Blue Jujutsu Kaisen Deck Profile: Sukuna and Nanami Builds
It’s been a while since I wrote about the Blue Jujutsu Kaisen deck that first came out when the set released in November of 2024. Today, Blue JJK is one of the top meta decks, and also one of the most played. However, there are two very distinct yet complimentary ways to build and play this deck.
Below, I’ll be walking you through the decks of two finalists from a 17-player tournament that took place just this week, highlighting a pure Sukuna build and one that leverages Nanami. These decks went first and second at that tournament – a testament to Blue Jujutsu Kaisen’s place in the current meta.
By diving deep into these powerful decks, we’ll learn a thing or two about how they matchup, including their pros and cons of being built with their key areas of focus. Lastly, we’ll take a look at few helpful tips to help you deal with them in battle.
Second place Nanami build prioritizes versatility
Deck by Edgar Espino – 2nd out of 17
Of the two different Sukuna builds, I actually find the Nanami build more threatening. That’s not to say straight Blue Sukuna isn’t powerful. It certainly is. However, there are two things that stand out to me straightaway about the Nanami/Sukuna build.
Nanami boasts a powerful “when sidelined” effect.
Threatening to rest opposing characters makes Nanami an absolute chore to face down. As if that weren’t enough, he also gets a lot stronger later in the game after you’ve managed to thin out your deck.
Of course, thinning out the deck is a must with Blue JJK as so many of your cards gain bonus abilities if you either have less cards in the deck or more Fingers in the sideline.
“Ratio” avoids fueling your opponent’s sideline
The second differentiator is the powerful “Ratio” Special. As a fan of playing decks like Purple BLEACH that rely on the sideline, Ratio is an absolute headache, blocking you from adding more cards into your sideline that could have been used to power up your strongest abilities.
This edge over PURPLE BLEACH shouldn’t go without notice, either. BLEACH Purple is still one of the top meta decks right now, and having a significant advantage in this way is certainly worth it to many.
Otherwise this deck works largely the same as regular Blue Sukuna, offering a powerful Raid character in the form of four-cost Sukuna who boosts to 5000 BP on your turn and gains Impact 1 depending on the number of fingers in your sideline.
Just as consequential, however, is the four-cost Itadori – a character who straight-up bounces characters to hand as long as they are 4000 BP or under.
When combined, this deck offers plenty of removal and resting capabilities to really keep your opponent off-balance, as well as boasting zero characters over four-energy cost, making for a relatively rushable curve.
First Place Blue Jujutsu Kaisen deck prioritizes consistency
Steven U. – 1st out of 17
While I’ve always felt the Nanami build is the stronger of the two, there’s a lot to be said for playing a straight Blue Jujutsu Kaisen Sukuna build. After all, Steven managed to pull off an undefeated run after four rounds piloting this deck. As long as it gets the cards it needs, it does work like a well oiled machine.
The main advantage in building Blue JJK in this way rests in a more consistent approach to the game, and especially your Raids. While you do miss out on Nanami’s powerful sideline effect as well as the very helpful Ratio special, you do gain a deck that prioritizes Sukuna first, making it easier to hit your Raid’s as well as leaning harder into powerful end-game moves like Malevolent Shrine.
On the flip side, this does make you more reliant on Sukuna, which means how many Fingers you have in your sideline could make or break the game for you.
Blue Sukuna has an insane number of removal cards
What stands out to me most about this deck is just the sheer number of removal cards you can field. Outside of your Special you have four copies of Itadori Raid, four copies of two-AP Itadori, and even two copies of the five-cost Raid Sukuna who is able to stun opposing characters.
Having this many powerful removal cards at your disposal makes it much, much more likely you’ll have what you need to dismantle your opponent’s front line early and often.
Two-AP Yuji is a powerful play in this deck
Steven’s choice to include four copies of two-AP Itadori was a wise decision in this deck. Not only does this give you potential access to four color triggers (and Blue has a decent one), it also helps you get incremental, additional removal. While bouncing a 3500 BP character isn’t nearly as good as if it were a 4000 BP one, it can still be helpful in softening up your opponent’s defenses before dropping a four-cost Raid Yuji on them, or something even worse.
Speaking of something worse…
Malevolent Shrine opens up powerful closing moves
If you’re playing against Blue JJK, it’s highly advisable to seek to end the game before your opponent can use Malevolent Shrine.
This card is an absolutely deadly site, one that grants additional powers to Sukuna including Damage 2, Impact +1, and even Snipe – depending on the number of Fingers you have in sideline.
This is not by any means a card that you’re likely to see in every battle you face, but it can certainly be a powerful finishing move if you’ve managed to take enough of your opponent’s life by the time it comes into play.
Nanami vs Sukuna builds – which is best?
Ultimately, both of these decks have their own pros and cons. Nanami offers a more moderate, versatile build. While you sacrifice much of the high end potency combos in the pure Sukuna build offer you, at the same time you are less reliant on getting Fingers in your discard, and also have access to a powerful additional attacker – one who provides defensive coverage and a solid late game play in its own right – one that forces your opponent to choose between Impact and Damage 2.
Both decks are currently very viable in the meta, making them excellent choices to bring to a tournament with you, as well as decks to keep in mind as you plan for your matchups.
Tips to countering Blue Jujutsu Kaisen
Now that we’ve looked at what makes both of these builds strong, let’s talk about how to combat them. While it’s totally fine if you want to play these decks, if you aren’t planning on playing them you probably want to know how to play against them.
I definitely have a few tips and tricks that I use to deal with this oftentimes overwhelming deck. While none of these tricks are foolproof, they can certainly help you best the matchup.
#1 play aggressive
Blue JJK is a deck that likes to play aggressive regardless of the build. This means promoting to the front line and taking life as early as possible. As such, you’ll need to be applying constant pressure in order to remain toe-to-toe with your opponent. While playing aggressive helps most of the time, against Blue JJK it can be just what you need to keep them stalled before running down your life with a host of powerful attacks.
Additionally, this deck gets stronger the longer the game goes on, meaning winning before they get what they need to pull of som ridiculous combos is a must.
#2 Keep removal in reserves
Playing against Blue JJK can often feel like a removal game. Unlike some decks that focus more on other aspects of the game to succeed, Blue JJK’s primary strength lies in the fact it has more reliable removal options than most other decks.
To keep pace with it, you’ll often need to save your removal cards in reserves in order to ensure you are using them to their utmost effect.
For example, simply don’t Raid that five-cost Ichigo from BLEACH or a Guren from Code Geass unless you are able to remove something strong with them. If you use up all your removal before your opponent, it could come back to bite you.
#3 Always remove Sukuna
If you have the option, you almost always want to remove Sukuna from the board. Sukuna quickly gets much stronger as Fingers pile up in the sideline and especially if Malevolent Shrine is in play. For this reason, Sukuna should usually be the priority target for removal effects.
#4 Except when Nanami is around
The only time you might consider holing back on a Sukuna is if Nanami is around. Nanami sideline’s when rested, so there could be situations where you need to remove him first so that your stronger attackers don’t get forced to rest thereby rendering them without the ability to attack.
This is often a good thing to do if you only have weaker bodies on the front line or if you are about to pull off a ridiculous Raid move of your own.
However you build Blue JJK, the fact of the matter is JJK is one seriously strong deck, one worthy of its place at the top of the heap in the current meta.
