After a lackluster month of EX-01, we have finally gotten our fair share of BT-07 card reveals.
A brief introduction to those who are not following, BT-07 Next Adventure is an upcoming expansion set to be released on the 27th of August, themed around the Digimon Frontier anime series.
We will see heavy support for tamer cards and [Hybrid] Digimons, as well as some subtle introduction to X-antibody mechanics. For fans of Digimon ReArise and VB, the full digivolution lines of Herissmon and Pulsemon are also introduced in this set, so read on for a quick and early review!
Hybrid Archetype Buffed
Prior to BT-07, there is no true support for the [Hybrid] archetype outside of them simply being Digimons that can digivolve from a tamer card. Due to this lack of support, [Hybrid] Digimons are usually only added at minimal copies into decks to go for that "final hit".
All this will change come BT-07: the 6 tamers from Digimon Frontier will be introduced, all whom possess effects and inheritables that make them the core engine of their decks.
Notable tamers are [BT7-085] Kanbara Takuya and [BT7-087] Minamoto Koji. Both these tamers can pull 5 [Hybrid] cards (from trash and hand respectively) to themselves as digivolution cards in order to "Hyper Spirit Evolution" into LV6 Kaisergreymon and Magnagarurumon.
Takuya's evolution into Kaisergreymon will be guaranteed an attack thanks to Kaisergreymon's [Blitz] effect, and if inheriting the new [BT7-014] Aldamon he can do an almost unblockable 2 security checks at 14000 DP with option-jamming. However, with no other [Hybrid] cards carrying useful inheritables yet, it is hard to determine if he can redefine the meta.
Koji, on the other hand, is already showing great promise with [BT7-029] Magnagarurumon on board control by allowing the player to return a digivolution card from himself in order to bounce a similar LV Digimon from your opponent's board back to their hand.
You may want to watch an early proxy gameplay of Kaisergreymon and Magnagarurumon (from ファイル島の民) to see these engines in action.
Score: 7/10
Metalgreymon and Weregarurumon
It is quite unexpected for Bandai to give Metalgreymon and Weregarurumon the SR treatment, since they are neither new Digimons not Frontier-related. However, they possess effects that can significantly strengthen many decks, allowing some older deck engines to keep up to newer metas.
Expect to see the new [BT7-013] Metalgreymon in BOC, Jesmon, or even Shoutmon decks, and [BT7-026] Weregarurumon used to revive Hexeblaumon, Imperialdramon and Ulforceveedra engines!
Score: 9/10
Herissmon Line
This is the first time Herissmon (from ReArise) is introduced into DCG, and being the first yellow Digimon line to have strong support for [Digiburst].
Based on the effects of his digivolution line up to Rasenmon, he would derive great offensive value (both on board control and security damage) when the player is low in security. Therefore, we foresee him to have great synergy with [BT4-104] Blinding Ray.
Score: 8/10
Pulsemon Line
First introduced in Vitality Bracelet (VB), Pulsemon has appeared as a promotional card and in BT-06 together with his LV4 form Bulkmon. In BT-07 we will be getting his full digivolution line up to the LV6 [BT7-041] Kazuchimon.
The Pulsemon line has always been deriving maximum value when the player has exactly 3 security cards, and that has not changed in this upcoming release. Kazuchimon's very hefty digivolution cost of 5 may deter some players from building him into their core engine, but it cannot be denied that he will provide great [Recovery] value when the player has little to no security left.
His LV4 and LV5 however, may become very interesting cards that can create very high DP Mekanorimon. Will we finally see a blocker-centric yellow/black deck with Craniamon?
Score: 8/10
Removing the Gatcha from Green
There is one particular engine that is unique in green: an effect that allows a LV5 Digimon to reveal 3 cards from deck when attacking, and digivolving to any revealed LV6 cards without paying it's cost. This engine is first seen in BT2 with Jagamon, and then with [BT5-089] Izzy & Mimi.
In BT-07 we now have [BT7-045] Tortomon, a LV4 digimon that will make this very engine reliable. Work him with a strong LV6 Digimon such as [BT6-054] AncientTroymon or the new [BT7-055] Xuanwumon, and we might have a winning recipe for a new green meta!
Score: 9/10
A Fallen Cherubimon and Lucemon
To be honest, much of the excitement from this set comes in a purple package of Frontier antagonists.
[BT7-079] Cherubimon's effect will be able to give so much board control when digivolving, and then some more when deleted. It is very obvious that he will run well with the LV3 Lucemons, since there is no color restrictions on the revived Digimons for his [On Deletion] effect.
Meanwhile, [BT7-111] Lucemon Falldown Mode has to be the most hyped-up card since not being revealed in BT-04 and all sets after that. Kudos to Tomanikanji for the excellent work on his art since Lucemon FM was not exactly famous for being the most handsome Digimon (he looked rather chubby and deformed in the original anime series, and then in Hyper Colloseum and XROS wars). His effects however, may leave much to be desired: while having a good deletion effect, his play/digivolution cost is far too high. Maybe he will do well in a Security Control deck with heavy reliance on his option card [BT7-109] Dead or Alive.
Score: 7/10
Kouta and Dorumon Joins the Fray!
Another set excitement comes in the form of [BT7-090] Doumoto Kouta, a legendary character from Digimon Chronicle and Dorumon's tamer.
Since there was much wait for a proper Alphamon support, Kouta and Dorumon would be welcomed additions. However, based on the revealed cards so far, both Kouta and Dorumon does not seem to do much (or anything) for Alphamon, and appears to buff it's own line's LV6 [BT7-065] Dorugoramon more than anything.
We are still unsure if Dorugoramon's reverse-like digivolution mechanic would be exclusive to x-antibody Digimons, but so far that mechanic does not seem too promising.
Score: 6/10
Conclusion
In addition to the 112 cards in this set, BT-07 will also carry 8 Campaign Promo cards featuring the 8 Digi-destined from 2020's Digimon Adventure anime reboot. Only 4 have been revealed so far but some have excellent card effects and may make their way into meta decks.
In addition, it has also been leaked that Susannomon will be introduced as the other SEC card in this set, and none of the white Digimons have been revealed yet.
But based on what we see so far, BT-07 is promising to be a great set, one that rivals BT-05 in hype and excitement, and renews some confidence in this card game after some recent lackluster releases.
Final Score: 9/10