This Space
For Rent

3D	Apologies for my absence from this, I plan to do it a lot more consistently from now on (you shouldn't expect a-grade work every time though!) Dragonic Overlord The End Well, we were going to come around to this part of town eventually. So I'm not going spend long on why Ji Endo's static 13000 is an absolutely straight up stupid good advantage conservation mechanic. If you would like to find out why, read my past review on “Chief Nurse, Shamsiel”. In addition to the static 13000, Ji Endo is in Kagero which can pretty much at will annihilate any of those already hard to achieve Stage 2 columns. Ji Endo, without a doubt, is the ultimate Tank. All Cross-Rides (cards that go up to a static 13000 on the Vanguard Circle if their previous incarnation is in soul) have the inherently stupid advantage generator but Ji Endo is so much more than that. With his second ability, if he hits, he can pay 2 counterblast and discard a copy of himself to Stand retaining Twin Drive!! This has a few nuances to it, firstly if it activates, it's an inherent +1 which is always good but it's also a second twin drive which means not only more trigger checks but the ability to stack triggers onto himself from the first drive check around. Get a critical trigger in your first check while your opponent no guarded? Great, now attack with your 18000/2 Critical/Twin Driving Ji Endo for LOTS OF ADVANTAGE. Basically, it has stupid rewards and it's also pretty easy to get off because it can strike rearguards as well (anything that is 8000 power or less, such as Silent Tom or a Special Intercept is a straight up gift for Ji Endo, assuming it's Cross-Ridden that's 3 Stages without a boost (2 Stages against Tom, with an additional virtual stage from the Drive Check). The real beauty of Ji Endo is when it doesn't hit. “Wait? What? When it fails! You're cray cray 3D”. Yep, because your Opponent is often quite fearful of what that extra Twin Drive could bring, which as noted is quite a bit, most will go out of their way to stop it which means guarding much earlier than they would need to. Since guarding the Vanguard is generally a bad idea mid-game (because players have damage to spare around then so it's usually unnecessary) this is quite a bonus created by Dragonic Overlord The End. So not only is Dragonic Overlord The End the ultimate tank, it's also the ultimate pressure unit (Majesty Lord Blaster comes in second because being a critical on hit and therefore only triggering off the Vanguard, it has a much lower window to open. It's still dumb-level good though). I'd actually want vote something like 6 out of 5 for this card because that's how good it is but I'll just max it out legally at a rating of 5/5
CrazyCat Team's YouTube Channel	Dragonic Overlord the End  Rating: 6/5  An absurd rating? Yes it is. An absurd card? Even more so. DOTE has been hailed as the single most powerful card in the game, and with good reason. Like yesterday’s card, Majesty Lord Blaster, he is not only a ridiculously powerful card on his own, but his deck pushes him past his limits to become a true powerhouse.  The most basic of “DOTE’s” two skills is his second one, being what classifies him as a “Crossride.” Essentially, a Crossride is a Grade 3 that gains 2000 Power for having a certain other Grade 3 in your soul, making them 13,000 Power units on both turns, even more defensively capable than yesterday’s Majesty Lord Blaster. This means the opponent must make 18,000 Power powerlines to make you guard for 10,000 power. Without any special power-gaining units, this means you have to have your 8,000 Power Grade 1’s as boosters for your 10,000 Power Grade 2’s or 3’s.  His second skill is the frightening one, however. By counterblasting 2 and discarding another copy of himself, when his attack hits, DOTE can re-stand himself. That’s right, re-stand. And the leniency of this skill is amazing. He can hit anything. If you want to re-stand him especially bad, you can attack a Rear Guard. Its madness to try to guard a Rear Guard from a 20,000 + Power Vanguard with Twin Drive, unless they have a Perfect Guard. But you should be using a Perfect Guard to guard DOTE every attack; the second he hits, he can easily win. Since you don’t know what’s in their hand, you should always assume they have another copy (i.e. a Persona Blast) to discard. Since he re-stands, any Criticals or trigger power you applied to him stays. So, say you break through the opponent’s guard with DOTE via a critical trigger. By applying everything to your Vanguard, you have just dealt 2 damage to them, and DOTE is 18,000 Power. With a Persona Blast, he will re-stand, retaining that 18,000 Power and extra critical. And he still has twin drive. Another critical trigger will deal them 3 damage. That’s a potential 5 damage from one card in one turn.  So, with a Vanguard that you essentially have to guard every turn, what could make it more powerful? Easy: Kagero. With their theme focusing on retiring the opponent’s Rear Guards (namely boosters), a DOTE-based deck is capable of retiring those pesky, key 8,000 Power boosters the opponent has, making it so they can’t make powerlines that require more than 5,000 Power to guard. With the ability to essentially reduce how much you need to guard with, as well as a built-in ability that reduces it even more so, on top of another ability that forces the opponent to guard more than they usually should, DOTE is an advantage-generating monster.
David NavyCherub Lynn	Dragonic Overlord the End The End is a fairly simple card, yet like Vanguard itself its power comes in that simplicity. Let's just step through his abilities one by one to see how he stacks up. His first ability is a fairly generic one - he loses 2000 power for having a non-Kagero vanguard or rear guard. This is pretty meaningless, and all you really need to remember is that it's just a bad idea to play the End with any clan other than Kagero. Not that you would ever want to - Kagero has one of the most robust and useful card pools of any clan in the entire game. His next ability gives him 2000 power in the vanguard circle on both turns while you have Dragonic Overlord in your soul. This makes the End a huge tank, extremely difficult to hit strong numbers against, and in fact pretty much invalidating the powers that a row should ideally hit - 16000 and increments of 5000 above that. This, combined with Kagero's ability to easily and effortlessly pick off boosters or whatever other rear guards might be bothering you, makes it so the End finds it incredibly easy to defend himself and drag the game out as long as he wants.You might even find draw triggers becoming your best friend as you will likely not have to block each attack for very much. His last ability is really what makes him probably the best card in the game. When his attack hits anything at all, you can counterblast two and discard another copy of the End from your hand to stand him. He doesn't lose Twin Drive, which means this is a +1 in raw advantage in addition to whatever extra cards you might force from your opponent's hand as they guard the End's next attack - not that it's too likely that they even can if they let the first attack through. There are basically no downsides to this ability and the End applies pressure from every turn forward once you've ridden him, even if you don't have your crossride bonus. One small point to remember is that the only 10k vanguard booster Kagero has isn't really that great, especially not in a the End deck, so while the 13000 the End swings with might make for easy good numbers against 11k or lower vanguards, it's harder to pressure other crossrides in the same way. Not that it makes a huge difference, but I thought it important to note since it's pretty much the only thing I can think of to even come close to faulting the End for. 5/5
Pokefan362	Tuesday 2/26: Dragonic Overlord the End: Veterans of the game may already know that, for a very long time, Dragonic Overlord the End has been considered the most powerful card in the game, and the centerpiece of the most powerful decktype to exist.  This is owing both to its own skill and the potential for having an incredibly 13K defensive power backed by Kagero’s retiring mechanics.  It, along with Phantom Blaster Overlord, is the first “crossride” (term for Grade 3s with 11K power that have “if you have a unit named _____ in your Soul, this card gets Power +2000) and seems to have been conceived of before Bushiroad really understood how to balance these types of cards, as they have for future crossrides.  Aside from the skills common to all crossrides, Dragonic Overlord the End’s unique trait is that, when his attack hits, you can Counterblast 2 and discard another copy of him to stand up.  Unlike many such skills, it isn’t even limited to hitting the Vanguard, so watch out if this guy goes for a weaker rearguard.  If you have ever been beaten by Stern Blaukluger or Spectral Duke Dragon, just one look at this skill should tell you how powerful it is when pulled off.  Not only does Dragonic Overlord the End have a far lesser (if more conditional) cost than the aforementioned cards, being a -2 and a -3 to card advantage respectively, it doesn’t even lose Twin Drive, which means you’re actually gaining cards in addition to getting another attack and increasing your trigger possibilities.  And while a Dragonic Overlord the End user won’t always be able to pull this off even if they hit, the most irritating thing is that the opponent will virtually never be able to know for certain that they won’t so long as they have 2 unflipped damage.  And because the skill, when executed, is such a game-changer, players playing against Dragonic Overlord the End are encouraged to guard every attack; and therein lies his greatest strength in pushing cautious players to constantly have to guard stronger attacks rather than weaker ones and taking a large toll on their hand size.    If all that were not enough, Dragonic Overlord the End stands at a constant 11K with a possibility of making 13K rather than being 10K with a possible 11K like the aforementioned two are.  Although it may not be immediately obvious, Kagero is also probably the single best clan for a defensively-powerful Vanguard such as a crossride to synergize with.  By pressuring the opponent with selective retires and being able to hit both frontrow and backrow Rearguards via cards like Kimnara, Berserk Dragon, and Tejas, it’s possible to disrupt attempts by an opponent to mount any respectable offense, and that’s likely to save Dragonic Overlord the End players a ton of cards in the long run and allow them to dominate in a battle of attrition.  If all those still were not enough, Dragonic Overlord the End just has to, for some reason, have one of the best pieces of artwork in the game.  Although not completely without its flaws, Dragonic Overlord the End is undoubtedly a powerful force and is likely to make a large impact on the English Edition of Cardfight!! Vanguard for a long time to come. Rating: 5/5 (As expected) Art: 5/5  (Did I mention it had one of the best pieces of artwork?)
TehNACHO	Dragonic Overlord the End!   Well I didn’t really want to start with this kind of statement for any card ever but Dragonic Overlord the End is hands down the best standalone Vanguard in the entire game, and with Kagero’s ability to wipe out any troublesome forces, sits in one of the strongest decks in the game.   Okay so the first thing I really have to address since I did so just yesterday is defense. MLB and Shamsiel have access to 12K defense which basically put screws power lines. It’s this defensive skill that allows MLB and Shamsiel to outpace nearly every other lower powered Vangaurd in the game in terms of guarding efficiency, and allows for much longer and in extension far more prosperous games for you in the end. This guarding efficiency cannot be understated by any means, but for DOtE, this defense only goes so much farther forward. For a start, sitting at 11K base, DOtE is already sitting on the higher end of the defensive curve by literally having to have done nothing to achieve it. Couple this with Dragonic Overlord, its previous form, having 11K base as well, and the deck becomes one with more than the ability to tank out when necessary.   But aside from double assurance in the form of 2 11K base Vanguards, Dragonic Overlord the End pushes even further than MLB could and Shamsiel should ever be defending for, sitting at a solid 13K defense. Remember, 12K defense, just 1K stronger than that of what should be considered an 11K norm, already throws off the mechanics of the game’s power distribution. Have you ever noticed how 8K Vanilla boosters and 8K beaters with good effects make a 16K column? 7K utility units and 9K utility units make 16K? 6K units with good effects and 10K Vanilla beaters make 16K? Even in the extreme power ranges in the game, 9K boosters and 7K beaters, succeed to create 16K together. This game is literally tailored around that 16K norm, and decks flow best when facing an enemy within that range. But not the End. In general, about 3/5 of your games will have Dragonic Overlord as your turn 3 Vanguard, which immediately follows into Dragonic Overlord the End’s power up skill. When Dragonic Overlord is in the soul, the End gains +2K power permanently. Where MLB and Shamsiel will probably mess up power distribution with only their annoying 12K defense, the End’s 13K defense will destroy so many deck’s abilities to mount a proper offense. Since continuing from here on out will be a repeat of MLB which is in turn a repeat of Shamsiel…wow I repeat a lot, I’ll leave the defensive power here. Dragonic Overlord the End more than has the capability to far outperform almost everything simply from riding up units alone.   And that thing I said about where I’m done with all this defensive talk? Well, I lied. Dragonic Overlord the End’s defensive capabilities go even further than base power beatdown alone. And in comes the rest of Kagero support. Kagero’s retiring skills are, to put it simply, thorough. With utility units in the form of Kimnara and Heatnail Salamander tipping the balance of power forever in your favor, and straight up advantage grabbing retiring in the form of Berserk Dragon, Kagero’s greatest strength, its ability to tear down the opponent’s power, is one of the greatest defensive traits in the entire game. And here’s where DOtE’s reign of defensive advantage goes even beyond what Shamsiel and MLB and nearly any non-Kagero (or Narukami) Cross-Ride can ever hope to achieve. The End’s 13K defense ruining power distribution on the opponent’s field, and Kagero’s retiring skills killing off anything that can even hope to threaten the End, and what we have is a deck that nearly never has to worry about the opponent ever mounting a powerful force ever. Good job the End, you are an untouchable behemoth that other decks can’t even hope to directly outpace through standard methods.   Of course, being an untouchable behemoth isn’t the only thing that makes DOtE such a powerful Vanguard. There’s also the matter of his dreaded Persona Blast. Persona Blast is a term to describe a skill with a certain cost, which basically means any skill that requires you to discard another copy of the card to activate its skill. After a bit of crunching, I’ve found that The End has about a ~55.6% chance of Persona Blasting by turn 4, about the expected time for it to consider, due to the normal Dragonic Overlord being the ideal turn 3 ride. Anyway, at basically a coinflip to activate from that point and only continuing to drive higher and higher throughout the match, you are crazy to ever let the End ever hit, something you never want it to do if you can help it. When Dragonic Overlord the End successfully hits, it pays a Counter-Blast 2 Persona Blast to restand itself. No loss of Twin Drive, no restrictions, nada. In fact, unlike cards like Stern Blaukruger or Spectral Duke Dragon, Dragonic Overlord the End’s skill is a direct gain in your own card count. So not only will hitting the opponent ensure a second attack to force out more cards or deal more damage to the opponent, he also reinforces your hand with direct +’s in card advantage. This alone makes DOtE’s skill on of the most dangerous and potent skills you will ever find in the game ever.   Once again mentioning MLB of which I apologize if I’m annoying someone, well, the End just takes everything that MLB can do and takes it beyond the next level. The pressure behind every attack at every stage of the game not only will drive out 15-20K shield in the form of at least 2 cards from the opponent’s hand nearly every turn, but even if it does go through it will not only forward the pace of the game ahead in your favor, but provide raw, tangible and auxiliary advantage that will only proceed to place the End even further ahead in victor. Along with that, the opponent can’t even hope to fight back very hard without all of their forces being destroyed immediately after getting over a horribly warped power demand and having still gotten blocked out for probably just 10K shield alone. Overall, the threat, raw advantage, and the decktype of the End only leads me to repeat, Dragonic Overlord the End is one of, if not the most powerful card in the game.   Overall, 5/5 hands down.   (Actually, this card literally surpasses the core standards of the game, and has the power behind it to boot. If possible, I’d very seriously would like to place 6/5 for this monster)