Picture it! Spectral Duke Dragon

For having been one to spam card reviews on the Yu-Gi-Oh! front, I've done surprisingly little of that when it comes to Cardfight!! Vanguard. Funny how that works. Today I'd like to touch on a card that has been met with mixed reception: Spectral Duke Dragon.

AUTO [V]: Limit Break (4) (This ability is active if you have four or more damage): [Counter Blast (2) & Retire 3 of your <<Gold Paladin>> rear-guards] When this unit attacks the Vanguard, at the start of that battle's Close Step, you may pay the cost. If you do, Stand this unit, and until end of the turn, this unit loses "Twin Drive!!".

CONT [V]: If you have a card named "Knight of Black Dragon, Vortimer" in your soul, this unit gets Power +1000. 

The spiritual successor to Phantom Blaster Dragon, Duke ends a ride chain and possesses a skill that requires sacrificing your rear-guards. What makes it different? Well, a lot of things! Spectral Duke Dragon's Limit Break takes place during the battle phase, after its own attack. Since you're free to attack in any order you choose, your rear-guards are able to push for damage or whittle down the opponent's hand before they get blown away. That's more economical than Phantom Blaster Dragon, even in the ideal situation where Nemain is used as cannon fodder. To make the comparison even more lopsided, standing Spectral Duke Dragon is the equivalent of gaining at least 10,000 power anyway. There's no critical bonus, but it doesn't matter - the opponent is forced to guard another attack, and you're getting another drive check (card advantage!) that could produce even more power. Best of all? Spectral Duke Dragon doesn't even need to hit in order to stand again. The threat is always there, making him a king of the pressure game. You can throw any and all triggers his way with no risk, too, since the effects are going to remain for his second attack even if your first doesn't manage to go through.

But enough about the card itself; judging in a vacuum is bad. Let's take a look at the deck around it, starting with the bottom of the ride chain.

AUTO: When you ride "Jet Black Vanguard, Vortimer" on this unit, look at up to seven cards from the top of your deck, search for one "Knight of Black Dragon, Vortimer" or one "Spectral Duke Dragon", show it to your opponent, and add it to your hand. Return the remaining cards to the top of your deck, then shuffle your deck. 

AUTO: When you ride a <<Gold Paladin>> other than "Jet Black Vanguard, Vortimer" on this unit, you may call this unit to a rear-guard circle. 

Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer is among the second generation ride chains, in line with Riviere and the upcoming Lox. Riding the matching Grade 1 on it results in a gain of one card a little more than half the time, made even sweeter by the fact that you can choose whichever one you need when the option of both comes up. If you miss the Grade 1, the fight becomes more difficult, but all hope is not lost - you get to keep the Whelp to use as a booster and ultimately a sacrifice whenever Duke manages to arrive.

CONT [V]: If you have a "Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer" in your soul, this unit gets Power +1000. 

AUTO: [Retire 1 of your <<Gold Paladin>> rear-guards] When you ride "Knight of Black Dragon, Vortimer" on this unit and you have "Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer" in your soul, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at up to 2 cards from the top of your deck, choose up to 2 <<Gold Paladin>> units from among them, call them onto separate empty rear-guard circles, and place the rest of the cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.

Jet Black Vanguard, Vortimer stands at a sturdy 8,000 power in the Vanguard circle, and an average 7,000 in the rear-guard. It's nothing to complain about when playing the numbers game. Unlike other decks, though, you'll want to be making at least 1 other call during the turn you ride this card, in preparation for the following turn. It doesn't matter what the card is; so long as it survives, your 1 card turns into 2. There is a slight risk in that you might get hit multiple times with no way to defend yourself when going second, but it's for the greater good.

CONT [V]: If you have a "Jet Black Vanguard, Vortimer" in your soul, this unit gets Power +1000.

AUTO: [Retire one of your <<Gold Paladin>> rear-guards] When you ride "Spectral Duke Dragon" on this unit and you have "Jet Black Vanguard, Vortimer" in your soul, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at up to 2 cards from the top of your deck, choose up to 2 <<Gold Paladin>> units from among them, call them onto separate empty rear-guard circles, and place the rest of the cards at the bottom of your deck in any order. 

Second verse same as the first; Knight of Black Dragon, Vortimer clocks in at a great 10,000 power as a Vanguard, and an acceptable 9,000 power in the rear-guard. Since your Grade 1 Vortimer just turned 1 rear-guard into 2, you're making anywhere from 2-3 attacks this turn without committing much from your hand. Scary. Anything you don't want to keep becomes a sacrifice when you ride Spectral Duke Dragon, or functions as an interceptor. And you know what? The free cards don't even stop here!

AUTO [V/R]: [Counterblast (1)] When this unit's attack hits the vanguard, if this unit is boosted by a <<Gold Paladin>> unit, you may pay the cost, and if you do, look at the top card of your deck, search for up to one <<Gold Paladin>> from among them, call it to an open rearguard circle, and put the rest on the bottom of your deck.

Viviane may be a tad awkward in the Ezel and Garmore-centric Gold Paladin decks that can't do much with randomly called trigger units, but she's right at home in Spectral Duke Dragon's army.

AUTO: [Counterblast (1)] When this unit is placed onto a rear-guard circle from your deck and you have a <<Gold Paladin>> vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at the top card of your deck, search for up to one <<Gold Paladin>> unit, and call it onto an empty rear-guard circle, then return the rest of the cards to the bottom of your deck.

Flash Edge Valkyrie, along with her partner Blade Feather Valkyrie also have no problem churning out dudes with which to attack and fuel Spectral Duke Dragon plays. The duo is fairly luck-based, though, so don't feel obligated to play them if you don't want to.

AUTO [V] [Limit Break (4)] (This ability is active if you have four or more damage): When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets POWER +5000 until end of that battle. 

AUTO: [Counterblast (2)] When this unit is placed on the vanguard circle, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one grade 2 or less <<Gold Paladin>>, call it to rear-guard circle, and shuffle your deck.

And lastly, the backup plan for when things go wrong. Garmore grants stability in even the worst-case scenario of missing your Grade 1 Vortimer, as he can fetch any unit you need to mount an attack (or defense), guaranteed. Offensively, Garmore is about the same as Duke, so you're not completely out of the game while you're waiting for it. He's not a bad end game ride, either, if you somehow managed to run out of counterblasts. Great Silver Wolf, Garmore is to Spectral Duke Dragon as CEO Amaterasu is to the Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi. The two shouldn't be apart.

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Consistency, synergy, explosiveness... all the elements of a winning deck are present, and in time it'll easily be matching or outperforming Riviere and Tsukuyomi in tournament performance, both of which are tier 2 decks as it is. The future is looking good for Spectral Duke Dragon. I definitely wouldn't mind playing it on the side.