FC2015: A quick overview (Part 1)

Today I will be talking about the main G units featured for all clans in the upcoming FC2015. Just a brief explanation, I won't be talking about the Cray Elementals, as that's for another article altogether.
Since all clans are featured, this will be a rather long article, so bear with me. Now then, let's begin, shall we?

Holy Dragon, Religious Soul Saver 

 [AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card named "Holy Dragon, Religious Soul Saver" from your G zone, and turn it face up] When this unit is placed on (VC), if you have a heart card with "Blaster" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to three of your units, and they get [Power]+5000 until end of turn. Then, if the number of cards in your soul with "Blaster" in its card name is two or more, this unit gets [Critical]+1 until end of turn.
The obvious deck choice to run this with would be MLB(Majesty Lord Blaster). On your G3 turn, make sure you get Blaster Dark, and Blaster Blade into the soul with MLB's skill. Next turn, stride this card for a free crit pressure and high-powered rear guard columns. Make sure you have at least 3 RGs to maximize this effect; 2 in your left column, 1 on the right at least, vice-versa. You can throw a RG behind your VG, but your opponent is likely to just kanzen, so you'd best save your hand, unless you know for sure he does not have a kanzen in hand.

Deity of the Evening Moon, Tsukuyomi 

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Choose a face down card named "Deity of the Evening Moon, Tsukuyomi" from your G zone, and turn it face up & Choose a card with "Tsukuyomi" in its card name from your hand, and put it into your soul] If you have a heart card with "Tsukuyomi" in its card name, look at five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to two cards from among them, put them into your hand, and put the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order.
This stride is kinda lackluster for a GR, but pretty good nonetheless. Since it doesn't use any counterblast, you can save the CB for Full moon Tsukuyomi's skill. This stride will ensure that your g1 and g2 Tsukuyomi's do not become dead fodder in your hand. Granting a net +1, not very good, but this helps reach your stack even faster.

Purgation Lion Emperor, Mithril Ezel

ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card named "Purgation Lion Emperor, Mithril Ezel" from your G zone, and turn it face up] If you have a heart card with "Ezel" in its card name, unlock all of your locked cards, look at five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one card from among them, call it to (RC), shuffle your deck, and increase that unit and this unit's [Power] by the original [Power] of the unit called with this effect until end of turn.
With the return of Link Joker and Glendios(and his stride) this card can be a major killjoy for your opponent when he's about to World End you next turn. It doesn't take as much counterblast and soulblast as Ezel Scissors, so you can keep unlocking just for the trolls. The advantage of being able to superior call something slightly more specific than what Blond Ezel can give is good. Even if your opponent is not a Link Joker, you still get the +1 from the new rear-guard, and the extra power for increased pressure on your turn. 

Supreme Heavenly Emperor, Dragonic Overlord "The Ace"

[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (2) & Choose a face down card named "Supreme Heavenly Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord "The Ace"" from your G zone, and turn it face-up] If the number of face up cards in your G zone is two or more, until end of turn, this unit gets drive-1 and "[AUTO](VC)[1/Turn]:[Choose a card from your hand, and discard it & Choose a card with "Overlord" in its card name from your hand, and discard it] At the end of the battle that this unit attacked a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, [Stand] this unit, and this unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn. (Even if you do not pay the cost, this ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn)".
I see a lot of problems with this unit. The counterblast cost is 1. Imagine using this in a DOTX or DOTR deck. Spend 2 counterblast on this, and what have you left to restand with your boss G3? Another problem is the discard cost. In any Overlord deck, you have to already discard a G3 for stride, then you need to have another Overlord in hand. Since all Overlords a G3s, this may be a problem in all Overlord decks, and WILL be a problem in a DOTX deck. Both DOTE and DOTX require a persona blast to activate their skills. If you throw one of them from your hand, that's 1 less chance to pull off a restand with DOTE or a burn with DOTX. The way I see it, the best part about this card is the high power restand, and the additional +5K after restand. Other than that, not so good. Kind like Dragonic Overlord "The Hype". Haters gonna hate on me, but this is how I see this card.

True Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Turbo

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1) & Soul Blast (1) & Choose a face down card from your G zone, and turn it face up] If you have a heart card with "Big Bang Knuckle" in its name, until end of turn, this unit gets "[CONT](VC):When this unit would choose a unit to attack, choose up to three of your opponent's units for each of your heart cards instead, and this unit battles all of the chosen units in one attack.", and this unit gets [Power]+5000 for each face up "True Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Turbo" in your G zone.
This is so good. Just being in Legion mode ensures you can hit the whole field, and kill all your opponent's rear guards in one shot. Having 2 Big Bang Slash Busters in your left and right column would make for immense attacking power, as if your Vanguard didn't have that already. The consistency is just soooo good. Once you've used up all 4 of this in your G Zone, you can just stick with your Legioned Big Bang Knuckle Buster and whack for high numbers and pressure. With this, your opponent can only attack with his Vanguard or waste resources trying to build a rear-guard presence. Bye-bye Aqua Force.

Death Star-Vader, "Omega Loop" Glendios

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]: [Counter Blast (2) & Choose a face-down card named "Death Star-Vader, "Omega Loop" Glendios" from your G Zone, and turn it face-up] If you have a heart with "Glendios" in its card name, your opponent chooses one of his or her (RC) for each of your rear-guards with "Я" in its card name, and puts the top card of his or her deck into that (RC) face down as a locked card. Then if the number of cards in your damage zone is five or more, all your opponent's locked cards cannot be unlocked during his or her next end phase.

Although this card sets up for your World End, the problem is that all your Reverse units from other clans can't attack, since they are no longer considered to be Link Joker units. You'll be screwed over by one heal, and then your opponent can just whack a rear-guard with his Vanguard. Another problem is that you might not have enough counterblast left after using Magnet Hollow's skills and maybe some others you might have, depending on deck build. In short, this card looks good on the surface, and would be good, if it just wasn't so circumstantial. 

Blue Storm Master Dragon, Admiral Maelstrom

[AUTO](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card from your G zone, and turn it face up] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, if it is the fourth battle of that turn or more, and you have a heart card with "Maelstrom" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card, choose three of your opponent's rear-guards, your opponent chooses one from them for each face up "Blue Storm Master Dragon, Admiral Maelstrom" in your G zone, and retires them.

Obviously, Aqua Force can very well achieve a fourth attack with the Vanguard. In this situation, your opponent will either retire 1 or 3 of their rear-guards from the skill. The only issue here is thatthe skill is an on-hit effect. This can be seen not as a problem, but as an advantage which would force shield out of your opponent before you use Glory Maelstrom or Reverse Maelstrom's skill. This way, the deck becomes more pressure-centric, and it would be meant to outlast your opponent but whittling down their hand until they have nothing left.

Interdimensional Dragon, Epoch Maker Dragon

[AUTO](VC):When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, you may choose one of your rear-guards, and bind it face up. If you do, search your deck for up to one grade 3 card, call it to (RC), shuffle your deck, and at the end of your turn, put the unit called with this effect on the bottom of your deck. If you put a card on the bottom of your deck this way, choose a card bound with this effect from your bind zone, and call it to (RC).
This card basically allows for you to get a fourth attack in one turn, not accounting for stand triggers. Again, the issue/advantage is that this is an on-hit effect. Your opponent can either choose to no guard and risk taking around 3 damage(including 1 crit trigger) or waste shield guarding this, and be open to your Ragnaclock's crit later in the game. This effect was not really meant to go off most of the time, but this card acts as a pressure unit in the deck.

Holy Celestial, Mikael

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1)] If you have a heart card with "Celestial" in its card name, put the top card of your deck into your damage zone, choose a face up card from your damage zone, and call it to (RC). Then, if you have a face up card in your damage zone with the same name as a card in your hearts, the unit called with this effect gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn.
This card is one of the good cards from this set, as it works with any of the Celestial bosses in Angel Feather(except maybe the FC2014 card). The best card to run this with would be the Celestial Legion, considering its ability to create huge-powered columns. For old school, you can run this with Zerachiel or Ramiel Reverse to build your field for their limit break to go off next turn.

True Revenger, Dragruler Revenant

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Choose one of your rear-guards with "Revenger" in its card name, and retire it] If you have a heart card with "Revenger" in its card name, search your deck for up to one grade 1 or less card with "Revenger" in its card name, call it to (RC), shuffle your deck, that unit and this unit get [Power]+3000 until end of turn.
As the name suggests, it's best to run this card with Dragruler to create columns harder to guard while your opponent is already at 5 damage thanks to Dragruler's skill. The best way to abuse the ability is to call something with Mana, then kill it with this skill and summon either a Blaster Dark or Masquerade. A so-so card, you can run it with any Shadow Paladin Revenger deck, although it doesn't exactly generate any pluses.

Divine Flame Ultimate Regalia, Demeter

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, if you have a heart card with "Regalia" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, for each of your heart cards, Soul Charge (3), choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up.
Simple, but great. There's several ways to use this card. You can ride Angelica then stride this, so you can use pure angel's secondary skill to draw one card and still be able to break ride next turn. Even if you soul charge triggers this way, you can soul blast it out with the break ride. You can also use this to refill your soul after using CEO Yggdrasil's skill. If your Vanguard is in Legion when you stride this, it's a instant 6 soul for you, allowing you to use Yggdrasil again next turn for more pressure.

Six Realms Stealth Dragon, Jorurirakan

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards, bind it face up, your opponent chooses a card from his or her hand, and binds it face down. At the end of that turn, if you have a heart card with "Shura Stealth Dragon" in its card name, your opponent puts the cards bound with this effect into his or her drop zone, if you do not have, your opponent puts the cards bound with this effect into his or her hand.
This G unit works with any of the current Nubatama bosses, even the break ride, since they all have Shura Stealth Dragon in the name. You can choose a pesky rear-guard from your opponent's field, and get rid of it by the end of your turn(I'm looking at Aqua Force and Nova Grapplers). And while they are allowed to choose which card from hand to bind, it's likely they'll have to throw some shield or an important card, allowing higher chances for your attacks to get through. This is the kind of good support Nubatama's been waiting for for so long.

 Super Ancient Dragon, Parititian

[AUTO]:When this unit placed on (VC), if you have a heart card with "Ancient Dragon" in its card name, choose a rear-guard of all fighters, retire them, and increase this unit's [Power] by the sum of the original [Power] of the units retired with this effect until end of turn. Then, if the [Power] increased with this effect is 20000 or more, this unit gets [Critical]+1 until end of turn.
Translation: you and your opponent retire 1 rear-guard each, and if the total power of those 2 units is 20K or more, this unit gets +1 crit. It seems good, it's hard to get that extra critical. One will have to retire a 11K rear-guard, and the other a 9K rear-guard. Obviously your opponent wouldn't want you getting that extra crit, so he'll choose a G1 with about 7K power. The only surefire way to make sure you get that crit is in a tag match, where all 4 players will have to retire 1. In normal matches, the main purpose of this card is to force your opponent to retire their rear-guards, and you can keep yours by choosing Tyrannobite or the G1 version to retire, then revive them with their counterblast skill. This card is meant to work in a deck with Tyrannoquake and/or Tyrannolegend to keep up the pressure with high-powered attacks and easy-to-get crits.

I will continue this article with a Part 2 coming very soon :) 
For now, feel free to comment on anything below :)
Note: I don't own any of the images above. Credits to their respective owners and Bushiroad Inc.
-Megan Lee

Td16 & Td17

Here’s a quick review on the Trial Decks that came out last week, TD16 and TD17

Divine Judgment of the Bluish Flames and Will of the Locked Dragon respectively, allowing players to play using the debut decks of two members of the Elite Four, ahem, I mean Quatre Knights from the fourth season of the anime, Olivier Gaillard and their recently converted-to-evil leader, Aichi Sendou.

To sum up the 2 TDs, they are of course meant to be playable out-of-the-box for beginners as how TDs always are, but considering that they are based on the existing Liberator and Star-vader archetypes established the previous season, these TDs serve to introduce a few key cards that allow them to do what they usually do faster and more reliably, namely more cost-efficient superior calling for Gold Paladin (not so much extra focus on power increments this time round) and the lock that has become synonymous with the nefarious Link Jokers. However, these decks’ main point is still Legion, the name of the game status quo, hence they will also provide the debut for the Legion pairs in each clan and cards that support/benefit from a Legioned vanguard.

The key cards from each deck


TD16
Starter: Genius Liberator, Woltimer

[AUTO]: Forerunner (When a unit of the same clan rides this unit, you may call this unit to (RC)) [AUTO](RC): When this unit boosts, if the number other vanguards and/or rear-guards you have with "Liberator" in its card name is four or more, the boosted unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

Bushiroad is nowmore generous for the TD’s starter vanguard. In past TDs, our dear publisher usually throws in a vanilla G0 as a starter that you will eventually scrap and buy a better unit in replacement. But for the first time ever, the TD comes with a Forerunner that essentially becomes a grade 1 8000 vanilla booster. The condition is extremely easy to achieve,considering that Gold Paladin emphasizes on filling as many Rearguard slots as possible. So as long as your backrow is full, the extra +3000 is yours.

Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival

[ACT](VC): Legion 20000 "Liberator of Oath, Aglovale" (If your opponent has a grade 3 or greater vanguard, only once, this unit may return four cards from your drop zone to your deck, and search your deck for the specified card, and perform Legion.) [AUTO](VC):When this unit performs Legion, look at four cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one card with "Liberator" in its card name, call it to an open (RC), and put the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order. [AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.

Percival is the trump card of the deck similar to other TD-trump cards that usually usually give Power boosts or superior calling effects like the Great Silver Wolf Garmore. Looking for 1 unit among the top 4 upon Legioning for free is an average-good effect and the odds of you pulling an attacker or booster that you need is high.

Liberator of Oath, Aglovale

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a vanguard with "Liberator" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at three cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one card with "Liberator" in its card name, call it to an open (RC), and put the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order.

Percival’s legion partner. If not used as such, Aglovale being called onto the rear-guard is a low cost way of increasing field size and you get to choose from the top 3 cards of the deck at a low cost of CB1. This card will become a splashable seen in most GP decks.

TD17

Starter: Vacant Space Star-vader, Quantum

[AUTO]: Forerunner (When a unit of the same clan rides this unit, you may call this unit to (RC)) [AUTO](RC):When this unit boosts, if the number of locked cards your opponent has is two or greater, the boosted unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

A starter capable of forerunning like the one in the GP TD. Its power gain, however, is not as reliable as his GP counterpart since you need 2 locked cards on the opponent’s side of the field. Moreover, this deck, being so Legion-centric, offers very little opportunities for locking in the first place. The only times you Lock with this deck is when you Legion or if you decide to call your single copy of Photon as a rearguard, so tough luck trying to maintain weak Quantum’s +3000.

Even if this card is used as a starter in other LJ decks, the +3000 might be harder to achieve until mid-game when you have access to grade 3s that possess more certain lock effects, but by then you are better off retiring this puny G0 and replacing it with an actual 8000 vanilla or 7000-power-with-effect booster.

Companion Star Star-vader, Photon

[AUTO]: When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a vanguard with "Star-vader" in its card name, and your opponent has a locked card, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards, and lock it. (The locked card is turned face down, and cannot do anything. It turns face up at the end of the owner's turn.)

Assume Photon to be the new Blaster Blade of sorts, the new G2 signature of Aichi’s that has a disruptive effect on the opponent’s side of the field a la Blaster Blade’s retiring. This card is close to giving the you a free Lock, usable almost anytime in-game, as all you need is to call it as a reagruard, which is more reliable and has even fewer strings attached than Dust Tail Unicorn and the Infinite Zero Dragon breakride. Sadly, with all good things in the TD, only 1 copy is included, but forsee this card to become a new staple to both new and old Link Joker decks like what Blaster Blade is to the Royals.

Star-vader, Garnet Star Dragon

The boss of the deck, basically a Legion version of Infinite Zero Dragon, which locks 2 cards on the opponent’s side of the field, one from the front row and one from the back.

ACT](VC): Legion 20000 "Companion Star Star-vader, Photon" (If your opponent has a grade 3 or greater vanguard, only once, this unit may return four cards from your drop zone to your deck, and search your deck for the specified card, and perform Legion.) [AUTO](VC):When this unit performs Legion, choose a rear-guard from your opponent's front row and back row, and lock them. (The locked card is turned face down, and cannot do anything. It turns face up at the end of the owner's turn.) [AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.

LJ also received their first Especial Intercept in this TD, though we’re putting this to the back of our head as we rarely see use of the +5000 shield of this breed of G2s these days.

Since Legion is the new thing, a significant portion of the remaining cards that gain power increments when your Vanguard is in Legion. Each deck also has the “budget” Legion only there for the “+5000 when attacking” power increment which competitives will phase out. The remainder of your deck is your standard TD fare: straightforward “french vanilla” cards with simple effects or small power increments. You will definitely be throwing away the 7000s that gain 1000 with CB1 and in come the Sentinels or the other G1s that you have been using. I feel disappointed that Busiroad decided to dump in these 7000+1000s when they could have just printed 8000 vanillas like what they always did for previous TDs.

So, how worth it are the 2 TDs?

If this is the first time you are playing Liberators and Star Vaders, sadly you might not get much of the feel of these two clans’ traits because the superior-calling theme and Locks do not show much here - the only time you can do it with this TD is with the Legion components. TDs 16 and 17 are more about the Legion and generic power increments with the cards that support/gain effects when your Vanguard is Legioned than showing off what the clans are really unique at.

However, if you are an existing user of the said clans, you are most probably grabbing a copy just for the Legion couples and the better support cards that I have highlighted earlier. Most of the triggers and vanillas are mere reprints of the previous Liberator and Star-vader TDs which you will relegate to your common-and-rare scrap trunk.

And as with the recent TD bosses, do not count on them to win that many battles if you stick to using them as your main vanguard till the end of the battle, especially if you are a veteran or the competitive-minded. Moreover, at the point in time of writing, some of the cards in BT17 have already been revealed, including potentially stronger ace cards that Aichi will be using in the coming episodes of the anime. These new cards might easily overpower your the Legion couples you’ve just obtained from the TD. You might hold your horses and switch over to those if your wallet permits. Furthermore, there is also the Neon Messiah Deleter Deck used by Ibuki in the upcoming movie with the enigmatic Delete mechanic, which may prove to be a better Link Joker deck compared to Aichi’s.

Looking ahead for the villain clans

Gold Paladin and Link Joker will remain as relatively popular clans as it has always been for clans used by main characters in the anime. Furthermore, trends for the new and much-hyped Legion mechanic do not seem to be particularly detrimental towards any clan, unlike Locks which are a significant threat to decks that require a full field to function properly. LJ dominated the previous season because of the varied playstyles that they can achieve with Lock, which is not a mere stalling of attacks but from which, further injuries to the insult, such as chain-locking more cards or retiring Locked units, can be added. Of course, not to forget the amount of complaints we’ve heard over the feared Chaos Breaker Dragon. As for GPs, they have been around since Season 2 and will continue to be a clan favoured by entry- to intermediate- level players due to their heavy promotion in the anime and the easy-to-pilot nature of a clan that focuses on straightforward power increments and top-calls.

BT17 will bring upgrades to these clan soons in a month from now, but until then, enjoy Legioning with these two TDs for now.

Mikeru

BT14 Meta and opinions

Hey folks. Its been quite sometime I never update the blog and been on a hiatus. This Le Jestre who is going to discuss with everyone reading this about the upcoming meta and my opinions on the new cards in bt14.

Lets talk about the current meta.
Tier 1 - G4 Novelle Kagero
Tier 1.5 - CBD Link Joker
Tier 1.5 - Narukami
Tier 2 - RFD Revengers
Tier 2 - Nova Grapplers Beast Diety/ Blau/ Asura
Others not mentioned are decks that are not frequently used in tourneys

Decks that Died to the new meta of 13k base
Revengers
Aqua force
Nova grapplers
Chaos breaker

Lets 1st talk about the cover card GRAND EZEL SCIZZORS

[ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (2) & Soul Blast (2)] Unlock all of your locked cards, and if you have five «Gold Paladin» rear-guards, this unit gets [Power]+10000/[Critical]+1 until end of turn, and at the end of that turn, Soul Charge (1), choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up. [CONT](VC):During your turn, this unit gets [Power]+1000 for each of your «Gold Paladin» rear-guards. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

My opinions on this card: This card is just isn't liberator. I don't see a reason why it need to target solely link joker and CBD. CBD isn't that popular anymore which people abandoned him to play G4 transcendence dragon.

Lets read the card line by line.
The problem with this card lies in its inability to gain any defensive advantage with its skill conditioned to be ideal only when you have a full field. In other words, this card is vulnerable to massive retirement of rearguard. Ezel would be SHUT DOWN AS A SOLO WARRIOR.
The other loop hole with the card is when you only have 1 open damage for counter blast. Ezel skill needs 2 CB and Soul Blast 2 and only unflips after the cost is paid and the unflipping of damage and soul charge 1 will resolve at the end of the turn.

Which means give Ezel the 4th damage when his damage has 3 cards facedown to TOTAL SHUTDOWN the skill of ezel. Ezel has no skills to recover from mass retirement from decks like Narukami and kageros which will give Ezel Multiplier Minuses if both of the above mentioned shutdown conditions are fulfilled.

To all the CBD Players out there. Nothing to fear out there. Ezel isn't that strong and effective against you.

Next lets discuss about Gancelot Zenith

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1)-card with "Liberator" in its card name & Choose one of your grade 2 or less rear-guards, and put it on the bottom of your deck] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at the top card of your deck, search for up to one «Gold Paladin», call it to an open (RC), and put the rest on the bottom of your deck, and that unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn. [CONT](VC):If you have a card named "Solitary Liberator, Gancelot" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+2000. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

My opinions on this card. Gancelot zenith is just like an Ethic buster Extreme who allows you to deliver 4 attacks every turn. How it works is it refreshes one rearguard with a cost of CB1 and replace with a random rearguard called from the top of the deck and adding a power of 10k. So in this case, I would use one rearguard unboosted to attack your interceptors or your 11k Vanguard and then use the vanguard to attack and trigger gancelot's skill to call the top card to hasten triggers and to drain more hand card and allow both rears to get buffed by trigger effects. However this card DO NOT GIVE PLUSES unless a josephus is called to draw 1.

How to Shutdown this card? Keep on RETIRE and sweep their REARGUARDS. This way, you get to force more cards from their hand to replenish their field to accommodate and cater for his effect. To conclude this card poses very little threat to the dragon empire :D To my dragons, please burn those humans. Muahahahahah!

Next I'm going to discuss about the Broken Heart Jewel Knight Ashlei.

[ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose one of your rear-guards with "Jewel Knight" in its card name, and lock it] Choose up to one of your opponent's rear-guards in the front row, and retire it, and search your deck for up to one card with "Jewel Knight" in its card name, call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn. (The locked card is turned face down, and cannot do anything. It turns face up at the end of the owner's turn) [CONT](VC):If you have a card named "Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+2000. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Opinions about this card: Ashlei is like a card that gives free pluses for a cheap cost of CB1. Lets imagine. A g3 with effects of a Blaster Dark Revenger and a Tartu for CB1, Lock1. And having a base vanguard as ashlei which gives pressure with the critical. Its kinda good to prevent limit break. I kinda find this card decent with a potential +2 everyturn. I kinda love the art. Like how sci-fi she looks like with her sexy curves. Grear Job to the artist that drew her.

Next Imma talk about the Tempest Bolt Dragon

[ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (3)-card with "Eradicator" in its card name] Retire all of each fighter's rear-guards. [CONT](VC):During your turn, this unit gets [Power]+2000 for each fighter's open (RC). [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Opinions about this card: His effect is kinda straightforward of burning everything in his sight. What makes this card good is the mass retirement it gave. To me it isnt a staple in an eradicator deck but rather a special tech card to turn the tables of the game when in danger. Its a good card to instant minus your opponent if he is piloting decks that do not offer advantage or low handsize decks which ultimately cripple their offence and attacking power. However against decks like Palemoon and Garmore which are able to offer up to a +5 advantage to replenish field would put his skill to waste.

If you are planning to run this guy, I recommend playing 2 copies at a maximum. As in the art of the card wise, I find him like some mad scientist who experimented on himself and failed which explains the tentacle head and the scythes as its hands which will do its experiments and cut your body open as his test subjects.

Next card worth mentioning would be the Eradicator, Ignition Dragon

[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1)] When a «Narukami» rides this unit, you may pay the cost. If you do, your opponent chooses two of his or her rear-guards, and retires them, and choose your vanguard, and that unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn. [AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks, if the number of rear-guards you have is more than your opponent's, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Opinions about this card: Lets all play the good old Gauntlet Buster Dragon. Who doesn't forget that badass that stack crits and +3k power while burning opponent rearguards. Well this card makes him more broken. For a cheap cost of CB1, you get to +16k and 2 criticals. How more broken can it get? I personally love its art and how this card brandishes its chainsaw and telling ya that ya better guard your ass otherwise the chainsaw will land in your ass if you no guard. Totally love this art a lot.

Next card that is Meta Defining would be the Dauntless Dominate Dragon Reverse.
I know this card is on par with Dauntless Drive for holding the title of having the most Ds in the name. DDDR

[ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose one of your «Kagerō» rear-guards, and lock it] Until end of turn, this unit gets "[AUTO](VC):When this unit's drive check reveals a grade 1 or greater «Kagerō», choose up to one of your opponent's grade 1 or less rear-guards, retire it, and this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of turn.". This ability cannot be used for the rest of turn. (The locked card is turned face down, and cannot do anything. It turns face up at the end of the owner's turn) [CONT](VC):If you have a card named "Dauntless Drive Dragon" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+2000. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Opinions about this card. This card is good especially on how it force your opponent to guard a 2 pass no matter what whether you lock or not. This card can be abused with its breakride to stack its skill up to 4 times. I kinda like how it forces the guard and gives your opponent a guarantee minus. Simple yet powerful effect. I kinda like how badass this card art is.

I have tested this badass guy and has proven to be a head to head contender with the G4 Transcendence dragon. Dauntless being able to restand itself and hit perfect numbers of 23k is no joke and to stack reverse's effect is just too sweet and proved to be a badass and deserved the spot in the meta.

Here is the decklist that I've used:
G3
4x Dauntless Drive Dragon
4x Dauntless Dominate Dragon Reverse

G2
3x Berserk Dragon
4x Dominate Drive Dragon
2x Bellicosity dragon
2x Hunger Hell Dragon

G1
4x Dragon Dancer Maria
2x Calamity Tower Wyvern
2x Heatnail Salamander
3x Embodiment of armor, Bahr
3x Sealed dragon, Kersey

G0
4x Heal
3x Sealed dragon Artpitch (Draw)
3x Gattling claw dragon (Draw)
6x Critical

SVG
Lizard Soldier, Conroe

Until next time, stay tune for the part 2 where I'm going to talk about murakumo and all the other supports in bt14 and the current metagame.

Updates and Spoilers

This morning VG-BT12: Binding Force of the Black Rings (黒輪縛鎖 lit. Black Ring Binding Chain) was announced for a Japanese release on July 6th. Featuring support for the revived Shadow Paladin clan and the Link Joker clan that will be introduced in TD11: Star-Vader Invasion, BT12 will introduce Link Joker's new "Lock" mechanic. (Although presented as "Lock" phonetically, the kanji 呪縛 used for it means "Spell" or "Curse.")

The set will contain 102 types of cards with 1 reprint, currently believed to be Blaster Dark Revenger from TD10:Purgatory Revenger. It will also support the Pale Moon, Dark Irregulars, Narukami and Gold Paladin clans. Careful scrutinizing of the promotional images reveals cards resembling Great Silver Wolf Garmore, Divine Seal Dragon Dungaree and Mad-Eye Basilisk. The Link Joker units have been noted to resemble existing units from other clans, so far with Blaster Blade on the cover image for TD11, Spectral Duke Dragon on one promotional image for BT12, and Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier on the other promo image. Furthermore, the artists for these Link Joker units are the same as their originals, Suzukigorou and Masa.

Notably, as the images for the Garmore and Dungaree lookalikes have United Sanctuary and Dragon Empire nation boxes, it appears that modern promo materials are now eschewing the standard practice of using Sanctuary templates to conceal a unit's nation prior to release. Because of this, the image for TD11 which showed a US nation likely points to Link Joker being from the United Sanctuary. However, due to now counting a version of Luquier among its ranks, Link Joker may be a composite clan with multiple nations contributing to its card pool.

In addition to the new "Lock" mechanic, the image at left advertises that BT12 will also introduce new crossride and break ride units. With Garmore and Dungaree as the speculated crossride candidates, and the Link Joker clan which is already embraced by many cardfighters as an appealing new group of antagonists, BT12 is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated sets of 2013.

Copied from: http://vanguardus.blogspot.sg/

BT11 Spoilers

Goddess of Fortune, Fortuna

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Soul Blast (3)] When this unit's drive check reveals a grade 1 or greater «Genesis», you can pay the cost. If you do, put that revealed card into your drop zone after of this drive check, and perform a additional drive check.
[ACT](VC):[Soul Blast (3)] This unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn
[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Fighter's Collection Spoilers

Wisdom Keeper, Metis

[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1)] When a «Genesis» rides this unit, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card, Soul Charge (3), choose one of your vanguards, and that unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn.
[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, Soul Charge (1), and this unit gets [Power]+1000 until end of that battle.
[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Story Teller


[AUTO](VC/RC):[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit's attack hits, if you have a «Dark Irregulars» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card.

Pretty Celeb, Charlotte

[AUTO](RC):[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, if you have an «Bermuda Triangle» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, return this unit to your hand, choose up to one «Bermuda Triangle» from your hand other than a card named "Pretty Celeb, Charlotte", and call it to an open (RC).

Dandelion Musketeer, Mirkka

[AUTO](RC):When this unit boosts a «Neo Nectar», if you have a «Neo Nectar» vanguard, and if your deck has been shuffled by your card's effect during this turn, the boosted unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

Unrivaled Brush Wielder, Ponga


[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, if the [Power] of your opponent's battling unit is 12000 or greater, this unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of that battle.
[AUTO](RC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, if you have a «Great Nature» vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.

More updates and New Clan: Link Joker

TD11: Star-vader Invasion

Release Date: 22nd June 2013
Features the new Link Joker clan.
A constructed deck built of 50 cards.
There are 18 different cards.
The deck includes 1 RR and 2 R cards. Includes cards used in Season 3 of the Cardfight!! Vanguard Anime
The official price is 1,050 Yen.


Fighter's collection:
Liberator of Rigid Spear, Bureobellis

[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1)] When a «Gold Paladin» rides this unit, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at up to two cards from the top of your deck, search for up to two «Gold Paladin» from among them, call them to separate open (RC), put the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order, choose one of your vanguards, and that unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn. [AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Eradicator, Electric Shaper Dragon

[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When a «Narukami» rides this unit, choose one of your vanguards, that unit gets [Power]+10000, and gets "[AUTO](VC):When an opponent's rear-guard is put in the drop zone by any of your card's effect, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards in the back row of the same column as the retired unit, and retire it." until end of turn. [AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks, if the number of cards in your opponent's damage zone is three or more, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Breakrides, Crossrides and Chainrides

With the new season of cardfight!! Vanguard link joker,

There will be a new shift to the meta where new clans and archetypes/themes are introduced. Archetypes such as eradicator, liberator and jewel knight will began to dominate the upcoming meta not to mention a new clan of genesis.

With new card mechanics such as break ride, will decks that still run old mechanics such as crossride and chain ride still be able to survive long in the upcoming meta?

Lets for now review and compare the different card mechanics that have been around for quite sometime.

Chainride
Chainride basically works like an evolution where the vanguard evolves into stronger version of themselves as you ride the vanguard. It becomes similar to pokemon for example, charmander would evolve into charmeleon and finally into charizard. In this case charmander is like the starting vanguard,  charizard would be the grade 3 final form of it.



How is chainride strong in the meta?
Chainrides are for those who love consistent gameplay and effects that will be pulled off every turn. Chainrides usually give the player a free +1 or a guaranteed search for a grade 1. However there may be drawbacks if you were to miss the chain such as some cards may require a certain card to be within the soul for it to pull its effect off or give an extra 1k power. Its either your vanguard is a 10k or a 11k base. The difference of 1 k can make a huge difference during the guard step.

Crossride
Crossride is actually supposed to be meant like a grade 4 vanguard where it rides over a grade 3 with a grade 3. This is also to solve the problem of creating a grade 4 and having it grade jammed in your hand. Crossrides are an upgraded version of a grade 3 trump card such as Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion or Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel.



Crossrides are usually the cards that would define the FINAL TURN. where its ultimate break effect will usually activates to end the game. Cards like Platina Ezel are usually used to end game.

Breakride
Breakrides are grade 3s that will give its effect to another grade 3 that has rode over it. Such as the case of Solitary Liberator Gancelot where he will give its effect of to the grade 3 that overrode it:
[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When a «Gold Paladin» rides this unit, choose one of your vanguards, and that unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn, and choose up to three of your «Gold Paladin» rear-guards, and those units get [Power]+5000 until end of turn. [AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)



Therefore in this scenario gancelot's skill will be given to alfred when overrode. Where alfred will gain + 10k and its 3 rearguards get a +5keach stacked on top of alfred's own card effect.
To made things clearly,
Assuming you have perfect columns with 8k boost each with a full field, Alfred's effect will take place 1st, he will gain 2k for each rearguard total of 10k + 11k base power. Next gancelot's effect will be stacked over it with the extra 10k. Therefore alfred's column would be 10k effect +11k base power + 10k gancelot + 8k boost == Massive damage of 39k vanguard without any triggers!!

FAQ
Qn: Can break ride be mixed with crossride?
Ans: No as it would break the chain ride and the effects and consistency of the ride will be truncated and unable to pull off.

Stay tune for more insights and clan and card analysis. Next we will be sharing more about the shift in the metagame to see which clan would be of dominance in the locals.

BT10 review part 1

Booster Set 10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights

Feature a new clan called Genesis which would be played and pilot by Misaki in the new season of Link Joker.

Here is the trump card used by Misaki at the moment, Battle Deity of the Moonlit Night, Artemis


[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Soul Blast (3)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw two cards, choose a card from your hand, put it into your soul, and this unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of that battle.
[CONT](VC):If you have a card named "Twilight Hunter, Artemis" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.

As you can see it focus around manipulating its soul to gain hand advantage as it also doesn't use any counter blast.

In bt10 is also feature another counterpart of alfred, where he has liberator in his name.
Liberator of Round Table, Alfred


[CONT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):During your turn, this unit gets [Power]+2000 for each of your rear-guards with "Liberator" in its card name.
[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (2) - Cards with "Liberator" in their card name] Look at up to one card from the top of your deck, search for up to one «Gold Paladin» from among them, call it to an open (RC), and put the rest on the bottom of your deck.
[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Look we have another potential Bad Ass card when combo with Gancelot. Means every turn you get a 10k boost without any restraint.

Narukami has more variants and more variety to its playstyle after being revealed that there are two characters(Naoki Ishida, Kai Toshiki) that play the same clan in the anime.

Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When an opponent's rear-guard is put into the drop zone with one of your card's effects, this unit gets [Power]+3000/[Critical]+1 until end of turn.

[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (2) - Cards with "Eradicator" in their card name] Your opponent chooses one of his or her rear-guards, and retires it.

[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Here is one Bad Ass when rode on Sword vowing dragon. This gives a guarantee effect of getting the critical every turn with its consistent playstyle of retiring opponent units. Love the Artwork though, Looks like one Real Bad Ass to lookout for in the upcoming meta.

Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose three cards with "Eradicator" in their card name from your hand, and discard them] At the beginning of the close step of the battle that this unit's attack did not hit, you may pay the cost. If you do, [Stand] this unit, and gets [Critical]+1 until end of turn. This ability can only be used once per turn.

[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (2) - Cards with "Eradicator" in their names] This unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn.

[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Looks like a potential "DOTE" eff with 3 cards to pay to activate its effect. Seems balanced after the Restriction of DOTE. Good for pressuring your opponent with trigger stacks. Effect seems to balanced out after a -3 as a cost and a +4 after drive check. Seems good enough +1. I would recommend play 6 draw, 6 crit. Another Bad Ass to look out for as well.

Pureheart Jewel Knight, Ashlei

[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When a «Royal Paladin» rides this unit, you may choose one of your vanguards, that unit gets [Power]+10000/[Critical]+1 until end of turn.

[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.

[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Leading Jewel Knight, Salome

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When this unit attacks, if the number of other rear-guards you have with "Jewel Knight" in its card name is four or more, this unit gets [Power]+2000/[Critical]+1 until end of that battle.

[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (2) - Cards with "Jewel Knight" in their card name] Search your deck for up to one card with "Jewel Knight" in its card name, call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.

Seems like royal paladins are back with bitches like Jewel Knights, an archetype being played by Kourin. Dogs evolves to bitches in season 3. Salome seems to be imba when rode over Ashlei with her effect gave 10k power and +1 critical. Not to mention Salome's own effect which allow her to gain a critical every turn as long as there is 4 or more rearguards. So total would be 3 criticals. How to counter her? Retire her units and attack her rearguard.