Talk:Trial Deck 3: Dragonic Force/@comment-5230496-20140325032518/@comment-4167259-20140325085641

^also: revealing a Jackknife evolution as your buddy is like telling your opponent that you will most likely call that evolution because if you don't, and you opt for another evolution to fit the needs of the situation you are faced, you don't get the easy buddy gift. and that also takes away the surprise factor of a Jackknife deck; you are supposed to easily adapt to whatever threat you are faced with.

There IS a flipside: naming a Jackknife evolution as your buddy essentially gives you a 5th, 6th, or even 7th copy of that buddy monster INSIDE your deck, so in theory, you will almost always get to buddy call and get that buddy gift. but with all the charging and drawing you will inevitably do, what's the point?

If budget constraints are your concern, then stick to a vanilla monster as your buddy. I will say it time and time again: if you are not playing a spell that relies on the presence of a buddy monster on your side of the field, don't even bother using a monster with a gauge cost as your buddy. just use something with roughly the same stats but with no call cost or something that costs less gauge/cards.

The only time you would really want to name base form Jackknife as your buddy--or any of his evolutions for that matter--is if you're going to run Ultimate Buddy! as it potentially gives your Jackknife form at least TWO chances to use Soulguard.