User blog:RaijinSenshi19/Buddyfight Informative - Buddy Rave, Buddyfight Collection Portion

Come one, come all, it is time for a new Buddyfight Informative!

Last time, I covered the Double Deck portion of Buddy Rave, but now is the time to move a step forward, to look at Buddyfight Collection and all the new goodies from that set, and boy does it have good stuff!

This time however, I will not just talk about how good individual cards are, but also how to combat certain cards if they turn out to be a bit annoying or just too good.

Dragon, Danger, and Magic
Buddyfight Collection follows in the footsteps of the Hundred series' extra booster (not aimed at a single World) and makes sure to support every single one of them as best as they could...while putting most of the focus on Dragon World.

First we get to see Epicenter Cavalry Dragon, Ground Zero, which is a Size 3 Sun Dragon with 7000 / 3 / 7000 as his statline, which is very decent and good, while also just costing 2 gauge. So far, he meets all of the guidelines a decent Size 3 should follow. And then his ability adds more fuel to your deck, by letting Ground Zero destroy either the opponent's center monster, an item they have equipped, or a spell they have Set on the field.

Ground Zero is all around a decent and good card. Not too insane, but good enough to bust a hole in the strategy of your opponent. If you dont have copies of Second Helios, Ground Zero is a good Size 3 option if you want any for your Sun Dragon deck.

Next up we have the RRR for Dragon World of the set, because of course they need to get a high foil spot. Anyway, Godly-speed Bal Dragon is a Size 2 Sun Dragon with 6000 / 2 / 3000 in stats, which is fair and decent for a monster without a call cost. He is also sporting the ability to Move, and each time he attacks while the opponent's center position is open, you regain 1 life.

This is...really mediocre for a RRR. The only reason it is a RRR is because it is Bal Dragon, otherwise I would not put it higher than RR, and then I am generous. I guess life gain is welcomed in Sun Dragons, and the Move ability is also very good for them, since you might want to sustain your life and make the fight last longer, and all the Bal support applies to him as well. He is decent enough, but he could be better. The future will decide how good he will be in the long run.

Remember what I said about Sun Dragons needing Heat Dagger Dragon to fully function? Well, here we have something to mend that!

Mera Baselard Dragon is a Size 1 Sun Dragon with a statline of 3000 / 2 / 1000, and whenever he attacks and the opponent has an open center position, you charge the top card of your deck into your gauge. So while Heat Dagger is an instant gauge gain, Mera Baselard has the ability to give you even more if he survives for longer periods of time. He doesn't even need to hit, unlike El Quixote from back in the day. Mera Baselard is just a really good card.

As for when you are facing against it, you should not throw all your counter removal at it to stop the gauge gain, use your monster attacks instead and save the removal for the big guys, the Impact Monsters, unless if your opponent needs said gauge to call out an Impact Monster that turn. Keep your eyes on their gauge and be careful.

...Bushiroad is trying to kill me.

Solar Furnace Jet Prototype is a Sun Dragon Spell which you can only cast if you have a Sun Dragon item equipped and a cast cost of 1 gauge and life. As a Counter, you select a Size 2 or lower Sun Dragon your field. At the exchange of sending it to your gauge at the end of your turn, that Sun Dragon basicly gets Shadow Dive and can attack the fighter even if he/she has a monster in the center.

Shadow Shades was a good deck to use if you were tired of the Sun Dragon shenanigans, and wall decks could generally hold out against them, but with this they just ignore the center monster and go straight for the face with Bal Burst Smasher! Keep all of your damage reducers handy if you play closed-center, because your opponent might throw a Bal Dragon over the head of your monster and into your face at Mach2.

And here we go, the first Impact Monster of the bundle, and it is... Crimson Battlers. Wow. I thought Bushiroad wanted to forget these guys.

Anyway, Crimson Twin Battlers, "Double Crimson Impact!" is a Size 3 Armordragon / Red Dragon with beefy 9000 / 3 / 6000 stats, with a call cost of 3 gauge and putting a Crimson monster you control into the drop zone. It has Penetrate, and when it attacks, if you have a Fist equipped, you deal 2 damage to your opponent in addition.

Double Crimson Impact is a bit of an odd case. Many would say running Gigantic Crusher is more favored, but this card is not dead weight in your hand all the game, and it's damage is at least a two-part burst. It certainly helps the Penetrate-based Crimson deck, and I would recommend trying this out a few times to get used to it or see if it is your style. Otherwise, it is just a decent and okay card.

Surprise surprise, it is a Sun Dragon Impact Monster...and while it features Bal, it is not a Bal monster itself!

Mysterious Sun Dragon, "Hidden Power" is a Size 3 with the favorable 7000 / 3 / 7000 statline, it costs 3 gauge and sending a Sun Dragon monster on your field into the gauge to call. It has Move, which is already amazing on a Size 3, but if you have a Sun Dragon item equipped, he also gains +2000 power and defense, +1 crit, and it can't be destroyed by effects.

This card is boring, to be perfectly honest. It is a big card that defends you while punching down the opponent, and it cant be stopped by destruction effects. This is one of those cards that is at home in autopilot decks, and it should not be. Nothing should be like that. To fight against this thing, just try to attack over it as much as you can. And remember, while destroying it with effects will not work, shields still stop this dragon from striking you down.

Thunder Knights are still popular, right? They got the RR spot, so I assume so.

Thunder Knights Leader, Kommandeur Fahne "Order of Thunder General!" is quite a hefty Impact Monster, standing at 8000 / 2 / 6000 on a Size 2 is pretty neat. Armordragon / Gold Dragon with a call cost of paying 2 gauge and returning a Thunder Knights monster you control to your hand. The cost alone is very good because it lets you recycle Dragoarcher and a soulless Drum if needed. His real ability is to give all Thunder Knights on your field +2000 power and defense, +1 critical, and Move.

Thunder General Fahne solves a lot of the issues that Thunder Knights have, mainly getting over the otherwise huge walls that you would have to invest a lot of attacks into to get over. Not to mention that he himself has so much defense that he can tank a lot more attacks than the usual Thunder Knights monster. Fahne sparked new live into the deck, and now it is not leaving anytime soon.

Great Raging Dragon, Zelgyragune "Mad Talon Raging Fang" is the Impact Monster for Duel Dragons, and boy is this guy a handful. He is a Size 3 with beefy stats of 9000 / 3 / 7000 and a call cost of paying 3 gauge and putting a Duel Dragon from your field into the drop zone. His main ability activates when he attacks, depending on how many different Duel Dragons you have in your drop zone. If there are three or more different ones he gains Penetrate, five or more grants him Double Attack, and nine or more causes him to deal 2 points of burn damage upon attack.

Zelgyragune is one of the most destructive Impact Monsters in the game, no doubt. When playing him, you either play a turbo deck to get to the third effect fast, but that is not adviced. The smartest is to aim for five Duel Dragons, because Zelgyragune is strong enough with that Double Attack alone. When fighting against this deck, make sure that you stay above 4 health when this guy hits the field, and make sure to reserve some shields for him.

The next contender belongs to the fan favorite Armorknight deck, and it is none other than Cerberus!

GIGA Armorknight Cerberus "A" is a Size 2 with a statline of 7000 / 3 / 5000, with the call cost of paying 2 gauge and putting an Armorknight monster from your field into the drop. After GIGA Cerberus has finished attacking, you may stand your Weapon and put him and a card from your drop zone into its soul, and as long as he is in the soul of a Weapon, that Weapon can attack during the final phase and it can not be destroyed by effects.

Danger World has always been the deck that goes for big and explosive plays, and GIGA Cerberus is the new incarnation of this by allowing to push for even more damage than ever before. Combine him with Cerberus "A" and you will get a super item to attack with in the final phase, made even more destructive if you managed to give the item Double Attack or if it has it natually. When fighting against this thing, you NEED to kill it before it is allowed to attack, because if you dont, the demonic equip combination is going to come after your head every turn afterwards.

Dear lord, Shadow Shades are not holding back...

Silhouette Joe, "Illusion Shadow Dragons" is a Size 3 Shadow Shade with a pretty good statline of 8000 / 3 / 5000, with a call cost of 2 gauge, putting him on top of a Shadow Shade you control, and adding a spell from your drop into his soul. Sporting Soulguard, and the Counter ability to pop one of his own souls to destroy any monster your opponent controls, once per turn.

So you basicly stock up on soul in either Joe or Terry, and then slap this guy on top, and now you have an even more destructive wall that isharder to get over. Because that is fair! Not to mention that you can just continue to stock up on soul over and over again. If you really want to counter this guy, you better have a way to nullify his call, destroy all of his soul in one swoop (Loki), or have a monster that is big and immune to effect destruction, or has a lot of soul, so you can continue to pelt this guy and kill him quickly. Dragon World can for example have Penetrate monsters on the left and right, attack with them, and when the Shadow Shade player tries to use Joe to pop one of them, you use Dragobond. Luckily, he costs a lot of gauge, so he is not that easy to get out early on, so just try to keep their soul count low, before this guy appears.

Oh look, it is Hearty! ...And she is as disappointing as always. Sad. Hearty, "ABSC: Annihilate Buster Staff Custom" is a Size 3 Wizard Impact Monster, standing at 7000 / 2 / 7000 in stats, at the cost of 2 gauge and putting a Wizard monster from your field into the drop. Her ability is a Counter that you can activate by paying no less than 4 gauge and discarding a Wizard from your hand. When this ability is activated, all opposing monsters are destroyed and you deal 3 damage to the opponent.

This is really mediocre, and a lot of the time, Hearty will not be able to activate her ability, but when you do, make sure to do it on the opponent's turn and ruin their day. To make full use of this you need to run a lot of gauge ramp. Fighting against this is not something you should worry about however. Wizard players are better off with running Diabolical Sparta Teachings instead.

Katana, Ancient, and Dungeon
Skull Warrior Four Bird Bones, "Akutenhaba" is a Skull Warrior / Water Impact Monster. This group of birds is a Size 3 with 9000 / 2 / 4000 stats and a call cost of paying 2 gauge and destroying one or more Skull Warriors on your field. It has the ability to Move, and when it attacks you may put the top four cards of your deck into the drop zone and deal damage to the opponent equal to the amount of Skull Warriors send to the drop zone this way.

Akutenhaba's call cost alone makes it viable for Skull Warrior decks, because of all the cards you can use that activate upon monster destruction, and the potential to burn is also nice. However, this card is a bit mediocre for what it does especially with that low defense, and in Water it is just not good, because Water decks are usually mixed, so it is rare to get off consistent damage with the effect. However, it is not a bad card in that understanding. Now I wonder what a Yamigitsune Impact Monster will be like...

Tsukikage & Byakuya, "Art of Nano Body Duplication in Disturbed Bloom" is the Ninja Impact Monster. Its a bit of a weird case, being a Size 2 with 6000 / 2 / 5000 for stats, but costing 3 gauge and putting a Ninja from your field into the drop zone. If he would be destroyed, you can instead discard a non-monster Katana World card to prevent it from leaving the field. It also sports Shadow Dive and Double Attack.

So what really kills this card is the hefty call cost. 3 gauge is just too much for Katana, and especially Ninja-based decks. Disturbed Bloom ends up doing way too little for what is to be expected, and Gojinmaru does the job better, for less gauge. Sure, this can technically have infinite lives, but at what cost? There are some cute plays you can do with this, especially when you utilize Tsukikage "SD", but I dont think you should run this card.

SIEEEEGEEEER!!

Duel Sieger, "Sieger Turbulence!" is the Dragon Lord Impact Monster with massive 10000 / 2 / 10000 stats. He can only be called by paying 3 gauge when a Size 3 Dragon Lord with Lifelink is destroyed, and you null that Lifelink as well. Your life is set to 1 when he enters the field, and when he attacks while your life is at 1, he gains Triple Attack and Penetrate until the end of the turn. And Lifelink 1 is a passive thing he has, because lol.

This Sieger is an all or nothing kind of deal. You play him and you either win or you lose. The fact that he does not have the Triple Attack and Penetrate while your life is at 1 is huge, actually. You see, you can use Unwielding Dragon after Sieger activates, so you are not going to instantly die to anything after Sieger Turbulence hits the field, and then it lets you use Rise &amp; Fall to get more gauge to call a new Turbulence. This is quite the insane card, and it boosts Dragon Lords, not just Sieger decks, and that is really good. The true Dragon Lord is back and is here to stay.

The other main Ancient World boss from Season 1 is back: Ladis the Tyrant, "Golden Dragon Eyes", the Size 3 Wild Dragon / Dragon Lord Impact Monster, sitting at 10000 / 3 / 5000, costing 3 gauge and can only be called if you have three or more different Wild Dragons in your drop zone. With Penetrate and Lifelink 2, he also has the ability to discard a Wild Dragon when your opponent activates a spell, to nullify said spell.

So Ladis can only be stopped by nulling his call, basicly. And he can garantee that you deal 3 damage, just by discarding a Wild Dragon...and said Wild Dragon does not need to be a monster, even. Ladis is going to hit you, and it is going to hurt. But when fighting against it, you need to be vary of the cards in your opponent's hand if you want to play spells, because this guy can stop all of them. So be very careful with what spells you do cast and when you cast them.

Billion Knuckle makes his grand entrance, (temporary) inheriting his chief's powers to make a powerful impact on the tide of battle! He is now Billion Knuckle, "Spirit of the Chief!", a Raging Spirits Impact Monster, Size 3, 8000 / 2 / 6000, call cost of 2 gauge and placing him on top of a Size 3 Raging Spirits you control, with the keywords Soulguard, Lifelink 2 and Counterattack. Just like any Raging Spirits, he redirects attack to himself, but he also has the Counter ability to discard any Raging Spirits from your hand and inherit those abilities (Lifelink does stack).

So yeah, this is a really powerful card by default. It is basicly Enma Nova, but in Impact Monster form, with Soulguard even. So in final phase, you can discard Burn Nova or Champion Lord to gain Triple or Double Attack, further increasing your damage output. This variation of Raging Spirits is already quite an annoyance to deal with, but just keep doing as you would with other Raging Spirits decks to deal with Billion Knuckle... Soon we wil have much more cards to stop these kinda monsters anyway, if they are too hard to deal with for you.

(Calling this on top of a monster with Lifelink makes you take that Lifelink damage, because the monster leaves the field, technically)



Knight of Wits, Aaron is a new support card for Adventurers and Knights, but mostly for Knights. He sits pretty at Size 1, Adventurer / Knight, 4000 / 1 / 1000 and a call cost of 1 gauge. His ability activates upon being called, and you can either equip an Adventurer item from your drop zone by paying the equip cost, or you can draw a card if you have 2 items equipped.

This is basicly a Dragoarcher for Knights. This little guy is sure to be a staple, even with his initial gauge cost. Plus, yet another option to get back your twin spears shall they ever be destroyed by the ever increasing item removal in this game. Good stuff, very good.

And I can see a couple of people wanting to buddy this guy here on the wiki already. Good looks seem to get you far, afterall.



Now here is another simple yet efficient monster for Knights and Adventurers. Borrower Knight, Jake is a Size 1, 3000 / 2 / 1000, with the ability to make your items immune to destruction and rest effects like Barbed Wire.

The 2 crits is really what makes it worth running him, having this guy as an option is really good. Sideboard him, as item hate might just be what you end up facing against. Power to you Jake, power to you, thanks for being amazing.



Demon Lords want support too, and they got it in the form of a gauge boosting spell, by the name of Beams, Release!

Beams, Release! is a Demon Lord spell that can only be cast while you have a Demon Lord on the field. It increases your gauge by 2, while forcing your opponent to put one of their own gauge cards into the drop zone.

This is actually a really strong card, as gauge killing helps against a lot of decks, and with Demon Lords being able to tank as much as they can, a prolonged game might spell disaster for your opponent. The additonal gauge gain is also really really good, as they lacked consistent ways of getting gauge outside of item and monster abilities, so this was a very good addition to the deck, indeed.

This is not even my final form...!

Deukruzar, "Second Form: Demon Knight" is a powerful Dungeon Enemy / Demon Lord Impact Monster, standing strong and tall as a Size 3 with a 9000 / 3 / 5000 statline, costing 3 gauge and having to be played on top of a Demon Lord monster on your field. Soulguard, of course. But the big thing is that when he is called, you can call any Demon Lord from your hand and reduce it's size to 0, without paying the call cost, it can then attack during your final phases, and it stays a Size 0, even if Deukruzar himself is removed from the field.

Deukruzar Second Form is a really potent card. He is not really one that functions well as a finisher on his own, but he can push himself into finisher territory, and you usually might want to use him to block with, but he can be played to the side together with his called minion. His strength comes from whatever Demon Lord he calls. Miserea, Deukruzar, Gagnar, all really good choices to call with his ability. The only problem is that by not paying the call cost, those monsters do not get their souls...which is balanced. Combating Deukruzar Second Form is easily done with cards like Death Grip to destroy the Demon Lord he calls out.

(Calling this on top of a monster with Lifelink makes you take that Lifelink damage, because the monster leaves the field, technically)

Bladewing Phoenix returns, stronger than ever! Sorta...?

Bladewing, "Immortal Phoenix" is a Dungeon Enemy / Construct Impact Monster, Size 2 with the statline 7000 / 2 / 2000, and he costs 3 gauge to call. Once per turn, when he attacks, you may pick both an Adventurer and a Dungeon Enemy from your drop and put them on the bottom of your deck, then you gain 1 life, draw a card, and Blade gets Double Attack until the end of the turn.

So he is Dungeon Mix support, and also Construct support. The problem is often how you are going to get the gauge to call him... the answer is this: You dont. You use Agos Marh to call Bladewing for free from your drop zone. That is the best way to utilize him, and if you can call another one somehow, that is just better. To counter him, run literally any defense-based removal or cards like Death Grip. He is really easy to deal with. If he gets to attack you, dont fret, you can still take him out easily, but take out Agos Marh early, so you dont have to deal with him 10 times in a row.

Knights really got lucky in this set, getting 3 support cards from an Extra Booster. That is a lot.

Rebellius "Rebellion Rhapsody!" is a Size 2 Adventurer / Knight Impact Monster who can only be called if you have 2 items equiped. He has a statline of 6000 / 2 / 5000 and he costs 2 gauge. He has a passive ability that increases his critical by 1 for each item that is in play, and he has Penetrate as well.

Rebellius is simple, but good. When you call him, he will realisticly have 4 crits, and more likely to have 5, due to all the items that are currently being used in the game. He is very strong, but easily dispatched of or stopped, especially by shields. An interesting combo is to use Tetsuya and him in a Full Strash Formation play, giving him Double Attack so he can actually attack again, pushing the damage to something around 20 points, if I have calculated correctly. Simple but good, like I said.

Legend and Darkness Dragon
Legend World has a lot of attribute needed to be supported, so it is hard to balance out what kinda decks should get support, and when. Bushiroad has made some intersting choices this time around, starting with Valkyrie, Future Lamenting Skuld. She is a Hero / Asgard Size 3 monster, with 7000 / 3 / 5000 stats, she costs 2 gauge and gains a topdeck soul, so she has Soulguard and also Move. Her Act ability requires you to discard a card, and then lets you look at the top three cards of either your or your opponent's deck and reorganize them in any way you want, and then you may draw one card, so she pays for her own ability actually.

Skuld functions really well with all of the discard abilities that Asgard has, and lets you either decide what your opponent gets, or control your own draws, while providing you with defense, which is really good. If you have any drawing abilities, use them before using Skuld, because you will get all those cards anyway due to the abilities. Use her to control your future draws instead, when you use it on yourself.

Blizzard Calling Valkyrie, Rota is the other valkyrie we get this time around, and she is quite useful as well. Hero / Asgard Size 0 monster, with 2000 / 1 / 2000 stats, and as long as she is on the field, all other Hero cards you have get +1000 power, so she has the ability to buff some cards over the power barrier. And if she is discarded from your hand, you can pay 1 gauge to destroy a Size 2 or lower monster your opponent controls.

Many would wonder why you want to use this over stuff like Ice Blade, Joker and Alwidol, well the answer is that you run all of them, basicly. Rota will mostly only be used as a Death Grip, which can turn any discard ability into a double take, especially Bloody King, who at the cost of 1 gauge basicly turns a single card into a double monster destruction spell.

And now we are even closer to building a full valkyrie deck! it is going to happen sooner or later.

Yet even more Asgard support! This time it is Fenrir, "Curse of Vanargandr" which is a pure Asgard Impact Monster, with the humongous 10000 / 3 / 10000 statline, costing 3 gauge and returning an Asgard monster from your field to the hand. He is not affected by Gleipnir, like all his other forms. And during your final phase you may discard two Legend World cards from your hand to stand Fenrir again.

So you dont need to be a rocket engineer to understand how to really get the most out of Fenrir: Stock up on al the Alwidol cards you have. Using Alwidol at max copies with this will ensure that you get at least five attacks when you drop Fenrir. It is kinda insane. You can use Nausciss Gard to get back Alwidol should she end up in the drop to ensure even more hillarity and garanteed multi-attacks. To stop Fenrir you just conserve shields and damage reducers and hope you can tank all of his attacks. Preferably with a wall...maybe using Counterattacks to stop him if your wall is big enough.

Oh yeah, dont use Gleipnir with him. Really not worth it.

Everyone's favorite fairy makes her charming entrance, once more! Sylph, "Fairy Feast" is a Wydar Sarkal / Fairy Impact Monster, Size 1, 5000 / 2 / 4000 stats (the heck is up with these stats), and a cost of paying 2 gauge and putting either a Wydar Sarkal or a Fairy monster you control into the drop zone. When she enters the field during final phase, you get to stand all your Fairies and Wydar Sarkals and they can attack during that final phase.

Sylph is basicly an extension to Decree of Dullahan, allowing a full field to reach a staggering 10 attacks by including her own attacks. This combo is deadly, and if it gets the proper setup, your opponent is going to disappear without a trace, basicly. To combat this combination, you should make sure to take out the opposing player's monsters before they are allowed to capitalize on their consecutive attacks. Destroy them before they are allowed to attack. Field wiping cards such as Knight Counter might be the best bet.

Darkness Dragon World certainly wants to make sure their new dragon-based support is in top condition. They are just shy one card to be on equal terms with regular Dragon World.

First of, we have Faceless Black Dragon, Rays Face who is a Black Dragon / Deep Size 3 monster, who simply has a sick design, boasting around with his 7000 / 2 / 7000 statline for just 2 gauge, and when he enters the field, you opponent mills the top two cards of his/her deck, and then if a monster was milled, you get to destroy a monster on the opponent's field. And he has Double Attack.

He is almost a better Amenoohabari, and even has the Deep keyword. This is one killer Size 3 Black Dragon and it is easily contending for deck space. Graybard is still superior in a lot of ways, but still, dont underestimate Rays Face.

If Bal got a new form, it is just fitting that Abygale did so too. This is Black Armor, Abygale, a powerful Size 1 Black Dragon monster with 4000 / 2 / 1000 stats. His ability is simple enough, each time you attack with him or he is destroyed, you mill the top card of your opponent's deck. If he attacks alone and your opponent has 10 or more cards in their drop zone, his attack can not be nullified.

This Abygale is really good, and it is actually an Abygale we would want to run four copies of. The problem with Black Death Dragon, Abygale is that he is too costly for his deck, and running him as a buddy was not favorable, but you had to if you wanted to run Gale Destruction, basicly. But now we have an Abygale that allows us to do that, and reliably mill the opponent without costing you any cards from your hand. If you play Black Dragons or want to capitalize on this card being as good as it is, you should pick it up as soon as you can. It is just amazing.



The Black Wilderness, Grugos is another interesting Black Dragon monster who also has the Destruction attribute. It is a Size 1 with 5000 / 1 / 1000 stats, and it sports the Counter Act of destroying itself and paying 2 life to destroy an item on the opponent's field.

This card is okay. Not the greatest card, but okay enough. Kinda, sorta. Not a lot to say about it, as it is pretty straight forward and simple.



Precious Sacrifice is a new Black Dragon / Destruction spells, costed at 1 gauge for you to Counter destroy one of your Black Dragons to gain 2 life and draw a single card. So bottomline is that this is a semi-null for Black Dragons that also gives you a draw.

The only problem with this card is that it costs a gauge, but that does not mean it is bad, becayse there are uses for it in a lot of decks that used or uses Devil Stigma and Scapegoat. It is a card draw as well, so it is good, as you want to use it on a monster that is being attacked either way, so it becomes a fair trade.

So, all of you Vanguard players....I heard you like Overlord? Well, here you go, the Buddyfight equal to Overlord.

Purgatory Knights Leader, Demios Sword "Chaos Execution!" is the new form of the Purgatory Knights ace monster, standing firmly as a Size 2, Armordragon / White Dragon, 8000 / 2 / 4000 Impact Monster, costing 2 gauge and returning a Purgatory Knights to your hand from your field to call. Each time he destroys a monster by attacks, he restands. During your turn you can also Counter destroy any Purgatory Knights to stand him again.

So this is a further extension to the style of Purgatory Knights just destroying everything and keeping up a constant offensive front. Saddly, Chaos Execution is a bit easy to handle: Just use anything to rest him before he even gets to attack, or you can destroy him with cards like Death Grip. He is a really dangerous and destructive card, but just keep fighting against the Purgatory Knights like you have before and you should be fine.

The horsemen of the apocalypse return after being devoured by Yamigedo! Gratos "Destruction Blade!" is a Size 2, Black Knight / Deep / Hundred Demons Impact Monster, baring the powerful 7000 / 3 / 4000 stats, and he can be called by paying 2 gauge, calling him on top of a Black Knight on your field, and then putting up to one additional Black Knight from your drop zone into his soul. He has Soulguard, and each time he is destroyed in any shape or form, you can destroy an opposing monster, but you take one damage.

So anyone who have used Gratos and Black Knights know how much field control you can have with that deck, now we are reinforcing that even more. You can use all of your Devil Stigma-like cards to destroy Gratos yourself and then destroy any monster you want, not needing for Gratos to take an attack or anything. The most explosive yet defensive card in this game, I think. To play around this guy you should try to remove his soul by bouncing him instead, or you try to minimize the amount of soul he has when called through other means.

Hero and Star Dragon
Hero World has always been a touchy subject, because of how blatantly they powercreeped the game. However, this time they have managed to keep the support in line...for now.

Great Gun Deity, Tigerion, "Kaizer Sword Buster!" is a Brave Machine Size 3 Impact Monster with 8000 / 1 / 5000 stats. He can only be called if you are Ride, and he costs 2 gauge while needing to be called on top of a Brave Machine, and also has Soulguard, and the ability to gain the crit of whatever card you are Ride on in addition to his own crit. So if you are ride on a 3 crit, this will be 4 crit.

So in simple terms, this is a Kaizerion support card, and with the right setup, he can reach 5 crit, easily. Tigerion is a very scary card, and hard to fight against. The really only way to do so is by reducing the crit of the Ride card, or by nulling his call. Many Brave Machine players might opt for Brave Energy Full Drive! instead, however. But hey, who said it was fair/fun to play against Hero World, anyway?

Guten tag! Schwarz returns as the Darkhero Impact Monster, Schwarz, "Kugel XIII". He stands tall as a 7000 / 2 / 5000 Size 2, who can be called by paying 2 gauge and discarding a Darkhero from your hand. When he enters the field, all of your opponent's monsters are destroyed, simple as that. At the end of your turn, he returns to your hand.

So this Schwarz lets you be as aggresive as you want and focus on dealing damage to the opponent without worrying about their monsters, because he is going to take care of all of them anyway. He does not change much of the Darkhero playstyle but adds an additional powerplay to their arsenal. Fighting against Kugel XIII is a bit hard, and the only tip I can reliably give is to use destruction nullifiers like Dragonic Forcefield and Dark Fog. Remember to watch out for Mukuro as well.

Now here is an oddball noone saw coming! Professor Menjo, "Instructions Cosmo Tactics!" is an Impact Monster for Superhero / Professor / Homemade Buddy Battle Videos, and just like his attributes, he is just as nutty. Size 2, 6000 / 2 / 6000, costing 3 gauge and putting a monster from your field into the drop zone. When he enters the field you mill the top five cards of your deck and apply effects depending on how many different attributes were discarded that way. Four or more pings your opponent for 1 damage, six or more destroys a card they control, and if you get nine or more, you get an additional turn after this one ends!

Professor Menjo is his own type of deck and does not really support Superhero in any shape or form, this is just a really fun card to play with and against. These kind of joke cards are such a blast, and I hope someone here is inspired to make a deck using this. He works surprisingly well in a deck running a lot of Omni Lords however, if you want to include him in a deck not centered around him. Go nuts!

Behold, one of the single most overpowered cards in this game! Star Dragon of Bonds, Jackknife is a Size 3 Neodragon monster that costs 2 gauge and requires you to put a monster from the drop zone into his soul. Each time he attacks you deal 1 damage to the opponent. If you have an item equipped, that item gets +2000 power, while Jackknife gets +2000 power and defense. He also has Soulguard and Move.

This card is disgusting.

Let me tell you something. I play Star Dragon World, I wanted to play Star Dragoners and capitalize on Twin Star, Jack & Fang because I saw potential in it. Then they made this, a card that works so perfectly well with that item. And now I feel dirty each time I use the deck! This card is not fair in any shape or form! Dealing 5 damage on the first turn, from one attack, is not fair! Not to mention that you can combine this with many other cards that you have available for Star Dragon World. Dragoners Beat buffs the crit of Jack & Fang, so that Double Attacking item gets even more destructive, while you can slap Radiant Alma into the soul of Jackknife Bonds to effectively deal 4 damage volleys spread out over 4 different sources!

The few ways to counter this thing is to run cards that gives you bonuses from taking damage, or cards that let you reduce effect damage, so I think this is a tactical move on Bushiroad's part to make Fifth Omni stay relevant, which is another topic for another time... This is absolutely unfair, and this is coming from a guy that actively uses this deck.



Star Dragoner, Heliopause is a new Size 2 monster that Neodragons can use. He costs 1 gauge and 1 life to call, has the respectable 6000 / 2 / 4000 statline, Soulguard, and once per turn, when he has no Dragonarms in his soul, his act ability lets him snatch a Dragonarms from the drop zone and Crossnize with it.

Heliopause is just another one of those budget options for players who cant afford the big Jackknife cards, and until we get more direct Star Dragoner support, he is just weaker than Star Guardian, Jackknife. Sadly. However, he can be played without needing something in the drop zone to get his soul, so that is something, I guess.



Okay, who sat down and thought "You know, I dont think Jackknife Bonds is strong enough. Lets give it some support!"...

Dragonarms, Logisticker is a Size 0 Dragonarms with 2000 / 1 / 2000 stats, and the Crossnize keyword as expected. Once per turn, when an item on your field attacks while he is in the soul of a Neodragon, that item gains +1 crit for the duration of the turn.

So yeah, Jack & Fang synergizes even more with Bonds due to this little bugger. It is not fair, it is not fun. It is simple too good. Destroy this little bugger as soon as he hits the field, before he can Crossnize. Not that you can counter it if he is insta-Crossnized due to Jackknife Bonds, however....



Electric Source is a new Charge spell for Star Dragon World. Upon activation it gives you one gauge, but if you have a monster with two or more soul ,you get an additional two gauge, so you end up charging three cards in the end.

There are not a lot of gauge charging spells in Star Dragon World, so a lot of players should find this useful when needing more gauge for the big explosive plays their decks can end up doing. It is an okay card, all things considered.

And so the last card of the new bundle, it is Marshall Fortress "Megalo Sanction!", a Size 3, 12000 / 1 / 12000 Neodragon Impact Monster that costs a whooping 7 gauge to call! When he enters the field you can put up to five Dragonarms from your drop zone into his soul, and when he attacks, when there are five or more Dragonarms in his soul, he will gain Triple Attack for the duration of the turn.

You are much better off running the original Marshall Fortress over this, to be perfectly honest, but if you want, you can create a cute deck using this and Electric Source for gauge ramp. Who am I to decide what you do for fun? Go out and tets it, but dont feel bad if the results do not turn out as well as you hoped.

Final words for this article
Phew...this article took way too long to make. Do you know how long this took me?

THREE DAYS

But it was worth it. I stayed adamant and finished covering all the new cards from this set. I am pretty sure noone is going to care, but I really wanted to get this out there for those who might want a few tips and insights to these new cards. Because there are a lot of good new cards in this set, and it buffs so many decks, or just creates a new playstyle entirely. I really want all of you to try out these things and try out as much as possible. Not that you have to, just a suggestion.

Well anyway, this has been a hard and long job, so I am going to leave the rest to you guys now.

Peace~