Vanguard and Misplaying: Kyou [ep. 30]

So, as we all know Vanguard is not the perfect game where nobody can ever misplay ever, and the anime subtly sends that message across. Now I'm going to find a few key episodes that lead up to a big bad dramatic finish that could've been remedied had the characters decided not to screw up at some point.

And one of these episodes is episode 30. Anyone who saw the episode would more than gladly say that Kai more than earned the win. But was it because of a certain costly misplay?

*2 turns before Kai wins

We know Kai starts his turn with 5 damage and 0 cards in his hand as pointed out by Morikawa and Miwa respectively, and his field consists of:

                    

                                                      .

So he draws an unknown card of unknown shield value, and doesn't call it. Overlord Twin Drives into an Iron Tail Dragon, and a Heal Trigger. This brings him to have a 10K shield, and 2 5Ks that we know of, along with another card we do not know of yet.

Kyou starts his turn, and his field is:

                                                       .

.                                                   

Now, recall Kai's hand and field for a moment. We know he has a 10K shield (Genjo), 2 5Ks (Burning Core and Iron Tail), and one last unknown card in his hand. Link to the youtube episode to see what he does.

Skydiver boosted by Dan attacks for 15K. Dan's skill, Counter-Blast and call Juggernaut Maximum in front of Spike Brother's Assault Squad. Kai uses his Genjo to block Skydiver for a 2 trigger pass. Twin Drive, and Kyou reveals a Critical Trigger, and places its power on his Juggernaut Maximum.

Now here's the turning point. Kyou boosts Juggernaut Maximum with Spike Bros Assault Squad for 25K. This forces out Kai's unknown card, a Tahr, and Blazing Core as an intercept. This leaves Kai with only 5K left in his hand. Finally, the Rear Guard Sky Diver attacks. As Aichi and soon later, Kai, explains, he took the hit for Dragonic Overlord's skill, meaning that beyond everything this was a fully intentional move with its own line of reasoning behind it. This activates Sky Diver's skill. Kyou's hand at this point consists of:

                   

All of which, won't do crack at pressuring Dragonic Overlord. Also going for broke, apparently, Kyou calls his Devil Summoner in an attempt to pull something worthwhile. His topdeck? Highspeed Brakki. Brakki soulblasts to swing in for the last attack and...

Gets cockblocked by Iron Tail Dragon. Kai's last card in his hand. The turn immediately after, well I already gave you the video, you can see what happened to Kyou.

How dare you screw up that badly while I'm watching, Kyou!

It's just that, rewatching the video, something irked me. Why did Kyou boost with Spike Brother's Assault Squad? It's 4K power does absolutely nothing at getting Juggernaut Maximum's power past another Magic Number, its boost was totally unnecessary at that point. So what if we went back a few moves, and tried again?

Vanguard Sky Diver attacks and gets stopped by Genjo. Juggernaut Maximum attacks unboosted using his skill, and because he's supplemented by a Critical Trigger, still crashes into the same Burning Core and Tahr. Finally, this leaves the Rearguard Sky Diver. I don't know if the standing Spike Bros Assault Squad would've meant anything to Kai, but he was clearly intent on using his Dragonic Overlord to the fullest, and lets Sky Diver through. Kyou now checks his hand for Sky Diver's skill. Since I told Kyou back stage about magic numbers and memorizing Kai's hand, he knows it's pointless to call Treasured Black Panther at this point, and he rationalizes that if he's going to win, it has to be able to get through that last 5K shield in Kai's hand. Since Black Panther alone won't be able to do this, he calls Devil Summoner in front of Spike Bros Assault Squad and checks for the topdeck, and *cough* sacks *cough* Highspeed, Brakki.

Now, you answer me. Acting like Kai won't pull a 6th damage Heal, how can Kai survive the next 2 attacks? Remember all he has is the one Iron Tail Dragon left in his hand.

And so starts my own little mini series of major misplay catching. As a note to all players with decks that can Superior Call in the battle phase. If boosting won't do anything (Juggs+SBAS vs 11K), don't boost and save it for a possible Superior Call.