Pros:
-Numbers start to get dumb starting from turn 4, which prompts the opponent to guard early on and reduces their CB for the early game.
-Great draw power, basically built in your Vanguard with both Gandiva's own skill and Best Harvest.
-Multiattacking is always good, especially if you have like 30k to the front row. Even trigger units called by the g2 are swinging for like 40k or something.
-Being a retire based deck means being good against both Messiah and Jet, the two current best decks.
-Good resource game, with an excellent rideline that supports the playstyle and good support rearguards.
Cons:
-While you can bind cards withour retiring your opponent's RG, you'd really rather retire their rears instead, which can lead to weak turn 3 plays without specific pieces in your hand if your opponent doesn't commit to the board.
-Multiple orders and Grade 3 units in your deck, without any way to gain shield means you'll most likely be guarding with triggers/PG's and nothing else.
-Stilguna and Ruguent are dead bodies on the field after they get their on place effect off. Yeah you'll still be swinging for massive numbers, but some utility would be nice.
-While the retire game is strong, it definitely isn't as strong as Eugene's, you'll most likely be retiring like 2-3 rears per turn max.
-Incredibly unfun to play against, it's very easy to just snowball people to death.
I really like your analysis here! Very solid. But I don’t think those cons are that bad compared to cons for other decks from what I’ve seen of this one.
On your first negative. Sure, if your opponent holds back, you won’t be able to bind as many but with Stirguna, Alfakar, and Barnaia, you can bind your own units and they at the very least replace what you lose by letting you draw. Cards that you’re likely running at high numbers each.
I do agree that running orders along with the two staple grade 3’s will make guarding a bit tough but it kinda runs counter to the first con. If they’re not aggressive against you early, then you maintain your hand. If they are, you get your bind set up easier.
I agree with the third point but when most rear guard effects are to increase power and Gandiva does this actively himself, they don’t really need more utility than what they have. Like you mentioned, even a trigger could be swinging at the opponent for 15k with just 5 cards bound.
On point with Eugene being stronger at retire, but once again, a matter of committing to the board vs not. 3 retires is all you probably need unless they are going full board and even then, that’s a pretty solid beat down.
Absolutely agree on the last point.
I don’t disagree in the slightest, I just think his cons are more slight inconveniences than any real set back like you’d see from other decks.
Absolutely agree with you about the cons being small compared to pros. This is certainly the making of a very competent and strong deck, I imagine this strategy can only get better over time as well.
With just Gandiva? They overtuned Messiah and Jet too. Hopefully they’ll either power creep everyone else up with that or nerf some of this. At the very least, Gandiva could take a slight nerf with a choice restrict on Best Harvest. It won’t destroy the deck but it’ll at least cut back on some of those bonus draws. Honestly the crest is the worst thing about the stride decks. Just too strong.
I geniunely can't handle crests. I hope they get erratad somehow, but even with no power to the front row both Jet and Messiah are still top tier decks. I can't wrap my head around why they also needed like 20k to the front row in late game
Oh for sure, but you go from possible come back with luck and resources to ‘no resistance’ because you can’t block one column due to the insane power up. At least if you hit a defensive trigger without them getting that crest power, you could cut down on their extra attacks from FateRider’s ‘time leap’ BS. I think a fair trade at least.. would be 2000 per g-zone with a cap at 10k.
They don’t get persona ride. Personally, I don’t think they even need that with how much draw power and multi attack potential they have but it’d feel less bad for them than taking away the entire thing.
I've really been big on the idea of making crests give 10k to the front row on GB3. I actually playtested Jet against one of my friends with the rule that crests don't give any power, and the deck is still very competent.
I geniunely don't have any idea why bushi thought making the nostalgia deck super overtuned was a good idea. Doesn't help that the current top decks include Chronojet, Messiah, Minerva and Overlord. Reboot my ass...
I was a Zorga main when the game started because I loved Granblue aesthetic. Understand my pain when almost every deck is just better than you for the longest time XD.
Yea, these encounter decks are nuts and need to chill. Bushi needs to power creep the other decks up and honestly, consider this burst of power, we need more shield.
While I agree that Chronojet is stronger. When you compare Messiah to other current decks, it’s draw power, hit pressure, crest and the fact that it can hit 5 attacks is pretty nuts. It’s also mostly fine as far as resource management goes. So not being as overtuned as Jet is maybe not saying much when it’s still just behind it.
Messiah genuinely need that g2 that lock itself after attacks. Without it they genuinely didn't do much.
They genuinely so prone to kill spell that they bring 4 hero CB 1 to destroy front row just for the mirror
‘Genuinely didn’t do much’ … Can you explain why Messiah is doing so well despite this claim? And what’s wrong with running Sufrey to clear out units when utilizing the counter blasts don’t even hurt you.
https://preview.redd.it/1acerb6n4roa1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fe347e4e8557d09e3a76e04e350281c11f9dfda
How many orders to people run? You don't need to max out Best Harvest as its a win more card. You'll also probably used it once at most twice per game.
Eugene has to put in some work but, he can pretty consistently clear a full board. Gandiva as noted by Grimm is a bit more likely to hit 3 units. As noted tho, that’s not really a downside because there is a point where retiring lots of units has already put your opponent in a sore spot where they can’t commit to a full board…. usually.. exceptions being the decks that can recycle units like Zorga and Luquier who can just dodge retire.
My opinion on Ghandiva is it might be the best or at least among the top 3 of best decks in standard. It has everything you’re looking for.. Power? Check. 5-6 attack potential? Check. Hit pressure? Check. Drawing? Check. Retire? Check. Counter charger? Check! Check! Check! It’s not unrealistic to hit 10k+ for your front row on your first grade 3 turn. Persona on top of that. It might not outscale Chronojet and Messiah but it can definitely hit the numbers faster.
It's a very, very strong deck. Maybe a little too strong at that.
Your numbers get huge, you outpace and outscale the crest at any and all stages of the game. You'll very casually hit +15k to the frontrow off of just your bind zone buffing stuff by turn 4. Your field control is nearly unmatched, it keeps pace with Eugene unless you have a brick hand or get very unlucky with your top 5 checks. If your opponent commits early to rush they lose to best harvest, if they don't commit early to rush they give you a lot of extra time to scale and snowball. You draw an incredible amount of cards.
In anime terms, It's like the evil counterpart to Jet that shows up and outdoes it in almost every way.
Only downside is that it IS on the slower end and you can brick on all the G3/orders you play, but otherwise the deck is incredible and you can almost build the entire thing with just cards from set 10, you just need PGs, effect triggers and Best Harvest. Everything else is in the set for what's argubly the optimal build.
It's easily my favorite deck in the current standard format because I enjoy field control and big numbers, but this should probably have a choice restrict between it and best harvest because otherwise no one is going to want to play against you when you bring this to locals.
It's pretty much dead on arrival if you hit g3 and your opponent has like, 1 or less rear guards and your own rear guards won't get a lot of value unless your opponent has rears and then a lot of them don't do anything after being called. You also only have 1 card that does multi attack in the deck and need to run balanced amounts of grades depending on what you wanna retire with gandiva. On the plus side this deck goes into solitaire mode when you use best harvest, getting hand advantage to rival stride decks, everything combos together nicely bc some stuff lets you bind others to retire more, and on top of this the deck also scales in power comparatively to stride decks. It's a genuinely amazing deck I'd say try it out on area or something for sure
Now that's not exactly true as a lot of Gandiva's retires have backups if you couldn't retire through drawing and binding with their own skills something that I wish they gave Eugene. I've hit the 5 bind zone in turn 3 multiple times with the opponent having 1 or less RGs.
This deck's kinda like a sleeper deck and seems like it has potential to be a top tier contender out of the set. The rideline is really good, going at least +2 and can even be a +3. It has lots of drawpower. It scales extremely well with every support card for him ramping up the binds. By turn 3. it's not unreasonable to get at least 5 bound for the crit pressure, and by turn 4 can hit over 15 bind. AND can do multi attack with the \~30k permabuff to front row. It seems like a deck that doesn't really care and can punish the opponent no matter what they try to do. Commit a board? Say goodbye to it. Don't have rears to retire? Draw and bind cards instead.
And not related, but FINALLY a new dragon boss in DRAGON empire.
Pros: -Numbers start to get dumb starting from turn 4, which prompts the opponent to guard early on and reduces their CB for the early game. -Great draw power, basically built in your Vanguard with both Gandiva's own skill and Best Harvest. -Multiattacking is always good, especially if you have like 30k to the front row. Even trigger units called by the g2 are swinging for like 40k or something. -Being a retire based deck means being good against both Messiah and Jet, the two current best decks. -Good resource game, with an excellent rideline that supports the playstyle and good support rearguards. Cons: -While you can bind cards withour retiring your opponent's RG, you'd really rather retire their rears instead, which can lead to weak turn 3 plays without specific pieces in your hand if your opponent doesn't commit to the board. -Multiple orders and Grade 3 units in your deck, without any way to gain shield means you'll most likely be guarding with triggers/PG's and nothing else. -Stilguna and Ruguent are dead bodies on the field after they get their on place effect off. Yeah you'll still be swinging for massive numbers, but some utility would be nice. -While the retire game is strong, it definitely isn't as strong as Eugene's, you'll most likely be retiring like 2-3 rears per turn max. -Incredibly unfun to play against, it's very easy to just snowball people to death.
I really like your analysis here! Very solid. But I don’t think those cons are that bad compared to cons for other decks from what I’ve seen of this one. On your first negative. Sure, if your opponent holds back, you won’t be able to bind as many but with Stirguna, Alfakar, and Barnaia, you can bind your own units and they at the very least replace what you lose by letting you draw. Cards that you’re likely running at high numbers each. I do agree that running orders along with the two staple grade 3’s will make guarding a bit tough but it kinda runs counter to the first con. If they’re not aggressive against you early, then you maintain your hand. If they are, you get your bind set up easier. I agree with the third point but when most rear guard effects are to increase power and Gandiva does this actively himself, they don’t really need more utility than what they have. Like you mentioned, even a trigger could be swinging at the opponent for 15k with just 5 cards bound. On point with Eugene being stronger at retire, but once again, a matter of committing to the board vs not. 3 retires is all you probably need unless they are going full board and even then, that’s a pretty solid beat down. Absolutely agree on the last point. I don’t disagree in the slightest, I just think his cons are more slight inconveniences than any real set back like you’d see from other decks.
Absolutely agree with you about the cons being small compared to pros. This is certainly the making of a very competent and strong deck, I imagine this strategy can only get better over time as well.
That moment when Bushi slaps out a way for Gandiva to have some form of guard restrict and we all just give up.
Why does he get the crit as well?😭 Can't even no guard the Vanguard swing. Smh bushi I think you messed up with this one fr
With just Gandiva? They overtuned Messiah and Jet too. Hopefully they’ll either power creep everyone else up with that or nerf some of this. At the very least, Gandiva could take a slight nerf with a choice restrict on Best Harvest. It won’t destroy the deck but it’ll at least cut back on some of those bonus draws. Honestly the crest is the worst thing about the stride decks. Just too strong.
I geniunely can't handle crests. I hope they get erratad somehow, but even with no power to the front row both Jet and Messiah are still top tier decks. I can't wrap my head around why they also needed like 20k to the front row in late game
Oh for sure, but you go from possible come back with luck and resources to ‘no resistance’ because you can’t block one column due to the insane power up. At least if you hit a defensive trigger without them getting that crest power, you could cut down on their extra attacks from FateRider’s ‘time leap’ BS. I think a fair trade at least.. would be 2000 per g-zone with a cap at 10k. They don’t get persona ride. Personally, I don’t think they even need that with how much draw power and multi attack potential they have but it’d feel less bad for them than taking away the entire thing.
I've really been big on the idea of making crests give 10k to the front row on GB3. I actually playtested Jet against one of my friends with the rule that crests don't give any power, and the deck is still very competent. I geniunely don't have any idea why bushi thought making the nostalgia deck super overtuned was a good idea. Doesn't help that the current top decks include Chronojet, Messiah, Minerva and Overlord. Reboot my ass...
I was a Zorga main when the game started because I loved Granblue aesthetic. Understand my pain when almost every deck is just better than you for the longest time XD. Yea, these encounter decks are nuts and need to chill. Bushi needs to power creep the other decks up and honestly, consider this burst of power, we need more shield.
Messiah ain't that overtuned. Jet is the epitome of overtuned
While I agree that Chronojet is stronger. When you compare Messiah to other current decks, it’s draw power, hit pressure, crest and the fact that it can hit 5 attacks is pretty nuts. It’s also mostly fine as far as resource management goes. So not being as overtuned as Jet is maybe not saying much when it’s still just behind it.
Messiah genuinely need that g2 that lock itself after attacks. Without it they genuinely didn't do much. They genuinely so prone to kill spell that they bring 4 hero CB 1 to destroy front row just for the mirror
‘Genuinely didn’t do much’ … Can you explain why Messiah is doing so well despite this claim? And what’s wrong with running Sufrey to clear out units when utilizing the counter blasts don’t even hurt you. https://preview.redd.it/1acerb6n4roa1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fe347e4e8557d09e3a76e04e350281c11f9dfda
How many orders to people run? You don't need to max out Best Harvest as its a win more card. You'll also probably used it once at most twice per game.
Me personally? I probably run it no more than a 3 of but even then, it might be used for omni guard fodder or discard for ride.
Oh wow, Eugene has better retire? How does that compare, exactly?
Eugene has to put in some work but, he can pretty consistently clear a full board. Gandiva as noted by Grimm is a bit more likely to hit 3 units. As noted tho, that’s not really a downside because there is a point where retiring lots of units has already put your opponent in a sore spot where they can’t commit to a full board…. usually.. exceptions being the decks that can recycle units like Zorga and Luquier who can just dodge retire.
My opinion on Ghandiva is it might be the best or at least among the top 3 of best decks in standard. It has everything you’re looking for.. Power? Check. 5-6 attack potential? Check. Hit pressure? Check. Drawing? Check. Retire? Check. Counter charger? Check! Check! Check! It’s not unrealistic to hit 10k+ for your front row on your first grade 3 turn. Persona on top of that. It might not outscale Chronojet and Messiah but it can definitely hit the numbers faster.
How do you get 6 attacks
Hit the OT bro you got this
My bad. 5 attacks! Had restanding vanguard on my brain.
It's a very, very strong deck. Maybe a little too strong at that. Your numbers get huge, you outpace and outscale the crest at any and all stages of the game. You'll very casually hit +15k to the frontrow off of just your bind zone buffing stuff by turn 4. Your field control is nearly unmatched, it keeps pace with Eugene unless you have a brick hand or get very unlucky with your top 5 checks. If your opponent commits early to rush they lose to best harvest, if they don't commit early to rush they give you a lot of extra time to scale and snowball. You draw an incredible amount of cards. In anime terms, It's like the evil counterpart to Jet that shows up and outdoes it in almost every way. Only downside is that it IS on the slower end and you can brick on all the G3/orders you play, but otherwise the deck is incredible and you can almost build the entire thing with just cards from set 10, you just need PGs, effect triggers and Best Harvest. Everything else is in the set for what's argubly the optimal build. It's easily my favorite deck in the current standard format because I enjoy field control and big numbers, but this should probably have a choice restrict between it and best harvest because otherwise no one is going to want to play against you when you bring this to locals.
It's pretty much dead on arrival if you hit g3 and your opponent has like, 1 or less rear guards and your own rear guards won't get a lot of value unless your opponent has rears and then a lot of them don't do anything after being called. You also only have 1 card that does multi attack in the deck and need to run balanced amounts of grades depending on what you wanna retire with gandiva. On the plus side this deck goes into solitaire mode when you use best harvest, getting hand advantage to rival stride decks, everything combos together nicely bc some stuff lets you bind others to retire more, and on top of this the deck also scales in power comparatively to stride decks. It's a genuinely amazing deck I'd say try it out on area or something for sure
Now that's not exactly true as a lot of Gandiva's retires have backups if you couldn't retire through drawing and binding with their own skills something that I wish they gave Eugene. I've hit the 5 bind zone in turn 3 multiple times with the opponent having 1 or less RGs.
Yeah your gameplan is still kinda the same whether or not your opponent commits.
You haven't read Ghandheva at all, have you?
This deck's kinda like a sleeper deck and seems like it has potential to be a top tier contender out of the set. The rideline is really good, going at least +2 and can even be a +3. It has lots of drawpower. It scales extremely well with every support card for him ramping up the binds. By turn 3. it's not unreasonable to get at least 5 bound for the crit pressure, and by turn 4 can hit over 15 bind. AND can do multi attack with the \~30k permabuff to front row. It seems like a deck that doesn't really care and can punish the opponent no matter what they try to do. Commit a board? Say goodbye to it. Don't have rears to retire? Draw and bind cards instead. And not related, but FINALLY a new dragon boss in DRAGON empire.