Friday Stride: PR♥ISM-Promise, Princess Labrador

So Mermaid Season 2015 continues on as we move on to one of the ace stride units of this year's idol set. As we move up the rarities we reach new support of Bermuda's oldest subclan, the awkward to type PR♥ISM series. They've had stride support previously, having shared the subclan stride in Figher's Collection 2015 with Duo, but this time PR♥ISM has the show to themselves with a new form of the groups main grade 3, PR♥ISM-Promise, Princess Labrador.

You promised to live under the sea with her?
You lucky - I mean you idiot.

Princess Labrador's skill is a once per turn ACT skill, and for the low cost of simply flipping another copy of her in the G zone and having a PR♥ISM heart she gives two rear-guard 5000 power each, as well as the option to return to the hand after they attack or boost. At first glance this may not look like the most impressive skill in the game, but Bermuda Triangle have always been a combo-based deck, and even the comparatively aggressive PR♥ISM deck still relies on combos to reach it's best.

So you've got some beefy columns and a couple of units you can pick up, so what can you do with it? Well the first thing you can do is evade control deck skills. Retire, Lock and Paralysis all fail if there's no target, or at the very least no optimal targets reduces the impact of these skills. Pulling your most important cards out of the way keeps them around for you to make another push next turn. You can also play grade 3 units as attackers and then pick them up to stride next turn, losing nothing.

Of course, Bermuda operates on returning units to hand, and PR♥ISM has a small pool of on-bounce units to draw on, all of which give other units 4000 power when they do. The original PR♥ISM-Promise Celtic and PR♥ISM-Image Clear both do this for a soul blast, whilst the new PR♥ISM-Promise, Princess Leyete grants the power boost for no cost, along with a soul charge and counter charge, if you have a PR♥ISM vanguard. Leyete then can't be called from the hand for that turn outside card effects, but with Princess Labrador that's not an issue due to the timing of the bounce. All three can add even more power to units yet to attack, adding to that aggressive power strategy which distinguishes PR♥ISM.

Since Princess Labrador can bounce any units, there's also the option to use non-PR♥ISM units to give the deck alternate bounce targets, such as using Ideal Walking Weather, Emilia or Girl's Rock Rio to add extra draw power to the deck. However these units could start to get in the way of key PR♥ISM units with Especial counter blasts, or which need specific rear-guards. That's not to say you should stick to a 100% PR♥ISM build - Princess Labrador herself does a great job of reducing the need to stick to PR♥ISM units - but it does mean you need to be careful, and ultimately you'd probably be better sticking to units which can give extra bounces and/or support PR♥ISM's aggressive playstyle. Admired Sparkle, Spica fills both these roles, which has made her quite popular with a fair number of PR♥ISM players. Her GB1 is barely a factor, since why would you not want to go into Princess Labrador if given the choice?

Bouncing doesn't just have to be for the units going pack. PR♥ISM-Duo Yarmouk and PR♥ISM-Duo Avon both gain 3000 power each time a unit is returned to the hand, allowing them to push columns up to even higher numbers. Of the two, Yarmouk is better - being a booster allows it to combo with high-powered attackers to force out guard comparatively easily, whilst Avon's only option for a booster above 7000 is Yarmouk herself.

There's one last card which deserves mentioning for how well she combos with Princess Labrador: Herself. PR♥ISM-Promise Labrador retains her position as the main grade 3 of PR♥ISM decks, and her G unit form grants the deck another way to clear rear-guard circles to allow the use of her limit break. Previously the only other unit who could clear your field as efficiently was PR♥ISM-Image Vert, who had to be rode first, needed anything which benefited from the bounces to be set up and survive a turn, and still didn't do as much as Princess Labrador. Vert remains, however, since there's nothing better, but now the deck has no worries about riding Labrador first.

Overall, Princess Labrador is a powerful card with great utility for the PR♥ISM deck. Bringing the best of Vert and more in a functionally costless first stride, she's one of the key players who've brought Bermuda Triangle's first subclan back into the spotlight once again. Sadly, despite a strong showing she missed out on being one of the three idols to receive extra merchandise, however next time we'll be looking at the highest placed G unit in that contest.