Wednesday, 27 July 2016

Deck Profile: The Breaker Of Wallets. Fear His Name



It's a bird. It's a plane. Oh, our planet is destroyed.

I think it is about time I do a deck profile on some guy named Chaos Breaker and Dark Zodiac. I haven't played Star-Vaders for a while and I think my Schwarzschild deck is getting a little old by now. So this deck profile is about these two who work so well together if used correctly.
Basically what this deck is about is giving you control over your opponents field so that the game can almost be tilted in the direction you want it to go (unless you're up against Messiahs, if so then have fun). With Chaos Breaker as the unit you want to end the game on, Dark Zodiac is your main first ride as it helps set up for Chaos Breaker's Limit Break. With other cards supporting lock and omega lock alike, this deck can still be called a deck to cause trouble for non messiah users or any other clan that can't unlock as well as other clans can, like Royal or Gold Paladin. So now it is time to go into the Deck List (keep in mind it doesn't have to be exactly this build).

Deck List - The Breakers Of Hope

Grade 0   x17

1x Intricacy Star-Vader, Carbon First VG
4x Star-Vader, Paradigm Shift Dragon
4x Star-Vader, Meteor Liger
4x Star Vader, Nebula Captor
4x Star Vader, Pixie Powder

Grade 1   x14

3x  Star-Vader, Volt Line
4x   Mana Shot Star-Vader, Neon
4x   Barrier Star-Vader, Promethium PG
3x Eclipse Star-Vader, Charcoal

Grade 2   x11

4x Star-Vader, Astro Reaper Mate
4x Flash Gun Star-Vader, Osmium
3x Companion Star Star-Vader, Photon

Grade 3   x8

4x Star-Vader, Dark Zodiac Legion
4x Star-Vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon

Grade 4   x16

4x Death Star-Vader, Chaos Universe
4x Nebula Dragon, Big Crunch Dragon
2x Genesis Dragon, Amnesty Messiah
1x Nebula Dragon, Maximum Seal Dragon
1x Metal Element, Scryew
1x Dark Element, Dizmel
2x Death Star-Vader, Demon Maxwell
1x Air Element, Sebreeze


Overview

Alright, so now we have the deck list, let's get onto explaining the deck starting with the grade 0's

- For our First Vanguard, it is actually a toss up between Robin Knight, Carbon and Dust Tail so either one is fine. I play tested all the starters I had debating over which one is best. It is a toss up between Dust Tail and Carbon now. I went with Carbon because legion or not, you will have a locked card on your opponents side of the field. What carbon does is if your opponent has a locked card, you can put him into your soul and search your deck for a grade 1 or less star vader card and call it to RG. This sets up for things like Paradigm Shift or Charcoal, or basically any G1 or less star vader that you want on the field. He also helps Chaos because he fills the soul.
- Next we use Meteor Liger as he is just a plain old crit.
- Now we head into Paradigm Shift Dragon who, as long as you have a vanguard with Star-Vader in its name and if your opponent has a locked card, you can put it on top of your deck and lock another card in your opponents back row. This is pretty sweet since you can combo it with Chaos or Zodiac for either more hand advantage or Omega Locks. Also since he is shuffled into the deck, this can allow you to continously use his skill for no cost at all except your opponent must have a locked card.
- Lastly we just use any heal trigger because heal triggers

Now we move onto the grade 1's

- First off, we use Star-Vader, Volt Line who is a nice card when you want to apply pressure at its finest. What Volt Line does is if the attack that he boosts is able to hit a vanguard, you get to choose a locked card on your opponents side of the field and Omega Lock it. It's a really good card that provides you more of the control that this deck is all about. You can choose to Omega Lock one card and let another Locked card die as soon as it is unlocked so that you can play the waiting game on the Omega Locked card. It's a really good card that should be used in a control Link Joker type deck.

- Next is the 10k beater, Neon. I put him in this deck so that it'll be easier to hit the opponents vanguard when all of your opponents cards are locked. Using this with Volt Line could provide more trouble than your opponents wants to deal with. Also, you can use this card to boost and if your unit that Neon boosted is gone, you can just move him up and be fine to attack rearguards if they aren't locked to force your opponent to use cards from his/her hand to guard it. 

- Next is the Perfect Guard, Promethium. I had a toss up between him or Cosmo Wreath but I chose him in the end since you want to guard precious rearguards and be able to fill up your drop zone for legion. Since this deck doesn't counter blast "as much" I didn't need to use Cosmo Wreath. After many tests, this deck is more of a "use counterblast wisely" type of deck and since most of the locking is free overall, Cosmo Wreath just won't see a spot in this deck.

- Lastly is Charcoal, the Limit Break enabler. With this deck, you want to generate hand advantage as soon as possible, so that is why Charcoal is in this deck. He is a decent booster for units so that is also a good reason why he is here. It was either Charcoal or Opener Of Dark Gates. Charcoal was the better decision in the end.

Now it is time for the Grade 2's

- First, in this deck we use Astro Reaper. He is the Mate for Dark Zodiac. What he does is if he hits a vanguard on RG, you can SoulBlast 1 and look at the top 5 cards of your deck for a unit on your VC and add it to your hand, then put the remaining cards on the bottom of your deck in any order. This skill takes away the soul for Chaos Breaker but most of the time you won't need to activate this skill. This card does allow you to set up for Dark Zodiac's Legion Persona Blast so activating Dark Zodiac's skill becomes less of a chore. Also he sets up for things like Schwarzschild Dragon or setting up for a Loop BreakRide (Infinite Zero over Infinite Zero) because he isn't restricted in any way what-so-ever. He is a nice card but once you get Chaos Breaker on the VC, he becomes Chaos's worst enemy.

- Next is the Flash Gun Star-Vader, Osmium. He is the Mate for Imaginary Plane Dragon, but in this deck he is used as a G2 version of Volt Line whose attack has to hit a vanguard to Omega Lock. Pairing him up with Volt Line basically forces your opponent to guard, otherwise they suffer having two units omega locked for no cost and in the blink of an eye. It's truly powerful but I was debating between him and Radon for more power, but I thought Game Control is better than power so that is why I decided on Osmium in the end. You can use him when Chaos is your vanguard so that you give yourself so much control, your opponent will have nightmares. 

- Lastly is the Companion Star, Photon who is the mate for both Garnet Star and Blaster Joker. In this deck he is used as a free cost for Lock provided your opponent has a locked card already and if you have a star-vader vanguard. With Photon this gives you more Omega Locked cards or Hand Advantage, it really is your choice. If you think you want your opponent to have 3 locked cards, well why not?

Finally for the main deck is the last Grade 3's

- The main unit you want to ride first, Dark Zodiac, is my second favourite Link Joker legion (Venom Dancer being my first). What he does is, for a Legion Persona Blast, you can lock one unit in your opponents front and back row (so basically Infinite Zero), it is nice because it sets up for his Legion Skill which is, when he legions, all of your opponents locked cards become Omega Locked. With this, even if you legioned and then Lock, the locked cards would still be omega locked. It is a good skill that helps Chaos damn well. Not just Chaos, there is Venom Dancer, Nebula Lord, Hafnium even (dare I say it) Glendios. The ability to control your opponents field is visble here. Omega Lock then put the fear of god on your opponents by riding Chaos Breaker Dragon. This is truly a match made in heaven.


- The card you want to ride last is Star-Vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon. For anyone of you that don't know his skill. For A SoulBlast of 1 Star-vader, you can retire an unlocked unit and draw a card. Since his LB is Auto, you can activate it as many times as the conditions are satisfied. Now with this, after many play testing, it is very wise to not kill off all unlocked units at once since you still need units to lock. That's why his other skill is pretty decent, for a CB of 1 and by dropping a card with Star-Vader, you can lock one of your opponents rearguards. What makes this good is, it is a non-heavy cost for a lock, unlike Nebula Lord who has to CB 2 to lock one in back row, or Schwarzschild who Locks 3 for CB 3 but at least gains 10k and a crit. The ability to control the board is at your hands with Chaos Breaker, he who watches the world burn and be obiliterated.


Now we head into the Grade 4 line up.

- The first stride that we use is the obvious "Death Star-Vader, Chaos Universe". He is the main stride you'd be using for a Chaos Breaker/Zodiac deck. His skill is CB 1 and a G Persona Blast. With this your opponent chooses a card from hand and you get to choose the Open RG circle to place it face down as a locked card. You need a heart card with Chaos however, but it is definitely worth it because it sets up for Chaos Breakers LB. Also, if the number of cards face up in your G Zone is 2 or more, you are able to lock another card. It enables two Limit Breaks and can also tear down your opponents turn by sealing off attacks. Nothing much is need to be said about this card except, when this card appears, that is when "The clown says, Game Over".

- The second stride at your disposal is Nebula Dragon, Big Crunch Dragon who is pretty much both of Dark Zodiac skills combined except you can't lock one in front and back row. For CB 1 and a G Persona Blast, if Big Crunch is GB 2, you can Omega Lock an entire column. It's pretty good to use if you have Dark Zodiac on VG Circle instead of Chaos Universe and it starts off the control of the board if you have Chaos Breaker as VG. Can't wait to see more Link Joker strides that Omega Lock.

- The third stride is the stride that is good in mirror matches, Genesis Dragon, Amnesty Messiah. For CB 1, when Amnesty attacks, you can unlock any unit you want to and for each unit unlocked, Amnesty gains +3000 and if you unlocked 3 or more, Amnesty goes +1 crit. It's a good card because it stops a Chaos LB when activating. I recently had a Star-Vader vs Messiah match and well... Star-vaders got completely shut down and i barely used Chaos's LB because I couldn't. That is why I use the 2 Amnesty, but you don't have to use 2 and could just use 1 because Amnesty costs so much. 

- The fourth stride is Nebula Dragon, Maximum Seal Dragon who is pretty good at getting your opponent to use a PG. For CB 1, it gains +5000 for every locked unit on the field. Just in case your field is locked and you want to gain benefits from it, you can just use Maximum Seal and make up for your lost units. Hopefully more Link Joker strides gain power from lokced cards THAT AREN'T MESSIAHS.

- Now we head into the G Guard. First off is Metal Element, Scryew. When you G Guard with it, if you have a face up unit in your G Zone, you can discard a card from your hand to Gain +10k shield. This card helps is you don't have that much Shield against a powerful attack such as "Diablo". This card has saved many people and so it is important to add at least one in a deck such as this. The discard cost is fine in order to gain that much shield.

- The next G Guard is Dark Element, Dizmel. When you G guard with him, he already has the resist ability on GC so that things like Daikaiser can't break it. On top of that, he gives a unit a nullify for the turn and resist. This helps because you can either portect a RG or you can intercept with it so that Daikaiser can't break your Guards you have using Dizmel. It's a good card for having no cost what so ever. Using more than 1 is fine as well.

- The final G Guard for this deck is "Death Star-Vader, Demon Maxwell". At first this card was terrible because he locks one of your own in the back row to gain the +5000. But after going through the strides, this card is actually fine. It helps Messiahs more than Star-Vaders however. In a Messiah deck, it gives the deck as a whole, more options to unlock and gain power off of it. In a Star-Vader deck, the idea of Maxwell is to stride into Amnesty or Maximum Seal to gain some sort of benefit from he locked unit. Using 2 is good since you can either Amnesty or Nebula Maximum Seal to gain 3-5k for each locked unit or unlocked unit. In a Deletor deck, it actually might be the "Traitor" that even Chaos Breaker deems it to be.

- The final stride of this deck is Air Element, Sebreeze. Sebreeze smashes all opponents who dare to play the g2 game with you. With its CB 2 cost and by discarding a card from your hand. If you have a g3 vanguard and your opponent is a g2 vanguard and didn't ride his/her last turn, you can stride into Sebreeze therefore enabling GB even when you are meant to be GB. This helps most decks as well because they can early GB rush your opponent and give them quite the scare since next match, your opponent will be scared to play the g2 game unless he/she didn't actually have a g3 in hand. The only downside to this card is its CB 2 cost because this deck really needs the CB in order to activate skills, and there are barely any unflippers in this deck (unless you take out Neon, just put in Zinc). It kinda hits you negatively as well and there really aren't any GB units in this deck. It is still a nice stride to have just in case you wanna punish your oppoennt for stalling.

So that was my Zodiac Breaker deck i have made after some tests. I probably should take out Neon and add in Zinc. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this deck profile. So i'll see you guys in the next post whatever that may be.

~RiRi/Leafey Fanboy.



Monday, 4 July 2016

Archetype Review: Sanctuary Of Light


I attack, Limit Break, 3k to all Sanctuary of light so basically I give 3k everywhere, How much power in total? 24k VG, 22k columns. Byeeee hand. 

I've always appreciated ride chains for showing off what a clan is capable of but I have to say, this is one of my top 5 favourite ride chains simply because it rewards you so much for completing the ride chain. I ride grade 1, add a g2 to hand, ride the G2, call a dude for free, ride g3, CB2 to call a dude and Limit Break to give 3k to all SOL units! The final grade 3 for Sanctuary of light is Brightness Dragon who can unlock and also does a soul saver type skill for CB2 and SB2. Basically what this ride chain is about if you haven't figured it out, is calling units with Sanctuary of Light in their names to set up for Planetal Dragons free Limit Break. Planetal Dragon when he attacks gives 3k to all SOL units so this means you have to attack with him first to get the most out of his skill, which also means it would be a bad idea to use stand triggers. So using 6 draw, 6 crit, 8 crit, 4 draw or simply 12 crit would be the best options. This deck is aggressive so 12 crit would be best since it'll punish your opponents hand leaving them with barely anything left. 



I mean, cloning g3 is always nice. 

The stride line up for Sanctuary will have to be units that can call units from deck to make sure you have a field set up ready for when you use Planetal Dragon. Strides like Aerial Altmile, Gablade or Clotenus will help quite significantly to increase the advantage the Sanctuary deck will gain when you use Planetal. Aerial gives you a guaranteed call once you hit GB2. Clotenus would only be used if your opponent has lowered your hand to three or less if you recall from reading my Top 5 Strides from FC2016. Clotenus should only be used once as your G Zone can be filled with things like Gablade, Aerial Altmile and Saint Blow/ G Guard.

So by now it's pretty obvious that to maximise the potential of this type of deck, you need a have a full field so you can launch aggressive assaults, Stride or not. 


Protectors of the Sanctuary

Grade 0    x17
1x Sanctuary of Light, Planet Lancer First VG
4x Bringer Of Good Luck, Epona
4x Burning Mane Lion
4x Any Other Crit
4x Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine

Grade 1    x15

4x Sanctuary Of Light, Little Storm Ride Chain
4x Holy Knight Guardian G-PG
2x Battlesong Angel
3x Toypugal
2x Jewel Knight, Sabremy

Grade 2      x10

4x Sanctuary Of Light, Determinator Ride Chain
3x Swordsman of the Blaze, Palamedes
3x Starlight Violinist


Grade 3     x8

4x Sanctuary Of Light, Planetal Dragon Ride Chain
4x Sanctuary Of Light, Brightness Dragon

Grade 4   x16

4x Aerial Divine Knight, Altmile
2x Shrouded Divine Knight, Gablade
4x Holy Dragon, Saint Blow Dragon
1x Dark Element, Dizmel G Guard
2x Holy Dragon, Laserguard Dragon G Guard
1x Metal Element Scryew G Guard
2x Divine Knight of Rainbow Brocade, Clotenus


Overview

Starting off with the overview of the deck are the grade 0s. Obviously your starting vanguard will be Planet Lancer because ride chain deck. The twelve crits used in this deck is because of how the attack pattern is most of the time. You'll attack with vanguard first to apply some level of pressure and if you get critical triggers you'd wat to give it to RG if the attack was blocked, then your rearguards can go and attack even more powerful. Nothing needs to be said about the Heal Trigger.

With the Grade 1s, I use 4x Little Storm because he is the main card you'd want to ride because of the ride chain which helps for searching for the Grade 2 or 3 SOL. Also if you happen to ride the wrong Grade 2 (Determinator) you can look at the top 7 and superior ride Determinator if he is among them. You can't activate Determinators skill if you do this however so make sure to get Determinator in your hand before then.
-I use 4x Holy Knight Guardian because this deck does counterblast quite a lot and you'll need counterblast for things like Brightness, Starlight Violinst and other important cards for this deck. 
- Next is Battle Song Angel who is a good card to use in this deck. What she does is "GB1, If the number of Grade 1 or less rearguards you have is 2 or more, this unit gets +2000 power and also Resist". With this deck, you'll want to call out the grade 1 sanctuary of light through determinator's skill to boost your forces without having to pay any cost what so ever. However Battlesong is GB1 so with this you may as well hold off on using her as soon as possible unless you can keep her on a rearguard circle which shouldn't be too hard. 
- Next I use 3x Toypugal because generally you'll need to be calling out a Grade 3 Sanctuary of Light to apply more power and Toypugal rewards you for doing as such. If you have 2 or more grade 3 vanguards and/or rearguards, she boosts for another +3000 power. She isn't a Sanctuary of Light but she does gain the same amount of power as if she was one. 
- Lastly I use 2x Jewel Knight, Sabremy because he (or she) is a Limit Break enable which massively increases the pace of this deck. Being able to hit 22k columns while you are just at 2 damage really helps for early game rush and during this time in the game, early game advantage is always best.

- Next we move onto Grade 2s. I use 4x Determinator because ride chain. He would probably the card you'd want to ride anyway since you get to call a Sanctuary of Light for free. with determinator, you could even call a Grade 3 to rearguard, there's no stopping that. However you'd want to call Little Storm because you'd want to be able to boost either your vanguard or rearguard because of the trigger line-up. Calling a Grade 2 puts it at risk of being attacked next turn but it offers you both an extra attack and more cards to defend with. It is better to call the Grade 1 however because it sets up for Battlesong Angel. 
- Next I use 3x Starlight Violinst because with a CB1 and SB1, you get to call out a grade 2 other than himself and we all know who the general target is, Determinator, because he is a Sanctuary of Light and thus you can set up for Planetal Dragon. Also as I indirectly mentioned with Sabremy, you can use Starlight Violinst to launch an aggressive early game rush which really helps.
- Determinator isn't the only target however, you can call Palamedes (the last grade 2) which can sort of help for the rush down. 3x of Palamedes is pretty nice because he indirectly helps with early game rush. What Palamedes does is basically the same as Toypugal except it is when he attacks. With Palamedes and Toypugal supporting each other and making sure their conditions are met, even without being Sanctuary of Light, the column hits for 20k without triggers. The grade 3 Palamedes would be better for this but it takes away the options for Planetal Dragon or Determinator and reduces the maximum power potential for Planetal anyway. But because of the attack pattern, Palamedes/Toypugal column could hit for 25k and going critical.

- Lastly for the main deck is the Grade 3s. I use 4x Planetal Dragon because he is the final ride chain card. As soon as you ride him, you can CB2 and call any Sanctuary of Light unit. This definitely helps for his rush. However the CB2 is pretty costly so it really is up to you if you want to use it. Looking over that, his free Limit Break really makes up for it in the end to give 3k potentially every unit on the field. As I keep explaning, making sure to have as much Sanctaury of Light cards on your field is a must. Also, You could potentially make Palamedes even stronger by pairing him up with an SOL card boosting him for a maximum of 21k. Same with Toypugal boosting a G3 SOL, the column becomes 23k. This card is really good andd this is why SOL is one of my favourite ride chains. 
- The final Grade 3 is SOL, Brightness Dragon which has a somewhat of a less cost than soul saver but does the same thing as he gives +5000 to three Royal Paladin rearguards which is a Limit Break skill. It isn't a bad card but because of the cost, this makes staying on Planetal Dragon more worthwhile. However, Brightness is not completely useless, his second skill for a CB1 you can unlock a locked card on your side of the field. This actually helps because you'll want to have as less Locked units as possible to keep up the pressure, however unlocking through Brightness is mainly the only reason you would want to ride him. He isn't bad but he isn't as good as Planetal. Anything that is good about Soul Saver are probably the same reasons for why this card is good honestly.

Now we head into the G Zone. Using 2x Gablade gives you a good choice for the first few strides. When Gabalde hits a vanguard, you can call either a Grade 2 or a Grade 3 unit to rearguard. At this time, your attack pattern can switch to RG, VG, RG because Gablade obviously doesn't have a "When this unit attacks a Vanguard" skill so this way you can safely get more attacks in without losing any kind of pressure except for Gablade having to hit. Overall Gablade is a nice first stride. 
- The second unit of choice is Aerial Divine Knight, Altmile. He is probably one of the best strides in this deck as after you stride Gablade, you can activate his full potential. When he is stridden, you can G Persona Blast then he gains a skill where for the rest of the turn, the front row gains +3000 power and then if you have two or more face up G Units in the G Zone, you can call a Grade 2 and it gains +5000. Talk about a good power boost! This is basically a good substitute for Planetal and could tear through your opponents hand if used right. Just in case of a Kagero or Narukami face off, you can just replenish the rearguard you lost and add +8000 to it at maximum. Turning most of your columns into 21k+ is worth striding Gablade first (or G Guarding). 
- The third G Unit, Saint Blow Dragon is your main finisher for this deck. For a G Persona Blast, he gains +3000 for every rearguard you have, and if you have two or more rearguards, he goes critical. Pretty nice and also your attack pattern will switch to VG, RG, RG because of the pressure Saint Blow applies. If he fails to hit but you get critical triggers, your opponent has to deal with a mini Saint Blow. Using this card wisely is how you will win the game, but if your first one fails, you always have one more to use. 
- For the first G Guardian, Dizmel, is really good at protecting your rearguard you need. Dizmels skill is when he is placed on GC, you can give any rearguard a nullify and resist until end of the turn. It helps for protecting your precious rearguard unit. It's really your choice whether or not you want to use more.
- For the second G Guardian is the 2 Laserguard. If you have at least one grade 2 Rearguard he gains +5000 shield. It rewards you for keeping Determinator or Palamedes on the field. Nothing much more to be said honestly.
- The final G Guardian is Scryew and he really helps when you need that little more defence. When he is placed on GC, if you have one or more G Units face up in G Zone, by discarding one card from your hand, he gains +10000 shield. Pretty sweet defence which easily allows you to guard a high powered attack (except Gurguit stride, nothing will save you from that 101k monster). Other than that, Scryew is a nice card to have as backup.
- Final G Unit is Clotenus who can also be considered your last killing unit. What he does is (if you don't remember from reading Top 5 Stride) Brave (which activates if you have three or less cards in your hand), for a CB1, SB1 and a G Blast, for each copy of him face up in the G Zone, you can call a Grade 2 unit to RG and then he gains a GB3 skill where, if you have 5 or more rearguards, he gains +10000 and +1 critical. This card is like Saint Blow where if you use him right, he almost guarantees victory since you'd want to use Clotenus last. He replensishes a Rearguard and for a condition gains power and crit. Pretty sweet and dangerous for your opponent if you have basically no cards in hand. 

So that was my Deck Profile and Review of the Archetype known as Sanctuary of Light. I hope you all enjoyed reading this and I shall see you all in the next post whatever that may be.

~RiRi/Leafey Fanboy