Protect clans are stories heard only in legends. They are those who were initially received as the worst of the mechanics only to be proven wrong by clans such as Oracle Think Tank and Angel Feather. However, after V-Booster Set 04, every single one of them disappeared… forever.

[Tetsu Shinjou & Demon Marquis, Amon “Яeverse”] Taken from Cardfight! Fandom from user Nikon94

It’s no secret that in this meta protect clans have been struggling in terms of relevance and keeping up with Force clans and Accel Clans who basically share the same mechanics in high-lanes + multi attacks. For defensive protect mechanics, guarding isn’t really the best way to win the game.

Luckily for DI, it has some qualities that Force and Accel Clans have and more. This clan has access to control, power-lanes, multi-vanguard attacks, and even an insane guard restriction that keeps it somewhat afloat in the current meta.

[No Life King, Death Anchor] Taken from Cardfight! Fandom from user MugenGlider

Even today, Dark Irregulars still specializes in creating an absolute finisher turn. Being able to surprise the opponent by dropping down a Hardleg Variants on a Death Anchor turn can be quite lethal most of the time.

However, as much as Dark Irregulars wants to do this all of the time. The inconsistency to get all the resources in place, whether it be on hand or in the soul, can be quite prevalent most of the time. There are too many requirements to be met to activate the kill-turn we’ve said before.

[Variants Hardleg] Taken from Cardfight! Fandom from user MugenGlider

That’s not to say that this clan has a high-lose rate. It’s just that it can never always achieve the game-ending mechanics it wants to have unlike other clans in Force and Accel which very much have 1-card combos.

If you plan on playing a protect clan in this environment which heavily disfavors them, Dark Irregulars may be the closest you have to being relevant. Having access to a wide array of utility gives the player a lot of options.

However, it must be kept in mind that the player needs to plan things ahead of time and manage resource carefully to ensure that the flow of the game is always in your favor!