Deck playtest : Crimson battler

Credit

     Crimson is an archetype from Dragon world that get enhanced when you are equipped with an item with Fist in it's name. What is so nice is that other than this item name restriction, every monsters aren't archetype dependant.
      You just need a few non crimsons monsters which woul stay solid even if you don't have  your fist.

Size 3

Inferno Armor Dragon
     This is a stapple in most Dragon world decks, and Crimson is not an exception.
      Destroying up to 2 monsters is a very powerful effect, but it is not all ! Inferno is also a very nice wall that you can hide under if you are threaten, and it is a very good 'stall' card when you have no item.

Fifth Omni Dragon Lord, Tenbu
     Effect wise, Tenbu and Inferno are equivalent. When you call Tenbu, you know how many monsters you will destroy, you can also destroy 3 monsters with him, but Inferno can destroy the same monster twice.
     What really makes Inferno better is simply the stats. Inferno is a big wall where 6k defense is not that much for a size 3.

First Crimson Chieftain, Greatest General
       The first problem with this card is that it is a late game card. Unlike  Inferno or Tenbu it won't protect your center while you are waiting for your weapon.
       The second problem is that it hasn't enought offense. It can only attack once for 3 crits penetrate which Crimson drum already does. If the attack gets nullify it removes the only attack General can do.
       With Inferno you would have at least destroyed one of his monster.

       Too bad the keyword isn't Double attack. It would have made General much more interesting.

Second Crimson Chieftain, Burning Fore
        If you have a size 3, you need him to be a wall. Amenoohabari is a vey good example. Burning force needs to be on the side to give your item the +1 critical and have only 6k defense.

Size 2

Crimson Battler, Drum Bunker Dragon
      This is such a solid card. With your weapon it is the best aggresive monster in the game. Without, it is a good enought wall.
      Drum variant or not drum variant, this card is a stapple.

 Crimson Battler, Heavy Impact Dragon
      WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY ?! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY ?! You read
correctly !!
    It can pop any cards on the field as long as you link attack with the weapon. This card can ruin your opponents games very easily, has very few counters (only Counter destruction, most of them touching only size 1 or 3k defense/power or less) and even if they destroy your monster you haven't spend anything. This is simply amazing !

    BUT I would not recommend playing this guy too much because it still has his drawbacks :
 (very bad vanilla without your weapon, actually bad in some situations  :
     - forces you to link with the weapon which mean you loses 4 damages if your oponent only casts one shield,
   - and it is not the best card in the life race game, less damage than Drum and doesn't give the protection Boosted gives
     You must play a total of 4 in the main + side, but I would not max it out in the mainboard.

Crimson Battler, Boosted Dragon
       This card has perfect stats for a wall (5/2/6), and has the best skill in Dragon world. It is also a very good turn 0 play.
        The only variant I would not play it is in Drum variant.

Drum Bunker Dragon
       Until Omni lord Drum comes out,  this is the only Drum with bonus soul, so there is not much reflexion over it in Drum variant.
       But I just want to add that Drum is actually the best turn 0 play in Dragon world.

Super Armordragon, Drum Breaker Dragon (or simply Super Drum)
       It won't take long to explain why Super drum is so good :
     - Super hight stats : 7/3/5
     - 3 crits penetrate, the highest penetrate in every size s2.
    - Move which is, again, the best keyword in Dragon world
    - A second move that happens during your main phase which means you can call Boomerang in the center.

      Now that this has been said, what is wrong with this card ? Playing super drum means you play at least 10 drums (4 crimson, 3 normal, 3 super). Which takes you a lot of space.
      It is also a size 2, which is the size where all the bests Crimsons monsters are.
      So if you play Super Drum, you need to turn all your decklist around it. You will have to trade off the ability of calling a broken monster against rooms to play the bests crimsons (you will have less spot to play Heavy Impact, and situational cards like Double Katar).

Crimson Battler, Double Katar Dragon
        Obviously it is a sideboard card. But what a sideboard card ! It is not as good as Loki, but we shall not complain because it is the only other card that can wash any card's soul.

Crimson Battler, Shield-Arm Dragon

Double katar

       Do not laught at him. It is not a very good card, but it is decent enought. It is one of the best turn 0 play. Unfortunatly, once you have your weapon, this card become far less useful which is why this card this card is not that good.
 I would only consider this card if I play Dragonic formation.

Scorching Crimson Battler, Drum
     If you don't draw any of your items, this card won't help you get it. Outside of the 2 initial gauges and Blue dragon shield power, there is no way an item can sneak from your deck into your drop without passing throught your hand.
     Against item destuction it is a good card in Drum variant which cannot play Crimson ring. Otherwise prefer Crimson ring.

Crimson Battler, Power Stamp Dragon
     I really dislike this card. I does what Heavy Impact does, but 100 times less effectively. And to be fair, even if Heavy Impact did not existed, I don't think I would run this card. All those limitations make this card simply bad. Also once his on-call effect resolved, he is actually not much of a threat with only 2 crits.
    Yes it as 6k power which is more than every others Crimson, but there are a lot of way to deal with 6k defense monsters (Crimson ring, link with Boomerang, or simply link althought you loose pressure with it)

Size 1

    The size 1 line up is not as shiny as the size 2. But they are still interestings, and more importantly, they are very diverse.
    First of Crimson Battler, Catapult Knuckle, the new one, is the most versatile and effective when you have your weapon. You trade this off with awful stats (a single critical) when you don't have your weapon.
    Between Crimson Battler, Guns Knuckle Dragon and Crimson Battler, Ignited Dragon, play an even/near even ratio (3/2 for instance) and favour one depending on your weapon : if you have a hight power, low critical weapon, pick Ignited over knuckleduster because it will your weapon that will clear your center; but if you have low power hight crit weapon, it it the contrary.

    Don't play any of the vanillas. They don't bring anything. Crimson Battler, Break Shoulder Dragon and Crimson Battler, Spin Nail Dragon are the only ones that can be interestings. Still there are goods replacements : Ignited gets the 3rd crit, and Crimson ring bumps your size 2s to 7k power.

Crimson Battler, Burn Guts Dragon
         As a card, Burn Guts is very good. But crimson already has Boosted dragon / Super drum to move. I prefer having a boosted dragon + Guns knuckle than Crimson drum + Burn guts. 

Crimson Battler, Maintenance Kid  and Crimson Battler, Rock Bunker Dragon have the on-call monsters syndrome. They are bad vanillas once their effects resolve. Since your center will be open, the monster will simply be ignored.
    Their on call effect are irrelevant anyway.
     But don't worry Rock bunker, you will see love in the 4k festival deck :')

Crimson Battler, Radical Leg Dragon
    If you need that 6k power, I would rather go for Spin nail.

Crimson Battler, Splendor Needle
     This is the pure definition of card-disadvantage.You simply make a -0,5.
     Even if you were making a +0,5, I don't know if I would play the card because the deck have other problem to deal with than having too much weapon.

Size 0

Boomerang Dragon
      4-of straight up. Boomerang is too strong against low defense decks (you can read my game overview of a Thunder knight vs 72 pillars if you are not convinced), and against others decks ? A free damage every turns.
      With the addition of Crimsons that links attacks with your weapon, Boomerang became a tiny bit less effective. But it is not enought to not call this card broken.

Spells

Dragonic Formation
    This is a very nice tech that I took from someone else's decklist (I don't remember who, but I just don't take credit for this card). It is very good with Inferno Dragon and Drum because it fixes it's main weakness (if they aren't in the center they will be ignored).
     It has also a very hight surprise factor. Nobody expect this card.

Blue and green dragon shield
    Stapple

Dragoenergy or Dragodefense

     The choice between both card is depending on you and your local's meta. You just MUST play at least two battle booster. Battle booster are too good cards, simply by placing the doubt in the opponent's mind.
(note that Dragoenergy has an errata which says that you can play more than one at the same time).

Dragobond
      In crimson, this card did not show up as well as it did in Thunder knight. There are too many 'immobile' monsters in Crimson which means Dragobond is very often dead. You should rather play Dragonic Formation.

Crimson Ring
      With generic destruction beeing more and more common, this card is a life savior. Against decks that you know it have no item destruction, I would not cast this card randomly because it is a -1 which hurts a lot this deck that is lacking of card advantage.
      Don't play it in Drum variant though.

Dragonic Grimoire
      I never topdecked this card, but a lot of my opponents did. And when they do, Dragonic grimoir turned the game in their favor on it's own.

Item

Steel Fist, Dragoknuckle
     This card is by far the best possiblity. The gauge it brings means you will have what is needed to Gigantic crusher when you place your opponent in kill range.
     The only probleme is that you cannot play a gauge curve too hight, because you will have a significantly less gauge when you have to play your second item.

Blazing Dragon Fist, Dragoburst
      I will join Hunter Serge's opinion about the item cost : overall, paying a life is better than paying a gauge. 

    Unless you need those stats, I would rather play Dragoburst.
Sun Fist, Sunshine Impact
Crimson Fist, Dragoblaze

Battle Spirit Fist, Dragosoul
      Playing a vanilla item is not worth it. The stats you get from the equip cost are defnitly worth it.

Impact

Gigantic Crusher!!
      This card is so big. Costing 3 gauges unlike Garguanatua punisher makes this card trigger so  much more.
       And because of Crimson's playstyle, killing your opponent as fast as possible is your priority number 1.