New Spoiler Card Review:

Witch Queen of Transfiguration, Sinclair

Omigod omigod it's real it's real omigod omigod

Somewhere, Stil Vampir is sobbing gently in the fetal position.

A recent reveal in the Fighters Collection Winter 2015 set has in fact unveiled a Shadow Paladin Witch Stride, something I've been wanting for a WHILE, and boy, is she worth it. Firstly, we'll dissect the effect, then I'll add my opinion on how this will change the deck.

[Stride]-Stride Step-[Choose one or more cards with the sum of their grades being 3 or greater from your hand, and discard them] Stride this card on your (VC) from face down.

[ACT](VC)1/Turn:[Counter Blast (1)] If you have a heart card with "Witch" in its card name, and the number of your opponent's grade 0 rear-guards is two or more, your opponent reveals ten cards from the top of his or her deck, chooses a grade 0 card from among them, rides it, shuffles his or her deck, until end of turn, that unit gets "[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1)] At the beginning of the guard step of the battle that this unit was attacked, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose any number of cards from your hand, call them (GC) as [Rest]." and "[AUTO](VC):At the end of your opponent's turn, choose up to one card from your soul, and ride it.".

Now, if we dissect this in pieces, beginning with the basics- Witch heart is required, which works fine for us, and the opponent will need to control 2 or more Grade 0 units. Without Fianna on the VG circle for a turn, this is tougher, but not impossible- and it adds to the opponent's list of worries. 

Now, they know this card exists, and they know Diablo exists, and they know that you have access to both. The threat of Diablo will make them call units, so they can still guard, which gives you rearguards to Hex with Fianna, Adora, Dana and Deirdre, while the threat of Sinclair will make them replace those Grade 0's as soon as humanly possible, minusing themselves and making Diablo hurt more. As you can tell, it's a big wheel of variables and worry and YOU'RE the one spinning it.

So, if they're silly enough to leave 1 or 2 Grade 0 rearguards, with a Dana or Deirdre in hand, Striding Sinclair becomes quite the option. For a counterblast, you'll make them ride a G0 from the top 10 cards of their deck- but it's okay, they aren't getting completely pseudo-Gloried. They can still guard the vanguard any way they want to...by paying a counterblast for the privilege.

In a game where in most decks, counterblasts equal direct advantage, pushing your opponent to use them to do something as essential as guarding is like disruption on steroids for SP Witches. And that's just wonderful, really. A cherry on top is that your opponent's Vanguard will be on 5k at most, which, if you're hitting or 16k+ columns (which you SHOULD) all rearguard attacks will require 15k shield at least- and if they want to use any grade other than Zero...that'll be a Counterblast, please.

At the end of the turn, they can re-ride a Vanguard from their soul- in some strange and situational scenarios, they can work this to their advantage- but in any properly planned Sinclair turn, this shouldn't matter too much, as they should be considerably softened up, or even out of the game entirely. In the rare scenario where re-riding their vanguard would plus hugely for them, simply use your common sense and judgement, and either go through with it if you think it will spell the end, or just don't stride Sinclair. She doesn't mind, she'll help you mess people up another time.

Changes to the Deck

Now, this is all my own theorycrafting here, but I've been playing Witches a while- so I feel like I may have some valid points. All things discussed here will need proper testing before we know for certain if they're right.

We're now more counterblast-heavy than we've ever been.

Fianna, Diablo, Sinclair and later on, Adora all  need counterblasts to get their effects off. This applies most to Fianna- the double Hex is quite effective, and done on a regular, staggered on a once per turn basis, will really set up for Sinclair, as most opponents will find it hard to keep replacing the Rearguards they've lost, and the loss of triggers from their deck, 2 at a time, is quietly devastating.

In a match against a Granblue player not so long ago, with his milling, and my Fianna effects, I managed to make him lose all of his trigger units from his main deck. It can happen, and while it's not something you should aim for by any means, it's still worth your time to grind those triggers out. Just think, the less Grade 0's they draw/check, the more Counterblast they will need to pay with Sinclair to guard, and the more disruption you'll have spread.

To mitigate this, Shadow Paladin has some counterchargers we can use. In English, I'm currently running 3 Adra, whom functions as an impressive pressure unit- opponents generally know WHAT that countercharge and soulcharge will be doing, so they will guard her. Witch of Goats, Medb, is also an option, but calling a G0 Stand Trigger for a countercharge and soulcharge is getting more difficult these days- not only is a Stand Trigger difficult to run (Stands only being really worth it on Rias or Sinclair turns) but giving up a 10k shield for a 4k Rearguard that then stays on the field is NOT worth it.

And then, I personally will be defecting to Karma Collector. While Nemain has the name (which only really matters for Adora especial counterblasts and dumping for Kuroma/Rias/Securna, but it's not as if you'd drop a PG for those), Karma gives us the countercharge we need. Nemain's draw and drop is cute, and sometimes hits gold, but in dire straits, it's usually a one card mill, and set up for the Legion turn is no longer really a valid reason, when you can easily stride before Legion (usually Dark Knight, Grim Recruiter, or Aurageyser if you're nasty).

With Adra and Karma, you should be set for some nice countercharging- 2 gets you a Fianna go, 1 gets you to have fun with either Diablo or Sinclair.

Dana and Deirdre are staple at 4 now more than ever.

Speaks for itself really, Sinclair turns can come about now and then if your opponent can't/won't rid themselves of the units Fianna gave them, but savvy players will know to get rid of as many as possible- if they leave one, or none, however, Sinclair is still possible thanks to Dana and Deirdre. Call them as a column and you've got a Sinclair turn.

Although, careful not to hold too tightly onto them in your hand- sometimes, to keep up the tempo, you'll need to call Deirdre or even Dana just to remain offensive enough so that Sinclair/Diablo will be offensive pushes and not just damage turns- it's okay if sometimes you can't make Deirdre or Dana activate their effects. Plan ahead as best you can.

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To summarize, waking up this morning and seeing this card announced honestly made my day. It's diabolically cruel, and fits Witches like a glove. I'm happy.

mawile  x