Right so Set 12's been out in Japan for a hot minute and to nobody's surprise Eradicators are doing jack all which means for anyone who wants to play Descendant and win then they should stick to Vanguard Zero where the deck is actually good for now going into the future of Break Ride format. However as we all know the good times will eventually come to an end when the Link Joker arc wraps up sometime into next year and with it the likely relevancy of Eradicators since the deck has remained largely the same since GBD/EDD came out and none of the new boss monsters that have come since haven't been good enough to be more than a one of tech in the deck and spoiler alert: the last set of Eradicators won't be breaking this trend. So then what's next for Narukami? After all you've probably got tons of gems saved up from your Character Fights but nothing to use them on!
Enter Brawlers.
Brawler is Narukami's 2nd Subclan and it's focus is on the Legion mechanic. While we don't know how Zero will adjust Legion for it's format (I'm hoping they don't let you shuffle back triggers. That was a bad idea in retrospect and it would clash with the goal of games in Zero being fast and simple) I do think that the Brawler deck will perform solidly in the game due to how it functions. Will it do as well as Eradicator has been performing in Break Ride format? That's hard to say as the best version of the paper deck (Big Bang) lacked a finisher which was a huge problem in a format of many other decks having access to Restanders (Seekers, Revengers, Perdition Dragons, Raizers) or Guard Restrict (Liberators, Regalia, Metalborg) but in Zero things may be a little different since much like any other Narukami archetype Brawler has the ability to snipe Intercepts with ease and as we all know being able to get 3 direct attacks on the Vanguard can get you far in Zero. There's also the little things when it comes to the deck that I'll address later as in this article I'm going to go over every card I expect to see printed for the deck in Zero and giving my opinions on how useful they will be since this is a deck that I played for years. Basically through reading this I hope to help people get a good idea of where they'll want to spend their gems since the deck will likely consist of 2 playsets of RRRs at minimum and a hefty amount of RRs depending on how they handle some of the Legion Mates. With that said let's get into it.
Playstyle
Brawler can be seen as a return to the classic Narukami way of having your Vanguard clear out the front row with its attack to allow your rears to swing face like the Vermillion decks of old. Where Brawler improves on this is that it has more cards that power up from you killing things, specifically your Grade 1s and 2s. Brawlers have multiple 2s that get 3k whenever you kill something in a deck that can usually kill 2-3 Rear-Guards a turn which if my math is correct will allow your side lanes to hit over at least one defensive trigger and force 2 damage. I cannot tell you how many times my attempts to push got cockblocked by my opponent hitting a trigger on the first fucking swing and with this deck it's possible to push through 1, maybe even two triggers if you see your G1 that powers up to make 34k swing. Your side lanes can get that big.
What's old is still good
Another thing about this deck to point out is that it isn't as xenophobic as Eradicators were as while you have the obligatory Brawler locked 10k/12k attacker and units that require a Brawler Vanguard to do a thing none of your main G3s actually care about having non Brawler units on field or in hand like Descendant or Sweep Command Dragon. This means that the Desert Gunners are fair game and we all know how good those things are in addition to being able to play our older Perfect Guard since this deck doesn't care about being at 4/5 damage for its plays. Garuda is also a card to keep in the back of your mind since Brawlers don't have any in theme Counter Charge to my knowledge and some of the cards do cost 2 CB.
The cards
Here we go! I'll be going over the cards in order of G0 to G3 in two separate articles with this one being focused on G0s and G1s. Obviously Knuckle Turbo won't be discussed since it's a Stride.
Like any 6k starter you'll only see this if your opponent is VP Farming and isn't being a scumlord that plays Heals/PGs.
In case the text is confusing to read because old VG text this card is saying it's skill triggers when you perform Legion. In general starters who only trigger when you Legion never really see play since they're pretty slow (you're basically waiting until your 2nd G3 turn going 1st) and with some exceptions the payoff was never worth it since there usually better starter choices for most decks in the format. Being a 9k booster is definitely not worth over other NK starters.
So this guy's technically generic and an 8k Booster provided you clear the front. It's not awful but I can think of other cards to play instead.
This is definitely better than the other starters shown as basically for CB1 any time you kill something in the front by effect or battle, you pop its booster. That being said that's alot of CB you're potentially burning through as Knuckle Dragon uses 2 to swing at the front, so you're using another 2 in order to wipe out their back. 4 CB for retire 4? No sir.
Honestly I'm at a bit of a loss as to what starter is ideal. Prior to the recently announced nerfs I'd have said Saishin since killing Judgebau is very important but now I'm leaning towards Spark Kid Dragoon. The Big Bang deck needs G3s in hand to enable Knuckle Buster so Saishin fetching one goes a long way.
Nope.
Your G1 space is going to be very tight and this isn't worth playing over Rising Phoenix, let alone the better Brawler G1s.
So redundant. BBKB already swings for 25-28k on its own.
Meanwhile this guy does the same thing but is Legion locked. Is that better?
[AUTO](RC):[Soul Blast (1)] During your turn, when your opponent's rear-guard is put into the drop zone, you may pay the cost. If you do, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of turn.
Huh. I didn't know that there was a Promo card for Brawlers that we never got. It's also bad. You'll see why later.
Wildclock is the standard Subclan 10k attacker that you would expect it to be. Eradicator, Demolition Dragon sees some play now and then and I can see the same happening for this guy.
At the time of this being written we don't know how Quintet Walls will work in Zero if they even bother to put them in. Quintets were good in theory and they did see small amounts of play but ultimately everyone continued to use PGs instead. That being said this is a Sentinel that'll appear in the set Brawlers come out in and if you have spare Sentinel Medals to burn and want some easy RR gems then just get these before you crack packs I guess. I'll have to re-evaluate this once we get more info on Quintets.
Kokon appearing in Zero during Legion format is a big stretch since we got this card during early Stride Format. That being said I'm hoping that Zero imports some of the Legions and Legion Support that were printed during Stride Format to not only buff up some clans who didn't get Legions until Stride Format (Megacolony) but because I think it would be silly to have these legacy support cards get printed again well after the decks they support are out of the spotlight.
That also being said Kokon was really good for his time and was part of why the Brawler deck was competitive during G-Set 5 format. I can see him not being imported as he's basically a better Arc.
This guy is a generic 10k attacker for any Narukami deck that can clear the front row consistently. Like Vermillion. He won't see play of course since I suspect Egghelm Dracokid (the Limit Break remover) would get used first.
Kohmei's great. He's an easier to pull off Castor that's not locked to Brawler VGs which is great for older decks like Dungaree since you're usually sniping at least one front row unit a turn anyway.
Fun fact: Arc's artist is the same one who has done Blaster Dark and Ahsha. He's also really good. Arc is a better Shuki since he doesn't care if you kill something by battle or effect to get the +3k, you just have to be in Legion. He was also a pain in the ass to get in the TCG. Stupid short prints.
And the last card for Today is Teirin who is a 9k attacker as G1 but only against Vanguards. He wasn't very good to begin with but in Zero format where you have to clear the front row just to attack the Vanguard he's sorely outclassed by Tohkon who is also outclassed by Wildclock.
There you have it. Stay tuned for the next part where I cover the meat and potatoes of this deck: the G2s and 3s.
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