Thursday, October 25, 2012

Why Crossrides aren't as Broken as they Seem.

As some of you may know, the spoilers for BT09: Clash of the Knights and Dragons have been released and, as expected, we have even more Crossride units being introduced to the game.Naturally, there has been a fair amount of QQ-ing from some players who shall remain nameless, with some going as far as to announce their intent to boycott the game because these units are "too broken."

Myself? I don't see a problem.

Sure, Crossrides are phenomenal, seeing as they have a juicy 13000 defensive power if the previous incarnation is in the soul. In addition, most of them have pretty neat skills that fit the flavor of such powerful units. There are arguments that crossrides overcentralize the meta, and that clans with non-crossride units just can't compete.

Bullshit.

I'll concede that American players, by and large, tend to stick with decks they know will win. Especially if these past WCQs are any indication. Many people played Gold Paladins, and they represented the majority of decks played at every regional event. People assume that when set 5 is released, the same will happen to Kagero (Dragonic Overlord the End) decks. No matter where I go, I have seen arguments of "DOTE is broken. Pls fix QQ." Except for one thing: it really isn't. When I play against DOTE decks, I'm not afraid of that specific unit. In fact, I'd rather my opponent get that persona blast off 3 times in a game rather than nuke my boosters with Kimnara or scorch my intercepts with Berserk Dragon. DOTE is only a part of what makes the deck so good. The support units play a big role in how well the deck performs and allow you to cripple your opponent's field at little to no cost to yourself.

"But, Stills. 13000 Power is op. How can I magic number against that?"

18000 power columns allow you to force 10k worth of guard from a crossride. Do you know what can make 18k columns easily? Every single clan in the game. Every clan has at least 1 10000 power Grade 2 unit and an 8000 power booster. Not to mention, many clans run 10000 power Grade 3 units, as well. Stop crying about the game and do your part to prepare for those 13000 targets.

Bear in mind, units have costs to use their skills, too. Playing against the new Ezel? Do your best to keep them out of that Limit Break 5 Range. Playing against DOTE? Make sure they don't have 2 damage to flip and block their damn Bellicosity Dragons. Play smart, build smart, and make the most of the resources in your hand and field. I know you can do it.

I apologize for this, but it's something I really need to get off my chest. I'll have an actual article up later in the week.

Thanks for reading, and may you always pull SPs from your boxes.

-Stills

2 comments:

  1. I'm thinking that a lot of the problem stems from the fact that the 10k shield they'd need to guard an 18k RG attack with is only a single card worth of guarding. It'd take a 23k column to really make a DOTE consider whether or not it's worth it to guard an attack. Fortunately, this is offset by a few things:

    - It's a 4th turn ride, general minimum, to actually get the 13k Cont going. That's one extra turn you have to not have to deal with it.

    - It requires extra Grade 3 units. If you want DOTE to be fully powered, you need DO in the Soul. So, you're going to want to run as many DOs and DOTEs as possible. Typically, 4 of each. Leading to the next point...

    - It forces a player to be less creative with their G3 Lineup. 8 G3 units is the generally accepted amount to run in a deck. If you already have all 8 slots spoken for, then you've got nothing else to work with.

    - The effects are typically CB-heavy. They aren't going to use many CB effects, and will have to rely on damage-unflippers to use CB effects.

    - Many of the effects have additional costs. The three Crossrides that are already out in Japan all have Persona Blast effects that require them to discard a card of the same name from their hand, in addition to CB.

    I'm still not entirely convinced that more crossrides = end of the world.

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