Cards of the week! 14th edition.

New card

Stealth Dragon, Nibikatabira

Now you see me, now you don't!

[Auto] [RC]: Afterimage. (When your opponent puts a bound card into his or her hand, if you have 6 or less cards in hand, you may return this card to you hand.)

[Auto] [GB1] [CB1] + [SB1] When this unit is placed on [RC], if you have a grade 3 or greater vanguard with "Shiranui" in it's card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to one of your other rearguards, and until end of turn, that unit and this unit get [power] +3000 & "[Auto] [RC] Afterimage"

Nubatama's Benziel clone and it's interesting, to say the least.

The first thing I noticed is that it is the first Benziel Clone with a secondary skill, and a decent one at that. Pretty much, if your opponent's bound card returns to your hand, as long as you have six or less cards in hand, you may return this card to your hand. Allows you to call this and be able to return it back to your hand to use later is nice.

However, that isn't the main skill, which is when this unit is called, you may Counterblast 1 and Soulblast one to give both this unit and a chosen unit 3k and Afterimage. Sounds pretty mediocre, doesn't it?

Well you're WRONG!

This card is actually pretty powerful because of how versatile it is. Here are some ways of using this card:

The first (and most obvious) way you can use this is by returning valuable cards you wish to protect that are on the field by bouncing to your hand.

Secondly, you can use it to calling a card such as a perfect guard, then calling Katabira, then using Katabira's skill to give afterimage to the perfect guard, and at the end of the turn return both cards to your hand.

Thirdly, you can use it to power up a column that Dreadmaster (Nubatama's MVP.) is in to force your opponent to lose two cards from either guarding or Dreadmaster hitting a front row rearguard. This won't work against 10k Vanillas unless you are running 10k vanillas, unfortunately.

Fourth: You can call a 7k rearguard (Such as Dreadmaster), then call Katabira in the same column to get a 21k attack that returns to your hand at the end of the turn.

The condition isn't even that harsh, considering that Nubatama is notorious for having and needing small hand sizes,

My only problem is the card is it's cost: A counterblast and a soulblast. It's not overpriced or anything, but Nubatama are very resource heavy as a deck, especially with counterblasts and soulblasts. Hopefully though, the Technical booster will give us a good soulcharging and countercharging engine!

Verdict: Nubatama are the better Ninjas CONFIRMED!

Old card:

Climax Jewel Knight Lord, Evangeline

Shing! Sparkle Sparkle.

[Stride]

[Act] [VC] Choose a card in your G-Zone, and turn it face up]: If you have a heart with "Jewel Knight" in it's card name, and if you have three or more rearguards with "Jewel Knight" in it's card name, all of your units with "Jewel Knight" in it's card name gets [power] +3000 for every face up card named "Climax Jewel Knight Lord, Evangeline" in your G-Zone until end of turn.

Disclaminer: Before I talk about this card, I do not claim to be an expert on Royal Paladin, at all. So if I say something absolutely moronic (Such as OG Aurageyser being one of the worst G-units in the game around the time fighter's collection 2015 came out.) I preemptively apologize. Thank you!

Evangeline is Royal Paladin's stride in Fighter's Collection 2015 Winter, and it can pretty much be summed up as: "What Regalie would look like if it was actually balanced."

Like Regalie, Evangeline can create stupidly large columns, even bigger then Regalie. Unlike Regalie though, only units on the board when the skill was activated get the power. It also requires units to be on the board when the skill is activated. After all, 3 really powerful attacks is worse then 4 really powerful attacks.

As a trade of with Regalie though, Jewel Knights are better at rushing your opponent IMO, with the infamous Swordmy always being online as long as you have counterblast, and powerful grade 3 options such as Salome to kill your opponent even before they stride.

This isn't to say Evangeline is bad, far from it. It's probably the best G-Unit in the fighter's collection, 

Verdict: Pretty damn amazing.

Cards of the week! 13th edition.

New Card:

Honorary Assistant, Mikesaburo

[Auto]:When this unit is placed on [RC] during your main phase, choose one of your other rearguards, and until end of this turn, this unit gets "[Auto] During your end phase, when this unit is put into the drop-zone from [RC], search your deck for up to one grade 3 card, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand and shuffle your deck."

The RR from the fighter's collection, and it is essentially a slightly different version of Coiling Duckbill. 

Or to be more precise, it's a hybrid of Duckbill and Minibelly. This card is pretty amazing; it's usable during the early game, can search for any grade 3 and helps generate advantage.

It's worth noting that to use it in the early game requires you to run either Binoculus or Tapir. I'd personally recommend Binoculus because you can still use Mike if you ride Binoculus and Binoculus does not have resist like Tapir.

Verdict: Exceptional: Staple playset in every Great Nature Deck.

Old Card:

Honorary Professor, Chatnoir.

[Auto] [VC] [LB4]:When a <Great Nature> rides this unit, choose your vanguard, until end of turn, that unit gets [Power] +10000 & "[Auto] [VC] When your rearguard attacks a vanguard, choose one of your <Great Nature> rearguards, and until end of turn, that unit gets [power] +4000, and at the end of that turn, draw a card and retire that unit.

[Auto] [VC]:When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power] +2000 until end of turn.

[Cont] [VC/RC]:Lord

Some people say that break-rides are all but out of Vanguard's meta-game. I personally disagree. There are a select few break-rides that are still powerful in this meta-game.

This is one of those break-rides.

This card combos really well with Crayon Tiger, one of the best amber clones in vanguard in my humble opinion, turning Chatnoir's usual +1 into a +2, and allowing for an additional attack and powering up a single column by 12000 power. Combine this with cards like Tester Fox, Researcher Fox, Duckbill and Mikeasaburo and Pencil Koala and you have a turn where you can generate advantage extremely quickly.

And all this is even before we know about Chatnoir's Stride, which we'll have to wait and see what Bushiroad has in store for us!

Verdict: Purrfect (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Cards of the Week! 12th Edition.

New Card

Wings of Annihilation, Blade Wing Tibold

[Stride]

[Auto] When this unit is placed on [VC], If you have a heart with "Blade Wing" in it's card name, return all cards from the drop zone to the deck, and shuffle your deck. Then, if the number of cards in your soul is 15 or more, until end of turn this unit gets "[Cont] [VC] All of your rearguards in the front row get [power] + 10000", and if not [SC5]

I said to one of my friends who plays vanguard the other day: "They're doing Blade Wing for Dark Irregulars, how in the world are they going to make them Viable? They need 15 cards in soul to even do anything!" 

Turns out this is how.

This card does 3 different jobs at once: It's a mass soul charger,  Dreaming Dragon and it's Regalie, rolled up into one unit.

It's worth noting that the 10k to the front row skill is restricted to only when you have 15 cards in soul. This is a target for Dark Irregulars anyway, because Gilles De Rais, the clan's Finisher, also needs 15 cards in soul to have all skills online, and the Blade Wing grade 3's also have skills that activate when you have 15 cards in soul.

A Dreaming Dragon skill is amazing in clans like Genesis and Dark Irregulars, where deck-out is much more likely to happen then in other decks, so a stride that does this on top of other skills is really great.

It's also worth noting that this card behaves fundamentally differently depending on what heart it is using. If the heart is Reijy, it is used mainly as a Regalie clone, if the heart is Sullivan, it is used to fuel Sullivan's extreme soul blasting.

Verdict: Really, REALLY solid.

Old Card

Blade Wing Sullivan

[Cont] [VC] If the number of cards in your soul is fifteen or more, this unit gets "[Cont] [VC] All of your guardians gain [Shield] +10000" & "[Auto] [VC] At the end of the battle that this unit was attacked, [SB2]"

[Auto] When this unit is placed on [VC], choose one of your rearguards, search your deck for up to 3 cards with the same that as that card, put them into your soul and shuffle your deck.

The RR for this winter's Fighter's Collection. I'm not going to lie, at first I really did not like this card. Funny how knowing the stride made me do a complete 180 opinion wise. 

This is one of the best defensive vanguard in the game... When you reach 15 soul, that is. Giving 10k shield to all cards is amazing, especially considering cards like Visionary Gemini exist. Being able to no pass 26k G-Unit boosted by a 7k rearguard with 2 10k shield cards is amazing. 

This comes at a cost, however. Every time your vanguard is attacked, if you have 15 or more cards in soul, you must soulblast. It's a small price to pay.

Verdict: Amazing.

Cards of the week! 11th edition.

New Card

Helldeity Seal Dragon, Crossorigin.

[Stride]

[ACT] [VC] [CB1] & Choose a face down card in your G-Zone, and turn it face up.] If you have a heart with "Seal Dragon" in it's card name, for each face up card named "Helldiety Seal Dragon, Crossorigin" in your G-zone, choose one of your opponent's rearguards, and retire it. your opponent reveals the top 4 cards of his or her deck, and chooses a grade 2 card from among them for each card put into the drop zone with this effect. Your opponent calls the chosen cards, and shuffles his or her deck. If your opponent has two or more grade 2 rear-guards, this unit gains [Critical] +1 until end of turn.

The Seal Dragon stride from the fighter's collection. The cost is reasonable, the fact that your opponent reveals the cards and must call grade 2's to rearguard is even better, but the icing on the cake is the critical trigger which you can get first turn. Unlike Pearly Titan, which requires either player to have an 11k base rearguard and the other to have a 9k base rearguard to gain the crit, this card only requires your opponent to have two grade 2 rearguards. Yes, Pearly Titan gains power, but gaining advantage is worth more then gaining power, as a 26k base is already very strong. 

Verdict: Pretty damn strong.

Old Card

Seal Dragon, Gariserge

[Auto] [RC] [CB1] When this unit boosts, if you have a vanguard with "Seal Dragon" in it's card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, until end of that battle, your opponent cannot intercept and the boosted units gets [power] +2000 for each of your opponent's grade 2 units.

Ever wanted a 13k booster easily that can boost either vanguard or rearguard? One that isn't reliant on how many soul-charges or cards you call? Meet Gariserge, which for a counterblast, can become up to a 17k booster. As well as that your opponent cannot intercept.

Yes it has to counterblast, in a deck that already uses counterblast quite a bit, but you can always run Protect Orb Dragon and Tarparlin Dragonkid can be a possible countercharge 5, so running out of counterblast is not much of an issue.

Verdict: Quite good.

Cards of the Week! 10th Edition.

New card

Flying Peryton

[Auto] [GB1] When this unit is placed on [RC], [SC1], choose up to one card in your soul, call it to [RC] in the same column as this unit, and at the end of that turn, put the unit called with this effect into your soul.

This card is a free temporary +1 for no cost. Decent enough, but like a lot of Pale-Moon cards, the true power of this card is in it's combo potential.

Harri skill > Call Peryton.>Call Purple Trapezist>Put Peryton back into soul > Call Peryton, > Call another card from soul.

Result> CB1 to SC3, Temp call 2 to RG and call 1.

This isn't the only combo, but it shows exactly this card is capable of.

There is a problem with Peryton though. The mandatory soulcharge can cause the player to deckout if used too much.

Verdict: A Solid staple in generic Pale Moon.

Old Card

Waving Deletor, Greidhol.

[Act] [VC] [1/Turn] [SB1-card named"Docking Deletor, Greion" & Choose a rearguard with "Deletor" in it's card name, and retire it.] Delete all your opponent's vanguard. Your opponent chooses a card in his or her drop-zone, and binds it face down (Vanish Delete)

[Auto] [VC] [CB1] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at the top 5 cards of your deck, search for one card named "Docking Deletor, Greion" from among them, put it into your soul, shuffle your deck, choose 1 of your opponent's rearguards in the front row, retire it, your opponent chooses a card from his or her drop-zone, and binds it face down (Vanish Delete)

Greidhol is both strong and weak at the exact same time. When he is rode on top of Greion, he is powerful, almost to ludicrous levels with Given. However, when he does not have Greion in the soul, he becomes extremely weak, with only Greidhol's on-hit pressure online.

The fact that Greidhol's delete costs a retire and soublasting one Greion from soul makes this card great when you cannot delete, but it is also a very risky card to use, as if it you ride it, you pretty much auto-lose.

Verdict: Strong in certain situations, a death sentence in others. Overall decent. 2 of in Greion decks max.

The embodiment of chaos, Chaos Breaker Dragon & Co!

"Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder!"

Back in BT-13, There was a terror. A Sadistic clown who countered and toyed with all it's subjects, known as "Reverse", the most powerful cards in the game at that time. A card so monstrously overpowered in it's time that many still resent it today. That card is Star-Vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon, and we will talking about this card today, and his new subordinates.

[Auto] [VC] [Limit Break 4] [SB1-Card with "Star-Vader" in it's card name.] During your opponent's end phase, when an opponent's locked card is unlocked, you may pay the cost. If you do, retire that unit, and draw a card.

[Act] [VC]: [1/Turn] [CB1]&[Choose a card with "Star-Vader" from your hand, and discard it.] Choose one of your opponent's rearguards, and lock it.

[Cont] [VC/RC]: Lord

Chaos Breaker's first skill turns soft advantage (The hand saved by not guarding those columns) into hard advantage (Retire + Draw) without losing the soft advantage. This was brutal in BT-13 because all the best bosses during that time where Reverse units, which self locked for skills.

Today however is a different story. CBD on his own is pretty meh, as his locking skill needs you to discard. In BT-13 he relied on a BR, making him slow, which is pretty much a death sentence in today's metagame. 

So what has brought back the clown? The new card that helps him the most in my opinion is next.

Star-Vader, Chaos Bringer.

[Auto] [VC] [Limit Break 4] [CB1] At the beginning of your opponent's main phase, if your opponent has 2 or more locked card, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for a card named "Star-Vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon", Ride it at [Stand] and shuffle your deck.

[Auto] [CB1-Card with "Star-Vader" in it's card name.] When this unit is placed on [VC], you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's cards in the back row, and lock it.

This card makes CBD much more consistent: It sets up the conditions for you to call Charcoal or Zinc (Another card we'll bet talking about) with Colony Maker, and it also sets the conditions for Dust Tail and Photon.

More importantly, It can superior ride CBD, making having CBD as your vanguard more consistent. It's also a better ride then CBD, because it sets up the soul and provides a lock on-ride for CBD to use when it is Superior Ridden.

Death Star-Vader, Chaos Universe.

[Stride]

[Act] [VC] [CB1] & Choose a face down card named "Death Star-Vader, Chaos Universe" from your G-Zone, and turn it face up.] If you have a heart with "Chaos" in it's card name, choose up to one of your opponent's [RC] without a card, your opponent chooses a card from his or her hand, and puts it into that [RC] face down as a locked card. If the number of face up cards in your G-Zone is two or more, choose one of your opponents rearguards, and lock it.

CBD's support stride, Chaos Universe fixes one of Chao's main problems: When your opponent doesn't want to call cards. Rather then going the Omega Loop route of forcing your opponent to call from the deck, it forces your opponent to call from their hand. Combine this with CBD's retire and you've reduced your opponent's advantage immediately.

The second part of the skill is really just icing on the cake, but grinding your opponent down faster is always nice.

Chain Battle Star-Vader, Technetium

[Auto] [RC] [Choose a card with "Star-Vader" in your hand, and discard it] When this unit attacks a vanguard, if you have a vanguard with "Star-Vader" in it's card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, this unit gets [Power] +5000 & "[Auto] [RC] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, [SC1] [CC1]"

This card might seem bad at first, but creasing a 21k column with a 7K booster is very nice, as well as pressuring your opponent. A -1 may seem heavy, but with the ample amount of advantage that CBD gives you, it's not too big of a dint on your hand.

Confusion Star-Vader, Zinc.

[Act] [RC] [Put this unit into your soul] If you have a vanguard with "Chaos" in it's card name, [CC2] [SC2]

This card helps CBD by providing CBD with fuel. It's really good. Not much else to say here, really. Except that it can be superior called by our next card...

Intricacy Star-Vader, Carbon

[ACT] [RC] [Put this unit in your soul] If your opponent has a locked card, search your deck for up to 1 grade 1 or less card with "Star-Vader" in it's card name, call it to [RC], and shuffle your deck.

Oh boy is this thing amazing. This is lock a card put into soul pull whatever grade 1 you need right out of nowhere. No other cost! Since the best Star-Vader's are limit break, this card just helps the entire sub-clan so much, as before it had issues setting up LB.

Star-Vader, Paradigm Shift Dragon.

[Act] [RC]: [Put This unit on top of your deck.] If you have a vanguard with "Star-Vader" in it's card name, and your opponent has a locked card, choose a card in your opponent's back row, and lock it. Shuffle your deck.

One lock short of World's End? Want to shuffle triggers back into your deck? Need more locks? Well no fear, a new critical trigger is here!

This card just made Glendios so much scarier, as well as Venom-Dancer and CBD (Of course)!

Staple in Star-Vaders easily.

So overall what do I think about the new Star-Vader support? In my opinion Star-Vader is what saved GBT-05. They have needed a boost for some time now, and it's great to see them getting such great support... Or at least I'll be happy until CBD kicks the living daylights out of my Aqua Force decks. :/

Cards of the Week! 8th & 9th editions!

Sorry about the week delay, I took a very small break from the blog, just to chill a little and collect my thoughts. I apologize for not informing you.

Now onto new cards, and boy in the last two weeks have we had some great ones!

8th Edition:

New Card

Interdimensional Beast, Mettalica Phoenix

Our weapon? It is all of Time itself!

[Stride]

[Auto] [VC] [Choose a card in your G-Zone, and turn it face up] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. if you do, Time-Leap one of your rearguards. (Bind that rearguard face up, search your deck for a card 1 grade higher, call it to [RC], shuffle your deck, at the end of that turn, return the card called with this text to the bottom of your deck, and call the card bound with this skill.)

Gear Chronicle's second G-Trial Deck stride, Mettalica Phoenix is the revealing of Gear Chronicles key word: Time Leap. By binding a rearguard, they can call a card from their deck a grade higher, but at the end of the turn, the card "turns back" into it's form before time leap. This allows for many powerful offensive formations, and essentially turns Gear Chronicle from a control clan into a Midrange clan, like Shadow Paladin. (If you didn't know, Midrange is a playstyle where you control during the early game, and become aggressive with powerful columns during the mid-end game.)

But what do I think of the card itself? Well it can activate Chronojet's GB2 on your first stride, which is always nice, but that isn't this card's strong point. It can enable an extra attack for no cost, whilst allowing you to use any rearguard of a higher grade in the deck.

Ultimately, this card's potential is in what it can combo with. and so far, Gear Chronicle has received everything it could have wanted as combo pieces, including what I'm about to talk about next...

Verdict: A great G-Unit.

Old Card:

Upstream Dragon

Time itself does not move forward.
Instead, we actually move through time.

[Auto] [RC] [GB1] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may have this unit get [power] +4000, if you do, return this unit to your deck, search your deck fo up tor one grade 1 card, call it to [RC] at rest, and shuffle your deck.

Upstream Dragon is a unique card. It can change itself into a lower form after attacking, giving Gear Chronicle much more consistent Grade 1 tutoring. This card gives instant access to cards like Gigi, Dah-nish and Masergear

This was already pretty damn amazing, but thanks to Time-Leap, this card's capabilities has expanded ever further. It, in combination with Mettalica Phoenix can make a column that can attack twice, whilst doing the above.

If you Time-Leap into Kalibum, you can Reverse Time-Leap one of your opponent's rearguards. If you Time-Leap into History Maker Dragon, for a counterblast you can do another Time-Leap. The flexibility is astounding!

Verdict: Exceptional. A must have in every Gear Chronicle deck, just because of it's sheer utility.

9th Edition

New card

Stealth Dragon, Shiranui

To see a Shinobi is in itself a death
sentence.

[Auto] [VC] [GB2] When this unit attacks, if you have less cards then your opponent, this unit gains [Power] +5000 & [Critical] +1 until end of that battle.

[Auto] [VC] [CB1] When your G-Unit [Stride], you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's rearguards, bind it face up, your opponent chooses a card from his or her hand. and discards it. At the end of the turn, your opponent puts the card bound with this effect into his or her hand.

I'm sure many of you know that after Aqua Force, Nubatama is my favourite clan, and I was highly excited for the Technical booster, which we now know is called "The Reckless Rampage" but I didn't expect any cards to leak so soon! Enough digressing, lets get onto the actual card.

The GB2 might seem extremely bad at first. Only 5+ and a Crit? That's all? However, anyone saying that has clearly forgot that Nubatama can easily reduce the amount of cards in the opponent's hand, therefore making this much harder to guard, and gives Nubatama a consistent way of finishing the opponent on 4 damage, something that has been a big issue for a while. It's also worth noting that the GB2 actives before the attack, which means the drive check will not affect your hand size, which is usually very annoying with this specific restriction. (I'm looking at you, Dreadmaster. You're still amazing though!)  In short, the GB2 effect is absolutely brutal.

The On-Stride skill is even better! CB1 to force a discard, the best quality control in the game, as well as more soft control bind a rearguard? Amazing. Remember that there is no restricting to what rearguard we bind, which we can tailor to the situation in hand. Have a pesking card in the back row you want Kuroko to snipe? bind that. Want to finish your opponent this turn, and reduce his shield as much as possible?  bind an interceptor.

And  this is not considering Kujikiricongo, which when rode at 4 or more damage forces your opponent to bind a card, and discard a card, whilst increasing the vanguard's power by 10k! The finishing potential is exceptional in this card, both if you want to stride and if you don't.

Verdict: This card is very, very scary. There really is no better way of putting it.

Old Card

Rikudo Stealth Dragon, Gedatsurakan

Shinobi are masters in the art of
making things disappearing.

[Stride] 

[Auto] [VC] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, your opponent chooses a card from his or her hand, and discards it.

Nubatama's On-Hit stride. It is really simple, but extremely effective. It puts your opponent in a Lose-Lose situation, Lose cards guarding, Lose cards not guarding. This strode over Shiranui will increase the amount of disruption you do to your opponent's hand on that turn, and also reduce how much shield they can guard with until they can no longer guard.

This card can only become more effective with new cards introduced in GTB-01!

Verdict: A great early game pressure card.