Overview
Less than 3 weeks before the official release of BT-06, only slightly more than a quarter of cards were revealed. That said, we have already seen 8/11 of the SRs, which should give us a hint on how this expansion set should perform. Let's dig right into it!
New Mechanics
<デコイ> or <Decoy> is a new effect introduced in BT-06, and the only Digimons we know so far that has this effect are [BT6-059] Machmon and [BT6-064] Mamemon (both are black Digimons).
A Digimon with <Decoy> can sacrifice itself to protect another Digimon (of the specified color only) from being deleted by a card effect. This is akin to an effect blocker, which should come in handy amid a rising ecosystem of cards with deletion effects.
I believe that the introduction of <Decoy> is intended to reposition black as a defense-centric color, since <Blocker> digimons are now pretty much card-effect fodder in current meta. While this might strengthen black cards against red and purple, it will not protect against yellow's DP-reduction, which is a dominating color in the current meta. Therefore, the effectiveness of <Decoy> should be quite limited.
It should also be noted that this effect will only protect one Digimon from deletion, so in the case of a [BT1-084] Omegamon deleting more than 1 Digimon with the same name, then <Decoy> can only be used to protect one Digimon and not the rest.
The meta is expected to speed up
The icons of this set is none other than [BT6-018] Agumon Bond of Courage and [BT6-030] Gabumon Bond of Friendship. Not only are these LV7 duo formidable enough by themselves, but also given strong support cards!
Both of these LV7s can warp digivolve (yes not an official term but you get the gist) from a LV3 [Agumon] or [Gabumon] respectively, if you have their new tamers [BT6-087] Tai Kamiya or [BT6-088] Matt Ishida in play. In addition, this warp digivolution comes at a very reasonable 3-memory cost!
In comparison, a warp digivolution of the recently launched starter deck LV3 [ST7-03] Guilmon into a LV6 Gallantmon will cost more than that (4 memory)!
The strong synergy between these LV6 duo with their tamers and rookies sets up not only a very strong board control, but also allows for surprise comeback. They are expected to dominate red and blue decks in the coming BT-06 meta!
Early gameplay videos:
Agumon deck vs. Lordknightmon deck
Gabumon deck vs. Lordknightmon deck
Agumon deck vs. Gabumon deck
Score: 9/10 (as good as it goes for red and blue)
Jesmon
Yellow players in the BT-05 meta understand the stability and robustness of a Lordknightmon engine for simultaneous board control and widening. In the coming set, red players can access this similar mechanic in the form of [BT6-016] Jesmon.
Jesmon has a [When Attacking] effect that allows the player to play a [Sistermon] from either their hand or trash, which has superb value. Jesmon subsequently gains a +3000 DP buff with <Piercing>, in addition to a +2000 DP buff if you have [Sistermon Noir] in play.
At a minimum, this engine should be robust, and gives Jesmon some board presence with high DP and <Piercing>. The presence of Sistermon Blanc should also offer Jesmon some protection in the case that he is suspended after an attack. However, Jesmon will require access to additional inheritable effects (such as <SecurityAttack+1> or those that allow him to attack an unsuspended Digimon) in order for him to shine.
Score: 6/10 (more card reveals may increase the score)
Flamemon
This very unassuming card is expected to provide a very significant boost to Ancientgreymon decks, which is currently underperforming even with the anniversary promo card [P-029] Agunimon. This [BT6-010] Flamemon will grant Ancientgreymon the <Piercing> effect, allowing for more effective aggro plays.
Score: 8/10
Dynasmon
Passive effects are usually not very well-received in competitive games, with examples seen in Belialvamdemon, Donedevimon, and Sakuyamon. As such, I believe that [BT6-044] Dynasmon will not dethrone Lordknightmon off the yellow meta just yet.
That said, I feel that the combination of effects that Dynasmon has (trash stockpiling, searching, and security stalling) hints at the potential introduction of another card: Lucemon Falldown Mode. So until we know that as a fact, Dynasmon is expected to remain as an underdog.
Score: 4/10 (may be higher with Lucemon synergy)
Black becomes more technical
A defensive, blocker-centric black is pretty much a thing of the past, with the vast variety of card effects that will remove or delete Digimons without ever attacking, and <de-digivolve> effects being less potent since it usually works into the opponent's advantage.
With this, I think black Digimons will now have an exclusive access to blanket effects that targets based on Digimon's play cost.
[BT6-067] Gankoomon has a [When Digivolving] effect that deletes all your opponent's Digimon with the lowest play cost, which can be used in many ways.
1) Delete a large swarm of rookie Digimons that has the same play cost (usually play cost of 2).
2) Delete a single large Digimon when opponent only has 1 Digimon in the battle area.
The goal of effects like Gankoomon is to maximize the deletion value by managing the play-cost numbers on your opponent's board, using cards like [BT6-064] Mamemon to eliminate the odds.
Score: 7/10 (black to get play-cost based board control on steroids)
Skullgreymon
Another unassuming card, [BT6-078] Skullgreymon has a unique effect that, when trashed from hand, allows him to be attached and used as a digivolution card on one of your purple Digimon. While one might, on first impression, think that he would synergize well with [BT2-083] Millenniummon, we would like to remind that Millenniummon is not a purple Digimon.
Besides, SkullGreymon behaves like counter-attack for purple during the right times. When we trash this card by another effect, we can put this card under a LV3 or LV4 digimon to destroy an opponent's powerful Digimon (without extra cost) to give one of your Digimon the [Retaliation] effect. SkullGreymon can be much more flexible compared to the BT-02 "Retaliation" Devimon.
Score: 8/10
Eosmon
The LV5 [BT6-085] Eosmon breaks the mold of deck-building by allowing up to 50 copies of itself in one's deck, and the LV4 [BT6-083] Eosmon allows the player to play a 4-cost white tamer card without paying it's cost. Since there is currently no white tamer cards that will synergize with Eosmon, I believe that this set will inevitably introduce [Menoa Bellucci] as it's white tamer.
I guess we will not know of Eosmon's full potential until it's full lineup is revealed.
Score: ?/10.
Predictions
At the time of this writeup, 3 SR and 2 SEC cards remain unknown. Below are some of my speculations.
Full Royal Knight lineup unlikely to be unveiled: while we have [Sistermon] providing buff to the [Royal Knight] type, it is unlikely for BT-06 to unveil all members of the remaining Royal Knights, which include Examon, Magnamon, and Alphamon. I believe that while Examon and Magnamon might not be revealed yet, but Alphamon has been heavily hinted to be revealed soon (from card erratas). Alphamon may be one of the SEC cards of BT-06.
Lucemon Falldown Mode: The LV3 Lucemon has been revealed back in BT-04, with no follow-ups along his digivolution line. With both Lordknightmon and Dynasmon revealed, it is very likely for Lucemon Falldown Mode to also be revealed in this set (since the next EX-01 set may not be a suitable landing for Lucemon). Also, since 2 SR cards has already been revealed for purple, it is likely for Bandai to introduce Lucemon Falldown Mode as a SEC card for BT-06.
Summary
I feel that aside from the LV7 Agumon and Gabumon duo, there is not much going for in this set as compared to the previous BT-05.
Many cards here are less exciting, and exist only to complement or add variety to the already existing engines in the current meta, and my opinion is that Bandai acknowledges this as a fact by bundling it with alternate-art box-topper cards from a card popularity poll.
If Alphamon and Lucemon Falldown Mode is indeed introduced in this set, there is still no guarantee that they will provide meta-defining effects out-of-the-box (since SEC cards can be usually quite unplayable in it's immediate meta). Nevertheless, it seems that the presence of either or both of these cards will be needed to at least give BT-06 a proper dose of excitement.
Score: 6/10
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