Saturday, November 17, 2012

Spotlight: Nakamura Seishirou/中村誠志朗

Fighter's Spotlight is an ongoing project concerned with tracking real-world professional cardfighters across the globe.

Not to be confused with Nakamura Seishirou of the Fighter's Road 2012 tournament.

Nakamura Seishirou/中村誠志朗
Age: Unknown; Seniors Division
Titles Won: Hakata Regional Champion (Senior Class), National Champion (Senior Class, Winter 2012)
Current Status: National Champion (Winter 2012)
Deck Type: Royal Paladin (Majesty Lord Blaster)
Nakamura Seishirou is the 2012 winter national champion for Japan. Like Nakagawa in the juniors, Nakamura entered his deck into a format where the dominant deck of the time was still Dragonic Overlord the End, despite the setbacks it had faced in the previous tournament. And while the Gold Paladins had an overall greater presence in the tournament season at the time of his entry, Nakamura chose to favor the superior consistency and reliable skills of the Royal Paladins, rather than make the jump over to the Golds' more randomized calling. His matches became influential during the Fighter's Climax 2012 tournament, where the Royal Paladins maintained ground over newer decks along with their contemporaries, despite facing serious competition from Oracle Think Tank and Kagerou.

Shortly after his crowning, the 2013 restricted format took effect, outlawing Nakamura's championship deck along with those of his predecessors.

Decks and Play Style
In contrast to Nakagawa, Nakamura's deck did include a full run of draw and heal triggers, to avoid possible imbalances caused by having an odd run of those cards. However, he seemed to agree with Nakagawa on running a full playset of the Knight of Friendship, Kay, despite the cards' problem in the early stages of a game. This was in contest to contemporary ideas of Kay having difficulties in the early stages of the game, when there is no Blaster vanguard to trigger his skill. In fact, the deck's build is very similar to Nakagawa's, with only the critical emphasis and a difference in how grades 1 and 2 should be balanced as 14/12 or 15/11 to differentiate them. Even the single copies of Bedivere and Gancelot are the same.

This is due to their roots, with inspiration being drawn from fourth-place national finalist from the previous champoinship, Minami Takeshi. Like in his first deck, both cardfighters included the maximum count of Kay possible, using Marron and Toypugal as the basis for the rest of their grade 1s. Rather than drop down to his final decklist's low 13-count grade 1s however, in order to be able to include four copies of Iseult in addition to their support units, Nakagawa and Nakamura both chose to decrease the amount of grade 3s and 2s in their decks. Their grade 2 lineup is thus identical to Minami's, with Nakamura adapting it to the letter while Nakagawa chose to make additional room in his grade 1 list. Rather than rely on Alfred as an alternative to Starcall Trumpeter however, both fighters emphasized Palamedes' use in the rearguard as a way to force the opponent to defend, improving the devastation that Lord Blaster's extra critical can bring about on the turns after his soulcharge.

Winter 2012 Regional Tournament, Hakata Seniors Division (Japan)
Card Pool: TD01-BT08, PR 0001-0079
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FVG)
x4 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
x4 Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Alabaster Owl CT
Grade 1
x4 Flash Shield, Iseult
x4 Little Sage, Marron
x2 Toypugal
x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade
x4 Blaster Dark
x3 Starcall Trumpeter
x1 Knight of Loyalty, Bedivere
Grade 3
x1 Solitary Knight, Gancelot
x2 Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes
x4 Majesty Lord Blaster

Nakamura's championship deck shifts toward a policy of flexibility, replacing one of his Palamedes for Alfred, to use his counterblast for a more consistent field and giving Nakamura a favorable grade 3 in five out of seven possible rides. The removal of Toypugal in favor of Lien likewise promotes consistency by sifting through the deck with her card change skill, albeit it promotes a weaker matchup versus The End by giving Nakamura problems in forming base 18000+ rearguard lines.

Winter 2012 National Tournament, Seniors Division (Japan)
Card Pool: TD01-BT08, PR 0001-0079
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FVG)
x1 Knight of the Future, Llew CT
x4 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
x4 Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine HT
x3 Margal DT
x4 Alabaster Owl CT
Grade 1
x4 Flash Shield, Iseult
x4 Little Sage, Marron
x2 Lake Maiden, Lien
x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade
x4 Blaster Dark
x3 Starcall Trumpeter
x1 Knight of Loyalty, Bedivere
Grade 3
x1 King of Knights, Alfred
x1 Solitary Knight, Gancelot
x1 Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes
x4 Majesty Lord Blaster