Ravenous Dragon, MegarexThis is Tachikaze's final Triple Rare out of V-Extra Booster 01.
AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When it attacks, [Cost: Retire 1 of your other rearguards] draw 1 card. If this unit is on Rearguard Circle, you may further [Cost: Counterblast 1] and put the top card of your deck into this unit's Equip Gauge, and this unit gets Power +5000 for each card in this unit's Equip Gauge until the end of that battle.
Image 9: "Kai, defeated!!"
The third round of the shop showdown is the aloof fighter Kai Toshiki against the emperor of the TCG world Mitsusada Kenji. A burning hot fight unfolds between these two incredibly skilled fighters, tearing each other to pieces!!
Image 11: "A Man's Battle"
The decisive battle of the shop competition is between Katsuragi Kamui and Daimonji Gouki. Thinking only of surpassing Gouki, Kamui recalls something Gouki once told him.
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.
Ravenous Dragon, GigarexGigarex, 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.
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.
Fierce Claw Dragon, LaceraterexMeanwhile 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.
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.
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.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.
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: At the end of the battle it attacked, [Cost: Counterblast 1, put this unit into your soul] draw 1 card.
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.
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.
Grade 0: 18Of 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.
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
AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When placed, [Cost: Place 1 card from your hand into your soul] look at cards from the top of your deck equal to your vanguard's grade, call up to 1 card from among them to Rearguard Circle, place the rest of them on the bottom of your deck in any order, and until end of turn the called unit gets Power +5000.Originally a promotional card used by Morikawa in the manga, Gyro Slinger has gone from an Iron Tail Dragon clone to becoming a unique support card that trades a card in hand for one from deck. This has been a recurring cost for Spike Brothers across the past seven years, allowing them to trade fodder like vanilla Draw Triggers for quality units and build up towards powerful soulblasts. In Standard format those "powerful soulblasts" are consolidated into their finisher, Unite Attacker. Alongside the likes of Brakki and Juggernaut, Gyro Slinger builds towards being able to pay Unite's cost while creating powerful 23-28k columns that force the opponent to reach a damage threshold where Unite is threatening. Comboing into the aforementioned cards is an ideal way to make lanes that exceed the magic 28 threshold, so this is one RR that's likely to be a staple of the clan just as Little Sage Marron is over in Royal Paladin.
Dimensional Robo, GoyushaBecause Koutei had 6 cards in his hand on his grade 2 turn after drive checking--2 more than he should have had--Goyusha appears to be the clan's Glyme clone.
6000 Power
Diamond Ace
Draw Trigger
5000 Power, 0 Shield
CONT: Sentinel (You may only have up to 4 cards in your deck with "Sentinel")
AUTO [Guardian Circle]: When placed, [Cost: Discard 1 card from your hand], and one of your units cannot be hit until the end of that battle.
Dimensional Robo, Daibattles
Critical Trigger
5000 Power, 15000 Shield
Dimensional Robo, Gorescue
Heal Trigger
5000 Power, 20000 Shield
Commander Laurel
Grade 1, 10000 shield
Dimensional Robo, Daitiger
Grade 1
8000 Power, 10000 Shield
Dimensional Robo, Daimariner
Unknown
Dimensional Robo, Daibrave
Grade 1, 8000 Power
Dimensional Robo, DaidragonKoutei uses Daidragon's soulblast twice in the fight, once when riding it and a second time when he rides Daiyusha to reach 35k. Daibrave seems to have a +3k effect, as Kenji's final power after boosting Daiyusha with it is 38k.
Grade 2, 10000 Power
AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When placed, [Cost: Soulblast 1] your vanguard gets Power +5000 until end of turn.
CONT [Rearguard Circle]: If your vanguard's power is 35000 or greater, this unit gets Power +10000.
Cosmo Break
Grade 2
10000 Power, 5000 Shield
Super Dimensional Robo, Daiyusha
Imaginary Gift: Force
13000 Power, 0 Shield
CONT [Vanguard Circle]: If its Power is 35000 or greater, this unit gets Critical +1.
Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha
Imaginary Gift: Force
13000 Power, 0 Shield
Skills unknown
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When placed, choose 1 of your opponent's rearguards, Rest it, and Stand 1 of your rearguards.Helldemise's autoskill is designed to be used to stand the rearguards superior called from soul with Machining Stag Beetle's skill, while stopping the opponent from leaving one rearguard standing to interfere with the effects of Spark Hercules, Nasty Smog, and Helldemise's own continuous skill. That ability is lifted straight from Nasty, stopping an opponent's booster from standing.
CONT [Rearguard Circle]: During your opponent's Stand Phase, all of your opponent's units in the back row of the same column as this unit cannot Stand.
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.
CONT: Sentinel (You may only have up to 4 cards in your deck with "Sentinel")These four cards are their clans' respective versions of Flash Shield Iseult, Wyvern Guard Barri, Miss Mist, and Twin Blader. Their set numbers more or less confirm what was speculated from the moment the set was announced; each clan will be receiving three Double Rares, with the two spaces between each perfect guard being the slots for their clan's remaining RRs. Of these we already know that Blightops and Sonic Noa are the other two RRs for Tachikaze, thus the clan has no RRs left in the set, while Spike Brothers and Megacolony each have two slots left to fill.
AUTO [Guardian Circle]: When placed, [Cost: Discard 1 card from your hand], and one of your units cannot be hit until the end of that battle.
ACT [Rearguard Circle]: [Cost: Rest this unit] Choose 1 of your opponent's rearguards in the same column as this unit, and move it to one of your opponent's empty Rearguard Circles.Like Nasty Smog, Burner Ant follows one of Megacolony's new themes of manipulating the opponent's rearguards in the same column as itself. Burner can essentially retire a rearguard for the cost of resting itself, by moving a front row attacker to the circle behind the opponent's vanguard, or force the opponent to intercept by moving it behind another attacker. Choosing to use its second skill shifts that cost to a discard, but needs to be used carefully; considering that Megacolony now has a pattern of using discard costs and self retiring for its effects, stacking them recklessly will deplete the hand faster than you can replenish it and leave you exposed. One way around this is to use the clan's Protect Gift to pay the costs, utilizing the extra cards offensively rather than defensively.
ACT [Rearguard Circle]: [Cost: Discard 1 card from your hand] Stand this unit, and it gets Power +5000 until end of turn.
CONT: When this unit is called to Rearguard Circle, call it as Rest.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.
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.)
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When placed from your hand, place 1 card from the top of your down face-down as Armament Gauge for 1 of your rearguards.Savage's second skill allows the rearrangement of any amount of Armament Gauge cards from any unit to any other rearguard every turn, so that Gauges placed on irrelevant units in the early game with Sonic Noa can be transplanted to cards with on-retire uses of the Armament Gauge like Blightops. The end goal of these plays is to manipulate the Gauge mechanic to come out at a net positive after retiring a unit, sacrificing one to draw two, and so forth. The only limitation is that it can't move Gauge between multiple units simultaneously, so you couldn't choose two rearguards to move Gauge from onto a third rearguard.
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When it attacks a vanguard, you may move any number of Armament Gauge from 1 of your units to 1 of your rearguards.
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When placed, [Cost: Rest this unit] choose 1 of your other rearguards, and it gets Power +10000. If you chose a rearguard, at the end of that turn, put that unit into your soul, and Countercharge 1.Butterfly Officer is just barely above Luck Bird in base power, and requires forfeiting her boost for the turn to use her, but in exchange her skill gives on rearguard an entire trigger's worth of power and the opportunity to countercharge. Further offsetting the card's power bonus is that it sends the targeted rearguard to soul at the end of the turn, a net -1 in card advantage. To make using Butterfly's skill worthwhile, you have to time it so that the play will take away more shield than what you yourself give up by having to replace that booster next turn.
CONT [Guardian Circle]: During the battle your grade 3 is attacked, this unit gets Shield +10000.Satanic Middle Guard's Continuous skill turns it into a guardian on par with a Critical Trigger, but because this only works when defending grade 3s it's effectively gated behind your third turn ride. Note that if multiple units are battled "in one attack"--for example, by a future Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion--Satanic's Continuous ability will still only work if you call it to guard a grade 3, because the opponent's vanguard is engaged in two or more battles at once and you have to call Middle Guard during the battle a grade 3 is attacked for its Continuous ability to become active. Calling it to guard a grade 2, even when your grade 3 is also being attacked in another battle, wouldn't resolve it.
