Set 5 Booster Draft Tournament

Disclaimer:Gotta stop writing blogs at midnight with lack of sleep.

BOOSTER DRAFT TIME!!!
Hey, everybody! I'm here with another report, review, and just around comments from the recent Set 5: Awakening of Twin Blades Pre-Release Booster Draft Tournaments.

Booster Drafting?
First, let's talk about Booster Drafts because I'm sure some of you readers at home never did one before. Reason why I know this? Because, this was the first one I ever did!

Booster Draft rules are pretty simple. With Vanguard you get in a group/pod of 4 people and each get 6 booster packs. Everybody starts by opening up a booster pack (For Vanguard it's 5 cards per pack), you take 1 card out leaving 4, then pass on the 4 cards to the next person followed by getting 4 cards from the person next to you, do this in a rotation with 4 people and because of the packs containing 5 cards you will get the last card back from your original 5. You continue this with each pack creating a 30 card deck.

Pretty simple, open pack, take card, pass remaining, take remaining from another player, and repeat. If my crappy description didn't help you Bushi-Road has supplied training videos that you can watch.

Deck Building
Thanks to Micheal Ploof our team lead who actually knows how to properly draft and taught me the best results etc on making a deck.

First, I want to point out that depending on what your goal is you will draft differently. Like most people you go to a pre-release to get the rare cards before other people so if that's it you will be picking up the rares. Others plan on going to win the prizes so to build a draft deck you might pass up on some RR and even RRR to get better cards for your Draft Deck.

First you want to plan out a ratio like this.
G3: 3-4
G2: 6-8
G1:10-12
G0:11-14

That should be your normal goal; not overloading your higher grades but focusing on the G1s and Triggers. Always making sure to pull the 7-8k G1s, the 9-10k G2s, 10k-11k G3s, and triggers.

In set 5 most of the Grade 3s are 11ks but they all have a negative effect. Let's take Dragonic Overlord The End as our example; if you have a non-kagero rear-guard or Vanguard it gets -2k. This makes DOTE a 9k becoming a very bad card to draft. You won't pass that card up of course since its freakin DOTE!!! We are talking more like Mandala Lord etc even if they are a RRR you are wanting to win; so pass that onto the next person. If they decide to take it great! That means you know one player in the pod will have a 9k Vanguard or rear-guard.

Experiance
Now I'm going to be talking about the experience Final Turn AL4 had with the draft tournaments. We ended up going to two draft tournaments one being in Greeneville(Which I didn't attend so we will be passing that up). Then the other tournament was at The Next Level Games; which always treat us amazingly well! I can't say enough at how much I love this card shop, its workers, and players. They keep everything running smooth, organized, and friendly.

We left pretty early this time since Mason(Dr.Beard) informed us of the large turn out. They ended up only having 3-4 kits in. I'm glad we did cause all the spots filled up pretty fast and I'm sure a few people got left out. There was a total of 4 brackets with 8 players in each. The 8 players in each bracket would be separated in 2 groups of 4 to build the draft decks then compete against each other in a single elimination tournament.

Knowing the best results to try and win the tournament plus keeping the cards we needed. We put ourselves together in bracket 4 taking up 3/8 of the spots in it. Ploof got separated while me and Dustin got put up next to each other. One thing I'll say is being next to your team mate isn't too great of an idea. Since we both knew what cards to take out of the packs we kept taking the good cards leaving the worst ones for each other. Instead of being next to new players that only took the rare cards passing us the actual good ones for the tournament.

Picking bracket 4 we had to wait through the other brackets being put together and pairing up against each other. This let us look around and see what everybody was doing. Also, it made us realize that a lot of people didn't know the rulings on cards etc. Bushi-Road allowed Triggers to work for any clan during a Draft Tournament but not other effects just like Dragonic Overlord the End(People thought he wouldn't get the -2k effect with non-kagero units on the field). We went up to the worker at the store and told him about the issue. Then, we all agreed if people are too dumb to realize that and the common rules that are announced then we don't care.

Dustin got lucky and pulled a Dragonic Overlord the End(Which he also pulled one at the other tournament the day before) and a Murakumo perfect guard. Then adding onto that luck the girl next to him only wanted cute cards so passed him a Miracle Beauty and King of Diptera, Beelzebub. Not only being RRR but also 10k Grade 3s that you want to try and draft anyway.

People also need to pay attention to the instructions given out along with the rules. It wasn't rocket science but for some reason everybody but a few of us didn't know what to do even after doing it! One guy next to us didn't know he was building a deck instead he thought he was only taking out a card then giving it back to the store worker.

First round I was up against a girl that you could tell was new. I think it was her boyfriend or brother(I dunno some guy) was coaching her through the first game, at the time I didn't care since I never take this game seriously. He was telling her every play to do and what to block etc. I got game 1 then during game 2 I decided to finally ask him to stop. He replied "It's okay cause I'm not in the tournament" well I drove over two hours to try and win a DOTE play mat so finally asking him to stop again which he did. She also forgot to stand her units before drawing etc but like I said I don't care enough to rule shark and instead was helping try to teach her on the official ways to do stuff etc so people won't call it out on her in the future. A big thing I've noticed is when guys are trying to teach girls or just any other player in general they don't teach them the basics or the actual standards on how you are suppose to do things. Me and my team got it drilled into us fast because of Ploof(who is a rule-natzi dick) and the anime since we quote it all the time...STAND AND DRAW!!!

Next up was Dustin with the semi-finals now knowing one of our team would get into the finals. Then during our match we found out Ploof our third member won his semi-finals..so two of us would be in the finals. I ended up losing the match against Dustin which brought down my mood a little since him and Ploof got two play mats at the previous tournament. My mood soon changed when I ended up winning the random drawing in my bracket for the other DOTE play mat(I may of got way TOO excited about that).

Conclusion
So, at the end of the two tournaments our team walked away with 4 Dragonic Overlord The End play mats and 3 Dragonic Overlord the End Cards(Ploof traded a Majesty Lord Blaster for one the previous tournament). I've also fallen in love with Draft tournaments over the normal pre-release tournaments I'm used to with Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh TCGs. The deck building strategy, the higher random factor, and the judgement on giving up a valuable card for one that will help your deck is so much fun. I cannot wait until the next one.

Now that we are done for the current Draft tournaments happening; up next we have the Stand-Up Cup! I'm looking forward to traveling around for this just like the Team and Draft Tournaments. Not to mention competing more with the Next Level Gaming crew always have a blast with them. Bushi-Road has done an amazing job at the start of this year with their tournaments and events! I can't wait to see what all they have planned for us in the future.

Card of the..whenever I feel like it day 2/18/13

Revvin' up your engine

Listen to her howlin' roar

Metal under tension

Beggin' you to touch and go

Highway to the danger zone

Ride into the danger zone

Headin' into twilight

Spreadin' out her wings tonight

She got you jumpin' off the track

And shovin' into overdrive

Highway to the danger zone

I'll take you

Ridin' into the danger zone

TOP GUN

AUTO 【V】: Whenever your «Nova Grappler» rear-guards is Rested, this unit gets Power +1000 until end of that turn.

With Asura Kaiser dominating the Nova Grapplers as their main Vanguard unit from set 1 all the way up to set 9; It's easy to overlook a few underdog Grade 3s, such as Top Gun who makes his debut in set 5.

Honestly, I forgot this card even existed since it had a short reign in the anime along with Cross-Rides and Majesty Lord Blaster coming out. It was easy to overlook in the set with so many other great cards. Thanks to the set 5 draft tournament this card popped back up fresh in my mind and during the tournament I realized the hidden potential in this card.

The only bad thing I have to say about this card is he has a 10k body when most of the G3 Vanguard we are use too have 11k.

Now let's talk about his design and why he was created. Cross-Rides plain and simple, Top Gun is meant to combat them. "How does he do it" you ask? With his built in ability once all of five of your units are rested for that turn it makes him attack for 15k; put a Tough Boy behind him for a 8k booster and you have a Vanguard swinging for 23k. This comes right to a perfect number for swinging against a 13k body making your opponent guard more than they normally would.

Nova Grappler's strong point is attack alot during a turn with the pressure of stands and using the Vanguard effect to re-stand them. The weakness Nova's have though is the Vanguard never hits for good numbers since we don't have a 9k booster to go with our 11k Vanguards(Unless your Stern with a Dancing Wolf). Making the 11k base we normally have just for shielding instead of hitting hard.

Now we give up a little of our defense and extra standing effects to hit hard. Personally I've become a fan of Top Gun and the numbers he can hit. Another strategy is playing a Dancing Announcer Shout using his effect to put him at rest then retiring to play another card. 

That's pretty much all there is to Top Gun a simple unit designed to hit strong against Cross-Rides. You won't be seeing him in the competitive scene anytime soon; but if you want an alternate way of playing Novas then give Top Gun a shot.

Ninja, Ninja, RAP!!! GO NINJA!!! GO NINJA!! GO!!!

Hello!!

Today, I am here with a article on the Ninja Clan making their true debut with set 5 coming out in little over a week.

Instead of going over all the cards coming up in the set; I'll be going over the deck build we plan on running when the set comes out.

Grade 0-17

Stealth Beast, Evil Ferret-Starter

AUTO: When another «Murakumo» rides this unit, you may call this card to Rear-guard Circle.

ACT 【R】: [Put this unit to the bottom of your deck] Choose up to one «Murakumo» from your hand, call it to Rear-guard Circle, and at the beginning of that turn's end phase, return that unit to hand.

Once you start to see the other cards in the deck you will notice the strategy behind this starter. Most of the cards have a Counter Blast to activate their Summoning Jutsu; bringing out copies of themselves from the deck for one turn. This Jutsu leads up to early game or even late game pushes when you need to bring out more cards to attack when you don't have the hand to do it.

Stealth Fae, Dart Spider-Stand x4

Stealth Beast, Cat Rogue-Draw x4

Stealth Beast, Moon Edge-Crit x4

Stealth Fae, Yukihime-Heal x4

The trigger line-up in this deck is pretty basic. Like most sets before it when a new clan is introduced they are given the four different triggers to work with in the deck. Until set 9 comes out we will just have to deal with it. Dart Spider's Jutsu is when you have a Murakumo vanguard you can put him into the soul and un-flip a damage. This works great with the deck since a lot of your Counter Blast will be taken up by the summoning Jutsus your other clan use up but like most things in the Ninja world; you must make a sacrifice this time it's a 10k shield.

Grade 1-15

Silent Stealth Rogue, Shijimamaru x4

Basic 8k booster not much more to say about this card except how creepy he looks.

Stealth Beast, Leaves Mirage x4

[CONT]:Sentinel (You may only have up to four cards with "[CONT]:Sentinel" in a deck.)

[AUTO]:[Choose a «Murakumo» from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on (GC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your «Murakumo», and that unit cannot be hit until end of that battle.

Unlike the other ninjas this one uses his special Jutsu to protect your Vanguard.

Stealth Beast, Million Rat x3

[AUTO]: [Counter Blast(1)] When this Unit appears in the Vanguard or Rearguard-Circle and you have a «Murakumo» Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you did, search your deck up to 1 "Stealth Beast, Million Rat" from your Deck and Call it to a Rearguard-Circle. Shuffle your Deck. At the beginning of the End Phase for that Turn, place that Unit at the bottom of your Deck.

This Ninja isn't one of my favorites but he has his purpose. With his summoning Jutsu he is able to create more Rats giving you more boosters for your front row Ninjas. Then at the end turn his Jutsu runs out leaving you with only one Rat. The strategy starts to show itself here with the deck bringing out one turn Ninjas without wasting your hand.

Stealth Dragon, Turbulence Edge x2

AUTO 【V/R】: When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, if you have a «Murakumo» Vanguard, look up to five cards from the top of your deck, choose up to one "Covert Demonic Dragon, Mandala Lord", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and put the remaining cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.

If anybody knows me very well you know I LOVE on hit effects. Mostly, it's for the mind games you can do with your opponent in making them waste more shield against a weak unit. When instead they normally would let it hit. This Ninja isn't too amazing only having a 6k base but he does his job getting in attacks early game. When hitting you get to search the top five for a Mandala Lord supporting their Boss very well, along with helping you avoid getting grade stuck.

Stealth Beast, Leaf Racoon x2

AUTO 【R】: When this unit boost a «Murakumo» Vanguard, if the number of cards in your hand is greater than your opponent's, the boosted unit gets Power +4000 until end of that battle.

This cute guy is your Vanguard booster that most clans have been adding recently. His Jutsu is interesting since the strategy at first doesn't seem like it goes along with the clan. You have to remember the clan has summoning Jutsu which brings from the deck instead of using your hand. So, most of the time you should have a bigger hand than your opponent. Also, this ninja is a tribute to the old Nubatama clan the original Ninjas that have slowly faded away into the darkness.

Grade 2-10

Stealth Beast, Blood Mist x3

Remember me mentioning a tribute to Nubatama? Well this guy is straight from the clan making a return but this time as part of the Murakumo clan. Giving up his Jutsu effect for higher power focusing now on his martial arts.

Stealth Fiend, Midnight Crow x3

AUTO: [Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on Vanguard Circle or Rear-guard Circle, if you have a «Murakumo» Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one card named "Stealth Fiend, Midnight Crow", call it to Rear-guard Circle, and shuffle your deck. At the beginning of that turn's end phase, return that unit to the bottom of your deck.

Here is the Grade 2 Ninja with summoning Jutsu. Like Million Rat this crow is able to summon copies of itself for one turn. Having a 8k body makes Crow a very weak Ninja compared to the others but just like Rat he can use his Jutsu on the Vanguard. You take two damage and then ride Crow using the summoning Jutsu and now you have three attacking Ninjas to start your counter attack for that turn.

Stealth Dragon, Cursed Breath x2

AUTO 【V/R】: When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, if you have a «Murakumo» Vanguard, look up to five cards from the top of your deck, choose up to one "Covert Demonic Dragon, Mandala Lord", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and put the remaining cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.

I like to consider Cursed Breath and Turbulence Edge to be Mandala Lord's Dragon Ninja Anbu(DNA) squad. Even if they aren't strong as most of their Ninja brethren they have a special Jutsu which aids in supporting their Master's own Jutsu which we will talk about later on.

Stealth Beast, White Mane x2

[AUTO](VC/RC):When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, if you have a «Murakumo» vanguard, choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up.

A ninja I wish I could have more than two of at a time but there just isn't enough room for more. White Mane has a powerful Jutsu that lets you un-flip a damage when he hits the Vanguard. Considering this deck has a lot of Counter Blasting Jutsu his skill really shines when helping out other Ninjas use their Jutsu even more than what you normally could. The perfect support Ninja who stays in the shadows lending his power to others.

Grade 3-7

Stealth Dragon, Voidgelga x3

AUTO: [Counter Blast(1)] When this Unit appears in the Vanguard or Rearguard-Circle and you have a «Murakumo» Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you did, search up to 1 "Stealth Dragon, Voidgelga" from your deck and Call it to a Rearguard-Circle. Shuffle your deck. At the beginning of the End Phase of that Turn, place that Unit at the bottom of your Deck.

Another one of the Three Summoning Jutsu Masters, Voidgelga. Showing off a common effect most Murakumo have with sacrificing attack power for special Jutsus, Voidgelga isn't really in the deck to stay around long but he has one important role unlike other summoning Jutsu his is designed to make your Drive checks always be good ones and not wasted.

"How is that effect different from Rat or Crow you ask?" Well good question! Always been in a situation where you drive check and get a wasted Grade 3 in hand that you can't do anything with? Well why don't you just ride Voidgelga and Counter Blast 2. Using his Jutsu to summon two copies of himself; then at the end turn putting them at the bottom of the deck. Now all of your Voidgelgas are out of the way letting you ride the true Murakumo Master next turn and making every drive check count.

Covert Demonic Dragon, Mandala Lord x4

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a "Covert Demonic Dragon, Mandala Lord" from your hand, and discard it.] At the beginning of the guard step when this unit was attacked, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose an opponent's attacking unit, and that unit gets [Power]-10000 until end of that battle.

Finally to the current Master and head of the Dragon Empire's Black Ops Agency, Mandala Lord! Leading a perfect strategy the Ninjas have been supporting Mandala lord from his DNA Squad adding more Lords to hand, White Mane un-flipping damage so Lord can use his Jutsu more, and Voidgelga making sure if you drive check a grade 3 its going to be Mandala Lord!

Mandala Lord has a special Jutsu unlike any other a Persona Jutsu that seals away an opponent's power making them much weaker during the battle.(It means he turns a Mandala Lord in hand into a 10k shield when he is attacked). Making his Jutsu the strongest sealing Jutsu in the Murakumo clan. Letting his other Ninjas focus on swarming and attacking he focuses on manipulating and effecting the enemy. This mixture of offense and supporting Jutsu has kept Murakumo as the highest ranking Ninja clan in the Dragon Empire.

Deck List

4 Heal

4 Crit

4 Stand (DMG Unflip)

4 Draw

4 Stealth Beast, Leaves Mirage (PG)

4 Silent Stealth Rogue, Shijimaru (8k)

3 Stealth Beast, Million Rat(Call)

2 Stealth Dragon, Turbulence Edge(Mandala Searcher)

2 Stealth Beast, Leaf Racoon (10k Booster)

3 Stealth Beast, Bloody Mist (10 k)

3 Stealth Beast, Midnight Crow(Call)

2 Stealth Beast, White Mane (Damage Unflipper)

2 Stealth Dragon, Cursed Breath(Mandala Searcher)

4 Covert Demonic Dragon, Mandala Lord(Boss)

3 Stealth Dragon, Voidgelga(Call)

Strategy

You now know all the effects that this clan can do. Murakumo is a unique clan that does focus on swarming the field fast with the use of only 1 Counter Blast for each effect. This can add up really fast so you do have to plan out your Counter Blast perfectly so none is wasted. If you use up too many for swarming you won't be able to guard as much with Mandala Lord's effect. Luckily, you have a damage un-flip in the deck.

This is why I have been drawn to the deck it attacks hard, fast, and keeps large hand advantage then late game you drop down the units that are needing to fill up all the empty units.

One focus on the deck you can do with Voidgelga, Crow, and Rat I mentioned earlier; putting them at the bottom of the deck. Have plenty of boosters in hand? Then use Rat's effect to get them all out on the field and put them at the bottom for later. Don't want to drive check useless Grade 3? Voidgelga's effect is just the thing you need, ride him and then put the other two at the bottom of the deck. Problem solved!!

Turbulence Edge and Cursed Breath are just preferences at the moment and until I can properly play test their usefulness. I don't know if I'll keep or take them out. You do have other options to put in their place like going 4 damage un-flipper or stronger boosters; but for now I'm going to try them since I can keep adding more Mandala's to hand keeping me from drive checking them.

That's all for now on my Murakumo deck review hope you all enjoyed. Give me your thoughts, opinions, and ideas on the current Murakumo set 5 deck. It'll be till June when set 9 comes out so we don't have a lot to work with, let's try to make the most of it!

Always remember...GO NINJA!!! GO NINJA!!! GO!!!!

Team Tournament 2-2-2013

Team Tournament 2-2-13 Results

Hey! Team Final Turn AL4 just got back from our very first official hosted Bushiroad Team Tournament. It was held at Next Level Games in Nashville, TN. Also, want to give a quick praise to Next Level Games they do an amazing job with their tournaments and it was a pleasure playing there. For those who don't know Bushiroad has started in several stores across the states a Team Tournament structure where you can compete and win a special Sendou Aichi deck box.

The Rules
I'll be going over a quick rules on how team tournaments are done. Each team is set up with three members each one competing in the best of one series against another team's member; if two of your team mates win their game you win the match. So, if you win your game and your other two members don't you still lose the match. Each member has to have a different clan, nobody can run the same clan. So, not every member can run Gold Paladins even if one person goes Spectral Duke and the other goes Ezel. You are not allowed to cross-clan the only exception is Royal Paladins who are able to put in ten shadow paladin cards. Main reason why is of course Majesty Lord Blaster.

Disclaimer
Just giving everybody a heads up the day before the Tournament I spent the entire day helping my friend's family move into their new home, get four hours of sleep, go to work and then head straight to the tournament. So my memory is a little hazy.

The Team

Michael Ploof with Royal Paladins-King of Knights, Alfred
Casey Campbell with Gold Paladins-Ezel/Garmore
Dustin Henry with Kagero-Dragonic Lawkeeper

Even though the tournament got announced with not much notice we had our Team ready to go. Being big fans of the Anime we already planned for Team Tournaments to come out in America. Ploof being our longest running Royals player who took Alfred into Chicago and Georgia regionals. Dustin normally focused on Spectral Duke Gold Paladins piloting that into Chicago and Georgia regionals as well; his was the main change taking up Lawkeeper, but since Kagero is his favorite clan it wasn't that much of a change for him. I ended up sticking with what I ran at Chicago regional Garmore with the Ezel superior ride built into it. I was running Pellinore/Garmore(which I feel is the better deck) for a long time but ended up trading my Pellinores off before the tournament was announced.

Next Level Games
We left Knoxville early that morning and made it to Nashville to the Next Level Games shop. First thing I want to point out it was great having people there recognize us over our Facebook page, cause of that I knew it was going to be a fun day. Next Level has a lot of great, friendly, and fun players who continued to make the experience enjoyable throughout the day.

Starting the TournamentWe played a few games against locals getting used to the Meta in the area and learning who their best players are etc. The Tournament started out with 10 teams so 30 players all together entering it. The top 4 teams would be the only ones to get the specialty deck box. This was the only reason me and my team came other than the practice before the upcoming regionals, so we already where determined to try and win this after driving three and a half hours.

Round One
Gold Paladins vs Shadow Paladins
1-0

Starting off the bat I'm facing a clan I have a lot of practice with. I play it in my free time but I was a little worried if he was playing a Dark Dictator build. Instead I'm facing off against a Phantom Blaster Dragon deck with Origin Mage, Ildona. I made pretty easy work with this game since I'm able to keep the hand advantage flowing as he kept losing advantage with Blaster Dragon's effect. I think my opponent could do a lot better if he had more people sit down with him and work on his deck. Watching him play later games and talking to him he knows the rulings and mechanics really well. He just does a few questionable plays when he used Arianrhod to pitch a 10k shield. It doesn't help Phantom Blaster Dragon isn't a good match up against many decks until Overlord comes out. Dustin ended up winning his and Ploof lost his giving us a overall winning record.

Round Two
Gold Paladins vs Tsukuyomi
1-1

This Team was a little more fun since I know them. The player of the Tsukuyomi is a friend name Freddy who is in Knoxville for college so he has been showing up to our locals lately. Also, thanking him here for helping introduce us to the Nashville crew. There isn't much to say on this game since Freddy had terrible luck against me missing the Tsukuyomi ride and just couldn't get any advantage on me making it a very easy game. Unfortunately my team had bad luck, Ploof even with a dual Palamedes column and Alfred swinging for over 20k a turn. He didn't hit a single trigger that game and ended up losing along with Dustin.

Round Three
Gold Paladins vs Pale Moon

2-1

This was the easiest game of the night by far. We all ended up winning this match-up and luckily I had a Pale Moon player. Thanks to Ryan of our team being a constant Pale Moon player I'm use to playing against this deck. I'm not really sure what my opponent was going for since he was running a very random constant soul charging deck with Luquier and Nightmare Doll, Amy. Their team was very friendly and we all just had fun going into the tournament.

Round Four
Gold Paladin vs Nova Grapplers
3-1

We had to win this one to get top cut winning this would put four teams exactly at 3-1 but if we went 2-2 it would come down to tie breakers to even make it into top 4. This team was the only undefeated left so we had a lot of pressure on us. Starting out I was facing the ONLY deck I have not play tested against. I've went up against Kaiser, Dragon, Invincible every other Nova deck but Stern Blaukuger. This made me nervous since I knew he had a very powerful on-hit effect like most of Nova Grappler. I ended up always over guarding way too much lowering down my hand and field advantage over him. Leading up to my first lose in the tournament but my team would pick up the slack in this one and ended up winning their games.

Semi-Finals
Gold Paladins vs Royal Paladins
4-1

This was the most feared team going into the tournament. I'm going to call him Dr.Beard for now since he had a beard and Dr.Who hoodie on, can't remember his name off the top of my head at the moment. Dr.Beard greeted us when we first showed up to the store and after playing a game against him knew his Team was going to be the best competition all night. Dr.Beard was running Tsukuyomi which I barely beat before the tournament, second team member was a worker at the shop running Garmore/Pellinore, and their actual third member couldn't make it that day so they brought in a substitute. The substitute was up against me; not to discredit the kid but he has some more to go in getting better at the game plus they helped fix up his deck right before the tournament. Dustin and Dr.Beard had an amazing game that I got to watch, Shop worker took out Ploof plenty easy, and I won my game. I wish I remember what deck he was playing other than Galahad starter but at that point I was half asleep.

Finals
Gold Paladin vs Gold Paladin
Garmore/Ezel vs Spectral Duke Dragon
4-2

This should be my easiest match of the night. Playing against Duke well over 50+ times since thats Dustin's main deck and who I play test against more than any person on this planet. At this point I was so out of it, it wasn't even funny. I didn't notice a single miss play till after the tournament when Ploof explained all I forgot to do and didn't do..let's just say it was a lot. In the semi-finals and finals they switched it to best 2-3 for each member instead of the normal games we had been doing. So the games went on a lot longer not to mention even if your team won the first games you had to win one more. Reason I'm pointing this out is Me and Ploof won our first games but I ended up losing the next two; Dustin ended up going 0-2 at the very end. Taking nothing from our team in the finals it was a great team and I was very impressed at how great they did.

2nd Place
AMAZING TIME! This experience got us all pumped up on the drive back(good thing since I'm the driver and half asleep) with a lot of thoughts on the upcoming tournaments. We got invited back for tournaments and the pre-release Next Level games will be hosting. Having the good competition for a change made us really excited and getting second place of our first ever Team tournament was very satisfying.

Final Thoughts
1. Get sleep before the Tournament.

2. Stand your units before drawing a card(I'm looking at you Dustin).
3. Even if Ploof is our strongest player we will have to carry his ass until the finals.

4. When your units are bound by Dragonic Lawkeeper at the end turn they come back they do activate their effects like Akane etc.
5.Everybody puts their weakest member in spot 2(Yes that includes me I am the weakest =D)
6. Having both your team members call you a dick at the same time when you declare Final Turn is hilarious.
7. Every time I superior ride Ezel I lose.

8. Nashville peeps are cool as hell!

9. We brought it and we did!!!

10. Practice against every kind of deck cause when you run into the one you haven't played against..well I suck against the unknown.
11. Team tournaments are more relaxing than games by yourself. Normally I'm more nervous in new tournament environments but my team kept me calmed and relaxed.

12. I'm finally going to bed!

GOOD NIGHT!!

Sealed Narukami finally unleashed.

Hey everybody!

Today I'm going to be talking about the Sealed Narukami Archetype that will be coming out with BT08 and the pros/cons that it has.

The first thing you have to do when looking at this set of cards, is realize it's intended for fun. You won't be hitting the competitive scene like if you ran Vermillion, but if you want to run a unique type of Narukami then this is the group of cards for you!!!

Sealed Narukami is a set of cards with great effects, but has negatives thrown into them, making them pretty bad cards. Luckily, they have been given just a little support to help shine; you just have to plan the deck around it.

The Exorcists are going to be a main focus point as well. The Sealed mechanic only works because of them.

Also, using the combos takes a little skill in learning when to negate their effects and when to wait on them. So without further ado, let's start with the Grade 0's!

Exorcist Mage, Koh Koh

[AUTO]:When another «Narukami» rides this unit, you may call this card to Rear-guard Circle.

[ACT](RC):[Soul Blast (1)] Choose one of your «Narukami» vanguards or rear-guards with a [CONT] skill, and that unit loses that skill until end of turn.

Now, this little guy is your starter. He is what makes all of your Sealed Narukami work by taking away the negative continuous effects. The main problem I have with him is not his 3k power, but the fact that it's only until the end of turn. If it was until the start of your next turn, this would be amazing and probably a little broken.

 

Divine Sealing Kid, Soh Koh

[AUTO]: Pioneer (When another unit from the same clan rides this unit, you may call it to (RC))

[CONT](VC/RC): Restraint (This unit cannot attack.)

[CONT](RC): This unit cannot boost rear-guards.

This is your actual Sealed Starter. Not much to say about him other than that being at 6k, he is just a pure booster  for the VG, which isn't too bad but could be better. He honestly doesn't belong in a pure Sealed deck since Koh Koh is the better support, but since he is a Sealed Narukami I had to add him.

Exorcist Mage, Rin Rin

[AUTO]: When this unit is placed to the Rearguard or Vanguard circle, choose one of your «Narukami» vanguards or rear-guards with a [CONT] skill, and that unit loses that skill until end of turn.

Here is our one and only current trigger in the Sealed set. Her effect is mostly used for when you have used up all of your Koh Koh's Soul Blasting, and need to get rid of a continuous effect for the turn (but at a hefty price of a 10k shield). Also, I'm happy they made her a Stand Trigger since this deck will be running several. A fun combo with her is putting her in the soul to negate one effect, and adding another Soul Blast  target for Koh Koh's effect.

Exorcist Mage, Roh Roh

[AUTO]: When this unit is placed on the Rearguard or Vanguard circle, choose one of your «Narukami» vanguards or rear-guards with a [CONT] skill, and that unit loses that skill until end of turn.

The Exorcist Grade 1 is to help support and unseal all of his Narukami buddies, an easy enough effect; just throw him down on a rear-guard to negate a CONT effect until the end of turn. With a 7k boost behind his effect, he is always a must in this kind of deck.

Seal Knight of Demonic Blade, Flash

[CONT]【R】: This unit gets [Power]-4000.

[AUTO]【V/R】: When this unit attacks, if you have a «Narukami» vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.

Here is the first Grade 1 of the Sealed Set, and now you will start seeing the negative continuous effects that come with these cards. They really weren't playing around with this mechanic when they decided to add the negative effects. A constant 4k attack  doesn't make it that great of a booster, but if you use an Exorcist to negate it you have an 8k booster for one turn. His other effect which gives him +2k can make him a very powerful attacker in early game. Swinging at 10k on first turn can put a lot of pressure on your opponent.

Seal Demonic Dragon, Indigo

[CONT](RC): This unit cannot boost grade 2 or less units.

[AUTO](RC): When this unit boosts a «Narukami», the boosted unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of battle.

This is the main booster of the set, which can get up to 9k boosting columns. His negative isn't terrible, he just can't boost anything under a Grade 3. For early game this could set you back  since you'll need a Grade 3 in your front row to even use him. Luckily, that's why we still have the Exorcist around to remove that CONT effect if needed.

Seal Knight of Demonic Lance, Thunder Fang

[CONT](VC/RC):Restraint (This unit cannot attack.)

[ACT](VC/RC):[Counter Blast (1)] Until end of turn, if you have a «Narukami» vanguard, this unit loses "Restraint".

[AUTO](VC/RC):When this unit attacks, if you have a «Narukami» vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.

This card is the best of the Seal cards, with his own effect being able to break his own seal. Being a Grade 2 and swinging for 12k at either the Vanguard or Rearguard gives you amazing options on what to attack. Not to mention on turn 2 you can set up a powerful 20k column to start swinging. There isn't a lot of bad things to say about this card other than that you have to waste a CB1 on him, and since in this deck you don't Counter Blast much anyway, you have the space for it. Don't forget an Exorcist is always around to use their effect instead to get him swinging.

Divine Seal Dragon, Dungaree

ACT【V】: Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage): [Counter Blast (1) & Choose a card that were bound with this card's effect, and put it on the bottom of your deck] Choose one of your opponent's rear-guards in the front row, and retire it. This ability can only be used once per turn.

CONT【V/R】: If you do not have any cards in your bind zone that were bound with this card's effect, this unit gets Power -2000.

AUTO: When this unit is placed on Vanguard Circle, bind two cards from the top of your deck.

Finally, we are to the Big Boss Dragon of the Sealed Narukami. Dungaree has a mixture of different effects that you have to keep up with. First off, when you ride him on the Vanguard you have to bind(Remove from play) the top two cards of your deck. What's really bad about this is that they are blind binding effects, so you might bind two triggers or other important cards in your deck. The second is that if you have him on the rear-guard, or no more bind cards while on the Vanguard, he is only a 9k. However, don't forget you can use an Exorcist to remove this effect for one turn.

Now what's best about him is his Limit Break, which can make up for the negatives he has stacked against him. For just one counter blast you can retire any rear-guard from your opponents front row, which is great for getting rid of huge beaters and destroying those 20/21k columns your opponent has set up against you. Also, you can keep re-riding Dungaree on himself, making sure you never fall under an 11k Vanguard and giving Koh Koh more Soul Blast.

That's it for all the current Sealed cards in the Narukami Clan, but there are several more cards that this deck can help support with the Exorcists effects which we will go over now.

Djinn of the Lightning Spark, Flare, and Flash

The Djinns have been out since the Trial Deck and have amazing attack power, but the only downfall they have had is that they can only attack the Vanguard. This means if your opponent has strong rear-guards you want to take out, you are out of luck. Now we have a new option with the Exorcists being able to remove the effect that only allows you to attack Vanguards should you ever need to use them to take out a rear-guard for a turn.

Brightlance Dragoon

CONT [V/R]: If you do not have another «Narukami» in the same column as this unit, this unit gets Power -2000.

ACT [V/R]: [Counter Blast (1)] This unit gets Power +1000 until end of turn.

Honestly, I only added this card because you can remove his CONT negative effect with the Exorcist. I only recommend this card if you want to add another 10k Grade 2 to the deck.

Riot General, Gyras

[AUTO](VC):At the beginning of your main phase, Soul Charge (1), and this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of turn.

[ACT](VC):[Soul Blast (8) & Counter Blast (5)] This unit gets "[AUTO](VC):When your «Narukami» attacks, put the top card of your deck into your drop zone. If a «Narukami» is put into your drop zone this way, the attacking unit gets [Power]+3000/[Critical]+1 until end of that battle" until end of turn.

Alright, I added Gyras in here since he can actually work as a good alternative Grade 3 in your Vanguard slot instead of Dungaree. His ability to let him Soul Charge every turn will keep providing constant Soul Blast for Koh Koh, along with Koh Koh being able to boost Gyras to 15k since Koh Koh is so weak, only being at 3k. Not really recommended, but I noticed a little potential in this card with the Sealed Narukami.

Final Thoughts

I love the Sealed and Exorcist Narukami, from the interesting effect choices to the art-work that has been given to them. There isn't much else to talk about on the subject of them since we still have quite a few months until set BT08 is released here in America. Hopefully when the set comes out I'll have plenty of time to play test it with all the options given to us so that I can have a deck profile set up for all of you, along with what triggers and units work best with them!!!

Thanks for reading and hope you all enjoyed it.

Card of the Day 1-30-2013

Today's card of the day is..

THREE MINUTES

"Three Minutes! That's all it takes to defeat you!"

A veteran fighter who always fights by hiding his face under a red mask, and is equipped with a auxiliary magic equipment, which had low ratings due to concerns in the safety issues at that time, on both his arms and legs. He suddenly became famous because of his name "Three Minutes" which was derived from his nifty speech of "I'll defeat you in Three Minutes", however his reputation gradually faded as there are an increase in the number of fancy Battleroid participants in later tournaments. Despite that, there are still diehard fans of him still waiting for the day when he really KO his opponent in 3 minutes.

Three Minutes the 5k Draw Trigger that doesn't get much love. Being a fan of wrestling brings me to love this card more than the other draw trigger this clan has to offer; he always needs to be included in every Nova build I play with. Not much more needs to be said about our favorite mask wearing luchador Nova Grappler.

Just remember when you drive check him...it's only Three Minutes until the FINAL TURN!!!

RIDE MY AVATAR!! STIL VAMPIR!!

We all have an Avatar in Vanguard mine is...

STIL VAMPIR!!! 

Now let me tell you about this BAD ASS RIGHT HERE!!!

Stil Vampir was one of my favorite cards when the set first came out. His megablast with the 2k boost was a perfect combo with the Dark Irregular theme.

He combos well with the deck when you're using G1 Amons or Thrusters to boost; you always have those 9k Rear-Guards to help boost up your VG and RG units.

Not to mention with all the support from set 3/7 filling up your soul to 8 can be done by turn 3, giving you enough time to set up for the MegaBlast.

"WHAT MEGABLAST" YOU SAY!? JUST ONE OF THE BEST MOST PLAYABLE MEGABLASTS IN THE GAME!!!!

His ability "Black Downfall" Megablast-CB5 and SB8 lets you move one of your opponent's Rear-Guards onto the Vanguard circle for the turn!!! Oh you had a 11k VG with a G0 RG on the field? COOL STORY BRO NOW YOU HAVE A G0 VANGUARD!!

Those perfect guards and G2s in hand don't mean nothin' now. Even if you don't have a G0 on the field, we will just move that 7/8k G1 booster up to the front lines!! Now you got 20/1k Columns swinging at you TRY TO BLOCK THAT!!!!

Oh and that's not all, this guy is a VAMPIRE YAKUZA!!! Which means even in death he is LOADED WITH MONEY AND ALL THE BITCHES!!!

"Oh he looks like a 90's Anime Character" you say? He's kinda creepy with weird body tattoos that just doesn't do it for you? CHECK OUT THAT KOREAN ART WORK!!!
JUST BLEW YOUR MIND AND YOUR PANTS!!

Edward ain't got nothin' on this vampire and he doesn't even sparkle!! The only sparkling is the light reflecting off your face once he declares Final Turn and Megablast your ass making you CRY LIKE A BITCH!!!

This is why Stil Vampir will forever be MY AVATAR!!!