CFV - Small Q&A 1

Some questions having been popping up in my mail box repeatedly so I'm going taking the chance to answer a few. Nice to see the English game has finally caught up with Japanese builds =P

Q1. What's up with the rise in popularity of playing 4-6 G3s?
A. In short you want a stronger power curve throughout the game especially early-mid. G3s have no guard value and in most cases are vanilla as rear guards so cutting down on G3s means more space for other units. Other units have skills and guard value thus you inherently have more useful cards to play throughout the game.

• Yes, G3s can be used as stride fodders but you can also ditch a G1 strider or multiple units which stronger decks have no issues with.
• Some decks want to ride a specific G3 and don't mind having to G-assist if it comes down to it notably Sanctuary Guard, Chronojet, Nightrose and Luard. 
• Its important to note that these decks have the tools to recover from a G-assist and is essentially using G-assist as a -1 to search for a ride target.

Q2. Why do people play 10k vanilla G2s?
A. 10k vanillas are great for the grade 2 game. Riding one means your opponent will need boosters to hit, essentially a -1 because boosters lose guard value and in most cases have no skill pre-GB. If your opponent isn't hitting magic numbers then most attacks will be 10k for no pass. In short its great for mitigating early damage.

• Sitting on a 10k vanguard alone gives you a higher chance to stride first especially if your opponent plays rear guards. Consider this:
  
  • To counter an aggro play you want to attack opponent's rear-guards, this makes them -1 regardless if they guard or not.
  • Sitting on a 10k base means typical 9k rears don't hit so if your opponent wants apply pressure (which anyone should be doing against GB decks) your opponent has to call boosters..
  • Calling boosters that early in the game is essentially -1 because boosters lose guard value and usually have no effect pre-GB. The only real way for decks to generate cards is through draw (+1) and drive checks (+1) which is mitigated by riding (-1).

Lets play a demo:

1. Player A (counter-aggro): (Hand 5), Draw (+1), Ride G1 (-1) = (Hand 5, Damage 0)
2. Player B (aggro): (Hand 5), Draw (+1), Ride G1 (-1), Drive (+1) = (Hand 6, Damage 0)
3. Player A: (Hand 5), Draw (+1), Ride G2 10k (-1), Drive (+1) = (Hand 6, Damage 1)
4. Player B: (Hand 6), Draw (+1), Ride G2 (-1), Call rears, 2 boosters? (-2), Drive (+1) = (Hand 5, Damage 1)
5. Player A: (Hand probably 5 now because they guard 1 attack), Draw (+1), SKIP RIDE, Call 1 or 2 rears, no boosters, Attack opponent rears, Drive (+1) = (Hand 6, Damage 2~3)
   
   WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Player B cannot Sebreeze because his on 1 damage so he/she can:

• Ride G3 and do continue but Player A strides first.
• Re-ride G2 to prevent Sebreeze but this incurs a -1 and the previous turn will simply be repeated.
• Skip ride phase but then Player A gets to play Sebreeze.
• If Player B chooses to re-ride G2, the same thing from the previous turn will just repeat itself until someone runs out of resources to guard which will be Player B because he called the boosters and has to re-ride (-1) if he/she wants to prevent a Sebreeze play.
• If Player B doesn't call rear guards because he wants to take a damage to Sebreeze all Player A has to do is not attack, since he doesn't have to re-ride (-1) he/she doesn't lose anything.

Some decks can take advantage/take this strategy further:

• Gears can play Kalibum to spin away G0s which adds to the minus your opponent is already having.
• Overlords can play Burnout or Neoflame, same concept as Kalibum.
• Luard synergises with this very well because 10k vanillas help hit magic numbers, slowing down the game allows for better Ritual set up and any advantage lost can be recuperated with Swordbreaker/Dark Trumpeter plays.

Q3. Why do some Overlord "the Legend" decks play Spherical Lord Dragon as an alternate G3 instead of another full set of Overlords? 
A. There seems to be a misconception that Spherical Lord is either just a budget alternative, extra beat stick or ride corrector. Nope, Spherical Lord is popular in Asia as a strong defensive/recuperative play if you've fallen behind early and taken a lot of damage.

• Consider this you've taken 3+ damage, maybe you got rushed, maybe you got crit sacked; you're on 3+ damage. Besides the Legend no other Overlord gives you advantage on ride in fact riding generally is almost always a -1, so:
• Riding Spherical Lord: 
1. CB2, ride the Legend, call Spherical Lord to rear guard (+1) 
2. The Legend's skill goes off on ride, CB1, SB1, top 5 add a Flame Dragon to hand (+1) 
3. Use Spherical Lord to attack a rear guard (opponent -1).
• So for 3 CB and 1 SB you get 2 cards and your opponent loses a card; not sure how you would math that but you get the idea right? It's a pseudo +3.
• This is one of the strongest card advantage plays Kagero has access to especially when you consider what other play that early in the game can guarantee you a +2/3?
• Spherical Lord is also a 16k beater as a rear guard which is pretty valuable since Kagero has issues hitting decent numbers, his also 11k base so he can't just be tapped by the typical G2 rears compared to Nehalm.

Q4. What are some budget decks that can keep up with the top tiers?

A. I get this one a lot...but no one really specifies their "budget"...so I'm just gona name a few decks sub $150USD from top of my head:

• RFD (Raging Form Dragon) - IMO the best bang for buck next to Seven Seas
• Ripples
• Seven Seas - even after the nerf, the more "regular" build is still a very solid deck 
• Blueish Flames Liberators
• Musketeers - soon when they get their new support

I can probably look up more decks if you guys would like and I can try making a post with sample lists! Let me know!

Have questions? Feel free to ask leave a comment or email me! My email is just on top of the page chiisaino0@gmail.com

*images from cardfight.wikia and cf-vanguard.com*