Anti-Stride Rush Can't Be Policed,
So Go Nuts

Why NOT run the most effective, if anti-fun deck, when no-one could ever stop you?

 

I prefer not to associate the term 'troll' with the media's, which uses it synonymously with 'a psychopath with broadband'. I would consider the best kind of trolling to be the act of making as many people as possible totally mad, yet not doing so in a way that attacks them THAT personally. Like modding that money gun in GTA V. Or running a deck that shuts down basically EVERYTHING the opponent can do.

I've heard a lot of suggestions from people regarding how decks that are anti-fun can be managed, and to be honest, I find none of them can actually be enforced on any level above locals, where the number of players is so small. And that's bad for people like me, because then they take the shitty level they've got and assume it's good enough for something like Nationals, which pretty much goes against why I'm still here, pointedly trying to ruin the fun for everyone.

I cannot in good faith recommend any other deck to a player aiming for one of Bushiroad's official tournaments, if only because it's so fast you won't go into time, not to mention it'll destroy the people jumping on the latest hype train. I am under no illusion that it's incredibly unsprtsman-like, but if you're going to get given anything at all you may as well use it, you know, milk as much crap out of it as possible, since an advantage is not an advantage unless you make use of it. And what irritates me is that there's a lot of people who do recognise that anti-Stride is bullshit, but they cling to all of their wasted money and hope that the problem's going to go away. Just like the casuals did for the MLB and DOTE era. Nothing they can ever do after that tournament, even if they recognised it as bullshit, would ever prevent people from running stuff just like it anyway. To demonstrate, I've compiled some of the more common countermeasures, along with an explanation why it would never work beyond locals.

1.            Run at least one of every Grade

Seven Seas Rush (the anti-Stride deck getting the most press lately) DOES run every Grade in it. It just doesn't use any of it for RIDING, which is the whole point, not until a Final Turn with Plegeton. Chain a bunch of superior calls to get more attacks in. As for anything else operating on a similar principle, a Spike Brother blitz deck revolving around Sky Diver? Fine, I'll tech one Brakki and have no hit to my consistency whatsoever.

2.            Run a pre-set Grade ratio

Not only would this immediately piss off everyone who needs to run a higher amount of a certain Grade for any reason (such as Grade 3 checkers without the aid of cards like Daibazooka) it actually wouldn't kill off the concept entirely, as Seven Seas can adjust (they have a Grade 3 Slash Shade, for example). But the biggest reason why Bushi cannot manage this is because of time. When deck checking at tournaments, they're already looking through to see if you have 16 Triggers, are following Clan Fight, and are not running Limited cards over the threshold. Throwing in checks for each Grade on top of all that consumes too much time that Bushiroad cannot spend, or at least is VERY ill-equipped to manage. And you know that the need to run ratios is only going to cause MORE deck checks, which would be a nightmare for everyone involved.

Actually, the whole concept of limiting any Grade at all doesn't hold up. If for example it meant that there was a cap on the number of Grade 1s you could run for example, then a player can just substitute them for Grade 0s. I'm looking at 8k boosters and attackers for stuff like Aqua Force, with Tri-holl and Advance Party Brave Shooter. And those you can't do anything about.

3.            Mandatory G Regulation

You can kiss the nostalgia-based players goodbye in that case, because seriously, if Bushi decided to employ set rotation then people are going to quit in fucking droves, me included, actually. Also, almost everything in Seven Seas Rush IS G Regulation legal, with a bit of adjustment. That wouldn't kill off the concept, it would just mean that it would be the only Blitz deck to exist.

4.            Ban individual cards

That's going to make for one HELL of a long list, as almost every clan under the sun has at least one viable anti-Stride rush deck. You would also have to go so far as banning even cards that come out of a Trial Deck, so well done for not making the game beginner-friendly anymore. Also, the act of banning anything would be a direct admission that mechanically, no-one should be Striding and everyone should be rushing. I'm no expert, but I would imagine that would be a marketing embarrassment. And as mentioned before, you cannot ban the concept of these decks because they can change to accommodate them.

5.            Limit the number of Critical Triggers

Fine, I can substitute them for Stand Triggers, which might make things worse, especially later in the game.

6.            Some sort of bullshit rule where you need to be on Grade 3 to win

I think before you start trying to suggest this, you work out what the penalty should actually be. Because if I were a judge, I'd point out I've got better shit to do than point out maybe he could ride to Grade 3 if he wanted to. As a finisher. He just doesn't want to. Plausible deniability everyone.

I’m taking requests for articles if there’s something about Vanguard you need to gripe about. Email ideas at saikyocardfighter@outlook.com. Or drop a message on my Twitter account!