News: Goddess of the Full Moon Tsukuyomi Tops Sukacat CS

Fighter's Collection 2014 reprint.

January 18th, 2015. The first team tournament of 2015 ended with a surprising deck at the center of the leading team. The Sukacat Vanguard Championship was won by a team running Thing Saver Dragon, Goddess of the Full Moon Tsukuyomi and Dragonic Overlord “The X.” The team's midfighter Ryo accomplished his feat by integrating Heaven Conquering Battle Deity Susanoo and his support cards from G-BT01: Generation Stride with the Tsukuyomi evolution line, using the evolution and generation break skills to repeatedly stack the bottom of the deck with trigger units while adding nontrigger cards to the hand.

This marks the first monoclan Tsukuyomi top in over two years; while Yasue Takamasa's Genesis-Oracle Think Tank hybrid made top 8 in a regional qualifier in mid 2013, the last time pure OraThin Tsukuyomi won a tournament was under former Sendai regional champion Tanaka Shouta in November 2012. The last time that Tsukuyomi topped, her widespread success eventually led to her finding a place on the restricted list alongside Dragonic Overlord the End and Majesty Lord Blaster. Many of Shouta's innovations have since become essential core elements to Oracle Think Tank, and Ryo's modifications have further improved the deck to create a circular loop in as few turns as possible. The decks of each team member are transcribed below.

Susanoo

Ryo's endgame strategy was to guarantee continuous double triggers for the rest of the game past a certain threshold of bottom-deck stacking, effectively presenting his opponent with a time limit before Tsukuyomi would explode. To build up to this point he first used an old trick of Oracle Think Tank, using the skills of Ichibyoshi, Crescent and Half Moon Tsukuyomi to put between twelve and fifteen cards on the bottom of the deck. Each of these units checks the top five cards for the next incarnation in its line and rides them, then places any remaining cards on the bottom.

In the past many cardfighters have deliberately stayed on grade 2 while feigning gradelock in order to get their stack to reach twenty cards, but in 2015 the deck has better options. Susanoo's on-stride skill checks the top two cards, placing up to one into hand and any remaining on the bottom. Combining this with the stride unit Soaring Auspicious Beast Qilin--who has an identical skill but with on-hit conditions attached--Ryo was able to get two to four more cards on the bottom of the deck, following up in later turns with his "finisher" Takemikazuchi.

Takemikazuchi

By turning a copy of himself in the generation zone face-up and paying two counterblast, as long as there are two or more cards face-up in the G zone, Takemikazuchi checks the top four cards to add two to hand and place the remaining on the bottom. These new units greatly expedite the process of setting up a twenty card stack without having to deliberately take a turn of gradelock, all while keeping up a strong defensive hand and using supporting rearguard draw skills to ensure that the opponent can't knock them out before the stack is reached. Full Moon herself played into this bunker defense strategy by shaving off up to four cards from the top of the deck with her draw skill, although compared to going for Takemikazuchi or Susanoo this is not as preferable.

Photo originally uploaded by ryogyoza.

According to Ryo, his record in the tournament was much better in the finals than in the opening rounds. The first four rounds of the tournament were held in best-of-one, with Ryo getting two wins off of Kagerou and Oracle cardfighters, preceded by two losses against Royal Paladin and Kagerou fighters. In the finals he won all four rounds 2-1 (Kagerou) 2-0 (Kagerou) 2-0 (Royal Paladin) and 2-1 (Kagerou.) The tournament finals were Shou's Thing Saver versus Victor-Raizers, Ryo's Tsukuyomi versus “The X,” and Kaiji's “The X” versus Susanoo-Mille Feuille.

Of note is that team captain Kaiji's “The X” decklist is one of the last that will be seen with four copies of Calamity Tower Wyvern in it, due to the card's imminent restriction effective this February.

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-three, Swiss tournament model. 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 in official events. The VGCS model of fan-organized play has begun to gain popularity internationally, with the bi-monthly BeNeLux tournaments serving as their European equivalent, and there are now similar grassroots organizations emerging in the United States like the ARG Circuit series tournaments and the King of Cardfight competition in the American midwest.

Credit to Siulzen for transcribing today's deck breakdown.

Deck breakdown (141 participants in total)
37 Kagero (34 Overlord, 2 Perdition, 1 Nouvelle)
32 Royal Paladin (22 Jewel Knight/Thing Saver, 8 Seekers, 1 Pendragon/Thing Saver, 1 Ezzell)
23 Oracle Think Tank (13 CoCo/Susanoo, 5 Gelee/Susanoo, 2 Tsukuyomi, 2 Amaterasu/Susanoo, 1 Mille Feuille/Susanoo)
20 Nova Grappler (14 Victor/Raizer, 5 Blau, 1 Blau/Raizer)
10 Shadow Paladin (Revengers)
4 Dimension Police
3 Gear Chronicle
3 Neo Nectar (Musketeers)
2 Granblue (1 BR Legion, 1 Legion)
1 Genesis
1 Tachikaze (Ancient Dragon)
1 Link Joker (Glendios)
1 Spike Brothers
1 Pale Moon (Silver Thorn)
1 Great Nature (Legion)
1 Megacolony

Foreward: Shou/将
Grade 0
x1 Advance Party Seeker, File (FV)
x4 Jewel Knight, Hilmy HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Jewel Knight, Noble Stinger CT
x4 Blazing Jewel Knight, Rachelle CT
Grade 1
x3 Holy Knight Guardian
x4 Laurel Knight, Cycirlz
x3 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x2 Jewel Knight, Prizmy
x1 Stinging Jewel Knight, Shellie
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x4 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x3 Jewel Knight, Swordmy
x1 Knight of Twin Sword
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x3 Seeker, Sacred Wingal
x1 Sacred Beast Seeker, Claude
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x4 Divine Sacred Dragon, Saint Blow Dragon
x3 Shrouded Divine Knight, Gablade
x1 Miracle Element, Atomos

Midfighter: Ryo/りょう
Grade 0
x1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi (FV)
x4 Lozenge Magus HT
x4 Psychic Bird CT
x4 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
x4 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
Grade 1
x4 Mediator, Ameno-sagiri
x4 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi
x4 Luck Bird
x2 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
Grade 2
x4 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
x4 Silent Tom
x3 Diviner, Shinatsuhiko
Grade 3
x4 Heaven Conquering Battle Deity, Susanoo
x4 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x4 Sword Deity of Thunder, Takemikazuchi
x2 Soaring Auspicious Beast, Qilin
x1 Snow Element, Blizza
x1 Miracle Element, Atomos

Captain: Kaiji/ カイジ
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x4 Perdition Dancer, Agafia HT
x2 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x3 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x3 Perdition Dragon, Buster Rain Dragon CT
x4 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
Grade 1
x4 Protect Orb Dragon
x4 Calamity Tower Wyvern
x3 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x3 Lava Flow Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Dragonic Burnout
x2 Perdition Dragon Knight, Ilham
x2 Perdition Dragon, Dragonic Neoflame
x3 Burning Horn Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord “The X”
x3 Dragonic Overlord the End
x1 Perdition Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord the Great
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x4 Imperial Flame Dragon King, Route Flare Dragon
x3 Divine Dragon Knight, Mahmoud
x1 Miracle Element, Atomos

Oracle Think Tank Extra Study Material: Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu

Photo by rawritzrichii, not to be reposted elsewhere without the original photographer's express permission.

Since BT03, Amaterasu has lacked a concrete deck of her own. The spotlight has fallen on the Full Moon and Witch decks, with CEO as a supporting unit for the former and one that is run less and less commonly with each passing day. While there was never anything objectively wrong with Amaterasu as a boss card, it is nevertheless true that as an independent build she has been undersupported and lacking in a separate identity. BT09: Clash of the Knights and Dragons remedies this by taking Amaterasu to her maximum potential as the supreme face of Oracle Think Tank.

The first vanguard for the Amaterasu deck is not universally agreed upon. Befitting of the definitive deck of Oracle Think Tank's leader, the deck has high synergy with almost every other card in the clan. Little Witch, LuLu from the soulless build can be used and is certainly an efficient choice as one of the only FVGs in the game that can give a +2 the moment her skills are triggered, and as CEO Amaterasu's megablast is even less likely to go off in this build than in her original one, this is a good use of the soul. Lozenge Magus can still be used as the first vanguard if you desire the extra deck space, but BT09 has generally outmoded her by introducing Supple Bamboo Princess, Kaguya. Based on the character of the same name from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Kaguya is a base 4000 Forerunner that can be returned to the soul to give an OraThin +3000 power, fulfilling the same basic function as Lozenge while opening the field to call another unit and keeping another card in the soul, turning Kaguya into fuel for a megablast, Luck Bird's soulblast or to promote play with six soul units.

With regards to those, because of CEO Amaterasu being a soulcharge-based unit, she has natural synergy with Tsukuyomi's six soul cards, and so it would also be a wise choice to use Godhawk Ichibyoshi from the Full Moon deck as the FVG. This imports the potential for a card gain each turn, the ability to control the deck through the formation of a trigger stack, and to use Half Moon's soulcharge to get CEO Amaterasu into the soul faster, while also giving Amaterasu access to Tagitsuhime as a 12000 power attacker. On that front, Amaterasu can also use her tsundere brother Battle Deity Susanoo, who has the exact same stats as Tagitsuhime, but his +3000 power comes from having a vanguard with "Amaterasu" in its card name, where Tagitsuhime operates off of just having six soul. A deck that uses Ichibyoshi and the Crescent through Half Moon cards is likely to run at least one copy of the Full Moon for a complete Goddess deck, and because of the ease with which six soul can be set up, Tagitsuhime may be the wiser choice over Susanoo.

Amaterasu's personal supporting grade 1 is Battle Maiden, Sayorihime, a base 7000 unit that gets +3000 when she attacks if the vanguard has "Amaterasu" in its card name. Since there is no grade 1 equivalent to Tagitsuhime, Sayorihime is a good supporting piece for the build, but lacks the midgame presence of Kay and other decks with these types of units. The grade 1 space is more likely to be reserved for Oracle Think Tank's old mainstays like Dark Cat, Weather Girl Milk and Gemini, but you may find room among your tech cards for her.

The upgrade that CEO Amaterasu has been waiting for is the Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu, the solar counterpart to Tsukuyomi. With her full power unleashed, this incarnation of Amaterasu gets +2000 power for having CEO in the soul, over an 11000 base to create a very consistent crossride defense. Since Oracle Think Tank has a deep access to the deck and sees more cards per game than other clans, and can also modify the cards in the soul using Hare of Inaba and the Moon series soulcharges, this 13000 power is stable enough that it should come out in every game. With Milk's boost this comes out to a 23000 power total, accomplishing the offense of CoCo with a defense surpassing that of Tsukuyomi and Imperial Daughter.

Furthermore, at limit break 4 the Goddess of the Sun can counterblast 2 when her attack hits the vanguard to choose any any Oracle Think Tank in the deck and add it to her hand. This skill has an immediate problem, in that for it to go off you generally need to be at higher damage than the opponent, as they are not likely to no-guard it unless they are at three damage or less and the number of cards under their control have been lowered significantly enough for defending to be impractical, and as a general trend the fighter who hits limit break first is more likely to lose. Even so, the skill is not unplayable. Oracle Think Tank is one of the best clans at playing defense because of its card drawing skills, and with a crossride defense Goddess Amaterasu is even better than past iterations of the clan. As a result, the Sun can afford to accept hitting limit break first in order to get the skill off.

The real question associated with this skill is what to use it for. At the moment that Goddess of the Sun's attack hits the vanguard and you have paid the cost, you can do anything, but that freedom is paralyzing. More cynical cardfighters have pointed out that the skill would most commonly be used to search for a copy of Battle Sister Chocolat to have access to a perfect defense card, but your choice should be adjusted to account for the situation. There are cards in Vanguard that can prevent you from defending with grade 1s; against those decks you would want to search for other units with high shield, typically grade 0s. There are also situations where a perfect defense would be excessive due to already having one or more in hand, and in that scenario searching a card like Battle Sister Vanilla would be better. Since you can search for anything in the deck, you're also free to run more tech cards, giving you direct access to those techs through the Goddess' limit break while not needing to clog up deck space with extra copies of a card that you're realistically only going to use once.

If you choose to use the Godhawk and Tsukuyomi line for its soul support, then probably the perfect card to match this limit break is Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi. In this version of Amaterasu, after the initial grade 1-2 Tsukuyomi rides you would go directly to the Goddess, getting CEO into the soul through other means, and then using the limit break within the next few turns to fetch Tsukuyomi directly and ride her after that, reinforcing your hand with her counterblast. Because of how it cuts down on the amount of cards in the deck through repeated draw, superior ride, search and soulcharge skills, the deck's endgame is begun by switching back into the original Amaterasu. As there are typically only ten to thirteen cards left by the time this deck hits its endgame, CEO Amaterasu's future prediction will work within a terrifying margin to bring out the last triggers remaining. This kind of unprecedented control over the deck is only made possible by the synergistic fusion of the Sun and Moon, and it highlights all of Oracle Think Tank's best qualities.

Other than using the limit break to search directly, it can also be used purely to force the opponent into bad decisions. If the opponent's choices are between letting Maiden of Libra hit and letting Goddess Amaterasu hit, they will choose Libra every time, and with your vanguard line at 21-23000, that will be at least a three card difference that you have carved out by drawing one with Libra and taking two away with their defense. The card isn't easy to use, but it does reward smart play.

Goddess Amaterasu is one of the more difficult of the Oracle Think Tank decks to compose because there are multiple good ways to build her with no perfect answer. She complements almost everything, and because of that there are almost too many things that she can become. To strategize for her at high level play requires complete mastery of Oracle Think Tank and a deep understanding of the card pool. Next time that I revisit OraThin, it will be to discuss the Battle Sister deck reinforced by VGE-EB05: Celestial Valkyries, focusing towards more offensive play combined with draw draw power.

News: FR2013 Hiroshima Regional Decklists, Dudley Emperor & Tsukuyomi Make Waves, Salome's Pro Debut

The decklists for Fighter's Road 2013 Hiroshima went out this morning, finally giving a look into the Spike Brothers deck that drew so much attention over the weekend. The deck is a modern spin on the classic Dudley Emperor build, using just two copies of Juggernaut Maximum that effectively act as tech cards searched directly with Emperor's limit break, and filling out the remaining grade 3 space with Bad End Dragger, the Spike Brothers' break ride that can give +10000 power to every attacking Brother when its skill is triggered, then shuffle them back in the deck to open the field up for superior calls. By using Dragger in concert with Emperor's superior call limit break, pro fighter and contender for the national title Okudaira Ryousuke is able to make two rearguard attacks in the range of 21-26000 power followed by two more of around 31000, all with a 31000 power vanguard line shaking up field's center. In a format currently dominated by 11000-power Lords this maneuver can require as much as 115000 shield to block, but leaves its fighter dangerously exposed if it is not timed correctly, and as it can only be triggered within a limited window late in a match, the slower setup is not for everyone. Okudaira's deck is noticeably more conservative than typical Dragger decks, as Bad End Dragger is the only card from BT10 than he uses, rejecting the Dudley subgroup that VG-BT10 built up.

Meanwhile the runner-up Yoshida Yuuta has demonstrated that the Eradicator decklist pioneered by Uemura Shouhei has continued to endure through Dragonic Descendant's restriction, although the general trend that Yoshida has followed has been towards the Vowing Sword Dragon break ride rather than BT11's Sweep Command, who has existed on the edges of Eradicator play ever since his set's release. Since Nanakado Yuusuke's revision that added Chou-ou and Shuki from BT11, the deck has gone virtually unchanged between different fighters, with only personal preferences over first vanguard and which cards get priority differentiating the lists.

An interesting point regarding the finalist decklists is that Bushiroad's continual efforts to bury the Full Moon deck seem to be in vain. Yet another cardfighter has taken a creative spin on the Tsukuyomi build, hybridizing Oracle Think Tank and Genesis cards into a single deck that combines Tsukuyomi's soul-based draw power and grade security with Genesis' long term offensive and mass soulcharging. Although Japan's current restricted list prevents Full Moon from being run in copies exceeding two, Yasue Takamasa was not dissuaded by the restrictions and attempted his own revival of the fan-favorite Moon deck.

The Open division team tournament has brought with it our first look at a professional Jewel Knight deck, with Kadobayashi Masaki's Salome build eschewing many Royal Paladin staples like Blaster Blade and Palamedes in favor of a pure subgroup focus on developing extra critical. An interesting innovation of the deck is its use of multiple copies of the first vanguard Tiffany, superior calling the two extra copies with Salome's and Sybill's counterblasts to pump up the power of the rearguard lines multiple times late in the match.

Open Class Regional Tournament
Regional Champion: Okudaira Ryousuke/奥平諒介
Grade 0
x1 Mecha Trainer (FVG)
x4 Cheer Girl, Tiara HT
x4 Cheerful Lynx DT
x4 Sonic Breaker CT
x4 Silence Joker CT
Grade 1
x3 Cheer Girl, Marylin
x4 Wonder Boy
x4 Reckless Express
x2 Medical Manager
Grade 2
x4 Highspeed Brakki
x4 Treasured, Black Panther
x4 Panzer Gale
Grade 3
x3 Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor
x3 Bad End Dragger
x2 Juggernaut Maximum

Runner up: Yoshida Yuuta/吉田雄太
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x3 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x2 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x2 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

Doctor O's Pick: Yasue Takamasa/安永卓正
Grade 0
x1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi (FVG)
x4 Psychic Bird CT
x4 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
x4 Battle Sister, Chai HT
x4 Battle Maiden, Kukurihime CT
Grade 1
x4 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi
x4 Battle Maiden, Tatsutahime
x4 Goddess of Protection, Kushinada
x2 Dark Cat
Grade 2
x4 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
x4 Battle Maiden, Saohime
x2 Twilight Hunter, Artemis
x2 Witch of Birds, Chamomile
Grade 3
x2 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi
x4 Battle Deity of the Moonlit Night, Artemis
x1 Witch of Wolves, Saffron

Junior Class Regional Tournament
Regional Champion: Matsushita Shunji/松下隼士
Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FVG)
x4 Seal Dragon, Artpitch DT
x4 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
x4 Seal Dragon, Shading HT
x4 Blue Ray Dracokid CT
Grade 1
x1 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x4 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
x3 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x4 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x2 Flame of Hope, Aermo
Grade 2
x3 Seal Dragon, Hunger Hell Dragon
x4 Burning Horn Dragon
x4 Berserk Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord The End
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon

Runner-up: Tokioka Yuuto/時岡悠翔
Grade 0
x1 Spring Breeze Messenger (FVG)
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Strike Liberator CT
x4 Weapons Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
Grade 1
x2 Liberator of the Future, Llew
x4 Curved Blade Liberator, Josephus
x4 Little Liberator, Marron
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
Grade 2
x4 Liberator of the Flute, Escrad
x1 Blaster Blade Liberator
x2 Liberator of Silence, Gallatin
x4 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred
x2 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot
x2 Steel Spear Liberator, Bleoberis

Doctor O's Pick: Tsumura Kouji/津村康史
Grade 0
x1 Beast Deity, White Tiger (FVG)
x4 Battle Raizer ST
x4 Round Girl, Clara HT
x3 The Gong DT
x2 Three Minutes DT
x3 Red Lightning CT
Grade 1
x4 Twin Blader
x4 Beast Deity, Blank Marsh
x2 Death Army Guy
x2 Clay-doll Mechanic
x3 The Screamin' and Dancin' Announcer, Shout
Grade 2
x2 Magician Girl, Kirara
x4 Beast Deity, Golden Angel
x3 Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos
x1 Death Army Lady
Grade 3
x2 Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon
x4 Beast Deity, Azure Dragon
x1 Beast Deity, Ethics Buster
x1 Asura Kaiser

Vanguard Fight High School 2013 Summer, Open Class Hiroshima Regional Tournament Championship Team
Kadobayashi Masaki/門林将生
Grade 0
x3 Dreaming Jewel Knight, Tiffany (FVG)
x4 Blazing Jewel Knight, Rachelle CT
x4 Enthusiastic Jewel Knight, Polly HT
x4 Dedicated Jewel Knight, Tabitha DT
x4 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
Grade 1
x4 Jewel Knight, Prizme
x4 Stinging Jewel Knight, Sherrie
x4 Flashing Jewel Knight, Iseult
x2 Regret Jewel Knight, Ulrien
Grade 2
x4 Fellowship Jewel Knight, Tracie
x4 Dogmatize Jewel Knight, Sybill
x2 Pathetique Jewel Knight, Owain
Grade 3
x4 Leading Jewel Knight, Salome
x3 Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashley

Fujioka Tatsuya/藤岡龍也
Grade 0
x1 Little Witch, LuLu (FVG)
x4 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x4 Psychic Bird CT
x4 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
x4 Battle Sister, Chai HT
Grade 1
x3 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x2 Battle Sister, Cocoa
x4 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x4 Dark Cat
x2 Luck Bird
Grade 2
x4 Battle Sister, Tart
x1 Maiden of Libra
x2 Battle Sister, Mocha
x4 Silent Tom
Grade 3
x4 Scarlet Witch, CoCo
x3 Goddess of Flower Divination, Sakuya

Maenaka Toshiki/前中俊樹
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x3 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
x3 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor 
Grade 2
x3 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Conquering Eradicator, Zuitan
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
x2 Dragon Dancer, Julia
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Electric Shaper Dragon

Vanguard Fight High School 2013 Summer, Student-only Class Hiroshima Regional Tournament Championship Team
Ichimaru Shoutarou/一丸翔太朗
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x3 Eradicator of the True Flames, Kougaiji
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x3 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x4 Conquering Eradicator, Zuitan
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x3 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x3 Eradicator, Sweep Command Dragon

Okabe Mizuki/岡部瑞生
Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FVG)
x4 Seal Dragon Shading HT
x4 Seal Dragon, Artpitch DT
x4 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
x4 Blue Ray Dracokid CT
Grade 1
x4 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
x4 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x4 Seal Dragon, Kersey
x1 Flame of Promise, Aermo
Grade 2
x4 Bellicosity Dragon
x4 Burning Horn Dragon
x4 Seal Dragon, Corduroy
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord The End
x4 Dragonic Overlord

Toda Yuki/戸田優輝
Grade 0
x1 Spring Breeze Messenger (FVG)
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Strike Liberator CT
x4 Weapons Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
Grade 1
x2 Liberator of the Future, Llew
x4 Curved Blade Liberator, Josephus
x2 Little Liberator, Marron
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
x2 Liberator, Flare Mane Stallion
Grade 2
x2 Liberator of the Flute, Escrad
x2 Blaster Blade Liberator
x4 Liberator of Silence, Gallatin
x2 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
x2 Zoigal Liberator
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred
x2 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot
x1 Wild Dancing Liberator, Mailshion

News: Restricted List Additions, National Championship Information

This morning the Japanese format's restricted list was updated, with the effects of the modification taking place on January 1st 2013, to coincide with the coming of the new year. While the previous version of the list only restricted Barcgal from being the first vanguard, and up to four him could still be included in a deck, the new list also restricts all of the following cards to two copies in the deck, including if they are the first vanguard. This means that any combination of the following cards can only exist at a maximum of two.

Royal Paladin

• King of Knights, Alfred
• Majesty Lord Blaster
• Wingal Brave

Kagerou

• Lizard Soldier, Conroe
• Dragonic Overlord The End

Oracle Think Tank

• Silent Tom
• Godhawk, Ichibyoshi
• Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

As an example, one copy of Alfred and one copy of Wingal Brave would be allowed, but two Alfred and one Brave would not. One Ichibyoshi and one Full Moon could be included, but that deck could not have Silent Tom in it, and no other combinations which allow for Tsukuyomi to retain her 11000 power is permitted because she requires Ichibyoshi to be in the soul.

Widely seen as a move to realign older cards with the reduced power scale of new ones, this has drastically cut down the viability of many top decks of the past, by preventing The End's persona blast from landing multiple times, hurting the ride consistency of the Alfred-based decks that have swarmed the format following the rise of national champion Gotou Kiyomi earlier this year, and preventing Tsukuyomi decks like those of Tanaka Shouta from using the Goddess of the Full Moon as the deck's only grade 3. The restriction on Godhawk also completely prevents two or more Full Moon from being used in a deck. Conspicuously, the Galahad line with skills very close to Tsukuyomi's is not restricted, meaning that the Oracle Think Tank restrictions are solely to prevent play of the Tsukuyomi series and encourage fighters to convert to CoCo, Battle Sister or the Goddess of the Sun deck.

This is the first time that the restricted list has been updated for the Japanese format since September of 2011, and the changes are already being met with criticism as a means of artificially forcing fighters to convert to newer decks. Overseas, Japanese cardfighters on twitter and on blogs are simultaneously praising the list, saying farewell to The End, while also mourning the loss of Tsukuyomi and Majesty Lord Blaster. The current prediction over there is that the new format heavily favors Gold Paladin and CoCo, with those two decks potentially reaching the same level of proliferation as The End once had. As FR2013 does not start until May, our best bet for examining this for the time being are minor events and team tournaments, which Bushiroad tends to hold before the Summer championships. Viewers of the anime dislike the list because it appears as though the main character's cards are being sealed again, much as they were in the Asia Circuit Stage side event.

In other news, Japan's senior national champion for Winter 2012 is Nakamura Seishirou, whose Royal Paladin deck has continued an unbroken chain of Royal dominance at the national level. This is the first time that a Majesty Lord Blaster deck has taken the championship title, as in the previous tournament Kiyomi's Alfred deck took the cup. Neither of their decks, nor those of their predecessors Masuda Yuusaku and Shitakawachi Kouta, will be viable in the January-on format.

If and when these restrictions will apply to the English format is uncertain, but the release of the fifth booster set, Awakening of Twin Blades, is a very likely possibility. While the official Facebook page claims that there are "no plans" to implement these changes to the English game, this could be seen as taking the English-language pro scene "hostage," as if these decks do perform as well in the EN format as they did on the JPN side, the restrictions could be implemented in the future, enforcing the existing Gold Paladin dominance.

Furthermore, back in May a similar claim was made by them regarding the now-infamous Barcgal, who was still restricted around the release of VGE-BT03, just as he was for the Japanese release of Demonic Lord Invasion. Overall, neither the English nor Japanese player base is very receptive to the changes, with some shops already preparing to adopt house rules that abandon the restricted list as illegitimate. Fearing an eventual rise of the new list abroad, a petition against the restrictions emerged within 24 hours of the announcement, operating under the slogan of "Don't Make Her Cry" with regards to the restricted Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi.

Spotlight: Tanaka Shouta/田中将太

Fighter's Spotlight is an ongoing project concerned with tracking real-world professional cardfighters across the globe.

Tanaka Shouta/田中将太

Age: Unknown; Seniors Division
Titles Won: Sendai Regional Champion (Senior Class)
Current Status: Sendai Regional Champion (Reigning)
Deck Type: Oracle Think Tank (Tsukuyomi)
Tanaka Shouta is the representative for Sendai in the Fighter's Climax 2012 winter national championship. Breaking a two-year tradition of Sendai representatives being Royal Paladin cardfighters, Tanaka is the first Tsukuyomi-based fighter to qualify for the senior championships since the Grand Prix. He is also the second such representative to be the champion of their region, after Komoto Takuya. His entry comes as a surprise to many, as the tournament environment of the time was dominated by crossride-endowed Kagerou, then thought to have outmoded Tsukuyomi as the defensive deck of the year.

Decks and Play Style
Tanaka's Tsukuyomi deck features many contemporary innovations over Komoto's, most noticeable among them the inclusion of only four grade 3s. A trend that first emerged in the FR2012 Trio Fights, the line of thinking behind this is that by using the Godhawk-Tsukuyomi line's search skills, grade security on par with running eight grade 3s can be achieved using only four. Thus, rather than try to maximize his available security using the line, Tanaka instead uses the skills to devote other slots in the deck to grade 2 units.

His trigger makeup is also interesting in that it consists entirely of critical and heal triggers, without the draws now standardized in professional play. This is compensated for both with Tsukuyomi's own counterblast skill, and with the draw skill of Luck Bird; unusual for a Tsukuyomi deck in that it takes away from the soul and therefore potentially becomes a hindrance to his overall strategy, Luck Bird is fueled both by Tsukuyomi's draw and by the soulcharging made available by Tanaka's maximized count of Oracle Guardian, Red-Eye. The trade off of these changes is that they give him further defensive power on par with and exceeding The End, but they also put Tanaka in greater risk of decking out.

Also unusual is that Tanaka's deck does not include Dark Cat among its grade 1s. The logic behind this is that Dark Cat gives cards to the opponent as well as himself, while Luck Bird functions as an adequate substitute that confers no such defensive strength, giving Tanaka an advantage over other decks of this type.

Winter 2012 Regional Tournament, Sendai Seniors Division (Japan)
Card Pool: TD01-BT08, PR 0001-0079
Grade 0
x1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi (FVG)
x4 Lozenge Magus HT
x4 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x4 Psychic Bird CT
x4 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
Grade 1
x4 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x2 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x4 Luck Bird
x4 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi
Grade 2
x3 Battle Sister, Mocha
x4 Silent Tom
x4 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
x4 Oracle Guardian, Red-Eye
Grade 3
x4 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

Scarlet Witch versus Full Moon

By rawritzrichii, seek consent before reposting.

What needs to be understood before we begin today is that all Oracle Think Tank decks are using essentially the same strategy. They differ only in the means by which the strategy comes together. OraThin draws many cards to outlast the opponent with smart defense while using their unique access to every card in their deck to quickly set up a particular offense. So despite their differences in play, all three OraThin decks currently available to the English game, and the four available to the Japanese game, have the same ultimate goal.

However, one of these decks has been a national championship deck and the others have not. Much like The End and Majesty Lord Blaster, Tsukuyomi has been a very popular deck since her introduction, but until the past week none of these decks had ever taken a national title, and the Full Moon strategy still has yet to. There are several ways to examine this, but first consider how many cards each deck actively gains. Under ideal circumstances in which 6 cards enter the soul, Tsukuyomi generally sees two succesful superior rides per game and with one CB2 a net advantage of +3 while sometimes adding a temporary -1 to the opponent for the turn with Euryale. That's a total difference of four cards. CoCo on the other hand, calls LuLu, uses her soulblast and CoCo's counterblast for +1, +1 and +2. Similar to Tsukuyomi, that's a four-card difference.

The divide between them comes in methods. LuLu will never fail as long as the soul is conserved for a grade 3 ride, and CoCo will likewise always go off as long as she has two damage open, while it is very possible for Tsukuyomi to never get off a superior ride or six soul. Unless the six-soul criteria is met, there can be no advantage for the Goddess, so CoCo is more consistent. The next divide is in how cards are handled--Tsukuyomi is constantly soulcharging with Red-Eye, her own skill and Amaterasu. This removes many more cards from the deck than with the Scarlet Witch, and all happens on top of taking more cards out of the deck with superior rides. Under the ideal circumstances previously mentioned, in these ways a Full Moon deck would take out eight cards from the deck, two from rides, two from Red-Eye, two from Goddess of the Half Moon's soulcharge skill and two from Full Moon's draw skill. About eleven other cards would come out by the end of the third turn through normal play (draw, damage and drive check), with six leaving the deck at the start of the game for 25 total--half of the deck. Compare to CoCo's ideal play, which by the same time has 21 out and 29 in. Under these conditions, it would take CoCo about two-to-three turns longer to deck out than Tsukuyomi, and that too is a fundamental difference.

Both decks achieve the same number of extra cards, but CoCo does so without decking out as quickly. And while Tsukuyomi has access to Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime to form up with Gemini for base 20000 lines, CoCo has an arguably easier time creating the 18000 rearguard lines that are more important to the postcrossride format. While both decks have access to Battle Sister, Mocha, who makes a very easy 18000 line with Dark Cat, only CoCo can use Glace, who forms the same line under the conditions of having zero soul and is thus much easier to trigger than Tagitsuhime. CoCo's access to Sakuya as a backup vanguard is also helpful because it allows for an extra 10000 shield to be grabbed off of LuLu, and both units can break 23000 power with Milk for combating The End, Great Daiyuusha and similar units while Tsukuyomi's power is capped at 21000.

Until the arrival of the restricted list in December 2012, both decks had access to Silent Tom in the Japanese scene, where the two decks have been primarily open for comparison. Since Silent Tom outshines Tagitsuhime so thoroughly by requiring the same number of lost cards from all but crossrides, without the soul restriction, there has been a certain mentality of late that if Tom, Glace and Mocha can all be best used by CoCo while Tagitsuhime does not come with the same consistency, then the Scarlet Witch may as well be run instead of her to begin with due to having greater consistency and rearguard support.

At the WCS2012 Chicago regional tournament, one thing that I continually noticed was that Tsukuyomi decks were not usually losing their fights, but were instead decking out. Memorably, one finalist commented that he would "die on his own sword" rather than lose to Bastianelli's Duke Dragon deck in the top four, and ended up drive checking all of the remaining cards in his deck. Tsukuyomi filled third and fourth place in the regional because of these deck-outs. It's no coincidence--the build can defend virtually forever, but the deck itself lacks the same stamina as its fighters. If Tsukuyomi were to one day receive support cards that could take cards out of the drop zone and inject them back into the deck, then she may see a resurgence in the pro scene, but as the deck is already very well off without additional cards and Bushiroad seems intent on creating new styles of play rather than bolstering old ones, for now it appears that it's CoCo's turn for the spotlight.

In summary, Tsukuyomi's key problems are the toll that her soulcharging takes on her deck, her inability to break 23000 power, her lack of access to low-maintenance rearguards, and Amaterasu not providing equal benefits when compared to Sakuya as an alternative winning image. CoCo's strengths give her a distinct advantage by answering all of these problems, but the new model of Full Moon deck presented by Tanaka Shouta and his contemporaries introduces new factors by giving greater grade security, additional pressure from maximized Tom, Red-Eye counts in addition to Mocha, and not being reliant on Dark Cat to reach the deck's stack. Whether or not this type of Tsukuyomi deck will prove as successful in the English format where CoCo is being established simultaneously rather than after the fact, and how the new restriction-enforced Goddess of the Sun-Full Moon hybrid deck will be able cope with these old challenges in the Japanese format will have to evaluated in the future. For the time being, upcoming event tournaments and Fighter's Road 2013 seem to be our best bet for further analyzing these decks in the days to come.

Oracle Think Tank Extra Study Material: Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

 Photo by rawritzrichii, not to be reposted elsewhere without the original photographer's express permission.

VGE-BT03: Demonic Lord Invasion introduces a new play style for OraThin. Essentially an extension of their divination strategy, this build is characterized by making use of a high amount of soul and the Godhawk-Tsukuyomi line to enhance its ability to predict the future.

Ichibyoshi, seemingly an analogue for the mythic Yatagarasu bird that embodied the will of heaven, is Tsukuyomi's herald; accordingly, his one and only skill is to look at anywhere from 0 to 5 cards from the top of the deck to bring her Crescent Moon form into the field through a superior ride. During the initial release of set 3 this was considered the skill's only utility, but Misaki has taught us better since then. The skill also requires any other cards examined in this way to be sent to the bottom of the deck, in whatever order his cardfighter desires. So if the skill succeeds, then that gives an immediate one-card advantage, while even if it fails it can be combined with subsequent entries in the moon goddess line to stack the deck through careful trigger placement.

Crescent and Half Moon Tsukuyomi each search five cards in an identical fashion. Because all forms of Tsukuyomi are ridden from the deck, this protects the player from having to pay the cost of riding, giving a total three card advantage at its maximum potential. While this doesn't directly add any cards to the hand, preserving it gives the same general effect as that's three cards more to guard with, or three more calls that aren't straining your advantage. Even if none of the superior rides are successful, so long as you normal ride each entry in the series, then on the turn that you reach grade 3 you have a staggering 15 card stack on the bottom of your (usually) 34-35 card deck instead of 12/31 or 12/32. So when the rides are unsuccessful, you still have the same general number of cards to dig through to reach your stack as you would with successful rides.

This method of riding does come with drawbacks. Each form of Tsukuyomi is weaker than standard units of similar grade, and her final form is overall weakened if any of the other Tsukuyomi cards are missing from the soul. And while Amaterasu could consistently reach 20000 power with Milk even if she had just two cards in hand before her drive check, and get as high as 24000 with four in hand, Tsukuyomi with even one piece missing from her soul maxes out at 19000. It's not a primary concern for the English scene at the moment, but Amaterasu's 24000 is also a more serious threat to crossride units, while Tsukuyomi's 21000 is the same as Amaterasu with only two cards.

So just as Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto in myth shared his place in the heavens with Amaterasu, our Tsukuyomi can be complemented well by including Amaterasu in the deck. In addition to her inherent divination skill allowing the stack to be further built up when ridden as an alternative to Tsuku, by making her the only other grade 3 in the deck, that ensures that so long as Milk is in the back line, you will almost always have a 21000+ power vanguard. And if ridden correctly from Godhawk up to Goddess of the Half Moon, Half Moon's soulcharge 2 will ensure that riding Amaterasu as your grade 3 will leave you with a soul of six once the main phase has passed, just two cards away from being able to threaten with a megablast.

For additional soul support, Oracle Guardian Red-Eye can soulcharge 1 when his attack hits, simultaneously building up for either a megablast or Tsukuyomi's draw skill while also removing another card from the top of the deck to reach your stack. Blue-Eye is less recommendable due to having only 5000 power, which limits his boost to 11000-power Tsukuyomi units, and his skill is only active when you already have six soul, allowing you to send a card to the bottom of your stack while drawing from the deck. This is a great maneuver, as it simultaneously shaves off another card while building those on the stack, effectively letting you get 2 cards closer to your stack instead of just 1, but the price is a 5000 power unit that simply can't form a 16000-power line with anything but the Goddess of the Full Moon.

Twin Swords Awakening introduces a trio of new cards to support six-soul OraThin. Hare of Inaba soulcharges from the hand when called, which puts you at a disadvantage, but the ability to choose which card to soulcharge means that you can add in missing pieces of Tsukuyomi while also adding a sixth card in the event that Red-Eye is being guarded or Amaterasu isn't available. Evil-eye Princess, Euryale is the first card to utilize the bind mechanic, binding a card from the opponent's hand when she's ridden or called and you have six or more soul. While that card returns to the opponent's hand in the end phase, it temporarily puts them at a one card disadvantage in a deck where you most likely already have at least a two card lead. Euryale naturally forms a complementary formation with a Tsukuyomi vanguard and Silent Tom in the opposite column, removing one card from the opponent's hand while demanding seven cards with at least a 6000-power booster behind Euryale, and a Tsukuyomi-Milk and Silent Tom-Gemini lineup.

Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime meanwhile is a 9000-power grade 2 that gains +3000 power while attacking. Like Euryale, this skill is restricted by six soul rules, and like similar grade 2s for RoyPala, ShadowPala and Kagerou, Tagitsuhime maxes out at 20000 power. Whether she's worth the investment over or in concert with Wiseman and Tom is an issue of personal experience, as that 20000 power is useful against top decks like Gold Paladin, but in the face of 11000 and higher units like those found in Nova Grappler and Dimension Police, Tom becomes more effective on the principle that he demands multiple cards to form a 10000-power shield instead of a single trigger unit to defend with. In crossride formats Tagitsuhime does have an important place for forming easy 18000-power lines, so she is a card that gets better with age.

Since the Tsukuyomi play style is naturally supported by existing divination cards like Cocoa, it's a very organic evolution for any OraThin cardfighter, and is used by a number of professionals in Japan's team tournaments. As some closing notes, these are the general probabilities for a successful superior ride each turn, taking into account how many cards have been removed from the deck through drive and damage checks (supposing 2 damage checks per turn up until G3), draws, Godhawk-Tsuku stacking skills and Tsukuyomi's grade 2 soulcharge. These numbers assume that each superior ride is successful, that the Tsukuyomi cardfighter takes the first turn, and that four of the next card in the line remains in the deck after each ride.

Godhawk, Ichibyoshi - 40.18%

Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi - 47.66%

Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi - 58.31%

Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi - 79.20%

Next time I come back to Oracle Think Tank, it will be to discuss their coming empty soul play style from set 7, "Rampage of the Beast King."

Character: Tokura Misaki

"There are some things I don't want to remember." 
"Gentle light that illuminates the darkness...your smile will envelop the world. I ride the Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi!"

Tokura Misaki/戸倉ミサキ
Age: 16¹
Birthday: November 1⁵
Voice Actor(s): Kitta Izumi(Japanese)², Carol Anne Day(English)³, Yun Mi Na(Korean)⁴
Anime Biography: A girl with perfect memory, Misaki works as a clerk at Card Capital. She has never played Vanguard before, but learned all of the rules and cards from years of sitting behind the counter and helping customers. Probably the most tragic member of Q4.

Spoiler warning: Season 1 details follow.
Ten years ago, Misaki's parents died in a horrible car crash. Both vehicles were set on fire in the accident; while the rain that night prevented extensive damage to the neighboring area and bystanders, her parents could not be saved. This was the same night that Misaki's father, the original co-owner of Card Capital alongside her mother, had promised to teach her to play Vanguard.

Then six, Misaki arrived on the scene too early. Based on the brief shots presented, she saw the bodies directly. This incident is what brought on Misaki's perfect memory, and gave her lasting symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Misaki's perfect memory preserves every moment of her life in exact detail. Playing Vanguard is a trigger which forces these memories to resurface violently, and the memory of her parents' fatal crash comes back to her as a recurring dream.

Following the Kanto regional competition, a game of Vanguard on the anniversary of their deaths brings on a relapse of memory which leads Misaki to quit Q4 for good. Ending the day with a complete breakdown, Misaki chooses to leave the sport her parents championed behind.

Shortly after however, Aichi's younger sister Emi asks Misaki to play with her. Through her match with Emi, Misaki recalls why her parents played Vanguard to begin with, and realizes that even though this game brought her sadness, it also brought her friends that she chose to ignore.

During their first national competition, Misaki is paired against Asaka in the Quadrifoglio-Foo Fighter AL4 round. While Misaki had previously chosen to use the deck her father had constructed for her, a fundamental weakness in that deck is exposed during her fight with AL4's Assassin--it's not up to date, and not very well built. Despite being able to ride all forms of Tsukuyomi, the Pale Moon fighter overwhelms her, and Misaki takes the first of Q4's losses in that match up. After this, Misaki resolves to learn more about Vanguard, and reconstructs her deck at the training camp Q4 later conducts with Team Caesar.

While she has minimal screen time up until then, during the second competition Misaki takes to the frontline, hatching a plan along with Kamui to hold Aichi's PSY Qualia at bay. By taking the first rounds in every match up, they try to prevent him from finding opportunities to develop the power further, keeping Aichi from being absorbed by Qualia.

Ultimately this plan fails when Team Q4 is paired up against Foo Fighter Brilliant Stars, leading to Misaki's eventual defeat, and Kai taking the stage against Bidou. When Aichi does finally return, Misaki welcomes him home with the rest of Quadrifoglio.

In the semifinals Misaki is paired up against Yuri, but proves the weaker of the two. Playing by statistics instead of heart, Misaki is overwhelmed by the arrogant, imperialistic Yuri. Ultimately, Misaki decides that she was not wrong in fighting the way she did, and chooses instead to refocus on her upcoming rematch with the Assassin.

This is Misaki's crowning fight, utilizing the full strength of her best Oracle Think Tank cards to perfectly arrange her deck such that she knows every card she's going to trigger. By wielding multiple Euryale cards, Misaki is able to bind Asaka's hand and prevent the Assassin from guarding as she did in their last match. Coming away victorious, Misaki passes the bar to Aichi, and leaves the final match against Ren to him,.

Spoilers end here.

During the Asia Circuit, Misaki rejoins Q4. However, she consistently experiences troubles with limit break, a new mechanic that pushes fighters to the limits of their endurance, and as they participate in both Singapore and Seoul, Tokura struggles to find what her deck is missing most.

Manga Biography: As in the anime, Misaki is a clerk at Card Capital. Here however, she is implied to have feelings for Aichi. Shin refers to him as "having become her vanguard." She shares her anime counterparts' back story, though her perfect memory and the context relating to it are not confirmed. Due to the more gangster-like behavior of the Foo Fighters, she is slightly more protective of Aichi and her other friends than in the anime. She is the first shown to fight Suzugamori Ren, losing to his Phantom Blaster Dragon, and she carries great animosity against him for this.

Universal Notes: Misaki uses the Japanese pronoun "Watashi," which is usually gender-neutral but can also be feminine. Asaka is her counterpart.

Fan Culture: Once chapter 13 was made available, the English fanguard took to calling Misaki "MisaQ," after how Ren nicknamed her in the manga.

Decks and Play Style
Out of all of the characters, Misaki has the most variation in decks. Her first, third, fourth and fifth decks are all Oracle Think-Tank based, and her first is primarily geared around using Battle Sister Cocoa and CEO Amaterasu to predetermine triggers, while Maiden of Libra and Apollon are used for draw power.

Rides 4-24 (32/50 cards)
Grade 0
x2 Lozenge Magus HT (FVG)
x2 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x3 Dream Eater DT
x2 Miracle Kid DT
x2 Psychic Bird CT
Grade 1
x2 Battle Sister Cocoa
x2 Battle Sister Chocolat
x2 Oracle Guardian Gemini
x2 Weather Girl, Milk (BT01/055)
x1 Weather Girl, Milk (TD04/009)
x2 Luck Bird
Grade 2
x2 Silent Tom
x2 Maiden of Libra
x2 Oracle Guardian, Wiseman
Grade 3
x1 CEO Amaterasu
x2 Oracle Guardian Apollon
x1 Oracle Guardian Hermes

Misaki's second deck is a constructed Nova Grappler deck that uses counterblasts to gain extra power. Her key cards are Storm, who unflips damage to reuse those counterblasts, and Death Metal Droid, which is her primary attacker.

Ride 25 (20/50 cards)

Grade 0
x2 Battleraizer ST (FVG)
x1 Cannon Ball ST
x1 Round Girl, Clara HT
x1 Shining Lady CT
Grade 1
x2 Oasis Girl
x1 Battering Minotaur
x1 Screamin' and Dancin' Announcer, Shout
x2 Queen of Heart
x1 Tough Boy
Grade 2
x2 Super Electromagnetic Being Storm
x2 NGM Prototype
x1 King of Sword
Grade 3
x1 Death Metal Droid
x1 Mr. Invincible
x1 Gold Rutile

Misaki's third deck is built around Goddess of the Crescent/Half/Full Moon superior ride skills, guaranteeing grade security and hand advantage all throughout the game. However, because the deck was built ten years ago by a relatively unskilled player, it is not as good as she wishes it was.

Rides 25-34 (34/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi (FVG)
x3 Dream Eater DT
x2 Psychic Bird CT
x1 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x3 Lozenge Magus HT (TD04/015)
Grade 1
x3 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x3 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x3 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi
x2 Weather Girl, Milk (TD04/009)
x2 Weather Girl, Milk (BT01/055)
Grade 2
x3 Silent Tom
x1 Maiden of Libra
x1 Oracle Guardian, Wiseman
x2 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
Grade 3
x1 Scarlet Witch, Koko
x2 CEO Amaterasu
x1 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

Her fourth deck combines previous tactics, striking a balance between Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu. This is her most successful deck, eschewing Silent Tom and many of the Battle Sisters in favor of doing what Oracle Think Tank does best, drawing extra cards. In addition to the Godhawk-Tsukuyomi line, Dark Cat allows her to ride safely from grade 0 to grade 1 while taking nothing away from her hand. Meteobreak Wizard is her preferred rearguard, being a guaranteed 20000-power unit.

Rides 35-51 (41/50 cards)
Grade 0
x3 Psychic Bird CT
x3 Lozenge Magus HT
x3 Dream Eater DT
x4 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi (FVG)
Grade 1 
x1 Circle Magus
x1 Weather Girl, Milk
x3 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x3 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x2 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi
x1 Dark Cat
x1 Battle Sister, Cocoa
Grade 2
x3 Oracle Guardian, Wiseman
x2 Oracle Guardian, Red-Eye
x4 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
Grade 3
x3 CEO Amaterasu
x2 Meteobreak Wizard
x2 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

Her final deck of the season continues Misaki's previous tactics, built as a counter to what Asaka might use against her. White Hare of Inaba allows Misaki to soulcharge freely at the cost of hand advantage, while Red-Eye pulls cards from the deck into her soul. This allows Misaki to easily get all of the Tsukuyomi cards into her soul even when she fails to superior ride; she tends to become overzealous with this strategy and make mistakes, soulcharging units from her hand that would be better spent on the field. In addition to these cards, her deck contains Beauty of the Evil Eye, Euryale, which temporarily lowers the opponent's hand to attempt to prevent them from guarding.

Misaki brings out this deck's full potential in ride 52, combining card skills which send cards to the bottom of her deck in whatever order she desires with her photographic memory. This lets Misaki set her deck up just so that she can deliberately insert double triggers of any kind, then draw the specific number of cards necessary to leave them on the top of the deck for her drive check. This, along with Euryale's skill, allows her to completely lock down an opponent's field while opening up hers.

Rides 52-73 (39/50 cards)
Grade 0
x3 Psychic Bird CT
x3 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
x3 Dream Eater DT
x1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi (FVG)
x1 Lozenge Magus HT
Grade 1
x3 Dark Cat
x4 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi
x3 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x2 White Hare of Inaba
x3 Battle Sister, Chocolat
Grade 2
x4 Oracle Guardian, Red-Eye
x2 Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime
x2 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
Grade 3
x2 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi
x1 CEO Amaterasu
x2 Evil-eye Princess, Euryale

Shortly before ride 72, Misaki rebuilds her deck after experiencing trouble against limit break units. Intending to push for a greater focus on Silent Tom, this ultimately works against her performance. Of Team Q4's members, Misaki comes out as the lowest ranked in the Circuit, fighting to keep up with her teammates and opponents alike.

Rides 73-85 (32/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi (FVG)
x3 Lozenge Magus HT
x2 Dream Eater DT
x1 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
x1 Psychic Bird CT
Grade 1
x3 Goddess of the Crescent, Tsukuyomi
x3 Dark Cat
x2 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x2 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
Grade 2
x2 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
x2 Oracle Guardian, Red-Eye
x2 Silent Tom
x2 Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime
Grade 3
x3 CEO Amaterasu
x1 Evil-eye Princess, Euryale
x2 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

Briefly Misaki borrows Asaka's deck for her match with Ren in 85. Showing a good comprehension of the deck thanks to having played against Asaka's cards before, it's through their match that Tokura is able to devise a new strategy that utilizes her soul in a line more similar to how Pale Moon plays with it, rather than how Oracle Think Tank traditionally makes use of the soul.

Ride 85 (22/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Girl Who Crossed the Gap (FVG)
x2 Poison Juggler CT
x2 Dynamite Juggler CT
x1 Popcorn Boy HT
Grade 1
x2 Midnight Bunny
x1 Darkmetal Bicorn
x2 Skull Juggler
x1 Purple Trapezist
x1 Hades Hypnotist
Grade 2
x1 Mirror Demon
x2 Dancing Princess of the Night Sky
x3 Barking Cerberus
Grade 3
x2 Midnight Invader
x1 Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier

Following the second training camp, Misaki begins to play using what she learned from Pale Moon. By focusing her deck around moving cards out of the soul through superior calls and soulblasts, she reinvents her early draw-focus strategies with an empty soul deck. By combining Little Witch, LuLu and Scarlet Witch, CoCo she's able to draw three cards in a single turn and call a fourth one for an overall four-card advantage, while using Glace and NaNa to exploit her empty soul with power-gain skills. This creates an impregnable defense while also forming a strong front line for pressuring the opponent's hand.

Rides 85-95 (21/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Little Witch, LuLu (FVG)
x2 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x1 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
x1 Psychic Bird CT
Grade 1
x2 Emerald Witch, LaLa
x2 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x1 Dark Cat
x1 Battle Sister, Chocolat
Grade 2
x2 Oracle Guardian, Wiseman
x2 Battle Sister, Glace
x2 Silent Tom
Grade 3
x3 Scarlet Witch, Cocoa
x1 Sky Witch, NaNa

Misaki closes the Circuit by revisiting her old Amaterasu deck, integrating the Goddess of the Sun crossride that she received from the card shop PSY to create a powerful vanguard defense that can also breach 20-21000 power easily and activate the Goddess' limit break, picking any card from her deck when her attack hits and adding it to her hand. To counter the general slowness of crossride strategies, Misaki employs Inaba from her Tsukuyomi deck to soulcharge CEO after riding the Goddess instead of having to ride the former first and wait out a turn.

Rides 95-104 (23/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Supple Bamboo Princess, Kaguya (FVG)
x2 Lozenge Magus HT
x1 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x1 Psychic Bird CT
Grade 1
x1 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x2 Battle Maiden, Sayorihime
x2 Dark Cat
x2 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x2 White Rabbit of Inaba
Grade 2
x3 Battle Deity, Susanoo
x1 Oracle Guardian, Wiseman
x2 Maiden of Libra
Grade 3
x2 CEO Amaterasu
x1 Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu

During Link Joker, Misaki converts over to the new Genesis clan to refocus her studies. Combining her experience from building up a large soul with Tsukuyomi and blasting a small one for skills with CoCo, this Artemis-based deck emphasizes a gradual buildup toward a large soul that is then blasted for grand-scale skills, retiring the opponent's rearguards or gaining power and drawing cards. Having taken even further inspiration from Narumi Asaka in finding new ways to use her soul, Misaki also combines some of the best aspects of Tsukuyomi and CoCo by having a strong 11000 base while controlling her soulcharges and draws to avoid decking out.

Rides 105-Current (26/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Aiming for the Stars, Artemis (FVG)
x2 Battle Maiden, Kukurihime CT
x1 Spark Cockrell ST
x1 Large Pot Witch, Laurie HT
Grade 1
x2 Bowstring of Heaven and Earth, Artemis
x1 Battle Maiden, Tatsutahime
x3 Goddess of Self-Sacrifice, Kushinada
x2 Snipe Snake
Grade 2
x3 Twilight Hunter, Artemis
x2 Broom Witch, Caraway
x2 Witch of Owls, Paprika
x1 Battle Maiden, Sabohime
Grade 3
x2 Witch of Wolves, Saffron
x2 Battle Deity of the Night, Artemis
x1 Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime

In the manga, Misaki's deck is more flexible, able to predict the top cards of the deck to determine whether to draw or drive check them, then use the additional draw power of Oracle Think Tank to fuel more powerful attacks with Promise Daughter. Her key grade 3 is Imperial Daughter, who automatically gains +10000 power and +1 critical when she has no rearguards. This allows for retaliation against fighters that try to clear the field with the skills of cards like Blaster Blade and Barking Dragon Tamer while also having a stronger midgame. In this way, Misaki is a more offensive fighter in the manga, adjusting to each fight as it plays out rather than trying to control it from the onset.

Chapter 3-Current (15/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Lozenge Magus HT (FVG)
x1 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x1 E-Alarmer ST
x2 Psychic Bird CT
Grade 1
x1 Circle Magus
x1 Weather Forecaster, Miss Mist
x1 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x1 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x1 Battle Sister, Maple
Grade 2
x1 Promise Daughter
x1 Battle Sister, Cocoa
x1 Silent Tom
Grade 3
x1 Imperial Daughter

Citations And External Links
1. "戸倉ミサキ." KeroKero Ace Vol. 45 1 Sept. 2011: 12-13. Print. 
2. Cardfight!! Vanguard Ride 1. Crunchyroll, 2011. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.
3. "Cardfight!! Vanguard English Version - NicoNico Channel." NicoNico Channel. NicoNico Douga, 11 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <http://ch.nicovideo.jp/channel/vanguard-dub>.  
4. "Misaki Tokura." MyAnimeList. CraveOnline Media, LLC., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <http://myanimelist.net/character/39494/Misaki_Tokura>.  
5. "Character birthdays." KeroKero Ace Vol. 50 1 Mar. 2012. Print.