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Gear Chronicle Plays the Information Game

The use of what you know separates the pro Gear Chronicle players from the average.

I can’t exactly speak for everyone, considering such a small sample size wouldn’t hold up scientifically, but at my locals, when Gear Chronicle was first released (and once the first pack to actually improve on them finally came out) people picked them up at great expense and in droves. Then people, myself included, kicked the shit out of them, they got bored, and they played something else. Says a lot about the patience threshold of my friends/Cardfight dummies.

Weeks afterwards, only one competent Gear Chronicle player ever arose at my shop. He was leagues above the others and at first I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, exactly. Literally the only noticeable difference was that he was running rainbow triggers, since he couldn’t find 4 more Criticals for love nor money. Nonetheless, I don’t hold a majority victory rate over him, and it’s all down to HOW the deck was used.

Some may think Gear Chronicle is pretty straightforward. Spin rear-guards that cause problems away because card advantage gap is good, then drop an appropriate guard-sealing finisher of your choice to take the match. To that, I say that’s totally wrong.

In a Gear Chronicle deck, nothing exists that can totally seal every form of guard in one card; it’s either going to be either sealing Grade 0s or Grade 1 and above cards. I believe I mentioned in my reviews of Chronoscommand and Ragnaclock Dragon that Chronoscommand usually comes first, to force a PG with his absurd skill, then once that’s gone, the only obstacle to stop Ragnaclock is gone, and you Crit the opponent for game. Sometimes, yes, that’s what happens, but in most of my games with him, Ragnaclock usually winds up being the third or even fourth unit to appear after Chronoscommand or Lost Age Dragon, and almost always, Ragnaclock appears exactly when that guy knows I have no PG to spare any longer. And it’s all down to because the opponent remembered what I’ve got, through Drive Checks, and my actions over the game.

I’ve mentioned before that information is the key to success, and nothing makes that more apparent than Gear Chronicle. If the opponent has a large hand, you may want to consider whittling it down with Chronoscommand or Lost Age first, depending on opposing field size, then continuing with one or the other as you watch the opponent’s Drive Checks and the rate they draw cards. Taking this to an even greater extreme, you count what sort of cards and HOW MANY of them are appearing through the game, and how many you expect to have left. When Ragnaclock appears, it’s always after the opponent remembers what’s in my hand, and it’s clogged with Grade 0s that are basically useless to me now.

I know that later on, it’s only going to become easier for Gear Chronicle to have an answer for everything. They have a lot of G-Units that have yet to appear that do things like summon new allies, extend attacks, or just subtly bollock the opponent’s board, so as long as you can Stride, the whole deck is a toolbox clan. Which makes the information you can gleam even more valuable.

Basically, what I’m trying to get across is that Gear Chronicle isn’t supposed to warp away units with guard-sealing thrown in as a bonus. If anything, the guard-sealing is absolutely VITAL to the success of the deck, so you absolutely need to watch the opponent’s cards, both the amount and what they are, throughout the game. Hell, what the opponent DOES at first is valuable too. If they don’t commit a board, it means their hand’s either filled with Grade 0s or units of higher Grade they can’t call right now. Or maybe they did throw down a board, in which case, you should do what you can to even out either damage or card advantage. Otherwise, you go into crunch time blind, and that’s something you can’t afford.

I wouldn’t recommend Gear Chronicle to someone who was terrible at the application of information (so basically everyone at my locals except me, and by extension my bane of Steampunk-dragons). Building one that works is certainly easy, but it does carry quite a fair amount of subtle arts that require a lot of thought going into your every move to clinch the win. Without that, all the deck is good for is trying to win via only card advantage, and if a deck can beat you in that, a player who doesn’t think far ahead will lose.

It’s like the Shii-Cho lightsaber fighting style in Star Wars; easy to pick up, but deadly when perfected.

Incidentally, I’m not actually a fan of Star Wars.

Bitch to me about how Ragnaclock is OP despite my review of him saying otherwise at saikyocardfighter@outlook.com