Kids Dragoon
AKA: Kid Dragoon (Hasbro name)
Weight: 6.2g (Mold 1) | 6.0g (Mold 2)
Three-sided AR which overhangs the weight disk with long slopes leading down well below AR level.
Round perimeter interrupted by head details and spikes on the outside of each wing.
Gaps and spikes do interfere somewhat in LAD and create some recoil, but overall Upper Dragoon is a low-recoil part considering its offensive ability.
Long, more gradual Upper Attack slopes in Right Spin
Shorter, more abrupt Upper Attack slopes in Left Spin, which approach Upward Smash at times and may actually be more effective than the more gradual Right Spin slopes.
The most popular AR for Upper Attack and arguably the safest choice, however Triangle Wing has more Smash Attack power in either direction, and Triple Tiger and Upper Claw bring top-tier Smash Attack in Right Spin.
Upper Dragoon however excels in its low recoil and great lifting ability.
In particular, the more limited recoil and smoother design makes it the most common choice for Spin Stealing Attack, being a safer choice than other options with slightly more effective spin stealing than other options.
It is also traditionally the most popular pure Traditional Upper Attack AR, with great consistency and an almost purely Upper Attack style - this means more effective lifting but does leave it somewhat limited against Circle Survivor.
Also a competitive option for both Weight Based Defense and more balance-leaning Defensive Zombies, though the recoil can be an issue, meaning it is not unanimously accepted as superior to various alternatives (such as Smash Turtle for the former and Tiger Defenser for the latter).
Mold Difference:
There is a second mold, primarily used by Hasbro, which has reinforcements around the joints to the wings to reduce breakage. However, weight is reduced in other areas, so Mold 2 tends to be slightly lighter. There is no noticeable performance difference however.
Weight (Hard Edge Mold): 12.7g
Weight (Soft Edge Mold): 12.2g
Very light weight
Two molds, one with sharper edges used exclusively by Takara, and one with softer edges used by both Hasbro and Takara (after production moved to China, presumably). The Hard Edge mold tends to be heavier on average but there is huge crossover between them and the difference can largely be considered negligible. The soft edge mold also often has bumps, generally smaller than those on Ten-Series Weight Disks, at one or both ends, which theoretically could make for poorer balance, though the impact is negligible.
Wide weight distribution, albeit less so than Ten Wide, Wide Defense and Wide Survivor.
Minor use with Attack AR's whose contact points are obscured by wider weight disks (eg Double Wing), though these limitations inherently render them inferior to many other options, and overall the lighter weight of Eight Wide leaves it outclassed.
Spin Gear: Right Spin Gear
Weight: 1.1g each (total 2.2g)
Right Spin
Uses a Metal Weight Gear to add additional weight
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.
Regular Shells have one advantage over Neo Shells - due to fitting a Weight Gear, they allow slightly heavier setups with Regular SG-style gimmicked casings (eg pre-Neo Bearing setups) than Neo Shells do.
Note: The correct name for these parts are "Gear" and "Metal Weight Gear" however "Core Part" is used for clarity.
Weight: 1.73g (Core Part: 0.61g | Metal Weight Gear: 1.12g)
Has two parts, a plastic part, sometimes called a "Gear" though this tends to lead to confusion, and a metal ring called a "Metal Weight Gear". When using Neo Shells, there is no place for the Metal Weight Gear, and thus it is not used, resulting in a lighter overall configuration)
The plastic part is the second lightest of all Core parts, being on average less than a tenth of a gram heavier than Wyborg's SG (Auto Change Version) core part.
Must use a Metal Weight Gear when used in Regular Shells (not doing so causes some instability and fails the "if there's a slot it must be filled" test, though there is no explicit ruling on this).
Incompatible with certain MagneSystem Blade Bases as the tip shafts are too wide for the hole in its base.
With Neo SG Shells, it creates one of the lightest setups, making for what is theoretically the best SG for most attack types not requiring a Neo core or their own shafts, though the difference is generally theoretical only, due to the minimal weight difference, and often going heavier is better for rotational recoil control.
Useful for completely optimizing a Spiral Change Base zombie (which are the only competitive stamina types that do not require a gimmicked SG), as cores are not useful for recoil control due to its low friction and the lighter weight in the centre slightly improves survival. Technically SG (Auto Change Version) may be superior as it does fit, but the difference is likely to be too small to measure.
Weight: 4.4g
SG version of Flat Base
Shortest base in plastics, which can make it an okay choice for Traditional Upper Attack.
Tip shape and material reduce effectiveness as it struggles to flower pattern effectively as well as having limited recoil control and average stamina.
Acceptable LAD which can be useful.
Outclassed by rubber and metal attack tips, but could be a fallback option for Attack.
Can be used for Compacts, but again is heavily outclassed.
Last use is similar to Flat Base in setups similar to Semi-Flat Base Stamina, primarily using Wide Defense and a Compact or smaller-sized Defensive AR, with SG choice depending on the desired effect. This can allow outspins or KOs against less competitive opponents.
In these setups, SG Flat Base has slightly poorer LAD than Flat Base, but has the ability to customize the SG, including use of Left Spin, though the lack of Left Spin Compact ARs with any real offensive ability does cause some issues here.
Overall
A good buy thanks to the AR and passable uncustomized performance, but not a must-have, especially as Master Dragoon comes with a more useful and appropriate Weight Disk.