[JCG] Deck Check: The Joker and the Thief
Lock has always been a frustrating mechanic to deal with. For those who are just tuning in from the English metagame, Lock is the method of flipping a rear-guard on the field face down. While that unit is Locked, it cannot do anything. It cannot attack, intercept, move forwards or backwards, use its skills, or be affected by any other skills. It's quite akin to Megacolony's cripple mechanics, except it does A LOT more. Fortunately, Lock is restricted by steep counterblast costs. The average cost for a lock is a hefty counterblast 2 cost. Though, this isn't always the case.
.jpg/250px-TD11-001_(Sample).jpg "[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When a «Link Joker» rides this unit, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards in the front row and back row, lock them, and choose your vanguard, and that unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn.")
As of Booster Set 12, the best boss that meshed with Infinite Zero Dragon was Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon. Nebula Lord didn't necessarily come with easy Lock skills, but it brought a lot of power to the table. Its Limit Break gave +3000 power to each of your front row units (including itself!) during your turn for each of your opponent's Locked rear-guards. A single Infinite Zero skill gave each of your columns a +6000 power for the turn, which lead to insane pushes.
Some argue that this wasn't enough though. After Infinite Zero wore off, it became a bit more tougher to close the game, seeing as Nebula Lord's Locking skill came with counterblast 2, AND it only locked back row units. What Link Joker needed to be pushed off the edge was a stronger boss who could spam Lock and get away with it. And boy did they get just that:
The Joker and the Thief
17 / 14 / 11 / 8
4 Star-vader, Meteor Liger [Critical]
4 Star-vader, Vice Soldiert [Critical]
2 Star-vader, Scouting Ferris [Draw]
2 Star-vader, Nebula Captor [Draw]
4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage [Heal]
.jpg "[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Soul Blast (1)-card with \"Star-vader\" in its card name] During your opponent's end phase, when an opponent's locked card is unlocked, you may pay the cost. If you do, retire that unit, and draw a card. [ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a card with \"Star-vader\" in its card name from your hand, and discard it] Choose one of your opponent's rear-guards, and lock it. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.")
Things get even more absurd when you read its Limit Break, however. Whenever your opponent would unlock a unit in their end phase, you can soulblast a Star-vader to retire that unit instead, AND draw a card. This skill also doesn't come with any once per turn restrictions, so you can use it as many times as desired. This Limit Break definitely is part of what pushes Link Joker over the top. You can return all your investments you make with Locking by drawing, and this shines especially when you Break Ride over Infinite Zero Dragon and get two locks.
.jpg "[AUTO](RC):[Counter Blast (1) & Put this unit into your soul] During your opponent's end phase, when an opponent's locked card is unlocked, if you have a «Link Joker» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, lock that unit.")
To put it simply, all you need is a Palladium each turn combined with Chaos Breaker Dragon to keep their front row of rear-guards down. Infinite Zero and Chaos Breaker Dragon can initially lock their front row out for almost minimal cost, and after that they're kept away from their rear-guard attacks for a good portion of the late game, allowing you to conserve up card advantage and be extremely ahead when they're freed.
.jpg "[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a «Link Joker» vanguard, and if your opponent has a locked card, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one grade 1 or less card with \"Star-vader\" in its card name, call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.")
It's also to emphasize the other key cards of the deck, not just the ones in Booster Set 13. Star-vader, Mobius Breath Dragon is one of the most important cards in the deck in my opinion. It's the card you always want to ride, because of its importance in the vanguard circle. If it attacks and hits as a vanguard, you get to Lock any unit for free, which can be useful to fight pushes or just lock out useful starting vanguard units. It can also be useful in setting up early Palladium locks, which makes it difficult for your opponent to handle. Your opponent can drop a 10000 shield, but in most cases if you get a trigger you break the shield and get very ahead. It can be an early blowout in some cases, so it's important to not forget this card.
Finally, it's also important to realize how significant Lanthanium can be. He can easily jump to being a 9000 booster with just a Lock from Chaos Breaker, and he helps create bursty turns from Infinite Zero's Break Ride turn. He also makes your Cross Ride match-up a lot easier, since the 9000 synergizes so well with your eight 9000 grade 2's to make those clutch 18000 columns. Being searchable by Colony Maker is also very good as well.
One big pro with Chaos Breaker Dragon is that it makes every "Reverse" match-up a whole lot easier. All of the "Reverse" units so far come with costs that require you to Lock away one of your own units, which in turn lets Chaos Breaker Dragon do what he needs to do without you setting up for him. If you play against decks that uses heavy "Reverse" bosses like Dark Dimensional Robo, "Reverse" Daiyusha or Deadliest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster "Reverse", they'll become a lot more hesitant to Limit Break, seeing as if they hit you over four damage, you can easily wipe out the units they locked away and draw for them. If they dive in too deep, they'll end up regretting it as it then becomes nearly impossible to create another offensive field.
Even with a lot of good match-ups, there is, however, a very poor one. The recent addition of Salvation Lion, Grand Ezel Scissors spells out potential doom for Link Joker as a whole. Grand Ezel's Limit Break flat out unlocks all of their rear-guards, rendering any boss push useless in the end. Even locking out their whole field will mean nothing, because Grand Ezel's skill only costs two counterblast and two soulblast, plus they even get to un-flip a damage and soulcharge at the end of the turn. On top of that, Grand Ezel gains +10000 power and a critical, so he quickly becomes really difficult to deal with. There's hardly any counterplay either, because Grand Ezel has access to Twin Holy Beast, White Lion and Disciple of Pain: a pair of grade 1's that have the ability to put an Ezel player at four damage for one turn. There's no winning vs Grand Ezel, so you really just have to pray to get lucky.
With one extremely bad match-up, a lot of very good match-ups, and a few more average match-ups across the board, Link Joker have grown to an awkward deck to play. Regardless, they are extremely strong and can be fun to use. One key thing to keep in mind is to manage your resources carefully. In most match-ups, sealing off their rear-guards is really effective, so killing off units with Chaos Breaker instead of re-Locking units might not be always effective. On the other hand, you have to make sure you can effectively spend all of your soul and counterblast, and try not to end up with an abundance of either. If you spend all your soul early on, Chaos Breaker has no follow-up when you Lock up their field. If you spend all your counterblast and leave yourself with soul, then Chaos Breaker kinda just sits there with no payoff. It doesn't take too long to get used to it, but it's something to stay aware. On that note, as always, feel free to change things to your liking. Questions go in the comment section below, and thanks f
Finally, it's also important to realize how significant Lanthanium can be. He can easily jump to being a 9000 booster with just a Lock from Chaos Breaker, and he helps create bursty turns from Infinite Zero's Break Ride turn. He also makes your Cross Ride match-up a lot easier, since the 9000 synergizes so well with your eight 9000 grade 2's to make those clutch 18000 columns. Being searchable by Colony Maker is also very good as well.
One big pro with Chaos Breaker Dragon is that it makes every "Reverse" match-up a whole lot easier. All of the "Reverse" units so far come with costs that require you to Lock away one of your own units, which in turn lets Chaos Breaker Dragon do what he needs to do without you setting up for him. If you play against decks that uses heavy "Reverse" bosses like Dark Dimensional Robo, "Reverse" Daiyusha or Deadliest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster "Reverse", they'll become a lot more hesitant to Limit Break, seeing as if they hit you over four damage, you can easily wipe out the units they locked away and draw for them. If they dive in too deep, they'll end up regretting it as it then becomes nearly impossible to create another offensive field.
.jpg "[ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (2) & Soul Blast (2)] Unlock all of your locked cards, and if you have five «Gold Paladin» rear-guards, this unit gets [Power]+10000/[Critical]+1 until end of turn, and at the end of that turn, Soul Charge (1), choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up.")
With one extremely bad match-up, a lot of very good match-ups, and a few more average match-ups across the board, Link Joker have grown to an awkward deck to play. Regardless, they are extremely strong and can be fun to use. One key thing to keep in mind is to manage your resources carefully. In most match-ups, sealing off their rear-guards is really effective, so killing off units with Chaos Breaker instead of re-Locking units might not be always effective. On the other hand, you have to make sure you can effectively spend all of your soul and counterblast, and try not to end up with an abundance of either. If you spend all your soul early on, Chaos Breaker has no follow-up when you Lock up their field. If you spend all your counterblast and leave yourself with soul, then Chaos Breaker kinda just sits there with no payoff. It doesn't take too long to get used to it, but it's something to stay aware. On that note, as always, feel free to change things to your liking. Questions go in the comment section below, and thanks f
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