This morning the results from Tokyo came in, concluding the second half of the New Years' Trio Festival. Designed to welcome the new year, this year's event is both smaller and larger than the one before it, in that there are only two locations but together they are divided into seventeen blocks total, six in Osaka and eleven in Tokyo.
Previously the Osaka results showed a trend toward Narukami, Oracle Think Tank and Gold Paladin, with the Blaster deck making a sudden revival and enduring through the new restricted format. Today we can see all of these trends continuing, with Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" and Blazing Lion Platina Ezel remaining as popular, while Battle Sister-CoCo decks continue to dominate over Goddess decks on the OraThin side of things. A repeat appearance of Majesty Lord Blaster remains alarming to the scene at large, as this is the same decktype that was previously noted for having only four grade 3s, leading some to conclude that the Royal Paladins have "defeated" the restricted list by becoming stronger through the restriction of Wingal Brave and Majesty Lord Blaster. The results are leaving many to wonder how these decks will fare in Fighter's Road 2013, when they are pitted against one another rather than teamed up. Similar to the resurfacing Blaster deck, Dragonic Overlord The End has likewise reappeared minus his persona blast, with fighters now experimenting with the fusion of him and Goku.
One interesting point regarding "THE BLOOD" is that Spark Kid Dragoon is continuing to be the most popular first vanguard for Narukami leading out of 2012, despite his low 4000 base. It seems that fighters abroad prefer the accessibility of an extra grade 3 over meeting baseline attack requirements. A similar development can be found in recent Shadow Paladin decks, where Arai Toa has actually omitted both Blaster Javelin and Blaster Dark by choosing Creeping Dark Goat instead of Fullbau as her FVG.
The new Royal Paladin deck also seems to have inspired other clans to try the build, as there is now a Murakumo deck based on the idea in circulation under one of the newer faces to the pro scene, Kagawa Hitori. Kagawa's Magatsu Storm deck has Magatsu as its only grade 3, using the clan's evolving ride and self-stacking capabilities to normalize their odds of drawing Storm by effectively removing up to three non-Storm cards from their next drive and draw on the turn before the deck needs to ride him.
Aside from these decks, Glory Maelstrom has finally made his professional debut under Hirai Kento and Kobayashi Fumiyuki, the second and third Aqua Force cardfighters to ever place in an official tournament. These new Maelstrom decks are having difficulty adjusting for Glory however, as all of them want to run Diamantes; Hirai's answer was to run only one copy of Glory and use Maelstrom to draw into it, but Kobayashi instead chose to run a startling ten grade 3s. Similar to the Narukami and Shadow Paladin situation, both fighters preferred Officer Cadet Erikk over the Aqua Breath or Tri-holl Dracokids.
In general, Gold Paladin, Narukami and Oracle Think Tank are emerging as the three most populous decks, with Neo Nectar and Murakumo appearing on the fringes of the scene.
A Block Championship Team
Kawai Akihito/河井明仁
Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" (Narukami)
Nakamura Mitsuaki/中村光昭
Majesty Lord Blaster (Royal Paladin)
Hasegawa Jun/長谷川純
Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel (Gold Paladin)
B Block Championship Team
Saitou Takumi/斎藤匠
Covert Demonic Dragon, Mandalalord/Phantasmagoric Snowy Wind, Shirayuki (Murakumo)
Sawamura Hiro/沢村洋
Galactic Beast, Zeal-Miracle Beauty (Dimension Police)
Hosoya Natsuki/細谷夏生
Spectral Duke Dragon-Chrome Jailer Dragon (Gold Paladin)
C Block Championship Team
Satou Hiroki/佐藤弘樹
Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" (Narukami)
Nakanemi Yuuto/中峰悠斗
Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel (Gold Paladin)
Hirai Kento/平井健登
Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom (Aqua Force)
D Block Championship Team
Kubo Naoto/久保直人
Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, "THE BLOOD" (Narukami)
Seito Takaki/清藤尊季
Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu (Oracle Think Tank)
Satou Yuuji/佐藤勇次
Spectral Duke Dragon-Chrome Jailer Dragon (Gold Paladin)
E Block Championship Team
Fujinami Daisuke/藤波大輔
Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" (Narukami)
Tamamura Shinkou/田村信幸
Scarlet Witch, CoCo (Oracle Think Tank)
Tokunaga Kazuhiro/徳永和宏
Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel (Gold Paladin)
F Block Championship Team
Satou Yumi/里真有美
Scarlet Witch, CoCo/Battle Sister, Cookie (Oracle Think Tank)
Arai Toa/荒井研登
Phantom Blaster Overlord (Shadow Paladin)
Kagawa Hitori/香川一人
Covert Demonic Dragon, Magatsu Storm (Murakumo)
G Block Championship Team
Kobayashi Fumiyuki/小林史幸
Blue Story Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom (Aqua Force)
Yamaguchi Nozomi/山口望
Crimson Impact, Metatron/Chief Nurse, Shamsiel (Angel Feather)
Hayashi Kakehiko/林翔彦
Scarlet Witch, CoCo (Oracle Think Tank)
H Block Championship Team
Saitou Kei/齋藤敬
Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel (Gold Paladin)
Ikada Toshiyuki/五十田敏行
Covert Demonic Dragon, Magatsu Storm (Murakumo)
Horigome Tatsuya/堀米達也
Dragonic Overlord The End/Dragon Monk, Goku (Kagerou)
I Block Championship Team
Igarashi Takamune/五十嵐健宗
Maiden of Trailing Rose/Arboros Dragon, Sephirot (Neo Nectar)
Takahashi Ryou/髙橋凌
Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel/Spectral Duke Dragon (Gold Paladin)
Takanezawa Ryou/高根沢諒
Crimson Impact, Metatron (Angel Feather)
J Block Championship Team
Tsukamoto Naoki/塚本直樹
Super Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (Nova Grappler)
Shimamura Kenta/島村健太
Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel/White Hare in the Moonlight's Shadow, Pellinore (Gold Paladin)
Nakayama Shinnosuke/中山真之介
Scarlet Witch, CoCo/Battle Sister, Cookie (Oracle Think Tank)
K Block Championship Team
Nishi Kouki/西弘貴
Crimson Impact, Metatron (Angel Feather)
Ozawa Masahiro/小澤昌弘
Maiden of Trailing Rose/Arboros Dragon, Sephirot (Neo Nectar)
Sugiyama Tadashi/杉山直史
Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" (Narukami)
