G Units' future "unclear," new 3DS game "up to FuRyu" says Vanguard producer

Will Chrono appear in the new anime? How is Legion affected by Force? Producers answer 20 questions from fans.

March 16th, 2018. At 9:00 PM Japanese Standard Time, Cardfight!! Vanguard representative Doctor O began a special Weekly Bites stream alongside executive producer Shimamura "Shima-P" Masatoshi and original concept creator-manga author Itou Akira. The three of them answered 20 questions from fans about the new anime and game mechanics, and unveiled the first set of shop tournament promotional cards for the Standard format of the Cardfight!! Vanguard Trading Card Game, which will formally begin in May for Japan. The special episode of the stream was only announced the day before, and aired on both YouTube and NicoNico Live, with approximately 2000 and 1900 viewers joining in at peak times.

With regard to the appearance of G Units in the new anime and card game reboot, Shimamura stated that he was "unclear" on it. Explaining that "in the era Aichi and his friends live in, G Units do not exist yet," Shimamura considered it unlikely. In light of the official website displaying Gift Markers being used on a field with no G Zone present, this implies that no new strides will be printed for Standard format in the immediate future.

Concerning to the Cray Elemental and Etranger clans, Shimamura is likewise ambivalent on whether or not Cray Elementals will be available in the card game. As Etranger deals with cameos not from the world of Vanguard, he's certain players won't be able to build a full deck of them in the new series. For players that want to continue using G Units and Cray Elementals, Shimamura and Doctor O encouraged them to play the Premium format instead.

The May promotional cards for Standard format will be High Dog Breeder Seiran, and an alternate artwork print of Pongal from V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4. Seiran is the participation prize for May, while Pongal is given exclusively to the winner and has embossed congratulatory text. This Pongal is being done in the style of an Origin Rare, using its 2011 artwork from BT02: Onslaught of Dragon Souls alongside its new effect.

For June the Standard format participation prize will be Demonic Dragon Madonna Joka, and the first-place prize will be an alternate artwork print of Lizard Soldier Raopia from V-BT01. Like Pongal, this Raopia is using its 2011 artwork from the BT04: Eclipse of Illusionary Shadows.

The skills of these promotional cards remain "secret."

Doctor O also announced that Roselia, the band responsible for the opening sequence to the next anime season, will be performing a cover of JAM Project's Believe in my Existence as part of a crossover with Bushiroad's BanG Dream! Girls' Band Party! franchise. Believe in my Existence was originally used as the second opening to the first season of the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime, used from September 2011-March 2012.

The cover will debut in May.

The new restricted list for the Premium Standard and G Standard formats will be released on Tuesday April 17th. According to Shimamura, both the Premium Standard and Standard formats will be continued for "a long time." Premium is intended to be Vanguard as it has been up to now, while Standard will be a new body of regulations for a new Vanguard; these two will coexist, while G Standard will eventually be discontinued in October.

Doctor O also briefly showed cards from the first two 25-card flash fight decks, which will be used in training sessions across Japan from April 16th to May 30th. The full contents of the Star Drive and Crested Dragon decks have already been posted to the Japanese Cardfight portal.

A special version of the Crested Dragon deck will be distributed in the May issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine, containing an alternate artwork of Dragon Knight Nehalem that uses his 2011 artwork from TD02: Raging Dragon of the Empire.

Doctor O shows off the Force Gift Marker.

The trio took on 20 questions from fans, primarily clarifying the Imaginary Gift mechanic;

1.) Will Chrono and his friends, and the other G Series characters appear in the new series?
Itou: I can't say they won't.
Doctor O: Chrono does exist in this new world, though?
Itou: He does. [...] The manga is the basis for this new series, so we're following Aichi right now.
Shimamura: We're starting from the beginning with the manga as the base.
Itou: It's not exactly the "Comic Chapter" in the way that Vanguard G is the "G Chapter," but a new title.

2.) Will the broadcast/information delivery system used up to now continue?
Shimamura: It will continue on NicoNico Douga and YouTube.

3.) Is "Origin" the formal subtitle of the new series?
Shimamura: My apologies, it is not the formal subtitle. "Origin" is just a code name.

4.) Are Gift Markers only in trial decks?
Shimamura: Aside from the 3 Gift Markers you get in a trial deck, they will be available elsewhere, in booster packs and such.

5.) Please explain where we should place Gift Markers, how many we can have, how we should sleeve them, etc.
Shimamura: Gift Markers are placed approximately in the area used for the G Zone. They should be sleeved differently from both your main deck and your G Zone. You may have any number of Gift Markers.
Doctor O: Though it might be hard to use more than three.

6.)  Do we have to use the Gift Markers found in official products, or can we make our own?
Shimamura: In free play you may do as you please, but in the official tournaments you must use official Markers.

7.) Are the Gift Markers "Force" and "Accel" treated as cards while on the field?
Shimamura: No. Gift Markers are not cards. For example, they are not affected by Perfect Performance Ange.

8.) If a circle with "Force" or "Accel" on it is Locked, what do we do with the Gift Marker?
Shimamura: The circle becomes a Locked circle, but that is all. Even the card on top of a Marker is Locked, the Marker remains, and when it Unlocks, the Marker is still there.

9.) What happens if you Dominate a unit with a Marker on it?
Shimamura: [Force and Accel] Gift Markers only take effect "on your turn," and you only become master of the unit, not the marker, so it does not take effect while the unit is Dominated.

10.) What happens if the "Protect" Marker leaves my hand?
Shimamura: It returns to the Gift Marker area. Protect cannot exist outside of the hand or guardian circle. If it's placed from hand to rearguard Locked [like with Chaos Universe] or if it's bound from hand [like with Euryale] the Marker simply returns to the Gift area.

11.) Can the "Protect" Gift Maker be chosen for Super Dimensional Robo Daikaiser's effect while it's on the guardian circle?
Shimamura: When it is placed into the guardian circle it becomes a unit, so it can be chosen and broken by Daikaiser's skill.

12.) Will the triggers made up to now, that give +5000 power, become +10000 power triggers?
Shimamura: They will not. +5000 power triggers will remain +5000 power triggers. Although the power differential may make you want to use one over the other, many +5000 power triggers still have desirable abilities. So it's a trade-off.

13.) What will become of the Stand Trigger?
Shimamura: There are no plans to print new Stand Triggers in the future. Existing triggers can still be used.

14.) Will Narukami, Oracle Think Tank, Pale Moon, and Granblue ever get unique effect heal triggers?
Shimamura: It may take some time, but it will definitely happen.

15.) Will the activation conditions for "Stride" and "Legion" change?
Shimamura: They will.

[The change to stride has already been detailed on the Japanese portal. Stride can now be performed if at the beginning of your turn, before any of your phases, you have a grade 3 or greater vanguard, regardless of whether or not the opponent is at grade 3.]

16.) If the vanguard circle is under the effect of "Force," and you have a Legion active, how does the power increase apply?
Shimamura: Both the Legion Mate and Legion Leader get the power boost from a single Force applied to the vanguard circle. So if you have a 20000-power Legion, one Force would make it 40000-power by increasing both halves by +10000.

17.) When performing Legion, if a Front Trigger activates, what becomes of its power?
Shimamura: Because Front Triggers affect the entire Front Row, both Legion Mate and Legion Leader will gain +10000 power.

18.) At the Great Vanguard Festival's Fight Corner, what regulations will be used?
Shimamura: Because of the timing [April 29th-30th] we will use the regulations from up to now.

19.) What regulations will be used during the Bushiroad Card Fight and World Grand Prix?
Shimamura: BCF will use Standard and G Standard. Premium Standard will only be used in Free Fights. WGP will use Premium Standard and Standard.

20.) Will there be a new 3DS game?
Shimamura: I'm sorry, but it's up to FuRyu. I would like a new 3DS title, but it's in their hands.


The next regular episode of Weekly Bites will air March 20th, at 9:00 PM JST.

Let's Translate Cardfight!! Vanguard: Lock on Victory!! Part 10: Freetime Events 3-2 (Nagisa)

Nagisa is usually used as the Victory games' wake-up call boss. In the first game she plays an absolutely brutal Stern Blaukluger deck that appears way before the player could reasonably have something competitive without grinding, and she's designed to force the player to start using the freefight space. In the third game, she's introduced as a sequential boss that interrupts you right after another one, and uses a Victor deck that's likewise way better built than anything you would have faced up to then.

Kamui: Oh, Touya. Were you going to play at Handsome, too? Eh, you were just passing through? "What's Handsome?" You're staring at it. Wanna go in? Unlike Card Capital, this is a full-throttle gentleman's shop.

Kamui: Aight, we're in...tch, this is bad! I just remembered some urgent business and need to go home RIGHT NOW!

Daimonji Nagisa: Kamui-chaaaaaaaan! Did you come to see me?
Kamui: Absolutely not! It was Touya!
Nagisa: Ah, Kamui-chan wait!

Nagisa: Kyaa!

Nagisa: O-oouch...

Nagisa: It's your fault Kamui-chan got away!!
>>Same to you
>It's Nagisa's fault
>Sorry

The sane response is to apologize, but now is not the time for sanity. We're Kamui's reverse-wingman; running a distraction so he can get away from a girl.

Nagisa: Well, be that as it may...Eh? Some cards fell. These yours? Here you go.

We got 2 copies of Cup Bowler. This is a manga card Miwa used--it gets +1000 power every time your own Nova rearguard is rested, but only on vanguard circle. "It's Nagisa's fault" would get us Kaleido Ace, while "Sorry" would get us Genocide Joker.

Nagisa: Ahhh. Kamui-chan got away...I wonder, why does he always have to be so shy...? Eh, it's not that? Do you mean to say Kamui-chan doesn't like me? ...I get it. You, you're trying to seduce Kamui-chan!! Kamui-chan made some dangerous friends...Nagisa and Kamui-chan are bound by the threads of destiny! Wait up, Kamui! I'll get this guy that wants to tear us apart!
>>Fight
>Don't fight

VS Daimonji Nagisa
Nova Grappler 1

We open the game with all three of our Toypugals in hand, missing the Little Storm ride.

Nagias appears to be playing the very same Blaukluger deck she steamrolled so many players with back in Ride to Victory. As an older version of the ride chain concept, the Blau deck is sadly lacking. Miss the opening ride, and you get nothing--your first vanguard lacks the Forerunner ability entirely. Some variations on it like Giraffa and Enigman did get ways of correcting this in recent packs, but Blaus are in a similar boat as first generation Shadow Blasters. They have new options for their First Vanguard, but not much in the way of support for the original.

Nagisa drive checks King of Sword.

Nagisa: No guard!

Her damage check here brings her up to speed on card advantage, and ensures that even if we had checked a trigger, it wouldn't help Toypugal any. To this day, fierce arguments rage over whether or not draw triggers are valuable additions to the deck--"splitting shield" between the trigger and the card you draw with it is arguably suboptimal deckbuilding. (Just ask 2011 Pale Moon, which was forced to run 8 draw and was "upgraded" to a rainbow spread in BT05.) What isn't in doubt is that draw triggers are the best damage check possible. (aside from a heal, provided you're in a situation where it would proc)

Nagisa goes full ham on her second turn, putting us in a difficult position. We really don't have the hand to weather this; even Kirara is a 10k guard, and we have nothing in hand. So instead I resign to hitting 4+ this turn. In the long term, we shouldn't allow the vanguard to hit at all this game, which makes this kind of play slightly more acceptable. (If not any less painful.)

This damage trigger changes that. Now Nagisa's forced to attack with her rearguard King of Sword first, and that Toypugal in hand can go down for defense.

Nagisa drive checks a Blaujunger.

Nagisa doesn't guard any attacks this turn. We drive check a Little Storm and an Iseult, and then--

Another draw! Nagisa is leading the game in card advantage just on triggers alone.

Nagisa: Everyone, lend me your power! The great Nagisa rides!

Stern Blaukluger was for a period of time the best deck in format for Novas, and legacy support has helped it keep up with the big boys of the modern age. If its attack hits the vanguard, Stern can pay CB2 discard 2 to stand both himself and his booster, and lose Twin Drive!! until the end of the turn. Unlike the later Dragonic Overlord the End, this is done at a net loss, but Stern standing his own booster is a mechanic unique to the Blaukluger clan.

One trick that Nagisa doesn't take advantage of is running Dancing Wolf and stand triggers in the deck; Dancing Wolf is a 7k booster that becomes 10k whenever he stands, and because boost is applied continuously during a battle he can effectively make Blaukluger become a 26k off of a single trigger, which makes it much easier to hit initially.

She begins this turn by having Magician Girl Kirara go after Claudine. Since Kirara's final power is just a 5k block on Ashlei, it makes sense for her to do this--because if she hits, Kirara's CB2 draw skill will resolve, and Nagisa will not only have taken away a 5k shield but also profited from it while simultaneously denying us an 11k attacker, rather than giving us the choice of what 5k to drop by attacking the vanguard. There is one upshot of Kirara resolving, though. Let it happen twice, and Nagisa will be denied access to Stern for the rest of the game.

As expected, Nagisa pays the cost. Maiden of Libra clones were at one time valuable additions to many decks, but were already going out of style around BT05. Shadow Paladin's version was almost never played, but she was also competing with Macha and Nemain.

We're playing an extremely risky game here, as after guarding with Iseult the card count is now at +3 to -3--Nagisa has a 6 extra card lead over us. We're relying on the idea that Nagisa being at 5 first will pay out in dividends, something that didn't exactly work against Ren.

Nagisa: Drive check!

This makes her 3/4ths of the way through her draws--

--Uhh, make that 4/6ths or 4/8ths. Both triggers go to King of Sword.

Nagisa puts us to limit break with her final rearguard attack. Were she a real-world fighter, she might consider otherwise--denying us our power plays for a turn while sitting on that handsize would be very beneficial for her.

Our draw for the turn is a heal, by the way.

"Break ride!"

Ashlei swings for 27k boosted, and our strategy pays off! Nagisa guards with two draw triggers, a heal, and crit to no-pass us, reducing her net advantage down to just +1. At this point we want to hit either a heal or a crit.

Touya: Drive check.

All effects go to Determinator. With Nagisa sitting on a 10k base, she'll need to drop 15k shield to stop this one.

Nagisa intercepts with Kirara, then drops Blaujunger and a King of Sword from hand to protect herself. There's now just one card of difference between us.

Nagisa calls an Asura Kaiser to replace Kirara, and starts going after our vanguard. I'll gladly go to 5 damage here--it'll deny Nagisa the ability to heal on her offensive checks.

We hit a heal on King of Sword's attack, resulting in no actual change of damage.

With our vanguard sitting on a 16k, Nagisa decides to turn Asura Kaiser on Determinator before doing anything else. This spells trouble on our end--we have to choose between defending that rearguard and using our perfect guard. Granted, we need to expend less somewhere to make up for the rate at which she's accrued cards this game, and if we drop a perfect guard now, there's only one left in the deck. A 10k shield on Stern here is a two-pass, Nagisa has 7 triggers visible in public zones, and a 27 card deck left--about a 30% chance to check a trigger on either check. The rewards for keeping that rearguard are significant, as Nagisa should be going into our next turn with a 5 card hand, and we know she can't have more than one 10k shield available right now. (She would have had to have drawn it.)

I drop a crit defending Claudine.

Hilmy makes a two-pass on Stern.

Nagisa: Drive check.

And we're safe.

We draw yet another heal going into this turn. Evidently we should have put that trigger from before on our rearguard, so that Asura would attack the vanguard :V

Regardless, our course is set. There are only two good ways of doing this turn, either we attack from right to left, or in a zig-zag pattern beginning at the center. We'll do the latter.

Nagisa drops a gutsy one-pass on our vanguard, evidently having no 10ks available.

Touya: Drive check.

First check.

Second check. Nothing--Claudine goes unguarded, and...

Nagisa: Draw trigger!
This makes blocking Determinator effortless. He's stopped by a Tough Boy.

So now we're in a tight position. This is effectively our final grace turn, where we can still take a damage and be able to guard, but any opposing trigger checks at all will severely hurt our offense, and we have no guarantee of being able to retaliate in kind versus a 6-card hand. (Which is a considerable handsize in this format. 10~11 card hands exist, but unlike in stride format they're restricted to a few select decks.)

No damage triggers this time.

Nagisa: Drive check.

We get a very fortunate repeat of her previous turn. Hilmy stops her remaining Asura--the rest hinges on the top card of the deck.

So now, we have something to consider. We've hit none of our draw triggers, and have about a 25% chance to do so on either check. We also know that Nagisa's hand is bad--a grade 3 and two 5ks account for half of it, with one of the remaining cards being a 5k or grade 3, and two unknowns. Just about the only play we have is to take advantage of Ashlei's +2k, put down Marron behind her for a 21k center, and Little Storm on the right for a full field, and swing. We could hold back in hopes of hitting our draws, but I see 25% as pretty bad odds.

Nagisa drops another one-pass on us, giving up Shining Lady and a Blaukluger.

Touya: Drive check.

Determinator attacks next.

Nagisa: No guard...Damage check.

She dies as she lived.

Nagisa: Annoying...

Nagisa: I lost...But, I absolutely won't be broken!!! Round 2!!
...Eh? It's not about Naigsa? It's about...the cards you picked up before? Eh, they're not yours? Huh...Hey, these are Nagisa's cards! I'm sorry. Nagisa was wrong...As an apology, I'll give those to you. So there's nothing that can come between us after all! Wait for me, Kamui-chan. I'm coming!

Nagisa: Kamui-chaaaaan!