Lion vs Dragon

 

Today, we will review Gold Paladins, we will compare both versions and analyze their pros and cons.

Grade 3:  2x Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel 2x Gigantech Destroyer 4x Great Silver Wolf, Garmore Grade 2: 2x Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemea Lion 4xKnight of Superior Skills, Beaumains 4x Mage of Calamity, Tripp 1x Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane Grade1: 4x Sleygal Dagger 4x Halo Shield, Mark 4x Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth 1xPrecipice Whirlwind, Sagramore 2x Charjgal Grade0: 1x Little Fighter Cron 4x Elixir Sommelier 4x Flame of Victory 4x Weapons Dealer, Gwydion 2x Silent Punisher 2x Falcon Knight of Azure

Grade 3: 7 4x Spectral Duke Dragon 2x Battlefield Storm, Sagramore 1x Great Silver Wolf, Garmore Grade 2: 11 4x Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer 3x Flash-Edge Valyrie 2x Mage of Calamity, Tripp 2x Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemea Lion Grade 1: 15 4x Jet Black Vanguard Vortimer 4x Gareth Knight of Elegant Skills 4x Halo Shield, Mark 2x War Horse, Raging Storm 1x Player of the Holy Axe Nimue Grade 0: 17 1x Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer 4x Flame of Victory 4x Elixir Sommelier 4x Silent Punisher 4x Falcon Knight of the Azure

                         Let's review the foundation of both Lion and Dragon.

Lion In the list I chose (Nagoya 1st place) the player opted to go for Cron, disregarding the availability of Superior Ride, preferring the tutoring ability and the stability of Garmore instead of chasing the superior ride and focusing around Ezel. Also trigger lineup is “confessing” the need for advantage and the control nature that’s being imbued on this deck. Pros                                                  Cons Stability                                    Lack of speed Card Advantage                         (Power can be considered a Con , but it’s not a huge gap , cause 6 triggers can certainly give you power to push, however less power than Dragon version, and slower “cornering” into the “danger” zone.)

Dragon Now, on the other side, we have the “standard” starting vanguard, which enables the ride-chain. And then we spot a lineup focused around pushing your opponent with force, thus the 8 crits while the 4 draws balance out the aggressive lineup and the “expenses” of Spectral Duke Dragon’s Limit Break. Pros                                                Cons Speed                                         Unstable Rush-Power (I don’t consider card advantage in Cons because when you push opponent faster you make him use more guards, thus exhaust their hand faster. Also Rush-power isn’t the same as speed. A deck has speed when it swarms fast in this particular case, but rush-power is a term referring to pushing force when it comes to attacking the vanguard)

Next, Grade 1.

Gareth and Halo Shield are pretty much standard. But here we spot a quartet of Sleygals that are there to give a boost to the aggressive side of the deck. Also Charjgal is not a surprise with 4 Garmore and Precipice Whirlwind guarantee some card change ,in order to stabilize more your early game and get your pieces for your final setup as the game moves on Pros                                               Cons Power                                               - Stability

Also here Gareth and Halo are self explainable just as much as Jet Black Vanguard. We spot though 3 cards those are unusual enough. First 2 War-Horses. Due to the instability of the deck, those fellows guarantee you a late game “fix” pumping your vanguard at 11k and saving you some cards. Then we have Nimue. Being a 7k boost is certainly adding a more aggressive note to the deck, while making your early game very annoying and pressuring. It could be substituted for a Viviane but the deck needs more grade 1 than grade 2. Pros                                                 Cons Early Pressure                                   - Late game Fixing

Grade 2

An interesting mix-up of pressure (Viviane), sheer power (Beaumains), recycling (Tripp) and defense (Nemea Lion). Pros                                                   Cons Stability                   Lack of much pressure Defense Recycling (Lack of pressure is noted cause of the presence of only 1 viviane.Something that really follows the whole concept and style of the deck/player which chose more defensive attitude instead of mid-game pressure)

Here we have a more straight forwarded lineup. The standard ride-chain backed up by a nice addition to the swarming engine (Valkyrie). Also there are present both defense and recycling engines (Nemea Lion and Tripp) Pros                                           Cons Recycling                              Unstable Swarm-mechanism Pressure (Instability refers to potential lack of Dragon Knight that will lead into a “weak” late game. Also Valkyrie in hand isn’t the best pick.)

Finally the late game and the “meeting “of the Bosses.

We meet, Ezel , Gigantech Destroyer and Garmore.  It becomes clear that Garmore is the leading star of the deck, giving you a stable +1 advantage and a “late” pushing power that’s needed for the final push. Ezel is like the co-star, functioning as a Finisher, a potential swarm-mechanism. Last Destroyer a nice addition to a final push-through attack. Economical and powerful. Pros                                                Cons Stability                                   Predictable Swarming  Power

On the other side of the ring, we have the mighty Spectral Duke Dragon. Final piece of the ride-chain, 11k vanguard essentially saving you some cards when comes to guarding while also having a Limit Break Ability that can be what you need to break through. Next Garmore. He is a unit that can’t be missing from any Gold Paladin Deck. Here he is a back-up plan. And last but not least Dragon’s wingman, the pusher-finisher of this Deck, Sagramore. Combined with 8 crits, Gareth behind him and a 4th attack a final push is guaranteed. Pros                                                 Cons Speed                       Expensive Limit Break Power        High-risk-->Lack of Card Adva. Swarming

So to sum it up, the Ezel/Garmore deck is a more tempo-control based army which balances out its weakness (power, speed) with its Limit Break units. Certainly Tier 1 deck material.

Black Knights are still a controversial deck. Mainly because of its weakness to capitalize on a stable rhythm/rate due to its stability problems. But one thing is undeniable that its Limit Break is a fierce skill that can end a game and also that’s its power is no joke.

 I am emphasizing on the power part because recently I read a post about Spectral Duke Dragon being powerless. I assure you that are not the case at all. In the post I’ve read it was mentioned that the main disadvantage of the deck is Spectral Duke being an 11k vanguard. That’s a terrible misconception. Ezel can power up to 30+ sure, but it’s preventable and readable, also when your turn is over its still a 10k vanguard, an easy target due to the many combinations that break the 20k powerline simple enough.

 Also SDD Limit Break it might be costly but when used right in combination with 8 crits, and Sagramore/Gareth platoon, it gives you a huge finisher setup, especially when you have cornered your opponent at 4-5 damage zone. You have access to 4 attacks. Even if he let one pass, he will need at least 4-5 cards to guard, 2 for vanguard, 2 for sagramore and 1 more for vanguard again. So essentially you sacrifice 3 used up cards to sap away 4-5 cards and gain a potential guard with the extra drive check. The most important thing is to use it on the right time and don’t overextend if it’s not needed.

Vanguard is a game with multiple variables that at least for now doesn’t depend that much on the cards and their power capacity as on the skill of the player. Every deck can beat every deck. Some do it more easily, some harder, but nothing is impossible and nothing is out of reach. Every aspect of it can be controlled and that’s the magic of it, playing against the Player and not the cards. So don’t chase after Phantoms of other games, Tier decks , imbalanced cards. Just find your deck, a clan that fits you , your style and I assure you will be amazed of your potential and the fun you will have.