Many New Cards & Booster Pack 2 Teaser!

Today's the day we've been waiting for! Gate Ruler's rules and demo decks have finally been released! As a part of that, we've also gotten many new cards, including Busterkong, and the first piece of art for Booster Pack 2 has been shown!

If you haven't already, read the translated rules and print the translated demo deck. We will be assuming you've read through the rulebook as we talk about the new details, so please make sure you do so before continuing.

First up, Fields are actually a completely separate card type from Events! If you look at the hidden effect version of "Guns & Gold Weapons Arsenal" we saw a couple days ago, you can see that it did indeed have "Field" in the top left instead of "Event", we just didn't think to check. Oops! We'll talk about the specifics of that card later.

During the first turn, you're allowed to attack once, just like in Buddyfight! This is something we expected, but of course we didn't know for sure until now. Thankfully, we won't have a retread of Buddyfight's numerous rule changes in regards to its 1st turn attack, as there's no Link Attacks here to complicate matters while everything important about Link Attacks has been retained thanks to how HP functions.

The ability to move units as you please during the main phase is very appreciated. Though, somewhere in the corner, Drum Breaker Dragon is crying over every unit in Gate Ruler having his unique effect. Also, I wonder how this works with Vastorus Rex? It can only be summoned to Attack Zones, but if you can immediately move it to the Defensive Zone, that's a pointless restriction.

For combat, there is no blocking mechanic (outside of the Defensive Zone existing) and only the attacker deals damage. This makes the mention quite a while back of abilities skin to MtG's "first strike" and "vigilance" curious, as their mention would've made you think that combat would be closer to MtG's than it actually is.

"Normal" timing Event cards appear to be usable directly from hand during your main phase, without setting them. Can they be set at all? Will cards like Yobuko be incompatible with "Normal" timing Event cards?

World Master β can only draw 1 of its 2 cards on the first turn, but World Master α gets both of its drives, so it seems like α is decisively better at going first. Of course, there's a decent chance of the 1st turn's double drive being wasted, as most units are going to be a worse attacker than your Ruler, and so you'd just want to drive 1 unit to summon to your defensive zone.

Now for their deckbuilding limits; the CNT limit for both Rulers is 16, the same as Vanguard's trigger count. They both get access to all 5 factions, but they're only allowed to use 12 cards (or 3 playsets) from each faction, so while you'll get a wide range of options, archetypal decks are unlikely to function very well in the World Masters. As suspected, neither of them can use Legend cards.

They're both restricted to cards with "MD" or "2020" at the start of their collection number. This means that outside of any possible expansions to the "MD" cardpool, the World Masters will not gain access to any new cards after Booster Pack 1 releases, another caveat to their access to all 5 factions.

Lastly, we have World Master α's Level limit! On certain Rulers, it seems that Gate Ruler will use a "deckbuilding cost" system. Its not a system commonly seen in more popular TCGs, but it is one that has been around for a while. I'm personally not a very big fan of it, not for any balance issues, but because it often feels convoluted and like it overcomplicates deckbuilding. That said, given Gate Ruler's nature, this is but 1 of an eventual 26 Rulers, so its easy enough to just play a different Ruler, and something to stop World Master α/Apprentice from just flooding their deck with Level 3's that they'll get to play for free was necessary.

One last quick note is that their deckbuilding rules mention the deck size (50) and maximum copy count (4), implying that some Rulers will alter these. Of course we already knew Highlander would change the maximum copy count, but there hadn't yet been mention of any Rulers changing deck size.



A very versatile Event card! Free and does not contribute to your [CNT] limit, and is able to both boost your ability to remove enemy units, or force your opponent to invest more into removing your units.



An powerful Apprentice-focused removal card! Of course, many units have too much HP to be taken down single-handedly by it. His own Attack means he can easily take down any of the common 3 HP. Like Gerson, it can be used as a supplement, but does so while being a Level 0.



Another free, non-CNT Event! Its effect isn't anywhere near as potent, only really helping you pick off units that barely survived or is super low in health to begin with, like "Nature of Cherry Blossoms". Its true value is in its trap effect to deal a significant 2 damage directly to your opponent's life if your opponent destroys it! The mere presence of this card can make your opponent scared to deal with your backrow, making other good and situational backrow all the more potent. This is actually one of the first effects we saw, originally featured on a Beta Yomajin Front Event.



A new keyword! Intercept is effectively Move, but a bit more restrictive, forcing you to make your choice before knowing your opponent's attacking field. Still, its a very powerful effect, allowing you to commit your turn's units into attack zones, while still being able to chump block in the defensive zone.



Revealed via the rulebook's chain demonstrations, a new Event from Starter Deck 1 "Youkai & Giant Robo"! Compared to "Desperate" it tells us that dedicated, larger buffs to a single stat is valued higher than more even spreads, as it should be. Regardless, a HP buff this large and for free will make this a very potent combat trick. Even a 1 HP unit will be able to survive combat with a Ruler or many basic Level 0 units with this large of a HP boost.



The first Field card! This was revealed in the rulebook, as the demonstration of Field cards. This boosts all of your effect damage targeted at enemy units. It makes all of the effect damage cards we've talked about earlier this article, like "Master Future Ed" and "Absolute Explosion! Space Mimic", much more potent. Particularly, it pushes Ed's damage to 3, allowing it to take out many basic Level 0s, and some other powerful effect, low HP units we've seen. On top of that, it can be stacked for even more potent burn effects, and has a very low cost for its power. In general, this sort of field control, effect damage based deck seems to be the specialty of ATLAS + Wonderverse.



Revealed by this video by Gate Ruler Lady Club! Be sure to go check it out!

Busterkong certainly lives up to its hope, touting both a very potent burn effect on play, while also having Penetrate to force damage through. And of course, with "Guns & Gold Weapons Arsenal" its "Buster Lariat" effect will be able to take out larger and larger units, though even without any, by dedicating its attack to the same unit it is capable of removing any unit in the game!



Revealed by this video by Koguma Maigo! Be sure to go check it out!

Another card that fits well into that burn archetype, Victor! Its true Attack stat is 6, meaning all on its own its able to take units as big as Grand Galac. Being on attack, its burn damage is repeatable, which makes it a threatening unit that will be put pressure on your opponent. Its able to have pseudo-Penetrate if the enemy center is weak enough, such as Intercept unit "Byakuya".



2 more cards to be revealed soon! The bit of text we can see on the Wonderverse Event "Sudden Blackhole" says "destroy all enemy units". Perhaps a Raigeki esque card?