War Lion
Weight: 5.0g total
Small two part Attack Ring, both parts are of similar shape, the Free Spinning Sub Ring is designed to disperse force from impacts.
Due to their thin construction, both parts are rather fragile, which is a bad property for an Attack Ring that is used for Defense Types, as they have to absorb most of the force of collisions with opponents (rather than the energy being dispersed by the Beyblade moving away when hit).
Core AR: War Lion
Weight: 3.7g
Small AR with relatively low recoil in either direction.
However, the general oval shape formed by the small size of the wings of the AR means it is somewhat easier to land hard hits on than Tiger Defenser, for example, which acts against the low recoil of its contact points to a small extent. However, it is still an excellent defensive choice and takes hits very well.
Generally the best Right-Spin Core AR for use with any defensive SAR due to its low recoil, and a fantastic option in Left Spin though there it faces competition from Hasbro's version of Twin Horn and War Monkey.
With War Lion SAR:
A slightly less aggressive alternative to Tiger Defenser, with marginally more defense when used with WDs other than Wide Defense or Wide Survivor (which obstruct access to Tiger Defenser's contact points, and in Right Spin this means Tiger Defenser's better weight distribution gives it an edge over War Lion).
The lack of Upper Attack slopes or any effective Smash Attack means compacts using it are generally less versatile than their Tiger Defenser-sporting counterparts.
A notable advantage over Tiger Defenser is that War Lion doesn't have much recoil in Left Spin, whereas Tiger Defenser, while by no means high recoil, does perform noticeably worse in this direction. However, alternatives such as Hasbro's and Takara's Twin Horn ARs and Scissor Attacker are also available, and often perform slightly better.
In general, very useful for Compacts, Zombies and all types of Defense Customs.
With Dragon Saucer SAR:
War Lion also sees use with Dragon Saucer's SAR, where its well balanced weight distribution and small size works well with the general properties of the Sub Ring to make an Attack Ring suitable for Defense and Stamina types. Such setups do suffer more from vertical interference, but it is nonetheless a good choice, and the best choice for the SAR in Right Spin as well as an excellent one in Left.
With War Monkey SAR:
War Monkey SAR performs similarly to War Lion SAR here, mostly being useful if one breaks their SAR. It provides a larger free spinning area, but slightly more recoil in Right Spin.
Overall this is an effective setup, and again the best Right-Spin choice for the SAR.
With Screw Zeus:
War Lion can also be used to fix Screw Zeus in place in either spin direction, however the SAR can come loose, and the aggressive nature of Screw Zeus can present a breakage risk.
For pure smash, it adds nothing to Screw Zeus's Attack ability and thus is outclassed by more aggressive Core ARs such as Great Dragon and Dragon Breaker,
For Traditional Upper Attack, it is one of two ARs which effectively expose Screw Zeus' slopes for this, though the slightly less effective but less risky War Monkey is likely a better choice.
Sub AR: War Lion SAR
Weight: 1.3g
Small profile and low recoil make it useful with just about anything that is capable of holding a Sub AR.
However, this small profile notably makes it less useful on Gyro Engine Gear combinations, which prefer more surface area in their Sub-ARs.
With Defensive ARs:
The low recoil and minor defensive bonus offered by War Lion SAR are its main selling points.
However due to gaps it leaves between the AR and WD, it can also be a liability by allowing thin Attack Rings at similar heights to catch between the two to deliver explosive KOs.
Dragon Saucer SAR does not suffer from this and offers more significant defense against Smash Attack and situational strengths and weaknesses that should be weighed up by the user based on their local metagame, primarily greater issues with vertical hits.
It also faces competition with War Monkey, which provides more coverage area in Left Spin, though War Lion has lower recoil in Right Spin.
With Aggressive ARs:
The purpose of using War Lion SAR with aggressive Attack Rings is to fulfil the legality requirement of using an SAR if a slot is available without obstructing the contact points of the Attack Ring.
Primary competitive use is with Dragon Breaker and Great Dragon which are very competitive with their contact points exposed, however it can even be used with Dark Wing as a backup should its more suitable stock SAR be lost.
With SG Wing Base:
The small size of War Lion SAR makes it an ideal choice for SG Wing Base, again it is serving the role of filling a required slot without getting in the way (in this case by scraping or causing recoil).
Decent, but the Base itself still scrapes and is outclassed as a result.
Beyblades including this part
Guardian Driger (Core AR Only)