[C!!V] [Deck + Guide] Oracle Think Tank

[Legend Zero]

[center][img]http://i52.tinypic.com/16la4b5.png[/img]

[size=2][b]17 Grade 0[/b]
1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi
4 Lozenge Magus [color=#00ff00] [H][/color]
4 Dream Eater [color=#ff0000] [D][/color]
4 Battle Sister, Ginger [color=#ffd700] [C][/color]
4 Psychic Bird [color=#ffd700] [C][/color]

[b]16 Grade 1[/b]
4 Battle Sister Chocolat
4 Battle Sister Cocoa
4 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi
2 Hare of Inaba
2 Oracle Guardian, Gemini

[b]10 Grade 2[/b]
4 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
3 Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime
3 Oracle Guardian Red-Eye

[b]7 Grade 3[/b]
3 Beautiful Maiden of Wicked Eyes, Euryale
4 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi [/size]

[u]Index:[/u]
[b]• I - Clan Overview
• II - Build Explanation
+ IIb - Grade 1 Explanation
+ IIc - Grade 2 Explanation
+ IId - Grade 3 Explanation
• III - Controversial Choices
• IIII - How to play...
+ IIIIa - Against
+ IIIIb - With[/b]

[b][u]I - Clan Overview[/u][/b]

[url="http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Oracle_Think_Tank"][img] http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120224190544/cardfight/images/thumb/8/8a/29a.png/300px-29a.png [/img][/url]
[size=1]Click on the above for a link to the entire list of [b]Oracle Think Tank[/b] cards.[/size]

[b]Oracle Think Tank[/b], commonly abbreviated as OTT, are a clan which have been in the game since the very beginning, [b]BT01: Descent of the Knight King[/b]. Then the clan was given a Trail Deck, [b]VG-TD04 Maiden Princess of the Cherry Blossoms[/b]. Shortly after, they was then expanded in a pack called [b]BT03: Demonic Lord Invasion[/b]. They continue to receive support through the anime and manga, with much thanks to Tokura Misaki. They are scheduled for more support in [b]BT07: Rampage of the Beast King[/b], with the chance of adding a Limit Break unit to the [b]Oracle Think Tank[/b] front lines.[/center]

[quote name='Bushiroad']The [b]Oracle Think Tank[/b] are a clan from the nation of [u]United Sanctuary[/u]. The [b]Oracle Think Tank[/b] is a corporation of individuals talented in magic that use their powers to predict the future. They focus less on power and more on intelligence, with cards mechanically themed around hand size, drawing, and looking at the top card(s) of your deck. Many of the cards in the Oracle Think Tank clan are designed to be female.[/quote]
[center][b]Oracle Think Tank[/b] are a clan which have many types of play styles, but most appear to focus around consistently increasing the player’s hand advantage, with the sub-focus on the predicting triggers. The newer units achieve their skills through Soul manipulation, mainly six Soul.

[b][u]II – Oracle Think Tank: Build Explanation[/u][/b]

As you can probably see, this deck is focused on the [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] and her Ride Chain. Some people believe that this deck is meant to obtain a hand advantage over your opponent, while continuing to dish out a constant stream of attacks. These people are not completely wrong, but the main focus is actually reaching the “stack”, provided by the [i]Tsukuyomi[/i] Ride Chain, to beat your opponent in one swoop. Continuous drawing and Soul Charging are a few ways that this can be accomplished faster and consistently.[/center]

[u]IIb - Grade 1 Explanation [/u]

• [i]Battle Sister, Chocolat[/i] – The perfect guard of the deck. The draw power lets the deck run 4, being able to continuously fend off big threats.
• [i]Battle Sister, Cocoa[/i] – A Grade 1 with 6k that, when Rode or Called, gives you the ability to look at the top card of your deck and place it on the top of bottom. Now, the 6k may turn off some people, but being able to predict a trigger or get closer to the stacked cards at the bottom of your deck is invaluable.
• [i]Crescent Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] – The Grade 1 Ride Chain. It’s pretty obvious to run 4 for consistency. The 7k is also nice for an RG, too.
• [i]White Rabbit of Inaba[/i] – The Grade 1, 6k, little bunny is probably one of the disputed card in the deck. Now, you might hear that [b]Oracle Think Tank[/b] decks can reach 6 Soul fairly easily. Well, that is true to an extent, but it is not always the case. Missing a Ride Chain can and will happen to you and being able to get to the 6 Soul is extremely important. [i]White Rabbit of Inaba[/i] outshines [i]Psychic Bird[/i] and [i] Oracle Guardian, Red Eye[/i] in the aspect of getting [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] to full power in a pinch.
• [i]Oracle Guardian, Gemini[/i] – The Grade 1 vanilla, a common choice among certain clans. Its flavor text also sums up the clan; making is pretty cool to play. It makes for a good choice as the Vanguard Unit if you miss Riding [i]Crescent Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i]. However, its greatest asset is being able to boost [i]Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime[/i] for a 20k, which is a great number against most Grade 3 units.


[u]IIc - Grade 2 Explanation[/u]

• [i]Half Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] – Grade 2 of the Ride Chain, Soul Charges 2 when successfully going through the Ride Chain, overall 9k beater.
• [i]Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime[/i] – The best Rearguard to have late game, and can play defense early game. [i]Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime[/i] is a Grade 2 with 9k that gains an additional 3k whenever 6 or more are in soul. Most players who have faced her will try a significant amount to Retire her, which can take some pressure off of your current Vanguard Unit.
• [i]Oracle Guardian, Red Eye[/i] – The 9k fox statue may not seem like it, but it does a lot for the deck. Even with a successful Ride Chain, [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] would still require another card in the Soul. While [i]Psychic Bird[/i] and [i]White Rabbit of Inaba[/i] are valid choices, [i]Oracle Guardian, Red Eye[/i] lets you keep the 10k shield that [i]Psychic Bird[/i] brings and sustains the hand advantage that you’ve worked hard for. Getting this early to mid game can give you the Soul that you need, get you closer to your stacked cards, or force your opponent to waste cards by guarding, which could’ve come in handy later. Plus its red, making even better.

[u]IId - Grade 3 Explanation[/u]

• [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] – Now for the star of the deck…well, star maybe a poor choice of words. [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] truly lives up to her role as the “Avatar of the Full Moon”, and the central unit of the deck. To start off with, this unit loses 2k when it is missing any of the Ride Chain in its Soul. Now, some consider this a major flaw, but it is not as bad as it seems. First, you already have [i]Godhawk, Ichibyoshi[/i] in the Soul regardless. Second, with the ability of mulligan, you have a decent chance to end up with numerous cards of the Ride Chain in your starting hand. This is coupled with the fact that a Ride Chain filled Soul will give [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] an impressive 11k power makes it worth the small effort. While not being the strongest Vanguard Unit, it does have a distinct advantage over 10k Vanguard Units and doesn’t bow down as easily to the likes of [i]Phantom Blaster Overlord[/i], [i]Dragonic Overlord The End[/i], and [i]Majesty Lord Blaster[/i]. Finally, we come to [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi’s[/i] Counterblast; when activated, you draw two cards and place one from your hand into the Soul. Being a natural +1 to the hand is what it is at face value, but it does so much more. This skill can draw and fill your Soul with the rest of the Ride Chain, provided you missed any, and gets you that much closer to your stacked cards.
• [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i] - I know what you’re thinking, “why not [i]CEO Amaterasu[/i]?” I’ll get to that in just a bit, but right now, let’s talk about the most controversial unit in the deck. [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i], commonly known as Eury, is one of the four and only Grade 3 [b]Oracle Think Tank[/b] from [b]BT05: Awakening of Twin Blades[/b]. [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i] is a 10k unit that represents one of the Gorgon sisters. When this unit is Called or Rode and you have 6+ [b]Oracle Think Tanks[/b] in the Soul you can Bind a random card in your opponent’s hand for the duration of the turn. This card is simply amazing late game, on the verge of heavenly if used in multiples. This unit can ruin your opponent’s plan in ways they couldn’t begin to imagine. It can force your opponent to use many of their 5k shields, take on extra damage, force the use of a different card for perfect guard fodder, or simply make your opponent unable to guard your attacks. With this card you can gain the upper hand after a bad game or win a turn or two early, saving you from the difficulties of late game against the powerhouses of the meta game.


[center][b][u]III - Controversial Choices[/u][/b]
[size=2]*Note: I will add to this section if anyone would like an explanation as to why I left a card in or out.[/size][/center]

• [i]CEO Amaterasu[/i] – Probably the biggest thing one would see missing from the deck. Many decks and many sources of information will tell you that [i]CEO Amaterasu[/i] is the better choice for your second Grade 3 in this deck, but I will argue that. One of the main arguments I’ve heard (I’m going to quote a DGZ member for this) is, “Eurayle is trash, it's a vanilla VG and a vanilla RG after the first turn, it has a surprise factor late game, but unless your binding a null guard it probably won't matter that much”. Ok, so let’s dive right into this. Comparing [i]CEO Amaterasu[/i] to [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i] as the Rear Guard Unit gives you what? A 10k vanilla after the first turn, with [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i] getting its skill during the first turn. [i]CEO Amaterasu[/i] will have no use for its Megablast as a Rear Guard Unit because that should be used for the more reliable and consistent Counterblast of [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i]. I will not deny the fact that [i]CEO Amaterasu[/i] is leagues above [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i] in the Vanguard Circle and can benefit you in getting to your stacked cards faster, but that would require you to Ride (or worst case Re-Ride) this unit. It leaves you with a 10k on the defensive side of the board, which is extremely vulnerable in today’s meta game, with +5k Limit Breaks giving Vangaurd Units upwards of 25k during the offense. Also, while it may not seem that important, the Soul Charging [i]CEO Amaterasu[/i] gives not only dwindles your deck, but can virtually lock important units into the Soul. So, while [i]CEO Amaterasu[/i] plays an amazing offensive late game as the Vanguard Unit, [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i] can play just as amazingly late game, and can even force your opponent into the end game. In the end, the second Grade 3 should be a Rear Guard Unit first and a Vanguard Unit in the event of going without a Grade 3 Tsukuyomi. I do enjoy the discussion between these two cards, so feel free to add your opinions.

[center][b][u]IIII - How to play...[/u][/b][/center]
[u]IIIIa - Against[/u]

This is something that most of you should probably take a good note of if you want to be able to play better against them.
• [u]Stop the sixth Soul.[/u] Getting to 6 Soul is important for this deck; [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i], [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i ], and [i]Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime[/i] all rely on being in this state. So, when you’re being attacked by [i]Oracle Guardian, Red Eye[/i] think twice before taking the hit, especially if they miss a part of the Ride Chain.
• [u]Commit to the board.[/u] [b]Oracle Think Tank[b] decks have no real way to Retire or mess with their opponent’s field, take advantage of that. Committing units to the board, especially early game, can give you the upper hand right from the get go.
• [u]Late Game equals End Game.[/u] Now, since I’ve gone on and on about the stack, playing against it should be simple; keep your opponent from reaching their stack. This means that you should start pushing as soon as you reach Grade 3. If you can’t win in that time, then save your perfect guards for when your opponent is reaching the end of their deck.

[u]IIIIb - With[/u]

The Starting Vanguard will be [i]Godhawk, Ichibyoshi[/i]. In your opening hand, you should keep one copy of any one of the Ride Chain, however, try to get the lower Grades first, because it gives you more time to draw into the higher Grades. Other than that it is as standard as any other deck, mulligan any trigger. Some may want to keep a [i]Psychic Bird[/i] for security, but the amount of Soul Charging cards the deck brings doesn’t warrant the dead trigger.

Now, you obviously want to Superior Ride as much as possible to keep a hand advantage over your opponent. In the event you don’t get [i]Crescent Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] don’t panic. You have two options; Ride another Grade 1 and try to fill the Soul with the appropriate cards, or do not Ride anything for the turn. I recommend the latter in the event you go first, and it’s your choice if you go second. Remember, skipping a Ride is not as bad for this deck since you get 5 cards closer to your initial stack. You should call Rear Guards to poke for early damage if possible.

Riding the Grade 2, simple enough. Once again, Superior Ride if possible, if not then Ride [i]Half Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i]. If you cannot do either of those, then you once again have the choice to Ride another Grade 2 or not Ride anything at all. Call [i]Oracle Guardian, Red Eye[/i] if you have it and [i]Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime[/i] if you think you need to take pressure off your Vanguard Unit. If you don’t have a Grade 3 at this stage then you might want to start Calling [i]Psychic Bird[/i] and/or [i]Battle Sister, Cocoa[/i] for their skills.

Here we are, the final step! Grade 3 is also pretty self explanatory; you need to let the Full Moon shine. You should have had enough time to get [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i] into your hand. If you still don’t have it and are unable to Superior Ride it, we go back to the choice of “to Ride or not to Ride?” I would recommend not Riding [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i] if at all possible. Though, you should Ride if your opponent already has a powerhouse Vanguard Unit, then grin and bear it until you can Ride [i]Full Moon Goddess, Tsukuyomi[/i]. You should also be putting down [i]Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime[/i] and any offensive force you can muster up. Start putting as much pressure as possible, while you get closer to your stack. Call [i]Evil-eye Princess, Euryale[/i] whenever you feel extremely overwhelmed or when you feel you’ve reached your stack.

If you have any questions then feel free to ask. ^-^


[size=2]~Thanks to Koko for the format and motivation. =][/size]

Anyway, all comments and/or interest in vanguard is welcome. It is actually a great game to get into.

[DeathSDelano]

Think tank's other Grade 3 thats decent is Apollon, but thats besides the piont(or until DLI comes out, but that requires different playstyle).

Anyways how is Maple working out for ya? She seems only useful Earlier game or when in lack of grade 2s as her Skill only works when she attacks :/

[Legend Zero]

To be honest, I had Apollon in place of Meteobreak but he is so weak compared that his skill rarely goes off. At least Meteobreak may make the opponent waste an extra card. Apollon and Wizard are easily the next in line for best Grade 3, but I find Wizard to be more useful.

Maple, on the other hand, is purely filler. I like the ratios as they are, but if you have other ideas I'd be glad to hear. =3

Although I could

-2 Maple
+1 Rack
+1 Wizard

I've been thinking myself into headache mode over this.

[DeathSDelano]

if you like ratios as is:

then make
-2 Maple
+2Rack Birds

or

+2 Dark Cat/Gemini

But overall i would just say

Test out whatever you come up with and see what works. Only way to really know in Vanguard as in this game There is no prefect deck, and for the most part they all balance each other out. As each clan is good at one thing, but bad at another

[Legend Zero]

That's why I love this game, trigger luck has a lot to do with it. So anyone can run whatever Clan they want, and still have a fighting chance, at least.

I'll try out everything tomorrow and come back with the results.

[Legend Zero]

Well, after testing in the wee hours of the mourning the results.

[quote name='Legend Zero' timestamp='1311643105' post='5387591']
-2 Maple
+1 Rack
+1 Wizard
[/quote]


Maple wasn't really productive and I seem to lose anytime I damage check a Grade 3. Having multiple grade 3s on the board is too important, and I can always use a dead one as Chocolat fodder. Keep the comments/suggestions coming though! If anything is left.

I also added my Ride for CEO. =3

[DeathSDelano]

Alright as of right now can't really come with any changes. But after DLI maybe i will have some. As i plan to test out all of the new cards eventually.

And this game also has bit of planning ahead. As depending on what clan you are facing your gonna have to adjust your playing style and so on. And Even when you know each others Decks there is no way to tell who will win. Especially when both players are evenly matched in skill

[Legend Zero]

I have added a Guide to OTTs in the OP, I hope to get some feedback on it. If anyone has the time to read. XP

I also plan to test/theory-oh the new OTTs on my way back home. (its a long drive)

[Legend Zero]

Bump because I got this thing fully edit'd. XD

[Legend Zero]

gonna bump this again.

I started playing again today, after finally getting better connection. 4-0 in all, but haven't played against any of the new clans yet. I have definitely got a hang on how to control how much damage I can take/let go.

As always the I'm up for all suggestions. ^-^

[DeathSDelano]

[quote name='Legend Zero' timestamp='1319916154' post='5606400']
gonna bump this again.

I started playing again today, after finally getting better connection. 4-0 in all, but haven't played against any of the new clans yet. I have definitely got a hang on how to control how much damage I can take/let go.

As always the I'm up for all suggestions. ^-^
[/quote]

you mean 4-0 til you played my Beast Paladins. But than again you didnt get a grade 3 XD.

i would say try replacing 1 of your Grade 3s with an 8th Grade 3 to increase your chances of getting a grade 3 incase you don't get 1 opening hand. (just try not fully commit til tested)

[Legend Zero]

[quote name='DeathSDelano' timestamp='1319918235' post='5606446']
you mean 4-0 til you played my Beast Paladins. But than again you didnt get a grade 3 XD.

i would say try replacing 1 of your Grade 3s with an 8th Grade 3 to increase your chances of getting a grade 3 incase you don't get 1 opening hand. (just try not fully commit til tested)
[/quote]
The worst part was I thought about guarding on the attack that made CEO & Wizard damage TT__TT

I am considering taking Rack Bird down to 2 in order to max Wizard. I'll start testing, but I usually don't get Grade 3-less.

[DeathSDelano]

[quote name='Legend Zero' timestamp='1319919831' post='5606494']
The worst part was I thought about guarding on the attack that made CEO & Wizard damage TT__TT

I am considering taking Rack Bird down to 2 in order to max Wizard. I'll start testing, but I usually don't get Grade 3-less.
[/quote]

i played another person with my Beast paladins played twice. Same thing that happened to you with grade 3s happened to him

[Legend Zero]

[quote name='DeathSDelano' timestamp='1319920489' post='5606513']
i played another person with my Beast paladins played twice. Same thing that happened to you with grade 3s happened to him
[/quote]
You're a cursed fighter? D=

Played 3 more games, going 1-2. Nothing to complain about though, they were all extremely close games.

[Legend Zero]

Finally got time to go back to Vanguard, so this gets a bump.

The deck is working better than ever, but there is still faults. I'm having trouble deciding between Euryale and a 3rd CEO. They both have their perks and flaws. I'd like anyone's opinion on the matter. Though, I suppose I should test more and write which one is statistically more useful.

[AzureNova]

Hey Legend. Nice oracle think tank build About your problem, I think the Euryale is fine where it is. Provided that the strategy works according to plan, Euryale is better than CEO because it works in both Rear guard and Vanguard circle. If it doesn't work, it still has a nice ability when called. But I don't think you can go wrong with either one, it has to depend on your playstyle.

[Legend Zero]

I've dropped the Security Guardians for Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime. Even if her skill doesn't come into play, she is still 9k. Guardian's 8k isn't enough and I've got enough 10k shields to manage.

I've also added another Euryale, since testing has spoken.

Thanks for your comment.

[AzureNova]

What do you think about Oracle Guardian, Wiseman, the 10k vanilla? I feel that it is slightly better than Tagitsuhime in this deck. Since all the grade 1's in the deck are 6000 power or higher, with the boost of any grade 1, Wiseman can reach the magic number of 16k, which is enough to force your opponent to use a 10k guard. Tagitsuhime is better than Wiseman in the event that you don't have a grade 1 to boost and your opponent has a 11k Vanguard, but I feel that if Tagitsuhime has 12k attack, it probably means you pulled off the Full Moon Tsukuyomi evolution and you probably have enough cards in your hand for full field presence anyway. Early game, Wiseman is strong enough to take down other 10k vanillas and is usually capable of attacking a Vanguard unboosted if you don't have 6 in the soul. The bad thing is I really love Tagitsuhime's art work and I might as well use her just because of that reason <3 Shallow much?

[Legend Zero]

Statistically, it is more common for me to have no unit boosting a Tagitsuhime unless I'm going for push.

I have 14 Grade 1s
4 are perfect shields. 10 G1s
1 would be the VG. 9 G1s

Not including Damage, Soul Charging, or just not drawing them, that is a low amount imo. Even if I would have one or two, I'd probably rather put a booster behind the VG and other RG (hopefully Tom). Not to say its a bad suggesstion (I'll test it later) but I just don't see it having more pros than cons compared to Tagitsuhime. I'm not one for liking the vanillas of this game either, plus, as you said, the art difference. =]

[Legend Zero]

-2 Tom
-2 CEO

+1 Battle Maiden
+1 Wicked Eyes
+2 Gemini

With The End, Overlord, and Majesty being played a lot it makes some cards pointless. Tom, for instance, is too weak even with his awesome skill. Therefore, I added the Gemini in their place.

The CEO switch came after heartbreak and testing. I have enough Soul Charging without it, and re-Riding digs my own grave against the high offense now available. Battle Maiden is stronger than Wicked Eyes, and would rather have it out until I go for game.

Gonna try dropping a Chocolat for another Maiden or something.

[Legend Zero]

bump for massive OP overhaul.