Nova Grapplers received further support in the eighth Extra Booster, Champions of the Cosmos, dedicated solely to their clan. The set mainly contains support for two archetypes, “Asura” and “Blau,” giving Nova Grapplers even more options when it comes to overpowering their opponents.

In this article, we will be analyzing the “Asura” support that came in this set. This includes discussion on how the cards work with one another and the synergy it may have with cards from previous sets.

Asura

“Asura Kaiser” was given a little bit of love in this set. Not only was “Asura Kaiser” given a crossride, “Immortal, Asura Kaiser,” the “Asura” archetype received two very strong rear-guards that go along with the re-standing rear-guard theme of the deck. “Asura Kaiser” itself was also reprinted in the set so that players interested in making the deck would not go through much trouble finding it, as it was only printed in English once before this, in Set 1, Descent of the King of Knights.

“Immortal, Asura Kaiser” is the new cross-ride given to “Asura Kaiser” in this set. The card’s effect is as follows:

[AUTO](VC) Limit Break 4 :When this unit’s drive check reveals a grade 3 «Nova Grappler», until end of that battle, this unit gets: “[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (2) & Choose two «Nova Grappler» from your hand, and discard them] At the end of the battle that this unit attacked a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose your vanguard and one of your rear-guards, [Stand] them, and this unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn.“. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn. [CONT](VC):If you have a card named “Asura Kaiser” in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+2000. [CONT](VC/RC):Lord

“Asura Kaiser’s” ability being triggered by drive checking grade 3 units remain, which is good for a multitude of reasons. Mainly, this means that if a player were to build a deck using only “Asura Kaiser” and “Immortal, Asura Kaiser,” the deck would remain consistent as the two share similar abilities.

As for the card itself, the Limit Break for “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” is a very strong one that players should be wary of when playing with it and against it. For the price of Counterblast 2 and Discarding 2 Nova Grapplers, you can give a +10,000 power to your vanguard “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” and stand it, along with one rear-guard of your choice. The reason I say players should be wary of “Immortal, Asura Kaiser’s” effect is for many reasons. These are the main points I would like to point out:

The ability to stand your vanguard again has become more common in recent vanguards with Break Ride or Limit Break abilities, at a cost similar to “Immortal, Asura Kaiser’s,” such as “Dauntless Drive Dragon,” “Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant,” and “Deadliest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster “Reverse”.” The main difference that “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” has is that, in order for the ability to activate, it requires a grade 3 to be drive checked. Naturally, this leads the card to be inconsistent as you are not guaranteed to check a grade 3 when you want to activate the ability. Because of this, “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” is unlike the other cards I mentioned, as a player using the other cards can almost always choose when to activate their abilities.

Although “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” is inherently inconsistent because of it’s reliance on checking a grade 3 during “Twin Drive,” this actually leads to some dynamic game play. Because you aren’t sure when you may check a grade 3 during “Twin Drive,” your opponent is in the same position as you are. Because a lot of popular decks are similar in build and card choices, a fault in a lot of popular decks is predictability. An advanced player may be able to read their opponent well enough to predict when cards such as “Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant” or “Deadliest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster “Reverse”” will activate their abilities. Because of this, the player can prepare themselves for the incoming turn where a decisive ability may be activated. However, the player playing against “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” must always be wary of the ability being activated off of the “Twin Drive.” If “Immortal, Asura Kaiser’s” effect happens at a time where the opponent is unprepared, it can potentially end the game.

As far as predictability goes, there are ways to increase your odds of activating “Immortal, Asura Kaiser’s” effect without giving away any information to your opponent. Standard decks may run up to only 7-8 grade 3 units. However, a deck based on “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” may choose to run more than the standard count of grade 3’s, not only to increase the odds of activating the ability, but to throw off the knowledge your opponent has about your deck. If they are counting the amount of grade 3’s that have been checked into your hand, damage, placed on the field or put into the drop zone, they may be trying to get a general idea of how many grade 3’s are left in your deck and would usually assume the standard amount. For example, if an opponent counts 6 grade 3 units showing, and see that your deck has a lot of cards left, they may be lead into a false sense of security, assuming your “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” most likely won’t go off. Only you, the one playing your “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” deck, know how many grade 3’s are left in there. This can potentially provide a psychological advantage over your opponent.

Lastly, with “Immortal, Asura Kaiser’s” ability being based solely on the amount of grade 3’s left in your deck, there’s a chance that you will run out of grade 3 units and be left with a vanguard with an ability that cannot be activated. This is something that cannot be easily remedied, with only certain cards, such as “Stoic Hani,” that can send grade 3’s from your damage zone back into your deck. Generally, however, you would rather put back more important cards like Sentinels and triggers to re-use rather than give yourself a chance to draw a grade 3 during your draw phase. This is an entirely possible situation and is one of the glaring weaknesses of the deck. If one were to make this deck, they must prepare for a situation like this if it were to ever occur, such as having another potential vanguard to ride or having a consistent way of keeping your grade 3’s available.

Besides “Asura Kaiser” getting a cross-ride, the “Asura” archetype received two new units,”Daredevil Samurai” and “Bear Down Samurai,” that add an addition element to an “Asura” deck that will, without a doubt, overpower your opponent when used correctly. Both cards share the same effect besides “Daredevil Samurai” and “Bear Down SamuraI” being grades 2 and 1, respectively:

[AUTO](RC):During your battle phase, when your «Nova Grappler» becomes [Stand], if you have a vanguard with “Asura” in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of turn.

Simply put, whenever one of your “Nova Grappler” units stand during the battle phase, “Daredevil Samurai” and/or “Bear Down Samurai” will receive a +3000 power boost until the end of the turn. This effect can stack on top of each other, so these two cards can be powered up infinitely as long as there are “Nova Grapplers” standing during the battle phase. With the abilities of “Asura Kaiser” and “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” being able to stand rear-guard units, the power of the “Samurai” units can get out of control really fast if everything happens properly. An alternative way to get the most out of the “Samurai” units is to play another cards that came from this set, “Mond Blaukluger,” along with “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” for a very deadly break-ride turn. With “Mond Blauluger’s” break ride, you can stand all of your “Nova Grappler” rear-guards, which nets a +15,000k boost to “Samurai” units in the rear-guard once “Immortal, Asura Kaiser” attacks the vanguard during the break ride turn. With enough “Samurai” units on the rear-guard, the break ride turn may be too much for your opponent to handle.

In Conclusion

“Immortal, Asura Kaiser” is a card that relies on a proper field, pushing your advantages and a little bit of luck in hitting those grade 3’s during a “Twin Drive.” Due to the inconsistencies that may occur, this deck is not something I would recommend to take competitively to a regional or to an event like world championships. However, will you have fun with this deck and potentially take a few of your locals through his amazing effect? Definitely.

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Thank you again for your support. – Namian