Gonna write my thoughts on specific match ups that I have some experience with. Writing stuff down generally helps when trying to remember stuff, so this is both to help me and spread whatever knowledge/experience I have :)
Ahri is a champion I play quite often and also one of my favorite champions to play. I believe she is a pretty solid mid laner and doesn't have any really terrible match ups (as long as we look at things optimistically lol). However some match ups are more troublesome than others and LeBlanc is one of them.
LeBlanc has very high burst damage potential once she reaches level 6 and even before that, at level 3 her damage potential is also quite high if she lands her full combo. Needless to say, LeBlanc can instantly kill most mid laners with easy once she reaches a certain level and item threshold and Ahri is no exception.
However not everything is all doom and gloom and there are some things we can do to prevent getting killed. First of all, item builds are not fixed. This is very important! ITEM BUILDS ARE NOT FIXED. There are some items that people will recommend for certain champions and some guides will tell you such and such item is core on X champion. But we have to always remember that what items are good always depends on the current game situation. I'll probably do a full post on this another time and will leave it at this for now. Just keep this in mind.
Some items that are good to build against LeBlanc are as follows:
-Mercury Threads
-Athene's Unholy Grail
-Abyssal Scepter
-Banshee's Veil
All of these items give Magic Resist in addition to other beneficial stats for Ability Power based champions, which (in combination with MR runes) makes it harder for LeBlanc to kill in a single combo. Mercury Threads in particular gives Tenacity as well, which reduces the duration on the Silence from LeBlanc. This makes it such that you can either retaliate earlier or attempt to Flash to safety earlier than you would have been able to without Merc Threads. This might sound insignificant but it is actually a huge deal. Tenacity also reduces the duration of other crowd control effects, which is very useful.
Athene's Unholy Grail is also another very useful item as it provides MR, good Mana Regneration and Cooldown Reduction, all very useful stats for Ahri.
Both Merc Threads and Athene's build out of Null Magic Mantle so buying a Mantle early and then deciding what to do with it later if you aren't sure is a good thing to do.
I don't really like Abyssal Scepter right now but if your team has multiple champions that rely on magic damage then it can be a good choice as well, due to its MR reducing aura.
Banshee's Veil is probably the most difficult item for LeBlanc to deal with in a 1 on 1 situation. The spell shield it provides makes it hard for LeBlanc to get max damage from her combo in 1v1 situations and the Magic Resist and Health it gives also make it harder for LeBlanc to kill even if she does get her combo off. Although this sounds great I don't recommend getting BV too early as it doesn't provide any Ability Power at all and your damage output will suffer if you rush this item too early.
Of all these items I recommend getting Athene's as a first item as rushing tier 2 boots is generally a bad idea. One of the more popular item builds for Ahri right now is Deathfire Grasp into more items that increases her burst damage (like Deathcap and Voidstaff). However building Athene's into Voidstaff/Deathcap is also very strong due to Ahri's skills being on relatively low cool downs. The Mana Regen and extra Cooldown Reduction lets you spam your skills in lane and during extended engagements. Do keep in mind that this isn't an assassin build so remember to adjust the way you play accordingly.
Skill order is another thing we can change to make this match up more in our favor. Usually Ahri will want to max Orb of Deception first as it deals good damage and is good for wave clearing and harassing. However it may be hard to hit LeBlanc with it due to her Distortion skill letting her jump around and potentially letting her both dodge your Orb and dropping her Sigil + Chains combo on you.
The other option is to max Fox-Fire first. At max level Fox-Fire actually deals more single target damage than Orb of Deception (280 + 80% AP for Fox-Fire vs 280 + 65% AP without factoring MR) and is also on a lower cool down. If you buy a spellvamp item (like Hextech Revolver) Fox-Fire will also give you more HP back when hitting a single target. If LeBlanc jumps to you to try to get her combo off it is very possible to press W fast enough such that Fox-Fire will cast before you get silenced and once it's out it will automatically search for its own targets while prioritizing champions and because LeBlanc already jumped close to you it is very likely that she'll get targeted.
This might not seem that great but it is guaranteed damage because you don't need to predict where she'll be jumping to in order for your Orb to hit. Fox-Fire is also on a lower cool down than most of LeBlanc's (once Fox-Fire is level 3-5) skill so if you wish to continue trading before all her skills are up, it is definitely an option (well, actually depends on the items you build). This is great if you intend to try and fight her 1 on 1 (although most people will recommend against this).
However if you rather push your lane and try ganking other lanes then maxing Orb first is still definitely the way to go. So ultimately it depends on your play style :)
Which is also an option as LeBlanc is quite bad when it comes to clearing creep waves. Keep pushing your lane and warding it so you don't die to ganks from the jungler and take wraiths or try ganking other lanes while your creeps are closer to your opponents tower. If you do this and play safe, the LeBlanc player will be under a lot of pressure as the wave is always pushed in her direction which makes it harder for her to leave her lane to gank others. If she does leave lane it makes it easier for you to down the turret and if you always warn your teammates it should be harder for LeBlanc to get kills else where as well. Even more so if you follow her for a counter gank.
As for runes and masteries, definitely get all the MR you can (flat MR for runes obviously).
That's all I got for now! Might update this in the future if I think of additional tips. It mostly comes down to not being stubborn and actually changing your item build to win this match up and play safe so you don't die as LeBlanc snowballs very easily even off of a single kill.
Good luck and have fun :)
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Saturday, September 7, 2013
General update!
Hello whatever readers I may have left :p
I realize I haven't been updating here for quite some time and it isn't because I don't have anything to write about. There are actually some Vanguard topics I have some thoughts about and have put quite a bit on paper but haven't actually finished any. This is because I have recently moved and am preparing for school (again...) and will most probably not be playing Vanguard for quite a long time (unless I discover a secret CFV community here lol). Thus I have also not been paying much attention to the recent updates and have not found the drive to finish all the topics I would like to cover. Another reason is that, after writing and thinking about them half way through, I just find some of the topics uninteresting.
But fret not, I'll still attempt to keep up with Vanguard as I am still interested in the game. There just won't be many posts about CFV as I won't be playing it as already mentioned and I feel it is best to test things as it is very easy to come to wrong conclusions in CFV.
However I might also try playing CFV online (if such a possibility still exists), but not guarantees.
I do plan on updating this blog somewhat regularly though. One of the new things I'm going to cover will be another game I really enjoy and that is League of Legends. Having moved and not being able to play on the Garena servers without at least ~200ms latency, often 300+, I'm left with not much choice but to make a new account on EU West servers.
So I'll be posting about my journey starting another account from level 1, having already almost 2k games worth of experience. It might not seem like anything special and of course it does feel like a chore starting from square one again with no champions/runes/skins. But there are actually some interesting things I have noticed (I am currently level 11 and halfish) but I'll elaborate on that another time : ]
Of course after I reach level 30 I'll be covering my ranked games experience, maybe champion guides or specific matchups etc. That kinda stuff.
If you are interested then good! Otherwise, well, you're out of luck here at the moment haha do make sure to check back once in a while though. I have some other stuff I have in mind to put on here as well but I'll wait and see how busy I really am going to be with school first before making any promises.
'Till next post! : ]
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Thunder Onslaught
So recently Narukami have won another 2 or so tournaments. It is proven that the Eradicators are strong. So what is an effective way to play against them? I think in general, before trying to figure out how to win a certain deck, whether it be Vanguard or another card game (or even video games like League of Legends or Starcraft 2), we must first understand why it is so strong. So lets take a look at the now standard Eradicator deck list.
Gauntlet Buster - Descendant
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x3 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x2 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x2 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon
Thanks to Touya from vanguardus.blogspot.com for compiling all the tournament info in one convenient place :] Visit his blog if you don't already!
This more or less represents most of the Narukami decks topping tournaments, there are some more varied deck types but I'll cover them in another post.
Let's go through all the grades:
Grade 0
Pretty standard 8 Criticals, 4 Draw and 4 Heal triggers. Spark Kid Dragoon is still a solid first Vanguard if you want to be extra sure not to miss your Grade 3 ride. Another strong option would be Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu. To be honest, I don't know why people are still running Spark Kid when there's an option like Linchu.
If you aren't familiar with Linchu's effect: When an attack hits a vanguard during the battle that it boosts an Eradicator, you may Counter Blast 1 and add it to soul, then choose 1 of your opponents Grade 1 or lower Rear Guards and retire it. A Grade 0 that can retire a Grade 1? Yes please. There's almost no getting around Linchu, especially if it's behind the Vanguard. Linchu is even better during the mid game when you have units on the field that gain power when you retire your opponents Rear Guards. It also has a solid 5k power and can form 16k power lines with all your 11k Grade 3.
So unless you are really scared of missing your Grade 3 ride, play Linchu. Seriously.
Grade 1
4 Perfect Guards is mandatory. Iron Blood Eradicator Shuki is a Grade 1 with 7k Power that gains an additional 3k power when you retire an opponents Rear Guard. Great unit with all the retiring options that this deck has. Becomes a 10k boost for any column, some people prefer to max it, but 3 is just fine.
In terms of card cyclers, Castor probably has one of the better conditions, especially early game. Helps you fish for what you need early game, and maybe late game as well if you retired enough of your opponents Rear Guards.
Demolition Dragon is the Eradicator Grade 1, 10k attacker. At 7k power it is a good boosting unit and decent attacker in a pinch. Players that like to play more aggressively tend to max this.
While not an Eradicator, Rising Phoenix helps generate some card advantage for Narukami as they lack call skills. Makes use of soul, which would otherwise be wasted, and helps get cards you need. Generally played only at 2-3.
Another popular option would be the Eradicator 10k booster, Kohkaiji. Easily the best 10k booster in the game, only needing the opponent to be at 3 damage or more. Makes your Vanguard column big regardless of Limit Break.
Grade 2
Not much to say about Spark Rain, standard 12k attacker. Chou-ou lets you retire an opponents front row Rear Guard by sending one of your Eradicators to soul. It's not a mandatory effect on call so you can just use it as a 9k attacker as well. Sacrificing one of your own units to retire an opponents can be a good trade, but best used when you have units out that will power up due to the retire as well.
Dragonic Deathscythe for even more retire options. Deathscythe is slightly better than Chou-ou for the simple fact that you don't lose anything and you can retire ANY Grade 2 or lower, but it has a cost of Counter Blast 2. Good synergy with the deck but you might not want to play it because it isn't an Eradicator and may mess up skill costs that require Eradicator Counter Blast or discard.
Good replacements for Deathscythe are Thunder Boom Dragon a vanilla 10k or Hakushou, the Grade 2 9k Power version of Shuki, gaining +3k power when you retire an opponents Rear Guard. Both of them are Eradicators as well.
Grade 3
I hate to say it, but 2 Descendant is mandatory. And seriously, why not. It's almost a sure win if your opponent is at 5 damage and sometimes even at 4, unless they have a huge card advantage over you but then things weren't looking good for you anyway. Riding Descendant early isn't ideal, but it isn't all that bad either.
Gauntlet Buster at 4 is also a must. The Grade 3 that will do most of the heavy lifting. Its retire effect is an Activate and isn't a Limit Break which is pretty damn good even though you can't actually choose what you retire. Its Limit Break gives it +3k and +1 Critical every time you retire an opponents Rear Guard. Important to note that it also works during the battle phase if you manage to retire a Rear Guard with an on hit effect. With the abundance of retire effects that this deck has it isn't so difficult to get 2 retires on the same turn to attack for 3 damage with your Vanguard, before Drive Check. Even with only a 7k boost, Gauntlet Buster will still be 24k which will most likely force a Perfect Guard from your opponent.
It might feel like a waste to do all that setup then run into a negate, but think about it this way:
A Perfect Guard means your opponent just lost 2 cards from his hand and you forced him to do that by making him lose 2 cards on his field, which he will most likely need to replace to keep attacking you with decent power lines, so that's another 2 cards from his hand. Madness.
It gets even better if you have Hakushou or an 11k or higher Rear Guard, boosted by Shuki. That'll force at least another 15k worth of shield (which is minimum 2 cards) if your opponent didn't get any Triggers on Drive Check or even more if you checked Criticals and your opponent needs to guard at 3/4 Damage. Pretty crazy if you have the right setup, and even if you don't it is still pretty good.
The last 2 slots can be anything you want. Vowing Sword, Rai-ou, Sweep Command etc. Preferably an 11k, but Rai-ou is pretty good as well. Obviously you won't want to get stuck riding your filler card for too long, but it happens and can't really be avoided.
Counterplay?
In my opinion there's only very few effects that are better than retiring your opponents Rear Guards and powering up at the same time. You may say that Kagero has it too, but Kagero didn't have as much retiring power and theirs wasn't as consistent.
The Grade 1 was 6k that gained +3k, there is another but it is a promo that's hard to get, it gains 5k instead but is 5k power at its base as a trade off. Blazing Flare was a 10k power vanguard that only gained 3k on retire and no extra critical and to top it off Blazing Flares effect has a cost of Soul Blaste 5 and Kagero STILL doesn't have that many good soul charging options.
HOWEVER. This doesn't mean that Gauntlet Buster - Descendant decks don't have any counterplay options at all.
The simplest way to "outplay" this deck is also the only option that you can't really directly control, which is simply getting more triggers than your opponent. I say "can't really" control because there is some things you can do to try to attempt to get Triggers more consistently (besides blatantly stacking). But I shall not elaborate on this.
Assuming everyone reading this doesn't have Psy Qualia, I will be leaving Triggers out of the discussion as we cannot directly control them in most cases. However do keep them in mind as they still do dramatically change the flow of the game.
Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu
There's almost no avoiding this little bugger. If your opponent puts him behind a Rear Guard, you could try to keep guarding that attack, but it'll probably end up costing you more over the long run. If Linchu is boosting the Vanguard, don't bother trying to keep guarding it, this will guaranteed make you lose more overall.
However, the earlier Linchu goes off, the better it will be for you as most likely there won't be many cards on the field that will benefit from the retire, so all that happens is a 1 for 1 but your opponent has to pay the Counter Blast. If you know you can recover from it, it may be wise to put something on the field your opponent may want to retire to get rid of it early. Or if you have the option, just retire Linchu yourself. Retiring a G0 isn't really bad since even without his effect, he is a free 5k boost in a deck full of 11k and 12k attackers.
Draw Power
One weakness Narukami definitely has is that it has a lack of effects that generate its own Card Advantage. The advantage that Eradicators do generate comes from making their opponents lose cards and having more cards as a result. This is the reason why Rising Phoenix is becoming more popular as it lets the deck draw a card while still being a decent boost because all the attackers are pretty big.
One way to make use of this is through On hit effects. On hit effects are generally pretty strong as it is not easy to get a hit in, they are generally also reusable until your opponent is at 5 damage or you can't pay the costs. Maiden of Libra clones are a good example of a great On hit effect, it gives your an extra card (which off sets 1 retire basically) and it works even if you hit a Rear Guard (which makes it a -1 for your opponent and a +1 for you). However these cards must also be played smartly. Ideally you'll want to setup a proper power column so that your opponent will drop at least 2 cards to guard if he chooses to.
While I did mention that effects that work when hitting Rear Guards are good, the focus should still be on hitting the Vanguard. The reason for this is quite simple. The earlier your opponent gets to high damage the earlier he is forced to keep guarding your attacks regardless of whether said attacks will have any other effects or not. Still, there are times when hitting the Rear Guards is going to be better.
Vanguards that can easily and consistently gain Criticals are also very good here (they are good in general, but better against decks that tend to have hand issues), forcing your opponent to guard earlier than they would like. Ideally you'd want to pressure your opponent from 3 damage so you don't have to deal with Limit Break, but that is hard to do.
Field Spam
Assuming you can do it and still be able to guard. Pretty straightforward: If you can generate more advantage than they can take away from you then you are winning. Not much to elaborate on here, besides the obvious fact that not many clans can really pull this off.
Surprisingly, or maybe not so, the opposite would technically also work. If you can somehow pressure your opponent without leaving any cards on the field, all the cards with retire effects become vanilla cards essentially.
Reading the Situation
This kinda applies to every matchup, but it is still rather important. If you can figure out what your opponent has in his hand then it will be easier to figure out what you should be attacking. If your opponent has a lot of 5k shields in his hand, then keeping his Vanguard and force him to high damage. If he has a lot of Triggers in hand try getting rid of what Rear Guards he put down etc.
Pretty basic, but not many people put in effort to keep track of Drive Checks.
Aaaaand......
That's all I have for now. It isn't that much and there isn't a rule set in stone to follow as it also depends on the clan you yourself are playing. But hopefully it helps. Experience also plays a pretty big role, the more you play the easier it will become to recognize what are the right decisions. I will update this post if I come up with anything new. I will probably write another one on how to tackle the Sweep Command deck too.
If you strongly disagree with anything I wrote please do post in the comments and elaborate why. Also feel free to share your own experiences.
Until then, Good Luck against the Thunder Dragons :]
Gauntlet Buster - Descendant
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x3 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x2 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x2 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon
Thanks to Touya from vanguardus.blogspot.com for compiling all the tournament info in one convenient place :] Visit his blog if you don't already!
This more or less represents most of the Narukami decks topping tournaments, there are some more varied deck types but I'll cover them in another post.
Let's go through all the grades:
Grade 0
Pretty standard 8 Criticals, 4 Draw and 4 Heal triggers. Spark Kid Dragoon is still a solid first Vanguard if you want to be extra sure not to miss your Grade 3 ride. Another strong option would be Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu. To be honest, I don't know why people are still running Spark Kid when there's an option like Linchu.
If you aren't familiar with Linchu's effect: When an attack hits a vanguard during the battle that it boosts an Eradicator, you may Counter Blast 1 and add it to soul, then choose 1 of your opponents Grade 1 or lower Rear Guards and retire it. A Grade 0 that can retire a Grade 1? Yes please. There's almost no getting around Linchu, especially if it's behind the Vanguard. Linchu is even better during the mid game when you have units on the field that gain power when you retire your opponents Rear Guards. It also has a solid 5k power and can form 16k power lines with all your 11k Grade 3.
So unless you are really scared of missing your Grade 3 ride, play Linchu. Seriously.
Grade 1
4 Perfect Guards is mandatory. Iron Blood Eradicator Shuki is a Grade 1 with 7k Power that gains an additional 3k power when you retire an opponents Rear Guard. Great unit with all the retiring options that this deck has. Becomes a 10k boost for any column, some people prefer to max it, but 3 is just fine.
In terms of card cyclers, Castor probably has one of the better conditions, especially early game. Helps you fish for what you need early game, and maybe late game as well if you retired enough of your opponents Rear Guards.
Demolition Dragon is the Eradicator Grade 1, 10k attacker. At 7k power it is a good boosting unit and decent attacker in a pinch. Players that like to play more aggressively tend to max this.
While not an Eradicator, Rising Phoenix helps generate some card advantage for Narukami as they lack call skills. Makes use of soul, which would otherwise be wasted, and helps get cards you need. Generally played only at 2-3.
Another popular option would be the Eradicator 10k booster, Kohkaiji. Easily the best 10k booster in the game, only needing the opponent to be at 3 damage or more. Makes your Vanguard column big regardless of Limit Break.
Grade 2
Not much to say about Spark Rain, standard 12k attacker. Chou-ou lets you retire an opponents front row Rear Guard by sending one of your Eradicators to soul. It's not a mandatory effect on call so you can just use it as a 9k attacker as well. Sacrificing one of your own units to retire an opponents can be a good trade, but best used when you have units out that will power up due to the retire as well.
Dragonic Deathscythe for even more retire options. Deathscythe is slightly better than Chou-ou for the simple fact that you don't lose anything and you can retire ANY Grade 2 or lower, but it has a cost of Counter Blast 2. Good synergy with the deck but you might not want to play it because it isn't an Eradicator and may mess up skill costs that require Eradicator Counter Blast or discard.
Good replacements for Deathscythe are Thunder Boom Dragon a vanilla 10k or Hakushou, the Grade 2 9k Power version of Shuki, gaining +3k power when you retire an opponents Rear Guard. Both of them are Eradicators as well.
Grade 3
I hate to say it, but 2 Descendant is mandatory. And seriously, why not. It's almost a sure win if your opponent is at 5 damage and sometimes even at 4, unless they have a huge card advantage over you but then things weren't looking good for you anyway. Riding Descendant early isn't ideal, but it isn't all that bad either.
Gauntlet Buster at 4 is also a must. The Grade 3 that will do most of the heavy lifting. Its retire effect is an Activate and isn't a Limit Break which is pretty damn good even though you can't actually choose what you retire. Its Limit Break gives it +3k and +1 Critical every time you retire an opponents Rear Guard. Important to note that it also works during the battle phase if you manage to retire a Rear Guard with an on hit effect. With the abundance of retire effects that this deck has it isn't so difficult to get 2 retires on the same turn to attack for 3 damage with your Vanguard, before Drive Check. Even with only a 7k boost, Gauntlet Buster will still be 24k which will most likely force a Perfect Guard from your opponent.
It might feel like a waste to do all that setup then run into a negate, but think about it this way:
A Perfect Guard means your opponent just lost 2 cards from his hand and you forced him to do that by making him lose 2 cards on his field, which he will most likely need to replace to keep attacking you with decent power lines, so that's another 2 cards from his hand. Madness.
It gets even better if you have Hakushou or an 11k or higher Rear Guard, boosted by Shuki. That'll force at least another 15k worth of shield (which is minimum 2 cards) if your opponent didn't get any Triggers on Drive Check or even more if you checked Criticals and your opponent needs to guard at 3/4 Damage. Pretty crazy if you have the right setup, and even if you don't it is still pretty good.
The last 2 slots can be anything you want. Vowing Sword, Rai-ou, Sweep Command etc. Preferably an 11k, but Rai-ou is pretty good as well. Obviously you won't want to get stuck riding your filler card for too long, but it happens and can't really be avoided.
Counterplay?
In my opinion there's only very few effects that are better than retiring your opponents Rear Guards and powering up at the same time. You may say that Kagero has it too, but Kagero didn't have as much retiring power and theirs wasn't as consistent.
The Grade 1 was 6k that gained +3k, there is another but it is a promo that's hard to get, it gains 5k instead but is 5k power at its base as a trade off. Blazing Flare was a 10k power vanguard that only gained 3k on retire and no extra critical and to top it off Blazing Flares effect has a cost of Soul Blaste 5 and Kagero STILL doesn't have that many good soul charging options.
HOWEVER. This doesn't mean that Gauntlet Buster - Descendant decks don't have any counterplay options at all.
The simplest way to "outplay" this deck is also the only option that you can't really directly control, which is simply getting more triggers than your opponent. I say "can't really" control because there is some things you can do to try to attempt to get Triggers more consistently (besides blatantly stacking). But I shall not elaborate on this.
Assuming everyone reading this doesn't have Psy Qualia, I will be leaving Triggers out of the discussion as we cannot directly control them in most cases. However do keep them in mind as they still do dramatically change the flow of the game.
Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu
There's almost no avoiding this little bugger. If your opponent puts him behind a Rear Guard, you could try to keep guarding that attack, but it'll probably end up costing you more over the long run. If Linchu is boosting the Vanguard, don't bother trying to keep guarding it, this will guaranteed make you lose more overall.
However, the earlier Linchu goes off, the better it will be for you as most likely there won't be many cards on the field that will benefit from the retire, so all that happens is a 1 for 1 but your opponent has to pay the Counter Blast. If you know you can recover from it, it may be wise to put something on the field your opponent may want to retire to get rid of it early. Or if you have the option, just retire Linchu yourself. Retiring a G0 isn't really bad since even without his effect, he is a free 5k boost in a deck full of 11k and 12k attackers.
Draw Power
One weakness Narukami definitely has is that it has a lack of effects that generate its own Card Advantage. The advantage that Eradicators do generate comes from making their opponents lose cards and having more cards as a result. This is the reason why Rising Phoenix is becoming more popular as it lets the deck draw a card while still being a decent boost because all the attackers are pretty big.
One way to make use of this is through On hit effects. On hit effects are generally pretty strong as it is not easy to get a hit in, they are generally also reusable until your opponent is at 5 damage or you can't pay the costs. Maiden of Libra clones are a good example of a great On hit effect, it gives your an extra card (which off sets 1 retire basically) and it works even if you hit a Rear Guard (which makes it a -1 for your opponent and a +1 for you). However these cards must also be played smartly. Ideally you'll want to setup a proper power column so that your opponent will drop at least 2 cards to guard if he chooses to.
While I did mention that effects that work when hitting Rear Guards are good, the focus should still be on hitting the Vanguard. The reason for this is quite simple. The earlier your opponent gets to high damage the earlier he is forced to keep guarding your attacks regardless of whether said attacks will have any other effects or not. Still, there are times when hitting the Rear Guards is going to be better.
Vanguards that can easily and consistently gain Criticals are also very good here (they are good in general, but better against decks that tend to have hand issues), forcing your opponent to guard earlier than they would like. Ideally you'd want to pressure your opponent from 3 damage so you don't have to deal with Limit Break, but that is hard to do.
Field Spam
Assuming you can do it and still be able to guard. Pretty straightforward: If you can generate more advantage than they can take away from you then you are winning. Not much to elaborate on here, besides the obvious fact that not many clans can really pull this off.
Surprisingly, or maybe not so, the opposite would technically also work. If you can somehow pressure your opponent without leaving any cards on the field, all the cards with retire effects become vanilla cards essentially.
Reading the Situation
This kinda applies to every matchup, but it is still rather important. If you can figure out what your opponent has in his hand then it will be easier to figure out what you should be attacking. If your opponent has a lot of 5k shields in his hand, then keeping his Vanguard and force him to high damage. If he has a lot of Triggers in hand try getting rid of what Rear Guards he put down etc.
Pretty basic, but not many people put in effort to keep track of Drive Checks.
Aaaaand......
That's all I have for now. It isn't that much and there isn't a rule set in stone to follow as it also depends on the clan you yourself are playing. But hopefully it helps. Experience also plays a pretty big role, the more you play the easier it will become to recognize what are the right decisions. I will update this post if I come up with anything new. I will probably write another one on how to tackle the Sweep Command deck too.
If you strongly disagree with anything I wrote please do post in the comments and elaborate why. Also feel free to share your own experiences.
Until then, Good Luck against the Thunder Dragons :]
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Sudden Realizations...
Link Jokers seem to be the ones invading, but secretly Narukami are behind it all. Why?
They first appeared in BT06 and since then, only BT07 didn't give them any support. BT08 to BT12 all had new Narukami boss cards and most of them actually form pretty formidable decks by themselves, with the exception of Dungaree, who is getting support in BT12 and might actually become a pretty strong deck (at the very least a Dungaree based deck should be decent). Other than Dungaree support in BT12, Narukami are also getting a pretty strong "Crossbreak Ride" in the form of Vowing Saber, whether it'll be as game breaking as the boss cards of the previous remains to be seen, but it is highly possible considering the trend.
There's also Spark Horn Dragon, that's more or less a better Amber Dragon Eclipse. Luckily BT13 doesn't feature Narukami, maybe it will give the other clans a better fighting chance.
So what's more important, figuring out how to play around the new Lock mechanic, or figuring out how to beat Narukami?
Some of the stuff I'll post in the future will probably include a bit of both, if I'm not too busy trying to optimize my Shadow Paladin deck :p
They first appeared in BT06 and since then, only BT07 didn't give them any support. BT08 to BT12 all had new Narukami boss cards and most of them actually form pretty formidable decks by themselves, with the exception of Dungaree, who is getting support in BT12 and might actually become a pretty strong deck (at the very least a Dungaree based deck should be decent). Other than Dungaree support in BT12, Narukami are also getting a pretty strong "Crossbreak Ride" in the form of Vowing Saber, whether it'll be as game breaking as the boss cards of the previous remains to be seen, but it is highly possible considering the trend.
There's also Spark Horn Dragon, that's more or less a better Amber Dragon Eclipse. Luckily BT13 doesn't feature Narukami, maybe it will give the other clans a better fighting chance.
So what's more important, figuring out how to play around the new Lock mechanic, or figuring out how to beat Narukami?
Some of the stuff I'll post in the future will probably include a bit of both, if I'm not too busy trying to optimize my Shadow Paladin deck :p
Friday, June 21, 2013
Gold Rush!
Want to play Vanguard, but don't want to spend so much money right away? Have no fear, quite a few clans can actually be used to build quite cheap decks that function pretty well AND are very easy to play. I'm going to try to form as many of these budget decks as possible with as many clans as possible :)
First off will be Gold Paladins, cause they unsurprisingly have the most options, even when it comes to budget decks.
Deck List:
Grade 3: 8
4x Battlefield Storm, Sagramore
4x Wild Dancing Liberator, Mailshion OR Dignified Gold Dragon
Grade 2: 11
4x Liberator of Silence Gallatin
4x Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
3x Sleygal Sword OR G2 of choice, preferably 11k or higher attacker OR 10k Vanilla of another clan
Grade 1: 14
4x Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
4x Halo Shield Mark OR Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan
4x Sleygal Dagger OR Pomergal Liberator
2x 8k Vanilla of another clan OR Sleygal Dagger/Pomergal Liberator if you aren't already playing 4
G0:
1x Little Fighter Cron
4x Heal
4x Draw
8x Critical
This should be really cheap to build as most of the cards are Common or Rare or have alternatives that are Common or Rare.
I'd write more about how to play this deck but I think the deck list speaks for itself. Setup hard hitting columns and just keep attacking (cause there's nothing else you can do!). The trigger line up is also flexible and maybe depend on what you can get (if you're on a really tight budget). Playing 12 Critical is also possible and may actually be the best way to go for such a deck, especially if you don't have Halo Shield Mark. Gold Paladins can even try for 16 Critical if you really want to go all or nothing. As already mentioned really easy to play deck and can be quite cheap if you put in the effort to try and get the commons for free haha
That's all for now :)
First off will be Gold Paladins, cause they unsurprisingly have the most options, even when it comes to budget decks.
Deck List:
Grade 3: 8
4x Battlefield Storm, Sagramore
4x Wild Dancing Liberator, Mailshion OR Dignified Gold Dragon
Grade 2: 11
4x Liberator of Silence Gallatin
4x Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
3x Sleygal Sword OR G2 of choice, preferably 11k or higher attacker OR 10k Vanilla of another clan
Grade 1: 14
4x Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
4x Halo Shield Mark OR Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan
4x Sleygal Dagger OR Pomergal Liberator
2x 8k Vanilla of another clan OR Sleygal Dagger/Pomergal Liberator if you aren't already playing 4
G0:
1x Little Fighter Cron
4x Heal
4x Draw
8x Critical
This should be really cheap to build as most of the cards are Common or Rare or have alternatives that are Common or Rare.
I'd write more about how to play this deck but I think the deck list speaks for itself. Setup hard hitting columns and just keep attacking (cause there's nothing else you can do!). The trigger line up is also flexible and maybe depend on what you can get (if you're on a really tight budget). Playing 12 Critical is also possible and may actually be the best way to go for such a deck, especially if you don't have Halo Shield Mark. Gold Paladins can even try for 16 Critical if you really want to go all or nothing. As already mentioned really easy to play deck and can be quite cheap if you put in the effort to try and get the commons for free haha
That's all for now :)
Friday, May 24, 2013
Initial Impression: Raging Folm Dragon
The effects of the supposed new Shadow Paladin Revenger boss card has been revealed recently:
Revenger Raging Folm Dragon
Grade 3/Shadow Paladin - Abyss Dragon/11000 Power
[AUTO] (V) LB4: Target 3 of your “Revenger” Rearguards, retire them. At the end of a Battle in which this Unit attacked, you can pay the cost, if you do, target up to 1 “Revenger, Raging Folm Dragon” in your hand, Ride it, target your Vanguard, and during this turn that unit gains [Power]+10000.
[AUTO] (V): [Counterblast 1]: When this unit attacks, you can pay the cost. If you do, this unit gains [Power]+3000 during this battle.
[CONT] (V/R): Lord
The very first thing that came to mind was something a long the lines of "omg -4 lololol terribad card would not use". But then again, Spectral Duke Dragon is kinda the same...
And since it IS Shadow Paladin and standing vanguards seem to be all the rage nowadays, lets take a better look at it ;D
First off, Raging Folm Dragon's LB has no Counter Blast cost. This is really important because even the previous Shadow Pala deck builds could fully maximize their Counter Blast very very easily, and if there were more available, Shadow Paladins generally could consume it all for various effects. I expect the Revenger's to be quite similar in this regard.
The next thing about its cost is that, essentially it has a cleverly disguised discard 4 card cost in the form of discarding 3 and riding 1. Yes, riding is a -1, even though it is necessary until Grade 3, because you don't gain any additional cards on the field and it costs you 1 from hand (but most people know this). Also, since we must ride another Raging Folm Dragon, it is basically a "Persona Ride" and has the same problems as a Persona Blast skill, which is requiring a second copy of itself in hand to use.
On the other hand, a good thing about this standing skill is that it doesn't have a specific hit condition, similar to Spectral Duke Dragon. Additionally, the Raging Folm Dragon you ride gains +10k power AND keeps Twin Drive, which immediately makes it better than Spectral Duke because you don't have to rely on getting triggers so your second Vanguard attack will hit with a decent amount of power. However, because we are forced to ride a second copy, it is impossible to stack triggers, which is pretty bad compared to other self standing Vanguards, like The End, Dragonic Descendant and Spectral Duke all of which can possibly attack for 2+ damage multiple times.
Both Raging Folm and Spectral Duke have a net card gain of 1 the turn their skills are used (not accounting for draw triggers and other skills). Raging Folm has a -4 cost but gets to Twin Drive twice while Spectral Duke has a cost of -3 but loses Twin Drive on the second attack (and obviously, the +1 comes from the Draw at the start of the turn).
While not all the cards have been revealed yet, the Revengers do seem to have more than enough ways to make up for the retire cost, just like Spectral Duke Dragon, so the main concern with Raging Folm in terms of cost would be having another copy in hand when we would want to use its skill. BUT since this skill is so similar to Spectral Duke it will also mainly be used as a finisher and it's very likely to have another copy in hand by that time in the game.
The next concern would be what triggers to play with Raging Folm. Since Critical Triggers don't carry over to the second attack Raging Folm isn't quite as deadly as Spectral Duke or Dragonic Descendant. Going with a RG -> VG -> RG attack pattern we can still give all Trigger effects to the second RG attack, or split Criticals to RG and power to Vanguard to attempt to get through 2 trigger guards. This would definitely be a good option, since Raging Folm's skill gets him additional 10k power on the second attack.
However, it might be better to play stand triggers instead. This is because unlike Spectral Duke, Raging Folm Dragon is a Revenger and has all the generic Archetype support which includes 12k attackers and other card effects have also been released and include a 11k attacker when we have less Rear Guards. With just 1 stand trigger, these cards can hit for 16k/17k by themselves. Stand Triggers are also better in a 5 damage situation because you only need 1 damage to win, barring heal triggers, thus additional attacks are better than having additional damage on fewer attacks.
Mordred, the Shadow Paladin break ride, also has an effect that calls 1 Grade 2 or lower unit and give it +5k for that turn, which makes it incredibly good with stands as a unit like Masquerade will be 17k on that turn without triggers.
The attacking order for a final turn push would be RG -> RG -> VG, then retire all boosting units for Raging Folm's Limit Break. In the most ideal scenario, if we drive check double stands on both Twin Drive, we would get 8 attacks total (6 RG attacks and 2 VG attacks) of which all Rear Guard attack will force a minimum of 10k guard against an 11k or lower power Vanguard.
Of course that's rarely/never going to happen. But in a situation where you don't get any triggers, it makes no difference in which order you attack or even what triggers you play (obviously). But even if you only get 1 trigger, 1 additional attack can make all the difference, especially since that attack would need at least 10k shield to guard. So for now it is something to consider, but definitely needs to be tested.
I didn't really talk about Raging Folm Dragon's second skill, which give him +3k for Counter Blast 1 on attack. It's a decent skill to have but not all that great either, much more important is the fact that it has an 11k base power.
Just my initial thoughts, after the initial over reaction haha.
Revenger Raging Folm Dragon
Grade 3/Shadow Paladin - Abyss Dragon/11000 Power
[AUTO] (V) LB4: Target 3 of your “Revenger” Rearguards, retire them. At the end of a Battle in which this Unit attacked, you can pay the cost, if you do, target up to 1 “Revenger, Raging Folm Dragon” in your hand, Ride it, target your Vanguard, and during this turn that unit gains [Power]+10000.
[AUTO] (V): [Counterblast 1]: When this unit attacks, you can pay the cost. If you do, this unit gains [Power]+3000 during this battle.
[CONT] (V/R): Lord
The very first thing that came to mind was something a long the lines of "omg -4 lololol terribad card would not use". But then again, Spectral Duke Dragon is kinda the same...
And since it IS Shadow Paladin and standing vanguards seem to be all the rage nowadays, lets take a better look at it ;D
First off, Raging Folm Dragon's LB has no Counter Blast cost. This is really important because even the previous Shadow Pala deck builds could fully maximize their Counter Blast very very easily, and if there were more available, Shadow Paladins generally could consume it all for various effects. I expect the Revenger's to be quite similar in this regard.
The next thing about its cost is that, essentially it has a cleverly disguised discard 4 card cost in the form of discarding 3 and riding 1. Yes, riding is a -1, even though it is necessary until Grade 3, because you don't gain any additional cards on the field and it costs you 1 from hand (but most people know this). Also, since we must ride another Raging Folm Dragon, it is basically a "Persona Ride" and has the same problems as a Persona Blast skill, which is requiring a second copy of itself in hand to use.
On the other hand, a good thing about this standing skill is that it doesn't have a specific hit condition, similar to Spectral Duke Dragon. Additionally, the Raging Folm Dragon you ride gains +10k power AND keeps Twin Drive, which immediately makes it better than Spectral Duke because you don't have to rely on getting triggers so your second Vanguard attack will hit with a decent amount of power. However, because we are forced to ride a second copy, it is impossible to stack triggers, which is pretty bad compared to other self standing Vanguards, like The End, Dragonic Descendant and Spectral Duke all of which can possibly attack for 2+ damage multiple times.
Both Raging Folm and Spectral Duke have a net card gain of 1 the turn their skills are used (not accounting for draw triggers and other skills). Raging Folm has a -4 cost but gets to Twin Drive twice while Spectral Duke has a cost of -3 but loses Twin Drive on the second attack (and obviously, the +1 comes from the Draw at the start of the turn).
While not all the cards have been revealed yet, the Revengers do seem to have more than enough ways to make up for the retire cost, just like Spectral Duke Dragon, so the main concern with Raging Folm in terms of cost would be having another copy in hand when we would want to use its skill. BUT since this skill is so similar to Spectral Duke it will also mainly be used as a finisher and it's very likely to have another copy in hand by that time in the game.
The next concern would be what triggers to play with Raging Folm. Since Critical Triggers don't carry over to the second attack Raging Folm isn't quite as deadly as Spectral Duke or Dragonic Descendant. Going with a RG -> VG -> RG attack pattern we can still give all Trigger effects to the second RG attack, or split Criticals to RG and power to Vanguard to attempt to get through 2 trigger guards. This would definitely be a good option, since Raging Folm's skill gets him additional 10k power on the second attack.
However, it might be better to play stand triggers instead. This is because unlike Spectral Duke, Raging Folm Dragon is a Revenger and has all the generic Archetype support which includes 12k attackers and other card effects have also been released and include a 11k attacker when we have less Rear Guards. With just 1 stand trigger, these cards can hit for 16k/17k by themselves. Stand Triggers are also better in a 5 damage situation because you only need 1 damage to win, barring heal triggers, thus additional attacks are better than having additional damage on fewer attacks.
Mordred, the Shadow Paladin break ride, also has an effect that calls 1 Grade 2 or lower unit and give it +5k for that turn, which makes it incredibly good with stands as a unit like Masquerade will be 17k on that turn without triggers.
The attacking order for a final turn push would be RG -> RG -> VG, then retire all boosting units for Raging Folm's Limit Break. In the most ideal scenario, if we drive check double stands on both Twin Drive, we would get 8 attacks total (6 RG attacks and 2 VG attacks) of which all Rear Guard attack will force a minimum of 10k guard against an 11k or lower power Vanguard.
Of course that's rarely/never going to happen. But in a situation where you don't get any triggers, it makes no difference in which order you attack or even what triggers you play (obviously). But even if you only get 1 trigger, 1 additional attack can make all the difference, especially since that attack would need at least 10k shield to guard. So for now it is something to consider, but definitely needs to be tested.
I didn't really talk about Raging Folm Dragon's second skill, which give him +3k for Counter Blast 1 on attack. It's a decent skill to have but not all that great either, much more important is the fact that it has an 11k base power.
Just my initial thoughts, after the initial over reaction haha.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Damage Control
So recently Bushiroad released a new Restrict list and basically the only cards that are restricted now are Majesty Lord Blaster, Dragonic Descendant and Goddess of the Fullmoon Tsukuyomi. Restricted to 2 copies per deck, just like before. Barcgal still cannot be starting Vanguard.
According to a friend of mine, a lot of people were scrambling to get Dragonic Overlord The End again when the list just got released.
But I'm pretty confident in saying this: Dragonic Overlord The End isn't as strong as he used to be.
More accurately everything else has gotten better, so The End won't be as dominating as he was before. I don't really have first hand evidence for this, but just look at the English format if you need proof. The End definitely didn't dominate the English format to the same extent as the Japanese format when it was released. It's definitely still a solid deck if you enjoy playing it, but getting it because it was super strong before is a bad idea.
What about Dauntless Drive Dragon? Well in theory Dauntless Drive combined with The End is a strong combo to pull off. But the strength of Dragonic Overlord The End is that its effect is relatively cheap cost wise and can potentially be pulled off the moment you ride it. So there's constant threat from the moment you/your opponent ride The End. You have to keep guessing if there's a second copy in your opponents hand, or keep guarding.
If Dauntless Drive Dragon were to be played with Dragonic Overlord The End, ideally you'd ride Dauntless Drive first or there would be no point in even playing it. Once that happens, there's no threat until 4 damage and there's not much you can do with Counter Blast as well since you need to save at least 2 Counter Blast for The End after you Break Ride.
After the Break Ride happens there's also really not that much pressure, to be honest. The flaw of Dauntless Drive Dragon's Break Ride with another self standing Vanguard is that the Break Ride effect can only be used if the Vanguard hasn't "stand" this turn. This means it has to be used first.
So the solution to this is simply making sure you aren't at 4-5 damage when the Dauntless Drive Break Ride happens and just take the first attack. Since Dauntless Drive's Break Ride effect lets the Vanguard stand regardless if you guard or not, better not waste any cards. After that just negate the following attack. Doesn't even matter what it is.
If it's another Dauntless Drive, well, it can stand only once in the first place. If it's Dragonic Overlord The End, negating the attack works also because The End needs to hit to be able to stand.
So overall, your opponent will still go +1:
1 card less than a normal turn (just +2 from drive check) and 2(!) cards less than just using Dragonic Overlord The End to stand (+2 from drive check, -1 for The End's skill and +2 from 2nd drive check, overall +3).
------------------------------------
For reference, if you let The End hit after standing with Dauntless Drive:
Of course if you cannot negate the 2nd attack you'll probably end up losing (unless your opponent doesn't check more triggers than normal...). BUT if you cannot negate the 2nd attack, why did you let your opponent Break Ride in the first place?
This game is becoming more about managing your damage AND your opponents damage.
So you only let your opponent Break Ride if you know you can deal with it. This is why the restriction was lifted on The End. It just isn't as good with Dauntless Drive Dragon as people think and while the old build can apply pressure early, Break Ride decks can make a come back simply because of the amount of cards the average Break Ride can make a player drop and The End decks really don't have that much power, especially because there are more 11k Vanguards now and Burning Horn isn't as strong now.
On the other hand Dragonic Descendant got restricted because it was too dominant, obviously, but that's because it could stand no matter what you did AND it also gained a free Critical (and there's also the superior ride...). Which is what the 3 cards that are restricted have in common: They all ensure Criticals in some way. The other thing is that they all have or can potentially have 11k base power or higher in the case of Majesty Lord (which is probably why Salome isn't on the list, thank god).
And yes Tsukuyomi can ensure Criticals, just not in the same way as the other two cards. Oracles do it through the stacking. But that said I don't think it is as strong as the other two still are. Both Majesty and Descendant still work well under the restrictions, much better than Tsukuyomi does, but if there was no restriction on Tsukuyomi it might be too strong haha
As for why other Critical based Vanguards aren't on the list: They just aren't as consistent or are harder to pull off or have a huge cost.
That's all I got for now :)
Well actually I have more but then this would get way too long haha
Until next time. Please pay attention to how much damage you take and give :D
Oh btw. Angel Feather feels like a deck to look out for.
According to a friend of mine, a lot of people were scrambling to get Dragonic Overlord The End again when the list just got released.
But I'm pretty confident in saying this: Dragonic Overlord The End isn't as strong as he used to be.
More accurately everything else has gotten better, so The End won't be as dominating as he was before. I don't really have first hand evidence for this, but just look at the English format if you need proof. The End definitely didn't dominate the English format to the same extent as the Japanese format when it was released. It's definitely still a solid deck if you enjoy playing it, but getting it because it was super strong before is a bad idea.
What about Dauntless Drive Dragon? Well in theory Dauntless Drive combined with The End is a strong combo to pull off. But the strength of Dragonic Overlord The End is that its effect is relatively cheap cost wise and can potentially be pulled off the moment you ride it. So there's constant threat from the moment you/your opponent ride The End. You have to keep guessing if there's a second copy in your opponents hand, or keep guarding.
If Dauntless Drive Dragon were to be played with Dragonic Overlord The End, ideally you'd ride Dauntless Drive first or there would be no point in even playing it. Once that happens, there's no threat until 4 damage and there's not much you can do with Counter Blast as well since you need to save at least 2 Counter Blast for The End after you Break Ride.
After the Break Ride happens there's also really not that much pressure, to be honest. The flaw of Dauntless Drive Dragon's Break Ride with another self standing Vanguard is that the Break Ride effect can only be used if the Vanguard hasn't "stand" this turn. This means it has to be used first.
So the solution to this is simply making sure you aren't at 4-5 damage when the Dauntless Drive Break Ride happens and just take the first attack. Since Dauntless Drive's Break Ride effect lets the Vanguard stand regardless if you guard or not, better not waste any cards. After that just negate the following attack. Doesn't even matter what it is.
If it's another Dauntless Drive, well, it can stand only once in the first place. If it's Dragonic Overlord The End, negating the attack works also because The End needs to hit to be able to stand.
So overall, your opponent will still go +1:
- 1st Drive Check (+2), Dauntless Drive Skill (-3), 2nd Drive Check (+2)
1 card less than a normal turn (just +2 from drive check) and 2(!) cards less than just using Dragonic Overlord The End to stand (+2 from drive check, -1 for The End's skill and +2 from 2nd drive check, overall +3).
------------------------------------
For reference, if you let The End hit after standing with Dauntless Drive:
- 1st Drive Check (+2), Dauntless Drive Skill (-3), 2nd Drive Check (+2), The End Skill (-1), 3rd Drive Check (+2)
------------------------------------
Of course if you cannot negate the 2nd attack you'll probably end up losing (unless your opponent doesn't check more triggers than normal...). BUT if you cannot negate the 2nd attack, why did you let your opponent Break Ride in the first place?
This game is becoming more about managing your damage AND your opponents damage.
So you only let your opponent Break Ride if you know you can deal with it. This is why the restriction was lifted on The End. It just isn't as good with Dauntless Drive Dragon as people think and while the old build can apply pressure early, Break Ride decks can make a come back simply because of the amount of cards the average Break Ride can make a player drop and The End decks really don't have that much power, especially because there are more 11k Vanguards now and Burning Horn isn't as strong now.
On the other hand Dragonic Descendant got restricted because it was too dominant, obviously, but that's because it could stand no matter what you did AND it also gained a free Critical (and there's also the superior ride...). Which is what the 3 cards that are restricted have in common: They all ensure Criticals in some way. The other thing is that they all have or can potentially have 11k base power or higher in the case of Majesty Lord (which is probably why Salome isn't on the list, thank god).
And yes Tsukuyomi can ensure Criticals, just not in the same way as the other two cards. Oracles do it through the stacking. But that said I don't think it is as strong as the other two still are. Both Majesty and Descendant still work well under the restrictions, much better than Tsukuyomi does, but if there was no restriction on Tsukuyomi it might be too strong haha
As for why other Critical based Vanguards aren't on the list: They just aren't as consistent or are harder to pull off or have a huge cost.
That's all I got for now :)
Well actually I have more but then this would get way too long haha
Until next time. Please pay attention to how much damage you take and give :D
Oh btw. Angel Feather feels like a deck to look out for.
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