Energy Layer - Luinor L4

Luinor L4, known as in Japan, is a Super Z Energy Layer released as part of the Burst System as well as the Super Z Layer System. It debuted with the release of the B-110 Starter Bloody Longinus 13 Jolt on April 28th, 2018.

Description
Luinor L4 is a wide and heavy Energy Layer designed for Left-Spin Attack that features five dragon heads, representing the anime's rendition of this Layer's beast, a dragon, one in the center of the Layer and four that line each of the wings that make up the points of contact, creating a diamond and thus aggressive and high recoil design. The snouts of the dragons and the tip of each wing are molded into the shape of spear heads which are meant to represent this Layer's Japanese namesake, the Roman Soldier Longinus of Christian Mythology who stabbed Christ with a lance.

As part of the Super Z Layer System and like previous Luinor/Longinus Layers, Luinor L4 features metal in its design; in this case, each of the outer dragon heads are made of metal. The inclusion of metal makes Luinor L4 heavier than most SwitchStrike/God Layers.

The heavy weight of the metal dragon heads generates high inertia which increases the Layer's KO and Burst potential. However, the Left-Spin nature of Luinor L4 means that it and a Right-Spin opponent's Layer will spin together like gears if they are of similar spin speed which heavily reduces recoil and rate of Bursts. However, the high recoil diamond shape can still create strong KO potential, though not to the degree of Nightmare Longinus, in Opposite-Spin battles and makes Luinor L4 outclass its predecessor in Burst Attack potential in Left-Spin vs. Left-Spin battles. Furthermore, Luinor L4 is very wide which increases its Attack range and allows greater room for error in Banking Patterns. While the opposite spin allows for some degree of Spin Equalization, it is not to the degree of Drain Fafnir or Spriggan Requiem.

The Takara Tomy release of Bloody Longinus features three teeth of medium-high length that are capable of withstanding the recoil this Layer produces, even against another Left-Spin opponent as the heavy weight further increases Burst resistance as the Layer's higher inertia can better resist teeth skipping.

Like many other Super Z Layers, Luinor L4 is unbalanced which increases Burst risk, is liable to break Banking Patterns and drains Stamina. However, these issues can be solved with the use of a Level Chip that fits underneath the Layer.

Use in Attack Combinations
Bloody Longinus can be put to use in the Attack Combination Bloody Longinus 0/2/4/5/7 Bump/Meteor Jolt/Xtreme/Variable (Worn). The heavy weight of Bloody Longinus 0/2/4/5/7 Bump/Meteor creates high Burst and KO potential while Jolt/Xtreme/Variable (Worn) grants aggressive movement and speed even when moderate launched which further bolsters Burst Attack. While the use of high friction Tips and heavy Discs can increase Burst risk, the heavy weight and strong teeth of Bloody Longinus can compensate.

Overall
Bloody Longinus ' heavy weight, KO and Burst potential makes it one of the best Attack Layers for Left-Spin vs. Left-Spin matches in the meta game at the time of writing and its ability to accommodate Discs gives it greater versatility and greater overall Combination weight than its predecessor Nightmare Longinus, although its shape does make it lag behind its predecessor in Opposite-Spin matches.

As such, Bloody Longinus is not a must have but is instead a welcome addition to a blader's collection.

Takara Tomy

 * B-110 Bloody Longinus 13 Jolt
 * B-118 Random Booster Vol. 11 Vise Leopard .12L.Ds - 08: Bloody Longinus 8Vortex Defense