Sunday 27 May 2012

[Weiss Schwarz] Series Review - [D.C.III ~ Da Capo III ~] Part I : Welcome to the Newspaper Club



'Some tea for you?'



Hi there, Milxie here. I guess you guys already know that I would do a review of this set already.

I will be splitting my reviews on this set into a couple of posts because I think it would be too messy to talk about it all at once.

Before I start my review, just a simple disclaimer:

I would like to emphasize that this review is based on my personal thoughts and evaluation and the content could somehow be coincidentally similar to other similar works. All similarities are purely coincidental.


So without further ado, let's leap into the world of Da Capo III!


In this post, I will be going through the <Newspaper> trait (or 新聞), and the notable cards in the booster.

The <Newspaper> trait is a newly established trait in the Da Capo series, first appearing from the Da Capo III Trial Deck. Being a new addition to the big family of traits, it does not have alot of cards that can support and boost itself. With the release of the Da Capo III Booster, the <Newspaper> family extends its reach for a better foundation and combat abilities.

Here are some of the notable cards:



DC3/W18-042 RR お寝坊 姫乃 (Overslept Himeno)
[Startup] Brainstorm [(1) Put this Card to Rest] Flip over the top 4 cards of your deck and send it into your Waiting Room. For every Climax Card sent to the Waiting Room by this ability, choose 1 <Newspaper> Character from the Waiting Room and put it into your Hand.

An ability that you would never dreamed of appearing in DC, Brainstorm.

With the many top-decking mechanics (eg. looking at the top of your deck, putting cards to your top of the deck, etc) in DC, one can assure a successful Brainstorm with every usage.

Every Climax milled by this effect equates to +1 hand. A decent Brainstorm for the <Newspaper> family.


DC3/W18-071 RR フラワーズは大忙し!葵 (Flowers is busy! Aoi)
[Continuous] Assist All Characters in front of this Card gains 「[Auto] Encore [Put 1 Character from your Hand to the Waiting Room」.
[Startup][(2) Put this Card to Rest] Put all your cards from your Waiting Room back to your Deck. Shuffle your deck.

An ordinary support Character with a not so ordinary effect.

Sure, Encore is great and all, but her second ability outshines any other Characters with the similar support ability. By paying 2 stocks and resting this card, the user can do a manual refresh before the deck depletes. Useful in situations when you have too many Climax Cards out in early game or refreshing without taking the compulsory Refresh Damage.


DC3/W18-043 R 内なる想い 姫乃 (Inner Feelings Himeno)
[Continuous] Assist All Characters in front of this card gain +500 Power.
[Startup][Put the top 1 card of your Deck to your Clock, put 2 Characters to Rest] Put 1 「Tsun Tsun Himeno」 from your Waiting Room to the Stage on any Border you want.



DC3/W18-055 C ツンツン 姫乃 (Tsun Tsun Himeno)
[Continuous] When you have 5 or more Hand, this card gains Power +1000.
[Continuous] When you have 4 or less Hand, all your <Newspaper> Characters gain +500 Power.

One of the 2 basic <Newspaper> Assist characters in DC, of which the other is a Trial Deck Exclusive card. The second effect special summons ツンツン 姫乃 from the Waiting Room with the cost of 1 compulsory damage and disabling 2 Characters. Not a bad trade during the early parts of the game when you don't want to expend your hand too much.


DC3/W18-044 R 溢れる想い 立夏 (Overflowing Feelings Rikka)
[Auto] When this card is put from the Hand to the Stage, choose one of your other <Newspaper> Characters. During this turn, it gains +2000 Power.

Gives your other <Newspaper> Character a temporary Power surge, which could prove to be essential at times of need. Moreover, it has a decent Power level to decapitate most Level 0 at least. A 花咲 藍 with trait restriction, but with better Power stats.


DC3/W18-046 R 公式新聞部部長 立夏 (Official Newspaper Club President Rikka)
[Auto] When your other <Newspaper> Characters attack, during this turn, this card +1000 Power.
[Auto] Encore [Put 1 Character from your Hand to your Waiting Room] (When this Card is sent from the Stage to the Waiting Room, you may pay the cost. If so, put this Character back to it's original Border.)


DC3/W18-050 U “好き”の気持ち 立夏 (Feeling of "Love" Rikka)
[Auto] [(1) Put this Card to Memory] When this card is Front Attacked, you may pay the cost. If so, choose 1 「Official Newspaper Club President Rikka」 in your Hand, and place it on the original Border of this card.

A Level 1 beatstick with high sustainability and even spots another card to Advance Summon it from Hand for a fairly cheap cost. With a basic Assist Character, 1 溢れる想い 立夏 and a +2000 Power +1 Soul Climax with 2 more attacking <Newspaper> Characters, this card can go up to a staggering 12500 Power (6000 + 500 + 2000 + 2000 + 2000), easily decapitating the biggest of Level 1 and surpassing the Counter Barrier. Coupled with Encore, this is 1 card that you might want to consider putting into your Deck.


DC3/W18-075 R 真夜中デート 葵 (Midnight Date Aoi)
[Auto] When this Card is put on the Stage from your Hand, look at the top 1 card of your Deck, choose to put it on top or bottom of the Deck.
[Auto] When this Card attacks, put 1 Character from your Waiting Room top the bottom of your Deck.

One of the few top-decking cards in DCIII. The second effect, if used properly, can generate substantial advantage over the opponent. One can put an essential Character that is needed during the later part of the game down and hope to draw it before refresh, put a Character with soul trigger to hit harder and reduce the soul triggering after refresh or simply for a successful side attack.


DC3/W18-080 U わたわた 葵 (Wata Wata Aoi)
[Auto][(1)] When this card is Reversed by Battle, you may pay the cost. If so, send this Card to Memory.
[Auto] Shift Level 0 (At the start of your Main Phase, you may choose 1 Blue Card from your Hand and this Card in your Clock, exchange them.)

A memory mechanic that spots the Shift ability, making it easier to obtain it by exchanging a card of similar colour from your Hand. Not very essential to a <Newspaper> Deck that doesn't run on Memory, but can be used in many different Decks outside of it.


DC3/W18-081 U 大切な時間 葵 (Important Time Aoi)
[Auto] At the start of your Climax Phase, reveal the top 1 card of your Deck. If that card is a Climax Card, choose 1 of your other Center Stage Characters and send it to the Waiting Room.

A very good Level 0 with very high Power of 4000. Her side effect doesn't reach the Back Stage (back row) of your field. So long as she is alone on the Centre Stage (front row), her effect does not touch anybody.

Overall, the <Newspaper> trait has been well established in the booster set. One can make a fairly decent deck with the supplied with the Booster and Trial Deck. It is one of the new decks in DC that is worth giving a try regardless if you are new to the set or not.

Next time, I go on the journey to crack the mystery of the message dated back to 1951. Will I discover something? Stay tuned.

'Next Episode: Chapter 1 "Weather Vane" - Milxie'