Lens of Truth: Pendragon (and other Royal Paladin Grade 3’s)

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I’m flabbergasted. Dumfounded, flummoxed and any other synonym you can think of to describe this event.
So I sent this link to Why Pendragon is OP: http://vmundi.blogspot.ca/2012/06/knight-of-white-dragon-pendragon.html

It was supposed to be a joke, but I was torn when my friends thought it was DEADLY SERIOUS.
I’m not joking.
So now, I have to kill the party and explain why Pendragon is NOT OP.
In fact, that sucks.

First of all, it’s effect:

AUTO 【V】 LB4 : At the start of your main phase, look at the top 5 cards from your deck, search for up to one Grade 3 or higher 《Royal Paladin》and superior ride that card, then shuffle your deck.
AUTO : When this unit is placed on (V), this unit gets +POWER 5000 until the end of this turn.

In Alice’s blog she said how 21k is unguardable. Seriously, any vanguard can do that boosted (and the knowledge of possible triggers).

Boosters

First off, let’s see what 6k units we can use to boost this so-called op unit:

Flash Shield Isolode – haha, no.
Wingal – It’s not a BB
Starlight unicorn – Because we really need these in our deck. Okay, it’s not bad, but it’s not a 6k but rather a 8k in one turn.
Young Pegasus Knight – Didn’t Alice tell you to bring it to the sidelines for 15 billion power? Why is it behind the vanguard?
Protector of airspace, Morganna – Why is it behind the vanguard in the first place?

Swordsman of explosive Flames, Palamedes

Add 1k more and now you have a new contender: Swordsman of the exploding Flames, Palamedes.

AUTO【V/R】: When this unit attacks, if you have two or more grade 3 «Royal Paladin» vanguard and/or rear-guards, this unit gets +POWER3000 until the end of the battle.
This card is truly powerful. It gains 3k if you have 2 or more grade 3 Royal paladins. No other conditions. Add 1k more (8k vanillas that you have 4 of!) and then it hits for 21k, same as Pendragon. I’ll give you even more reason why it’s powerful later.

Ride the Vanguard

Let’s see who has the most power:
Pendragon boosted by an 8k on the first turn – 23k
Palamedes boosted by an 8k all the time – 21k
Alfred with one Margal – 23k
Soul Saver Dragon with +5 to 8k booster: 26k
‘Full power’ Gancelot with 8k booster: 27k
Majesty Lord Blaster with last ability – 32k

Ok, now let’s lower it down a bit, to a normal game:
Pendragon boosted by an 8k after the first turn – 18k
Palamedes boosted by an 7k – 20k
Alfred with full field – 20k
Soul Saver Dragon boosted by a 7k – 20k
Majesty Lord Blaster with 8k – 20k
Blaster Blade and Wingal – 19k

Ouch, Pendragon is so low, even beaten by a blaster blade.

Without anything to boost
Pendragon on the ride: 15k
SSD & Palamedes: 13k
MLB: 12k
Galahad: 11k
Alfred: Well, he can’t boost but his ability kinda makes up for that. you’ll probably credit at least 16k to him.
Everything else, Including Pendragon: 10k and under.

But why have Pendragon attack without boosting? There are tons of ways to get out boosters; this is part swarm deck you know.

In Rearguard

Alone, without boosters:
Pendragon, Alfred & Majesty Lord Blaster – 10k
Galahad: 11k
Palamedes – 13000

Yes, Palamedes is broken like that. Since you need a grade 3 to call this baby out, that fulfills one of the grade 3’s needed to use his effect. But wait! Palamedes itself is a grade 3! That makes him ALWAYS a grade 3 in Rearguard. Wow, make sure to get Palamedes since it will definitely boost Royal Paladin’s power

Okay, now let’s have them boosted by the max power:
Pendragon boosted by an 8k – 18k
Palamedes boosted by an 8k – 21k
Alfred boosted with Lionmane stallion – 20k
Majesty Lord Blaster boosted by Apocalyse Bat – 20k
Blaster Blade and Wingal – 19k

I’m not finished yet! Let’s see which of them can use their abilities:
Pendragon – Nope
Palamedes – Yep!, gain 3k for free and beat anything
Alfred – Of course, bring out support for anything
Blaster Blade: Yes, get rid of anything powerful that the opponent has

This time, there is a clear winner. Pendragon is nothing in Rearguard.

Limit Break!

Now, time for the second effect pendragon:

Hey it’s LB! Alice said right here – – that you need to put LB in all decks!
First, that’s not what she meant. And second, pray you don’t be that trusting, or else you’ll be the next incident of falling off a cliff after following directions on a GPS. And pay a closer look at his effect.

First, you need four damage, and do you REALLY need to take that damage just so you can pull off it’s flashy ride? No. Now let’s see what you can ride:

Alfred: Great, why could you just put four Alfred’s and ride it instead?
MLB: Since you definitely need that extra chance to ride when you have many ways to add it to your hand.
Palamedes: Since Palamede’s effect always works in Rearguard, and it is better there, keep it there.
SSD: Soul Saver Dragon effect is probably the best case right? Well, if you have done the Barkgal setup you will have 5 soul before you rode it anyways, unless your opponent is using a Fimbul Vinter deck. Plus, it happens at the start of your main phase, so you don’t know if your going to get a chance to ride it + there is no difference in the number of RG you have to give the power to.
Lohengrin: Notice how Pendragon’s effect works at the start of the main phase. After you ride Lohengrin the activation timing has missed and therefore you have just done a soul charge. Nice job, you had to sacrifice 4 damage for a SC of one.
Gancelot & Gigantic Charger: OMG I can use it’s skill now! But you could use it anyways! And your not supposed to ride it, a 9k is terrible on offense and defence, and the skills are much better in the hand or on RG.
Galahad: Yes! This is what I need if I miss my ride! Wait, doesn’t your GR2 Search for that already? So why bother? Also, the Galahad line STACKS, and by running Pendragon you ruin your STACK because your SHUFFLING. Not something you want to do.
Pendragon: Back to back Pendragons! No wait! I’m minusing myself every turn!

That’s right, losing power each time by riding. Normally, you’ll ride a grade a turn until you go to grade 3. You get a -1 in hand. But that minus is forced so it can be omitted. Every grade 3 (or another of the same grade) you ride on top minuses your card advantage by one because you don’t need to ride another unit. Crossriding power cards like DOTE or MLB minuses you, but that’s okay since they gain a continuous effect (even on your opponent’s turn) which makes up for that disadvantage. All pendragon has is a ONE TIME USE effect, and it sucks. Plus, you will never, because Pendragon is so awesome, call this unit to RG and instead ride it every single time.

If you want to ride a certain grade 3, PUT THREE OR FOUR OF EACH COPY INTO YOUR DECK! You don’t need to use a fancy effect to get that card out, by probability it will arrive in your hand. Also, the Grade 3 line is already full, Because MLB and Alfred AND Palamedes is absolutely essential.

So deck thinning = deck winning? Not in this case. Getting rid of ONE card in the game is nothing, and that’s what Pendragon does. Gancelot, Akane and other cards thin decks, but they can be used easier, don’t minus, don’t need LB and bring out useful and specific cards. What’s the problem with drawing Grade 3’s? You can call them and use their skills. They are 10k attackers which are great to replace Grade 2’s or place onto an empty field. They can be used for discarding effects like Isolode. They can be boosted for high numbers that propel the opponent into the late game instead of your one thin. With Pendragon, you’ll just keep minusing yourself every turn since he’s useless in RG until you die.

Pendragon Build

Finally, what are you going to run in your miserable Pendragon build?
Alfred, Palamedes and MLB fill up every space in all tournament and metagame deck.
Gancelot & Briggette combine forces to make a deck fit for Morikawa.
Lohengrin and Soul Saver Dragon are a perfect match, and Galahad can fit in there.
Garmeaux and whatever is left can do so better without Pendragon.

Sorry, Pendragon, there isn’t any room for you, Vanguard or Rearguard.

The Final Chance

The final try that my community tried to pull was it’s rarity.
Pendragon is RR, the others are RRR. That means it’s easier to acquire.

Two things wrong with that.

  1. There are cheaper RP Decks. If you want to be frugal, then get a Gancelot & Bridgette build, by far better then Pendragon(and trolly as well). The Galahad line is RR and under, making it under the radar for your choice. Heck, Garmeaux can be made a dime a dozen since there is only 1 RR and 1 R. So, your money is worth more elsewhere.
  2. The stupid hype of the so called Pendragon make people think it’s OP. If you get one, sell it off and get profit. It’s not worth any more then $4 in reality, and there are better cards at $4.

So there you have it. I hope you now understand that article was just a joke. If anything, Pendragon is the joke here. Too bad I ruined your conception of the joke, but you need to know. There is NO reason to run Pendragon, other to fool yourself into thinking it’s good. A trial RP deck can beat you day and night.

If you want a further read, you can take a look at Alice’s not so amusing article,
why Barkgal is balanced: http://vmundi.blogspot.ca/2012/06/barcgal-is-not-broken.html