Gaia Dragoon (Red Dragon Ver.)
AKA: Strata Dragoon (Based on Hasbro names of Gaia Dragoon V and Gaia Dragoon G, though Hasbro did not release this Beyblade making this incorrect), Gaia Dragoon S (an erroneous name used by fans for clarity or as a sort of backport from Gaia Dragoon V/G)
Limited edition release of Gaia Dragoon with Neo Right Spin Gear Shells and a South Magnecore included, similar to Dragoon V2 (Fire Blood Version). This produces some questions around balls potentially escaping, though they are generally secured by the Magnecore to a degree - nonetheless it is best to only use the two secured by the triangular tabs of the SG.
Attack Ring: Great Dragon
Weight: 5.4g (Core AR: 3.9g | Sub AR: 1.5g)
Two part AR using the "Wing" Sub Ring later also used by SG Wing Base (the instructions for which give it its assumed name, hence not being called "Great Dragon Sub AR") and a unique Core AR.
Note: The Black version of this part is very fragile due to issues with the plastic (a case of "Gold Plastic Syndrome" in a non-gold part), and as such should not be used.
Weight: 3.9g
Shape and thin construction make Great Dragon a little scary to use breakage wise, but aside from the Black recolour, it is not especially fragile, though it is also not considered a sturdy part.
Wing Sub-Ring is awful and gets in the way of Great Dragon, thus not useful combined.
Great Dragon itself has excellent Smash Attack in both Left and Right Spin.
Used for aggressive AR/SAR combinations, in particular fixing Screw Zeus in place (though there are reports of breakage issues in Right Spin) as well as fixing War Bear SAR in place.
In addition, War Lion can be used to fully expose the AR for a powerful Smash Attack setup in its own right.
With War Lion SAR:
War Lion exposes the contact points of Great Dragon perfectly, allowing it to work by itself.
Elevated height of contact points help a lot against Circle Survivor Defense as they allow the AR to hit above Circle Survivor to deliver effective hits.
Right Spin is noticeably better than Left, with more power and lower recoil, and is highly competitive.
Left Spin falls just short of the Competitive Combos List due to its greater recoil and lower power making it noticeably less effective. It is nonetheless quite good.
A competitive AR setup for Smash Attack, though one requiring the recoil control afforded by Defense Grip Base or SG Grip Change Base Tip.
With War Bear SAR:
Great Dragon and War Bear SAR are both similarly sized and near identically distributed and Great Dragon is able to fix it in place underneath itself
This focuses weight on both parts contact points, and in addition to their huge reach this results in very impressive power, comparable to Square Edge.
As War Bear SAR is fragile in Right Spin, this combo is best used in Left Spin, where it is a top-tier Smash Attack AR Setup.
With War Monkey SAR:
War Monkey works similarly to War Lion, but gets in the way a bit more.
An acceptable substitute, though suboptimal.
With Dragon Breaker SAR:
Dragon Breaker has decent synergy in Left Spin making it able to land some solid hits. If other options are unavailable, Dragon Breaker Sub AR is a fair option and much better than Wing.
Right Spin:
Great Dragon adds some smash in this direction, making for an effective setup.
Lighter weight does make it more forgiving about Blade Base choice than Dragon Breaker and Dragon Saucer, however it does make it a little less "safe", which is one of the main advantages of Screw Zeus setups.
Primary contact points are the rear of Screw Zeus' heads, which are very well exposed by this setup, the ridges of Great Dragon (which aren't very effective in this spin direction), and to a lesser extent the corners of Screw Zeus' sloped sections. Both of Screw Zeus' contact points have excellent Smash Attack.
Arguably a safer choice than left spin setups on taller bases, due to the lack of inverted slopes that could cause the combo to "upper" itself, though this is marginal.
Nonetheless a top-tier competitive option
Left Spin:
Light weight, yet still able to reinforce Screw Zeus's rectangular weight distribution, fix it in place, AND add additional Smash Attack of its own.
The contact points of Screw Zeus are well exposed by Great Dragon in left, with the foreheads reasonably well exposed and the leading edge of the second section perfectly obstruction-free. In addition, the crests of Great Dragon provide some addtional Smash Attack, making for a hard-hitting, consistent AR.
Lighter weight makes it more forgiving of tip speed and launch power than heavier options.
Doesn't work with SG Metal Flat Base (Gaia Dragoon V Version) - too much recoil, too little weight.
Compared to Right Spin, Screw Zeus doesn't have any effective overhanging contact points in this direction, and the inverted slope it does have results in severe destabilisation of the Beyblade using it when hit. As such, taller bases can struggle slightly more against low opponents though generally this is negligible. The overhanging section can also still interfere with efficacy against Circle Survivor Defense however, and a very strong launch is needed to basically use weight and momentum to bludgeon these combinations out of the arena. However, the lighter weight of Great Dragon can make this a little more difficult.
Overall a top-tier choice
Weight: 16.0g
Compact and Heavy, basically a standard Heavy with rounded protrusions on each corner.
Weight is similar to Ten Heavy due to the additional added mass from the corners, with a more compact distribution.
Rounded protrusions (attack points) result in severe recoil when hit, and do not add significant attack.
This means Heavy Attack's weight can only be used defensively on combinations which shield it from contact, basically Weight Based Defenders with wide or overhanging Attack Rings as well as fairly wide bases (both competitive Weight Based Defense bases are wide enough for this, though SG Metal Ball's height is a concern for non-overhanging ARs. This also allows it to be used for Traditional Upper Attack, though this is not a competitive type. This does however preclude it from use for Compact Customizations.
Generally, the fact that Ten Heavy is easy to find and cheaply available and arguably a better choice due to similar weight and better survival, not to mention being more versatile, means Heavy Attack sees little competitive use. However, it is still competitive on suitable customizations.
With faster Attack Blade Bases (i.e. Defense Grip Base (Tip Inverted) and SG Grip Change Base Tip setups), Heavy Attack can be used without loss of speed, and its high weight becomes quite useful with Attack Rings such as Square Edge and Hayate Attack Ring to improve rotational smash, however the reduction to the flywheel effect otherwise provided by Wide Defense or Ten Wide tends to result in more recoil KOs. It is nonetheless an acceptable option,
Overall, an interesting and niche but competitive part, but not a must-have.
Spin Gear 1: Right Spin Gear (G Ball)
Note: Gaia Dragoon (Red Dragon Ver.) includes both a Right Spin Gear (G Ball) and a Neo Right Spin Gear (South Magne Version). As such, both are listed.
Weight: 1.1g each (Shells) + 1.12g (Metal Weight Gear) (Optional)
Standard SG System Shells.
Incompatible with Neo Cores, and thus certain MagneSystem Blade Bases, though Wyborg's SG (Auto Change Version) SG Core Part can be used to allow use with some.`
Generally Neo Shells are preferred for their greater compatibility, mostly their ability to use Neo Cores. For Right Spin, this is particularly relevant with the Heavy Metal Core.
Generally uses a Metal Weight Gear with all compatible SG Cores. This gear helps reduce wobbling/rattling and adds a small amount of weight. It does not, however, work as a gear in any capacity.
Nonetheless, per BBA Survivor, BBA Attacker, BBA Defenser and BBA Balancer having Regular SGs but no Metal Weight Gear, it is not required for legality.
This allows Right Spin Gear Shells to produce the lightest SG setup in the game when using SG (Auto Change Version) and no metal Weight Gear.
Note: The Black version of this part is very fragile due to issues with the plastic (a case of "Gold Plastic Syndrome" in a non-gold part), and as such should not be used.
Weight: 0.88g + up to one 3/16" Metal Ball (0.448g)
Core part is altered to fit a small metal ball (~0.5g), to add additional weight to the SG. This is likely based on players doing this to regular SGs (as seen in Spin Up Guide Book Vol. 1)
Also has a platform part that keeps the balls of G Special Base in their pockets, preventing them from escaping (as otherwise they can exit the entire beyblade). This also means it only fits into four bases
Fits into two bases normally: G Special Base and Fortress Base (and the latter only with Magne Flat Base Tip, and it does nothing to prevent balls exiting the pockets). This is presumably legal.
Also fits into Jumping Base (Trygle) and Jumping Base 2, but doesn't provide a tip. Customize Grip Base and Magne Flat Base's tips fit but do not protrude past either of the bases gimmicks, resulting in total spin times of roughly 10 seconds maximum. The former is likely illegal due to not having a tip, the second is unclear- but without a tip that can contact the stadium it makes little sense.
Ball Configurations:
SG (G Ball Version) may be used with 0 or 1 Balls. The difference is negligible, but 1 is preferred for the sake of the gimmick.
Spin Gear 2: Neo Right Spin Gear (South Magne Version)
Note: Gaia Dragoon (Red Dragon Ver.) includes both a Right Spin Gear (G Ball) and a Neo Right Spin Gear (South Magne Version). As such, both are listed. It is worth noting that it is wisest to only use the two balls retained by the triangular tabs on the SG as while the Magnecore can help retain the other two, there is still the risk of them slipping out and causing injury.
Weight: 1.15g ea (total 2.3g)
Generally preferred to regular Right shells due to being compatible with all SG-Compatible bases, in particular for being compatible with Neo SG Cores and the Heavy Metal Core.
This means they are a necessity for Compacts, Weight Based Defense, Force Smash, Traditional Upper Attack and Driger V2 Combinations, at least aside from the rare occasions Left Spin is desired for one of these types, in which case Neo Left Shells are preferred.
Overall a crucial competitive part, but thankfully exceedingly common.
Note: When used in an SG, any Magnecore is listed as "Magne Version" with no specification of the polarity or variety. These are listed in PlasticsDB part section names for clarity.
Weight: 3.3g
Only compatible with Neo Right Spin Gear Shells and Neo Left Spin Gear Shells.
Main attribute is its specific weight, resulting in a distribution not as centrally-focused as a Heavy Metal Core, yet with enough weight to help a little with recoil, Magnecores tend to be a decent choice if trying to control recoil on Attack types which care about stamina such as those using SG Metal Flat Base (Gaia Dragoon V Version). They usually tend to be a slightly better balance here than Metal Weight Core as the extra weight does not cause losses against any notable opponents but does provide slightly better rotational recoil control, while providing better stamina and faster movement than a Heavy Metal Core.
Only noticeable effect of the magnetic gimmick for regular play is when using a magnetized tip (Customize Grip Base Tip, Magne Flat Base Tip), which are attracted to South Magnecores, or Magne Weight Disk (which can be flipped over as needed anyway), and even here the effect on performance is negligible - the only actual impact is in terms of assembly difficulty.
Defensively, and for rotational recoil control, it is outclassed by the significantly heavier Heavy Metal Core, however it is the next best thing, and still works okay for Defense/Compacts, albeit not nearly as well as an HMC due to the significant difference in weight. It has some use on Driger V2 combos for certain outspins, but generally an HMC is superior, and always preferred when using Wide Defense.
In Magne Stadia, South Magnecores are intended to be offensive (by being repelled by magnets, thus moving around erratically).
Note: The Black version of this part is very fragile due to issues with the plastic (a case of "Gold Plastic Syndrome" in a non-gold part), and as such should not be used.
Weight: 4.6g plus up to four 3/16" Metal Balls (0.448g each)
Though the gimmick is the four small metal balls to add weight, G Special Base is still not a particularly heavy base, pockets serve mainly to wreck LAD.
Works with all standard SG's, however only SG (G Ball) allows retention of all 4 Metal Balls (other SGs spurs allow retention of 2 diagonally positioned balls, which causes some balance issues.
Tip (shared with SG Wing Base) provides rather aggressive movement pattern with good controllability, which made it popular as an Attack base when it was released, perhaps because this preceded Tornado Ridges, meaning less aggressive tips were advantageous due to the need to avoid Self-KO, and for its time the weight is decent especially with SG (G Ball)
Can be used for Compacts and even Upper Attack however the poor LAD limits its effectiveness severely.
Overall, not a useful part, but not terrible either.
It is legal to invert the tip, though this has negligible utility.
Ball Configurations:
G Special Base may be used with up 4 Balls, with the 4 being the main reason to use the Base at all and therefore the preferred option, though more than two restricts you to SG (G Ball).
Overall
With an excellent Attack Ring which can be combined with the relatively affordable War Bear or War Lion SARs to create a highly effective Smash Attack AR, as well as a decent Blade Base, Gaia Dragoon is a good purchase for Attack-focussed Bladers. As repeatedly noted above however, the black version must be avoided.