Calm Before the Storm: Crossing the Limits

Hey guys, Homura here with a small talk about the upcoming release of BT-09: Clash of Knights and Dragons. It's been another three months since the release of BT-08, and of course the hype of Aqua Force, Narukami's new 'boost', as well as Neo Nectar's Musketeer deck. Overall, the set was a decent set, just that everything is overshadowed by Aqua Force. Being a clan that is played by one of the major characters in the anime, Aqua Force has been receiving very good initial wave releases like Gold Paladins. A Trial Deck, very good supports in boosters, and a crossride in the upcoming release.

From the looks of it, Bushiroad might want to pump Aqua Force as their sales booster. However, BT-09 brings up the other clans' competitive level to be on par with Aqua Force by providing almost all the major clans in the anime a crossride unit. Well you might think that 'Ugh, it's all about 13k Vanguards again'. Yeah, that's true. But somehow, it does make sense to provide crossrides for most of the clans because at the present moment, the presence of DOTE and MLB is still very prominent in the tournament scenes. In order to make the metagame more diverse again, clans must have units that can challenge the dominance of the Mk I crossriders, hence the birth of these units. Sometimes just by providing a crossride does not satisfy most of the players out there, so why not add in Limit Breaks into the mix? How will these units affect the metagame when you have crossride and LB all in one? And today, we'll be looking at some crossriders which has been revealed and how can they improve the clans competitiveness.

Super Beast Deity, Ilminal Dragon

This unit is the first ever crossride for Nova Grappler, and the first Limit Breaker for them as well (unless you count Cosmolord from EB04 as the first one). As the name states, this unit is the crossride of Beast Deity, Azure Dragon. Since its release, Azure Dragon was already a staple in almost all deck builds. With a free cost Persona Blast and the ability to stand two RGs, backed by a 11k body, this unit instantly nets 4x of a deck's slots without any question.

Following the specialty of NG, which is standing units, Ilminal Dragon also provides a similar ability like Azure, albeit with a mixture of restrictions and advantages. Firstly, Ilminal Dragon becomes a 13k when you have Azure Dragon in your Soul. Like all crossriders, 13k is a very dangerous number.

If you think a 13k body isn't enough, enter Ilminal Dragon's Limit Break. When this unit attacks, and you hit LB4, you may pay the cost of CB3, and stand 2 Rear Guards with 'Beast Deity' in their names. This LB is particularly dangerous, especially BT-09 has a few more new Beast Deities, like Beast Deity, Gold Angret. Gold Angret is a G2 that can give itself +3000 power when it stands during the battle phase. So combined with Ilminal Dragon's LB, plus whatever trigger effects, you can launch a very devastating attack.

Ilminal Dragon eschews the recent inclusion of more than 4 Critical Triggers by providing a new taste of a Stand-based deck. Although more Criticals can end the game fast, but Stands makes up for its speed with decent attrition, meaning in the long run, you can force your opponent to withstand your relentless attacks by dropping shields to guard, or spend even more hand cards to replenish their attackers because you're consistently wiping off their board.

Radiant Lion, Platinum Ezel
A Soul Saver Dragon with steroids, this card can be said as the most overpowered game ender among all the cards previewed so far. As far as tournament records have stated, Blonde Ezel decks are the mainstay deck for Gold Paladins compared to other builds because of their consistency to churn out units after units while gaining advantage from it.

Previously, B-Ezel's LB only gives himself the power bonus, making the Vanguard's attack the most threatening one. But this time, P-Ezel's LB makes your RGs into terrifying monsters as well. With a Limit Break activation threshold of 5, and the cost of CB3, you can give up to five GP units +5000 power! At that instant, the guard requirement for your opponent has just suddenly increased by 10k per attack!

To make up for this extremely strong LB, P-Ezel loses the +1k/RG skill. But in return, P-Ezel gains all the benefits from being a crossrider, so even if you rode P-Ezel too early before you hit LB, you can still hit for 20k/21k if you have a 7k/8k booster behind, so not a bad situation you're in either way.

Gold Paladins are already strong enough, and with P-Ezel's arrival, they just become more stronger. GP decks featuring the Ezels can now try out the 12 Critical playstyle, as BT-09 also brings in a new Critical Trigger, Dantegal. Continuously triggering Criticals will definitely make your opponent feel not happy at all when combined with the LB, because you're potentially launching 3 high-power, double-critical attacks in their face.

So far only 2 of these units has been revealed, but there are a few more that only their names are known so far:

Dragonic Kaiser Vermilion "THE BLOOD" (Narukami)

Supreme Blue Storm Dragon, Glory Maelstrom (Aqua Force)

Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu (Oracle Think Tank)

So what do you guys think about Ilminal Dragon, and Platinum Ezel so far? And what will be your expectations for the remaining crossriders?