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. 

News: Aurageyser Damned Revealed at Bushiroad's Grand Strategy Presentation

July 9th, 2015. At Bushiroad's ongoing Grand Strategy Presentation in Bellesalle, Akihabara, a card display for G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme leaked to Twitter unveiled the upcoming "Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Damned." The display confirmed Aurageyser Damned to be one of the set's two generation rares, and that the card's illustrator is Takayama Toshiaki, known for his illustration of Dragonic Overlord the End.

Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Damned
"Weakness is a sin."
ACT (Vanguard circle): Once per turn: [Counterblast 1, choose one face-down "Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Dragon" in your generation zone, turn it face-up, choose three of your rearguards, retire them] Reveal the top two cards of your deck. For each grade 1 or less card revealed by this effect, choose one of your opponent's rearguards, retire it. Put the cards revealed by this effect into your hand. If there are three or more "Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Dragon" in your generation zone, during this turn, this unit gets Critical +1.

Aurageyser Damned's flavor text is lifted directly from the motto of Kanzaki Yuuichirou, the current antagonist of Cardfight!! Vanguard G. A combination of Phantom Blaster Dragon and Origin Mage Ildona from years past, because his stride skill uniquely requires Aurageyser Dragon to be turned face-up, and also benefits from running as much as a playset of the card, Damned encourages running a pure Aurageyser lineup of strides to the exclusion of Dark Dragon Phantom Blaster “Diablo.” However, since no part of the skill requires Damned himself to be face-up, by contrast it's also possible to run just one Aurageyser Damned with a set of three Dragons and “Diablo” to fill out the remaining space. Unlike most strides, Damned has a severe margin of error for his effect to do nothing at all, as if no grade 1s are checked and Damned is stridden without having previously used Dragon's skill, both the retire and critical parts of his counterblast will fail. If used in conjunction with Promising Knight David, the retire for his effect becomes neutral.

News: Weekly Broadcast Features New Angel Feather, G-BT03 Prerelease Listings

In today's weekly broadcast, host Doctor O discussed the approaching launch of G Title Booster 01: Touken Ranbu -ONLINE-, giving an early look at the first TV commercial for the title booster set. Doctor O also showed off a foiled poster for G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme, one new Angel Feather card from the set, the previously-seen promotional card Light Elemental Sunny, the 1/8th scale Minerva figure that launched this month, and a new set of sleeves made available through Bushiroad of Japan's promotional campaign. The complete broadcast can be viewed below.

(TVCM shown at 12:12, figure shown at 17:43 to 19:18, sleeves at 19:33, new Angel Feather unit at 23:10)
The broadcast showed a new generation break grade 2 for Angel Feather, "Black Sniper, Harut." Named for one of the angels of the Qu'ran, Harut's skill acts as the new Angel Feather's equivalent to Steam Fighter Amber. When Harut attacks a vanguard and is boosted, for counterblast 1 she can add a card face-up from the top two cards of the deck to the damage zone, then call a face-up unit to the rearguard--these conditions prevent her from unflipping the damage that she just counterblasted, but can serve as either a net +1 in card advantage or allow for an aggressive means of getting out an additional attack in the turn.

Black Slice, Harut
AUTO (Rearguard circle): Generation break 1: [Counterblast 1] When this unit attacks a vanguard, if this unit is boosted, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at two cards from the top of your deck, choose one from among them, put it into your damage zone face-up, put the remaining cards on the bottom of your deck in any order, and choose a face-up card from your damage zone, and call it to a rearguard circle.

Doctor O also revealed an upcoming product available through the Japanese Get! Treasure Campaign, a set of 60 Vangarou-kun themed sleeves that were seen being used in previous broadcasts by the character himself. Japanese cardfighters will be able to exchange points found in their booster packs for a full set of these sleeves; importers will have to buy them secondhand.

Bushiroad's weekly information bulletins air every Tuesday evening at 8:50 PM Japanese Standard Time. They first began in late January to accommodate a new information distribution model for Cardfight!! Vanguard G, as the amount of card information covered in Monthly Bushiroad magazine decreased and was redirected to other routes of distribution. The previous week featured a fight between Doctor O and mascot character Vangarou-kun using Harmony and Duo Bermuda Triangle decks, while the week before contained the announcement of G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme.

In other news, the English-language Cardfight portal updated today with a list of participating stores for the G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon prerelease event. Held over the 4th of July weekend, participants will receive a PR/0194EN Sabmyu with their entry. The playmat for the prerelease will feature Genesis Dragon Amnesty Messiah, one of the two generation rares from the set.

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.

News: G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme for October English Launch

The English-language Cardfight portal updated this morning with a title and release date for G-BT04: Toujin Kongeki, which was announced in Japan earlier this week. Soul Strike Against the Supreme will reach the international game on October 2nd 2015, two months after its Japanese release on August 28th. Cardfight!! Vanguard is rapidly approaching total set synchronization between its English and Japanese set releases, with the only roadblock being the staggered launch of clan and title booster sets, as well as promotional cards.

Soul Strike Against the Supreme is not a direct translation of Toujin Kongeki; the original kanji do not include 覇 Ha which has been translated as "supreme" and "sovereign" in the franchise's English-language materials. (Compare Blue Storm Supreme Dragon Glory Maelstrom; 蒼嵐覇竜) Moreover, the set's tagline "Do you have what it takes to stand up against supremacy?" is not found in Japanese-language materials related to the set. These additions to the English-language format allude to one of the set's featured cards, Supremacy Black Dragon Aurageyser Damned, whose Japanese name does include the 覇 Ha kanji for supremacy--but until recently was generally translated as Sovereign Black Dragon. Complicating the issue is that G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon also includes the same kanji for supreme, and Sovereign has been officially adapted as the English-language name of the set. Recent modifications to Crunchyroll's official subtitles of the anime series--which are supervised by Bushiroad's staff--have translated the original Aurageyser Dragon as Supremacy Black Dragon, adjusting it from its previous "Military Rule" and "Sovereign" names.

The red X marker that exists in both the Japanese and English set logos, and which was also found on both of Sovereign Star Dragon's logos, is likely another allusion to the three known Supremacy Dragons. Although once thought to be related to a symbol of Link Joker found on the Malefic Deletor trial deck, in light of Claret Sword and Aurageyser's recent involvement in the card game's ongoing storyline, as well as the presence of the X on the kanji for supreme in BT03 and the kanji for god in BT04, the connection to Shadow Paladin's rebel faction is more tangible.

Soul Strike Against the Supreme will feature the evolved forms of existing units from Generation Stride, as well as full deck support for the Genesis, Angel Feather and Megacolony clans. The set's cover card will be Chrono Dragon Nextage, and the Japanese edition will see the release of seven card sleeves, one for each clan supported by the set, sans Cray Elemental.

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. 

News: Chronojet, Altmile, Ashsha Evolutions in G-BT04, Megacolony Support

In this morning's weekly broadcast, Doctor O and a representative from Bushiroad's development staff, Mr. Yamaki, made the official announcement of the launch of G-BT04: Toujin Kongeki (討神魂撃 Lit. "Destruction God Soul Attack.") Yamaki introduced the "evolutions" of Team TRY3's units that will be coming out of the set, Chrono Dragon Nextage, Heaven-Soaring Paladin Altmile (飛天の聖騎士 Hiten no Seikishi lit. "Fly Sky Holy Knight"), and Dream-weaving Ranunculus Ahsha. Nextage is a stride unit that previously debuted in Hirakazu Raiti's Cardfight!! Vanguard G manga; at the time the manga was being illustrated by Itou Akira, who designed the unit for Shindou Chrono's Chronojet Dragon deck. The current version of Nextage is illustrated by Tanimeso, who previously took over for illustrating Itou's Machining Stag Beetle in Comic Style Vol. 1. The entire broadcast is provided below.

Prior to this, the news of G-BT04 had been partially leaked by an image of the pack design distributed anonymously on the 7th, but with the eight clans supported by the set blacked out. Immediately after the broadcast's airing, the Japanese portal site updated with further details regarding the booster set. G-BT04 will include support for  Gear Chronicle, Royal Paladin, Neo Nectar, Shadow Paladin, Genesis, Angel Feather, Megacolony and Cray Elemental. The set will include 104 cards, with 2 generation rares, 8 triple rares, 12 double rares, 22 rares, 60 commons and 12 special parallel cards. In addition to the three units named above, the seven sleeves produced for the set have revealed the names of boss cards for the non-TRY3 clans. The news has immediately taken off on Twitter, with the prevailing theory among Japanese fans being that Nextage, Altmile and Ahsha are each specific-heart strides for their respective decks in the same vein as Upheaval Pegasus from Fighter's Collection 2015.

Left to right; Supremacy Black Dragon Aurageyser Damned, Holy Seraph Raphael, Divine Destruction Beast Vanargandr, and Raging Spear Mutant Deity Stunbeetle.

Of the units named by the sleeve reveals, Aurageyser Damned, Raphael and Vanargandr each approximately correspond to the decks of the anime's current string of antagonists Kanzaki Yuuichirou, Hashima Rin, and Shinonome Shouma. Mr. Yamaki stated that Altmile, Nextage and Ahsha's evolutions will each be appearing in the anime series; it follows that their corresponding antagonists' cards will also make an appearance. Aurageyser Damned also appears to be connected in the card lore to Claret Sword Dragon's war on the United Sanctuary, which was just announced yesterday morning in Dragruler Revenant's card-of-the-day lore. G-BT04 will launch in Japan on August 28th, 2015.

(Set announcement begins at the 26 minute mark)

Over thirteen thousand people tuned in to the broadcast, posting more than eight thousand comments during the broadcast's short half-hour duration. In addition to the set announcement, Doctor O revealed the skill of Academy of Divas' cover card, School Etoile Olivia. According to Doctor O, Olivia's skill is designed to facilitate use with the ♪♪ Harmony mechanic, returning units to hand and then calling them back to the same column to put them in Harmony. Doctor O also revealed the results of the Monthly Bushiroad Cup from June 6th, which was announced last month. Over six hundred participants divided into over two hundred teams of three took part in the team tournament, with the first-place team being Great Nature, Shadow and Gold Paladin. Decklists will be posted later today.

AUTO (Vanguard circle): [Counterblast 1, choose a face down card named “School Etoile, Olivia” in your generation zone, turn it face up] When this unit attacks a vanguard, if the number of face-up cards in your generation zone is one or more, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to five of your rearguards, and if all of the chosen rearguards have different names, return them to your hand. If three or more cards are returned in this way, choose up to two cards from your hand, call them to separate frontrow and backrow rearguard circles, during that battle, this unit gets Critical +1.

Bushiroad's weekly information bulletins air every Tuesday evening at 8:50 PM Japanese Standard Time. They first began in late January to accommodate a new information distribution model for Cardfight!! Vanguard G, as the amount of card information covered in Monthly Bushiroad magazine decreased and was redirected to other routes of distribution. The previous week featured Ishii Mark (voice of Shindou Chrono) and mascot character Vangarou-kun in a fight using the Link Joker and Gold Paladin decks supported in G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon.

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.