This morning Bushiroad of Japan revealed the first legend deck through a live
Niconico broadcast in cooperation with Card Kingdom, G-LD01:
The Dark “Ren Suzugamori.” The broadcast attracted more than ten thousand viewers and five thousand comments. Card Kingdom deck designer JacK (
@JacK_cardkingdo) released promotional images teasing four cards from the deck, including cover card
Blaster Dark “Diablo.
” Unlike trial decks, legend decks contain a full four card playset of their main grade 3, stride unit and Sentinel cards. Each legend deck contains 54 cards, and unlike with trial decks can be played competitively out of the box without buying additional legend decks. Legend decks feature the cards of legendary cardfighters from
Cardfight!! Vanguard's original run, transplanted into the era of
Cardfight!! Vanguard G. The legend deck will be released in Japan on April 24th, 2015. No English-language release date has yet been announced.
Duel Portal has since released higher quality images of the units from initial previews. The deck's cover card, Blaster Dark “Diablo,” is illustrated by veteran artist Daisuke Izuka. Within the clan Izuka is known for his work on Raging Form Dragon, and outside of it on other famous units like Chaos Breaker Dragon and all of the Garmore variants. As the first of a pair of “Diablo” units, this is notably the first incarnation of Blaster Dark to not be a part of the Revenger subclan since his return in VG-TD10:
Purgatory Revenger in June 2013. Originally designed by franchise creator Itou Akira, Blaster Dark has not had a consistent illustrator; in BT04 and BT06 he was illustrated by Ryuutetsu, in TD12 and BT12 by Itou, as a promotional card by studio TMS, and in EB10 by Foo Midori
He is followed closely by Darkness Dragon, Phantom Blaster “Diablo.” Generally thought to be Shadow Paladin's first stride unit, Blaster “Diablo” is illustrated by NINNIN, who previously handled Phantom Blaster Overlord in BT05:
Awakening of Twin Blades. “Diablo” greatly resembles the Overlord of the past drawn from a different angle, standing upright rather than hunched over and with his double lances fused at their hilts. The background and foreground of the illustration are likewise variations on Blaster Overlord's, harkening back to the world's first persona blaster. Based on this, some fans are theorizing that “Diablo” will be Shadow Paladin's persona stride, activating his skill by turning a face-down copy of himself in the generation zone face-up.
The legend deck will also bring back Skull Witch Nemain as Young Skull Witch Nemain (髑髏の魔女っ娘 ネヴァン
Dokuro no Majommusume Nevan,
musume can mean either "young lady" and "daughter" depending on the context.) She is illustrated by Hagiya Kaoru, who also illustrated the original Nemain. Based on similarities in the artwork to contemporary units, many cardfighters believe Young Nemain will be the Legend deck's perfect defense card, potentially serving as Shadow Paladin's G-perfect defense capable of unflipping damage during the guard step while there is a copy of her in the drop zone.
Finally, the LD01 will bring back Darkness Maiden Macha as the Maiden of the Dark Night, Macha. Like Blaster Dark, Macha will not be retaining her original illustrator; Hayabusa Yuki has uniquely never illustrated any other cards for
Cardfight!! Vanguard since BT04. Instead, the Maiden of the Dark Knight will be illustrated by Aoji, who recently did work on the Neo Nectar trial deck G-TD03:
Flower Maiden of Purity.
The legend deck will retail for 3500 yen (approx. $30 at the present exchange rate) and will contain fifteen unique cards, one of those being a G Unit. It will come packaged with a Ren themed storage box, 60 Ren mini sleeves and one Ren deck holder, as well as a Ren Fighter's Counter. Additionally, there will be a triple rare-foiled promo card and a playmat with a guide on how to play the deck on its back. Its announcement reflects the increased focus on the globalization of the
Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game, as three years ago the same deck would likely have been titled
“Suzugamori Ren.”
