Cameron McKay
Forum Administrator
Forum Administrator
We've pieced together quite a few cards over the past week. Bandai has given us daily previews and various websites have provided us with a mass of great spoilers. Today I am adding another to the massive pile of already revealed cards from Set 2: Rise of Angels. The card that I am adding today is The DragonBuster Archeorni. This card is not what a lot of people would call spectacular but it does have several compelling attributes. Proceed to the article to view the spoiler and learn of the cards many qualities!
Red is graced with the presence of another very awesome looking spirit, which I'm sure the name threw many people for a whirl. Solely looking at the name, I also thought that we would be getting another dragon beat stick for our Red Dragon Deck. However, I couldn't have been more mistaken. This card is definitely not a dragon. It even makes me wonder why it has the name "DragonBuster". The flavor text sheds some light on this, "They just show up and keep hunting every single dragon on the battlefield". From my standpoint, this sounds very cool and gives me the impression that this card will pack a mighty punch when played onto the field. I'd like to introduce you to the newest addition to the Red card pool, The DragonBuster Archeorni!
This card wasn't blessed with the brute strength that his flavor text suggests. Instead, it sports a relatively weak battle power for its cost. It does have a cost reduction of 3 that will minimize its cost at 2. That's reasonable considering that there are few spirits in the current card pool that can cost 2 and sport 4000 battle points at level 1. In fact, Hercules-Geo, Death-Haides, Hummerdrake, Teranosaber, Volc-Baboon, Lizardman, and The Commander Dragno are the only cards from Set 1 that fit this description. With that in consideration, it might be a reasonable conclusion to say that The DragonBuster Archaeorni may have a place with other beat sticks when you factor in his reduction cost. However, lets not place a lot of stock into that conclusion before examining the other attributes of this card.
The DragonBuster Archeorni sports an intriguing effect that makes me think it has the potential to create some nasty combos. That hope was soon diluted when I remembered how few nexus cards that are actually played in today's meta. While it is true that nexus cards may not be plentiful in the current meta, few do exist and have a big impact on the game. Historic Battlefield of the Cursed, Fruit of Life, The Burning Battlefield, The Canyon Where Sage Lives, The Castle of Eternal Snow and Hermit Wise Tree are all prominent nexuses in the current meta.
There are a lot of people out there who understand how good nexus cards can be for their opponents and will make use of tech cards to specifically remove them. I'm sure that you've seen a couple people at your local store playing Dragsaurus or Buster Spear in their sideboard or main deck. We are currently in an environment that does not want nexus cards around and tends to destroy them once they do reach the field. The DragonBuster Archeorni's ability to draw you a card can punish those who would kill your nexuses, or reward you for destroying opposing nexuses. It certainly is not a bad thing to draw cards via this effect when your opponent went to all the trouble of spending a card to destroy one of yours. Even if you destroyed your opponents nexus, you are now getting the added bonus of drawing a card thanks to this ability.
We have already established that The DragonBuster Archeorni can be treated as a conventional beat stick at level 1. With that in mind, I think its reasonable to enjoy the possibility of drawing a card through its effect while you are applying him as a beater. For those people wondering if this card may make the opponent think twice about destroying your nexus - they may very well hesitate but the nexuses that are currently prominent in our meta need to be dealt with as soon as possible. If that means you get to draw a card, then that is a small sacrifice considering how much damage can be done through the nexus effects if left alone.
What I find rather unfortunate about this card is that it must be at level 2 in order to make use of its ability. This is regrettable because once you place 3 cores on this card to push it to level 2, it will only be at 6000 battle points. Hence, it loses credibility as a beat stick since it can be tied in battle points by many lower costing spirits that reach level 2 by placing an equivalent cost on them. When I am talking about equivalent cost, I am referring to the total amount of cores required to put a card into play at the same level (including cost) compared to another card. An example of this is if we compare the equivalent cost of placing both The DragonBuster Archeorni and Eyeburn into play at level 2. The total number of cores required for The DragonBuster Archeorni is 5 (cost of 2 + 3 cores to make him level 2). The total number of cores required for Eyeburn at level 2 is also 5 (cost is 1 + 4 cores to make him level 2). Based on this, we can conclude that there is no disadvantage to playing The DragonBuster Archeorni or Eyeburn at level 2.
However, a disadvantage may exist if we compare their equivalent cost at level 1. I'll leave that for the curious readers to figure out, though.
A couple of spirits who are able to achieve a better equivalent cost than The DragonBuster Archeorni are Hercules-Geo, Disaster, Teranosaber, Eyeburn, Merat, and Lizardman. You will be at a disadvantage when these spirits hit the field against you while you are playing The DragonBuster Archeorni in their place. You can view this by assessing the potential of these beat sticks. The biggest factor in making an assessment of this caliber is to compare the cost of playing the spirit relative to the cost of leveling that spirit up. If a spirit has a high battle power but is extremely expensive to play, then it cannot achieve normal beat stick status. The same can be said for a spirit who has a low cost but the cost of leveling up that spirit to a high battle power is expensive. Most spirits lie between these two extremes and in order to properly gauge the beat stick status of the card, you must compare the attributes of that card to that of others. There may be a lot of other spirits who are able to achieve the same or higher battle power at a lower level or cheaper cost. When this happens, the spirit is considered to not be a beat stick when compared to the general card pool. Making these assessments are definitely not simple. An example of a beat stick is Disaster. This card is very cheap to play since it reduces to a cost of 1 and the cost of leveling it up is very low compared to other spirits who are able to reach 6000 battle points. As you can see, The DragonBuster Archeorni is far more expensive to play and to achieve 6000 battle points than Disaster. Through these types of comparisons, it becomes painfully obvious that The DragonBuster Archeorni is far too expensive to be considered a conventional beat stick at level 2.
If you really look for them, The DragonBuster Archeorni does have its useful qualities. Unfortunately, I don't see him being used much over other standard late game Red spirits. I think its a real shame that this card didn't have an ability that helped nexus cards instead of gaining from their destruction. I would have liked to see some nexus support that may link a tie between the opposites Red and White. I can't say I'm surprised that we are without one, though. After all, Red and White are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. On the plus side, this card does provide a late game option for Red budget decks. It definitely has beat stick qualities if you get him out early enough at level 1. However, be careful of the other cards that get more for their cores at level 2. This card definitely isn't the best option for a level 2 beat stick. Kudos to everyone who makes use of his drawing ability. If anyone ever draws a card via this cards ability, please give yourself a pat on the back. It is well deserved!
Eye of the Vortex will be bringing you more spoiler articles in the future. Look for them on the main page!
This card wasn't blessed with the brute strength that his flavor text suggests. Instead, it sports a relatively weak battle power for its cost. It does have a cost reduction of 3 that will minimize its cost at 2. That's reasonable considering that there are few spirits in the current card pool that can cost 2 and sport 4000 battle points at level 1. In fact, Hercules-Geo, Death-Haides, Hummerdrake, Teranosaber, Volc-Baboon, Lizardman, and The Commander Dragno are the only cards from Set 1 that fit this description. With that in consideration, it might be a reasonable conclusion to say that The DragonBuster Archaeorni may have a place with other beat sticks when you factor in his reduction cost. However, lets not place a lot of stock into that conclusion before examining the other attributes of this card.
The DragonBuster Archeorni sports an intriguing effect that makes me think it has the potential to create some nasty combos. That hope was soon diluted when I remembered how few nexus cards that are actually played in today's meta. While it is true that nexus cards may not be plentiful in the current meta, few do exist and have a big impact on the game. Historic Battlefield of the Cursed, Fruit of Life, The Burning Battlefield, The Canyon Where Sage Lives, The Castle of Eternal Snow and Hermit Wise Tree are all prominent nexuses in the current meta.
There are a lot of people out there who understand how good nexus cards can be for their opponents and will make use of tech cards to specifically remove them. I'm sure that you've seen a couple people at your local store playing Dragsaurus or Buster Spear in their sideboard or main deck. We are currently in an environment that does not want nexus cards around and tends to destroy them once they do reach the field. The DragonBuster Archeorni's ability to draw you a card can punish those who would kill your nexuses, or reward you for destroying opposing nexuses. It certainly is not a bad thing to draw cards via this effect when your opponent went to all the trouble of spending a card to destroy one of yours. Even if you destroyed your opponents nexus, you are now getting the added bonus of drawing a card thanks to this ability.
We have already established that The DragonBuster Archeorni can be treated as a conventional beat stick at level 1. With that in mind, I think its reasonable to enjoy the possibility of drawing a card through its effect while you are applying him as a beater. For those people wondering if this card may make the opponent think twice about destroying your nexus - they may very well hesitate but the nexuses that are currently prominent in our meta need to be dealt with as soon as possible. If that means you get to draw a card, then that is a small sacrifice considering how much damage can be done through the nexus effects if left alone.
What I find rather unfortunate about this card is that it must be at level 2 in order to make use of its ability. This is regrettable because once you place 3 cores on this card to push it to level 2, it will only be at 6000 battle points. Hence, it loses credibility as a beat stick since it can be tied in battle points by many lower costing spirits that reach level 2 by placing an equivalent cost on them. When I am talking about equivalent cost, I am referring to the total amount of cores required to put a card into play at the same level (including cost) compared to another card. An example of this is if we compare the equivalent cost of placing both The DragonBuster Archeorni and Eyeburn into play at level 2. The total number of cores required for The DragonBuster Archeorni is 5 (cost of 2 + 3 cores to make him level 2). The total number of cores required for Eyeburn at level 2 is also 5 (cost is 1 + 4 cores to make him level 2). Based on this, we can conclude that there is no disadvantage to playing The DragonBuster Archeorni or Eyeburn at level 2.
However, a disadvantage may exist if we compare their equivalent cost at level 1. I'll leave that for the curious readers to figure out, though.
A couple of spirits who are able to achieve a better equivalent cost than The DragonBuster Archeorni are Hercules-Geo, Disaster, Teranosaber, Eyeburn, Merat, and Lizardman. You will be at a disadvantage when these spirits hit the field against you while you are playing The DragonBuster Archeorni in their place. You can view this by assessing the potential of these beat sticks. The biggest factor in making an assessment of this caliber is to compare the cost of playing the spirit relative to the cost of leveling that spirit up. If a spirit has a high battle power but is extremely expensive to play, then it cannot achieve normal beat stick status. The same can be said for a spirit who has a low cost but the cost of leveling up that spirit to a high battle power is expensive. Most spirits lie between these two extremes and in order to properly gauge the beat stick status of the card, you must compare the attributes of that card to that of others. There may be a lot of other spirits who are able to achieve the same or higher battle power at a lower level or cheaper cost. When this happens, the spirit is considered to not be a beat stick when compared to the general card pool. Making these assessments are definitely not simple. An example of a beat stick is Disaster. This card is very cheap to play since it reduces to a cost of 1 and the cost of leveling it up is very low compared to other spirits who are able to reach 6000 battle points. As you can see, The DragonBuster Archeorni is far more expensive to play and to achieve 6000 battle points than Disaster. Through these types of comparisons, it becomes painfully obvious that The DragonBuster Archeorni is far too expensive to be considered a conventional beat stick at level 2.
If you really look for them, The DragonBuster Archeorni does have its useful qualities. Unfortunately, I don't see him being used much over other standard late game Red spirits. I think its a real shame that this card didn't have an ability that helped nexus cards instead of gaining from their destruction. I would have liked to see some nexus support that may link a tie between the opposites Red and White. I can't say I'm surprised that we are without one, though. After all, Red and White are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. On the plus side, this card does provide a late game option for Red budget decks. It definitely has beat stick qualities if you get him out early enough at level 1. However, be careful of the other cards that get more for their cores at level 2. This card definitely isn't the best option for a level 2 beat stick. Kudos to everyone who makes use of his drawing ability. If anyone ever draws a card via this cards ability, please give yourself a pat on the back. It is well deserved!
Eye of the Vortex will be bringing you more spoiler articles in the future. Look for them on the main page!
Cameron McKay
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About: Cameron's main focus at EoV is writing Battle Spirits TCG articles and managing the EoV forums. He is currently studying Computer Science at the University of Manitoba to attain a Bachelors of Science. He aspires to one day take what he has learned at EoV and create a daily blog that will be read by many internet goers. His interests include Comic Books, Anime, Manga, Battle Spirits Trading Card Game, Sports (specifically Baseball & Curling), Video Games, and Music.
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CV Newton Publishing Limited. © 2009 CV Newton Publishing Limited, All images used are sole property of their respective parent companies and are used with permission (sometimes).