A.V.D.: Revenger, Dragruler Phantom

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: Revenger, Dragruler Phantom

"Because despair has manifested itself; it is I, from the very depths of the abyss, Dragruler Phantom!"

Since set 12 the shadow paladin clan, in their great revival through their "Revengers" archetype, has set their place in the meta of vanguard alongside Link Joker (Chaos-Breaker Dragon), their then rivaled clan - both of which vying for the spot of being the strongest clan in the current format. BT14 onwards, and almost simultaneous with the release of EB08 (Champions of the Galaxy) and EB09 (Divine Dragon Progression), shadow paladins became 'overshadowed' by clans such as Kagero, Gold Paladin, and Genesis, with such clans getting new support. This was the case, until almost 3 months later, set 15 (Infinite Rebirth) was released and along with it were the last support cards for the "Revenger" archetype based from the third season of the animated series - most notable of which, is the clan's new boss card, "Revenger, Dragruler Phantom". 

A direct ascendant of the clan's first breakride (Mordred Phantom), Dragruler is the much awaited cross-breakride unit of the shadow paladins (such gimick was first introduced with Vowing Sabre Яeverse Dragon from set 12 and was again repeated with Gancelot in set 14). During the  turn Dragruler rides over Mordred, it is a fearsome 23k beater, with the 10k power from the breakride and the extra 2k power coming from his [CONT] (continuous) skill of having Mordred Phantom in the soul. With itself being a crossride, it provides easy guarding defense for it's user during his/her opponent's turn. 

But what this card really brings to the game, and not just to the clan itself, is its one of a kind skill. At limit break (having four damage), Dragruler can retire two (2) Revenger units for the cost of one (1) counterblast, and deal a damage directly to the opponent; I repeat, DIRECTLY. No guards. Just deal pure damage directly to the opponent (damage check still applies for this though, and there is a chance for the opponent to get a trigger). It also get +10k power from the said ability. However, this ability can't be used when the opponent is already at five (5) damage, making it into just a 13k vanilla vanguard when the opponent's is at five damage. Units such as Dark Bond Trumpeter, Mana, and Swordbreaker, or even triggers are great fodder target units for this card's skill. And with this unit's skill pushing the opponent - at most - to five damage, shadow paladins are now opting to run stand triggers instead of their standard critical triggers (albeit some bring both and try to balance the distribution of the two said trigger types) in order to dish our more damage to the opponent, and quite possibly finishing the game during the turn Dragruler's ability is activated.. But be wary of this unit's skill, as it could otherwise favor your opponent by activating their ultimate break abilities (which in many case is very devastating, as with "Vermillion, THE BLOOD" or "Ω Glendios"). And with so many of this card's setbacks, as what most people claim of it (i.e. being useless when opponent is at 5 damage, or favoring ultimate break decks instead, etc.), Revenger players have inferred to stay and continue using Raging Form Dragon instead as the main boss card of the deck.

However, what most players forget about Dragruler Phantom is that it's a crossride unit (of Mordred Phantom). And as such, crossrides have always been famous for their solid 13k defense, thus having an edge over the populace of 11k vanguard units. Guarding against them will now only require 5k shield (for 18k) to make it 2-to-pass for the opponent. And getting a damage trigger allows you a bigger chance of surviving, and easing out your pace during late games. And such factor, is Dragruler's advantage over Raging Form, making it in a way equal to it, and not inferior. Overall, Dragruler is the only card with this ability, and hopefully there will be more play of it (compared to Japan) when it's released in its English version later this 2014. 

Deck Check: Shadow Paladins - Revengers (Raging Form Dragon)

Deck Check: Revengers (Shadow Paladins)

BT12 - Binding Force of the Black Rings marked the debut of the highly awaited new clan of Link Joker ( along with their "locking" mechanic) and the Яeverse support for Narukami, Pale Moon, and Dark Irregulars, that also came with it  in this set. Along these also, is the more anticipated return and upgraded support for Shadow Paladins: the Revengers archetype. They made their debut weeks before set 12's release when TD10 and TD11 was released, and they set to mark their territory in the meta with their optimal boss card, "Revenger, Raging Form Dragon" (RFD). So without any further a do, let us begin:

It is very generic and is a must to run four (4) copies of the Revengers Breakride, "Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom" and the deck's boss card, "Revenger, Raging Form Dragon" (RFD). You need to maximize the number of copies of RFD in your deck in order to have a higher chance of drawing in to it and be able to activate its limit break. Also, the same reason goes for Mordred Phantom. Running four (4) copies of him is very essential to the deck and in some sense,a trivial aspect for the deck to work properly. 

For the grade 2's, four (4) of "Blaster Dark Revenger" and "Nullity Revenger, Masquerade", and three (3) copies of "Dark Cloak Revenger, Tartu" are run by me. There aren't really other grade 2 units for revengers which prove to be better than these. Albeit some players opt to run Rugos (10k Vanilla) instead of Tartu, mainly because this deck can sometimes be counter-blast heavy, and Rugos aids in diminishing that and provide a solid 10k body. But why should you run Tartu?  In contrast to Rugos, Rugos does not help you in 'shaping' up your field. He only provides a beatdown power, WHICH is only 1k more than Tartu. Tartu on the other hand, aids you in shaping and forming up the structure of your playing field. She can get any grade 1 or lower "Revenger" unit from your deck and place it on the same column as hers. "But for the cost of two (2) counterblasts, is it worth it?" The answer to that question will only depend on what you are going to call. You don't use her skill too often or when you have nothing good to call on. But the efficient aspect I see to this is when you choose to superior call a "Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorint", and in the following turns assuming Tartu gets retired or intercepted, when you call and replace her with "Blaster Dark Revenger", you basically got your superior call (i.e. Dorint) for the cost of only one (1) counterblast.

On to the grade 1's: four copies (4) "Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorint" and "Dark Revenger, Mac Lir" (PG) are run along with three the (3) copies of  the the grade 1 revenger 10k attacker, "Transient Revenger, Masquerade" and two (2) "Revenger, Dark Bond  Trumpeter". Also, the last of the normal units for this deck is the second copy of our starting vanguard, "Frontline Revenger, Claudas". Four (4) copies of the Perfect guard (Mac Lir) and Blaster Dark's tandem, Dorint is highly recommended for this deck, simply because the former is relevantly needed to stop the onslaught of the high numbers of attack power that vanguards can unleash out in this breakride format  (especially noted of this is Link Joker) and the latter is going to be your generic grade 1 booster on your field (and also unflips damage with Blaster Dark). For Masquerade, in contrast as to most of the clans who bring four (4) copies of the same kind as him, three (3) copies of him is just the most that you can bring in this build. This is because the last two (2) slots available is left for Dark Bond Trumpeter. Dark bond trumpeter is mainly used as a fodder for Raging Form's skill and is also Claudas' retriever. She gets you your second copy of Claudas for the cost of one (1) counterblast. 

If any of you know the 2013's Fighter's Climax National Champion of Japan (Open Division), Lee Innyeng  who won using the Shadow Paladin clan, you might've noticed that this is EXACTLY the same lineup and build as his; true. But this deck (of mine) is only different in the trigger line-up. As you can see, I'm running nine (9) Critical Triggers. Yes. NINE Critical Triggers. To some of you, you wouldn't really react as much to this, while others may (and most like will) scrutinize this. The standard trigger line-up for Revengers has always been 8 Crits, 4 Draws, and 4 Heals. However, this is too predictable already and as such I decided to take it up a notch and increase the possibilities of my vanguard checking in to a critical. This was mainly done for the purpose of surprise and is not recommended (by me) to be run for consistency purposes.

Complete Deck List:

Grade 0 (18) :

2x  Frontline Revenger, Claudas (not shown in the picture above)

1x  Grim Reaper

4x  Grim Revenger

4x  Revenger, Air Raid Dragon

3x  Freezing Revenger

4x  Healing Revenger

Grade 1 (13) :

4x  Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorint

4x  Dark Revenger Mac Lir
3x Transient Revenger, Masquerade
2x  Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter

Grade 2 (11) :

4x  Blaster Dark Revenger

4x  Nullity Revenger, Masquerade

3x  Dark Cloak Revenger, Tartu

Grade 3 (8) :

4x  Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom

4x  Revenger, Raging Form Dragon

Overall, the Revengers have proven to be a very resilient deck in the japanese meta by staying in it for more than 6 months already and has produced many victors in such time. It has also began to create ripples on the waves of the american meta. As of now, it is yet in its early stages of experimentation and creative innovation. But it is yet to face its true challenge in two months time when VGE - BT13 Catastrophic Outbreak is released and along with it is the optimal boss card of the only clan which can par up to it (Link Joker), "Star Vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon".

A.V.D.: Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon

"lock . . .lock . . . lock . . everything"

The Link Joker clan made its official debut in the international meta two weeks ago, with the release of their trial deck “VGE-TD11 Star-vader Invasion", and with the recent English release of BT12 – Binding Force of the Black Rings, the clan received their first grade 3 boss card: Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon.

In contrast to Chaos Breaker Dragon (which is treated as the optimal grade 3 boss card of the clan), Nebula Lord doesn’t fall too far behind with breaker – albeit the consistency and the draw-power that Breaker offers. The best description there might be for Nebula Lord is that it’s a “Beatdown” unit, designed to crush and obliterate the souls of fighters who come against it, and ultimately, reverse them in the process of doing so. In the anime, this was the first boss card which the pseudo-antagonist of the series, Toshiki Kai, used and was responsible for many fighters getting reversed, including the likes of Shinjou Tetsu and Narumi Asaka.

At 11k base power, Nebula Lord stands as a solid vanguard unit for Link Joker. It has an [ACT] activate ability which enables it to lock one rear-guard booster of the opponent for the cost of two (2) counterblasts. This vicious ability gets rid of pesky and dangerous boosters such as the likes of Doreen, and even that of their own clan, Lanthanum. The only problem that most players have with this, is that for the cost two (2) counterblasts, locking an opponent’s rear-guard booster is somewhat not as flexible as it should be, in contrast to that of Breaker’s which is able to lock any rear-guard unit of the opponent. This limits the options that the player should have in playing it, thus making it in this sense inferior to Breaker. 

But that’s not what this unit is only capable of; this extra-terrestrial beast’s power lies in its limit break. A limit break which is very devastating and game-owning, that when used properly, it can grant this card’s user the assurance of reversing every opponent. At four (4) damage, Nebula Lord gains an Active ability; every <Link Joker> in the front row line − including this card as the Vanguard – is entitled of having a massive +3000 power boost for every locked card in the opponent’s side of the field. And with the bonus of locking two (2) cards when you breakride this unit, courtesy of Infinite Zero, it is a guarantee that this unit and some other two (2) front row <Link Joker> units will get a +6000 power boost. What’s worth noting is that, cards such as Lanthanum and Niobium also get their own bonuses from locking your opponent’s units, all the more reason as to how dangerous they are when played together. And when the opponent is already at four (4) damage, with the massive number of power that the attacks of these units are capable of reaching, opponents are forced to use perfect guards and/or to guard as much as they are able to; if they do survive, they may not do so anymore in the succeeding turns for they will have already used up all of their resources . Nonetheless, it is really gonna cripple the powerplays that the opponent supposedly intended to play.

Nebula Lord Dragon is a really good card that is only underestimated by most players. This card is a strong card on its own, independent of breakride and is capable of winning many games by itself. If only played right, one can truly understand how strong and beastly this card truly is. But with the near-coming release of BT13 in two (2) months time, not that much attention will really be given to this card. If ever there may be, it will only be just by the few. Nonetheless, this card is the first Invader, and it will lock and reverse anyone who comes across the path of its user; such potential has never been this concealed.