User blog:RaijinSenshi19/Buddyfight Informative - DBT03, Dragon World

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You must be here by an accident or something...

Sigh, anyway, this is the compiled informative for all of the Dragon World cards out of D-BT03, with all the Dragon Knights, the Link Attack Sun Dragon, Bal, Dragon Force and all that nonsense.

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Yeah.

Lets start then....

Sun Dragons
For the second time since they were introduced, Sun Dragon decks have switched focus. Now, they focus on Link Attacking together, preferably with your Item, to cause mayhem.

The first card we will look at is the complimentary Size 3 monster that has to be included in each set: Phoenix Wing Virtuous Dragon, Zellhorus, who is a Sun Dragon, 7000 / 2 / 6000 for his statline, and a call cost of 2 gauge and getting a topdeck soul. He sports the natural Penetrate and Soulguard keywords, but he also has a Once Per Turn  ability to stand when he links with another Sun Dragon, and then destroys a monster on the opponent's field, and burns them for 1 damage on top of it.

Woah...that is a lot of power. Just having two attacks, Penetrate and Soulguard alone is the candidates for a strong Size 3, but the ability to blow up any monster what-so-ever and then burn for 1 point is insane!

Zellhorus is another one of those monsters that you have to watch out for, because like Agnagras, it has potential to just ruin your day with it's destructive power.

Next in line is...a card even I have to bow down to and love: Swordsman of the Sun, Bal Dragon.

Swordsman Bal is a Size 2 Sun Dragon with 6000 / 2 / 4000 as his statline, and a call cost of 1 gauge. When he enters the field, you put a soul from an opposing monster into the drop zone, and whenever he link attacks, you get to destroy a monster on your opponent's field.

So I will be blunt: This is propably the best base form Bal Dragon we have ever recieved in this game. The amount of destruction and disruption one can do with this card is honestly out of this world. Swordsman Bal really shines in the Star Dragon World matchup, but also against almost every Size 3 centric deck in the game, sans Shadow Shade to some extent. But boy does he fight back and leave scars...

Really powerful card, and I advice Sun Dragon players to get him as soon as they can.



The next card we are looking at is Spiritbeat Dragon. A Size2 Sun Dragon with the 3000 / 2 / 5000 statline, and natural Move. His ability activates by link attacking with another Sun Dragon, and gives another Sun Dragon +5000 power and Penetrate for the turn.

So the combo here is obvious, you are suppossed to use it with Dragon Force to make it dish out even more damage than before by being allowed to Penetrate, or just boost any other item you have. However, Spiritbeat Dragon is a Size 2, and this makes it a pretty weak choice, considering all the better Size 2 monsters that Sun Dragons can run. Sure, you can use him to call out Bal Saucer, and then deal 3 damage per attack with that combo against a closed center, but... That's an easily disrupted combo.

Spiritbeat Dragon is a card I cant justify running. Just avoid it, most of the time.



Sunbeam Dragon does not fare better than Spiritbeat...

This card is a Size 2 Sun Dragon, 6000 / 2 / 1000 statline, natural Penetrate, and after his attack, if the opponent does nto have a monster in the center, deal 1 damage to your opponent.

Outside of a dedicated Penetrate deck, there is no space for Sunbeam, and even then, there are better Size 2 monsters out there. Breastcorona Dragon for example.

Just go for...literally anything else.



Sun Dragons got their own Thousand Rapier Dragon, and this one is named Burning Rapier Dragon! This dandy-looking musketeer is a Size 1 Sun Dragon with the modest statline of 4000 / 1 / 1000, and with an ability known as "Perks of a United Bout". This ability lets the player draw a card when Rapier link attackswith another Sun Dragon, but only once per turn, however.

Now this. This is a truely good card. Just the effect of drawing cards in Dragon World is a taboo idea, as it just pushes them even more. But now we have even more walking card draw. Picking Burning Rapier Dragon as a Size 1 for your deck is not a bad option at all, it's just sad that he and Black Dot compete for space, together with Flarefang who needs to be ran.

Just a really amazing card, as simple as it is.



And just like that, even more of the deckspace is being fought over.

Merapower Dragon is a Size 1 Sun Dragon with 2000 / 2 / 2000 as his statline, with the Counter ability to pay 1 life and then equip a Sun Dragon Item from your hand by paying the equip cost, once per turn.

This little armorsmith makes for some interesting plays you can do with the Dragon Force and other items, not to mention he can push down your life total to reach the Release Condition.

What more could an item-based deck ask for than the option to use more Items?



Next up is Skyrunner Dragon. This Sun Dragon is a Size 1 with 1000 / 2 / 1000 stats and a lone ability that activates when he link attacks with another Sun Dragon. When he links, you chose a standing Sun Dragon on your field and give it Double Attack.

This....is not good...but its not bad either.

There is a combo with this somewhere... Linking with Dragon Force and giving a Size 2 the Double Attack ability, or something like that.

But you dont really run this in your normal Sun Dragon decks anyway, so its really hard to say how good it is. So....not a conclusive answer to what you should do with this thing.



Merakunai Dragon is a Size 1 Sun Dragon with 6000 / 2 / 2000 stats, and he can not be called to the center.

That is all.

Its just one of the boosted vanilla monsters.

Moving on...



Next up we have Explosive Bullet Dragon, Ultrabomb. This guy is a Size 1 Sun Dragon with 5000 / 1 / 2000 stats, and an ability that activates when he link attacks with another Sun Dragon. You may pay 1 gauge when he link attacks to destroy a monster in the opponent's center.

In my opinion, this ability is just okay. Its not necessary good, except in a select few cases, because there are some times where this ability could be handy over something like drawing a card with Burning Rapier.

Ultrabomb is another card I cant properly rate as I cant deny there are sme closed center decks that this works against, and does it somewhat well.



Solwise Dragon is another Sun Dragon Size 1 that is not worth running. It has 4000 / 2 / 1000 as its statline, and when it links with another Sun Dragon you gain 1 life.

Really not worth it as life is better gained in other ways.

Skiiiip.



Next we have....the first ever "SD" monster to be introduced in the same set as it's full form.

Burning Rapier Dragon, "SD" is a Size 0 monster with the Sun Dragon attribute, and 2000 / 1 / 1000 as his stats, and with the neat little ability of putting a soul from a card on the opponent's field into the drop zone when he link attacks. Doesn't even need a Sun Dragon to link with.

So yeah, this is guy is also really freaking good. And not just for Sun Dragons, but for Size 3 decks as well. This guy will see a lot of use in the future.

You all know why.



The next card on the list is...a card I strongly feel is just filler.

Flame Dragon Jr., who is a Size 0 Sun Dragon with 2000 / 1 / 1000 stats. He sports two abilities, one which lets your items attack the opponent even if they have a monster in the center, and the other ability....sends him to the drop zone after your item attacked.

Excuse me, but...this is really pointless. "Oh, I get to deal damage to the opponent even though they have a center!" And...then you minus yourself just to deal that damage? They still have a center monster to block with, so...

No, this card is just terrible.



And then we have Bomber Dragon Jr., another Size 0 Sun Dragon with the 2000 / 1 / 1000 statline, and the Counter ability of paying 1 gauge during your turn, and putting him from the field into the drop zone, to destroy a monster on the opponent's field.

Well this is actually good.

Clearing the center for Quad Formation plays while dealing with opposing monsters is a good ability. Its not the most usable card, but it is not terrible, I would say.

Cute and useable little guy.

Then we have the first Impact Monster that Dragon World got: Zellhorus, "Eradicate Flame". Zellhorus is a Size 3 Sun Dragon, with 8000 / 2 / 6000 as the stats, and a call cost of 2 gauge and calling it on top of a Sun Dragon on your field. When he enters the field, all items and spells on each fighter's field is destroyed and the opponent takes 1 damage per card destroyed. Zellhorus also sports natural Move, Soulguard and Penetrate.

This card is just so incredibly good, and opens up the options for a brand new deck to surface: The Sun Dragon Size 3 deck. The ability to deal with opposing items AND spells is just godly. And if you run the Sun Fist, Balguard....well, you dont lose your item. Sun Dragons and their nutty cards, am I right?

Zellhorus, "Eradicate Flame" is one of my favorite cards from the set. Expect this to be included in decklists in the future.

And then we have the big boy himself: Bal Dragon, "Bal Saucer Over Rush!", the Size 2 Impact Monster, Sun Dragon attribute, 11000 / 1 / 6000 statline, costs 2 gauge and putting a Sun Dragon monster from the field into the drop zone. Counter, pay 1 gauge if you have a Sun Dragon Item equipped, to stand this card.

We have all seen it in the anime, and how "overpowered" they are making it out to be. The thing is, as long as the opponent is prepared for it, they can remove this monster easily with just one of the many many many Counter removal cards in the game. However, you can work around this by using stuff like Dragobond and Balguard to defend it.

It's alright, it's good, but it is not overpowered. Just alright and balanced.

Dragon Knights


Aaaaand now we have Dragon Knights. The fan favorite saddly is back to getting the short end of the stick and having a low amount of support...but they got good support however. Support that can be used.

First is Dragon Knight, Bartholomew, a Size 2 Dragon Knight with 4000 / 2 / 2000 statline, and a call cost of 1 gauge. His ability is "Inquisitive Mindset", which activates when he enters the field and you have 3 life or less, or have two or more other Dragon Knights on the field, letting you draw 2 cards. Once Per Turn ability.

So he is a walking Nice one!, which is just perfect. Card draw have always been lacking in Dragon World, but leave it to the Dragon Knights to mend that. Bartholomew is sure to be a card ran in most Dragon Knight decks, mark my words.



The other card Dragon Knights got is Dragon Knight, Billy the Kid. This little guy is a Size 2 with the Dragon Knight attribute, and 5000 / 2 / 5000 statline. He has a call cost of 1 gauge, and when he enters the field, you put the top two cards of your deck into the drop zone. Billy then gains +2000 power if both of them were monsters. And then, when Billy attacks, if you have three or more different monsters in the drop zone, he gaisn Double Attack for the turn.

Double Attacking Dragon Knight that is not a Size 3, yeah this is really good. Billy boosts the damage output that Dragon Knights had, he functions well in Dragon Zwei, and is all around a simple but incredibly good card.

And that is saddly all Dragon Knights got this time around...

Armordragons
Cant forget about the first child of Bushiroad's loved protagonist, can we? Armordragon as a whole doesnt change much, but it's archetype decks certainly do.

First up, Fifth Omni Super Cavalry Dragon, Magical Deity Blade Mizaru, who is a Size 3 Armordragon / Black Dragon with 7000 / 3 / 5000 as his statline. He can not be called to the center and has a miniscule call cost of just 1 gauge and putting a Fifth Omni from the drop zone into his soul. While sporting Soulguard and Counterattack, Mizaru also has the ability to draw you a card, once per turn, when you are dealt damage.

So here we have someone who can truely be dangerous. The Size 3 Fifth Omni deck looks more destructive for each set it gets support. Something one needs to watch out for when this Mizaru enters, is the option of your opponent having Dragonic Formation, making Mizaru a truely dangerous card to deal with.

However, I cant say just how strong he is going to be, just that it looks like he will be really useful if his deck is built just right.

OH DAMN, ITS THUNDER KNIGHTS SUPPORT!

Thunder Knights, Rising Flare Dragon is a Size 2 monster sporting the Armordragon and Red Dragon attributes, with 4000 / 2 / 3000 as it's statline, and a call cost of 1 gauge. When he enters the field, you get to destroy a Size 2 or higher monster the opponent has on the field, then you mill the top three cards of your deck. If at least two of those are "Dragon" attributed monsters, you get to draw a card. He also sports the natural ability to Move.

In Thunder Knights, this is obviously good for just the wall clearing, but saddly the second ability is easy to miss. However, we ran in Dragon Zwei, you are garanteed the ability to draw (Unless you are running a lot of Omni Lords), making Rising Flare pretty much a staple.

Really incredible and destructive card.

Amazing design as well.



Then we have Thunder Knights, Katzbalger Drake, who is a Size 1 monster, Armordragon / Red Dragon, with 3000 / 2 / 1000 statline. And his ability activates whenever a monster with Thunder Knights in their name Moves, granting you an additional gauge.

While the huge amount of gauge is welcomed, it is not really what Thunder Knights needed. Their problem lies in having a low amount of hand-based resources, and ways to get over walls.

But...this monster is alright for it's uses, I guess.



Whiteshield Dragon is the last of the Armordragons we look at.

Its a Size 1 monster, Armordragon / White Dragon attributes and with a statline of 0 / 2 / 4000. Sporting the Counter ability to put this card from your field, or your hand, into the drop zone and paying 1 gauge to reduce the next damage you would take by 2 points.

While this can act as a pseudo-shield...two times...its really hard to justify running this. Sure, the damage reduction cant be nulled asit is a monster effect, but...still dont see any room for it.

You can pass on this card as well.

Spells
And now it's time to look at the spells!

The first one is called Refract Sunbeam, and it sports the Sun Dragon and Destruction attributes. You can only cast it if you have a Sun Dragon Item with 5000 or greater power equipped. It's call cost is 2 gauge, while the ability is a Counter to destroy a monster on the opponent's field.

I honestly do not know if this card is worth it or not. On one side, you have a lot of items that can be used with this. On the other, do you really need this spell when Stout Arm of the Sun does basicly the same thing?

This is only actually useful to deal with a close center, and...yeah, I feel like Stout Arm is the better pick.



And then we have..... Bal Exciting....

This spell has the Sun Dragon attribute and can only be cast if you have a monster with "Bal Dragon" in the name, on the field. It costs 1 life to cast, and it's ability is a Counter to stand an item on your field.

You see...this card is honestly really unfair, as it effectively removes one of the two counters we had to Dragon Force, and makes it pointless. Standing an item ofor such a small cost is honestly insane. Not to mention it can push your life total down even further to counter-equip the aura weapon thanksto Merapower Dragon.

And dont get me started on the stuff you can do in Dragon Ein!

I honestly feel like this spell should not exist. It's too good.



Next up is Sun Furnace Type Solarbattery Type-1, a Sun Dragon / Charge attributed spell. When activated, it is Set on the field. Each time a Sun Dragon enters your field, you gain one gauge, but only once per turn, and you can only set one copy of this card on your field.

Gauge is not something Sun Dragons are lacking, at all...but I guess some people wants to attack 20 times with Bal Saucer....

Not really needed, this spell.



Shining Wall is a Sun Dragon / Defense spell that costs 1 gauge to cast. After it is cast, all the damage you take that turn is reduced by 1.

While...the aura effect is incredibly good. I dont know how good this actually is.

I guess it's a good side-board card to deal with Undead decks or stuff like that.

Items
The time has come. You and your Buddy has deepened your bonds to the point where the ancient forces cant ignore either of you anymore. The soul of Balle Soleil is bestowed upon you, signaling that it's time....to release the Dragon Force!

Dragon Force (Mary Sue Version) is a Sun Dragon / Weapon attributed item with 5000 / 2 stats. To equip it, you need to fullfil the Release Condition!, which requires you to be at 6 or less life, and have a Bal Dragon monster on the field. When the conditions are filled, you can pay 2 gauge to fully release this overwhelming power. The Dragon Force is weaved together by threads from the most legendary plot armors, gathered from all fictional material in the universe, and made holy by the words of Chuck Norris himself, making the item impossible to destroy, move, or restrain in any shape or form. And when you attack together with your Sun Dragon comrade, the item recharges itself and can attack again. Not to mention, it can also attack during Final Phase! (That ability was gained when we spilled Tasuku's tears over the card)

The Dragon Force (and its different varriants) is honestly the most broken card in the game. Not being able to remove or properly respond to it in any way is the definition of a broken card. Thankfully, there are some cards that can be used to temporary make the item less of a threat, but it is still unheard of how strong this card is...



Then we have Dragon Twin Sword, Bal Saber, another Sun Dragon / Weapon attributed item. This item has 2000 / 2 as its statline, and costs 1 gauge to equip. When it link attacks with another Sun Dragon, it gains Double Attack for the turn.

Its just an okay ability, getting an additional attack with the 2 crit item. Not really anything to shout in excitement about.

Well, unless people learn to really abuse it... Balguard is still better.



And finally, we have Sun Blade, Bal Beeline, a Sun Dragon / Weapon attribute item with 3000 / 3 as its stats, and an equip cost of 2 gauge. Whenever it link attacks with another Sun Dragon, you put a soul from the opponent's center monster (if any) into the drop zone, and then destroy that monster.

Really powerful item to be sides against those pesky wall decks with huge soulstack monsters who just sit there in the center to block you (Looking at you Jaeger, Joe) and just deny you from doing any damage. Well, this beeline is sure to cut them down to size~

Dont main it however. there are a lot of decks where it is not a good item to use.

Closing words
Dragon World continues to amaze me by the sheer amount of support it gets, and it makes me wonder if they are going to keep occupying 25% of the support for the next 3 years as well.

Not to mention there are a couple of cards in here who are straight up filler, when other worlds could use the slot to get an additional card or two.

And now that we have the Dragon Force, I have to ask.... Bushiroad...are you sure you want this game to have cards that cant be responded to? We only have Mass Soldier (and Naga, if playing Danger) to respond to these things. Well, Barbed Wire still works on Shounen Force and Edge Force, I guess, but...still.

Anyway, that is all for now. Look forward to the decklists for DBT03 when we are done with the informatives~