Follow the Yellow Brick Road

So the clan I am most excited for from the new set is Gold Paladins. I don't exactly know why, but for some reason I am drawn to paladins. While it remains to be seen if Gold Paladins will be high tier when they debut, they will definitely be a force to reckon with a little bit of support. I think Gold Paladins have a lot of neat cards. This article will only look at the promising Grade 3's. I may write another article or two to take a deeper look at the rest of the clan.

Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel

Obviously, the most anticipated grade 3 for the Gold Paladins is Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel. This guy is pretty amazing. By having four damage and counter-blasting two you get to flip the Gold Paladin off the top of your deck, call it to a rearguard spot, and boost Lion by that paladin's power. Whats great is that it only requires a counter-blast two. If you had been conserving your damage throughout the game you could pull this effect off twice, one turn after another. BUT WAIT! There's more! He has an effect very similar to King of Knights, Alfred. Lion gains 1K power for every rearguard you have. So with his starting 10K power and his effect which could reveal anything from 4K-10K power, and, assuming you have all five rearguards after using Lion's first effect, another 5K power. Don't forget, you can also place a booster behind this guy. Lion can easily reach over 25 and 30K power, hitting those high magic numbers.

Great Silver Wolf, Garmore

Great Silver Wolf, Garmore is another interesting grade 3 Gold Paladins have at their disposal. With four damage this card gains 5K power when it attacks your opponent's vanguard. Basically, you have a vanguard that starts off at 15K. With a booster he easily gets over 20K power. When you play wolf as your vanguard, you can also counter-blast two in order to search and call a grade 2 from your deck. This can be handy when you are having trouble setting up your field, it may be wise to hold off and save your counter-blasts for Lion. While hitting 20K consistently is great, and developing your field is key - you will probably only leave this guy as your vanguard until you can get to your Lions. 

Gigantech Crusher

Gigantech crusher is a grade 3 that I think is kind of neat, but I doubt it will be played. When you have four or more rearguards this guy gives himself a 10K power boost. Then with just a 5K booster behind him, he his hitting 25K with out breaking a sweat. This guy would be great if his effect worked when he was a rearguard, but sadly he has to be you vanguard. Frankly, we have better options. Well, I take that back. Wolf is only better because he gives you the option to call a grade 2 when you are in a bind and I guess he doesn't rely on having a completely developed field. I think the supporting grade 3 everyone will use is Battlefield Storm, Sagramore. I am not going to discuss this guy any further seeing as how he is just a Bors for the Gold Paladins. 

Sorry to simply post up another article about the upcoming set. I had to quickly come up with something and just do it. I am hoping I'll be able to get a little more creative once this semester ends (for me that is May 9th). So until next time, keep playing that vanguard!

Things Keep Piling Up!

Sorry I haven't gotten around to posting up an article in a while. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to post one tomorrow either. Things have just kept piling up on me this week! Work, college, papers, studying, tests, etc. It has all been overwhelming. Rest assured, I haven't forgotten about you guys. I'll write an article by this weekend. Thanks for reading!

Thoughts and Considerations Given to Perfect Guards

One issue I see floating around the various Cardfight!! Vanguard forums is the number of perfect guards that people choose to play in their deck. Some people opt to only play 2 or 3 while others are dead set on playing 4 copies. There are pros and cons for each side, which this article will look into. Only one thing is for sure, you should be playing some number of perfect guards.

Flash Shield, Iseult

Flash Shield, Iseult is the perfect guard I use in my Royal Paladin deck. I provided a link to it's wikia page. Everyone should be aware of perfects guards. For those of you that may be new though, they are all basically the same, the only difference between them is the clan they can protect.

I am going to come right out and give my opinion, I believe everyone should be playing 4 perfect guards regardless of which deck you are playing. Generally, the perfect guard is one of the more expensive cards in any given deck. I believe people have been trying to justify buying/trading for less of them in order to cut down the price. While you might get away with using 2 for a little bit, everyone should set their end goal to obtain 4 copies for a deck they are planning to use for a while.

A lot of people that choose the 2-3 perfect guard approach use the argument that they cause you to lose hand advantage. I have to question the common sense of people who say this. They have to be using perfect guards wrong. You are only supposed to use a perfect guard when it would take you 2 cards to block an attack anyway. Even then it is usually best to hold onto your perfect guard until there is a point where you cannot risk your opponent hitting a trigger.

Lets try an example. For instance, I drop a Soul Saver Dragon and boost 3 of my rearguards including my Pongal (7K power, now 12K power) that is behind my vanguard. With the boost that Soul Saver gives itself (3K), and the 12K boost that Pongal will give, I am swinging for 25K on that one attack and your vanguard is just a standard 10K power grade 3. Let's now say that you already have 5 damage, so this attack cannot hit. So you have to plan for the worse, me hitting 2 triggers. In order to block me for sure, you have to block for 40K because I could potentially hit up to 35K power. However, in order for you to block for this much you would have to drop 3 10K blockers from your hand or even more cards if you have to use 5K blockers. Instead though, you could just use 2 cards and block with a perfect guard.

Some might say, sure, that's why I have 2-3 perfect guards. Well I am here to tell you that you need 4 in order to consistently have one available just in case. At my last tournament I ended up winning game 3 in a Royal Paladin mirror match because I had 3 of my 4 perfect guards. My opponent dropped his Soul Saver Dragon and all three of his units were hitting at least 20K. He swung all three into my vanguard. I let the first rearguard hit since I only had 4 damage, but that hit gave me 5. He then attacked with his vanguard and I perfect guarded (I discarded another perfect guard for the cost, leaving me with 1 more perfect guard in hand). He was lucky enough however to hit a critical trigger and a heal trigger. If I hadn't used a perfect guard I would have lost. While he was not able to heal 1 damage he was still able to put 10K power and an extra critical onto his final rearguard. I do not remember specifically how much that rearguard was swinging for but it was a massive amount of power. Good thing I was lucky enough to have that third perfect guard. On my next turn I was able to land the last two hits I needed to win the game.

While in that situation 2 perfect guards would have sufficed, the extra perfect guard served as really good fodder for one of the discards. I also probably wouldn't have even had 2 in hand if I was not running 4. While this situation might seem extreme, it actually did happen. Expect similar situations to occur in your own battles and I hope you are prepared. Always be prepared, always assume the worst. It wins games.

While I intended to write more of an unbiased pro/con article, it kind of got away from me. If you are already running 4 perfect guards, good for you. For those of you who aren't, I hope this article has given you something to think about. If you think I overlooked some detail or just want to share your opinion/experiences with perfect guards please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks for reading this edition of The Fight!

Ding! Ding! Round 2

So last night I went to my second tournament. It was exactly the same as it was last week as far as prize support and structure goes (refer to "Ding! Ding! Round 1"). There was one difference though - I won! Wow, I say that like it's some type of amazing feat. I simply went 4-0. I lost one game total against Royal Paladins. Coincidentally, I was running Royal Paladins myself. I was running a deck similar to the pic deck I posted. Won 6 packs. Only thing I pulled worth noting is Silent Tom.

Alright this was just a quick post, but now I've got to go to class. And my nose just started bleeding! Awesome.

New Contender: Narukami

So one card in the upcoming set that has captured a lot of people's attention is Dragonic Kaiser, Vermillion. While this card has a lot of hype at the moment, I want to take a look at the deck that will be supporting it. Much like Kagero, this deck is focused more on sheer power than gaining card advantage. I feel like this will be a deck that a lot of Kagero players might gravitate to, either as a side project or if it turns out to be good enough maybe even their main deck. Even people who usually play decks like Royal Paladin or Oracle Think Tank might give Narukami a try simply because of the allure that Vermillion brings.

Every informed Cardfight Vanguard player should know what Vermillion is and how it affects the various mechanics of the game, namely blocking. However, if you are a little behind because you actually live a full life, here are a couple of links that will quickly clue you in!

Dragonic Kaiser, Vermillion Wikia:
http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Dragonic_Kaiser,_Vermillion

Cardfight!! Vanguard: HerO's Blogspot post:
http://herocfv.blogspot.com/2012/04/set-6-preview-dragonic-kaiser.html

Thunder Break Dragon

 http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Thunder_Break_Dragon

Another grade 3 that Narukami decks are sure to utilize is Thunder Break Dragon. For simply having 4 damage this card gets +5K power when it is your vanguard and attacks the opponent's vanguard. No counter-blasting required! Unless of course you are intending to utilize its Blaster Blade like effect, in which case you counter-blast 2 to retire a grade 2 or lower rearguard when this card is placed on the vanguard circle. Since Thunder Break Dragon can easily get itself up to 15K power you only need a 5K booster in order for it to hit the magic number of 20K power. Nifty! When playing this deck I might tend to play this guy as my main vanguard, opting to only drop Vermillion when I intend to use his effect which, mind you I haven't done any testing so this is just speculation, will probably only happen once a game. I am fairly confident that it will happen at least once a game though.

Demonic Dragon War Ogre, Carla

http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Demonic_Dragon_War_Ogre,_Carla

On to the next one! Which is Demonic Dragon War Ogre, Carla. This card is a grade 2 with 9K power. When it hits your opponent's vanguard you can flip a previously counter-blasted damage back over so you can use it again. This card will force blockers from your opponents hand like none other. You probably won't be able to get this card's effect off very often, but when you do you will most likely be able to use Vermillion's devastating effect for a second time. So to spell this out, you used Vermillion once and you have 4 damage with 3 flipped. Then you take another point of damage for 5, 2 damage available for counter-blasting. Then, if Carla goes off, that means you have a third damage to use and Vermillion is ready for a second round! As I said though, even if you don't get this off then it means that your opponent is dropping a lot of their hand and will make this a priority target when they're attacking. This pulls some attacks off of your vanguard, allowing you to let this guy go and conserve your hand if need be. 

On a side note: hitting a heal trigger can also help reset your damage for a second Vermillion attack. 

Dragon Dance, Rai Rai

http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Dancer,_Rai_Rai

Another card I find really interesting for the Narukami clan is Dragon Dance, Rai Rai. This card is a grade 1 6K booster. When you soul blast 1, the boosted unit gains 5K power. Essentially, this guy boosts your rearguard or vanguard by 11K power! With Rai Rai behind your Thunder Break Dragon you could potentially hit for 26K power. If your lucky enough to hit 2 triggers this unit's is propelled up to 36K power. That means if your opponent is on the brink of death (or losing, "death" is kind of dramatic) they would need to block that one attack for 40K. Obviously, they are going to null guard, lose, or just take the damage assuming they have 4 or less. I can see this guy ending games. So watch out.

Of course Narukami have a lot more cards. They have a guy with an Aermo effect, one has an effect similar to Blaster Blade, etc. I'm also not going to go over the triggers. They will probably be getting one card of each type of trigger... blah blah blah. I think I've covered the more unique Narukami cards but feel free to look a little deeper if you think you might want to run this clan. This is a deck I will at least give a shot, being able to swing with so much power seems like a lot of fun.

Sorry I'm posting this kind of late. I had to start it and come back to finish it. I ended up getting a few matches in today which was really fun. I may have a friend of mine that would be willing to share his amazing insight into the mechanics of this game. In other words, he would write articles on how to get better at Cardfight Vanguard. I know his input has improved my game by TON. In fact, he actually taught me how to play from the ground up. I'm not sure when he will be able to get around to tackling these articles seeing as how finals are coming up really soon for us. It could be a bit, I'm telling you this as sort of a sneak peak into the future of this blog. Thank you for directing your web browser to The Fight. I hope to post another article up later this week. 

Apologies

Well i wasnt able to post an article yesterday and im on my tablet right now (bear with me on any mistakes i might make) but when i get home (where i can actually type) ill be posting an article on the upcoming clan, Narukami. Not just Vermillion. So be sure to check for that later this evening.

Deck Profile - Royal Paladins

Alright so this is a picture of my deck. Obviously. At first glance it may seem pretty bad, and honestly there are some changes I want to make (more on that later). I think the most noticeable difference from the majority of Royal Paladins is the 1 Soul Saver Dragon and 4 Gigantech Charger.

Gigantech is a neat card and is a +1. Yes, it hits triggers which can be annoying, but it also helps me fill up my rearguard positions in order to get King of Knights, Alfred up to 20K power. I've also been lucky enough to hit another Gigantech or an Alfred off of the first Gigantech's effect on occasion, which can be very clutch. With that said, I'm planning to drop 2 of the Gigantechs for 2 Knight of Conviction, Bors. I haven't received mine in the mail yet and that is the only reason I did not play him at the tournament. Bors is a great Grade 3 rearguard that can easily get up to 20K power with a Pongal behind him, a quality that Gigantech lacks. For this reason, Bors will usually draw attacks away from my Vanguard. This can be helpful when I dont have many blockers in hand.

I only run 1 Soul Saver Dragon, and its not because I dont have a second (If I wanted to I could borrow another from a friend of mine). I honestly just dont think another copy of Soul Saver is needed. I have yet to win on the turn I use his effect and I win most of my games without even dropping him. Alfred is a superior Vanguard. There are times when Soul Saver is able to clear out most of my opponents blockers, then I win on the following turn depending what they drive check. However, I only need 1 copy to serve this purpose. Not only that, but Soul Saver is ridiculously easy to search. The only reason I could justify running two is that sometimes I damage check him before I am able to search him. Usually when that happens though I just shrug it off and play my game accordingly. If I remember correctly, there was only one instance in which damage checking Soul Saver hurt me and it was only because I couldn't draw my Alfreds. Soul Saver is good, but 1 is the right number for me.

Alright, now I'm going to talk about my trigger line-up. I think most Royal Paladin deck lists I see floating around Pojo, Youtube, and other places play 6 critical triggers, where as I am only playing 4. The reason for that is I like stand triggers (see the article "The Pre-Game Show" for my explanation on this). So I took those 2 criticals and switched them out in favor of 2 more stand triggers. I am only playing 2 Llew because I don't really want to invest in any more of him, especially since he becomes obsolete when Barcgal gets banned from being the starter. I am fairly certain this will happen seeing as Bushiroad is trying to merge the Japanese and English games so that they are essentially the same. I have been having some issues with drawing both Llews, or drawing one and damage checking the other early on before I am able to search him out with Barcgal. While this isn't to big an issue, seeing as I can just summon one and use his effect for Blaster Blade, it is annoying. Not even sure I would want to bring another one out and only leave myself with 1 more critical in the deck. Whatever, you can't always draw/check well.

Margal has been SO GOOD. I remember one game where the first 3 damage I took were all Margals, netting me +15K (not that big of a deal on defense usually) and 3 extra cards! His effect to add 3K power to a Royal Paladin can also be very clutch. Then of course I run 4 heal triggers. Not much to say on those.

I think the rest of the deck is self explanatory. 4 Flash Shields, 4 Gallatin, 4 Marron, 2 Blaster Blade, etc. is all very standard. If you have any questions about how I ran the deck or want me to explain a card choice in more detail be sure to leave a comment. As far as my weekend goes, I dont think I'll be able to go to any tournaments or really do anything Cardfight Vanguard related. I have to work and I also have a couple of papers to start writing for college - ugh. Well, this round is over, good luck to those of you going to tournaments this weekend. I should be able to post an article on Monday giving you the run down for the rest of week and possibly give you the summary of what happened this weekend if I do so happen to fit in some Vanguard into my schedule. See ya later!