Ancient Dragons: Driving Your Opponents to Extinction

History

Ever since the dawn of the game, Tachikaze has always been a Tier 2, under-appreciated and under supported clan that most players just pass over in favor of Gold Paladins, Narukami, or the ridiculously over-supported Megacolony. While I myself am fiercely loyal to the clan, I can't really blame them for not giving these dinosaurs a second glance. For the majority of their existence in the game, they have been severely lacking in support. Originally introduced in Set 1: Descent of the King of Knights, like most clans in the game, they received a couple cards to serve as a "teaser" for sets to come. They received a couple more in Set 2: Onslaught of Dragon Souls, but it wasn't until Set 3: Demonic Lord Invasion that they were given a trigger lineup, making an actual Tachikaze deck possible.

In this early period their boss card, Tyrant Deathrex, was splashed in quite a few decks, such as Kagero, for his ability to gain 5,000 Power for free, albeit at the cost of having to retire a Rear Guard if he hit. As Kagero and other decks received more support through the next sets and Trial Decks, his use in those decks dwindled and eventually fell out altogether. With the introduction of Tachikaze triggers in Set 3, and the ability to make an entire deck composed solely of their clan, their use increased slightly, but they never truly saw the light of play, due to the lack of 7,000 Power boosters and forcing players to use very underwhelming, and often times bad, cards to keep the deck composure pure. They were further overshadowed by the release of Shadow Paladins in the following set, Eclipse of Illusory Shadows, which was already a more supported deck. The release of Crossrides and Majesty Lord Blaster in Set 5: Awakening of Twin Blades, completely altering the meta game, sealed the fate of Tachikaze. The introduction of the Limit Break mechanic in Set 6: Breaker of Limits further sent them down the rabbit hole, establishing the norm of "+5,000 Power Limit Breakers," the one factor making Tyrant Deathrex a unique unit.

Then along came Set 8: Blue Storm Armada, introducing a plethora of support for Tachikaze. The big name-cards this set brought were Destruction Dragon Dark Rex and Army Dragon Raptor Colonel, two new bosses for the deck. Dark Rex served as an addition to the old Deathrex build, giving it a true final turn and advantage-generating card. Raptor Colonel came with a Ride Chain, which in and of itself created advantage, and his skill allowed for huge late game pushes.

Still, while these cards brought Tachikaze in-line with the current meta, the clan still didn't shine. For you Yu-Gi-Oh natives, it would have been a "Solid Tier 2 deck." Now able to reasonably compete with the newer clans and support, they failed to receive anything "broken" or "overpowered" like many players (myself included) would have liked.

Now we bring ourselves to Set 11: Sealed Dragons Unleashed. Following the recent trend of Set 10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights, this set introduced numerous "Archetypes" for the included clans. Those of you who come from Yu-Gi-Oh will know what that means, but for those of you who don't, an archetype is a set of cards that share a similar name, and have skills that, instead of requiring a specific clan, instead require a "archetype name" card. For Tachikaze, they received the "Ancient Dragon" archetype. Like the rest of the clan, the Ancient Dragons focus on retiring your own Rear Guards to gain advantage. Unlike the rest of the clan, however, they do this in a far more efficient manner. To truly compare this archetype, (or sub-type, or sub-clan, as some people call them. I don't discriminate with my name-calling) let's compare some of the new "Ancient Dragon" cards with older Tachikaze cards.

Card Vs. Card: A not-so jurrastic comparison

Ancient Dragon, Iguano Corg

"[AUTO][Counterblast 1] When this unit is placed in the Drop Zone from (RC), if you have an "Ancient Dragon" Vanguard,  you may pay the cost. If you do, call this card to (RC)."

At first glance, this is a fairly standard skill for Tachikaze. It is strikingly similar to a card they've had since their release, "Winged Dragon Skyptero," who is functionally similar. The only difference is that Iguano Corg requires an "Ancient Dragon" Vanguard, and thus cannot be splashed into any Tachikaze deck. However, as a general rule, the more specified a card is, the better it can do its job. To really show how Iguano Corg shines, we should look at yet another card in the Tachikaze arsenal, or rather, a series of cards: The Brachio Series.

"Supply Dragon, Brachioporter" is a Grade 1, 5000 Power unit. "Carrier Dragon, Brachiocarrier" is a Grade 2, 7000 Power unit. "Citadel Dragon, Brachiocastle" is a Grade 3, 9000 Power unit. These three cards form a series with each other, in which they call each other from the deck when retired. When you retire Brachiporter, the Grade 1, you can Counterblast 1 and call Brachiocarrier, the Grade 2. When that unit is retired, you may pay the same cost and call Brachiocastle, the Grade 3. When he gets retired, you can pay the same cost and call Brachioporter to start the cycle over again.

Since a lot of Tachikaze retire during the battle phase, the basic idea behind those units was to give the clan a way to capitalize off of that. However, in practice, the Brachio units are completely terrible. They were introduced in Set 8: Blue Storm Armada, alongside Dark Rex and Raptor Colonel. Both of those units have mass-retire skills (3 units and 2 units, respectively), so the idea behind the Brachio series was to place 2 of them in a column to retire for the above units' skills, then use their replacement skills to call another column to attack with. Solid in theory, but it didn't quite live up to the expectations in reality (much like numerous other cards in this game). A column of Brachiporter and Brachiocarrier would be a 12000 Power column, a horribly pitiful powerline barely stronger than having a column of 2 triggers. Retiring this column would allow you to call Brachiocarrier and Brachiocastle, a column of a Grade 2 and Grade 3, which is just bad, unless you have holes in your field, which is also bad.

A column of Brachioporter and Brachicastle would be 14000 Power, which is still terribly pitiful, but at least it would call Brachioporter and Brachiocarrier when it is retired, which is a column that can actually attack, unlike in the first scenario. It is still a 12000 Power column, though, which is just as bad as it was a paragraph ago. If you're thinking "Oh, it doesn't matter if it's weak, it's still an extra attack that will draw extra shield from the opponent," then I encourage you to stop thinking like that. That's a 12,000 or 14,000 Powerline you've had on the field for multiple turns already. That's a 5,000 Power guard (if that) from the opponent to block, assuming they don't suck. You'll draw an extra 5,000 shield from the opponent during the turn you used their replacement skills, but you've only been forcing 5000 shield every turn with those attacks. Generally, if you had a good powerline, you would be forcing 10,000 shield each turn. That one turn of gimmicky goodness forced out as much shield as one turn of any other deck. And the horror only exponentially increases from there.

Iguano Corg is the love child of the Brachio family and Skyptero. However, he was taken from his parents at a young age, put in a boarding school, and adopted by a very rich and powerful family, making him successful in life. Using this success, he became what we know him to be today. At 7000 Power, he's the best possible booster you can have while still containing a skill. Unlike Skyptero, who returns to your hand when he's retired, Iguano will come charging back into the battle field. Why is this important? Because if/when you retire him in the battle phase, he will return to the field standing, ready to boost again. If you're short on boosters, you can use some retiring skill to boost with him, retire him, then boost another card with him (And yes, this is a very possible AND plausible combination). They must have taught him Economics at that fancy boarding school, because Iguano is a VERY efficient dude.

Ancient Dragon, Baby Rex

If Iguano Corg was the upgraded version of Skyptero, then Baby Rex is the new version of Dragon Egg, the deck's previous Starting Vanguard. And, for the same reasons, he's a superior version of his previous counterpart. Baby Rex's skill is as follows: "[AUTO][R]: [Counterblast 1] When this card on (RC) is placed in your Drop Zone, and you have an "Ancient Dragon" Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to 1 "Ancient Dragon, Tyranno Legend" and call it to (RC), then shuffle your deck. We'll get to who Tyranno Legend is later, so for now let's talk about why Baby Rex is one awesome trucker.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Dragon Egg, he's a 4000 Power Starting Vanguard who Pioneers when you ride him and, when you retire him, you can Counterblast 1 to return him to your hand. Essentially a Grade 0 version of Skyptero you always have. However, like Skyptero, he only returns to your hand, so you can't make much use of him during the Battle Phase. Baby Rex here remedies that in the same manner Iguano Corg remedies Skyptero's lacklusterness. He is also a Pioneer, but has 1000 more power, clocking in at 5000. That may seem miniscule, but 5000 power is a 1-stage increase in guard (requires 5000 more shield to block, as shields only come in increments of 5000), which is always good.

He is part 2 to the 2-part reason why Ancient Dragons succeeded where the other Tachikaze decks failed (Iguano Corg is part 1). He is a true, powerful way to call new units during the battle phase. No need for that Brachio nonsense, we have this little egg, who will hatch and grow into a mighty dinosaur that paves the way for our victory! Unlike Iguano Corg, Baby Rex is a 1-time use, so you need to save him for a crucial moment, but even if you don't, he can still pack a big punch. Heck, you can even use him early game to superior call a Grade 3 attacker while the opponent is still sitting on their noobish 6000 Power Grade 1 Vanguard. You will make your opponent soil their pants on top of taking an additional damage.

Ancient Dragon, Tyranno Legend

If Baby Rex was part 2 of the reason why Ancient Dragons rock, then this guy is part 2.5. He is the brand new boss we got in Set 11: Sealed Dragons Unleashed. Sporting a mouth-watering 11000 Base Power, he is the first of his kind in Tachikaze. Raptor Colonel could become an 11000 base, but only if the Grade 2 Raptor Captain was in the soul. Which would you rather have; a possible 11000, or an always-11000, who is also 11000 in the Rear Guard? I thought so.

As mentioned above in the Baby Rex section, Tyranno Legend can be called using the new starter's skill, making for a great beatstick early game, or an able finisher in late. However, it is when he is on the Vanguard circle that he truly shines.

His impressive skill reads "[AUTO][V]: [Retire 3 "Ancient Dragon" Rear Guards] When this unit attacks, you may pay the cost. If you do, this unit gains 10000 Power and +1 Critical until the end of that battle.

[ACT][V]: [Counterblast 2 - "Ancient Dragon" Cards] This unit gains 5000 Power until the end of the turn.

[CONT][V/R]: Lord"

I already know your first impression: This guy is Phantom Blaster Dragon. If that wasn't your first impression, then your first impression was wrong. But your assumption that this guy is Phantom Blaster Dragon is also wrong. Because he isn't. Dragons are lame; Dinosaurs are cool. There are indeed some similarities between his skill and Phantom Blaster Dragon's (PBD from here on, because typing Phantom Blaster Dragon is boring), although there are some stark differences that truly separate the cards. For one, PBD has a cost of 2 Counterblasts which, in Tachikaze, would just be unreasonable. There is a rather apparent trend in all Tachikaze bosses in that their skills don't cost anything counterblast-wise (aside from Raptor Colonel, but nobody likes him anyway), simply because all of your counterblasts would be diverted to recovering the units you retired. Retire 3 for this guy? Counterblast 3 to re-call all 3 Iguano Corgs. The additional 10000 Power and Critical let you really pack a punch when you're swinging. That's a 21000 Power swing, with the ability to kill the opponent at 4 damage. It becomes 26000 Power if you use Tyranno's second skill, but with the huge counterblast usage the deck has, there's rarely a situation that you could use it.

The real reason this guy is good, though, is because of Iguano Corg (go figure) and Baby rex. If you hold out on retiring Baby Rex until your big final turn push, you can feed him to Tyranno Legend for his Limit Break, alongside Iguano Corg and some other random card. Let the random die, then use the skills of Baby Rex and Iguano Corg to replace the column you just retired. That's 4 fully-powered attacks in one turn! I'd like to see PBD even attempt to make that happen.

Ancient Dragon, Spino Driver

The long-awaited Break Ride for Tachikaze. In my modest opinion, it is potentially one of the most powerful and downright best Break Rides to date. Not only does it syngerize with the deck incredibly well, but the plethora of abilities it gives are out of this era! It reads: "[AUTO][Limit Break 4][Retire 2 of your Tachikaze Rear Guards] When a Tachikaze rides this unit, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw 2 cards, choose one of your Vanguards, and that unit gains 10000 Power and +1 critical until the end of the turn." On top of the generic LORD and the 13000 attacking capability.

The cool thing about Spino Driver is that he can go in any Tachikaze deck. He doesn't need an Ancient Dragon to ride him, so you can throw Raptor Colonel, Dark Rex, or even Deathrex on him. On top of that, he can retire any Tachikaze for his skill, not just Ancient Dragons. That means Skyptero hasn't lost all of his use just yet.

Essentially, this guy says "Ride a Tachikaze, draw 2 cards, then give your Vanguard 10000 Power and a critical." Since we have Iguano Corg and Skyptero, the retire 2 cost is essentially meaningless, serving as the epitome of this deck's focus at work. You burn up 2 counterblasts (or you can just let one of your units die, but then you don't get to plus), but it's well worth it, and you'd still have 3 left afterwards. You can easily support a Spino Driver Break Ride AND Tyranno Legend Limit Break in a single game, and still have counterblasts to spare. A lot of decks can't really support Break Rides, or tend to operate a bit more smoothly without them, but Spino Driver is definitely a staple in any Ancient Dragon deck, and I would highly recommend testing him in any other variant of the deck you can.

Now, don't get me wrong, the other variants of the deck haven't been invalidated by Ancient Dragons. Not in the slightest. However, I strongly believe that Ancient Dragons are the best deck variant up until now, and that they are the future of the clan. Extensive playtesting has shown they outperform the other variants of the deck easily, and their raw power and advantage gaining capabilities are unrivaled by anything else in the card pool, and work far more efficiently than even other clans with similar mechanics, such as Great Nature and Shadow Paladins. When Set 11: Sealed Dragons Unleashed hits the states, be sure to watch out for these dangerous dino's!