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Brilliance and Bollocks: G-Booster 3 
Saikyo’s regularly scheduled evaluation time looms again. What sucks and what’s good?

Hope you all had a lovely time last Saturday frightening the shit out of your neighbours’ dogs to celebrate the fact we British dudes finally got out of your hair. Embarrassingly, my first review of last week showcased my ignorance because I had hoped my country wasn’t populated by complete assholes. The more you know. Thank you, Axis Powers Hetalia.

I’ve been looking forward to the release of this set since forever since I main Kagero and it got one or two nice toys I may persuaded to part with my money for. But of course I am aware that’s not all people buy the packs for and so it falls to me once again to remind everyone what’s a good investment for your clan and what isn’t.

This is the first pack without Gear Chronicle in it (which explains why Chrono’s growth in the anime didn’t really expand beyond like one new G-Unit recently) but what they have currently seems solid enough already so all is forgiven. Having said that, we’re getting Link Joker, Dark Irregulars, Kagero, Shadow Paladin, Gold Paladin and Murakumo this time, so let us inspect what is the most likely to make an impact in the competitive scene.

Link Joker: Falls under the whole Trail-Deck Syndrome like other main clans so not as much support here as the others. You are of course getting this pack for the extra Critical Trigger, as well as the Messiah support obviously. Keep in mind Messiahs do not work like normal Link Joker; you unlock to gain bonuses, so if you don’t watch cards carefully you’re only allowing the opponent the chance to fight back. Token Star-Vader and Deletor support as well, but really, only the Deletors get anything that you would make space in a deck for (hell yes draw more and/or Delete and lock before Stride!). Sadly, the G-Units in here are not cheap; one’s RRR while the other’s GR (one of two GRs in this set, go figure) and is upshot of like £35 British pounds on the CHEAPEST website. If you don’t play Messiahs you can probably get away with just Big Crunch Dragon but expect the good Link Joker in here to be pricy. And to be honest, I’m sort of hoping you’re willing to save your cash because the Messiahs probably won’t reflect the money you put in (see my next article for details).

Get it for: the Deletor Support, Destiny Dealer, Cosmolis, both G-Units.

Dark Irregulars: These actually got pretty impressive. If ever there was a time to play them it’s now. Usual archetype support for Amons here (new starter, another Critical Trigger, LB remover, new G2), as well as a Legion for them. It’s probably not relevant to anyone who failed to pick up Izaya as a promo during the BT16 Sneak Peek (I think that was when we got it) but those who did have a solid Vanguard for when Stride’s not an option. Talking of which, the R G-Unit isn’t too new but the one you really want is Gilles De Rais. He seals perfect guards which gives a finisher to those who don’t use Echo of Nemesis (although combining the two is perfectly possible so why not). Overall, I’d say as long as you held onto some of the more important support from older sets such as Doreen the Thruster whatever you pick up here is solid enough. Oh yeah, and Scharlachrot Vampir exists too, probably being the most feasible way to get the most of out of Gilles next to the Legion guy, since Astaroth doesn’t really want any more soul beyond 10 for the extra crit.

Get it for: both G-Units, Squall Maker Vampir, Amon support, Psychic of Storm, Rigil.

Kagero: Bushi took the time to release Seal Dragons this set but to be honest, Seal Dragons are basically a dead deck and the support they get here doesn’t really put them on the map. In fact, you kind of do have to dig quite deep in this set to find anything really useful here. There is of course the new G-Unit which helps Blademaster become a bit faster, and a RR trigger to support Blademaster, but apart from that only Emad was the card that really stood out for me, since his skill is undeniably useful sometimes, even if it’s not often. The rest of it seems to be rather token support not many would lose deck spaces for, apart from maybe Heroic Saga Dragon, as a fail-con to Blademaster-centred decks or just those who like to combine it with Dauntless for those who are just weird. So at least it’s easy to decide what to buy.

Get it for: Mustafa, Emad, Jannat.

Shadow Paladin: No Trial Deck for them. There was however a lot of support for them in the Legend deck but it still doesn’t mean they’ll be shafted numbers-wise. No sir. It is certainly possible to make a deck using nothing but what’s here (except triggers I guess, you’ll still need the Legend deck in that case), but you’re mostly going to be using this to improve the Legend Deck, because alone most of it is pretty ordinary. Claret Sword Dragon will basically be the 2^nd ace alongside Blaster Dark “Diablo”, while Aurageyser Dragon will work as the main Diablo springer (this is the only G-Unit for Shadows this set, so beat the rush to give money!). Apart from that, improving the deck straight up’s a doddle if you have the money. Oh yes, and there’s Revengers of course. Witty Revenger’s the best one because of how well he combines with Phantom Blaster “Abyss” for the lulz. But the most note-able card of the set is the second GR card here: Phantom Blaster Dragon, the Break Ride version. Is he worth it? To me, he’s okay, but he harkens back to the days of “Vanilla until 4 damage” which I quickly grew out of from sheer fatigue. Get him if you must but sacrificing several little plays for a big play that late doesn’t do it. Daikaiser Sin Buster beat him to that game first anyway.

Get it for: PBD, Aurageyser Dragon, Claret Sword Dragon, Witty Revenger Teyrnon, Karma Collector.

Gold Paladin: I’m really not sure what to say about the stuff here because honestly, a lot of it isn’t that interesting to me. Sure, they have a new gimmick (top-calling guardians as well as new rear-guards) but I wouldn’t really say that they have enough staying power to not get killed by rear-guard hating decks. That basically includes the new ace Gurguit. Big problem with G-Golds is that they fall under the “hoards-advantage-yet-does-not-much-with-it” category, so I can’t really recommend them relative to the meta they exist in. So really, you’re getting it for the Liberator Support (Prominence Glare build, obviously) and the two G-Units. Sadly, not even the G-Units work to actually offer a way to kill so the slack would have to be picked up by Glare. Get if you want to get into Golds this late or just to support Glare, otherwise these will fall into the trade-binder.

Get it for: Pryderi, whatever Liberators float your boat, both G-Units.

Murakumo: Oh dear oh dear. At least Gold Paladin keeps what they get, random as it is. Murakumo still hasn’t solved any of its main problems since Day 1 and are still basically the clan for people who don’t care about winning either way. It offers more clone targets, perhaps as a way to compensate for how shit the gimmick is, but cards like Charcoal Fox requires a really wonky/empty field to work. The G-Units should still be gotten, even if Homura Raider is the only good one, but even so, you’re still not going to be able to consistently beat rear-guard haters built well. The most viable guy to get is Magatsu Typhoon, since at least he can perform Legion AND set up Stride at the same time, but it’s still a little meh. It also sort of sucks that Murakumo only got one new Trigger here, so be prepared to dig through old sets if you’re strange enough to actually want to build it. Keep in mind there is no bluff factor here owing to ridiculous needs for copy management; if you don’t clone well, the opponent knows you have them in the hand. Oh yeah, there’s also Rune Star, the only permanent advantage giver here. Get that too. But overall, yes, Murakumo improved. But everyone else improved more.

Get it for: Magatsu Typhoon, both G-Units, Stealth Fiend White Heron, Rune Star.

So in summary, Link Joker’s only for pros, Dark Irregular’s the most viable, Kagero was a bit pointless, Shadows are only for one deck, Gold’s too passive, and Murakumo still sucks. They suck. Suck suck suckity-suck suckerton.

Okay, I’ll stop bashing them now.

Lay out your budget plans for the next few weeks to me at saikyocardfighter@outlook.com