Special thanks to Kyo of France, who conducted and submitted the interview below.
Over September 27th the Paris regional qualifier took place, with Pale Moon and Kagerou cardfighters Jeremie Raso and Helene Bourree taking first and second place. The tournament was the first time a French national has placed first in France's annual regional qualifiers, and a major victory for advocates of both Venus Luquier and non-Nouvelle Kagerou. 164 cardfighters participated this year, up from Brussels' 81 person attendance in 2013 and Paris' 60 person attendance in 2012.
French contributor Kyo was able to secure an interview with Helene Bourree, one of the few professional female cardfighters in the world. As the runner-up Bourree is officially permitted to take part in the European continental championship, and potentially the world finals in Japan, but under the current WCS2014 regulations all fighters from France cannot have their travel expenses paid by Bushiroad due to the tournament finals being in Paris. Topics of the interview included the beginnings of her career, her deck and the controversial organization of the Paris qualifier, in which several cardfighters who had not been eliminated were arbitrarily cut from the tournament by proceeding directly to the top 8. A video of French regional finals can be viewed here.
In other news, Bushiroad Global tweeted today that the company is in the process of expanding its international offices, with a Bushiroad Europe branch opening in Germany this year. The development of a European office reflects the growth of Cardfight!! Vanguard's popularity in the region, Bushiroad had previously created the body of Bushiroad EU Inc. to officiate its European tournaments, and as with Bushiroad USA control of the company resides in Singapore with Bushiroad South East Asia Pte. Ltd. All of these subsidiaries ultimately answer to Bushiroad Inc. back in Japan.
The following interview is the result of contributor submission and may not reflect the views of Cardfight Pro or its editors. Spelling and grammar corrections have been made by the editor.
Interview with Helene "Reyson" Bourree
Q: Describe your career.
A: I started playing when the game was
released in English. For a while, it'd been just a fun game to play with
a bunch of friends during the weekend. But my vision of CFV changed
after my first national championship in Manchester (2012). I went with
Golds and went further as I could have ever hoped, as Garmore led me to
top 16. It was a revelation, and I've been playing for competition since
then, trying to attend all the main events in France and England.
Unfortunately I couldn't enter the Team League French qualifiers in
Paris last April, as I was asked to be the head judge. Another great
experience!
Q: Describe your Deck.
A: The deck I used was
inspired from a very close friend's build. I was ready to go with a
Nouvelle Vague deck, but deep inside me I hated my own deck for offering
nothing else but a win by sacking and going against the mechanics of
the game. Taking a damage and hoping for a trigger to be able to guard
the remaining attacks is part of the game and a valid strategy that
we've all used, or relying on a 6th damage heal! But in my eyes,
Nouvelle Vague and its skill broke the game.
This is why when Kyo
showed me his Kagero deck, I got inspired again, and chose to go with a hybrid Overlord BR, Rebirth, Dauntless Reverse, and...Georgette deck!
The focus was obviously on the Break Ride, as the push it allows is
immense. With Dauntless, you can retire up to 4 G1/0 with 2 attacks! An
amazing card that kills decks relying on their field, such as Kagero
(Rebirth), Aqua Force, etc. Then of course Rebirth was my main focus, as
you can stack the triggers on it, and attack 3 times. And Georgette...Well Georgette was supposed to used against Glendios...Which I didn't
get the opportunity to face!
Q: What do you think about the fact you're one of the few women in the professional world [of Vanguard]?
A: It
is a fact about card games in general. There are very few women, but
I've been playing card games for 10 years, and got used to that.
Surprisingly
enough, there were much more women in Paris that I would have expected!
Usually we are 5 regular players (and not bad ones!), but I think
remembering up to 15 women for the BWC this week end. Two of them went
4-2 (Genesis and Pale Moon), and another one went 5-1 (Genesis) but
didn't make it to the final cut (her only loss was against me!)
Men tend to see women as fragile and shy players, but it is our duty to show them wrong.
I guess we can say that there are clans women are naturally more
attracted to than others... But I personally prefer knights and dragons
in general. I guess this is why my fellow men players and friends have
been calling me for a while now "one of the guys"!
Q: What do
you think about the tournament's organization? I have heard that there
was a cut for top 8 while 16 players were remaining.
A: There were
15 remaining players after round 5, and the judges decided to go for a
6th one. After this round, 4 players were on 6-0, and 4 5-1 among the 8
(I guess?) still remaining. At this point I was on 5-1 too, as I lost
during last round to the player who was about to become the French
champion. My goal average was strong (among the players I beat, 2 of
them were on 5-1).
It was the right decision to make.
The
overall organization was a good one. Those big events are always
complicated to organize, but we had space. 3 rooms (we were playing in a
school) were dedicated to the tournaments (161 players), and 2 others
were then opened for the ones who wanted to go for the freeplay.
4
judges were here, and decisions had to be made (a player was accused of
cheating as there were huge fingerprints on his trigger sleeves.) A few
problems with the pairings as well, but nothing as important as the top 8
cut, where a player on 6-0 was forgotten, and a player on 5-1 had to
go...But it wasn't me!
