Friday Stride: Fluffy Ribbon, Somni

So here we are. Japan has finally go hold of G set 4, and for those of us playing the English game the Bermuda Triangle World Tour 2015 has just rolled into town. Since I'm an English-playing 42nd class citizen (I'll save learning Japanese and/or card translations for games I can't play in my native language) I'll be discussing the new Bermuda cards, but since I also like to use the cards I'm taking about I'll start off Mermaid Season with the one I actually got hold of in the sneak peek: Fluffy Ribbon, Somni.

IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!

Most clans come with a core lineup of generic G units including one on-hit unit, one unit with a persona cost and one utility unit with neither of these requirements. Previously I've covered a utility unit and a persona unit, and now we see an on-hit unit. Somni is typical of the type - her skill gives you a 1-card swing in advantage (in this case by forcing another card out of your opponent's hand, either now or later) in a manner befitting the clan's theme.

Her skill returns any of your rear-guards to your hand, and then allows you to call out a new unit with an extra 3000 power. Functionally this is similar to re-standing a rear-guard, although it doesn't allow you to carry over triggers or other benefits. However, it makes up for that by being in Bermuda Triangle, where half the cards benefit from being returned to the hand and many of the others will benefit from returning something else. The 3000 power means that any unit of 8000 power or greater can hit an 11000 vanguard - and since Bermuda Triangle doesn't actually have any 7000 or lower Grade 2 or 3 units, it means every attacker will be brought into hit range.

Also, you don't have to call the unit you return - you can easily pick up her used booster and then send out a card you just drive checked, or bring back a unit with an on return skill and put out something with an on-call skill to maximise the effects activating.

So, a useful skill in a clan that can abuse it, but on-hit strides rarely if ever form the core of a deck by themselves, so where does she shine and where do others take centre stage?

First up, the one deck that has no use for her - PR♥ISM. Since Legendary PR♥ISM-Duo, Nectaria with a Prism heart grants the same skill, only with a 5000 boost to the called unit Somni can't give them anything new. She does a little better for Duos - since Nectaria's on-hit changes she isn't entirely redundant, and extra pressure is quite nice in the more defensive builds - but their combo and copy-based play means that your few turns of being able to hit will usually be better spent using Nectaria to clone than gaining extra attacks.

It's outside the subclans where Somni gets to shine. As first stride the only real alternative is Legend of the Glass Shoe, Amoris, who needs more setup to be at her best. Just looking at a few key Bermuda units:

• Miracle Voice, Lauris. With her ability to return rear-guards on stride, doesn't usually need Amoris, and the pressure Somni provides makes a nice complement both to Lauris' on-stride draw power and her later GB2 power and critical. Further, the Harmony build has quite a lot of skills which can be activated by calling the new unit.
• Rising Star, Trois/Top Idol, Riviere. Bermuda's revival legion suffers from the deck around it being somewhat vanilla. The high cost of Trois' restand, and the vanguard-only skills in Riviere's ride chain, means the deck often doesn't do much outside the vanguard (most successful builds tend to focus on unflipping damage to get more restands). Somni creates costless pressure which can really help add some extra push to the deck, especially since you can't usually both legion and restand the turn you reach Grade 3.
• Shangri-La Star, Coral. The other ride chain won't usually stride that often, but between a crossride defence and some hefty draw power her deck is generally very bulky. Whilst Amoris can give you some cheap pickups, Somni adds some nice offensive pressure to help push games to an end once your hand is all set.
• Costume Idol, Alk. On the surface, she isn't an obvious pick. She has her own use for spare grade 3's, can bounce units herself and can now generate large rear-guard columns with even greater ease. However Stride is not a bad way of passing the time until her Limit Break comes alive, and after one stride a Bermuda deck gains access to the powerful School Etoile, Olyvia, and for a more offensive build Somni keeps up the momentum whilst setting up the G zone, especially against decks where Amoris can't bring out her potential.

In conclusion, Somni is nothing ground-breaking. She isn't the card that'll take Bermuda Triangle to the top of the metagame, but she will be one of the cards that provides a friendly boost on the way.

(Yes, I'm aware Pacifica has her own stride, but as was established at the beginning I'm a dirty English player so I don't get it yet. Besides, Bermuda season isn't over yet - we've still got a few weeks before we get what Japan gets today, and did you really think I'd only cover the lowest rarity G unit in the set?)