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. 

Deck Check: Gold Paladins - Spectral Duke Dragon

Deck Check: Gold Paladins - Spectral Duke Dragon

Spectral Duke Dragon was one of those units which defined a generation. It was the unit which most likely represented the Gold Paladin clan in a more competitive perspective (albeit being already very and sufficiently supported thus a more reliable clan to bring for tournaments because of its diversity). This was also the build which Brandon Smith (together with his buddy Bastianelli) ran with during last year's (2012) World Championships which he successfully won the title of. Until today, Duke will forever be remembered as one of those cards which dominated the meta and pioneered in the perk self-standing; a card that can never be forgotten. So in honor of this legendary card, I decided to make a deck check of it, and without further a do, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewgEzrShTuk

With the release of TD08 Liberator of the Sanctuary, this deck gets a superb support from the breakride. With Duke going for 20k+ when it restands, it sure is going to decimate an opponent. While Duke was already dangerous back then, it now has become more detrimental and destructive, making its cost very efficient and worthwhile (forcing the opponent to use 1-2 perfect guards). This deck may have a chance at the spotlight again and ultimately add another glorious victory to Gold Paladins.

-kamiPrince39-

A.V.D.: Clash of the Paladins - Shadow against Gold

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: Clash of the Paladins - Shadow against Gold

In the land of cray, there existed a clan of noble and loyal knights called the Royal Paladins

They swore to protect their land with honor and fortitude and to lead all  the

other clans of Cray to progress. However, a number of these paladins deliberately committed treason and denied "the will of the blade" and sought power for their own. Exiled, they came to be known 

as the Shadow Paladins who embodied supreme prowess and avarice. This conflict escalated

to a full-scale war which eventually came to a compromise and gave birth to the all new

 Gold Paladins.

Among the three aforementioned clans (Royal, Gold, and Shadow), Royal Paladins proved to have been the best clan among the three. However,last November 2012, Bushiroad hit Majesty Lord Blaster (MLB,the best card of the clan) on their official ban list semi-limiting MLB to only two (2) copies per deck. This devastated the status of the clan in the professional scene in the meta which eventually lead to its demise. The throne was then open for the two left paladin decks for them to seize it and prove who reigned supreme and more dominant against the other. Either of which, both proved to be of equal rivals to the other as both decks are very much played by the majority.

Both clans are very offensive in nature bringing with them more than four critical triggers in their trigger line-up - albeit Gold paladins were more aggressive with their twelve (12) criticals in contrast to the Shadow paladins' standard eight criticals. This was due to the insufficiency of support cards printed for the Shadow Paladins, despite the fact that they have their crossride support whereas Golds didn't (yet Golds had more support than they could ever need of). This caused shadow paladins to become more passive in their pace,focusing to succeed in their crossride and focus their power in their center baseline or on their vanguard unit. Gold paladins though didn't play like this. Usually, Gold paladins would spam 3-4 units on the field during turn 2 or 3 of the game and just abuse their resources to an all-out assault.

This kind of play-style might have instigated player Brandon Smith to pick this as his choice of weapon to play in the World Championships - and he was very right about it. During the finals match of last year's World Championships, both players played gold paladins. The two players onlydiffered in the build that they were using. Smith used Spectral Duke Dragon (SDD) while Suharto used the Pellinore build. Smith won and further established the authority of Gold paladins as the more dominant paladin clan. 

Despite the fact that Gold paladins won last year's World championships, one can never take away the bulk and power that the crossride of Shadow paladins brings: Phantom Blaster Overlord with its gigantic attack of 13,000. This massive attack power provided a stalling mechanism to the pace of Shadow Paladins. This was the asset that Shadows had and Golds lacked. Unfortunately, this "was" the case until set 9 came and gave Gold paladins their very own crossride unit.This fully engraved the place of Gold paladins as the "dominant paladin clan" of the meta and has proved its superiority over the Shadow Paladins.

-KamiPrince39-

A.V.D.: Chaos Breaker Dragon

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: Chaos Breaker Dragon

With the release of the Link Joker clan in BT12 Binding Force of the Black Rings together with TD11 Star-Vader Invasion, and the innovation of the Reverse units (both of which fully utilize the new "Lock" mechanic), a new age of gameplay has come to rise for the meta. With clans getting further support of reverse units, the meta has come to define itself as a crossride type of meta, most of which are the reverse units which utilize the lock ability. BT13 Catastrophic Outbreak further expanded the number of these Reverse units available to the game and along with it was the beast incarnate who has come to be  known as Chaos breaker Dragon.

A grade 3 unit, Star-vader Chaos Breaker Dragon was a unit designed as field-control card and is commonly referred to as a "boss card" of the clan (game-ender card). It's a solid 11k Vanguard which is capable of reaching 16k-21k attack power in its own attacks and with it is a limit break ability which was designed to obliterate and counter the ever-growing number of players utilizing the lock mechanic with their reverse units. Lastly, it has the "Lord" ability which restricts it from being splashed into other clans.

Its first ability is an [ACT] Activate ability which locks any rear guard of the opponent for the cost of 1 counterblast and by discarding 1 "Star-vader" card from the hand. This ability isn't really that much of a surprise, considering the 'lock' ability as being the main gameplay tactic of Link Joker. In contrast to the primal Link Joker boss card though, Nebula Lord, it is in a way reasonable as to why this unit's skill costs more (with the addition of an extra cost of discarding a card from the hand, albeit minus the second counterblast) for its skill because it is more flexible in nature and is more "open" compared to Nebula Lord's which locks only one back row rear guard of the opponent, for the cost of two (2) counterblasts. Chaos Breaker's skill allows the player to freely and carefully select a unit which is more optimal for him/her to lock. And with the aid of the clan's breakride, Infinite Zero, during the turn that you would ride Chaos Breaker Dragon over it, you're already guaranteed to have locked two of the opponent's rear-guard units. But what really separates this card from Nebula Lord as a boss card for the Link Joker clan is its Limit Break. 

Its Limit Break is the skill which it is more known for, for this limit break skill completely destroys the locked unit/s of the opponent by retiring them. Whenever an opponent's unit is unlocked, for the cost of one (1) soul blast, Chaos Breaker retires that/those unit/s which were unlocked AND for each unit that was retired by this skill, the player which controls Chaos Breaker gets to draw a card. For the cost of one (1) soul-blast, a cost so irrelevant, Chaos Breaker's controller is allowed to retire the opponent's unit(s) AND get free card(s) from it. This skill is very potent for unlike the infamous Kagero clan (notable for their retiring skills), it first locks the unit, thus having the locked unit take-up a rear-guard space (rendering 1 rear guard either useless or irrelevant) and then afterwards, retire it and get rid of it permanently, taking it out of the field for game advantage.

Overall, Chaos Breaker is a very potent unit capable of stopping the more notable clans in the meta while getting so much pluses from doing so. The only problem with this though is that this Limit Break is only efficient during the turn that you breakride it, giving you the opportunity to retire 2-3 units and draw cards from this skill in the succeeding turn. Locking 1 and drawing 1 card from its skill isn't as efficient compared to if you locked 3-4 units and for the same cost, you get more. Still, a card that was made specifically created to counter decks which benefited from the lock mechanic is one hell of a card.

A.V.D.: Raging Form Dragon

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: Raging Form Dragon

Some posts ago, we talked about self-standing vanguards. These were vanguards which could stand back by themselves and be able to attack for a second time in a single turn. On this AVD, we'll discuss about a card which has a similar skill as to those who are self-standing.

BT12 Binding Force of the Black Rings gave a "new life" and new support for the Shadow Paladins, particularly giving them their sub-clan archetype "Revengers". Revengers were first introduced in TD10 Purgatory Revenger, with Blaster Dark Revenger as the cover card of the trial deck. The sub clan was further expanded with set 12 including their new boss card, "Revenger, Raging Form Dragon". This was "epic comeback" for the clan which proved to have been insufficient and inferior (in power and efficacy) since the debut of their first optimal boss card "Phantom Blaster Overlord".

So to start off, Raging Form is an 11k grade 3 unit. Its 11000 attack power enables it to reach the magic numbers of 16k-21k powerlines without being supported, and only by itself. But its second skill adds +3000 more power whenever it attacks for the cost of one (1) counterblast. This gives it then the capability to further extend its total power in its column, now ranging from 19k-24k. And just like any other boss units, it has the Lord ability which forbids it to attack if there is a unit in play which is not of the same clan as it. 

But what really highlights this horrofying dragon is its Limit Break. At four damage, you gain access to an [AUTO] Auto skill which requires you to pay a very high price: retire three (3) "Revenger" rear guards in the field. And when the cost has been paid, it's where the true demostration of its superior skill and sheer dominance is evidently seen in action; you can select another copy of itself and superior ride it as STAND during the end step of the battle which it attacked and your new and standing Raging Form Dragon gains an extra +10,000 to its attack power. And with this in the picture, the Revenger user would most likely and ultimately go for another attack and inflict more damage to the opponent. This also means that the player is able to again, perform twin-drive and check for more triggers and get some more cards. This destroys the hand advantage of the opponent, punishing him/her with attacks that would consume almost all of his/her resources until ultimately he/she is unable to guard anymore. 

So it is safe to say that this vanguard is a half "self-standing" vanguard while at the same time it also is a "Self-breakride" unit which gives itself +10k when its Limit Break is successfully activated. This enables a Shadow Paladin user to reach a fourth battle in a single turn. This is such a big plus for the clan and an overall new perk which is unique to itself and could further be integrated in the future cards of the future sets of Vanguard. 

-kamiprince39-

A.V.D.: Break Rides

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: Break Rides

Photo owned by James Gabriel Garrido; not to be used anywhere without the permission of the owner itself.

TD08 Liberator of the Sanctuary and TD09 Eradicator of the Empire (released last January 26 in Japan and October 4 for the English) introduced the new support cards for the Gold Paladin and Narukami clan showcasing their new units from the third season of the anime, the "Liberators" (Gold) and the "Eradicators" (Narukami). Along these new sub-clans or the archetypal updrade of the two (2) clans, is the new mechanic called as "Break Rides". A mechanic that would further push the current shape of the meta and define a new age of gameplay. A time of crossrides and breakrides

So what is a Break Ride? To start off, it's not a crossride, it's more or less like a "re-ride" of your grade 3 vanguard. Break Ride is a Limit Break ability (meaning that it can only activate when the controller has already four (4) damage) wherein when another grade 3 (of the same clan) rides over the breakride unit, it gains a "powercreep"  or an Over-powering sklill and a +10000 power boost. All breakrides so far give the riding vanguard a +10000 power. The only thing that this will differ in is in the type of clan that is being used.

Essence:

Why Breakrides?

Its beacause of that +10000 power that really makes breakrides so broken. A vanguard can constantly hit 20k+ powerlines which is just SO painful to the opponent. This enforces Prefect guards from hs/her hand. What most people will be looking forward to do with this is repeatedly ride your Break rides and gain their skills for up to 2-4 times in a game and finally riding your main vanguard after the third or fourth breakride (depending on the number of copies that you are bringing in your deck) in order to fully utilize their full potential and capacity.

Do note that with this in our mind, self-standing vangurads can now be even more deadlier. Whenever they would restand, they would still have with them the power of vanguard and the trigger boosts that gave extra criticals. Spectral Duke Dragon on its own can be very dangerous and lethal to the meta, posing so huge of a threat that it could be the perfect counter for Link Joker. Still, with the meta being composed of crossrides, this will definitely change our perspective and is VERY relevant\to our curiosity and critical thinking analyses about the game.That is all for now.

-kamiPrince39-

A.V.D.: Blaster Spirits

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: Blaster Spirits

Photo owned by James Gabriel Garrido. Photo not to be used or be posted elsewhere without the consent of the owner.

Blaster Blade Spirit and Blaster Dark Spirit are two very unique cards which were introduced in set 9 (BT09 - Clash of Knights and Dragons). They both are in the same clan as their original versions and both have 10k in power.Blaster Blade Spirit is a Royal Paladin unit while Blaster Dark Spirit is a Shadow Paladin unit. And just as they were once grade 2 units, they still are in this version of theirs.

The skills of both Blasters are very similar in nature, differing only in the target that their skill are allowed to be applied. Their first skill is an [AUTO] skill which activates when either one of them is called to the Rear guard from the deck (or Superior called) and for the cost of ONLY one (1) counter blast, you get to retire an opponent's front row rear guard. Blade destroys a grade 2 or higher rear guard while Dark obliterates grade 2 or lower front row rear guard units. These two are best brought in a deck which revolves more on superior calling from the deck such as that of Pellinore builds. But what makes them really tough is that both of them have a huge base attack power of 10,000. This base power surpasses the 9k regularity of most grade 2 rear guards thus they are nerfed by their second skill. Whenever either one of them is attacked, then the blaster automatically dies despite if you guarded it.

What's more peculiar to this two is their third skill. A [CONT] Continuous skill which haves them two (2) treated as Gold Paladin cards. This is the very reason that these two are mixed in Gold paladin decks because they are 10k and they a skills which are more or less very strong and potent. But back to their "destroy-this-automatically-when-attacked" skill, it isn't really that big of a deal. Anyway, it could've been used to only intercept and losing it was already prepared for. Its their 10k base that makes them really big and painful.

Unfortunately though, only the Gold paladins have this kind of mini-support from other clans (Royals and Shadows). Other clans have no units such as these. It would've been better to see more of these kind of units. It is a unique perk that Bushiroad thought of, but only for Gold Paladins.

-kamiprince39-

A.V.D.: Self-standing Vanguards

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: Self-standing Vanguards

Photo owned by James Gabriel Garrido (not to be used or to be posted elsewhere without the owner's permission)

It is a rule that Vanguard units are to remain at rest after they've attacked. Stand Triggers can only apply its restand effect on Rear guards. This is because if vanguards were to stand back up again, they could again attack and drive check twice. If this would've been the case, everyone might’ve been playing 8-12 stands instead of bringing multiple criticals. Some cards though, surpass this limitation. These units are able to restand themselves, and could attack once more.

The very first of its kind, Dragonic Overlord was the very first self-standing vanguard. It was released in both its trial deck and in set 1. This Demonic Beast unleashed the flames of hell itself upon those who would be foolish to oppose its superior power. An 11k beater, it’s just as big as it could get hitting 16k-21k power columns that proved to be so devastating to old grade 3 units whose average base attack powers were just 10k below. And that’s just its stats, his abilities have not been mentioned yet. At the cost of 3 counterblasts, this motherfucking dragon of mass and colossal destruction gets a continuous +5000 power until the end of the player’s turn. And that’s not all, when it hits an opponent’s Rear guard, its true power is revealed: IT STANDS BACK UP. It restands and all of the effects remain in it – provided also that its attack hits. And with this at hand, it would again look forward for another attack until ultimately all of the opponent’s resources have been burned to ashes. Of course there’s a catch to this though; it loses its Twin Drive ability yet it can still drive check 1 card when it attacks again.

But neglect the capability to drive check twice or thrice, what’s so dangerous about this beast is that it can still activate its skill while it is also in Rear guard (no drive checks though). A rear guard that is almost as strong and as good as the vanguard is such a huge plus for any player.

Later sets then tried to imitate the signature skill of Dragonic Overlord most notably its crossride, DragonicOverlord “The End”. What differed between the two was that “The End” required a cost of persona blast. BT04 also released Stern Blaukluger which also has a skill similar to Overlord, that when it hits it can stand back up.  EB03 also released a vanguard similar to Overlord but with an easier condition to pull-off: Spectral Duke Dragon.

Photo owned by James Gabriel Garrido (not to be used or to be posted elsewhere without the owner's permission)

Spectral Duke Dragon is a 10k Vanguard. While “Black Dragon Knight,Vortimer” is in the soul, it gets a continuous +1000 power. But that’s not what’s scary about it. Just like Overlord, it too can stand back up on its own, for the price of 2 counterblasts and 3 Rear guards. What edge it has over Overlord is that during the end of the damage step that it attacked (regardless if its attack hit or not), its Limit Break allows it to restand itself back up, retaining all the effects of power boosts and extra criticals that it gained during its drive check. It does lose its twin drive though, yet still the ability to choose whether or not to restand yourself back is already a very destructive skill.

Not to mention also that this was also the main vanguard unit of Brandon Smith’s Gold Paladin deck which won the World Championships 2012 last year. He ran this build instead of the normal Ezel deck and showcased to the world how strong and effective this deck really is. Another testament added to how devastating and dangerous these type of vanguards are. 

-kamiPrince39-

A.V.D.: 8K Vanillas

Advanced Vanguard Discussion: 8K Vanillas

Photo owned by (c) James Gabriel Garrido 2013, not to be reposted elsewhere without the original photographer's express permission.

8k vanillas have always been a staple for every deck. These were the units that gave so much consistent boost for front row units (they are even good front row Rear guards). This is because of their high base attack power for just being a grade 1 unit. And (f.y.i.) the reason why people call these cards “vanillas” is because of their skill-less existence. In short, they have no skills/effect whatsoever. That is why (maybe) that they have high attack power in order to compensate for having no skills – or it could be the other way around. Either way, they’ve proven their worth in every player’s deck through the past time.

But I’ve been noticing lately that players (in Japan) are now dropping these units out from their decks and are being replaced by 7k units whose skills are worth playing. Such example is seen in the Shadow Paladins. Naturally, Shadow Paladin players would opt to bring with them 4 Charons. But in the new Revengers build, there is no more Charon to be seen. Instead, it has been replaced by Dorin, a 7k grade 1 unit which works really well with Blaster Dark Revenger. It unflips a flipped damage in the damage zone when Blaster Dark Revenger is placed in the Rear guard column directly in front of him. This makes Blaster Dark Revenger's counter blast-2 skill look like a counter blast-1 skill. This is just so effective that no one would think twice of bringing four (4) of him.

This is very understandable though. Why would anyone bring a mediocre card (8k vanilla) − who serves no purpose other than boosting  − instead of bringing a unit which is more useful for powerplays (and when the difference between the two (2) units is just 1000)? It is then worth knowing about these cards (this might also be the reason as to why the 8k vanillas didn’t get to be reprinted as newer versions during the rise of archetypehood of the meta).Whatever the reason may be, these cards are being now being left behind. Some players will just bring these just to fill up the empty space in their deck.

Is this another part of the evolution of the meta? Another step towards a higher plain of gameplay? Perhaps; who knows. But there is a clear indication of change. That these units are now disappearing and that also in the future, maybe there will be no more 10k vanillas.Still, being very consistent in nature, they still signify their essence. Albeit they are being dropped, they are still "ok" cards to bring in a deck.

-kamiprince39-

A.V.D.: The Drive Quartets (Bermuda Triangle)

Advanced Vanguard Discussion - Bermuda Triangle: The Drive Quartets

Photo owned by Cardfight!! Vanguard Bushiroad. All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

The release of EB02 Banquet of Divas gave way for the debut of the Bermuda Triangle clan. It introduced the Riviere ride chain for the clan and several other Bermuda triangle cards. The clan then later received more support when EB06 – Dazzling Divas was released (just last July 26, 2013), including their Breakride support PRISM Image Vert , making them the very first clan to introduce the Breakride mechanic in the English format. But set aside all the general discussion of the deck, and let’s discuss about a perk (as how I like to call it) of the clan that isn’t really utilized that much by most players: The Drive Quartets

“The Drive Quartets” is a sub-archetype of the Bermuda Triangle clan. Unlike most sub-archetypes though, they are not normal units.  Instead, they are a of group triggers of their clan whom each has a similar skill to other. What each of them basically does is that each of them gains +3000 power when a specific drive quartet unit is present as your Rear guard.

Shuplu gains +3000 power if Bubblin is in Rear guard; 

Flows gets the +3000 if Shuplu is present in the Rear guard













Bubblin gets +3000 power if one of your Rear guards is Ressac














Ressac gains +3000 if Flows is one of your Rear guards.











 It’s just cyclic in shape. Its presumable then that if all four (4) of them are present in your Rear guard circles, then each of them is a 7k unit.

So what is the essence of this? We’ll thats because of the fact that they ARE triggers. Remember that after triggers have been used from drive checks, they just become your guards in hand. They prove not that much of use anymore, even their 5k boost is not that good. Also, there are those times which you just keep on drawing triggers, and you just have no other units to call for your offense because their 5000 power is just that good enough.

But, with these ladies though, you are able to get a +1 from your predicament. Instead of them just being guards in your hand, you can now use them as alternative boosters or as offensive units.  Albeit 7000 as an attack is not really that good, its the idea of them being flexible that gives them their quiddity. They can both be used as guards, and at the same time be reserved units for later game-pushes.

What‘s more to this is that they are the ONLY ones (clan) that have this kind of perk. No other clan has this. A unique mechanic that could later be harnessed and be utilized further in the future of the game. 

-kamiprince39-