Metagame Analysis : General Overview

Lately a major tournament was held and we got a really good glimpse of the way format goes.  Fighter's Road 2012' Japan Regionals ended with Gold Paladins reigning over a mass army of Dragonic Overlord The End. It seems that the swarming abilities of Paladins overcame the stability of Kagero.

  

Here are the results:

      Nagoya
   Seniors Division
1st: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)                                                
4th: Kagero (DOTE)

Juniors Division
1st :Spike Brothers (Dudley Emperor)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Narukami (Vermilion Kaiser)

Team Tournament
1st: Spike Brothers (Dudley Emperor) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Gold Paladins (Spectral Duke Dragon)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)

Hiroshima
Seniors Division
1st: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
2nd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th Royal Paladins (Alfred/Baromedes)

Juniors Division
1st: Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Neo Nectar (Gene/Laurel)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)

Team Tournament
1st: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Oracle Think Thank (Tsukuyomi) / Kagero (DOTE)

Kanazawa
Seniors Division
1st: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th: Kagero (DOTE)

Juniors Division
1st: Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
3rd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
4th: Kagero (DOTE)

Team Tournament
1st: Kagero (DOTE) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Oracle Think Tank (Tsukuyomi)
2nd: Nova Grappler (Dragon Kaiser) / Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)


And here's the clan breakdown for all 3 regions:
Gold Paladins : 5
Royal Paladins: 10
Shadow Paladins: 3
Kagero: 16
Oracle Think Tank: 2
Nova Grappler: 1
Neo Nectar: 1
Spike Brothers: 2
Narukami: 1

As we can see, Royal Paladins and Kagero are still dominating, but I would like to analyse the presence of Gold Paladin as a new addition to the metagame.

There mainly 2 types of Gold Paladins, the Lions, utilizing Ezel and the Black Knights , utilizing Spectral Duke Dragon.

Both decks have incredible swarming abilities and can push really hard your opponent.

Lions:  The trump card of lions is none other than Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel. Its limit break can set up easily a final turn while call multiple units on field strengthening your field presence and reinforcing your aggressive force. It’s really the most popular choice and the reason for this is the stability the whole deck possesses. Kyrph is a stable starting vanguard which with no drawback can lead you to a superior ride, essentially giving you an amazing advantage over your opponent. The rest of your units don’t have anything special, but basic sometimes can be better that overcomplicated.

Dragons:  Spectral Duke Dragon is undoubtedly the star unit of Black Knights. Its limit break is really strong, effectively giving you an extra attack at the cost of 3 units. It’s really a fitting card for more aggressive type players, but great power requires great skill and risks.Thus the Vortimer chain units. In comparison to Lions this riding chain is pulled of harder and this is the main disadvantage of Black Knights.  Other than that , Black Knights have a really strong line up , gaining with Limit Break one extra attack , and also backed up by Valkyries it can swarm as easy or even more effectively that Lions essentially getting plus 3 cards with full ride chain.

In my next post I will present you some decklists of these 2 “archetypes” and we will talk about their advantages, their differences and their drawbacks in a more accurate way. 

Until then Let’s Imagine! Lets Vanguard!