A Guide to Koko's new fetish. [Link Joker]

What is Link Joker?
Link Joker is a clan first introduced in Trial Deck 11: Star-Vader Invasion, but later received support in Booster Set 12: Binding Force of Black Rings. They possess the ability to manipulate the mechanic of Lock, which immobilizes your opponent's units and stops them from using them until the end of their turn.

In order to make the most out of the Link Joker deck, you will want to take advantage of Lock to the best of your ability. This will make your opponent not only lose field presence temporarily, but as a result your hand will suffer a lot less from their weakened columns. In some cases you may even be able to lock out entire columns by locking away their front row units, causing you to only worry about 1 or 2 attacks!

Currently there are several different ways to play Link Joker. The most optimal way to play the deck is through useage of the sub-clan Star-Vader.

Generic Link Joker bosses
 
]
 

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards, and lock it.
[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

Mindless Blade, Heartless is currently the only non-Star Vader boss, but for a good reason. Being a non-Limit Break unit, it is already faster than a good majority of the metagame as it can begin to lock your opponent's units left right and center before your opponent even reaches 4 damage. Being an on-hit ability makes it incredibly unlikely for it to actually hit later on, but that is why this card thrives off of being used purely for the early game advantage. The problem with this card is that it is not 11000, making it incredibly easy for a lot of archetype-based decks to capitalize upon it with even their Grade 1s.

Generic Link Joker Staples
Of course, as with every clan, Link Joker has its own pool of staple cards that should be attempted to be played in most of the decks that come out for them.


 

[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When a «Link Joker» rides this unit, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards in the front row and back row, lock them, choose your vanguard, and that unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn.
(Locked cards are turned face down, and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of its owner's turn)
[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.
[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Star-Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon is the break ride for Link Joker. It's ability, however, is a lot stronger than what you would find in your standard break ride. Locking out an opponent's front row unit is an incredible thing to be able to do as it shuts down an entire column for a turn, meaning your hand advantage will be spared considerably. On top of locking out a front row unit, you also are able to lock out any unit in the back row also. So then comes the question of which one you go for. The Vanguard's booster, of course! This allows you to drop 10000-15000 against most big bosses for a 2 to pass scenario, when without the skill you may have been dropping something around 20000 or perfect guarding in order to try and save yourself.


 

[AUTO]: Forerunner (When a unit of the same clan rides this unit, you may call this unit to (RC))
[ACT](RC):[Counter Blast (1) & Put this unit into your soul] If you have a «Link Joker» vanguard, and your opponent has a locked card, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards, and lock it.
(Locked cards are turned face down, and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of its owner's turn)

Star-Vader, Dust Tail Unicorn will definitely be your go to starter in most scenarios. Obviously the card is slower than most starting Vanguards that you would see in the game right now, but once it goes off your opponent will definitely be having a hard time coming back. In a hypothetical situation, let's assume that we have just successfully performed a break ride of Infinite Zero Dragon on Infinite Zero Dragon. Your opponent's front row rearguard is successfully locked as well as the Vanguard booster. This then allows for Dust Tail Unicorn to be useful, moving himself to the soul to lock out the other front row unit. The result? Your opponent is left with 1 small Vanguard attack the next turn. This card can completely annihilate your opponent's threat factors in an instant just by being on the board.


 

[AUTO](VC): When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards, and lock it.
(Locked cards are turned face down, and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of its owner's turn)

Star-Vader, Mobius Breath Dragon is a pretty good card overall. A free lock of any unit your opponent controls when it hits the Vanguard is actually pretty good! Of course, that's when you realize that the skill only successfully works when you have it as your Vanguard. This means that the card will turn into a 9000 Vanilla any other turn after you end up using it as the Vanguard. Because of this reason, I do not recommend playing this card in the Star-Vader variant of Link Joker. Generic Link Joker does benefit from having this card though, as a free lock is something that helps that deck greatly as they focus moreso on locking things throughout the entire game than all at once.



Soaring Star-Vader, Krypton and Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star are your standard 8000 booster and 10000 Grade 2 attacker for Link Joker. Nothing really special to mention about them that isn't already obvious. The brute power that they add to Link Joker is something that they will definitely want for the early game, while their big numbers for their grade allows them to become a more defensive vanguard when ridden.

[AUTO](RC): When your opponents rear-guard is locked by any of your card's effect, if you have a «Link Joker» vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of turn.

Evil Claw Star-Vader, Niobium and Demonic Claw Star-Vader, Lanthanium are going to be staple attacking and boosting units in just about any Link Joker deck. As non-Star Vader decks do not have 10000 Grade 1 and 12000 Grade 2 attackers, these cards help to create strong columns by themselves during the turns where you're going to want to finish the game. In the case of a card such as Dark Band Dragon, you can pay the cost twice in order to lock 2 of your opponent's Rearguards and give +4 to your Niobium and Lanthanium. Pretty cool, huh? Especially since this means the Grade 2 hits 13 without a boost and the Grade 1 hits 11. This can allow for some pretty crucial columns to be hit when combined with other good generic Link Joker cards like the Vanillas.


 
 

[AUTO](RC):When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, if you have a «Link Joker» vanguard, and your opponent has a locked card, choose one of your opponent's rear-guard, and lock it.
(Locked cards are turned face down, and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of its owner's turn)

One Who Shoots Gravitational Singularities (yes that is the actual name) is basically just a Mobius Breath Dragon on the Rearguard, except it requires your opponent to have a locked unit already and has 8000 power instead of 9000. This means that having to ride it will make you feel bad in several ways. (Like having to ride Basil in AqF) Of course, you will still play it in generic Link Joker variants because locking is done throughout the game instead of the all-in system that Star-Vaders use. As Star-Vaders only lock near the end of the game when they plan to finish it, I would not recommend running it in there as the chances of you hitting with this near the end game is slim and the chances of you actually locking something useful is even slimmer.

[AUTO]:[Choose a card from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a «Link Joker» vanguard, and your opponent has two or less rear-guards, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card.

One Who Opens the Black Door is your standard LaLa clone that Bushiroad have been giving to clans lately. In a deck like Link Joker, a card like this is appreciated greatly as they do not have ways of getting stuff out of their hand and getting a hand where guarding is difficult is nearly impossible to get rid of. As a result, this card has a place in generic Link Joker and maybe Star-Vader Link Joker variants if you really want to.

Star-Vaders
Star-Vaders, much like Link Joker, were first introduced in Trial Deck 11: Star Vader Invasion and later received support in Booster Set 12: Binding Force of the Black Rings. Star-Vader focus on turning the defensive capabilities of Link Joker's Lock mechanic into a powerful late game force. Currently this is done by making your rearguards become as strong as Dark Irregulars on their peaking turn.

Bosses
 

[CONT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):During your turn, all of your «Link Joker» in your front row get [Power]+3000 for each of your opponent's locked units.
[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (2)] Choose one of your opponent's rear-guards in the back row, and lock it.
(Locked cards are turned face down, and cannot do anything. Turn them face up at the end of its owner's turn)
[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit without a same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Star-Vader, Nebula Lord Dragon will be your go to Vanguard for when Booster Set 12: Binding Force of the Black Rings comes out. His Limit Break makes your final turn pushes become the strongest that they could possibly be by making your Rearguards able to force some serious cards out of your opponent's hand. His Counterblast 2 skill is also rather good for not being a Limit Break, as it allows you to stop your opponent's starters or other detrimental units to your game plan before they get going. In order to make the most out of Nebula Lord, you will have to start thinking about when it is appropriate to lock your opponent's cards and when it is not.

[ACT](VC) Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):[Counter Blast (1) - Cards with Star-vader in its card name] Choose one of your opponent's rear-guards in the back row, and lock it.
[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks, if the number of rear-guards you have is more than your opponent's, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

Star-Vader, Dark Band Dragon is a back-up Vanguard for Star-Vaders, with it's CB cost being efficient in order to effectively lock out the entirety of your opponent's backrow with a CB3. This is not the appropriate way to play this card however, as a more conservative manner with this card will ensure that you win more games than throwing everything in with 1 turn. As such, I believe that this card fits generic Link Jokers more than it fits Star-Vaders. This is a good boss monster for generic, as it constantly allows you to filter out problems whilst keeping things going your way. Unfortunately, being 10000 really does hurt this card as it's a lot easier for your opponent to hit this unboosted than an 11000 Vanguard. This is a very relevant point, as Dark Band Dragon attempts to stop your opponent from boosting their units effectively.

Star-Vader Support Units of Note
 

 

[AUTO](RC): When this unit attacks, if you have a vanguard with "Star-vader" in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

Unrivaled Star-Vader, Radon will soon become of your best friends when you realize the potential he has with Nebula Lord Dragon in Star-Vaders. At first glance, one will simply think that he is a 12000 attacker for a Star-Vader Vanguard. Of course, this isn't bad by any means. It is only when you put him with the power boost from Nebula Lord Dragon that you realize just what this guy can do. Upon locking 3 units, Radon becomes a 21000 unboosted unit. This means that a completely devastated column can be salvaged by the shining grace of Radon with Nebula Lord's Limit Break, forcing out 15000 shield without need of a booster. Demonic Bullet Star-Vader, Neon is mainly in the same boat as Radon when it comes to the power that it has in Star-Vader oriented decks with Nebula Lord. Of course this cannot reach the same power as Radon unless you lock 4 units, but you always have the option to just lock 2 units for a 16000 unboosted unit that forces 10000 out of your opponent's hand. This still makes him an incredibly good aggressive option any time in the game, especially later.

Pros and Cons of Link Joker

Pros:
- The late game is incredibly potent for Link Joker. Cards like Infinite Zero Dragon help stop your opponent from having a successful final turn push, while Vanguards such as Nebula Lord Dragon ensure that you seal the deal on the turn that you want.
- Controlling your opponent's board in the way that Link Joker does is unseen in any other deck. As a result, ways to play around Link Joker will not be as high as other decks such as Kagero and Narukami.
- The deck easily conserves hand advantage from weakening your opponent's lines and, in some scenarios, demolishing them.

Cons:
- The deck has very little early game things to do, as your lock plays are not anywhere near as effective until late. As a result, it can be easy for your opponent to attempt to capitalize on you early so that they don't need to worry as much about numbers later on.
- Link Joker itself does not have any cards that generate card advantage, only effects that allow you to conserve. As a result, your hand may constantly stay in a ruined state if your opponent knows how to play against Link Joker properly.

Sample Decklists

Star-Vader Decklist

1 Star-Vader, Dust Tail Unicorn
8 Crits
4 Draws
4 Heals

4 Demonic Claw Star-Vader, Lanthanium
4 Barrier Star-Vader, Promethium
3 Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star
3 Demonic Bullet Star-Vader, Neon

4 Soaring Star-Vader, Krypton
4 Unrivaled Star-Vader, Radon
4 Evil Claw Star-Vader, Niobium

4 Star-Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon
3 Star-Vader, Nebula Lord Dragon

Dark Band Link Joker Decklist

1 Star-Vader, Dust Tail Unicorn
8 Crits
4 Draws
4 Heals

4 Demonic Bullet Star-Vader, Neon
4 Barrier Star-Vader, Promethium
3 Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star
3 One Who Opens the Black Door

4 Soaring Star-Vader, Krypton
4 Unrivaled Star-Vader, Radon
4 One Who Shoots Gravitational Singularities

4 Star-Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon
3 Star-Vader, Dark Bond Dragon

Heartless Link Joker (Theory atm, not too sure on it myself)

1 Star-Vader, Dust Tail Unicorn
8 Crits
4 Draws
4 Heals

4 Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star
4 Barrier Star-Vader, Promethium
3 One who Opens the Black Door
3 Demon Claw Star-Vader, Lanthanium

4 Soaring Star-Vader, Krypton
4 Evil Claw Star-Vader, Niobiu
3 Star-Vader, Mobius Breath Dragon

4 Mindless Blade, Heartless
4 Star-Vader, Infinite Zero Dragon

---

Noticed there wasn't a Link Joker deck yet, so thought I'd try it out seeing as how I've been playing the deck a lot lately. I'll update the OP with the other generic stuff, including the ride chain and the BT13 stuff when it comes out.

That is boss, link joker is crzy powerful. But I feel that it will be taken down becuase of the counter blasting.