Friday Stride: Abominable One, Gilles de Rais

It's almost time. Next Friday we get brand new sets for both the English and Japanese versions of the game, so I suppose I'd better cover something from set 3 whilst anyone still cares about it. OK, so our subject is something people will care about for a long time to come, but  before that last of that new card smell rubs off, let's cover Dark Irregulars' contribution to the Persona stride club, Abominable One, Gilles de Rais.

Also, he kicked a puppy.

The real Gilles de Rais was a 15th century French nobleman who was convicted of being a serial killer of children, so probably not the best role model. Cray's version seems to have been even worse, and being a vampire much harder to get rid off. It seems the Dark Zone's entire demonic leadership of the time had to unite to get rid of him, but even then Stride will bring him right back to fight in any DI deck which can spare G zone space - which is all of them, because it's just so good.

His skill has a very minimal cost - simply flip over a copy of himself during your main phase, and then he gains up to three bonuses for the turn, depending on your soul and G zone. Firstly, with 10 or more cards in soul, he gains 10000 power. Since he's sitting at 25-26 already, this isn't anything too special, but it's a nice buff when combined with the rest of the skill. The second part activates if the soul is 15 or more, and grants him the skill to prevent opponents using grade 1 or higher cards to guard with (commonly known as a glory skill). No perfect guards, no quintet walls, no special grade 1's with huge shield increases or attack redirects, just you're opponent's 16 triggers lie between him and getting that damage in. This is a hefty skill alone, but then there's the icing on the cake in the last bonus. If you have two or more face-up units in the G zone (this is after paying the cost, so the Gilles you flipped counts as one of them) he gains another critical, making a single hit from him drive you even closer to victory)

So why is this so good? Well, your four sentinels are your deck's best defences against your opponent's big push, but with Gilles shutting them down you have to manually guard with triggers, and that can get difficult. With a functional starting value of 36000 power and triple drive to search for triggers, it's going to take a minimum of 3 cards to stop it, 4 to do so with any degree of reliability, but so far we haven't even considered the rest of the clan - and given that power is something they're good at, it's a huge mistake not to do so.

First up, Lunatic Masquerade. Giving an extra 2k at 6 soul, and another at 10, with Gilles active he's an 11k booster, forcing yet another 10k shield from the opponent. The much older Devil Child does the same thing, but isn't as effective - although slightly faster she's much less versatile.

However, an extra 10k is child's play compared to what can be achieved. Dark Irregulars are the home to Doreen the Thruster, a card which has been a staple since the clan's beginnings. Gaining 3k for each card put into the soul in the main phase, it's not difficult to make her massive, and sat behind the vanguard she gets to add that huge buff to Gilles, meaning your opponent has even more they need to stop with their triggers. Add in Gilles' critical, triple drive with a deck full of critical triggers, and a stride unit you tend to be going into later in the game, and you have a recipe for salty tears as that entire hand of cards your opponent dropped still isn't enough.

Doreen however comes with a weakness - you have to actively put cards into the soul to power her up, so getting her that big will both eat into your resources and accelerate you even closer to decking out. However, for Amon builds a far more manageable option has emerged. Introducing Amon's Follower, Barmaid Grace. If your vanguard is an Amon, so in our case if you strode over an Amon, she can counter blast 1 and rest herself to soul charge 2 and give any Amon unit a continuous skill to gain 1000 power for each card in the soul for the turn. Since it's a new skill, subsequent soul charges will be added to the power. Whilst Gilles has his guard restriction live, Grace will give him at least 15000 extra with her skill, and if she's not in the vanguard column you still have your booster. Even better, stack two Grace skills onto one Gilles and watch your opponent cry. Grace has forerunner, so outside of control match-ups you'll usually have one guaranteed, but she is good enough to run more.

Of course, you can combine Grace and Doreen to go completely mad - each Grace will also give +6k to Doreen, so 2 Grace + Doreen is at least 42 on top of Doreen's boost, so with 15 soul your total power is 36 + 6 + 12 + 15 + 15 = 84000 power. One more soul would get you to 86 and another shield stage, but you're already at a point even decks with large hands would struggle.

Lastly, an Honourable Mention goes to Echo of Nemesis. At first glance he may seem redundant - after all he also gains the Glory skill and 10k, just without the higher base power or critical. However, Gilles can force so many of your opponent's grade 0's out that should he not get the kill Nemesis will be almost entirely unarguable.

In conclusion, Gilles is without a doubt one of the most powerful strides in the game, and in a clan which can maximise his potential he can be downright terrifying. Nothing else in his clan comes close to his power levels, so there's no debate - run him, and run him at four.