[CFV] Stride and the future of Vanguard

[Resident Fascist]

So now we've had Strides out for a couple days in the English format and we've all probably gotten a chance to get some of the cards, play them and see somewhat what our post-Stride format is going to look like, I feel a general discussion topic on the near and somewhat distant future for Vanguard would be nice, on both sides of the game, as well as a general opinion on Stride, the support and where we think the game will go as we go further into Vanguard-G and Stride Generation.

 

 Personally, I really like Strides. They're a lot of fun and honestly I feel once every clan has a few, they will be one of the most balanced mechanics in the game. All of my problems with Stride tend to derive from the Stride support itself, and what not or having this support entails for deck construction. I would like to get it off my chest that I do not like the Steam Breath Dragon and it's representative counterparts in other clans. I feel one Grade 1 unit with 7000 Power that also searches a unit from your deck which is already useful for Stride or acts as fuel for Stride in itself, on top of being Grade 3 when used for a Stride is too much. I also feel it gives certain decks a little too much freedom in Striding. I feel Striding should be a decision made to dump power over a longer period of multiple turns into one turn, or the thoughtful decision of dumping useless Grade 3s from your hand to Stride, rather than just "I have this card so I can Stride for Free", because that is what these cards essentially equate to. Note this is not a problem I have with the Stride mechanic itself, it is merely the Steam Breath Dragon-esque cards (Outside of Gear Chronicle, as that is a Stride based clan). Obviously, not having these types of cards brings repercussions to the game also.

 

 Decks that use Persona Blast or similar mechanics would probably not be inclined to Stride nearly as much if these cards didn't exist, as such, we'd have to ramp up the power of these units to compensate for the lack of Stride in the deck. While I feel this would be perfectly acceptable, Bushiroad might not want to repeat the mistake of Dragonic Overlord the End once again, and honestly balancing a larger number of decks around Stride is much easier for them to do than to balance some decks for Stride, and some for other methods such as Legion. 

 

 As for the GB1 Boost Support units like Knight of Twin Sword and White Hank, I feel these units in general rest on the ease of use of Striding in a lot of decks and also, without such easy use of Strides, these cards would become far worse. This is why I feel it's quite awkward to say I don't like SBD clones, because a lot of decks are basing on their Stride units now, which is clear by Generation Break and SBD itself.

 

 Anyway, thoughts on Stride, opinions on the support and the future of the game?

 

EDIT: Shard sure fls a lot in this post.

[Just Crouton]

Picking up 2 Royal Trials on Thursday.

 

I like how they're making Grade 3s that interact with the Strides, and giving them support with units that search/can do stuff with them on VC. It places importance on them as characters without making them an actual archetype.

 

Strides are also great for midgame stuff, especially in Breakride decks where the VG is a vanilla until you get to 4 damage.