Love Live!

Firstly, we will start with the School Idol anime of rising popularity, Love Live! While the series is largely made based on the anime, the staff at Bushiroad has put in something extra for existing fans of the franchise, featuring their 5th Single, Wonderful Rush. This trial deck is also a first of its kind, having 12 trial deck specials.

Various vanilla/ basic abilities, nothing really special.

LL/W24-102 TD “Wonderful Rush”園田 海未 / Sonoda Umi
Text:

【Auto】 Encore [Put a Character card from your Hand into your Waiting Room]

【Act】 [① Put 2 of your Character cards with the trait 《Music》 from 【Stand】 to 【Rest】] During this turn, this card gains Power +4500.

A rather good Level 1 character. It allows you to turn it into a 1-turn powerhouse that can beat most Level 1 attackers, with a light cost. On defense, it is small, but it has in-built Character Encore, allowing you to bring it back to smash yet another, should your resource allows it.

LL/W24-103 TD“Wonderful Rush”絢瀬 絵里 / Ayase Eri
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【Auto】 When this card attacks, choose up to 2 of your Character cards with the trait 《Music》, during this turn, it gains Power +500.

Seems rather simple, but that 500 additional power do come into great use at times.

LL/W24-106 TD “Wonderful Rush”小泉 花陽 / Koizumi Hanayo
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【Cont】 During your turn, your other Character card in the Middle Border of the Center Stage gains Power +500.

【Cont】 ASSIST: Character cards in front of this card gains Power +1000.

A fairly decent support, giving an additional 500 power to your middle attacker during your turn for no cost.

LL/W24-107 TD “Wonderful Rush”星空 凛 / Hoshizora Rin
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【Act】[①] During this turn, this card gains Soul +1.

Yet another effect that looks rather simple, but there are times where you will actually need an additional soul or two.

LL/W24-108 TD “Wonderful Rush”南 ことり / Minami Kotori
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【Cont】If this card is in the Middle Border of your Center Stage, this card gains Power +1000.

Well, she IS the Center position for this song… And a Level 2 9500 attacker is always welcomed. Paired with “Wonderful Rush” Koizumi Hanayo, this card is an easy 11000 power with no other cost paid.

LL/W24-109 TD “Wonderful Rush”高坂 穂乃果 / Kousaka Honoka
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【Auto】 When you put this card from your Hand onto the Stage, search your Deck for up to 1 Character card with the trait 《Music》, show it to your opponent, and add it to your Hand. Shuffle your deck afterwards.

【Auto】 When your other Character cards with the trait 《Music》attacks, during that turn, this card gains Power +1000.

A rather new ability for a Level 3’s Come-Into-Play ability slot. It allows you to fetch any Music character from your deck, regardless of Level. Even in a situation where you’re only left with this card in your hand, you can still manage to pull out a full field of attackers, should there be at least 1 more of this card in the deck.

The second ability is nothing new, but it allows this card to reach very decent power, allowing you to beat even Level 3s with the conventional X support.

LL/W24-110 TD“Oh,Love&Peace!” μ’s / Myu’s
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【Auto】[①] When this card attacks, and the Climax card 「Wonderful Rush」is in Play, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your Character cards with the trait 《Music》, during this turn, it gains Power +5000.

This is rather amazing for a Level 0 climax synergy ability. A whooping 5000 power boost to anyone, even itself. The climax in question is that of a Soul +2, which will allow you to gain power Soul and Power with just this Climax combo. Literally, Wonderful Rush.

LL/W24-112abc TD 僕らは今のなかで / Bokura wa Ima no Naka de
Text:

【Auto】 When you put this card from your Hand into the Climax Area, draw 1 card, choose 1 of your Character cards, during that turn, it gains Power +2000, Soul +1.

Nothing special, except for the very thoughtful fact that they have made alternate arts for this card, featuring the girls in their school year combinations.

Other notable cards:

LL/W24-T02 和菓子屋の娘 穂乃果: A Come-Into-Play ability that allows you to retrieve any Music character card with a cost of 2.

LL/W24-T06 “ずるい”ことり: A decent Level 2 attacker that reaches 9000 power easily.

LL/W24-T07 みんなで木登り: A retrieval event that gives some power to 1 character also.

LL/W24-T08 はじまりの想い: Gate. Nuff’ Said.

Vividred Operation

Next up, little girls in colourful and fanciful costumes, fighting off monsters of unknown origin. The trial deck has been made to closely model after the show’s concept, re-creating even the famous Docking scene.

VR/W22-101 TDおやつの時間 あかね / Snacks Time Akane
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【Auto】 This ability can be activated up to 2 times per turn. When you put another Character card with the trait 《Key》 from your Hand onto the Stage, during that turn, this card gains Power +1000.

A decent Level 1 character, gaining power simply from playing other Key trait characters, bring its power to a possible maximum of 7000.

VR/W22-102 TD 登校中のもも / Attending School Momo
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【Cont】 If you have another Character card with 「Akane」in its name, this card gains Power +1500.

An easy Level 2 1 cost 9000, so long as you have an Akane on the stage.

VR/W22-103 TD 初めてのドッキング あかね / First Docking Akane
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【Act】[② Put a「Power for the Purpose of Protecting Aoi」and this card into your Memory] Choose 1「The Two who have become One Vividblue」 in your Waiting Room, and put it onto the Stage in this card’s previous Border.

VR/W22-104 TD 一つになった二人 ビビッドブルー / The Two who have become One Vividblue
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【Cont】 Recollections: If you have 2 or more cards in your Memory, this card gains Power +1000.

【Auto】 When you put this card form your Hand onto the Stage, or when you put this card onto the Stage by the 【Act】ability of 「First Docking Akane」, look at up to X cards from the top of your Deck, choose up to 1 card, and put it into your hand. Put the remaining cards into your Waiting Room. X is equal to the number of your Character cards with the trait 《Key》.

VR/W22-105 TD守るための力 あおい / Power for the Purpose of Protecting Aoi
Text:

【Cont】All your other Character cards with the trait 《Key》gains Power +500.

The 3 cards for the Docking Operation. Docking is recreated using First Docking Akane’s ability, requiring a specific Aoi and this card to be on the stage. Being an Activate ability increases the ability’s cost, but the total cost for summoning the Level 3 Vividblue is only 3 Stock cost (including playing down Akane), and 2 cards on the field. It is not really that much of a difference in cost as compared to a climax phase Change ability, besides the part about the Aoi. Being an Activate ability also allows you to choose when you want to use it during the main phase, allowing you to actually Rest the 2 parts for the Docking first to activate various abilities present in the trial deck, before actually sending them away.

The Two who have become One Vividblue gains the additional 1000 power so long as you have ‘Docking’ at least once in the game. Seeing as there is no other memory mechanic, it is the only way to increase the power. Its 2nd ability is very flexible, allowing you to first choose up to a maximum of 5 cards from the top of your deck, meaning it can be any number from 1-4, so long as you have that number of Key trait characters. Next, it allows you to choose whether or not to add 1 card from the cards you see into your hand. Most of the time people would choose to add a card, but there are times where you don’t want to, and this card allows you to make a choice.

The Aoi needed for the Docking Operation is a global power support, something very rare, almost non-existent, in Trial decks. However, this is also the only support in the whole deck, and seeing that it would go into the memory for Docking, it is not wise to do it a lot of times.

Other Notable cards:

VR/W22-T01 しっかりもの もも: Solely for the purpose of achieving Docking. To take note that the cost must be a Key trait character card.

VR/W22-T02 偉大な科学者 健次郎: Allows you to take back any card for the cost of 2 stock and 2 Characters put to Rest. Use with Docking parts before Docking for maximum advantage.

VR/W22-T07 つながる心: Again, best to be used with Docking parts before Docking. Pity that it can only retrieve Key trait characters.

VR/W22-T09 真実の告白 あおい: A decent Level 0 character, with ability to increase its power on your own turn and Drop-Encore during your opponent’s turn, allowing you to still have a Level 0 attacker should Level 0 drag on for you.

VR/W22-T11おやつの時間 あおい: An easy Level 1 Cost 0 6000.

Overall Review:

Both trial decks are really good in various areas. Both have ways of search/ retrieval, decent power, and rather good trait synergy. The effects in both trial decks are also fairly simple, with a great deal of cards having very basic abilities / Vanillas, like many of the trial decks out there.

There is no way in saying if a trial deck is good or not without actually playing with it first. Many would have judged the decks by the various cards previewed on the website, but a deck’s worth is only shown after you have actually seen and play it all. Personally, I find that both decks have their own good, and are very playable on their own already, as compared to many other trial decks before them.

There is still quite some time before both series’ booster is released, so just enjoy what these trial decks have to offer for now. Until next time!

Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- f (quite the mouthful) is a set that stays true to the game – modules are translated to characters and songs to climaxes. Unlike most other series to date, multiple characters synergize with the same climax to bring about a myriad of effects. This allows for a larger degree of freedom in deck building and improves the player’s quality of life in various ways, namely:

1) Unpopular climaxes with the clash and gold bar triggers will actually see more play as the variety of combos will eventually outweigh the inherent advantage that gate climaxes have.

2) Players are more incentivized to play a climax as the chances of having a complete combo on field are drastically increased.

3) More options are open to players as they can choose the combo that fits their play style and situation.

Apart from a better climax experience (pun intended), individual cards in the series are pretty decent and the series can gel well together with only the <<MUSIC>> trait.  Let’s go through the better options level by level.

At level 0, I aim to play a relatively untouchable character in front row while taking a few turns to build up my hand for the levels to come.

初音ミク“ソリチュード”/ Hatsune Miku “Solitude”

[C]If there are no other characters in the front row, this cards gains LEVEL +1 and POWER +1000.

This card is simple and effective. It allows multiple characters to be played in the back row while maintaining its power and level boost. In a game where both players remain at level 0 for a few turns, this card is especially devastating as you can maintain your hand size while preserving field presence.

初音ミク“サマーメモリー”/ Hatsune Miku “Summer Memory”

[A] [Put the top card of your Deck into your Clock] When this character attacks and “Time Machine” is in your Climax border, you may choose to pay the cost. If you choose to do so, this gains POWER +5500 for this turn.

タイムマシン / Time Machine

[A] When this card is placed from hand to the Climax Zone, draw a card and choose 1 of your Characters. That Character gains POWER +2000 for this turn.

I personally like this combo as it has the potential to deal with level 1s at very little cost early on. The only drawback is that the cost of one damage scales very badly during late-game. The climax by itself is very useful in deck that focuses on field presence. Throw the character into your Level zone whenever possible.

巡音ルカ“SW リゾートビキニ”/ Megurine Luka “SW Resort Bikini”

[A] When this card attacks, you may choose up to two of your characters with <<MUSIC>> to gain POWER +500 for this turn.

[A]When this card is [REVERSED] and the character that this character is battling is LEVEL 0 and below, you may send that character to [REVERSE].

Whoa. A staple of many decks, this particular aiuchi has the potential to wipe your opponent’s front row with its first ability.

“終わらない歌声”初音ミク / “The voice that never ends” Hatsune Miku

[S][(1)] Draw a card, choose a card in your hand and place it in the waiting room.

[S]BRAINSTORM [(1) Put this card to [REST]] Flip 4 cards from the top of your deck one by one and place them in your waiting room. For each climax, draw up to 1 card.

Probably the most useful BRAINSTORM effect in the set, it allows you to mill your deck faster and its first effect is a huge boon when you’re trying to clear your stock and hand of climaxes.

ＭＥＩＫＯ“SW ロングパレオ”/ MEIKO “SW Long Pāreu”

[A][(1) Place a card in your hand to the waiting room] When this card is played from your hand to stage, you may pay the cost. If you choose to do so, choose a character from your waiting room and return it to your hand.

Simple, pure utility.

Supports in this set are plentiful. I find the following interesting and very viable choices.

初音ミク“リンちゃん愛し隊1号”/ Hatsune Miku “Rin-chan Love Squad No.1″

[C] All your other <<MUSIC>> characters gain POWER +500.

[A] [Put the top card of your deck into clock and send one of your [STAND] characters to [REST]] When the climax “Rin-chan Now!” is placed in your Climax border, you may choose to pay the cost. If you choose to do so, all your other Characters whose name includes “Rin” gains POWER +2000 for this turn.

鏡音レン“バッドボーイ”/ Kagamine Len “Bad Boy”

[C] During your Opponent’s turn, all your other <<MUSIC>> characters gain POWER +500.

[A] [Put this card in the waiting room] When another character of yours is sent from the stage to the waiting room and this card is in the back row, you may choose to pay the cost. If you choose to do so, put that character back [REST] in its original border.

Pick Miku if you have an alternative encore mechanic or prefer to be more offensive.

Pick Ren if your characters have high cost and/or alternative mechanics. Ren can prove to be immensely frustrating to play against if your opponent has to over-commit in fear of Dust to Dust.

Level 1 is where the battle really starts. A bad level 1 game will stack the odds against you heavily. I usually prefer to go with cost 0 level 1s to save stock for late-game but these encores are too good to pass up.

初音ミク“フォニュエールスタイル” / Hatsune Miku “FOnewear Style”

[A] ENCORE [Send a character from your Hand to your Waiting Room] (When this card is sent from the Stage to the Waiting Room, you may pay the cost. If you do so, send the card to [Rest] in its Border

巡音ルカ“ゆるふわコーデ” / Megurine Luka “Soft and Mild Coordination”

[A] When this card is placed from your hand to the stage, reveal the topmost card of your deck. If that card is not a character with <<MUSIC>>, put this card to [REST]. (Return the revealed card to its original position)

[A] ENCORE [Send a character from your Hand to your Waiting Room] (When this card is sent from the Stage to the Waiting Room, you may pay the cost. If you do so, send the card to [Rest] in its Border.

I would prefer to play Luka over Miku in most situations unless you happen to play enough events to make Luka’s success rate very low. At level 1, 500 power makes a lot of difference. A good 2.5k counter like 鏡音ﾘﾝ“弐ﾉ桜･胡蝶”/ Kagamine Rin “The second sakura – Butterfly” will ensure that your field from level 1 will last you through level 2.

弱音ハク“オリジナル”/ Yowane Haku “Original”

[C] If you have another character with ASSIST, this card gains POWER +2000.

MEIKO “Noel Rouge” ＭＥＩＫＯ“ノエル・ルージュ”

[C] ASSIST Characters in front of this card gains POWER +X. X is the number of characters you have with ASSIST x500.

[S] [Put this card to [REST]] Choose one of your <<MUSIC>> characters, that character gains POWER +1000 for this turn.

If you are starved for stock, this is a very viable setup. You have immense power on offense for very little cost as 2 Meikos can serve as a late-game support very well.

Level 2 is the new level 3.  If you choose not to CHANGE to your level 3s, your level 2 characters must earn you enough advantage to justify their existence.

初音ミク“アペンド” / Hatsune Miku “Append”

[A]CHANGE [(2) Put a card from your hand to the waiting room, send this card to the waiting room] At the beginning of your climax phase, you may choose to pay the cost. If you choose to do so, choose one ‘ “Electronic Diva” Hatsune Miku’ from your waiting room and put it in the border where this card was.

鏡音リン“アペンド”/ Kagamine Rin “Append”

[A]CHANGE [(2) Send this card to the clock] At the beginning of your climax phase, you may choose to pay the cost. If you choose to do so, choose one ‘Kagamine Rin “Original”’ from your waiting room and put it in the border where this card was.

Vanilla climax phase change. Relatively stock intensive in both cases and it kind of hurts to use Rin’s change.

Alternatively, we can play –

初音ミク“翠玉” / Hatsune Miku “Emerald”

[A] When this card attacks and the climax “World’sEnd Dancehall” is in the climax border, you may choose one character in your waiting room and return it to your hand.

巡音ルカ“紅玉” / Megurine Luka “Ruby”

[A][(1) When this card attacks and the climax “World’sEnd Dancehall” is in the climax border, you may choose to pay the cost. If you choose to do so, deal 1 damage to your opponent. (Damage can be canceled)

I personally find Miku too stock intensive to be viable most of the time but Luka happens to be in a good position where she can potentially wreck the opponent’s field and clock.  Either way, the climax is good to have as it will make up for the soul damage that my level 0 supports lack as I swap them out for either one of these.

鏡音リン“シザーズ” / Kagamine Rin "Scissors"

[C]ASSIST All characters in front of this card gains POWER +X. X is the level of the character x 500.

[A][(1) Send a <<MUSIC>> from your stage to the waiting room] When the climax “Tokyo Teddy Bear” is in climax border, you may choose to pay the cost. If you choose to do so, choose a character from your waiting room equal or lower than your current level and place it in any border on the stage.

“キミとふたりで”初音ミク / “The two of us together” Hatsune Miku

[C]ASSIST All characters in front of this card gains POWER +1000.

[S][Put this card to [REST]] All your other <<MUSIC>> gains POWER +500 for this turn.

Rin is our traditional +X support. Nothing new here.

Miku works better with your level 1s should you depend on them throughout level 2 and is considerably stronger on offense. She will fall off by 500 at level 3 but it’s not much of a problem for this set. Power just doesn’t seem to be a problem for this series’ level 3.

ＫＡＩＴＯ＆ＭＥＩＫＯ“オリジナル” / KAITO & MEIKO “Original”

[C] This card gains POWER +2000 during your opponent’s turn.

[A] When this card attacks, reveal the topmost card of your deck, if it is a <<MUSIC>>, put that card in your hand. (Otherwise return it to where it was)

Purely for outlasting your opponent, this card is a veritable wall while preserving your handsize. This comes at the unfortunate price of increasing your climax trigger rate.

鏡音リン“オリジナル” / Kagamine Rin “Original”

[C] If there are 4 or fewer cards in your Stock, this card gains POWER +2000.

[A] When this card is placed from hand or by effects of CHANGE to the Stage, you may put the top card of your clock into the waiting room.

[A] When this card sends its opponent to [REVERSE] during battle, send that character to their stock.

A heal and a huge power boost in exchange for giving your opponents stock. Use it wisely to send their critical level 3s out of play and deplete their hand size even further.  When possible use ‘“Electronic Diva” Hatsune Miku’ first to avoid giving your opponent more stock.

巡音ルカ“オリジナル”/ Megurine Luka “Original”

[C] If you have 3 or more other <<MUSIC>>, this card gains POWER +1000.

[C] The card facing this card gains SOUL -1.

[A][(1)] When this card sends its opponent to [REVERSE] during battle, you may choose to pay the cost. If you choose to do so, choose a card in your opponent’s waiting room and put it on top of their deck.

When you really need to close the game fast to prevent your opponent from healing it all back again. Soul -1 becomes a lot more useful when paired with heals otherwise this card will just be playing into the opponent’s hands.

初音ミク“わがまま工場長” / Hatsune Miku “Apathetic Factory Chief”

[A] When this card is placed from hand to the stage, draw up to 2 cards and put 1 card from your hand to the waiting room.

[A] When this card sends its opponent to [REVERSE] during battle and “Sadistic.Music∞Factory” is in the Climax border, you may put that character into their clock.

The ability to send characters of any level to clock is deadly. Avoid holding onto the climax between refreshes and just let it come to you via triggers or the built-in draw and pray very hard that they fall before you do.

“電子の歌姫”初音ミク / “Electronic Diva” Hatsune Miku

[C] For every other <<MUSIC>>, this card gains POWER +500.

[A]When this card is placed from hand or by effects of CHANGE to the Stage, you may put the top card of your clock into the waiting room.

Probably the best level 3 in the series. It can be played out early by CHANGE and just dominate the field because of its naturally large power. The heals keep you in the game while you show them how sadistic you can be.

Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- f turned out to be pretty decent despite being an experimental series. It has an average level 0, a persistent level 1 that might run into stock problems if you don’t save up enough before you hit level 2. Level 2 poses a new set of problems as deck compression will be compromised by the stock intensive change mechanic whereas its other level 2 are not extremely impressive. Fortunately they have a very strong level 3 game that is more than enough to compensate for their other drawbacks. Also, I felt that too little was done to promote the shift away from climaxes with the gate trigger and +2k +1s.  I secretly wished that Sadistic.Music∞Factory was a +1k +1 hand instead.

初音ﾐｸ“壱ﾉ桜･桜花” & ネコミミ は正義！

Ekuseru

The highly anticipated booster release of the popular series Sword Art Online is finally here! Today, I’ll be sharing my thoughts and opinion on the cards released in this set.

パーティーの誘い アスナ

[CONT] If you have 3 or more other <<Avatar>> or <<Net>> characters in your Stage, this card gains Power +1000.
[AUTO] [(1)] When this card attacks, if 《スター・スプラッシュ》 is in the Climax Border, you may pay the cost. If you do so, search your Deck for up to 1 <<Avatar>> or <<Net>> Character card, show it to your opponent and add it to Hand. Shuffle that deck.

A rather decent card that goes up to 5500 power when the condition is fulfilled, making it as equal to a vanilla level 1 card except with a climax ability that allows to pay the cost when needed to let you be able to search for an important card that you’ll need for the future turns. Also, 親友を祝福するリズベット allows you to bond this card.

《閃光》のアスナ

[CONT] During your turn, if the opposing card is a Level 3 and above, this card gains +4000 Power and +1 Soul.
[AUTO] When this card Reverses an opponent character, send that card to Stock.

A nice cost effective card to use when you want to take down an opponent’s card that is Level 3 and above, especially when they do a change as you’ll be at a whooping 12000 Power to take down most Level 3 characters since they are usually at the 10000 power range. The additional soul might be a bit disadvantageous at times but you can actually play safe if you play down a climax to add an additional Soul, giving it a total of 4 souls to give you the option to do a side attack if needed.

[AUTO] [(1)] When this card attacks, if スペル詠唱 is in the Climax Border, you may pay the cost. If you do so, this card gains Power +1000 and the following ability for that turn. [[AUTO] When this card’s Level 2 or above Battle Opponent is put to Reverse, you may put that character to Clock.]

Not too bad a card for you to start removing your opponent’s character away from the field to prevent them from not just encoring, but to ensure another additional clock damage by sending them into their Clock. The catch is that you got to reverse a Level 2 or above character with the climax in play, which can be a bit tricky.

[CONT] If your Deck has 5 or less cards, this card in your Hand gains Level -1.
[CONT] All of your other <<Avatar>> or <<Net>> characters gains Power +1500.
[ACT] [(1) Put 1 <<Avatar>> or <<Net>> Character card from Hand to the Waiting Room] This card gains Power +3000 and the following ability until the end of your opponent’s next turn. [[CONT] This card cannot be chosen by your opponent’s effects.]

Allows for an advance summon at Level 2 if the conditions are met, providing a nice boost to the other cards in play with an additional 1500 Power to all <<Avatar>> or <<Net>> characters. And an ability that allows her to not be affected by opponent’s effect so that she can sit safely in play for a bit longer to make it worthwhile.

探し続けたもの リズベット

[AUTO] [(1)] When this attacks, if 求めていた温もり is in the Climax Zone, you may pay cost. If so, choose up to 2 Characters in your Waiting Room and return them to your hand, discard a card from your hand to the Waiting Room, and this gains +1000 Power for the turn.

Great ability considering that 求めていた温もり is a gate climax on top of that. You can choose to pay 1 cost to retrieve back one character that you need, and to swap one more for another one (in short, to retrieve back two characters and to discard a card from your hand). The option to retrieve two characters is great to fix your hand with what you need and the discarding allows you to discard something that you don’t really need (say like, to discard a climax just before refresh to increase the amount of climaxes card in your deck after refresh). On top of that, you get a slight power boost to hit a total of 10000 power when you play the climax and use the ability, letting you be able to take out most Level 2 vanillas and even Level 3s with the proper support.

妹のような存在 シリカ

[AUTO] When this card is put from Hand to the Stage, you may put the top 1 card of your Clock to the Waiting Room.
[AUTO] When this card attacks, if ピナの蘇生 is in the Climax Border, choose up to 1 Character card from your Waiting Room, return it to Hand, choose up to 1 card from your opponent’s Waiting Room and put it to the top of the Deck.

One of the two healing cards in the series, this is probably the best card of this series. When the climax ability is being used, at no cost, you get to retrieve a Character back into your Hand and put one of your opponent’s card from their Waiting Room to the top of the Deck to ensure 1 damage. With ピナの蘇生 a +2000 Power and +1 soul climax, it means that you can potentially add the additional power and soul to herself to snipe a 1 soul damage against a Level 2 character to snipe in that one last damage that you need (provided if you don’t trigger anymore bonus soul damage to be added in). Pretty relentless with 使い魔 ピナ in game so that you can encore her to keep her around to use the climax ability. since there aren’t any card in this set that gives the “Discard a Character Card to Encore” ability.  Also works very well with 凛とした強さ アスナ, the other healing card, and that card allow you to add an additional power and soul for siding in the accurate damage that you might need.

謎の少女 ユイ

[ACT] [(1)] Draw 1 card, choose 1 card from your Hand and put it to the Waiting Room.
[ACT] [Put 1 of your other characters and this card to Rest] Choose 1 of your characters, and it gains Power +1000 until the end of your opponent’s next turn.

Nice simple utility card where you get to draw and discard a card to fix your cards in hand and also to give additional power to a character when needed. Pretty standard friendly.

《黒の剣士》キリト

[AUTO] [(3) Put 1 card from Hand to Clock] When 《二刀流》の使い手 is put in the Climax Border, you may pay the cost. If you do so, this card gains Power +3500 and the following ability for that turn. [[AUTO] This ability can activate up to 1 time in 1 turn. When this card’s battle opponent is put to Reverse, you may put this card to Stand.]
[AUTO] When this card attacks, reveal the top 1 card of your Deck. If that card is an <<Avatar>> or <<Net>> Character card add it to Hand.

A pretty nice card to use if you are able to sustain and keep it in game for a prolonged period of time considering that you can more or less gain a free hand size whenever you attack as long as you reveal an <<Avatar>> or a <<Net>> Character card to add it into your Hand. The climax ability isn’t too bad since its gives you an option to do a double attack, allowing you to net in some options of hitting lesser with a side damage for more accurate soul damage, or to just hit it in hard to either hope that your opponent takes it all, or to just filter a predicted upcoming cancel. You can actually summon him out at Level 2 by having a 血盟騎士団への入団 キリト in play and using the プロポーズ event card, which also grants an additional 1500 power boost till the end of your opponent turn to secure him nicely .

Rights, back to point, Persona 4 Ultimate extra booster was just released over the weekend. Here in WS@NKDS, I will be bringing you the close quarter actions, from uppercuts to low trips, from Myriad Truths to Labyrinthos Gate, and all that is happening here in the Mayonaka Arena.

Just as Rise said “Let’s settle those little grudges once and for all! heart.jpeg”, experience it all, with just a click of a button.

Yuu – “It’s only natural.”
Yosuke – “Everything that bores me gotta go.”

Partners in crime since the Level 4 Shadow incident, let’s look at how our Sis-Con and Junes-Prince dynamic duo battle their way up the Ladder matchups.自称特別捜査隊 陽介

[Cont] Assist – The characters in front of this card gain +500power.
[Act] (Put this card to rest) Choose one of your <<Junes>> trait characters, that character gains +500 power for this turn.

This… This is a sweet card to use and abuse. Gone were the days where <<Junes>> players have to hold on to their all-so-important 酒屋の娘 小西早紀 or the need to bring her out early in the game. This card is able to lighten the load and stress of a player should he/she is unable to fix that level 1 support in hand during early game phase. Yet the addition this card into the deck would mean the removal of ジュネスでサボる足立 which actually is there for the red and the flexibility of using a “gate” climax. A little tweaking and Persona fusion, I am sure the right Arcana will appear before you. 

「鋼のシスコン番長」鳴上 悠

[Cont] When this card is on the stage, in addition to its name, this card gains the following name「鋼のシスコン番長」主人公.
[Auto] When this card is placed from hand to stage, put the top card of your clock into your waiting room.
[Auto](1) When this card reverses an opponent’s level 2 and above character in battle, you may pay the cost. If you do so, search your deck for a <<Magic>> trait character or a character whose card name contains「菜々子」, show it to your opponent and add that card into your hand. Shuffle your deck.

Oh yeah~!
Finally a主人公 card which can heal and true to its name, this card allows you to pay off triggered climax for an addition in hand size. Counters, another of this card for more healing next turn, or you can bring out your inner sis-con desire and search for more 菜々子.  Down side of this card is that the payment of 1 stock might be very heavy on your in-game funds, especially during level 3.

Chie – “you need to eat more meat!”
Labrys – “I’ll protect the public decency of Inaba!”
Aigis – “Your protests are doing nothing to relieve the danger.”

The carnivore that preys on innocent meat, the terror that kicks in the night. The one given a heart, yet forcefully denied the emotions which defined a heart. The one too given a heart and a certain chance meeting made possible by the wish of her sister. How will this team unfold? Honestly I’m not sure myself XP「全身凶器の心なき天使」アイギス

[Cont] When there are no other characters on stage, this card gains +2000power. [Act] Brainstorm (1, put this card to rest) Place the top 4 cards of your deck into your waiting room. For every climax card placed into the waiting room this way, you may perform the following action “choose 1 card from your clock, add that card into your hand and place the top card of your deck into your clock”

Indeed a card suitable for Aigis, this card offers 2 very important uses. The ability to be a 3500 beater at level 0 does provide slight solace and when left uncontested, this card will help to gain much advantage from level 0 onwards. The brainstorm effect allows the user to fetch desired cards that were left stuck in the clock. This young lady works wonders with the 処刑 event, allowing you to fork it back to hand in early game. 「八高・鋼鉄の生徒会長！」ラビリス

[Auto] When this card is placed from hand to stage, during that turn this card gains +1500power.
[Auto] (1) When you have the climax card ラビリスの怒りin your climax slot and this card is in the front stage, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of opponent front stage character and -4000power to that character.

Offering a 1 turn 6000power hitter with the ability to reduce opponent’s character power by 4000, this card is pretty useful in certain situations. The 4000power reduction can potentially eliminate those pesky level 1 bombs, or even sum up to a pseudo power of 10000 when used on the character which this Labrys is fighting. The only down side is that the climax is of +2 soul, the wildest and most unstable of all climax type. 「男勝りの足技系ドラゴン」里中 千枝

[Cont] When there are 3 or more <<Sports>> traits characters on stage, this card gains +1000power.

Hmmmm, a seemly average card to use but one cannot be picky. Having a 1 cost and potentially 9000power beat-kick is pretty decent. Standard wise this card is strong due to the wide range of support found for <<Sports>> trait. 「皆殺しの猛牛総統」シャドウラビリス

[Auto] When this card is placed from hand to stage, put the top card of your clock into your waiting room.
[Auto](1) When this card reverses an opponent’s level 2 and above character in battle and you have the climax cardアステリオス出現 in your climax slot, you may pay the cost. If you do so, choose 1 of opponent’s front stage level 2 and below character, and send it into his/her clock.

This is a strong card, and like many before her, these cards allow the conversion of a character into 1 “True damage” However, such effects do suffer a huge drawback, there is no significant power boost even with the climax in play. This made the requirement hard to fulfill. Nonetheless, like Labyrinthos Gate in the game, the satisfaction gained is over the moon when opponent is at level 3, 6^th clock.

Yukiko – “I’ll finish you in one strike!”
Kanji – “Deep in the realms of romance…”

The sheltered princess known for her non-stop laughter and her lethal cooking. Delinquent on the outside, shy socially-awkward on the inside. Sigh…. Give me a break will ya? 仲間との約束 雪子

[Act] Brainstorm (1, put this card to rest) Place the top 4 cards of your deck into your waiting room. For every climax card placed into the waiting room this way, choose 1 character from your waiting room and add it into your hand.

More utilities for Yukiko~
Needless to say, this is a plain and simple retrieval card, couple with the Aigis brainstorm card for dual action on waiting room and clock. 「戦慄のガチムチ皇帝」巽 完二

[Auto](1, put the top card of your deck into your clock) When you have the climax cardゲンコと絆 in your climax slot and this card is in the front stage, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of opponent cost 0 characters, send it into the waiting room and during this turn, this card gains +3000power.

No pain no gain, that’s the way of a man. The cost of this card might be a little pain to use but it might just yield the results you so desired. I am sure there is at least 1 or 2 of those annoying cost 0 characters that was a pain to you and its disappearance would spell disaster to opponent. So go ahead, make merry and cast this disappearing act on them.「難攻不落の“黒”雪姫」天城 雪子

[Cont] When there are 3 or more characters with <<Fan>> or <<和服>> trait on stage, this card gains +500power and the following ability “[Auto] Encore, discard 1 character card from your hand into your waiting room”

This is a nice substitute for those who cannot afford the staple level 1 card for Yukiko, 爆笑スイッチ雪子. Not to mention tthe encore ability can ensure the survivability of this card until level 2 or even 3.

Naoto – “Is this an army of idiots?”
Mitsuru – “We have no idea what might be wait for us on the other side. Don’t get careless.”
Elizabeth – “Please, don’t hold anything back.”
Teddie – “It’s a Teddie-vision!”

A team of 3 and a half women.  With all that mystifying pressure radiating from them, they are a team to be reckoned with. However, will the real drag queen please stand up? 自称特別捜査隊 クマ

[Cont] Assist – During opponent’s turn the characters in front of this card gain +1000power.
[Auto] When this card is placed from hand to stage, you may look at the top card of your deck and put it either back on top or at the bottom of the deck.

As much as I like the defensive power boost, the 1 cost does play an important role in the decision of using this card. 「孤高の処刑女王！」桐条 美鶴

[Auto] Encore, discard 1 character card from your hand into your waiting room.
[Act] (1, Discard 1 card from your hand into your waiting room) Until the end of opponent’s turn, this card gains +3000power.

Pretty decent card actually, the 2^nd ability is like factoring a level 2, 3000power assisting blade counter into it. Plus you could discard any card, such as those climax cards when you have no desire to use them. The drawback on the other hand, is the low base power and need to activate the 2^nd ability. Thus it imposes a resource burden on your hand size and stock. 「IQ2000のKY探偵」　白鐘 直斗

[Cont] When there are 3 or more characters with <<Male dressing>> or <<Female dressing>> trait on stage, this card gains +1000power and the following ability “[Auto] When this card reverses an opponent’s level 2 and above character in battle, you may draw 1 card.”
[Auto] When this card is placed from hand to stage, you may draw 2 cards and discard 1 card.

Naoto level 3 ~! It’s about time they do this. As usual, the draw 2 discard 1 effect is akin to a series of “clock, draw 1, play a healing character”. Thus I actually appreciate such effect. The extra boost is pretty handy in gaining hand size too, especially with when using counters. Unfortunately, there are no cards to bring this sweet lady on stage early.

Other notable cards

お手伝い 菜々子 –Nowadays, such cards are the norm and must for most deck, if the series could offer. This type of level 0 can offer high power and encore ability to sustain the onslaught of +2000power, +1 soul climax. Furthermore this card is of <<Junes>> trait, making her a viable target of boost by the Yosuke support mentioned above.

自称特別捜査隊 悠 –Once activated, this card can easily reach a height of 11000power without counting in boost from support. The artificial clash effect does deliver the 2^nd blow to opponent should he cancels and the climax is +2000power and +1 soul, thus it offers more flexibility in attack patterns and choice of attack.

Ｐ－１グランプリの主催者！ クマ総統 – This card allow you to search for any level 2 and above character, regardless of series and traits. It is a great addition for standard game.

運命の対峙 ラビリス – The only method of bringing the level 3 Shadow Labrys early during level 2, since the effect is “from hand to stage”, the healing effect of the level 3 still activates. This card would also return back to the stage during the draw phase thus she will help in the generation of stock from the 2^nd turn onwards. However, this method of bring the level 3 in early is taxing on the stock, so do use it only if you absolutely need to.

武者修行 – A sweet retrieval event, allow you to recycle those “free-cost” pairing in the previous Persona 4 the Animation extra pack.

「史上最凶のエレベーターガール」エリザベス – 3500 power level 0 which not just allows you to check the top card of your deck but also allows you to fix your had via draw 1, discard 1.

永い旅路の途中 エリザベス – One of the strongest level 1 I have seen for persona series. In the hands of a seasoned player, she can remain as a 6000power character with encore.

潜入捜査 直斗 – Potentially 9000power on full field and can reach 10000power with 2 of the 探偵王子 直斗 supports . The climax combo allows you to gain back your hand size after playing down the +2 soul climax. All these with just 1 cost to play and 1 cost to activate, pretty cheap.

Shadow view
“I am you and you are me”

This extra booster is indeed a much needed boost for Persona. It managed to patch up certain areas there were lacking previously, such as the endurance of a “Yuu/Main Character” deck. It also enhances the capability of one of the most dominating deck in persona series, “Junes”. The fun elements never fail to entice me with the addition of more utility cards into the fame “Execution” deck. Presence of Labrys and #24 allow one to contemplate on a Mecha deck featuring Aigis, Metis, Labrys and #24. However, as a standalone extra booster, it is unable to keep up with the current game level.  Nevertheless, this addition made persona series more and more enjoyable.

With that I bid everyone farewell. When the time arises, we shall meet again in this never-ending, up-riding elevator called the “Velvet Room”.

Zen, signing off.

Disclaimer – All character quotes are taken from Persona 4 Arena, AtlasUSA.
This review would not have been made possible without the support from Genesis Frontier.

As per every booster review, I would be going through the various RRs of the booster, as long as share my personal views on the cards. In addition to highlighting the various notable cards in the booster, I would also give a short comment on which decks in Da Capo would be considerably strengthened by the contents of this deck.

DC/W23-001 RR 柔らかな笑顔 音姫 / Gentle Smile Otome
Text:

【Cont】 Recollections: If you have 2 or more cards in your Memory, this  card gains Power +1000, Soul +1.

【Auto】 When this card attacks, if the Climax card 「A Premonition of Happiness」 is in play, choose up to 1 「Gentle Smile Otome」 in your Waiting Room, put it into your Memory, during this turn, this card gains Power +1000.

Right off the bat, a new Level 1 attacker for Otome. This card’s first ability is easily achieved using various Memory mechanics in Da Capo. In addition to the power it gives, this Recollection is special in the sense that it also gives an additional soul, which allows this character to deal damage even while siding opposing Level 1s, or with a Climax in play, Level 2s and above.

Its second ability which is that of a climax synergy effect further help boosts the Memory mechanic in Da Capo, putting a copy of the same card in your Waiting Room into the Memory for no additional cost, and even gives a little boost of power.

DC/W23-002 RR オトナになった証拠 さくら / Proof of becoming an Adult Sakura
Text:

【Auto】 This ability can be activated up to once per turn. When you use an 【Act】 ability, during that turn, this card gains Power +1000.

【Act】[Put 1 of your Character cards with the trait 《Magic》 to 【Rest】] During this turn, this card gains Power +1000.

A decent Level 2 attacker for the Magic trait. Its first ability brings its power to that of a regular Level 2 1 Cost vanilla character, which can be activated even during opponent’s turn. While this may seem plain, its second ability which is an Activate ability, can easily raise this card’s power to 9500 upon the first character put to Rest, and 1000 more for subsequent ones. With decent support, it can easily overpower other Level 2 characters, and even reach out to Level 3s.

DC/W23-026 RR わたしの気持ち ななか / My Feelings Nanaka
Text:

【Cont】 For each of your other Character cards with the trait 《Music》, this card gains Power +500.

【Auto】[①] When this card is put onto the Stage from your Hand, you may pay the cost to activate this ability. Should you do so, put all of your opponent’s Stock into his Waiting Room, then put the same number of cards from the top of your opponent’s Deck to his Stock.

The much awaited Level 3 of the songstress of Da Capo II. Its first ability powers up itself based on the amount of music characters you have, which can bring this card’s base power to 11500 with a full stage. Its second ability is a highly disruptive and punishing ability for your opponent. With an additional cost when played, you can send away all of your opponent’s Stock and replace it with a new and unknown one from the top of his deck. This heavily punishes players who practice good deck compression, and disrupts their pace all at once. You may consider using this ability when your opponent has just refreshed with little cards in his deck and many climaxes, or simply for a possible chance to hit in the damage at a crucial moment. This card can also be used to certain kill an opponent at 3.6 with less number of cards in his deck than his Stock, without fear of any possible Heal Counters.

DC3/W23-027 RR こそばゆい未来 姫乃 / Ticklish Future Himeno
Text:

【Auto】 When you put this card from your hand onto the stage, look at up to 3 cards from the top of your deck, choose up to 1 card and put it into your hand. Put the remaining cards into the Waiting Room.

【Auto】[Put 1 card from your hand into the Waiting Room] When you play the Climax card 「Irreplaceable Family」, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 Character card with the trait 《Magic》 from your Clock and put it onto the Stage in any border.

Yet another Green Level 3, this time featuring Himeno. Its first ability allows you to add a card of choice from up to the top 3 cards of your Deck and sending the rest of them into the Waiting Room. This gives you a chance to get a card that you want from the deck, and also to thin your deck down by 3 cards, as opposed to a Draw 2 Drop 1 ability. It can also help find the climax card that this card would need for its second ability, which is a Climax Synergy ability.

When you play the stated climax card which is that of a Draw-1-2000-1-Soul type of Climax, with the cost of only 1 Hand, you can call out any Magic character from your Clock, regardless of cost, colour and even level. Besides providing a form of damage healing, it also allows you to get rid of climax cards or event cards that are stuck in your hand for another attacker. With the climax providing a draw, you need not be afraid of not being able to pay for this ability’s cost as well. Combined with the new Level 2 event that allows you to bring out any card with Himeno in name regardless of cost and level, you can easily flood your field with Level 3 Magic characters at Level 2 without using Change, so long as they exist in your Clock.

DC/W23-051 RR 二人の時間 由夢 / The Two’s Time Yume
Text:

【Cont】 If you have 3 or more other Characters with the trait 《Magic》, this card gains Power +1000.

【Auto】 When this card’s Battling Opponent is put to 【Knockout】, put the top card of your Deck into the Waiting Room. If it is a Climax card, you may choose 1 Character card with the trait 《Magic》 in your Waiting Room, and return it to your hand.

A new Level 1 Attacker for the Magic trait. Its first ability brings it power up to that of a regular Level 1 Cost 1 vanilla, which is easily achievable in a Magic-based deck. Its second ability is a compulsory self-Deck-mil ability. It allows the player to easily run through his deck even without the Brainstorm ability. And if you milled a Climax, you are able to retrieve a Magic character from your Waiting Room also, mimicking the effect of triggering a Gate climax, allowing people to have a source of retrieval even if they don’t the Gate trigger.

DC/W23-052 RR 溢れる気持ち 音夢 / Overflowing Emotions Nemu
Text:

【Auto】 When this card is put form your Hand onto the Stage, you may put the top card of your Clock into your Waiting Room.

【Auto】[① Put 1 card from your Hand into the Waiting Room] When you play the Climax card 「The Kiss of Oath」, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your Opponent’s Character card with Cost 1 or below, and put it onto the top of his deck, during this turn, this card gains Power +2000.

A New Level 3 for Red in Da Capo. Its first ability is nothing special, but it makes this card the only Level 3 Red in the whole of Da Capo to have a Heal ability, making it a very valuable addition to the Red colour of Da Capo.

Its second ability is a very powerful field disruption ability. With the cost of 1 Hand and 1 Stock when you play the stated climax, you can put any of your opponent’s character with a Cost of 1 or less and put it onto the top of his deck. This effect can also be used to target any of your opponent’s backstage, which easily reduces their front attacker’s general power, and also knock decks with support that gives Encore off its pace. It also gains a power boost of 2000 when you choose to use this ability, allowing this card to overpower many of the Level 3s, especially after you remove the Support behind it. The climax is also that of the ever-popular Gate trigger, which is an excellent addition to any deck.

DC/W23-076 RR 小さな神秘 杏 / Small Mystery Anzu
Text:

【Cont】 Assist: All your Character cards in front of this card gain Power +X. X is equal to that Character card’s Level x500.

【Auto】[②] When you put this card from your Hand onto the Stage, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to 1 Character card with the trait 《Magic》 or 《Drama》, show it to your opponent, and add it to your Hand. Shuffle your deck afterwards.

A new Level x500 Assist for Da Capo, this time coming from the Blue colour. Its Come-Into-Play ability allows you to search for a character with either the Magic or Drama trait, spreading its reach out to many more targets, especially since Magic is a rather major trait in Da Capo. And since the cost does not require any discarding from hand, it is a plus to hand size, and can be used to find more characters to attack with when you don’t have any.

DC3/W23-077 RR 夢のような夜 葵 / A Dreamy Night Aoi
Text:

【Auto】 When you play a Climax card, during that turn, this card gains Power +1500.

【Auto】 When you play the Climax card 「To “Big Brother”」, and this card is in your Center stage, you may choose 1 「To “Big Brother”」in your Waiting Room and return it to your deck. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.

【Auto】 When this card is Front Attacked, look at the top card of your deck, and choose to put it on top of your Deck or into your Waiting Room.

A New Level 3 for Blue, featuring the previously new trait introduced in the Da Capo III booster last year, Newspaper. Its first ability allows itself to power up whenever you play any Climax card, allowing it to overpower opposing characters even when you are using another Character’s climax synergy effect.

Its second ability is a Climax Synergy effect with its own specific Climax. It allows you to return a copy of the same Climax card in the Waiting Room back to your Deck, which can increase your cancel rate. Should you trigger the Climax, which is that of a Draw trigger, you would be able to draw a new card and not reduce the total number of Climax in your deck before you play the Climax, should you have drawn a non-Climax card.

Its third and last ability is that which allows you to check the top card of your deck when it is front attacked, which can further increase your cancel rate, combined with its previous ability.

Notable cards:

DC/W23-003R 甘いひととき 音姫: A generic deck-searcher for the trait Magic.

DC3/W23-005R 新しい魔法 リッカ: A Brainstorm that gives additional power to Student Council Characters.

DC/W23-006R 最後の刻 アイシア: A new support that gives power equal to the Cost of the character card. Also has a Climax Synergy ability that seals off opponent’s Encore.

DC/W23-007R みんなの幸せ まひる:  A Level 3 Character with the Metaphor trait which has a Come-Into-Play Clash ability, as well as an ability to increase power and soul when your hand is 4 or below.

DC/W23-009U “正義の魔法使い”由姫: A Character that can give bonus in power to other Characters based on their Soul value.

DC/W23-011U 小さな頃みたいに 音姫: A Level 2 Assist 1000 Support that allows you to add Stock from the top of your deck every time your Opponent retrieves a Character from the Waiting Room.

DC/W23-018C “家族”の団欒 さくら: A Level 1 Cost 0 Attacker that is returned to your bottom deck if it is put to Knockout.

DC/W23-019C 幸せな時間 アイシア: Increases its power every time your opponent cancels any damage, including those not dealt by this card.

DC3/W23-020C いつかの記憶 シャルル: A Level 1 Cost 1 7000 Attacker. With the Student Council and Magic trait.

DC/W23-023U ふたりだけのひみつ: A Memory Event that gives all your Otome a 500 power boost.

DC/W23-028R 大好きな歌 ことり: A generic support that gives all Character of yours that is Level 1 or below 500 power, regardless of trait. Also has Shift.

DC/W23-029R 二人だけのデート ことり: Increases power by 3000 every time you put a character from your hand into your clock. Can be used up to twice per turn.

DC/W23-033U マイペースな母娘 茜&翠: A trait-less Global support that can give you 1 Stock substitute for Activate abilities.

DC/W23-035U みんなでセッション! ななか: A new form of utility effect, allowing you to trade any card in hand for any Music character in your clock. Also allows easy use of Alarm effects.

DC3/W23-037U 真面目でひたむき サラ: A Level 1 Cost 2 8500 Vanilla.

DC/W23-038U 桜色の奇跡 ことり: Level 2 version of二人だけのデート ことり, with a Clock Encore for sustainability.

DC/W23-040C 胸のドキドキ みっくん: Possibly the best C in the set. It gives an additional Level to all your other Music character, with a pseudo Backup ability.

DC/W23-043C  浴衣で盆踊り 小恋 : A Level 0 4000 Attacker that cannot direct attack.

DC/W23-045C 想いを言葉に ことり : A Level 1 4000 Backup at the cost of putting 1 Hand into Clock.

DC/W23-053R あらたなる旅立ち 美夏: A Universal 相打ち if you have any of the 2 Events in your Memory.

DC/W23-055R 恋人の証 美春: Climax Synergy ability to search out another Banana Level 0 character to replace this card. Net gain of 1 Hand card, and also a deck search without having the need to pay any Stock. The Clock 1 cost may prove to be heavy in later levels.

DC/W23-056R 優しいキス 由夢: A Level 0 3500 Attacker that is fairly decent for early game.

DC/W23-057R 凛とした風格 エリカ: An ability to put any character that it knocks out onto the top of your opponent’s deck, if you put a Drop-Hand-Encore character to rest.

DC/W23-059U “友達”という宝物 舞佳: A 4000 attacker if it is alone in the Center Stage. Has the Music trait, and gains the Hotpot trait on the Stage.

DC/W23-060U 手作りの紫陽花 由夢: A Come-Into-Play ability to gain 相打ち for Magic based decks.

DC/W23-062U 帰ってきた笑顔 美夏: A Backup that can destroy any opposing character that has higher Level than the opponent’s level for a cost.

DC/W23-063U 世話焼きナース 音夢 : A new Level 2 Assist that gives 1000 power to characters in front for each Assist you have.

DC/W23-066C ふたりだけの時間 美夏: A Support that gives power to the character in your Center Stage’s Middle Border based on its cost.

DC/W23-067C 愛故の戦い ななこ: An Activate ability to gain 相打ち for the cost of 1 Stock.

DC/W23-069C 普段着はバニー!? 美琴: An ability to put its Knockout-ed Battling Opponent to the top of your Opponent’s deck if you have 3 or less stock.

DC/W23-073U ワン・オブ・サウザンド: A fairly decent event. For the cost of putting a Banana character to rest, you can retrieve a character from your waiting room, give a 3000 boost to any character, and gain 1 memory.

DC/W23-078R アツアツな二人 萌: A Hotpot global support that spots a very powerful hand exchanging second ability, with a very light cost.

DC/W23-079R 銀色の旋律 眞子: Climax Synergy effect with a Draw-1-2000-1-Soul climax to give any music character a 2000 power boost.

DC/W23-081R 笑顔のロボット 麻耶: A new Level 1 attacker for both Mecha and Class Committee Chairman based decks, rising to a possible base power of 8500.

DC3/W23-082R ニコニコ笑顔 葵: A Level 1 attacker that powers up to the base power of a Cost 0 Vanilla upon using Activate abilities, with an ability to draw a card when you put its Battling Opponent to Knockout with the cost of putting the top card of your deck to clock.

DC/W23-085U ゆったりとした時間 莉乃: Allowing you to save another Character card from being Knocked Out in battle, and gives you at least 2 Character to play down next turn.

DC/W23-086U 彼女の手料理 眞子: A Level 2 Cost 1 9000 attacker that becomes small on the turn it is played down.

DC/W23-087U 仮説から真相へ 杏: A character that can gain Pay-1-Encore if you used any character counter or Drop-Character-Encore effect this turn.

DC/W23-088U 新しい未来 萌 : A Level 3 with Come-Into-Play heal and ability to gain additional power for each other Hotpot character you have.

DC/W23-093C 姉妹の“イノチ” 香澄: A Level 1 character that allows you to save another character and return it to hand while gaining Memory.

DC/W23-097C 混ぜるな危険! 杉並&杉並: A New Level 2 Newspaper character that gains additional power if you have 6 or more cards in hand.

DC/W23-098U ずっと一緒に、ずっと笑顔で。: Used together with 姉妹の“イノチ” 香澄. Provides 2 Stock for the cost of 1 Hand and 1 Memory.

Major Decks that are strengthened from this Booster:

Magic

As one would know by now, this booster has placed a rather heavy emphasis on the Magic trait, with it being the trait that connects all the Da Capo series together. And while many card effects may not be targeting the trait specifically, a large deal of cards from this pack has the trait. This booster has effectively made all colours of the Da Capo card pool have at least a few viable cards from the Magic trait, making it easier for people to form Neo-Standard Da Capo Magic decks with any favored combination of colours.

Music

This booster raises the power level of the powerhouse trait of Da Capo to yet another level, providing Level 0 4000 attackers and even a conditional Level 1 Cost 1 7500 attacker to better stand up to the current level of power. It also has a passive support that gives an additional level to all your music characters, making good use of the trait’s high power to further punish your opponent.

Student Council

While the cards that pertain to Student Council may be seen as minimal, this trait still has a considerable boost, gaining a Brainstorm that can help with better running through the deck, and also increasing the general attacking power if it hits any climax cards. Student Council also gains a Level 1 Cost 1 7000 vanilla that would help improve its Level 1 power line. Overall, the Yellow side of Student Council receives generally more support, making it even more viable to run Embarrassing Everyday Otome within the trait itself.

Royalty

Probably the next most popular trait after the few mentioned above, it gains 5 new cards that spot the trait, also improving its choice of Level 2 attackers, allowing for a more focused Royalty-based deck build.

Metaphor

While this trait does not have many cards in this booster, it has at least gained a new and powerful Level 3 character that is critical in finishing opponent off, either for chasing soul damage, or for the Come-Into-Play clash effect for your opponent’s last few points of health.

Hotpot

This particular trait has been made highly playable after this booster, having new Level 0 attackers, a Level 1 Cost 1 7000 vanilla, and even a strong Level 3 character. This is 1 trait that can be expected to do well, albeit being a very, very minor trait.

Mecha/Banana

Holding onto its already decent power line and character removal capability, this booster provides even more support, with a universal 相打ち effect, and a new event that can help the deck run even more smoothly than before.

Nemu

Nostalgic to many, this particular deck would see a possible return to the scene, with brand new cards to play with for all Levels. For Level 0, It has an attacker that can stand up to suicide effects while holding a decent power, and a climax synergy effect that can search out the most important support for the deck. Level 1 is improved with the introduction of a simple Level 1 Cost 0 vanilla card, which helps with the overall costly stock usage of the deck. While it does not have a new Level 2 attacker, it gains another Assist which can raise the power level even further, while working together with your Amakase Miharu which should be sitting in your backstage. Last but not least, a Level 3 Nemu with a Come-Into-Play Heal ability, spotting a climax synergy effect with a Gate climax that can easily remove opponent’s support for a better chance to beat down your opponent’s characters, much like what this deck was made to be.

Overall Review:

This particular booster can be said to be a big fan-service to all Da Capo fans and players alike. It features many illustrations from the various fan disc of Da Capo, and also gave every single character in the series at least 1 new card, including the less well-known heroines of D.C.P.C. and even the mascot character of a certain poker spinoff game.

Card ability wise, it features many new abilities, like new support and power boosts based on various card parameters like Cost and Soul. While it was not able to provide the same level of support to all the traits in the series, it tries to answer to everyone’s needs, and gave at least a few new cards to each trait in the series. Many of the major traits receive a great boost in power also, which could easily bring Da Capo decks to the next level of the competitive side.

Whether it is for the lovely illustrations, the various new card abilities, or simply to strengthen the various Da Capo decks you already have, this is one booster you cannot miss. Happy 10^th Anniversary, Da Capo!

Isn’t she just adorable? =X

Both of generation 1 sets, let’s see what the later has to offer! Read more after the jump!

The Anime 「Little Busters! 」 trial deck is the 4th trial deck for the Little Busters! set. Pre-released in Comic Market 83, the special rubber playmat was also available along with the trial deck.

The playmat was made of wonderful quality. Click to view at higher resolution!

And, you might have guessed it but I’m lazy grabbing off images from online sites but use photos instead.

ミッションスタート!

Mission Start!

Sorry, didn’t get foil for this one >.<

 LB/W21-101 “幸せスパイラル理論”小毬 / “Theory of the Spiral of Happiness”, Komari

 【AUTO】 When you reveal a climax card during your character’s trigger check, choose 1 of your characters. During this turn this card gains +1 soul .

A pretty technical card. When you trigger a Climax card, you may choose 1 of your Character cards to gain an additional Soul. This allows the player to gain the precision it needs to either Side Attack, or provide a finishing blow with the required Soul to game.

The least it can do is to make the best out of something “bad”, triggering a Climax card. This is especially useful when playing with the competitive build, utilizing 6 or more Gate Climaxes. It will help boost the Soul attack power.

Crowd favourite Kudo~

 LB/W21-102 “一緒にお手伝い”クド / “Helping Together”, Kud

 【CONT】 Assist All of your characters in front of this unit get +X power. X is equal to 500 multiplied by the number of characters you have with “Assist“.
【ACT】［Put this card to 【REST】］Choose 1 of your characters, during this turn, that card gets +1000 power.

A very rare addition to supports in the LB set, this card is probably the only alternative to provide decent passive support for any character cards. Although it is quite definite for the booster pack to release a useful support, this card does a decent enough job to provide at least decent power boost.

Having 2 of these cards provide 1000 power to the sides, and 2000 power to the middle border. This gives a rather good defense during early-mid game, but has slight problems keeping up with +X power supports. Currently, as there are no extreme power counters, this card is still rather limited to the amount of power it can provide in defense.

During your own turn, you may put this card to REST to provide another 1000 power to any character you wish. Pretty useful.

The player can also consider playing Yearning for Space Kud along with this support to provide both offensive and defensive support for Science trait characters and still be considered Neo-standard.

However, the limiting factor is the need to use more Assist characters in the deck. It is definitely useful if you have 2 or more Assist characters on the Stage, but that will force the deck build to avoid the competitive Natsume Rin support from the first set.

Not only so, the current level 2 card pool available to make this card effective are sub-par to maximize this card’s efficiency. Hopefully, the booster set will cover up this flaw.

Standard build wise, there are other cards as useful as this card, with similar effects.

Maybe, I took the photo a little too big. Blame favouritism =X

 LB/W21-103 “真っ直ぐな強さ”鈴 / “Strength of Being Forthright”, Rin

 【CONT】 Should you have any other characters with “Assist“, this card gets +2000 power.

A Rin level 0 attacker used with accordance to existing support cards, this card may easily reach 3500 power and above.  Recommended cards to combo with include “3 Sisters”, Kud from the first booster/trial deck as well as Menacing Rin RR from Ecstasy for maximum efficiency.

Alternatively, you may just use the ‘Friendly’ Komari & Rin provided in the trial deck.

Again, the limiting factor is the need to use more Assist characters in the deck. Without any, this card is just a 1500 Power character card.

Hocchan kawaiiyo, Hocchan~

 LB/W21-101“僕らの物語”理樹 / Our Story, Riki

【AUTO】When this card is put to your stage from your hand, choose 1 of your characters. Until the end of your opponent’s next turn, this card gets +3000 power.
【AUTO】［Discard 1 card from your hand］When the climax card 「リトルバスターズ！/Little Busters！」is put to your climax border and this card is in center stage, you may pay the cost. Should you do so, choose 1 level 2 or below character card from either your clock or your memory and put it in any border of your stage.

The SECOND Riki level 3 of Little Busters! series, this card offers a much more practical use then it’s former counterpart. Both abilities allow the player to gain considerable stage advantage, and also “heal” out a level 2 or below character from your clock.

One of the best things about this card is that it is searchable by the event Awaiting for the Arrival of A Person.

The ability to add 3000 power is another excellent bit to consider. 『Starduster』 Himuro is a card from the Kud Wafter set that requires power to gain an additional heal. This card allows 『Starduster』 Himuro to archive this much easier.

>.<

LB/W21-105 リトルバスターズ！ / Little Busters！

 【CONT】All of your characters get +1000 power and +1 soul.
(Treasure: When this card triggers, return this card to your hand. You may put the top card of your deck into your stock.)

This climax card will allow green decks to gain slight hand advantage. However, another useful bit about this card is that it is shared with the effect of Naoe Riki, which allows the player to retrieve any character card.

Of course, the tricky bit is that it belongs to different colours.

Amazing illustration by ZEN. Let’s give it up to him!

Overall, a pretty good alright deck which shows some insight into what the booster might have to offer.

Until then, Mission Complete!

———————–

We would also like to thank Genesis Frontier and all involved persons that made this review possible. Look forward to our next review, which is D.C.~Da Capo~ 10th Anniversary Mix, coming in two weeks!

DC/W23-101 TD A Home Tutor Elder Sister Otome
Text:

【Auto】 When you put this card from your Hand onto the Stage, draw up to 2 cards, then choose 1 card in your hand, and put it into your Waiting Room.

【Auto】[① Put 1 card from your Hand into the Waiting Room]  When this card attacks, you may pay the cost to activate this ability. If you do, all of your Character cards, during this turn, gain Power +500, Soul +1.

First up, a very decent Level 3 attacker that has a Come-Into-Play effect that allows you to draw 2 new cards and get rid of 1 card in your hand that you won’t need. This plays very nicely with its second ability, which you can activate by paying 1 cost and discarding 1 hand, giving all your character cards, including this card, 500 more power and 1 additional soul, which would be much appreciated when you are trying to chase for damage.

DC/W23-102 TD The Bond Known as Fate Rikka
Text:

【Cont】 Your other Character card in the Center Stage’s Middle Border with the trait 《Student Council》gains Power +1500.

A very powerful support for the Student Council, giving a character with the said trait standing in the middle of your Center Stage a whooping 1500 power boost. Quite a number of cards in this deck has the trait, and when used with existing cards of Da Capo, it would increase the general power of a Student Council deck by a great deal, seeing as how the trait has rather low power compared to the others.

DC/W23-103 TD A Charm of the Second Button Yume
Text:

【Auto】 When this card attacks, if the Climax card 「Memories with Brother」is in play, choose up to 1 card in your opponent’s Waiting Room and put it onto the Top of his deck, and this turn, all your Character cards gain Power +2000.

【Auto】 When this card is Front Attacked, look at up to 1 card from the top of your Deck, and choose to put it on top of your Deck or into your Waiting Room.

【Act】[①]  Choose 1 of your Character cards with the 《Magic》trait, during this turn, it gains Power +1500.

Another Level 3 from this trial deck. Its first effect is a climax synergy ability, which allows you to put a card from your opponent’s waiting room onto the top of his deck, possibly increasing your chance to deal the damage in, and also a 2000 power boost to all your characters, including this card.

Its second ability allows you to check your own top deck when this particular card is front attacked, giving you a choice to discard the card for a possible chance to increase your own cancel rate.

In addition to the 2 abilities above, it has a third ability, which allows you to pump any of your character cards with the Magic trait by 1500 with a light cost of 1 stock. Majority of the deck, especially its Level 1 and 2 characters, have the Magic trait, making this ability a very valuable one.

The climax this card requires is that of a Gate trigger, which is a very good addition to any deck playing red, as it gives a possible chance of free waiting room retrieval.

DC/W23-105 TD Ticklish Everyday
Text:

Look at up to the top 4 cards of your Deck, choose up to 1 character card with the trait 《Magic》, show it to your opponent, and add it to your hand. Put the remaining cards into the Waiting Room.

A trial deck special event, rarely seen in any trial decks recently. This particular card allows you to pick out a character card with the Magic trait of your choice among the top 4 cards of your deck, and sends the rest to the waiting room. This is useful in running through your deck when you have little climax cards left in your deck, and also acts as a pseudo deck search for 0 stock cost, seeing as how majority of the deck spots the Magic trait.

Notable cards:

DC3/W23-T04 TD Nostalgic Feeling Rikka
Text:

【Cont】 Assist: All your Character cards in front of this card gain Power +X. X is equal to that Character card’s cost x500.

【Auto】[① Put 1 card from your Hand into the Waiting Room] When you put this card from your Hand onto the Stage, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to 1 Character card with the trait 《Student Council》, show it to your opponent, and add it to your hand. Shuffle your deck afterwards.

A very interesting support effect from the trial deck. It boosts character cards in front of this card by their cost. It can provide 1000 power boost to characters of 2 cost and above, at no playing cost, making it a very cost effect support.

It also has a second ability that allows you to search your deck for any character card with the Student Council deck at the cost of 1 stock and 1 hand, upon playing this character card down.

DC/W23-T08 TD Gaze of Anticipation Aisia
Text:

【Auto】[①] When the damage dealt by this card is cancelled, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw 1 card.

A decent level 2 attacker, allowing you to draw a card when your opponent cancels damage dealt by this card, with the light cost of 1 stock. This effect can prove to be useful in situations where you trigger a climax with additional soul, in which your opponent would be more likely to cancel. If they do cancel, you can pay out the climax and still draw 1 card from your deck, allowing you to refresh later with more climax cards.

DC/W23-T12 TD Senior and Banana Miharu
Text:

【Cont】 If your Level is 1 or above, this card cannot be put to 【Stand】 during your Stand Phase.

A decent Level 0 character, with no side effect of use during Level 0. However, when you hit Level 1 and above, this card practically becomes a one-time attacker, being unable to stand during your stand phase.

DC/W23-T14 TD Fun Shopping μ
Text:

【Auto】 When this card is put to 【Knockout】, if this card’s Battling Opponent is Level 2 or below, you may put that Character card to 【Knockout】.

【Auto】 When this card in Battle is put to 【Knockout】, choose 1 of your Character card, during that turn, it gains Power +1000.

A Level 2 character card with a suicide bomb ability, and also the ability to give a 1000 power boost to any of your character cards when this card gets knocked out in battle.

Overall Review:

The trial deck itself is rather well balanced and playable, having 4 Gate trigger climax cards, a pseudo brainstorm/ search event, and 2 types of Level 3. It has a rather decent power level, with its wide choice of Level 1 and 2 attackers. While it may not all share a common trait, the deck itself is not very trait heavy, with only a few cards affecting a certain trait. Overall, a very nice Trial Deck that is friendly to play with little abilities to learn with, yet maintaining a high level of playability.

Following various booster reviews, I would be covering the various RRs of the booster, alongside the more notable cards of the series.

MK2/S19-001 夏服のネロ / Summer Uniform Nero

Text:

【Cont】 Assist: All of your Character cards in front of this card gain Power +1000.

【Auto】Change [① Put this card into the Waiting Room] During the start of your Draw Phase, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 「Root is Honest Nero」from your Waiting Room, and put it into the Border where this card was.

MK2/S19-007 根っこは素直 ネロ / Root is Honest Nero

Text:

【Cont】Experience: When the total Level of the cards in your Level Area is 4 or more, this card gains Power +1000.

【Auto】When this card is put onto the Stage from your Hand, or put onto the Stage by 『Change』, you may put the top card of your Clock into the Waiting Room.

【Auto】When this card attacks, and the climax card 「Ravaged Farm」is in play, all your Character cards, during this turn, gain Power +3000.

First off, we have a Level 2 support that can change into a Level 3 that heals. Because the Change happens during Draw Phase, the cost of advance summoning is highly reduced, though you have to make sure it stays on the field for 1 whole turn.

And since we are on the topic, let’s talk about its Change target as well. It heals on Play and Change, which allows players to start healing as early as Level 2. Players do have to take note about having this card in the Waiting Room as Level 2 is usually the time where players would start to refresh.

It has an Experience ability to increase its overall base power. An Experience of 4 is highly achievable even if the deck isn’t Level 3 heavy. Its last ability is a climax combo to boost all characters, including this card, with 3000 more power, which is enough to cover the difference for generic Level 2 character counter cards.

MK2/S19-002 偵都の少女 ネロ / Girl from the Detective Capital Nero

Text:

【Cont】 For each of your other Character cards in 【Rest】, this card gains Power +500.

【Auto】 This ability can only be used once per turn. When a card is placed in your Level Area, choose 1 of your Character cards, during that turn, it gains Power +1000.

A Level 2 attacker that gains the most power when your whole field has been exhausted. Best played with support characters that require resting itself, and maybe another card, for its abilities.

Its second ability is part of a theme of effect, featured in Milky Holmes 2, which plays around with shifting cards in your Level Area. It can give a temporary boost to any character, including itself, to better take down opposing characters.

MK2/S19-026 チア衣装のエリー / Cheerleader Outfit Elly

Text:

【Cont】 Assist: All Character cards in front of this card gains Power +X. X is equal to that Character’s Level x500.

【Act】 [Put 2 of your Character cards with the Trait 《Detective》 to 【Rest】] Choose 1 card each from your Level Area and your Waiting Room, and switch them.

A general X supporter that allows you to switch a card from your Level Area with any card in your Waiting Room, allowing you to fix your Colour, Experience, and most importantly, to trigger the many effects requiring a card to be placed into the Level Area, which populates this series greatly.

MK2/S19-027 対怪盗事件捜査チーム 咲＆平乃＆次子 / Anti-Phantom Thief Investigation Team Saku & Hirano & Tsugiko

Text:

【Cont】 If you have another Character card with 「Anti-Phantom Thief Investigation Team」 in its name, this card gains Power +1500.

【Auto】 When you put this card from your Hand onto the Stage, you may put the top card of your Clock into the Waiting Room.

【Auto】 [②] When you play the Climax card 「G3’s Holiday」 , and this card is in the Center Stage, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose a Level 2 or below Character card in your Clock, and put it anywhere on the Stage, during this turn, this card gains Power +2000.

A brand new Level 3 Police trait character that comes with a Come-Into-Play heal. If you have another card from the series of Anti-Phantom Thief Investigation Team cards in play, this card gains additional power, raising its base to 10500. Its climax ability allows players to pull out another character from the Clock, healing 1 damage and saving the cost of playing down another attacker from your hand, effectively killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

Note: Center Stage here refers to any of your 3 front borders, NOT the exact center of your front borders. We usually call that border the Middle Border.

MK2/S19-051対決の刻 シャロ / The Time of Confrontation Sharo

Text:

【Auto】This ability can only be used once per turn. When a card is placed in your Level Area, during that turn, this card gains Power +1500.

【Auto】[①] When this card attacks, and the Climax card 「The Revival of Toys」 is in play, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your Opponent’s Level 1 and below character in the Center Stage and send it to the Waiting Room, during this turn, this card gains Power +2000.

Personally, I feel that this card is an excellent Level 1 attacker. Its first ability is part of the series of Put-Card-In-Level effects, this one giving itself a 1500 power boost, which brings this card to 7500 for that turn. Its second ability is where this card truly shines. With a light cost of 1, it allows you to get rid of any Level 1 character of your opponent in the Center Stage, and still gain a power boost to fight any character that is facing this card. The climax in question is that of a Draw-1-200-Power-1-Soul type of climax, which allows you to boost this card’s power to 10000, adding the power to this card and activating its climax ability, not considering the possible boost from this card’s first ability, and any support you may have in play. You can effectively take card of 2 of your opponent’s attackers, with the light cost of playing 1 climax and paying 1 stock cost.

It is a great pity to see this card without the ever-popular Drop-Character or even the Clock-1 Encore. Players trying to use this card would have to take note about the weakness this card may have on defense and sustainability.

MK2/S19-052元気が取り柄 シャロ / Vigor is her Redeeming Feature Sharo

Text:

【Cont】 When you have 2 or more other Character cards with the trait 《Detective》, this card gains Power +500, and the following ability. 『【Cont】[①] When this card put its Battling Opponent that is Level 2 or above to 【Reverse】, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 Character card in your Waiting room, and add it to your Hand.』

【Auto】 When you put this card from your Hand onto the Stage, or put onto the Stage by 『Change』, you may draw up to 2 cards, then choose 1 card in your Hand, and put it into your Waiting Room.

Yet another excellent card, coming from Red. Its first ability’s condition is easy to fulfill, seeing how 50-60% of the whole booster (and the previous booster) plays around the trait of Detective. With the light cost of 1, you can retrieve any character card from your Waiting Room, if you happen to defeat any Level 2 or above opposing characters.

Besides having vigor, its other redeeming feature is that it can be changed out, during Level 2, which allows you to pulverize many other Level 2 attackers, as opposed to challenging a whole front row of scary Level 3s. While it cannot heal when played or changed, it allows you to replenish any hand diminished when you try to change it out, and coupled with its first ability, allowing you to gain even more hand, without any specific climax.

MK2/S19-076 夏服のコーデリア / Summer Uniform Cordelia

Text:

【Cont】Experience: When the total Level of the cards in your Level Area is 2 or more, this card gains Power +1000.

【Auto】This ability can only be used once per turn. When a card is placed in your Level Area, during that turn, this card gains Power +1500.

A decent Level 1 card from Blue. Its Experience ability is easy to fulfill, and brings its power back to a regular Level 1 vanilla standard. Its second ability, similar to The Time of Confrontation Sharo mentioned above, triggers when you put a card into your Level area, bring this cards power to a possible maximum of 7000, without considering the support. Players can consider using this card if they are playing heavily on the Level-shifting mechanic, or if they are already playing an Experience based deck involving blue.

MK2/S19-077 “誰か”と話すコーデリア / Talking to “Someone” Cordelia

Text:

【Cont】[①] When you play the Climax card 「Escape from Reality」, you may pay the cost. If you do, all your characters, until the end of your Opponent’s next turn, gain Power +1000.

【Act】 [Put this card to 【Rest】] Choose 1 of your Character card, until the end of your Opponent’s next turn, it gains Power +1500.

An interesting support card. Its first ability is a climax ability that allows you to power up all your Characters, giving a boost to them for both offense and defense. An interesting thing to point out here is that the Climax card is that of a Plus 2 Soul climax, allowing the player to effectively side through everything and retain a defensive front next turn.

Its second ability also strengthens the defense capability of a single target, this time giving a boost for 1500 for no other cost other than to rest this card. Do note that the power it gives from its various effects will last with the various characters, even if this card is removed from the field after serving its use.

Other Notable Cards

MK2/S19-003 浮き輪でプカプカ シャロ A basic support that allows you to switch a card from your Level with a card from your Waiting Room. Plays nicely with the Put-Card-In-Level series. Being a level 0 also means it allows you to fix your colour, should you be so unfortunate to be playing more than 2 different colours of Level 1s while being stucked at 1.0.

MK2/S19-004 ウサミミ ネロ A decent Level 0 attacker, having 3500 power and Drop-Character Encore if you have 1 or less other characters, which is usually the case for Level 0.

MK2/S19-009 眩しい水着姿 姫百合 A great card featuring one of the new characters introduced in Milky Holmes 2. Its power can be brought up to 3500 simply for having a card with an Assist effect. It also spots both the Detective and Police trait.

MK2/S19-022 食卓でまた会おう A Counter Event that allows you to trigger the Put-Card-In-Level abilities, allowing you to power up your Characters even during the opponent’s turn. The ability to plus 1 Level also allows you to protect any target from being a victim of Suicide Bomb effects.

MK2/S19-029 偵都の少女 エリー A great utility card to put in any Detective decks, giving a level and 1000 power boost to any other Detective character on play.

MK2/S19-031 対怪盗事件捜査チーム 咲 A great support for Police decks, giving a global boost of 500, and also a possible boost of 2000 to a selected Anti-Phantom Thief Team card or any card spotting an Experience ability.

MK2/S19-054 和服のシャロ Yet another great utility card for Detective decks, providing Waiting Room retrieval while retaining the base power of a Level 0 vanilla.

MK2/S19-055 和服のネロ An easy Level 1 5500 Drop-Encore character, if you have other cards with Sharo in name in play.

MK2/S19-064 自称天才美少女 小衣 Albeit being common, this may easily be the most Troll Level 0 character in WS. A wrong move and this card will become unreachable for Level 0 characters, and can even fight Level 1 characters with a counter.

MK2/S19-081 怪盗の矜持 アルセーヌ A great addition to existing Phantom Thief decks for Level 2.

MK2/S19-082 素敵なお姉さん コーデリア A decent new Level 3 for Blue, spotting high defensive powers, an ability to fix your hand, and also a chance to increase cancel rate.

Overall Review

As one would notice by now, this booster puts a lot of focus on the whole series of effects regarding putting cards into your Level area. The makers were very kind and provided every single colour in this series an ability to switch a card from your Level with any card in the Waiting Room, allowing you to access the ability no matter what colour you choose to major.

This series of effect, while primarily made for triggering the various Put Card into Level abilities, also allows easy fixing of your Level, aiding the preparation for Experience abilities and also to solve possible Colour problems, allowing players to actually explore playing more colourful decks.

While pushing this particular series of abilities, they did not forget about the various traits of the series also, giving each and every one of them a nice boost, one way or the other. Players, new or old to the series, will be in for a pleasant surprise, with this great addition to the Milky Holmes family.

Well, we’re gonna feature Guilty Crown and the new Angel Beats! today.

On a side note, Angel Beats! has recently been crowned the champion series for WGP2012! Way to go!

アンコール！
アンコール！

The basic concept of Encore is to bring back character cards that have been removed from Stage to the Waiting Room. For those who still don’t know, WS is based on a “Stage Acting” concept that tries to bring feelings of the story, and many elements, back to each and every series through their many zones.

However, isn’t Encore part of a concert concept? Meh, let’s not go into the details =X

Players just need to know that at the moment a character card is put to the Waiting Room from Stage, he may pay the cost, to activate the Encore ability. Doing so will bring the card back on the Stage in Rest.

Every card has an inherent ability of paying 3 cost to Encore a character, but here’s a list of every type of Encore that I remember off hand.

• 【自】 アンコール ［③］
  【AUTO】 ENCORE ［③］
• 【自】 アンコール ［②］
  【AUTO】 ENCORE ［②］
• 【自】 アンコール ［手札のキャラを1枚控え室に置く］
  【AUTO】 ENCORE ［Put 1 character card from your hand to your Waiting Room］
• 【自】 アンコール ［あなたの山札の上から1枚をクロック置場に置く］
  【AUTO】 ENCORE ［Put 1 card from the top of your deck to your Clock］
• 【自】 アンコール ［手札のクライマックスを1枚控え室に置く］
  【AUTO】 ENCORE ［Put 1 Climax card from your hand to your Waiting Room
• 【自】 アンコール ［① あなたの【スタンド】している《—》のキャラを2枚【レスト】する］
  【AUTO】 ENCORE ［① Put 2 characters with 《—》 to REST mode］
• 【自】 アンコール ［あなたの舞台の《—》のキャラを1枚クロック置場に置く］
  【AUTO】 ENCORE ［Choose 1 character with 《—》 Trait and put it to your Clock］

Why Encore?

Now that we know what Encore is, we have to understand why the need to Encore. The ability Encore, has a few uses.

Building Stock and Saving Cost

Level 0s are very important commodities. By having one that has a decent power and Encore ability, you can ensure field advantage, as well as survivability with Encore. This allows you to keep earning Stock while having a character to maintain Stage.

4000 Power with Encore, just like that.

By discarding a character, you will be able to save cost to summon bigger, or higher soul characters. This usually happen when you have a level 0 in hand, but wishes to bring back a level 1, 2 or 3 character which has a higher Power, or required cost to summon.

Incredibly powerful support cards.

This means that you do not need to pay that 1 cost, or 2 cost to maintain a character on the Stage. A great example of this is the immense beatdown of “神の使”い　かなで, and is maintained easily by 1 character discard Encore.

Another example would be Stock intensive decks. As a player might have limited number of Stock to use. Encore would help maintain the field presence, without the need to pay extra Stock.

Some Encore exist such as paying 2 Cost to encore as well. These are all reduced costs to bring a character back to the Stage.

Filtering Hand

As mentioned above, the player can discard level 0s or cards they do not find as useful early game (such as level 3s, or lv2s), level 0 and lv1 in late game. This will allow the player to retain the hand needed to provide decent threats and field presence over the next few turns.

They will also allow the player to discard cards for Change purposes, as some Change abilities do not discard hand (Rewrite, Phantom, Macross).

Saving Hand

Some Encores include taking damage. With this type of Encore, hand can be efficiently conserved, while still maintaining a sizeable character on the field. These abilities prevent the player from being “stuck” at an uncomfortable level too.

KNOCKOUT? No fear.

Lowering Risk of Stage Depletion

When the player has the flexibility of using Encore, he abuse this ability by sending it out for a more dangerous attack run, mostly exceeding the opponent by a measly 500 Power. If the opponent counters, he can use the Encore ability to his discretion easily.

Stage Maintenance

With the help of Encore, the player can easily build a Stage which is difficult for the opponent to defeat. By Encoring the right cards, the Stage can be built to become formidable, and difficult for the opponent to strategize an attacking plan.

The eventual Stage of Angel Beats! rarely deviate from this.

Over the long run, you will be able to increase the burden of your opponent’s resources as they will have to continuously fend off your well maintained Stage. This flexibility also provides the player with good consistency in getting the desired Stage in tournaments.

Other purposes

Some Encore includes discarding Climax cards. This can help the deck increase it’s compression rate as a Refresh is coming soon.  Other reasons exist, such as maximizing the use of character cards that are already in KNOCKOUT mode for Encore.

Preventing Encore

Ouma Shuu is one of the anti Encore and game ending cards in Guilty Crown.

Of course, there are many ways to prevent Encore. A few of them are listed below:

• Send the card to opponent’s Stock upon causing KNOCKOUT.
• Send the card to opponent’s Memory upon causing KNOCKOUT.
• Send the card to opponent’s Clock upon causing KNOCKOUT.
• Send the card to opponent’s Hand upon causing KNOCKOUT.
• Send the card to opponent’s Deck upon causing KNOCKOUT.
• Abilities that restrict the opponent from conducting ENCORE.
• Remove the card that provides Encore to the opponent’s card.

The simplest tactic, is to just simply make it not worthwhile for the opponent to conduct the Encore in the first place (a very powerful Stage presence for example).

Final Call

All these above reasons, allow for a more stable and concrete deck build that can greatly affect game balance.

To conclude, Encore is a very efficient way to ensure that you will always have useful characters on the field. Encore has always been, and will always be one of the strongest abilities in the game.

Disclaimer:

The above article is of my own opinions of the game, of which theories and styles can be derived from. They might be repeated or reiterated by other writers, or vice versa. Any or all opinions about my articles are welcome, but please note that they are plainly based on theory and play-tested ideologies.

Alright people, get ready to be blessed by the Seven Stars.

With the preview cards over the last month, Robotics;Notes have managed to generate much hype, especially when it is scheduled after Accel World. Just last weekend, the booster finally hit the stores and here at NKDS, we shall bring you our views on this new and exciting Robotic competitor.

RNW16-001RR/ 東京万博　あき穂

【AUTO】When this card attacks and 「ロボットが世界を救う！」 is in your Climax Slot, search your Waiting Room for 1 「スーパーガンつく１」 and add it into your Hand. During this turn, this character gains Power +3000.

This card can be bonded with 放課後の海翔 which make this card easy to retrieve. With it’s Climax combo being played, you get to secure yourself a counter card to protect yourself on the next turn with a potential Power +4000 and also gain an additional Power +3000, making you a Power 11000 card on offence.

RNW16-002RR/ 瀬乃宮　あき穂

【CONT】 When you have 5 or less cards in your deck, when this card is in your hand, it becomes Level -1.

【CONT】Experience During your turn, if the sum of the Levels of the cards in your Level is 4 or more, this card gains Power +2000.

【AUTO】 When this card is put from Hand to the stage, you may put the top 1 card of your Clock to the Waiting Room.

The only healing card in the whole of this Robotics;Notes series, making it a staple card in most decks if you want to have more survivability to heal. The chance of having to be played out at Level 2 is a very nice bonus added to it and on you turn you are a Power 11500, capable of taking most opponents down.

RNW16-026RR/ 過去のトラウマ 淳和

【AUTO】［②］When this character attacks and 「踏み出せた一歩」 is in the Climax Border, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one cost 1 and below “Science” trait character and put it on to the Stage in any border, in rest.

【AUTO】Encore ［Discard one character card from your hand into your waiting room］

This card is a fun card to use as there are many ways to abuse this climax combo, be it in standard or neo-standard. Let’s look at the card itself, firstly, she is a level 1, 1 cost 6000power with encore. Decent power, however the charm to this card is the climax ability and the in-build encore.

Selection limits are cost 1 and science trait. Meaning you can bring in essential high level supports such as everyone’s favorite +X support, global +1000 power support as early as level 1, bypassing  the level and colour requirements. Should this card attack last, you could use the ability to replace any reverse character with a new and possible stronger character. The climax is a gold-bar trigger so abusing it can be very frequent per game. Standard-wise, Kudo Wafter is a nice set to mix and play with.

The ability of encore is very important nowadays for level 1, especially when recent level 1s can easily reach a power level of 10000 and above.

RNW16-027RR/ 水着のフラウ

【CONT】ASSIST  The characters in front of this character gains +X power where X is its level x 500.

【AUTO】 [Put this character to rest］When this character is placed from hand to stage, you may pay the cost. If you do so, choose one of your “Science” trait characters that character gain the following ability this turn. “When this character reverses a character in battle, you may put the top card of your deck into your stock.”

A standard +X support and the ability to help generate back the stock that was spent on this card, pretty good for the later part of the game as you might be spending a lot of stock.

RNW16-051RR/ 小さくても力持ち　淳和

【CONT】 All of your other Science characters gain Power +1000.

【CONT】EXPERIENCE If the sum of the Levels of the cards in your Level is 4 or more, this card gains the following ability. [[ACT] [Put 2 of your characters to Rest] Choose 1 of characters, it gains Power +1000 for that turn.]

A good alternative from 水着のフラウ as mentioned above. With two of it at the Back Row, it’s a global Power +2000 to everyone, which actually rivals to the +X Support at the side. And also the option to tap 2 characters to give a character another Power +1000. Another nice thing about this card is that you can actually have a third one and might want to send to the front row to battle with another character.

RNW16-052RR/ 神代　フラウ

【CONT】This card cannot be put to Reversed by opponent’s character Auto Ability.

【AUTO】When this card attacks and 「ガンヴァレルを輝かせるために」 is in your Climax Slot, search your Waiting Room for a Character and add it into your Hand. During this turn, this character gains Power +3000.

【AUTO】[①] During your turn, when this card Reverse an Opponent, you may pay the cost. If you do, from you opponent’s Front Row, choose a character that is Level 2 and below and send it to the top of their deck.

This changes from 秘密の共有 フラウ giving you a upper hand when the time is right. The climax ability is great for having to get more cards needed for a late game sustain, where you can take back a counter card or even 瀬乃宮　あき穂 so that you can play it on your next turn to heal again. The ability to be able to send a character that is Level 2 and below is quite a decent ability, especially if you need to snipe a damage on the next attack or if you think that there’s a card that your other characters can win over. Or simply just to be able to deal that one extra soul damage.

RNW16-076RR/ “空の下の相関図”愛理

【CONT】The character in the middle border of the center stage gains +500 power.

【ACT】Brainstorm［① Put this character to Rest］ Place the top 4 cards of your deck into the waiting room. For every climax placed into the waiting room, draw 1 card.

Like the Sky Raker RR from Accel World, however, this card offers 1 advantage over the former. That is, the traits which this card has, “Science” and “Net”.

RNW16-077RR/ 愛理

【AUTO】When this card is placed from hand to stage, you may draw up to 2 cards and discard 1 card.

【AUTO】When the climax 「ホワイト・クリスマス・イヴ」 is placed in the Climax Border and this card is on the Centre stage, you may choose one cost 2 and below character and put it on to the Stage in any border.

【AUTO】When this character attacks and 「ホワイト・クリスマス・イヴ」 is in the Climax Border, this character gains +X where X is the number of other Rest characters x 1000.

This is one tough powerhouse.  The first ability allows you to have a net loss of 0 hand size, plus it’s akin to a chain of “Clock, draw 2, and play healing level 3 to heal 1”. It is a pretty good effect to use when you need to run your deck. The second effect allows one to “play” a character for free and it combos well into another of her to dig 2 more cards deeper into your deck. There is no trait restriction so this effect is very standard friendly. The last effect allows you to pressure even the decks which boast of high power. On last attack, this card can reach a height of 20500power with proper supports and effects. Overall, this card indeed is a rare gem to find as all her effects are standard playable and does have the ability to gain much advantage once all three effects are triggered.

Other notable cards –

吹っ切れた思い 淳和 – Potential 9500 with just 2 other “Science trait”, can even break the 10000 barrier with 2 小さくても力持ち 淳和 supports, totaling up to 11500.

大徳 淳和 – I believed that this card did generated a fair bit of hype back then when its previewed on the website. 11500 base power on full field, and can even climb up to 14000 with one 水着のフラウ and one 小さくても力持ち 淳和. Your whole field will gain additional 2000power instantly when you use any “Activate” ability. Meaning even when using a 1/0 1500power“Assist Blade” counter, your field will also gain the bonus, a 0 cost 3500 power counter, pretty shocking isn’t it. =)

不思議な関係 フラウ＆淳和 – A decent support which can last until level 2, the second ability can be abused as the extra 1000 power can allow your characters to break through opponent’s defense easily. Though the effect will only kick in if opponent has a level 2 and above character on his field.

藤田 鉄治 – Bond for 過去のトラウマ 淳和 and can act as a pseudo support character.

よいら～いき祭り 淳和 – Potential 3500 with another rest “Science” character, works with another copy of her.

ロボットオタク あき穂 – Level 0 3500 power, that allows you to check the top card of your deck, very important in early game as it is usually the biggest problem when the 1^st trigger of the game is a climax.

ゲジ姉 – Level 1 2500 power assist blade counter on one character or a“1 for 2”counter for two characters. This counter will last till end game as there are no level 2 3000 power assist blade counters.

大好物の差し入れ あき穂 – A level 1 that can reach 8000 power on defense, why not? =)

行舟 愛理 – This card is another hidden gem within this series, offering a sweet boost of 3000 power until the end of opponent’s next turn. So this card will be at least 11000 power once the climax ability is triggered. The climax 「コールドスリープ」 is everyone’s favorite, +2000power & 1 soul and draw 1 card, climax. Furthermore, there is no need to pay cost for the effect to activate. Should you run out of counters to keep her alive, it’s alright because there is another card which “bonds” this card, 愛理の半身 ゲジ姉. What more can one asked for when this combo is cheap and efficient?

居ル夫。 – For those who played Yugioh before, Graceful Charity.

Thoughts on the series by Zen – Robotics;Notes have almost everything you need for a decent deck. However there are 2 major limitations, one is that yellow is the only colour with heal in it and certain cards are not in the right colour. It stretches the limit on deck building and I enjoyed every moment building the deck, testing and fine-tuning the deck. The 行舟 愛理, 「コールドスリープ」climax combo is definitely going into my favorite list. Bottomline – I really enjoyed Robotics;Notes.

Well, another series, another review. Stay tune for more reviews on the next two series to be released this Christmas season, namely “Tantei Opera Milky Holmes 2″ booster and “Sword Art Online” trial deck.

Once again we would like to thank Genesis Frontier for their support.

This is Bjorn.

This is Zen.

Signing Off.