The first trial decks for the Standard format are now available at local shops and online retailers. The first trial decks are Aichi Sendou and Toshiki Kai. They closely resemble the original trial decks from season one of the original Cardfight!! Vanguard animation. Blaster Blade and Dragonic Overlord have returned with new abilities. They are also the best cards from their respected trial decks. Many more classic cards return with new art, power, and skills.
A new format comes with new mechanics. The first new mechanic from the standard format is the Imaginary Gift. There are currently three types of Imaginary Gifts. The first gift is Force with the ability to give 10,000 to any circle on a player’s field. The second gift is Accel with the ability to create a new circle for rear-guards. Finally, the third gift is Protect with the ability to generate a perfect defense. Players receive a gift after they ride a grade 3 with a gift marker. Keep in mind not all grade 3 cards have markers.
V-Trial Deck 1: Aichi Sendou
Aichi Sendou’s trial deck includes the new Royal Paladins. Their strategy is calling cards from the hand or soul to gain power and drawing cards to replenish resources. Alfred Early is an underrated vanguard. His combo with Blaster Blade is very strong. I maintain my hand and Blaster Blade gets a huge power boost of 10,000 power. The imaginary gift encourages players to ride the same vanguard or a new vanguard every turn. You can ride Alfred Early multiple times to reuse the same ability and add additional Force markers to your field.
V-Trial Deck 2: Toshiki Kai
Kagero also has the Force gift. The trial deck’s primary strategy is to overpower your opponent with Dragonic Overlord’s ability to stand for a second attack and slightly control the field by returning your opponent’s rear-guards. Dragonic Overlord is one of the strongest cards at the start of Standard. Unfortunately, most of Kagero’s rear-guards are lackluster and inconsistent. Dragon Knight, Nehalem and Embodiment of Armor, Bahr are the deck’s most consistent rear-guards, and you will want to keep them for the long run. They both have the ability to retire opponent’s rear-guards.
Furthermore, I tested both trial decks. I won the majority of games with Aichi Sendou’s trial deck, and I won half of my games with Toshiki Kai’s trial deck. I have more experience with Royal Paladins from the premium format than Kagero. The deck has a natural flow with me. I act very quickly without second thoughts when playing Royal Paladins. I felt very dependent on Dragonic Overlord when I was playing Kagero. Most of the rear-guards are not very effective and lack pressure.
The Final Word
Overall, both trial decks are solid. I must say Aichi Sendou’s trial deck is slightly better. The deck is more complete than Kai’s deck. Aichi Sendou’s trial deck of Royal Paladins is like the Golden State Warriors. They are collective group of cards and have great chemistry together. The Royal Paladins are the perfect team of stars. Toshiki Kai’s trial deck is like the Cleveland Cavaliers. The deck focuses on Dragonic Overlord and he does most of the work just like Lebron James. The rear-guards may or may not be effective in a game.
Aichi Sendou V-Trial Deck Rating: [usr 5]
Toshiki Kai V-Trail Deck Rating: [usr 3]
