Hey guys, Homura is back after quite a few days of absence due to work and health problems. WCQs for Europe and Canada have already kicked off last week, and we can see from the statistics that Gold Paladins are dominating the metagame. Actually, I would say that this scenario was actually a carbon copy of the previous Japanese WCQs and Championship Finals. During that time, Royal Paladins was so famous and widely used that they almost have Top 8 appearances in every single tournament, and also one-two finishes during the Finals.
But why we don't see other clans topping? What was the reason of their absence? In my opinion, the reason why the traditional clans don't have any high place finishes was due to the fact that they lack a very crucial thing - Limit Break. Well, isn't Kagero and Royal Paladins got their LB unit already? How come they still can't top? Which brings me to my second point - Support.
As we can see, Gold Paladins got tons of support during the first 3 months of their debut in English, together with 2 possible deck types which was equally strong (not to forget featuring Limit Breakers also). What about Kagero and Royal Paladins? Compared with Gold Paladins, these two supposed-to-be the main clans of the game kind of fell short in terms of support given to them.
Let's look at Kagero. At the moment, the only deck that was actually viable for Kagero players was the Goku-Blade build. I know that Lawkeeper exists, but comapring both of them, I would say Goku-Blade fares better against the majority. And moving onward to Royal Paladin. RP is worse, with only one possible competitive deck ready at their disposal - Barome-Saviour. Truthfully speaking, Pendragon was a flop, it never seen play in JP tourneys, and I doubt it'll be seeing major play in EN tourneys.
So all and all, I think that GP will still be the deck to beat in this WCQ season. One weakness of the EN environment was that the sets were not parallel, meaning that they will not have what we JP players already had. If you all did your research, you should be able to see that regardless how strong GP was, Kagero and RP still dominates the metagame, as we have access to Majesty Lord Blaster and Dragonic Overlord The End.
This article was not written to show off the privileges that we JP players have, but to show you what defines a metagame as a whole. As what we can see from the statistics, sheer numbers can actually define a metagame. Imagine if 80% of the people were using Kagero and we'll be able to see Kagero topping everything. It's just as simple as that.
Showing posts with label After the Storm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label After the Storm. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
After the Storm: Deck Tiers pt. 2
Continuing from the previous article, today i'll be giving all of you a list of the Tier 2 decks in the current meta. So what is Tier 2? Compared to Tier 1 decks, Tier 2 decks lacks a bit of stability and consistency, and their winning rates in tournaments are also not that high compared to the Tier 1 decks out there. However, they are still considered as competitive decks and are the top contenders for Tier 1 slots in the future.
Below are my personal ratings of the top Tier 2 decks out there. Please have a look and see whether my analysis is similar to your or not. Enjoy!
Oracle Think Tank - Tsukuyomi / Amaterasu
Since the debut of Shadow Paladins, OTT is no longer a member of the 'Big 3'. Comparing all the builds available for them, only the Tsukuyomi / Amaterasu build is tourney-worthy. And frankly speaking, due to the lack of support for OTT after BT-03, they have become very predictable, and most players already know how to handle them. Yes, having a hand of more than 10 cards seems good, but with 20k and 21k power lines being so easy to make nowadays, after your opponent ends their turn, you might have only less than 5 hand cards left.
Not to say they are totally unplayable now, just that they are really lacking something, for example maybe a Limit Break, or Persona Blast (I won't say a Cross Rider, because that will make OTT broken). We still can see OTT winning tourneys, but not as often anymore. BT-07 is around the corner, bringing with them new support for Scarlet Witch Coco decks, so we shall see how it turns out. Is it the rise of the 'Soulless' era, or does OTT still need to fill their 'Soul'.
Rating: 4.0 / 5
Nova Grapplers - Dragon Kaiser
With the introduction of Beast God Azure Dragon, NG finally have access to tow sets of 11k power cards. This deck basically works the same like Asura Kaiser builds in the past, but with the added flavor of Persona Blast from Azure Dragon. With Azure Dragon included in the deck, they finally have the option to 'switch' into different builds while still using the same deck. Once you have depleted your pseudo Stand Triggers (via Asura Kaiser's skill), you can instantly switch to Azure Dragon, and continue to pressurize your opponent by threatening them with Azure Dragon's Persona Blast.
The core of the deck still retains, just that you'll have a better chance in late game compared to the past. If I am able to name a new deck as a Tier 1 deck, the closest for me should be Nova Grapplers. What they really need now is some form of card draw, others are quite decent already.
Rating: 4.2 / 5
Gold Paladins - Spectral Duke Dragon
Ah, another newcomer from EB-03. It seems like a lot of players out there are very eager to try out the new SDD build. I don't blame them because SDD looks pretty strong, as well as cool. Being able to Superior Call units during the Ride Phase, and Superior Call more units if you hit certain units from the previous call is not a joke. Their swarming rate is better than Blonde Ezel builds I would say, and it comes with cheaper costs as well. Also, being able to 'cheat' null guards is what makes SDD even scarier.
However, this only really looks good on paper. Despite having a good ride chain, and a strong LB, SDD is nowhere close to being a Tier 1 deck when Blonde Ezel and Garmore is still running around. Why? Because this deck lacks something really important - Power. SDD can only be a maximum of 11k at all times, and the best it can go with a boost, say Little Fighter, Tron, is only 21k (and that's if you have more Rear Guards than your opponent). Compared to Ezel and Garmore, which can hit absurdly high numbers, SDD really looks stupid in front of them.
Also, the moment you use SDD's Limit Break, you're actually putting yourself under a very big disadvantage, which is the lack of Rear Guards. A smart opponent will know how to play around with the LB, whereby they will focus all your attacks to SDD, leaving you with a dilemma of whether you want to spend your hand cards to guard (which leads to lesser units to call), or take damage to preserve board advantage (which leads to a faster defeat). So before you say SDD is strong, think twice.
Rating: 4.2 / 5
Narukami - Dragonic Kaiser Vermilion
Another newcomer that supposed to replace Kagero. But despite being so hyped, they are somewhat not performing at the moment. The good thing of playing Narukami is you can hit high power counts (which means this clan focuses in hitting the Vanguard hard and fast), but that's all they can do. Compared to Kagero, they don't have enough retiring power, and they don't have enough useful Rear Guards as support. Ultimately, their Grade 3 choices are so limited that if you don't play Kaiser Vermilion, it's very hard for your deck to be on even grounds with other decks.
Even with the help of Kaiser, you can only do that much. I'm not expecting people to be able to use Kaiser's LB more than 2 times in a game, and he being the only 11k power cards available, you're jeopardizing you defenses if you don't ride him. Thunder Break Dragon is our Trial Deck exclusive G3 Limit Breaker. But frankly speaking, it's CIP skill really is sub-par. If it says 'CB2: Retire one of your opponent's Rear Guards', it'll definitely be an auto-include. The other cards are also being 'so-so' with Breakthrough Dragon being the only possible staple in the deck besides Kaiser. Well, the good news is in three months time, Narukami will get their new reinforcements, so to all Narukami players out there (including myself), please be patient for the time being. We might be suffering now, but we'll definitely come back with a bigger and harder punch later!
Rating 4.0 / 5
Spike Brothers - Dudley Emperor / Juggernaut Maximum
With EB-03 bringing Spike's first Limit Breaker, the fearsome Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor, Spike seems to have found their ideal finisher. Not long after their release, we can already see Spike decks featuring Dudley Emperor topping a few tournaments (which is something we seldom see besides the Dark Zone Tournament way back then). With DE included in the deck, the once-staple card, General Seyfried is no longer needed, because you can Superior Call whatever you want instead of hoping to trigger a G3 from your Twin Drive And being able to drop Dudley Dan off the deck, means that Dudley Emperor can hit 20 and 21k power lines easier now, compared to the maximum of 17k when boosting Seyfried.
Besides having access to Limit Break, EB-03 also gives them their G1 'tagging' unit - Reckless Express. The reason why is he that good is because he can work as both a decent booster and attacker. When you need the final push, sent him in front and SB for 12k, otherwise, being able to boost for 7k is not bad also. 'Tagging' units are good when paired with Dudley Emperor, because you're now able to reform your board position better. You can always make space for units that're better for the current situation when you 'tag' them away.
Though now you are giving away a little bit of speed compared to last time, but in return, you hit way more harder than before. Trust me, once you've mastered the playstyle of Spikes, you'll definitely be able to pose as a threat to most decks out there, because creating power lines is also what Spike Brothers do best.
Rating: 4.3 / 5 (being slightly higher than Nova Grapplers is they pack more punch!)
Here you go, my Top 5 Tier 2 decks in the current metagame. Of course they are still a few more that I wanted to mention, but there's no time at the moment. But I'll be doing a continuation if you guys want it. In the next article, I'll be mentioning the Tier 3 decks for the current metagame. Until then, this is Homura signing out!
Below are my personal ratings of the top Tier 2 decks out there. Please have a look and see whether my analysis is similar to your or not. Enjoy!
Oracle Think Tank - Tsukuyomi / Amaterasu
Since the debut of Shadow Paladins, OTT is no longer a member of the 'Big 3'. Comparing all the builds available for them, only the Tsukuyomi / Amaterasu build is tourney-worthy. And frankly speaking, due to the lack of support for OTT after BT-03, they have become very predictable, and most players already know how to handle them. Yes, having a hand of more than 10 cards seems good, but with 20k and 21k power lines being so easy to make nowadays, after your opponent ends their turn, you might have only less than 5 hand cards left.
Not to say they are totally unplayable now, just that they are really lacking something, for example maybe a Limit Break, or Persona Blast (I won't say a Cross Rider, because that will make OTT broken). We still can see OTT winning tourneys, but not as often anymore. BT-07 is around the corner, bringing with them new support for Scarlet Witch Coco decks, so we shall see how it turns out. Is it the rise of the 'Soulless' era, or does OTT still need to fill their 'Soul'.
Rating: 4.0 / 5
Nova Grapplers - Dragon Kaiser
With the introduction of Beast God Azure Dragon, NG finally have access to tow sets of 11k power cards. This deck basically works the same like Asura Kaiser builds in the past, but with the added flavor of Persona Blast from Azure Dragon. With Azure Dragon included in the deck, they finally have the option to 'switch' into different builds while still using the same deck. Once you have depleted your pseudo Stand Triggers (via Asura Kaiser's skill), you can instantly switch to Azure Dragon, and continue to pressurize your opponent by threatening them with Azure Dragon's Persona Blast.
The core of the deck still retains, just that you'll have a better chance in late game compared to the past. If I am able to name a new deck as a Tier 1 deck, the closest for me should be Nova Grapplers. What they really need now is some form of card draw, others are quite decent already.
Rating: 4.2 / 5
Gold Paladins - Spectral Duke Dragon
Ah, another newcomer from EB-03. It seems like a lot of players out there are very eager to try out the new SDD build. I don't blame them because SDD looks pretty strong, as well as cool. Being able to Superior Call units during the Ride Phase, and Superior Call more units if you hit certain units from the previous call is not a joke. Their swarming rate is better than Blonde Ezel builds I would say, and it comes with cheaper costs as well. Also, being able to 'cheat' null guards is what makes SDD even scarier.
However, this only really looks good on paper. Despite having a good ride chain, and a strong LB, SDD is nowhere close to being a Tier 1 deck when Blonde Ezel and Garmore is still running around. Why? Because this deck lacks something really important - Power. SDD can only be a maximum of 11k at all times, and the best it can go with a boost, say Little Fighter, Tron, is only 21k (and that's if you have more Rear Guards than your opponent). Compared to Ezel and Garmore, which can hit absurdly high numbers, SDD really looks stupid in front of them.
Also, the moment you use SDD's Limit Break, you're actually putting yourself under a very big disadvantage, which is the lack of Rear Guards. A smart opponent will know how to play around with the LB, whereby they will focus all your attacks to SDD, leaving you with a dilemma of whether you want to spend your hand cards to guard (which leads to lesser units to call), or take damage to preserve board advantage (which leads to a faster defeat). So before you say SDD is strong, think twice.
Rating: 4.2 / 5
Narukami - Dragonic Kaiser Vermilion
Another newcomer that supposed to replace Kagero. But despite being so hyped, they are somewhat not performing at the moment. The good thing of playing Narukami is you can hit high power counts (which means this clan focuses in hitting the Vanguard hard and fast), but that's all they can do. Compared to Kagero, they don't have enough retiring power, and they don't have enough useful Rear Guards as support. Ultimately, their Grade 3 choices are so limited that if you don't play Kaiser Vermilion, it's very hard for your deck to be on even grounds with other decks.
Even with the help of Kaiser, you can only do that much. I'm not expecting people to be able to use Kaiser's LB more than 2 times in a game, and he being the only 11k power cards available, you're jeopardizing you defenses if you don't ride him. Thunder Break Dragon is our Trial Deck exclusive G3 Limit Breaker. But frankly speaking, it's CIP skill really is sub-par. If it says 'CB2: Retire one of your opponent's Rear Guards', it'll definitely be an auto-include. The other cards are also being 'so-so' with Breakthrough Dragon being the only possible staple in the deck besides Kaiser. Well, the good news is in three months time, Narukami will get their new reinforcements, so to all Narukami players out there (including myself), please be patient for the time being. We might be suffering now, but we'll definitely come back with a bigger and harder punch later!
Rating 4.0 / 5
Spike Brothers - Dudley Emperor / Juggernaut Maximum
With EB-03 bringing Spike's first Limit Breaker, the fearsome Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor, Spike seems to have found their ideal finisher. Not long after their release, we can already see Spike decks featuring Dudley Emperor topping a few tournaments (which is something we seldom see besides the Dark Zone Tournament way back then). With DE included in the deck, the once-staple card, General Seyfried is no longer needed, because you can Superior Call whatever you want instead of hoping to trigger a G3 from your Twin Drive And being able to drop Dudley Dan off the deck, means that Dudley Emperor can hit 20 and 21k power lines easier now, compared to the maximum of 17k when boosting Seyfried.
Besides having access to Limit Break, EB-03 also gives them their G1 'tagging' unit - Reckless Express. The reason why is he that good is because he can work as both a decent booster and attacker. When you need the final push, sent him in front and SB for 12k, otherwise, being able to boost for 7k is not bad also. 'Tagging' units are good when paired with Dudley Emperor, because you're now able to reform your board position better. You can always make space for units that're better for the current situation when you 'tag' them away.
Though now you are giving away a little bit of speed compared to last time, but in return, you hit way more harder than before. Trust me, once you've mastered the playstyle of Spikes, you'll definitely be able to pose as a threat to most decks out there, because creating power lines is also what Spike Brothers do best.
Rating: 4.3 / 5 (being slightly higher than Nova Grapplers is they pack more punch!)
Here you go, my Top 5 Tier 2 decks in the current metagame. Of course they are still a few more that I wanted to mention, but there's no time at the moment. But I'll be doing a continuation if you guys want it. In the next article, I'll be mentioning the Tier 3 decks for the current metagame. Until then, this is Homura signing out!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
After the Storm: Deck Tiers pt. 1
Hello there and welcome to another installment of 'After the Storm'. Vanguard has been together with us for a year and a half, and throughout the period it has undergone a lot of transformations. From the Trial Decks fight during the early days, until the 13k Vanguards of today, the game has seriously brought to us a lot of challenges when it comes to deckbuilding.
So you might wonder, where do the decks stand in the current metagame? That's why today's post will be a short analysis of the various decks available to us and I'll be diving them into tiers and adding in a short explanation as well. I'll be dividing the decks into 3 different tiers, and I'll try to cover all possible deck builds if I can.
Without further ado, this is my summary of where the clans stand now (bear in mind, this is a personal opinion, so it might clash with others' ideas). I'll break this article into a few parts, so that you guys out there wouldn't need to scroll for so long and get bored when reading. The first part is the current Tier 1 decks.
Tier 1
Kagero - Dragonic Overlord The End
Ah, the almighty DOTE. It's not surprising at all for it to make it into tier 1 because the deck is just that stable. Like my previous post about the deck, it packs board advantage, hand advantage, card cycling, high power count, all in one deck. Most of all, DOTE is one of the frequent tourney winners since it's release way back during BT-05. Even after Limit Break is introduced, DOTE still stays strong despite not having any sort of LB skill. The only thing that I'm not happy with? DOTE is too mainstream, basically wherever I play, I'm bound to see a few DOTE running around.
Rating: 4.8/5
Royal Paladin - Majesty Lord Blaster
The 2nd member of the Big 3. Same as DOTE, MLB wins tournaments non-stop like flowing water. Although it doesn't have as much goodies as DOTE, but they can pressure your opponent with the constant 12k, 2 Critical MLB boosted by one of the best boosters for RP, Toypoogal. Their tutoring abilities also are unparalleled, being able to tutor various different cards to form magic numbers at ease. MLB is also another deck that won't falter when facing Limit Breakers.
Rating: 4.8/5
Shadow Paladin - Phantom Blaster Overlord
The final member of the Big 3. This deck is what we call a power whore. In terms of power count, PBO won't lose to DOTE. Smashing a 23k, 2 Critical PBO in your face is not a joke. Furthermore, SP, like RP, has access to a Painter, which lets you Soul-in the missing PBD to ensure that PBO will always be 13k at all times. The only flaw the deck has compared with the other 2 members of the Big 3 is SP does not have much tricks, so its kin of predictable. But still, a good deck.
Rating: 4.5/5
Gold Paladin - Blond Ezel / Garmore
The new kid in town. This clan is meant to be the successor of Royal Paladins, so people will have expectations on how this deck will perform. Without letting anyone to be disappointed, GP instantly become a popular deck, and started to top quite a few tourneys in Japan. They function almost the same like RP, but with slightly less precision when tutoring, because they Superior Call randomly from the top deck instead of letting you search your deck for something you want. But what they lost is tutoring, they compensated it with insane power counts and cheaper Superior Call costs. Most GP units has a skill to increase their power, so forming magic numbers are the easiest for them compared to the other clans out there. Due to GP getting superb basic cards for their debut, they have instantly joined the ranks of tier 1 decks.
Rating: 4.5/5
Well, here you go, the decks that I personally think that is at Tier 1 for now. I might be wrong, but I would like to hear what you guys think about these 4 decks. Will anybody be able to join them as a tier 1 deck, or maybe replace them? Only time can tell.
Well, that's all for the moment. I'll get a new post done for Tier 2 decks soon.
So you might wonder, where do the decks stand in the current metagame? That's why today's post will be a short analysis of the various decks available to us and I'll be diving them into tiers and adding in a short explanation as well. I'll be dividing the decks into 3 different tiers, and I'll try to cover all possible deck builds if I can.
Without further ado, this is my summary of where the clans stand now (bear in mind, this is a personal opinion, so it might clash with others' ideas). I'll break this article into a few parts, so that you guys out there wouldn't need to scroll for so long and get bored when reading. The first part is the current Tier 1 decks.
Tier 1
Kagero - Dragonic Overlord The End
Ah, the almighty DOTE. It's not surprising at all for it to make it into tier 1 because the deck is just that stable. Like my previous post about the deck, it packs board advantage, hand advantage, card cycling, high power count, all in one deck. Most of all, DOTE is one of the frequent tourney winners since it's release way back during BT-05. Even after Limit Break is introduced, DOTE still stays strong despite not having any sort of LB skill. The only thing that I'm not happy with? DOTE is too mainstream, basically wherever I play, I'm bound to see a few DOTE running around.
Rating: 4.8/5
Royal Paladin - Majesty Lord Blaster
The 2nd member of the Big 3. Same as DOTE, MLB wins tournaments non-stop like flowing water. Although it doesn't have as much goodies as DOTE, but they can pressure your opponent with the constant 12k, 2 Critical MLB boosted by one of the best boosters for RP, Toypoogal. Their tutoring abilities also are unparalleled, being able to tutor various different cards to form magic numbers at ease. MLB is also another deck that won't falter when facing Limit Breakers.
Rating: 4.8/5
Shadow Paladin - Phantom Blaster Overlord
The final member of the Big 3. This deck is what we call a power whore. In terms of power count, PBO won't lose to DOTE. Smashing a 23k, 2 Critical PBO in your face is not a joke. Furthermore, SP, like RP, has access to a Painter, which lets you Soul-in the missing PBD to ensure that PBO will always be 13k at all times. The only flaw the deck has compared with the other 2 members of the Big 3 is SP does not have much tricks, so its kin of predictable. But still, a good deck.
Rating: 4.5/5
Gold Paladin - Blond Ezel / Garmore
The new kid in town. This clan is meant to be the successor of Royal Paladins, so people will have expectations on how this deck will perform. Without letting anyone to be disappointed, GP instantly become a popular deck, and started to top quite a few tourneys in Japan. They function almost the same like RP, but with slightly less precision when tutoring, because they Superior Call randomly from the top deck instead of letting you search your deck for something you want. But what they lost is tutoring, they compensated it with insane power counts and cheaper Superior Call costs. Most GP units has a skill to increase their power, so forming magic numbers are the easiest for them compared to the other clans out there. Due to GP getting superb basic cards for their debut, they have instantly joined the ranks of tier 1 decks.
Rating: 4.5/5
Well, here you go, the decks that I personally think that is at Tier 1 for now. I might be wrong, but I would like to hear what you guys think about these 4 decks. Will anybody be able to join them as a tier 1 deck, or maybe replace them? Only time can tell.
Well, that's all for the moment. I'll get a new post done for Tier 2 decks soon.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
After the Storm: Fighter's Road 2012 Japan Analysis
Hello there. Sorry for the long absence in here because I was occupied with a lot of work, as well as Anime Festival Asia Malaysia 2012 throughout the weekend. From now onward, the gap between posts might take slightly longer as I'm really starting to get very busy (no joke, I'm not slacking, but BUSY). Hopefully you guys will understand.
Okay, today I'll be reviewing the results of the first three 'Fighter's Road 2012' Japan Regionals' results, as well as giving my opinions on the metagame shaping in Japan currently. Without further ado, let me start with the results for both Single and Team tournaments for each region. (Warning: Very long post ahead)
Nagoya
Seniors Division
1st: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th: Kagero (DOTE)
Juniors Division
1st :Spike Brothers (Dudley Emperor)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Narukami (Vermilion Kaiser)
Team Tournament
1st: Spike Brothers (Dudley Emperor) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Gold Paladins (Spectral Duke Dragon)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
Hiroshima
Seniors Division
1st: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
2nd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th Royal Paladins (Alfred/Baromedes)
Juniors Division
1st: Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Neo Nectar (Gene/Laurel)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
Team Tournament
1st: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Oracle Think Thank (Tsukuyomi) / Kagero (DOTE)
Kanazawa
Seniors Division
1st: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th: Kagero (DOTE)
Juniors Division
1st: Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
3rd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
4th: Kagero (DOTE)
Team Tournament
1st: Kagero (DOTE) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Oracle Think Tank (Tsukuyomi)
2nd: Nova Grappler (Dragon Kaiser) / Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
And here's the clan breakdown for all 3 regions:
Gold Paladins : 5
Royal Paladins: 10
Shadow Paladins: 3
Kagero: 16
Oracle Think Tank: 2
Nova Grappler: 1
Neo Nectar: 1
Spike Brothers: 2
Narukami: 1
Notice a pattern here? Yes, the dominating decks for the current metagame, despite the release of Limit Breakers, is still Royal Paladins and Kagero, with 10 and 16 appearances each out of a total of 41 decks.
Gold Paladins netted 5 top-four appearances, winning 3 of them.
From the deck types used by the GP players, it seems like Blonde Ezel is way more efficient than Spectral Duke, possibly because of his LB skill that can hit super hard and his speed (Superior Ride) to pressure their opponents early.
On the other hand, although GP seems to be slowly stealing the spotlight, Kagero still defends its throne as the most stable deck out there in the current metagame, with 16 top-four appearances.
Basically in every category, you'll be able to find a Kagero deck there. Though they might not win as much as previously, they sure can maintain their places in the top spots. Dragonic Overlord The End is a card that should never be looked down at.
Royal Paladins using the Majesty Blasters build comes in as the 2nd most preferred deck after Kagero, occupying a quarter of the total decks in all three regionals.
With the advantage of a permanent 12k power and double-Critical, MLB seems to be a more viable choice compared to their successors, Gold Paladins, mostly because of their offensive and defensive capabilities.
Shadow Paladins doesn't seem to appear much, with only 3 top-fours. This might be caused of the emergence of GP, and people opting for more stable decks like Kagero or RP.
Older decks made their appearances back in the spotlight, such as Spike Brothers, Oracles and Nova Grapplers. Thanks to the Limit Breaker Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor, Spike Brothers might net themselves a space in the competitive environment again.
Here you go, a short analysis of the Japanese metagame for the Fighter's Road 2012 Japanese Regionals. I guess we might be able to see similar results in the upcoming regionals from other places. As for our Malaysian metagame? It's still quite diversed, but the mainstream decks still proves to be a formidable force yet to be taken down by newcomers. Limit Breakers here still doesn't perform that well (player skill problem?) and Kagero/RP is still the biggest winner in tournaments.
That's all for the moment. Until next time, this is Homura signing out.
Okay, today I'll be reviewing the results of the first three 'Fighter's Road 2012' Japan Regionals' results, as well as giving my opinions on the metagame shaping in Japan currently. Without further ado, let me start with the results for both Single and Team tournaments for each region. (Warning: Very long post ahead)
Nagoya
Seniors Division
1st: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th: Kagero (DOTE)
Juniors Division
1st :Spike Brothers (Dudley Emperor)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Narukami (Vermilion Kaiser)
Team Tournament
1st: Spike Brothers (Dudley Emperor) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Gold Paladins (Spectral Duke Dragon)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
Hiroshima
Seniors Division
1st: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
2nd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th Royal Paladins (Alfred/Baromedes)
Juniors Division
1st: Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Neo Nectar (Gene/Laurel)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
Team Tournament
1st: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Shadow Paladins (PBO) / Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Oracle Think Thank (Tsukuyomi) / Kagero (DOTE)
Kanazawa
Seniors Division
1st: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
2nd: Kagero (DOTE)
3rd: Kagero (DOTE)
4th: Kagero (DOTE)
Juniors Division
1st: Kagero (DOTE)
2nd: Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel)
3rd: Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
4th: Kagero (DOTE)
Team Tournament
1st: Kagero (DOTE) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters) / Oracle Think Tank (Tsukuyomi)
2nd: Nova Grappler (Dragon Kaiser) / Gold Paladins (Blonde Ezel) / Royal Paladins (Majesty Blasters)
And here's the clan breakdown for all 3 regions:
Gold Paladins : 5
Royal Paladins: 10
Shadow Paladins: 3
Kagero: 16
Oracle Think Tank: 2
Nova Grappler: 1
Neo Nectar: 1
Spike Brothers: 2
Narukami: 1
Notice a pattern here? Yes, the dominating decks for the current metagame, despite the release of Limit Breakers, is still Royal Paladins and Kagero, with 10 and 16 appearances each out of a total of 41 decks.
Gold Paladins netted 5 top-four appearances, winning 3 of them.
1 appearance against 4. Which you will you choose?
From the deck types used by the GP players, it seems like Blonde Ezel is way more efficient than Spectral Duke, possibly because of his LB skill that can hit super hard and his speed (Superior Ride) to pressure their opponents early.
On the other hand, although GP seems to be slowly stealing the spotlight, Kagero still defends its throne as the most stable deck out there in the current metagame, with 16 top-four appearances.
I'm still one of the best!
Basically in every category, you'll be able to find a Kagero deck there. Though they might not win as much as previously, they sure can maintain their places in the top spots. Dragonic Overlord The End is a card that should never be looked down at.
Royal Paladins using the Majesty Blasters build comes in as the 2nd most preferred deck after Kagero, occupying a quarter of the total decks in all three regionals.
12k and Double-Critical is still better than a 10k in defense
With the advantage of a permanent 12k power and double-Critical, MLB seems to be a more viable choice compared to their successors, Gold Paladins, mostly because of their offensive and defensive capabilities.
Shadow Paladins doesn't seem to appear much, with only 3 top-fours. This might be caused of the emergence of GP, and people opting for more stable decks like Kagero or RP.
Older decks made their appearances back in the spotlight, such as Spike Brothers, Oracles and Nova Grapplers. Thanks to the Limit Breaker Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor, Spike Brothers might net themselves a space in the competitive environment again.
Prepare for Gallows Ball again cos' we're back, better that before!
Here you go, a short analysis of the Japanese metagame for the Fighter's Road 2012 Japanese Regionals. I guess we might be able to see similar results in the upcoming regionals from other places. As for our Malaysian metagame? It's still quite diversed, but the mainstream decks still proves to be a formidable force yet to be taken down by newcomers. Limit Breakers here still doesn't perform that well (player skill problem?) and Kagero/RP is still the biggest winner in tournaments.
That's all for the moment. Until next time, this is Homura signing out.
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