[English Meta] Cards to Watch Out For: Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

Introduction
Among one of the best cards in the upcoming Set 3 (the actual Set 3, not Set 6), is the superior ride chain of Tsukuyomi. Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Goddess of the Half-Moon and Goddess of the Full Moon Tsukuyomi make up this superior ride chain. The consistency that Oracle Think Tank gets from this chain, along with the 7k boosters, ability to manipulate the deck, early hand advantage and 11k Vanguard is what pushes OTT to become one of the highest tier decks come Set 3. So what should both OTT and non-OTT players watch out for? Let's find out.


Cards Themselves
First I think it is most appropriate to look at what each card does, starting with Godhawk Ichibyoshi, the starting Vanguard for the Tsukyomi line:

Godhawk, Ichibyoshi

Auto【V】: At the beginning of your ride phase,
look at the top five cards of your deck, search for up to one
"Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi",
ride it, and send the rest of the cards to the
bottom of your deck in any order. If ridden, you
cannot do a normal ride during that ride phase.

Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi

Auto【V】: At the beginning of your ride phase,
look at the top five cards of your deck, search for
up to one "Goddess of the Half-Moon, Tsukuyomi"
out of the five cards, ride it, and send the rest of
the cards to the bottom of your deck in any order.
If ridden, you cannot do a normal ride during that
ride phase.

Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi

Auto: When this unit is placed on V, if you have
"Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi" and
"Godhawk, Ichibyoshi" in your soul, you may
Soulcharge (2).
Auto【V】: At the beginning of your ride phase,
look at the top five cards of your deck, search for
up to one "Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi"
out of those five cards, ride it, and send the
rest of the cards to the bottom of the deck in
any order. If ridden, you cannot do a normal ride
during that ride phase.

Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

Continuous【V/R】: If you don't have
"Goddess of the Half-Moon, Tsukuyomi",
"Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi", and
"Godhawk, Ichibyoshi" in your soul, this unit gets
-2000 power.
Activate【V】: [Counterblast (2)] If you
have six or more «Oracle Think Tank» in your
soul, draw two cards, and choose one from your
hand and send it to soul.

    By simply taking a quick glance, we can see that the Grade 2 and Grade 3 hold really good effects. Half-Moon's skill of allowing us to Soulcharge 2 not only sets up the requirements necessary for the Grade 3, but for other cards in the set that require six soul, such as Oracle Guardian, Blue-Eye. Full Moon's ability speaks for itself, turning that Counter-blast that few units need in OTT into more drawing power and further hand advantage. Having Full Moon at 11k also makes it easier to guard, especially against Royal Paladins, with their Alfreds and whatnot. Not only does this set fix most if not every flaw OTT has prior to Set 3, it also enhances drawing power which grants us the ability to stack our triggers.


Stacking Triggers
With the Tsukuyomi line, you are taking the top 5 cards of your deck and searching for the next Grade to superior ride. What some players don't know however, is that you can return the cards in any order you want to the bottom. One of the most skillful plays one can make with this deck is stacking their triggers at the beginning of the game, and through drawing and putting more cards at the bottom move their stack closer to the top, and then hit with a double trigger timing against your opponent, possibly winning you the game. Let's look at this in more detail:

• In your first turn, you look at the top 5 cards of your deck searching for Goddess of the Crescent Moon. You reveal to yourself 3 triggers, a Grade 2 and the Crescent Moon you are looking for. Now, when you return the 4 cards to the bottom of your deck, you will place two triggers at the top of the stack (preferably critical triggers). So now you know that the last 4 cards in your deck is your stack.
• Next two turns you do the same, searching for the Grade 2 and Grade 3 to superior ride, putting the cards in the bottom and counting in your head how many cards there are in your stack. 
• Throughout the game, using the many cards available to OTT to draw, cycle and soulcharge cards, you slowly sift through your deck, knowing in your head how many cards must be left in the deck to reach your stack. Cards that help include Psychic Bird, Oracle Guardian Red-Eye, Oracle Guardian Blue-Eye, Goddess of the Full Moon Tsukuyomi, Draw Triggers (derp), etc. 
• Once you reach your stack (you have the X amount of cards left in your deck) you hit with your Vanguard to reveal a double trigger (hopefully critical) to get over your opponent's shield (unless they perfect guarded) and win the game!

Indeed, this is exactly what Misaki did in the last few episodes of Season 1 against Asaka (sorry for spoiler if you haven't watched it). Being able to do this consistently requires patience, a great memory and to be honest, a fair amount of skill. As such, it is a passive way of playing the deck, which may not be attractive to everyone.

I Don't Play OTT, Why Should I Care?
When playing against OTT (and any deck for that matter), you should familiarize yourself on how the deck works. If you know that Tsukuyomi's skill requires 6 soul, it may be prudent to block attacks from cards such as Oracle Guardian, Red-Eye in order to prevent that from occurring, especially if they missed their Grade 2 ride. You should also be wary of your opponent's (legitimate) trigger stack. The longer the game goes, the closer they get to it, so attempting to finish them off early may be a good idea. Keep in mind that a (good) player attempting this will generally take damage, play conservatively and use cards that thin out their deck. Either do what you can to prevent it, or prepare for it when it comes by keeping perfect guards handy or such. Also note that Tsukuyomi is an 11k Vanguard, so any combos of cards that you had hitting for 15k or 20k will just come up short in terms of Magic Numbers, so adapt your play and maybe even your deck to be able to hit those numbers more consistently (Royal Paladin get a huge boost in this department in the form of Swordsman of Explosive Flames, Palamedes). 


Conclusion
As I've said many times, Set 3 grants OTT a huge boost in terms of consistency, power, hand advantage, manipulation, control and competitiveness. Being aware of key cards in other's decks is a definite step in order to improve and become better in every match-up. OTT players should strive in incorporating this ride chain in their deck, as it's simply way too good, and frankly necessary, to pass up. Switching to OTT myself, I can't wait until the English Set 3 gets announced to get some copies myself.


-HerO