Today's Card Analysis: Spiteful Hopper

The Japanese Card of the Day for June 27th, 2018, is a Megacolony Single Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Spiteful Hopper.

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When placed, [Cost: Soulblast 1] 1 of your other units gets Power +6000 until end of turn. If there are no face-up cards in your damage zone, Countercharge 1.

When played correctly Spiteful Hopper effectively allows you to trade a card in soul for a face-up damage, while turning your rearguard lanes into minimum 15k guards, or bumping up Bloody Hercules/Machining Mantis columns into the magic 28+ range. Because the card can only be used while you have no face-up damage, it lacks the same flexibility as Oracle Guardian Gemini, and can't recoup an entire Spark Hercules turn on its own. For that you have to turn to Bloody Hercules or Butterfly Officer, as these are the only counterchargers that don't care how much damage is already face-up. With Megacolony's countercharge options limited to these three units, it's likely Hopper will get edged out by Officer for the grade 1 lineup much of the time, as the clan already has several desirable grade 1s. Running 4 Machining Hornet and 4 Phantom Black leaves 3~6 slots to divide between Hopper and Officer, and while Officer requires a greater investment to use she also comes attached to a larger payout.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Commander, Gary Gannon.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Commander, Gary Gannon

The Japanese Card of the Day for June 26th, 2018, is a Spike Brothers Single Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Commander Gary Gannon.

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When an attack it boosts hits a vanguard, [Cost: Put this unit into your soul] draw 2 cards, and put 1 card from your hand on the bottom of your deck.

The original Gary Gannon was a Flame of Hope Aermo clone, and fittingly his remake serves a similar purpose to the Kagerо̄ card in filtering the deck. Gary Gannon has you give up 2 cards to draw 2 cards, a net-neutral exchange that facilitates hand fixing while also allowing you to return trigger units to the deck. In addition to trigger units, Gary can return cards to the deck that you want to search later with the skills of Brakki or General Siefried. This ensures you're not searching for nothing, and also refuels the soul for Siefried, Spike Bouncer, and Black Panther.

The previous Japanese Cards of the Day were Ravenous Dragon Gigarex and Fierce Claw Dragon Laceraterex.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Ravenous Dragon Gigarex and Fierce Claw Dragon Laceraterex

 

The Japanese Cards of the Day for June 25th, 2018, are Tachikaze's VR and an R from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Ravenous Dragon Gigarex and Fierce Claw Dragon Laceraterex.

Ravenous Dragon, Gigarex
AUTO [Vanguard Circle]: When it attacks, put up to 1 card from the top of your deck face-down as an Equip Gauge on each of your rearguards. This unit gets Power +5000 for each of your rearguards until the end of that battle.
ACT [Vanguard Circle]: [Discard 5 Equip Gauges] 3 of your front row rearguards get Power +5000 until end of turn, and if the number of cards in your opponent's damage zone is 4 or less, deal 1 damage to their vanguard.

Gigarex, at one time the inarguable worst Triple Rare in the original game, has been upgraded into an incredible boss card that acts both as an engine for their Equip Gauge-based draw skills and a means of pushing the opponent to higher damage thresholds. In combination with Sonic Noa or Savage Raider you can load a Blightops with 2 Equip Gauges using Gigarex, then retire Blightops via Noa, a rearguard Deathrex, or Refilstego, to add those 2 Equip Gauges to hand and score a +1 to +2 in card advantage depending on which unit you retire Blightops with.

While Gigarex's first skill is a setup ability, his second skill is a devastating finisher that deals direct damage to the opponent by removing your rearguards' Equip Gauges as a cost. Note that this skill isn't once-per-turn, so if you have 10 Equip Gauges in play you can deal 2 damage to the opponent and give +10k to the front row rearguards, though that's extremely hard to pull off. However, because the card does not negate the effects of the triggers damage checked in this way, the skill can backfire on you by giving the opponent more power than you gain through using it should they damage check a trigger. (Bearing in mind that triggers are +10k now and Gigarex only gives +5k.) Also note that Gigarex is designed to synergize with the additional Accel Circles as much as possible by buffing them with his second skill rather than focusing on his normal rearguard circles, and his first skill allows him to power up based on having additional Accels in play.

Fierce Claw Dragon, Laceraterex
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When placed from hand, you may put the top 1 card of your deck face-down as this unit's Equip Gauge.
AUTO: When retired from Rearguard Circle, [Cost: Soulblast 1] put up to 1 card from this unit's Equip Gauge into your hand.

Meanwhile Laceraterex is akin to Blightops and Raider condensed into a single grade 1, though each skill is less powerful as a result. Because you can only add a single Gauge to hand by retiring Laceraterex, he's effectively a one-for-one trade in most circumstances. Sonic Noa is the only card that can plus off of Laceraterex currently, due to itself being a one-for-one retire-draw, and with much of the Tachikaze deck known to us we probably shouldn't hope for too much more in the department of draw skills. At present there's one Triple Rare, two Single Rares, and several Common slots of the set still unfilled.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Spike Bouncer.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Spike Bouncer

The Japanese Card of the Day for June 22nd, 2018, is a Spike Brothers Triple Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Spike Bouncer.

AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When placed, [Cost: Counterblast 1, Soulblast 1] look at cards from the top of your deck equal to your vanguard's grade, call up to 1 to Rearguard Circle, and put the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order.
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: At the end of the battle it attacked, [Cost: Counterblast 1, put this unit into your soul] draw 1 card.

This remake is a serious upgrade for humble Bouncer, turning him into the clan's only means of gaining card advantage in the Standard format. While Spike Bouncer is a clear counterpart to his fellow manga card Gyro Slinger, he replaces the card-from-hand cost with a counterblast-soulblast equivalent to Berserk Dragon, Blaster Blade, and Hi-powered Raizer Custom--and like those cards his superior call represents a clear +1. While these other units are left intercepting away afterward to make use of other units' skills later on, Spike Bouncer's other counterblast allows you to clear him from the field offensively while replenishing the lost soul for General Siefried, Black Panther, and Unite Attacker. And by disappearing from the field, Bouncer opens up the possibility of superior calling something else to the empty circle to attack later...though that will have to wait until more set reveals are out.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Winged Dragon Skyptero.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Winged Dragon, Skyptero

The Japanese Card of the Dayfor June 21st, 2018, is a Tachikaze Single Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Winged Dragon Skyptero.

AUTO: When this unit is retired from Rearguard Circle during your turn, [Cost: Counterblast 1] return this unit to your hand.

A remake of BT02: Onslaught of Dragon Souls' Skyptero, the skill is almost an exact replica of the original but with an important caveat--"during your turn." The original Skyptero could be used to foil retire skills that targeted it, while the new incarnation is strictly intended for synergy with retire costs like Tyrant Deathrex's. Given that this version of Skyptero has average base power rather than being below the margin, it's a welcome exchange.

While Skyptero allows for retire costs to be offset into neutral exchanges, the card also allows Tachikaze to be noncommital with its rearguard placement. You can call Skyptero to an Accel circle for a base 18 swing, retire it with Deathrex and then return it to hand, freeing the circle for a more powerful attacker later like Sharangastego. This flexibility is natural to Tachikaze, and by returning Skyptero to hand allows you to guard with him during the opponent's turn just as the clan did with the Skyptero and Dragon Egg of seven years' past.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Cheer Girl, Franny.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Water Gang

The Japanese Card of the Day is a Megacolony Single Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Water Gang.

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When it stands, [Cost: Counterblast 1, put this unit into your soul] draw 2 cards.

Water Gang was a staple R when Megacolony's full support first debuted seven years ago in Booster Set 04: Eclipse of Illusionary Shadows for giving the clan on-hit pressure and rare draw power, and his reimagining is similarly joined at the hip to the new deck for being a net +1 that's live from the moment you put him on the board. Right now there are two ways to use Water Gang--either you call him early and use his skill at the start of your next turn when you stand all of your units, or you superior call him with Machining Stag Beetle and stand him with Helldemise in your main phase. The fact that Stag Beetle calls from soul and Water Gang sends himself to soul as part of his cost gives the clan some incredible draw synergy, as each Stag Beetle ride is net neutral thanks to the Protect Gift adding a card to hand, and his superior calls are raw pluses with the trade-off being that they come out at rest. These two in combination allow you to reuse a single Water Gang across multiple turns to rack up card advantage.

With Water Gang's introduction, the Megacolony deck has taken on a more concrete shape, as it's much clearer what we do and don't want to be doing with our counterblast...

Grade 0: 18
x2 Jocular Cicada (FV)
x4 Paralyze Madonna (DT)
x12 Triggers
Grade 1: 12
x4 Machining Hornet
x4 Phantom Black
x4 Platoon Commander, Butterfly Officer
Grade 2: 11
x4 Machining Mantis
x4 Water Gang
x3 Bloody Hercules
Grade 3: 9
x4 Machining Stag Beetle
x3 Machining Spark Hercules
x2 Death Warden Antlion

Of course, several unknowns ambiguities remain about the deck. For one, a Helldemise skill on a grade 1 would be extremely valuable for the Stag-Gang synergy--or for grade 0s, Machining Worker Ant not being a Glyme clone and displacing Cicada could be the most pleasant surprise of the set. With tomorrow's stream coming in just a matter of hours, and full set reveals in ten days' time, we'll know soon enough what the final deck will look like.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Gyro Slinger.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Death Warden Antlion

The Japanese Card of the Day for June 15th, 2018, is Megacolony's final Double Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Death Warden Antlion.

AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circle]: When it attacks, [Soulblast 1 grade 3 card, discard 2 cards form your hand] this unit gets Power +10000/Critical +1, and your opponent cannot call Sentinels from hand to Guardian Circle until the end of that battle.

Already there have been accusations of power creep and predictions of the format's doom; but Antlion is not a card we should overestimate anymore than it is a card we should underestimate. Much hype has been made in the past twenty-four hours over combining Antlion with Phantom Black, a combo that prevents the opponent from guarding with both normal units and perfect defense cards. However, consider what you're realistically locking the opponent out of by adding on that additional discard--grade 1s with 10k shield and grade 2s with 5k shield. Antlion already pushes the opponent to guard with trigger unit guardians just on the virtue of those being the cards with the highest shield. Note that unlike in the case of Dragonic Waterfall you don't have Force Markers to layer power onto Antlion with, so with Phantom Black the card is functionally equivalent to 33k, which only requires 25k shield to guard--a Critical or Heal Trigger and virtually any other guardian.

The situations in which Black's normal unit restriction come into play are when the opponent would guard with a Heal and non-Sentinel Draw Trigger, Heal and grade 1, Heal and grade 2 from hand (as opposed to an intercept, which Phantom can't do anything about) a crit and grade 1, or a crit and vanilla Force interceptor. These are very specific scenarios--non-Sentinel draws are run sparingly by Nova Grappler and Kagerо̄, and intercepts are generally favored over guarding with grade 2s from hand.

If you're going to give up a card at all, a better use over Phantom is to stack Butterfly Officers onto Antlion to bump the card past the 38 and 48k thresholds. Of course they're not mutually exclusive, but contrary to popular belief all these discard, soul-in, and self-retire effects Megacolony is getting carry a significant impact on the clan. Megacolony can rapidly gain card advantage thanks to Machining Hornet, Machining Mantis, and Machining Stag Beetle stacked on top of the Protect Gift, but these skills involve deliberately giving up that advantage and crippling one's own defenses rather than maintaining it in the style of Oracle Think Tank. Just because he can use his skill on rearguard does not mean Antlion is a free win; the card has to be carefully built up to and used like any other finisher to close the game out, and botching the play by trying to go for it too early will only lead to making a fool of yourself.

Death Warden Antlion in episode 46 of the original series.

That said, a rearguard Antlion makes for a brutal win condition when combined with Spark Hercules in the late game. Hercules reducing the opponent's power by 5 while buffing both Antlion and your booster of choice by 5 functionally raises Antlion's final power by 15, and stands any Butterfly Officers you used for maximum synergy. Hercules himself can also put a grade 3 to soul with his second skill to set up Antlion, and being a 38k unboosted center isn't exactly something to sneeze at. The Megacolony endgame is shaping up as incredibly powerful precisely because every card the opponent doesn't take away from you in the preceding turns can be used to punish them with a harder push; if you have a hand full of Butterfly Officers and discard fodder, it's entirely on them for not beating those cards out of you.

Finally, Antlion's lore from the classic game:

An exceptionally brutal and cruel mutant that dwells in the deserts and sorts of faraway lands.
Despite being restricted, it has immense power, terrifying the people in the same area as it to the very depths of their souls.
No matter where it is, as long as there’s a few grains of sand, it can form an enormous quicksand trap called “Desert Prison”, which allows it to slowly torture and wear down its prey.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Unite Attacker.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Unite Attacker

The Japanese Card of the Day for June 14th, 2018, is a Spike Brothers Double Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Unite Attacker.

ACT [Vanguard Circle] Once per turn: [Soulblast 7] Look at 5 cards from the top of your deck, call up to 5 cards from among them to Rearguard Circle, and place the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order. Until end of turn, 3 of your units in the front row get Power +5000.

Unite Attacker is a remake of a megablast unit from BT02: Onslaught of Dragon Souls, but is infinitely more playable than his 2011 counterpart. This incarnation of Unite preserves the call-5 theme of the original while making use of the heavy soul buildup from Wonder Boy, Highspeed Brakki, and Juggernaut Maximum. Note that you don't have to use Unite's call effect, since it says "up to 5;" you can simply soulblast 7 to put the top 5 cards of your deck on the bottom and give 5k to your front row. Under ideal circumstances you'll have a field of Juggernaut Maximums boosted by Wonder Boys for a total 41000 power (functionally equivalent to 38k) after Unite's power boost. That's before Force Gifts are factored in.

Variance being what it is, most games will see different combinations of which attackers you're using between Maximum, Brakki, White Tight and so forth. But the core idea is the same; where the other clans center their big endgame plays in single cards like Soul Saver Dragon or Dragonic Waterfall, Spike Brothers spreads out its power gains across the rearguards and vanguard so that your strategy isn't totally bricked when you have one and not the other. With the clan already having access to redundant units like Funky Bazooka that can fill in for other cards, you shouldn't need to worry about getting Unite off consistently. The card also gives an out against retire matchups, as it can create a field from nothing--though you have no guarantees on quality there.

Note that while Unite Attacker is a megablast remake, unlike Vortex Dragon he still has an Imaginary Gift.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Attempt Mammoth.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: White Tight End

The Japanese card of the day for June 12th, 2018, is a Spike Brothers Common from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, the grade 1 White Tight End.

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When it attacks, if the number of your rearguards is 4 or greater, this unit gets Power +10000 until the end of that battle.

White Tight is a powerful grade 1 attacker that swings for a magic 18k on his own, making a 31k column with Wonder Boy or 30 with Funky Bazooka active. The fact that a solo White hits for exactly the number required to make a base 13 vanguard drop 10+ shield should be kept in mind going forward because one of Spike Brothers' overarching mechanics is pumping up rearguards and sending them back to the deck after they attack--give tighty-whitie here a Standard version of Bad End Dragger, and you have a 28k solo polar bear ready to smash face.

That said, on the best of days White Tight is a substitute for Highspeed Brakki. His role is similar to Reckless Express in the old format, a booster of reasonable power that can become an attacker when your options are limited.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Machining Hornet.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll. 

Today's Card Analysis: Machining Hornet

The Japanese Card of the Day for June 11th, 2018, is a Megacolony Double Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Machining Hornet.

AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circle]: When its attack or an attack it boosts hits a vanguard, look at 6 cards from the top of your deck, reveal up to 1 grade 3 from among them and add it to your hand, and shuffle your deck. If you added a card to your hand, and if this unit is on Rearguard Circle, put this unit into your soul.

Machining Hornet is the grade 1 counterpart to Machining Mantis, but rather than costing counterblast is attached to an on-hit condition. On vanguard circle Hornet is a straight +1 in a card advantage, while on rearguard circle it's a net-neutral exchange akin to Wingal Youth in the previous format--you gain a card by giving up a card. Similar to Circle Magus over in Oracle Think Tank, Hornet is an ideal opening ride that continues to serve a purpose in the rearguard as the fight progresses. And also like Oracle Think Tank, Megacolony is a Protect clan that adds its Gift to hand, stretching that +1 into a +2 once you actually ride the grade 3 you revealed.

While rearguard Hornets are neutral exchanges, like Mantis the potential for Machining boss cards to retain their signature call-from-soul mechanic carries alluring possibilities. You could trade Hornet to add Stag Beetle to hand, then ride Stag Beetle next turn to bring Hornet back out to seek your ride for the turn after that. Since Hornet only goes into the soul if you actually find the grade 3, there's no reason to not use the skill at each and every opportunity.

Machining Hornet's introduction in chapter 5 of the Cardfight!! Vanguard manga, used by Kawanami Minami.

The previous Japanese Cards of the Day were Archbird, Cheer Girl Marilyn, and Paralyze Madonna.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll. 

Today's Card Analysis: Jocular Cicada

"It looks weak, but it's anything but harmless."

The Japanese Card of the Day for June 7th, 2018, is a grade 0 Megacolony Common from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Jocular Cicada.

CONT: When this unit is called to Rearguard Circle, call it as Rest.
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When it attacks, during that battle, this unit's Power is multiplied by 3, and at the end of that battle retire this unit. (Power received from boost is included.)

Cicada is Megacolony's variation on Giro, a grade 0 that isn't necessarily intended to be set as your First Vanguard but provides a reward for running more than the standard number of normal unit 0s. While Giro was defensive, Cicada is an obviously offensive unit that can quickly gain out-of-control levels of power thanks to its ability to triple itself; when boosted with Phantom Black the unit jumps up to a 60k card that can only be guarded with triggers, and every one of your own triggers effectively becomes a 30k when put on Cicada. With two triggers, he can climb as high as 120, and that's before Butterfly Officer boosts. The drawback to this on top of decreasing your deck's consistency with an extra 0 and taking a -1 from retiring him is that Cicada has what's functionally "summoning sickness" (to borrow from Magic); it can't attack on the same turn it's placed.

One potential way around this is if Megacolony preserves some of the from-soul superior calls found on its Machining units in the old format. The old Machinings like Stag Beetle, Warsickle, and Scorpio MkII, all called cards from soul but were restricted to "Machining" units, and further had cards like Little Bee that could stand rested rearguards. If the new Machining cards call from soul, and if they are not restricted to targeting Machinings, and if they have units that can stand other cards, Cicada has a chance as a very lethal card able to reach incredible levels of power, and potentially could even be a viable FV...

...but perhaps the most optimistic outcome would instead be Cicada foreshadowing a lesser implementation of similar card effects. Let's not forget that Giro lead us to Herculean Knight Allobrox, a grade 2 that under the right conditions shared Giro's property of being impossible to attack. Cicada has the same potential to be the template for a more easily used card to come, with less overall power but a similarly-strong game-closing skill.

Cicada's set number is 061, putting him just after Butterfly Officer. As trigger units typically go after the normal unit grade 0s, the clan's Glyme clone is likely right after Cicada in the setlist--potentially Machining Worker Ant, or Madame Mirage.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Savage Raider.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll. 

Today's Card Analysis: Heavy Artillery Dragon Sharangastego and Sharp Blade Dragon Refilstego

 

The first Japanese Cards of the Day of June are two Commons from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, the grade 3 Heavy Artillery Dragon Sharangastego and the grade 2 Sharp Blade Dragon Refilstego. Sharangastego is named after Sharanga, the bow used by the god of preservation Vishnu to duel the god of destruction Shiva in Hindui lore, while Refilstego is named after Refil, an alternate name for the sword Ridill used by the blacksmith Reginn to cut out the heart of the dragon Fafnir in Norse myth. (The "f" is pronounced with a "v" sound.) Fittingly, these two Dinodragons are long-distance and close-quarters fighters, though they each possess the same skill to complement one another.

ACT [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: [Cost: Counterblast 1, retire 1 of your other rearguards] All of your "Heavy Artillery Dragon, Sharangastego" and "Sharp Blade Dragon, Refilstego" on your Vanguard and Rearguard Circles get Power +10000 until end of turn.

Although Sharanga lacks the Accel Gift and Refil is a base 8000, their skills make them two of the most powerful rearguards possible. Accel circles give Tachikaze access to more than the normal two front row rearguard circles, and in a given game you're likely to have as many as five front row units by the end of it. Being able to simultaneously pump up two to three of those at once is powerful, and what's more is that these skills are not once per turn, so if the opponent is at 5 damage and you have cards to spare you can use these skills up to 5 times to give +50000 to each of those units. Assuming no perfect guards, that's a 62k unboosted attack from Sharanga demanding 50k guard from Force grade 3s and 55k from Accel and Protect bosses--three to five guardians each depending on how many Heal and Critical Triggers they have to guard with. (Just don't try it versus Protect decks.)

This does bring up an important point regarding clans that use retiring as a cost: unlike other clans, Tachikaze, Shadow Paladin, and Great Nature each have the ability to give up a long-term booster in order to gain short-term power. In order for this to be a worthwhile play, the unit sacrificed has to contribute less power on that turn than what you would gain through the retire skill. So killing an 11k booster on par with Lion Mane Stallion or Aermo would be a total waste, while a vanilla Draw would be the perfect target.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Machining Mantis.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Machining Mantis

The Japanese Card of the Day for June 1st, 2018, is a Megacolony Triple Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Machining Mantis.

AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When placed, [Cost: Counterblast 1] look at 6 cards from the top of your deck, reveal up to 1 grade 3 from among them and add it to your hand, shuffle your deck, and this unit gets Power +6000 until end of turn.

Mantis is one of the Machining cards first used by Foo Fighter Kawanami Minami in the manga and 2018 anime series, and has been greatly updated over its 2011 counterpart. The original Mantis gained 3k if there was a Machining unit in the soul, while its reimagining can become a 15k for the turn able to reach 23 with an 8k booster or 29k with Phantom Black. The top 6 check should not go underestimated; along with High Dog Breeder Akane, Berserk Dragon (via its on-ride) Hi-powered Raizer Custom, and Conjurer of Mithril, Mantis is one of the only grade 2s in the entirety of Standard capable of getting a net +1. Like the old grade 3 searchers of previous formats, if Mantis whiffs its grade 3 check then he shuffles and gets you out of a situation where you weren't going to draw a grade 3 regardless.

Although it's still early to be calling this, Mantis being on-place is likely to play into the greater strategy of the Machining cards as a whole. When the subclan's boss card, Machining Stag Beetle, first debuted in chapter four of the manga it had an on-ride skill to superior call two Machining units from the soul at rest and gain power equal to their own. This would in turn activate their own skills, and they could then be stood with the ability of Machining Worker Ant. Later cards like Machining Armor Beetle and Machining Little Bee further built on their soul-based play mechanics.

While we have yet to see exactly how Bushiroad intends to revise the boss cards for the reboot, we know that Stag Beetle is in the set, and retaining his old superior call skill would let you reuse Machining Mantis. So you could ride Mantis on your grade 2 turn, grab a Stag Beetle out of the top 6, then next turn ride Stag Beetle and superior call Mantis to reuse its skill and top 6 another Stag Beetle to ride the turn after. Taking into account the Protect Gift you'll be getting from that on-ride, that can stack into a net +4--provided Bushiroad doesn't reimagine Stag Beetle entirely, as they did for Perfect Raizer. So far most of the manga cards have taken a broad-strokes approach to matching their original effects, with Imperial Daughter gaining power and crit but ditching the no-rearguards mechanic, and Waterfall soulblasting a grade 3 for power, critical, and Sentinel blocking rather than discarding a grade 3 just for raw power.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Front Line Commander, Sigiswald.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Front Line Commander, Sigiswald

The Japanese Card of the Day for May 31st, 2018, is a Spike Brothers Common from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Front Line Commander Sigiswald.

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: At the beginning of your main phase, [Cost: Put this unit into your soul, put 1 card from your drop zone on the bottom of your deck] Draw 1 card, and Countercharge 1.

Like Vortex Dragon, Gigantech Charger, and Maximum Raizer, Sigiswald is a supporting grade 3 that does not carry the Imaginary Gift ability. He shares his primary mechanic with this week's Weekly Bites reveals, all of which move to the soul at the beginning of the main phase to trade themselves out for something else. Unlike Wonder Boy, Brakki, and Juggernaut, the purpose of this play isn't to create power columns but to countercharge and replace with a draw. Thus far we haven't seen what kind of counterblasts Spikes will have to pay, but it's hard to imagine Sigiswald being a staple for two reasons:

• Lacking both Gift and any kind of vanguard abilities makes it incredibly difficult to run. The first tournament results out of Japan are showing the only viable non-Gift grade 3s are the ones with overwhelming offensive rearguard skills like Maximum Raizer, while this card is a utility unit that only gives you 1 extra counterblast and can be easily interrupted by Dragonic Waterfall, Blaster Blade, or Berserk Dragon.
• The card is slow, not giving a reward for playing it until the turn after it's first used. There should be more of a reward for running a card where having it as your only ride option shuts down your gameplan. Brakki, Wonder, and Juggernaut all have one skill that resolves on-place and one that resolves at the beginning of the main phase, which ensures you get something out of the play no matter what.

However, if Sigiswald is indicative of a skill shared across multiple units of different grades, a grade 2 or 1 version of him could be an instant 4-of. With three slots between Sigiswald and Funky Bazooka, there's ample room for one. The fact that both Sigiswald and Wonder Boy are capable of recycling triggers from the drop zone bodes well for Spike Brothers' coming support, as they're currently the only clan in Standard format capable of doing so.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Bloody Hercules.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Bloody Hercules

The Japanese Card of the Day for May 30th, 2018, is a Megacolony Single Rare from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Bloody Hercules.

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When placed, [Cost: Soulblast 1] this unit gets Power +6000 until end of turn.
AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When its attack hits, Countercharge 1, and 1 of your units gets Power +6000 until end of turn.

Like all of the Protect grade 2s seen thus far Hercules is a base 9k, with its first skill being copied directly from Silent Tom's template over in Oracle Think Tank. With Phantom Black, Hercules jumps up to a 29k lane that blocks the opponent from guarding with Normal Units, an attack that can only be guarded with one guardian via a Heal Trigger; otherwise it requires a minimum two cards to stop.

Hercules' on-hit skill is among the few repeatable countercharges in the Standard game, along with Transraizer's on-boost and Perfect Raizer's on-hit. The difference being, Transraizer is restricted by soul and Perfect Raizer has to hit a vanguard. Hercules can countercharge off of hitting anything, and so can dive on a key rearguard and still benefit from unflipping a damage and powering up a unit. Speaking of, that 6k is anything but arbitrary--like with Phantom Black, it's designed to turn columns made up of a 9k attacker and 8k booster into 23ks, grazing them into the threshold where the opponent needs to drop a Critical Trigger to block. While no counterblasts for Megacolony have been revealed just yet, having regular access to countercharge from turn 2 as well as a pressure attack that can lure the opponent into guarding unnecessarily is a powerful asset.

The primary concern right now is what Megacolony will be capable of and at what cost thresholds. Kagerо̄ can already kill units on-place for as low as counterblast 1 if grade-restricted, and CB1 SB1 if not. It's conceivable Megacolony will be able to stun rearguards of any grade (or even multiple rearguards simultaneously) for just CB1, which Hercules could turn into free stuns.

Of note is that Hercules' set number is #030, so there's one more card between it and Phantom Black.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Assist Pteryx.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Assist Pteryx

The Japanese Card of the Day for May 29th, 2018, is the first Tachikaze unit of the Standard format and a Common from V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar, Assist Pteryx.

Assist Pteryx is a clone of the Nova Grappler unit Death Army Guy. Like all vanillas in the Standard format, Pteryx's stats are determined by the Gift their clan possesses. Force clans like Spike Brothers have grade 1 vanillas with 8000 power and 10000 shield, Protect clans like Megacolony have vanillas with 7000 power and 15000 shield, and Accel clans like Tachikaze have vanillas with 9000 power and no shield. This helps makes their 9k base grade 2s reach the 18 threshold, which is the minimum number required to force a 10k or more shield from a base 13k grade 3. It can also function as a strong defensive opening ride that forces all other unboosted grade 1s to hit a trigger if they're to hit at all; the only exceptions being Damanance Dragon and Gabiya.

Of note is that Pteryx's card number is V-EB01/037, putting it before Funky Bazooka and Karma Queen and solidifying the set order as Tachikaze > Spike Brothers > Megacolony. This is the same set order used for these clans since their debut in BT01 seven years ago, and it means we know the set numbers of their respective Vanguard Rares. (Presumably Gigarex, Siefried, and Spark Hercules.) It also means Tachikaze is set for no more than 12 Commons (034~046) as the Rares begin just two slots above Pteryx and to have any more than that would keep Spike Brothers from having any grade 3 Commons.

Taking into account Trial Deck support for Royal Paladin and Kagerо̄, that's fewer Commons than any other clan in Standard--Oracles had 14 and Novas 15 in V-BT01. That's just the price of being in an Extra Booster with only 33 Common slots; the most realistic assessment is that each clan in V-EB01 will get 11 Commons each, evenly dividing the space between the three so that no clan gets more or less support than others. Following that logic, each clan would have 2 RRRs, 3 RRs, and 5 Rs.

The previous Japanese Card of the Day was Phantom Black.

V-Extra Booster 01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 2nd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Iron Killer

The Japanese card of the day for April 10th, 2018, is a new Nova Grappler grade 2, Iron Killer.

AUTO: [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When it attacks a vanguard, if the number of your rearguards is 3 or greater, this unit gets Power +5000 until the end of that battle.

Iron Killer is a new Battleroid, and an alternative to Cup Bowler for non-Hero Nova Grappler decks. Although Killer can't attack for 14000 against rearguards and can't gain the power bonus from Miss Splendor's autoskill, Killer's condition is very easy to meet thanks to the additional circles introduced by the Accel Gift. Any 8k base like Rocket Hammerman will make a 22 column for fighting Protect and other Accel decks, while the even stronger Death Army Guy makes a 23k for handling Force.

On an Accel circle Iron Killer will reach 24k, meeting all of the basic numbers expected by the game, and making it an ideal restand target for Asura Kaiser or Perfect Raizer when Maximum Raizer is unavailable or inconvenient to run. Killer outclasses Extra Muscular for decks that can't use Splendor, as Muscular has to already be on the field at the start of the turn to hit 15 after being restood.

The previous Japanese cards of the day were Farfalle Magus and Shooting Bobby.

V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4 will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd. It will be accompanied by sleeves based on Dragonic Overlord and Blaster Blade. V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th. They will be accompanied by a new sleeve based on the "Imaginary Gift" design.

The first Extra Booster set of Standard, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 3rd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," began airing May 5th, with an English-subtitled simulcast on both YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Today's Card Analysis: Funnergal and Radical Knight, Anil

 

The Japanese cards of the day for April 19th, 2018, are Funnergal and Radical Knight, Anil. These cards are our first double feature of the Standard format, from V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4.

Funnergal

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When it attacks a vanguard while boosted, by paying [Counterblast 1], soulcharge 1 and this unit gets Power +5000 until the end of that battle.

Radical Knight, Anil

CONT [Rearguard Circle]: During the battle it attacks a vanguard, this unit gets Power +3000.

Anil's skill is identical to the version found in the Stardrive Dragon Start Deck, but his base power is 1000 points higher. That base makes an importance difference, as the original Anil was becoming hard to argue for following the reveals of Allen, Marron, and Wingal. Now that Anil can reach an 11k base, he's capable of forming all-important 18k columns with 7k bases like Miru Biru. It's not exactly awe-inspiring, but it's something the grade 2s we've seen thus far aren't capable of, not even the vanillas.

Funnergal is more interesting. Effectively a substitute for Jarron, Funnergal only gains half the power but can soulcharge to fuel costs--albeit costs for units we haven't seen yet. Royal Paladin is already building its roster of soulchargers, but unlike Kagerо̄ we haven't seen any big plays that utilize the soul just yet. Beyond randomly soulcharging Blaster Blade off the top of the deck for Alfred Early, Pale Moon-style, there's little we can do with all that soul.

Whether Funnergal will earn a place in the deck is definitely in question. High Dog Breeder Akane functionally does the same thing by superior calling Pongal for their soulcharge, but Pongal only gains power if he soulcharges a Trigger Unit. (Which is more like compensation for hurting you than anything else.) Funnergal is more useful offensively, but Akane builds card advantage; however, in light of how tight space is in Royal Paladin and how much you can draw off of Allen and Marron, it may be optimal to forego Akane-Pongal entirely in favor of Funnergal paired with the 8k grade 1s.

The resulting deck would look something like this:

Grade 1
x4 Strong Knight, Runoria (Perfect Guard)
x4 Little Sage, Marron
x3 Knight Squire, Allen
x3 Wingal
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade
x4 Sage of Literary and Military Arts, Jarron
x3 Funnergal

The previous Japanese card of the day was the Dragon Knight, Burj.

V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD02: 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-BT 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4 will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. It will be accompanied by sleeves based on Dragonic Overlord and Blaster Blade.

The first Extra Booster set of Standard, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 3rd 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.

Today's Card Analysis: Dragon Knight, Nehalem

The Japanese card of the day is Dragon Knight Nehalem, from V-Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki.

AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When placed, by paying [Counterblast 1], choose 1 of your opponent's rearguards in the back row, retire it, and this unit gets Power +5000 until end of turn.

We had previously seen Nehalem in the Crested Dragon Start Deck, and a special edition version of that card with its 2011 artwork is currently being distributed in the May issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine, but the two differ significantly in their skills;

ACT [Rearguard Circle]: [Counterblast 2] Choose 1 of your opponent's rearguards, and retire it.

You can see Kitta Izumi employing this older version of Nehalem to devastating effect in this official video of the Start Decks, where she takes advantage of it being repeatable to retire two of Morishima Shuuta's rearguards in one turn. Both versions of the card will be legal in Standard format, so which do we go with? Early playtesting showed Nehalem to be the primary reason to run Kagerо̄ over Royal Paladin, just as his counterpart Jarron was the reason to play Royals, but the Dragon Knight was held back by his 9k base. With 10k being the new standard for grade 2s, this incarnation of the card was wholly dependent on Gojo to meet the 18k+ baseline of the Standard format.

Monthly Bushiroad promo

The Trial Deck version of Nehalem is the first cheap retire skill Kagerо̄ has had access to (Spillover moving to soul is a hefty cost in a deck with no draw power or superior calls) and he provides an additional option for an attacker on top of Dragon Armored Knight. You will be running 4 copies of Nehalem, but will it always be the Trial Deck version? Being on-place means he's not necessarily playable the moment you draw him, but instead a card that has to be held back for the right moment, like Berserk Dragon in the old days. And while back row retires are generally stronger than front row retires since most front row units can't hit the vanguard without a boost, this keeps Nehalem from retiring the most tempting targets; Jarron, Dragon Armored Knight, and Blaster Blade. (Provided he has Wingal behind him.)

What Nehalem can do is take out Marron, crushing one of the sources of Royal Paladin's long-term card advantage. For that alone the card is probably going to be a staple, and being able to stop Blaster columns from reaching 23k by hitting Wingal is likewise welcome in the deck.

If you do want to make use of the old Nehalem to go after Jarron, you can try to either split your Nehalems 2-2 or simply tech the old card outright. Since the Start Deck Nehalem's skill is an Activated ability, you don't have to use it the moment you put the unit down, so old Nehalem doesn't actively hurt you beyond being a 9k base and needing Gojo's boost to function offensively.

Your grade 2 lineup would thus look something like this;

Grade 2
x1 Dragon Knight, Nehalem (SD02)
x3 Dragon Knight, Nehalem (TD02)
x4 Dragon Armored Knight (TD02)
x4 Spillover Dragon

Is this a wound to consistency? You're still getting access to a retire skill from this tech Nehalem, but introducing variance in the form of your retire sometimes reaching the front row and costing more. You could easily skip the trouble and run the deck without the SD02 print, and certainly Dragonic Overlord is designed with the idea in mind that you're swinging at front row units late game and retiring back row units. While I personally favor not running the Start Deck version due to Spillover being able to hit virtually anything of importance, I recommend putting the options you have on the table to the test so you can make a truly informed decision when tournament time comes.

Lastly, while the current Card of the Day profiles still do not incorporate lore into them, we will always have Nehalem's lore from the classic game:

A Dragon Knight of the Empire that wields a huge spear endowed with lightning.
They are said to have the power of a hundred soldiers.
Alongside the dragon that could be called their second self, they soar across many battlefields.

Dragon Knight Nehalem is illustrated by Roku.

The previous Japanese card of the day was Miru Biru.

The first Trial Decks of the Standard format, V-TD01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD02: 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 Standard, 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.

Today's Card Analysis: Raging Spear Mutant Deity, Stun Beetle

"Crawl. Such an unsightly form is perfect for you."

The Japanese card of the day is a triple rare stride for the Megacolony clan from VG-G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme. Featured in the most recent episode of Cardfight!! Vanguard G, Stun Beetle is a finishing move with a deceptively designed skill that will almost always ensure victory if resolved; however, there is one specific barrier that prevents Stun Beetle from fully eclipsing its existing Machining counterpart.

AUTO (Vanguard circle): Generation break 2: [Counterblast 2, choose a face down card named “Raging Spear Mutant Deity, Stun Beetle” in your generation zone, turn it face up] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, during your opponent's next stand phase, all of your opponent's vanguard cannot stand, and during your opponent's next ride phase, your opponent cannot normal ride. (They may still ride by card effects.)

Stun Beetle is among the first strides to use generation break wording rather than specifying a number of cards in the G zone to be face-up. This has not changed the actual mechanics of his skill compared to those strides, it's only simplified the wording; the generation break requirement still counts Stun Beetle himself as part of it. Stun Beetle's skill is impressive on paper, as it both denies the opponent their twin drive for the turn, and prevents them from using the one out that the game has had versus Megacolony since the clan began paralyzing vanguards in VG-BT15: Infinite Rebirth. Because strides inherit the position of the heart, and also pass that position onto the heart in the end phase, Stun Beetle truly leaves no way out of being hit by his skill. This -2 and dramatic loss in offense can be game ending, as outside of activated abilities like that of Takemikazuchi, there are very few ways to recover from Stun Beetle going off to actually catch up in the difference in card advantage it creates. Effectively the card creates a delayed victory condition, where the game is already won on the turn that Stun Beetle resolves, but additional turns have to pass before the opponent is truly unable to keep up any longer.

What should be kept in mind is that the stage at which Stun Beetle comes into play is the same as Root Flare and Saint Blow Dragon. At this stage in the fight, the opponent should already have one or more perfect defense cards available, which makes it exceedingly difficult for Stun Beetle to actually connect within his given timing. The card falls into the same trap as Chronoscommand, having a game-ending skill that is unlikely to ever go off because it is attached to vanguard-hit conditions. Moreover, Stun Beetle is appearing on the field at a point when any stride hitting should win the game. The card primarily caters to drawn-out games in which both fighters are staying at low damage over prolonged periods due to a mutual lack of rearguard aggression. This actually plays against Stun Beetle's strengths, as in a prolonged game the opponent is more likely to be able to take a hit from Stun Beetle and still come out victorious, as they're potentially taking that hit while starting at one to two damage. Because of his persona generation condition, running Stun Beetle at a playset can be detrimental to stride efficiency. If during one of these protracted games, the first Stun Beetle is blocked but the second one goes off, there will be three face-up Stun Beetles and the fourth becomes a dud stride. The same is true for if three Stun Beetles are blocked. Compared to Machining Destroyer from Fighter's Collection 2015, Stun Beetle is a lackluster means of paralyzing the opponent's vanguard that's unlikely to ever go off, gives the opponent better aggressive options, and they need to survive through one less turn than when staring down a playset of Destroyers before the vanguard-paralyze options become locked off.

The optimal means of using Stun Beetle is at 2~3 copies, but in the presently dominant Machining decks, Beetle cannot compete with Destroyer and that puts him in conflict with Paraspear's draw ability. It's difficult to argue for sacrificing Paraspear's draw in a deck that's starved for defensive options. Hence, while Stun Beetle provides a powerful killing blow, the difficulty associated with pulling it off and the sacrifices necessary to take multiple shots at it mean that unless the vanguard and rearguard support of G-BT04 is more compelling, the Machining subclan is likely to remain the dominant form of Megacolony for the foreseeable future.

As this subclan is on the verge of receiving new support cards from Soul Strike in the form of the Machining Scorpio mkII and Mosquito mkII legion pair, and the enigmatic Machining Yellow Jacket, tomorrow is bright for the subclan and dim for genericized Megacolony.

Today's article was made possible by the donations of our patrons at Patreon. Cardfight Pro is funded by public contributions from readers like you.