How’s it going, cardfighters? GleamingGarmore here. Today, we got TWO cards of the day instead of just one. Both of them are grade 3s from Tohya Ebata’s start deck. And both of them have interesting implications on the way these start decks will play against one another.
Please remember as we assess these cards that they are Start Deck cards. They will not be perfect, but we should also think of them in terms of how value their simple effects can be. Today’s cards have promise as supporting attackers going forward.
Vehement Witch, Ramana
Grade 3 / Power 13000 / Critical 1 / Persona Ride
[Auto][R] When this unit attacks, CB1, during the battle, this unit gains 5000 power
Ramana was the card I was most excited to talk about. Not exactly because her effect is all that unique, but instead, because her name alone brings relevance to a piece of Vanguard knowledge I’ve held on to for a while and always believed would never matter.
You see, in the English game, the name “Witch” is shared between four clans (Shadow Paladin, Gold Paladin, Genesis, and Oracle Think Tank). The issue is that in Japanese, there are TWO witch archetypes spread out between those four clans. While Gold Paladin and Oracle use the English word Witch, Shadow Paladin and Genesis witches are translated from the word “Majo (魔女)”.
This knowledge is usually entirely useless as none of these different witches could be used together in the first place, but Ramana is a witch whose name is written in the Shadow/Genesis style that can be played in Oracle Think Tank. I want to foster a discussion about the implications of these naming schemes and what other bizarre mix-ups could happen in the future. It is currently unclear whether or not Ramana will be allowed into Oracle as a witch, but based on the precedent set by other English card names, she will be allowed exclusively in the English format for simplicity’s sake.
I know that Ramana isn’t anything special in and of herself, but being an 18k attacker on her own, 20k with bastion, 28k with a regular g1 booster, is nothing to scoff at. For one counterblast, a 10k shield can be forced from the opponent’s hand. She is also a decent target to stand back up with Bastion. Then, another counterblast can be used to ask the opponent for another 10k shield.
Ramana has a very simple effect that quite possibly makes her the third best Witch unit in Shadow Paladin (Behind Bende and Nemain, who do not have anything to do with the actual archetype.)
Knight of Broadaxe, Raflux
Grade 3 / Power 13000 / Critical 1 / Persona Ride
[Act][R]Put this unit into your soul, choose one of your Grade 3 rear-guards, during this turn it gets 10000 power
Now, Raflux is where it’s at. His ability can be used to power up whoever you intend to restand with Apex Creator, Bastion. I don’t have as much to say on Raflux as I did about Ramana, mainly because he doesn’t have a name tied to four clans’ archetypes. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad card. He is sure to put in plenty of work, especially early on in the Overdress format.
Today, we received a pair of cards that have wonderful artwork and serve simple, but important purposes in the deck. Even if the cards were underwhelming, I would still be happy that we are one step closer to actually being able to play test with Overdress decks, finally.
Thanks for reading.