[4D] THE QUEEN OF DRAGONS - L Drago Destroy SA165W2D

Ah, 4D - new format, old tricks. Two here! The first being a testing thread to which I credit Broyeeto for inspiring me to do, and the second being the legendary art of spilling beans, to which I credit th!nk, as well as the combo. He’s mentioned L Drago Guardian SA165EWD quite a few times on the WBO's #metal-fight channels in the discord, and until recently, I wasn't able to make its substitute, L Drago Destroy SA165W2D, work out. Until recently. I've spent the majority of yesterday and the past few hours of today testing it and I will say, I am quite impressed. So, without further ado:

What does the combo do?

The combo aims to avoid getting KO’d and equalize versus the majority of the 4D’s roster, preying on mobile stamina and defense, as well as having good enough KO resistance to survive against and outspin anti-attack via light launching. Speaking with some older terms - it's a defensive zombie!

Why were these parts chosen?

Normal Face Bolt: “Why not a metal face?” Unfortunately, Destroy is already incredibly top heavy, and adding the metal face decreases its stability further and breaks its ability to equalize and win versus some stallers and low track defense.
Destroy (4D/Spark FX Hyperblades): While not preferred over Guardian defensively, I think Destroy is a perfectly fine substitute. It needs to be hard launched sometimes as it doesn’t have the raw stamina to equalize to the end from a light launch like Guardian does, but the larger gaps thankfully come with a positive side effect – increased exposure to rubber, which does wonders for the combination if it’s using an L Drago III or L Drago IV from Hasbro, as Hasbro’s Destructor rubbers have incredibly soft rubber.
L Drago III (Hasbro): As mentioned above: This is a HUGE boon to the combo, allowing it to absorb hits and equalize more effectively.
SA165: An almost required part for L Drago Destroy/Guardian to function in 4D. If it doesn’t have it on, it usually fails to win via equalization, as it dies the millisecond the rubber touches the floor, unless you have Takara Tomy’s harder rubber – which severely hurts your ability to equalize in the first place.
W2D: I chose this over EWD for specifically Destroy, as it tends to move around more when it gets hit. This benefits Destroy’s slightly more aggressive design as well as the fact that it is lighter and is more likely to get knocked out if it sits still to be attacked a second time compared to meeting the attacker head on, whereas Guardian is presumably capable of shrugging off a few more blows compared to Destroy thanks to both a less angry design and more weight.

Testing:
All testing was done in the B-09 Burst Standard Beystadium.

Versus Phantom: 

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs Phantom Pegasus2 DF105W2D, alternating launch order, both light launched, tips swapped between rounds:
Phantom Pegasus DF105W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 0%
 
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs Phantom Pegasus2 90MF, L Drago Destroy hard launched first, Phantom alternating launches attempting to stall and KO:
Phantom Pegasus 90MF: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 100%
 
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs Phantom Pegasus2 DF105WF, L Drago Destroy hard launched first, Phantom launched to attempt to KO:
Phantom Pegasus DF105WF: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 100%
 
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs Phantom Pegasus2 90CF, both light launched with alternating order:
Phantom Pegasus 90CF: 5 wins (5 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 5 wins (5 OS, 0 KO)
10 draws
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 50%
 
Versus Flash:

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-H Flash Cetus CH120RF, L Drago Destroy light launched first:
MF-H Flash Cetus CH120RF: 17 wins (0 OS, 17 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 3 wins (2 OS, 1 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 15%
Notes: 20 rounds because the three wins happened in the first 10, and something felt off about that so I kept going, and what do you know? This matchup is worse than it looks for Destroy - The three wins involved several wall saves and one lucky acceleration by w2d that happened to ko flash.
 
Versus Diablo:

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-H Diablo Kerbecs 85RF, L Drago Destroy light launched first:
MF-H Diablo Kerbecs 85RF: 7 wins (0 OS, 7 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 3 wins (3 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 30%
Notes: according to th!nk LDG does significantly better in this matchup? I'll have to take his word for it. Light launching does wonders versus Diablo though.
 
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-H Diablo Kerbecs BD145R2F, L Drago Destroy light launched first:
MF-H Diablo Kerbecs BD145R2F: 4 wins (0 OS, 4 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 6 wins (6 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 60%
Notes: light launching REALLY helps here.
 
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-H Diablo Kerbecs BD145CS, L Drago Destroy light launched first:
MF-H Diablo Kerbecs BD145CS: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 100%

Versus Death:

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs Death Sagittario2 W105W2D, alternating launch order, both light launched, tips swapped between rounds:
Death Sagittario2 W105W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
4 draws
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 0%
 
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs Death Sagittario2 B:D, alternating launch order, both light launched:
Death Sagittario2 B:D: 6 wins (6 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 4 wins (4 OS, 0 KO)
9 draws
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 40%
Notes: This matchup is a huge pain in the butt to record and judge.
 
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-L Death Sagittario2 BD145CS, L Drago Destroy light launched first:
MF-L Death Sagittario2 BD145CS: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 100%
 
Versus Basalt:

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs Basalt Nemesis 230CS, alternating launch order, both hard launched:
Basalt Nemesis 230CS: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 10 wins (9 OS, 1 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 100%
Notes: Destroy cannot light launch in this matchup, unfortunately. It needs to have a decent amount of power to equalize vs Basalt the entire way to the end and win. It's a little scary for Destroy, but it does easily clear this matchup - you just can't be afraid.

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-H Basalt Nemesis BD145R2F, L Drago Destroy light launched first:
MF-H Basalt Nemesis BD145R2F: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 100%
Notes: Similar thing versus the 230CS combo - you can't launch too light. Not that you even need to, Basalt doesn't really KO you either way. 

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-H Basalt Nemesis BD145CS, L Drago Destroy light launched first:
MF-H Basalt Nemesis BD145CS: 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 100%
 
Versus Wing:

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-L Wing [1] Cancer 90CS, L Drago Destroy light launched first, Wing launched attempting to KO:
MF-L Wing Cancer 90CS: 1 wins (0 OS, 1 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 9 wins (9 OS,0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 90%
Notes: Destroy eats LTDC for breakfast.

L Drago Destroy SA165W2D vs MF-L Wing [1] Cancer BD145CS, L Drago Destroy light launched first:
MF-L Wing [1] Cancer BD145CS : 0 wins (0 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy SA165W2D: 10 wins (10 OS, 0 KO)
L Drago Destroy Win Rate: 100% 
 
So, even though Destroy didn't end up being Lightning 2.0 and didn't kill Basalt like you all hoped...it gets the job done in 4D format, almost 11 years too late. I also greatly enjoyed bullying BD145CS with this combo. Lastly: special thanks to polowogs for gifting a ton of the parts that are used in this testing here. I hope you've all enjoyed the thread, and this inspires you all to try out the 4D format yourself, the rules of which you can find here:

https://worldbeyblade.org/Thread-4D-A-Ne...t-Proposal

[Image: Ldragodestroyhorogium.jpg]
Looks like I'm not the only one who looked at 4d format and thought "l drago destroy/guardian is prob good in this", either way i feel like l drago destructor's viability may in turn make stamina gravity destroyer builds viable in 4d because in addition to hard countering destructor in same spin due to recoil from the rubber, the fact that a lot of 4d wheels and hades are way wider than gravity may make it usable as an equalizer in 4d. Variares counters destructor too but thats kinda obvious