ImpactDrake

Based on Seiryu, the Azure Dragon of the East, one of the Four Celestial Beasts from Chinese mythology. It represents violent, active energy, linked to storms, thunder, and raging winds that signal unavoidable change.

ImpactDrake is a clear homage to Tyson’s Dragoon from the original series. Its shape is divided into four main segments that form the dragon’s face, directly inspired by Bakuten Shoot Dragoon. Its most distinctive feature is the red rubber zone located on the lower part of the Blade, while the upper section forms a very exposed metal hook that acts as a secondary contact point. It is an extremely heavy Blade at 39 grams, pushing a large portion of its mass toward the outer edges, boosting centrifugal force to amplify its hits and giving it solid standalone stamina.

The true power of ImpactDrake lies in the brutal friction damage generated by its rubber against right-spin Beys, capable of draining massive amounts of energy in just a few hits. However, this is a double-edged sword, since it depends entirely on which Bey is heavier or spinning faster. Basically, the lighter or slower-spinning Bey will take all the damage—whether that’s ImpactDrake itself or its opponent. Because of this, precision in the opening hits is absolutely critical. Those first impacts largely determine its win chances, since missing them makes every passing second increasingly risky. Movement momentum is also key to unlocking its full potential. The challenge is finding the right balance between accuracy and speed. This is especially important because wall rebounds are extremely dangerous: the rubber causes massive energy loss on impact, so overly aggressive, hard-to-control Bits are usually a bad idea. In fully stationary combos, it can still cause some wear if launched at maximum power and allowed to land repeated hits. Still, it shines far more with movement involved, though if it lands those early contacts, it can do interesting work even while holding center. Rubber wear is another major factor. When new, recoil is extremely high due to the sharp rubber edges. As it wears down, the rubber softens, improving recoil tolerance without losing too much impact power. Because of this, it starts out inconsistent and risky, but becomes more reliable the more you use it. One thing to note is how often it can surprise in late-game spins. When spinning slowly against a much faster opponent, the speed difference can generate extremely violent rebounds, so it should never be counted out until it fully stops spinning. As for height, extremes don’t favor it. Too high means hitting only with rubber, which is overly risky. Too low means hitting only with metal, losing its biggest strength. Heights 60–70 are the sweet spot.