News: Luquier Reverse Wins Tachikawa Vanguard Championship

The decklists for the August 3rd Second Tachikawa Vanguard Championship are out, bringing with them a dark horse victory in VGCS champion Hibari's Luquier “Я” deck. Held at Hobby Station Tachikawa, the tournament drew 82 participants in all, with the top 4 being Pale Moon, Revenger, Eradicator and Spike Brothers cardfighters, while the top 8 contained three more Revenger decks, as well as one Majesty Lord Blaster build running 2 copies of Majesty with 1 Soul Saver Dragon, for 3 grade 3s in all. The final matches of the Tachikawa VGCS were uploaded to TwitCasting, a Japanese video sharing website geared towards mobile devices.

The VGCS tournaments are a series of unofficial tournaments organized by fans and cardshops. Unlike Bushiroad's larger official tournaments, most VGCS events are done using a best of 3, Swiss tournament model, with entry fees in the vicinity of 1000 yen per person that go toward grand prizes like booster boxes, Nintendo 3DS handhelds and other merchandise. Turnout is typically 70-80 persons, but some events see 100 or more participants, all of whom compete using pseudonyms and internet handles rather than their real names as at official events.

Deck Distribution: Total Attendance 82 Persons

Revengers 24 (15 with Creeping Dark Goat, 9 with Claudas)

Eradicators 19 (10 with Spark Kid Dragoon, 9 with Linchu)

Link Joker 7

Pale Moon 6

Liberators 5

Spike Brothers 4

Bermuda Triangle 3 (2 using Eternal Idol Pacifica, 1 using Aurora Star Coral)

Genesis 2

Dark Irregulars 2

Sanctuary Guard Dragon 2

Seal Dragons (Kagerou) 2

Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion 1

Great Nature 1

Ezel 1

Crimson Impact, Metatron 1

Majesty Lord Blaster 1

Scarlet Witch, CoCo 1

Although Japan's current format is known for its extremely aggressive gameplay, early on in the match the Minatsuki v. Hibari finals showed the two fighters dancing around one another considerably, while focusing on one another's rearguards and playing to a very slow buildup, fighting tooth and nail for each point of damage. Hibari showed considerable innovation in how he played his Reverse card, using the Miracle Pop Eva break ride in conjunction with Reverse's limit break to come back from a four card difference, locking two backrow rearguards behind his vanguard and one rearguard line to call two new ones to the front, then attacking with those rearguards and afterwards swapping them in with Eva's break ride to call a completely new column to his then-empty left lane. The Silver Thorn series' quick and accurate soul setup allowed him to prepare a constant pool of new units to call with Luquier “Я”'s skill, calling more soul-charging rearguards from the soul and then locking those units to bring out more opportunities.

In the second round Minatsuki became gradelocked at 0, quickly leading to a three-card disadvantage for the Revenger side, but he came back using Tartu and Darkbond Trumpeter's skills to superior call boosters. Even so, this couldn't hold up to Luquier's reliable strategy, so after his surprise comeback in the first round Hibari completely dominated the second, beating Raging Form 2-0.

First Place
Deck Name: Luquier
Handle Name: Hibari
Grade 0
x1 Innocent Magician (FV)
x4 Silver Thorn Barking Dragon CT
x1 Dynamite Juggler CT
x4 Poison Juggler CT
x3 Silver Thorn Marionette, Natasha DT
x4 Silver Thorn Juggler, Nadia HT
Grade 1
x4 Silver Thorn Assistant, Irina
x3 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Ana
x4 Silver Thorn Hypnos, Lydia
x3 Purple Trapezist
Grade 2
x4 Silver Thorn Marionette, Lillian
x2 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Maricica
x3 Silver Thorn Rising Dragon
x2 Nitro Juggler
Grade 3
x3 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier “Я”
x3 Miracle Pop, Eva
x2 Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier

Second Place
Deck Name: Revenger
Handle Name: Minatsuki
Grade 0
x1 Frontline Revenger, Claudas (FV)
x4 Grim Revenger CT
x1 Grim Reaper CT
x4 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
x3 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Healing Revenger HT
Grade 1
x4 Morale Revenger, Dorin
x3 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
x4 Dark Revenger, Mac Lir
x2 Revenger, Darkbond Trumpeter
Grade 2
x4 Black Clothed Revenger, Tartu
x4 Nullity Revenger, Masquerade
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger
Grade 3
x4 Illusion Revenger, Mordred Phantom
x4 Revenger, Raging Form Dragon

Third Place
Deck Name: Midsummer~ Misha-sensei
Handle Name: Ryou
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FV)
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Divine Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
x1 Eradicator Dragon Mage DT
x3 Eradicator, Blue Gem Carbuncle DT
Grade 1
x4 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x2 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x4 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
Grade 2
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Cho-ou
x3 Supreme Army Eradicator, Zuitan
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon “Я”

Fourth Place
Deck Name: Anthony Respect
Handle Name: NEXT
Grade 0
x1 Mecha Trainer (FV)
x4 Silence Joker CT
x4 Sonic Breaker CT
x4 Cheerful Lynx DT
x4 Cheer Girl, Tiara HT
Grade 1
x4 Wonder Boy
x4 Reckless Express
x4 Cheer Girl Marilyn
x1 Dudley Dan
Grade 2
x4 Dudley Mason
x4 Highspeed Brakki
x2 Panzer Gale
Grade 3
x2 Juggernaut Maximum
x4 Bad End Dragger
x4 Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor