Ironics with Harmonics: when the clan that made you quit Vanguard once is now one of your favourites.
I remember almost having the cash to buy cards for the deck that would have been my favourite: Aqua Force. Considering my funds back then, that was to be quite an achievement. Then lock ruined everything for me, and I’m not afraid to admit I ragequit the game. Thanks, Link Joker.
Logically, I was clenching up when Link Joker was first to be announced in standard format. I was really enjoying the reboot, did I really have to quit again? Turns out I didn’t. Not only did lock not come back, I felt like Deletors provided such a unique playing style, especially for a force clan, that I picked up the deck myself.
Then lock did come back. Again, clenching at first. I do not enjoy such toxic mechanics, even if I had the opportunity to now play it myself. Turns out it didn’t. I was glad to also pick up this deck, with one of the coolest units I had ever seen: Messiah.
I got the cards the day before a shop challenge. Not being a huge fan of the online alternatives to the cardboard, I didn’t test and just threw a list together. Then I went on to achieve my best result in Vanguard so far: top 4. Incidentally, the other top 4 player was Harth, who I later played the match for third place against, and ultimately that led to me joining the team.
One of my best friends in the scene, Varian, also plays Link Joker. Before we both joined CTM, we already talked lots and lots about our different approaches to Deletors, Brandt and Messiah. Link Joker has so many strange, interesting tech cards that we always played the deck vastly differently. That’s an uncommon occurrence in standard Vanguard, but always a good one in any card game. Also, the most fun I had in any game of Vanguard was playing Varian in a Brandt mirror match at locals. The excitement triggers bring to the game went through the roof… but of course, not in the usual way!
Needless to say, after lots of ups and downs, Link Joker has come to mean a lot to me within Vanguard. It has been a while since I wrote my Genesis articles. Now that Alter Ego Messiah has been out for a couple of weeks, I felt like writing a profile again!
The Parts
Silverdust Blaze has been a very good set, really setting a new standard for standard. Alter Ego’s deck consists almost entirely of cards from this set, and I think most choices are logical. The fun in choosing the final cards comes from the previous set with Link Joker, with the big question being: will Harmonics Messiah, the card I enjoyed so much, still have a place here? Let’s have a look at my list.
4x Alter Ego Messiah [3]
As usual,
the boss needs to be maxed out. Duh!
The first thing when looking at this card is the comparison to Harmonics. That card led to a hard turn 4 deck, because of the G3 in soul requirement. You could add one by chance with Blast Monk Of The Thundering Foot, but… yeah. By chance. Within its own format, Harmonics at turn 4 was powerful enough, providing ample offensive power on 5 attacks, the first force clan to pretend it’s accel, while drawing very well for defense. But, as I mentioned, the meta nowadays has sped up way too much.
This is where Alter Ego comes in. It provides speed in creating a turn 3 deck instead. However, the most important thing speed-wise is the fact that it unlocks cards on attack instead of after the battle. Harmonics usually wasted triggers when its attack was perfect guarded. That is no longer the case. While the power Alter Ego provides unlocking already big units makes that you can pick force II, I usually still go force I. Being able to give critical triggers to rear-guards is a big factor for that choice.
The downside to Alter Ego is that it doesn’t provide the insane draw power Harmonics did. To make up for that, we can also pretend to be Granblue and call from the drop zone. Aside from certain cards requiring to be locked onto the field to stay on the field, this is a nice and abusable plus. Remember that you soul blast first, so you can pick a card from your soul to lock. Might even want to consider that while riding up to G3!
A very consistent card that lets you attack 5 times with quite large powers on turn 3. Yes, I’ll take that.
3x Clear Frame “Whirling Wash Of Curse Cleansing” (order) [3]
Come on, Bushiroad! This is a clan-specific order and you know it!
The downside to locking cards in your main phase and the timing of the Messiahs, is that you would have to make either awkward fields or have only 4 attacks. This card lets you have 5 attacks anyway, and then it replaces itself in your hand to boot. I’ve been tampering with its count in my deck for a while, though. Order cards can only be played once a turn, they’re useless in any other situation and this can only be used later in the game, so you don’t want to see it too early. To me, the sweet spot has been 3. Playing 2 to 4 is all fine, but definitely run this if you value consistency in your five-attack plan. Which, trust me, you do.
4x Genesis Machine Deity, Volkogode [4]
When it comes to this card, I have seen different counts played as well. Why would you ever run less than 4 of such a powerhouse, though?
I feel like Alter Ego steals the show, while Volkogode has been the chump doing all the preparations behind the scenes. Multi-attacking is only as good as the units attacking allow it to be, and with 30k, this card is the best by far to swing twice with. Best of all, since it locks itself after attacking, it accounts for itself swinging twice. While Alter Ego hands out 10k to rear-guards like candy, make your vanguard a threat too by returning the 10k favor on attacks 1 and/or 2 with this card. Since the force markers have way more value on RC, because you’ll use them twice there, Messiah itself tends to stay on the weak side.
We are able to lock cards as early as turn 1, swinging this bad boy on turn 2 against a… maybe 10k vanguard? Ouch. In these cases, you’ll want to keep this card in hand. If you do not draw into the cards that let you lock early after attacking, be creative in getting this into the drop zone to fetch with Alter Ego, like discarding for a perfect guard. Worst case scenario, just guard with it! I’ve seen multiple faces of people who don’t know the deck well contort very funnily, when you dead serious throw down a 0 shield guard and look them in the eye, as if you’re stopping their attack somehow.
You might feel like running 4 of this will clog your hand, but with the list I ended up with and the plethora of ways to ‘get rid’ of it, you’ll have no issues.
4x Lady Fencer Of Matter Transmission [2]
Honestly, this card is not very interesting, as there is only one use for it: enabling five attacks as well. Like Volkogode, it locks itself, so Alter Ego can unlock it again… and that’s it. However, even when comparing 15k to 30k, there’s no doubt only 4 self-lockers is not enough. You will not have 2 Volkogode on the front row all the time. Alter Ego’s restriction of choosing two different names, your opponent’s desire to retire it or the overreliance on the order card will see to that. Especially on the last point, Lady Fencer does has an advantage over Volkogode, as you can simply call her and she’s good to go.
4x Counterkill Strike, Gastorur [2]
Now, this is a very important card. Gastorur is your main G2 ride target and one of the cards to set up Volkogode ahead of time. The Harmonics Messiah deck was very counterblast reliant (as well as soul!), but that’s no longer the case. As long as you did not get damage denied, you should always make use of this ability. Next to Volkogode, there are other great targets to lock immediately, even if you cannot attack with them yet. If you don’t have any, drawing something new is almost always worth it.
If you draw into this card later, it can also provide your multi-attacks. Gastorur is Ghastly Nail’s replacement in that sense. You can attack with it first, then lock a new card over itself and unlock that card with Alter Ego. The card you lock may not always be an ideal attacker, but it will always get 10k from Alter Ego, plus you can save the booster behind Gastorur if needed. Even a trigger can become a threat this way.
3x Blast Monk Of The Thundering Foot [2]
Remember what I said about the flex spot being filled by the old cards? This is my choice. There is another very obvious choice which I will mention later, though. Not being essential to the general strategy, it really is up to you or to what’s needed in the current format.
At this moment, I like Blast Monk because it grants me options to answer threats. A mirror Volkogode, Doha or Garan, Rising Phoenix and several Gears pieces are cards you not only want gone, but not even go to the drop zone. Also, as the soul charge card I mentioned earlier, it sometimes is nice to hit another option to soul blast and then lock with Alter Ego. You won’t run out of soul per se, so for that, the soul charge isn’t needed.
4x Manipulator Of The Void [1]
Why the hell is this a common?!
No, seriously?!
Usually, going second puts you at a disadvantage statistics wise, not only in Vanguard. This card almost makes you want to go second. Like Gastorur, it sets up Volkogode early, and this is the card that can do it turn 1. It even draws back the card you locked! Call multiple of these early and you can really put pressure on your opponent.
Not only as a ride target, but late game as well, this is amazing. Although your opponent gets the final call on whether or not you’re allowed to, it can fix your fifth attack in a pinch. Even if you’re set up, I would always lock something, as Alter Ego will give it +10k anyway. Any new booster will be more powerful than what was already there before. As if it wasn’t enough, Manipulator goes off as a booster itself as well. You can attack with your column on the first or second attack, and if you hit, you’ll usually lock a whole new column that will hit for +20k.
It doesn’t excel at anything that other cards can do better in the deck, but it is the most versatile tool you have. And you know I love that!
4x Bending Solid-hit, Vanmaanen [1]
Simple card: it lets you draw. Hard plus in most cases even. Without Harmonics (noticed already I skipped it?), you’re going to need that as often as you can. Even if you can only do it once per turn, you want to see it as early as possible. Next to Volkogode, this is a locking target that is always useful from turn 1 onwards. Skipping on Harmonics, you might need to dig for Alter Ego harder before turn 3, as you only run 4 copies of any possibility of a G3 ride target. Manipulator into this lets you draw 2 cards to look for your boss. That’s why I run 4 copies on default.
There’s some nice flexibility in using it smartly. Guard with it to get it in the drop zone, then get it back with Alter Ego. If you already have one on the field, make sure to call another card over it first to get it into the drop zone again. If you have a second one, you don’t even need to: just lock the new one over the old one and easily set up your next turn. That way, you can keep some shield value on hand.
3x Lady Battler Of The White Dwarf [1]
I’d say that this is also part of a flex spot. This one does account for a couple of weaknesses nicely, though.
Again, when you’re sweating bullets because you don’t have Alter Ego yet, White Dwarf is a major fix to that problem. It’s fine as a ride target, especially going first instead of second. It also makes for a decent attacker at 13k, hitting magic numbers on it’s own. The locked card requirement usually takes a bit of effort, but in this deck, Blast Monk mitigates that entire problem. Finally, as an extra bonus compared to the G3 searchers for other decks, we also have an order card to look for. Already on turn 3, White Dwarf can sometimes make the difference between four and five attacks.
So, not an essential card like Manipulator or Vanmaanen truly are in my opinion, running this at 3 is good enough.
8x critical trigger, 4x draw pg, 4x heal trigger, 1x starting vanguard [0]
I think that the trigger line-up is also a matter of preference or current format. Instead of the draw pg’s, this deck can handle running the crit sentinels too. I run draw pg’s to be able to dig for Alter Ego slightly better, as well as other pieces like Volkogode. I also feel safer with the option of nullifying an attack outright personally, although it might cost you more cards in the end and it’s awkward against Chronojet or The X. They’re still godsends against Susanoo or a Dimension Police variant.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Only two obvious cards to mention here: Harmonics Messiah and Remarkable Burst Monk.
So, Harmonics is out. I’ve tried playing it at 1 and 2, and I found two major factors to cut it altogether. First, the card draw it provides is nice, but it is simply too slow nowadays. Both you and your opponent have a good chance to win turn 3, and after guarding so much, must win turn 4. Even after drawing 4 to 5 cards, my hand would have been hammered down to the point that it makes no difference in surviving after turn 4. Second, the amount of G3’s and G4’s tends to clog your hand. Though Harmonics can be ridden on turn 3 in a pinch, this is only when you don’t have Alter Ego and just happen to have this… and then it kind of sucks anyway. In any other case, this is a total brick that makes for a terrible rear-guard and provides no defense. After rebuilding the deck without it, my defenses got much better.
Cutting Remarkable Burst Monk also helped with defenses, although this is more of a mental thing. I never liked this card much, because it makes me play towards a rather small chance to a win-more condition. You try to keep G3’s in your deck, while simultaneously needing those in hand too much. You might even run more G3’s just to up the chance of restanding your vanguard, but this only adds to the clogging. I’d rather just have the total freedom to fetch a G3 with White Dwarf and add to the consistency of your plays, as both possible targets are good to have. Also, because the order replaces itself, chances are you now actually have some shield value in hand. At the very least, you up trigger and shield draw consistency by thinning your deck out. If you don’t want a second or third Alter Ego, just discard it immediately after fetching it.
It’s fine if you like to run this high risk, high reward card. If you do pull it off, it will instantly win you a game that you were bound to lose. It’s also fine if you run it purely for the CB and draw. You can actually make the same plays you do with Vanmaanen. For now, I’m fine with cutting it myself.
The Whole
The old build, while lots of fun, always felt a little bit odd to play. First, there was the random locking from the top of your deck, using cards like Destiny Dealer. Second was the huge cost requirements on both counterblast and soul. You needed to pace your plays, usually making for one explosive turn, maybe another good turn, but then you ran out of steam. Third, the deck felt incomplete. People usually ran a backup G3, but there were no good fits. I ended up using Ghastly Nail as my first G3 ride target and played a copy of Brandt as a backup, but they never felt up to par with the other bosses. When it was time for Harmonics, things usually corrected themselves, but it was a bit of a struggle when you had to hold back, or was even forced to do so.
Instead of completing the old deck, the new support simply replaced all the old pieces for faster and more consistent ones. My main concern with this build is running only 4 G3’s to ride, but once you do so, the rest of the deck smoothly comes together. This now includes turns 1 and 2. Where they always felt like ride, swing, turn do nothing else, now you have multiple things you can do or set up for later. Although you have less raw draw power, you still cycle a lot, making it less risky to commit pieces early.
Knowing exactly what you lock at all times, having the drop zone instead of the top deck, and the timing of Alter Ego, adds even more to the consistency of the deck. That is why the deck does so well in my opinion, even if you have to attack with just big numbers instead of huge ones. When you do go huge, a 70k Volkogode is not unthinkable. And here I thought Valkerion was powerful!
Just like with the Valkerion deck, remember that you can use the cycling to set up your defences as well. It’s nice that you can rush early and have a sledgehammer of a turn 3, but in this format, your opponent will hammer back. Link Joker has a lot of control over the flow of the game if paid attention to. Amidst all that, even if you get punished for committing early or your loyal subjects of turn 3 get wasted, we can get them back.
It’s not ideal to rely solely on the drop zone for your attackers, though. I try to be set up before turn 3, including Volkogode, and simply revive some boosters so that I don’t have to waste my hand. Flipping those over for 10k extra on attacks 4 and 5 is effective enough.
If all fails and you’re stuck at three attacks, always lock back any two cards from the drop zone if you can and just attack with Alter Ego first. This way, you can again save your hand, and you’ll at least maximize on power output in that situation. If you find yourself forced to choose, I’d always prioritize getting more attacks over powerful ones.
And if, Genesis Machine Deity forbid, you don’t get Alter Ego, don’t give up! Maybe swinging with your Volkogode from the previous turn will keep you in the game, right?
The Next Stage
The well-known YouTuber DifferentFight regards Alter Ego Messiah Link Joker to be the best deck in format, setting a new bar for the power creep in standard. I tend to agree with him, although many other powerful decks have surfaced in this set and beyond. While power creep is always a sad thing, a necessity even in the way trading card game marketing works (or we would need a new standard format again?), as long as I have fun with the game and the deck I play, I think I’ll be fine. While abandoning Harmonics Messiah is also a sad thing, its reincarnation is more coherent, still just as fun, and glad it’s playable currently.
Now let’s hope that locking the opponent’s field stays far away!
In the coming few months, I’ll be getting loads of new cards for all the clans I play. I’m not sure which clan will be next to dedicate an article to, but I think the comparison between both Aqua Force builds, as well as both Great Nature builds, might be good options. Brewing with all the weird Dark Irregulars cards is also fun though… and do I even have to mention Genesis? You can bet I’ll be eagerly awaiting the new Valkerion support! It’s so good! Part 3: How Astral Forces…?
