Welcome back to the weekly Vanguard update! All the Fighter’s Collection cards have finally been revealed! I will go over the last bits of the Fighter’s Collection as well as some awesome new cards for Reckless Rampage.
Believe it or not, Giraffa finally got the support people have been asking for. With a Counter Blast 1 Evil Armor Mutant Deity, Goliath gives +5000 power up to six of your units with Giraffa in their names. With this it could be wise to have four of every unit in the ride chain, maybe even 3-4 of the Grade 0, if Goliath then hits the opponent’s Vanguard you paralyse one of their rear-guards. This card partners up really well with the Grade 1, Elite Mutant, Trighoul. At the beginning of the opponent’s ride phase, if they have a paralysed unit, you look at the top five cards for a Giraffa card and put it into your hand. This can ensure that you can pull the ride chain off and that you have a lot of rear-guards for Goliath’s skill. The only two downsides to this is that he doesn’t have Giraffa in his name and it can be hard to paralyse units with Giraffa units so having a couple of Sweet Cocktails may not hurt.
Another card that helps you get the cards you want is Amphibian Dragon for Aqua Force. When Amphibian Dragon attacks a Vanguard on the third turn or more then you search your deck for a card with Trans-core in it’s name and bind it. This will allow you to always ride Trans-core with Amphibian’s second ability to Counter Blast 1 at the beginning of your ride phase to ride with a Trans-core from your bind zone, allowing you to break ride easily four times in a game. You may need a bit of Counter Charging but if the break rides are going to be your main strategy then it may be good to save your face-up damage for this card.
Conquering Supreme Dragon, Dragonic Kaiser Warning is a stride for the old Kaisers of Narukami. With a GB2, CB1, and a G Persona Blast with a heart of “Kaiser” he attacks the whole front row and when his attack hits you give two rear-guards +5000 power. Because he’s attacking three units he has the potential to hit all three and give two units +15000 power! The power can get even higher with the Grade 1 Crown Holder Dragon. When your Vanguard with “Kaiser” in its name hits with an attack then you can give another unit +2000 power, making +6000 if your Vanguard hits all three. Having two or three of these on the back row will really stack up the power quickly and make a big difference late game.
Witch of Quill Pen, Onion is a Grade 1 version of the recent Witch of White Rabbits, Cardamon. If you have a Vanguard with “Witch” in its name and Onion is Soul Blasted then you can Counter Blast 1 to bring her onto the field with +2000 power. With all the powering up Genesis Witches do to the rear-guards it makes it extremely useful to have a consistent field.
The last card for Fighter’s Collection is the Murakumo Grade 2, Stealth Dragon, Oboro Keeper. At the end of your turn you may choose two units names Stealth Dragon, Oboro Keeper and put them on the top of your deck to search your deck for a Grade 3 to put in your hand. I’m glad that this is another Fighter’s Collection card that can work in everything but it works especially well for Shirayuki to get Persona Blast fuel.
Onto the Reckless Rampage cards Dudley get a new Grade 3 with Dudley Jessica. Jessica is a very defensive unit for Spike Brothers with the GB2 to give the front row +2000 power at all times, allowing her to have the defence of a cross ride. When a unit with “Dudley” strides over this unit you search your deck for a card with “Dudley” in its name and you call it to a rear-guard circle with +5000 power. It’s good to finally have a solid Grade 3 for Dudleys so Geronimo will hopefully see more use.
Assault Dragon, Assault Rex gets +2000 power when there is a “Rex” in the bind zone and when a unit with “Rex” in its name is put into the drop zone then you draw a card. This is hopefully a sign that there will be more Rex Grade 2 and 1 support in the Reckless Rampage to help pull off the draw ability. The ability to gain power should already be easy for Rexes and with Dark Rex you can start to pull off some powerful combos.
We have a new legion with Shura Stealth Dragon, Hokagecongo who legions with Shura Stealth Dragon, Murasamecongo. When these two units perform legion you can Counter Blast 1 to bind all of your opponent’s rear-guards face up and your opponent binds a card from their hand face-down. At the end of the turn all the cards go back into your opponent’s hand. He also has the power up ability to Soul Blast 1 to gain +2000 power. With Murasamecongo’s skill you will be able to search your deck for the Hokagecongo and put it into your hand as long as you discard a card, if you do all pay the cost your opponent is also forced to retire a card in their bind zone and Murasamecongo gets +2000 power.
A new keyword for Nubatama has been revealed, firstly shown with the new card Stealth Dragon, Hashiribi. The new keyword is Afterimage and allows you to put a unit with this keyword back into hand after the turn if your opponent has a bound card and you have six or less cards in hand. This will allow you to pull off all the low hand abilities for the turn while still being able to defend next turn. Hashiribi also drop and draw when he’s called if your opponent has a card in the bind zone.
Lastly we have the Nubatama Grade 2, Stealth Dragon, Nibikatabira. He also has Afterimage and another ability with GB1, CB1, and SB1 when he’s placed on rear-guard to give another rear-guard +3000 power and Afterimage. This only works if you have a Vanguard with Shiranui in its name but it is still an extremely useful card for Nubatama to have.
That’s all for this weekly update of Fighter’s Collection and Technical Booster cards. Be sure to check back next week for the next one!
Welcome once again to the weekly Vanguard update! All the cards for G-CB02 have finally been revealed! Cards have also been shown from the next booster set, G-BT05, and the ace Grade 3 for G-TD07.
I think it’s only right to start with the last lot of Aqua Force and with a big splash! The G unit that everyone has wanted to see, Blue Wave Marshal Dragon, Tetra-boil Dragon, is just as good as people imagined. When you attack you may Counter Blast 1 and G Persona Blast to -1 your drive check, then when one of your units attacks an opponent’s Vanguard on the forth turn you may drop a card to stand your Vanguard back up! Combine this card with Blue Wave Dragon, Anger-boil Dragon (Allowing you to stand 2 rear-guards and give the +3k on the second battle) makes for good, powerful combos as well as making the re-stand very consistent. You can’t have this kind of power with just any build though, you must have a heart card with “Blue Wave” in it’s name. This only leaves Blue Wave Dragon, Anger-boil Dragon and Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-drive Dragon, but seeing as they are both very powerful units I don’t think many people will mind having to use them. This card may have been made due to the fact that he will be Leon’s new stride in the anime which gives a lot of hope for the cards that will be used by Miwa, Kai, Naoki, Aichi, and maybe even Emi in future G episodes.
A clone of High Tide Sniper has been revealed as a Grade 1 counterpart. Mind Eye Sailor allows for a strong front row without Grade 2s or 3s. With the Soul Blast 1 giving her +10k power she gets to a handsome 17000 power without support. This is a great card to target with Storm Dominator, Commander Thavas‘s +5000 power skill, making her 22k power and being able to attack from the back row. Blue Wave Soldier, Brutal Trooper is a new critical trigger and a great addition to the beloved Blue Waves. By putting him on the top of the deck and shuffling you can give a rear-guard the ability to draw a card if it attacks a Vanguard on the second battle or more, so long as you have a “Blue Wave” Vanguard. This along with both Anger-boil Dragon’s skills and Blue Wave Marine General, Foivos can fill up your hand nicely and makes Tetra-boil’s -1 drive check more bearable. More triggers for Blue Storm will also be available with this new set. These triggers are Sea Otter Soldier of the Blue Storm Fleet (Draw trigger), Medical Officer of the Blue Storm Fleet (Heal trigger), and finally Blue Storm Battleship, “Poseidon” (Critical trigger). All these Blue Storm triggers don’t have any abilities but it’s always nice to see more triggers for subclans.
Following these excellent cards we will move on to the main event with the new Pale Moon units! Many people have been curious about a certain masked boy who has been shrouded in the mysterious depths of G-TD07 and now it’s time for him to show his true identity. Masked Magician, Harri, the new G era Grade 3 Pale Moon ace and the avatar of Luna Yumizuki, is just as playful with the soul as you’d expect from a Grade 3 from the Pale Moon circus. When you stride on top of him you can Counter Blast 1 to give him the newly named “Magia” effect to Soul Charge 1, choose one card from your soul and call it to a rear-guard circle with a suped-up +5k to it’s original power but at the end of that turn you must put the newly called unit back into your soul. This does have it’s benefits. By putting things back into the soul your opponent may get the same problem they would have against a clan like Murakumo, and that is they may need you to have rear-guards to use their skills properly but now they won’t have anything to retire, keeping all your important units huddled up safely in Harri’s (Rather large) soul. As a player of Megacolony and SP Witches I can tell you from personal experience, through fights with a certain Tom’s (Who also writes on this blog) Murakumo deck, just how frustrating this can be. Oh and of course Harri’s skills don’t stop there. With a Generation Break 2, when he attacks, you may choose one card from your soul and call it to a rear-guard circle with +3000 power. Unlike the previous skill, this unit stays on the field so you have options whether you want to maintain a big field or switch everything around each turn. This also allows you to change up your strategy depending on what deck you’re up against.
Silver Thorns come back in G-BT05 with the new Grade 2, Silver Thorn Magician, Clemens. Clemens specifically works with the lovely Luquier. If you have a Luquier Vanguard, Clemens gets +2k power and if her attack hits you can put her into the soul to call out a unit with a different name. This seems to be an improved version of the old Mirror Demon from BT03 but with the “Luquier” requirement. I feel like this card helps the Silver Thorns a lot, especially if she was going back into the soul anyway due to another of your units abilities. Looking at Clemens’s lore I think a lot of people will be happy to know that Silver Thorn are still keeping up their assassination business which makes them fit to be part of the demon-filled Dark Zone.
Another 11k Grade 2 working for an adored Vanguard maiden has appeared in G-BT05, this time for Tsukuyomi. As well as the +2k power, Shrewdness Concierge has the ability to Counter Blast 1 when his attack hits to draw two cards and put a card from the hand into the soul. Tsukuyomi has been extremely lucky with her support for fixing up the soul, I’m sure many people who hold on to their non-Tsukuyomi ride chains are very jealous but don’t take it out on the poor girl. Being able to use this card early on in the game really fixes most problems with ride chains and seeing as we have already been shown Handedly Housekeeper I believe this is the last we will be seeing of Tsukuyomi of this set unless she gets a new Grade 3 (Maybe even a break ride! But I doubt it sadly).
Now, big muscular dragons are nice and everything, but sometimes you gotta take things back in time a little, back to Narukami’s first subclan! Yes the Eradicators are back in action! So far we have only had two revealed to us but there is believed to be a few more in the future. For now though we have a Grade 2 by the name of Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Cho-Jun. People will remember the Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Cho-Ou helping out Eradicators a lot in the past and hopefully Cho-Jun can do the same. When Cho-Jun hits a Vanguard you can Counter Blast 1 “Eradicator” to retire one of your opponent’s rear-guards. So unlike Cho-Ou, Cho-Jun can carry on his onslaught of retiring. This also helps a lot for some good ol’ Steve the Destroyer (A.k.a “Eradicator, Sweep Command Dragon“) action! With Cho-Jun and Eradicator, First Thunder Dracokid you will easily be able to superior ride Steve the Barbarian part way through the turn.
The fun doesn’t stop with Steve the Butcher though, a young man from the same tribe as the famous Steel-blooded Eradicator, Shuki has shown up. The Grade 1 Machine Gun Eradicator, Kanto gives 2k power to himself and an ally if you Soul Blast 1 Eradicator when an enemy unit has been retired. This gives a similar effect to Knight of Reform, Pir, and by that I mean… high numbers everywhere! Some people may still prefer Dragon Dancer, Agatha but I feel that Kanto is far more flexible by being able to make any column gain the other 2k power allowing you to get all the front row units to give your opponent as much pressure as possible.
This concludes this weeks update! G-BT05 is looking like a very promising set and hopefully next week we’ll get to see more of the trial decks too. I would definitely like to see what all this “Time Leap” business is about. Thank you for joining us this week and don’t forget to join us again next week for the cards revealed in the next seven days.
You can purchase Cardfight!! Vanguard singles at Big Orbit Cards.
Aqua Force are a naval clan from Magallanica who patrol the seas with the goal of keeping order and justice among all marine environments.
This trial deck brings Aqua Force into the new G series with a pre-constructed deck containing 52 cards. As with all trial decks this comes with a rule book and playmat to help newer players get into the game. TD04 also brings multiple cards that older players can put in their competitive decks such as the new Aqua Force leader: One Who Surpasses the Storm, Thavas.
The box itself looks very nice with an eye-catching image of Thavas showing through the packaging, accompanied with a picture of Jaime on the box, the character who uses Aqua Force in the anime of Cardfight!! Vanguard G.
On the back of the playmat that comes with the trial deck there are examples of how to use certain cards to their full extent and how to combo cards to gain effects. Aqua Force have always been known for their ability to gain effects by organising the order of specific battles in a turn, so this guide will really help new players understand what Aqua Force is about.
We get a look at the first Aqua Force G unit. Marine General of Heavenly Scales, Tidal Bore Dragon shows us what kind of abilities we can expect from the new strides of this clan. With the classic “If it is the X battle of that turn” effect we know things aren’t going to be changing much in terms of skills.
This deck provides multiple ways of attacking more than three times in one turn which givees more support to cards like Thavas and for previous Aqua Force decks, such as Maelstrom and Tetra-drive.
The new leader, Thavas, is just as formidable as the previous leaders of the G trial decks. With a breakstride ability allowing you to retire your opponents rear guards and a generation break 2 that stops your opponent from guarding with grade 0s and deals extra damage. Just like the rest of the G units thus far, Thavas will be receiving additional support in sets to come. We get our first taste of this in G-BT02 Soaring Ascent of Gale & Blossom with Kelpie Rider, Nicky, who will help you search your deck for a card with “Thavas” in the name, indicating we may get more Thavas cards in the future.
Tidal Bore Dragon has an easy skill to pull off, with it’s ability being activated through the third battle of the turn, so even if you can’t pull off Thavas’s breakstride skill, having to be on the forth battle or more, then you can still put some pressure on your opponent. Another interesting thing about Tidal Bore’s skill is that you have a choice when it’s activated. Once you draw an extra card you can either keep all cards in your hand, ready to defend on your opponents next turn, or place another card down to get an additional hit in.
There are some minor problems with this trial deck such as the misprints. Not only do we have the before mentioned “missing counter blast” on Magnum Assault but Thavas had his own misprint. In Thavas’s description it’s breakstride ability said “When this unit attacks a Vanguard” which indicated that even after striding over him, Thavas still had to be the one to attack. In future prints this card will say “When your unit attacks a Vanguard” meaning that the G unit will gain the skill instead of Thavas.
Misprints aside, this deck has a lot of cards that show up in plenty of other trial decks, especially the grade 1s. Once you get this deck, if you are already familiar with Aqua Force and have plenty of cards from this clan then you will most likely be switching out a lot of the support cards. There is one benefit to the cards being this way, in that they are simple enough to help new Vanguard players to learn how to play with ease, but veteran players may find themselves buying this deck for a handful of cards and then placing the rest to one side.
Despite the amount of cards that are just clones of units from previous trial decks, this deck’s star units really prove to be great assets to the Aqua Force clan. Thavas seems to be a worthy unit on his own and I’m sure he’ll be used in competitive decks for a while to come.
All-in-all these cards seem to belong with Aqua Force, and if you are new to Aqua Force then plenty of support will be coming out in the next booster set to help modify this deck to make it even better.
Remember you can purchase Cardfight!! Vanguard singles at Big Orbit Cards.