Hello everyone, it’s me again, Ahmes004. Long time fans of Axis(or if by some reason, you are a fan of mine) would remember me for my previous article on Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant (link Here). Today’s article covers the surprising next batch of Eradicators from the latest V Collection, featuring Vowing Sword Dragon.
Lore and Trivia
After the end of the Liberation War and the death of Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, the Narukami army was praised for its military success across cray. In the midst of this uproar, the “Eradicator” division was formed. Their first member was Thunder Break Dragon, who went on to become Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon.
Did you know that all 3 Eradicator units added in this set were all originally made in TD09, Eradicator Of The Empire? I actually still own these cards in their original english print from 2013! XD
Now, let’s move on to the cards themselves, starting with….
Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon
AUTO(VC): When your opponent’s normal unit is bound other than from deck during your turn, your opponent searches their deck for up to one card with the same card name as the bound card, binds it, shuffles their deck, you choose one of your units, and it gets Power +5000 until end of turn. If they did not bind, that unit gets Power +10000 instead of +5000.
AUTO: When this unit is rode upon, call this unit to RC, choose a card from your opponent’s drop for every two cards in your damage zone, and bind it.
Let’s start with Vowing Sword.
Vowing sword takes a very clear new direction for the Eradicators, focusing on capitalising the essence of what a bind is: removal. Every time you bind a unit from your opponent’s drop and field, they have to choose between you gaining more offensive power, or giving up another copy of the removed card. Remember, it’s their choice. You cannot force it(unless you use some psychological warfare).
In addition, it’s second effect is neat; encouraging reriding into either more Vowings or even a Dragonic Descendant. For every 2 damage, you bind one from drop. Which is cool. Don’t forget that vowing calls himself to rear guard, so that’s a plus to the board. Is this a reference to Detonix Stinger? We will never know.
Given that Vowing Sword’s effects are free, it helps a lot to ensure that the rest of the deck can be dedicated to actual binding(which will need resources) while vowing reaps the rewards of his men’s work. The free 5k or 10k powers do help your attacks, and giving your opponent less pieces to work with is always good.
However, a-not-so-obvious drawback of Vowing is simple: by making your opponent remove more normal cards(since that’s what the skill does), you are thinning their deck sizes for them, increasing their chances for triggers. It’s not a fatal flaw by any means, but I figured it’s worth raising from my testings.
Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
CONT(VC/RC): During your turn, this unit gets Power +1000 for each card in your opponent’s bind.
AUTO(RC): At the end of the battle that this unit attacked, COST[CB1], choose the column that this unit is in, bind all front row rearguards in that column, and move all backrow rearguards in that column to the front row.
Next, Spark Rain.
It’s a card that can both gain power and bind. Which is neat. The power aspect is straightforward.
It’s the bind skill that is interesting. You see, it binds itself and the opposing front row rear guard. Then, it drags all back row rear guards in that column from the back to the front. Not only does this enable you to target the unit behind the one you just bound, it allows any unit behind Spark Rain to now make an attack! Aqua Force has joined Narukami??
The card is very good beyond Eradicator decks. It also can be used very well in Vanquisher, seeing that it binds itself. Vanquisher players may want to consider this card for their future upgrades.
Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
AUTO(VC/RC): At the end of the battle that this unit attacked or boosted and the attack hit, draw a card, choose up to one card in your opponent’s drop, and bind it. If you bound, put this unit into your soul if this unit is on RC.
Finally, Demolition Dragon. Or rather, Eradicator, Demolition Dragon(since this card was first made without its title in VBT03).
After many have seen the card at face value, I see a lot of people online lambasting the returning Eradicator as being the weakest out of the 3. Its entire usage is hinged behind an on-hit skill, and it moves into soul after usage. But that’s not exactly true. Let’s read the card again.
Firstly, the draw is simply a great on-hit. On both VG and RG, you can get this at literally no drawbacks or costs. It’s neat, given that Narukami, or more specifically the Eradicators, are not good with actual plussing.
Now for the tricky one, the bind from drop. This part is almost useless as a VG skill, since on turn 1, your opponents mostly do not have a drop zone. Of course, in the instances that they do, it would really bring out the best of the skill. Neat!
But what about it on a RG? If you choose to bind a card from the drop zone, you will have to move this unit to the soul. For what it’s worth, binding a card from drop can be really painful against decks that need their drop. And it’s not just Granblue. Decks like Messiah, Altmile, Vanquisher, Musketeers….drop zone utility is more common than we accredit it for. In such matchups, demolition’s value is much higher. In the cases that the opponent is not bothered about that drop, you could choose to not bind anything.
And remember, with Vowing Sword Dragon, you will want to bind as much as possible.
Implications on Narukami
It’s no surprise that this set is meant to change, modify and supplement previous V decks implicated by the collection. How has this changed the Eradicators, and their clan?
As mentioned earlier, Vowing introduces a new way to play Narukami. Focusing more on tight control of pieces and grinding out games based on resources and the decision making of the opponent. After testing, I can say that Vowing is one of the better decks from this set, although his major weakness is if his opponent denies his a board to target. There is only so much drop zone removal that the clan can do.
Spark Rain is a great addition to a large number of Narukami decks, and can work with or without his Eradicator brethren. His bind skill and power ups mean that Vanquisher players would enjoy him as a solid option.
Demolition is pretty good in it and of itself. I don’t think it’s good enough to compete for generic status such as Spark Rain, but it certainly can be played in other Narukami decks to varying levels of success. From testing, because it is an eradicator, it benefits from having it quite consistently, making his threatening appearances on board all the more common.
As for Eradicator players, there are some who feel that Vowing is better than Gauntlet. Or Vice Versa. Some also advocate both together. I feel that both Vowing and Gauntlet have their own set of strengths and weaknesses. One does not directly beat the other.
Gauntlet has great kill pressure but no large numbers or quality control measures. Vowing has great numbers and wonderful ways to grindlock the opponent’s actions in duels. However, vowing lacks any form of kill pressure, and has to compensate through the free numbers it distributes.
Thus, it’s more of a player preference which style fits you. In the end, the only real thing the Eradicators can agree on is the role of their canonical leader, Dragonic Descendant, in their decks. How poetic.
Decklist for Vowing
4 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon
4 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
3 Lightning Whip Eradicator, Suhail
4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
4 Isolation Eradicator, Nusuku
4 Rising Phoenix
4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
2 Desert Gunner, Gaiban
1 Eradicator, Springlight Dracokid 4 Wyvern Guard, Guld(Draw PG) 2 Old Dragon Mage(Draw)
4 Spark Edge Dracokid(Critical)
2 Yellow Gen Carbuncle(Critical) 4 Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo(Heal)
Conclusion
That pretty much wraps it up for what could possibly be the final wave of Eradicators! As I’ve said before, I’m glad that this is the direction that they took with one of my most favourite archetypes in the game’s history. If you are a fan of vowing sword, or of the Eradicators, this set is easily a cop.
Thank you all so much for reading. I hope all of you have learnt as much as I had from breaking down and testing these cards in action. On my personal part, I look forward to the release of these cards and will be making a video for them. You can look out for that and more here at my channel.
As per my previous Descendant article, this write-up is dedicated to my younger brother, a former Eradicators player back in its heyday.
Thanks for reading. Stay safe and happy dueling.
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