Today's Card Analysis: Knight of Rose, Morgana

The Japanese card of the day is from V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4!, Knight of Rose Morgana. First revealed at the Malaysian Spring Fest last week, the Japanese print of Morgana differs slightly from its English counterpart;

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When it attacks a vanguard, [Soulblast 1], and this unit gets Power +3000 during that battle for each grade of your vanguard. (If your vanguard is grade 3, +9000.)

Not only does the Japanese print contain clarification text, but the effect itself is slightly different. The English version has Morgana gaining power "until end of turn," while the Japanese version gains power "during that battle." The difference is one that would primarily affect Premium format rather than Standard--if Morgana were to soulblast 1 for her power gain, then stand as a result of the vanguard checking a Stand Trigger, and soulblast again, the power gain would stack. Assuming a grade 3 vanguard, she would be a 26k total by herself (31k if the trigger power were given to her) or with a grade 4 vanguard, she would be 32k. (37k with trigger) In Standard format there are no Stand triggers, so Morgana's end-of-turn condition is of no concern unless Royal Paladin gains the ability to stand a rearguard by a card effect, but in Premium we could potentially see her as an important card in the grade 1-focused Sanctuary Guard deck.

The "end of turn" effect is accurate to the original Morgana's skill from seven years back, which brings into question if one of these versions is the result of a misprint.

For the majority of the game Morgana will be able to soulblast to become a 17k attacker in Standard, and with Little Sage Marron or Knight Squire Allen makes a 28k line, one of the most important numbers to hit in the new format. Seeing as the new wave of First Vanguards found in the Trial Decks stay in the soul for the game, and the Imaginary Gift mechanic encourages cardfighters to reride their grade 3s over and over, Morgana will have no shortage of soul to become a powerful attacker with. The problem lies in what happens the turn after she's set up.


Allen and Marron's power bonuses will fade after the first turn their skills are used, and you won't be able to reactivate the Little Sage's skill without calling something new to his column. That leaves Morgana soulblasting each turn to become a 25k rather than 28, and as she's not a grade 2 she can't intercept away to make up for the loss. That 25 is functionally identical to the 18 you would get by having a 10k grade 2 in her place. In the long term, her presence on the field is liable to become an inefficient use of the cards you have available, and force you to eventually call over her to bring out Jarron or another attacker not dependent on soulblast later. There's also the issue of deck space, as Marron will be a focal grade 1 for Royal Paladin decks, and running Morgana means giving up either the card-drawing Allen or Blaster Blade-empowering Wingal. Morgana can make for some powerful pushes in a pinch, and if Royal Paladin gains a field-buffing skill she's likely to make effective numbers with it, but of the cards we know now it's arguable whether she or Wingal is the more compelling choice for Standard Royals.

Knight of Rose Morgana is designed by Ryo-ta.H and illustrated by Syutsuri.

The previous Japanese card of the day was Dragon Armored Knight.

V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. They will be accompanied by a new sleeve based on the "Imaginary Gift" design. The first Booster Set of the Standard format, V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. The first Extra Booster set, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and in July for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll.