A quick correction from our previous article, regarding the 300 yen booklet that contains a promo card. We said that it would release in a month's time, but that was a mistranslation. The actual translation is that this booklet will release once a month.
Absolute Barrier (2020GS02/008)
Faction: Volnar
Card Type: Event
Level: 0
Attribute(s): Magic
Effect: [CNT] Put this in the cemetery.
Activation Timing: Set it face down, can be used when you are directly attacked.
Combat damage becomes 0.
Flavor Text: This is not an ice wall. It is a boundary that stops absolutely, which makes all kinetic energy 0.
---
About "this and "you".
When I first saw the Japanese version of Force of Will, and read "when this attacks" rather than "when this card attacks" I also felt uncomfortable. However, after 5 minutes, I thought this was right. Not only do you reduce the amount of text but you can read it very quickly.
Of course, the readability of the text is tied directly to how easily you can get into the "head" of the ability. The test players and others who have tried the game all found the wording odd at first, but it wasn't long before they said "Its easy. It slips into my head naturally."
Where in ordinary TCGs there would be "player of this card" we have written "you", which is also a compression of text, but above, intuitively, "oh, its me". Its a device that allows you to get into the "head" of the ability and read the text easily.
The text that would normally say "opposing player" has also been made "opponent", but sentences that would say "opponent's creature" or "opponent's monster" have become "enemy unit" to make it short and easy to understand. We figured it wouldn't be good to call a player an "enemy", but they are still the "opponent" to the player so their units are designated as "enemy units".
(Sources: 1 2 3 4)
Absolute Barrier is an exciting card! We don't know for sure if it works this way, but it seems like if you damage this as your last damage, it would go to the cemetery and prevent you from losing, akin to Vanguard's "Miracle Heals". Miracle Heals are something I personally really wanted to see ever since Vanguard's damage zone was confirmed, because they give Vanguard a unique discouragement to forfeiting. There's always a chance you can hit a Miracle Heal and stage a comeback, so don't give up until you actually lose. Games are more satisfying when they properly complete, and a come from behind comeback can be really exciting.
Its also cool how its a good defensive card on its own, making it a strong defensive tool whether you see it in damage or in hand. I don't think this will feel as bad as Vanguard's Heal Triggers can, as a lot of units, even as low as Level 1, have more than 1 Strike, so your opponent damaging this card doesn't null your entire attack, just a part of. If it were to come up on a Grand Galac attack of 4 Strike I don't think I'd care much considering I still got 3 damage through. Even Rulers you start with seem to have pretty decent Strike, with the World Master alpha we've seen having 3 Strike all on its own.
Also a possibility is that these defensive CNTs are something unique to Volnar. Volnar is known to be a combo heavy strategy, so defensive CNTs like this and the turn ending CNTs we've seen on Vastorus Rex and Time-eating Genie fit well into helping them survive long enough to complete their combos, similarly the Legend Card Volnar will receive that has been compared to Mirror Force.
On that train of thought I'd like to bring up Monster Wolverine a card that was mentioned a while ago in one of our older articles. It was mentioned that this Volnar unit would have a CNT effect similar to a Trigger Creature in Duel Masters. However in the context of a Vanguard Damage Zone, that would mean a Unit that effectively healed itself when damaged while also putting itself onto the field. However, under the idea that Volnar's CNTs might be extra powerful in this department, that interpretation seems much more plausible.
Absolute Barrier (2020GS02/008)Faction: Volnar
Card Type: Event
Level: 0
Attribute(s): Magic
Effect: [CNT] Put this in the cemetery.
Activation Timing: Set it face down, can be used when you are directly attacked.
Combat damage becomes 0.
Flavor Text: This is not an ice wall. It is a boundary that stops absolutely, which makes all kinetic energy 0.
---
About "this and "you".
When I first saw the Japanese version of Force of Will, and read "when this attacks" rather than "when this card attacks" I also felt uncomfortable. However, after 5 minutes, I thought this was right. Not only do you reduce the amount of text but you can read it very quickly.
Of course, the readability of the text is tied directly to how easily you can get into the "head" of the ability. The test players and others who have tried the game all found the wording odd at first, but it wasn't long before they said "Its easy. It slips into my head naturally."
Where in ordinary TCGs there would be "player of this card" we have written "you", which is also a compression of text, but above, intuitively, "oh, its me". Its a device that allows you to get into the "head" of the ability and read the text easily.
The text that would normally say "opposing player" has also been made "opponent", but sentences that would say "opponent's creature" or "opponent's monster" have become "enemy unit" to make it short and easy to understand. We figured it wouldn't be good to call a player an "enemy", but they are still the "opponent" to the player so their units are designated as "enemy units".
(Sources: 1 2 3 4)
Absolute Barrier is an exciting card! We don't know for sure if it works this way, but it seems like if you damage this as your last damage, it would go to the cemetery and prevent you from losing, akin to Vanguard's "Miracle Heals". Miracle Heals are something I personally really wanted to see ever since Vanguard's damage zone was confirmed, because they give Vanguard a unique discouragement to forfeiting. There's always a chance you can hit a Miracle Heal and stage a comeback, so don't give up until you actually lose. Games are more satisfying when they properly complete, and a come from behind comeback can be really exciting.
Its also cool how its a good defensive card on its own, making it a strong defensive tool whether you see it in damage or in hand. I don't think this will feel as bad as Vanguard's Heal Triggers can, as a lot of units, even as low as Level 1, have more than 1 Strike, so your opponent damaging this card doesn't null your entire attack, just a part of. If it were to come up on a Grand Galac attack of 4 Strike I don't think I'd care much considering I still got 3 damage through. Even Rulers you start with seem to have pretty decent Strike, with the World Master alpha we've seen having 3 Strike all on its own.
Also a possibility is that these defensive CNTs are something unique to Volnar. Volnar is known to be a combo heavy strategy, so defensive CNTs like this and the turn ending CNTs we've seen on Vastorus Rex and Time-eating Genie fit well into helping them survive long enough to complete their combos, similarly the Legend Card Volnar will receive that has been compared to Mirror Force.
On that train of thought I'd like to bring up Monster Wolverine a card that was mentioned a while ago in one of our older articles. It was mentioned that this Volnar unit would have a CNT effect similar to a Trigger Creature in Duel Masters. However in the context of a Vanguard Damage Zone, that would mean a Unit that effectively healed itself when damaged while also putting itself onto the field. However, under the idea that Volnar's CNTs might be extra powerful in this department, that interpretation seems much more plausible.
Edited by HunterSerge on 25th October, 2020 at 2:00am CST