BLEACH Vol. 2 brought with it a strong variety of decks, but without a doubt its strongest energy color is still Purple. But with so many different ways to build and play Purple BLEACH, which one is right for you?

I have a new version of this deck I’ve been testing, and after going undefeated at a store tournament, it feels about time to share this deck with the world. I call it Ichigo/Rukia Turbo, and it’s the ideal fit for anyone looking for a Purple BLEACH deck with the same feel as the original, only upgraded to be faster, stronger, and more deadly than ever – deadly enough to deal with the challenges posed by the current UNION ARENA metagame.

Ichigo/Rukia Turbo deck list

Fuel your Sideline and power your Ichigo’s effects

Diving into this, the first thing you’ll notice that breaks from the mold of most Purple BLEACH Vol. 2 decks is the inclusion of a complete play set of Rukia’s – every single possible two-cost, three-cost, and four-cost raid that can be included in this deck is included in this deck. That’s because Rukia Raid is absolutely integral to this deck’s strategy.

To play Purple BLEACH Turbo well, you need to go all in on one thing: getting cards into your sideline. Do this at a frenetic pace the way this deck attempts to and you can much more generously apply your Ichigo Raid effects without having to worry about it.

For example, with the Ichigo/Rukia Turbo build I will often have so many cards in my sideline that I can use four-cost starter deck Ichigo’s effect on a whim even if only to draw a card when having Impact isn’t actually necessary.

I can use starter deck Ichigo’s Activate:Main effect and still reliably hit the numbers I need in Sideline to take big removals via five-cost Ichigo’s When Played effect. This is all possible because of Turbo Ichigo/Rukia’s emphasis on fueling the sideline above all else.

Rukia is not your only way to get cards into the sideline, but she is your best way. So you absolutely need to raid her as often as possible – preferably multiple times in a game.

You have two options to do this: two-cost Rukia and three-cost Rukia. Of the two, two-cost is in almost every way better. Indeed, three-cost Rukia is largely a pain to have to run in your deck. She’s only a 3500 BP character, and while her When Attacking is nice to have, allowing you to draw a card and sideline a card, her lack of additional energy gen and only being 3500 BP base unless powered up via your Rukia’s Activate:Main makes her pretty awkward to have to include in your limited deck space.

That being said, this build is all about consistently being able to Raid Rukia, and a good rule of thumb to follow in regards to maintaining Raid consistency is to have at least eight copies of Raid targets. Doing so will enable you to hit your raid target much, much more consistently.

And don’t worry too much about having excess Rukai raid targets lying around – Purple BLEACh sidelines so many cards you’ll be dumping several copies of her throughout. Just make sure to always have a raid target handy on the field just in case!

Additional cards that fuel your sideline

The Ichigo/Rukia build I’ve created focuses primarily on Rukia as your way to fuel your sideline. Because she’s your strongest way to achieve this while also letting you see more cards, I’ve made playing her as consistent and easy to do as possible. However, she’s not your only card that excels at getting incremental cards into your sideline.

Uryu, one-cost Ichigo, and Orihime work as a unite, letting you sideline additional cards and even recycle their “When Played” effects while also building up an energy line.

Kisuke is a slept-on card

However, you’ll also need a two-energy generating character in addition to Orihime and your three-cost Ichigo, and Kisuke feels like the idea fit for this build. While most are building around Nimaiya and at least one other Squad Zero character for their interplay with the raidless four-cost Ichigo, this build goes a different route via three-cost Kisuke.

While Kisuke’s card search effect can be handy in certain scenarios (primarily for finding your three-cost Ichigo in this deck strategy), that’s not really why you run him. The real reason to include him in your lineup apart from his energy generation is the fact that he essentially acts as additional sideline fuel. Play him and you are virtually guaranteed to place another card into your sideline. I like to use him to pull out useless characters from the top of my deck and dump them into the sideline while still benefiting from two energy generation on my energy line.

He’s not so much for card search as he is yet another sideline fueling tool that fits seamlessly into your deck.

Nel fits much more easily into Purple BLEACH Turbo

Lastly, there’s Nel. While Nel used to be something of a hassle to include in a relatively tight list, in the Turbo build she finds her place easily. There aren’t any other zero-cost characters you need, and you aren’t running too many non trigger cards, making Nel fit this deck like a glove. Of course, having additional Impact negate lying around is always handy, and you’re going to need it since you aren’t running the Raidless four-cost Ichigo.

Ichigo/Rukia matchup guide

Ichigo Rukia Turbo — *1st place undefeated build by Joseph Writer Anderson*

I took this build to a recent store tournament and pulled off the win undefeated, and edged my way through several close matchups in the process. Below, let’s look at some of the matchups from that tournament as well as others you’ll need to be mindful of.

Code Geass Purple: Favorable thanks to an easier-to-maintain energy line, superior draw, and superior removal. Don’t be afraid to remove small characters early as Code Geass Purple needs all the board presence it can get ramping up to big plays.
Yellow Goddesses: A surprisingly tough matchup. Striking first will often power up your opponent to close out the game before you can, making it imperative that you manage your life well to not play yourself into an easy loss.
Standard Purple BLEACH: Favorable. You are faster and more focused than typical Purple BLEACH builds that boil down consistency with situational techs.
Green Kenpachi: Surprisingly favorable although you’ll need to save your Getsuga Tenshou for the non-BP reducible Kenpachi.

UNION ARENA: Ichigo/Rukia Turbo Deck Build