Discover How to Upgrade Your Stamina Combos with the Best Part from the Final Spriggan: Spriggan 2 DB Core! (B-205 Burst Ultimate VS Set Review)

Affiliate Disclosure: If you buy something through some of the links on this post, you won’t pay any extra, but we’ll get a small commission. This helps us keep things running. Thanks for your support!

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What could potentially be the penultimate release of the Beyblade Burst BU era is the B-205 Burst Ultimate VS Set! With this set we see the introduction of a second DB evolution to the Spriggan line, Burst Spriggan Spread’ Fusion’-8 and an alternate version of Ultimate Valkyrie: Ultimate Valkyrie Wing’ Accel’-9.

Both of these Beys are meant to harken back to the original single-layer system released first in 2015 that ushered in the Beyblade Burst era. They do so through numerous references throughout their BU Blade and DB Core designs as well as the use of Disks and Drivers that reference the originals!

The set also includes a brand new Evolution Gear accessory for the previously released Adventure Driver and Venture Driver: VS Gear.

How do this nostalgic release’s new parts fare in the current meta? Find out below!

Product Details

• Brand: TAKARA-TOMY
• Product Code: B-205
• Product Contents:
  • B-205 Burst Spriggan Spread’ Fusion’-8
  • B-205 Ultimate Valkyrie Wing’ Accel’-9
  • VS Gear
• System: Dynamite Battle Layer System
• Series: Beyblade Burst – Burst Ultimate

Part Weights

• Burst BU Blade: 15.57g
• Spriggan 2 DB Core: 8.32g
• Spread’ Disk (1 Star): 33.0g
• Fusion’ Driver: 5.75g
• 8 Armor: 12.93g
• Ultimate Blade: 10.94g
• Valkyrie 2 DB Core: 7.35g
• Wing’ Disk (2 Stars): 32.11g
• Accel’ Driver: 5.93g
• 9 Armor: 13.96g
• VS Gear: 7.39g

Additional Notes:

• Most tests in this article were done in the B-09 Burst Standard Stadium using two Bladers. 
• The results of each match that ended with an outspin were ruled based on the WBO’s June 2022 spinning definition update.
• Stamina matches saw both combos switch out Disks and Drivers at the half-way point to account for star discrepancy and/or Driver wear.
• This article was written in collaboration with WBO user Dan. Thank you, Dan.
• Finally, if you buy something through some of the links on this post, you won’t pay any extra, but I’ll get a small commission. This helps me keep things running. Thanks for your support!

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Burst BU Blade Review

Just like the Ultimate Blade, the Burst BU Blade incorporates many design choices made in previous Spriggan line releases and throws them all into one single Blade. Aspects from the original single-layer spriggan all the way up to the Astral Blade are referenced here.

How does the Burst BU Blade set itself apart from other BU Blades?

Aside from mostly cosmetic references, the Burst BU Blade retails dual-spin properties that are a staple for Spriggans, as well as bringing back rubber/metal duality and expanding upon it from Astral Blade.

From the Lord Layer we receive a pseudo Burst Stopper that extends out from the BU Blade and tightens the hold on all types of DB Disks, making them a bit more difficult to move and have Burst loss progress slower in battle.

Because the Burst BU Blade’s design seems like it may not be specialized for one particular niche given it mixes elements of both defensive, endurance oriented designs (blunted contact points, soft rubber in both right and left) and offensive ones (jagged, elliptical shape), we decided to test it for both Stamina and Attack uses.

Is the Burst BU Blade good for Stamina type Beyblades? 

First up we tried Burst BU Blade in generic stamina combos, as its overall shape somewhat reminded us of the Lord Layer Base. The Lord Layer Base was a common Stamina choice in the GT era, that we talked about here.

Burst BU Blade Right-Spin Testing (vs. Dynamite, Vanish and Wind)

Results against the Dynamite Blade were not entirely surprising given that in the same scenario against the Astral Blade, Dynamite wins with a lot of consistency, and the Burst BU Blade’s design led us to believe it would serve a similar function as Astral Blade based Stamina combos.

Burst BU Blade has a great diameter and heavy weight, meaning that it can produce high impact hits without being too shaken up by them itself, unlike its predecessor Astral Blade. 

Unfortunately it was only a minority of the time that the Burst BU Blade could hit Dynamite Blade with enough frequency and vigor to reduce Dynamite’s spin to zero.

Against the Wind BU Blade things were much more interesting. The Wind BU Blade doesn’t tend to deal well with high recoil, but up until this point there were very few Stamina-oriented Blades that could produce enough with consistency (and not to the degree that it was a net loss).

Burst BU Blade can dish out the required hits. When Burst BU Blade was able to make consistent contact with Wind BU Blade, a much easier task than against the smaller Dynamite Blade, it would win handily. 

Having said that, this matchup is far from Burst BU Blade dominated, as Wind BU Blade can still manage to win despite taking many hits, or win outright if hits landed weren’t sufficient or frequent enough. 

These rounds were very interesting and are a testament to Burst BU Blade’s innate LAD ability. It is a very wide yet well-rounded Blade, making its wins very very convincing and its losses very minute, similar to the Wind BU Blade or to a lesser extent the Gatling BU Blade.

While on paper the two Blades go even, with correct tuning to prevent severe wobbling at the end of a match, Burst BU Blade can clutch out very convincing wins with even more consistency than was shown here.

Burst BU Blade Left-Spin Testing (vs. Vanish, Roar, Wind and Dynamite Blades)

While it has been a while since we’ve seen a legitimate contender for Vanish’s title as the undisputed best Left-Spin Blade, this result is actually not surprising. 

Once again making the comparison to Astral Blade, part of its allure on release was its ability to overrun Vanish Blade in same-spin. The Astral Blade, just like the Burst BU Blade now, was able to land multiple large hits over the course of battle, and Vanish Blade doesn’t take well to that, losing the edge in head-to-heads against either.

While the previous result against Vanish Blade may imply this outcome, we double checked to see if the Roar Blade could best Burst BU Blade. As it turns out Burst BU Blade’s high recoil made it incredibly troublesome for Roar Blade to hang on.

The outspins here were very convincingly in Burst BU Blade’s favour, and Roar Blade’s only real shot at winning was hoping that the Burst BU Blade found itself heavily tipped over and failed to right itself at any point. In those minority of cases the Roar Blade could manage to outspin Burst BU Blade.

This matchup was a clear wash for the Burst BU Blade. The Wind BU Blade is simply too powerful in the opposite-spin matchup, easily outdoing Burst BU Blade.

In this matchup it is evident that relative to Wind BU Blade, Dynamite can struggle in opposite-spin matchups, often making results a bit of a toss-up.The Burst BU Blade was almost able to secure a solid 50-50 split, but a few matches here were down to the hair and one was a dead draw.

When looking at the big picture, comparing performance of Burst BU Blade in left as well as right spin it becomes tough to decide which is better to go with. 

Given the right launch and a bit of fortune the Burst BU Blade can give Wind BU Blade a hard time in same-spin, but barely has a chance against Dynamite Blade.

When in left, the Burst BU Blade makes Vanish look beatable and can nearly 50-50 Dynamite Blade, but falls completely flat against the Wind BU Blade.

Burst BU Blade certainly has a place in the existing Stamina metagame, though not a particularly prominent one. 

It can, with a bit of work, defeat both top right spin options and go mostly even with Vanish Blade in left, but you will need to prep the combo in advance and know which spin direction to employ depending on what right-spin threat you’re more likely to face.

Is the Burst BU Blade good for Attack type Beyblades? 

Having put Burst BU Blade through the endurance gauntlet, we turned our vision towards the nearest Xtreme Dash Driver to see how it works as an Attack type, knock-out oriented Beyblade.

Burst BU Blade (Left) vs. Wind, Vanish and Dynamite Blades

We started with Burst BU Blade in left spin as it technically has less rubber exposed at the Xtreme Dash Driver height meaning there is potential for greater plastic or even metal contact to result in decisive hits.

We decided to test it against two different Stamina type combos with different spin directions as well as one of the few true Defensive options available in Burst currently.

Here we saw that the Burst BU Blade struggled not only against the innate shape of the Wind BU Blade, making it hard to land meaningful hits into the pocket especially as the round went on, but also with the Bearing Drift Driver’s movement patterns and tilting. 

Without solid contact with the opposing Blade, Burst BU Blade was almost completely inert.

Here Burst BU Blade didn’t do significantly better despite taking away the tilting of Bearing Drift. If Burst BU Blade did not land a decisive hit in the first two interactions it lacked any power to make a later game knock-out happen. 

Sometimes it did come close to scoring additional knock-outs, to be fair, but it wasn’t enough. This was made up for by the fact that in some matches it did generate enough impact through the course of a round to actually outspin Vanish Blade on Bearing Dash Driver twice.

Funnily enough our pure Defense oriented combo didn’t actually fare much better than the two Stamina combos we ran against Burst BU Blade. The reason being that almost opposite to Wind BU Blade, the Burst BU Blade seems to have a much easier time knocking around Dynamite Blade based on its shape.

On a few occasions it was able to knock Dynamite Blade into the pocket from the other side of the Stadium when circling the ridge and making contact with Dynamite Blade just once, a testament to how this specific interaction can be a bit skewed towards Burst BU Blade despite what the results say.

Burst BU Blade (Right) vs. Wind, Vanish and Dynamite Blades

Just like before, the Burst BU Blade struggled against the very smooth shape of the Wind BU Blade. Changing spin direction did little to alleviate this issue, in fact it seemed a little bit weaker despite Wind BU Blade’s typical aversion to same-spin attackers.

Unlike the previous matchup against Vanish Blade, Burst BU Blade was more reliable here, landing decisive blows with much more consistency. It appears as if a spin direction change against Vanish Blade did fix some of its Smash Attack woes.

While Burst BU Blade certainly does have luck against the Dynamite Blade’s design, the Zeal Driver dashed its hopes of stomping all over Dynamite in same-spin. It was simply not a pretty matchup for Burst BU Blade.

The Verdict

Overall the Burst BU Blade is a middling Attack type Blade and a niche but somewhat effective counter-pick Stamina Blade. While it does have some redeeming qualities, and all of its potential has yet to be explored, for the most basic uses in Attack and Stamina combos, it doesn’t fit in neatly.

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Spriggan 2 DB Core Review

Now we turn our attention to the Spriggan 2 DB Core, which makes references in its design as far back as the original Spriggan Layer with the ‘face’ on the right-hand side or the Storm Spriggan Layer with its distinct “S” insignia at the center.

How is the Spriggan 2 DB Core Different From Others?

The Spriggan 2 DB Core stands out from others in a few ways:

1. The first being that it is the second dual-spin DB Core of the BU subseries, and the third in DB overall.
2. The second is that it features 3 BU Locks (in fact, more locks than there are BU Lock equipped Disks so far).
3. Lastly, it features two fairly prominent teeth, with one nearing Longinus DB Core’s size.

For those curious, the Spriggan 2 DB Core used for the testing below were of the A1 Mold.

How Burst Resistant is the Spriggan 2 DB Core?

With such relatively thick, prominent teeth we were keen to find out if they translated to high burst resistance.

We decided to equip Spriggan 2 onto a fairly burst prone combination of parts: the recoil-laden Astral Blade and regular, burst prone Bearing Driver and put it up against a decent, controllable attacker (Savior Ragnaruk Giga Quick’-2) that could consistently land hits for a relatively sustained duration.

We’ve done this matchup for various other DB Cores up until this point so that we can more accurately compare the burst resistance of DB Cores over time.

For some context, first check the extensive DB Core burst resistance testing we did for our Prominence Phoenix review, our Ultimate Valkyrie review, Chain Kerbeus review, and Wind Knight review.

Spriggan 2 DB Core Burst Resistance Testing

A poor showing for the Spriggan 2 DB Core. The 30% double burst finish rate is tied with the Knight DB Core for the highest among any set of tests we’ve done for DB Core burst resistance testing to date.

And the 66.6% clicks lost percentage places it at the very bottom of the Beyblade Burst DB Core Burst Resistance tier list, above only the Ragnaruk DB Core and original Spriggan DB Core.

The only potential silver lining here is that the win percentage was decent given the tier it finds itself in for clicks lost percentage. Several DB Cores we’ve tested tend to have a low win percentage if their clicks lost percentage is this high, but Spriggan 2 was able to achieve a nearly 60% win percentage despite this.

To contextualize this result further and build out the DB Core burst resistance tier list in more detail, we conducted the following benchmark tests with the Hyperion DB Core and Dragon DB Core:

The Hyperion DB Core had a much more difficult time taking hits from the Savior Blade than Spriggan 2. Hyperion did nothing to help control the recoil of the Astral Blade. Its two KO victories were the result of a massive wall save after a powerful hit from the Savior Blade.

That being said, because Hyperion has a higher number of clicks to burst, it has more ‘hit points’ so to speak and was generally able to survive if it didn’t get KOed.

But because it suffered zero double burst finishes, the results were more definitive. Spriggan 2 in its set was able to prop up its win percentage by settling for draws through the double burst finishes, but Hyperion didn’t have that luxury. Its win percentage was lower as a result.

Unlike both Hyperion and Spriggan 2, the Dragon DB Core was able to absorb hits better, likely thanks to the built-in spring and bound gimmick. None of its wins relied on being wall-saved, unlike Hyperion and Spriggan 2.

Similar to the burst resistance testing we did for the Valkyrie DB Core–which has the same gimmick–in our Prominence Phoenix review, Dragon suffered no knock outs, instead losing by burst finish each time it lost.

Dragon is also similar to Valkyrie in the sense that it has both a high win percentage and high clicks lost percentage. With a win percentage this high it is among the best of the best for DB Cores in that category in this test environment. But it simultaneously closes in on the worst of the worst for burst resistance.

It cannot be overlooked however that in a game where burst finishes are often worth two points, the Dragon DB Core is among the most burst prone that we have tested thus far. 

The testing we have conducted measures primarily on clicks lost in order to precisely measure burst resistance, but in reality the effect may only be felt by a player if they suffer a burst finish. Of these three, it makes both Dragon and Spriggan 2 the riskiest options for burst resistance. But choosing Hyperion instead presents its own set of problems pertaining to KO defense.

If you look at the Spriggan 2 DB Core’s results and add both its wins and draws together to form a “did not lose percentage”, it would be 70% with zero losses by burst finish (although, to be fair, if Savior was using something with better burst resistance than Ragnaruk, some of those could theoretically have been losses for Spriggan 2 rather than DBFs). 

Whether you consider that to be better than the Dragon DB Core’s 70% win percentage with three losses by burst finish would depend heavily upon context and the other redeeming qualities of each DB Core such as same-spin stamina potential. We will explore the Spriggan 2 DB Cores stamina in the next section.

In any case, this testing combined with our previous DB Core burst resistance testing demonstrates both clear and nuanced performance differences among them that all players should consider.

Finally, because the Spriggan 2 DB Core does have BU Lock nubs integrated into its design, we conducted a few tests on a slightly different combination comparing a Disk with no BU Locks (Over) and one with BU Locks (Moon):

In our review of Wind Knight, we conducted the same BU Lock burst resistance testing using the Knight DB Core and Moon Disk.

And the results were similar here; the Moon Disk BU Lock and Spriggan 2 DB Core BU Locks demonstrated that they have worse burst resistance than the Over Disk. In our testing for the Knight DB Core however, the Illegal Disk was the worst performer overall, showing that the Moon Disk when paired with a BU Lock-equipped DB Core does seem to add some burst resistance.

It is also worth noting that despite having 4 BU Locks, the Knight DB Core didn’t perform significantly differently than the Spriggan 2 DB Core’s 3 BU Locks here on the test with the Moon Disk.

Is the Spriggan 2 DB Core Good for Right-Spin Stamina Types?

Spriggan 2 DB Core vs. Dragon DB Core

Given the effectiveness and consistency of our Dragon DB Core since release it was very surprising to see the Spriggan 2 DB Core not only take a few games off of it, but make every single match incredibly close. 

We found that the Spriggan 2 DB Core was incredibly close, performance wise, to Dragon DB Core, and over numerous informally tested rounds this continued to hold up. 

Spriggan 2 DB Core vs. Hyperion DB Core

Surprisingly, despite slightly faltering against Dragon DB Core in our review of the B-203 Ultimate Fusion DX Set, the Hyperion DB Core did just as well here against the Spriggan 2 DB Core. 

This leads us to believe that of existing DB Cores, one of these three right spin DB Cores should be your top pick in terms of raw endurance, with Belial 3 and Belial 2 (in that order) for superior Burst Resistance and slightly inferior endurance as secondary options.

Is the Spriggan DB Core Good for Left-Spin Stamina Types?

Given how exceptionally it performed against Dragon DB Core, and Achilles DB Core slightly losing out against Dragon in our testing and review of the B-201 Zest Achilles Customize Set, we predicted that the Spriggan 2 DB Core would be the de facto top left-spin DB Core as well. 

Spriggan 2 DB Core vs. Longinus DB Core

Spriggan 2 DB Core vs. Achilles DB Core

Shockingly, despite Spriggan 2 DB Core’s effectiveness in right spin and defeating Longinus in left, the Achilles DB Core absolutely trounced it. 

This was Achilles DB Core winning hand over fist, only making its loss to Dragon DB Core (which performs equal to Spriggan 2 DB Core) even more surprising and confusing!

The Verdict

The Spriggan 2 DB Core joins both the Dragon and Hyperion DB Cores at the uppermost crust of right-spin Stamina DB Cores, but comes in second to Achilles DB Core in left. This makes it a potential must-have if you lack either Dragon or Hyperion DB Cores, but not a complete necessity for left-spin Stamina enthusiasts who already own Achilles DB Core.

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Spread’ & Wing’ DB Disk Review

Possibly the most interesting aspect of the Burst Ultimate VS Set is the complete reimagining of two original disks from into their “Dash” versions: the Spread Dash Disk and Wing Dash Disk.

The non-Dash versions were the very first Disks in the Beyblade Burst series (released with B-01 Valkyrie Wing Accel and B-02 Spriggan Spread Fusion), and while they were useful in their time, they have long been out of favour.

Spread’ and Wing’ have greatly improved upon the originals in every way, bringing them up to DB/BU standards! 

While they are heavily inspired by their namesakes, they are really more of an amalgamation of a variety of other signature designs in the Spriggan and Valkyrie Disk line. With all of these little nods mixed in, they are certainly the definitive Disks for both blades aesthetically, and make a great send-off.

How are they in performance though, is what we are most concerned with! With the likes of Over Disk and Illegal Disk floating around, do either of these choices provide a solid enough showing to put them in top three contention?

It should also be noted that these Disks only go up to two stars, not four like most others, so don’t fret if you feel “unlucky” scoring a 2 Star Spread Dash or Wing Dash Disk.

How Good is Spread’ For Stamina Type Combos?

Given its design, and previous uses for the original Spread Disk, it was obvious that we should start here when testing out Spread Dash Disk. We decided to go with a particularly simple and common combo mirror using Dynamite (F Gear) to compare Disks.

Spread’ vs. Over 

Over Disk is as effective as it is common at this point, sharing the number one spot for best Stamina DB Disk, it was natural to start here and temper our expectations.

Unfortunately this wasn’t really close. Spread Dash Disk could help the Bearing Driver deal with big hits without scraping, and actually tip over to an insane degree in general, but the weight distribution was clearly in Over Disk’s favour and that is what let it secure consistent and convincing victory over the Spread Dash Disk.

Spread’ vs. Illegal 

Dead even with the Over Disk and the other top-spot-sharing Disk for Stamina in the DB era is the Illegal Disk. Despite knowing Spread Dash Disk doesn’t perform well against Over Disk and that Illegal Disk is identical to Over Disk in terms of performance, there was maybe a shot this matchup could play out differently!

This actually went even less towards the Spread Dash Disk, likely because while Over Disk can be forced to scrape and lose spin (resulting in a small chance at Spread Dash Disk victory), Illegal Disk will not scrape. 

Unfortunately the Spread Dash Disk did not prove itself to be comparable to the two best Disks, but this doesn’t mean it can’t make a case for being a good third pick! With that being our next goal, we tested it against the ever-reliable current third..

Spread’ vs. Giga

While Giga Disk was quickly overshadowed by Over Disk after its initial release, it maintained a sort of ‘gatekeeper’ role because it is so consistent and reliable, a no-brainer for second-pick after Over Disk (and then later Illegal Disk). 

Does the Spread Dash Disk take this long-held spot away from Giga Disk?

Despite doing poorly against Over and Illegal Disks, Spread Dash Disk almost constantly got the better of the Giga Disk. While Spread Dash Disk doesn’t join the previous two Disks at the absolute top, it is clearly the next-best choice. Or is it?

Spread’ vs. Wing’

To double check we skipped ahead and did a head-to-head between Spread Dash and Wing Dash to see if, by chance, Wing Dash could make a claim at that title.

Unfortunately for Wing Dash Disk, Spread Dash Disk easily won, by default making Wing Dash Disk a third or fourth pick at best for Stamina.

Spread’ vs. Nx+S/D

Though often overlooked, we decided to try out Spread Dash Disk against the currently undisputed choice for tall Mobius-like Drivers: Nexus and its S and D Gears! Does Spread Dash surprise?

Indeed it did, Spread Dash Disk held its own a bit better than one would expect, coming close to tying right down the middle with Nexus Disk and drawing frequently. While Nexus and its attachments remain the best choice for Mobius-based combos the Spread Dash Disk makes a serious claim for second place.

This matchup also told us a fair bit about its opposite-spin capabilities, too! Spread Dash Disk does have the ability to go toe-to-toe with great Disks in the meta but on many occasions it will tip over just a bit sooner than the competition, resulting in a last-second loss. 

Because of this inconsistency not much has changed here – Spread Dash Disk is still a great third choice Disk overall.

Wing’ vs. Giga

As disappointing as this clear loss was to Spread Dash Disk, we had to go back and double check whether Wing Dash Disk could still make a case for being better than Giga Disk.

Unfortunately this matchup was just as disappointing for Wing Dash Disk, being handily defeated by the Giga Disk in a similar fashion to Spread Dash Disk. 

It is very difficult to recommend Wing Dash Disk for anything, but the Spread Dash Disk makes a great third choice, and even finds a home on attack type combos, boasting similar qualities to Illegal Disk which we covered in the Zest Achilles Customize Set article.

The Verdict

Spread Dash Disk is clearly the third-most viable Stamina DB Disk below the Over and Illegal Disks while Wing Dash Disk is well below fourth place, making it a deck building disk along with the Legacy and Karma Disks. 

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8 Armor Review

The latest Armor to be released, 8 Armor, directly references the old axe-like design of Spriggans from an older time and incorporates it into itself. Unfortunately it also seems to incorporate an unwanted aspect from older designs: light weight. 

The 8 Armor is the lightest armor available, rarely scratching 13g, typically finding itself in the mid 12.9g range. While this isn’t always a bad thing, the hollowing out method to make it weigh less may make for inconsistency among individual Armors and lead to it being wobbly/uneven in general.

Is the 8 Armor good for Stamina type Beyblades?

8 Armor vs. 9 Armor

Because of this worry we decided to start “easy”, and rather than put the 8 Armor up against the likes of 0, 2 or 3, 9 Armor was chosen. In our previous testing in our review of Ultimate Valkyrie Legacy Variable’-9 we found 9 Armor to be a middle of the road option.

We have made a point of using it all across this particular article since it has gained a lot of popularity in Stamina combos due to weight and decent enough balance alone.

In this matchup it was very clear that the combo using the 8 Armor stopped much sooner than the one using 9 Armor, consistently. The 8 Armor, as feared, is also a fair bit wobblier at the end of the match than our 9 Armor.

8 Armor vs. 6 Armor

While very often overlooked, the 6 Armor lets us look a little bit deeper into 8 Armor’s performance and ability relative to other Armors lower on the spectrum (noticeably lower than 9 Armor for example).

Here we saw the 8 Armor slightly best the 6 Armor, though it was a close call on many occasions so it wouldn’t be unfair to compare the two and nearly equate them.

While the 8 Armor certainly doesn’t match up to the likes of 9 Armor, its dilapidated 0-like design means that it more or less enters the tier of 6 Armor. Not entirely unusable, but 0/2/3 and even 9 Armor are all common Armor choices that perform better.

The Verdict

The 8 Armor is an extremely middling Armor choice that, in a sea of commonly released and competent Armors, should only be used to flesh out a Deck. We would not recommend it over any of the top three Armors, nor even 9 Armor.

If you’ve reached a point in deck building where those four are taken up, then the 8 Armor enters consideration along with the likes of 6 Armor.

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VS Gear Review

VS Gear is a brand new Evolution Gear accessory which attaches to the bottom of the Adventure Driver or Venture Driver.

Although the previously released V Gear was compatible with both these Drivers as well as the Almight Driver, this time, the VS Gear has been made incompatible with Almight.

VS Gear is composed of two pieces: an inner V Gear-esque metal three-sided plate as well as a free-spinning outer plastic disk somewhat reminiscent of S Gear.

In our review of Divine Belial, we demonstrated that the Adventure Driver both without and with the V Gear was a poor choice for attack types. Knowing this and the fact that the VS Gear having an even wider base would make it more difficult to control and have even poorer same-spin stamina, we chose to skip directly to testing out the only area it could have any hope for competitive use: opposite-spin stamina.

Is VS Gear good for opposite-spin stamina?

The Venture Driver when paired with V Gear did not demonstrate any proficiency in opposite-spin stamina battles in our review of Divine Review. The only exception was that it was better than the Adventure Driver with V Gear, which isn’t saying much.

As such, we decided to use the Venture Driver for most of the following tests and had some hope that the wider base could help it out in a few matchups:

Venture (VS Gear) Driver vs. Drift Driver

Venture (VS Gear) Driver vs. Bearing Drift Driver

Venture (VS Gear) Driver vs. Metal Never Driver

Venture (VS Gear) Driver vs. Bearing Driver

Unfortunately for VS Gear, there was absolutely no hope for it against the best of the best, top tier opposite-spin stamina Drivers like Drift, Bearing Drift, Metal Never, and Bearing.

We also noticed that he free-spinning plastic disk did not seem to have any effect in these battles. In fact, it wasn’t particularly loose, so it didn’t spinning freely very easily to begin with.

For the sake of completeness, we tried out Venture (VS Gear) against a few more lower tier opponents:

Venture (VS Gear) Driver vs. Almight (S Gear) Driver

Venture (VS Gear) Driver vs. Wave Driver

Against the Almight (S Gear) Driver and Wave Driver it was able to put up a fight. But it’s at this point where the results tend to carry little meaning due to the low chances you would run into these Drivers in competitive play relative to the aforementioned top tier stamina Drivers.

Adventure (VS Gear) Driver vs. Metal Never Driver

Finally, we did a quick set to verify that using the Adventure Driver would make no positive difference. Our assumption was correct. And it didn’t even score one draw like Venture did in the first set against the Metal Never Driver

The Verdict

The VS Gear has no competitive value in the Burst BeyStadium Standard Type; it makes the difficult to control Adventure Driver and Venture Driver even more difficult to control and the wider base offers no meaningful boost in performance for opposite-spin stamina.

VS Gear is likely best reserved for use in stadiums such as the BeyStadium DB Standard Type where Drivers with wide tips like this enables have a better chance of being competitive.

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Should you buy the B-205 Burst Ultimate VS Set?

For those of you who are mostly competitively minded you may be asking yourself whether the B-205 has the required value to be a must-have.

Here we will break down the set part-by-part and let you decide:

At the end of the day, the B-205 Burst Ultimate VS Set offers good, but not great competitive value. It can be argued that nothing included in this set represents the absolute best option for its category competitively. There’s a lot of second, third, and fourth best options here. It’s not a bad starting point if you are (somehow) just getting into Beyblade Burst now.

For a set that is coming towards the likely end of Beyblade Burst’s lifespan, this outcome is probably what’s best for the competitive scene.

The introduction of the Bearing Drift Driver–and its combination of top tier opposite- and same-spin stamina–with the B-203 Ultimate Fusion DX Set has created some disturbance which may or may not be resolved before the dust settles and the series ends.

The ultimate purpose of this set is to commemorate an incredible, unprecedented seven plus year run for Beyblade Burst which began with B-01 Valkyrie Wing Accel and B-02 Spriggan Spread Fusion. Many years and iterations of these Beyblades later, longtime fans of the series must feel nostalgic when thinking about this set. The great care with which Takara-Tomy designed and produced its contents is obvious.

The homages included within the design of both Burst Spriggan and Ultimate Valkyrie, the re-imagined Spread and Wing Disks, and colour-matched Fusion Dash Driver and Accel Dash Driver are obvious, but the nod which had the greatest impression on us was the “20” hidden in the design of the Spriggan 2 DB Core and “15” in the design of the Valkyrie 2 DB Core. Takara-Tomy’s Master Blader Muraki highlighted it in their review here. Not to mention the fact that they planned this release as “B-205”, the closest possible number they could get to the year 2015.

Beyblade has been around for well over 20 years now and over the past seven years since the introduction of Beyblade Burst the game, brand, and community have all continued to evolve and mature. Burst Spriggan and Ultimate Valkyrie are a fitting representation of this and an excellent send-off to two of the most iconic Beyblades in the history of the game.

As of writing, where we go from here after the release of B-206 Barricade Lucifer Illegal Bearing Mobius-10 is still unclear. But if the “3/21 Go Shoot!” teaser paper insert included in this product is any indication, it seems that Beyblade won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

Final Score: 8/10

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What Do You Think of B-205 Burst Ultimate VS Set? Comment Below!

If you’re thinking of picking up the Burst Ultimate VS Set or already have, comment below as we’d love to hear about your thoughts and testing experiences with it!