Greetings traveler, and welcome to Lv.1 Onion Knight: The FFTCG blog that failed the test to become both a Ninja and a Sage, and is totally not bitter about it at all.
Dreamlike Oceans is just around the corner, and with a new set comes new community spoilers. I actually wasn't sure if this would be happening due to a shakeup at SE's team late last year, but once again I've been summoned from the onion patch to reveal a new card to you fine folks. So without further ado, I'm happy to reveal Edge (28-041C)!
So right off the bat, the Back Attack keyword is one that we don't see very often in the FFTCG. As of the time of me writing this, of the 4000+ cards in the game, only 29 of them have Back Attack. Being able to play a card during your opponent's turn is pretty cool and can lead to some tricky plays. Ideally, you'd probably want to wait until you hit Damage 5 so that he deals 8K on entry and removes something on your opponent's field while adding a surprise Forward to your own. Edge's Damage 5 effect also increases the combat damage Edge can do on block, so Edge can effectively trade with Forwards up to 11K power.
Being a Category IV Forward also gives this card a good amount of solid support. The new Rydia Legend specifically would be helpful to pair with Edge. Since you'd most likely play Edge on your opponent's turn with his Back Attack effect, you now have a surprise 9K power body on the field. Her protection effect can help you maintain your board size if your opponent tries to hit Edge with a targeted effect, so once it shifts back to your turn, you can go on the offensive.
Category IV is typically not a deck that requires specific numbers to be strong, but the ability to play out a Forward on your opponent's turn plays nicely with Ceodore. Since you'd need two other Forwards in addition to Ceodore to use his break effect, playing Edge on your opponent's turn at Damage 5 can help you eliminate two of your Opponent's Characters. Then once your Attack phase begins, you can reactivate your Cat IV Forwards and push for damage. You can further pair it with cards like Hooded Man (11-054R) to make sure you have blockers ready at the end of your turn.
Last for Category IV support is the Opus 20 Water Cecil. If you wanted to go with a Cat IV crystal build, playing Edge with Back Attack on your opponent's turn could be a surprising way to generate an extra crystal to use Cecil's buff and protection effect. As for other decks outside of Category IV, where could this new Edge go? You might be tempted to include him in a Ninja build, since it includes a lot of Cat IV characters anyway like the Eblan Four. However, I would advise against it.
The Ninja deck is very near and dear to my heart, being a pretty fun and flexible build even up to the modern day. The problem is, unfortunately, name clash. The H Edge from way back in Opus XI is still, in my opinion, pretty irreplaceable. Making all of your Ninjas cost one less is already absurdly strong support that even the likes of Knights and Warriors don't have access to, but add in the fact that Edge enables them to be played with any element and builds up a constant stream of ping damage you can use to remove targets with, and I can't see the deck functioning as well without it. Of course, you could also argue that the Opus XI Edge is an early game card, and could use the new Dreamlike Oceans Edge as a late game card. It does, after all, require you to be at Damage 5 to get the most out of playing him. While that is true, I would say late game for Ninjas, you'd likely rather play the Edge Limit Break card from your side deck. Having all of your Ninjas do 7k damage on swing is a lot more impactful than one instance of 8k damage, and I'd rather not have to worry about the new Edge clogging up the board when I want to LB.
Category DFF could be a fun home for the new Edge though. Similar to the Water Cecil tech mentioned earlier, playing Edge with Back Attack gives you a spare crystal via Warrior of Light, and Cecil buffs him to 9K power. He's easily searchable with Bartz, and can be used as a bluff to deter attacks if your opponents know you have a damage dealing Back Attack card in your hand. My one wish is that you had some way of giving Edge First Strike so playing him out earlier than Damage 5 didn't feel so bad, but sadly the Wind Dragoon Backup specifies that you can only use its effect on your turn. You could use Lancer I guess, but I'm pretty sure nobody is using that card outside of starter decks.
0 comments:
Post a Comment