunch, but the following cards all delete digivolution sources in some way: BT1-099 Hearts Attack, BT1-101 Howling Crusher, BT2-094 Arctic Blizzard, BT3-100 Death Parade Blaster, BT5-097 Absolute Blast, and ST2-16 Cocytus Breath. For benefiting Hexeblaumon, Howling Crusher is probably the best option as it clears all sources under all of your opponent's Digimon. Cocytus Breath is better for some defense though, in the event that your opponent has something you really need to bounce (although it returns to the owner's hand which is significantly weaker than deleting). BT1-100 Grace Cross Freezer and ST2-14 Sorrow Blue both prevent your opponent's naked Digimon from attacking (or blocking for Sorrow Blue) for one turn, however, these effects are redundant if you have a Hexeblaumon out. BT5-096 Supreme Cannon can help with low-level board wiping, but unless you have a Garurumon or Omnimon out it's not being utilized to its full potential. Ultimately the safest play would be 3-4 Hammer Sparks and 2-3 of the digivolution source removers. 

Final Notes:

BT5 hasn't been out long enough for the English meta to test everything well enough so it's hard to know exactly how well this deck will fair in each matchup. Ultimately I think it'll fall somewhere in tier 1.5-2. Hexeblaumon's biggest weaknesses are its low DP and its unwavering costs. It's strength certainly lies in controlling the opponent's inheritable and digiburst effects. Green decks have the speed advantage, but Hex can easily shut green down if it can get up and running first. Red decks will run into similar issues if they can't get going right away. Black decks may also falter due to their higher costs and lower speeds, and Hex can easily get around the blockers if it's out, but reboot may pose issues. The matchups against yellow (yuck) are always going to be tough because it's yellow and apparently the other colors aren't allowed to have nice things. Hex's low DP counts aren't going to fare well against yellow's DP reductions and security control, so if you find yourself in this matchup it might be best to trash sources as soon as you can and hope for the best. Maybe offer some kind of tribute to the Digi-gods and see if they'll help out.

We're not quite there yet, but in BT6 and beyond Hexeblaumon is getting a lot of fun support (namely Azulongmon) and it's likely going to be sticking around for a while. It's not the most offensively heavy deck and it can be very clunky and expensive at times, but if you're looking for a cool new deck give it a try.