Before diving into the Golden Lion’s den I’ll introduce the 3^rd new clan, Angel Feather

-Angel Feather: As its name implies this clan consists mainly of Angels. Its concept is the “Hospital” one. Units trade cards from hand to damage zone, basically utilizing the best cards that got dropped in your damage zone , these angels gain amazing speed.

Now let’s continue to our “main course”. Today’s theme is none other than Gold Paladins.

Gold Paladins

As I’ve said to my previous post Gold Paladins are focusing on their “comrades” , exactly like their predecessors Royal Paladins. Their huge difference though is the new skill, Limit Break.

Featuring Garmal and Blond Eisele , Gold Paladins can set up huge finishers.

Garmal is a grade 3 “tutor” card, which transforms into a 15k beatstick when you have 4 damage in your zone. Certainly a nice addition to every army , especially those ones that value their comrades.

The trump card of Gold Paladins is Blonde Eisele . Inheriting the power-up skill of Alfred backed by an amazing Limit Break skill , the Burning Lion is a force to be reckoned. It’s superb ability allow you to gain a +1 advantage while boosting your own vanguard preparing for a Final Turn.

The access to those tricks are made easier through little Crimson Lion , Kirufu (Klif), which can superior ride Eisele by sending Bowman and Gareth in soul together with itself.

The deck still needs some more cards to be “completed” .Basically a variety of triggers from which you will form your army the way you like , emphasizing more on crits pressure or draw advantage or stand maneuverability.

Either way Gold Paladins seem like the new way to go , something predictable since they are the starring-anime clan.

Narukami

On the opposite side of the ring , we have Narukami. This ragging Thunder is ready to strike down any “obstacle” you will encounter. Similar to Kagero , these evolved horde is focusing on big-attackers and control over the battlefield , until they unleash their final attack through their trump card.

Except from the new Djinn Archetype the only worth mentioning card is the Thunder Dragon’s King , Dragonic Kaiser, Vermilion. Its limit break really breaks everything..By counterblasting 3 , it gains 2000 and attacks everything on first row simultaneously. Intercepts are sealed , and you must guard separately each unit . Kaiser gives you an instant advantage the moment it activates its skill and declares attack.

The Crush Gods as name implies (Naru – Kami) are living up to their name , justifying their Thundery nature by striking down and burning to a crisp every opponent they meet.

Next time , I’ll go back to one of the Star decks of last season which proved to be strong enough to end a war ;) . Yeah you got it right, it’s time to pay our respects to Majesty Lord Blaster. Till next time , Let’s Imagine! Let’s Vanguard!

Knowing your upcoming Enemies Part 2

In this post I will conclude the list of “enemies” you possibly will encounter.

Firstly a clan I personally consider it to be one of my toughest match up,

-Neo-Nectar is a strong aggressive deck , focused on the power and evolution of Nature Units. If you’ll let it “grow” you will regret it sooner than you think.

-Tachikaze, Dinosaurs arent extinct. Instead they evolved in the form of a powerful army of cyber-dinos that have many tricks up to their sleeves. Focusing around retiring their units to activate their skills and generate a substantial advantage , Tachikaze can apply serious pressure.

-Nubatama : This clan is all about underhanded tricks worthy of the ninja title. Nubatamas are involving aroud hand advantage. With their discards and their powerful units they control the battlefield.

-Murakumo: The Black Ops of dragon empire. Utilizing Hit-and-Run tactics Murakumo can be something more than just annoying. Hassling your opponents while protected by your boss , Mandala Lord , which can make itself a respectful 10k guard, Murakumo isnt a clan that should be underestimated.

-Dimensional Police: The “Good” counterpart of Nova Grapplers , those space policemen provide order at planet Cray. Using tricks such as double twin drive checks with the help of their Commander Laurel and multiple attacks by standing their Beauty and her back support with her skill , those “Law and Order” guys are doing certainly a good job.

Last but for sure not least , a controversial deck that has been gaining a lot of popularity lately,

-Bermuda Triangle : A clan consisting of mermaids. They look cute but don’t be fooled those mermaids will push you in a corner at no time. Their abilities focus around bounce units to your hands and let you reuse their skills over and over.

Now its time to break our limits! I’ll introduce you to the 2 new clans from the season 2 of Cardfight Vanguard , Narukami and Gold Paladin.

-Narukami : They certainly remind us of their former predecessor Kagero. Those Lightning Dragons are strong enough to continue their legacy. Their leader vanguard Dragonic Kaiser Vermilion ,a remodeled “Dragonic Overlord”, can strike your opponent so hard giving you a certain lead versus any opponent.

-Gold Paladin:  Focusing on their bonds, the golden knights have fearsome tricks , and power that will smite down any “obstacle” you encounter. Each knight can power up , give you some hand advantage and finally help you set up your field and unleash a final mass attack.

In my next post I will for sure analyse those 2 new clans and talk about the viability of old clans at the new upcoming Limit Break format. Till then Lets Imagine! Lets Vanguard!

Deck Analysis : Royal Paladin

Deck Analysis

The deck we’ll put under the microscope for today is Royal Paladin. Considered by many as Tier 1 deck at the moment , Royal Paladin is really the most player’s choice. But enough talk let’s see a  representing decklist.

Grade 0

1x Durengal

1x Llew

4x Elaine

3x Margal

4x Epona

4x Alabaster Owl

Grade 1

4x Isseult

3x Marron

3x Powngal

4x Galahad Knight of Quests

Grade 2

2x Akane

2x Blaster Blade

2x  Gordon

2x Gallatin

4x Galahad Knight of Trials

Grade 3

3x Alfred

2x Soul Saver

2x Palamedes

This is the 1^st place deck of  Vanguard National convention of 2011 Grand Prix Fight.

Let’s review the  deck starting from grade 0.  He choose to play Durengal instead of wingal brave. Galahad engine it’s a little risky though but it gives a nice rotation to your deck and also keeps you from getting stacked with a 5k booster like Wingal Brave.

Trigger-like the deck is focused around critical triggers running 9 of them while keeping draw triggers to 3. That’s because Royal Paladin needs to apply pressure to keep up with your opponent while building your field to achieve an exploding Turn utilizing Soul Saver soul blast.

His Grade 1 are pretty much standard , 4 Galahad in order to superior ride and get your engine going. 3 Marron cause 8k boosters under Palamedes resulting in 21k which means 2 cards at least in order to guard successfully.  Powngals are there for utilizing akane and Soul Saver to its max potential. Giving you an option of getting your Finisher while boosting for 7k is great. Isseult is just absolute defense no need of explanation there :P.

Grade 2  are well balanced giving him the right push to move around. Blaster blader can blast your opponent creating an opening to finish him, as well as akane can fetch a booster if needed for Alfred which can result into a Finisher. Gallatin is a beatstick , Galahad is there for the rotation engine and Gordon cause S- interceptors  are great especially with Alfred in your Front Rows.

Grade 3 : Alfred is the materialization of Royal Paladin Theme. Supported by rear guards is pushing opponents vanguard dishing out plenty of dmg when combine with 9 crits. As for Soul Saver and Palamedes these 2 units are able to cripple your opponent with their skills. One with its fearsome Soul Blast which in most cases is game-ending and in all cases game-breaking while Palamedes is just too tough to mess with considering his high-powered atk.

Generally Royal Paladin is the more consistent deck. All units are balanced and supporting each other, they form mighty combos and have great finishers. Their counterblasts are surely feared as they lead to +1 and in some cases +2 advantage.

 In the end of the day its just a matter of taste to be honest. Pick your clan and your deck to your liking and have fun.  In my next post  I’ll introduce the remaining clans and analyse a different deck.  I want to focus in basics at first but I promise we’ll take a look on strategic moves and deck building picks and more advanced stuff. Until then have Fun and Let’s Vanguard.

Knowing your upcoming Enemies

As I told you in the previously, in this post I will introduce to you , your upcoming enemies, the clans you probably would encounter while playing Vanguard. We already talked about the 4 basic ones, Royal Paladin , Kagero, Oracle Think Tank and Nova Grappler. Today we’re gonna have a look on the Dark Zone nation , Granblue , Megacolony and the fearsome opponents of Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladins.

*Dark Zone nation consists of Pale Moon, Dark Irregulars and Spike Brothers. They are decks revolving around soul plays.

-Pale Moon, is a deck featuring circus themed units which can unleash fearsome tricks with units come and going into soul. It looks innocent but don’t be fooled cause you can be overwhelmed in a blink of an eye.

-Dark Irregulars. The deck of Tetsu , General of AL4. Consists of powerful units who get unstoppable if you allow them to stack up soul.  It can be considered a really strategically deck as it requires great strategic skills which can lead into fierce attacks mixed with some interesting tricks resulting in victory.

-Spike Brothers. A wild team of football rushing down an opponent with stormy style attacks not leaving him to catch a breath.  This is really the essence of spike brothers.

-Granblue.  A crew of pirates that just are denying to die! Granblue Pirates are undead. They utilize drop zone resurrecting one after the other, gathering a field full of Undead Pirates who are hungry for revenge :P .

-Megacolony.  A clan made of criminal insects. Sounds funny? Well not so much if you think that their skill prevents your units from standing. These bugs can get really annoying and their sting really hurts!

Last but not least the deck of the leader of AL4 , Suzugamori Ren . The mighty Shadow Paladins!

-Shadow Paladins are the evil counterparts of Royal Paladin. Instead of supporting their comrades shadow paladins are sacrificing each other in order to achieve the greatest power, the fiercest attack. 

I have prepared a deck analysis already but in order to avoid a long boring post , i will post it after some days. So until then have fun!