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Saikyo Cardfighter R	Dark Dragon, Distress Dragon   Only three cards this week, so at least it saves me having to type. Distress Dragon is the newest (and most expensive) first Stride you're going to get. He costs a Soulblast of 3 and a Counterblast of 3, and a flipping of a G Zone card. After that, you retire any number of rear-guards you control, and for each one, the opponent must retire the same number of THEIR rear-guards. If you retired six or more on both sides with that, draw 2 cards, then Soulcharge 1 and Countercharge 1. Then Distress Dragon gains a whopping 20k until end of turn.   Unfortunately, you can't abuse this with David or anything similar, as their skills only work when retired as part of a cost. Distress Dragon retires units as part of the skill, so no sacking 2 David to retire 4 rear-guards.   On that note, that means his uses are severely limited. 3 soul's doable, Claret with its own personal Crit which can be searched has a slightly easier time of it, and possibly Hoel and Kahedin if you can get it set up, and CB3 isn't much of an issue. The problem here is opportunity. As a first Stride, you won't always have the combo pieces necessary, and any means to search it means cutting into the CB necessary to even use Distress in the first place. But is the result worth it? Maths says barely. CB3 and SB3 to +0 wash yourself, then +2 and CC1 and SC1. So you're getting +1 for every SB1 and CB1, and 20k more power, but to be honest it seems a bit redundant when a single G Unit alone means PG or bust.   I'd run one if you need something dead quickly and you have the resources (or G Megacolony needs a good kick) but for the most part don't expect to use him ever.   2/5
Nanya	Dark Dragon, Distress Dragon   Did everyone have a good weekend?  Only three cards this week, so let's get started.   Okay, I'm going to be honest, unless a Shadow Paladin Stride is as good as the two Diablo Strides, I'm going to recommend just using them over anything else, unless it's an on-hit skill.   So, how does Distress Dragon compare to a Restander and a Guard Sealer?   Um, wow...  Heavy cost is heavy.  This is OG Dragonic Overlord costs and Shadow Paladins aren't known for building up a soul quickly.  Unless you're running Revengers and Legion a couple of times.  But if you haven't won by then, something's wrong.   *Ahem*  Anyway, if you fulfill the costs and get rid of 6 or more total units, and I don't see why you wouldn't, this gets +20000, lets you draw 2 and then soul charges and counter charges 1 each.   Works good with any unit that states "this counts as two sacrifices".   But, really, it's just a tit for tat here, I'd rather use Phantom Blaster "Diablo" and force either two retires or an unblockable extra crit.   If not running "Diablo", I guess it's okay, but both Revengers and Clarent Sword Dragon have better options, I'm sure.   Rating: 2.5/5
Winston Fairwinds	[Dark Dragon, Distress Dragon] Is this card in distress? Let's see. (I deserved to be slain for that joke.) Two key points: 1) Cards whose abilities trigger when they are retired for a cost DO NOT activate when they are retired by Distress Dragon, since Distress Dragon's cost does not require you to retire units. Yay cost vs effect rulings. 2) Likewise, any unit that is regarded by two units when retired for a cost are just regarded as one, since Distress Dragon retires them due to effect, not the cost. It's a a hefty initial cost to screw the other opponent's board, but retiring at least three of your units means that you nab three of theirs, and gives you two cards drawn a counterblast back, and one soul. It's a -1 to you for a -3 to the opponent, unless they have skills that activate when retired as well (like Tachikaze), or are Granblue. All in all, this card's only saving grace is that the G-Zone is expanded to 16 for tech options such as itself. It's only gonna play a part against certain matchups. You wanna keep one in the G-Zone for decks like Nova Grappler, who don't have any form of superior call, or like Aqua Force, who absolutely needs units on board, and arranged in a specific way. Other than that, you'll just end up ditching him for G-Assist. 2/5