Link Joker and Locking

[Ren «Я»]

I hate locking, With the delete it's dealable but they force u to discard as well. I don't know what Bushi thought when they released this strategy but they clearly didn't thought with their brains.

Only one Deletor forces you to discard. But yeah deletors have many flaws though

[[T-SP] Access]

 :)This is Fun I too enjoy whenever ppl complains about LJ.
Before reading pls try to read the last paragraph 1st just in case as this is a LONG POST and yea can be very judgemental and rude so yea I Apologise before hopefully any damage is done(Hehe Damage* I bless u get a Heal Trigger if any of that happens) All in all this is my opinon on LJ and only mine so feel free to post your own and correct me if you feel any different ENJOY

Well this is my opinion on it for 1 well it has been a Clan thats Sorta Annoying due to the lack of being able to "Control" your RC which is basically the effects of Locking. Rushing becomes a pain to do and trying to call units around it can be challenging(As 1 does not simply anyhow call when Vsing LJ if they still wanna have at least have a decent match up. As in my eyes LJ is as Strong as the Opp makes it to be). The other side of me thou is Yes I myself is a LJ user and well pretty much enjoy the skill Lock as I Lock down my opp and then see them be unable to do much against me and I can guard easy.

 :(I wont be talking on BRs as well they just Increase the Number of Locks which in my views is like okay u lock 2 Front and 1 back thats really enough Locking anymore is like kinda waste with the exception of some LJ Units.

In an all in all conclusion about LJ main point (LJ is as Strong as the Opp makes it to be As LJ requires the Locks to gain extra benefit) Also LJ pretty much need to Lock to get things done if not they are very Vanilla trust me on this one.
 :PLocking isnt the problem that we should be looking at it the Added Bonus as Lock is kinda like a Permanent Stun from megacolony. (And yes ik someone is gonna be like megaconlony can overcall the unit, can stand using stand trigger and can move Lock cannot of course not lah or why the heck would Bushiroad make another skill similar to megaconlony. =.=.
 >:(The only problem it proves is well your short by 5K and he locked your inceptor/s then lose by 5-10k.

Many Eg. of this(Added bonus/Extra benefits) can be seen in almost every LJ boss unit.
Nebula: Powers Up units for each Lock
Chaos: Retires and receive Draw Power(can be heavily abused with Relockers)
Glendiose: Well this one Im just gonna rule it as it gets you an Auto Win Condition(Which as a Zodiac/Glendios user is unfair to players)

 8)With the current release of Legion, LJ units has moved on from the terrifying Skill gaining creeps to being able to Lock more and more consistently. Which actually is pretty decent and not too bad in a sense that the Locks are just Locks without Added Bonus which basically means its a Lock for a turn which well to me isnt that terrifying cos Most of us can live through a Turn of Locks(Multiple is okay i suppose If you do control your field well.

 :)Eg.Garnet Star a weaker ver of Zodiac but consistent in his work and can be a pain when player keep Riding him.
IPD: Locks 3 at a low cost which renders his mate useless since he is a blank card on hand. But can be a Pain if he Locks you for 2 turns which are critical times which is up to the LJ user to know when to use to make it strong.
Zodiac: Locks 2 for Free as Legion Blasting isnt that hard to pull of at least once or twice per game. isnt really a problem he is locking the same stuff and unless he calls a Photon its ok cos his Omega Lock skill is once so u can work around him.
 >:(Asides from those Listed Bushiroad finally decided to bring back LJ's Terrifying Added Bonus back to LJ.
Hafnium: Almost forgot about him. Well a kinda good/also not gd Nebula nice beefy power ups per Lock unit so thats pretty dang gd but haven seen much about him so thats all i can say power creep so get your guards ready. oh also kinda locks units in back row so wont be such a problem maybe the turn he locks using starter can be a pain.
Venom Dancer: Has a Really scary Added Bonus when used Proper. Asides from that he doesn have high Locking skill which provides decent coverage til he explodes with his Starter Lock 2, Lock 1 and stand 3 units or even 5 with Zodiac(really dun see the point of standing 5 thou haha but yea 4). If you can live through that Explosion then your in the clear as Venom has alr used 3 Cb and unless he sacks u hard with a Lock 1 back and Photons u next turn its a minor Explosion which isnt too bad u just have to guard another lane.
Blaster Joker: One of the most hype card and I dun blame anyone for thinking so its freaking Blaster Blade "Reverse" well sorta. He is an overall really useful card that is consistent in his job and gets his work done and can still do it again. Locking All units is again Blaster Joker's kinda eh skill as unless you have the "Triangle" he will either not lock or Lock and make you have an extra row to attack with. As for the "Added Bonus" retiring the Mate which cause your Legion VG to be a Vanilla is powerful.(However this can be prepared for similar to Megacolony's Br Stun just have an Extra g3 in your hand to ride and get over it.). Blaster Joker is also heavily supported with mayoron ability to power him up plus use him to lock. Also serves as an anti Lock unit as if some locks the front of Mayoron u can still rest him and 10k to BJ. Finally BJ crit gaining skill haiz this is nothing too big lor its really gimmicky and its not like it has a Glory skill tagged to it a simple PG can be done everytime he does it.(If you say u no PG well in this day an age no PG is really deadly and can end u in a matter of turns anyway so dun complain I lose to Locks when its clearly high numbers that killed u [can be argued u lose due to 5-10k interceptors])

As you can see LJ 's Locks isnt terrifying its the bonuses that they gain which makes them really Powerful however they still have to achieve their Locks which they have to Lock proper units/Targets to further help them live.

As for Deleter Haiz really disappointed in this Archetype. 1 word Fragile. Deleter are the most fragile deck I have every seen. Unlike Locks, Delete reduces your opponents power to 0 and loses all its skills and for a really good reason too it doesn have anything else to gain from doing so yes locking is their sort of 'added Bonus' but who cant live with a turn of Locks. Yes the 1 turn of being waked by 15k guard attacks are not fun but from my experiences ppl live through at least through 1 Turn of Delete attacking wise. Then again when vsing Deleters be prepared and have a G3 in hand. Breaking the Delete is one of the most problematic things for Deleter to face as they dun have huge handsize to guard with. This is also a problem as they require CB to Delete which Igor is a huge help but can be disrupted by kageros and Narukami or even LJ. making Woksis kinda a 1 thing thing which can be like totally shutting down the deck once it cant Delete. Zwill is a better alternative but doesn have any negative effects when re-riding which makes the opp have no minus but the power drop. Woksis on the other hand does provide that drop 1 which is good as if he can delete the next turn might kill the guy off. as I see deleter decks as a time clock which ticks down as many cards my opponent has as 1 attack is probably either a 2 cards drop or 3 cards drop which if you count the basic handsize of a player can be greatly reduced in a matter of Deletes. The only way deleter can be a little less fragile would to for them to get a Lemonade clone only for Deleter like can only use if VG name has Deleter. I mention this is to not get LJ star-vadar to get too OP as they then can spam their Lock skill. Rulwerul is kinda an odd ball for me as i nvr used him before and is kinda an inconsistent delete and well u need to like have alot of Luck to 1 have a g3 LJ and check a G3 LJ so not the best IMO. Plus Stride OMG how is delete even gonna stay decently good not considered a ride so no woksis discard 1. somemore its free dun have to ride a unit from hand although u do have to drop total grade of 3

Basically what I wanna say is come on guys what day and age is this alr. Still complain about LJ. why you guys no complain about the fact that the Main Character Clans are always getting major support and the other minor Clans dun get jack.(This btw has been happening since the start of VG geez isnt that more pro to rant about). Later GEAR Chronicles come out being able to control space and time. who knows later they can Control "Space" aka "Rear Guard Circles"&"Time" aka "Grade system[Superior Rides,Calling higher grade units/guarding with higher grade units/possibly sth to do with Stride as Stride cards are units that are summoned from the past or sth like that red it up on wiki]" like that later oso complain and say GC is nuts and more OP than LJ. Episode 194 come out alr LJ will be Accepted as Clan in Cray so we too should stop with all this and Accept LJ and their Locks just like a great warrior once said #Blaster Blade and yea they did accept Shadow Paladins so yea if they can do it so can we .

I really dun see LJ as that nuts its really situational and depending on how the player uses it and how well the opp counters it.(U may say this applies to most clans but in my views LJ is one of the most affected by this. LJ players dun just anyhow all in Yolo and Lock they need added planning before doing things although practise makes perfect so player can do things faster when teh situation arises. Like Max said asides from Locks strength wise its really normal or even weaker for its low defensive nature. unless they get their Locks off.

After write all that well I feel that what i wrote seems to kinda be kinda complaining/not really discussing as kinda asserting dominance to how you guys should think about LJ so yea I do apologise if it made anyone feel kinda insulted and for anything else if you feel any negative. My Opinions arent the only ones so yea Hopefully you guys can correct me or show your thoughts about the way how LJ works.

Thanks -Access

[Rank Up]

First, I added a poll to this thread, just for fun.

Second, Link joker is not bad or good. It has his strengths and weaknesses. The main problem with them, as Cherry stated, they encourage vg-centered decks, while discouraging rg-centred. Thats the reason, Neo Nectar is not played much, just like Niva Grappler (except the cat's shine time). And thats a bad thing. But look at Nuckle Buster... Lock is actually countering only those clans, whose vg cant do anything alone, or are focused on claling units from deck. And Lock is countered by clans, who can play low to zero rg, or can remove their own rg from field, to prevent locking (as LJ can lock only in their turn), so hello Revengers and Tachikaze. And you too, Bermuda.
What am I trying to say - if you dont play some decks on the tournaments because it is countered by LJ, why do you play LJ, if it is countered by listed clans?) Revengers are very strong archetype, and Bermuda generates so strong card advantage, along with returning cards from field to hand, so they can just out-sustain LJ - they will always have def for they mostly weak attacks. I dont even speak about Regalias, who just have to soulcharge enough cards and then play Ygg. Nuckle Buster will just delete your field so even if he cant attack you with rg, you wont be able either.
So it is just fine clan for me. They are balanced (and I personaly thin, that Blaster Joker is weak and is not interesting - Chaos Breaker are more interesting).

P.S. When I was playing musketeers vs legion LJ, I just didnt Ride a g3 vg. Just spammed attacks staring from first attacking turn, and when LJ had 4-5 damage, I was like: "It's time to Ride Vera and finish it". Without legion, legion LJ decks cant lock you, so they have even more weaknesses

[Cherry]

Basically what I wanna say is come on guys what day and age is this alr. Still complain about LJ. why you guys no complain about the fact that the Main Character Clans are always getting major support and the other minor Clans dun get jack.(This btw has been happening since the start of VG geez isnt that more pro to rant about). Later GEAR Chronicles come out being able to control space and time. who knows later they can Control "Space" aka "Rear Guard Circles"&"Time" aka "Grade system[Superior Rides,Calling higher grade units/guarding with higher grade units/possibly sth to do with Stride as Stride cards are units that are summoned from the past or sth like that red it up on wiki]" like that later oso complain and say GC is nuts and more OP than LJ. Episode 194 come out alr LJ will be Accepted as Clan in Cray so we too should stop with all this and Accept LJ and their Locks just like a great warrior once said #Blaster Blade and yea they did accept Shadow Paladins so yea if they can do it so can we .

I really dun see LJ as that nuts its really situational and depending on how the player uses it and how well the opp counters it.(U may say this applies to most clans but in my views LJ is one of the most affected by this. LJ players dun just anyhow all in Yolo and Lock they need added planning before doing things although practise makes perfect so player can do things faster when teh situation arises. Like Max said asides from Locks strength wise its really normal or even weaker for its low defensive nature. unless they get their Locks off.

People still complain about Link Joker because it's one of those main poster clans everyone's sick to death of. It and Kagero just happen to be the two most annoying. Gear Chronicle is a chance to clear up the air depending on how their skills are designed. The preview description does make them sound potentially ridiculous and it'll likely power creep its way up, but that isn't the topic at hand. Also I'd argue 194's acceptance of Link Joker was the stupidest choice ever. Link Joker came in and invaded their planet. A vast multitude of people died and Void tormented all life on there along with other planets for centuries. Just because Bushi can't BS a way to kill it off, people should naturally be accepting and welcoming of supergalactic terrorists? No, that's basically saying terrorists are right if they keep persisting and people just say "welp no point in keeping this up". Shadow Paladins were only accepted due to the rewritten plot of Phantom Blaster Dragon mind controlling and corrupting all of them instead of being legitimate self-controlled criminals. Otherwise, only Blaster Dark would've possibly gotten off the hook because he assisted in bringing down the dark dragon in the original timeline.

How is it situational when to start locking all they have to do is wait for their opponent to play the game normally? Yes it depends on the player, practice makes perfect, and all of that. But getting a harmful lock formation is child's play. Hell, Imaginary Plane just tells you to call a booster behind it and you're playing the game normally. If the opponent is seriously not calling any other units and just swinging with Vanguard all game, the Joker player has nothing to worry about. They can just stop holding back their Photons or Colony Makers and zerg the opponent. They widdle away at them with 3 attacks per turn while unless they're playing Overlord the Great, they only have one. If the player on the receiving end of Jokers decides to call, locks ahoy. Overlord the Great being one of the biggest arguments as a countermeasure is the dumbest part. The only way to really play against Jokers long term is to be smart with defenses (assuming you have enough to hold out) or play boss units that never cared about rearguards and generate advantage with things like restanding. Never should a game be "I have to play x so I won't get totally screwed by x". Nor should a game be "to counter x, we'll design it so it can completely ignore what x is targeting". The poster clan treatment is dumb but Jokers aren't helping at all.

As for Deleter Haiz really disappointed in this Archetype. 1 word Fragile. Deleter are the most fragile deck I have every seen. Unlike Locks, Delete reduces your opponents power to 0 and loses all its skills and for a really good reason too it doesn have anything else to gain from doing so yes locking is their sort of 'added Bonus' but who cant live with a turn of Locks. Yes the 1 turn of being waked by 15k guard attacks are not fun but from my experiences ppl live through at least through 1 Turn of Delete attacking wise. Then again when vsing Deleters be prepared and have a G3 in hand. Breaking the Delete is one of the most problematic things for Deleter to face as they dun have huge handsize to guard with. This is also a problem as they require CB to Delete which Igor is a huge help but can be disrupted by kageros and Narukami or even LJ. making Woksis kinda a 1 thing thing which can be like totally shutting down the deck once it cant Delete. Zwill is a better alternative but doesn have any negative effects when re-riding which makes the opp have no minus but the power drop. Woksis on the other hand does provide that drop 1 which is good as if he can delete the next turn might kill the guy off. as I see deleter decks as a time clock which ticks down as many cards my opponent has as 1 attack is probably either a 2 cards drop or 3 cards drop which if you count the basic handsize of a player can be greatly reduced in a matter of Deletes. The only way deleter can be a little less fragile would to for them to get a Lemonade clone only for Deleter like can only use if VG name has Deleter. I mention this is to not get LJ star-vadar to get too OP as they then can spam their Lock skill. Rulwerul is kinda an odd ball for me as i nvr used him before and is kinda an inconsistent delete and well u need to like have alot of Luck to 1 have a g3 LJ and check a G3 LJ so not the best IMO. Plus Stride OMG how is delete even gonna stay decently good not considered a ride so no woksis discard 1. somemore its free dun have to ride a unit from hand although u do have to drop total grade of 3

And this is getting on my nerves with Deletors.

Everyone is disappointed or insults Deletors because they aren't as powerful as the Star-vaders. Have you guys noticed that Deletors have one trial deck and have been in one booster compared to how Star-vaders have two Trial Decks and have been in boosters since BT12?! Or how about the fact that they were designed to actually be played against? Deletors are only fragile in the hands of those who try to standardize them. They're more powerful when they play beyond the norm. They're bizarre aliens that go beyond even a Link Joker's type of crazy. The deck works best with 3-4 Igors and it can resort to using the 8000 Vanilla Grade boosting the +3000 Grade 2 attacker for 20 in a format of 11ks. Deletors have amazing draw generation as they can safely play 4 Igor and 4 of Ganowek because their numbers going to match 11 or 13 no longer matter. Wokshis should be going off at least 3 times per game. Zwill has no 1-drop because it's a cheap cost for a 22 swing against 0. They do need a Lemonade clone, I agree.

Stride does not entirely make Delete irrelevant or terrible. The whole point was the fact that the Vanguard is at 0 power. They play as stronger Darkyusha variants. Stride lowers the defensive effectiveness, but like in the case of Nebula Lord in the face of the unlockers, they necessarily don't have to care. They still tear apart defenses and lock for free since you're on zero and good chance you're teetering on the edge since Deletors can push without a single care in the world.

Spoiler

Ibuki is also confirmed for Vanguard G, so I still have my theory of Deletors getting a Stride that can only be stridden on the opponent's turn when they Stride. The Deletor Stride can immediately delete theirs and it can have a 13/16 body for the turn as a defensive countermeasure to the game's answer to the annihilation of the vanguard.

Guys, Deletors are balanced. Delete has a number of gaping weaknesses compared to Lock. In addition to that, Star-vaders were allowed to gradually become more destructive over a year's time. They're incredibly good, just not nuts. Shouldn't people be happy about that?

Uh people still use Nebula Lord?

Nah, 'course not. But it's still potentially hilarious and didn't deserve such an expensive lock on its own. Nebula Lord brought a great example of the concept of "offense" to Star-vaders. Nebula Lord truly terrorizes with enormous power gains and the off chances of more locks and omega locks. It's one of the few Jokers that genuinely revel in an entire field lock. +15000 to frontrow and my opponent is stunned if they somehow live? That's incredible. I honestly wish Nebula Lord got a sort of Legion Revival (not the revival of grade 3 campaign), because it's really good and fun. It encourages Stands, Criticals, more Draws for setups, everything. Its Grade 2 lineup is incredibly versatile with Photons helping locks, Sword Viper adding increased pressure, nutty Niobu numbers, Colony Maker lining up backrow, and so on. The Grade 1 lineup too. It's sad how his way of doing things got so shafted and eventually never even considered. Blaster Joker brought back some real offensive pushing with its Critical gain, but it's just not the same until you line up 4 Mayaroon and the opponent has no Perfect Guard.

[MaXtreme]

Where's the "F**k Link Joker" option? i'd vote for that one

[Ren «Я»]

Uh people still use Nebula Lord?

Nah, 'course not. But it's still potentially hilarious and didn't deserve such an expensive lock on its own. Nebula Lord brought a great example of the concept of "offense" to Star-vaders. Nebula Lord truly terrorizes with enormous power gains and the off chances of more locks and omega locks. It's one of the few Jokers that genuinely revel in an entire field lock. +15000 to frontrow and my opponent is stunned if they somehow live? That's incredible. I honestly wish Nebula Lord got a sort of Legion Revival (not the revival of grade 3 campaign), because it's really good and fun. It encourages Stands, Criticals, more Draws for setups, everything. Its Grade 2 lineup is incredibly versatile with Photons helping locks, Sword Viper adding increased pressure, nutty Niobu numbers, Colony Maker lining up backrow, and so on. The Grade 1 lineup too. It's sad how his way of doing things got so shafted and eventually never even considered. Blaster Joker brought back some real offensive pushing with its Critical gain, but it's just not the same until you line up 4 Mayaroon and the opponent has no Perfect Guard.
[/quote]

But it's still potentially hilarious and didn't deserve such an expensive lock on its own." True with that since, I had to uh run Cold Death to get easier locking done and even with him on field as an 8k the 15k = 23k which isn't bad. That and I ran 7 grade 3's and used Colony Maker to call my 2nd Dustail lol(This was way before Photons, legions, etc). as for the
" +15000 to frontrow and my opponent is stunned if they somehow live? That's incredible." part

That doesn't even factor in a Niobu and Lanthanum column the turn you breakride Over Infinite Zero before you start the whole locking entire field. So it's a 17k boosting a 34k totaling 51k lol.  lol. But the good part about it is the whole "Palladium" makes it an auto 3k but nowadays you can actually run Nebula, etc and have it done for much easier costs with Bolt Line, Photon, and tech in a few legions and I can probably make it work. Like uhh Zodiac + Nebula would be kinda hilarious late game and sorta unexpected but I wouldn't run 4 Nebula's though maybe 2 for the lol's since I do that with my Zodiac/IPD/CBD deck running 10 g3's and 4/4/2 with 2 CBD's and usually always get it. Might as well try it out lol. See how it works

[Cherry]

Palladium was great with Nebula since you never wanted to use Nebula's Counterblast. Bolt Line just made it all the more beautiful seeing the opponent having to stop gigantic 25+ lanes or risk seeing them against next turn with even more locks for power gain. Would love Legioning to recycle triggers since Nebula loves draws for setup and criticals for faster wins. That's why I wish Nebula got a Legion form. Break Riding just doesn't do it in the long run like Legion can. It's definitely worth trying any sort of variant that can work with Nebula. It might be slower but god is it satisfying to get off and see panic guarding.

I feel like Nebula's only real restraints from letting him be at his best was Limit Break and Counterblasting 2. Otherwise he was really solid and gratifying.

[Ren «Я»]

Makes me think Bushiroad's attempt for a Nebula Legion was Hafnium lol. Since has same skill and gives out +5k for each one( Basically a big downgrade from Nebula and it forced me to run those stands triggers(That can relock) And Zodiac since omega locking 5 late game and then riding Hafnium with stands can get pretty scary as well) Just not comparable to Nebula lol.

[Cherry]

Hafnium is a sad, far cry to Nebula Lord. It can make a Platina turn but that isn't a possible +15000 to the entire frontrow and more devastating with Stands than Hafnium. It definitely feels sort of close though seeing as you technically can play it the exact same way, just not restrained by Limit Break unless you play Infinite Zero.

Would like to try 4 Darms and 3/3 Nebula and Hafnium respectively. Utterly hysterical on paper.

[Dullahan]

When this clan first came out, as in even the wiki page had little on them, I was pretty scared about Lock for the fact it threw off many of my rush tactics for a single turn or two.  Now after a good year, year and a half of them, I came to this conclusion- Link Joker are a-holes.  I mean I'd still try them out when something new of theirs comes out, but they always leave a nasty taste in my mouth. 


Sometimes I wish this clan would be anime-only.

[Ren «Я»]

Hafnium is a sad, far cry to Nebula Lord. It can make a Platina turn but that isn't a possible +15000 to the entire frontrow and more devastating with Stands than Hafnium. It definitely feels sort of close though seeing as you technically can play it the exact same way, just not restrained by Limit Break unless you play Infinite Zero.

Would like to try 4 Darms and 3/3 Nebula and Hafnium respectively. Utterly hysterical on paper.

Ikr lol. But as for the 4 Darms and 3/3 Nebula and Hafnium I'd definitely try out if I was you. Since for 1: It's a really good idea, 2 its not a g3 line up anyone would use since everyone nowadays is into "Blaster Joker, Zodiac, CBD, etc) and I think that deck would probably win just as easily since that pressure entire if you run 4 Osmiums, and 4 Bolt Line's not including the synergy the 3 would have if used in same deck. Makes me wonder about the starter choice. But I'd prob end up using that fox thing or Dustail since 7/10 g3's aren't legions.

[Cherry]

I'd actually wind up using the Grade 3 searcher just to have everything ready for the Break turn. I feel it the safer choice for the older decks except Chaos Breaker. Dust Tail gets the lock setups going but we have Photon now so it really doesn't even matter. Bolt Lines and Osmiums are a must, of course. Anything for the constant powerups works. I like the Grade 3 lineup I came up with since it all does what it's supposed to. Darms for instant triangle, Nebula for big beaters, Hafnium for Platina and trigger recycling, and more Grade 3s for Darms at all.

See I don't like the lineups of Blaster Joker or something including Zodiac. More creativity is smiled upon.

[Ren «Я»]

I'd actually wind up using the Grade 3 searcher just to have everything ready for the Break turn. I feel it the safer choice for the older decks except Chaos Breaker. Dust Tail gets the lock setups going but we have Photon now so it really doesn't even matter. Bolt Lines and Osmiums are a must, of course. Anything for the constant powerups works. I like the Grade 3 lineup I came up with since it all does what it's supposed to. Darms for instant triangle, Nebula for big beaters, Hafnium for Platina and trigger recycling, and more Grade 3s for Darms at all.

See I don't like the lineups of Blaster Joker or something including Zodiac. More creativity is smiled upon.

Agreed and as for "See I don't like the lineups of Blaster Joker or something including Zodiac. More creativity is smiled upon."

And that is why people play LJ and are creative are 50x better than people who just use what "everyone else" is using instead of using there own ideas.^

Well not just LJ I mean with there decks in general.

[Doctor Who]

I didn't see Stride in Area so far so that makes your arguement temporarily invalid.

[Ren «Я»]

I didn't see Stride in Area so far so that makes your arguement temporarily invalid.

Uhm ._.    what lol Nothing was mentioned about Stride