By: AlphonZeus
Hello and Good Day/Evening! I am The AlphonZeus, reporting again after a long time to talk about the newest nation to join Cardfight!! Vanguard OverDress: Lyrical Monasterio! The mermaids are not alone this time, as they are joined by angels, warbeasts, humans, dragroids, and vampires! A thriving place on a giant whale all training to be the best idols! Now that we know there are six different groups of idols in the nation, we are just getting started on the first batch of reveals to tease out more about their archtypes and specialties!
The first is the trial deck featuring the mermaid idol group Astesice! We see a familiar trend of the uniting artwork among the heal trigger (Astesice, Kanami), critical trigger (Astesice, Misa), and ride line! The grade 0, Astesice, Mion, resembles the familiar grade 0 in all ride lines so far. On ride, if you went second, you draw one card.
When we reach the Grade 1, Astesice, Nanami, we see that hallmarks referring back to Bermuda Triangle’s OG strategy: bouncing cards back to hand and gaining extra attacks or skills off these combos! On RG, she gains +2k until end of turn. It seems that she will be bouncing back as a 10k booster or attacker as part of the strategy, so she can see play outside of the ride deck alone. However, she has a fearsome VG skill, where on placement, grab a Grade 1 or less from the drop zone and call it to RG as rest. This helps incentivize players to discard a grade 1 to fetch it back to the field, similar to Delight Genuis, Ange’s GB2 skill! You save cards and retain value early on in the game because every card counts.
The Grade 2, Astesice, Kiyora, also boasts an amazing pair of VG and RG skills! On VG when she swings, she can bounce a rear guard back to hand, which potentially enables combos to swing more than three times in a single turn! The RG skill is nothing to laugh at either, as when she is boosted, she gains an additional 5k, which shoutouts to Aqua in the V Series for being a reliable 15k attacker.
Finally, we get to our main event, Astesice, Kairi, the Grade 3! On Vanguard swing, you can pay 1 soulblast to return two rear guards to hand. This is impressive to help setup for defensive plays next turn without leaving rear guards out there to be manipulated against opponents with board manipulation like retire power. However, if this is a persona ride turn, she can call two cards to separate row RG slots creating a full 4th attack including the boost. This can potentially run into the same issues as Sylvan Horned Beast King, Magnolia where if you do not have the persona ride, you lost a fourth attack. There’s still plenty of time for more cards from the case to release, but this is a notable concern to consider until the rest of the set is revealed. The mermaids are off to a great start regardless, I look forward to playing them!
We also got reveals from some of the other races in Lyrical Monasterio! In the trial deck, we have Chewing Girl, Shiya, a catgirl Grade 1, 3k power that on RG placement for 1 soulblast, you can check the top card and either call it, or if you add it to hand, discard one card. For such a low power, this can possibly help fix consistency issues among the players or generate board presence. Don’t’ be afraid of the low power creatures. They might surprise you with a big call for deck builds with the utility!
Some more reveals included (Left to Right) Faintly Slump? Apel and Throw Kiss⎯♡→, Nonna, some of the demons! Apel is an 8k power Grade 2 whose skill provides her a boost of 10k when placed on a RG for 1 counterblast. It seems costly, but you have to consider the overall strategy of the mermaids. I would definitely keep track of all the Lyrical Contest that arrives. As for Throw Kiss⎯♡→, Nonna, she has a rear guard skill which if a player takes the hit, the attacking player may soul charge 2. This is pretty good pressure throughout the game with some solid resource generation!
The last two reveals for the week so far are intriguing with the power variation! We got (Left to Right) Energetic School Attendance, Calfy and the set order: Special Live Tour Around the World! First, Calfy is a Grade 3 with 10k power that when she is placed on RG, she gains an additional 10k to make her a 20k swing. The numbers matter slightly, but again the utility is fresh and straightforward to understand. For the Set Order: “Special Live Tour Around the World!” You have access to 2 Counterblast to grant your Vanguard the skill until end of turn that all rear guards gain 5k power! The context may be heavy for two counterblast, there is a chance it can be utilized over and over as long as one is smart with those resources. Further, since it is a VG continuous skill, the power carries over as rear guards are bounced for additional attacks, so no power is lost! The +5k power continues!
And that’s all for the first week of Lyrical Monasterio reveals! I hope you enjoyed reading my first thoughts on each of the cards so far, and look forward to studying more revealed cards!