Friday Stride: PR♥ISM-Image, Sunshine Vert

As we pass the half-way point of our overview of the G units our resident pop singers will be using over the next few months, a couple of patters have emerged. First, they work for one build in particular, and second they're similar to another G unit which already exists. This week isn't going to change anything on either count, and instead we're gioing to reach the inevitable conclusion of this approach, with a G unit with heart restrictions taking cues from another clan altogether. Yes, it's now time for that one card which suddenly made this set a whole lot more interesting, PR♥ISM-Image, Sunshine Vert.

Eternal Sunshine? Go to Norway in the summer.

Vert does break new ground in one respect - well sort of. Although a few G units have counted the number of cards in the damage zone for their effects, Vert is the first one to have a Limit Break ability, which is rather unfortunate since she activates after attacking and thus runs the risk of healing herself out of being able to use it. Thus a bit of thought needs to go into timing her - or you can run the limit break enabler, who's helpfully enough a PR♥ISM, but since you can't search her and there's already a lot you want in those grade 1 slots, you'll probably end up taking your chances with the heals.

Anyway, her skill requires another copy to be flipped face-up, and three discards, but for that hefty cost you get something rather special. Provided you have a PR♥ISM heart, she bounces two PR♥ISMs from the rear-guard, and then rides a new grade 3 PR♥ISM from the hand - standing. Anyone who's played or faced Gear Chronicle in the previous 10 months will probably find the above rather familiar, because returning to the G zone to give a grade 3 the chance to attack as well is functionally what Chronodragon Nextage does. As before, they do have some differences - Limit Break 4 vs Generation Break 2, and consuming another grade 3 from hand as opposed to a counter blast - but their impact is very similar.

Of the two, Vert requires a slightly more specific setup to function properly, but brings with it some further possibility which Nextage doesn't provide. The need to ride another grade 3 means you'll need to either have one in hand (or one on the field which Vert can return before the re-ride), take a chance on getting one off the drive checks, or a way to go and search for one before her first attack. This latter path is possible, but only for the original form of Vert, who's the only one of your grade 3's you don't want to be riding into.

PR♥ISM-Image, Vert is Bermuda Triangle's original break ride. Being one of the first ones released near the start of the break ride era, she has a rather simple effect - when rode, return up to two rear-guards to the hand and draw a card, as well as the standard 10000 power all break rides give. In isolation, she's probably the weakest of the Bermuda break rides, as a blind draw and ride phase bouncing is much less useful than Meer's battle phase returns and recalls, or Pacifica's ability to call anything you need, but with the option to break ride mid-battle phase, she improves quite a bit. Bouncing rested units in the battle phase allows you to recover cards to the hand in order to protect them, lifting her up from something which was redundant against control-based decks to a useful response. This, couples with her new form's bounces, sets the stage for the other stars of the PR♥ISM group to strut their stuff.

Both PR♥ISM-Promise, Labrador and Brand-New-PR♥ISM, Garnet have Limit Break 4 skills which can call PR♥ISMs from the hand when they attack. Calling the maximum of three unlocks additional bonuses for both - Labrador gains 10000 power and a critical, whilst the new Garnet gains a Limit Break 5 additional drive check. Of the two, Labrador is generally considered the more powerful, providing more pressure and not running the risk of a heal trigger turning off the bonus, but despite the risk of losing triple drive Garnet shouldn't be overlooked. Unlike Labrador, she can call her new cards to occupied circles, which can help if you can't bounce a unit for some reason - generally any non-PR♥ISM you run in cases where you didn't just break ride her, or in the end game where you can't bounce anything at all - and her secondary skill can help boost your defences during the opponent's turn.

I mentioned that a path to search out the break ride exists, and since using Sunshine Vert for a battle phase break ride is clearly going to be better than just putting a new Labrador or Garnet over another one, you're going to want to search it. This comes in the form of PR♥ISM-Image, Sunshine Clear, who was already going in the deck because a new PR♥ISM critical trigger has been in demand pretty much since PR♥ISM first came out. As it is, her skill is actually quite useful. On bounce, for a counter blast and returning her (or another copy of her, due to her being in a closed zone when the skill activates) to the deck, she searches out any Grade 1 or greater Vert, Clear, or Rosa, calls it, and can then bring it back to the hand. Naturally, this makes an easy way to search out your break ride - although your only way to return it without strides is Princess Celtic hitting - but also allows you to search a couple of other cards. PR♥ISM-Image Clear, when returned to the hand from the rear-guard, can give 4000 power for a soul blast, and whilst last year Princess Leyete saw her dumped out of most builds being able to search her and either gain a booster or a card in hand and a 4000 buff makes her far more attractive. We can search both the original PR♥ISM-Image, Rosa and the new PR♥ISM-Image, Sunshine Rosa, and whilst you don't ever want to touch the original one when so many better cards exist, the new one is actually quite useful, giving herself and another unit a boost when something else return to the hand, provided the vanguard has Limit Break. Not a mainstay of the deck, since she's no use if you stride anything other than Sunshine Vert, but she's worth consideration.

Although hard to get early, the ability to search out a grade 3 can at least ensure stride fodder, and that's something this deck needs. With the Sunshine Vert play eating another grade 3 at a time when most decks don't (usually) have an issue using them up, the deck needs to ensure it has enough to make it's plays. 9 Grade 3's has become a standard for the deck, and even then Shandee can be seen as further options to avoid dropping vital cards to stride.

Ultimately, Sunshine Vert takes the boost that PR♥ISM has been given in the G series sets and ramps it up another level. PR♥ISM had one of the better G zone line-ups prior to Blessing of Divas, and with a powerful finisher allowing you to take better advantage of the break ride the deck is one of, if not the, best deck to come out of the set.

Next week, the thrilling conclusion to mermaid season, as we go look at the cover card of the set.