LINK JOKER HAS ARRIVED! Plus some other Spoilers As-Seen-On-TV

So there hasn't been too much action on the Vanguard front since the release of "House of Amon" and Dungaree Unlimited, but the TV show has given us a few gems to look at, revealing some of the absolutely broken cards in our near future. It has also forced Bushiroad to finally officially name the clan "Link Joker," and to reveal the mysterious "Lock" skill.

AUHTOR'S NOTE: I find it hilarious that they introduced Lock the episode AFTER a card with lock had already been played (by this I mean Vowing Saber Reverse). But you'll understand soon enough.

First and Foremost, you hungry bastards! I give you LINK JOKER!

Star Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon
<<Link Joker>>
Grade 3 | 11,000 Power

AUTO (LB4) (VG) When a <<Link Joker>> rides this unit, choose one of your opponent's rearguard in the front row, and one of their rearguards in the back row, and Lock them. Then choose one of your Vanguards, it gains 10,000 Power until the end of this turn.
(Locked units are turned face down and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of their owner's turn.)
AUTO (VG) When this unit attacks a VG, it gains +2000 Power until the end of that battle.
CONT (VG/RG) Lord




Okay! So a couple things worth noting. 1. Link Joker is of Star Gate, as they are invaders from the outer cosmos. This puts them in concert with clans like Nova Grapplers and Dimension Police. 2. Lock is OP. A Card that is locked fully takes up its zone, but cannot do anything. It does not stand, can't attack, can't intercept, and cannot be retired for a fresh unit. It blocks the circle and keeps it blocked. This not only keeps the opponent from having field presence, it can downright destroy many builds like Majesty Lord, who needs key RG to function. This is like MegaColony on steroids.

Now, like most trial decks of this season, the boss 1-of card is a Break Ride. This break ride is one of the very few ways to lock cards. Most of Link Joker's revealed set-up is pretty vanilla (8Ks, 10Ks, CB2 draws, etc.), so I'm going to focus on what sets them apart, and what can lock you. I'll go over their list of clones further down.



Star Vader, Mobius Breath Dragon
<<Link Joker>>
Grade 2 | 9,000 Power

AUTO (VG) When this unit's attack hits a VG, choose 1 of your opponent's RG, and Lock it.
(Locked units are turned face down and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of their owner's turn.)









So here is the interesting card, Mobius Breath. Its ability ONLY exists on the VG Circle, which means early game guarding is going to become a thing, destabilizing the normal "Gain LB, then expend hand". Some decks may counter this by playing no RG until the opponent reaches grade 3, but in some decks they can't afford to do that, (like Spike Brothers, Gold Paladin, or Aqua Force) because early rush is key in their attacks. I'm eager to see this unit hit the field, but I am getting way tired of Lock having no cost whatsoever, and we are only two cards in...

However, those are the ONLY two cards in the Starter deck that can Lock an opponent, and both are given as 1-off in the deck. So your opponent will need to expend mucho denero to gain the power they need to make this consistent. Also in Trial Deck 11: Star Vader Invasion, are clones of these popular cards:

Grade 1 8K Vanilla (Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star)
Grade 2 10K Vanilla (Soaring Star Vader, Krypton)
-- I find it interesting that their Grade 1 Vanilla is not of the Star Vader name, meaning new archetypes will be planned in the future that also use him.

Royal Paladin's "Kay" Clone (Demonic Bullet Star Vader, Neon)
Royal Paladin's "Bedivere" Clone (Unrivaled Star Vader, Radon)
-- Both contain the "If your vanguard has ___ in its name, when this unit attacks, +3K" effect. This makes Neon a 10K when it swings, and Radon a 12K when it swings. Good cards in general for any clan to have.

Grade 1 CB1 +1000 Power (Pursuit Star Vader, Fermium)
Grade 3 CB1 +3000 Power (___ Star Vader, Francium) [Name not 100% Confirmed]
Grade 3 with LB +5000 on VG, and +2000 on RG (Twilight Baron)

And that is almost the entire deck. The whole trigger line up (Crit, Stand, Heal, Draw) are simply Vanilla triggers with 5K power. The starter has not been revealed, but the fandom speculates a basic 6K starter, or a "CB1 search top 5 for Grade 3" starter.

In addition to their Trial Deck, Link Joker received a second LB Grade 3 as a prooomoooo. His lock actually costs something, but how would you like to lock their super boosters every turn? Hm?

Star Vader, Dark Band Dragon
<<Link Joker>>
Grade 3 | 10,000 Power

ACT (LB4) (VG) [CB1 card with "Star Vader" in its name] Choose one of your opponent's RG in the back row, and Lock it.
(Locked units are turned face down and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of their owner's turn.)
AUTO (VG) When this unit attacks, if you have more RG than your opponent, this unit gains +3000 until the end of that battle.








But Link Joker isn't done! BT12 is all about Link Joker's domination of other clans, so here is the only confirmed card for Set 12: Their REAL starter.

Star Vader, Dust Tail Unicorn
<<Link Joker>>
Grade 0 | 5,000 Power


AUTO Forerunner (When a Link Joker rides this unit, call it to RG)
ACT (RG) [CB1 & Put this unit into Soul] If you have a <<Link Joker>> VG and your opponent has 1 or more Locked units on the field, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's RG and Lock it.
(Locked units are turned face down and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of their owner's turn.)





See? Real Starter. Simply by locking a unit with your break-ride, you can lock a bonus unit. That means in one turn you can lock 3 units your opponent controls. They will have a terrible following turn, possibly buying you the time to win.

But enough about Link Joker. Time to talk about other fun cards! Like Shadow Paladins! If you choose to make Shadow Paladins more defensive, you now have a card that can Kagero at your opponent's RGs simply by having them attack you. Check HER out.

Witch of the Cursed Charms, Eden
<<Shadow Paladin>>
Grade 3 | 10,000 Power

AUTO (LB4) (VG) [CB2, and retire 2 <<Shadow Paladin>> RG] At the BEGINNING of the battle step in which this unit is attacked, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's RG that is not attack or boosting, and retire it.
AUTO (VG) When this unit attacks a VG, it gains +3000 Power until the end of that battle.







See? DEFENSE! The whole idea behind this card is that you opponent MUST choose who attacks first very carefully. If they play stands, and lead with a RG, you'll snipe their super booster from behind the VG. If  they lead with the VG, you can simply destroy one of their attacking RG and reduce their number of attacks. You'll already be in the battle phase, so they can't play anything new to hurt you. This card takes some considerable foresight to play though. You have to know what you plan to do far enough in advance that you can play RG on your turn, fully anticipating who your opponent will attack with first, and who needs to be sniped to keep you alive. Also, since you can retire any of your RG, you could retire some front rows, and funnel all attacks at your VG, if you so choose to. It'll remove those pesky "my 9K will attack your 9K" kind of attacks.

But not just Shadow Pallys got some new cards lately. Meet Dark Irregular's new boo, and a Grade 1 too! Both of these are NOT "House of Amon" cards, and can be played in any DI deck.



Master of Fifth Element
<<Dark Irregular>>
Grade 3 | 10,000 Power

CONT (LB4) (VG) DURING YOUR TURN, if the number of <<Dark Irregular>> in soul is ten or more, all of your <<Dark Irregular>> get Power +3000.
AUTO (VG) [CB1] When this units attack hits a VG, you may pay the cost. If you do, Soulcharge 3.









This card would be spectacular to ride on top of Dantalion, to give your entire field exponential power, and to create a Final Turn! scenario. The best part is that Fifth Element's limit break requires no cost. Once you get your soul, your whole field is boosted, guaranteeing minimum rows of 18K, and topping out at 26K. Crossrides? No problem! Don't forget, Fifth Element boosts himself too, so all is good. He also functions as a super Emblem Master, which fits the art style. But that's not all folks! Continuing to make your DI decks more consistent, is this beautiful fella, Dimension Creeper!


Dimension Creeper
<<Dark Irregular>>
Grade 1 | 7,000 Power

[UNCONFIRMED EFFECT] ACT [Soul] [Send this card to the drop zone] When this card is in soul, you may pay the cost, if you do, Soulcharge 2.






This effect is not 100% confirmed, but that is how the card work in the TV series, and it has never lied to us yet. That makes this card good for a number of reasons. It can combo off of many DI soulcharging efforts (Greedy Hand, Vermillion GateKeeper, Hysteric Shirley, Alluring Succubus, Yellow Bolt, etc.). It can combo off itself! It can deck thin and place triggers closer to the top, and it makes builds more consistent. This is just ONE SCENARIO he would be good in:

Blade Wing Reijy Deck. You are at 12 Soul. Need 15. You use Greedy Hand's skill. He goes into Soul, 13. He picks this guy out of the deck, 14. Then you immediately soulblast him (Back to 13), and soulcharge 2 (15). Now Reijy is primed for battle. You can also save him in soul during a deck like Reijy or Fifth Element, using him like a surprise attack. The opponent will think you are a couple cards short of your effect, and then BAM! out of nowhere, this guy activates your skills, and your opponent has to think on their feet to guard you. Psychological warfare is good.

But enough about DI, even though I love you. Gold Paladin did show us two new cards, one of which is BROKEN! The TV showed us exactly how and why, but even IT didn't go as far into this card as possible. Making his THIRD card game appearance (and second appearance as Gold Paladin Alone), I give you, Garmore.

Wolf Fang Liberator, Garmore
<<Gold Paladin>>
Grade 3 | 11,000 Power


ACT (LB4) (VG) [CB3 cards with Liberator in their names] Look at the top card of your deck, choose up to 1 <<Gold Paladin>> among them, and call it to an OPEN RG. Place the rest on the bottom of your deck. If a unit was called by this effect, and you have any remaining OPEN RG, you may use this effect again without paying the cost.
AUTO (VG) [Place one of your RG with "Liberator" in its name on the bottom of your deck] When this unit attacks a VG, you may pay the cost, if you do, this unit gains +4,000 Power until the end of that battle.
CONT (VG/RG) Lord


Okay. So Kagero Counter? Check. Better than Blonde Ezel? Check. Really, the only way this card gets more broken is if it would've had a "+Power to those RG" effect, or if Bunnies get reprinted as Gold Paladins (which they will eventually). Just imagine now, you superior call a Lop Ear, get to superior call for free, and then superior call more units. The potential for shenanigans is ridiculous. Also deck-stacking. With enough effort, you could pull a Tsukuyomi type effect.

Now, the next card I'm going to display, has gotten some hate over the years. He was even banned as a starter. But now he's back, gold, and shiny. And he has bunny powers.


Barcgal Liberator
<<Gold Paladin>>
Grade 1 | 7,000 Power

AUTO (RG) When this unit boosts "Blaster Blade Liberator" and the attack successfully hits a VG, look at the top three cards of your deck, choose up to 1 "Liberator" among them, and call it to RG in REST. Place the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order.









Now, this card has no cost, but a lot of constraints, so I don't see it getting played too much either. It MUST boost Blaster Blade, gets no bonus to do so, and they have to hit VG with a combined total power of only 16,000. Thats not even scratching Crossrides, and a 10K foils the plan. Add that the card needs to get called in Rest, and this cards usefulness is pretty much gone. Too many caveats, Bushiroad. Thanks for ruining Barcgal......again.

Now, last but not least, REVERSE CARDS! One of Link Joker's goals this season in the anime, is to take over other clans and make them work for Link Joker. They do this by "Reversing" a clan's VG. These cards are very powerful, usually appear in the form of a crossride, and involve locking your own units to do effects.  So far we have the names (but not effects) of two:

Demon Marquis, Amon "Reverse"
Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier "Reverse"

And the full card of one. Here he is!


Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon "Reverse"
<<Narukami>>
Grade 3 | 11,000 Power


ACT (LB4) (VG) [CB2 and Choose two of your RG and Lock them] Your opponent chooses two of their RG and retires them. This unit gains +10,000 Power until the end of the turn.
CONT (VG) If "Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon" is in the soul, this unit gets +2000 Power.
CONT (VG/RG) Lord






That's right! CROSS BREAK RIDE!!!! This card is scary, because if you break ride correctly, Vowing Sword is going to eliminate one of the RG your opponent has. Then this car (by paying 2 and locking 2) can force you to retire two more. This means three RG have gone by the wayside, and Vowing Saber-R is now at +20,000 Power. This is a problem, since as a Crossride, that is 33,000. He can take your without a booster, and he probably locked it to use his own skill. Locking him DOESN'T HURT HIM, because locked cards unflip at the end of their owner's turn. So there are no negative effects when you draw a card. His field just returns to normal. Good luck!


And that is mostly it. In all the confusion, Aqua Force received a Promo Damage-Unflipper, which can be broken if combined with Last Card, Revonn, and thats bout everything. See you when they finally tell us what those other Reversed Cards do! Byeeee!