tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41616432263033144792024-03-17T22:42:31.277-07:00TehNACHO - ThunkofcardgamesTehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-91790566663055140662015-07-23T03:51:00.002-07:002015-07-23T03:51:24.168-07:00TehNACHO's Random Deck Building ChallengeChallenge:<br />
1. Pick a clan of preference<br />
2. Randomly select 3 cards (I use RANDOM.ORG's list randomizer, using the first 3 items the list generates)<br />
3. You MUST include those 3 cards in as many copies as possible in the deck<br />
Make a viable deck out of it<br />
<br />
So I thought this would be a relatively fun challenge to get me motivated about deck building in Vanguard. I'll mostly be using this as a way to talk about how to build decks, not necessarily on analyzing the individual strengths of cards but more about finding patterns to make cards work together well. It dodges the problem I had with my previous deck articles (I have to update them constantly) while at the same time giving (what I'll hope to be) valuable deck building knowledge, and a much more generalized view on creating patterns in this game.<br />
<br />
Have fun with this, and try out these extra little challenges:<br />
1. Don't restrict your deck to just one clan, depending on how you arrange things.<br />
2. Add more cards that you MUST add to the deck.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-36814814265468340792014-12-27T16:23:00.002-08:002015-01-05T08:41:52.405-08:00Why Stride is Probably the Best Thing to Happen to Vanguard<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4LJdIOnDmxg/VJ9Ko3QJ5TI/AAAAAAAAAIo/wDTtwOl_2zM/s1600/latest.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4LJdIOnDmxg/VJ9Ko3QJ5TI/AAAAAAAAAIo/wDTtwOl_2zM/s1600/latest.jpeg" height="320" width="220" /></a>
At least from the perspective of overall game balance, especially the Cray Elementals. Before I can really get into why Stride is so good for the game, let's talk about why standard power creep is simply bad for the game. Let's assume all Block 1 cards operated on a certain <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/09/game-design-counter-blasts-soul-blasts.html">standard of power</a>. For example, if you want to obtain 2 cards of low quality card advantage, it would take 2 Counter-Blasts to pay for it. Now, transitioning between Block 1 and Block 2, let's say power creep kicks in, and now if you want to obtain 2 cards of low quality card advantage, it would only have to take 1 Counter-Blasts and a relatively light restriction to pay for it. Block 2 to 3, we end up with there being no Counter-Blast cost but only a still light restriction to obtain 2 cards worth of card advantage. Generally speaking, there would be no way for Block 1 cards to <i>properly</i> fight back against Block 3 cards in this theoretical scenario. This is the problem with power creep; old cards become obsolete if they don't keep up with the new Block's standard of power.<br />
<br />
Vanguard however dodged a rather large bullet, as most of its power creep pertained largely to its Grade 3s. Seriously, take a close look at the majority of the Grade 0-2 lineup from Block 1 to Block 3. While arguably it's still there, any power creep you can find tends to be far more subtle, and due to the fact that Grade 0-2 cards tend to be cloned or reworked into other clans, almost all clans and deck types had access to any creep that did occur there. This means that if you want to fix Vanguard's power creep problem, you mostly only have to normalize the Grade 3s of the game.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GeQdETWqdF4/VJ9MjDy0LpI/AAAAAAAAAI0/peGilDBw-m4/s1600/300px-BT04-008EN-RRR_(Sample).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GeQdETWqdF4/VJ9MjDy0LpI/AAAAAAAAAI0/peGilDBw-m4/s1600/300px-BT04-008EN-RRR_(Sample).jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously, why doesn't he have a Legion?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Legion, in retrospect, seems to be Bushiroad's first crack at that, and at least to a small extent, it worked. Cards all the way from Block 1, with the help of Legion abilities, have suddenly received a breath of vitality as (even if only by technicality) they are able to compete with other Legioned Vanguards. In this regard, Legion had the potential to completely reset the entire game's power creep and rebalance the game to an all new standard, one based on Legion. There just seems to be two major weaknesses to Legion however if the goal was to rebalance the game in its entirety:<br />
1) In order for Legion to completely and totally reset Grade 3 Power Creep, there needs to be a Legion for every Grade 3 in the game<br />
2) If the standard of power for Legion is strictly superior to every other card of the game, this means that if you miss Legion in any way, you can quickly lose out as your non-Legion Vanguard falls behind. While this is tangentially related to point 1 (if your Vanguard doesn't have a Legion to begin with, have fun), this is more targeted towards how it makes Vanguard's consistency problems more unstable, as your problems not only end at making sure you don't misride, but also being sure you ride your Legion.<br />
<br />
The lack of a Stern Blaukluger Legion (D:<), and the fact that the G-Assist system was implemented <i>after</i> Legion more than had its effect on the game, suggests to me that neither of these things were properly achieved. Legion tried, and I must say it was a good idea, but it seems we're going to have to return to the drawing board. Where Legion fails however is exactly where Stride succeeds. This is why I called out the Cray Elementals earlier, because no matter where Bushiroad takes stride after this, Cray Elementals will give <i>every</i> clan and virtually <i>every</i> decktype access to the power of Stride. This automatically fixes problems 1 and 2 for Legion, since there now doesn't need to exist a Stride unit for every decktype in the game and it doesn't (at least in regards to riding) do anything to destabilize the game's consistency. This is...surprisingly good design.<br />
<br />
Stride isn't perfect, not from a long shot. It doesn't do anything to alleviate power creep created by on-ride effects (granted, I'm so out of the loop that I'm not sure if there are that many cards that fit that description), and because it's very finite, the moment either player or even both run out of Stride Units, the game simply returns to the state it was before Stride: Imbalanced. Still though, especially seeing that it's an almost direct improvement to Legion in terms of rebalancing this game, I'm actually quite excited as to what Stride can offer for the game, and how Bushiroad could top themselves ever again.<br />
<br />
My cynical side is telling me to doubt that Bushiroad won't pull a fast one on us and start implementing direct power creep <i>within</i> stride in the near future though...ahh well.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-67364219900667088072014-12-24T13:49:00.001-08:002015-01-05T08:53:00.931-08:00A Rant About Vanguard's Mechanics<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kUy0k449VD0/VJsyvySlXrI/AAAAAAAAAIE/Pa0kfVbkjUA/s1600/G-Poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kUy0k449VD0/VJsyvySlXrI/AAAAAAAAAIE/Pa0kfVbkjUA/s1600/G-Poster.png" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What is wrong with his hair?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And for my first entry back into writing for this game, a rant. These are a list of grievances of the mechanics built right into the rules of Vanguard that, in my eyes, will hold Vanguard back from ever being a competitively or mechanically balanced game.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Imbalanced Card Advantage</i></span></div>
<br />
One of the biggest balancing acts any turn based game has to work around is balancing around turn based advantage. From the ability to make the proactive move in chess to the ability to set facedown traps ahead of your opponent in Yugioh, going first tends to come with a straight up advantage over the opponent in some form. As a card game, one of the biggest factors that dominate the game is the amount of cards each player has at a given time. What's actually pretty interesting is that if you ignore Twin Drive, Vanguard's card advantage is already balanced.<br />
<br />
Ignoring ability effects, player 1 will start the turn with the same amount of cards as player 2, and end his first turn with one card over player 2 thanks to drawing. Player 2 then draws and drive checks, and at the end of player 2's turn, she'll end with one card over player 1. This cycle will continue repeating at this rate, which each player ending the turn with one card over the opponent. In other words, in terms of raw card advantage, no player is ever at a strict advantage over the opponent over the course of the game. Yes, player 2 gets the advantage of attacking first, but player 1 checks this advantage by having higher grades, and thus more power over his opponent. Ultimately, if you don't screw with the formula created by Vanguard's single drive check mechanic too much, we have a theoretically balanced game.<br />
<br />
And then you throw triggers and Twin Drive into the mix.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Imbalanced Triggers</i></span></div>
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvnKTqgrc7A/VJszg3-UDJI/AAAAAAAAAIM/9WNxSWIg1ZE/s1600/G-TD02-019_(Sample).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvnKTqgrc7A/VJszg3-UDJI/AAAAAAAAAIM/9WNxSWIg1ZE/s1600/G-TD02-019_(Sample).jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a>Let's get this out of the way first; if there's still a debate over which trigger is better than another, I don't particularly care right now. The point is that the triggers are straight up not balanced to each other. Can we all agree with this?<br />
<br />
See, the problem here is that's it's near impossible to balance around. To give an example, Draw Triggers are near definitionally a +1 when you trigger them, no questions asked, whereas Crits and Heals apply on damage, which in turn can easily snowball into many more cards worth of advantage than just a +1, or they may fail to apply at all or generate any proper card advantage. My point here is that when you have an element in the game that's so imbalanced, it's virtually impossible to standardize around them. In other words, remember how I mentioned earlier that we can balance around first turn advantage and easily achieve balance in terms of card advantage? This balance I mentioned earlier does not account for triggers well. To go back an explain, the previous example said that player 1 and player 2 will always end with one card over the opponent, right? With triggers included in this system, player 1 will always end with one draw over player 2, and player 2 will always end with one drive check over the opponent. Because of how game changing triggers have the capability of being, especially relative to a standard draw, I really hope I don't have to explain the titanic balancing problem here.<br />
<br />
The biggest problem I see is that, because each trigger isn't balanced to each other and it's impossible to standardize them, the problem I just mentioned is almost literally impossible to fix. See, simple probability juggling could have easily messed with the numbers of the game so that, if a drive check was on average worth 1.5 draws, you can balance between draws and drive checks, ultimately recreating the card advantage balance originally created. Instead however, these triggers just throw a titanic monkey wrench into trying to make sure that each player doesn't have a strict advantage over the other.
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Twin Drive and Card Advantage</i></span></div>
<br />
Alright, let's just ignore Triggers for a second. What does Twin Drive do to the card advantage of the game?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Turn 1: Player 1 ends with 6 cards, player 2 ends with 7<br />
Turn 2: Player 1 ends with 8 cards, player 2 ends with 9<br />
---<br />
Turn 3: Player 1 ends with 11 cards, player 2 ends with 12<br />
Turn 4: Player 1 ends with 14 cards, player 2 ends with 15</div>
<br />
Now can anyone notice the difference between turns 1 and 2 compared to turns 3 and 4?<br />
<br />
Turns 1 and 2, when there is no Twin Drive, each player will end their turn with one card more than their opponent.<br />
<br />
Turn 3 and 4, when there is Twin Drive, player 1 will end the turn with two more cards than player 2, whereas player 2 will only end the turn with one more card than the opponent.<br />
<br />
Any point after turn 3, thanks to the card advantage Twin Drive generates, Player 1 has card advantage over player 2. Imbalance.<br />
<br />
What bothers me the most about Twin Drive though, as it is currently implemented and tied to Grade 3s, is that it gives you absolutely no reason not to ride into Grade 3. Imagine for a moment that Grade 3s didn't have Twin Drive. There'd still be plenty of reason you'd want to ride to Grade 3. They have higher base powers than the other grades and thus unlock much better fields and scaling for offensive purposes, and maintain higher magic numbers to better defend with for defensive purposes. At the same time though, you are using up card advantage to actually ride up to that point. To rephrase, you're trading short term advantage for long term benefits. This is common in good game design for an assortment of reasons, and I don't particularly feel like listing out why, but the point to take away is that, for example, if you are stuck at Grade 2, you are not immediately doomed. The opponent still has to burn a card to achieve Grade 3. That means you are given (at least for a short amount of) extra time to draw into a Grade 3 later and catch up anyway, thanks to the short term card advantage buffer created by riding. Twin Drive destroys this concept however, because in two turns, Twin Drive will already have paid for itself in terms of raw card advantage. That's just...no, now you absolutely can not afford to misride ever, because the moment the opponent hits Grade 3, their card advantage rockets off far faster than you can possibly catch up. To those of you who have ever suffered from misriding ever, I guarantee you it is because of the Twin Drive mechanic.<br />
<br />
And so concludes a lengthy rant about Vanguard's mechanics. <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-possible-return-of-thunkofcardgames.html">With Thunkofcardgames turning into a site to analyze mechanics and more general ideas</a>, this article is a sort of precursor to any future work I may do. Would you guys enjoy me doing more mechanic based or general articles like this in the future?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uRd392rrdcY/VJs0sKZZwmI/AAAAAAAAAIY/vZwC7EUDBfM/s1600/teemo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uRd392rrdcY/VJs0sKZZwmI/AAAAAAAAAIY/vZwC7EUDBfM/s1600/teemo.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unrelated</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-69074808259945219652014-12-20T15:52:00.005-08:002014-12-20T15:52:39.023-08:00A Possible Return of ThunkofcardgamesWell, yeah.<br />
<br />
Honestly, I'm not sure if I am ever going to let myself build decks for the blog anytime soon; they are way too hard to maintain once I have too many deck lists and I lack the conviction to do so anyway.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, math revolving around this game is far more long lasting and is less likely to be ran over every time a new set is released, and reviews based on individual cards is much easier to update so long as I keep interactions to a minimum. Strategies are also easily the most permanent thing in Vanguard until somebody up in Bushiroad HQ really jumps the gun, and game design of the very mechanics of this game can easily keep me occupied.<br />
<br />
With all this in mind, Thunkofcardgames may be having a comeback sometime in the near future. For those of you who have seen the thread on Pojo, you'll be seeing a revised rant on Vanguard's mechanics as an article on this blog soon. For those of you new to this blog, please send something over to the request box, I need something to write about.<br />
<br />
Now excuse me for a moment while I go hit myself for letting myself back onto this blog.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-5008225852810497742014-09-24T17:19:00.002-07:002014-09-25T11:12:30.419-07:00Anyone play League of Legends?So, I plan on moving my work stage from Cardfight Vanguard over to League of Legends. Anyone interested in seeing the ultra technical math based side of League of Legends analyzed and explain like I do here for Vanguard, <a href="http://lol-notes.blogspot.com/">check it out</a>.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-35568879715576483822014-04-27T02:02:00.001-07:002014-04-27T02:02:42.494-07:00Shutting DownFor real this time.<br />
<br />
I'm done writing for this game, plain and simple. I plan to find someone like minded enough to me; one who focuses on analysis and numbers to replace me for writing articles, but so far, the search has been fruitless. Until then, don't expect to hear from me any time soon.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-21348910522290453082014-04-01T16:41:00.001-07:002014-04-02T03:50:51.235-07:00Why you Shouldn't Run Four Perfect GuardsSo let's break down some myths and facts about Perfect Guards, and why you shouldn't run four.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
See, the thing about running any four units is that you have some ~35.9% chance of damage checking one of them if you were to take five damage. Nevermind taking six damage, or if your deck has any form of Soul Charging or milling, but imagine the effects on your deck when you lose a Perfect Guard to your damage zone. Instead of effectively having the probability of four Perfect Guards within your deck, your losing one means that you essentially only have three Perfect Guards in deck now. This subverts whatever superiority in consistency any of those religious zealots would say about having four Perfect Guards entirely, as it's essentially like running three Perfect Guards in the first place. In fact, if you had just ran three in the first place, the probability of damage checking your Perfect Guard (once again assuming five damage) drops down to ~28.1%. IT'S A WHOLE ~7.8% DIFFERENCE. Think of it like this, if you played ten games in a row, you're going to damage check a Perfect Guard once more out of the ten games than if you ran three in the first place. A game out of ten! Now people might tell you about having to consider the probability of misrides, probability of Trigger-screws, and something stupid like standard deviantartation or something, but ignore them. I'm obviously the math blogger of the Vanguard community and I obviously know more than them anyway. With that out of the way, I'm quite sure you can see why you might as well run three Perfect Guards instead of four, because probability just does not favor running for. In fact, if you don't run any Perfect Guards at all, this drops the probability of damage checking a Perfect Guard all the way down to zero. See, if you don't run any Perfect Guards at all, you can't lose any Perfect Guards to your damage checks, and then you'll have all the advantage over your opponent as you defend yourself properly.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of course, there's another reason why you shouldn't run four Perfect Guards. See, if you only ran three Perfect Guards, math shows that:</div>
<div>
(1-((46*45*44*43*42*44*43*42*41*40*39*38*37*36*35*34*33*32*31*30*29)/(49*48*47*46*45*47*46*45*44*43*42*41*40*39*38*37*36*35*34*33*32)))=80.1%</div>
<div>
you will get a Perfect Guard by turn six in about eight out of ten games. A whole eight out of ten games! That is extremely consistent, in fact just as consistent as riding up to Grade 3 with most standard decks. In fact, because you ride your to Grade 3 right away in eight games out of ten, and that you can get at least one Perfect Guard from your deck eight games out of ten by turn six, this means you are <i>guaranteed</i> to get a Perfect Guard if you only run three. Once again though, there will probably be a few idiots in the crowd who are going to be like 'Oh, NACHO, the math doesn't work that way' or something stupid like that. Don't listen to them. Trust me, I'm an engineer, I know what I'm doing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Still skeptical huh? I guess it is true that trying to get away with proving the use of only having three Perfect Guards is unfair without the use of four Perfect Guards to compare. See, if you run four Perfect Guards, math shows that:</div>
<div>
(1-((45*44*43*42*41*43*42*41*40*39*38*37*36*35*34*33*32*31*30*29*28)/(49*48*47*46*45*47*46*45*44*43*42*41*40*39*38*37*36*35*34*33*32)))=88.6%</div>
<div>
there isn't even a 10% difference between the two! Also, when you consider the probability of misreading, trigger-screw, and standard deviation, along with the fact that not all games last until turn six, the probability drops considerably. This means you're not even guaranteed to improve your chances at all. And that's already ignoring that if you damage check a Perfect Guard, it's like you're running three anyway. See? It's totally useless to have a fourth Perfect Guard.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As you can see, there is no point in running four Perfect Guards. You only should run three Perfect Guards, it's all you need. In fact, don't even get me started on how Perfect Guards clog your hand, so you shouldn't even run Perfect Guards at all! This is how you improve your games, by using strict logic and thinking these things out objectively and with math.<br />
<br />
Now I just wanted to say<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">APRIL FOOLS</span></div>
<br />
And that you are a tragically misinformed person if you believe or believed even a smidgen of the logic that you can find in this article.</div>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-50556838621263220812014-03-27T09:31:00.002-07:002014-03-27T09:31:29.538-07:00How I Write Deck ArticlesSo I'm updating the first major article I've ever done on this blog, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion Narukami, and I felt like taking notes to both help me along with making this article, give myself something in the future to look back on, and maybe share my creative experience with others.<br />
<br />
Before I begin building the deck with zero frame of reference to build on, I look through <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Narukami">the list of cards Narukami has access to</a> and filter out those that I can't use in the deck. In this specific example, I remove all archetype cards like Eradicators, Brawlers, and the Dungaree specific support. Along with this, <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/deck-breakdowns.html">due to the rules I put on myself</a>, I filter out any cards that are too many sets ahead. At this point, it's important to not allow any bias into the card selection. Remove cards from the list according to whether or not the deck can use them, not because they don't appear to be able to be used well. In my most recent article, <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2014/03/deck-breakdowngreat-daiyusha-vs-everse.html">Great Daiyusha vs Reverse Daiyusha</a>, this was integral to helping me notice how much more flexible Great Daiyusha was at allowing for a strong mid game.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><br />
<br />
This step is extremely important for the next step: Testing. Because I've already filtered out a (large) number of cards I know the deck can't use, it saves me time of trying to have to work around them later on as I experiment with different deck builds. Have you ever heard that saying to 'learn from your mistakes' and such? Forget that. It's a good statement on its own but it misses the point. It's not that you should bluntly focus on your failures and work from that, but you should understand <i>how</i> and <i>why</i> things happened the way they did. This also extends past failures and into success. If you failed, take notes about every reason why you think the deck failed during testing, be it a lack of pressure, failing to build card advantage, or inconsistencies caught up with it. If you succeeded, try to list out why you won. From fighting another deck that it does well against, the amount of card advantage maintained through the fight, or even if small quirks like Early Guarding ended up making all the difference. By the end of the day, your notes should amount to quite a lot, and after cross referencing successes to failures to the deck builds themselves, should lead to a final build or at least a rough draft of one.<br />
<br />
Due to the way I structure my deck articles, with me leading off with card choices and how they influence the deck individually, then leading into how the deck should function as a whole, these notes are especially helpful for giving me actual substance to fall back on and write about. With the Narukami article, where my deck's emphasis is on Dragonic Kaiser, Vermillion's Limit Break, you'll find I have a large amount of notes based around Counter Blast efficiency, what cards can function best for the deck without CB and how much CB that Garuda allows for others. This influences the article as I write a lot around how much resource management works in the deck as I set up for Vermillion. Most of these notes around CB efficiency will be falling under the card choices section, due to how a large majority of how CB efficiency works is very specific to each individual card. Along with this, now that I've gotten all the notes about CB efficiency itself out of the way, this allows me more freedom to explain the effects of that CB efficiency as I write on about how the deck as a whole functions, due to the fact I've clarified how resources flow in the deck already. In other words, it makes writing the article far easier for me in the long run if I spend my time early on working through the more technical facts so that I don't need to continue reexplaining them later on.<br />
<br />
Hope this gives some good incite into how I work. The revised Vermillion article will be on its way shortly.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-86359402323085434832014-03-26T10:38:00.000-07:002014-04-03T04:58:32.235-07:00Deck Breakdown:Great Daiyusha vs. Яeverse Daiyusha<div style="text-align: center;">
This took way too long to write<br />
<br />
Grade 0
<br />
Dimensional Robo, Daimagnum<br />
X4 Demonic Eye Monster, Gorgon<br />
X4 Dimensional Robo, Daibattles<br />
X4 Dimensional Robo, Gorescue<br />
X4 Justice Cobalt<br />
<br />
Grade 1<br />
X2 Commander Laurel <br />
X4 Dimensional Robo, Dailander<br />
X4 Dimensional Robo, Daishield<br />
X4 Karenroid, Daisy<br />
<br />
Grade 2<br />
X4 Dimensional Robo, Daidragon<br />
X4 Dimensional Robo, Daidriller<br />
X3 Dimensional Robo, Daifighter<br />
<br />
Grade 3<br />
X4 Super Dimensional Robo, Daiyusha<br />
X2 Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser<br />
X2 Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QGG6_j89nLg/UxgS4PfgVVI/AAAAAAAAAB4/CILvWNQ1zYA/s1600/BT13-032.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QGG6_j89nLg/UxgS4PfgVVI/AAAAAAAAAB4/CILvWNQ1zYA/s1600/BT13-032.png" height="320" width="218" /></a></div>
Because the main gimmick of the deck operates by using SDR Daiyusha as a <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/04/early-guarding-and-how-pressure-units.html">pressure unit</a>, the deck uses a set of 12 Crits in order to push out the most from the opponent. By constantly and consistently regulating the opponent's hand by beating away at them with Daiyusha, it opens up opportunities for the rear guards to strike at the opponent due to them not usually being able to expend so many resources all across the board. Due to this lack of defense coupled by not having to deal with damage triggers by the opponent, the 12 Crits in this case are used to their fullest, taking advantage of the situation and granting you the most forward advantage per trigger.<br />
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Daimagnum's place in this deck is nearly invaluable. It provides a definite initiation into early game Daiyusha gambits, immediately setting up the deck for its winning image and dominating the opponent by turn 3. Due to how power ups and field stages work, its presence in the deck also allows for more flexible field arrangements as it can donate its power and presence to the Vanguard while also removing itself from the field, allowing you an option to help rearrange your setup, or better capitalize on your hand.<br />
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<a href="http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130719053407/cardfight/images/2/21/BT08-025-R_(Sample).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130719053407/cardfight/images/2/21/BT08-025-R_(Sample).jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a>After Daimagnum, Dailander and Daidriller take over to constantly pump up SDR Daiyusha. Assuming you already will ride SDR Daiyusha, and since turn 3 will usually be taken by Daimagnum, there will be a nearly 95.2% chance of getting at least one or the other of these boosters, and an 88.2% chance to get yet another turn 5, which alongside Daimagnum virtually guarantees a strong transition through the mid game as the deck consistently sets up against the opponent.<br />
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These cards also have some application for the late game. With a +4K boost, it would only take a 17K column to hit a <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/08/field-scalability-shield-stages-and.html">stage 3</a> attack on 11K Vanguards, Daidragons and the 4 11K Grade 3s, along with Karenroid Daisy, is nigh impossible to not achieve, especially if 10K Vanguards come into the picture. Couple this with how cheap their abilities are through the midgame (assuming you use them up to turn 5, which will be where the late game begins), you would only have burned through 2 Counter Blasts. Once again noting how easy it is to create proper columns to utilize them, the duo aren't just one trick midgame ponies that die off as soon as you reach the late game, and transition well into the late game as options to power up your Rear Guards and completely dominate the opponent's hand throughout the late game as well.<br />
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With these units playing such an integral part of the deck's strategy however, one needs to be constantly aware of their immediate drawbacks by using them; their base power. Because of this, the deck's that much more reliant on your higher base power (and Daidragon) units, and demands that the player is able to think ahead so that the field scales properly on all fronts. With this in mind, not only are the myriad of beatsticks and Karenroid in the deck there to profit off late game rear guard gambits, but also provide a more than solid buffer to helping make sure the deck's own win condition doesn't accidentally make it fall behind and lose.<br />
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<a href="http://bushiroad.fm/cgm/ecommerce/bushiroad/images/large/0c39b30dcfe704d1073477a6132d5e6d.jpg?1320806752" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://bushiroad.fm/cgm/ecommerce/bushiroad/images/large/0c39b30dcfe704d1073477a6132d5e6d.jpg?1320806752" height="320" width="219" /></a>The pint-sized elephant in the room here is Commander Laurel. With so much focus on making sure that columns stay strong, it's almost outright contradictory to include Commander Laurel in the deck. On the other hand though, the purpose it serves makes it close to invaluable to the deck, especially under the context of how the deck is normally supposed to function. More specifically, virtually all of the key cards explained up to this point, Daimagnum, Dailander, and Daidriller, all revolve around SDR Daiyusha and consistently maintaining pressure. In the off scenario that you aren't able to ride Daiyusha then, the deck quickly falls apart. Granted, one can argue that the late game strategy of beating away with Rear Guards can still work, and it could if you are really forced into it, but there's still the glaring problem that the deck's main means of functioning is still gone and the deck will fall behind because of that. With Commander Laurel, this problem is mostly avoided by granting either Daikaiser or Great Daiyusha similar pressure that makes SDR Daiyusha so potent and powerful for the deck.<br />
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<a href="http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa187/nu_23/Card%20of%20the%20Day/vgd_today-32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa187/nu_23/Card%20of%20the%20Day/vgd_today-32.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a>With all of the explanation behind the +4K units, it should be more than obvious what role Daiyusha plays in the deck. It is the go to ride on turn 3 and the best way for the deck to generate card advantage throughout the mid game, helping you get leverage over the opponent so that by the late game, it's becomes increasingly more difficult to possibly make a comeback as they fall farther and farther behind.<br />
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Daikaiser on the other hand isn't as integral to the main strategy, yet like Laurel, provides an amazing backup strategy to help bounce back should you lose SDR Daiyusha. Especially when allowed to combo off Great Daiyusha, a <i>lot</i> of ground can be immediately regained. For example, if you are at either 4 or 5 damage and the opponent is only at 3, Break Riding Great Daiyusha over Daikaiser is nearly guaranteed to trigger Great Daiyusha's Limit Break. Thanks to this, the opponent will most likely be forced to guard the Vanguard's attack unless they're willing to risk a Critical Trigger and losing. Also considering that the attack will be +25K, the opponent's hand advantage is absolutely going to crash trying to deal with the attack. Along with this raw power, Daikaiser's ability to retire Guardians only means that the opponent needs to expend that much more just to keep your attack in check. Between threatening to finish off the opponent from far behind to absolutely destroying the opponent's hand, the combo, with Laurel, gives the deck so much more to work with even without Daiyusha, rounding out its performance as a whole.<br />
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Finally, Great Daiyusha acts as the key transitional card into the late game. Defensively, 13K defense deters the opponent from too easily setting up columns that build for 10K magic numbers, and in the case they do so anyway, it forces them to have to reset their field, taking up quite a bit of effort and card advantage in the process. On the other end of the spectrum, if it was Cross or Break Ridden over Daiyusha or Daikaiser, it's otherwise guaranteed to meet its Soul Requirement for the late game. In other words, by the time the player enters the late game themselves, there should be zero debate over whether to use the +4K units on the Vanguard or on Rear Guard as Great Daiyusha does that job all on its own. Proper timing allows it to immediately takeover SDR Daiyusha's role and function unilaterally better when used properly.<br />
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Grade 0</div>
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Dimenional Robo, Daimagnum</div>
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X4 Demonic Eye Monster, Gorgon</div>
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X4 Dimensional Robo, Daibattles</div>
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X4 Dimensional Robo, Gorescue</div>
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X4 Justice Cobalt</div>
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X4 Dimensional Robo, Dailander</div>
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X4 Dimensional Robo, Daishield</div>
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X4 Dimensional Robo, Daitiger</div>
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X2 Karenroid, Daisy</div>
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Grade 2</div>
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X1 Dimensional Robo, Daibarrett</div>
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X4 Dimensional Robo, Daidragon</div>
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X4 Dimensional Robo, Daifighter</div>
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Grade 3</div>
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X4 Dark Dimensional Robo, "Яeverse" Daiyusha</div>
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X2 Super Dimensional Robo, Daiyusha</div>
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X4 Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser</div>
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<a href="http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140226023919/cardfight/images/2/22/TD12-004EN_(Sample).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140226023919/cardfight/images/2/22/TD12-004EN_(Sample).jpg" height="320" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="219" /></a>R<span style="text-align: center;">everse Daiyusha doesn't actually have an explicit need to follow through with its Grade 0s. The triggers, while valuable as triggers, don't play a valuable role to the deck any bigger than just that. Daimagnum also takes a back seat here. While his skill is valuable in the late game for better bursting down the opponent should you have the means to immediately replace him, the deck's lack of reliance on SDR Daiyusha means you don't have nearly as much need to dedicate yourself to Daimagnum.</span><br />
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Similarly, Dailander falls into this ditch. Including that you may more or less be forced into calling it during the midgame just so you don't fall behind offensively, its uses drop from sustaining SDR Daiyusha's advantage generating Critical to maybe bursting with a 3 stage column or making sure your late game beaters take over. Depite this however, while retaining the 'Dimensional Robo' name for Reverse to utilize, its ability to help get your beaters or even excess Grade 1s get strong enough to bully your opponent further during Reverse's Limit Break. Not only will it be boosting beaters, but its 6K base will no longer be a downfall in any way due to (most likely) being locked. With this in mind, it should be relatively obvious why the Grade 2 selection are mostly just beaters.<br />
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Obviously though, the key piece of the deck here is Reverse Daiyusha himself. Where standard B.a.s.s. Values function at about 228/49, or 4.7 cards forced out on average, assuming a field not unlike this:<br />
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<img src="http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/freedomduo/imgs/d/d/ddb31136.jpg" height="200" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="137" /> <img src="http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130812024331/cardfight/images/1/14/BT13-005-RRR_%28Sample%29.jpg" height="200" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="137" /> <img src="http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/freedomduo/imgs/d/d/ddb31136.jpg" height="200" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="137" /></div>
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<img class="irc_mut" src="http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110902221836/cardfight/images/3/37/Cfv_back.jpg" height="200" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="137" /> <img class="irc_mut" src="http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140228014446/cardfight/images/0/0c/TD12-010EN_(Sample).jpg" height="200" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="136" /> <img class="irc_mut" src="http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110902221836/cardfight/images/3/37/Cfv_back.jpg" height="200" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="137" /></div>
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You are looking at a B.a.s.s. Value of about 7.1 cards against, with this specific field, 11K Vanguards. Along with this, with cards like Dailander or Daimagnum, this can build even higher and force out so much more. Granted, fields are extremely situational, so I won't waste time sputtering more B.a.s.s. Values for every individual field setup, but just keep in mind of just how powerful Daiyusha alone is.<br />
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...Except, the deck can give you even more. Daikaiser plays a much larger role in the deck than that in the Great Daiyusha deck list and not only makes it possible to potentially lock out or smash straight through Perfect Guard(s), but once more ramps up Reverse Daiyusha's late game so much higher in strength.<br />
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<b>How the decks work</b><br />
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What I really want to emphasize here is that these decks are not built to be as optimal as possible. These two builds are here to emphasize their respective bosses specific strengths to the fullest dramatization. What I mean here is that everything was done to make the Great Daiyusha build a powerful midgame deck whereas the Reverse Daiyusha build is designed as a late game oriented one.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ywWI74cmsV4/UfMEoxG38YI/AAAAAAAAIOY/xbe807lG7hA/s1600/BT03-020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ywWI74cmsV4/UfMEoxG38YI/AAAAAAAAIOY/xbe807lG7hA/s1600/BT03-020.jpg" height="290" width="199" /></a>To further my point, Great Daiyusha has virtually zero costs associated with him. Sure, you can argue the Dimensional Robos in Soul requirement may amount to something, but at the same time, it's not like you're losing an arm and a leg without its Limit Break, so the important thing to focus on here is that you are not obligated in any way to reserve, in this case, Counter Blasts for the late game. What this means is that a really good Great Daiyusha build will utterly devote itself to consistently trading its CB for power in the form of the +4K boosts you can give to SDR Daiyusha, since it almost literally has nothing it has to hamstring its efforts to.<br />
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This build in particular aims for as much midgame optimization as possible. Thanks to Daimagnum acting as a buffer for Dailander and Daidriller, probability dictates that it's nearly guaranteed to constantly be whacking away at the opponent with a +1 Crit Vanguard if you were to ride into Daiyusha first. In any case where you aren't able to ride into Daiyusha first, Daikaiser's presence in the deck minimizes the worst case scenario of being forced to ride into Great Daiyusha right away, in fact bringing down the probability of having to deal with this to 8.4%, and even lower when you consider the Grade 1 and 2 rides. Even in the off scenario that you fall behind in the late game, be it some unlucky triggers or Daikaiser's lack of pressure makes you lag a bit, Great Daiyusha's late game crit in tandem with the powerful rear guard columns that the +4K units enable will give you a solid means of making a comeback. Everything about the deck is optimized to consistency, and between giving you as powerful of a midgame as possible to forgiving you in as many ways as possible if you miss it, this consistency more than does its job.<br />
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What I did to make Reverse Daiyusha's strengths so much more evident is by putting all of the deck's emphasis on the late game. This is why Daimagnum's purpose in the deck has otherwise fallen off, as the need to act as a buffer for Dailander and Daidriller isn't as evident as their place in the Great Daiyusha decklist.<br />
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<a href="http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140225015926/cardfight/images/e/e8/TD12-001EN_%28Sample%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140225015926/cardfight/images/e/e8/TD12-001EN_%28Sample%29.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a>The important thing to note about the Reverse Daiyusha decklist is just how powerful its late game is. In the best case scenario with Daikaiser and the +4K units, its possible burst down as much as 10 cards if the opponent is at 5 damage. I won't go over the specifics of every single scenario, but it should be more than enough to put into perspective just how powerful Reverse Daiyusha is. The best way to utilize the decklist here is to find the right opportunities to fight your opponent, and do what you could to create those opportunities. What I mean is to think a few turns ahead and know when and where a powerful burst will be virtually guaranteed to win you the game before your own resources run out. Once again, case by case scenario, but the key here is to utilize the cards in your deck to create opportunities. Daikaiser is an extremely easy example; what with his ability to possibly outright bypass Perfect Guards and just demanding so much more out of the opponent in general. Similarly, Dailander can create opportunities for you in the midgame if you know your opponent's deck is prone to midgame pokes by helping to create stage 3 columns. In the late game, Dailander also can double up with Daimagnum to supplement your late game burst. Since you've most likely been saving Daimagnum since most of the time due to not needing to use it in the midgame, during the turn you burst, you can send Daimagnum to the soul to create space for Dailander to be called, offsetting the minus by having given the Vanguard more powerful. On top of having been able to trade off well, since a rear guard circle is open, you can call Dailander there and apply even more power, all this adding on to how devastating Reverse Daiyusha can be.<br />
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To end off, Reverse Daiyusha as a card is strictly superior to Great Daiyusha as a card. It has a much stronger late game, its cost isn't too taxing (albeit restraining cards like Daisy and Laurel), and if you want to have a similar performance to the one created in the Great Daiyusha decklist, all you need to do is simply be okay with not using Reverse Daiyusha (much) in the late game. What I should emphasize here though is that you aren't as entirely dedicated to the main gambit then. This should be the defining difference between these two cards, and other card comparisons. While there are some cases where numbers prevail at explaining things, such as the difference between a Cross Ride and a Break Ride's card advantage, not everything can be seen as strictly linear and to be compared directly, as things like being able to devote the entire deck as a whole to a midgame gambit (Great Daiyusha, in this case) to setting up for late game domination (Reverse Daiyusha) take such different routes that trying to compare them directly is simply going to lead to misunderstandings. Instead, let this be a lesson to show how qualitative attributes can make all the difference.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-46337630761808146052014-03-14T08:14:00.000-07:002014-03-14T08:14:10.139-07:00Another UpdateTo start off, I swear, I've been working. Great Daiyusha vs. Reverse Daiyusha is like 3 requests in one though so it literally takes (over) 3 times as long to write. Sorry if I seemed dead, just letting my OCD slow this painfully long process to a crawl. <div>
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Once that's out of the way though, the new beginner videos I said I would start in the last update need a skeleton. I can come up with a few topics on my own but really, it would make the process a lot easier if I can get ideas from others.</div>
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Finally, if you want to see me working on a much more consistent basis, <a href="http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=1176844">check this thread out</a>. The basis of it is it's a request thread for math specific aspects of Vanguard for the Vanguard mathematicians (which mostly just consists of me and <a href="http://timpowergamer.blogspot.com/">Timmy Power Gainer</a> on Pojo) to calculate and answer. Since probability is MUCH easier for me to do in a single session, if you have any math related questions, I suggest you channel them here.</div>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-65485741246371242082014-02-28T02:59:00.001-08:002014-02-28T14:25:53.396-08:00Card Review:Sunlight Goddess, Yatagarasu<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XdtWdfrSyPs/UwsTQiz52eI/AAAAAAAAABk/bTInBmlo6o8/s1600/BT14-004-RRR_(Sample).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XdtWdfrSyPs/UwsTQiz52eI/AAAAAAAAABk/bTInBmlo6o8/s1600/BT14-004-RRR_(Sample).jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">[AUTO](VC) </span><b style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Limit_Break" style="border: 0px; color: #006cb0; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Limit Break">Limit Break 4</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(This ability is active if you have four or more damage)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">:[Soul Blast(9)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw two cards, and choose up to two of your «</span><a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Genesis" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #006cb0; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Genesis">Genesis</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">» rear-guards, and [Stand] them.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">[AUTO](VC): During a battle that this unit is attacked, when your «Genesis» guardian is put into the drop zone, put that card into your soul. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that battle. </span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(If two cards or more are put into the drop zone at the same time, you may only put one of them into the soul)</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">[CONT](VC/RC): </span><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Lord" style="border: 0px; color: #006cb0; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Lord">Lord</a></b><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(If you have a unit without a same <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Clan" style="border: 0px; color: #006cb0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Clan">clan</a> as this unit, this unit cannot attack)</span></span></i></span></div>
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This card is so outrageously simple.<br />
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<b>How to use this card</b><br />
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<a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130408013428/cardfight/images/6/6c/FC01-002_(Sample).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130408013428/cardfight/images/6/6c/FC01-002_(Sample).jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a>Wisdom Keeper, Metis is probably Yatagarasu's best friend. Assuming you break ride into this card about around turn 5, the cards you've ridden make up 3 Soul, and Metis' Soul Charge should amount to 5. Count 3 more thanks to Metis' skill, and you're looking at maybe only 1 card you need to Soul Charge outside of what you're already doing. Finally, since almost all Genesis Starting Vanguards generally add at least 1 Soul, the reality is that with Metis, you have almost nothing to worry about, at least in terms of being prepared to use the Limit Break. The only problem with this picture is that Metis essentially is carrying Yatagarasu through mostly just its own efforts, so it kind of seriously sucks without Metis then. Assuming you aren't an idiot that doesn't know how to guard early and competently, you're still looking at 4 Soul to begin with before you get to the late game, thanks to Yatagarasu's secondary skill. After that, the starters are largely going to influence how the card plays. These next analyses all assume you ride immediately into Yatagarasu, and your deck contains some combination <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_Maiden,_Tatsutahime">of</a> <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Existence_Angel">these</a> <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Witch_of_Cats,_Cumin">four</a> <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_Maiden,_Sahohime">cards</a>.<br />
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<u>Aiming for the Stars, Artemis</u> - Personally, I don't recommend any ride chain where it's not necessarily needed because it introduces a lot of probability where it doesn't have to be. With that in mind however, this probability also includes collecting as much as 7 Soul by turn 3, which considering Yatagarasu's secondary skill, nearly completely does all of the Soul building necessary for the Limit Break to activate.<br />
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<a href="http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140101022106/cardfight/images/3/3e/BT10-033EN-R_(Sample).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140101022106/cardfight/images/3/3e/BT10-033EN-R_(Sample).jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a>Realistically speaking however, there are a lot of numbers to take into consideration. There's a 49.8% chance to ride both the Grade 1 and Grade 2, a 26.5% to just ride the Grade 2, a 4.2% chance to only ride the Grade 1, and a 17.8% chance to miss them both entirely. In other words, the possibility to start turn 3 with 7-8 soul 1/2 the time, 4 soul 1/4 of the time, and 3-2 the rest. In the case of 7-8 soul, it's mostly self explanatory as to how that turns out. Getting 4 Soul however is different. Metis alone should be more than enough to get 9 Soul without outside help, but in the case of missing Metis, making up 5 Soul will be a bit of a challenge. Yatagarasu's skill should generally be enough to carry you to about 6 Soul in total by the late game, but ultimately, Tatsutahime is your most reliable means of getting you up to 9 soul. Sahohime <i>could</i> potentially do the job, but <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/04/early-guarding-and-how-pressure-units.html">pressure doesn't exactly favor Rear Guards and Rear Guards alone</a>. If caught at 3, Cumin should be more than enough to help here. However, being caught all the way at 2 Soul is going to be far harder to make up for, as your most reliable means of generating that 5 Soul, Tatsutahime, runs into Counter Blast issues as the late game locks out the Vanguard lane's means of pressure, and almost completely shutting down Sahohime. You should only need 1 extra Soul if you're able to use Metis in this situation, but in the worst of worst case scenarios, or similar scenarios such as the opponent having the gall to guard Artemis and locking you out of a lot of necessary soul, you're going to run into a number of problems trying to get around this.<br />
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Fun thing to note though, the ride chain if fully successful will load you up with 7-8 soul by turn 3. Ride Metis, and Break Ride, and you're looking at about 13-14 soul by the late game. Maybe through Break Riding twice or getting especially lucky with your Soul Charging support, and it may open up the opportunity to use Yatagarasu twice. Granted, you've got to jump through a lot of hoops, and you're going to end up with a lot of excess soul if you aren't able to utilize this fully, but if you are willing to risk the numbers and use Artemis in the first place, it's just something to consider.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2v8iY-skZM/Un2SrZwI2KI/AAAAAAAABmU/wGUSaXu9xmU/s1600/Battle+Maiden,+Amenohoakari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2v8iY-skZM/Un2SrZwI2KI/AAAAAAAABmU/wGUSaXu9xmU/s1600/Battle+Maiden,+Amenohoakari.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a><u>Battle Maiden Amenohoakari</u> - One of the seemingly more reliable starters, it should easily be able to get you to 9 Soul with Metis meaning you have very little to worry about when it comes to including more Soul support to help supplement your plays. The only problem with this particular starter is that it more or less may class with Tatsutahime, as both of their most optimal spots are behind the Vanguard, easily leading to have to pick one or the other. This causes a slight hiccup when playing without Metis, as with Amenohoakari and Yatagarasu, you're only looking at about 6 Soul by turn 5. If the game manages to last longer than this, Soul shouldn't be a problem, but because resources are finite, this isn't a reliable strategy to fall back on. Unfortunately, without Tatsutahime, you would need to work quite a bit harder to make up that 3 Soul, and even with Sahohime at 4 and its capabilities should you ride it, off scenarios such as missing it on the ride up or the opponent guarding can lead to problems. While Yatagarasu is still a viable option should you be able to get your Soul somehow, I would highly suggest that if Amenohoakari is being used that you either dedicate the build entirely between Metis and Yatagarasu, or back off and allow use cheaper and more flexible back up Vanguards to allow you more options if things start to go south.<br />
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<a href="http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130918043344/cardfight/images/3/3c/BT10-032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130918043344/cardfight/images/3/3c/BT10-032.jpg" height="320" width="218" /></a><u>Battle Maiden Tamayorihime</u> - Once again, Tatstahime gets shafted.<br />
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Once again, there's not much particularly special happening when this card works with Metis past the near guaranteed setup. On the other hand, without Metis, that's about 7 Soul in total. It's also far less dependent on staying on the field for every turn after having ridden the Grade 3, and can activate as early as turn 2 should you have access to the Counter Blasts, ultimately making the card far more flexible than Amenohoakari in terms of getting it off the field to try to do other things. Unfortunately, the Counter Blast cost to activate its skill sort of disallows Tatsutahime to do much at all, unlike Amenohoakari which would only require it to be in the Rear Guard and at least has the potential of more easily allowing double Rear Guard columns. More to the point, this means that Existence Angel will have to take up the role of topping off that last bit of Soul, or Cumin would need to combo off something else in order to make it. In the end, a more focused build specifically on Yatagarasu and Metis is just a little more feasible with Tamayorihime.<br />
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<a href="http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130501021411/cardfight/images/3/37/BT11-057-C_(Sample).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130501021411/cardfight/images/3/37/BT11-057-C_(Sample).jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a><u>Witch of Prohibited Books, Cinnamon</u> - Similar to Tamayorihime in that it will generally give you 7 Soul by turn 5 or so, it has one major advantage over the other starter; Counter Blasts. Without needing to hamstring Tatsutahime by taking up its resources, you once again have access to one of the more reliable means of generating Soul. In fact, in the off occasion that even if you guarded properly you are still taking more damage than you can deal with, this actually means almost reliably being able to set off Yatagarasu's Limit Break by as early as turn 4.<br />
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Unfortunately, this card faces one glitch that the others don't need to deal with; card advantage. While the reality is that only one card is lost, it's the Vanguard booster that needs to be replaced, which leads to a few glitches. On one hand, if you have a Grade 1 in hand and only one Grade 1 in hand, and you decide to use Cinnamon's skill right then and there, chances are you aren't using your cards as proficiently as possible; doubly so if you have no other boosters yet, as you lose out on quite a bit of advantage granted by triggers, which is something you need to deal with. On the other hand, if you don't have a Grade 1 in hand and you go ahead and use Cinnamon, in the off chance that you don't draw another Grade 1 or such, you will be missing your Vanguard booster, which is a huge loss considering <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/08/field-scalability-shield-stages-and.html">how important a full powered Vanguard attack is for your forward leverage</a>, and is now something you <i>really</i> have to deal with. All in all however, you're trading some proficiency in the card's actual usage for far more freedom with CB and more flexible deck choices, so if you can play around these quirks, Cinnamon can definitely do her job.<br />
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With all of that out of the way, Yatagarasu herself is extremely simple to use assuming you aren't an idiot, so going in depth about her will be extremely redundant. Along with this, I only used Metis as an example as she gives the easiest access to Yatagarasu's Limit Break without much hassle at all, but you can opt to use a different Break Ride if you think the rest of your deck's Soul support can keep up. In the end however, what really makes Yatagarasu complicated and warrants the most attention out of the player is the deck composition and being able to properly capitalize off the starter, as smart decisions will pay off in the end.<br />
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<b>How to Fight Against This Card</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.tcgjapan.com/data/vanguard-tcg/product/20131025_140870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.tcgjapan.com/data/vanguard-tcg/product/20131025_140870.jpg" height="320" width="218" /></a>While the opponent is using, say, Metis, it will be damn near impossible to avoid having to deal with the Limit Break should the opponent draw into Yatagarasu. Because of this, there isn't exactly a point of prioritizing anything else than to deal with the late game mess Yatagarasu is going to cause. With this in mind, there's really only one goal when trying to fight against the deck; don't get caught up in the Limit Break. Luckily, there are some quirks about the deck that should help you outmaneuver Yatagarasu, most of these riding on how the deck as a whole is/must be designed. Depending on how dedicated the deck is to picking up Yatagarasu without Metis, you could easily see a virtually vanilla deck coming up to face you. With so much of their deck designed around catering to Yatagarasu's soul, and said soul already being fulfilled by Metis, it means that all their Soul Support units (and thus, pressure units) are rendered virtually useless; this goes for before and after Yatagarasu's Limit Break, generally. What this basically means is that there is only one thing from the deck you need to worry about, Yatagarasu's Limit Break. Take every early game and mid game advantage you can take, whether it be through early guarding, scaling your field to odd stages, and taking full advantage of whatever skills that you have access to that early in the game. Since Yatagarasu's Limit Break is otherwise inevitable, your goal is to create as much distance as possible between you and the opponent so that even after Yatagarasu Limit Breaks, you will be able to pull through. At that point, their deck will once again be rendered virtually unable to do anything other than very basic moves, which almost every deck in the game - should you have played properly up to this point- will be able to outplay and generally beat.<br />
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With all of that out of the way, there are the scenarios that Metis won't be carrying the deck. Because of the large amount of clues there should be as to whether or not the opponent is running a backup Vanguard, along with the fact the opponent probably will ride it turn 3 anyway, let's focus more on when Yatagarasu has to focus on Soul Building support to get to its Limit Break. With this in mind, the most obvious cue to take note of is how much pressure plays a role behind any possible advantage generated. In other words, if your deck has the defensive/hand advantage capabilities to constantly defend from a pressure vanguard, a similar concept will be able to counteract Yatagarasu's main forms of generating Soul. While I can't provide examples due to every scenario being otherwise extremely specific and situational, knowing your own deck's capabilities and whether or not expending mid game resources for the late game or vice versa will best fit your deck will be the key here.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-17632504494692739552014-02-22T06:43:00.001-08:002014-02-22T06:43:11.648-08:00I'm Back Again, So Here Are Some Important AnnouncementsHow the heck am I still getting such a decent flow of traffic...<br />
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Since it turns out the majority of people who come to this blog came here through Google, Vampirestat, and Google Philippines, and apparently Google Singapore happening to like my blog a lot, I'm going to assume most of you don't check the <a href="http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=1158246">Pojo blog thread</a> that hosts links to all sorts of CFV blogs of all kinds. So for those of you who don't know, I've been dealing with a whoooole lot with school and family and yada yada you've all heard this story before so I won't depress you. I think I mentioned getting over this weeks earlier but then I got mildly depressed, and then school caught up, and then stress. Yeah...point is, school is on break and I've had time to sort things out so all my stress from school is mostly gone and all family and in general life issues have been worked out and I finally feel motivated enough and have the time to get back to work on big, <i>actual </i>articles the blog. Hurray.</div>
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So, a few announcements to be made. Once again, judging from how the majority of you are coming to my blog, you probably aren't aware of my most recent project; the Errata'd Format. I've hinted to this time and time before, I think, but I'm finally going public with it. In short, a few friends and I aren't exactly...happy, about the power creep that the game's been facing lately, at all. Like, to make my point clear, pit a BT05 Murakumo deck against a well updated Chaos Breaker Dragon deck for a few matches (hopefully between equally skilled players). Not a fun time for Murakumo. So, we created a(n older version of <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/09/game-design-counter-blasts-soul-blasts.html">the current</a>) grading scale to balance all the cards in the game (at the time), and it actually turned out pretty great. We no longer BS'd each other about how "this deck is so broken dude, I just want to have a fun match, don't play that deck" since virtually every deck we played with were balanced and generally were able to compete with each other. Quite a few bugs getting worked out and updates to the grading scale later, and I have the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/15tyXgu5xRQ_Awa8eEISduC6lZZyEndVxhWYf_grw08k/view">newest updated list for the Errata'd Format up to Season 2</a>, at the time of posting. I'd like others to at least try this out for themselves; see if the game looks far more balanced with the Errata'd format. Our goal now with this is to make the game as fair and balanced for all decks as possible, and since I'm done with most of all the raw number work, I'd really like to get more responses from other players to see what everyone else thinks about the format and if something could be fixed. I need to stress however that while the current list can more than do the job, the Errata'd Format is still a work in progress, and I feel that there are things that can still be improved. So, if you're an intellectual person and think you can keep up with my work, or if you just tried out a few games using the Errata'd Format with your friends and noticed a glitch that needs to be fixed or an improvement that can be made, please email me, comment below, or contact me through Pojo, as I'd enjoy any and all advice to help fix out the Errata'd Format.</div>
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With that out of the way, I mentioned the <a href="http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=1158246">Pojo thread with all the blogs</a>. First of all, I recommend that if you haven't seen any of the active blogs, check them out. Some of them provide great reads and others...don't, and I'm sure you can find other bloggers that may interest you. Second, I want to expand the blog list a bit more. If you happen to know any bloggers that aren't associated with Pojo, please either ask them to message me or send me a link to their blog so I can go ask them. The tl;dr to <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/09/needless-bashing.html">this</a> is that I really would like to improve communication and the sharing of ideas among the Cardfight Vanguard communities, and I'd like to start by connecting blogs so that it becomes much easier for everyone's voice to be heard. With that in mind, I highly suggest you also keep the Pojo thread bookmarked for any recent updates.<br />
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Finally, apparently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55LimW_HEwc">my voice</a> isn't causing people's ears to bleed, so I'm going to be starting a beginner series for the little tips and tricks that newbies can pick up to get better at the game. I already have a basic outline for topics I want to touch up on but I would greatly appreciate it if you can suggest any subjects in particular that you think would help out newbies either here or in the request box.<br />
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Hopefully, I won't be gone for another month again.</div>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-54288650933034056452014-01-13T19:25:00.003-08:002014-01-13T19:25:56.672-08:00Youtube Again<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55LimW_HEwc">Listen to this</a>.<div>
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In short, if it was bad, tell me so. I'll never make a video again. If it was passable, I might start making video commentaries.</div>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-17990075292222530182014-01-03T02:48:00.000-08:002014-01-03T23:24:26.863-08:00Card Review:Demonic Conquering Dragon, Dungaree "Unlimited"<div style="text-align: center;">
Oh dear god, I forgot to press 'publish' before I took a break for Christmas/New Years<br />
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<img height="320" src="http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130626014734/cardfight/images/7/71/BT12-004-RRR_%28Sample%29.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="219" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>[AUTO](VC) <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Limit_Break">Limit Break 4</a> (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (2) & <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Bind">Bind</a> the top card of your deck face up] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to one of your opponent's rear-guards in the front row, retire it, and this unit gets [Power]+2000 for each «<a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Narukami">Narukami</a>» in your bind zone until end of turn.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>[CONT](VC):If you have a card named "<a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Sealed_Demon_Dragon,_Dungaree">Sealed Demon Dragon, Dungaree</a>" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+2000.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>[CONT](VC/RC): <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Lord">Lord</a> (If you have a unit without a same <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Clan">clan</a> as this unit, this unit cannot attack)</i></span></div>
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Well it's a Cross-Ride, so automatically it has that advantage over every other boss that isn't in existence.<br />
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<a href="http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130705194207/cardfight/images/c/c1/BT12-029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130705194207/cardfight/images/c/c1/BT12-029.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="222" /></a>Quite frankly, there isn't much to say about this card since its skill is relatively simple in game theory and in actual execution. I should note however, that if you focus too heavily on the retiring aspect of the card in and of itself, you're probably doing it wrong. See, think of it like this. <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/10/opinions-on-megacolony-lock-vs-retire.html">Retiring's best shtick</a> is that it shuts down power lines, often having a permanent impact on the game. In short, one should always target stage 3 columns; those that force out 15K to guard. The problem is, Dungaree Unlimited is usually going to be sitting on 13K defense, which isn't exactly easy to set up upon. In fact, it usually takes <i>very</i> dedicated builds to be able to generate +23K Rear Guard lanes, and even among them, only a few can do it consistently and/or being able to reuse said lines easily. In short, Cross Riding ultimately makes the retiring aspect of Dungaree Unlimited's skill redundant. The argument can barely even be made that there are the occasions that you don't Cross Ride that you'd have to worry about, as in a deck with no means of manipulating riding consistency, the ability to Cross Ride will happen about 60% of all matches, and 75% of all matches that you rode up properly in the first place. Now, don't somehow misinterpret this as 'Dungaree Unlimited is bad' or 'Retiring with Cross Rides being redundant is the end of the world' or something silly like that. Rather, it simply means that Dungaree Unlimited's role here is not defensive, and should not be perceived as so.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tcgjapan.com/data/vanguard-tcg/product/20130512_c26a78.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.tcgjapan.com/data/vanguard-tcg/product/20130512_c26a78.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="221" /></a>It should be interesting to note just how easy powerful attacks can be achieved through Exorcist Mage, Dan Dan and the easy to use 10K boosters that Narukami has access to. Just by riding Unlimited, one use of Unlimited's skill grants it +4K power, which with a 10K booster leads to a 25K Vanguard column; 4 to 5 stages onto nearly every other Vanguard in the game. The moment that the original Dungaree gets involved however, what with supplying 3 more Binds and Cross Ride defense, Dungaree Unlimited is easily looking at a 33K attack; 6 stages against every other Vanguard in the game and requiring a minimum of at least 3 cards to defend against without Perfect Guards, or even only aiming for a 1 to pass. Considering that some more Binds may occur through calling Rear Guards, and Dungaree Unlimited easily sizes up as one of the bigger offensive forces in the game.<br />
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<b>How to use this card</b><br />
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With how much emphasis I put on pointing out the potential power that Unlimited has, it should be obvious where I'm going to go with outlining Unlimited's role in the deck: An offensive finisher, meant to overrun the opponent through gigantic numbers. What really makes Dungaree Unlimited interesting is that it's not just a one trick pony, not counting the retire that comes with its Limit Break, and all this rests with how it interacts with its previous form.<br />
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<a href="http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130507033130/cardfight/images/0/0e/BT08-008-RRR_%28Sample%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130507033130/cardfight/images/0/0e/BT08-008-RRR_%28Sample%29.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="219" /></a>It should be noted that Cross Riding right away is still in all around good move, regardless of these upcoming strategies. In fact, it's the exact same reasons that Cross Riding right away should be advantageous that fuel the strength behind these strategies, so if your opponent's forces are dwindling in any way, or if they're set up for 11K <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/08/field-scalability-shield-stages-and.html">Magic Numbers</a>, don't try to overthink it and go ahead with Cross Riding if it simply seems to be the best route to go with, as it's most likely going to be one way or another.<br />
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As for the strategies themselves, it all lies in how efficient Sealed Demon Dragon, Dungaree's skill is while playing off of Dan Dan. <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-many-perfect-guards-should-you-run.html">Since I assume we know to run 4 Perfect Guards</a> or at least why one should, it should be easy to <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2012/07/perfect-memory.html">expect the opponent to have one in hand</a>. Ignoring that you may use other units' skills in the fight, or Heal Triggers or Damage Unflippers, you're generally only going to see 2 shots at Unlimited's skill. With one Perfect Guard close to guaranteed and a second easily looming over, there's always the issue of finding ways around it. While strategies like <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-raptor-seriesdeck-breakdown.html">Raptor Colonel's</a> exist and are easily applicable here, SDD Dungaree provides an interesting spin onto standard finisher tactics. For example, if the opponent preemptively prepares for Unlimited by setting up for 18K numbers, it would ultimately make very little difference between going ahead to Cross Ride or staying behind on SDD Dungaree, at least defensively. Because of this, it's actually a perfectly valid move to stay on its previous form to wait it all out.<br />
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<a href="http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130705193653/cardfight/images/thumb/a/a2/BT12-025.jpg/280px-BT12-025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="BT12-025" border="0" data-image-key="BT12-025.jpg" data-image-name="BT12-025.jpg" height="320" src="http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130705193653/cardfight/images/thumb/a/a2/BT12-025.jpg/280px-BT12-025.jpg" width="222" /></a>Now, think of it like this. If I attacked with Dungaree Unlimited and used its Limit Break, and if the opponent only defends with a Perfect Guard, I'd be paying 2 Counter Blasts just to retire a Rear Guard, and most likely locking myself off to only one more use of Unlimited's Limit Break. On the other hand, I could save Dungaree's Limit Break and see if the opponent decides whether or not to drop their Perfect Guard then and there, and I still have two shots at Unlimited's Limit Break. Now on the other hand, if I used SDD Dungaree's Limit Break, I'd only spend 1 CB to retire a unit. Along with this, the opponent is forced into that position of deciding to use their Perfect Guard or not. Finally, if I (eventually) get to 5 damage, I'd <i>still</i> have 2 more shots at Dungaree Unlimited's own Limit Break.<br />
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That was just one example, where I would manage to attain every benefit from both outcomes of using Dungaree Unlimited simply by using SDD Dungaree. In another case, you could have used a card like Dragonic Deathscythe, which would cost you 2 Counter Blasts. Once again assuming you (eventually) will get 5 damage, that means that you can still use SDD Dungaree and Unlimited both once.<br />
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The only problem with this strategy is that it relies on using Dungaree Unlimited's 13K base status as a cushion for SDD Dungaree to not be especially beaten up. Once again, I really must point out that this is an added feature to what you should already be drilling, and along with constantly keeping track of B.a.s.s. Values on either side of the field, you absolutely must be able to recognize when staying on SDD Dungaree will become more of a drawback than it's worth.<br />
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<b>How to Fight Against This Card</b></div>
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It shouldn't be hard to recognize that you generally want to have a well balanced deck that can handle having units retired from time to time, but since that's normally an inherent trait of any good deck, there really shouldn't be much need to go into detail.<br />
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With that out of the way, what should be important to note is how to use your Perfect Guards. Unfortunately, this is an <i>extremely</i> case by case scenario sort of thing to deal with, meaning I can't give any proper tips. What should always be kept in mind however is to understand B.a.s.s. Values or something of the like in order to consistently stay aware of when either player will lose, and then play around it. Ultimately, the reason why the alternate strategy with SDD Dungaree works is because the Dungaree player can take control of how long the match lasts. It's being able to recognize the length of the match under this influence that can outline exactly when a Perfect Guard would be most effective, and allow for avoiding and outmaneuvering some +30K attack.<br />
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Card Design</div>
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As usual, <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/09/game-design-counter-blasts-soul-blasts.html">this thing</a>. I'm also going to make no comments on the Cross Ride part, <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/04/21k-attackers-and-13k-defense.html">due to reasons</a>...</div>
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Funny enough, the Limit is actually perfectly balanced; at least within a vacuum. 2 Counter-Blasts easily stacks up for the high quality +1 the retire generates, leaving Limit Break to count for the power boost. Ultimately, due to only one Bind in a vacuum, and the efforts of chaining multiple other cards otherwise, this means that every part of the skill is perfectly accounted for.</div>
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As per the request for the article: Unfortunately, the metagame isn't based off what is balanced and fair. Decks like Dauntless the End and Eradicators are teaming with units that functionally serve just as well as Dungaree Unlimited and SDD Dungaree can offer, while also being far cheaper and just far more easy to activate and utilize than the latter. From a Card Design perspective, the card just isn't well fitted for dealing with the metagame. While it does have the potential to do so, other cards in the game need a far more mellow and balanced out approach in their designs before such units like Unlimited, which are powerful <i>and</i> balanced, can <i>really</i> shine.</div>
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TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-89125511324981762642013-12-16T23:02:00.000-08:002013-12-16T23:02:10.127-08:00Pojo - Future Card BuddyfightIn short, I was on Pojo, saw a certain post, and decided to comment. Entertain me for a moment while I rant about how I currently see Future Card Buddyfight in relation to Cardfight Vanguard:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Quote:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Originally Posted by <strong>poorproplayer</strong> <a href="http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?p=28822749#post28822749" rel="nofollow"><img alt="View Post" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.pojo.biz/board/images/buttons/viewpost.gif" style="vertical-align: middle;" title="View Post" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Looks like it actually has strategy to it compared to cfv.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I honestly wonder where this idea started up. Quite frankly, it seems the opposite is true (^ ^').</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Like, here me out here. Let's assume that the Gauge system and the Counter Blast system are synonymous in function. Since Gauge is constantly loaded turn per turn with no notable drawbacks (actually, Charging Gauge seems to be an outright benefit considering the redraw), it's rather easy to call out not requiring much skill at all, quite frankly, whereas Counter Blasts are directly linked to damage - they are damage. The card advantage generated by CB is inversely proportional to your footing and/or mechanical advantage in a given fight, and especially considering how efficient it is to guard cheaper attacks that </span><i style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">could</i><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> have allowed more CB, it causes a constant strain between gaining CB but taking damage and potentially falling behind, or preserving damage and possibly card advantage without getting CB for a forward push.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">'But wait Nacho! Do realize that because of the combination of that very redraw, and due to Buddyfight's leveling mechanics, your deck choices aren't limited or predefined by Grades! Look at all the options I have because of this, it must be an easy way to create strategies!'</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Well...no.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">See, and I'm like 100% people are going to catch onto this upon actually playing the game, but Levels have so much deeper implications than you can first imagine. Think of it like this, if the effectiveness of a given card scales to their levels, wouldn't that mean a single Level 3 unit should be about as valuable as three Level 1s? Okay, so for the exact same value, which of the two is cheaper? Fielding only one powerhouse unit that will probably provide an excellent buffer? Or three individual units that are individually very fragile? I really hope this is obvious to you by the way, but okay! Level 3 units. Easily, this could imply that Level 3s are the greatest means of providing an early game buffer, as their base stats are high and are relatively cheap to maintain. But then...you don't gain the offensive benefits; having units attack together and getting the Critical bonus, or surpassing your field's 3 Levels by placing a Level 2 and Level 1 on the sides and equipping an item to yourself. Okay, so after our Level 3s have done their job as a buffer, we're going to want to set up our offensive capabilities, right? And then crash.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">See, there's a reason why we have to give a sh-t about Level 3s being the most efficient to maintain. With the main draw being the only constant source of card advantage available, only 1 card per turn, wouldn't it be incredibly tragic if you lost more than 1 card in a turn? Well, what if you jumped the gun, fielded three, easy to kill, Level 1 units, and the opponent immediately responds with fielding three of their own units to attack and kill off yours? Most likely scenario, 3 cards lost in some way or form. So...yeah. Similar situation with items, leaving the centerline open to attacks is just asking for trouble, and will most likely be extremely expensive to maintain as well defensively. So at the end of the day, we're still trying to do our absolute best to balance the ratios of the deck in order to give us the most optimal probabilities to play in order to have that constant buffer while still having access to that offensive power. Well, at least it's not Vanguard, where we are focusing on Grade 1s, 2s, and 3s and their proportions in the deck in order to maximize our playing capabilities while still being as consistent at performing so as possible, amirite? Hahaha...oh wait.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">'But Nacho, couldn't you say that hullabaloo about Grade 1-I mean, Level 1s and jumping the gun and card advantage be the strategy that Buddyfight has that Cardfight Vanguard doesn't?'</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Oh, of course it is. See, in Buddyfight, you have up to three zones of combat and usually up to three attacks to work with. Now, you can choose to attack your opponent's center column to whittle away resources and score damage onto the opponent to win, or you can choose to be a d-ck and kill of their units in the sidelines in order to gain leverage in on the fight. It's NOTHING like Cardfight Vanguard, where you have up to three zones of combat and usually up to three attacks to work with, where you can choose to attack your opponent's center column to whittle away resources and score damage onto the opponent to win, or you can choose to be a d-ck and kill of their units in the sidelines in order to gain leverage in the fight. I agree, Buddyfight's battle mechanics are so much more unique and deeper.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Satire aside, my point should be grievously obvious. The thing is though, in Buddyfight, your resources are so strained and (with the right attack force, of course) the opponent's offensive capabilities will often force out so much that you don't actually have a say in the matter, whereas in Cardfight Vanguard, because Damage is proportional to CB (and thus potential Card Advantage) AND because Twin Drive allows for far more card advantage to be spread around to be utilized, the latter game is actually probably going to have MORE options more often than not, and thus may in fact technically have MORE strategy (well, having the choice to utilize it anyway) than Buddyfight in this regard.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I think I got all the important points, be it the driving system of both games, deck composition, and battle mechanics/player interaction, so...yeah. Cardfight Vanguard's advantage system is far more in your face about deciding between potential card advantage for long term lost or vice versa, which requires far more thought and strategy to work with. Furthermore, because of how the game's MECHANICS (I will need to see more of the card pool before my suspicions are confirmed) are structured, it could easily imply that the decks in the game are going to start trending to very certain proportions, not unlike Vanguard's decks. Finally, Cardfight Vanguard and Future Card Buddyfight's battle mechanics are virtually identical on many levels, from the approach all the way to the outcome, yet Cardfight Vanguard is better designed for options whereas Buddyfight is way more strict in this regard, or in other words, restricts the amount of ways to employ a strategy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Like, I'm not even hating on Buddyfight, because quite frankly, it does get a few points correct, or at least better so than Vanguard. But my point to take away is that even beginning to suggest Buddyfight unilaterally has far more strategy is a blind claim, and I'm ready to say borderline stupid if you're ready to argue without evidence or reasoning.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">tl;dr: Buddyfight having strictly MORE strategy than Cardfight Vanguard? Yeah...no.</span>TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-12952167309686968192013-12-12T12:49:00.000-08:002014-12-20T16:22:39.016-08:00Game Design<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Possibly Outdated</b></span></div>
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Go ahead and read if you like, many <i>individual</i> things in here should still be relevant.</div>
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That said though, please don't tell me if something's straight up wrong or really old. I already know.</div>
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<a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/09/game-design-counter-blasts-soul-blasts.html">Universal Grading Scale</a></div>
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If only Bushiroad can design a balanced game...</div>
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But they can't, so I made guidelines to rescale Vanguard's units to the same cost per output ratio. Ultimately, this should be the basis for game design in Vanguard, and may be grounds for an errata'd format.</div>
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<a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/10/opinions-on-megacolony-lock-vs-retire.html">Megacolony vs Kagero & Link Joker</a></div>
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Link Joker 'invalidates' Megacolony, on top of the fact that Kagero is strictly better from a mechanical perspective. Where could Megacolony possibly go in order to maintain an identity, and not be completely overrun by these stronger clans?</div>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-930569768558401462013-12-12T10:35:00.002-08:002013-12-12T10:35:45.561-08:00UpdatesThose of you who still frequent older articles may notice them disappearing and being replaced by:<br />
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<img height="33" src="http://i.imgur.com/AejsxTf.png" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="640" /></div>
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at which case, I'm updating them. As of the time of writing this update, the <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2012/07/snogal-royal-paladindeck-breakdown.html">Snogal Paladin</a> decklist has been updated to a more cohesive form, and the <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-wolf-and-hare-gold-paladindeck-run.html">Wolf and Hare</a> deck is currently being updated. With this in mind, I really need some people to help locate some of the <b><i>really</i></b> old articles that <i style="font-weight: bold;">really</i> need to be updated. I'll be updating all of them, essentially, but it may be best if I can prioritize which ones I should get to first.</div>
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On top of this, I'm resetting the Request Box. Point being that the next one in line, Master Beetle, is over 6 months overdue. I'll be keeping all of these old requests in a document somewhere else and I will get to them eventually, but if I tried marching along those, I'm never going to get to any new requests for...6 months. Exaggeration aside, now is the time to put in new requests or repeat and older one if you really want me to get to it some time soon.</div>
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Unfortunately, this newfound focus on the articles is going to take away from my time to <i>actually</i> work on the forums, however I still would like to know if there's anything that I currently don't have on the agenda that can be added to the forums.</div>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-18075484641667407592013-12-11T22:42:00.003-08:002013-12-11T22:42:40.523-08:00Break Ride+Vanguards<a href="http://www.pojo.biz/board/showpost.php?p=28782066&postcount=90">So I got a request from Pojo.</a><br />
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Gross Card Advantage/Net Card Advantage<br />
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It should be noted that I am treating the Ride itself as only -.5, <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/09/game-design-counter-blasts-soul-blasts.html">for reasons I've explained before</a>.<br />
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Gancelot+Platina Ezel<br />
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[267/49]/[485/98, 3 Counter Blasts]<br />
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Gancelot+Gancelot Zenith<br />
(Assuming twelve +11K beaters in deck while fighting 11K Vanguard)<br />
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[7.873643074250977]/[6.373643074250977, 1 Counter Blast, Cross Ride]<br />
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Gancelot+Spectral Duke Dragon<br />
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[9.9491966999565784]/[6.4491966999565784, 2 Counter Blast]<br />
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Infinite Zero+CBD<br />
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[152/49(+2)(+2)]/[255/98(+2)(+2), (1 Soul), (1 Soul)]<br />
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Infinite Zero+CBD (Triangle Lock)<br />
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[228/49(+2)(+2)(+2)]/[309/98(+2)(+2)(+2), 1 Counter Blast, (1 Soul), (1 Soul), (1 Soul)]<br />
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So in case you don't want to 'translate' these numbers, Infinite Zero+CBD completely overshoots Platina Ezel in most every regard. Meanwhile, if you triangle lock, and are able to use CBD's Limit Break at least twice against Zenith or Spectral Duke, you're beating them out. Point being, Infinite Zero+CBD generate a crapload of card advantage.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pojo.biz/board/showpost.php?p=28788312&postcount=95">Here's a more fleshed out breakdown of these numbers</a>. But yeah, Infinite Zero+CBD, crazy overbearing.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-73000110299949866902013-12-10T00:43:00.002-08:002013-12-10T00:44:16.465-08:00Thunkofcardgames ForumsMay be a thing.<br />
<br />
Alright, so I'm back from my fairly long 'break', and I wanted to revive this idea.<br />
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And follow through.<br />
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While the forums are still under construction, mostly because I'm doing this on a whim (as usual), I invite everyone to at least make an account there while I go settle a few things. Once you're there, please sign in and such, and please direct your attention to the request box. In short, list out anything in particular you want to see out of these forums, however small or menial. While I'm still trying to figure forumotion out and may not be able to get to everything, I'd really like to build my own community here.<br />
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Alongside this, the writer I was looking to add dropped out, which makes me kinda sad, but hey. For now, I'd like everybody to stop sending article requests since, well, that schedule grows much faster than I get the time to write anything in particular, so that's one thing. Along with this, I <u>really</u> need to update older articles.<br />
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With that, here's a link to the forums, and the forum request box:<br />
<a href="http://thunkofcardgames.forumotion.com/">http://thunkofcardgames.forumotion.com</a><br />
<a href="http://thunkofcardgames.forumotion.com/t2-request-box-forum">http://thunkofcardgames.forumotion.com/t2-request-box-forum</a>TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-18602298205345106992013-11-02T22:56:00.002-07:002013-11-02T22:56:49.830-07:00Thunkofcardgames is Shutting Down for the MonthI forgot to post this yesterday, weird.<br />
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Anywho, as the title says. I'll be gone for a month straight because of family and November related stuffs, and probably won't be back until early to mid-December. You can probably still easily contact me through Pojo or Vmundi (or Wiki and other sites if you've recognized me...) if you want a one on one discussion, or want me to go over something for you. Otherwise, I'm avoiding writing major articles, as it takes far too much time for what I need to do. Until then, see you guys in December.<br />
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Off note, when I do come back, I may also bring another writer with me onto Thunkofcardgames. For now, I've thought of having him take over for CFV while I go exploring other games, but it really depends on what happens until December to establish anything. Mind dropping a comment here or onto the request box for what you want out of us?TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-78796435853184861162013-10-22T00:48:00.001-07:002013-10-22T00:48:28.015-07:00You do Realize the Blog is Called 'Thunkofcardgames', Right?Or at least it says so in the url.<br />
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And it's how I personally address my blog.<br />
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And now I've changed the title of the blog.<br />
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Okay I'm going to be blunt here, Cardfight Vanguard is boring. It used to be an alright game, as everything before set 10 was moderately around the same power range and, ignoring Cross-Rides, it was a rather level playing field. Nowadays, not so much. And what with the game turning into Cardight RestandtheVanguard and only being able to find so much joy out of an errata'd format I'm building with friends, it's just no longer grabbing my interest like it used to.<br />
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Not to mention the CFV communities are all generally big bumbling messes of asshats everywhere but, I think some of you who have been reading for a while have already figured this out.<br />
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I think I want to branch out from here. Find some other card game or turn based strategy game to put analytical thought to. Now before someone mentions it, I am <u style="font-weight: bold;">not</u> abandoning Cardfight Vanguard. I will continue to post my own kind of analysis articles at the irregular rate I already do. After all, there's still <i>so much</i> I can write about game design when I feel my rough drafts become presentable. However, now just seems to be a really good time to try and get my feet wet with other games, maybe carry something over from Vanguard over to another game or vice versa, and explore these new concepts. Who knows, maybe I'll come across an entire chapter of newfound thought that I can't normally find from Cardfight Vanguard alone, but would be brilliant if I could carry it over.<br />
<br />
So, big question. Does anyone want to read my articles analyzing games other than Cardfight Vanguard, and if so, do you have any recommendations? I'd like to keep it to card games, just for consistency's sake, but so long as you don't tell me to review Kaijudo, I'd be very interested to accommodate.TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-73995506361603223942013-10-14T23:55:00.000-07:002013-10-18T12:48:21.848-07:00Opinions on Megacolony - Lock vs RetireOh boy here we go. I got annoyed seeing the naysayers screaming about how Megacolony is dead and all that crap so you know what? Here's my thoughts on the issue.<br />
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I hope some of you remember the <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/06/locking-vs-retiring.html">Lock vs Retire</a> article I made a while back, where I detailed that essentially, under the exact same vacuum conditions, Retiring is always equal to or greater than Lock in pure, calculable card advantage.</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">And I also found someone's blogpost trying to refute mines, mentioning something about how Locking may be better if it was cheaper. But, you know, that kinda destroys the entire point of comparing Lock and Retire in identical conditions in the first place so, yeah. It was a kinda pointless post.</span><br />
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Anyway, onto actually relevant things, if we've already established what Retiring has over Locking, where does 'Trapping', Megacolony's ability to trap down Rear-Guards, stand in this comparison? Well, a better question would be like, how is it different?<br />
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Seriously, think of Locking, Retiring, and Trapping for a moment, and notice all the traits specific to their methods of applying their skills.<br />
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- Retire based decks are the most outright sworn to their abilities, because retiring is best used as a defensive measure to crush power lines that show up. Because the opponent is can potentially be very spontaneous as to when they set up their power lines, a dedicated retire deck would have some combination of being filled to the brim with <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Demonic_Dragon_Mage,_Kimnara">utility units that are ready to activate when you need them</a>, or bigger, <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Dragonic_Kaiser_Vermillion">more dominating forces</a> that even if are only able to be used once, have a large window of effectiveness that can often cover you for the course of many turns. This way, Retiring always has the chance to respond almost immediately (if we consider the turn right after as 'immediate') and actively play a role at controlling the opponent's power lines; the job they do best.<br />
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- The Lock mechanic is far more temporary a skill to enforce upon the opponent. With the effects of a given Lock skill literally giving way in the matter of a single turn's worth of difference, unlike how Retiring skills gain a lot of defensive benefits if they can shut down power lines immediately, there is just no need to so wholeheartedly dedicate an entire deck with utility units or omnipresent Vanguards like Retiring requires there to be. To put it in short, there is very little difference between a Lock in the Midgame vs a Lock in the Late Game under similar general conditions. Because of how temporary Lock is, many cards from Link Joker dedicate themselves to making the absolute best out of a given Lock. Surprisingly, this was taken a step further, as the Vanguards of Link Joker are all the main enablers for the rest of the deck. Some 6 to 8 cards, which is rather small in scale to how far a Kagero deck can go, are all that Link Joker has to get out that first Lock that starts everything, and this is because the Lock mechanic is just so well designed to follow this role. Once again, Lock is a very static and temporary skill, it's simply designed in a way that does not require high maintenance or variation, and because of this, a Lock deck can turn the few Locks that they do get and use the vast amount of support they are allowed to fit in with all the extra space to do some real damage with it.<br />
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- Trapping is almost identical to Locking in that it's an extremely temporary and immediate form of card advantage, meaning that unlike Kagero, it doesn't need to constantly watch over the opponent and react as fast as possible to fight them off. What makes Trapping far different from Locking is that it actively offers something that Lock nor Retire ever actually give; a choice. Instead of permanently shutting down columns like Locking, the opponent still has the option to retire their own booster to replace it right away, effectively turning the Lock into a sort of 'pseudo retire' in that exact moment. Now, many people believe this to be an innate weakness of Megacolony, but on the contrary, this may actually be their defining strength. Retiring needs to stay on the ball, constantly keeping track of whatever moves the opponent makes and shutting down their power columns the moment they see something. Otherwise, the effectiveness of their retires effectively fizzles if the opponent simply replaces the retired unit immediately, instead of guaranteeing some large amount of overall shielding saved if they shot down an actual priority target. On the other hand, Locking is guaranteed to at least get something meaningful out of a well placed Lock, power column or not. Despite this, their skills are temporary. At best, and ignoring Chaos Breaker Dragon, all they're doing is postponing the problem; not solving it. Trapping has means around these weaknesses, however. They're similar to Lock in that they most certainly will get at least something noteworthy — say saving a 10K shield — from any single given Trap. At the same time however, the opponent knows that they can't fall too far behind offensively, and eventually, they will call over their units. By specifically targeting priority Rear-Guards, this method can effectively act as a Retire with no short term shortcomings like a real Retire. It also can persuade people to do absolutely stupid things, like making the opponent Intercept away a Trapped unit <u>alongside another 5K/10K shield</u> during the midgame, <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/04/early-guarding-and-how-pressure-units.html">which I hope many of you are aware of why this is not actually a good move</a>.<br />
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And with this, we've located exactly where Megacolony can still shine. Seriously, listing these out gives a really good perspective:<br />
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Retiring's strengths lie in its ability to shut down power columns. In order to actively combat the opponent's columns, they should be designed to be able to actively engage against the opponent through the use of utility Rear-Guards, or be omnipresent enough to simply take over multiple turns.<br />
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Locking's strengths are very individualized and in the moment. In order to make up for how temporary any individual Lock is, they should be designed to be able to actively and aggressively combo off of Locking, and make even a single Lock meaningful and influential on a fight for the short time it's in effect.<br />
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Trapping's strengths lie in its flexibility. In order to actively abuse both how independently useful a successful Trapping is and to force upon the opponent so many more events that the opponent can screw up for themselves, they should be designed with multiple different niche abilities to provide the most coverage among the most areas.<br />
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<b>So What Does This Mean for Megacolony?</b></div>
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Honestly, I really hope the people up at Bushiroad aren't the twats I jokingly name them to be, because so far, they've done Kagero/Narukami and Link Joker pretty well (well from an overall design perspective. Their balance sucks) so really, it's all a matter if they really could pick up on what makes Trapping a legitimately powerful tool.</div>
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Seriously, if Bushiroad's designers are smart, then I forecast these 2 events happening:</div>
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1. There's going to be a drastic movement away from <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Karma_Queen">these</a> and</div>
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2. there's going to be a drastic movement torwards <a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Megacolony_Battler_B">these</a>.</div>
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What really should be emphasized here is just forcing as many Traps onto the opponent as possible for maximum effectiveness. Yes, a Master Beetle type card may do the job in very specific situations, but Megacolony's strengths lie in the ability to force the opponent to mess themselves up. It's the opponent's decision to start excessively killing off their priority Rear-Guards to keep up in the fight. It's the opponent's decision to allow trapped columns to sit where they are so that they don't need to constantly be replacing fielded units. It's the opponent's decision whether or not they want to (stupidly) be using multiple cards to guard attacks with Intercepts. If Bushiroad can recognize this, if the Cardfight Vanguard design team can capitalize on enforcing as many Traps onto the opponent as possible to force them to mess up, then I can see a bright future for Megacolony. One unique from Link Joker in the vast difference in how Locking handles compared to Trapping, and filled with many niche Trappers who constantly put the opponent's forces on edge.</div>
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If you think there's more that can be added to this discussion, please post a comment below on how you think Megacolony's strengths can be individualized from Retiring and Locking skills, and what Bushiroad should do with Megacolony in future sets.</div>
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TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-33464695484072077572013-10-13T20:27:00.003-07:002013-10-14T00:29:55.756-07:00Updates and StuffHey guys, I know I haven't posted in 2 weeks, again, but hey, I've been catching up these last few days with 3 brand new articles. If you can't be bothered to just scroll down, here's <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/10/deck-breakdowndeathrex-tachikaze.html">Thursday</a>, <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/10/card-reviewdestruction-dragon-dark-rex.html">Friday</a>, and <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/10/tyrant-deathrex-vs-raptor-colonel.html">Saturday</a>.<br />
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Wow that's a lot of Tachikaze...<br />
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Along with this, <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-raptor-seriesdeck-breakdown.html">the Raptor Series Deck Breakdown</a> has been updated to fit the whole '11K metagame until otherwise noted' thing I have posted up on the deck breakdowns tab, along with <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-many-perfect-guards-should-you-run.html">the Perfect Guard Article</a> following the example set by my game design article, in that I should base my logic off of actual solid reasoning and mathematics rather than outside examples that, quite frankly, are far more subject to debate.<br />
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So, yeah. 5 articles in 2 weeks, I swear I haven't been slacking, just not posting.<br />
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And Bladewing Reiji is still the most popular post of the week...what? I haven't even updated that since...wait what?TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-32701984756151325942013-10-12T18:04:00.000-07:002013-10-13T20:23:15.241-07:00Tyrant Deathrex vs. Raptor Colonel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img height="320" src="http://images.wikia.com/cardfight/images/8/85/BT01-033EN-R_%28Sample%29.PNG" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="218" /> <span style="font-size: x-large;">VS</span> <img height="320" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130520021435/cardfight/images/3/32/BT08-016EN-RR_%28Sample%29.jpg" width="219" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(I really like sample pics...donno if it annoys anyone though)</span></div>
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And so without further ado, the battle between two titans of the Tachikaze clan is off. As always, it's hard to really give a fair comparison between both cards in a vacuum, so we need to see how the entirety of their respective decks operate:<br />
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<a href="http://bushiroad.fm/cgm/ecommerce/bushiroad/images/large/8b2251dacdcb1c3bea80730358f8663f.jpg?1306997911" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://bushiroad.fm/cgm/ecommerce/bushiroad/images/large/8b2251dacdcb1c3bea80730358f8663f.jpg?1306997911" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="219" /></a>Tyrant Deathrex and Raptor Colonel represent 2 completely different aspects of forward advantage. Where Raptor Colonel represents raw power, easily breaking multiple <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/08/field-scalability-shield-stages-and.html">stages</a> and blasting through tons of shields with a single use of its Limit Break, Tyrant Deathrex's power can serve to forward field development, being able to solo it's way through the fight and saving you an extra card you don't necessarily need for boosting, on top of allowing flexibility depending on your choices. While both Deathrex and Colonel are essentially synergistic with any non-Ancient Dragons based deck due to their mostly splashable nature, let's simply base these next claims off the styles worked into these decks: <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/10/deck-breakdowndeathrex-tachikaze.html">Deathrex</a>|<a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-raptor-seriesdeck-breakdown.html">Colonel</a><br />
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Tyrant Deathrex is not a card that can simply be viewed in a vacuum, however. If we do so, we are told very little about its possibilities in a build. This in mind, it also means that a build that's heavily reliant on Deathrex also needs to have at least some level of dedication towards it, a detail which may or may not say something about Deathrex. Deathrex however is not a pushover in any right. During the midgame, if facing a 10K Vanguard, its unboosted attack already hits <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/08/field-scalability-shield-stages-and.html">3 stages</a>, meaning that one less card is necessary to properly establish a field for the midgame. This essentially cancels out one of Deathrex's retires for one turn, while still giving it power during the late game to force more shielding out of the opponent for, at that point, no effort at all. While boosted, its attack breaking often 4 stages means that it can evade damage triggers, which if combined with a stage 3 Rear-Guard column, can easily mean 2 successful hits at the opponent, dealing damage and most likely forcing them far behind in a fight.<br />
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What really makes Deathrex shine is when cards like Dragon Egg and Skyptero assist it. Because of the lack of other Counter-Blasts that Tachikaze would burn through, card advantage is of little concern when either of the two maintain Deathrex's costs, essentially meaning that the player can take full advantage of Deathrex's power and/or indirect +1. The other notable set of retire targets are the +3K Winged Dragons, Beamptero and Slashptero. With a build that can create 18K columns, Deathrex's cost becomes a form of card advantage, with creating even more stage 3 columns to rush the opponent or drag out even more cards from their hand. There also isn't nearly as much need for trying to dance around triggers, due to Tyrant Deathrex's timing window. This essentially means that even if a stage 3 column is not possible because of a Damage Trigger, the option to simply save card advantage through Dragon Egg or Skyptero would still be there, while they can also act as a buffer to carry you into the next turn. With this balance of card advantage and forward push in the midgame, Deathrex's abilities as a main Vanguard with a deck dedicated to supporting it makes it an extremely viable and powerful unit to rely on.<br />
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Meanwhile, Raptor Colonel represents almost the complete opposite of what Deathrex is capable of. Where Deathrex's strengths lie in a fast paced and aggressive midgame, Raptor Colonel takes full domination and control over the late game. While it isn't to say that a Raptor Colonel deck can't maintain a powerful midgame, as it could potentially use Deathrex as a midgame Vanguard, and its Ride Chain giving it 2 otherwise free units to build the field faster, the fact remains that its capabilities simply do not compare to a dedicated Deathrex build, and vice versa. What makes Raptor Colonel so dangerous is the lack of options the opponent has in the late game. With a high enough Critical count punishing players that try to dance around Colonel by not guarding at all, Raptor Colonel punishes players no matter how they guard its attack. If Perfect Guards are limited, then it becomes of holding out on shielding. Drop the Perfect Guards too soon, and Raptor Colonel is given the opportunity to flat out steamroll the opponent with some +30K assault. Stall for too long, and continuously burning through the 15K shield and two cards to keep Colonel out, on top of compensating for Rear-Guards, will end up completely destroying the hand. Almost no matter what, the opponent is in a losing position.<br />
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Unfortunately, this is where the comparison ends. Playing 2 completely different roles for their respective decks, there's very little to actually compare between the two. Deathrex builds tend to be far more flexible. Despite their not as amazing late game, they make up for it with their ability to set up the field quickly, and start beating away with power columns. On the other hand, Raptor Colonel builds tend to lack a midgame much at all without their Ride Chain's skills, but instead offer the opponent almost no 'good' options by the late game. With two such distinct roles, it should simply be left up to the player to decide which deck they think fits them the most, and this vs becomes all but a matter of opinion.<br />
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Except, one last unit has something to add.<br />
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<a href="http://bushiroad.fm/cgm/ecommerce/bushiroad/images/large/607bfa7950349ff165696c9d4253b4b6.jpg?1345620324" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://bushiroad.fm/cgm/ecommerce/bushiroad/images/large/607bfa7950349ff165696c9d4253b4b6.jpg?1345620324" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="219" /></a>Destruction Dragon, Dark Rex is a huge threat in and of itself. As discussed in its Card Review, Dark Rex gives yet another power up option to Deathrex builds and has a combo with Deathrex that can devastate the opponent by suddenly punching them through the midgame, or bear heavily over them within the Late Game. It also combos well with Raptor Colonel's skill, not only for giving the opponent almost no good option to take in the late game but capitalizing on it and enforcing strength over the opponent even if they try to get away with the lesser of two immediate evils. While this still leaves the comparison relatively up to debate, this does give us far more context to consider. Deathrex builds aren't just Midgame based builds that only try to emphasize field scalability and damage rushing, but also have a huge punch to deliver to the opponent by the late game. Colonel builds not only take away from the opponent in the late game no matter what they try to do, but are able to punish them even further when necessary.<br />
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Be sure to comment below on what you think is the better between these two. Tyrant Deathrex, who's build focuses on all around strength and covers a bit of everything moderately well, or Raptor Colonel, who can completely wreck the opponent the moment they hit the Late Game. Or, point out something I missed, and contribute to the comparison, all to better analyze the two cards.</div>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161643226303314479.post-34701676531652144882013-10-11T22:45:00.000-07:002013-10-13T20:19:33.422-07:00Card Review:Destruction Dragon, Dark Rex<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">[AUTO](</span><a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Bind" style="background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #006cb0; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Bind">Bind zone</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">) </span><b style="background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Limit Break 4</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"> (</span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This ability is active if you have four or more damage</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">):[Choose three of your «</span><a href="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Tachikaze" style="background-color: white; border: 0px currentColor; color: #006cb0; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Tachikaze">Tachikaze</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">» rear-guards, and retire them] At the beginning of the close step of the battle that your grade 3 or greater «Tachikaze» vanguard attacked, if the attack did not hit during that battle, you may pay the cost. If you do, ride this card.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">[ACT](Hand):[Bind this card] Choose up to one of your «Tachikaze», and that unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of turn.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #3a3a3a; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 21px;">As a support Vanguard, Dark Rex's success and usage is largely dependent on the primary Vanguard and the general build of the deck. More standard decks like Deathrex, Battlerex, or Spinodriver builds should focus on Dark Rex's secondary skill in tandem with 18K columns to dominate the opponent; pushing them down with damage and more easily lining them up for the late game. Meanwhile, Tyrannolegend or Raptor Colonel builds, while also utilizing the secondary skill when possible, should be putting far more emphasis on the dynamic of how their finisher based skills react with Dark Rex's Limit Break.</span><br />
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What makes Deathrex so good at its job is probably how well rounded it is. With its secondary skill allowing for a far more powerful midgame or late game, especially among Rear-Guard lines, it feeds into its own Limit Break's strength. With 16K columns all across, Dark Rex achieves a 5 damage danger zone of a stagnating 50K and 6 cards, and from there, only increases in either utility or raw strength depending on the Vanguard being used with it.<br />
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<b>How to Use This Card</b><br />
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Of course, using Darkrex depends highly on which two classes of Tachikaze Vanguards it is paired up with.<br />
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What's relatively constant among most of the builds however, is the usage of the 3K boost. Although limited in some Tachikaze, simply the inclusion of being able to make 18K columns is enough to enable Dark Rex's second skill's strength. What makes Death Rex absolutely brilliant is that you don't need to dedicate some +8 cards of deckspace specifically to create 21K columns only when a very specific combination units line up together. Instead of focusing so heavily on getting those 2 specific units to line up onto the field, an 18K column can easily be created by a wide range of combinations among 10K beaters and the 8K Vanilla boosters, and even more still with units like Cannon Gear. Despite this however, the more specific set ups between, say, Death Metal Droid and Tough Boy do have one clear advantage over Dark Rex; reusability. Because Dark Rex must drop itself into the Bind Zone, it's restrained to only one use, at least per copy. This means that it's much less of a matter of beating away at the opponent, but picking the smartest times in a fight to suddenly drop power columns down onto the opponent. This is actually where Deathrex, Battlerex, and to a lesser extent, Spinodriver do amazingly well with Dark Rex's secondary skill. Because the trio are often striking at +21K power, which after considering a 2 to pass is a <a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/08/field-scalability-shield-stages-and.html">stage</a> 4 attack, they can abuse the system of stages by completely avoiding damage triggers. For example:<br />
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<img height="200" src="http://images.wikia.com/cardfight/images/8/89/27a.png" style="-webkit-user-select: none; text-align: left;" width="137" /> <img height="200" src="http://images.wikia.com/cardfight/images/c/c3/BT01-033-R_%28Sample%29.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="136" /> <img height="200" src="http://images.wikia.com/cardfight/images/c/c3/BT01-033-R_%28Sample%29.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; text-align: left;" width="137" /></div>
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With Dark Rex's power boost, Cannon Gear will be attacking at 21K power, a stage 3 attack. In the midgame, most rational players wouldn't drop more than 1 card to guard an attack, essentially meaning that Cannon Gear gets a free ticket to hitting the opponent. Next, Deathrex can attack with its own boost. At 22K power, even if the opponent pulls a damage trigger, Deathrex will be attacking at at least 3 stages. Once more, a free shot at the opponent. With the third column reaching out to threaten priority Rear-Guards, and mediate the amount of 10K shields in the opponent's hand, ultimately the turn that Dark Rex can combo with a powerful Vanguard is often the turn of a sudden damage rush with 2 otherwise confirmed hits, along with whatever Criticals can offer. Alternatively, you can wait for the late game in order to use this, which can often annihilate the opponent's hand, which is also the safer option for the Vanguards that don't regularly break 4 stages on their own. For Dark Rex, it's almost never a matter of whether you can or can't establish power columns, since Tachikaze is a clan where 18K columns isn't much of a challenge. Instead, it all comes down to timing; how effective the player can take Dark Rex's one shot at its skill, and dominating the opponent with it. From there, the focus is all on the Limit Break.</div>
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Deathrex takes a rather simple approach to the combo, and is not unlike just a normal vanilla attack pattern. What makes Deathrex special is that it can attack for 15K unboosted, which post 2 to pass is a stage 3 attack against any 10K Vanguards. This essentially makes the best option at 5 damage to attack with both Rear-Guards columns first, then attack with Deathrex unboosted in order to preserve a booster for Dark Rex to overpower the opponent far easier. Triggers are also otherwise saved because they can be passed onto the booster. Using this method makes the overall b.a.s.s. value of the assault around 6 cards strong, so the danger zone with a R-R-Unboosted V-Boosted V attack pattern is anywhere under 6 cards. At even with a Perfect Guard or 2, an opponent with less than 6 cards at 5 damage has a good chance of losing right then and there. Against 11K or greater Vanguards, it's better to fight R-Boosted V-Unboosted V-R, and the danger zone drops down to 5 cards. </div>
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<a href="http://images.wikia.com/cardfight/images/8/80/BT11-012-RR_%28Sample%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.wikia.com/cardfight/images/8/80/BT11-012-RR_%28Sample%29.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="219" /></a>Ancient Dragon, Spinodriver's Break Ride ability essentially necessitates a R-R-bV-uV attack pattern, so to put it simply, with a vanilla field between them, the combo between them similarly has a 6 card danger zone. Unlike Deathrex, who is dependent on the opponent having a 10K Vanguard to reach this 6 card danger zone, Spinodriver should be able to consistently reach this so long as you have the proper booster. Despite being far more stable to reach this danger zone, there is one big problem. While yes, it can be argued that trading away your 5 Rear-Guards for 4 cards of hand advantage and blasting away at the opponent is a pretty good trade, the fact remains that it is a very temporary measure. With a lone Dark Rex on the field being all that's left, even after considering the gigantic 6 card punch that the combo gave, the player is going to need to build into something in order to continue applying the pressure needed to continually push the opponent if the assault did not work the first time. This should not undermine the strength behind the 6 card danger zone that the duo establishes, and it is still a really good safety net if something goes awry, but in that regard, that should be all it is; a safety net. Within the final turns of the fight, focus more on the offensive capabilities of this combination, not the defensive, at least not until absolutely necessary.</div>
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Battlerex is a rather odd card to write for, mostly because from my limited research time, the vast majority simply does not know what they want to do with dealing with it. So, since I can't really get a good consensus, I'll be basing Battlerex's attack on a sort of '3 to pass' system, since it's the most reliable way to defend yourself over 80% of the time.</div>
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This in mind, and considering that Battlerex can end up eating your attack forces otherwise, this is yet another scenario where the R-R-V-V attack pattern should be the priority. With the '3 to pass' in place, Battlerex otherwise acts just like Deathrex in that it should attack 10K Vanguards unboosted, as it would be enough to force out 3 stages, and also has a 6 card danger zone with such an assault. Otherwise, 5 cards against 11K and bigger Vanguards.</div>
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<a href="http://images.wikia.com/cardfight/images/1/16/BT08-016-RR_%28Sample%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.wikia.com/cardfight/images/1/16/BT08-016-RR_%28Sample%29.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="219" /></a>Military Dragon, Raptor Colonel takes a much different approach to utilizing Dark Rex than the others. While the player should stay constantly aware if the opponent really is in danger of losing if they do use Dark Rex's Limit Break, Dark Rex should instead act as a sort of assurance behind Raptor Colonel's own late game '<a href="http://thunkofcardgames.blogspot.com/2013/04/early-guarding-and-how-pressure-units.html">pressure</a>'. With Raptor Colonel, the opponent has almost no good answer to what it can throw at them. Should the opponent choose to Perfect Guard Colonel, this opens up the opportunity in the following turns to crush them with Colonel's raw power, or Dark Rex can take this opportunity to swoop in and pick away at the opponent's now limited hand. Should the opponent choose to guard regularly, not only are they burning through excess shielding that they normally wouldn't have had to spend, but Dark Rex now allows for following through on the assault if necessary, meaning that the late game strength of the Vanguard isn't trapped behind how much shielding the opponent is willing to burn through. This sort of assurance on top of Raptor Colonel's already powerful late game dominance can easily turn the Late Game into what's essentially a deathtrap for the opponent. </div>
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This same principle extends to Tyrannolegend, albeit with minor differences. Tyrannolegend absolutely must have, say, Iguanogorg or Baby Rex, in order to utilize the same strategy if you decide to completely follow through. Despite this reliance on other cards, the combo is potentially stronger in the hands of the Ancient Dragons when done correctly. Baby Rex in particular allows for an accelerated midgame on top of what Dark Rex's +3K boost can offer by helping with proper field set up. Rather than Colonel's more chance reliant Ride Chain, this means that Tyrannolegend's trade for requiring more to work with is that it actually has more to work with in the first place; much more speed to set up offense. This also stretches out to Tyrannolegend becoming a pseudo-Deathrex, thanks to its secondary skill making it a 16K beater all on its own. However, this is far more temporary than what Deathrex can offer, so it should simply be treated as icing on the cake.</div>
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<b>How to Fight Against This Card</b></div>
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Unfortunately, it's a bit of a problem trying to express how to counter Dark Rex because of how malleable it is.</div>
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The problem with trying to shut down power columns is how easy 18K columns are to build for a dedicated Tachikaze deck.</div>
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The problem with trying to counter its Limit Break is that Dark Rex is designed so that it always wins in some way for just using it.</div>
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The problem with trying to counter its synergy with Colonel and Tyrannolegend is that the situation is never actually in your control.</div>
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Ultimately, there's not too much one could legitimately do to fight against the card.<br />
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In terms of card design, there's a lot of things that Dark Rex intrinsically does right.</div>
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Despite being a Limit Break unit, it does not centralize the deck at all to the Late Game. While it has many strengths if it were to be forced to be a late game only card, it still works equally as well if not even better when properly timed for Midgame usage. It's Limit Break is also designed like a safety net, transitioning field advantage into hand advantage for more defensive purposes, though not to such extremes like when comboed with Spinodriver, and is far more easy to recover from. Finally, it is a support Vanguard by nature, meaning that the emphasis on the deck is still on yet another primary Vanguard, focusing more synergistic plays rather than shoehorning a deck that is simply there for the Vanguard to reside in.</div>
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As for actual costs rather than just philosophy on card design, Dark Rex's secondary ability is right on the mark for what it should be. At a break even that requires outside setup to be utilized properly, sitting at 0 CB makes immediate sense for the skill, so let's focus instead on Dark Rex's Limit Break.</div>
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With 3 Retires, a Twin Drive, and for what it will most likely force out or retire from the opponent, Dark Rex's Limit Break is once again one big break even. It should be well noted that you must retire 3 units from your field, 3 often battle ready units that more or less wouldn't be bad in nature without compromising your offensive ability. This in mind, I'd like to say whether it deserves the qualitative Counter-Blast is really rather up to debate, however the extra Soul that Dark Rex is granted for being a 10K unit does alleviate some of this.</div>
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All in all, this means that Dark Rex is almost the very pinnacle of what a good support Vanguard should be. It doesn't take away focus from the rest of the deck, but rather gives more options for the deck as a whole to act under through the power up skill. Despite being a Limit Break, its effects on the fight aren't limited to just the Late Game, and when it is the Late Game, it can only serve to bolster offensive power or do a very good job at complementing the Vanguards that dominate the Late Game already. With this, Dark Rex, from a design standpoint, is easily one of the most noteworthy cards one can come across in the game.</div>
TehNACHOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11956998625977778875noreply@blogger.com0