Cardfight!! Vanguard: Generations Volume 2 [Zyriot War]

- Part 4

I turned to the anxious Katsumi, who's palms had become sticky with sweat as she held her cards.

"Relax a little. You'll be fine."

"You sure...?"

"100%. To help take your mind off it, try considering what Yukina's win-con is."

"How my opponent will win?"

"Yep. I want you to think about how Yukina will kill you, and how lethal it is."

Katsumi gave me a confused look, but tried to think about it as she watched Yukina choose her gift intently.

"Imaginary Gift: Force II! To the vanguard circle! (2)"

This meant the base critical of her units would become 2. I guess she's going for a pressure strategy against Katsumi.

"I call, Decaydal Automata, Binodal Dragon and Fatal Shockwave, Jetshaft to rear-guard! Brandt's skill! I counterblast and soulblast to reverse your critical and heal trigger effects!"

"R-reverse them?! Wait, so my heal triggers will deal damage to me?! And my critical triggers makes me lose critical?! This is broken!! This is unfair!! Who the hell designed this card?! Takanori-san, why does Yukina-chan use such a scary looking unit?! Her avatar is more creepy than mine!! What's this ugly alien doing in her deck!? Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

Katsumi broke out into a frenzy hearing the reality breaking powers of Brandt. She pulled my arm like a gorilla, vigorously shaking me back and forth, making me feel motion sick.

"That's not all. Decaydal Automata's skill gives your Vanguard an extra drive check in exchange for +10k Power, (13000 > 23000) and whenever you reveal a trigger for the third drive check or more, they're put into your drop zone instead of your hand! Binodal's skill, I soulblast and retire him to draw a card. Since he was retired, I counterblast to make you call two or more cards to guardian circle when my vanguard attacks!"

Then, as if she had an epiphany, Katsumi stopped whining and shaking me like I was a toy.

"Wait, I know what Yukina-chan's win-con is! She's using Brandt to Yukina warp my triggers in her favour!"

"Good job. What do you think of it?"

"Super strong! If I get lucky, it's gonna backfire on me! All those triggers I put back to deck with Garry Cannon are gonna kill me!"

"Hang on, clear your head. Take a deep breath and analyse calmly. You're acting irrationally, and it's clouding your judgment."

Katsumi followed my instructions, thinking over Yukina's win-con more carefully.

"Well... it still seems strong. Decaydal will force me to drive check three times, meaning the chance of getting a trigger is higher. If I get a Heal, I'll be dealt damage, and all four of them are in my deck. I use mostly Critical triggers, so if I get any of them, even if my Vanguard does hit, it won't deal any damage. How am I supposed to fight against this?"

"It's easy to think of the negatives, but there are positives to this too. Yukina's deck is banking on you being lucky. It's completely random whether or not she can kill you, which makes it extremely unreliable. Decaydal's extra drive check only hurts you if you draw a trigger. In any other case, that third drive check will be added to your hand, meaning it becomes advantage. And you have 33 cards in deck, which means the chance of activating a Heal trigger is just above 12%. The odds are in your favour, not Yukina's."

Katsumi had an astonished expression as I calmly dissected why Yukina's win condition wouldn't prove to be lethal.

"Add to that the fact you've pushed her to five damage and her one card hand, the only way she can secure victory is through both attacks hitting, or if you get a Heal trigger on your damage check. With your current hand, you can perfect guard her vanguard's attack with Marilyn, and take the rear-guard attack to conserve hand for next turn."