Death Army Attack Combos

Alright, I'm totally jettisoning the DA Stern review for this to explain the many attack formations and patterns of the Death Army duo, in conjunction with Asura Kaiser. Basically, each set of pictures aligns for:

• Restand 4 (Both Rear-Guard columns restand)
• Restand 3 (1 Rear-Guard column and 1 beater restand)
• Restand 2 (2 Beaters restand, compared to 1 column restanding)

And at the end of the article, a much neater summary to explain the effectiveness of each attack formation, and how powerful they are.

Okay, let's say this happens:

              

              

Now, how do you attack?

With the understanding of b.a.s.s. values, I can gauge exactly what sort of attacking pattern is best off for forcing out the maximum amount of shield from the opponent. Now from here, we have 3 options. V-R-R, R-V-R, or R-R-V, and adjust with so.

V-R-R's b.a.s.s. value is a regular vanilla b.a.s.s. value, basically meaning its output is about 38.3K shield in the form of 4.7 cards, rounded. R-V-R has an output of about 41.3K in the form of 4.9 cards. R-R-V's b.a.s.s. value comes up to 41.3K shield forced out in the form of an impressive 6.7 cards, along with having the 5/49 chance to break an opponent's 2 to pass, assuming the player places their triggers on their Vanguard.

Knowing this, the best option in this situation is to attack with your Vanguard last. These numbers also automatically assume you will use your triggers on your Vanguard (because the 1/3 chance to draw a trigger is much higher than the 1/6 chance to pull a Grade 3 on your second check), but can possibly force out just a little more if the player chooses otherwise. Also, from a vanilla form, attacking last forces out 150/49 more, about 3.1K more than normal, along with forcing an extra 43/21 cards, 2 more so than normal. Basically, this means that attacking Vanguard last when you can restand 4 Rear-Guards lines up to about a +3.1K shield, +2 cards per turn, yes just by having them out, you're generating a +2 in card advantage per turn.

V-R-R

1875/49K, 228/49

R-V-R

6070/147, 1427/294

R-R-V

2025/49, 985/147

Okay, so I think everybody already has a basic idea of this, attacking with Asura Kaiser last with this sort of field set up is the best option and is amazing when you take it. What if we start picking away at it though? On to 3 units to stand:

              

              

All over again.

V-R-R vs R-V-R, Death Army column first vs R-R-V.

V-R-R
1875/49K, 228/49


R-V-R
6070/147, 1427/294

R-R-V
5870/147 677/147

Interestingly here, the best pattern of attack isn't to attack with both Rear-Guard columns first, but to attack with only 1 full column that can restand with a single G3, like a DA column, or a column with only 1 DA unit and a supplementary unit. The effects of this sort of attack however, are incredibly lame. Only forcing out 3K more on average and only 0.2 more cards than normal, the effects it has at this pace is close to naught. Instead though, what if instead of 1 attacker and 1 beater for a restood column, how about 2 restood attackers?

              

              

V-R-R
1875/49K, 228/49


R-V-R
6070/147, 1427/294



R-R-V (Restand 1 column)
3765/98 92/21

R-R-V (Restand 2 attackers)
3765/98 677/147

By restanding 2 attackers, one forces out more cards in total, but the same amount of guard overall. The problem is that they're still inferior to just attacking with 1 column first in R-V-R fashion, restanding the column.

To sum up

Of the many field formations and attack patterns under 16 non-Stand Triggers, the only time it is really beneficial to attack with both Rear-Guard columns first is when your entire field is capable of restanding, and when it does, it forces out 3.1K more shield in the form of 2 more cards than vanilla columns. Any other situation is best followed through by a R-V-R attack pattern, capable of restanding the entire column before. However, doing this can only force out 3K more shield than normal in the form of only 0.2 more cards than normal, which is hardly any impact on the game at all. To all Nova Grappler players and deckbuilders out there, please don't half-ass your effort into using the Death Army units inclusion to the deck, and strive to max out Death Army Guy, Lady, and Asura Kaiser along with running at least 8 Grade 3s to strive for the amazing set up of a full restanding field, or else it leaves close to no beneficial effect on your gamepace.