Dragonic Vanquisher – The Lightning that strikes twice!

A look at Dragonic Vanquisher in V Premium Written by Cipher and Ahmes004

A fierce general of the dragon empire. Vanquisher rises and leads the troops. The Vanguard this time is Dragonic Vanquisher, the Narukami Vanguard that debuted during the G series. 

History 

Dragonic Vanquisher first debuted as a RRR in G-BT02 and defined the direction of Narukami for that era of the game. It was the first time Narukami had put a focus onto binding on opponent’s units. This would later be developed into Thunderstrike, a mechanic which where skills that could be unlocked based on the number of cards in the opponent’s bind zone, while getting new forms such as Sparking and its 3 Stride units. 

Vanquisher’s V-Era playstyle uses the retire and bind combination that Narukami has been focusing on since the G-Era, to disrupt the opponent’s field while empowering their own by raising their powers and unlocking other effects through Thunderstrike. This time however there is also a side to it where it can benefit from binding their own cards to help meet requirements while also superior call units to build a board and even extend their attacks. The deck creates advantage quickly and has really explosive turns.

Deck builds often includes cards to act as enablers , as well as bind targets.

The Vanguards

Dragonic Vanquisher 

The main ride target for the deck, Dragonic Vanquisher, has skills which help tie the deck together. The first skill being the one which helps to bolster its formation to increase the overall attack. During your turn, as long as 3 cards from either player’s field were bound by card effects, Vanquisher will give a passive +10000 to your front row as long as it is the Vanguard for no cost. Note that the bind requirement for this ability can trigger regardless of whose cards are bound, meaning if you are unable to bind any cards of your opponent’s field this requirement, you can focus on binding your own units to meet the requirement.

Next, its second skill helps to compliment its first effect. For a cheap cost of Counterblast 1, it is able to bind any rearguard in the front row and has a secondary effect where when a grade 3 is in the soul, it forces both players to bind a card from their hand. This disrupts your opponent’s defense even before the battle phase, in a multi attacked focused deck such as Vanquisher, this can even outright win your games as your opponent may lack that 1 card to block against the sheer number of attacks the deck is able to put out. 

By having a grade 3 in the soul, this gives Vanquisher the ability to always meet its own requirement, making it a very reliable Vanguard at any phase of the game. Given its evolution, FullBronto reride skill, this becomes even easier to achieve

Dragonic Vanquisher “Fullbronto”

The newest iteration of Vanquisher, Fullbronto, is like the original Vanquisher as its main function is to bolster the formation, albeit in a different way. To fit with that FullBronto is even treated as a Dragonic Vanquisher, to keep it compatible with Dragonic Vanquisher’s specific support.

On place, it is able to give your whole front row including itself +10000 for the turn, unlike the first which gives a passive +10000 power. This will only give units present at the time that it is ridden however so do take note if you have to ride this. Its main purpose is to act as a compensation for the loss of original Vanquisher’s Cont ability. 

At the end of the turn, you get to re-ride any grade 3 unit from your soul, allowing you to ride into your main vanguard of choice (Vanquisher) for your the next turn. 

In addition, due to the nature of Fullbronto’s ability, it is possible to do so during the battle phase, using enablers such as Jaggy Shot, it allows for 2 Vanguard attacks. As such the Vanguard in this deck normally attacks earlier in the turn to pull off the reride.

Enablers 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Jaggy Shot Dragoon 

• The most reliable enabler that Vanquisher has access to as well as its main source of draw power outside of Accel 2.  When it attacks you may bind a card from your hand to bind a rearguard in your opponent’s front row,  then if your opponent has no rearguards in the front you draw a card.  
• At the end of the battle, as long as your vanguard is “Dragonic Vanquisher”, you may put this card into your soul and draw a card. Note that FullBronto also counts as “Dragonic Vanquisher”. 
• This is a rather simple set up and the calling and attack patterns will have many variations which can alter with different cards and damage face up. But it does get the idea moving hopefully. you can put it in the soul to draw an additional card. This helps to fuel the soul and maintain a hand on top of being an enabler. 

Rockclimb Dragoon

• At the end of the battle, when you control a Dragonic Vanquisher Vanguard it can retire itself, to draw a card. Then you may bind a card from your hand to bind an opponent’s rearguard in the front row. Other than that it is effectively a costless card that can refund itself, and will always break even.

Voltechshred Dragon 

• A very simple card that is able to soul blast 1 on attack , to draw a card and then bind a card from hand so long as you have a Dragonic Vanquisher on the Vanguard. It is the only other card that binds during the battle phase. 

Dragon Dancer Barca 

• Similar to Voltechshred with some key differences. Its skill activates at the end of the battle , but forces the opponent to shift one of their rearguards from the backrow to a front row. 

	Jaggy Shot Dragoon	Rockclimb Dragoon	Voltechshred Dragon	Dragon Dancer , Barca
Timing of Bind	During Battle	End of Battle	During Battle	End of Battle
COST	NIL	Retires Itself	Soulblast 1	Soulblast 1
Frees the Circle	Yes	Yes	No	No
Other Benefits	Can bind an opponent’s front row rg and potentially draw you a card  Can enter the soul to draw an additional a card	Can refund itself regardless and draws the card before binding	Draws a card before binding	Draws a card before binding Able to drag out rearguards from the back row to the font to extend plays

Bind Targets

Now that we know about what cards bind, lets go through the other cards that are your optimal bind targets to extend attacks. The cards here are able to call themselves to rearguard circle when they get binded from your hand.

Demonic Dragon Berserker , Chatura

• 

• The main bind target that you will be using throughout the entire game and is one of the cards you will want to see at any point of the game. In your hand when it is bound by your card effects, you can call it out and it will gain +10000,  Making it a base 18000 attacker which can that can easily get higher with the Vanquisher’s skill. As this skill has no other restriction of being 1/turn unlike Fullbronto this will always be live so as long as you can bind it. 

Chain-Bolt Dragoon

• 

• The card can be superior called when bound from hand to RG. While normally you will always prefer to bind Chatura and FullBronto, having more targets to bind will help you extend your attacks more consistently. It also doubles as a consistency tool on the Vanguard

Desert Gunner , Bhajan

• 

• Desert Gunner, Bhajan is another option as a bind target, that acts similar to Chain-bolt with the bonus of fueling soul.

Other Options 

Desert Gunner Gaiban 

• 

• This card gives a unit +3K and sentinel restrict after your vanguard finishes a battle. Given that Vanquisher can do 2 vanguard attacks(Base and FullBronto) , it is possible to activate this skill twice in a turn.

Rising Phoenix 

• 

• A mainstay in Narukami, it can revive itself from the drop zone when a unit is bound, this can be used to establish a field during the main phase or to extend battle phase by binding your opponent’s row with Jaggy Shot and etc. Although with the new support it is no longer quite the staple it was, but remains a strong option.

Fiendish Sword Eradicator , Cho-Ou

• 

• Cho Ou gives you the ability to bind a unit without targeting it, bypassing resist like effects as well as dragging the other card in the backrow to the front row. In addition, it can re-stand at the cost of CB1, after the Vanguard attacks and your opponent’s front row is empty, which plays well with Vanquisher’s power up. It offers an alternate way to multi attack if you prefer cards that are more straightforward.

Supreme Army Eradicator , Zuitan

• 

• Zuitan is still a strong unit choice due to its card draw, with a bonus of getting +5k power for each enemy RG bound this turn. It helps with cycling to key activation pieces and bind targets in the battle phase, also frees up a rearguard circle to call new bind units on to.

Ingenious Tactics, Book of Strong-arming

• 

• Despite its hefty cost of counterblast and soul blast 3, counterblast is hardly an issue as long as you plan out your skills well and soul is easily available. It gives Vanquisher a way out of situations with its sudden draw and power to the front row. However, if your opponent limits the amount of CB you have, this card has limited effectiveness. Generally if you choose to play it, your deck build will change to facilitate its use.

• The clan’s generic grade 3 searcher that works both on Vanguard or Rearguard, Helps the deck to gather its combo pieces for a strong Turn 1 Play. Namely extra copies of Fullbronto and Jaggy Shot, Its +5000 skill is also really easy to meet as it will activate so as long as any player’s card is bound during this turn. 

Trigger Lineups

Generally Fronts and Draws work well for Vanquisher. Due to the nature of Vanquisher’s tatic of filling the front row with many attacks, drive checking a Front trigger giving all units +10K will stack with Vanquisher’s own skill to overwhelm your opponent. Draw triggers will assist in drawing your combo pieces required.

• What about Criticals?

Criticals while always useful is not as strong when compared to fronts. It is because Critical Triggers are stronger during the earlier turns when lesser rearguards are called, but Front triggers will get stronger on later turns when more rearguards are called

6 Front, 6 Draw and 4 Heal is a steady line up that is a good place to build off.

Key Plays and Vanquisher’s Attack Patterns

With Vanquisher, attack patterns can be important as it determines not only the number of attacks you can make but also the options you have in the battle phase. Before we get into more detail here are a few things to keep in mind.

Maintaining a Steady Power and formation 

Whether it is through Vanquisher’s CONT Skill or Fullbronto’s on place skill, the key is always to have as many rearguards and attacks under the influence of these effects as they help you to keep up a steady attack to wither down your opponent. While either Vanquisher’s effect do not stack , it should be enough to push as long as you keep key numbers in mind and play around hitting those numbers.

Generally Accel 2 will be your main imaginary gift as it helps you draw into combo pieces. While it only gives 5000 power, by positioning your rearguards and making use of the different characteristics of the enablers, you will be able to optimize your plays. For instance, Fullbronto works best with cards that bind during the battle phase as it will be able to give its 10000+ to the unit that binds it. Whereas with cards like Chatura and Chainbolt which do not interact with other units this may not be as important.

Also In the case of Fullbronto, an Accel Circle will be made during the battle phase, so do make full use of it, as it gives you an extra draw and circle to work with to extend plays. 

General Attack Patterns and Positioning

In general, if you are going for a Fullbronto superior ride turn , your Vanguard should always be the first unit to attack, to maximize the number of units that will get the power from its on place.

What enablers you have can also influence how you attack, sometimes it is better to use the cards that free their own circle first to make full use of your front rows, when your planning to call multiple units during the battle phase. and using only Dragonic Vanquisher as your Vanguard that turn.

While Positioning, generally try to make numbers that hit above 22k, 23k to force out more shields and play around damage triggers

Always Looking Ahead 

While it is conventional to only focus on the options that you can see in your hand and rearguard circle, one thing to elevate your gameplay is to think ahead and make judgements based on what you see throughout the turn. This will include your drive checks and possible draw effects during the turn (Namely Jaggyshot , Voltechshred) 

Based on how your deck is built you can keep in mind the ratios of targets, triggers and blanks in your deck and help you play accordingly to what you expect to see during them.

For instance, if your deck is mostly triggers and there are not as many enablers left, attacking from smallest to biggest power columns helps play around defensive triggers. 

Whereas if you expect to see more targets, making riskier calls may be more worth it, as that extra attack on an Accel is usually what determines games with the extra 5ks you demand from your opponent.

General Magic Number Guides

Example Deck Builds

• 

• 

• 

Transitioning into Premium

Generally much of the knowledge here can still be applied well into Premium as well, including attack patterns especially with Stun-verse Dragon being the premier Narukami Stride currently. It has an ability to bind several of your opponent’s card before it too disappears, allowing Vanquisher to take command after Stun-verse has fulfiled his role! Do pick this card up if you intend to play Vanquisher or Narukami in general in that format.

In summary ….

Dragonic Vanquisher has really grown from the deck it was from early 2020, with a more focused strategy and new tools, the deck’s general gameplan is a lot more solid that it was previously. The deck’s fast and flexible nature makes it personally one of my favorite decks at the end of the V era. The deck doesnt use much resources each turn making it hard for the opponent to deny your plays when you have the pieces.

Vanquisher is a somewhat technical deck with a lot more depth than at first sight and rewards players who are able to constantly make the calls in the midst of the battlefield, not unlike the veteran general himself.

With that I hope you’ve enjoyed this article!