So now that G-CHB-02 WE ARE!!! Trinity Dragon is less than a week away from its Japanese release date, I figure that it’s time to fully analyse the new Oracle Think Tank cards. At first glance, most of the new cards from the set are… underwhelming, but as a conglomerate, OTT shines best as a full team, so I will be taking card interactions into account.

[Stride]-Stride Step-[Choose one or more cards with the sum of their grades being 3 or greater from your hand, and discard them] Stride this card on your (VC) from face down.

[CONT](VC) Generation Break 2 Oracle (This ability is active when you have five or more cards in your hand):This unit gets [Power]+5000/[Critical]+1.

[AUTO] Generation Break 2:[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit is placed on (VC), if the number of cards in your hand is four or less, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a number of cards until there are five cards in your hand

First off, this card is generic so it can be used in all Oracle Think Tank builds. It has the Oracle ability, which is good because it allows it to synergize well with some of the new support cards, namely Precious Ophidian and Handbell Purification Maiden, Ouka, as both of these cards require a Vanguard with the Oracle ability to activate their effects.

[AUTO](RC) Generation Break 1 Oracle (This ability is active when you have five or more cards in your hand):[Retire this unit] At the beginning of your ride phase, you may pay the cost. If you do, until end of turn, you may Stride without paying the cost the next time you Stride.

[AUTO]:[Soul Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a vanguard with the oracle ability, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card.

[ACT](RC) Generation Break 1 Oracle (This ability is active when you have five or more cards in your hand):[Retire this unit] If you have a vanguard with the oracle ability, choose one of your rear-guards, and until end of turn, it gets “[AUTO](RC):When this unit attacks, until end of that battle, your opponent cannot call grade 0 cards from hand to (GC).”.

This is really important as it allows you to Soul Blast 1 and draw a card with the former, and to prevent your opponent from guarding your rearguards with 0s from their hand with the latter. You must have achieved Oracle in order to retire the unit and gain its abilities. However, you don’t need to maintain Oracle for the ability to remain active once its been activated. This means that you can easily replace the lost boost with another card for your hand without having to worry about losing the ability. However, the stride unit only draws until you have 5 cards in hand. Paired with either of the grade 3 Susanoos, this allows you to begin your turn with 6 cards in hand. This means that if you have Ouka in hand, it is the only card you can call if you want to activate its ability. The only exception would be cards that can replace themselves in your hand, like Precious Ophidian, Luck Bird, Imperial Shrine Guard, Akagi and Psychic Bird. Kamususanoo allows for Oracle to be active, but you have to be careful about the cards that you call from your hand. If you need Oracle during your main phase, and you don’t have a Susanoo grade 3 or can’t use his stride skill, then you cannot call any cards for your hand. If you need to activate Oracle during the battle phase, then you can only call cards from your hand until you have two cards left.

Speaking of Oracle, Kamususanoo’s Oracle ability is essentially the same as the original grade 3’s GB2 ability… except worse. This is due to the limitations of Oracle, as it requires 5 cards instead of the original 4. That 1 card can be the difference between attacking with a rearguard and ending your turn. Kamususanoo gains +5k and a crit when you have achieved Oracle. This is the first OTT stride that has this ability, and though I would prefer this ability to power up a rearguard, it is the first Stride that has an inherent standalone power up. This ability is great against control match-ups where calling rearguards is risky or impossible, as Kamususanoo is a threat on his own. This is particularly good against one of OTT’s worse match-ups: Link Joker, as it allows you to pressure them while they’re still at 3 damage.

Kamususanoo’s second ability though is where he truly shines. For the same cost as Takemikazuchi, he allows you to draw until you have 5 cards in hand, the magic number for Oracle. This ability isn’t one that you should ever try to achieve though, as 5 cards is a very low hand in a deck that will basically insta-die if its hand reaches below 5. So it isn’t great for its draw power, what it is great for is its recovery power, since, as of now OTT will always lose when it’s hand runs low, as its recovery options are very limited. This is especially true in Oracle decks as their cards become vanilla with 4 cards in hand. Furthermore, even the G-Guardians cannot save you as their shield value decreases when you’re losing. As such, this new Kamususanoo is a welcome addition to all OTT decks at 1-2 copies, as you will always need him when you’re losing to be able to pick yourself up from what was previously the end of the line. This is especially good against unfavourable match-ups against Aqua Force, Nova Grappler, Spike Brothers, and any other decks that force you to guard early/a lot. It would be nice if the second ability wasn’t a GB2 though as sometimes rush decks can put you in a very bad position even at first stride. This can be mitigated by using a G-Guardian first though, so I guess I should be glad it’s not a GB3 or greater.

Though State Affair Subjugation Deity, Kamususanoo is not the finisher stride OTT wanted, it is the comeback stride that OTT NEEDED. As such I would give the card 4.5/5 stars for its power, critical, and Oracle activating ability. My only gripe is that it doesn’t power up any of your rearguards, like I was hoping he would, as the other Kamususanoo stride’s power-up is mediocre right now. This card is very helpful though against rush and control match-ups as its gives OTT the ability to counter those match-ups. Even in games where Kamususanoo’s second ability is unnecessary, his first ability is still very good, and one of the most offensive and cheap Strides we have. Wakahirume could also gain +5k and a crit in theory, but it would cost a Counter Blast, a Soul Blast, and a persona flip, all while also having to be in Oracle before the drive check. Kamususanoo’s only restriction is Oracle, and as a continuous ability, only requires 2 cards in hand when he attacks. Wakahirume is better overall, but Kamususanoo is there for those situations when resources have run low. All in all, this card is a definite must-have at 1 or 2 copies in all Oracle Think Tank decks.