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Saturday, April 5, 2014

[JCG] Diva's Duet + Sample Decklists!


In this article byak attempts to give a serious analysis of an Extra Booster full of loli mermaids while attempting to retain his dignity.

Hey cardfighters! We're taking another moment to look over at Japan for their newest product: Extra Booster 10: Diva's Duet. It's that time of the year again, and Bermuda Triangle are getting more support. Unfortunately, it doesn't include the newest Legion mechanic, but it does have some very powerful Break Rides and boss units, so let's dive in!

Last time we got Bermuda Triangle support, Bushiroad gave us the PR♥ISM archetype, lead by PR♥ISM-Promise, Labrador, a boss unit that could give itself +10000 and an extra critical by calling three units from your hand when she attacks. This wasn't that bad, and Labrador could become really big with her Break Ride, but that's all the PR♥ISM archetype brought to the table. As a result, the deck quickly fell off the competitive scene.

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (2)] At the end of the battle that this unit attacked a vanguard, you may choose two cards with "Duo" in its card name from your hand, and discard them. If all of the discarded cards have the same name, you may pay the cost. If you do, [Stand] this unit, and this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of turn. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn. [AUTO](VC):[Soul Blast (1)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your rear-guards with "Duo" in its card name, and return it to your hand.
This time, Bushiroad is making another attempt with a different archetype: Duos! Duos work with pairs of themselves to make use of Bermuda Triangle's bouncing mechanic more than PR♥ISMs do, while also coming with two different card arts...  one with a black outfit and the other with a white outfit. It sounds a bit ridiculous, but it helps the set sell in Japan I guess. They actually got three different boss units to choose from, with the most relevant, as well as the cover card, being Duo Temptation, Reit! Reit is your standard 11000 power grade 3, and when she attacks, you can soulblast one to bounce one of your Bermuda Triangle rear-guards. This skill can actually be pretty nifty considering how cheap it is to use, but her true strength lies in her Limit Break.

After Reit attacks, you can counterblast two and discard two Duos with the same name to stand her and give her +3000 power. Like most new bosses these days, the second attack applies even more damage pressure, especially with critical triggers. After testing the deck out, I personally find Reit to be one of the more efficient self standing vanguards. It's easy enough to save a pair of just about any card in your deck, especially considering you can bounce a potential piece of a pair when you attack. Plus, in the new Duo deck, opening up counterblasts is fairly easy, and the rest of the deck isn't even that counterblast heavy anyway. The +3000 doesn't move you up to any new stages, but if your 7000 booster is standing for the next attack they can work together to make 21000.

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When a «Bermuda Triangle» rides this unit, choose your vanguard, and until end of turn, that unit gets [Power]+10000 and "[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, return all of your «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards to your hand, choose up to two «Bermuda Triangle» from your hand, and call them to separate (RC).". [CONT](VC):During your turn, if the number of «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards you have is four or more, this unit gets [Power]+2000.
But what makes Reit really shine is her synergy with Bermuda Triangle's new Break Ride: Duo True Sister, Meer. Meer bares resemblance to older Break Rides, such as Miracle Pop, Eva and Beast Deity, Ethics Buster. During the turn you Break Ride over Meer, when you attack, you can counterblast one to return all of your Bermuda Triangle units to your hand, and then call two new Bermuda Triangles from your hand. You can either call two 11000+ attackers for additional small hits, or even put out a 16000+ column if necessary. The other cool part about this card is that it puts a total of three units that were on your field into your hand, meaning you can commit a Sentinel for when you attack and bring it back later.

The fact that the skill activates on attack not only gives you a lot of offensive power, but it also works really well with Reit. Since Reit attacks more than once, you have the potential to use the Break Ride more than once! Ideally, you can swing with your rear-guards, swing with your vanguard to create two new columns, stand your vanguard, swing with your rear-guards again, then swing with your vanguard for the second time, thus standing your rear-guards for the second time. In total, this will grant you eight attacks. Even though some are weak, they work really well at slowly getting rid of single cards.

[AUTO]:[Soul Blast (2)] When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have an «Bermuda Triangle» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to two cards from your damage zone, and turn them face up.
Don't forget, this combo eats up a lot of counterblast, since Reit costs two and using Meer twice also costs two. Fortunately enough, Bermuda Triangle have a couple new tools to help you free up your damage for even more offensive potential. To start, Duo Clear Parasol, Kura is part of a new wave of clones. She functions similarly to Luck Bird, where she soulblasts two when you call her, but instead of drawing a card, you can un-flip two damage. The deck doesn't really use soul outside of Reit's skill, so this card is live more often than not. This card also synergizes really well with Reit, since you can un-flip the two damage you just paid. She also functions really well in Bermuda Triangle overall because she can be reused for even more damage un-flipping.

Our other damage unflipper is Duo White Crystal, Ricca. Ricca has a meager 8000 base, but when she's returned to your hand, you can soulcharge one and un-flip one damage. She also works really well with Reit, since you can bounce her when you attack, which then un-flips a damage and refunds the soul you just paid. It's hard to make good columns with her, but the utility she offers makes her well worth an addition.

Card Effect(s) [ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Soul Blast (1) & Choose a card named "Duo Stage Storm, Iori" from your hand, and discard it] Choose one of your «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards, return it to your hand, and search your deck for up to two cards with the same name as that unit, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.
Reit and Meer aren't the only new big additions to Bermuda Triangle though! Duo Stage Storm, Iori is also a new boss unit with a lot of potential. Iori's strength, as with most boss units, comes from her Limit Break. At the cost of a soulblast and discarding another copy of herself, you can return one Bermuda Triangle from the field to your hand, AND add up to two other copies of that card from your deck to your hand. The applications of this skill are endless. It's a +1 in card advantage that lets you drop a grade 3 from your hand. You can even return your Sentinel to add two more, giving you extreme defense potential. You can also just bounce an attacking unit if you need board presence.

Fortunately, this card has really strong combos with Duo Petit Etoile, Peace and Duo Far Marine Chateau, Thames. Both of these units are fairly weak, but come with very advantageous skills. When they're returned from the field to your hand, you can counterblast one to draw one. Then, you can reveal three copies of Etoile or Chateau (depending on which one you're using) to un-flip a damage.

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is returned to your hand from (RC), if you have a vanguard with "Duo" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card, choose up to three cards named "Duo Petit Etoile, Peace" from your hand, and you may reveal them. If you revealed three cards, choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up.
The goal of these units is to assemble as many of them as you can, so you can build a sustainable draw engine from them. Iori helps a lot in this case, since you can use her Limit Break to bounce one and add two more, setting you up for three (plus, you can use their skill to draw and unflip!). This seems pretty cute, but when you look at the units that bounce multiples, it gets even cuter. Meer for example bounces your whole field, so if you have three Etoile or Chateau, during your Break Ride turn, you can call all three and bounce them on attack!. This results in drawing a grand total of three cards, which is huge, considering you also have your drive check and you probably pieced them together with the +1 from Iori.

Duo's starting vanguard of choice, Duo Lovers' Singer, Darling also helps enable these combos. Darling can slide herself into the soul during your main phase to bounce a Bermuda Triangle unit, along with any other Bermuda Triangle unit with the same name. What at first might seem like a mediocre option now becomes a powerful enabler once you get your Etoiles or Chateaus running. Of course, if you never get to that point, you can also always just bounce Darling to use as a 10000 shield, so there's a lot of flexibility.

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your rear-guards with "Duo" in its card name, return it to your hand, search your deck for up to one card with the same name as that unit, call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.
Our last decent boss unit is Duo Flower Girl, Lily. Lily's Limit Break activates on attack, and you can counterblast two to bounce Duo unit. When you do, you can choose a Duo unit with the same name from your deck and call it. She doesn't really create as much value as Reit or Iori, but she appears to be a lot more consistent. You don't have to rely on having another copy of her, nor do you have to rely on having a pair of Duos in your hand. She also synergizes fairly well with Kura and her damage un-flipping. Being able to create extra attacks during the battle phase is cool as well, but this leaves her to be unsynergestic with Meer, which is a problem. Because of this, I can see her being utilized with Reit or Iori instead, leaving the build clean of Break Rides. Then again, the Break Ride works so much better with those two units anyway, so this unit might not be able to match the potential of our other two stars.

[AUTO](VC/RC):[Counter Blast (1)-card with "Duo" in its card name] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, if you have a «Bermuda Triangle» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose another of your «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards, return it to your hand, and search your deck for up to one card with the same name as that unit, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.
With all of the Duo bosses aside, let's look at their new support units. Duo Mini Heart, Rhione is perhaps one of the stronger pressure units out there. When Rhione attacks and hits a vanguard, you can counterblast a Duo unit to bounce a Bermuda Triangle unit to your hand, and then add one unit with the same name from your deck to your hand. Like most on-hit grade 2's, you want to be aiming to ride this unit, as it's really difficult to guard at that point in the game. However, what makes Rhione so special is her relevance at just about every stage of the game. Units like Liberator of the Flute, Escrad are extremely strong early game because you haven't committed yet, but lose their value as your field fills up and the game progresses. This card however is always relevant, due to the reward you get. In theory it'll always gain advantage when it attacks. Your opponent will either guard it, or you get a free unit from your deck based on what was on your field. This reward is only limited by counterblast and the actual contents of your deck, which are two factors that are rarely a problem. In my opinion, this is one of the defining cards for Duos.

[AUTO]:When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a vanguard with "Duo" in its card name, choose up to four of your units named "Duo Beast Ear, Loulou", and those units get [Power]+2000 until end of turn.
Duo Toybox, Menam and Duo Beast Ear, Loulou are a new pair of unique units for Bermuda Triangle. When they're called to the field, you can target up to four units that share the same name as them and give them +2000 power during that turn. At the least, they are 7000 and 9000 bodies that become 9000 and 11000 respectively when they're called, which isn't that bad considering the bouncing nature of the deck. At their best, you might be using them with Iori to get +2000, +4000, and +6000 on your field during the turn. Or you might be using them with Lily to put on additional power during the battle phase. Loulou also makes 21000 with the grade 2 power attacker, giving you easy damage potential for a turn. Even if you might not be able to resolve multiples, you still have the ability to return units like these to your hand to use again the next turn, giving you consistent power columns!

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is returned to your hand from (RC), if you have a vanguard with "Duo" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose another of your «Bermuda Triangle», and that unit gets [Power]+4000 until end of turn, choose up to three cards named "Duo Shiny Tone, Chicora" from your hand, and you may reveal them. If you revealed three cards, choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up.
Duo Shiny Tone, Chicora works a lot like Etoile and Chateau, but instead of drawing a card, she puts +4000 power on a unit. As with the other two, you can reveal three to use it without counterblast, and she's also a 7000 unit by herself, which makes decent columns. You can turn a 17000+ column built from power attackers into a 21000+ column to force out 13000 guard. You can also put +4000 on the grade 2 power attacker to raise her to 16000. Chicora doesn't contribute anything to special, but she can be rewarding at some points in the game, while being a simple 7000 unit at others.

Duo Happy Diary, Sheryl doesn't come in the Extra Booster, but is instead a promo card. She can draw a card at the cost of a counterblast when she's returned to your hand, like Etoile and Chateau, but instead of being able to un-flip damage, she lets you soulcharge one. She at first glance appears to be worse than the other two options, but keep in mind, if you want to focus primarily on Reit and Meer, Sheryl is a lot better than the other two. Sheryl helps fuel the soul for Reit and Kura's soulblasts, letting you bounce more and free up more damage.

Outside of these units, most of the other Duos that were released are either just clones or mediocre units. Duo Pretty Horn, Ural is a Luck Bird clone, and Duo Magical Mic, Charlene is a Maiden of Libra clone. They also got two different Sentinels, one Perfect Guard and one Quintet Wall, to fill your deck with all Duos. Overall, I think Duos got a lot of very good cards to work with. There's a lot of space for differentiation on top of that, which is always good to see in vanguard. Below I'll include some sample deck lists to help get you started on Duos!

Reit's Temptations
18 / 13 / 11 / 8

2 Duo Lovers' Singer, Darling
4 Duo Gran Pasturn, Syanon [Critical]
4 Duo Pride Crown, Madeira [Critical]
2 Duo Morning Charm, Liffey [Draw]
2 Duo Lamplight Melody, Tigris [Draw]
4 Duo Tropical Healer, Mejelda [Heal]

4 PR♥ISM-Duo, Aria
4 Duo Afternoon Tea, Parana
3 Duo Happy Diary, Sheryl
2 Duo Clear Parasol, Kura

4 Duo Kelpie Jockey, Syr Darya
4 Duo Mini Heart, Rhone
3 Duo White Crystal, Ricca

4 Duo Temptation, Reit
4 Duo True Sister, Meer

This build focuses entirely on the Break Ride combination of Reit and Meer. It's fairly standard and uses Ricca and Kura in order to keep Reit's self-standing skill live. Darling doesn't have much use other than being a Duo and a 10000 shield, but that's still not bad. Sheryl is an unusual choice for this build due to how resource heavy your boss units are, but it helps soulcharge which only makes Kura more useful. I also like playing Chicora for the Break Ride turns. You can bounce one or two Chicoras to turn one of your fresh units into a huge column all by itself, which is nice.

Iori's Stage Storm
18 / 13 / 11 / 8

Duo Lovers' Singer, Darling
Duo Gran Pasturn, Syanon [Critical]
Duo Pride Crown, Madeira [Critical]
Duo Morning Charm, Liffey [Draw]
Duo Lamplight Melody, Tigris [Draw]
Duo Tropical Healer, Mejelda [Heal]

PR♥ISM-Duo, Aria
4 Duo Petite Etoile, Peace
Duo Afternoon Tea, Parana
3 Duo Beast Ear, Loulou

Duo Kelpie Jockey, Syr Darya
Duo Mini Heart, Rhone
2 Duo Magical Mic, Charlene

4 Duo Stage Storm, Iori
Duo Temptation, Reit
Duo True Sister, Meer

Instead of focusing purely on the Break Ride combination, this list in particular tries to mix in Iori's advantage engine. You obviously max out on Iori in order to draw multiples of her as fast as possible, because she's essential to the card advantage of the deck. The main plan is to use Iori in the beginning to stock up on cards, and then use Reit as your finisher. Meer also combos just as well with Iori as she does with Reit, mainly because of Peace combos. Being able to still use Meer and Reit gives the deck an alternative strategy if it can't pull its Iori's together either, and Charlene is included to use up extra counterblasts if needed.

Duo wasn't the only supported Bermuda Triangle deck however. PR♥ISM's were given a bit of new units that were even treated as Duos themselves, allowing you to use them in either deck! Unfortunately, the support isn't exactly the greatest for PR♥ISM's themselves, but they make good contributions to the clan overall.

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a «Bermuda Triangle» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose another of your «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards, and return it to your hand.
PR♥ISM-Duo, Slaney fills the last RR slot of the Extra Booster. When she's called as a rear-guard, you can counterblast one to return any Bermuda Triangle unit to your hand. Surprisingly enough, despite being PR♥ISM support, she's really redundant in the presence of PR♥ISM-Promise, Labrador. Labrador comes with a skill that can return any Bermuda Triangle to your hand at the cost of an especial counterblast, so why is this unit useful? If anything, she can activate when she's called by Labrador's skill, if you want to bounce something that's in rest. She might be more useful in decks other than PR♥ISM, however. She's probably the easiest way to return a card to your hand, since most other skills that did the same either came with high counterblast costs, high card advantage costs, or were just inconvenient.

PR♥ISM's also managed to get a brand new starting vanguard: PR♥ISM-Duo Tisa. When Tisa boosts a PR♥ISM unit and the attack hits a vanguard, you can return Tisa to your hand. This once again sounds... redundant. PR♥ISM-Smile, Coro was the original starting vanguard, and she got to return to the hand whenever another unit was returned to your hand. The idea with Coro and Labrador is that she'd follow whatever you bounce with Labrador, so Tisa already seems obsolete. Despite all this, there seems like there would be potential for a new wave of PR♥ISM's that can properly use these cards. For now though, they're not the best choices.

[AUTO](RC): When another «Bermuda Triangle» you have is returned to hand from (RC), this unit gets [Power]+3000 until the end of turn.
Finally we have PR♥ISM-Duo, Yarmuk and PR♥ISM-Duo, Avon. They're a pair of units that share the same skill but for different grades. Whenever a Bermuda Triangle is returned from the field to your hand, these units gain +3000 power. They bare resemblance to older units like Doreen the Thruster, where the goal is to put a good amount of numbers on them to give yourself a turn of burst. Fortunately enough, Labrador's perfectly capable of doing this, along with Coro. If you use Coro in your PR♥ISM deck, then each time you use Labrador's especial counterblast to return a unit, Coro follows, and each of your Yarmuks and Avons gain +6000 power.

Keep in mind this skill can be used multiple times per turn, and the Break Ride for PR♥ISMs, PR♥ISM-Image, Vert, also returns units. On top of that, the PR♥ISMs that you're bouncing can put more power on your units. PR♥ISM-Image, Clear and PR♥ISM-Promise, Celtic both give +4000 power to a unit when they're returned at the cost of a soulblast, turning that +6000 on your board into a +10000 on your board! And while you're doing this, you're clearing spots on your board to use Labrador's Limit Break, which gives herself an extra +10000 and critical! The new support turns PR♥ISM into a more unique deck from all of the other Bermuda Triangle decks that has the power to create huge columns at will. Here's a sample list:

PR♥ISM's Encore
18 / 13 / 11 / 8

2 PR♥ISM-Smile, Coro
1 Comical Rainie [Critical]
1 Duo Gran Pasturn, Syanon [Critical]
1 Duo Pride Crown, Madeira [Critical]
1 Gunslinger Star, Florida [Critical]
4 PR♥ISM-Miracle, Canary [Critical]
4 PR♥ISM-Miracle, Adria [Draw]
4 PR♥ISM-Miracle, Timor [Heal]

4 PR♥ISM-Duo, Aria
4 PR♥ISM-Romance, Mercure
3 PR♥ISM-Duo, Yarmurk
2 PR♥ISM-Image, Clear

4 PR♥ISM-Romance, Lumiere
3 PR♥ISM-Promise, Celtic
2 PR♥ISM-Duo, Avon
2 PR♥ISM-Duo, Slaney

4 PR♥ISM-Image, Vert
4 PR♥ISM-Promise, Labrador

We're not playing too many copies of our Yarmurk / Avon and Clear / Celtic because we really only need one of each of those pairs in the long run. You're usually only bouncing one Celtic or Clear at a time, and you don't want an excess of Yarmurk and Avon because of their weak base powers during the off turns. Two Coro are also used to increase the potential power that can be put on Yarmurk and Avon while also making your field a lot more flexible!

So PR♥ISM's and Duo's are now tournament ready decks, but they're not the only ones with potential! We also received a line of legacy support for Top Idol, PacificaAurora Star, Coral, and Costume Change, Alk, the three most popular Bermuda Triangle units in Japan. Three new grade 3's were printed to promote the use of each one, and I see a lot of potential in them.

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When a «Bermuda Triangle» rides this unit, choose your vanguard, and until end of turn, that unit gets [Power]+10000 and "[AUTO](VC):When your «Bermuda Triangle» is returned to your hand from (RC), search your deck for up to one «Bermuda Triangle», call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.". [ACT](Soul):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a unit named "Top Idol, Pacifica" from your (RC), and put it into your soul] Put this card into your hand, choose up to one of your «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards, and return it to your hand.
Pacifica was supported by gaining power attackers that come with Duo names, but she also got her very own Break Ride: Planet Idol, Pacifica. Unlike the recent Dragonic Overlord, it's its own unique unit, but it can very easily help you enable the Cross Ride power levels of Eternal Idol, Pacifica! Once, during the turn you Break Ride over Planet Idol, when you return a Bermuda Triangle unit to your hand, you can call a Bermuda Triangle unit from your deck! It doesn't output nearly as much power as Meer does, but it comes with an additional skill that really helps out the other Pacificas. If Planet Idol is in your soul, you can counterblast one and slide a Top Idol, Pacifica into your soul to return Planet Idol to your hand, and then return a Bermuda Triangle unit on the field to your hand! It's a bit of a mouthful, but it allows you to turn your old Pacificas into a chain of Break Rides. Simply riding a Planet Idol over another one and adding the old one back lets you loop them until you run out of grade 3s, which can really push your opponent over the edge.

My favorite application with Planet Idol however is its synergy with Eternal Idol, Pacifica. Eternal Idol's Limit Break costs a whopping three counterblasts to get one unit, but if you're using her with Planet Idol, you get two for the price of one. On top of that, this is during the battle phase, so your Break Ride combo allows you to pull out a total of five attacks. In addition, you can call a Top Idol from your deck, which you can swap with the Break Ride in your soul next turn to bump up to 13000 defense! Eternal Idol also becomes a bit stronger with all of the new damage un-flippers that Bermuda Triangle got recently, making it a potential force to be reckoned with.

The Ever Evolving Idol
17 / 14 / 10 / 9

Bermuda Triangle Cadet, Shizuku
Duo Gran Pasturn, Syanon [Critical]
Duo Pride Crown, Madeira [Critical]
Duo Morning Charm, Liffey [Draw]
Duo Lamplight Melody, Tigris [Draw]
Duo Tropical Healer, Mejelda [Heal]

4 PR♥ISM-Duo, Aria
4 Duo Dream Idol, Myne
4 Duo Beast Ear, Loulou
2 Duo Clear Parasol, Kura

4 Duo Dream Idol, Sana
4 Duo Mini Heart, Rhone
2 Duo White Crystal, Ricca

2 Top Idol, Pacifica
3 Eternal Idol, Pacifica

4 Planet Idol, Pacifica

The deck utilizes a lot of Duo's recent support while taking advantage of the fact that Pacifica's power attackers are also treated as Duo units. The main reasoning behind adding a lot of Duo's is because of how powerful Rhone is as a card. Having access to Rhone makes this deck a lot better, but I wouldn't say that it's the best deck that Bermuda Triangle has at its disposal. The Break Ride turns don't have as much burst as the other decks and our starting vanguard choice isn't exactly the most useful. Regardless, Pacifica is still a fairly consistent Cross Ride deck.

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, Soul Charge (1), choose one of your «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards, return it to your hand, and this unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of that battle. [CONT](VC):If you have a card named "Shiny Star, Coral" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.
Next up is Aurora Star Coral. Coral had made her debut in the last Extra Booster for Bermuda Triangle, and she was fairly mediocre even on release. Coral had her own ride chain, but the grade 3 Coral was super weak. When Coral attacked a vanguard, you could counterblast two to return a Bermuda Triangle to your hand and give Coral +5000 power. That was it. There was no card advantage or anything, which made it really disappointing. There were the consistency boosts of being part of a ride chain, but Coral by herself did virtually nothing to support herself as a deck.

The rest of the ride chain was alright. When you ride the grade 1 version of Coral, Fresh Star, you could check the top seven for Aurora Star or Shiny Star, the grade 2. Then, if you ride a grade 2 that isn't Shiny Star, you can check the top seven cards again for it, then ride it. Additionally, if you have Shiny Star as your vanguard and its attack hits a vanguard, you can return up to two cards: one in your front row units and then if you have Fresh Star, you can bounce one unit in your back row. This lets you utilize units like Duo Happy Diary, Sheryl to give you early advantage, which is always nice.

[ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1) & Soul Blast (1)] Choose one of your «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards, return it to your hand, and this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of turn. You may choose up to one card with "Coral" in its card name from your hand, and put it into your soul. If you do, draw two cards. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn. [CONT](VC):If you have a card named "Aurora Star, Coral" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+2000.
Thankfully now we have Shangri-La Star, Coral. Shangri-La is a Cross Ride of Aurora Star, and actually comes with a Limit Break that makes her worth using. Shangri-La Star's Limit Break comes with a single counterblast and soulblast, which lets you return a Bermuda Triangle unit to your hand. After that, you can slide any Coral unit from your hand into the soul to draw two cards. You can only use the ability once per turn, but it starts generating card advantage for you really fast. Not only that, but it makes the Cross Ride defense easy to grab, since you can exchange an Aurora Star in your hand to draw two cards. Then since Aurora Star is in the soul you get the defense. This way you can comfortably play enough Aurora Star in your deck without regretting it, which is definitely a bonus. Plus, you can use Shangri-La Star with cards like Ricca to keep your damage un-flipped for other skills you might want to use.

Aurora's Encore
17 / 14 / 11 / 8

1 Angelic Star, Coral
1 Gunslinger Star, Florida [Critical]
1 Comical Rainie [Critical]
2 PR♥ISM-Miracle, Canary [Critical]
4 Duo Gran Pasturn, Syanon [Critical]
4 Duo Pride Crown, Madeira [Critical]
4 Duo Tropical Healer, Mejelda [Heal]

4 Fresh Star, Coral
4 PR♥ISM-Duo, Aria
4 Duo Happy Diary, Sheryl
2 Duo Clear Parasol, Kura

4 Shiny Star, Coral
Duo Mini Heart, Rhone
PR♥ISM-Smile, Ligurian
1 Duo White Crystal, Ricca

4 Aurora Star, Coral
4 Shangri-La Star, Coral

Once again, in this build we attempt to take advantage of Rhone's engine, as it's one of the best routes for Bermuda Triangle. All you need for Rhone to work is Duos to counterblast, which are evident in our Sentinel and trigger choices. We have to use Ligurian because Aurora doesn't come with her own power attackers, unfortunately. Plus, as a 10000 base Ligurian makes solid columns with Sheryl. Sheryl is used for early and later draw power, but its 6k power can sometimes be problematic. One Ricca is interesting because it makes Shangri-La's cost basically free, since you get a refund when you bounce her. We use twelve critical because you don't need extra draw power. Like most draw heavy decks, having the pressure of twelve criticals helps make up for the lack of damage.

The last unit marked for a rework is Costume Change, Alk. Alk was originally a starting vanguard, as well as a clone. If it boosted a unit with Limit Break and the attack hit, you could send Alk into the soul to draw a card. She grew to be very popular due to her art (I can't even deny this one, she's dressed up like a little shark), so now we have a new version of her. The thing is, the new Alk is a lot different.

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):At the end of the battle that this unit attacked a vanguard, choose a grade 3 «Bermuda Triangle» from your hand, and you may ride it as [Rest]. If you do, choose a card named "Costume Idol, Alk" from your soul, put it into your hand, and draw a card. [AUTO]:[Soul Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (VC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to one of your «Bermuda Triangle» rear-guards, return it to your hand, and this unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn.
Costume Idol, Alk is now a grade 3 unit. Her Limit Break comes in the spirit of her lore, allowing her to change into any grade 3 in your hand. When you attack with Alk, after the attack you can ride another grade 3 from your hand at rest, then return Alk to your hand and draw a card. Additionally, when you ride Alk, you can soulblast one to return a Bermuda Triangle from the field to your hand. You basically get a free card for using her, which is interesting enough. Her main asset is that she has a mini loop that can be used with Top Idol, Pacifica and Planet Idol Pacifica.

When you Break Ride with Planet Idol, ride Alk. When you ride Alk, use her soulblast to return a card to your hand. When you do, use Planet Idol's Limit Break to call Top Idol, Pacifica from your deck. Then, use Planet Idol's second skill to swap her with Top Idol and sent Planet Idol to your hand. Now when you attack with Alk, she has the bonus +10000 power and after the attack, you can swap her for the Planet Idol in your hand. You're now back with what you started, along with an extra card from Alk. You can do this next turn, along with every following turn, as long as you have Top Idols in your deck. Unfortunately, I don't have a sample list for this combo, because I haven't really tested it at all yet. It does seem fun though, and I'm interested in trying it.

[CONT]: Sentinel (You may only have up to four cards with "[CONT]: Sentinel" in a deck) [AUTO]:[Counter Blast (1)] When this is placed on (GC) from your hand, if you have a «Bermuda Triangle» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, reveal the five cards from the top of your deck, call all «Bermuda Triangle» from among them to (GC) as [Rest], and put the rest into the drop zone.
And that's finally about it for the new Bermuda Triangle support! Some of you might have noticed that I paid almost little attention to Bermuda Triangle's new Quintet Wall: Duo Promise Day, Colima. I had considered both kinds of Sentinels when it came to testing the support, and the conclusion I reached was that Bermuda Triangle are very good at generating a lot of advantage. As such, not only do Quintet Walls increase the counterblast costs by a bit too much, but you also have very good odds of decking out if you use too many. I personally believe that Perfect Walls are currently the way to go for Bermuda Triangle, but you're free to use the others if you wish. I reckon when Bermuda Triangle get their own Legion units (which is soon!), they'll bring their Quintet Wall back into the spotlight. But for now, I think it's outclassed.

In conclusion, Bushiroad did a much better job buffing up their aquatic divas than the last time they gave them support. Instead of making one good deck, they made a handful of good decks, and I believe they all have the potential to win tournaments. The support is also good in a generic sense. It's very plausible for a number of these cards to regain relevance the next time they get some love, which is something the last Extra Booster didn't really come with. As always, feel free to play around with the sample lists and make your own changes. I'm sure the Japanese metagame will eventually improve the builds, but for now, there's a window of creativity that we can all pick up on. For now though, thanks for reading. Stick around, because we'll be covering the new Fighter's Collection next!

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