Brandt Gate “Cyber” Reveals…

Zero2pass here! Today is the day my Link Joker / Brandt Gate friends! Cardinal Deus, Orfist and the companion Cyberoid units have finally started to be revealed by Bushiroad. Along with this comes the disclosure of a new mechanic for Brandt Gate as well as a new token. The overall artwork is nothing short of stunning!

The new archetype uses a new type of order known as ‘World’, similar to the prison cards but with a totally different aim. Essentially the ‘World’ set orders act as a field effect to your units by changing the state of “terrain” on your side of the board. Calling multiple copies of the orders to the Order Zone will progressively unlock more skills on the new units to be discussed.

World Orders

Two such ‘World’ set order cards have been revealed with one granting a ‘on place’ card draw (Howling Moonlit Night) and the other a ‘on place’ effect to retire one of the opponent’s front row rearguards (In the Darkness Nobody Knows). You may only activate an order card once per turn, so one order may have an advantage over the other depending on the situation at hand

Both of the cards do share a common effect. If there is 1 ‘World’ set order, then the Order Zone is ‘Dark Night’ state. If there are 2 or more, then it is ‘Abyssal Dark Night’.

The state of the Order Zone procs effects as mentioned on the units presented later in this review. It is important to note that any combination of 2 will activate the ‘World’ effects.

The Ride Deck

Now that we are familiar with how the ‘World’ order mechanic works let us take a look at how these new units work with it.

Our Grade 0 is Cardinal Fang, Phovi.  Its effect is simple ‘when ridden upon if you went second draw a card’.  The lock rings are on display, reminding us of the Link Joker from generations past.

Next we have Cardinal Noid, Routis, our new G1 ride deck target. This card not only has its ‘when ridden on VC’ effect’ but also comes with a RC ability. Much like Kyanite Blue , this will be a main stay in your ride deck to make this new archetype consistent. Other than that, it is a 10000 on field when your ‘World’ is in the “Dark Night ” or “Abyssal Dark Night” state. This added pressure provided early game aggression.

Our G2 in the Ride Deck is Cardinal Noid, Cubisia. Like our G1, this unit also has a VC ability as well as ‘on RC’ effect. Its first effect is meant to work with the G2 ‘World’ set order to give your field some power early on. As a rearguard it is a steady 15000 beater once you have activated at least 1 ‘World’ order.

Lastly, our G3 Cyber Golem boss is Cardinal Deus, Orfist. This card come with both an on VC [ACT] as well as a on VC/RC [CONT] effect, making it a functionally well rounded card. The artwork of the tokens it generates are phenomenal!

My overall impression of the Link Joker archetype for Brandt Gate is that it can hit with a heavy blow. The column numbers it can attain quickly are quite large providing Brandt Gate a more aggressive option in deck design as opposed to the prison mechanic with the Aurora Battle Princesses. Lets break down just how efficient and effective it can truly be!

First of all, in terms of card advantage, the G3 boss generates 3 Shadow Army Tokens. (G1 units with 15000 and the ability to boost), which are already high quality units that can be used as attackers or booster throughout the game. The fact that Orfist generates 3 of this for only CB2, allows the deck to be able to maintain a good field and hand size.

You can even call these tokens in the same column to form a 30,000 rearguard column, which can be rather impactful in overDress. With 20,000 shield values being removed in the D series, 30,000 rearguard columns will always demand a minimum of 20,000 shield from the opponent, which is effectively at least 2 cards on average in comparison to Varina columns.

Lastly, a 15000 base power also makes it a rather annoying rear-guard to remove unless your opponent is hitting it with a booster or giving their own rear-guards power through other skills, the op will not be able to attack them. Unless that attack breaks the 20,000 mark it will only be a 5,000 shield needed to protect the token and makes them troublesome to deal with if your deck does not have access to removal.

Note that the tokens can be sent to ‘Prison’. However, they will be removed from the game when they are removed from the field, possibly playing a theme in a potential civil war between Brandt Gate factions.

While this “Link Joker” esque archetype no longer locks, having retire (at this point in time) is still very much welcomed , as it is a relatively fair element of control, providing just a touch of that board manipulation on top of the beatdown the decks seems to be going for. There is still a lot of potential to explore and see where the design team will go with the new ‘World’ set order cards and the future of the Dark Night.

The black and red rings of lock have survived 3000 years. The scythe of Orfist itself is reminiscent of ‘the clown’, cutting down hope and bringing despair. Will these relics of Link Joker be used to stave off the chaos to come or as a means to aid in the return of the void?

Until next time, my cyber friends…  Stand up… the…  Vanguard!