News: Second Phantom VGCS Decklists, Duo Tops Running Four Grade 3s

August 9th, 2015. The second Phantom Vanguard Championship site updated today with complete decklists for the top 4 cardfighters, as well as a more complete deck breakdown over what was previously given. While the tournament has been primarily noted as the resurgence of Glendios, in third place was the first Japanese Duo top since the second Kansai Vanguard Championship, over a year ago. Top 8 at the Phantom CS was Healer (Glendios), Toothpick (Sanctuary Guard), Hanta (Duo), Nekono (Glendios), Sanba (Royal Paladin), Gungnir (Revenger), Tomo (Kagerou), and Derrin (Kagerou). Hanta's Duo deck includes just four grade 3s, running additional copies of his first vanguard in place of the remaining ones in order to abuse Darling's ability to return Peace to hand to repeatedly resolve her draw and countercharge skill to add up to four cards to hand. Using this strategy, up to one third of the main deck can be added to hand in a single turn if all of the possible combo pieces come together, and Duo's new legion Nemuel is designed to facilitate this by searching out copies of cards returned to hand.

Deck Breakdown (101 Participants in total)
34 Revenger
22 Royal Paladin
11 Bermuda Triangle
9 Kagerou
6 Great Nature
4 Aqua Force
4 Glendios
3 Narukami
2 Nova Grappler
2 Gold Paladin
1 Dark Irregulars
1 Neo Nectar
1 Tachikaze
1 Touken Ranbu

Shadow Paladin was the most played deck of the Phantom CS, followed by Royal Paladin, and Bermuda Triangle. Glendios had previously topped the Kansai Spring Cup and West Japan VGCS in early May, and has since become a prominent rogue that has popularly superseded the Messiah deck in Japan. Phantom CS champion Healer's Glendios deck was similar to that used at West Japan, running fourteen grade 3s to capitalize on “∞” Glendios' ability to trap the opponent in a full-field lock as much as possible. The addition of Vorium from Sovereign Star Dragon similarly plays into this pursuit of the deck's alternative win condition, adding “Яeverse” units to hand to get five into play as quickly as possible.

First place: Healer/ヒーラー
Grade 0: 17
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x4 Recollection Star-vader, Tellurium HT
x3 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
x3 Star-vader, Jailer Tail DT
x3 Star-vaer, Meteo Liger CT
x3 Star-vader, Spark Doll CT
Grade 1: 13
x4 Flowers in Vacuum, Cosmo Wreath
x2 Sword Draw Star-vader, Vorium
x3 Star-vader, Ruin Magician
x4 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
Grade 2: 6
x4 Star-vader, Magnet Hollow
x2 Star-vader, Colony Maker
Grade 3: 14
x4 Star-vader, “Ω” Glendios
x3 Star-vader, “Яeverse” Cradle
x1 Dragonic Overlord “The Яe-birth”
x1 Maiden of Venus Trap “Яeverse”
x1 Broken Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei “Яeverse”
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon “Яeverse”
x1 Cleanup Celestial, Ramiel “Яeverse”
x1 Deadliest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster “Яeverse”
x1 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier “Яeverse”
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x1 Genesis Dragon, Judgement Messiah
x1 Genesis Dragon, Amnesty Messiah
x2 Nebula Dragon, Big Crunch Dragon
x4 Death Star-vader,  “∞” Glendios

Second place: Toothpick/つまようじ
Grade 0: 17
x1 Shining Knight, Millius (FV)
x4 Jewel Knight, Hilmy HT
x4 Jewel Knight, Noble Stinger CT
x4 Blazing Jewel Knight, Rachelle CT
x4 Seeker, Hallowed Breath Dragon CT
Grade 1: 13
x4 Flashing Jewel Knight, Iseult
x3 Jewel Knight, Sabremy
x4 Laurel Knight, Sicilus
x1 Heat Wind Jewel Knight, Cymbeline
x1 Hidden Sage, Miron
Grade 2: 13
x3 Starlight Violinist
x4 Jewel Knight, Swordmy
x4 Knight of Twin Sword
x2 Transmigration Knight, Brede
Grade 3: 7
x4 Sanctuary Guard Dragon
x3 Sanctuary Guard Guarantee
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x4 Holy Dragon, Sanctuary Guard Regalie
x4 Holy Dragon, Saint Blow Dragon

Third place: Hanta/はんたぁ
Grade 0: 20
x4 Duo Lovers Singer, Darling (FV)
x4 Duo Tropical Healer, Medjerda HT
x4 Duo Love Joker, Chulym CT
x4 Duo Granpus Turn, Shannon CT
x4 Duo Pride Crown, Madeira CT
Grade 1: 14
x4 PRISM-Duo Aria
x2 Duo Clear Parasol, Kura
x4 Duo Petit Etoile, Peace
x4 Duo Gorgeous Lady, Kazuha
Grade 2: 12
x2 Glitter of Yearning, Spica
x2 Duo Kelpie Jockey, Syrdarya
x4 Duo Mini Hat, Rhone
x4 Duo Lovely Devil, Vepar
Grade 3: 4
x4 Duo Lovely Angel, Nemuel
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x1 Snow Elemental, Blizza
x1 Legendary PRISM-Duo, Nectaria
x2 Legend of the Glass Slipper, Amoris
x2 Rain Elemental, Madew
x2 School Etoile, Olivia

Fourth place: Nekono/ねこの
Grade 0: 17
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x4 Taunting Deletor, Gotho HT
x2 Shockwave Star-vader, Dysprosium ST
x4 Exulting Deletor, Maestol DT
x2 Squeezing Deletor, Id DT
x4 Beloved Child of Superstring Theory DT
Grade 1: 9
x4 Flowers in Vacuum, Cosmo Wreath
x1 Grab Hand Gorilla
x2 Rain Elemental, Tear
x2 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
Grade 2: 8
x2 Light Speed Cheetah
x2 Star-vader, Astro Reaper
x4 Star-vader, Cold Death Dragon
Grade 3: 16
x2 Star-vader, Dark Zodiac
x4 Star-vader, “Яeverse” Cradle
x3 Star-vader, “Ω” Glendios
x4 Ice Prison Hades Emperor, Cocytus “Яeverse”
x3 Star-vader, Freeze Ray Dragon
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x4 Rain Elemental, Madew
x2 Death Star-vader,  “∞” Glendios
x2 Nebula Dragon, Big Crunch Dragon

News: Glendios Tops Second Phantom VGCS

August 8th, 2015. This morning Gungnir, winner of the 2014 Hachioji Cup and veteran of the Japanese professional community, tweeted the results of the second Phantom VGCS. First place went to Healer playing Glendios, second to Toothpick with Sanctuary Guard, third to Hunter playing Bermuda Triangle, and fourth to Nekono also playing Glendios. This statement was confirmed by tournament organizer Yuihan, who thanked everyone for their support in holding the tournament. Decklists will likely come out within the next few days. A breakdown of the top 16 cardfighters is provided below.

The Glendios fighters that made the top cut represented a very slim minority of entrants, as they were two of the only four Link Joker cardfighters present, all playing Glendios. The Messiah deck, in spite of initial hype, has not caught on strongly in Japan. Royal and Shadow Paladin have alternately dominated tournament results since the launch of Sovereign Star Dragon, with Kagerou taking a backseat to the two primary Paladin clans. Royal and Shadow together made up almost half the entrants at the Second Phantom CS, with Revengers alone accounting for 34% of participants. It should be noted that the most played deck at this Phantom CS was also not played by anyone in top 4, and that Bermuda Triangle was the third most played deck of the tournament, a trend that has been growing in Japanese play since Academy of Divas' launch.

Deck Breakdown (101 participants in total, 10 decks unreported)
34 Revenger
22 Royal Paladin
11 Bermuda Triangle
9 Kagerou
6 Great Nature
4 Aqua Force
4 Glendios
3 Narukami
2 Nova Grappler
2 Gold Paladin
1 Dark Irregulars
1 Neo Nectar
1 Tachikaze
1 Touken Ranbu

Entry at the Phantom VGCS cost 1500 yen (approx. $12 US at the current exchange rate), and first place won a New Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as entry into a sub-competition for a copy of Splatoon. Second place won an official Amnesty Messiah playmat, as well as one box of Soul Strike Against the Supreme. Third place also won an Amnesty Messiah playmat, and fourth a Lambros mat. The five preliminary rounds used a 30 minute best-of-one format, while the cut to top 16 used a 50-minute best-of-three tournament bracket. The first round of the tournament began at 10:30 AM, with the final preliminary finishing at 1:40 PM, and the cut to top 16 began at 2:40 PM. The finals ended at 6:30 PM, with the tournament dispersed by 8 PM.

The VGCS tournaments are a series of unofficial tournaments organized by fans and cardshops. Unlike Bushiroad's 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.

Today's article was made possible by the donations of our patrons at Patreon. Cardfight Pro is funded by public contributions from readers like you.

News: Touken Ranbu, Shadow Paladin, Genesis Cards Shown in Weekly Broadcast, LINE Stamps for Cardfight!! Vanguard Manga

This morning's weekly broadcast commemorated the launch of Clan Booster 01: Academy of Divas last Friday with a special box opening guest starring Itou Ayasa, the voice behind Cardfight!! Vanguard G's idol character Yatomi Saya. For this box opening, Doctor O had Itou attack him with the units pulled out of their packs using a large paper fan emblazoned with the Harmony symbol, after which he would thank her for hitting him. (The gimmick itself was lifted from the most recent episode of Cardfight!! Vanguard G, turn 34 "The Mermaid Princess of Magallanica.") The box opening was followed by a look at Title Booster 01: Touken Ranbu -ONLINE-'s latest poster, and several cards from both Touken Ranbu -ONLINE- and G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme. The broadcast in its entirety can be viewed below, along with translations of the revealed cards.

In other news, manga author and franchise creator Itou Akira announced over Twitter shortly after the broadcast that the LINE messaging service has added stamps of his Cardfight!! Vanguard characters to their store, allowing users who purchase the stamps to send them as emoticons in their messages. The stamps are colorized versions of specific panels from the first three volumes of Itou's Cardfight!! Vanguard. Readers can purchase the stickers in LINE's in-app store for 50 coins (in-app currency) or $0.99. They can be found by searching for ヴァンガード. Itou, who is credited with the original concept of Cardfight!! Vanguard and began developing the manga in advance of the anime's 2011 debut, has over the past two years had his works published in English by Vertical Inc. The English-translated manga is almost caught up to its Japanese counterpart, with volume 6 having gone on sale last May. Volume 7 will launch on August 25th, and volume 8 on November 3rd. At the current pace, it may be possible for the tenth volume to have a simultaneous launch in both Japanese and English.

Today's broadcast unveiled Horikawa Kunihiro, a grade 1 from the Touken Ranbu clan with the new ability Shinken Hissatsu, "True Sword Special Technique." The Shinken Hissatsu ability can only be used while you have 3 or more damage. Doctor O compared the ability to a limit break in the broadcast, as it has a similar damage restriction, but unlike with limit break Hissatsu is a skill that can be used with rearguard units. Damage restrictions have been seen as redundant in the past, particularly when they require counterblast, as counterblast already restricts one's plays by requiring them to take damage to use skills. Horikawa's Hissatsu makes him a temporary 11000-power booster or attacker in exchange for one counterblast, providing a mid to late-game power option on par with Flail Seeker Isbuzzard.

Horikawa Kunihiro
Auto: Shinken Hissatsu: [Counterblast 1] When this unit is placed on a rearguard circle, you may pay the cost. If you do, soulcharge 1, during that turn, this unit gets Power +4000.

From G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme, Doctor O revealed Genesis and Shadow Paladin cards for each clan's Witch subclan, Cardamon and Adra. Cardamon is an updated version of Chamomile that is specific to the Witch deck, while Adra is a less restrictive print of Fiercebau that is specific to her subclan and its unique conditions.

White Rabbit Witch, Cardamon
Auto: [Counterblast 1] When this unit is placed into the drop zone from the soul, if you have a "Witch" vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, call this card to a rearguard circle, during that turn, this unit gets Power +2000

Secret Book Witch, Adra
Continuous (Rearguard circle): During your turn, if you have a "Witch" Vanguard, and your opponent has 2 or more grade 0 rearguards, this unit gets Power +2000 and "Auto (Rearguard circle): When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, countercharge 1 and soulcharge 1."


Itou Ayasa closed out the broadcast by asking viewers to say with them, "Stand up, myu Vanguard!" (Myu is the verbal tic used by Saya in the anime series.) Over twelve thousand viewers tuned into the broadcast, posting approximately eight thousand comments through NicoNico Douga's live commenting system.

Bushiroad's weekly information bulletins air every Tuesday evening at 8:50 PM Japanese Standard Time. They first began in late January to accommodate a new information distribution model for Cardfight!! Vanguard G, as the amount of card information covered in Monthly Bushiroad magazine decreased and was redirected to other routes of distribution. The previous week featured a fight between Harmony and Duo decks wielded by Doctor O and mascot character Vangarou-kun, while the week before contained the announcement of G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme.

Today's article was made possible by the donations of our patrons at Patreon. Cardfight Pro is funded by public contributions from readers like you.

News: Weekly Broadcast Features Harmony Versus Duo Fight

This morning Bushiroad of Japan's weekly broadcast commemorated the approaching release date of G-Clan Booster 01: Academy of Divas by featuring a fight between celebrity host Doctor O and company mascot Vangarou-kun. Doctor O played the new ♪♪ Harmony deck using Lawlis and Riddhe, while Vangarou-kun played a revamped Duo deck built around Eternal Sister Meer and her breakride from Divas Duet. Doctor O had just been in New York as part of Bushiroad's international Spring Festival earlier this week, and showed off a memento of the trip prior to the fight. Almost twelve thousand viewers tuned in to watch the fight, which is presented below in its entirety.

(Fight begins at 08:04)
Doctor O quickly took the lead with his explosive stride strategy, using the ♪♪ Harmony skills of Extraordinary Freshman Shizuku to remove grade 3s from his deck and ensure he could pay the cost of stride, while also repeatedly drawing off of Lawlis' and Emilia's generation break skills. This put him ahead in card advantage while necessitating very little counterblast, and due to Vangarou-kun running Cadet Shizuku as their first vanguard rather than Duo Lovers Singer Darling, it proved difficult for them to keep up versus the deck's draw power. With Doctor O at such a low damage count, Meer's restanding skill did little to make headway into his hand.

Bushiroad's weekly information bulletins air every Tuesday evening at 8:50 PM Japanese Standard Time. They first began in late January to accommodate a new information distribution model for Cardfight!! Vanguard G, as the amount of card information covered in Monthly Bushiroad magazine decreased and was redirected to other routes of distribution. The previous week contained the announcement of G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme, while the week before featured Ishii Mark (voice of Shindou Chrono) and mascot character Vangarou-kun in a fight using the Link Joker and Gold Paladin decks supported in G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon.

Today's article was made possible by the donations of our patrons at Patreon. Cardfight Pro is funded by public contributions from readers like you.

News: Monthly Bushiroad Spoils PR♥ISM Support, Izaya & Hadar Reprint

This month's issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine has had its street date broken, and fan photographs of the magazine's contents have spoiled legacy support for the PR♥ISM subclan, coming up in Clan Booster 01: Academy of Divas. The magazine cover features Sendou Aichi as a PSY Qualia zombie, an aspect of the most recently serialized manga chapter that commercials for the issue have played up immensely. The issue has also given a glimpse at several upcoming Special Parallel prints of cards in Academy of Divas; these cards all have alternate artwork featuring humanized versions of the booster set's all-mermaid cast on a beach holiday.

PR♥ISM-Promise, Princess Labrador
ACT (Vanguard circle): Once per turn: [Choose a face down card named "PR♥ISM-Promise, Princess Labrador" in your generation zone, turn it face up] If you have a heart card with PR♥ISM in its card name, choose up to two of your rearguards, during this turn they get Power +5000 and "AUTO (Rearguard circle): If this unit attacks or boosts, at the end of that battle, put this unit into your hand."

The section on Bermuda Triangle also revealed that the upcoming "Duo Eternal Sister, Meer" will be an "evolution" (進化 shinka) with a new limit break ability.

PR♥ISM-Promise, Princess Leyte
AUTO: When this unit is put into your hand from a rearguard circle, if you have a PR♥ISM vanguard, countercharge 1/soulcharge 1, choose one of your units, during this turn it gets Power +4000, during this turn, you cannot normal call a "PR♥ISM-Promise, Princess Leyte." (You can call that card by card effects.)

PR♥ISM-Promise, Princess Celtic
AUTO (Vanguard/Rearguard circles): [Counterblast 1 cards with "PR♥ISM" in its card name] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If paid, choose one of your other rearguards, put it into your hand, and if you put it into hand, draw a card.

Duo Love Trump, Chulim (White and Black editions)
AUTO (Rearguard circle): [Counterblast 1, put this unit on top of your deck] When another of your units is returned to hand from a rearguard circle, if you have a "Duo" vanguard, you may pay the cost. If paid, search your deck for up to one card with the same name as the card you returned to hand, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle that deck.

At left are the Special Parallel prints of Lovely Day for a Walk Emilia, and Kukuri, who is labeled as the set's G-perfect defense. Kukuri's skill allows her cardfighter to countercharge 1 when they guard with her, if there is an existing copy of Kukuri in the drop zone after paying the cost for her skill.

The set includes several alternate prints of existing cards, including Miracle Voice Lawlis at right. These prints only exist in SP rarity, and are made as part of the second Bermuda Triangle Summer Vacation event, succeeding the swimsuit edition prints of Top Idol Riviere, Velvet Voice Raindear, Costume Idol Alk, Planet Idol Pacifica and Shangri-La Star Coral.






Lastly, the issue revealed an upcoming reprint of the promotional cards Psychic of Ash Hadar and Psychic of Dust Izaya. Made to commemorate the launch of Sovereign Star Dragon and Izaya's legion revival Psychic of Storm Rigel, the reprint will include two copies of both Izaya and Hadar, packaged with the next month's volume of Monthly Bushiroad magazine.

Today's Card Analysis: Single-minded Girl Riddhe & ♪♪ Harmony

The Japanese card of the day comes from the latest in a series of Harmony units from G-Clan Booster 01: Academy of Divas. Single-minded Girl Riddhe functions like other on-ride units introduced since Generation Stride, bringing with her a non-generation break skill that can be resolved when one will be the second fighter to stride. When used alongside her generation break 2 counterpart, Miracle Voice Lawlis, Riddhe helps form an effective all-around deck that can function well in many different scenarios and against several types of opponents. Riddhe also makes better use of the Harmony mechanics introduced by Academy of Divas, and with proper play can act as a much less situational Alfred for Bermuda Triangle.

AUTO (Vanguard/Rearguard circles): ♪♪ Harmony
CONT (Vanguard circle): Generation break 1: During your turn, this unit gets Power +5000 for each of your units in ♪♪ Harmony.
AUTO: [Counterblast 1, Soulblast 1] When this unit is placed on the vanguard circle, you may pay the cost. If paid, look at up to 5 cards from the top of your deck, search for up to 1 card with the ♪♪ Harmony ability from among them, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle that deck.

Riddhe's on-ride counterblast 1 soulblast 1 searches the top 5 cards of the deck for another unit with the Harmony skill, and then adds that unit to hand. Her skill is invaluable when going first, as it's a net +1 in card advantage that lets you search out the pieces of your ♪♪ Harmony strategy. This helps the Bermuda deck stand up to opponents that try to deliberately prevent skills from going off by staying at grade 2, and makes better use of the initial ride than riding a breakride or breakstride grade 3. When going second, Riddhe is still valuable since you can search out either herself or Lawlis from the top 5 cards and immediately discard one of those units to stride during the stride step.

Riddhe's generation break 1 is the first skill to make use of the ♪♪ Harmony ability effectively. To use her, you have to understand how this mechanic works; if any unit (including units that do not have ♪♪ Harmony) is placed in the same column as Riddhe, both units will be in Harmony. If either unit leaves the field, neither is in Harmony. This means that if any units are in Harmony at all, there will always be a minimum of two in that state. Like a pair of idols singing a duet, they're not in Harmony anymore if one of them falls off the stage. Also note that ♪♪ Harmony is not an instance, but a state like rest and stand; it is either on or off, and multiple Harmonies on a single unit cannot be accrued. Because Riddhe's generation break 1 is worded to receive its power bonus for every unit in Harmony, and by nature of the ♪♪ Harmony ability there will always be a minimum of two units in that state, if Riddhe is active at all she will have a +10000 power bonus. If any of your rearguard columns and Riddhe are also in Harmony with their respective boosters, this will translate to a +20000 power boost. If all three columns are in Harmony, Riddhe's power will cap at 41000 power unboosted, completely exceeding the likes of the King of Knights' Vanguard Ezzell or the Liberator of the Round Table Alfred. In terms of raw power, Riddhe is a new frontier.

One problem that Riddhe doesn't entirely solve is the stapling of ♪♪ Harmony to generation break. It's very arguable that because being in Harmony is already a strict condition, Bermuda Triangle's skills ought not to have the generation break restriction attached at all. Generation break requires waiting for several turns for skills to go online, while being in Harmony requires jealously safeguarding one's cards in hand from retire and lock skills by not playing them at all until ♪♪ Harmony can be used. When put together, generation break and ♪♪ Harmony restrictions translate to not playing any rearguards until both cardfighters are at grade 3, and the comparative reward for this passive play is low. Even in the case of Riddhe, whose power output for input dramatically exceeds that of most stride units, this skill synergizes poorly with not playing rearguards until the turn before one uses Riddhe's generation break, and doesn't provide an adequate means of paying back for all the time spent biding. The opponent will generally be at 3 damage by the time Riddhe first goes online, but to use her high power effectively you need them to be at at least 4 damage.

The existing Harmony units are the new first vanguard Akari, the breakstride Lawlis (at left), the grade 1 Shizuku, and the generation break attackers Lurrie and Sanya. Lurrie and Sanya are standard 10000-power and 12000-power grade 1 and grade 2 attackers, but have the additional caveat of needing to be in Harmony to function, with the trade-off that they can attack either a rearguard or a vanguard. Standard generation break attackers can only attack a vanguard for their skill. But Duo and PR♥ISM subclan attackers can already attack both vanguards and rearguards while not needing to wait to be at grade 3 to do so; generation break attackers are already a step backwards from subclan attackers, and so the integration of ♪♪ Harmony with generation break is a further step down. There is a real need for ♪♪ Harmony units that do not need to be at generation break 1 for their skills to resolve.

In the case of Miracle Voice Lawlis, she's intended to synergize with First Lesson Akari (at right). Lawlis' on-stride counterblast returns a rearguard to hand and then draws a card for a net +1, but one of the advantages to this is that it resets Akari's Harmony. Because Lawlis is replaced by the unit that you stride, the Harmony she establishes with Akari when she rides disappears on-stride. Returning Akari to hand lets you play her to a rearguard column and follow her up by playing another rearguard, putting both Akari's generation break and ♪♪ Harmony ability online. Then you can use Akari's skill to put her into the soul, return the rearguard you called to put her in Harmony to hand, and draw another card. If used with the on-return counterblast of Lovely Day for a Walk Emilia from the same set, you can draw yet another card from Emilia for another net +1.

As a modern card advantage deck, the new Bermuda Triangle does have the benefit of being able to draw an extra card for every counterblast available. But unlike its contemporary, post-Generation Stride Oracle Think Tank, the new breed of Bermuda Triangle is discouraged from playing cards early game and has stringent requirements attached while also having no effective means of destroying the opponent at this time.

Drawing more cards on its own does not kill; it is telling that the height of Bermuda Triangle in the history of professional play is the rise of Duo Temptation Reit and her breakride Meer. What does it say that when Bermuda Triangle was given a revival legion in Monthly Bushiroad magazine, the unit created to revive Riviere was a restanding vanguard rather than a unit that supported Riviere herself? Every version of Bermuda Triangle that has placed in a major tournament since Divas' Duet has integrated either the stand skills of Reit, Trois or both. Prior to this, the primary deck for Bermuda Triangle in professional play was PR♥ISM-Promise Labrador, a Phantom Blaster Dragon clone that followed the formula of Death Army Cosmo Lord. Lawlis' generation break 2 is a Labrador for the current generation, dividing up the power and critical bonus into two instances of +5000 power on any two units and an additional critical for herself. Like generation break and Harmony itself, this is a step back from where Bermuda Triangle had progressed; and like virtually every clan of the game's ongoing fifth block, Bermuda Triangle is in danger of falling into a position where a previously existing subclan threatens to overtake the generation break support entirely by picking and choosing which units of the new support to integrate. Decks with strong early and midgame units that don't rely on generation break generally outcompete the new support, adopting the G-perfect defense cards from each set for their unflipping properties, clones of Steam Fighter Amber for their synergy with the existing deck, the stride units themselves and whichever support cards make the least trouble for that subclan's existing base of support. To avoid being overtaken by Duo or PR♥ISM, the Harmony deck needs to justify the long wait time with explosive gameplay.

While Riddhe is the first unit that makes the simultaneous wait for generation break and Harmony worthwhile, that doesn't change the awkward timing with which her massive center lane comes into play. There is an immediate solution in Fighter's Collection 2015, which provided Bermuda Triangle with its current set of strides. In particular, Legend of the Glass Slipper Amoris can return up to two units to hand when stridden, and by using this in conjunction with Lawlis' on-stride skill you can return three rearguards from the field to the hand. This doesn't address the issue of retire and lock potentially taking those rearguards away before Amoris can hit the field, but for the purposes of being able to field your ♪♪ Harmony units without losing access to their skills later, Amoris is a strong play that lets you treat your hand and field as one in the same. With her stride it's possible to field Shizuku and Sanya early on as a 16000-power lane, then when you reach grade 3 stride into Amoris to return both units to hand and call them again to put them in Harmony and set off their skills. The greater concern is if the first clan booster will provide any strides on the level of Amoris in terms of utility, and if the remaining support can do better than Riddhe.

As a whole the ♪♪ Harmony strategy has several holes in it that Academy of Divas has only just begun to address. Riddhe is one of the first cards in the set to make good use of its conditions, by benefiting from every unit in Harmony rather than having a more traditional skill attached to Harmony conditions. If Academy of Divas takes the Riddhe route of gaining bonuses for each Harmonized unit in play, the results will snowball into a strong gameplay variant that stands apart from the old engines.

Today's article was made possible by the donations of our patrons at Patreon. Cardfight Pro is funded by public contributions from readers like you.

News: G-BT03 Release Party Features Messiah Versus Gurguit, Merchandise

"Today is not my birthday." -Ishii Mark

This week's information broadcast guest-starred Ishii Mark, seiyuu for Shindou Chrono in the ongoing anime series Cardfight!! Vanguard G. The broadcast was put on as a launch party for G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon, featuring a live box opening as well as a fight between Ishii Mark and mascot character Vangarou-kun. Ishii and Doctor O both wore party hats for the occasion, prompting the twenty thousand viewers to compare Doctor O to a squid in their comments. After the fight, the first commercial for G-CB01: Academy of Divas was shown, along with several pieces of upcoming merchandise related to Cardfight!! Vanguard G. As part of the Bermuda Summer Festival, fans in Japan will be able to cast their vote for their favorite Bermuda Triangle character from the new booster set in a popularity contest. A recording of the broadcast, including the featured fight and commercial, is provided below along with Ishii and Vangarou-kun's decklists.

After the fight, Doctor O unveiled one of the upcoming cards from Clan Booster 01: Academy of Divas, a remake of Bermuda △ Cadet Shizuku from 2012's Banquet of Divas. The new card is a grade 1, Extraordinary Freshman Shizuku. Like the original unit she's based on, Extraordinary Shizuku searches for a grade 3. Her generation break 1 activates when she enters a state of Harmony (represented as ♪♪), achieved by placing her in the same column as another unit or having that unit enter the same column as her. The moment she enters Harmony, Shizuku can search the top 5 cards of her cardfighter's deck for a grade 3, add it to hand and then shuffle that deck. Since this skill can only be used after achieving generation break, Extraordinary Shizuku can't actually bypass a gradelock like her original incarnation, but the skill can be useful for acquiring stride material cards.

Extraordinary Freshman, Shizuku
AUTO: (Vanguard/Rearguard circles): Harmony (When another of your units appears in the same column as this unit, during this turn, this unit becomes Harmony)
AUTO: (Rearguard circle): Once per turn: Generation break 1: When this unit becomes Harmony, you may look at up to five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one grade 3 card, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your handle, and shuffle that deck.

(Fight begins at 0:27:20 and ends at 0:57:00. The Academy of Divas commercial is at 1:10:04.)

In the course of the fight Ishii stumbled onto one of the Messiah deck's key combos for Arousal Messiah, around the 51 minute mark. By using White Dwarf Lady Battler's on-boost skill to unlock Arousal Messiah and give the boosted Gravity Well Lady Battler +4000 power, Ishii was then able to use Arousal's skill to stand Gravity Well and give her +2000 power during her attack. Although resting a unit is necessary to declare an attack, the attack does not end if the unit becomes stand during that battle. Though this may seem counterintuitive, it allowed Ishii to attack with Gravity Well for 22000 power while in a standing position, then attack with the still-standing Gravity Well in a second battle for 15000 power.

Despite these innovative plays, in general Ishii's command of the deck did not measure up to its extremely technical nature; on his initial Amnesty Messiah turn he used Amnesty's skill and chose to unlock his opponent's rearguards to reach the condition for Amnesty's second critical, even though he had seen Vangarou-kun drive check a perfect defense card earlier in the fight. Unlocking Vangarou-kun's rearguards also prevented Ishii from using Alter Ego Messiah during his opponent's following end phase, causing Amnesty to work against him in the long run.

Doctor O later unveiled two new products from Bushiroad's Cardfight!! Vanguard G merchandise line, a set of six character-themed strap lights, and a game pouch intended to carry a portable game system. The interior of the pouch features Shindou Chrono with Chronojet Dragon, and the exterior uses the same silver stride circle displayed on the backs of Japanese edition grade 4s.

Bushiroad's weekly information bulletins air every Tuesday evening at 8:00 PM Japanese Standard Time. They first began in late January to accommodate a new information distribution model for Cardfight!! Vanguard G, as the amount of card information covered in Monthly Bushiroad magazine decreased and was redirected to other routes of distribution. The previous week featured Morishita Shuuta (Nitta Shin) and Yanagita Junichi (Anjou Mamoru) in a fight demonstrating the strengths of the Murakumo and Kagerou decks supported by Sovereign Star Dragon.

Today's article was made possible by the donations of our patrons at Patreon. Cardfight Pro is funded by public contributions from readers like you.

Ishii Mark's Link Joker deck
Grade 4 (Generation zone)
x2 Genesis Dragon, Amnesty Messiah
x2 Genesis Dragon, Judgement Messiah
x4 Nebula Dragon, Big Crunch Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Alter Ego Messiah
x4 Neutron Star Lady Gunner
Grade 2
x4 Gravity Well Lady Battler
x4 Arousal Messiah
x3 Sunset Edge, Duskblade
Grade 1
x4 Flower Blooming in the Vacuum, Cosmolis
x4 Destiny Dealer
x2 Dark Metal Chameleon
x2 White Dwarf Lady Battler
x2 Breaker of Keys, Riddle Biter
Grade 0
x1 Spawn of Spiral Nebula (FV)
x4 Asteroid Fenrir CT
x4 Quake Kick Pulse Monk CT
x4 Torn World Lady Healer HT
x4 Superstring Theory Beloved Girl DT

Vangarou-kun's Gold Paladin deck
Grade 4 (Generation zone)
x4 Golden Dragon, Spear Cross Dragon
x1 Galloping Golden Knight, Campbell
x2 Golden Dragon, Surge Point Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Knight of Rising Sunshine, Gurguit
x3 Veteran Knight, Danvalo
x1 Salvation Lion, Grand Ezel Scissors
Grade 2
x3 Knight of Far Arrows, Saphir
x2 Farmgal
x4 Holy Mage, Pwyll
x2 Earth Elemental, Pokkle
Grade 1
x4 Halo Shield, Mark
x4 Knight of Day Break's Light, Golbodok
x3 Knight of Morning's Shadow, Kimarcus
x3 Slaymy
Grade 0
x1 Rising Lionet (FV)
x4 Air Raid Lion CT
x4 Peeping Rabbit DT
x4 Pharmacy Witch HT
x4 Flame of Victory CT

News: Weekly Information Bulletin Shows Spear Cross Dragon, Bermuda Triangle Sleeves Revealed by Duel Portal

This morning Bushiroad of Japan's weekly information bulletin revealed five cards from the upcoming booster set G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon. The new cards, as well as the video itself, are given below. Chief among those revealed is the new Gold Paladin stride Spear Cross Dragon. Spear Cross is another twist on the persona generation stride units that have defined much of the mid to endgame of the current format, but like with Aurageyser Dragon before him, Spear Cross modifies the formula severely.


Golden Dragon, Spear Cross Dragon
AUTO: [Counterblast 2, choose one face down "Golden Dragon, Spear Cross Dragon" from your generation zone, and turn it face up] When this unit appears in the vanguard circle, if there are 1 or more face up cards in your generation zone, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at up to 5 cards from the top of your deck, and for each face-up card in your generation zone, choose 1 of those units, call all of those chosen to empty separate rearguard circles, and shuffle that deck.

Because of Spear Cross' unique on-stride timing, and being only able to pay the cost if there is already a face-up G unit in the generation zone, Spear Cross is functionally similar to the main phase strides that require two or more face-up cards in the generation zone. However, by calling as many rearguards to open circles as there are cards face-up in that zone, Spear Cross also accomplishes superior calling on par with that of Wolf Fang Liberator Garmore and Monarch Sanctuary Alfred. To avoid calling trigger units, a greater depth can be reached using the on-stride counterblast 1 of the grade 3 Gurguit, who superior calls a card from the top four cards of the deck and replaces the remaining ones on the bottom. This gives Spear Cross a net nine card reach, and if used as the second stride of the game will bring out three units for three counterblast; if used as the third it instead brings out four in conjunction with Gurguit. The primary problem faced by Gold Paladin cardfighters at this point is budgeting and countercharging counterblast, as the bevy of both genericized and non-Liberator support in Sovereign Star Dragon opens up multiple deck options to use their stride units with.

Arousal Messiah
AUTO: Generation break 1: When this unit is unlocked, choose up to one of your rearguards, stand it, during this turn it gets Power +2000.

Second to Spear Cross is Arousal Messiah from G-TD05: Fateful Star Messiah, who occupies the space in the trial deck normally given to a base 10000 grade 2. Arousal's skill is useful in conjunction with the Alter Ego & Amnesty Messiahs, as it allows for up to four attacks in the turn by locking Arousal for Alter Ego's on-stride cost, attacking with the other rearguard lane and then Amnesty, unlocking Arousal with Amnesty's counterblast 1 and then using Arousal to stand the rearguard that had just attacked previously.

Sunset Edge, Duskblade
AUTO: Generation break 1: [Counterblast 1] When this unit attacks a vanguard, if it is boosted, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's grade 2 or lesser rearguards, and lock it.

The broadcast also revealed the Japanese edition text for Sunset Edge Duskblade; the English edition print of the card has already been known from posters for the international trial deck. Duskblade is among the first cards to receive this treatment, highlighting the approaching synchronization of the English and Japanese set releases for all.

Breaker of Keys, Riddle Biter
AUTO: Generation break 1: When this unit attacks a vanguard, choose up to one locked card and unlock it. If unlocked, during that battle this unit gets Power +4000.

Finally, Doctor O revealed the trial deck's effect trigger, a Link Joker copy of Margal that gives one unit on the field +3000 power by putting it into the soul. A playset of these draw triggers will be included in every Fateful Star Messiah deck. (Jump to 14:34 to see the triggers.) The broadcast attracted almost twelve thousand viewers during its run and over 6400 comments.

Shining Star of the Academy, Olivia

In other news, Duel Portal has revealed four upcoming sleeves for the Bermuda Triangle clan from Clan Booster 01: Academy of Divas. In order these are Shining Star of the Academy Olivia, Call of the Future Lawlis, Single Minded Young Girl Lydie and Lovely Day for a Walk Emilia. The sleeves have a border design pattern unique to this particular batch of minisleeves, which is more similar to Ultra Pro's Vanguard sleeves rather than Bushiroad's.

Today's article was made possible by the donations of our patrons at Patreon. Cardfight Pro is funded by public contributions from readers like you.

Today's Card Analysis: Magical Yell, Nina

The Japanese card of the day is a Bermuda Triangle promotional card that will be distributed in commemoration for the Japanese release of G-Clan Booster 01: Academy of Divas. In truth Nina's skill is functionally identical to that of an existing card, Duo Clear Parasol Kura, but her skill text also makes a critical revision to the existing key text that has implications for the rest of the game.

AUTO: [Soulblast 2] When this unit is called to a rearguard circle you may pay the cost, if you do, countercharge 2.

Since Cardfight!! Vanguard's first booster set hit in March 2011, the game has included counterblast, soulblast, soulcharge and unflipping as part of its core resource mechanics. Of these, counterblast and unflipping are arguably the most definitive features of Vanguard's core gameplay that differentiate it from existing Trading Card Games, alongside drive checks.

Each player necessarily takes damage in order to get access to more powerful counterblast-dependent skills, and accordingly has to weigh the risk of going to a dangerous threshold like three or four damage more quickly in order to gain access to those game-determining skills sooner. However, unflipping damage has been the odd mechanic out in that it has no formal icons. Nina's publication changes this by rewriting "Choose up to 2 face-down cards in your Damage Zone and flip them face-up" as "countercharge 2." 

Retroactively all instances of unflipping have become countercharge, a means of "filling up" the damage zone without taking damage. This is less intuitive than soulcharging because no cards are actually added to the damage zone and it can only restore what has already been used, but it does clarify for cardfighters one fact of resource management that has not always been completely clear. Nina is just one of many clones of Battle Sister Lemonade, a soulbast 2 unflipper in Oracle Think Tank, and the new wording more clearly explains that with all of these cards one is trading the soul resource for open damage. No less nor greater number of resources are gained than are put in, blasting one resource and charging another in an equal amount. While this has always been true, the new wording and icons associated with it make this fact more obvious, and in turn it's now easier to teach newcomers this core principle of gameplay.

News: ARG Chicago Top 8 & Decklists, Atlanta Championship Upcoming

Alter Reality Games has uploaded recordings of the ARG Chicaco Circuit's top 8 fights to its YouTube channel, showing off the last two of each three games played between Circuit champion Robbie Kohl and top 8 finalists Brian Mei, Antoine Michael Jackson and Christian Maldonado. Kohl has also provided us with some of the decklists gathered from the top 8, but was only able to provide Brian Mei's Great Nature deck and his own “Abyss” build. The videos of the top 8 are given below, with commentary.

In upcoming tournament news, the ARG Atlanta Circuit is imminent, coming up on this weekend on December 7th at the Georgia International Convention Center. $550 in prizes will be awarded to the top 8 as store credit, with the credit becoming cash payout if more than 40 cardfighters attend. Each participant will receive five free booster packs with their $20 entry fee, and the tournament will consist of 45 minute best-of-three rounds. Registration is at 10:00 AM and the tournament will begin at 11:00 AM, so please arrive promptly. You can find more information through the event's Facebook page.

ARG Atlanta will be followed by an Orlando tournament on January 4th. Each of the ARG Circuit events will be accompanied by its own playmat, generally handed out to the top 8 in addition to their prize credit. The ARG Circuit series is publicly endorsed by Cardfight Pro as a professional tournament system. Those who place in the tournament will be recognized by Cardfight Pro as professional cardfighters of the same caliber as those that qualify in the world championships and VGCS tournaments.

Researcher Fox, the crux of Mei's deck.

One of the most noted fighters present at Chicago was Brian Mei, whose Great Nature deck was uncharacteristic of typical top 8 tournament results. Mei's deck was assembled just two days before the Chicago Circuit, and primarily focused on Great Nature's breakride Chatnoir with its legion pair Tester Fox and Researcher Fox. His primary strategy was to use Tester Fox's skills to power up rearguard copies of Researcher Fox, then retire it in the end phase while in legion; Researcher's on-retire skill counterblasts 1 to search the deck for either half of the legion pair so that he breaks even on the retire exchange, then Tester Fox's end phase skill unflips the damage Researcher counterblasted, draws a card and then puts two cards from the drop zone onto the bottom of the deck. In this case, putting the Researcher that was retired onto the bottom of the deck ensures that the one in his hand can search for it next turn, and repeat the whole cycle from square one.

Furthermore, for every copy of Coiling Duckbill called to the field that turn Mei could layer an instance of "[AUTO]: During your end phase, when this unit is put into the drop zone from a rearguard cricle, draw a card." on Researcher Fox, essentially gaining a +1 in card advantage for every card drawn after using Researcher's counterblast. Mei ran four stand triggers in place of draws in his Great Nature deck, taking advantage of the clan's triple rare grade 2 Binoculus Tiger. Every time Binoculus attacks the vanguard he can give +4000 power to another rearguard in exchange for retiring it at the beginning of the end phase, which means that there is no penalty for repeatedly using Binoculus on Researcher Fox. With one stand trigger, it's possible for Researcher to acquire a net +12000 power boost from Binoculus and Tester Fox, making a ~28000 power column.

Mei also ran a single copy of Leo-pald “Яeverse” to round out the grade 3s; “Яeverse” can be a devastating tech card in the endgame in combination with the deck's stand triggers, as “Яeverse” can repeat his limit break any number of times per turn limited only by how many cards it can lock. Since “Яeverse” gives two rearguards +4000 power in exchange for locking one, this establishes two rearguards with the +12000 power boost described above. When break ridden this allows his fighter to attack with two rearguards columns in the range of ~29000 and ~32000 while the vanguard attacks for 21000 power, and then draw two cards at the end of the turn to not just refund the cost of riding but also gain a +1 off of it. With so many options this leaves the deck able to have simultaneously offensive and defensive turns, as seen below.

Mei had wanted to run an additional copy of Coiling Duckbill in his deck but was not able to find room for it, believing that Silver Wolf was more important for building 21000 power rearguard lanes. A 16000 power column can only reach 20000 with a single Binoculus or Tester Fox power boost on it, but a 17000 power column is able to graze its way into 21000. Hence, Silver Wolf is important for getting the deck's various 9000 power grade 2s into that territory.


Versus Kohl's Revenger deck Mei won the unseen first game, but struggled to keep pace in the second and third. One of the weaknesses of Great Nature is needing to keep its rearguards in hand until a combo is set up, and hence having poor early aggression. Kohl had the first move and this would normally put Mei in a position to be very aggressive, but because of this incentivesto keep cards in hand earlier he was unable to build on this. Initial triggers also set Mei behind significantly, forcing him to play catch-up in a damage lead, and Kohl was able to consistently retire Mei's first vanguard Gardening Mole, which prevented Mei from using his skill later on to return a card retired in the end phase to the hand.

Because Mole sends itself into the soul to do so, it typically trades field presence in order to keep the hand high for a defensive game. Its skill can be particularly dangerous in combination with the critical trigger Ruler Chameleon, whose on-retire counterblast can search the deck for a copy of itself and put it into the hand. Mole into Chameleon results in both critical triggers being put into the hand for defensive purposes, which also sets up a legion for the next turn in addition to being defensively beneficial immediately. In the first game Mei drew three cards off of Chatnoir's break ride skill and Tester's legion, and was able to search out a Chameleon with Chameleon, but not having access to Mole prevented him from converting a fifth card to his hand. Had this been the case, Mei would have been able to keep a Researcher Fox in hand rather than guard with it, to use with Tester Fox's legion skill in the next turn, which would have led to drawing another card and searching for another Fox instead of losing card advantage off of Compass Lion.

In game 3 the problems of the first game were exacerbated when Mei became gradelocked at 2, preventing him from making a comeback against Kohl's early leads. Gradelock has been a constant hazard for cardfighters since the game's beginning, but with the introduction of stride units and Harmonics Messiah in VGE-BT16: Legion of Dragons and Blades ver.E on the 19th fighters will be able to circumvent gradelock through the G Assist step.


In top 4, Kohl played against Antoine Michael Jackson's Duo deck. Kohl ended up gradelocked at 1 in the second game, followed by Jackson facing the same. However, Jackson was ultimately unable to retaliate against Kohl's Transient Masquerade field, and Judgebau ensured that Kohl had a six card lead going into Jackson's first grade 3 turn on top of the immense 2-to-4 damage difference. While Jackson attempted to delay Kohl's endgame by playing counterblast control, focusing on his rearguards and only affording him a single damage, having Dorint's unflipping skill active allowed Kohl to ignore this and his break ride entirely to go for game.

As in most of these games, Kohl effectively won with his grade 1 plays; as long as his opponents were unable to retaliate against multiple rearguard attacks early in the fight, the rest of the deck's card skills would ensure that the situation would be preserved for the remainder of the game. Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss” continued to push Jackson down in card advantage while preemptively negating the draw power from his first vanguard by retiring it, and Judgebau threatened him with the alternative of a constant high pressure lane that demanded at least 15000 shield while the rearguards would continue to push him towards 4 damage, or with Kohl building advantage off of a Sword Breakers.

Versus Antoine, Kohl deliberately avoided giving critical triggers to his vanguard in order to prevent Jackson from break riding. Kohl was already at 4 damage by this point, and allowing Jackson's Duo break ride to go off would spell an end to the match. This allowed him to slow down the pace of the game by a turn and recover, putting his opponent at the 3 damage mark so that Phantom Blaster “Abyss” would have better chances of getting his opponent to 4 damage and ending the game before most of Jackson's skills could go off. Kohl won the round 2-1.


Game 3 of Robbie Kohl versus Christian Maldonado was already covered, but as discussed there in game 2 Kohl repeated much of his strategies he would use in 3, retiring Maldonado's first vanguard to prevent soulcharging later on, playing both aggressive attack and early defense strategies. Kohl ended his grade 2 turn at +0 to -3, taking four cards from Maldonado in a single turn. By the end of his grade 3 turn Kohl to Maldonado was at -1 to -6, an advantage difference of five cards. This went down to -7 when Maldonado was gradelocked at 2. This was a deliberate decision, but one which cost Maldonado the game, attempting to prevent Phantom Blaster “Abyss” from legioning by not going to grade 3 until it could become part of a winning play. By the end of the first game Kohl was maintaining a ten card difference in advantage, -2 to -12. In game 2 Maldonado was able to get his Yggdrasil legion set up, putting Kohl from 3 to 6 damage with a single critical trigger by gaining an added critical from his soulblast 6 legion skill, and blocking Kohl's grade 0-heavy hand from being used. In game 3 Maldonado's play was weakened by opening with Minerva and once more having his first vanguard Pray Angel retired, while Kohl chose to prioritize a brute force approach before dedicating to his restand strategy, winning 2-1.

Kohl's opponents did not play around the fact that his rearguards were generally only worth 5000 shield. Because of Kohl's pattern of attacking with one rearguard and then attacking with the other if the first one was guarded, then following with the boosted vanguard, it was in his opponents' best interests to let the first rearguard attack hit in the case of a damage trigger check. A single damage trigger would prevent the remaining unboosted rearguard from hitting, and make Kohl's vanguard a 10000 shield for two or none to pass, but each opponent consistently guarded the first rearguard and took the second instead, missing out on the opportunity to counter Kohl's offense. In turn, his opponents did not emulate this strategy of attacking with unboosted rearguards prior to the vanguard, sometimes costing them when Kohl would damage check triggers, as in the case of Maldonado's first turn Ordain Owl in their second game.

Alter Reality Games Circuit Series Chicago, December 2014
Chicago Circuit champion: Robbie Kohl
Grade 0
x1 Judgebau Revenger (FV)
x4 Healing Revenger HT
x4 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Grim Revenger CT
x4 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Dark Revenger, Mac Lir
x4 Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorint
x2 Black-winged Sword Breaker
x4 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger
x3 Revenger of Nullity, Masquerade
Grade 3
x4 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
x4 Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom

Top 8: Brian Mei
Grade 0

x1 Gardening Mole (FV)

x4 Dictionary Goat HT

x4 Eraser Alpaca ST

x4 Triangle Cobra CT

x4 Holder Hedgehog CT

Grade 1

x4 Cable Sheep
x4 Silver Wolf
x3 Coiling Duckbill

x3 Tank Mouse

Grade 2

x4 Illusion Scientist, Researcher Fox
x4 Binoculus Tiger
x2 Compass Lion

x1 Lamp Camel

Grade 3

x4 Magic Scientist, Tester Fox
x3 Honorary Professor, Chatnoir
x1 School Punisher, Leo-pald “Яeverse”

News: Requiem at Dusk to Introduce "Abyss" Shadow Paladins, Sacred Regalia and Nouvelle Take Spotlight in Vanguard Festival Team Tournament

The latest poster leaks from Japan have named both VG-EB11: Requiem at Dusk's and VG-EB12: Waltz of the Goddess' dual cover cards, hinting at the identities of an anticipated quartet of new units for the Shadow Paladin and Genesis clans. Shadow Paladin's new Legion pair, Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss" (ブラスター・ダーク・撃退者 “Abyss” Burasutaa Daaku Ribenjaa “Abyss”) and Revenger Phantom Blaster "Abyss" (撃退者 ファントム・ブラスター “Abyss” Ribenjaa Fantomu Burasutaa “Abyss”) are named after an epithet for the original Phantom Blaster Dragon, the "Abyssal Dragon" (奈落竜 Narakuryuu also given as "Dragon of Hell.") The Abyss motif had previously been used for the Revengers in TD10 where 奈落の撃退者 was translated as "Purgatory Revenger" and referred to that trial deck's break ride, Mordred Phantom.

With Abyss-specific support expected to come out of the set along with the new Revenger cards, Blaster "Abyss" is currently set up to be the most supported Shadow Paladin boss in the clan's history, drawing simultaneously from four different subclans with its name alone.

A similar poster for EB12 has identified that set's Legion pair as Regalia of Destiny Norn (運命の神器ノルン Unmei no Jingi Norun) and Regalia of the Cosmos CEO Yggdrasil (宇宙の神器CEOユグドラシル Uchuu no Jingi CEO Yugodorashiru.) The paired units draw their origins from Norse mythology, where Norn was the tripartite goddess of fate, and Yggdrasil was the world tree that Norse cosmology was built around. Yggdrasil has been previously named in Genesis' card lores as both the CEO of Genesis and a goddess of Neo Nectar, and has been implied to have some connection to Cray's own world tree.

The character was previously alluded to in Jupiter's card lore and in the November 2013 issue of Monthly Bushiroad, where Yggdrasil was Genesis' CEO and working in secret with Hexagonal Magus, the acting head of Oracle Think Tank during Amaterasu's absence.

In other news, the fan-run Second Petit Vanguard Festival (第二回プチヴァンガ祭 Dai-Ni-Kai Puchi Vanga Matsuri) team tournament has just concluded in Japan, with a team of Sacred Regalia, Monarch Sanctuary-Zenith and Nouvelle Vague cardfighters taking first place. The triples tournament was named after Bushiroad's ongoing Vanguard Festival events, humorously rebranding itself as the "Petit" Festival rather than the official "Great" Festival to distinguish between the two.

Second place went to a team made up of Nouvelle Vague, Gancelot-Holy Shine Dragon and Omega Glendios fighters, with the Glendios fighter focusing on aggressive beatdown tactics rather than on their alternate win condition. The tournament finals were Regalia vs Nouvelle, Liberator vs Liberator and Nouvelle vs Glendios. Decklists are forthcoming. In all the Petit Festival had a turnout of 108 cardfighters divided into 36 teams, and the total deck makeup of the tournament is given below;

The Second Petit Vanguard Festival Clan Breakdown
3 Dragonic Overlord
1 Dauntless Dominate Dragon "Я"
22 Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
8 Shadow Paladin
21 Star-vader, "Omega" Glendios
5 Aqua Force
2 Neo Nectar
15 Bermuda Triangle
10 Gold Paladin
4 Pale Moon
1 Blau
8 Genesis
2 Brawler
5 Seeker
1 Other Royal Paladin

The Second Petit Festival represented the professional debut of Brawler and Seeker decks in Japan, the trial decks for which were just released yesterday. Although BT16 support is still a month away, the Legion abilities of Wingal Seeker and Skyhowl Dragon have proven sufficient to stand on their own in the new format. Notably, there were also no Eradicator decks in the tournament,  and strong support for both Omega Glendios and the new Duo builds as competitors against Nouvelle Vague.