Hi folks, it’s been a long time since my last post and I felt why not restart with a bang. Bushiroad has announced and released heavily anticipated updates in the form of Comback Campaign 2012. The affected series are namely, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo, CLANNAD and Shining Force EXA.

Them legs…

Today I’m going to review just one part of the new PR cards released in Update Campaign 2012, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo.

Denoted by the annotation SK, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo is a 2009 animation production by Sunrise (Gundam, Mai series). As it has only existed as small halves of two small volumes in Weiß Schwarz, the card pool for this set is painfully small.

And the OP/ED… doesn’t suit the show at all D=

 Once thought to be unpractical and utterly horrid in construction, the comeback campaign breathed new life into an amazingly underplayed series and brings it to a totally different level then originally conceived.

to the beginning…

There were really only a handful of cards available to the set and frankly, It was almost impossible to build anything from the scattered remnants of both extra boosters. No one really had any clue to begin building their deck as there were no gelling power, as well as zero synergy in the set of original cards. Volume 1 had only 5 variant cards!

No one can even make anything out of these 5 variant cards.

Heck, even a quick search on it’s annotation SK brings about only 29 search results!

PR cards were subsequently released after volume 1 and had some additions to the set, yet nothing was particularly useful. A very ordinary 0/0 3000 秋葉＆妹子 and amazingly, the set’s first Climax card 奪われた者達. I would assume that the producers of the set would have wanted players to use the Climaxes from Mai HiME, but that is hardly enough neither.

Thank God it was a Gate!

Out comes volume 2 with 12 new variant cards. Nothing really special neither but at least there exists a Climax combo within the set, as well as a rather interesting level 0 which seemingly tries to compensate the lack of level 2s in the set (elaborated later). The set also included notorious card reprint 小川で遊ぼう！ from Da Capo’s Extra booster inside the set.

But as again, nothing really enough to really make a very “complete” deck. There wasn’t even a single level 3 in the set.

Life Goes On

And a few years passes by, with Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo being laid in the dust until some geniuses from Bushiroad decide to come up with the Comeback Campaign. I would think they had brainstormed over ideas of what other sets to improve on, and what did not have boosts to current meta. The choice was obvious, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo had to be one of them.

The Comeback Campaign eventually led to 5 different cards, as shown below.

To those unfamiliar with the series, you may also take the chance to get familiar with the characters by reading through the cards themeselves! Firstly, I shall begin with Honoka, the cute and quiet type loli =D

Quiet lolis… and ponytail!!! =D

SK/WE05-29 Qテクターほのか / Q Tector Honoka

Text:
【Continuous】 For every other Character card with Trait ≪Colony≫ on your Stage, this card gains Power +500.

Amazingly, what was so simple and achievable in many newer generation Trait boosted cards is now made into the SK set. With this card, level 1s would no longer serve as a problem. Easily reaching up to 7500-8000 Power, this card can smash through many things and make cost expenditure tactical, rather then using them for previously inferior 1 Cost level 1 cards.

With a potential to hit up to 9k+ Power without Climax card, this card is something to look out for…

This card is also red, but unfortunately, neo-standard restricted as ≪Colony≫ only exists in the SK set. With the other Comeback Campaign PRs (almost all 5 of them), this power of this card is respectable.

Originally a cop, I wouldn’t mind being arrested by her =3

SK/WE05-30 Qテクターいつき / Q Tector Itsuki

Text:
【Auto】 EXPERIENCE When you use this card’s 『Counter』 ability,  should your Level slot include 2 or more ≪Colony≫ character cards, choose one of your Battling Character cards. During this turn that card gains Power +1000.
【Startup】【ASSIST】 COUNTER 2500 Level 2 ［① Put this card from your hand to your Waiting Room］ （Choose 1 of your Character card sustaining a Front Attack, that card gains Power +2500 this turn.）

This might seem hauntingly familiar with Shana’s uncommon Role of Dorothy, Shana ( ドロシー役のシャナ) as it really does seem like a similar ability. However, the Experience requirement is different and frankly, not difficult to fulfill at all. With the exception of the lv2s and 3s, it is almost too easily to fulfill the requirements for the first ability.

Not very difficult to sustain Stage presence, with such a useful Counter.

With a high powered level 1-3, this card can easily maintain the Stage presence against most series.

No pantsu! eeeeee

SK/WE05-31 最後の切り札 秋葉 / The Final Trump Card Akiha

Text:
【Continuous】 All your other Character cards with ≪Colony≫ trait gains Power +1000.
【Auto】 CHANGE  ［① Put this card to your Waiting Room］ At the start of your Draw phase, you may pay the Cost to activate this ability. Should you do so, choose 1 「一緒の気持ち 秋葉＆妹子」 from your Waiting Room and place it on this card’s original Border.

A very useful support to compliment the deck, this card can be put to use in many devious ways. Primarily, as a support, this card allows the Stage presence of SK cards a minimum trash-hold, thus creating overall field pressure.

Nice power boost to any level characters.

With one of these and a Imoko Shishido ( 獅子堂　妹子) from Volume 2, all your Characters easily gain a power boost of 1500 across the Stage. With two of these, you would easily add 2000 to any Character card, making it’s effects most visible at the sides of your Front Stage.

Imoko’s a rather cute thing isn’t she?

As mentioned before, a certain level 0 from Volume 2 actually brings about a greater field presence for the set as your game progresses. This common card, The Successor of Wishes Akiha (願いを受け継ぐ者　秋葉) can actually bring about great changes in your Stage presence.

At level 3, the boost is a staggering 6k! 8500 Power without support!

For every level you progress, this card would gain Power +2000. This easily makes it a 4500 Power at level 1, 6500 Power at level 2, and 8500 Power at level 3. With The Final Trump Card Akiha on the stage and a few decent supports, this card can easily grow to 10 000 to 10 500 during level 3. At 0 cost, this is probably the best beatstick anyone can hope for in the game.

Moving on, this card can actually Change during your next Draw Phase. The standard weakness of delayed-Change abilities still apply (Blow, disruption, putting to top deck/stock) as it will drastically slow down the pace of the deck. However if all goes according to plan, you would easily have a 9500 base-Power Character card at your disposable. Not to mention a heal.

This card is broken. Period.

The slower pace to Change might also benefit the player. With lower cost and it being on the field for a turn’s defense, this card can help in more ways then one. With Strange Girl Honoka (不思議少女ほのか), you may retrieve a Character card by simply paying 1 Cost and putting 2 Character cards with ≪Colony≫ trait to Rest. You may use this card and The Final Trump Card Akiha to retrieve 1 more of itself, or a copy of Of Same Feelings Akiha & Imoko (一緒の気持ち 秋葉＆妹子), while still being a 8500-9000 1 Cost level 2 Character card.

Pretty dominating offensive power.

SK/WE05-32 一緒の気持ち 秋葉＆妹子 / Of Same Feelings Akiha & Imoko

Text:
【Continuous】 During your turn, this card gains Power +500 for each of your other Character cards with trait ≪Colony≫ on your Stage.
【Auto】 When this card is played from your hand to the Stage or by the effects of 『CHANGE』, you may put the top card of your Clock to your Waiting Room.
【Auto】 When this card puts a Battling opponent to 【KNOCKOUT】 mode and your Climax border contains the Climax card 「宇宙をかける少女」, you may choose up to 3 card from your Opponent’s Waiting Room and return it to his deck. After doing so, your opponent shuffles his deck, put this card to your Memories. At the start of your next Draw Phase, choose 1 of your Character cards with name 「一緒の気 持ち 秋葉＆妹子」 in your Memories and put it to any Border you want.

Finally, a level 3 for SK, not to mention, a healing one. With enough offensive capabilities to rival that of the likes of “Inspector” of Justice Kokoro (正義の“警察官”小衣)　and Miki Sayaka (美樹　さやか), this card can take down foes rather easily. On defense, it can also reach up to a highest potential power barrier of 15 000 rather easily with the new Counter card.

This is actually pretty scary…

However, the part where the card truly shine, is the Climax synergy combo. Should you have the Climax card on the field when you have two to three of these level 3s on the field and appropriately attack the opponent, you would be able to return cards back into your opponent’s deck and make him take more potential damage. Should your opponent be running out of deck, with just enough cards to return back into his deck and continue the barrage, you can make the life of the opponent rather miserable by giving him more damage as cards are returned back to his deck without the chance to refresh.

Similarly, as the last attack and your opponent having a small number of deck size (1-2 cards), you may use the ability and return a bunch of Climax cards back to his deck and force him to draw it. It is normally very difficult to shake loose of these extra Climax cards so close into Refresh.

Last but not least, when it is put out of game by it’s Climax synergy ability, you do not need to worry if her Power is not big enough to be sustained with a Counter card during your opponent’s turn.

However, the downside to the ability is that it is forced. Even if you choose to add 0 cards back to your opponent’s deck, the Climax synergy ability would still kick in and force it out of game, giving your opponent extra chances for direct attacks.

I believe, I can fly, FUUU~!

SK/WE05-33 宇宙をかける少女 / The Girl Who Lept Through Space

Text:
【Auto】 When this card is put to your Climax border from your hand, draw 1 card. Choose 1 of your characters, during this turn that card gains Power +2000 and Soul +1.

Pretty much a standard 2k1s Climax card. This card is particularly useful as the set is geared towards offensive beatdowns and Soul powerups. With an additional 2000 Power and 1 Soul, Character cards will be able to meet power ranges that were once impossible with the set. With the dual trigger, Soul damage is improved to accommodate for the lesser number of 2 Soul characters in the set.

ebullient future

With such interesting cards, Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo certainly set a bar for Comeback Campaign and demonstrated the difference a few cards could make to an older generation set. Hopefully this article is informative about this primeval set and introduced the new mechanics that help the deck survive and win consistently.

Next up, I plan on writing a full scale article on the whole CLANNAD set similar to this article. I will also be resuming my postings of Weekly Tips so do keep a look out for them!

P.S. I have my headings written with song names. I wonder who would be the first to name where all of them were from…? =)