Analysis: Perron versus LeBon

Perron versus LeBon was a cardfight played in September of 2013 at the Park Hyatt Toronto. Played between the final remaining contenders for the Canadian regional title Sebastian LeBon and Kevin Perron, it was the last game of the first World Championship 2013 regional qualifier. As with all regional tournaments in 2013, the finals were done in best of one, with a 20 minute time limit. The game drew much interest at the time because of the unusual matchup, and can be used as a reference to teach the advantages of Azure Dragon-based Beast Deities, as well as to illustrate an overall positive matchup for the original Beast Deity deck when paired against Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD."

Circumstances of the Match
The Canadian finals came as a surprise to the global community because they featured two deckbuilds that had been studied extensively since December 2012 and had been critically panned compared to the dominant decks of the time, with Dragonic Overlord the End as the primary measuring stick for competitive play. LeBon played a Nova Grappler deck using Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon while Perron brought a Narukami deck focused towards Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion,“THE BLOOD.” Each cardfighter had taken one loss in the double elimination rounds, but had managed to persevere through the top 8, with a win record of 8-1 each prior to the final game. Based on his deck alone, Perron had been favored for first place, as while the Beast Deities had brought positive revisions to Nova Grappler's play style their standing mechanics were not valued as highly as Narukami's straight retire power or Vermillion's simultaneous attacks on the front row. Of the 20 minutes allotted for the finals, 12 minutes and 33 seconds were used.

The game was unofficially recorded by a friend of fourth place finalist Kevin Luu. Throughout the entire game, LeBon maintained an overall lead with strong moves that were difficult to play against and encouraged his opponent to play poorly in response.

Below is a generally accurate recreation of the fight. Because there are no views from Perron's side of the table, the contents of his hand has to be inferred based on where he places cards in the video when drawing them, where they move and what kinds of plays he makes based on the limitations of his hand. Because Nova Grappler at this period had no retire skills to intimidate him, and Perron did not call many boosting units or attacking units when either would have been useful at certain points, as a general trend he did not have many usable rearguards in hand during the first nine turns.

The Game
Turns 1-2
[V] Spark Kid Dragoon (4000) versus Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
Perron's hand:  6. Red River Dragoon, Demonic Dragon Nymph Seiobo, Thunderstorm Dragoon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Mischievous Girl Kyon-she.
Damage: 0/6
Triggers left in deck: 14
Net advantage:  0
LeBon's hand: 5. King of Sword, King of Sword, Beast Deity Scarlet Bird, Shining Lady, Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon.
Damage: 0/6
Triggers left in deck: 15
Net advantage: 0
Perron opens with Red River Dragoon (8000) moving Spark Kid to the back rearguard circle to the right of his vanguard for +1. LeBon draws Clara and makes a deceptive play by riding Beast Deity, Scarlet Bird (6000) with White Tiger retreating behind Bird for his +1. Although on the surface Perron has a strategic advantage this turn because he can drop 10000 shield to completely prevent the attack from getting through even with triggers, this is LeBon's goal. The standard response to an on-hit skill like Scarlet Bird's is to stop it from activating even though it may fail, which LeBon sought to take advantage of by persuading his opponent to drop shield early on. Because his deck's midgame stand skills help him make up for not dealing as much damage earlier in the game, and because Narukami has trouble maintaining high hand sizes, and its main strategy with Kaiser Vermillion needs 4-5 damage, LeBon can safely be denied the opportunity to deal damage this turn if it means lowering his opponent's hand and getting them into a position where he can play a denial game by leaving them at 3 later on. If checked a critical trigger would be wasted, but it would also give Perron positive reinforcement for stopping LeBon's attacks. The correct decision in this situation would be to let Scarlet Bird hit. Perron falls for the feint and guards with Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo (S18000.) LeBon drive checks Twin Blader.

Turns 3-4
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) versus Beast Deity, Scarlet Bird (6000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Spark Kid Dragoon (4000) with no boosted unit versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  5. Thunder Storm Dragoon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Mischievous Girl Kyon-she, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 0/6
Triggers left in deck: 13
Net advantage:  0
LeBon's hand: 6. King of Sword, King of Sword, Shining Lady, Ring Girl Clara, Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Twin Blader.
Damage: 0/6
Triggers left in deck: 14
Net advantage: +1
Perron rides Thunderstorm Dragoon (10000) and drive checks Wyvern Guard, Guld. LeBon damage checks Beast Deity, Azure Dragon. Note that because Azure Dragon was in the top 5, this means that no matter what Perron did, LeBon would have the lead in card advantage, but the scenario in which Perron had less cards is more useful to LeBon because it restricts Perron's plays.

LeBon draws Beast Deity Blank Marsh on turn 4 and rides King of Sword (10000), calling a second King to his right. Rearguard King attacks Thunderstorm Dragoon. Perron guards with Mischievous Girl, Kyon-she (S15000.) With White Tiger's boost, vanguard King drive checks LeBon's Hungry Dumpty tech. Perron damage checks Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion.

Turn 5
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000)
[V] Thunderstorm Dragoon (10000) versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Spark Kid Dragoon (4000) with no boosted unit versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  5. Wyvern Guard Guld, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 1/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion)
Triggers left in deck: 12
Net advantage:  -1
LeBon's hand: 6. Shining Lady, Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Ring Girl Clara, Twin Blader, Beast Deity Blank Marsh, Hungry Dumpty.
Damage: 1/6 (Beast Deity Azure Dragon)
Triggers left in deck: 14
Net advantage: +1
Perron rides Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) and calls another Vermillion (11000) to his right, then uses Spark Kid Dragoon's counterblast to move it to the soul and search the top 5 cards of his deck for a Narukami grade 3. The skill fails, the deck is shuffled and Perron has taken a -1. There is now a difference of three cards between the two with equal damage. Perron's vanguard Vermillion attacks LeBon's vanguard and goes unguarded, Perron drive checks Thunderstorm Dragoon and Malevolent Djinn (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) assigning the critical to his vanguard and the power to rearguard Vermillion. LeBon damage checks Twin Blader and The Gong (Draw Trigger +5000 power / draw 1), gives the power to his vanguard and draws Three Minutes.

Rearguard Vermillion (16000) attacks rearguard King of Sword, and is defended with Shining Lady (S20000.) Because of LeBon's draw trigger, the only overall change in card advantage from the start of the turn is Spark Kid Dragoon's -1.

Turn 6
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  6. Wyvern Guard Guld, Thunderstorm Dragoon, Malevolent Djinn, Spark Edge Dracokid, Wyvern Guard Guld, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 1/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion)
Triggers left in deck: 11
Net advantage:  -2
LeBon's hand: 7. Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Ring Girl Clara, Twin Blader, Beast Deity Blank Marsh, Hungry Dumpty, Three Minutes, Beast Deity Azure Dragon.
Damage: 3/6 (Beast Deity Azure Dragon, Twin Blader, The Gong)
Triggers left in deck: 12
Net advantage: +1
LeBon rides Beast Deity Azure Dragon (11000). This is potentially a game-changing draw because prior to topdecking it LeBon had to play with the idea in mind that he would be riding Illuminal and that White Tiger would have to leave the field at some point through either his skill or just by calling a new unit over him, because he would otherwise not be able to make an 18000 power center line. LeBon could not anticipate that Perron would never draw "THE BLOOD" within this game, but if he believed that his opponent would get the crossride eventually then he may have planned to use White Tiger's skill on this turn, which could help even out the difference in cards. He calls Blank Marsh (7000) behind King of Sword, then has them attack the vanguard (17000.) Perron damage checks Dusty Plasma Dragon.

Azure Dragon (16000) drive checks Tough Boy and Ring Girl, Clara (Heal Trigger +5000 power / heal 1) healing Azure Dragon from his damage zone. Perron damage checks Malevolent Djinn (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical.) Note that LeBon's heal effectively negated Perron's critical.

Turn 7
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Beast Deity, Azure Dragon (11000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  6. Wyvern Guard Guld, Thunderstorm Dragoon, Malevolent Djinn, Spark Edge Dracokid, Wyvern Guard Guld, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 3/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 10
Net advantage:  -2
LeBon's hand: 7. Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Ring Girl Clara, Hungry Dumpty, Three Minutes, Tough Boy, Ring Girl Clara.
Damage: 2/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong)
Triggers left in deck: 11
Net advantage: +1
At this point the game has swung firmly in LeBon's favor. Perron calls Thunderstorm Dragoon (10000) to his left column and uses it to attack King of Sword. LeBon guards with Three Minutes (S15000.) Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion attacks the vanguard, and goes undefended. This move could be contested considering that LeBon could have easily protected his lead with the Clara in his hand, but this would have given his opponent an opportunity to bring him down to -2 by using his rearguard Vermillion to attack King of Sword once again. By choosing not to guard, LeBon created an optimal scenario in which even if his opponent drive checked a critical trigger, it would only serve to enable Illuminal's limit break and exploit Perron's disadvantage. Perron drive checks Rising Phoenix and Demonic Dragon Berserker Garuda. LeBon damage checks Red Lightning (Critical Trigger +5000 power / critical +1) assigning it to Azure Dragon. Rearguard Vermillion attacks King of Sword, and is defended with Clara.

Turn 8
[R] Thunderstorm Dragoon (10000) versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Beast Deity, Azure Dragon (11000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand: 6. Wyvern Guard Guld, Malevolent Djinn, Rising Phoenix, Demonic Dragon Berserker Garuda, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 3/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 10
Net advantage:  -2
LeBon's hand: 6. Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Twin Blader, Hungry Dumpty, Tough Boy, Ring Girl Clara, Twin Blader.
Damage: 3/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 10
Net advantage -1
LeBon crossrides Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon over Azure Dragon (13000.) With White Tiger's boost, Illuminal (18000) attacks the vanguard, Perron guards with Wyvern Guard Guld (S0) and drops Garuda to pay for Guld's cost, achieving perfect defense. LeBon drive checks Beast Deity Black Tortoise and Tough Boy. With Blank Marsh's boost, King of Sword attacks Thunderstorm Dragoon, who retires.

This can be argued as a misplay, as King of Sword's full rearguard line and Perron already being at -4 may have persuaded him to going to four damage and getting access to limit break, when going to four sooner would actually be meaningless because LeBon's rearguard lanes are not filled, he has another field ready in his hand and it would open Illuminal up to taking four damage as stands are the best endgame play. If Perron were to guard an attack on the vanguard at that point he would have to use Malevolent Djinn, so either way he would go to -5 but in this scenario he would lose more shield.

By not attacking the vanguard LeBon risked that he would have to go to limit break first. On the other hand, since LeBon just saw Garuda get dropped for perfect defense he also had a good idea that Perron did not have any replacement rearguards for Dragoon, and he would be able to protect King of Sword that way and drag the game out even further to capitalize on Perron losing more cards per turn than him. Furthermore, because he has his Hungry Dumpty tech in hand, LeBon could also plan to use the limit break twice in this game, and by going to four damage first he could use that to guarantee that his opponent would go to five before him. The result is a tradeoff.

Turn 9
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  6. Malevolent Djinn, Rising Phoenix, Spark Edge Dracokid, Wyvern Guard Guld, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 3/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 9
Net advantage:  -5
LeBon's hand: 7. Twin Blader, Hungry Dumpty, Twin Blader, Ring Girl Clara, Tough Boy, Beast Deity Black Tortoise, Tough Boy.
Damage: 3/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 10
Net advantage -2
Perron calls Rising Phoenix (5000) behind his rearguard Vermillion and soulblasts 2 to draw 1 for +1. Vanguard Vermillion (11000) attacks Illuminal unboosted, LeBon guards with Tough Boy (S18000.) Perron drive checks Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion and Red River Dragoon. Rearguard Vermillion (16000) attacks Illuminal but is guarded by Clara (S23000.) Thanks to Phoenix and these attacks the advantage state is once again neutral, but to actually come into the lead for a full turnaround Perron has to stop every attack next turn and drive his opponent to limit break before him.

Turn 10
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  7. Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Red River Dragoon, Spark Edge Dracokid, Wyvern Guard Guld, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 3/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 9
Net advantage:  -4
LeBon's hand: 6. Twin Blader, Hungry Dumpty, Twin Blader, Beast Deity Black Tortoise, Tough Boy, Three Minutes.
Damage: 3/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 9
Net advantage -4
LeBon calls Beast Deity, Black Tortoise (8000) to his left and Tough Boy (8000) behind him, then has Tortoise (16000) attack the vanguard but is stopped by Spark Edge Dracokid (S21000.)

Illuminal (18000) is defended by Guld (S0) with Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion dropped for perfect defense. LeBon drive checks Red Lightning (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) and gives all effects to King of Sword, followed by Beast Deity Golden Anglet.

King of Sword (22000 power / critical 2) attacks the vanguard. Perron damage checks Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" and Yellow Gem Carbuncle (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical.)

Turn 11
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Beast Deity, Black Tortoise (8000) boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  5. Malevolent Djinn, Red River Dragoon, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle)
Triggers left in deck: 8
Net advantage:  -7
LeBon's hand: 6. Hungry Dumpty, Twin Blader, Twin Blader, Three Minutes, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Golden Anglet.
Damage: 3/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 9
Net advantage -4
Perron calls Red River Dragoon (8000) behind his vanguard and Dusty Plasma Dragon (9000) to his left. He activates Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's limit break 4, paying counterblast 3 for +2000 power and being able to attack the opponent's entire front row simultaneously until the end of the turn. LeBon cannot intercept during this attack and must guard each unit individually, but any trigger effects applied to Kaiser Vermillion will increase its power versus every unit it battles with. With Red River's boost, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (21000) battles LeBon's front row, LeBon does not guard. Perron drive checks Dragonic Deathscythe and Yellow Gem Carbuncle (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) giving the critical to his vanguard and power to his rearguard Vermillion. LeBon damage checks Shining Lady (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) and Red Lightning (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) passing the effects to his vanguard. At this point Illuminal rests at 23000 power and cannot be hit by any of Perron's remaining rearguards.

Not only did LeBon successfully bait his opponent into limit breaking while he had a second field ready in his hand, but Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's limit break was not well used here because even if LeBon did not damage check any triggers, Garuda would have been swinging for an empty 9000 power that would not have matched Illuminal's 13000 while rearguard Vermillion with Phoenix would still only be drawing out one of the critical triggers from last turn for LeBon's defense. A better use of Garuda would have been to attack Black Tortoise, but because he was intending to swing with Vermillion in the first place, this would have had no real effect as the events proceed essentially in the same manner. The better play would be to wait to use Vermillion's limit break until next turn so that Garuda and rearguard Vermillion could serve more of a purpose in breaking down LeBon's defensive wall, and by extension guarding King of Sword on turn 10 instead of letting it through, but because Perron's hand was already strained it would be difficult to make this kind of judgment given the limited resources he was working with. Regardless, at this point the match has spiraled out into the endgame and with Perron at five damage, Illuminal's limit break has virtually sealed the match.

Turn 12
[R] Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda (9000) versus No rearguard boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguard  boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  5. Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Deathscythe, Yellow Gem Carbuncle, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle)
Triggers left in deck: 6
Net advantage:  -7
LeBon's hand: 7. Hungry Dumpty, Twin Blader, Twin Blader, Three Minutes, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Golden Anglet, The Gong.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 6
Net advantage: -6
LeBon calls Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) in front of Blank Marsh and Hungry Dumpty (9000) in front of Tough Boy. Anglet (16000) attacks the vanguard but is guarded by Carbuncle (S21000).

Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (18000) attacks the vanguard and activates his limit break 4, paying counterblast 3 to stand Golden Anglet and Blank Marsh, which triggers Anglet's skill and gives it +3000 power. Perron guards with Dragonic Deathscythe and Malevolent Djinn (S26000.) LeBon drive checks Beast Deity, Scarlet Bird and Beast Deity, Blank Marsh. Hungry Dumpty (17000) is defended by Spark Edge Dracokid (S21000) and Golden Anglet (19000) is stopped by an additional Spark Edge (S21000.)

Turn 13
[R] Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda (9000) versus Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Hungry Dumpty (9000) boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  1. Red River Dragoon.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle)
Triggers left in deck: 6
Net advantage:  -12
LeBon's hand: 7. Twin Blader, Twin Blader, Three Minutes, Red Lightning, The Gong, Beast Deity Scarlet Bird, Beast Deity Golden Anglet.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 6
Net advantage: -6
Perron calls Red River Dragoon (8000) behind Dusty Plasma. Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (19000) attacks Illuminal, but LeBon plays Twin Blader and drops Three Minutes for perfect defense. Perron drive checks Photon Bomber Wyvern and Demonic Dragon Nymph Seiobo (Heal Trigger +5000 power / heal 1) assigning the power to Garuda and healing Malevolent Djinn from his damage zone.

Garuda (22000) attacks Illuminal but is guarded with Twin Blader with Three Minutes dropped for Perfect Defense. Vermillion (16000) is intercepted by Hungry Dumpty.

Turn 14
[R] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda (9000) versus Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguard boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  2. Photon Bomber Wyvern, Demonic Dragon Nymph Seiobo.
Damage: 4/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle)
Triggers left in deck: 5
Net advantage:  -12
LeBon's hand: 5. Red Lightning, Beast Deity Scarlet Bird, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Golden Anglet, Beast Deity Black Tortoise.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 5
Net advantage: -11
LeBon calls Red Lightning and uses his skill, moving him into the soul to unflip one damage, then calls Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) to his open left circle. Boosted by Blank Marsh, his right Anglet (16000) attacks the vanguard, Perron damage checks Malevolent Djinn (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) and gives the trigger to his vanguard. Illuminal Dragon attacks the vanguard and activates his limit break 4, standing Anglet (+3000) and Marsh. Perron guards with Seiobo (S26000), LeBon drive checks an unknown card and The Gong (Draw Trigger +5000 power / draw 1) giving the effects to his right Anglet and drawing Red Lightning. His right Golden Anglet (24000) attacks the vanguard. Perron guards with Dragonic Deathscythe and Photon Bomber Wyvern (S26000). Left Anglet (17000) is intercepted by Garuda (S210000.)

Turn 15
[R] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting No rearguard versus Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Golden Anglet (9000) boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  1. Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 5
Net advantage:  -16
LeBon's hand: 6. Beast Deity Scarlet Bird, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Black Tortoise, The Gong, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Golden Anglet.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 4
Net advantage: -10
Perron draws and calls Spark Edge Dracokid (5000) in front of Red River, and his vanguard Vermillion (19000) attacks Illuminal. LeBon guards with Red Lightning, The Gong and Scarlet Bird (S33000) to ensure that the attack cannot pass through under any circumstances. Perron drive checks Malevolent Djinn (Critical Trigger +5000 power / critical +1) and Wyvern Guard Guld, giving the trigger effects to Spark Edge.

Spark Edge (18000 power / critical 2) attacks Illuminal, and is stopped by LeBon intercepting with both Golden Anglets (S23000.) Rearguard Vermillion (16000) is guarded with Black Tortoise (S18000.)

Turn 16
[R] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Spark Edge Dracokid (5000) versus No rearguard boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguard boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand: 2. Malevolent Djinn, Wyvern Guard Guld.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 4
Net advantage:  -16
LeBon's hand: 2. Beast Deity Golden Anglet, Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 4
Net advantage: -15
LeBon calls Golden Anglet (9000) to his left and Illuminal Dragon (11000) to his right. His vanguard Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (18000) attacks Perron's vanguard Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion. Perron does not guard, LeBon drive checks Ring Girl Clara (Heal Trigger +5000 power / heal 1) giving the power to his rearguard Illuminal and healing Twin Blader from his damage zone, and Tough Boy. Perron damage checks Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD;" Sebastien LeBon becomes the 2013 Toronto regional champion.

The "Tenzaku"
Throughout the entire game, LeBon established and maintained a consistent lead over Perron. In addition to this, LeBon demonstrated a familiarity with "THE BLOOD" while Perron did not have a clear comparable idea of how to play against Illuminal. Several times Perron was able to get back to or close to a neutral game state, as in turns 9, 13 and 15, but never actually took the lead after doing so and instead fell behind once more. LeBon capitalized on Scarlet Bird, an at-the-time uncommon choice for Illuminal decks that was generally replaced by Burstraizer or Shout, and it was his very first turn that sent the match spiraling into such a vicious cycle.

Even so, the most critical moves were in turns 10 and 11. Had Perron blocked King of Sword's 2 critical attack, then on his own turn refrained from using his limit break and used Garuda to attack Black Tortoise and draw out more shield, his critical trigger that turn could send LeBon to 5 damage first, and Perron would still have been able to use rearguard Vermillion at 21000 against King of Sword even after LeBon's power-up. From the perspective of not having this prior knowledge, it was already clear that being the first fighter to go to 5 would be a dangerous decision without a copy of "THE BLOOD" in hand to turn the match around with his extra critical, two heal triggers were already missing from the deck and in going to 5 Perron empowered Illuminal Dragon by making it necessary to block every single one of his four full-power attacks.

Perron never drawing "THE BLOOD" was also a key factor to the direction of the match. LeBon's rearguards were on the whole not suited toward facing a crossride defense. It's debatable how much getting "THE BLOOD" would have improved the game for Perron because without many 5000 shield units he would have had to use 10000 shield triggers regardless. Being able to attack with an extra critical on T11 instead of with just DKV would have drastically changed the outcome of that turn however, because LeBon would have no choice but to drop two perfect defense cards, potentially without ever going to limit break on that turn after blocking the double critical trigger passed to rearguard DKV. This would mean that Perron and LeBon's net advantage at the end of the turn would be -8 to -10, a positive situation for Perron, and it would have taken up one of LeBon's perfect defense cards earlier.

Although in this particular match LeBon did not have any other choice on the first turn, in general opening with Scarlet Bird can be compared to opening on Tengen in Go; a contested and somewhat dangerous opening that invites the opponent to make a nonstandard move that can quickly spiral out into a complicated game with heavy losses. Prior to Perron v. LeBon it was generally held that giving the opponent the opportunity to completely block the opening attack and potential critical triggers with it made the play inherently weak, so running Scarlet Bird in general was frowned upon compared to using Transraizer or Announcer Shout in its place. The results of the game speak contrary to this idea. As with comparable moves, the correct play is not to directly meet the opening attack, but to resist the challenge and develop your resources so that this first turn will not become important. There is the conditional factor at play that some builds can tackle the situation in such a way that they can afford to play differently. Tsukuyomi cardfighters, with a higher base power grade 1 than Scarlet Bird and the ability to pull constant advantage from the deck each turn, can afford to drop the 10000 shield. CoCo cannot meet it because her major advantage boost comes at T5 in this scenario and guarding in the midgame is necessary versus Illuminal. Most Royal Paladin builds also cannot play this way because even though they can pull advantage out later by superior calling from the deck, their raw draw power is not sufficient to keep up with the Deities' offensives later, so protecting early is not worth lacking cards later on. Mandalalord-Shirayuki can play the matchup either way because of their own persona blasts and search skills effectively giving the deck an additional 20~60000 extra shield per game, but the results of guarding Bird and Tortoise are still Tengen games that come down to the wire. The defining difference is that Mandalalord-Shirayuki force Illuminal to make the same judgments as his opponent and they drain cards from him in the same fashion, mirroring the gameplan and limiting the resources that both cardfighters can use. Shirayuki specifically can accept going to limit break first because it is easier for her to completely stop every attack in a turn, without resorting to Leaves Mirage.

Beyond just the Beast Deities, the aggression principles demonstrated in Perron versus LeBon can also be applied to any clan with units similar to Beast Deity search units, at present Murakumo but also to Narukami's Storm Bring Dragon and clans with copies of it.

Nova Grappler Extra Study Material: Beast Deities

Photo by rawritzrichii, not to be reposted elsewhere without the original photographer's express permission.

Mythic tradition and legends are an important part of human culture. Although mechanical in nature, the Nova Grapplers are frequently designed to fuse those mechanical elements with legend to create artificial gods of the ring. While it has received nowhere near the same amount of attention, the Beast Deity subgroup is one of the most cohesive decks in pro play, on par with the interclan Blaster series for how much synergy the individual cards have with one another. Drawing its origins from BT06: Breaker of Limits, the Beast Deity cards have seen repeated revision with the progression of the game, reaching a crescendo with the coming of BT09: Clash of the Knights and Dragons and finding another leg of support in BT10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights.

The first vanguard introduced for them in BT06 is Beast Deity, White Tiger. To recap our introductory model's treatment of him, Tiger is an important milestone in Nova Grappler play as a base 5000 power FVG that can be moved out from the soul when ridden over, providing an extra card and booster that can form basic 15-18000 lines. The other use of White Tiger, exclusive to the Beast Deity cards, is to counterblast 1 and move him back into the soul when an attack that he boosted hits a vanguard, and then stand a Beast Deity rearguard. This costs you the card advantage that Tiger gained, but it can potentially be offset by the extra defense that this draws out from the opponent, and is further intended to combo with two other cards in the Deity series, Scarlet Bird and Black Tortoise.

Together these three cards make up three fourths of the four gods, mythical rulers of the constellations. Bird and Tortoise, representing Suzaku and Genbu respectively, are base 6000 and 8000 grade 1 and 2 units that when their attack hits the vanguard can look through the top five cards of the deck for a copy of the grade 3 Beast Deity, Azure Dragon. This provides quick, counterblast-free grade security while also grabbing you card advantage and playing into Azure's own skill later on. Since all of the Beast Deities so far share the same hit condition, you can combo this early on when the opponent is not able to defend as easily, using White Tiger to stand a Beast Deity whose attack just hit to try and make use of their skill again. Grabbing that Azure Dragon from the deck can offset the advantage lost by Tiger going into the soul, and like Tsukuyomi you can also gradually form a stack of triggers at the bottom of the deck while using the Nova's cycling trigger Battleraizer to reshuffle the deck if that stack turns out badly. While the Full Moon's stacking capabilities in normal play are capped at fifteen and sixteen cards, the Beast Deities' shared ability to do this when attacks hit instead of at the beginning of the main phase leaves the potential for twenty cards with a likely cap of twenty five to be stacked instead.

Azure Dragon is the Nova Grappler analogue to the fourth god Seiryuu, dragon of the east. His 11000 base is the same strong defense that Asura Kaiser boasted, and over that when his attack hits the vanguard he can activated his persona blast, to stand two rearguards. This is where the previous Deities come in outside of just providing grade security, as a persona blast that can be searched right from grade 1 on is much more playable than it would be otherwise. Being able to guarantee that two rearguards will stand without relying on Death Army units is important, and the presence of all these on-hit skills gives the Beast Deities a very strong early to midgame. If the opponent feels pressured to block the attacks to prevent those skills from going off, then they're usually being forced into a misplay by overthinking the situation, which weakens their defense and opens them up to taking more damage and being unable to protect their rearguard lines later on. The main issue with this is that the Beast Deity deck by itself has no concrete endgame. Once the opponent is at four damage, there's very little that you can do to decide the match on subsequent turns beyond protecting your existing lead.

Entire BT09 and Azure Dragon's crossride; Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon. Representing Ouryuu, the golden dragon of the center, Illuminal occupies a very tall throne within the Nova Grapplers as their first crossride, getting a constant +2000 power bonus for having Azure in the soul for a 13000 power defense overall. This forms a 21000 power offensive line with Tough Boy, and while the Nova Grapplers lack the soul manipulation to finalize their crossride if they miss their initial Azure ride, Illuminal's offensive power makes up for this. At limit break 4, when Illuminal attacks he can counterblast 3 to stand two Beast Deities rearguards, with no on-hit attached. This is the endgame that Azure was looking for. Being able to forcibly stand an entire column after driving the opponent to five damage with that same column beforehand is devastating, and the skill can even be repeated by sampling cards from the Nova Grappler's original unflipping engine like Claydoll Mechanic.

Of course, the Beast Deity restriction means that you need stronger rearguards to be able to actually use that limit break with. Clash of the Knights and Dragons brings us Golden Anglet and Yamatano Drake, grade 2 and 3 variations on the same core skill of gaining +3000 power when they stand in the battle phase, over respective 9000 and 10000 power bases. With Illuminal Dragon these cards are guaranteed to hit even opposing crossrides for relevant numbers, and versus other decks by lining the new Deities up with Tough Boy you can ensure that the lines will go for 20-21000 power so that their second attack will always be tougher than their first.

BT09 also brings us Blank Marsh, a functional grade 1 variation on White Tiger with 7000 power. While Yamatano was the Beast Deity incarnation of the eightheaded serpent Yamata no Orochi, and Anglet was a representation of the "dragon horse" Ryuuma, Marsh is analogous to a Hakutaku ("White Marsh"), a legendary beast whose image was used to ward off disease. When an attack that Marsh boosted hits a vanguard, he can counterblast 1 and move to the soul to stand a rearguard. White Tiger and Marsh can both do the same jobs, standing Anglet and bumping him up to 12000 power to ready him for an independent attack or using this with one of the older Deities to perform another Azure search. Damage triggers are generally the biggest hazard to these skills, so it is important to read the situation and be aware of when it isn't the right time to use the Deities' stand skills. Fortunately, the timing of them is such that you don't have to actually choose to activate them or not until after your opponent has completed all of their damage checks.

Scheduled for an October release, BT10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights introduces a series of Beast Deities derived from the two zodiacs and a new first vanguard in Beast Deity, Riot Horn. Representing Taurus and the Ox, Riot Horn is like White Tiger before him a base 5000 first vanguard that moves out from the soul when ridden over with a unit of the same clan. Horn's autoskill is designed so that when a Beast Deity in the same column as Horn stands, he can also stand, allowing for a full-power attack using Blank Marsh, and multiplying Illuminal's impact on the game by allowing for two columns to attack, one unboosted and one with Horn to assist it.

Sagittarius and the Horse are represented by Hilarity Destroyer, a base 7000 grade 1 that can discard a card to draw one when his attack hits. While Destroyer won't see a heavy amount of play later on in a match, he can be good for the early game if you want to replace Scarlet Bird in your Beast Deity deck, as he forms an anticrossride 18000 line with any of the Grapplers' many 11000 power units, makes for a good grade 1 ride and can help improve your deck's consistency.

At grade 2, Hatred Chaos is affiliated with both Leo and the Tiger. With a 9000 power base, Chaos gets +3000 power when he attacks from the rearguard if there is a Beast Deity vanguard, although unlike with Golden Anglet this power bonus only lasts through the battle that he attacks in. Because of that, Chaos' power increases cannot be stacked. Instead, he and Anglet act as complementary rearguards that can be used in place of one another. Hatred Chaos' imagery is a little looser than past Deities, as while his face and nose are based on a lion, and he has stripes taken from the Tiger zodiac, his appearance is also derived from the thunder god Raijin and the ring of drums that Raijin uses to summon storms.

Finally, Ethics Buster. This Beast Deity is unique, based on the unused thirteenth sign of the Cat from the Chinese zodiac. Like Azure Dragon and Illuminal Dragon, Ethics Buster has an 11000 power base, but he differs from them in that he is a break ride, harbinger of a highly explosive endgame but being limited in what he can do by himself. Ethics gets +2000 power in the vanguard cricle when he is boosted by a Nova Grappler, creating a 20-21000 line. But when you ride a Nova Grappler over him while at limit break, Ethics Buster gives your vanguard +10000 power and an autoskill that stands all of your front row Nova Grapplers when that vanguard attacks. Using Illuminal Dragon with this skill, you can unfailingly stand all of your rearguard columns while having a center line in the range of 21-31000 power, taking around six cards to block all of the attacks without any triggers coming through. This makes both decks that use Azure with Illuminal and Ethics Buster viable, as well as just Illuminal-Ethics decks, and while Ethics Buster is a Beast Deity, his break ride skill is compatible with all Nova Grapplers, effectively updating Illuminal Dragon, Stern Blaukluger and Asura Kaiser all at once.

The Beast Deities are an extremely diverse subgroup with a heavy amount of support, and there is a lot of freedom of choice between how you want to build your deck, whether you choose to go for a four deities or zodiac deities model, or some combination therein. Next time that we revisit the Nova Grapplers I will be discussing the new Death Army series cards from EB04: Infinite Phantom Legion and the ultimate lifeform, Cosmo Lord.