Saturday 26 December 2020

The Future of Narukami in Zero - Brawlers Part 3


I hope everyone has been enjoying these articles because this'll be the last one as I cover the bossess and discuss some theory while I'm at it.



Yeah they kept printing these filler cards even into Legion format.  It's even worse here since it's not a Legion unit and doesn't enable your best RG skills.



Honestly when I look at him on his own Knuckle Dragon is kinda average compared to previous Narukami bosses (EDD, GBD, Unlimited) as he's basically a Vermillion that swings for 28k but when does a Vermillion clone care about swinging for lots when he's usually the first attack?  No what makes this card a staple RRR is the name and what he enables as your typical attack with BBKB will result in 2-3 units being hit which allows Slash Dragon/Buster to get +6-9k and Arc to get +6k.  That's 31k potentially with Slash Dragon + Arc which is strong enough to hit through not one but two defensive triggers.  Now should we expect some changes to his effect?  Possibly.  Given that this will be one of your two main boss units until Buster comes out I could see Zero adding on some form of Crit gain to make him more of a threat.



And then we have this guy.  Knuckle Buster is fantastic.  You get to swing at the VG and any 3 RGs of your choosing or you can just kill any 4 RGs instead and let your sides poke at the VG.  He is selective, non effect based removal that can utterly decimate any deck that needs cards to stay on the board to make plays and he's a crossride.  A crossride that with his own cost can put Dragon into the soul to offset having to ride him first no less!  Take all the upsides I mentioned with Dragon and tack on another 3k to your lanes to enable some massive beatdown potential!

With that being said compared to paper VG there is the obvious issue of feeding his cost.  Much like with DOTE and other Persona Blast users you don't have the ability to add any Big Bangs you drive check to your hand so being able to repeatedly use Buster's skill could be difficult since you're relying on constantly drawing into your 3s (which means you're definitely running a draw heavy trigger line up) which depending on how RNG favours you means you'll have games where you'll just never resolve Buster's skill and he ends up sitting there being a vanilla.  I think they'll definitely have to add on a skill that lets you get a copy of itself or Dragon to your hand to make him more consistent.  Another downside to this card that I have to repeat from earlier is that we won't get him until Blazing Perdition's release in Zero since that was the set Buster came out in the Japanese paper game.

That being said since I always have 4-5 Grade 3s after my Turn 1 that definitely won't be an issue with me.  Especially if I set Knuckle Dragon as my Heal.  That way I'll always open with 2 post mulligan.  Hahahahahaha fuck this game.



Well...he's not awful.  Maybe he'll get played as the 9th Draw trigger in the Pre Buster deck?  Again I don't know if you want to play any non Legion units in this deck.



See my comments on Kohiko.  NEXT.



Behold the "Vanilla Legion" as I call them.  They do nothing but swing for 25k on V and swing for 12k on rear while their Legion Mate is a 10k Vanilla.  This may see play in the early build of the deck until the Perdition cards come in.



This card was pretty strong for the short bit it was one of only 2 Legions in the game before everyone else got ones of their own >.>

That being said Shotgun Blow has potential in Zero.  I expect his cost to be buffed to CB1, him to be put in the first set with Knuckle Dragon, the crit gain makes him a finisher/bridge card to a finisher and he's splashable in many NK variants (and works well with either Break Ride).  Since you have to play 13 Grade 3s in the deck Shotgun Blow doesn't have to worry about competing with other Legions for space like in the paper game.  I expect him to be one of the main bosses with Knuckle Dragon in the initial deck then he becomes your Heal Trigger when Buster comes out.



Skybeat is pretty solid and will likely be a RR making him a fantastic addition to any budget variant of the deck and likely the 9th Draw trigger in the early build of the main deck.  Can't go wrong with free intercept sniping.



[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (1) & Soul Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (VC), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one card named "Brawler, Skybeat Dragon", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.
[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.

I mean as much as I like Skybeat Dragon I would not play this just to search it for the next turn.  I guess he's something you can ride if you're going first and can't Legion yet?  Would have been better if he rode Skybeat from the deck.



Ah yes the "Persona Legion" units as I call them.  Legions with abilities that require either another copy of the Legion or the Mate to do anything.  There's a couple of them in the format but Wild Rush was by far the worst since like most of the drive check units you're relying on RNG to favour you and some of us just aren't that lucky.  It's a little better with this guy than Seifried since you can check either himself or the 12k attacker...but that means you have to max out on the 12k attacker in a deck that will be tight on G2 space.  Of all the Legions we have I think this one will need the most as far as buffs go.  Also what's with that on hit?  Sack one to make them kill one?  IDK about yeeting my RGs to pop a random backrow.


With that we're done!  All of the Brawlers that have the potential to be imported to Zero and my thoughts on them.  Doing these articles has made me realize that this isn't going to be a top tier deck right out of the gate like other Narukami variants on their debut simply because the other decks in the meta that Brawlers will be fighting with (Seeker, Revenger, Regalia, Raizer, Metalborg) can do some stupid shit.  The deck will be a solid Tier 2 by nature of being able to kill intercepts and swing for big but I don't know just how far that kind of playstyle can carry a deck when you'll have Restanders and Glory skills aplenty running around.  Once Buster comes out the deck will be able to do its thing more consistently and with larger numbers but this is going to be a deck like Dungaree "UNLIMITED" that will need some good buffs to stand on equal footing with the format.

But hey, at least we won't be as bad as some of the event clans.  Imagine going through all the trouble that Granblue and Neo Nectar do with their plays just to not be able to power through double intercepts.  Big sad.

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