Stand and Draw: Card game rants and experiences

I've come to report my bad news of the day. I wasn't able to win in neither the Vanguard qualifiers, and I was pretty confident that I am able to get in too but somehow reality decides to give me a swift kick in the ass big time.

Finally, the box that I've been waiting for! Booster box 11! Thanks to Conquer001 for recording the video for me. This time around, I used a better camera than my previous few videos. And if you're complaining about it being too shaky and stuff...yeah, you know who to look for. And wow, getting 2 SPs from just 2 boxes...I'm amazed at myself as I never had this kind of luck before \(^o^)/ ! Without further ado, the unboxing video. But first, I apologize for the noise as there are a few other players opening their boxes as well but still, enjoy!


Sadly I couldn't get 2 more of the cards that I need (basically Dauntless Drive Dragon), I may have to switch strategies for tomorrow's Singapore Qualifier. I managed to snag a few Blockade Inferno so I may be trying out a couple of builds first before finalizing on the cards. I'm currently leaning more towards Seal Dragons, but we'll see how it goes.

Booster 11 have lots of upgrades for a number of clans; Narukami, Angel Feather, Aqua Force, Tachikaze, the new Genesis and Kagero. Many are hyped up about the updates but my attention will go to Kagero, which received lukewarm attention and simply because I don't play and am not interested in other clans.

Yay!! Another video!! I planned to upload it 3 days back but work, procrastination and Pokemon Y has gotten me busy...Okay, I'll fess up; Pokemon Y was the main reason.

Devil Survivor 2 extra box is mainly consist of Blue and Yellow and I have yet have played against it in a proper game per se, but I did have a quick match with an impromptu deck that was build as soon as we finished unboxing them. I won't say good or bad it is, but I'll just have to wait till my friend build the deck properly

Just a simple notice. I'm not the owner of the boxes and again, I'm the crappy cameraman behind the lens.

With every new boosters or extra boosters, some will rage, some will celebrate while leaving some with a "you've gotta be kidding me" expression. Looking through booster boxes 10 to 13 and the list of possible support for booster 14 was enough to make me rage. Don't get me started on the extra boosters either.

Some clans have way too much support, like Gold Paladin, Narukami and Nova Grappler, that even have a staggering 4 archetype! Seriously Bushiroad, does Nova Grapplers really need that much archetype!? It's already strong enough, if not overpowered, as it is! What about other clans that need much more support than these clans? I won't include Nubatama in the list since it got its support in BT13 but what about the other clans like Megacolony, Murakumo, Granblue and Spike Brothers? Okay, sure Megacolony will be getting more support in BT15 and Murakumo in BT14 but by how much and how well can these clans do against those huge name clans that are currently topping the charts left and right as well as getting more support from the very same boosters?

Continuing on, clans like Narukami getting supports from BT10, BT11, BT12 and BT14, Gold Paladin getting boosts from BT10, BT12 and BT14 while other clans like Great Nature getting only support from BT13, Spike Brothers only on BT10, Granblue in BT13 with only 7 cards for them. Now look at Gold Paladin. Narukami, Angel Feather or Aqua Force; how many booster boxes do they appear in? These clans already are strong as it is but getting more cards to make them even stronger while making other clans low priority is not a good idea to promote balance in the game.

Some argued that despite having more cards does not equate excellent support. I would say not quite so. Most of the support that most of us look at are at the "R" to "RRR" rarity. Commons? Not so much. Some common cards are pretty much staple or have better options. Every single time new cards got revealed, they're mostly new vanguards for a few clans and are mostly of "RR" or "RRR" rarity. We'll see one or two cards for alternative clans and then, a page spread of new cards for the most supported clans in Vanguard.

I personally don't mind having some support for a few clans in one booster box as Bushiroad is doing now but having more than half the clan in the box support for the meta clans that can dish out one-sided beating against non-meta clans is way too much that the only way to beat them is by using meta vs meta, unless of course you got lucky enough that your opponent wasn't able to guard against your attacks.

Still, this is just me ranting and venting out my anger. I know some will agree with me, some will disagree but I'm merely just mashing down my thoughts here. In the end, what I simply want to say is give other clans some love too rather on the the already large clans.

The trial decks was out two weeks ago, but I have yet to actually had a match against one. A friend of mine decided to make one liberator deck for the fun of it - even buying 4 of the trial decks. I initially thought it would be a simple few matches but boy, was I wrong.

By now, break rides is not much of new news. For us English players, we have a taste of its power in the form of mermaids that have their own sets of extra boosters back in July. Yes, I'm talking about Bermuda Triangle.

If you have not heard of break rides before, here's a quick intro; a break ride is when you ride another unit, mainly a Grade 3, on top of another necessary Grade 3, therefore activating its skill when at 4 damage. The effects mainly gives the vanguard a boost of 10,000 power as well as large benefits to the rearguards or penalties to the opponent's field. A very bold example will be the cheatwares Link Joker and Narukami. It is situational, but still, strong.

So now I'm back with what I started in the beginning of this rant. I fought against a newly formed liberator deck and got trashed left and right. Break ride on top of a break ride on top of a break ride...please, I have enough!! As usual, Gold Paladins and Narukami, while already strong to the point of too strong, now got way too strong with their new supports. Still, it will take some time for most of us to get use fighting against these decks.


Now enough of Gold Paladins and Narukami. Tomorrow is the Booster Draft for BT11 and I definitely can't wait to get my hands on them, even if it's just 6 packs! A week after, Booster 11 will be officially released. Of course I'm aiming for Kagero units, mainly the Seal Dragons and Dauntless Drive Dragon. Dauntless Drive with Lawkeeper sounds fun but Flare Whip Dragon will definitely be more trolling.


Still, one day after the release of BT11, it'll be the qualifiers for the World Championships in Singapore. From the looks of the trends, most players will be going Dauntless Drive + DOTE, Aqua Force, Angel Feather and Tachikaze, seeing as these clans will be getting huge support as well as Bermuda Triangle. As for what I'll be using, I'm still undecided. I'm aiming to either use Shadow Paladin Ildona or Spike Brothers, but my gut feeling is saying otherwise. Most probably I'll be following what my instincts tells me to do on that day. But I'm quite pissed off at Bushiroad for postponing BT10 to December. My Bad End Dragger!!!! T^T

In my previous post for Weiss Schwarz Project Diva F, I mentioned having 3 decks. This too was touted another deck with combo rarely used or never seen before that veteran players was surprise with or other Project Diva F users never thought of. This deck is my very first deck that I build after getting myself the booster boxes using Red and Blue.

A few players that borrowed the deck says it's not that easy to use. I have to agree a little on that. This deck relies a bit of combo when you're still at level one, but as long as you know how to use what cards you have efficiently, it is quite straight forward. But one of the most often comment I get is the deck doesn't have any change cards (from G2 to G3) or cards that recover damage. This is quite true as for Project Diva F, both Red and Blue cards have no change or cards that recover that one damage. Still, I do find it powerful enough that such skills can be neglected, albeit good to have.

Now enough with my rants and on to the deck list!

Level 0:

• 2 x Kagamine Len "Bad Boy"
• 4 x Hatsune Miku "Solitude"
• 2 x Hatsune Miku "Memoria"
• 1 x "Endless Singing" Hatsune Miku
• 3 x Hatsune Miku "Rin-chan Love Squad No.1"
• 2 x Megurine Luka "SW Resort Bikini"
• 2 x MEIKO "SW Long Pareo"

Oracle Think Tank used to be a clan dominating tournaments left and right in Japan with Tsukuyomi standing and the forefront, until BT10 was introduced and OTT getting overshadowed by a new clan, Genesis. I have been using OTT for quite sometime, but not too long. I only started using them after EB05, Celestial Valkyries, introduced the Battle Sisters archetype. I couldn't be bothered with the Tsukuyomi build since it's just too common, and during that time, not many was interested in Battle Sisters so I got the cards I needed for rather cheap too. Amaterasu wasn't fun either and I don't really like playing crossrides anyways.

Now where was I, ah yes, Magus. There was an initial hype for the archetype but again, players are more inclined towards powerful clans like Link Joker and Narukami, and therefore, died down a week or two after their release. I do find Magus a strong clan, though in my opinion, needs a bit more of a support. They are powerful as it is, don't get me wrong, but I do love having some options to add on.

The purpose of a Magus deck is to increase both hand size and power, and at the same time, plan ahead. It does requires some luck and skill you will need to know the right timing of using each unit's effects. Still, each player's play style is different so different strategies may work as well. There are good and bad. Good thing about the deck is that you know what cards are coming up next, bad thing is, your opponent knows what card or triggers you'll get too so you have to keep this in mind. Now on to the deck list!

Grade 0: 17 units

• 1 x Battle Sister Eclair (Starting Vanguard)
• 4 x Lozenge Magus (Heal Trigger)
• 3 x Battle Sister Tiramisu (Draw Trigger)
• 4 x Battle Sister Ginger (Critical Trigger)
• 4 x Psychic Bird (Critical Trigger)
• 1 x Oracle Guardian Nike (Critical Trigger)

What!? An update so quick!? Is the sky falling!? No, sky is not falling and I'm updating cause there's some free time in my hand. This time around, there's videos!! Now here's the bad news...the quality is bad. Not too bad, but still, bad. The sound is not as great and is a bit soft and all, so you may have to put up the volume of your headphones or speakers. Just a simple disclaimer, the one doing the unboxing isn't me; I'm the lousy camera man and the items here are my friend's.

With much said and done, I'm sad to say I couldn't make it. Despite giving my all I lost very early during the tournament. I wanted to post about my experience last week, but I decided skip that for now since work has piled up after my return from Kuala Lumpur. I was pretty confident I can make it far but didn't expect to be booted out in the 2nd round.

Preparation was all good. My Spike Brothers deck performed well before the tournament and everything seems good, except for my luck.  My first match was against Gold Paladin Platina build. Not so surprising here. I took a deep breath, shuffle the deck and cut my opponent's deck in 2. He did the same. Then I draw my first 5 cards...my hand was shockingly bad; 3 critical triggers, a heal trigger and a High Speed Brakki. I kept Brakki in hand and mulligan the rest of the cards. After having the deck shuffled and cut, I drew 4 cards...which consists of a Marilyn, a critical trigger, a heal trigger and a Juggernaut Maximum.

It was a...quick match. My opponent superior ride to Ezel and hit me left and right. I couldn't drive check triggers either as I keep drawing them to hand and I couldn't get attackers out on the field either. My opponent got himself all the triggers giving me a hard time guarding as well. Despite all the guarding and struggling, I ended up losing. My opponent gives a smirk for the easy win and started acting all high and mighty. I packed up and simply left.

After the first match was over, we head on to the second one. I say this match was good of Scarlet Witch vs Dudley. My first hand was bad...4 triggers and a Marilyn. I mulligan everything and ended up with pretty much my ideal hand; 2 Field Drillers, 1 Dudley Emperor, a Wonder Boy and a Medical Manager. I started first, a good sign. On my turn, I drew a Panzer Gale, which is a another good sign. Rode Medical Manager, opt not to soul charge and attacked and drive checked a critical trigger. Looks like this match is going to be good.

I rushed him at G2 with Field Driller as the vanguard, another field driller on the side and Panzer Gale boosted with Tiara. Everything went well but somehow, I wasn't able to trigger much. During that match, I managed to drive check triggers only 3 or 4 times. Sad to say, I lost the match, but it was a good and refreshing one despite the loss. I congratulate my opponent and gave him a handshake.

With my chance now over, waited for the next few events - the free fights for Vanguard and Weiss Schwarz and tag team tournament! I managed to bag myself a Creeping Dark Goat, which I now use in my Shadow Paladin deck, and some WS promos. Tag team tournament went well, with my team mate and I bagging the wins easily. I was also quite surprise that a foil card is available in the PR pack (not mine, someone else's) as well as getting a Dudley Emperor sleeves in the lucky draw. I took some pictures for everyone to enjoy, just don't count on the quality.

With the 3rd qualifiers for Asia-Oceania starting in 3 days, I'm psyched up. I'll be travelling out of my home country, heading to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the big day. I will try to bring home some pictures to your viewing pleasure, but don't count on the camera being that good. Of course, I'll try my best to get qualified! For those going there as well, I hope to see you as well!