For those who complain that Paladin isn't that consistent, too bricky, or ruined by Armed Dragon's effect, there is only ONE solution = INCREASE THE "CONSISTENCY" of your deck.
Skill: Draw-sense Water
NOTE: Use only if you have 2-3 King of Swamp
- I can't stress this enough. We know that Paladin is only functional if you have 3 important cards, right? The two fusion monsters, and the Poly spell. With this skill, even if you get the first turn, you have a wildcard next turn (Chazz can't OTK on his first turn) that you can either turn as a Poly card, or a Fusion material! With this extreme flexibility, it's no wonder players who don't use this starting strategy find the Paladin a bit bricky when in fact, there's very little chance to brick with this skill!
Reminders:
-When people complain that Paladin is too vulnerable to Armed Dragon's effect, the first solution is to get RESD out as soon as possible. A consistent Paladin deck should have protective cards that coincides with its flexibility, namely RESD. It's also the reason why DM is toned to two copies in this deck, as your second priority here is to summon RESD on the field and make it attack to activate its useful effect. The second solution, is to just watch. Oftentimes, just let Chazz do his thing of summoning Armed Dragon on his first turn, or watch while he uses Level-up then just nullify it with Paladin.
-"Chthonian Blast ruins my strategy." That's why both RESD and Anti-magic Arrows are here. With RESD, it will be replaced by Buster Blader which definitely has higher ATK as the match goes on. AMA is actually nice if you don't have RESD yet and you want to increase dragon monsters on Chazz's graveyard.
Good luck!
Wouldn't running more Emblem be more consistent than running multiple Buster Blader? I'm using 1 Blader and 2 Emblem in my own build. I like your too, though. I'm using Jaden's Fusion Time for level up purposes only, but I think Draw Sense Water is the best way to go as well, much more refined than the rest of the recommended skills.
Sometimes, Chazz uses that trap which gives you his own monster. Since RESD should be already out equipped with a Buster Blader, and chances are, you already used a Buster Blader to summon Paladin on first few turns, or already used Fusion Reserve as well, you need a lvl 6-7 monster so Chazz's monster can be tributed off the field. DM won't suffice, and while a second RESD can, my best bet is BB.
Give and take is a real pain if he doesn't clear the monster he gave you. I'm running Dragon Destroyer so I can fuse with a possible clog as well as adding protection against Armed Dragons...it's kind of slow though, I usually fuse on my last turn to avoid Give and Take altogether.
Im not sure about this, I could be wrong but; I find that he only activates give and take IF he can manage to 🔥 it either by battle with AD level 5, or through AD monster effect.
Out of all the times after i successfully bring out dragon destroyer, he simply doesnt activate give and take. Well even if he does, I got another buster blader to tribute summon and rid of the monster he gives me.
In my experience, I've seen him activate G&T in a lot of situations that do not involve actually dealing with my free monster...and the second copy has also been a pain. This is the main reason why I looked into Dragon Destroyer.
Sorry for the poor quality, I had the original pic on my phone but it's charging at the moment. 2 King of the Swamp, 3 Blue Dragon Summoner, 2 Dark Hex, 1 Buster, 1 Vassal, 2 Dark Magician, 1 Luster Dragon #2, 2 Onion Attack, 3 Poly, 2 Emblem and 1 Secret pass.
Le Bear
Saladfingers
