Nociel to the Rescue! (Post GBT07 Angel Feather Nociel Rescue deck!)

As anyone who has been here before will know, I have always been a Nociel enthusiast when it came to Angel Feather, going way back to the Jurassic period of Kiriel and Calamity when BT-06 came out. While the new set did not bring any Nociel specific support, the more generic rescue support has turned Nociel into a pre-stride engine that sets the rest of your game up for some very explosive turns which are ridiculously hard for your opponent to survive.

I've covered a lot of the good Angel Feather units in my previous post about Nociel, so this one is going to more so be about Nociel's synergy with Rescue and how that affects the build of the deck. So first let's take a look at our Angel Feather keyword; Rescue. 

What is Rescue? 

Rescue is the new keyword/mechanic for the Angel Feather clan which has shaped how the new support for the clan works, as well as reshaping how existing cards play. When you perform Rescue you heal a card from your damage zone, then deal your vanguard one damage (or 2 in the case of a certain stride unit's skill, but more on that later). Effectively Rescue allows you perform drive checks in addition to your vanguard's drive checks, at different points in the game, such as when guarding or after a rearguard has attacked. The great about Rescue, which arguably makes it one of the best keywords in the game, is the utility it brings. It can be used aggressively to perform more drive checks, or during your opponents turn to check for defensive damage triggers, all while filtering and effectively counter-charging damage (because Rescue heals any damage, face-up or face-down and deals a damage face-up). It is an incredibly strong mechanic. 

The Nociel Engine

As mentioned earlier Nociel is an engine. The cards that make up the engine have strong skills themselves as well as making up the official strength and consistency. The card that brought the engine together was Love Sniper, Nociel , a grade 3 that on the surface (if you didn't know she was part of an archetype) doesn't seem particularly strong. It's only when you play 4 of each grade of Nociel (that's at 0,1,2 and 3) that you realise how consistently you can plus. 16 cards in your 49 card main deck are have Nociel in their card name and when you combine this with the skills of all of the Nociel units below grade 3, you have a lot of chances to trigger the skill of the grade 3 and plus. In case you don't remember Love Sniper, here are her skills: 

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1)] When a card with "Nociel" in its card name is put into your damage zone, you may pay the cost. If you do, and that card is face up, put that card into your hand, then put the top card of your deck into your damage zone face up.


[AUTO]:[Choose a card from your hand, and put it into your damage zone face up] When this unit is placed on (VC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose a card from your damage zone, and put it into your hand.

As you can see it is very easy to plus off of this skill, given the sheer amount of Nociel units you play. And as if that wasn't enough she herself gives you a free one to boot. 

Nociel to the Rescue!

The synergy of this deck comes from the Nociel engine helping you to set up at hyper-speed, while the rescue support sets up turns that are ridiculously hard to guard. Remember we spoke about rescuing two at once? 

Black Seraph Gavrail. Nociel maybe royalty in terms of how good she is, but she is just a princess next to the true Queen of Angel Feather. Let's take a look at that skill. - 

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn] Generation Break 2:[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card named "Black Seraph, Gavrail" from your G zone, and turn it face up] Until end of turn, this unit gets "[AUTO](VC):When your card is put into your damage zone during the battle phase, choose up to two of your units, and they get [Power]+2000 until end of turn." and "Rescue 2-[AUTO](VC):At the end of the battle that this unit attacked, choose two cards from your damage zone, heal them, choose one of your vanguards, and deal two damage.".

X-Gallop can quad-drive? That's cute. Gavrail can perform 5 drive checks. 5. 3 from her attack and 2 just after from her Rescue 2 ability. Remember how disgustingly high columns can get in this deck, thanks to the likes of Nurse of Broken Heart and Thousand Ray Pegasus? Well now you have 5 chances to find those triggers, in a deck that has been thinned and siphoned thanks to your Nociel engine. And as if that wasn't enough, Black Seraph can dish out even more power after her rescue 2. The idea is that through Nociel you set up early game, to the point where Gavrail is usually enough to win the game. The rest of the G-Zone is almost just utility if you cannot end with Gavrail. 

Let's take a look at my Nociel Rescue deck (seeing as that is what most of you are waiting for!) and i'll explain some of the choices afterwards. 

Nociel Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue!

4x Love, Sniper Nociel 

1x Black Shiver, Gavrail

1x Holy Edge Celestial, Malchidael 

4x Nurse of Broken Heart

4x Love Machine Gun, Nociel 

2x Million Ray Pegasus 

2x Candle Celestial, Sariel 

1x Dosage Celestial, Asmodel 

4x Doctroid Remnon 

4x Battle Cupid, Nociel 

3x Black Call, Nakir 

3x Thousand Ray Pegasus 

4x Sunny Smile Angel (HEAL)

4x Happy Bell, Nociel (STAND) 

4x Doctroid Refros (STAND)

4x Surgery Angel (STAND) 

4x Black Seraph Gavrail

4x Holy Seraph Raphael 

1x Holy Seraph Uriel 

1x Holy Seraph Zachariel 

1x Holy Seraph Raziel 

1x Holy Seraph Nociel 

2x Holy Seraph Suriel 

1x Holy Seraph Oriphiel 

1x Metal Elemental Scryew 

The Nociel engine speaks for itself, but some of the cards are less self-explanatory. Let's start with the Grade 3 line-up. Nociel is one of those decks that can get away with running less than average amounts of grade 3 units (some builds have even played just the 4 nociel grade 3!). The Gavrail tech is there as a strong back-up ride. The standard Rescue deck plays 4 of her as the main vanguard, and the essential post-stride aggression is the same, just with different rear-guards, so hitting Gavrail instead of the Nociel isn't the end of the world, it is better than not hitting grade 3 at all during the game. You do have plays outside of striding, but the true strength comes from hitting Nociel. The other grade 3 tech is one of the Angel Feather Legion units. I was recommended her by a friend for two reasons. Firstly because Nociel gets through her deck really quickly. You want to be hitting Nociel units with her skill so that you can plus, but by doing this you are eating through your deck very quickly. Her legion skill isn't terrible, nothing particularly worth mentioning, but that four cards back into the deck can be the difference between decking out and losing or winning by stacking more triggers. 

For the Grade 2s we are playing one of the Legion mate, but again literally just for the off-chance you have to ride the Legion, damage checking the mate doesn't mean much, you play the legion just for the deck refuel. Broken Heart is Broken Heart. No more is needed to be to said. Nociel is Nociel. She fuels the engine and makes plays. Some people are no longer playing the Grade 2 pony, I personally still like it, it can create offensive or defensive plays outside of striding. She is also essentially the fifth and sixth Broken Heart. People know Broken Heart is a huge player in this deck and she will be targeted for attacks, retires, locks and binds. Playing two of the pony just means we have options when our Broken Hearts have to face control. Sariel is a popular tech simply because she lets you search out the Nociel you want which you then add to your hand through the skill of the grade 3 Nociel. The cost is to counterblast 2, but it's a specific plus, a plus that if you think a little bit creatively can net a what you need, for example, damaging a grade 3 nociel so you have something stride with next turn. 

Grade 1s: 4 Nociel. MVP. 3 Stride Assist. You want to be able to stride when you need to. You can make plays without striding, but Black Seraph is the big finish you want to be able to reach, with so few grade 3 units, these can help you get there. I'm playing the older support rather than the rescue specific support, simply because the rescue support has been more designed to synergise with Gav, but with Pegasus you can make the huge columns. I am however playing the rescue PG because it is a lot easier to forfil the condition of having one of her face-up when you guard with her, because of all the switching Nociel does (this was an issue I found in Pure Gavrail, whereby I would be in a position where I have to rescue off the face-up PG or use her to counter-blast, but in a deck where only two of your units are performing rescue, one of the stand triggers and the stride you want to end the game with, it is much less of an issue. 

G-Zone is very standard. One huge thing is no Seabreeze. The theory behind this is that, not only does Nociel not need stride to perform, but by not playing it we have more options in what we do, for example I'm playing Raziel over Seabreeze, because if I have 2 ponys and 2 Broken Heart on board, the turn I can do is much more threatening than a turn i would have done by striding while they were on grade 2. 

For the G-Guards I'm playing 2 of the new ones that perform rescue and one of the limit break 4 one. You check the top card of your deck and decide whether or not you want to damage it. This can do a multitude of things. If it's a nociel you can plus. If it is a trigger you can power up your vanguard. If it is a heal trigger you can heal. And, in a position of desperation where you need to get a heal to survive the turn, you have a chance to check the top two instead. Very strong. I'm playing one of the fighter collection G-Guard because sometimes you need the 20k shield, and that isn't something that the other g-guard can guarantee. And at the moment I am playing one of the screw, for the same reason as above, sometimes you just need a really big shield. 

So that is my take on Nociel Rescue. It is an extremely consistent deck, but also a deck that you need to spend time with to learn in order to maximise the potential. 

I hope you guys enjoyed reading, and let me know your thoughts!

Thanks- 

Flogal

Is Buying a case worth the money?

I think anyone who plays a card game and says they haven't at some point in their lives at least humoured the idea of buying a lot of sealed packs in bulk, is lying. Aside from playing the actual game itself, the gamble of a booster pack is something that all of us have fallen for at least once in our lives. And how could the allure not be there? There is no better feeling in than paying a few pounds for a booster pack and pulling a card that triples your money back, or more (except maybe triple critical for game, but other cardies don't quite get that!). We've all pulled great from booster packs and we've all gone rare for rare. But I recently took this one step further. or actually. 479 steps further.

I am currently in-between jobs and will in a few weeks be starting my first full time care role, so i thought I would try something I've never tried before, because I am not going to be in a position to do it again for the foreseeable future. I dropped a chunk of money on a case. 16 booster boxes, 480 booster packs. I have a video up of my first box as well as a review of my pulls on my you tube channel, but I thought I could better put in words here my experience of a case and whether or not I recommend anyone else to do the same.

So first off as I'm sure you are wondering, the case cost me £720 (about $1000), it was posted to me by courier on the day of release by Chaos Cards. (www.chaoscards.co.uk). If you do plan on buying bulk, or even just a box or two for the release date of anything, then I recommend Chaos Cards, I can't flaw them.

The case was delivered, sealed from Bushiroad, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pretty excited. I've been playing card games since I was in primary school ( about 7-8 years old) and I'd never even seen so many booster packs, let alone thought I'd be opening them. I'd only pre-sold a few parts so I was basically looking at a giant boost to my collection, as well as hopefully making some of my money back. So I got straight into it. I'd never opened more than one booster box before so for the first few boxes I was in a pretty good mood. But slowly. I got bored. I opened 8 boxes and the prospect of opening another 8 was daunting. You would think I would have rushed through them, but I actually had to take a break half-way through. All in all it took me well over two hours to open all of the boxes and probably another two or three to sort through them all. I had a friend who bought a case of GBT01 and he had told me it was hell, but I couldn't have believed that before I experienced it myself. The only word I can think to describe it is boredom. By the time I was half-way through I excruciatingly bored, I just wanted them all to be open so I could assess what I had pulled.

The thing with a case is that you buy so many packs that you are guaranteed a lot of good stuff. From GBT07 onwards the GR pull-rate is increased, you get two of the special SP clan packs in a case as well as one of each of the SGR. But these things are guaranteed. Even before I opened a single pack from the case I knew that I had all of those things guaranteed as well as a multiples of everything. There is a huge difference between buying a booster pack and pulling a money card, and pulling a money card from a case that you have already more than pre-paid for. To put it in non-card game terms, it is the difference between winning £200 on a £1 scratch-card and buying one million £1 scratchcards and winning £800,000. A good pull from a case isn't a good pull because you have already paid for it. The only difference between a good case and a bad case are the SP cards you get, and whether or not you got the cards that you wanted.

Originally I was going to buying a case of the Bermuda Triangle Clan pack, but about a month before the release of GBT07 I decided that a main booster set would be a better investment than one with only one clan, and I had a keen interest in Angel feather, Dark Irregulars and then later on Gold Paladins, so there was enough of a chunk of things I was after to be able to get what I wanted and make some money. But did I get everything I wanted for those 3 clans? Luckily yes, but the answer could just as easily have been no. Up until now the ratios within a case meant that a case was a purchase of at least four of every RR and above, excluding GR. With this set that has changed, and while the only RRR I didn't get 4 of was Chronofang Tiger and the Gold Paladin Grade 2, it seems it is impossible to guarantee play-sets, however I believe the GR and SGR have a much more fixed rate, I pulled 2 of each in GR and 1 of each in SGR.  But all that being said. Is it worth it?

The answer to that is it really depends. I managed to pull an SP Gavrail stride as well as clan packs for clans which I use (GP and DI) as well as being able to finish my Blade Wing and Rescue deck (profiles for both coming soon!) so that has to be taken into account when looking at value of the case; what I am using and what I have been able to sell. If we look for now purely after the case has been bought, i.e. ignoring the planning step before hand, then with what I am using and what I have been able to sell I have gone negative, but not more than about £100. Which, in fairness, is a lot, but when you dropped £720 to begin with it is only a small amount. one could argue that cost is for the experience. But there are a number of other things that need to be taken into account, such as how some RRR cards have significantly less value than others, for example Black Seraph Gavrail is 4 or 5 times more than Wings of Recurrence, Blade Wing Reijy,  because of popularity and how universal the card is to it's clan, as in any Angel Feather deck can play Black Seraph, whereas the new Reijy is exclusive to a new and under-whelmingly supported archetype. Every set has one or two RRR cards that you'd rather not pull (GBT06 had Clockfencer Dragon, for example which is now worth no more than an average RR). These need to be factored in when thinking about whether or not to buy a case.

Is it possible to break even or even plus on a case? Again, this question has a lot of factors that need to be taken into account. For example if I had not wanted to keep any of my SP cards, I could have made more money that way and been a lot closer to the bench-mark of breaking even, or if I didn't play one of the most popular clans in the set. But I chose not to, which drove down my chance at profit.

It's here that I want to talk about a company called Big Orbit Games, who trade also as Cardfight Vanguard Singles. These guys are both a blessing and a curse. Let me explain. For the most part the site has fair values, older cards that can be hard to find and they will even buy your cards for cash or credit in their store, which I highly recommend by the way, they don't buy all cards, but it's worth checking out what they are buying. I have two issues with them however. The first is to do with people using it as a platform to value cards (i'm going to do a big post about valuing cards, where I will go more into detail, so look out for that!). The second is that they are the secondary market for singles when a set is launched. You might be wondering, how is this in anyway bad? They have lots of stock and their prices are very fair, and the answer is that it isn't bad, it's actually great, many a time I have picked up full decks that have just been released on credit alone. As a buyer they are great. As a seller they are your biggest competitor. They buy bulk of new sets, in bulk, purchasing a number of cases, and the fact is when you are buying just the one, you cannot physically compete with them. The only way you will make sales out of your case is by undercutting the people who are undercutting everyone else. This may seem like an attack on B.O.G or slander, but it isn't. It is just me telling you, as someone who has experienced it, that competing with Cardfight Vanguard Singles is a total waste of your time, and if you have invested money.

So what is the point of getting a case then, I hear you crying out. Well. If you are one person looking to get all you want for a couple of decks and then break even, there isn't one. That is the situation I was in and the only plus is the experience of it. If you only want one deck out of a set and will sell the rest of everything else then you may break even or plus a little. But I will say this. If you are in that position and looking to make money off of it then do your research. B.O.G put up pre-order prices for play sets of everything in a clan in a set, so before you put down the money, see if it is possible for you to pre-sell everything you don't want and make money. It's important that you understand that Singles are able to sell at the prices they do and make profit, because they buy bulk in bulk. I can promise you they still make a lot of profit, otherwise they wouldn't crack cases, they are a business first. You, as an individual person will struggle to make profit using their prices or lower, which you have to otherwise you don't make sales.

So getting a case for yourself is a huge risk with very little actual reward. Is it ever worth buying a case if you are not a shop who can buy a lot of cases?

Well the answer to this question, is a lot more solid in my mind. Wait for a set with a clan in it you consider to be one of your favourites and say to people; "I want to experience a case. Who wants to go in for it with me?" Depending on the size of your locals, chances are you will be able to find 4 or 5 people who are interested. If you order from Chaos Cards, a case works out at £1.50 per booster pack. Decide if you want to just go in and all have some packs, or if you will wait to see values to decide who gets what. Like Vanguard as a whole, I think to fully enjoy a case you need to do experience it with a number of people, you will likely all be friends so you can make sure that everyone gets their money's worth. Take it from someone who has done it solo, as fun as it seems, it really is not. To end the article I'm just going to put a few number crunchers down as well as a few links to things i've spoke about in the post.





www.chaoscards.co.uk

 Cost of case = £720
£720= 16 boxes = 480 booster packs. = £1.50 per pack = £45 per box.

4 people pay 180 each, each box costs £45, they save £20 on the retail value of 4 boxes i.e. £5 saving per box.


alternatively you can wait to see how the cards value up and have each person pay in what they are wanting from the case, this method isn't so reliable since the lack of solid ratios, but is still something to consider.


Another option is if you and a single friend have a bit of money to spend, you can pay half each (£360) and split everything down the middle. (works out to 24 RRR each, 2 of each GR and 1 of each SGR each.) This method works if there is a lot in the set you are after and you are likely to be spending that kind of money on the cards anyway, as you get SGR and SP cards out of it also.



http://cardfightvanguardsingles.co.uk/

Cardfight Singles are worth checking out, if for nothing else than to see if you can make some money off your old cards!


As also thanks for reading!


- Flogal

Cardfight Etiquette

So I mentioned in my "How to win more in Vanguard" post that I was was going to do that post, because it is something I wanted to address based on experience, and this one has very little to do with actual game-play! This article will look at how you should and shouldn't treat your opponent.

What is Cardfight Etiquette

Well put simply it is how you conduct yourself during a game of Vanguard (or actually any cardgame). Some of this stuff will seem very obvious, but may not be something that you even think about. So i'm going to give 3 things you should do, and 3 things you shouldn't do!

Things you should Do

1. Pay your opponent attention. 

  Seems really obvious but it is easy to get distracted, especially in a casual locals environment, as the T.O (tournament organiser) and judge of my locals, it can be hard for me to focus on my games, because I need to be available for any ruling issues, and to be solely responsible for keeping track of time. Even then I make the utmost effort to pay my opponent the attention they deserve, and I expect the same back. As mentioned before, paying attention is a good way to play better. 

2. Respect your opponent's cards

  Again, seems obvious. But it is the little things. Don't touch your opponent's cards without permission. Obvious that doesn't including splitting the deck, but if you are unsure of what a skill does, just ask your opponent. Or ask if you can look at the card. 

3. Be gracious in victory AND defeat

   Sometimes games can be frustrating. You might have your next 4 or 5 turns planned out, but that is made redundant by a triple crit drive check, or you may be about to win, but then your opponent checks a heal trigger as their sixth damage, then wins the next turn. These things happen. And yes they are frustrating. But nonetheless, the game happens how it happens. There is nothing you could have done to change it, so don't take that frustration out on your opponent. Because it is unpleasant for them, to be punished with your scorn just for playing the game, and in all honesty it makes you look like a dick. It comes down to you being unsportsmanlike, salty and unable to handle losing a game. We have all won and lost to crits or heals or both. But saying "You got lucky" or "You only won because.. " is just unnecessary. As an example someone at my locals said "I would have won easily next turn. " And I just looked at him blankly and said "But there wasn't a next turn, because I won this turn." But he persisted with "but if i had another turn." He couldn't understand that it was irrelevant. In that situation, he lost because he couldn't guard my attack. If he couldn't get to the next turn with guard, then that turn doesn't matter. But. Following the advice here, I just shook his hand and said "Maybe next time". 

 Because on the other hand you should be humble in victory as you are gracious in defeat. In the same way that losing to a triple crit is something you can't change, winning by a triple crit isn't a reason to gloat. Or be smug. (Of course there is never a need to be gloat in a game. Again. It makes you look like a dick.). Not only does it make you look pretty bad but gloating when in a strong position can compromise the game. If you are so confident you have won, you may stop trying as hard, meanwhile your opponent is doing everything they can to wipe that smug grin off of your face. As another example from my locals, I was playing my Regalia CEO deck against a guy who was playing Aurageyser Shadow Paladins (I have no hate for shadow paladins, it could have been any deck, it just so happens that he was playing shadow paladins). Of course any deck with Aurageyser can build up a lot of hand. So when he was sat on about nine or more cards in hand, he got arrogant, dropping comments like "I wonder if I have enough to guard". You know the sort. Smug. Already written the game off as a win. Not concentrating. So therefore not paying attention to what I was doing. So therefore not seeing the three Norn in my soul, or the Ordain Owl on my field. And guess what? While he was busy gloating. He didn't remember CEO's skill. And guess what else? No. He didn't have enough to guard. So this also ties in to focusing. There may have been things he could do the turn before to change the outcome of the game. Regardless of that, he made himself look like an ass and didn't win the game anyway. Just something to think about. 

Things Not to Do

1.) Spend the whole game looking at your phone. 

  

  When someone sits down opposite me to have a cardfight with their phone in their hand, and don't put it down even after the round has started and we have drawn our cards, I feel pretty disregarded. It's the same with someone who spends the whole game with their headphones in. It's just rude. You've both come to the event to cardfight. So I don't understand why you wouldn't put your all into it. I have another example. Two friends of mine sit down, one is playing a Bermuda Triangle deck, the other Shadow Paladin. (it looks like i'm hating on shadow paladins but i promise i'm not). They sit down to play. And Mr.Shadow Paladin puts his phone on the table and puts his earphones in. He then proceeded to play the whole game alternating between looking at his own hand, doing his moves and looking at his phone. Needless to say the Bermuda player won. But it get's better. The Shadow Paladin then scoops the entire match after one game because he "Simply cannot beat Bermuda Triangle". Ladies and Gentlemen I know I am opening a whole other can of beans with that but that is for another time. Thankfully this is not something that happens very often. But again this can go back to my previous post. One way to win more at Vanguard. Is to play Vanguard. Of course in card games there are different skill brackets, people have strengths and weaknesses, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a go. If you don't even want to try why even bother playing the game? 

2. `Make the game awkward for your opponent to play. 

 I have had this done to me on more than one occasion. Let me explain. If your opponent is playing against you and winning. They aren't doing anything wrong. So don't make them feel like they are. You are both playing the game to meet the same objective, which is to win the game. If you are not getting the cards you need, or are grade stuck that is not your opponent's fault. Or your deck "hating you". It is chance. It is unfortunate, but again it is not something you can control. How good you are at the game is not determined by the outcome of one game. Or even one event. You might be having the worst game ever, but win every other game you play that day. Or you might have unlucky games all day, but then come back the next week and go undefeated. Being mad because you are losing is no excuse to make your opponent feel bad about winning. I had been insulted at locals before by an opponent who had disadvantage in the game because of being grade locked. Think about how you would feel if the tables were turned, if you were having a good game and your opponent made you feel bad about that. It feels pretty shit, and you almost feel like you should hold back. Here's the thing. You shouldn't hold back. You are playing the same game as your opponent, if they want to essentially sulk because they are losing then let them get on with it. Just be the bigger person. Win the game then move on. 



3. Be Mature/Appropriate


Yes Vanguard is designed to be played by people from ages 6 and up, and yes it is supposed to be fun, but when it comes to it you are both there to play the game and try and win it. The point is pretty general and all points before sort of wrap into this one. 
As for being appropriate, it's something that should be obvious, if you are playing a younger person don't swear. This obviously counts more at events then when playing with friends. Imagine how nail-bitingly nervous you would be as a parent. Don't let that parent's worst fears about organised tournaments be true. 



There are probably many more things that could be added to these lists, but the short version is think. Exactly the same as it is in-game, it's the same when interacting with other players. 




Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

How to win more at Vanguard!

So as I may have mentioned in earlier posts, my local tournament is on Sunday, so today I was able to test out Granblue for the first time. How did it perform? Honestly. Not that well. Over six rounds I ended with a record of 2-4.

Anyone can say "I had bad luck" ("I had no triggers." "if i had this card I would have won" "your deck is just better" We've all met the salty players). So instead of simply putting my performance with the deck down to factors out of my control, I thought I'd make a post to talk about things that went wrong for me, things in and out of my control and how I could have better controlled the factors that it is possible to control. The first thing to look at is reasons why you don't win a game of vanguard -




- Bad Match-up
- Misplays
- Little to No understanding of combos/mechanics
- Making errors in calculations
- No triggers!
- Not concentrating on the game (both your turn and your opponents)
- Too many of one grade
- Not enough of one grade.
- Grade Stuck!
- Triple crit on your opponents first stride
- Their playing THAT* deck
- 6th DAMAGE HEAL!!




*Where that deck is the deck you personally view as being most powerful and difficult to play against.




There probably are a great deal more reasons why you might lose a game. But these are the ones that came to mind first. So needless to say there a lot of ways that victory can slip through your fingers. So let's break it down into two groups. Things you CAN control/influence and things that are simply out of your control.

THINGS THAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL

- Triple crit on your opponents first stride
- Their playing THAT* deck
- 6th DAMAGE HEAL!!
-  No triggers!


So these are things that there is nothing you can do to change. They are all things that are just simply bad luck, which is a part of the game. These are all things that could have worked in your favour and helped you get the win, but just so happened to work in your opponent's to get the win for them. In other words, there is no need to be angry. Yeah it sucks if your opponent wins the game from getting three critical triggers off of their first stride, especially if you have meticulously planned out the next three or four turns. It's part of the game. You wouldn't be sorry if the tables were turned. You want to win. The point of playing a game is to try and win. In the heat of the moment you can feel frustrated, or even angry at your opponent. But try to not show that. It doesn't make them feel good, doesn't make you feel any better and if you have that kind of attitude when you lose, they may not want to play you again. (I have a whole post planned about "Tournament Etiquette" which will go a lot more into this subject).

So the short version is, you can essentially disregard these factors when looking at how to improve your chance of winning games. But lets have a look at the far more intricate workings that is the factors that we can control-

THINGS THAT YOU CAN CONTROL 

A more accurate title for this part would have been "things you can control or influence" but that doesn't have quite the same effect. These are, as the name suggests, things that you can do, and so therefore learn how to do better, that can greater increase your chances of winning. This can be broken in three parts; Pre-Game, During a Game and Post-game. 

Pre-Game

-  Too many/not enough of one grade

- Bad match-up

- Little to no understanding of deck mechanics/combos

So all of the pre-game aspects are to do with preparation for playing the game. Assessing why you aren't winning as much begins on the drawing board; the cards you are running. It seems obvious but you build your deck from nothing (again I will have an article on deck-building up at a later date). Make sure you know the average ratio grades (8,14,11,17) but also know any variations from that average that the deck you are building might benefit from (for example many Dragonic Overlord: The X decks play more than 8 grade 3 units because of the uses they can get out of them). Research pays off. I have often in the past looked up what other players are doing to help me with building my decks. Chances are, if you are reading this, that is how you found this blog, by looking up decklists, so you are already going in the right direction! 

So making sure your numbers of each grade is important, as of course, for a start, it minimizes your chances of being grade stuck. But what should also be taken into account when deck building is the combos that exist within a deck. You have a limited amount of space in your deck, now more than ever this new G-era. What is a key card in someone else's deck may massively hinder your deck. One thing you do need to bare in mind when looking up a deck list is that you may play the deck differently to how the author of the decklist would. The best way to build up an understanding of what a clan/deck can do is trying it out. Cardfight Area ( downloadable from cardfight.ru) is a great way to test decks online before you go to locals. Online you can try things, you can make mistakes and most importantly you can learn. One thing that I have discovered is that you can write ten pages of theory on why a particular card is good, but the only real way to truly find out, is to put it in a deck and test it out. Also you can try before you buy. You might love the look of a deck, but hate how it plays. 

Another great way to learn a deck is by watching other people play it. There is no end of videos on you tube of people playing games, in the exact same way that people learn by watching professional gamers in League of Legends. Of course this carries the risk that the person playing may not be very good with the deck, or may not realise the deck's full potential, you can get an idea of what the deck looks like in action. 

The tl;dr of the pre-game prep is to know your deck. 

As for bad match-up, it's the same. Know what your bad match-up is. Know why exactly it is a bad match-up, and what you can do to make the best of that game, rather than just saying "It's my bad match-up, i've lost". 

You could even argue that the process begins before you even pick a deck, by going to locals and scoping out what people play, and so therefore what the best deck to play is based on good match-ups. But lets assume that you are quite keen to play the deck you have chosen! (As I was with granblue). 

As an extension point to this, you basically need to actively use your brain. 

During the Game 

- Not concentrating on the game (both your turn and your opponents) 

- Making errors in calculations

So the first point is very general, and should be obvious, but sometimes is not. Vanguard is a game of two halves. Your turn and you opponents response, and your opponents turn and your response. It is of paramount importance that you pay attention during all of these things. It can be the difference between winning and losing. If you miss one important detail then it could be the difference between winning and losing. This is what you are looking for: 

- The cards in your opponents hand (the cards they search out and drive check)

  If you have an idea of what is in your opponents hand, you can more efficiently judge how to make the most of your turn. i.e. What is called where, and what attacks where. The obvious example is if they have five cards in hand, and you know three of them are grade 3 units then you know they have at most 20k plus a PG shield, or 30k. Knowing the absolute maximum your opponent can guard for is useful information to have, when planning your attacks, as well as preparing for your opponents next turn. By not paying attention to this very useful information you are handicapping yourself, especially if you opponent is doing it. 

-How your opponent is guarding 

Again this is free information that could be very important, though this one comes more under the mind games sort of category. For example, if you attack a large attack, say 19k, into a 9k rearguard, and they drop the 15k shield in order to defend it, you know that that unit has importance. They may be lacking in rearguards and don't want to lose the presence they have on the board. 

- Miscalculations 

This is something that can affect either player of course and usually accidental. But if neither player notices then play goes on. 1k power can make all of the difference in this game. 1k is often the difference between winning and losing, magic numbers at work! (more on those at a later date!). The best tip I can give is always do the math. Generally don't rely on your opponent to do it. Some decks, i.e. Angel Feather, give huge power boosts in one turn, but the same applies to huge numbers. 41k is a better attack then 40k. If a turn has a lot of moving parts (Again. Angel Feather, Refros is love) that isn't an excuse to turn off. Heal triggers happen. It is better to know exactly what is going on, even if you are praying on the heal. 

So far we have covered your two greatest weapons. Knowing your deck. And playing attention. These sound so obvious. But it is so easy to just slap a deck together, and then just play, in the same way that it can be easy to switch off during a game. It's a battle. You don't go to battle before you know how to fire your weapon. And if you switch off in a war zone, you're going to get shot (Or have a much higher chance of being shot). 

Post Game

So the game is over. What now? I lost. 

Well. You go back to the beginning. What did you learn from your game that you can then apply to your deck-building process. What combos worked well, and which combos didn't.

The way to get better is to practise; playing games. But the important thing, other than having fun of course, is to learn something!

Getting back to me and my Granblue deck. 

Today I basically took my paper theory on the deck, sleeved it up and jumped blind into the fire. I didn't know any of the combos. I didn't know how to optimize my plays to be able to get the most of the deck. So I can use this guide and come to the conclusion that I don't know the deck well yet. Concentration may have come into it, I haven't been very well for the past few days, but generally I know I can improve with the deck, so I have spent the evening play testing and will be posting a revised version of my deck (Which I will post!) 

Overall. Vanguard is a game that easy to pick up. Anyone could do it, the rules are simple and the objectives obvious. Vanguard has a steep learning curve though. But the main tool for climbing that curve is pro-active thinking. 

I really hope this post has helped you in any way, this is the way I personally plan to get better at the game! 

Thank you for reading, and may the triggers be ever in your favour!

- Flogal FTK

Nightrose Deck Profile!

The Night is Her Domain! 

So as you are all probably aware of at this point, the most recent G-Booster set introduced Granblue support, for the first time since BT17. So naturally a lot of card fighters, including those who have never played the clan before in their life, are very excited to see what this clan can do, especially as Granblue has, up until now, been a difficult clan to pick cards up for due to how long ago some of the key cards (i.e Sentinels) were printed (in the same way that pale moon was difficult pre-Harri because the best builds, Silver-Thorn, required the original Luquier, who even now values at between £25 and £35!). Am and Luna have a lot to offer new and old players alike, and in this post we're going to take a look at Am's avatar; Nightrose! 

Only took 3 trial decks to pull! (I know, I know)

Nightrose's Phantom Crew

So lets take a look at exactly what support has been released for Am (and anyone else interested in Pirates. Which is pretty much most people) to play with! As well as booster support in the recently released G-Set 6, a trial deck was released just it was for Pale Moon a few months ago, so lets take a look at some of the key cards we got, starting of course with the princess herself- 

Vampire Princess of Nightmist, Nightrose 

GB2- 1/turn - (Put 3 cards from the top of your deck into the drop zone) When your rearguard is put into the drop zone from your rearguard circle, you may pay the cost, if you do you may call that unit to a rearguard circle. 

(Counterblast 1) During your turn when your G-Unit stride you may pay the cost, if you do you may choose up to one card from your drop-zone, call it to rearguard circle, and that unit gets Power +2000 until end of turn. 

So the on-stride skill is very self explanatory, you stride. You revive one and give it power. It is what Granblue do. The less predictable part of this unit is her Generation Break. Well. Unpredictable that was until our keyword was announced. So lets take a look at that key word: 

Hollow- When this unit is placed on (RC) you may have it become hollow, if you do it is retired during the end phase. 

So Hollow is a state that some units can be put in when called to a rearguard circle. The significance is that these units that can be hollowed get bonus abilities when hollowed (as we will see in a moment!) 

So Nightrose's  Generation Break (2) ability is useful for the following: 

- Reviving units that are retired due to being in a state of Hollow 
- Adding more units to your drop zone via the cost
- Keeping field presence against decks that retire rearguards a lot. 
- Keeping rear-guards that are used to pay the cost of units that retire one in order to call themselves. 

It is a very diverse skill. The optimal in a Nightrose based deck is to stride, but if you can't there are still things you can do. 

So lets take a look at an example of a Hollow unit: 

Witch Doctor of the Rotten Seas, Negrorook


Hollow

GB1- AUTO- When this unit attacks this unit gets Power +2000 power until the end of that battle, and if this unit is hollowed this unit gets power +5000 until end of that battle








This guy is a good example of a unit with Hollow. And he is a strong unit. 16000 power on call if he is Hollowed is very powerful, and bare in mind that it is not limited to being called the drop zone, if you call him from the hand he can also become hollowed. This means he can be called, hollowed and swing for a huge 16000, enough to hit the average vanguard unboosted and require at least 10000 worth of shield, then return go to the drop zone during the end phase, ready to be resurrected with other skills (or resurrected instantly from Nightrose's GB2). 



So lets take a look at an idea for a deck list!

Nightrose and her Spectral Crew! 

4x Vampire Princess of Nightmist, Nightrose

2x Ghoul Dragon, Gast Dragon 

2x Mighty Rogue, Nightstorm

4x Witch Doctor of Languor, Negrolazy

2x Pirate Swordsman, Columbard

3x Witch Doctor of the Rotten Sea, Negrorook

2x Skeleton Cannoneer 

4x Waterspout Djinn (PGG)

4x Tommy the Ghostie Brothers

3x Witch Doctor of the Powdered Bone, Negrobone

2x Sea-Strolling Banshee

4x HEAL 

4x Rough Seas Banshee (CRIT, move into soul to draw, draw and charge soul)

4x Any other Crit

4x Mick the Ghostie and Family (STAND and Hollow, if called from drop zone, if hollowed give another unit 10000 power and when Mick is put into drop zone, shuffle him back into deck) 

1x Undying Departed, Grenache

1x Forbidden Space Banshee

4x Mist Phantasm Pirate King, Nightrise

2x Pirate King of Secret Schemes, Bandit Rum

1x Ghostie Great King, Obadaiah 

1x Pirate King of the Abyss, Blueheart

This deck is deceivingly easy-looking to build. This isn't the first build of the deck I have put together and it may not be the last. This current build is based on aggression. So lets start from the bottom with the grade zeroes. We are running 2 of them, in addition to our triggers, with Forbidden Space as our starter. Her ability is to counter blast 1, after you have performed stride, move herself to the soul and then check the top ten cards of your deck, putting three units with the Hollow ability into your drop zone. The benefits of having this as a starter unit is that she can stay as your vanguard's booster until you stride, and also sets up your drop-zone for later plays, or even more aggressive first stride turns, i.e Being able to stride into Blueheart first, over Obadaiah. You do usually want to stride Obadaiah first, but Forbidden Space Banshee gives you options to play more aggressively on your first stride turn if you need to. Grenache is an amazing unit, but doesn't work as well as a starting vanguard, yes you can Hollow him turn one when you ride your grade one, but this leaves your vanguard attacks significantly weaker until grade 3. This is more a personal choice. But the double counter-charge Grenache offers, makes it worth running both. 

The trigger line-up is also very aggressive. First obvious point is no draw triggers. Granblue as a clan can get through their deck very quickly, especially now stride units are around. Draw triggers can lose the games. The down-side is of course that you can't hit defensive triggers and a free card, or rather have the chance to, but the positives of lasting another turn or two far outweigh that. As an add-on to that point, one of the main pools of resources you will have access to is your drop zone, a lot of your units generate cards on the field, which in my mind make up for all offensive triggers. 
 Eight critical triggers. Four of which must be Rough Seas Banshee. Speaking of making up for not playing draws, this little gem is an incredible unit. While there may not be so much appeal in giving up a 10000 shield to draw, think of it more as getting a soul-charge. The soul has become more of a resource to Granblue and you don't want to not be able to use the skill of Negrolazy because you got a draw off of Sea-Strolling Banshee. 
 The stand trigger is a pretty strong unit, another testament towards Bushiroad really wanting us to use stand triggers (anyone who has faced an Angel Feather deck since GBT-04 knows exactly what I mean). Mick allows us to give 10000 power to a unit when he is called from the drop zone and Hollowed. Then when he returns to the drop zone at the end of the turn, he returns to the deck. 10000 power is never not good, he has the Hollow ability so he can be sent straight from the deck to the drop zone and he is a recyclable stand trigger. Overall with all things considered, he is much better than four ability-less draw triggers. 


On to the grade 1 units, the first eight of which are self explanatory, G-perfect guards and Nightrose's stride assister. Has to be the G-perfects because of how this deck eats counterblasts and finding Nightrose and striding are very important to this deck. Negrobone is a unit that allows you to retire a unit he has boosted, at the cost of a counter-blast, to choose a unit from your drop zone and call it to rearguard. This of this guy boosting Negrorook. You attack for 23000. You then retire Negrorook with Negrobone call back Negrorook and you then have another unit attacking for 16000. Which is essentially a whole extra boosted attack in terms of quality of the attack. Very strong for the cost of a single counter-blast. And lets not forget how aggressive our triggers are. Seal Strolling doesn't create quite the same pressure of attacks, but does give us a draw. Only two of her to make room for two non-trigger grade 0 units, but with the searching and dumping we do, it isn't too big an issue. It isn't a key ability, but it is one that can be nice to have the option to use. 


Onto the grade two units. This is probably the part of the deck that was hardest to decide on a line-up for.  Part of the reason this deck doesn't play a legion, in order to refuel the deck, is that I couldn't find room for the legion-mate. No matter how I look at it I can't justify not playing four Negrolazy. He is a unit that has basically taken everything that Granblue is trying to do with their G-Support and put it into one unit. He has Hollow. He revives. He empowers. He soul charges. He counter-charges. Arguably one of the better Glimmer-Breath clones if not the best. So the deck is focused around Hollow. Essentially for utilizing that mechanic, this guy will refund you his entire cost. I really think in a Nightrose based deck four is just essential, which I know is a pain given that, in the English prints at least, he was short-printed with some people claiming only opening two or three copies per case. My advice to you would be pick them up when you see them. His value is hovering around the £8-£10 mark, which is the most expensive a new RR has been for a while now. If you are looking to build more budget based then a Seven Seas based deck may be a better option. 

 Our Amber clone (GB1 (CB1) When this unit is boosted etc.) pales in comparison to Negrolazy. He is a decent unit nonetheless. His effect is simply what people expect, a simple call. The lack of power boost was disappointing but not too unpredictable. This guy is somewhat floating between being in and out. The other option I was debating is Ruin Shade just to allow for a bit more grave-charging. Further testing will decide, but the lean currently is towards Columbard just for the fact that resurrecting is what the deck does, but currently only Obadaiah and Forbidden Space actually purposely dump units into the drop zone. But of course units end there as the game progresses anyway. Further testing will be needed. Give it a go yourself! See if you prefer Columbard or Ruin Shade. The decision may come down to whether or not you have an original RRR Ruin! 

 The last grade 2 that I just had to find room for is our Skeleton Cannoneer. What he lacks in the power of Negrorook and the utility of Negrolazy he makes up for in what he brings to the deck.  When he is called from the drop zone you can counter-blast 1 in order to retire one of your opponents units. Any one of your opponents units. Whether or not he is hollowed. Then, if he is, you can draw one. I couldn't not make room for a pair of these. You probably share my initial doubts of his cost, despite doing a lot for it, it is still a counter-blast. But that is why I play Grenache. Negrolazy refunds his counter-blast, the sentinel unflips and Grenache is a unit you can search out that will also counter-charge for you. The deck is built around how you spend your counter-blasts in your big turns, rather than conservatively holding onto them before that point. 


Grade 3s. Much simpler. Four Nightrose because you never want to not be ridden into Nightrose. Two Gast Dragon because he can make huge columns (26000 if hollowed and combined with a 7k booster). Rogue because he can do things on the rearguard (essentially has the skill of Negrobone on himself)  and if you absolutely have to ride him, you can at the very least get the Hollow search. But just to stress. You really. Want to ride Nightrose. 

Strides can be broken down into what they are good for:



Best first stride: 


Great Ghostie King, Obadaiah 

 - Sets up your drop zone



Situational First Stride:


Pirate King of the Abyss, Blueheart 

- If you played hard aggression early and guarded early this as a first stride can help to trigger hollow skills

Pirate King of Secret Schemes, Bandit Rum 

- If you haven't been able to stride for a turn, i.e a turn behind your opponent, and have been able, through guarding, to get some cards in your drop zone AND you know the following turn you are going to have a big aggressive turn, this guy can force a perfect guard, or get another attack in. Particularly good with Negrorook or Gast Dragon in the drop zone. 

No Field Presence/Poor Field Presence 


Mist Phantasm Pirate King, Nightrose

- Gets field presence, triggers hollow. 


Pirate King of the Abyss, Blueheart 

-  Can correct field, allowing units with Hollow that were not put into a Hollow state to go to the drop zone. 




End Game (When you know you can can go all in.) 



Mist Phantasm Pirate King, Nightrose

- If you have the counter-blasts this is your in. 


At this point, if you can't afford Nightrose's counter-blast cost, the second Bandit Rum is the best option. 





Bit of a long post this one, so I'll do a little tl;dr. I do recommend you read the full article as it is my analysis and understanding of the deck and not just a list. But if you just want a decklist and a summary, he is a simplified version. 


- Aggression. 
- Make sure your drop zone has a good mix of units to be able to adapt to the tempo/situation of the match. 
- Be aware of your counter-blasting but don't be overly conservative with them. 
- Nightrose is really. Really cool. But Seven Seas is cool too. And a little bit cheaper!




Thank you for reading, I appreciate any feedback and would love to hear your own interpretation of the clan and any preferences you have!