Once again, I have returned to talk about my wishes and predictions from our known upcoming Vanguard stuff. Also, once again, I would’ve gotten it done sooner but well…let’s just say I’ve been playing too much Injustice lately. But anyway, football season may be starting in a week, but every season is Gallows Ball season when you play Spike Brothers; and today, I will be discussing what I want/expect from this coming set.

My background is Spike Brothers is actually a lot higher than most clans, as it started mostly with me getting my butt handed to by Bloody End. After a while and the Tech Booster, I got into Rising Miracle, and now I wield Crazy Eights to full effect (and also play Bad End Frenzy on the side). So this time, I can go a lot more in-depth with my feelings about this clan.

Before I get into any of the usual stuff, I gotta start off with something a little different this time, given the state of Spike Brothers right now. Obviously, their situation is actually really good, as they have a powerful higher tier (maybe not tier 1 but still high) deck now, but its efficiency is greatly enhanced by one card to a point where if it was gone; the deck’s consistency would plummet.

The card I’m talking about of course…is our boy Mecha Trainer.

The Starter Situation; Mecha Trainer’s Fate

(A Mini-Article, Article-ception)

It’s basically a tradition at this point, and still a safe prediction at this point: Every time Spike Brothers gets a decent set of support, Mecha Trainer is put on the watch list of cards that can potentially get restricted. Of course, he never does. Will he be put on the watch list this time around? Likely. Will they actually do something about it this time around? That’s where it gets interesting to me.

Mecha Trainer has always been a very powerful card, matched only by Lizard Soldier, Conroe in terms of versatility as a starter. For the longest while, Conroe was restricted from being a starter due to him being too efficient for the meta. Recently though, he was freed and is allowed to be a starter.

What makes it so different than Mecha Trainer that he hasn’t been restricted and he isn’t? Well, it’s all about the deck itself and not so much about the starter. Conroe was restricted at the height of Nouvelle Vague being the main man of the meta, and Conroe was used to help ride efficiency. Now that the meta has made this drastic a change, freeing Conroe was a test to see if he is as bad now, and honestly…he’s really not as bad now. But once again, what makes Mecha Trainer so different? The deck itself.

Back after the release of G-BT09, Mecha Trainer was used very similarly to Conroe is now. He was used to search out a toolbox of Grade 1’s depending on situation, but any Grade 1 was basically up for grabs. Perfect Guards for defense, Acrobats so you could safely have a Rising Nova, or Frog Raider or Airforce Eliza to set up for combo turns. Honestly, that’s where I felt Mecha Trainer felt the best; used to help further your combo in a healthy manner. Hell, the Supernova build was my favorite Spikes variant. All was well….then the Fighter’s Collection dropped.

At first, I saw an actual quality g-guard with a heal to back him up, and a ridiculously powerful Stride option to close games out. I felt it was a good way to help me use my other stride options better; and it was. Miracle Ace felt stronger, Dirty Picaro net me an extra card in battle sooner, etc. I thought the idea to get Heal Triggers from Mecha was a good option, but it became apparent that it would slowly become the only option. Not only that, running more Mecha Trainers for that sole purpose started becoming a thing too. Of course, I run 3 Mecha Trainers right now (I refuse to add another right now), as it’s still powerful and very consistent but, this is where it’s getting to dangerous territory.

Being able to basically skip to Generation Break 8 by First-Second stride basically overrides any potential strides that come out, as they basically become that stride you use if you mess up somehow. Also, any new G-Guardian will only get 1 use, as the other one is needed for to flip (and massive shield). Obviously, they aren’t going to restrict heal triggers, because that would be messed up. But, there is still Mecha Trainer, as he basically makes this as efficient and scary as it is. Only reason Conroe isn’t likely to be on the chopping block next to it is because their GB8 sucks in comparison. Also, Conroe is used a lot more healthily compared at 1 compared to Mecha Trainer at 3-4, only searching heal triggers.

This is why for the first time, Mecha Trainer actually has fear of some sort of restriction.

Right now, there is one major question, hypothetically, if Mecha Trainer did take a hit; What the *** do you start with now? If Conroe was to take a hit, Kagero still has decent starter options these days. Dragon Knight, Sadegh (for Hand Trap), Lizard Hero, Undeux (for Overlords), Wyvernkid, Deidda (for Blademaster), Kagero has options for starters. Spike Brothers…doesn’t. They have starters they tried to push, but none of them have been that great. Mecha Coach, their last starter, is pretty much garbage. And you wonder why Spike Brothers players only run Mecha Trainer as a starter, even before Crazy Eights…it’s because it’s all they have.

The obvious fix is to drop a starter that actually has some sort of use in the deck. Not dangerously versatile to the point of Mecha Trainer, but not utter trash tier like Mecha Coach. Mecha Analyzer was close, but didn’t quite hit the mark to be worthy of starter level. I honestly would love to see a Cat Knight in High Boots-esque starter in Spikes with Charge that not only safely sets you up when you ride, but also can be justified main deck as you soul charge from hand. But that’s just my opinion of course.

Realistically, I don’t think Mecha Trainer would get hit, at least not right away, and not super hard. Honestly feel like an Odysseus level hit would be fine, but still allow him as a starter and keep some of the consistency. I honestly just want whatever cards to come this set to have a chance to shine and not be overshadowed by Crazy Eights. Not restricting him too hard gives them the opportunity to reissue him, if it comes to that. Speaking of which, and now back to the real article….

Reprints/Reissues

Mecha Trainer, if not hit, can definitely see potential reissue here. Grade 0 reissues are not uncommon, and he is definitely a prime candidate. Also…what Spike’s player doesn’t want a RRR alternate art Mecha Trainer to use? Exactly. Plus, he only has one print as opposed to Conroe’s additional reprint in the Kagero Extra Booster.

As for other reissues, Rising Nova is a high priority target given its rarity and importance, so he is likely possible. Liar Lips is likely too considering crits have been reissued too. Outside of the Rising build, depending on the support this set, Bad End Dragger has a decent shot too (as a Revival Collection reprint).

For regular rarity reprints, Acrobat Verdi has a good chance since Mighty Bolt and Branwen were reprinted last set. Frog Raider would also be a good card to reprint, while if they have Dudley’s, Dudley Mason would be a very safe reprint too.

Rising/Charge support

Before I go any further, I’m going to make this part pretty clear. During this set discussion, I will be referring to the main Rising/Charge build. I will not be discussing these mechanics/cards in reference to Crazy Eights. All that deck wants really is just more cards with charge itself, not necessarily anything else. Anywho….

Rising will likely have the main focus in this set, while Charge being the definite focus of this set. The Charge mechanic itself is pretty balanced and works pretty well in the main build. On the surface value, it retreats your attackers if it was superior called, and typically gives the unit a powerful skill. The only issue it has, that I can see, is that all these abilities are GB-restricted completely. Late game, these units have powerful, near godly skills, but if your opponent sticks around at a lower grade, the deck can potentially just shut down on you. If they have units that can get skills pre-GB, even if just partial skills, it would help them out immensely.

Spike Brothers have always been known as the deck that basically just ends the game in one suicidal blitz. If you can’t win that turn, you basically just lose. But it also has some decent mid-game pressure when done right, and doesn’t have to necessarily kill you the first stride to have an advantage.

Rising 2.0

Rising, much like most other Grade 3’s, is likely to have a new grade 3. Honestly, this alone makes the deck stronger as you never have that issue of Frog Raider being useless. A second Rising grade 3 of any quality improves consistency of the deck purely by name alone. Unlike Thavas, they would definitely be used in conjunction because of this fact. This time, Rising 2.0 will likely be a RRR-RR as per usual.

Realistically, this Rising will not top Rising Nova on the Vanguard circle, and will likely be a good deal weaker. Personally, I would like him to just overall not minus, maybe work like Dhampir Lily on stride as opposed to on hit. Would still be usable, but sometimes you need that on attack call to properly avoid control decks with Nova.

The real thing Rising 2.0 will need to be viable is Charge and a rear-guard skill. A good rear guard back-up will significantly improve the build from that alone, and it doesn’t need to do much. A neat thing they could do is make whatever its skill is either work on Vanguard or while Charging on rear-guard, so you have the extra option there. Likely? No, but that’s ok.

Rising Stride 2.0/G-Zone

Rising is one of those units that doesn’t have their second stride, so is likely to get a new version as well. My bet is that he’ll be a RRR, as my bets for GR’s will mainly be Kagero and Tachikaze (didn’t really mention that in my Kagero article but yea).

As for the Rising Stride, I would go with the Act Flip and a separate GB3 skill. Weirdly enough, there aren’t any generic strides that can call from deck at a basic level to set up charge outside of on-hits (Miracle Ace is situation-based, while Picaro and Hellhard are a bit extreme) so I feel like this can be the stride that finally gives your vanguard a way to call 1-2 units to add pressure. The GB3 could be something that allows it to act as a pseudo-finisher, perhaps beefing up your charging units in classic Spike Brothers style.

Spike Brothers don’t get the traditional finisher boss tactics such as crits, added drive checks or restands, as they are more meant to overwhelm the oppponent by sheer force alone.

With the addition of Terrible Linus, Rising has access to a powerful and fitting G-Guardian, yet can still use one that isn’t restricted to GB1 or flips. As for what it can do, I’ve had several ideas over the past year or so, but honestly right now, utility would probably be the safest bet this time around as opposed to another massive shield.

I swear to god if they make it an Adalaide…..

Charge Support

As I said earlier, if they make charge units that work pre-gb in some form, it’d be a good start. Obviously, their viability will be also tied to whether or not they have a viable enabler, but they don’t necessarily have to have only charge skills. When they started making charge units, they seemed to only do something while charging, but nothing else. Airforce Eliza came as an exception as she works without charging, but requires another charging unit to properly function. To fully be able to evolve further, Charge support needs to be able to do more outside of just charging. They just need to be able to do more while charging over when they aren’t.

Charge doesn’t necessarily need to many more enablers, just need maybe one decent one to do it right.

It’s very likely the set will also get a starter for the charge mechanic to be overshadowed by Mecha Trainer. Honestly, I hope this time around they come up with something cool and actually functional. Like I said earlier, Mecha Analyzer was a step in the right direction, but not quite where it needed to be. I don’t have high hopes that they’ll make something good, so instead I’ll just make my own for shits and giggles:

Mecha Coordinator

(Grade 0/Spike Brothers/Workeroid/Power 5000/Shield 10000)

[AUTO] Charge (During the turn this unit is placed on (RC) due to an effect, you may have it become charging. If you do, put it on the bottom of your deck at the end of its battle.)

[AUTO](Soul): During your turn, when your G-Unit Stride, you may call this card to an open (RC). If you do, Soul Charge (1).

[AUTO](SB1): When this charging unit is put into the deck from (RC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to one card from your hand, and call it to an open (RC).

My main inspiration was cards like Cat Knight in High Boots and Enigmatic Assassin. It allows you to immediately have a Charging unit when you stride, while also acting as a Hive Maker while Charging. My main gripe was how these new starters didn’t have Charge, but that was probably because of Forerunner and being able to immediately charge your starter.

Obviously my idea won’t happen, but what ideas would you like to see as a starter for the Charge deck? Yes, you have to imagine Mecha Trainer either doesn’t exist or can’t be used in this case.

The Subclan(s)

Spike Brothers is one of the few clans that only has 1 subclan, officially speaking. That being Dudleys, and they have gotten support throughout the G-Era so far. However, there is another card that got G-Support that could potentially get more support, but to start…

Dudleys

Dudleys are a bit all over the place, but they are starting to gain a focus in the G-Era. The only issue is that you need to build a pure Dudley deck, which is sub-optimal due to most older Dudley cards being junk tier or less. They have the strides, and two grade 3 stride bosses, so they really don’t need any of that stuff this time around. What they need is proper main deck support. Decent grade 2-1’s, a better starter option, perhaps a critical trigger? They easily have the potential to improve greatly with the right units, maybe even having the strongest early game in Spikes with the right stuff. Really isn’t saying a lot…but still.

The reappearance of Dudley’s is likely, even if just to a smaller degree. But what about the extra stride slot if there is one? They’d probably get the slot but honestly, I would prefer to give that to my runner up variant.

Bad End Dragger

Bad End Dragger, as it is, only has itself as a very powerful Break Ride, a Stride that can set up a Break Ride turn (or even a Double Break Ride if you are clever), and a Grade One that improves consistency. It really isn’t much of an archetype, but it has its own deck with it as the focus. All it really needs is some extra support, potentially a grade 3 similar to Tachikaze’s Spinocommando, and an ok “Bad End” focused finish stride, and the deck is basically done. The generic-ness of the build would appeal much greater than that of the Dudley’s right now

It’s not as likely as more Dudley’s showing up, but it’s on my wishlist at least.

Summary/Conclusion

This was a bit more of a doozy considering my mini-article before the real stuff, but to sum things up (ignoring Crazy Eights as a build);

Mecha Trainer on watch list again, higher potential of getting hit than ever before

Lots of Potential Reissues

New Rising Grade 3 and Stride (which name alone improves consistency)

Charge is powerful, but needs more flexibility (stuff while not charging)

Dudley’s more likely to continue showing up, needs more core pieces than end game pieces

Bad End Dragger still a possibility for support, but not as likely.

Spikes are in a decent place in the meta right now, but the fact that it hinges on the existence of one card is dangerous territory. It can mean a serious Tier drop if they lose it, so they need to be able to hold their own without it. With this set and the potential support, it can make or break a non-Crazy Eights focused Rising Build.

Next time around, I’ll direct my focus towards that of Gold Paladin and what can be done with the power of the sun. Then I’ll decide whether to go into Murakumo or Angel Feather next. Anyway, until next time!

–Dax