Archived/Featured Cards Spotlight (2012-2020)

__FORCETOC__Featured Cards Spotlight is the list of the previous cards for each month of the year. They are all gathered at this page.
==Featured Card no. 1==
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The KnightHero Swordius-Arthur
騎士の覇王ソーディアス・アーサー
For the first spirit of the month, we have the King of the Dark Knights. The Purple X-rare of BS17, The KnightHero Swordius-Arthur. At first look, The KnightHero Swordius-Arthur is a cost 12, level 3 spirit. It has 10000BP at level 1, 15000BP at level 2 and almighty 20000BP at level 3. Now some of you are thinking that the cost is too high. The high cost is no problem for this spirit. Due to fact this spirits is a burst, meaning all you have to lose a life. When your life is three or less than you can summon this spirits without having to pay the cost. The high BP of this spirit even at level 1 allows it to walk off the fires of red magic easily and cut apart most level 3 spirits. Its 20000BP at level 3 put this spirit on par with spirits like The Deity Catastrophedragon and even the level 4 spirits, The DragonHero Sieg-Yamato-Fried and The SwordHero Sieg-Susano-Fried.
Now we will take a look at Spirit's main effect, which can be used when it’s at level 2 or 3. This effect allows you to summon a spirit with Immortality from your trash without paying the cost when this Spirit attacks. It allows you to summon an army of Dark knights from your Trash and powerful spirits like The DragonPhoenixDeity Baaral. Because you're summoning another spirit, not refreshing a spirit, you can easily get pass white spirits that refresh when you refresh like The ShadowMoonDragon Strikewurm-Betelgeuse.
Now on to this spirit’s final effects, which can be used when it at level 3 and braved. This effect allows you to send one core from an opposing spirit to the void when this spirit Brave Attacks. This effect allows you to destroy most level 1 spirits or reduce the level of a spirit. If you brave this spirit with the brave, The KnightSnake Pendragon you will be removing two when you attack and these spirits can be two different spirits if you want. Even if this spirit is braved it doesn’t fear the brave killer, The StarSlayerDragon Darkwurm-Nova. Due to its High BP and when it’s not braved, the Starslayer will die quickly to it.With this spirit you truly can unleash an endless wave of immortal purple spirits that will grind you opponent’s life to nothing. But watch out of those Anti-Burst Green Cards and spirits like the The WolfMachineDeity Ragna-Fenrir which cost less and can have more BP then Swordius due to there effects.
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==Featured Card no. 2==
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The SuperHero Lord-Dragon-Saviour
超覇王ロード・ドラゴン・セイバー
For this month to celebrate the ending of Battle Spirits Heroes, We have the perfect hero. The red and white x-rare of BS18, The SuperHero Lord-Dragon-Saviour. At first look, The SuperHero Lord-Dragon Saviour is a cost 10, level 3 spirit. it has 10000BP at level 1, 130000BP at level 2 and 16000BP at Level 3. This Spirits BP allows it yo beat most other spirits with out of help from magic.
While this spirit has high BP it's effects make it a superhero. First we will have a look this cards Burst effect which is called Burst Tribute, first of all like lots of other Bursts, the burst activates after your life is decreased but to summon this spirt you also have to remove all the cores on 1 of your "Supreme Hero' spirits to the void, then you can move as many cores as you like from your field/reserve to your life, until you have up to 5 lives so the burst summon of this spirit comes at a higher cost then most bursts but you're able to gets all your lives back.
Now on to this spirits key effect. which can be used when it's at level or 3. when this spirits battles you can move 1 core from your life to this spirit, all your spirits get BP+5000 until end of turn. the extra BP this effects gives your spirits is good and who wouldn't want more BP. the killer part of this effects this first part then you can move 1 core from your life to spirits this effect, allows you to activate burst that activate when you life is decreased, so this spirits can unleash and huge number of burst against your opponent also with this effects this spirit can level up it's self to level three. 
Now this spirits last effect this to same The ExplosionHero Lord-Dragon-Bazzel , which means this spirits is refreshed when you activate a burst so most of time this spirits will be able to attack twice and because this spirits has double symbol your be able to take away four of your opponent's lives with spirit. Burst Saviour combo's well with this card allowing Saviour to attack to have the chance to attack many times and remove all of your opponent's life by it's self.
but you still have to watch out for green anti burst cards and remove not to use this cards main effect when you only have one live left. With his spirit your can lead the Dragon army which have to power of fire and ice on your opponent's.
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==Featured Card no. 3==
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The BlackInsectDemonlord Diabolica-Mantis黒蟲魔王ディアボリカ・マンティス
This month’s spirit comes from the recent BS19, The BlackInsectDemonlord Diabolica-Mantis. It’s a spirit that would be a perfect fit for a High Speed-based deck.
First thing to note, if you’re playing green, the core boost should make it simple to get to its highest level. Only 3 cores are required, and it has 10000BP. Even at Level 1, it’s 6000 BP is enough to take out many weaker spirits.
Its LV1-LV2 effect is straightforward enough. Once it attacks, you can exhaust an opposing spirit. What a great way to lower the opponent’s defenses, then finish them in a sneak attack when you summon a spirit with High Speed in flash timing. 
Additionally, it has the rush effect. As long as you have a blue symbol on the field, after activating the LV1-LV2 effect, you can draw 2 cards and discard 2. Of course, it’s a gamble, but could be extremely beneficial. Also, a way to fill your hand with more High Speed spirits.
That brings us to the LV2 effect. When one of your spirits with High Speed decreases the opponent’s life, you can move an additional core from their life to their reserve.
So, in short, this card is a deadly three in one combo. Exhaust the defense, get High Speed spirits in your hand, and then wipe out your opponent’s life, two at a time. As shown in the Sword Eyes anime, fulfilling the rush condition is easy, with the new nexus, The Stronghold of the Demonic Insect, which has both a green and blue symbol. Combining this nexus with your spirit also gives you the chance to summon your High Speed spirits at no cost.
Of course, you still have to be careful, because there are plenty of spirits with even higher BP, and you might have to discard card's you'd rather hold onto, due to the rush effect. Still, if you play green, it’s a spirit worth trying out.
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==Featured Card no. 4==
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The Gigantic Thor巨神機トール
This month, rather than focusing on the latest cards, let’s go way back in time to BS02. The chosen spirit is the second white X-rare, The Gigantic Thor.
The spirit has a decent BP. 4000 at LV1, 6000 at LV2 and 8000 at LV3. It may not be able to stand up against stronger spirits without a BP boost, but fortunately, has a built in ability to do just that.
At any level, by exhausting an Armed Machine spirit you control, you can add that spirit’s BP to this spirit. A Thor-centric deck should definitely include many Armed Machines. Now, take the classic example of combining Thor with The Sacred Mjolnir. At its highest level, it has 7000BP. Exhaust that, and now Thor has 15000 BP. There are even stronger Armed Machine spirits too, including the 11000 BP The GoldenKnightLord Fin-Maclan. If played right, Thor can reach a dangerous BP.
At LV2 and LV3, Thor gains a powerful defensive ability. It may block a red spirit without becoming exhausted. Although this effect is useless against other colors, if your opponent uses a red-main deck, where high BP will likely be a threat, it’s a great way to restrict and annoy your opponent long enough to prepare a counter.
Thor’s LV3 effect is the most interesting. On your battle phase, by destroying an Armed Machine spirit you control, Thor can be refreshed. This allows Thor to attack many times within one turn. While white is known for its defensive abilities, this is a powerful offensive ability. but its still can be stop by Vacuum Symbol spell card, Blizzard wall etc.
Ultimately, having many Armed Machine spirits in your deck is a must, to utilize the full potential of the spirit. Without them, it won’t be particularly effective. Try mixing The Artifact Plant or The Infinite Mother Ship into your deck. Both can make other cards into Armed Machines in a pinch.
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==Featured Card no. 5==
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The BalanceDeity Libra-Golem 天秤造神リブラ・ゴレム
The featured card for this month is one of the 12 Zodiac X-Rares, The BalanceDeity Libra-Golem, from BS11.
It has a high cost of 8, with four blue reduction. However, it already has 6000BP from the get-go, to balance that out. At LV2, it reaches 8000BP and at LV3, 12000.
At all levels, this spirit has the special ability, Crush. When it attacks, cards are discarded from the opponent’s deck, equal to Libra-Golem’s level. Although Crush is nothing unique, as many blue spirits already possess it, it’s still extremely useful. Even with only three cards discarded at a time, max, it can whittle away at the opponents deck, until eventually they’re left with a deck out. Also, you may destroy key cards before your opponent can even draw them, which would certainly frustrate them.
There are two downsides to Crush, however. First, it may help uncover a key card, that your opponent never would have got to draw otherwise. Second, it’s easier to retrieve a card from your trash then it is from the middle of your deck. By throwing your opponent’s key cards away, they may be able to take them right back from their trash, to use against you.
At LV3, Libra-Golem gains a new effect, which has one downside, but enhances its Crush at the same time. If one or more spirit card is sent to the trash because of its Crush, Libra-Golem is refreshed. Therefore, it can attack as many times per turn as you want, limited only by the amount of spirits in your opponent’s deck. (And the number of spirits your opponent has with a higher BP to block it). Fortunately, Libra-Golem has a high BP at LV3. But if that’s not enough, keep some magic cards in your deck which can increase your BP in flash timing, such as Strong Draw.
The “downside” mentioned above is that Libra-Golem, once refreshed, can’t diminish your opponent’s life. The overwhelming plus is that you’ll likely be able to use Crush again and again, until your opponent is left with a deck out, or at least not much left to save them.
Mix Libra-Golem with other cards that possess crush to speed up the damage. You may also want to add spirits with blue charge, like The Warrior of Light Gaius to increase the number of cards you can discard with crush. The more cards Libra-Golem can discard at once, the higher your chances of one being a spirit, and the quicker your opponent will reach a deck-out.
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==Featured Card no. 6==
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The FlashDragonEmperor TheEnd-Dragonis
滅龍帝ジエンド・ドラゴニス
The featured card for this month is BS20’s red X-Rare, The FlashDragonEmperor TheEnd-Dragonis.
The spirit’s cost of 9 is a little daunting, but with its double symbol and the power it has, you can understand why. At least, it has 6 red reduction. Since red is a color commonly used for rush decks, getting a lot of spirits on the field to help out with the reduction shouldn’t be too big a struggle.
TheEnd-Dragonis is one of few spirits with a LV4. But even if you choose not to bring it up that far (again, a steep amount of core is required) it has a high BP even at LV1, with 9000. At LV2, it has 12000BP for 3 cores. At LV3, it has 16000BP for 5 cores. And of course, it reaches 20000 at LV4.
One way to help level up TheEnd-Dragonis is with its first effect, which it has at all levels. When your other spirits are destroyed, instead of moving the cores to your reserve, they’re moved to this spirit. With that technique, you could theoretically get the core to bring this spirit up to LV4 on your opponent’s turn, and then turn the tables with a high-BP blocker.
Similar to the famously powerful The PhantomStarDragon Gai-Asura, TheEndDragonis has the ability to refresh itself and attack many times. At LVs 2,3 and 4, if your spirits other than this spirit are blocked during your attack step, then TheEnd-Dragonis is refreshed. And if you use this in combination with its final effect, you can get even more refreshes.
At LV3 and LV4, after TheEnd-Dragonis attacks, you can destroy another spirit you control to refresh it. Although you can only use this effect 3 times per turn, that still gives you plenty of chances to utilize either the raw BP to annihilate your opponent’s defense, or its double symbol to cut away at the life. If combined with the above mentioned Gai-Asura, or its remade version, Slave-GaiAsura, both of which possess the ultra-awaken ability, who knows how many attacks you can get in on a given turn.
Of course, the weakness of TheEnd-Dragonis, and its multi-attack combo, is actually having enough spirits on your field to sacrifice for it. Combined with the core it takes to get TheEnd-Dragonis up to level three or four, you may not have enough to keep your field replenished. Its effect may be best used as a finishing combo. Of course, it couldn’t hurt to include some core-boost cards in a deck centered around this spirit.
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==Featured Card no. 7==
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The StrangeSeaCreatureGod Dist-Ruction
異海神ディスト・ルクシオン
This month’s featured card is BS21’s blue X-Rare, The StrangeSeaCreatureGod Dist-Ruction. It’s a powerful blue spirit which doesn’t rely on blue’s common abilities of deck-destruction and nexus-usage.
Dis-Trusction has a cost of 8, with 4 reduction. This seems quite fair, seeing that the spirit has a double-symbol, and no tribute is required to summon it.
At LV1, the spirit has 6000BP, which may not be hugely powerful, but it’s good for only the first level. For 2 core, it can be bought to LV2, which gives it 9000BP. At LV3, for 5 core, it has a grand total of 14000BP.
The StrangeSeaCreatureGod Dist-Ruction has a useful effect at all levels. When attacks, it can destroy 1 opposing spirit with a cost of 5 or less. As it’s not likely your opponent will have a field full of high-cost spirits, this ability would often be effective. It also might stop your opponent from summoning many low-cost spirits rashly, as they’ll know their spirits might be destroyed before they can even do any damage.
Also, Dist-Ruction has not one, but two Rush effects, which can activate as soon as it’s first effect is successful, and allow you to destroy additional opposing spirits. If you have a red symbol on your field, you can destroy 1 spirit with Charge. If you have a purple symbol, you can destroy an exhausted brave spirit. The downside is, these abilities would only be useful if you were battling an opponent who uses charge or braves prominently in their deck. They also require mixing other colors into your deck, which could pose problems in paying the cost, when you can’t rely on reduction.
This spirit’s final effect, at LV2 and LV3 is also an interesting one when combating a Brave user. It turns the brave costs of all opposing braves to 7 or more. Therefore, your opponent is greatly restricted on which spirits they can brave with. If you’ve wiped out much of their defense earlier with Dist-Ruction’s other effects, your opponent also might have a hard time getting the reduction to summon spirits with a cost of 7 or more.
Even though this card is significantly less effective against an opponent who doesn’t use braves, it still has it’s powerful BP and double symbol, to keep it as a strong, offensive spirit. If braved with a spirit that has a symbol (for example, The AbyssGiantSword Abyss-Apocalypse), or combined with a card like Double Hearts, you could take out three lives at once. This is also easier to do once the opponent’s defense is removed.
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==Featured Card no. 8==
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The LandBeastDeity Behemoth
陸獣神ベヒモス
This month’s featured card is a yellow X-Rare from BS21, The LandBeastDeity Behemoth. While yellow is known for looking cute, this is one terrifying spirit.
The spirit’s cost is 8, which is common for X-Rares. If that’s too daunting though, it has 5 reduction symbols, making it simple enough to summon in a mainly-yellow deck.
At LV1, it has 6000BP, which isn’t too special. At LV2, it has 12000 though, and it reaches 20000 by LV3. On top of that high BP, it also has a double symbol, making it strong both for battling spirits and targeting lives.
At all levels, this spirit has an effect on the attack step, which is to treat all opposing spirits as being at level one. Since it has this effect even at LV1, when its own BP is somewhat weak, this could be helpful for weakening spirits that have a high BP. It could also be nice to use in combination with cards like Angel Voice and Magia Geflüster, which instantly destroy the spirit with a lower level, regardless of BP. Note that the effect is active for the whole attack step, not just when Behemoth attacks, so your other spirits could also benefit.
When Behemoth attacks at LV2 and LV3, it can’t be blocked by opposing spirits with only 1 core on them. That way, you can take lives faster if your opponent isn’t sure to load core on their spirits. And it might feel like a waste to them, when they’ll all be treated as LV1 anyway when you attack. Factoring in that this spirit has a double symbol, this effect can help you take out lives fast.
The spirit also has a rush effect, which can activate one it’s LV2-LV3 effect is successful. When you have a green symbol on your field, all opposing spirits with a cost of 4 or less are exhausted. Therefore, your chance of taking lives with this spirit is increased further.
Though you’ll have to mix some green into your deck to get the full rush effect, this spirit is quite a dangerous force regardless. It may also be useful in a deck mixed with purple, as there are cards such as Cobraiga and The PhantomDragon Sheyron, which can remove all but 1 core from an opposing spirit. Thus, Behemoth’s LV2-LV3 effect can be used to full potential.
When using this spirit, you still have to be cautious during your opponent’s turn, because then, their spirits will be treated at whatever their actual level is. Many yellow spirits don’t have a very high BP, so if you’re using a yellow-main deck, you may become more vulnerable at this point.
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==Featured Card no. 9==
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The DarkDragon Dark-Tyrannosaura
闇龍ダーク・ティラノザウラー
This month’s featured card is SD17’s red X-Rare spirit, The DarkDragon Dark-Tyrannosaura. It’s a dark, Terra Dragon spirit.
Dark-Tyrannosaura has a cost of 6, with 3 reduction. That’s relatively low for an X-Rare, though the spirit only has one symbol, as opposed to some of the other more recent X-Rares.
It has 5000BP at level one. Once it has three cores, it reaches level two, with 7000BP. Add one more core to bring it to level three, where it has 10000BP. The BP is decent, but also may seem weak compared to other X-Rare spirits. You may want to add some cards to boost its BP, like the red nexus, The Dark Galaxy of Dust, which increases the BP or Terra Dragon spirits by 3000.
At all levels, when this spirit attacks, it can destroy 1 opposing spirit with an equal or lower BP than it. This gives you more incentive to increase the BP, because of course, the higher it is, the better the spirit you can destroy. Regardless, it’s a useful effect for clearing the opponent’s field of defense.
Increasing the BP has one more benefit. If the [LV1][LV2][LV3] effect is successful, you can activate the rush effect. With Dark-Tyrannosaura’s rush, when only the opposing spirit is destroyed by comparing BP, you can move one core from your opponent’s life to their reserve. That way, even if you’re unable to take a life with Dark-Tyrannosaura’s attack, you can inflict damage to your opponent’s life anyway. A green symbol is required to activate this effect. That makes the above mentioned nexus, The Dark Galaxy of Dust, even more compatible with this spirit, because it has both red and green symbols. To meet this condition, you could also try a low cost spirit like Pinacochasaurus or DarkDinonychusaw. Both are also treated as being green.
To help out in boosting your BP, this spirit can increase the BP of all your Terra Dragon spirits by 3000. The effect activates during your attack step, at LV2 and LV3. That brings your LV3 BP up to 13000, and if you combine it with The Dark Galaxy of Dust, 16000. Now, the other two effects of this spirit will seem much stronger.
Another interesting idea, if you’re playing a Terra Dragon-based deck, is to include the BS02 X-Rare, The TwinRowdy Diranos. This spirit can give all your Terra Dragon’s evolution, and an additional 1000BP. With Evolution’s power to move around the cores on your own spirits in flash timing, it’s possible to utilize the full potential of all your spirits in a turn. It will certainly help to overwhelm your opponent. Of course, Diranos has an even higher cost than Dark-Tyrannosaura, so it may not be easy to get both of them on your field.
Just watch out for a white deck. Immunity and Invincibility could counter Dark-Tyrannosaura’s [LV1][LV2][LV3] effect.
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==Featured Card no. 10==
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The SeaEmperorGiant Duranzam
海皇巨神デュランザム
The featured card for this month is the blue X-Rare from BS22, The SeaEmperorGiant Duranzam. It’s the second blue spirit to possess the terrifying Great Demolish effect.
Duranzam’s cost is 10. It gets up to 6 blue cost reduction. It has one blue symbol.
Aside from the effects of this spirit, its very high BP helps make up for the high cost. At LV1, it has 7000BP. Four core bring it to LV2, where it has 15000BP. Finally, with six core it reaches LV3, and a brutal 20000BP.
As mentioned above, this spirit has the Great Demolish effect at levels 1-3. It is similar to blue’s signature crush effect, but even more powerful. The effect reads, “For every [LV] this Spirit has, move 5 cards from the top of your opponent's deck to the trash. If a [Burst] effect card has been sent to the trash by this effect, destroy 1 spirit your opponent controls.” Even at level one, you can destroy 5 cards, more than the maximum of three seen on spirits with crush. Bring this spirit to level three, and that’s 15 cards annihilated at once, a good chunk of your opponent’s deck. There’s a very good reason Great Demolish is such a rare keyword. Just imagine the possibilities when you combine this with blue charge. If the mass deck destruction isn’t enough, you have the chance of dealing additional damage to your opponent just by taking out a burst card.
But that’s not all. With this spirits second [LV1][LV2][LV3] effect, all your spirits in the “Fighting Spirit” family get +5000BP. This card is practically made to be in a Fighting Spirit deck. As mentioned above, it would go excellently with blue charge, an effect given to many Fighting Spirits starting at BS19. If you boost the strength of your other spirits, hopefully they can stay on the field longer, and give you the extra charge you need.
And, if this spirit wasn’t terrifying enough, it has another effect, starting at LV2. All your non-braved cost 5 or more Spirits in the family "Fighting Spirit" gets "Great Demolish". Simply horrifying. Having one spirit that can discard 15 cards is evil. Having more than one… well, you get the picture. The SeaPrince Eon and The SeaEmperor Ivan are two good cost 5 Fighting Spirits you might want to include.
Duranzam seems to exceed BS15’s The IronHero Saigord-Golem. Though, Saigord has a cost of only 8, and the possibility to summon it for free using its burst effect, so it’s potentially an easier card to play.
While using SeaEmperorGiant Duranzam, you still have to watch out for the increasing number of cards that can oppose deck destruction. For example, the purple spirit The Magician Hakuja and the yellow field magic Divine Field. Both can prevent cards from being discarded completely, as long as they’re on the field.
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==Featured Card no. 11==
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The DarkKingMachineBeast Darkness-Griffon
黒皇機獣ダークネス・グリフォン
This month’s featured card is the white X-Rare of BS22, The DarkKingMachineBeast Darkness-Griffon. It’s a dark, Machine Beast spirit.
Darkness-Griffon has a cost of 8, with four white reduction, and one white symbol.
In terms of BP, the spirit starts out well, having 7000 BP at LV1. Adding one more core brings it to LV2, where it has 10000BP. With four core, it reaches LV3, and has 14000BP. Its final BP is decent, but still inferior to some other X-Rare spirits. On the plus side, it costs only four core to bring Darkness-Griffon to its highest level, so you’ll likely have some core left over to play with.
When this spirit is summoned, at any level, you can return up to two of your opponent’s spirits to their hand. As there are no limits on the cost or BP of these spirits, this is a great opportunity to get your opponent’s X-rares out of the way, at least for a turn. You might be able to use this opening to take out a life or two as well.
Afterwards, using the spirits rush effect, you can draw two cards from the deck. You must have a purple symbol on your field for this to work.
This spirit gets an additional effect when braved, at levels two and three. When it battles, you can refresh this spirit once per turn. This effect can help not just with defense, but with offense as well.
After you activate the previous effect, Darkness-Griffon has yet another rush. This time, while you have a purple symbol, you can send two cores from opposing spirits to your opponent’s trash. If you’re lucky enough, you can deplete a spirit this way, but it could at least help level down an obstacle in your way.
There are numerous ways to ensure you can use this spirit’s rush. First, you could try combining Darkness-Griffon with a purple brave (assuming it has a symbol.) That way, you can utilize both the rush and the “When Braved” effect. Hedgebolg could be a useful brave to try, because when it brave attacks, and destroys the opposing spirit by comparing BP, all cores from the destroyed spirit are send to the void. Using this in combination with Darkness-Griffon’s effect to attack twice per turn, you could potentially send all cores from two opposing spirits to the void.
Second, you could use a nexus such as The Floating Island on the Mercury Sea. It has both purple and white reduction and symbols, making it compatible with a white-main deck. It also has a nice LV2 effect, which can give the keyword “Invincibility” to all your white and purple spirits.
Lastly, there’s Yaiba’s method of braving the spirit with The MidnightSunTreasuredSword Midnight-Sun, which allows you to activate any rush, ignoring the condition. Also, you’ll add 5000BP to Griffon once they’re braved.
This spirit isn’t all that special on its own. You really need to use it in combination with a brave and purple symbols to utilize its full potential. Otherwise, it doesn’t have any other effects after the turn it’s summoned. Even when you can activate all its power, you have to be careful of high BP opposing spirits, or any effects that might send Darkness-Griffon back to the hand or to the trash.
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==Featured Card no. 12==
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The DragonEmperor Siegfried
龍皇ジークフリード
For this month, we’ll go all the way back in time to BS01 and review The DragonEmperor Siegfried, Battle Spirit’s first X-Rare.
Siegfried, an Ancient Dragon, has a cost of 6 and three reduction. It has one symbol. The cost is relatively low for an X-Rare. It should not be too hard to summon in a red-main deck.
Siegfried has 4000BP at LV1, 6000BP at LV2 (for two core) and 10000BP at LV3 (for 5 core). While 10000BP seemed nice for its time, it feels rather low when compared to later X-Rares. It’s fair for the reasonable cost, though.
At all levels, Siegfried has the keyword Awaken (Evolution in Bandai’s release). With this effect, cores can be moved to it from your other spirits, in the flash step. It isn’t that Awaken is a bad effect. In fact, when used in a deck with many other Awaken spirits, it could be quite lethal. It’s just that it’s an effect plenty of other spirits have. For an X-Rare, Siegfried probably should’ve had something a little more special, or at least a second effect to enhance its Awaken.
Siegfried has one other effect at LV3 only. When it’s destroyed, you can gain one life. Of course, this could be quite useful in a pinch. As compensation for losing your X-Rare, you at least have the security of an extra life. But again, it seems somewhat lackluster nowadays, when Holy Life allows you to gain lives without having to sacrifice any spirits. On the other hand, red spirits that can increase your life are still pretty rare.
As mentioned above, Siegfried works best in an Awaken deck. Since there haven’t been many cards with the keyword released in later sets, Siegfried isn’t a very compatible card with newer Burst or Charge/Rush based decks. Though, there are cards such as Spirit Link and The Ruby Empty Sky, for example, that can give your spirits Awaken.
Another card which is great for a Siegfried or Awaken-centric deck is the red nexus, The Plateau of Duel, which allows you to refresh spirits with Awaken on your opponent’s turn.
So, in conclusion, with just a decent BP and lack of particularly unique effects, the first X-Rare doesn’t fare too well when compared with newer ones. Still, Siegfried can be an effective card when mixed with the right kind of deck. It will just take a bit more creativity to make it work as your key card in a modern deck, unless Awaken gets more support in future sets.
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==Featured Card no. 13==
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The WhiteSnakeEmperor Aldius-Viper
白蛇帝アルデウス・ヴァイパー
This month's featured card is The WhiteSnakeEmperor Aldius-Viper, the purple X-Rare from BS23. It’s a light spirit.
Aldius-Viper, a Dark Snake, has a cost of 10. This may seem rather high, but it does have six purple reduction to make it easier to summon, as well as a double symbol.
The spirit has 8000BP at level one. Adding two more core brings it to level two, with 9000BP. When Aldius-Viper has 5 cores, it’s at level three, with 10000BP. That amount isn’t too impressive for the max BP a cost 10 spirit. But on the other hand, the fact that it already has 8000BP when at LV1 is quite nice.
When Aldius-Viper is summoned at any level, it has an effect. You can send three cores from any opposing spirits to your opponent’s reserve. For each spirit bought to zero core, you add 1 core to your reserve. With potential for both removing your opponent’s core and getting core boost for yourself at once, this is a useful effect. When used in a deck specializing in purple charge, it’s a move that could turn the game around in a single turn.
Core removal is this spirits’ specialty, which its LV2-LV3 effect also shows. When it attacks, you can move one core from your opponent’s field to their reserve.
At LV3, this spirit has charge, which lets you increase the number of cores moved from the field to the reserve by one. Of course, this doesn’t just apply to Aldius-Viper, but any other spirits you have that would remove core.
When used in a purple charge deck, as mentioned above, this spirit can be used to its full potential, and feels well worth the cost. BP probably won’t be much of an issue, because if you continuously remove your opponent’s core, you can either deplete them or at least lower their levels.
The WhiteSnakeSwordsSaint Albinaga is another useful card to mix with Aldius-Viper. It doesn’t have charge, but it does have a core removal effect. Additionally, if you destroy a brave fused with Albinaga (and this spirit is compatible with any and all purple braves), you can subtract that brave’s cost from Aldius-Viper’s cost, making it easier to summon. Wingwinder is another spirit specifically designed to lower Aldius-Viper’s cost.
Even if you focus on removing your opponent’s cores, you still may want to look out for green decks which specialize in core boost. Red charge decks might also be a threat, given that Aldius-Viper has only 10000BP.
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==Featured Card no. 14==
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Ultimate-Siegfried
アルティメット・ジークフリード
This month, the featured card is an Ultimate. Ultimate-Siegfried, of SD19.
Ultimate-Siegfried is an Incarnate, as well as an Ancient Dragon. It has a cost of six, and three red reduction. It has one gold symbol. The gold symbol means that it is an Ultimate. Therefore, it is not treated as a spirit. This makes Ultimate-Siegfried immune to any effects which would target spirits. On the downside, this also includes positive spirit-targeting effects. Also, it can't be braved, and you can’t use the gold symbol for cost reduction.
Ultimate Siegfried starts at level three, with 10000BP. Its next level is four, where is has 14000BP. Finally, at level five, it has 20000BP. Aside from this high BP, Ultimate-Siegfried (and other Ultimates) can also reach levels beyond that of ordinary spirits.
One catch of Ultimates is that they have a summon condition, aside from the normal summoning method of paying the proper cost. In this card’s case, it’s very simple. You must have one or more red spirits on your field.
At levels 3, 4 and 5, this card has the Ultimate-Trigger effect. When it hits, your opponent must block, if possible. However, Ultimates don’t have to block. If this attack is blocked, you can move one of your opponent’s lives to their reserves. This effect is extremely efficient. Not only does it essentially give this card Clash, but you also get the chance to take out an opposing spirit and life in one attack. The trigger for this effect to successfully activate is to move one card from your opponent’s deck to their trash. The card must have a lower cost than this Ultimate. Since Ultimate-Siegfried’s cost is six, it’s likely you’ll succeed. If not, well, you’ve discarded one of your opponent’s high cost cards, which might put them at a disadvantage. This is one powerful effect.
At levels four and five, this card gets yet another new ability, called True-Evolution. When it attacks, by moving one core from spirits you control to this Ultimate, Ultimate-Siegfried gets +3000BP. This gives it a variant on yet another past red ability, Evolution, with the added bonus of BP boost.
Right now, this card is pretty powerful and dangerous, by virtue of being an Ultimate. It is immune to spirit-targeting effects, as mentioned above, and it has the powerful Ultimate-Trigger effect. However, because Ultimates are new, it still doesn’t have much support yet. The same can be said about the "incarnate" family. Even Ancient Dragon support cards are designed for spirits, not Ultimates. As more Ultimate-centric sets are released in the upcoming year, we’ll have to see if this card becomes even more lethal, or falls behind better cards like its predecessor, The DragonEmperor Siegfried.
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==Featured Card no. 15==
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The True Sword of Judgment Truth-Eden
真・裁きの神剣トゥルース・エデン
This month, we’ll look at a brave card for the first time, The True Sword of Judgment Truth-Eden. Released in BS23, it was excluded from the Sword Eyes anime in favor of the alternate The Sword of Judgment Re-Genesis.
Truth-Eden has a cost of six, and while the brave’s symbol is red, it has one reduction for each color. However, you must pay at least a cost of one to summon it, even in the unlikely case that you have a card of every other color on your field. Although it lacks a double symbol like the other version, you can still at least get one more symbol by combining it with a spirit.
Truth-Eden has 10000BP by itself, which is high for a brave. After it’s braved, though, it can only give +6000BP to the spirit it’s combined with. That’s a bit of a let-down, but still decent.
Its effect when summoned is a useful one. It allows you to summon any amount of Sword Master spirit or  Exalted Sword brave from your hand without paying their cost. However, you can’t activate their “When Summoned” effect. This will be particularly useful if you want to summon a high-cost Sword Master, such as The TenSwordsSaint Starblade-Dragon (cost 8) or The BladeStar Messiah-Dragon (cost 9). Neither of those cards have a When Summoned effect either, so you’re not missing out on anything. On the other hand, it could be a waste if you summon a card like The ShiningSacredSword Shining-Sword, which has a potentially very powerful effect when summoned.
The True Sword of Judgment has one more effect when braved. When it brave attacks, you can send 1 opposing burst to the trash, then destroy 1 opposing spirit. With no limits to the cost or BP of this spirit, this effect is potentially extremely powerful. Sadly, it won’t do you any good against Ultimates though. It is also only good if your opponent uses bursts. Though no bursts were released during the Sword Blade saga, where this card came from, they have been making a comeback in the Ultimate Battle saga, giving you more opportunities to make use of this effect.
When comparing this card to The Sword of Judgment Re-Genesis, in some ways it’s better and in some ways it’s worse. One of its strengths is that it can be braved to any spirit with a cost of 5 or more, while Re-Genesis is restricted to a cost of 8 or more. Additionally, you do not need to discard any cards in your hand to summon Truth-Eden, and it has a higher BP in spirit condition. Re-Genesis, on the other hand, has a higher BP when braved, and it also has a double symbol.
Given that this card is decent while in spirit condition, an interesting card to mix it with might be The ShadowMoonSwordsSaint Amalthea. It can give Exalted Sword Braves Holy Life while in spirit condition, and when it’s braved, your spirit condition braves can’t be blocked by LV1/LV3 opposing spirits. Amalthea’s cost isn’t too high, and she’s a Sword Master herself, so you could summon one for free with Truth-Eden’s effect when summoned too.
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==Featured Card no. 16==
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Ultimate-Mikafarアルティメット・ミカファール
This month’s featured card is the yellow X-Rare for BS24, Ultimate-Mikafar. It’s another remake of the original legendary X-Rare, The ArcAngelia Mikafar. This time, though, it’s an Ultimate.
Utlimate-Mikafar has a cost of 6 and three yellow reduction. As a summon condition, you need at least one yellow spirit on your field. Like all Ultimates, it has one Ultimate symbol.
She has 10000BP at LV3, 14000 at LV4, for two core, and 20000 at LV5, for four core. Although not the strongest of Ultimates in terms of raw power, this BP still will give it an advantage over many spirits.
At all levels, Ultimate-Mikafar has an Ultimate-Trigger effect. In this case, if it hits, when your magic effects return one or more opposing spirits to the hand or deck, you can send a core from your opponent’s life to the reserve. Unsurprisingly, yellow’s U-Trigger requires magic use to function. Although it’s not as straightforward as some Ultimate-Trigger effects, it has the potential to be really lethal. Especially because 6 is a fairly high cost, so odds are good that it will hit.
Fortunately, you have plenty of options of magic to use to fulfill the condition. For example, Ultimate Plasma, also from BS24. This lets you send two opposing spirits to the bottom of the deck. Although regardless of the number of spirits you move, you can only decrease one opposing life, this effect could help you get two spirits out of the way for potentially the entire game. Even without Ultimate-Mikafar, it’s a great magic to use. However, you need to have an ultimate as a condition to play it, which is why the two go hand in hand. Note though, that it has a cost of 12. There are plenty of cheaper options, like Dream Ribbon or Dream Horizon.
Mikafar’s LV4-LV5 attack is also designed to help you in using magic. You can play magic from your hand or removed from game area in flash timing without paying the cost. Worried about cost 12 Ultimate Plasma? Worry no more. Of course, you don’t just have to this effect for magic compatible with your Ultimate-Trigger. It can be used for other costly but lethal magic, such as the flash effect of Crush of Supernova, or Solar Breaker’s +6000BP increase. Since you’re playing the magic for free, this encourages mixing colors. There’s no reduction to worry about.
That second effect is a slightly toned-down version of the original Mikafar’s dangerous ability. Even in its weakened state, it’s still pretty scary.
The main thing you have to look out for is magic prevention abilities, such as the effect of The Forgotten Triumphal Arch. Despite all the strengths of ultimates, other effects on the field could prevent you from actually moving opposing cards back to their hand or deck to begin with.
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==Featured Card no. 17==
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Ultimate-Grand-Wodenアルティメット・グラン・ウォーデン
The card of the month is Ultimate-Grand-Woden from the upcoming BS25. One of the scariest ultimates yet, it’s a remake of the X-Rare The WingDeity Grand-Woden.
Ultimate-Grand-Woden is an Armed Machine and Incarnate. It has a cost of 8 and four white cost reduction. Of course, it has one ultimate symbol. Its BP is 15000 at LV3, 20000 at LV4 and 30000 at LV5.
Unlike its predecessor, Ultimate-Grand-Woden does not need a tribute to be summoned. But like all ultimates, it has a simple summon-condition (in this card’s case, you need at least one white spirit on your field.)
At levels three, four and five, it has Ultimate-Trigger. Grand-Woden’s cost of 8 allows for a very large range of cards to be hits. As the effect reads, you must choose a number of opposing spirits matching the value on the card discarded. Those spirits remain on the field. Any others are returned to the bottom of your opponent’s deck. With an effect like that, a lower cost would be preferable, to maximize the number of cards you can send to the deck. But, this spirit also has “Critical Hit,” which balances it out a little more in your favor. With its critical hit effect, when the hit card has a cost of 3 or more, you can return three opposing spirits to the hand. So one way or another, you’re likely to clear at least something off your opponent’s field. That makes it easier to take lives, and an Armed Machine deck often has the ability to make many attacks in a turn, increasing the amount of lives you can take.
Grand-Woden gets an additional effect at level five. By exhausting one of your armed machines, you can discard one opposing set burst. Great if you’re against a burst deck, pointless otherwise.
So, as mentioned above, this card is a great addition to an Armed Machine deck. When combined in a deck with a card like the original Grand-Woden, or The Gigantic Thor, both of which can refresh by exhausting or destroying your Armed Machines, you’ll be able to keep on attacking. Similarly, if you use refresh magic such as Regain or White Potion, and spirits that have white Charge, you’ll be able to refresh many spirits at once, and it’s probably less costly than using one of the expensive X-Rares listed.
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==Featured Card no. 18==
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Darkwurm-Nova-Remnantダークヴルム・ノヴァ・レムナント
This month’s featured card is not an X-Rare for once. It’s Darkwurm-Nova-Remnant of BS25. It’s based off of the infamous brave killer spirit, The StarSlayerDragon Darkwurm-Nova.
This purple spirit is part of the Astral Dragon and Nightling families. It has a cost of eight and four reduction. Its BP is 7000 at LV1, 10000 at LV2 for three cores, and 13000 at LV3 for four cores.
Like the original Darkwurm-Nova, this card is also not nice to braves. With its effect when summoned at any level, it destroys all braves on all brave spirits. This does include your own braves, of course, so you have to be careful. Nonetheless, it’s a very useful effect that could suddenly turn the game around if your opponent uses braves.
Also, at levels 1,2 and 3, it has an effect stating that all spirits cannot brave fuse. So not only does it undo any braves your opponent may have had out on the field, but as long as Remnant remains in play, your opponent can’t brave again.
So, this spirit is deadly enough in terms of its anti-brave effects, but its effect at levels 2 and 3 gives it even more potential. First, it can target attack an exhausted opposing spirit. Additionally, when you have an ultimate on your field, this spirit gets +10000BP when it attacks. That’s an enormous increase. Also, since ultimates can’t brave, if you’re using this card in an ultimate-centric deck, you don’t really have to worry about the field-effecting anti-brave abilities this card has.
So even though this card isn’t an X-Rare, it’s nasty. The summon cost is a bit high, but fair for the effects it has. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that it has a double symbol.
Also, if you have enough core to play Darkwurm-Nova-Remnant in combination with The StarSlayerDragon Darkwurm-Nova, you can do even more to counter a brave deck. The StarSlayerDragon’s effect says that braves can’t be in spirit form. So that means, your opponent can’t use brave cards at all.
This card is best in an Ultimate deck. A good ultimate to mix it with would be Ultimate-Beelzebeat. Beelzebeat’s Ultimate-Trigger allows you to summon a purple spirit from your trash at no cost. So if Remnant gets destroyed, you could bring it back for free.
This card doesn't have major weaknesses, but it obviously isn’t good to use in a brave-deck of your own, and probably would be best in a purple-main deck to deal with the cost reduction.
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==Featured Card no. 19==
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Ultimate-Gai-Asuraアルティメット・ガイ・アスラ
This month’s featured card is BS25’s red X-Rare ultimate, Ultimate-Gai-Asura. It’s a remake of The PhantomStarDragon Gai-Asura
Back in BS10 the original Gai-Asura came as a shock, because it reached a BP and level higher than any card yet. Its ultimate version does the same, having a level 6, and a total of 50000BP. This ultimate’s lowest level is LV3, where it has 15000BP. For three core, it reaches LV4, and 25000BP. LV5 requires five cores, and it gets 35000BP. To reach that 50000BP, you’ll need a grand total of 10 core. This ultimate isn’t that cheap. It also has a cost of 8 to summon it, though it has four red reduction. Interestingly, though, the cost is slightly lower than the original Gai-Asura’s.
This ultimate’s summon condition is the same as usual. You need one red spirit on your field.
Though the ultimate has a lethal BP that can destroy nearly everything, it’s not without a catch. This is shown in its Ultimate-Trigger effect, which activates at all levels. When it hits, you have to move all cores from each spirit you control onto Ultimate-Gai-Asura. If one or more cores were moved by this effect, you can send one core from your opponent’s life to their reserve. Although being able to take out extra lives is useful, it could be counterproductive to deplete all your spirits in the process. You need to have other spirits on your field to keep using this effect, so you’ll have to keep a consistent supply. And Ultimate-Gai-Asura probably won’t sustain you alone, when the turn shifts to your opponent, and you’re left with nothing to block with.
But, note that the text specifically indicates “spirits.” If you have any ultimates on your field, you don’t have to take core from them. You’ll almost certainly need a good amount of ultimates in your deck to make the most out of Ultimate-Gai-Asura. Another idea is to use this in combination with High Speed spirits, so you can bring out more attackers/blockers in flash timing, when their core won’t have to be removed.
If the card discarded by Ultimate-Trigger is a spirit, then it’s a critical hit. When this happens, you can return a spirit from your trash to your hand. This is another way to ensure you have enough spirits.
Just because this card isn’t powerful enough, it gets another effect at levels 4-6. Just like the original Gai-Asura, all cores from any spirit it destroys when it attacks are sent to the void. So, while you may have trouble keeping enough spirits on the field, so will your opponent, due to lack of core.
Another good thing about Ultimate-Gai-Asura is that any core which is moved to it due to Ultimate-Trigger can be re-distributed. The old Gai-Asura was stuck with the core you moved to it.
So, although this ultimate is one that needs to be played carefully, to get around its weakness, it’s still pretty overpowered, especially when used in a deck with other ultimates. It’s stronger than the original Gai-Asura, and has the benefits of being an ultimate itself, which makes it immune to many effects.
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==Featured Card no. 20==
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The ScorpioKnight Scor-Spear天蠍神騎スコル・スピア
In the wake of the Reverse 12 Zodiac Braves appearing, this month we’ll look at one the classic 12 Zodiac X-Rares, which has a rather unique effect. BS10’s The ScorpioKnight Scor-Spear.
A blue spirit, it has the relatively low (for an X-Rare at least) cost of 5, two blue reduction, and a blue symbol. In terms of BP, it has 5000 at LV1. At LV2, it has 9000, for four core, and at LV3, it has 11000 for six core. Though not the most enormous BP, if you can get this card out early in the game, and bring the BP up, there’s still a good chance of dealing some heavy damage.
At all levels, this spirit has the following effect: All your LV1 spirit form braves are treated as being in the Fusion Beast and Galaxian families, having a cost of 5, and having 7000BP at LV1. Now, the first reaction to this effect might be, “Huh?” Why these random numbers and families? What’s the benefit of this? Well, there could be both benefit and harm to this, but mostly, it’s benefit. If your braves had a higher cost than 5 to begin with, you might leave them more vulnerable to cards with cost destroy effects. But on the other hand, if you raise the cost, you could be protecting them.
Secondly, giving your braves 7000BP in spirit form is always useful. Though still not exceptionally high, it’s an increase to practically any brave (though there is The True Sword of Judgment Truth-Eden, which would be weakened from its 10000BP in spirit form.)
Now, turning your brave into a Fusion Beast/Galaxian (the same families of Scor-Spear itself) is useful, because if you’re using Scor-Spear in a deck which mainly supports either of those families, you can now support any brave as long as they’re in spirit form too. You could put The TenSwordSaint Brud-Sainos in your deck, which not only gets a BP increase itself for each Fusion Beast on your field, but by destroying your fusion beasts, it can counter bursts. The Ruins of the Seabed can give an extra symbol to your Fusion Beasts (assuming they had a symbol in the first place).
Then, of course, there’s Scor-Spear’s LV2-LV3 effect. All your Galaxian and Astral Soul spirits get the effect: (When Attacks) Destroy an opposing non-brave spirit with a cost less than or equal to this spirit. Of course, this applies to all your Spirit form Braves, due to the first effect. Because Scor-Spear is a Galaxian, the effect applies to it as well. And in addition, when it’s braved, its own cost will increase.
So, this is a spirit which is useful for support as well as combat. It’s obviously a spirit which wouldn’t go well in any kind of deck, but for a brave deck it could be quite helpful. Also note that Scor-Spear’s low cost itself will put it in danger from some cost-destroy cards. It’s not just your braves you have to look out for.
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==Featured Card no. 21==
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The PiscesAstralArmored BravePisces双魚星鎧ブレイヴピスケス
This month’s featured card will be a Reverse 12 Zodiac Brave, The PiscesAstralArmored BravePisces. It’s of course based on The PirateDeity Piscegalleon.
The card has a cost of seven and four purple reduction. It has no symbols. Its BP in spirit form is 6000, but when braved, it can only add +4000BP. Sort of disappointing, but at least it has some decent effects to make up for the BP and lack of symbols. It’s not a card for making aggressive attacks, but one for eliminating ultimates. Also, its brave condition is a spirit with a cost of 3 or more, creating many possibilities.
Its effect at level one is similar to Piscegalleon’s, but with a twist. When this brave is summoned, you can remove one core from all opposing spirits and ultimates to your opponent’s reserve. For each ultimate depleted by the effect, you can draw one card. Unlike Piscegalleon, only your opponent can lose cores due to this effect, so you don’t need to worry about depleting any of your own spirits/ultimates. Additionally, now the effect can hurt ultimates. With ultimates being immune to most effects, its great to finally be getting some specifically designed to combat them. Finally, it gives them more weaknesses. With this effect, while you may not be lucky enough to deplete any, there’s a good chance you’ll level them down. With the brutally high BP of some ultimates, that could leave you the opening you need to try and defeat one on that turn.
Its effect when braved is a fun one. By discarding one purple card from your hand, destroy one exhausted opposing ultimate. Note that this can be any ultimate, regardless of cost or BP, so X-Rares are fair game. This effect, of course, discourages your opponent from attacking or blocking with their ultimates, or they’ll be left exhausted and vulnerable. BravePisces effect when summoned might do the same, if their BP becomes too low. It may increase your chances of being able to attack the life. Or, if you want to ensure more ultimates are exhausted, you might want to include cards like Neo-Binding Thorn or Binding Scale in your deck. Of course, both these cards are green and have a high cost of 7, so unless you’re using a mixed color deck, they may not be practical. And you'll want to make sure you have enough purple cards so you can discard them for BravePisces effect.
There are a couple spirits that seem like good bets to brave with this card. First, The CorpseDustGeneral Mukuro. With Mukuro’s effect, you can even summon BravePisces at no cost, and then remove a core from an opposing ultimate to the trash. This could be very useful combined with Brave Pisces effect when summoned. Also, with Mukuro’s effect when braved, your opponent must discard one magic card from their hand in order to block. Another possibility is Queen-Nightmare. It could annoy ultimate-users, because with its effect when braved, your opponent must move one core from their life to their reserve if they wish to block with an ultimate. Queen-Nightmare has a BP or 15000 at LV3, and when braved with Brave-Pisces, it would reach 19000. Your opponent will definitely need strong blockers to oppose it, and if they can’t use their ultimates without the big risk of losing a life it will bring them difficulties.
So the most obvious downside to Brave-Pisces is the fact that it does not have a symbol. With many ways to discourage your opponent from blocking with their ultimates, thus possibly leaving openings to the life, it would be much nicer if you could make a double symbol attack. Also, be careful of cards that may refresh your opponent's ultimates.
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==Featured Card no. 22==
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The KylinStarBeast Rean麒麟星獣リーン
Probably overdoing it with reviewing Zodiac this-and-that lately, so the featured card for this month is The KylinStarBeast Rean from BS13.
This card is a very unusual X-Rare. For starters, its cost is only two. It has one yellow reduction, and one symbol. Its BP at LV1 is 3000. At LV2, for two core, it gets 5000 and four core brings it to LV3, with 5000 BP. Obviously, that’s really low, but note that the card’s cost is also extremely low to go with it.
At all levels it has the following effect: When braving with this spirit, disregard the brave condition. In short, you can combine this spirit with any brave you want (short of those which say you can’t ignore the condition.) For example most of the new Ultimate-killer Zodiac Braves. The AriesAstralArmored AriesBrave is a good one for giving both anti-ultimate and anti-burst capabilities. The CancerAstralArmored BraveCancer’s effect will restrict your opponent’s ability to block, making it easier to damage the life with the low BP Rean.
At LV2 and LV3, The KylinStarBeast Rean gains an additional effect. When it’s destroyed, by exhausting a spirit on the field with the same family, it can return in refreshed state. This spirit is unusual in that it has three families (Hunter Beast, Imaginary Beast and Astral Soul) so that gives you plenty of options. Considering Rean’s low BP, it has a good chance of being destroyed. This effect will help keep it on the field for as long as possible. And since it’s returned in refreshed state, you can keep attacking with it, even if your opponent has a fortified defense. That is, as long as you have enough spirits to exhaust to sustain it. And it may be a waste, if your other spirits have a high enough BP to just kill your opponent’s defense. But in a desperate situation, the effect could come in handy.
Then, when braved, this spirit gets one more effect. This spirit is treated as being in the same family as all your other spirits. Just in case having three families wasn’t enough.
The FantasyHeavenBlade Twilight-Fantasia is another brave that may be compatible with this spirit. Your opponent might want to take a life from Rean’s attack, to prevent you from refreshing it. In this case, if they don’t block, you can add 1 core from the void to your life. That makes a win-win situation for you. You can get a similar result by combining with a brave that has Holy Life, such as BurikiTiger
Be careful of cost-destroy effects, most of which can annihilate this spirit. At least, braving it will increase the cost. And it’s a spirit that was clearly designed to be braved. It probably wouldn’t have much use outside of a brave-centric deck.
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==Featured Card no. 23==
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Minis Suicide Squadミニーズ特攻隊
Now for something entirely different. The featured card for this month is a campaign promo red spirit, Minis Suicide Squad.
Now, this card itself is a bit of a joke. It references the tendency of anime protagonists (most commonly Dan Bashin with Bladra) to summon a low cost spirit for no reason other than to use it as cost reduction. And that is entirely the point of this card. Featured on the artwork of this card is Bladra itself, along with Light-Bladra, Goradon, Lizardedge, Erimakilizard, and Ohdoran.
The card has a cost of two (which is actually higher than the cost of the pictured cards), one red cost reduction, and one symbol. It has 1000 BP. With the lowest BP possible, it’s obviously not a very strong spirit.
But, what makes this card special is its first effect. You can have as many copies of this card in your deck as you like. All other cards are limited to three or fewer copies. So, you can keep throwing these out, either to use for cost reduction or to make a sacrificial attack to cut your opponent’s defense. They could even make a good line of defense, themselves. On the other hand, for any of those strategies, it might be more practical to just use three each of the cards on the picture, which have a lower cost to begin with, and will also be easier to find, because they were more widely released. Really, this card is more for fun than practicality.
However, there are still reasons you might want to keep a bunch of these in your deck, and the first is the fact that it has charge. Naturally, the more cards you have on the field with charge, the better your destruction effects are. If you use The ShineDragon Shining-Dragon as your key card, for example, you could change it’s not-that-special ability to destroy an opposing spirit with 5000BP or less to something much scarier.
Secondly, Minis Suicide Squad itself gets a boost, the more of them you have on the field. It gets 1000 BP for each copy you control. So, if you put a ton of these in your deck, that 1000 BP will rise up pretty fast. Again, it’s a pretty silly strategy that might be very impractical to set up, but wouldn’t that be a cool way to win?
To increase the potential of these guys, the key is mixing them with the right card. If you have The ShiningSunDragonEmperor Shining-Dragon-Ark, all your red spirits with charge gain a red symbol on your attack step. Then there’s The ReptileMaster Momochidile. This card can change the BP or all your spirits in the Reptile Beast family, which Minis Suicide Squad is a part of, to be equal to its BP at that level on the attack step. At LV1, that’s a 4000BP increase. Additionally, when Momochilde is on the field, after you activate a burst, you can summon any number of Reptile Beast spirits from your trash at no cost. If your army was wiped out, bring the whole thing back for nothing.
Due to the terribly low BP, these cards are toast if your opponent uses BP destroy effects before you can get enough of them out. Also, cards like Burst Wall could become your worst enemy, if you planned to throw a ton of them out for a finishing attack.
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==Featured Card no. 24==
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The UltimateHeroDragon Ultimate-Yamato極覇龍アルティメット・ヤマト
Sorry for the break last month. We’re starting off again with the promo, The UltimateHeroDragon Ultimate-Yamato. It’s a red Ultimate.
Yamato has a cost of 8, 3 red reduction, and one ultimate symbol. Not the best reduction, but the cost could be worse too. Of course, it is a burst card, which makes it easy to bypass the regular summon cost. In terms of BP, it’s definitely a killer. It starts out with 13000, then 17000 at LV4 (for three core), 25000 at LV5 (for 5 core), and 40000 once it gets to LV6. It’ll cost you 8 core, but that is a BP which can demolish most any card. It may not even need to get that high, as it’s 25000 is destructive enough.
Its summon condition is a standard one for ultimates. You need one or more red spirit on your field.
The burst condition is less simple than the summon condition, however, as your life must be three or less. Then, you can destroy an opposing ultimate with 20000BP or less, and summon Ultimate-Yamato. That burst effect is lethal, making the harsher activation conditions seem much more fair. Of course, there are enough Ultimates who do exceed 20000, so that still might not be enough to get rid of a problematic opposing Ultimate.
Once leveled up, this Ultimate gains a U-Trigger effect. When it hits, if your ultimates are blocked by spirits (any ultimate, so it's not limited to this one), you can move 1 core from your opponent’s life to their reserve. This forces your opponent to block with their ultimates, in order to protect that life. And of course, if you wiped out the only ultimate on their field with Ultimate-Yamato’s burst effect, that puts you in a great position to utilize this effect.
Now, if you want to bypass the burst conditions, you could use the card Ryuuman-Lightning. It allows you to activate a red burst from your hand when your Incarnate or Dragon spirits are destroyed.
Naturally, look out for cards that can target ultimates, like The ScorpioAstralArmored BraveScorpion. There is also the red magic Cannonball, which can destroy an ultimate with 20000BP or above. This makes Ultimate-Yamato more vulnerable, with its high BP.
Still, it’s a pretty strong ultimate, which can deal well with spirits and ultimates alike. Its strengths are enough to probably outweigh its weaknesses.
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==Featured Card no. 25==
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The FirstShellEmperor始甲帝
This month’s featured card is The FirstShellEmperor, a green spirit with burst released in BS28.
The card has a cost of eight, with three green reduction. It has two green symbols. Notably, the FirstShellEmperor only has two levels. At LV1, it has 7000 BP. At LV2, for four core, it has 15000. While this BP is high, the spirit is still easily vulnerable to cards like Angel Voice.
FirstShellEmperor's burst effect is one that can only activate when your life is three or less. Then, after exhausting 1 opposing spirit or Ultimate, you can summon this spirit, bypassing its relatively high cost. The bonus effect of being able to exhaust could be very helpful, especially as it is one of those effects with no limitation on BP or level, and can even target Ultimates. So, 50000BP Ultimate-Gai-Asura? No problem.
Aside from the initial burst effect, this spirit has no other effects until level two. But it’s certainly a useful one. When it attacks, once per turn you can summon a spirit in the family Shellman at no cost, and refresh this spirit. Since Shellmen have been around since BS01, this opens a good number of possibilities. You could even summon a card such as the cost 9 The Emperor Kaiseratlas. Kaiseratlas could make an interesting combo with The FirstShellEmperor, as you can deal two damage to your opponent’s life if it defeats a spirit. Since it's a spirit with a double symbol anyway, that might put you in a win/win situation if your opponent is lacking cards with a high enough BP to defeat it. Then, with an extra attack from the refreshed FirstShellEmperor, you’re likely to do a good amount of damage.
Another Shellman that might work well is The HornetKing Fong-Need. When it attacks, you can exhaust opposing spirits with a combined BP of 10000. It will then be easier to go after the life with The FirstShellEmperor’s double symbol. Additionally, Fong-Need has an effect to refresh itself.
Aside from having only two levels, as mentioned above, this spirit has a few other weaknesses. Obviously, look out for cards which would prevent your own spirits from refreshing. Additionally, effects like The SilverWolfOfficial By-Rean’s could be a pain, which forces players to pay the cost whenever summoning spirits, even through burst effects.
In any case, The FirstShellEmperor is a spirit with some pretty good potential, in a Shellman-centric deck.
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==Featured Card no. 27==
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The MachineLionDeity Strikewurm-Leo獅機龍神ストライクヴルム・レオ
With SD27’s November release, the featured card for this month is another of the 12 Zodiac X-Rares The MachineLionDeity Strikewurm-Leo.
This white spirit has a cost of eight, four white reduction, and one white symbol. It has 6000 BP at LV1, 9000 BP at LV2, for two core, and 12000 BP at LV3, for four core. It’s a fairly powerful spirit BP-wise, but could be better.
It has the Invincibility keyword at all levels, making it immune to effects of spirits, magic, nexus and brave cards of the colors purple, green, white and yellow. Being immune to four of the six colors is a great advantage. But, unfortunately, it isn’t immune to ultimates of any color. But, this card probably wouldn’t be too useful against an ultimate deck in general, given the high BP of many ultimates.
Next, and also at any level, when any of your other Galaxian or Astral Soul spirits are exhausted, you can refresh this spirit. This is probably Strikewurm-Leo’s best point. When part of a deck with other Zodiac X-Rares, it’s at its strongest. But naturally, a deck full of Galaxians would also have cost issues. Zodiac Conduct, which could allow you to summon a Galaxian without cost, is great for a Zodiac X-Rare deck. SD27 will also include cards to ease the cost, like Eridanus-Dragon. Also worth mentioning is the LV2-LV3 effect of The SnakeMasterDeity Asklepiooze, which lets you return a Galaxian which was destroyed by comparing BP to the field, for free and refreshed. And, there are low cost Astral Soul spirits too.
On the subject of Astral Soul spirits, a good one to mix with Strikewurm Leo would be Kigna-Swan Mk-II. By exhausting it, it adds +3000BP to all your Galaxian or Astral Soul spirits. If you use this effect when Strikewurm-Leo is exhausted, then it would also get to refresh.
Last, Strikewurm-Leo has a LV3 effect when it’s braved. All your Galaxian and Astral Soul spirits gain a white symbol. So with added symbols and the ability to refresh (plus factoring in the fact that the brave may also have a symbol), a deck centered around Strikewurm-Leo could quickly destroy your opponent’s life.
The ChargingMachineDragon Archaelancer, though it lacks a symbol, would be a useful brave. Similarly to Kigna-Swan Mk-II, it can raise your BP, and exhaust one of your spirits, thus allowing Leo to refresh.
Like with many cards, you just need to mix Leo in the right deck to make it effective. While it still probably won’t be too powerful against ultimates, it could turn a game around in a Galaxian and Astral Soul deck quickly.
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==Featured Card no. 28==
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The MarsDeitySword MarsBringer火星神剣マーズブリンガー
This month’s featured card is a red brave, The MarsDeitySword MarsBringer, which was released in BS29..
The brave has a cost of six, and four reduction (two red symbols and two ultimate symbols.) The ultimate symbols are included of course, because it is one of the braves specifically designed for ultimates, rather than spirits. MarsBringer has one red symbol of its own, also.
The brave condition is an ultimate of cost 6 or more. The spirit has 5000 BP, which is also added to the ultimate it’s braved to.
This card has no effects of its own until braved. The first is that it treats the brave as cost 0. This is probably done as a precaution to weaken the Ultimate-Trigger of whatever it’s braved to, because having a cost of 12 at the least would be incredibly high. This may seem like a disadvantage, but its second effect is incredibly powerful, making up for it.
As for this second effect, when the cards discarded in your brave-ultimate’s ultimate trigger are all cost four or less, the following hit effect occurs in place of the original. First, three ultimates you control are refreshed at the end of your turn. Then, you get to repeat your attack and end steps. It can only be used once per turn, but used to its maximum capabilities, you still get three more attacks from your ultimates, which probably means you can do serious damage to your opponent, if not win outright.
Now, you can cause even more damage if you combine this card with The ConvictionDownfallDragon﻿ Judgment-Dragonis. Using its LV3 effect, you can then restart your turn from the beginning once again. Of course, you can only do this once per game. But you repeat all steps this time, including the refresh step, so if you still have those three ultimates, they can make an attack for the third time in one turn.
If you need any more refreshing potential, you may want to try braving it with Ultimate-Gundinos, which has the Assault effect.
This brave is also useful in dealing with cards like Burst Wall. Because even if your attack step is forcibly ended, you still get the chance to do it over.
Of course, despite the potential of this brave, it’s a difficult card to use to its full potential. First, you need to get a cost 6 (or more) ultimate out to brave it with, and then at least two more ultimates, which will almost certainly be costly. Also, the odds of getting all cost four or less cards out of Ultimate-Trigger might be low, especially if you're using an ultimate with Double Ultimate-Trigger.
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==Featured Card no. 29==
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The GiantSwordSaint Eaglen大剣聖イーグレン
This month’s featured card is the blue X-Rare of BS29, The GiantSwordSaint Eaglen.
Eaglen’s cost is 9, with four blue reduction and two ultimate reduction. It has two symbols. However, that probably isn’t enough to make up for the cost, while factoring in the spirit’s BP. It has 9000 at LV1, 11000 at LV2 for 3 core, and 15000 at LV3, for a rather expensive six core. This is definitely a spirit which would benefit from being braved.
Eaglen’s effect, at all levels, only activates when the spirit is summoned. This is another point not in its favor, unless you utilize cards like Time Reap. The effect is that you reveal the top 7 cards on your deck. You can summon any cost 8 or less Sword Master spirits or ultimates at no cost/ignoring their summon conditions. They can’t activate their [When Summoned] effects. You must discard the rest. The effect is definitely a gamble. On one hand, it could work extremely well in your favor. Some Sword Masters have pretty high costs, like The DragonShineDeity Shining-Dragon-Overray (8), which you wouldn’t have to worry about paying. And also, you can mix colors much easier if you don’t have the cost or summon condition to deal with. However, you might just end up discarding a lot of cards if you’re not lucky.
After this effect, Eaglen does have rush. The activation condition is a potentially tricky one of two ultimate symbols, but the color of the ultimates makes no difference. You can return two Exalted Sword brave cards from your trash to your hand. Again, you’ll likely only get to use this once, as it’s the rush following a [When Summoned] effect. But it could be quite useful. If you were able to bring some Sword Masters onto your field, you can now brave with them. Or, with Eaglen itself, which might bring it up to a triple symbol.
The above-mentioned Shining-Dragon-Overray would be a very useful card to have in a deck with The GiantSwordSaint Eaglen. It allows all Sword Masters (which Eaglen is a member of) to combine with two braves. Bringing its two symbols all the way up to 4 would make it way more worthy of the cost.
A good card to mix with The GiantSwordSaint Eaglen is The Sleeping Sword Emperor's Mausoleum. With this nexus, when your Spirits and Ultimates in the family "Sword Master" attack, you destroy 1 opposing Spirit with Cost 6 or less. Very useful if you brought some Sword Masters onto the field.
This spirit, essentially, is sort of weak and very costly on its own. However, it would make for a very destructive support card in a Sword Master-themed deck.
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==Featured Card no. 30==
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The Diva Stageディーバステージ
This month’s featured card is The Diva Stage It is a yellow nexus from BSC16. This is the first nexus to be reviewed in this section, but it is a very unusual card.
The Diva Stage is an uncommon card with a cost of 4 and two yellow reduction. It has one yellow symbol. The nexus has two levels. As usual, no core is required to activate its LV1/LV2 effect. One core is needed to activate its LV2 effect.
The first effect of this nexus activates during your attack step. When you summon a spirit using On Stage, during that turn, the spirit is treated as being its highest level. This could certainly be useful, if you don’t have the core to level your spirits up all the way.
But, its LV2 effect is the interesting one. If you have 10 or more spirits with different names in the family Stage Style on your start step, you win the game. Yes… win the game, regardless of the state of your opponent’s life or deck.
There’s no denying it would be awesome to win this way. The question is, how feasible is it? There are a few things that need to be factored. First, cost. Since the Stage Style family cards are often considered evolved forms of Private Wear spirits, some have a high cost like you would expect. For example, the cost 10 The EternalIdol Noah-Fleur. But not all are unreasonable. The SmileGirl Ran-Blasear actually costs only 2, and there is a fair amount with costs 5 and under. Of course, it goes without saying that you would only want to use this card in a yellow Song Princess deck, so you should be able to rely on cost reduction.
The next way to get your Stage Style spirits out more easily is to rely on the On Stage effects when available. That way, you can trade away their Private Wear forms and summon the spirits at no cost. But this would also require keeping both forms of each in your deck. And the more cards you have, the less likely you are to draw what you want. Also, it’s probably a good idea to keep more than 10 spirits with Stage Style available, so you may need to go over 40 cards to keep a balanced deck when aiming for this win strategy.
To make the summoning easier without relying on On Stage, there are effects like The EternalIdol Noah-Fleur’s, which lets you summon any Song Princesses from your hand at no cost. The Diva Trickster also lets you summon Song Princess cards at no cost (in your removed from game area).
The other issue, and the potentially even harder one, is to keep all your spirits, and this nexus, on the field while you set up. You could perhaps hold them in your hand and rely on Noah-Fleur’s effect, but that too would pose a risk. Probably, the safest option is to rely on stall tactics like Burst Wall. The Golden Belfry could be used to protect the nexus. Of course, adding in all these extra safe-guards still doesn’t protect you from deck destruction.
In conclusion, to use an effect like this would take a considerable amount of effort, and working around it. You’re better off trying to win the game normally, but if most factors go in your favor, it could be pulled off.
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==Featured Card no. 31==
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Mothra (1992)モスラ［1992］
This month’s featured card is of the X-Rare’s of BSC19, Battle Spirits Toho Monsters collaboration, Mothra (1992).
A green Parasite spirit, Mothra has a cost of 8 and 4 green reduction. It has one green symbol.
Mothra has only two levels, with 6000BP at LV1 and 10000BP at LV2, for three core. While its LV2 cost is pretty cheap, and would be easy to accomplish with the core boost of a green deck, the BP total is not very impressive for a modern X-Rare. Plus, only having two levels can also be a vulnerability. Also factoring in that Mothra is only a spirit, it would need significant BP boost to go up against Ultimates.
At least to help compensate for the BP weaknesses, Mothra has some powerful effects. When summoned, at any level, you can exhaust two opposing spirits and add two cores from the void to this spirit. So although Ultimates would be immune, suddenly exhausting any two spirits in one go could be harmful to your opponent. And the two cores equal an instant level up, or at the very least, security against core removal effects.
Second, when destroyed at LV2, you get to exhaust two opposing spirits or ultimates, and return this spirit to your hand. This at least makes the spirit more effective when facing an ultimate user, and it’s yours to just bring right back next turn. Or, sooner than that, if you combine Mothra with the nexus, The Budding Plain. It gives all Parasites in your hand High Speed. Therefore, you can re-summon Mothra in flash timing, with the two ultimates unable to defend against it.
Of course, BSC19 also includes cards designed to work together with 1992 Mothra. First, Armor Mothra. When any spirit with Mothra in the name battles, it prevents your opponent from activating their set burst. So, if you make use of Mothra’s exhausting abilities and aim for their life, they can’t defend themselves with Burst Wall.
Another good one to have is Mothra's Emergence. First, you can exhaust another opposing spirit in flash timing. Then, you can summon a card with Mothra in the name without paying its cost if your life is two or less. So, that could be an even more effective way to return it to the field than the Budding Plain method.
Also, the burst, Mothra's Song. It allows you to refresh one green spirit. If that spirit has Mothra in the name, you can exhaust 1 opposing spirit.
Basically, the Mothra series works around core boost and keeping your spirits refreshed while your opponents are exhausted. So, although the low BP is a weakness, they still have potential to give you a path straight to the life.
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==Featured Card no. 32==
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The SixAbsoluteDeities Impenetrable-Chrome-Riservar六絶神 鉄壁のクロム・リゼルファー
The latest featured card is one of the first XX-Rare’s in Battle Spirits. BS31’s The SixAbsoluteDeities Impenetrable-Chrome-Riservar Despite having a mouthful of a name, it’s a very interesting new spirit.
First, Riservar is a Crystalline Deity, currently a very rare family, and most notable for including The AbsoluteDragonDeity Amaterasu-Dragon. It has a cost of zero, and one white symbol. You might think being part of a family that doesn’t have an arsenal of support cards, and a cost of zero would make it pretty useless… but you’d be wrong.
This cost 0 spirit does not have the BP you would expect. It starts off with 5000, and at LV2, for three core, it has 10000. No, this is not terribly high, especially factoring in ultimates. But it isn’t weak either, and for a spirit you can summon so cheaply, possibly on the very first turn, it’s monstrous. The key to best using this spirit is to send it out early.
However, to summon this spirit, there is a catch. If you have any spirits on your field which are not white, the cost of the spirit becomes 8. When it’s that high, you probably don’t want to bother summoning it, so best to use this in an all or mostly white deck.
As for effects, the spirit has Ultra Immunity at both levels. Awesomely, the ultra immunity applies to all six colors. You don’t have to worry about cost destroy or even BP destroy effects removing the spirit from your field. Or… any effect at all. Except due to Braves, unfortunately.
Once Riservar gets to level two, its previous effect improves. If your life is brought down to one, then all of your white spirits are unaffected by all opposing effects. This is another reason why this spirit works best in a mainly white deck. While if your life is down to one, you’re probably in trouble, this is a great example of white’s defensive strength. It could keep you holding on a bit longer than usual, enough to make the comeback you need.
Another issue this spirit has is braving. That would be a good way to boost its BP. However, there are not many cards capable of braving with a cost zero. Your best bet would be The SatelliteMachine Pioneer V. It gives a 3000BP boost, and then an additional 3000BP when blocking. 16000 is sounding a lot better than 10000. Gyokuzeeg and Hihi-Bone also can, but both will give only a 2000 BP boost, and neither have particularly special effects. The former has anti-burst abilities, and the later has Curse. Also, neither are white.
A card that would work well with Riservar is the nexus The Permafrost Capital. When your life would be brought to zero, buy sending the nexus to the trash, your life remains at one. This would allow you to make even longer use of Riservar’s LV2 effect.
Basically, this spirit is one designed for early game destruction, and powerful defense by the later stages of the game. It is, as mentioned earlier, best if you can summon it as early as possible. Though not without faults, the XX-Rare card succeeds in being worthwhile, and brings some unique things to the game.
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==Featured Card no. 33==
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The SupremeRealmWisdomKing Nirvana覇界明王ニルヴァーナ
This month's featured card is BS31's only blue X-Rare, The SupremeRealmWisdomKing Nirvana.
At Cost 9 with 5 Blue reduction, Nirvana may seem to be a difficult summon because of its high cost. But with same-set supporters such as The BuddhaSculptor Pagug and No. 34 Large Island, it could be summoned as early as the third turn given optimal conditions. Doing so might not be so advisable though; Nirvana is strongest when the opponent has the upper hand.
The hidden advantage of a Cost 9 Spirit is that if it's at the top of the deck, it'll guard most any non-Braved Ultimate's U-Trigger. It's a fitting card for the recent Spirit renaissance.
For such a high cost card, Nirvana's BP might seem rather low. At LV1 it's only 7000, and as the levels go up the BP hardly rises. Compared to a Cost 6 Ultimate, it seems positively underpowered. But just the same as the rest of the set's X-Rares, Nirvana has a LV4 rarely seen in Spirits. Devote an amazing 10 core to it, and its power will rise to 35000 BP. Not only that, Nirvana also has a double symbol. Whether it's blocked by a Spirit/Ultimate or takes from the life, Nirvana is sure to deal damage to the opponent.
Nirvana's LV1/LV2/LV3/LV4 effect is at its most powerful near the middle of the game. When it attacks, the opponent's highest cost Spirit or Ultimate is destroyed, and an amount of cards equal to that card's cost is sent from the opponent's deck to the trash. In the case that the opponent has two cards of the same cost, you get to choose between them.
Instead of racing to summon your key spirit first, Nirvana is best played after your opponent sends out their own key spirit. It'll catch them by surprise and severely limit their options for future turns. Assuming that the card destroyed had a high cost, a significant portion of the opponent's deck can be destroyed in an instant. Sadly, this powerful effect can go to waste if your opponent's highest-cost card has White Immunity, but it's very effective against self-miller Purple and draw-to-death Red.
Even more impressive is Nirvana's LV2/LV3/LV4 effect. While Soul Core is put on it, when a WisdomKing spirit activates deck destruction and discards a cost 3 card, that spirit is refreshed. It gives all your deck-destroying WisdomKing spirits a chance to refresh (multiple times, even) and discard even more of the deck. It's not an uncommon occurence, either: in a balanced deck, Cost 3s and 4s are some of the most populous costs. Nirvana itself is a WisdomKing, so it can refresh itself!
This effect can potentially double your deck destruction and wipe the opponent's deck clean in a single turn. And even if the opponent somehow manages to have some cards left at the end of the turn, with so many attacks possible, it's likely that they won't have any life or blockers left.
Nirvana is not only well-supported by the blue cards of BS31, it can easily be combined with previous releases as well. With Charge support, even more cards can be discarded. Brave it with The LibraAstralArmored BraveLibra to increase your refresh possibility to a certainty. The Lit Three-Pronged Lighthouse will cancel the need for 10 core on LV4, or you could instead opt for the one-time Muscle Charge. To further pressure your opponent, you can have them choose between their spirits or their deck with the magic Orion Power. Nirvana is incredibly versatile and allows for a number of combos.
This spirit might be easily brought out with the right support, but it's meant to be played at the end rather than the start of the game -- then again, with such intense deck discarding, the end is near whenever this spirit is played. At its highest level, you'll have a LV4 35000+ BP double-symbol spirit that not only destroys your opponent's most powerful cards and their deck, it can refresh itself and repeat the whole process again. It's nothing to be taken lightly and a powerful addition to any deck destruction build.
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==Featured Card no. 33==
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The WhirlwindNinja Kirikage烈風忍者キリカゲ
This month's featured card is the green X-Rare included in SD31 and Kanetsugu Houryokuin's key spirit, The WhirlwindNinja Kirikage.
This card has a printed cost of 7, with four green reduction and a single symbol. It starts out with 6000 BP, but can be leveled up to 10000 BP at LV2 with 3 core or even higher to 13000 BP with 5 core. Notably, it has three families: the new families Catalyst and Ninja Gale, along with the regularly supported Shellman family.
With an abnormally low BP compared to its cost, you'd think this card would have some effect that makes up for the difference. And you'd be right: Kirikage's first ability is the new effect Soul Swift. It can be summoned on the attack step by using a single Soul Core in the reserve to pay the entire cost. This means that it can be summoned as early as turn 2 to instantly put pressure on the opponent.
Kirikage's second ability, Catalyze, is just as novel and just as powerful. Catalyze significantly increases burst activation capabilities, sending Soul Core to the trash in exchange for activating a set Soul Burst. There's no need to wait around for opponent advantages like summon effects or life decrease. Instead, Kirikage allows you to take the initiative.
As of yet the most notable combination possible with Kirikage's Catalyze is the new card Double Body Swap. It allows no-cost summon of two Ninja Gale spirits from the hand and then exhausts all cost 4 or less Spirits and Ultimates, plus a pick of any one other. With this combo, the opponent's life can quickly be reduced.
This card's last effect is not as revolutionary, but is still very handy. By leveling Kirikage all the way to LV3, one Spirit can be exhausted. It's a green-style effect through and through, helping to cut away the life without having to deal with high-BP blockers.
Despite its potential for swift victory, Kirikage is not without downsides. The most glaring one is that both Soul Swift and Catalyze require sending Soul Core to the trash, preventing the use of Catalyze on the turn it's summoned (unless summoned normally). Having to remove core from your Spirit will also mean leveling it down, so be sure to have more than enough core.
For maximum Soul Core advantage, use The ArmoredMothHead Kuwagaslayer to summon cards from the deck, then use the Soul Core in the reserve to activate Soul Swift. You might consider braving it with The HurricaneTwinBlade Kamui-Hayate to get not only a BP boost and double symbol, but refresh it as well. The nexus The Blowing Whirlwind guarantees refresh, and if leveled up, it gives nearly unlimited Spirit/Ultimate destruction. Kirikage is a good card on its own, but what really brings out its full strength is combining it with others.
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==Featured Card no. 34==
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The SengokuDragon Souldragon-Flash戦国龍ソウルドラゴン・滅
This month's featured card is the red X-Rare The SengokuDragon Souldragon-Flash. It was released as a promo card in Battle Spirits Burning Soul Wafers, but don't let its origins fool you; Souldragon-Flash is a devastating card for your opponent.
To begin with, its statistics are almost exactly the same as the regular SengokuDragon Souldragon. It has a cost of 7 with 4 red reduction, and its level core/BP progression is the same too. The only marked differences are that Souldragon-Flash has no LV4, and is a Flash Dragon instead of a Lord. As both a Flash Dragon and a War Dragon, Souldragon-Flash can be easily be used in decks of either type.
At LV1, Flash has the rare ability Consecutive Blade, which has been portrayed in the anime numerous times. By sending Soul Core from the Spirit to the trash, the opponent must block with two of their Spirits and have two simultaneous battles. With Flash's high BP, it's more than likely that you can overpower most opposing Spirits. To increase your BP, a brave like The ShineDragon Shine-Blazer or The FlameDragonKatana Onimaru might be suitable.
Souldragon-Flash's second effect is significantly more Flash Dragon-like: all opposing Spirits and Ultimates destroyed through its Consecutive Blade have their core sent to the void. Even a single core's differerence can mean a world of change to a card battler's strategy. If you surprise your opponent with Flash, you can take enough core from them that they can't make a next move.
An excellent support card for this is Haganewurm. You'll be able to target attack whatever card has the most core and wipe your opponent's supply dry. Of course, it isn't invincible -- Flash can be easily stopped by flash. Just increase the BP of a blocker or take away core from your own cards to save yourself from its onslaught.
The cards that go with this card highly depend on what type of deck you're going for. If you want to use it in a War Dragon deck, it fits easily into the basic structure. For a Flash Dragon deck, while it isn't compatible with The Wandering Sky Temple, it still has great synergy with The Prelude to Destruction and Ryuuman-Vulca. You could even surprise your opponent with it in a red/purple rush deck, using Soulhorse for reduction. While it isn't usable everywhere, Souldragon-Flash is still versatile enough to be a powerful weapon with the right support.
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==Featured Card no. 35==
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The ReversePriestess Rinne裏巫女リンネ
This month's featured card is The ReversePriestess Rinne, a purple Master Rare released in BS32.
Rinne is a cost 7 purple spirit with 4 reduction of the same color. At LV1 she has 5000 BP, and can be leveled up to have 7000 and 8000 BP. For such a high cost card, her BP and symbols may be a little low, but to make up for it, she's able to go to LV2 with only two core -- which is especially important for the effect that comes with it. Part of both the Nightling and Vassal families, Rinne can profit from and provide a considerable amount of familial support.
Rinne starts out with an impressive effect right off the bat. At LV1, she can send two cores from an opposing spirit to the reserve whenever she attacks. While an experienced opponent will have already taken on a level-up strategy, two core at once can still make a major impact. Unfortunately, as purple has no refresh effects of its own, this effect can't be abused. Still, this already lethal effect can be enhanced through Charge or a brave.
The thing that makes Rinne so notable, however, is her one-of-a-kind LV2 effect. During your attack step, while there is Soul Core placed on her, your Lord and Vassal spirits can only be blocked by exhausted opposing spirits. The exhausted spirits become refreshed after they block. It's as unique of an effect as those of The HellDog Cerru-Berus or Imagine Field. Being so rare, the effect can cause considerable confusion to players of any skill level.
Rinne poses quite a conundrum to any opponent unfortunate enough to face her. Do they attack while they can to avoid being hit by the Lords and Vassals? Do they save their blockers for purple's famous zombie onslaught? Or should they spend entire minutes finding a medium that will let them survive while the card player plans their next turn? Rinne is in no way straightforward, and any battler is liable to lose track of their strategy once she comes into play.
An easier way to use Rinne is simply by purple's destruction of exhausted spirits. Fortunately, many of exhaust-destroy cards have no limit on the cost or BP of what can be destroyed. An ideal combination would be using Illusion Soul Extraction set as a burst. By sacrificing a small fry spirit, possibly one that satisfied an Immortality condition or had Curse, it can be easily activated during one's own turn. Illusion Soul Extraction can take out a potential blocker, deplete a spirit, and let you draw a card, all at once. Sadly, it could not be Catalyzed as a Soul Burst, seeing as both Catalyze and Rinne's effect require Soul Core. Despite this drawback, The Mystic Simon is still compatible with the two cards.
A good brave for this card would be the purple staple The KnightSnake Pendragon, which mostly supports Rinne on the depletion side. But perhaps even more fitting is The DemonBlade Murasame, which will be released in BSC21 on the 5th of this month. A Soul Burst activated upon depletion/destruction just like Illusion Soul Extraction, it sends an amazing 3 cores from any opposing spirit to the reserve. In flash timing it can rearrange the cores on the opponent's spirits and give you an extra draw to boot. Most importantly, it boosts Rinne's BP and symbols to a level worthy of her cost.
While certainly not for everyone, The ReversePriestess Rinne is at the very least an intriguing card. Her cost and single-color reduction poses a problem to any all-color battler, but the core shoot ability will be a deadly surprise to an unsuspecting opponent even before using her LV2 effect. For a regular purple battler, she'll be difficult to fit in just any deck, but will be a worthwhile investment in the right one. If you enjoy playing other games with your opponent while you battle -- whether the waiting game or regular mind games -- Rinne just might be your ideal.
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==Featured Card no. 36==
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The SixAbsoluteDeities Affection-El-Rafil六絶神 慈愛のエル・ラフィル
This month's featured card is The SixAbsoluteDeities Affection-El-Rafil. Released in BS32, it is the only yellow Crystalline Deity/XX-Rare to date. As both of these unusual traits suggest, there's a lot to expect from El-Rafil.
El-Rafil is extremely easy to summon with a cost of 2 and one yellow reduction, though it's probably not a good idea to use her haphazardly. At level 1, she has a mere 3000 BP, but add a single core and that number doubles at level 2. While it's rather difficult to increase her BP through braving, devote 5 core to her and you'll be blessed with an incredible 10000 BP.
Like the other SixAbsoluteDeities, El-Rafil has an effect deeply rooted in its color. As long as your field is entirely Yellow (no Ultimates or multicolors allowed), you can keep playing even with your life at 0. This gives the player a great advantage in not having to worry about blockers. It's especially helpful given yellow's usual low ratio of cost to BP, which often makes it extremely vulnerable to BP destruction.
Making it impossible to lose while this card is on field would be a tad difficult for the opponent to overcome, however. Hence, El-Rafil comes with a built-in self-destruct countdown: each time your start step passes, her controller must discard 6 cards from their deck. An easy combo to avoid this is with Divine Field, which comes with the bonus of being virtually indestructible when your life is at 0. The opponent can also remove El-Rafil from the field through destruction, depletion, or bounce for instant victory. In short, El-Rafil will postpone your loss and give you a chance for a turnaround.
Where the LV1 effect focuses on preventing a lose condition, the LV3 effect instead looks for easy fullfillment of a win condition. When you have 10 or more yellow symbols on field, all opposing spirits and Ultimates have their BP treated as 0! The obvious combination is to use The GunAngelia Canon to immediately wipe the opponent's field, but using BP destruction magics will also work in a pinch. As magic has no symbols, you can still use a variety of colors -- especially fortunate considering yellow's magic support. Multicolor braves are also viable, as long as they have no symbols. The ArmoredFlyingDragon Oosodelgar might have a high cost, but its True-Clash is incredibly useful when going against cards with 0 BP.
There are a number of deck types that El-Rafil is compatible with. Most notable is a cost 2-based deck, which focuses on refreshing swarms. Hydrandea is ideal for returning El-Rafil to you in the case that she's destroyed or milled. Another option that may be easier in the current era is a Song Princess based deck. As Divas tend to multiply quickly, there's a high chance of achieving the conditions for the LV3 effect. The DivaAdmiral Mirefa will make all Song Princesses into double symbols, reducing the number of spirits you'll need even further. In any of these cases, The LightShieldGuardian Edith will be key to keeping El-Rafil on field. The Angelia of Grimm Rapunzel is also a good choice to avoid depletion and opposing deck destruction.
The SixAbsoluteDeities Affection-El-Rafil has an outstanding effect and overwhelming power if used correctly. There are many ways for an opponent to get around her ability, but there are just as many preventative measures that can be taken. Unlike the white and green Absolute Deities, a deck with El-Rafil will need a recipe built around her. Though there are drawbacks to this, the fact remains that this card is an intense ally for any player determined to use it.
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==Featured Card no. 37==
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The SengokuSixGeneral Tensei戦国六武将テンセイ
The featured card for November is one of the first Ultimates to be released in over six months, The SengokuSixGeneral Tensei.
Tensei is a natural Cost 6 with 3 green reduction. Its levels are rather standard for its cost, starting out at 10000 BP, moving onto 16000 BP with 3 core, and capping out at a high 22000 BP with 5 core. It's got plenty of familial ties to reap from, being both a Next Generation and a Blade Beast.
Two things distinguish Tensei from most of the previous Ultimates. The first one is its summon condition: your life must be at 3 or less to summon Tensei. This means you won't have to have spirits out to summon an Ultimate, which is wonderful for when you're in trouble (and you probably are if your life is 3 or less). At the same time, Tensei's effect is more beneficial the more you have on field.
The other thing that makes Tensei stand out is the new ability, Soul Drive. Rather than sending the opponent's cards to the trash, the Soul Core is banished from the game for a one-time effect. While somewhat more balanced than Ultimate-Trigger, and much easier for the uninitiated to understand, Soul Drive is still a force to be reckoned with. Tensei's in particular is green to the extreme: you gain one core on your field for every core on your reserve, Spirits, or Ultimates. This essentially doubles your core supply, minus whatever is in the trash. Needless to say, this is a useful effect to have, especially when trying to bring out a high-cost spirit. Perhaps the one downside of this core boost is that the core cannot be added to the reserve, making core boost for High Speed less viable.
Both of these qualities make Tensei an easy fit into most green decks. Combine it with The SixAbsoluteDeities Harvest-Thearth to have more core than you'll ever need, even against a depletion deck. However, Tensei can also fit incredibly well in non-green decks. Since there's no color limit to its summon condition or any other effect, you can enjoy a massive core boost with any color. Of course, it's recommended that you do keep some dual-color green spirits like Homuraitachi for reduction.
Tensei's LV4 effect is also an advantageous effect. Whenever it battles, an opposing spirit can be exhausted. Since it activates while blocking as well, Tensei still has its uses as a blocker even after it's activated Soul Drive. While this effect can't be increased by Charge, it does help to lower the opponent's numbers.
There's plenty of support for this Ultimate, both new and old. The Retainer Yukinojou helps to prevent instant core wipe by Biranba, and also is a good measure against level cost boosters like Wisteria. Though it doesn't have the conveniences of Soul Burst, Raideen-Wolf can further put the opponent at a numbers
disadvantage with a spirit exhaust and Ultimate refresh. Blade Panther can prevent the opponent from activating their burst for the entirety of your turn, or you could simply opt for an anti-burst double-symbol with The EarthDeitySword Gaianohoko. And to boost draws until you summon Tensei, The Fruit of Life is always a satisfactory choice.
All in all, The SengokuSixGeneral may not be as jaw-dropping as some of the other Ultimates in the SengokuSixGeneral series, but it's an impressive support card in its own right. While a plain Blade Beast deck will utilize this card plenty, it's got plenty of potential outside of its main color: Ultimate decks, Behemoth decks, red-green decks, even green-purple decks for novelty seekers. Soul Drive being a one-time effect might be a turnoff to some, but Tensei stays worthwhile with its exhaust effect and formidable BP. Tensei isn't to be taken lightly, no matter the situation.
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==Featured Card no. 38==
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The SevenShogun Desperado魔界七将デスペラード
This month's featured card is the nostalgic The SevenShogun Desperado, first released in BS01 and back with a brand-new version for Revival Booster BSC22. Though one might pass off the game's first purple X-Rare as outdated, it's still a very deadly card; in fact, the revival version is hardly changed from the original.
The first of the SevenShoguns, Desperado is a purple Cost 8 spirit with 3 purple reduction. Its base stats are 6000 BP at Level 1 and 9000 BP at Level 2. Both core and level cost-wise, Desperado isn't the greatest -- at best, you'll have to pay 5 core to summon it normally, 1 core for the minimum level cost, and another 3 core to raise it to LV2. Even at LV2, it has rather pitiful BP for a cost 8. However, there are ways of turning the cost and BP disadvantages to your favor instead.
Desperado's famous summon effect is the biggest reason for its high summon cost. Once it arrives on field, all spirits (including your own) have one core sent from them to the reserve. For each spirit depleted, Desperado gains one core on itself. Depending on the field condition, it's entirely possible that the opponent's field may be left completely open from this effect. Its core gain ability is extremely helpful for the turn that it's summoned, allowing you to continue operations despite your own core and spirit loss. One's first instinct might be to level up one's spirits before summoning Desperado to keep them on field, but there are also positives to self-depletion. First, the core gain may be a massive help for later in game, ensuring you have enough for more summons. Secondly, by depleting your own spirits, you can summon them again from the trash with any number of effects. As an added bonus, you can reactivate any summon effects those spirits had when returning them from the trash.
The sole difference made in the revival version is that if Soul Core is used for the summon cost, an extra two core are sent from opposing spirits. Essentially, Desperado now comes with self-charge. This is especially great considering that most Purple Charge cards are high-cost Dark Snakes. Quite fortunately, taking advantage of Desperado's revival effect can simultaneously trigger effects that happen when Soul Core is in the trash.
The LV2 effect is the same in both versions: with enough core on it, Desperado will send all but one core from any opposing spirit to the reserve. While not a killer effect on its own, there's plenty of core removal supplements that will finish the job. It's standard fare for purple, but certainly not unwelcome.
Desperado is an excellent complement with The DarkKingSnake Pendculus. Summon Penduculus first to send opposing spirits to the brink of death, and bring out Desperado to push them over. And on subsequent turns, their LV2 effects reverse the situation. Desperado reduces the opponent's spirit to 1 core, while Penduculus delivers the finishing blow. It's a fatal combination that only gets more deadly if the right support cards are drawn. When facing off against cards with variations of Invincibility, Spiral Vain can easily turn the tables by erasing the color of your spirits.
With such low BP for its cost, you might automatically be thinking of ways to increase that number via braves or family support. But it may be more worth your while to allow this spirit be destroyed. With cards like The DarkArtsMagician Ogma in tandem with The CorruptPriest Kokugou, you can re-summon Desperado from the trash and keep using its summon effect. If you're fully ready to treat it as expendable, you can also brave with ArmoredHarley. The brave can return from the trash at no cost every time Desperado is summoned, and also grants Curse to the brave spirit, letting you rid the field of spirits with unbeatable BP. If you're worried about being bounce-blocked, The WitchBladeMaster Prisila will protect you plenty from return to hand effects.
Desperado has been through a lot over the years: first it brought many a victory to Suiren as her key card, was given a few more scenes in the decks of Kurotaru and President George Thorman, then was turned into Basilla's Ultimate-Desperado, and even after that was given a cute girl incarnation as Delis-Pertio (and brought back a year later with a new stage outfit). It's a perennial favorite for purple users and is sure to pop up from the grave again come the release of BSC22 later this month. Just like how it's built to revive again and again in-game, The SevenShogun Desperado will never stay down in popularity either.
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==Featured Card no. 39==
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The Great Dragon Castle Honmaru大龍城・本丸
Taking a break from spirits, this month's topic of focus is the nexus The Great Dragon Castle Honmaru. It's a red soul burst included in BS33. Honmaru is one of the most menacing burst nexuses in the set, and it's already shot up through the popularity rankings. It's a rare nexus that has the potential for use in any color of deck.
To start with, Honmaru is a cost 6 with 3 red reduction, making it impossible to normally deploy on the first two turns. However, it's also a soul burst, which makes it possible to deploy without cost in the right conditions. The burst condition is "After Your Spirit is Depleted/Destroyed by the Opponent", which is a little difficult to manage when red decks usually have spirits with high BP, and even more so when no-limits bouncing is so common right now. But if you set the card early enough, you do have a chance to normally activate it. It can also be activated through Catalyze during later game, so no need to let your spirits be destroyed. Honmaru has a double symbol, meaning it's very helpful with cost reduction.
So what effect does Honmaru actually activate when entering the field via burst? Unusually enough, it's a BP destruction effect! This one is the highest BP destruction effect of a nexus so far, destroying any one opposing spirit with 10000 BP or less. Assuming you're activating the card normally, that's one less annoyance your opponent can throw at you. If you're activating it through Catalyze, that means one less blocker to deal with. The best cards to catalyze Honmaru with are The SwordsSaintWarDragon Mitsurugi-Dragon, which has the added bonus of letting you set another burst, and The SengokuPrincess Mikoto, which has more synergy with red than yellow (though it's recommended you use more than one yellow card). After its destruction effect resolves, the nexus can be deployed without the cost.
Honmaru's LV1 effect is quite a powerhouse. During your own attack step, all your spirits get +3000 BP. It's a respectable amount, enough to give your smaller spirits a boost while not being so much as to overpower them (on its own). Be careful to remember when your BP boost effects are active though! The effect won't work much when blocking or defending against the opponent's BP destruction effects.
At LV2, Honmaru gains the effect of increasing how many cards you draw on your draw step. With only 2 core needed for LV2, it's easy enough to devote some core for extra draws. And thanks to it only increasing the number of cards drawn rather than prompting you to draw on its own, Honmaru evades the nasty effects of The CleverMachineDog Kishudog and Exhaust End. This nexus is sure to give you a massive hand advantage as long as it remains on field at LV2.
The best aspect of The Great Dragon Castle Honmaru is that it can be used in practically any deck. It has all the staples of red nexuses confined into one card, making it a shoe-in candidate for the regular red deck. It can be used in any other color as well since there are no color specifications; try surprising your opponent by putting it in an otherwise blue deck. As a support card itself, there aren't too many cards that Honmaru can lean on. Honmaru is an extraordinarily easy card to use and is certainly a staple in the making.
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==Featured Card no. 40==
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The Burning Bonnouji Temple燃える梵能寺テンプル
This month's featured card is the newest white nexus from BS34, The Burning Bonnouji Temple. Though it's only common rarity, this nexus can be a force to be reckoned with.
At a cost of 3 and only 1 core for level 2, Bonnouji is one of the cheapest nexuses in the game. As you'll see later, its low cost is mostly counteracted by its LV1 effect being only usable on later turns. It also has only one white reduction and is mostly unrestricted by color, so it might as well be used with colors other than white. Despite the name, Bonnouji Temple is not so much God-Sechs support as it is Catalyst support. Temple is a bit of a misnomer in the first place, seeing as the card is of a burning ship. But it's still useful in Soul Burst decks as long as it's used at the right times.
Bonnouji's level 1 effect allows you to return an opposing spirit or ultimate to the hand after your Soul Burst is Catalyzed. If your activated Soul Burst is white, it lets you bounce an additional spirit or ultimate. White seems to be overflowing with return to hand/deck effects recently to the point where they almost seem mediocre, but at this point they're still very powerful. With no cost or BP limit, you can easily rip holes in the opponent's strategy. Since there are very few counters against returning spirits to the hand, you can keep taking cards off your opponent's field without having to combat your own spirits against them. If you're Catalyzing a white Soul Burst like Demon King Blade, it'll probably have a return-to-hand effect anyway, so you can usually count on being able to rid yourself of three obstacles. It's especially convenient that this is the level 1 effect, since you might have a core deficit after sending Soul Core to the trash. Even if you're already heavy on bounce effects, this nexus is sure to ramp up the pace.
At level 2, an incredible effect is unlocked. At all times, whenever your opponent draws via their effects, you can draw an equal number of cards! Even among cards triggered when the opponent increases their hand, this is an unprecedented effect. Even when your opponent tries to gain a significant hand advantage, you can keep up with them as long as you've got a core dedicated to Bonnouji Temple. And since there's no step specified on the card, you still profit whether the opponent activates effects on the main, attack, or end step. In case of cards that increase the hand and then discard, for example Strong Draw, you can even draw three while your opponent ends up with a net gain of only one. Bonnouji is truly a hand boost engine unlike any other.
Psychologically speaking, Bonnouji is also more advantageous than cards that force discards after the hand increases. While an opponent will be hesitant to use an effect that will lead to them losing cards, they'll be less cautious about something that lets the other player benefit as well. Of course, you can always combine it with Greed Thunder anyway to further worsen any hand advantage your opponent might have had. After all, with so many cards returned from the field, the opponent will have to be even more picky about what cards to keep and which to discard.
Bonnouji's greatest weakness is just how wide open it is to opposing effects. The ImpregnableFortress Odin is the easiest way to make sure it stays on field. You can also use The CleverMachineCatalyzer Ginrei to Catalyze during the main step, since Bonnouji's effect lasts your entire turn. And if you really want to use this nexus' effect again, The GroundDeityBlade Ootenta's effect will help to clear the way. Despite what the rarity may suggest, The Burning Bonnouji Temple is a versatile nexus that can complement any Soul Burst deck -- and perhaps any other, depending on the opponent.
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==Featured Card no. 41==
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The SpaceNinja Baltan Seijin Basical Version宇宙忍者バルタン星人ベーシカルバージョン
This month's featured card spotlight is a card from the future: The SpaceNinja Baltan Seijin Basical Version, to be released March 19 in the newest collaboration booster BSC24. This card is based on Basical, an alternate version of the ever-popular Baltan Seijin and the antagonist of the Ultraman Cosmos movie. The ruler of the devastated Planet Baltan, he attempted to take over Earth so the multitudes of child Baltans would have a place to live. Just like the character, the card will quickly populate the field and cause trouble for whoever tries to oppose it.
Basical is one of a growing number of unlimited cards. You can have any number of them in a deck, from just one copy to a deck of nothing but Baltans. This effect makes it very easy to use support cards like Baltan Seijin's Clones, which can allow you mass summon Baltans from the trash. On the negative side of this, it's harder to find the right balance when there's no card limit. More copies also means more expendable. Since Basical is only cost 3 with a mere 1000 and 2000 BP at levels 1 and 2, it will easily be destroyed by cost/BP destruction. Since purple regularly summons from the trash anyway, this won't be much of a detriment. But if you'd rather not run out of cards and core, The WindShieldGuardian Tobimaru will save you the cost.
This spirit is also one of the first Purple/Green cards in years. Despite being so complementary (core gain/removal, exhaust spirit/destroy exhausted), it's an extremely rare combination. Perhaps Baltan's duality signals new purple/green support in the near future? Basical is both an Infernal Lord and a Ninja Gale, and can probably receive more support from the latter. For example, The ArmoredMothShinobi Hyakude will prevent bursts from activating while your Baltans attack, and The Blowing Whirlwind is a combination of refresh and exhaust. On the other hand, as Basical can swarm so easily, you can also combine it with The EvilSpear Shutori's effect for quick depletion, or with The MaliciousAlien Mephilas Seijin to deplete on the attack step instead. In summary, Basical's multiple colors and families make it easy to take advantage of some already strong effects.
At LV2, Basical has Bunshin: 1 when destroyed. In short, even if you destroy Basical, there'll be another spirit to replace it. There are a lot of cards that can power up Bunshin spirits with higher BP and more symbols, so Basical's clones can become even more powerful than the original Basical. You can also combine Bunshin with Curse through The Depths of the Nether World, essentially annihilating anything that blocks while giving you another spirit to attack the life with later. It's a powerful end-game combo if it's been set up properly. Basical's true strength lies in how you utilizes its inevitable destruction.
It'd be impossible to talk about Basical without talking about the X-Rare Baltan, The SpaceNinja Baltan Seijin. The Cost 6 Baltan is made to work hand in hand with the Cost 3 Basical. Baltan mass summons other Baltans from the deck (up to 5 at a time, without cost), and if another Cost 6 Baltan is among them, you can even repeat that effect. It's an even faster way to fill the field with spirits. Baltan's LV2 effect is just as helpful, increasing the core in the reserve whenever Ninja Gales, Infernal Lords, or Bunshin spirits attack. That includes both Basical and whatever Bunshins it creates.
The SpaceNinja Baltan Seijin Basical Version is all about the support cards. There are so many choices to make about the type of deck you'd like to make with it -- how many to put in; the balance of purple, green, and any other colors; what kind of families will make up the majority; how much focus to give Bunshin or destruction effects; when to save versus when to sacrifice. There are countless decisions to make when creating a Baltan deck. It's a very complex card to work with, more so than its low cost and BP might suggest at first. But if you're dedicated enough to the kaiju cause, the many Basicals can be powerful allies.
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==Featured Card No. 42==
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The Card I Picked Up Was Weak After All
やっぱ拾ったカードは弱い	The Card I Picked Up Was Weak After All
やっぱ拾ったカードは弱い	The Card I Picked Up Was Weak After All
やっぱ拾ったカードは弱い	The Card I Picked Up Was Weak After All
やっぱ拾ったカードは弱い
		While released on BSC32 as a Magic card that didn't mean much except for fans of Bashin Toppa, as the Grandwalker Nexus meta evolved, and finally with the addition of Saga Braves, it obtained a new value in many modern decks.
Its effects are simple, it can retrieve itself when your Spirits are destroyed and it can retrieve a mid-sized Spirit from your Trash with its Main effect. Nothing extraordinary at first sight, but in roughly a year players would awaken to its usefulness.	While released on BSC32 as a Magic card that didn't mean much except for fans of Bashin Toppa, as the Grandwalker Nexus meta evolved, and finally with the addition of Saga Braves, it obtained a new value in many modern decks.
Its effects are simple, it can retrieve itself when your Spirits are destroyed and it can retrieve a mid-sized Spirit from your Trash with its Main effect. Nothing extraordinary at first sight, but in roughly a year players would awaken to its usefulness.
There were four (one of them exclusive to Red, but nevertheless a factor) factors which made this card start to gain traction in the meta: First of all, the increase of usable Grandwalker Nexuses in most decks, which meant a player would more quickly fill their Trash with copies of cards which they'd possibly want, and retrieving them can be what makes or breaks a match. The next factor is that high cost finishers decreased in number, and even midrange cards had powerful effects that the player needed. At first, the upper limit of Cost 6 could limit to combo pieces that'd only help with other pieces gathered, but in the current meta, a Cost 6 can be one of the deck's finishers, and very necessary to endure a turn or win a game. For an example, The ShootingStardragonArcher Lykeios, The GrandblowArmoredDragon Jagannath, The TridentGrandseaBeast Triaina and The DinosaurBushin Murakumo Rex are all very powerful Cost 6 Spirits.The third factor is Aramandi, a generic Saga Brave which has become a staple. Its Grand Field, "treat this Nexus' symbols as Red/Purple/Green/White/Yellow/Blue", made it more accessible to run cards that aren't the color of your deck, as you can easily have two to four reductions of all colors in your field now. This Magic card only has one red reduction, but one core you spare is still one more resource you can use later.The fourth factor, exclusive to Red, is Yashium's (and now Raydeer's) being limited to one copy per deck. Red is the color with the most Grandwalker Nexuses, and in recent years has become much like Purple in the way that the Trash is almost like a second hand, as cards were easily and often retrieved through the multiple cards available. After these two banlist hits, Red players which treasure reusing their Trash will most likely use this Magic card more often. 
This Card's Page	There were four (one of them exclusive to Red, but nevertheless a factor) factors which made this card start to gain traction in the meta: First of all, the increase of usable Grandwalker Nexuses in most decks, which meant a player would more quickly fill their Trash with copies of cards which they'd possibly want, and retrieving them can be what makes or breaks a match. The next factor is that high cost finishers decreased in number, and even midrange cards had powerful effects that the player needed. At first, the upper limit of Cost 6 could limit to combo pieces that'd only help with other pieces gathered, but in the current meta, a Cost 6 can be one of the deck's finishers, and very necessary to endure a turn or win a game. For an example, The ShootingStardragonArcher Lykeios, The GrandblowArmoredDragon Jagannath, The TridentGrandseaBeast Triaina and The DinosaurBushin Murakumo Rex are all very powerful Cost 6 Spirits.The third factor is Aramandi, a generic Saga Brave which has become a staple. Its Grand Field, "treat this Nexus' symbols as Red/Purple/Green/White/Yellow/Blue", made it more accessible to run cards that aren't the color of your deck, as you can easily have two to four reductions of all colors in your field now. This Magic card only has one red reduction, but one core you spare is still one more resource you can use later.The fourth factor, exclusive to Red, is Yashium's (and now Raydeer's) being limited to one copy per deck. Red is the color with the most Grandwalker Nexuses, and in recent years has become much like Purple in the way that the Trash is almost like a second hand, as cards were easily and often retrieved through the multiple cards available. After these two banlist hits, Red players which treasure reusing their Trash will most likely use this Magic card more often. 
This Card's Page	There were four (one of them exclusive to Red, but nevertheless a factor) factors which made this card start to gain traction in the meta: First of all, the increase of usable Grandwalker Nexuses in most decks, which meant a player would more quickly fill their Trash with copies of cards which they'd possibly want, and retrieving them can be what makes or breaks a match. The next factor is that high cost finishers decreased in number, and even midrange cards had powerful effects that the player needed. At first, the upper limit of Cost 6 could limit to combo pieces that'd only help with other pieces gathered, but in the current meta, a Cost 6 can be one of the deck's finishers, and very necessary to endure a turn or win a game. For an example, The ShootingStardragonArcher Lykeios, The GrandblowArmoredDragon Jagannath, The TridentGrandseaBeast Triaina and The DinosaurBushin Murakumo Rex are all very powerful Cost 6 Spirits.The third factor is Aramandi, a generic Saga Brave which has become a staple. Its Grand Field, "treat this Nexus' symbols as Red/Purple/Green/White/Yellow/Blue", made it more accessible to run cards that aren't the color of your deck, as you can easily have two to four reductions of all colors in your field now. This Magic card only has one red reduction, but one core you spare is still one more resource you can use later.The fourth factor, exclusive to Red, is Yashium's (and now Raydeer's) being limited to one copy per deck. Red is the color with the most Grandwalker Nexuses, and in recent years has become much like Purple in the way that the Trash is almost like a second hand, as cards were easily and often retrieved through the multiple cards available. After these two banlist hits, Red players which treasure reusing their Trash will most likely use this Magic card more often. 
This Card's Page	There were four (one of them exclusive to Red, but nevertheless a factor) factors which made this card start to gain traction in the meta: First of all, the increase of usable Grandwalker Nexuses in most decks, which meant a player would more quickly fill their Trash with copies of cards which they'd possibly want, and retrieving them can be what makes or breaks a match. The next factor is that high cost finishers decreased in number, and even midrange cards had powerful effects that the player needed. At first, the upper limit of Cost 6 could limit to combo pieces that'd only help with other pieces gathered, but in the current meta, a Cost 6 can be one of the deck's finishers, and very necessary to endure a turn or win a game. For an example, The ShootingStardragonArcher Lykeios, The GrandblowArmoredDragon Jagannath, The TridentGrandseaBeast Triaina and The DinosaurBushin Murakumo Rex are all very powerful Cost 6 Spirits.The third factor is Aramandi, a generic Saga Brave which has become a staple. Its Grand Field, "treat this Nexus' symbols as Red/Purple/Green/White/Yellow/Blue", made it more accessible to run cards that aren't the color of your deck, as you can easily have two to four reductions of all colors in your field now. This Magic card only has one red reduction, but one core you spare is still one more resource you can use later.The fourth factor, exclusive to Red, is Yashium's (and now Raydeer's) being limited to one copy per deck. Red is the color with the most Grandwalker Nexuses, and in recent years has become much like Purple in the way that the Trash is almost like a second hand, as cards were easily and often retrieved through the multiple cards available. After these two banlist hits, Red players which treasure reusing their Trash will most likely use this Magic card more often. 
This Card's Page
==Feature Card No. 43==
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Arche Gundam
アルケーガンダム	Arche Gundam
アルケーガンダム	Arche Gundam
アルケーガンダム	Arche Gundam
アルケーガンダム
			
Perhaps another example to show that Bandai never learns, after Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, Arche Gundam became the next collaboration card that made an amazing impact on the meta. This mobile suit is not appreciated in its series, and it is very much not appreciated in the card game either. Although having only a BP of 15000 as a Cost 7, which is reasonable for an X-Rare card, it brought itself a lot more attention than the other cards ever since it was revealed by the official.
In general, Arche Gundam has two effects: one from hand and one during battle. Its effect during battle is further divided into three parts: destroy an opposing Cost 7 or less Spirit, refresh itself, and a collection of hand and deck destruction and life burn. These effects activate according to the amount of cost you pay for the effect, maximum three costs. In all honesty, they are not some very shocking effects, nor are they particularly overpowered when compared to cards such as The Hellsoil FourDemonLord Magnamizer. It is also worth mentioning that this effect can only activate during flash-timing while this Spirit is in battle, meaning the opponent does have many chances to remove it before it can do any significant damage.
The effect that brings it to spotlight is its effect from hand, “You can pay one cost to summon this card from your Hand when a Spirit’s attack reduces the Life or when a Spirit is destroyed.” This effect alone makes Arche Gundam worthy enough to be thrown into almost every deck, because now, including the effect cost, you are basically paying four costs for a destruction, a refresh, one card from hand discarded, six cards from deck discarded, and one life burn. The most devastating part is that one can easily use its effects fully on turn one or two. And even if you cannot do most of the effects above, the Spirit destruction or the refresh are already showing itself a place in any kind of speed deck. One copy of Arche Gundam is enough to deal the opponent three lives in one turn. And not to mention, the need to pay one cost for the summon beautifully dodges any kind of Zero Counter.
The two effects combined easily makes Arche Gundam an alternative win condition in any kind of deck. And statistics shows that, particularly, Arche Gundam allows Red/Blue Primal decks to secure their places in the meta. Of course, the “Primal” family cards of both colors were not lacking good finishers, but Arche Gundam provides a far quicker and definite way to end the game. It is that good of a card that wherever you put it, it will most likely be a plus, even just slightly, more than a drag.
Being able to be used for both attack and block, disruption to the opponent from every angle, it is not wrong to say that Arche Gundam is one of the most versatile cards now, if not of all time, to the point that limiting it probably would not shake its place. Certainly a card that one should beware of.
This card's page	Perhaps another example to show that Bandai never learns, after Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, Arche Gundam became the next collaboration card that made an amazing impact on the meta. This mobile suit is not appreciated in its series, and it is very much not appreciated in the card game either. Although having only a BP of 15000 as a Cost 7, which is reasonable for an X-Rare card, it brought itself a lot more attention than the other cards ever since it was revealed by the official.
In general, Arche Gundam has two effects: one from hand and one during battle. Its effect during battle is further divided into three parts: destroy an opposing Cost 7 or less Spirit, refresh itself, and a collection of hand and deck destruction and life burn. These effects activate according to the amount of cost you pay for the effect, maximum three costs. In all honesty, they are not some very shocking effects, nor are they particularly overpowered when compared to cards such as The Hellsoil FourDemonLord Magnamizer. It is also worth mentioning that this effect can only activate during flash-timing while this Spirit is in battle, meaning the opponent does have many chances to remove it before it can do any significant damage.
The effect that brings it to spotlight is its effect from hand, “You can pay one cost to summon this card from your Hand when a Spirit’s attack reduces the Life or when a Spirit is destroyed.” This effect alone makes Arche Gundam worthy enough to be thrown into almost every deck, because now, including the effect cost, you are basically paying four costs for a destruction, a refresh, one card from hand discarded, six cards from deck discarded, and one life burn. The most devastating part is that one can easily use its effects fully on turn one or two. And even if you cannot do most of the effects above, the Spirit destruction or the refresh are already showing itself a place in any kind of speed deck. One copy of Arche Gundam is enough to deal the opponent three lives in one turn. And not to mention, the need to pay one cost for the summon beautifully dodges any kind of Zero Counter.
The two effects combined easily makes Arche Gundam an alternative win condition in any kind of deck. And statistics shows that, particularly, Arche Gundam allows Red/Blue Primal decks to secure their places in the meta. Of course, the “Primal” family cards of both colors were not lacking good finishers, but Arche Gundam provides a far quicker and definite way to end the game. It is that good of a card that wherever you put it, it will most likely be a plus, even just slightly, more than a drag.
Being able to be used for both attack and block, disruption to the opponent from every angle, it is not wrong to say that Arche Gundam is one of the most versatile cards now, if not of all time, to the point that limiting it probably would not shake its place. Certainly a card that one should beware of.
This card's page	Perhaps another example to show that Bandai never learns, after Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, Arche Gundam became the next collaboration card that made an amazing impact on the meta. This mobile suit is not appreciated in its series, and it is very much not appreciated in the card game either. Although having only a BP of 15000 as a Cost 7, which is reasonable for an X-Rare card, it brought itself a lot more attention than the other cards ever since it was revealed by the official.
In general, Arche Gundam has two effects: one from hand and one during battle. Its effect during battle is further divided into three parts: destroy an opposing Cost 7 or less Spirit, refresh itself, and a collection of hand and deck destruction and life burn. These effects activate according to the amount of cost you pay for the effect, maximum three costs. In all honesty, they are not some very shocking effects, nor are they particularly overpowered when compared to cards such as The Hellsoil FourDemonLord Magnamizer. It is also worth mentioning that this effect can only activate during flash-timing while this Spirit is in battle, meaning the opponent does have many chances to remove it before it can do any significant damage.
The effect that brings it to spotlight is its effect from hand, “You can pay one cost to summon this card from your Hand when a Spirit’s attack reduces the Life or when a Spirit is destroyed.” This effect alone makes Arche Gundam worthy enough to be thrown into almost every deck, because now, including the effect cost, you are basically paying four costs for a destruction, a refresh, one card from hand discarded, six cards from deck discarded, and one life burn. The most devastating part is that one can easily use its effects fully on turn one or two. And even if you cannot do most of the effects above, the Spirit destruction or the refresh are already showing itself a place in any kind of speed deck. One copy of Arche Gundam is enough to deal the opponent three lives in one turn. And not to mention, the need to pay one cost for the summon beautifully dodges any kind of Zero Counter.
The two effects combined easily makes Arche Gundam an alternative win condition in any kind of deck. And statistics shows that, particularly, Arche Gundam allows Red/Blue Primal decks to secure their places in the meta. Of course, the “Primal” family cards of both colors were not lacking good finishers, but Arche Gundam provides a far quicker and definite way to end the game. It is that good of a card that wherever you put it, it will most likely be a plus, even just slightly, more than a drag.
Being able to be used for both attack and block, disruption to the opponent from every angle, it is not wrong to say that Arche Gundam is one of the most versatile cards now, if not of all time, to the point that limiting it probably would not shake its place. Certainly a card that one should beware of.
This card's page	Perhaps another example to show that Bandai never learns, after Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, Arche Gundam became the next collaboration card that made an amazing impact on the meta. This mobile suit is not appreciated in its series, and it is very much not appreciated in the card game either. Although having only a BP of 15000 as a Cost 7, which is reasonable for an X-Rare card, it brought itself a lot more attention than the other cards ever since it was revealed by the official.
In general, Arche Gundam has two effects: one from hand and one during battle. Its effect during battle is further divided into three parts: destroy an opposing Cost 7 or less Spirit, refresh itself, and a collection of hand and deck destruction and life burn. These effects activate according to the amount of cost you pay for the effect, maximum three costs. In all honesty, they are not some very shocking effects, nor are they particularly overpowered when compared to cards such as The Hellsoil FourDemonLord Magnamizer. It is also worth mentioning that this effect can only activate during flash-timing while this Spirit is in battle, meaning the opponent does have many chances to remove it before it can do any significant damage.
The effect that brings it to spotlight is its effect from hand, “You can pay one cost to summon this card from your Hand when a Spirit’s attack reduces the Life or when a Spirit is destroyed.” This effect alone makes Arche Gundam worthy enough to be thrown into almost every deck, because now, including the effect cost, you are basically paying four costs for a destruction, a refresh, one card from hand discarded, six cards from deck discarded, and one life burn. The most devastating part is that one can easily use its effects fully on turn one or two. And even if you cannot do most of the effects above, the Spirit destruction or the refresh are already showing itself a place in any kind of speed deck. One copy of Arche Gundam is enough to deal the opponent three lives in one turn. And not to mention, the need to pay one cost for the summon beautifully dodges any kind of Zero Counter.
The two effects combined easily makes Arche Gundam an alternative win condition in any kind of deck. And statistics shows that, particularly, Arche Gundam allows Red/Blue Primal decks to secure their places in the meta. Of course, the “Primal” family cards of both colors were not lacking good finishers, but Arche Gundam provides a far quicker and definite way to end the game. It is that good of a card that wherever you put it, it will most likely be a plus, even just slightly, more than a drag.
Being able to be used for both attack and block, disruption to the opponent from every angle, it is not wrong to say that Arche Gundam is one of the most versatile cards now, if not of all time, to the point that limiting it probably would not shake its place. Certainly a card that one should beware of.
This card's page
==Featured Card No. 44==
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The MagicianEmperor’s Mega-Grandstone/The MagicianEmperor A-Zra
魔術皇の大創界石/魔術皇ア＝ズーラ	The MagicianEmperor’s Mega-Grandstone/The MagicianEmperor A-Zra
魔術皇の大創界石/魔術皇ア＝ズーラ	The MagicianEmperor’s Mega-Grandstone/The MagicianEmperor A-Zra
魔術皇の大創界石/魔術皇ア＝ズーラ	The MagicianEmperor’s Mega-Grandstone/The MagicianEmperor A-Zra
魔術皇の大創界石/魔術皇ア＝ズーラ
 	 	 	
Certainly world-breaking, it is not wrong to say that this card single-handedly decided the ultimate fate of many staple cards in the meta. The MagicianEmperor’s Mega-Grandstone is such an existence. Its most deadly effect comes as its Grand Mystery, being able to shut down most six-colored cards, rendering cards such as The ChosenSearcher Alex and The GuideGirl Vina into complete blank paper. The Grandstone is a Cost 2 card, making it able to be used in basically every deck. Even if there is no “Primal” family Spirit supporting its Release condition, it is cheap enough to just stay on the field for solely its Grand Mystery. Its impact surely was not enough to reshape the meta, but it was enough to remove the common enemy, The SpacetimeDragon Chrono-Dragon, which was threatening others with its double life burns and its fast nature in Red and Blue Primal decks.
The Grandstone’s Release condition is also very easy to be fulfilled, being able to add cores whenever you draw with a “Primal” family Spirit effect, and it can be flipped once it holds at least three cores. The B side of the card--A-Zra is the name--is also something to behold, as it recycles three cores from trash and destroy two opposing Spirits or Ultimates on reborn. Decks such as the Purple Primal often lacks the cores to play anything, and so this effect really extends the game; and by destroying opposing cards, it can also lead to a chain of Rebirth effects that are triggered upon destruction.
And the other effect that A-Zra has requires it to be at level three, but it is still an effect worthy to level it up, as it prevents the opponent from ending the attack step, and when the opponent uses a Magic card, A-Zra’s player can gain a life. It is a situation of ‘you get to stay, but I am also gaining advantage’. While the Purple/Yellow combination of decks has been used in the history of the game, life gain from the void for Purple is still an exceptional effect.
As mentioned before, the Grandstone can be put into basically any kind of decks, but being a “Primal” family card, at the end, the best places for it are still the Primal decks. However, besides Purple Primal, I would also specifically recommend it in the WBS deck, which is already using the Grandstone in some winning deck lists. Since Blue also draws a lot, it can take use of both sides of the Grandstone. Though, one has to make sure that it will not hinder the deck, simply due to the fact that it does not have any Blue symbols, nor can it be added by any reveal effects. Being a half-yellow card, obviously the Grandstone can also be put into a Demeter deck, but one has to be careful with it as some deck variants include both Vina and Alex, and the Grandstone’s Grand Mystery also affects the user himself.
Unfortunately, currently there is no way to completely get rid of the Grandstone, as the Grandstone Nexus is a new sub-card type. Most of the time you either have to wait for it to flip into a Spirit, or try to make your deck less reliant on six-colored cards. While most decks now have their own sets of defence and do not have to rely on cards like Alex, it can really hurt the Primal decks, which still have Vina and The New World as some of the main cards. However, at the end, the deck which takes the most damage from this card’s release is most likely the Galaxian deck, in which most Grandwalker Nexus cards it uses are six-colored. The control variant of the deck can be said to be in a very unstable state.
Upon the release of this card, some players immediately quitted the game, and some players just swiftly sold their six-colored cards, believing it is a bad influence to the game environment. What do you think?
This card's page	Certainly world-breaking, it is not wrong to say that this card single-handedly decided the ultimate fate of many staple cards in the meta. The MagicianEmperor’s Mega-Grandstone is such an existence. Its most deadly effect comes as its Grand Mystery, being able to shut down most six-colored cards, rendering cards such as The ChosenSearcher Alex and The GuideGirl Vina into complete blank paper. The Grandstone is a Cost 2 card, making it able to be used in basically every deck. Even if there is no “Primal” family Spirit supporting its Release condition, it is cheap enough to just stay on the field for solely its Grand Mystery. Its impact surely was not enough to reshape the meta, but it was enough to remove the common enemy, The SpacetimeDragon Chrono-Dragon, which was threatening others with its double life burns and its fast nature in Red and Blue Primal decks.
The Grandstone’s Release condition is also very easy to be fulfilled, being able to add cores whenever you draw with a “Primal” family Spirit effect, and it can be flipped once it holds at least three cores. The B side of the card--A-Zra is the name--is also something to behold, as it recycles three cores from trash and destroy two opposing Spirits or Ultimates on reborn. Decks such as the Purple Primal often lacks the cores to play anything, and so this effect really extends the game; and by destroying opposing cards, it can also lead to a chain of Rebirth effects that are triggered upon destruction.
And the other effect that A-Zra has requires it to be at level three, but it is still an effect worthy to level it up, as it prevents the opponent from ending the attack step, and when the opponent uses a Magic card, A-Zra’s player can gain a life. It is a situation of ‘you get to stay, but I am also gaining advantage’. While the Purple/Yellow combination of decks has been used in the history of the game, life gain from the void for Purple is still an exceptional effect.
As mentioned before, the Grandstone can be put into basically any kind of decks, but being a “Primal” family card, at the end, the best places for it are still the Primal decks. However, besides Purple Primal, I would also specifically recommend it in the WBS deck, which is already using the Grandstone in some winning deck lists. Since Blue also draws a lot, it can take use of both sides of the Grandstone. Though, one has to make sure that it will not hinder the deck, simply due to the fact that it does not have any Blue symbols, nor can it be added by any reveal effects. Being a half-yellow card, obviously the Grandstone can also be put into a Demeter deck, but one has to be careful with it as some deck variants include both Vina and Alex, and the Grandstone’s Grand Mystery also affects the user himself.
Unfortunately, currently there is no way to completely get rid of the Grandstone, as the Grandstone Nexus is a new sub-card type. Most of the time you either have to wait for it to flip into a Spirit, or try to make your deck less reliant on six-colored cards. While most decks now have their own sets of defence and do not have to rely on cards like Alex, it can really hurt the Primal decks, which still have Vina and The New World as some of the main cards. However, at the end, the deck which takes the most damage from this card’s release is most likely the Galaxian deck, in which most Grandwalker Nexus cards it uses are six-colored. The control variant of the deck can be said to be in a very unstable state.
Upon the release of this card, some players immediately quitted the game, and some players just swiftly sold their six-colored cards, believing it is a bad influence to the game environment. What do you think?
This card's page	Certainly world-breaking, it is not wrong to say that this card single-handedly decided the ultimate fate of many staple cards in the meta. The MagicianEmperor’s Mega-Grandstone is such an existence. Its most deadly effect comes as its Grand Mystery, being able to shut down most six-colored cards, rendering cards such as The ChosenSearcher Alex and The GuideGirl Vina into complete blank paper. The Grandstone is a Cost 2 card, making it able to be used in basically every deck. Even if there is no “Primal” family Spirit supporting its Release condition, it is cheap enough to just stay on the field for solely its Grand Mystery. Its impact surely was not enough to reshape the meta, but it was enough to remove the common enemy, The SpacetimeDragon Chrono-Dragon, which was threatening others with its double life burns and its fast nature in Red and Blue Primal decks.
The Grandstone’s Release condition is also very easy to be fulfilled, being able to add cores whenever you draw with a “Primal” family Spirit effect, and it can be flipped once it holds at least three cores. The B side of the card--A-Zra is the name--is also something to behold, as it recycles three cores from trash and destroy two opposing Spirits or Ultimates on reborn. Decks such as the Purple Primal often lacks the cores to play anything, and so this effect really extends the game; and by destroying opposing cards, it can also lead to a chain of Rebirth effects that are triggered upon destruction.
And the other effect that A-Zra has requires it to be at level three, but it is still an effect worthy to level it up, as it prevents the opponent from ending the attack step, and when the opponent uses a Magic card, A-Zra’s player can gain a life. It is a situation of ‘you get to stay, but I am also gaining advantage’. While the Purple/Yellow combination of decks has been used in the history of the game, life gain from the void for Purple is still an exceptional effect.
As mentioned before, the Grandstone can be put into basically any kind of decks, but being a “Primal” family card, at the end, the best places for it are still the Primal decks. However, besides Purple Primal, I would also specifically recommend it in the WBS deck, which is already using the Grandstone in some winning deck lists. Since Blue also draws a lot, it can take use of both sides of the Grandstone. Though, one has to make sure that it will not hinder the deck, simply due to the fact that it does not have any Blue symbols, nor can it be added by any reveal effects. Being a half-yellow card, obviously the Grandstone can also be put into a Demeter deck, but one has to be careful with it as some deck variants include both Vina and Alex, and the Grandstone’s Grand Mystery also affects the user himself.
Unfortunately, currently there is no way to completely get rid of the Grandstone, as the Grandstone Nexus is a new sub-card type. Most of the time you either have to wait for it to flip into a Spirit, or try to make your deck less reliant on six-colored cards. While most decks now have their own sets of defence and do not have to rely on cards like Alex, it can really hurt the Primal decks, which still have Vina and The New World as some of the main cards. However, at the end, the deck which takes the most damage from this card’s release is most likely the Galaxian deck, in which most Grandwalker Nexus cards it uses are six-colored. The control variant of the deck can be said to be in a very unstable state.
Upon the release of this card, some players immediately quitted the game, and some players just swiftly sold their six-colored cards, believing it is a bad influence to the game environment. What do you think?
This card's page	Certainly world-breaking, it is not wrong to say that this card single-handedly decided the ultimate fate of many staple cards in the meta. The MagicianEmperor’s Mega-Grandstone is such an existence. Its most deadly effect comes as its Grand Mystery, being able to shut down most six-colored cards, rendering cards such as The ChosenSearcher Alex and The GuideGirl Vina into complete blank paper. The Grandstone is a Cost 2 card, making it able to be used in basically every deck. Even if there is no “Primal” family Spirit supporting its Release condition, it is cheap enough to just stay on the field for solely its Grand Mystery. Its impact surely was not enough to reshape the meta, but it was enough to remove the common enemy, The SpacetimeDragon Chrono-Dragon, which was threatening others with its double life burns and its fast nature in Red and Blue Primal decks.
The Grandstone’s Release condition is also very easy to be fulfilled, being able to add cores whenever you draw with a “Primal” family Spirit effect, and it can be flipped once it holds at least three cores. The B side of the card--A-Zra is the name--is also something to behold, as it recycles three cores from trash and destroy two opposing Spirits or Ultimates on reborn. Decks such as the Purple Primal often lacks the cores to play anything, and so this effect really extends the game; and by destroying opposing cards, it can also lead to a chain of Rebirth effects that are triggered upon destruction.
And the other effect that A-Zra has requires it to be at level three, but it is still an effect worthy to level it up, as it prevents the opponent from ending the attack step, and when the opponent uses a Magic card, A-Zra’s player can gain a life. It is a situation of ‘you get to stay, but I am also gaining advantage’. While the Purple/Yellow combination of decks has been used in the history of the game, life gain from the void for Purple is still an exceptional effect.
As mentioned before, the Grandstone can be put into basically any kind of decks, but being a “Primal” family card, at the end, the best places for it are still the Primal decks. However, besides Purple Primal, I would also specifically recommend it in the WBS deck, which is already using the Grandstone in some winning deck lists. Since Blue also draws a lot, it can take use of both sides of the Grandstone. Though, one has to make sure that it will not hinder the deck, simply due to the fact that it does not have any Blue symbols, nor can it be added by any reveal effects. Being a half-yellow card, obviously the Grandstone can also be put into a Demeter deck, but one has to be careful with it as some deck variants include both Vina and Alex, and the Grandstone’s Grand Mystery also affects the user himself.
Unfortunately, currently there is no way to completely get rid of the Grandstone, as the Grandstone Nexus is a new sub-card type. Most of the time you either have to wait for it to flip into a Spirit, or try to make your deck less reliant on six-colored cards. While most decks now have their own sets of defence and do not have to rely on cards like Alex, it can really hurt the Primal decks, which still have Vina and The New World as some of the main cards. However, at the end, the deck which takes the most damage from this card’s release is most likely the Galaxian deck, in which most Grandwalker Nexus cards it uses are six-colored. The control variant of the deck can be said to be in a very unstable state.
Upon the release of this card, some players immediately quitted the game, and some players just swiftly sold their six-colored cards, believing it is a bad influence to the game environment. What do you think?
This card's page
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==Featured Card No. 45==
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King's Command
キングスコマンド 	King's Command
キングスコマンド 	King's Command
キングスコマンド 	King's Command
キングスコマンド
 	 	 	
This month’s card I am going to talk about the Magic card King’s Command, first released in SD24 during the Ultimate era. Being a Blue defensive card, King’s Command is a card that you do not often see, but it is always lurking around somewhere. What is so special about King’s Command is that it is the only Blue Magic card that prevents the opponent from attacking, essentially acting as a defensive Magic. However, I suppose its bigger usage is still the Burst effect, which allows the user to draw three and drop one from hand.
During the Rebirth era, the amount of players using this card suddenly rose, and so did the price skyrocket. To cause such an effect, it was none other than a Blue deck. It sounds like tons of bullcrap, though an interesting fact is that the card was used not for that Blue deck, but against that deck. That deck is the Blue Primal deck, which often has The RouseSeaEmperor Valshark as the finishing card. And this card has such an effect that neither player can use non-Blue cards from hand when it attacks. King’s Command was immediately dug up by players to avoid this dangerous situation.
Besides the flash effect, King’s Command's Burst effect, the “draw three then drop one” effect, which activates upon an opposing Spirit’s summon effect, gives the user a net gain of two cards in hand. So even if the flash effect is somehow unusable in the game, you can still use the card for a free two draws. Ever since the God Advent era, there also has been a staple of summon effects in every deck due to the introduction of Godseeker cards, leading to King’s Command being able to be triggered very easily. With such utility, not only Blue decks, but every kind of deck can always make use of it, just like Burst Draw.
However, recently, the ratio of Blue Primal deck in meta is gradually decreasing, causing King’s Command also less seen. King’s Command as a defence card also is not that superior, especially since it still requires targeting the opposing cards, meaning if they were unaffected, King’s Command would be useless. Even in Blue decks, while King’s Command has the priority over White Magic cards for more reduction symbols, there are also other more popular cards such as Seize Glory to be used. And in general, King’s Command was so demanded in the market that its price went skyrocket, so when there are so many alternative options, King’s Command really got swept under the rug.
At the end, King’s Command is simply a relatively old card that was given the attention due its sudden rise in price. However, while there are other cards that can easily outrun it, there is no doubt it is still generic enough to be considered when building a deck.
This is the last card review of 2020. I wish you all a happy new year, and stay safe.
This card's page	This month’s card I am going to talk about the Magic card King’s Command, first released in SD24 during the Ultimate era. Being a Blue defensive card, King’s Command is a card that you do not often see, but it is always lurking around somewhere. What is so special about King’s Command is that it is the only Blue Magic card that prevents the opponent from attacking, essentially acting as a defensive Magic. However, I suppose its bigger usage is still the Burst effect, which allows the user to draw three and drop one from hand.
During the Rebirth era, the amount of players using this card suddenly rose, and so did the price skyrocket. To cause such an effect, it was none other than a Blue deck. It sounds like tons of bullcrap, though an interesting fact is that the card was used not for that Blue deck, but against that deck. That deck is the Blue Primal deck, which often has The RouseSeaEmperor Valshark as the finishing card. And this card has such an effect that neither player can use non-Blue cards from hand when it attacks. King’s Command was immediately dug up by players to avoid this dangerous situation.
Besides the flash effect, King’s Command's Burst effect, the “draw three then drop one” effect, which activates upon an opposing Spirit’s summon effect, gives the user a net gain of two cards in hand. So even if the flash effect is somehow unusable in the game, you can still use the card for a free two draws. Ever since the God Advent era, there also has been a staple of summon effects in every deck due to the introduction of Godseeker cards, leading to King’s Command being able to be triggered very easily. With such utility, not only Blue decks, but every kind of deck can always make use of it, just like Burst Draw.
However, recently, the ratio of Blue Primal deck in meta is gradually decreasing, causing King’s Command also less seen. King’s Command as a defence card also is not that superior, especially since it still requires targeting the opposing cards, meaning if they were unaffected, King’s Command would be useless. Even in Blue decks, while King’s Command has the priority over White Magic cards for more reduction symbols, there are also other more popular cards such as Seize Glory to be used. And in general, King’s Command was so demanded in the market that its price went skyrocket, so when there are so many alternative options, King’s Command really got swept under the rug.
At the end, King’s Command is simply a relatively old card that was given the attention due its sudden rise in price. However, while there are other cards that can easily outrun it, there is no doubt it is still generic enough to be considered when building a deck.
This is the last card review of 2020. I wish you all a happy new year, and stay safe.
This card's page	This month’s card I am going to talk about the Magic card King’s Command, first released in SD24 during the Ultimate era. Being a Blue defensive card, King’s Command is a card that you do not often see, but it is always lurking around somewhere. What is so special about King’s Command is that it is the only Blue Magic card that prevents the opponent from attacking, essentially acting as a defensive Magic. However, I suppose its bigger usage is still the Burst effect, which allows the user to draw three and drop one from hand.
During the Rebirth era, the amount of players using this card suddenly rose, and so did the price skyrocket. To cause such an effect, it was none other than a Blue deck. It sounds like tons of bullcrap, though an interesting fact is that the card was used not for that Blue deck, but against that deck. That deck is the Blue Primal deck, which often has The RouseSeaEmperor Valshark as the finishing card. And this card has such an effect that neither player can use non-Blue cards from hand when it attacks. King’s Command was immediately dug up by players to avoid this dangerous situation.
Besides the flash effect, King’s Command's Burst effect, the “draw three then drop one” effect, which activates upon an opposing Spirit’s summon effect, gives the user a net gain of two cards in hand. So even if the flash effect is somehow unusable in the game, you can still use the card for a free two draws. Ever since the God Advent era, there also has been a staple of summon effects in every deck due to the introduction of Godseeker cards, leading to King’s Command being able to be triggered very easily. With such utility, not only Blue decks, but every kind of deck can always make use of it, just like Burst Draw.
However, recently, the ratio of Blue Primal deck in meta is gradually decreasing, causing King’s Command also less seen. King’s Command as a defence card also is not that superior, especially since it still requires targeting the opposing cards, meaning if they were unaffected, King’s Command would be useless. Even in Blue decks, while King’s Command has the priority over White Magic cards for more reduction symbols, there are also other more popular cards such as Seize Glory to be used. And in general, King’s Command was so demanded in the market that its price went skyrocket, so when there are so many alternative options, King’s Command really got swept under the rug.
At the end, King’s Command is simply a relatively old card that was given the attention due its sudden rise in price. However, while there are other cards that can easily outrun it, there is no doubt it is still generic enough to be considered when building a deck.
This is the last card review of 2020. I wish you all a happy new year, and stay safe.
This card's page	This month’s card I am going to talk about the Magic card King’s Command, first released in SD24 during the Ultimate era. Being a Blue defensive card, King’s Command is a card that you do not often see, but it is always lurking around somewhere. What is so special about King’s Command is that it is the only Blue Magic card that prevents the opponent from attacking, essentially acting as a defensive Magic. However, I suppose its bigger usage is still the Burst effect, which allows the user to draw three and drop one from hand.
During the Rebirth era, the amount of players using this card suddenly rose, and so did the price skyrocket. To cause such an effect, it was none other than a Blue deck. It sounds like tons of bullcrap, though an interesting fact is that the card was used not for that Blue deck, but against that deck. That deck is the Blue Primal deck, which often has The RouseSeaEmperor Valshark as the finishing card. And this card has such an effect that neither player can use non-Blue cards from hand when it attacks. King’s Command was immediately dug up by players to avoid this dangerous situation.
Besides the flash effect, King’s Command's Burst effect, the “draw three then drop one” effect, which activates upon an opposing Spirit’s summon effect, gives the user a net gain of two cards in hand. So even if the flash effect is somehow unusable in the game, you can still use the card for a free two draws. Ever since the God Advent era, there also has been a staple of summon effects in every deck due to the introduction of Godseeker cards, leading to King’s Command being able to be triggered very easily. With such utility, not only Blue decks, but every kind of deck can always make use of it, just like Burst Draw.
However, recently, the ratio of Blue Primal deck in meta is gradually decreasing, causing King’s Command also less seen. King’s Command as a defence card also is not that superior, especially since it still requires targeting the opposing cards, meaning if they were unaffected, King’s Command would be useless. Even in Blue decks, while King’s Command has the priority over White Magic cards for more reduction symbols, there are also other more popular cards such as Seize Glory to be used. And in general, King’s Command was so demanded in the market that its price went skyrocket, so when there are so many alternative options, King’s Command really got swept under the rug.
At the end, King’s Command is simply a relatively old card that was given the attention due its sudden rise in price. However, while there are other cards that can easily outrun it, there is no doubt it is still generic enough to be considered when building a deck.
This is the last card review of 2020. I wish you all a happy new year, and stay safe.
This card's page
Check out the previous Featured Cards	Check out the previous Featured Cards	Check out the previous Featured Cards	Check out the previous Featured Cards
Category:Basics