Cardfight!! Vanguard Weekly Card Update #16
Welcome back to our weekly Vanguard update! This week we have a bigger variety of cards from different clans but Aqua Force is still reigning supreme with the amount of cards they have shown us throughout the past seven days.
To start off with the Aqua Force cards, we have seen the return of the G leader himself, Thavas. Not only are we getting a new SP alternate art of the original One Who Surpasses the Storm, Thavas, but we’ve also had revealed to us the new Thavas G unit. One Who Rules the Storm, Commander Thavas, following the trend of Altmile and Ahsha, does not require a “Thavas” heart. With a G Persona Blast you can give a rear-guard +5k power and the ability to attack from the back row, then with a Generation Break 3 if a unit attacks on the fourth battle of that turn, you choose three of your opponent’s rear-guards and your opponent chooses one of those three and retires it. This will definitely help against strong retiring rear-guards like Twilight Arrow Dragon and Voltage Horn Dragon to make sure your rear-guards are secure and consistent. Attacking on the fourth battle with your Vanguard while having One Who Surpasses the Storm, Thavas in your heart will allow you to retire two of your opponent’s rear-guards. Some people may think that this skill is a little underwhelming compared to Lambros‘s skill but the ability to mess with your opponent’s field is never a bad thing and quite honestly a lot of skills are going to seem underwhelming compared to Lambros but that doesn’t mean they are bad skills. The new Thavas works very well with the new Aqua Force units and the ability to turn most units into a more powerful version of Battle Siren, Stacia gives Aqua Force the consistency they need.
To help him more, Thavas-specific rear-guards have been revealed. Battle Siren, Adelaide (Who unfortunately looks nothing like everyone’s favourite Cheer Girl) proves to be a very important unit for any Thavas deck. With a Generation Break 1, when Adelaide is placed on the rear-guard circle and if you have a grade 3 or higher “Thavas” Vanguard, then you may Counter Blast 1 and Soul Blast 1 to give her +2k power and the ability to re-stand once per turn after she has attacked a Vanguard. There is no Wave restriction so you can use her skill on your first battle or her last which is extremely helpful for letting all the rest of your units attack when they need to. Unlike Magnum Assault, Battle Siren, Adelaide does not need a boost, allowing her to be thrown around the field with units like Couple Dagger Sailor and Blue Storm Marine General, Michael and still managing to easily use her skill. Another way you may use her is to attack on her own for 11k and then have Adelaide boosted on her second attack to ensure that the attack will be able to get through both times. Another Thavas-related card in this set is the Heart Thump Worker clone, Kelpie Rider, Petros. Petros’s skill can help Aqua Force a lot by going into the soul, which gives Adelaide and High Tide Sniper some fuel, and the extra draw is always handy to making sure Aqua Force has a consistent field.
To help with the Legions, we will be getting Blue Storm Battle Princess, Limpia. Limpia is a Grade 2 that when she attacks on the third battle or more, if your Vanguard is in Legion, you may Counter Blast 1 to give her an extra 3k power and to draw a card. This unit will most likely be used in most Aqua Force Legion decks for it’s great benefits. The only way this falls short is if you Stride as her ability won’t take effect because Striding will temporarily stop your Vanguard from being in Legion. This will give people a hard choice to make on the Stride Phase but I feel her +1 to hand will make Striding not nearly as needed in Aqua Force Legion decks. Blue Storm Battle Princess, Doris is a Stand Trigger to also help with Legion. Her ability is much like the Storm Riders and Couple Dagger by letting her switch places with the unit behind her after attacking. She has to attack on the first battle to pull off this skill and you have to have a Vanguard in Legion, but as a little extra Doris gives +5k to the unit she switched with and then she goes back into the deck. This is a good way to make sure you can pull off all the battles you need but it would be best to only use her as a last resort. With her 4k power it is unlikely that she will be able to hit your opponent’s Vanguard unless you can find a way to give her an extreme power boost. With all this Legion support hopes are high that a new Legion will be revealed soon for this set.
To increase the chances of getting the Legion cards that you want to Ride, Penguin Soldier of the Blue Storm Fleet will help search for the one you are looking for. When this unit boosted a successful attack on a Vanguard, if it is the third turn or more and you have a Vanguard with “Blue Storm” in it’s name, you may search your deck for a Grade 3 with the ability to Legion and add it to your hand. With the lack of Generation Break, this card can activate even before you have reached Grade 3 so you have a better chance of getting your perfect field set up earlier on. This can easily be used throughout the whole game, giving you plenty of Stride fuel in your hand or to make sure your columns are swinging in for well powered attacks. We also get a new Grade 3 which makes a great backup for Blue Storm. Blue Storm Marine General, Sebastian is a pretty powerful Common who can get an extra draw and retire one of your opponent’s rear-guards. The only restriction this card has is that it needs to be the third battle or more. This is a really useful Grade 3 to be used in a lot of Blue Storm decks and the pressure put on your opponent to guard would make a good opportunity for Glory Maelstrom to come in with his guard restriction.
For more drawing, Battle Siren, Nicoletta will allow you to draw one card if her attack hits on the second battle or more and with a Generation Break. Violent Shooter is the Grade 1 equivalent of Marine General of the Sound Speed, Nectarios by letting you Soul Blast for a power boost and an extra attack. For Resist units we get Flashroll Command and Power Scout Orca Soldier. They are both Resist units that gain 3k power when attacking on the second battle or more with Flashroll being a 6k Grade 1 that becomes a 9k attacker, and Orca Soldier being a 8k Grade 2 who then becomes an 11k attacker. The last Aqua Force card shown was Blue Wave Marine General, Phoevos. When he attacks, if it is the third battle of the turn and you Counter Blast 1, Phoevos gains 2k power until the end of turn and at the end of that battle he can re-stand. So far the only other “Blue Wave” is Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-drive Dragon, but we know there will be a new “Tetra” in this set called Blue Wave Marshal Dragon, Tetra-Boil Dragon so perhaps Tetra-Boil will need it to be the fifth battle or more to activate his effect if Phoevos is anything to go by.
As I said at the beginning, Aqua Force is not the only clan we have seen throughout the past seven days. We have been shown a sneak peek of what is to come for the new Fighter’s Collection 2015 Winter and G Booster Set 5: Moonlit Dragon Fang.
I’m always excited for Fighter’s Collections as it’s great seeing every clan getting support, even the ones that I don’t use. So far we have seen four units, two being G units and the other two being normal units. One card I am looking forward to in my own deck is Witch Queen of Transfiguration, Sinclair. If you have a “Witch” heart and the number of Grade 0s your opponent has on the field is two or more, you may Counter Blast 1 to reveal the top ten cards of your opponent’s deck and your opponent chooses one Grade 0 from among them and Rides it, and then at the end of the turn your opponent chooses a card from their Soul and Rides it. If your opponent wishes to guard with a Grade higher than 0 then at the beginning of their guard step they can Counter Blast 1 to guard with as many cards in their hand as they want.
Shadow Paladin Witches have been suffering a bit lately due to Triggers gaining better and better rear-guard skills thus making their main mechanic a little less effective than before but with this card it proves that Shadow Paladin Witches still have plenty of life left in them. If your opponent keeps replacing the Grade 0s you have been putting on their field throughout the match then it’s a good idea to keep some Deidres and Danas in your hand for when you stride this card. You won’t be able to use Securna and Goewin with this card due to them needing a Vanguard in Legion but the Grade 0 Vanguard your opponent will have is a big enough minus on its own. With the need for your opponent to Counter Blast to be able to guard with anything higher than a Grade 0 it will prevent them from using a lot of their skills in their next turn and if all their damage is face-down you know they won’t be able to use a Perfect Guard.
An old Link Joker who gets support is the original Break Ride for the clan, Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon. With Cleanup Star-vader, Bromine’s skill at the end of your turn, if you have a Grade 3 Vanguard with “Star-vader” in it’s name and your opponent has a locked card, you may retire Bromine to search your deck for a card with “Infinite” in it’s name and Ride it as Rest. This is a nice little boost to make sure that you will always have a Break Ride ready for your next turn and is a great reward for retiring one Grade 1.
Dark Irregulars have gone for a bit more of a defensive approach with their new Grade 3. Blade Wing Sullivan, like Blade Wing Reiji, requires fifteen cards in the Soul. If he does then every card you guard with will get +10k Shield but at the end of the guard step that you have fifteen or more cards in your Soul you must Soul Blast 2. Giving all Guardians +10k Shield is a massive boost, this makes Grade 3s 10k defenders and most Grade 0s 20k defenders. The biggest problem is maintaining your Soul without decking out. It might be nice for Dark Irregulars to get a Dreaming Dragon clone. To help the Soul build up, when he is placed on the Vanguard circle you can choose one of your rear-guards and search your deck for three copies of that card to put into the Soul. This can give Demon Bike of the Witching Hour, Hades Carriage of the Witching Hour, or Demon Chariot of the Witching Hour a big continuous power boost. Some people might also want to put Dimension Creeper into the Soul to increase the soul even more and give cards like Doreen the Thruster and Sweet Predator a powerful temporary boost. People may want to use Blade Wing Reijy for early game pressure and then ride this card for late game defence.
The last unit we saw for Fighter’s Collection was One Who is Loved by the Seven Seas, Nightmist. This is very similar to the previous Fighter’s Collection Granblue unit, Pirate King of the Abyss, Blueheart. Like Blueheart, you can Counter Blast 1 to Call two units from the Drop Zone but this time you don’t need to Call them over other units, the restiction being you need a heart with “Seven Seas” in the name which at the moment is only the Break Ride, Lord of the Seven Seas, Nightmist. At the end of the turn you have to retire the newly called units but being able to call those units over and over helps you use Granblue’s on-call abilities like Sea Strolling Banshee’s and King Serpent’s. With King Serpent you can make Nightmist’s Counter Blast free due to King Serpent Counter Charging when he comes onto the field from the Drop Zone.
The anime has revealed a few cards. One of the most notable being Chrono Dran, a new Grade 0 for Gear Chronicle. The skill has yet to be revealed and all we really know about it is that it’s a forerunner, but seeing as he seems to be a fairly important character in the anime we can expect good things from his ability.
There was one other interesting card shown in the anime, and that was Genesis Dragon, Excelics Messiah. The ability was fully shown later in the week. If you have a face-up copy of Amnesty Messiah in you G Zone you may Counter Blast 1 and turn a copy of Amnesty Messiah face up, then you can unlock as many cards as you want and every card that you unlocked on your side of the field gains 3k power, while every card you unlock on your opponent’s side of the field is retired. Then, if you unlocked three or more cards, Excelics Messiah gains an extra critical. This card is following Aurageyser‘s theme of turning over the previous version of the character (This one being Excelics turning over Amnesty) but due to Amnesty not needing a G Persona Blast, you can use Excelics up to three times in a game.
Cardfight Vanguard singles are available to purchase at Big Orbit Cards: Cardfight Vanguard