Stand and Draw: Card game rants and experiences

And it's finally time for Fortune Selector!! Okay, I wanted to write about it before the booster is out but I've decided to put it off and post it with the unboxing videos. Yes, this is going to be a rant, meaningful or not, is completely your decision; I just want to get it out of my systems.

Firstly, I'm glad we're still getting more stuff for Wixoss. But I am quite disappointed with what was released in Fortune Selector and it's targeted mainly at the common cards. Head to the Wiki and look through the list. So what did you see? If you didn't see much stuff, then you're not looking hard enough. Here's a hint - all of the common Signi cards are cards with trait power-up effect aka "If you have another <trait> in the field, this Signi's power is XXXX.".

Yup, it's just that for ALL colours. I get that some of these traits needed them, like red's Ore or green's Beast. If these cards are released in Booster 7(?), I'd be more than happy to welcome them but in Booster 6 where slots are limited since set has only 56 odd slots, you would expect to see something better. I get that it's a supplementary booster to Booster 4 and 5 but Booster 3 have a much better pool of card for the commons and a number of these cards are staples in many decks. Now I just hope booster 7 has a much better outcome.

Secondly, the point exchange. For those who didn't know, Singapore can exchange the points they get from buying packs for foiled promo cards (look for point campaign remarks). Collect 100 points and you can change them for one of them shiny promos. It's all good and dandy when you printed out the form and was told to cut out the points and paste them. Then, drop it off to at any Wixoss supporting card shop and they'll send over the points to the supplier who will send it over to Takara Tomy Japan. The process takes about a few weeks as it involves waiting for the cards to be delivered to Singapore and back to the store.

Turns out, there are some, sorry to say this, idiots out there who think they are being extremely smart by PHOTOCOPYING the points and pasting them on the form. It wasn't officially mentioned (I may be wrong. If there is a source, direct me to it please) by Genesis Frontier (the supplier who got Wixoss in SG) but it was mentioned by a few card shops I visit for Wixoss stuff that was doing the points exchange as well. They were told not to collect any points for the time being and was instructed to tell the players not to cut out and paste the points onto the form, and instead, just pass the stack of points with the forms and written details. Apparently, after the points was delivered to Japan, there was an outrage by Takara Tomy that there was lots of fake points coming in from Singapore. Another thing to note of is that there is a limited number of Wixoss cases that was officially shipped to Singapore by Takara Tomy and they were overwhelmed that the points they received from Singapore was more than what was shipped to Singapore. They had to scan through each forms and check the point cut outs to separate the legit filled forms from the fake ones. The shops that I wanted to exchange with said they can't accept any points for now until Genesis gives them the green light for it again.


Seriously, for those who are planning on photocopying the points and exchanging them for the promos, don't be a smartass and do that, please. You're making it hard for us legit point collectors to exchange them. If people still decide to continue "cheating" the system, Takara Tomy may just announce "Hey look, we gave you a chance to get the promos, fooling me once was fine but second and third time? Know what? We're scrapping the point exchange for you guys. Nope, no promos for you!". That may just happen and who knows, Takara Tomy may decide to not export Wixoss again to Singapore or any other country.

So you've been playing Vanguard for an extremely long time, be it during its first inception in either both the English or Japanese meta game. You may have just started yesterday or a even a couple of weeks before. But have you ever take a look at your deck and think "Have I mastered this deck?"

Mastering a deck isn't about playing hundreds of time with the same deck over and over again. You can play that deck a thousand times and still have yet to master it. The best way to master it is to learn how the deck function as you play it and ask yourself questions along the way. Look at a card's skill, then think if what it can combo with another card in the deck, field or hand. Can you do a chain combo? Will that combo puts me into an advantageous situation down the road or just for that instance but it may cause me the game later on.

Then there's also the timing to use a skill. Let's say you're at 5 damage and your opponent is at 3. Should you break ride now or wait for another turn? Ask yourselves - How is my opponent doing? How many cards is in his hands and did he have a null guard during his checks and has he used it yet? How is my field and hand working out? While many "professional" players may think this is a basic thought process, I may have to actually disagree. I have seen lots of players, be it beginners, intermediates or experienced players, making lots of mistakes. It can be a simple one like not calling out a card (let's say you play Kagero and have  Perdition Dragon Knight, Ilham in hand) to the field first before performing Legion. It can also be not guarding early in the early game when your opponent attacks for 13k and you're a 9k vanguard while having a 10k shield trigger in hand. You can just guard for a no trigger pass with that.


To put it simply, mastering a decks is knowing the ins and outs of your decks. Know its particular strengths and weaknesses and see how you can exploit them to your favour. It may take time depending on the particular deck builds and clans. It's also best to try out other deck builds and clans as well for a feel for it. Knowing how a different clans or deck plays like will also help when playing against that similar deck or clan and you would know what combos to pull off for the win.