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.: 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-

Vanguard 101: Ride chains

Ride Chains

Vortimer-SDD ride chain (Gold Paladins)
Photo owned by James Gabriel C. Garrido. This Photo is not to be used elsewhere without the owner's permission.

Grade line-ups of a deck is a very crucial aspect in playing Vanguard.  Higher grade units are brought in lesser number compared to lower grade units in order to prevent being unable to ride to the next grade (or what is informally called as being “grade screwed” or “grade locked”). However, in set 3 (BT03-Demonic Lord Invasion) a new mechanic known as Ride chain was introduced – wherein Tsukuyomi  (OTT) and Gallahad (Royal Paladins) acted  as the pioneer ride chains.   Later sets then integrated the said mechanic and transformed the build of already existing clans.

Basically a Ride chain is series of evolutionary grade line-up which is meant to be ridden on top of the former (grade). This type of riding provides accessibility to the next grade unit of the current vanguard on the field. Essentially speaking, they secure grade-ride assurance, making sure that the player doesn’t miss a ride and prevent being grade screwed. When the grade 0 is in the soul, the grade 1’s attack is 8000. When the grade 1 is in the soul, the grade 2 becomes 10000. And when the grade 2 is in soul, the grade3 becomes 11000.

As of today (September 2013), there are currently four (4) types of Ride chains: the first, being Tsukoyomi and Gallahad in set 3; the second, the being Blasters (Shadow Paladin), Blaus (Nova Grappler), Amber Dragon (Kagero), Enigman (Dimensional Police), and Giraffa (Megacolony); the third (introduced first in EB02), Riviere (Bermuda Triangle), Vortimer-SDD (Gold Paladin), Magatsu (Murakumo), Ergodiel (Angel Feather),etc; and last, the current ride chains of japan which are Artemis (Genesis), Ripple-Genovious (Aqua Force), and Schwarzschild (Link Joker).

The first type of ride chain consisted of checking the top five (5) cards of the deck for the next unit in the chain and if it is there, it is superior ridden. Additionally, they lose 2000 power if not all of the parts of the ride chain is found in the soul. This -2000 was such a pain for it isn’t really guaranteed that much of getting the next unit for the chain.

The second type was released in set 4 and consisted of having to draw the grade 1 unit in the chain and riding it on top of the grade 0 to search for the grade 2 unit of the chain. The grade 1 (when placed in Rear guard) can then search for the grade 3 of the chain by simply discarding a grade 3 from the hand.  This offered a more secure ride opportunity for players albeit was still inconsistent in the sense that the player relied to much on the grade 1 ride.

The third type  (and the more famous type of ride chain amongst current ride chains i.m.o), which was released first in EB02 has the grade 0 search for either the grade 3 or grade 2 unit of the chain (by checking the top 7 cards of the deck) when the grade 1 unit is ridden on top of it. Despite the increase in the number of cards checked on top, this was still too hard pull off for the player had to have the grade 1 and either the grade 2 or grade 3 unit of the chain in his/her hand, so that the player will just only be looking for the third and last piece of the ride chain when the seven (7) top cards are checked. This was the fastest build though.

The last type of ride chain is more or less similar to the third type (which was introduced in set 10). What it differs in, is that when you miss to ride your grade 2 (or when you ride a grade 2 unit other than that of your chain), you have the chance to check again the top seven (7) cards of your deck and if the grade 2 unit of the chain is there, superior ride it. This was the most aggressive type of ride chain to have ever existed. This ensured the players that their grade 3 vanguards would be 11k.

The problem with ride chains though is that you will (more or less) rely on this skill. This then becomes a major weakness to you and it becomes your only way to win games. That when you don’t successfully accomplish your ride chain, your vanguard becomes a sitting duck. On a personal preference, I would highly advise no to go with this. Non-ride chain decks are more versatile and more flexible in nature, not a one-trick pony like most ride chain decks are. 

-kamiprince39-

Vanguard 101: Limit Break

Whenever you are already down to five damage, it seems that hope is already lost and that there’s only a very thin chance of you turning the tide of the game and eventually winning it.  This is a predicament that any player would never want to be in. Fortunately, there came the mechanic of Limit Break. 

Photo owned by James Gabriel C. Garrido. This Photo is not to be used or be posted elsewhere without the owner's permission.

What is “Limit Break”?

The mechanic of Limit Break was first introduced when TD05 (Slash of Silver Wolf) and TD06 (Resonance of ThunderDragon) were released, together with BT06 Breaker of Limits. The two trial decks, which consisted of (and the debut of) the Gold Paladin clan (TD05) and the Narukami clan (TD06), were the very first clans to ever have the Limit Break mechanic and too, were the very first ones to use it in competitive play. Later sets then followed and gave Limit Break units to already existing clans and further expanded the meta of the game.

Limit Break is a mechanic of the game that enables a player to fully utilize the damage predicament of a player. It is a strong and dangerous ability which turns “good” vanguard units into devastating and destructive forces. What it does is that when a player is at four damage, an ability or skill becomes active. Usually these Limit Break skills are very broken or overpowered. Because of which, Limit Break grants the player a chance of still winning a game despite of the near loss situation that that player is maybe in. Cards like Blonde Ezel or Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion are such examples of units that are very dangerous when at Limit Break.

Of course there’s also a downside to this. Some units such as Spectral Duke Dragon are only strong and dangerous when their Limit Break is active. Otherwise, they are just vanguard units that remain there activating no skill whatsoever until only the player is at four damage. Waiting to be damaged doesn’t really sound as rational as it should be, knowing that you have to win as fast as you can and grab every opportunity that you are able to, to break your opponent badly.

But majority of these units (which have Limit Break) are in overall effective and dangerous. These cards can guarantee victory provided that they are also used properly and at their full potential. Limit Break has proven to be one of the factors that could affect how a deck totally works, and in a bigger view, how players win by them. So break past your limits and surpass thy boundary!

-kamiprince39-