Leo/need (Budget Remix Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage Series: 5)

Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage Set 1 (or Project Sekai as it's often referred to for short), is the foundation of a very powerful and growing set. In Japan, as the series has evolved (and will continue to evolve with Set 3 releasing soon) it has proven to be a powerful contender. Set 1 in English comes to us a bit late and out of time by 3 years in the current meta environment. (The original set release was on February 11th, 2022 and we got it in English on June 27th, 2025.) However, with powerful sequels to look forward to that will hopefully be released in a timely manner the set is still very playable for now. So let's build some budget decks while we await the announcement of Set 2!

The Leo/need Unit has snuck its way into almost every unit build so far, and for very good reason. The unit celebrates a four color build and supports this with giving the members some very strong utility abilities on their cards. There are several fun builds to explore in this unit that make it hard to narrow down climax combos. Let’s look at some options!

Check out the Philosophy of the Budget Deck Remix Series here if interested!

Deck 1 Code:  13CCN

https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/view/13CCN

Quick Pilot Guide Deck 1:

This four color deck with lots of fixing to facilitate its play is a lot of fun and actually has a pretty solid end game that can come out at Level 2. The biggest thing that needs to happen in this deck is that you want to get your 0/0 Brainstormer Saki out as soon as possible. She’s your 0/0 Shiho’s search target if you don’t already have her, and Saki allows you to play the rest of your deck (yes your climaxes too!!!) without meeting color requirements. The fact that she also is a rest self/salvage brainstormer for Leo/need is also a strong bonus. Level 1 is a bit different than some full builds because we’re staying on a budget here, but we’re going to focus in this build on lighting the 0/0 Honami’s combo, and using her other 1/0 Assist to get out all 4 colors on stage to light 1 or 2 of the Luka 0/0 on reverse combo (with the stock hopefully recouped by the 0/0 Honami effects). At Level 2 we’re going to use Saki’s 2/1 to hopefully early play our 3/2 Shiho (since they share a climax combo) and light Shiho’s finisher combo to close out the game. Ideally we can do this at 2 and Level 3, but we also have other things Saki can “change” into to stabilize our game with an interesting 2/1 Luka and the 3/2 off finishers from the TD. 

Note: I had a very hard time settling on which climax combo to go with at Level 3. (I feel very strongly this budget variant needs the Comeback (Door) trigger at Level 0/1 to help maintain hand without the RR Level 1.) There is a solid argument for going with Saki’s choice trigger over Shiho’s gold bar, but in the end I felt that it might be better to try to trigger the bar to be in hand for discard effects or to have better consistency in getting our Level 2 and 3 combos off. If you’re running into resource issues, feel free to swap to Saki’s choice trigger to see if that helps out.

Deck 2 Code: 7L9KU

https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/view/7L9KU

Quick Pilot Guide Deck 2:

This deck runs very similarly to Deck 1, except we’ve swapped the Level 0 Honami’s combo with Luka for the 1/0 TD Miku combo. This may be a better build for a newer player, or for a player who would prefer a less complicated Level 1 game (getting all four colors out for Luka can be a lot even with the Honami assist to help with her marker ability). I’ve kept the Level 3 Shiho’s gold bar trigger for her and Saki’s combo, so late game plays almost identical to Deck 1. There’s an argument for swapping to Shiho’s choice trigger, however, especially in a meta where on reverse is difficult or if a player feels they would like more stock/hand consistency over guaranteeing the gold bar in hand for combo relights.

Budget Swap-Ins For All Decks:

If you would like some hand filter, memory compression, and the ability to climax swap then this may be a good fit in one of your decks. It can also grab events.

 Ichika is another budget way to power up cards for on reverse effects. If you find yourself short just a bit more power, this may be a welcome tech.

This Kanade is worth considering if you’d like some on attack trigger control and an extra Level 1 to help out your Level 0 effect. She also can help set up a second RR 3/2 Kanade below, or at least increasing the likelihood that she’ll top check music.

I’m going to include these as a group in case you’d like to consider a different brainstormer for a deck that mixes Leo/need characters with the other characters from other units. *Note: Feel free to run ANY color of the TD+ Luka’s if opting to go this route with a brainstormer. This could assist color fixing needs in the deck in some builds.*

This Luka event is a powerful mill event that is in the Leo/need TD. I decided to cut it from my Deck 1 build to make room for more characters in the late game and since the brainstormer Saki can salvage Leo/need trait if she hits. If you’re having trouble getting things you want in hand/missing too many brainstormer effects consider putting this back in.

I’m going to group all of these events here. All these events are playable and may have a place in a Leo/need build depending on your playstyle and, for the 2/3 counter event, how you use stock resources. The 2/1 events are best for decks that are struggling to get off the 1/0 Luka in deck 1 due to the color requirement. Sometimes you just need a bit extra filter/hand sculpt to set up for the late game. The 2/3 is very powerful, but due to it requiring a full board and 3 stock, I haven’t put it into these builds due to costs. Some will prefer to tech this in, especially since the budget deck doesn’t have an early play healer outside of getting Saki's combo off at Level 2.

A solid Level 0 climax swapper if you find yourself with the wrong one in hand. Can never go wrong with a tech 1 of these in most builds. Probably a better fit than the 0/0 Mafuyu for this unit.

Some extra optional mill that could be useful in situations as well as an on play pay a stock, ditch a card, salvage a character and give someone an additional +1000 power for the turn. Honestly, there’s a very valid case for dropping other cards to help with consistency even though he’s not in this unit.

We’ve seen this Miku combo in the other bands, and it’s still a perfectly viable combo option here. The challenge is that the climax trigger is a Draw (Book) rather than a Comeback (Door) or Gate (Pants). It’s not that Draw triggers are unplayable, it’s more that there are so many interactions that it is less than ideal without the filters to deal with the downside.

Sometimes, when all else fails, it’s just nice to have a +2 Soul climax. It’s a tried and true beginner strategy, and if you’re deciding to drop the Level 3 combo, don’t care for the Level 2 combo, and want just another climax to tech in, this may be a good fit.

Upgrades for when there’s some extra change in the wallet after payday:

This Nene will probably be a pricey, but worth it up grade and I’d splurge on this possibly for only if you just can’t get set up for later in the game since she’s off trait. She will help you in setting up your Level 1 combo. Nene will also prevent you from getting stuck at levels.

This Level 3 is a solid early play healer that can get around any anti-heal tech and recuperate a stock in the process. This is nice if you can’t get Saki’s 2/1 combo off.

Airi has multiple strong tech abilities that help you set up your Level 1 and forward game, hand filter in two ways, and also has the chance to compress to memory and search out more set up. 

This Miku might be pricey, but she’s in contention for the best brainstormer the set has. She has a useful revenge trigger power ability, and her brainstorm ability is a salvage and isn’t unit locked.

This Level 1 RR combo is the very first thing I’d upgrade in this deck. Since the girls share climax combos for some of their effects, this Ichika works with the Honami climax as well and you can do both of their combos at the same time if you’d like. And you get to choose your climax trigger preference, just like Shiho/Saki.

Be sure to check out this and other Budget Remix Series possibilities at: https://level4weissschwarz.wixsite.com/lvl4ws