News: ARG Announces 2015 National Championship Series, $2000 Prize Pool

Alter Reality Games President Jim McMahan has set in motion an initiative to bring together a US national championship series, promising to crown ARG's first national champion this summer. The circuit series tournaments are to serve as regional qualifiers for the championship games. Six qualifiers have been announced for February through March, with the preceding Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando tournaments also being granted qualifier status, their winners having retroactively received invitations to the finals. The new qualifier locations and dates are given below. In order to create a strong professional tournament environment without the flaws of Bushiroad's system, the ARG national championship series will employ the same best-of-three Swiss ruleset that ARG has made extensive use of at past tournaments.

In total there are nine tournaments currently integrated into the ARG national championships, and with a three month gap between the last announced qualifier and the nationals, additional locations may yet be announced. The large tournament structure stands in stark contrast to Bushiroad's recently-announced Team League 2015, which features just six regional tournaments for North America's Bushiroad national tournament, only four of which are in the United States and one in of which is in Canada. And unlike Bushiroad's paper certificate system, the winning cardfighters at ARG's tournament series will be rewarded with store credit and cash, fully realizing the meaning of "professional" cardfight.

This new national championship will award cardfighters who place inside the top 8 at qualifiers with both invitations to the finals and Circuit point amounts which can be used to pay entry into the ARG nationals in lieu of the typical $20 entry fee, as well as to purchase ARG-sponsored gear and card supplies. The national championship finals will include trophies for the winners, and a minimum prize pool of $2000--historically the largest prize pool that has ever been made available for a Cardfight!! Vanguard tournament.

Prizes for the regional Circuit series tournaments have been standardized. If tournament turnout exceeds 50 participants, the prizes can be paid out either in cash or as 150% prize credit depending on the player's choice. This means that at a 50 person tournament, first place can opt for either $200 cash or $300 credit, while second place can choose either $100 cash or $200 credit. The championship finals will be held in late July or early August, and are tentatively being discussed inside the area of Philadelphia to Providence, Rhode Island.

Upcoming ARG qualifiers include the Fort Worth and Ontario Circuit series tournaments in Texas and Canada, both on February 8th. Following that will be the Louisville qualifier on February 21st, Fort Lauderdale on March 8th, Hartford on March 15th and Toronto on  March 21st. Beginning with the Hartford Connecticut qualifier, stride units will be legal for play in ARG tournaments. Louisville will be last competition to not allow stride. As at the Orlando Circuit, Cardfight Pro will be traveling to Louisville to provide live coverage of the tournament.

The ARG national championship embodies the culmination of a collaborative effort between ARG and Cardfight Pro; last November we began contacting McMahan and others to pledge coverage for tournaments that would address the concerns of cardfighters worldwide. Alter Reality Games has our full support in establishing this tournament system, and those who place in their tournaments will be recognized by Cardfight Pro as professional cardfighters of the same caliber as those that qualify in the world championships and VGCS tournaments. 

In preparation for the upcoming events, organizer Robbie Kohl surveyed players for eleven questions on specific rulings and then contacted Bushiroad USA's judges directly, to ensure that the judges at ARG will be rigorously trained and able to address major rulings disputes. An exhaustive list of the rulings is provided below.

Q1. Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster activates its skill to attack four units. However, the opponent only has three units. Can he still attack all of them?
A1. Yes, you can still attack the three units ,because you have to do as much of the skill as possible once activated.

Q2. What happens when I use a quintet wall against Silent Tom, or Lark Pigeon and a grade 0 is called to the guardian circle?
A2. The units called by the quintet wall are being superior called, not normal called, so they are able to be placed in the guardian circle through that skill. Additionally, the Lark Pigeon is being superior called from the soul to the guardian circle so the same ruling applies. Any form of "call" that does not come from the hand is considered a "superior call" unless otherwise specified on the card.

Q3. Guarding against Transcore Dragon and Glory Maelstrom's skills, will the interceptors be affected?
A3. Intercepts will not be affected by Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom, or Blue Flight Dragon, Transcore Dragon, both units specify that units cannot be called "from the hand" to the guardian circle.

Q4. Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster is on a rearguard circle and a vanguard Big Bang Knuckle hits multiple times. Will this card gain +3000 power for every unit hit, or only gain the bonus once?
A4. Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster will gain the +3000 power for each hit that Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon, or Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster makes. Multiple bonuses.

Q5. Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster attacks the opponent's “Ω” Glendios and they use Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium. Will all the attacks redirect to the “Яeverse” unit, or will the other attacks still hit their declared targets?
A5. If you place Rubidium in the guardian circle and activate its skill to retire and redirect the attack to a “Яeverse” unit, despite multiple units being attacked, all the attacks will be changed to that one “Яeverse” unit. Refer to FAQ 805, 807.

Q6. If I use Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon's skill to superior ride a copy of itself from the deck, can I use the skill of the new Thing Saver to perform the skill again if I have the counterblast to do so?
A6. Yes, you may activate the skill of the new "Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon" that was superior ride from the deck, as long as you can meet the requirements to activate the skill again. You do not however, return four cards to the deck with the new "Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon."

Q7. Does riding count as putting a card into the soul? If so, this will trigger Young Pegasus Knight, Doreen the Thruster and Great Sage, Barron, correct?
A7. Ride does not count as putting the unit that was ridden over into soul. In some cases of superior ride, the unit on the vanguard circle is considered being put into the soul, such as Barcgal.

Q8. How do Perdition Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord the Great and the break ride Dragonic Overlord interact with each other?
A8. Perdition Emperor Dragon, Dagonic Overlord the Great as well as Dragonic Overlord (breakride) both trigger and are set into standby once the attack hits the rearguard. At that timing you have to choose one of their skills to activate, so you cannot trigger both of their abilities/given abilities to restand, even if you were to attack a second rearguard.

(Editor's note; This does not contradict Q9. The reason they interact this way is because both Overlord variants have the clause "This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn. (Even if you do not pay the cost, this ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.)" Hence they are mutually exclusive.)

Q9. I have a Dorint in the frontrow and a Dorint behind it in the same column. I call a Blaster Dark Revenger over one of the Dorints. How many damage are unflipped?
A9. If Blaster Dark Revenger is placed over one of two Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorint, in the same column, two damage will be unflipped due to this resolution chain: Blaster Dark Revenger placed over Barrier Troop Revenger Dorint → Both Dorint skills go into standby, called over Dorint is retired due to game mechanic, call is resolved → Both standby Dorint skills are then resolved. (Dorint does not have to remain on the field for his ability to resolve.)

Q10. If I call a Shiny Angel over a Regalia stand trigger, can I use Shiny Angel to target the said stand trigger that is currently on the same rearguard circle as I call over it?
A10. Yes, you may target the unit you retired due to being called over with the skill of Exorcism Regalia, Shiny Angel. Call Shiny Angel over stand trigger → Game mechanic retires stand trigger to resolve call, Shiny Angel's skill goes into standby → Shiny Angel's skill activates from standby to target up to three units in the drop zone.

Q11. If I legion how many cards must I return to the deck? Can it be less than four or exactly four cards?
A11. You must send exactly four units back to the deck to initiate legion.

News: Preregistration Open for ARG Texas, Ontario Circuit Set for February

On February 8th 2015 Alter Reality Games will be bringing its ARG Circuit series to Fort Worth and Ontario, commencing the first Vanguard Circuits in Texas and Canada. The entry fee for ARG's Cardfight!! Vanguard tournaments will be $20 per person, with five booster packs being provided to every player that enters. For the Texas Circuit, ARG will be giving out free playmats to the first 25 players to preregister. The playmats will be handed out prior to the tournament, in place of the free booster packs. Preregistration can be carried out through ARG's webpage. The tournament venues addresses are given below. At Fort Worth the tournament finals will be streamed lived to ARG's Twitch channel, but the Ontario tournament will not be.

As at Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando there will be a payout of $500 divided among the top 8, along with Circuit series playmats. The payout will be in store credit to be used on Alter Reality Games' website, unless more than 40 cardfighters participate, in which case payout will be in cash. As is standard for competitive tournaments the format will be best two out of three games, beginning with several rounds of Swiss pairings and followed by a cut to top 8. Only English-language cards will be permitted in the tournament, while Lizard Soldier Conroe and Barcgal will be banned from play. Clan mixing is allowed, so that cardfighters can play popular mixed decks like Thing Saver-“Abyss” and mixed Witches. On-site registration will begin at 10:00 AM and the tournament itself will begin at 11:00 AM. The tournament will take place at the Fort Worth Convention Center, 1201 Houston Street, Fort Worth, 76102.

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. 

The Ontario tournament will not be run by Alter Reality Games, but ARG will be providing top 8 playmats for their associates in Canada to distribute. Registration will be held from 10:30 AM to 11:45 AM, while the entry fee and tournament regulations are identical to those at Fort Worth. The prizes for top 8, based on an anticipated turnout of 50 cardfighters, will be $220 for first place, $120 for second, $80 for third through fourth place, and $45 for fifth through eighth. Each member of the top 8 will receive an ARG playmat, while four random cardfighters will be given a BT16: Legion of Dragons & Blades mat. The Ontario Circuit will be held at the MVP Complex on 1325 Eglinton Avenue E Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Analysis: Perron versus LeBon

Perron versus LeBon was a cardfight played in September of 2013 at the Park Hyatt Toronto. Played between the final remaining contenders for the Canadian regional title Sebastian LeBon and Kevin Perron, it was the last game of the first World Championship 2013 regional qualifier. As with all regional tournaments in 2013, the finals were done in best of one, with a 20 minute time limit. The game drew much interest at the time because of the unusual matchup, and can be used as a reference to teach the advantages of Azure Dragon-based Beast Deities, as well as to illustrate an overall positive matchup for the original Beast Deity deck when paired against Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD."

Circumstances of the Match
The Canadian finals came as a surprise to the global community because they featured two deckbuilds that had been studied extensively since December 2012 and had been critically panned compared to the dominant decks of the time, with Dragonic Overlord the End as the primary measuring stick for competitive play. LeBon played a Nova Grappler deck using Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon while Perron brought a Narukami deck focused towards Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion,“THE BLOOD.” Each cardfighter had taken one loss in the double elimination rounds, but had managed to persevere through the top 8, with a win record of 8-1 each prior to the final game. Based on his deck alone, Perron had been favored for first place, as while the Beast Deities had brought positive revisions to Nova Grappler's play style their standing mechanics were not valued as highly as Narukami's straight retire power or Vermillion's simultaneous attacks on the front row. Of the 20 minutes allotted for the finals, 12 minutes and 33 seconds were used.

The game was unofficially recorded by a friend of fourth place finalist Kevin Luu. Throughout the entire game, LeBon maintained an overall lead with strong moves that were difficult to play against and encouraged his opponent to play poorly in response.

Below is a generally accurate recreation of the fight. Because there are no views from Perron's side of the table, the contents of his hand has to be inferred based on where he places cards in the video when drawing them, where they move and what kinds of plays he makes based on the limitations of his hand. Because Nova Grappler at this period had no retire skills to intimidate him, and Perron did not call many boosting units or attacking units when either would have been useful at certain points, as a general trend he did not have many usable rearguards in hand during the first nine turns.

The Game
Turns 1-2
[V] Spark Kid Dragoon (4000) versus Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
Perron's hand:  6. Red River Dragoon, Demonic Dragon Nymph Seiobo, Thunderstorm Dragoon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Mischievous Girl Kyon-she.
Damage: 0/6
Triggers left in deck: 14
Net advantage:  0
LeBon's hand: 5. King of Sword, King of Sword, Beast Deity Scarlet Bird, Shining Lady, Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon.
Damage: 0/6
Triggers left in deck: 15
Net advantage: 0
Perron opens with Red River Dragoon (8000) moving Spark Kid to the back rearguard circle to the right of his vanguard for +1. LeBon draws Clara and makes a deceptive play by riding Beast Deity, Scarlet Bird (6000) with White Tiger retreating behind Bird for his +1. Although on the surface Perron has a strategic advantage this turn because he can drop 10000 shield to completely prevent the attack from getting through even with triggers, this is LeBon's goal. The standard response to an on-hit skill like Scarlet Bird's is to stop it from activating even though it may fail, which LeBon sought to take advantage of by persuading his opponent to drop shield early on. Because his deck's midgame stand skills help him make up for not dealing as much damage earlier in the game, and because Narukami has trouble maintaining high hand sizes, and its main strategy with Kaiser Vermillion needs 4-5 damage, LeBon can safely be denied the opportunity to deal damage this turn if it means lowering his opponent's hand and getting them into a position where he can play a denial game by leaving them at 3 later on. If checked a critical trigger would be wasted, but it would also give Perron positive reinforcement for stopping LeBon's attacks. The correct decision in this situation would be to let Scarlet Bird hit. Perron falls for the feint and guards with Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo (S18000.) LeBon drive checks Twin Blader.

Turns 3-4
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) versus Beast Deity, Scarlet Bird (6000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Spark Kid Dragoon (4000) with no boosted unit versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  5. Thunder Storm Dragoon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Mischievous Girl Kyon-she, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 0/6
Triggers left in deck: 13
Net advantage:  0
LeBon's hand: 6. King of Sword, King of Sword, Shining Lady, Ring Girl Clara, Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Twin Blader.
Damage: 0/6
Triggers left in deck: 14
Net advantage: +1
Perron rides Thunderstorm Dragoon (10000) and drive checks Wyvern Guard, Guld. LeBon damage checks Beast Deity, Azure Dragon. Note that because Azure Dragon was in the top 5, this means that no matter what Perron did, LeBon would have the lead in card advantage, but the scenario in which Perron had less cards is more useful to LeBon because it restricts Perron's plays.

LeBon draws Beast Deity Blank Marsh on turn 4 and rides King of Sword (10000), calling a second King to his right. Rearguard King attacks Thunderstorm Dragoon. Perron guards with Mischievous Girl, Kyon-she (S15000.) With White Tiger's boost, vanguard King drive checks LeBon's Hungry Dumpty tech. Perron damage checks Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion.

Turn 5
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000)
[V] Thunderstorm Dragoon (10000) versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Spark Kid Dragoon (4000) with no boosted unit versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  5. Wyvern Guard Guld, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 1/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion)
Triggers left in deck: 12
Net advantage:  -1
LeBon's hand: 6. Shining Lady, Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Ring Girl Clara, Twin Blader, Beast Deity Blank Marsh, Hungry Dumpty.
Damage: 1/6 (Beast Deity Azure Dragon)
Triggers left in deck: 14
Net advantage: +1
Perron rides Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) and calls another Vermillion (11000) to his right, then uses Spark Kid Dragoon's counterblast to move it to the soul and search the top 5 cards of his deck for a Narukami grade 3. The skill fails, the deck is shuffled and Perron has taken a -1. There is now a difference of three cards between the two with equal damage. Perron's vanguard Vermillion attacks LeBon's vanguard and goes unguarded, Perron drive checks Thunderstorm Dragoon and Malevolent Djinn (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) assigning the critical to his vanguard and the power to rearguard Vermillion. LeBon damage checks Twin Blader and The Gong (Draw Trigger +5000 power / draw 1), gives the power to his vanguard and draws Three Minutes.

Rearguard Vermillion (16000) attacks rearguard King of Sword, and is defended with Shining Lady (S20000.) Because of LeBon's draw trigger, the only overall change in card advantage from the start of the turn is Spark Kid Dragoon's -1.

Turn 6
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  6. Wyvern Guard Guld, Thunderstorm Dragoon, Malevolent Djinn, Spark Edge Dracokid, Wyvern Guard Guld, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 1/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion)
Triggers left in deck: 11
Net advantage:  -2
LeBon's hand: 7. Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Ring Girl Clara, Twin Blader, Beast Deity Blank Marsh, Hungry Dumpty, Three Minutes, Beast Deity Azure Dragon.
Damage: 3/6 (Beast Deity Azure Dragon, Twin Blader, The Gong)
Triggers left in deck: 12
Net advantage: +1
LeBon rides Beast Deity Azure Dragon (11000). This is potentially a game-changing draw because prior to topdecking it LeBon had to play with the idea in mind that he would be riding Illuminal and that White Tiger would have to leave the field at some point through either his skill or just by calling a new unit over him, because he would otherwise not be able to make an 18000 power center line. LeBon could not anticipate that Perron would never draw "THE BLOOD" within this game, but if he believed that his opponent would get the crossride eventually then he may have planned to use White Tiger's skill on this turn, which could help even out the difference in cards. He calls Blank Marsh (7000) behind King of Sword, then has them attack the vanguard (17000.) Perron damage checks Dusty Plasma Dragon.

Azure Dragon (16000) drive checks Tough Boy and Ring Girl, Clara (Heal Trigger +5000 power / heal 1) healing Azure Dragon from his damage zone. Perron damage checks Malevolent Djinn (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical.) Note that LeBon's heal effectively negated Perron's critical.

Turn 7
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Beast Deity, Azure Dragon (11000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  6. Wyvern Guard Guld, Thunderstorm Dragoon, Malevolent Djinn, Spark Edge Dracokid, Wyvern Guard Guld, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 3/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 10
Net advantage:  -2
LeBon's hand: 7. Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Ring Girl Clara, Hungry Dumpty, Three Minutes, Tough Boy, Ring Girl Clara.
Damage: 2/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong)
Triggers left in deck: 11
Net advantage: +1
At this point the game has swung firmly in LeBon's favor. Perron calls Thunderstorm Dragoon (10000) to his left column and uses it to attack King of Sword. LeBon guards with Three Minutes (S15000.) Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion attacks the vanguard, and goes undefended. This move could be contested considering that LeBon could have easily protected his lead with the Clara in his hand, but this would have given his opponent an opportunity to bring him down to -2 by using his rearguard Vermillion to attack King of Sword once again. By choosing not to guard, LeBon created an optimal scenario in which even if his opponent drive checked a critical trigger, it would only serve to enable Illuminal's limit break and exploit Perron's disadvantage. Perron drive checks Rising Phoenix and Demonic Dragon Berserker Garuda. LeBon damage checks Red Lightning (Critical Trigger +5000 power / critical +1) assigning it to Azure Dragon. Rearguard Vermillion attacks King of Sword, and is defended with Clara.

Turn 8
[R] Thunderstorm Dragoon (10000) versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Beast Deity, Azure Dragon (11000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand: 6. Wyvern Guard Guld, Malevolent Djinn, Rising Phoenix, Demonic Dragon Berserker Garuda, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 3/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 10
Net advantage:  -2
LeBon's hand: 6. Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon, Twin Blader, Hungry Dumpty, Tough Boy, Ring Girl Clara, Twin Blader.
Damage: 3/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 10
Net advantage -1
LeBon crossrides Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon over Azure Dragon (13000.) With White Tiger's boost, Illuminal (18000) attacks the vanguard, Perron guards with Wyvern Guard Guld (S0) and drops Garuda to pay for Guld's cost, achieving perfect defense. LeBon drive checks Beast Deity Black Tortoise and Tough Boy. With Blank Marsh's boost, King of Sword attacks Thunderstorm Dragoon, who retires.

This can be argued as a misplay, as King of Sword's full rearguard line and Perron already being at -4 may have persuaded him to going to four damage and getting access to limit break, when going to four sooner would actually be meaningless because LeBon's rearguard lanes are not filled, he has another field ready in his hand and it would open Illuminal up to taking four damage as stands are the best endgame play. If Perron were to guard an attack on the vanguard at that point he would have to use Malevolent Djinn, so either way he would go to -5 but in this scenario he would lose more shield.

By not attacking the vanguard LeBon risked that he would have to go to limit break first. On the other hand, since LeBon just saw Garuda get dropped for perfect defense he also had a good idea that Perron did not have any replacement rearguards for Dragoon, and he would be able to protect King of Sword that way and drag the game out even further to capitalize on Perron losing more cards per turn than him. Furthermore, because he has his Hungry Dumpty tech in hand, LeBon could also plan to use the limit break twice in this game, and by going to four damage first he could use that to guarantee that his opponent would go to five before him. The result is a tradeoff.

Turn 9
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  6. Malevolent Djinn, Rising Phoenix, Spark Edge Dracokid, Wyvern Guard Guld, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 3/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 9
Net advantage:  -5
LeBon's hand: 7. Twin Blader, Hungry Dumpty, Twin Blader, Ring Girl Clara, Tough Boy, Beast Deity Black Tortoise, Tough Boy.
Damage: 3/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 10
Net advantage -2
Perron calls Rising Phoenix (5000) behind his rearguard Vermillion and soulblasts 2 to draw 1 for +1. Vanguard Vermillion (11000) attacks Illuminal unboosted, LeBon guards with Tough Boy (S18000.) Perron drive checks Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion and Red River Dragoon. Rearguard Vermillion (16000) attacks Illuminal but is guarded by Clara (S23000.) Thanks to Phoenix and these attacks the advantage state is once again neutral, but to actually come into the lead for a full turnaround Perron has to stop every attack next turn and drive his opponent to limit break before him.

Turn 10
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguards
Perron's hand:  7. Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Red River Dragoon, Spark Edge Dracokid, Wyvern Guard Guld, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 3/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 9
Net advantage:  -4
LeBon's hand: 6. Twin Blader, Hungry Dumpty, Twin Blader, Beast Deity Black Tortoise, Tough Boy, Three Minutes.
Damage: 3/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 9
Net advantage -4
LeBon calls Beast Deity, Black Tortoise (8000) to his left and Tough Boy (8000) behind him, then has Tortoise (16000) attack the vanguard but is stopped by Spark Edge Dracokid (S21000.)

Illuminal (18000) is defended by Guld (S0) with Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion dropped for perfect defense. LeBon drive checks Red Lightning (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) and gives all effects to King of Sword, followed by Beast Deity Golden Anglet.

King of Sword (22000 power / critical 2) attacks the vanguard. Perron damage checks Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" and Yellow Gem Carbuncle (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical.)

Turn 11
[R] No rearguards versus King of Sword (10000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Beast Deity, Black Tortoise (8000) boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  5. Malevolent Djinn, Red River Dragoon, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle)
Triggers left in deck: 8
Net advantage:  -7
LeBon's hand: 6. Hungry Dumpty, Twin Blader, Twin Blader, Three Minutes, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Golden Anglet.
Damage: 3/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 9
Net advantage -4
Perron calls Red River Dragoon (8000) behind his vanguard and Dusty Plasma Dragon (9000) to his left. He activates Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's limit break 4, paying counterblast 3 for +2000 power and being able to attack the opponent's entire front row simultaneously until the end of the turn. LeBon cannot intercept during this attack and must guard each unit individually, but any trigger effects applied to Kaiser Vermillion will increase its power versus every unit it battles with. With Red River's boost, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (21000) battles LeBon's front row, LeBon does not guard. Perron drive checks Dragonic Deathscythe and Yellow Gem Carbuncle (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) giving the critical to his vanguard and power to his rearguard Vermillion. LeBon damage checks Shining Lady (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) and Red Lightning (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) passing the effects to his vanguard. At this point Illuminal rests at 23000 power and cannot be hit by any of Perron's remaining rearguards.

Not only did LeBon successfully bait his opponent into limit breaking while he had a second field ready in his hand, but Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's limit break was not well used here because even if LeBon did not damage check any triggers, Garuda would have been swinging for an empty 9000 power that would not have matched Illuminal's 13000 while rearguard Vermillion with Phoenix would still only be drawing out one of the critical triggers from last turn for LeBon's defense. A better use of Garuda would have been to attack Black Tortoise, but because he was intending to swing with Vermillion in the first place, this would have had no real effect as the events proceed essentially in the same manner. The better play would be to wait to use Vermillion's limit break until next turn so that Garuda and rearguard Vermillion could serve more of a purpose in breaking down LeBon's defensive wall, and by extension guarding King of Sword on turn 10 instead of letting it through, but because Perron's hand was already strained it would be difficult to make this kind of judgment given the limited resources he was working with. Regardless, at this point the match has spiraled out into the endgame and with Perron at five damage, Illuminal's limit break has virtually sealed the match.

Turn 12
[R] Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda (9000) versus No rearguard boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguard  boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  5. Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Deathscythe, Yellow Gem Carbuncle, Spark Edge Dracokid, Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle)
Triggers left in deck: 6
Net advantage:  -7
LeBon's hand: 7. Hungry Dumpty, Twin Blader, Twin Blader, Three Minutes, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Golden Anglet, The Gong.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 6
Net advantage: -6
LeBon calls Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) in front of Blank Marsh and Hungry Dumpty (9000) in front of Tough Boy. Anglet (16000) attacks the vanguard but is guarded by Carbuncle (S21000).

Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (18000) attacks the vanguard and activates his limit break 4, paying counterblast 3 to stand Golden Anglet and Blank Marsh, which triggers Anglet's skill and gives it +3000 power. Perron guards with Dragonic Deathscythe and Malevolent Djinn (S26000.) LeBon drive checks Beast Deity, Scarlet Bird and Beast Deity, Blank Marsh. Hungry Dumpty (17000) is defended by Spark Edge Dracokid (S21000) and Golden Anglet (19000) is stopped by an additional Spark Edge (S21000.)

Turn 13
[R] Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda (9000) versus Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Hungry Dumpty (9000) boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  1. Red River Dragoon.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Malevolent Djinn, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle)
Triggers left in deck: 6
Net advantage:  -12
LeBon's hand: 7. Twin Blader, Twin Blader, Three Minutes, Red Lightning, The Gong, Beast Deity Scarlet Bird, Beast Deity Golden Anglet.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 6
Net advantage: -6
Perron calls Red River Dragoon (8000) behind Dusty Plasma. Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (19000) attacks Illuminal, but LeBon plays Twin Blader and drops Three Minutes for perfect defense. Perron drive checks Photon Bomber Wyvern and Demonic Dragon Nymph Seiobo (Heal Trigger +5000 power / heal 1) assigning the power to Garuda and healing Malevolent Djinn from his damage zone.

Garuda (22000) attacks Illuminal but is guarded with Twin Blader with Three Minutes dropped for Perfect Defense. Vermillion (16000) is intercepted by Hungry Dumpty.

Turn 14
[R] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda (9000) versus Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguard boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  2. Photon Bomber Wyvern, Demonic Dragon Nymph Seiobo.
Damage: 4/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle)
Triggers left in deck: 5
Net advantage:  -12
LeBon's hand: 5. Red Lightning, Beast Deity Scarlet Bird, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Golden Anglet, Beast Deity Black Tortoise.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 5
Net advantage: -11
LeBon calls Red Lightning and uses his skill, moving him into the soul to unflip one damage, then calls Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) to his open left circle. Boosted by Blank Marsh, his right Anglet (16000) attacks the vanguard, Perron damage checks Malevolent Djinn (Critical Trigger +5000 power / +1 critical) and gives the trigger to his vanguard. Illuminal Dragon attacks the vanguard and activates his limit break 4, standing Anglet (+3000) and Marsh. Perron guards with Seiobo (S26000), LeBon drive checks an unknown card and The Gong (Draw Trigger +5000 power / draw 1) giving the effects to his right Anglet and drawing Red Lightning. His right Golden Anglet (24000) attacks the vanguard. Perron guards with Dragonic Deathscythe and Photon Bomber Wyvern (S26000). Left Anglet (17000) is intercepted by Garuda (S210000.)

Turn 15
[R] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting No rearguard versus Beast Deity, Golden Anglet (9000) boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Golden Anglet (9000) boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand:  1. Spark Edge Dracokid.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 5
Net advantage:  -16
LeBon's hand: 6. Beast Deity Scarlet Bird, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Black Tortoise, The Gong, Red Lightning, Beast Deity Golden Anglet.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 4
Net advantage: -10
Perron draws and calls Spark Edge Dracokid (5000) in front of Red River, and his vanguard Vermillion (19000) attacks Illuminal. LeBon guards with Red Lightning, The Gong and Scarlet Bird (S33000) to ensure that the attack cannot pass through under any circumstances. Perron drive checks Malevolent Djinn (Critical Trigger +5000 power / critical +1) and Wyvern Guard Guld, giving the trigger effects to Spark Edge.

Spark Edge (18000 power / critical 2) attacks Illuminal, and is stopped by LeBon intercepting with both Golden Anglets (S23000.) Rearguard Vermillion (16000) is guarded with Black Tortoise (S18000.)

Turn 16
[R] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Spark Edge Dracokid (5000) versus No rearguard boosted by Beast Deity, Blank Marsh (7000)
[V] Red River Dragoon (8000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (13000) boosted by Beast Deity, White Tiger (5000)
[R] Rising Phoenix (5000) boosting Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion (11000) versus No rearguard boosted by Tough Boy (8000)
Perron's hand: 2. Malevolent Djinn, Wyvern Guard Guld.
Damage: 5/6 (Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, Dusty Plasma Dragon, Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD," Yellow Gem Carbuncle, Malevolent Djinn)
Triggers left in deck: 4
Net advantage:  -16
LeBon's hand: 2. Beast Deity Golden Anglet, Ultra Beast Deity Illuminal Dragon.
Damage: 5/6 (Twin Blader, The Gong, Red Lightning, Shining Lady, Red Lightning)
Triggers left in deck: 4
Net advantage: -15
LeBon calls Golden Anglet (9000) to his left and Illuminal Dragon (11000) to his right. His vanguard Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon (18000) attacks Perron's vanguard Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion. Perron does not guard, LeBon drive checks Ring Girl Clara (Heal Trigger +5000 power / heal 1) giving the power to his rearguard Illuminal and healing Twin Blader from his damage zone, and Tough Boy. Perron damage checks Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD;" Sebastien LeBon becomes the 2013 Toronto regional champion.

The "Tenzaku"
Throughout the entire game, LeBon established and maintained a consistent lead over Perron. In addition to this, LeBon demonstrated a familiarity with "THE BLOOD" while Perron did not have a clear comparable idea of how to play against Illuminal. Several times Perron was able to get back to or close to a neutral game state, as in turns 9, 13 and 15, but never actually took the lead after doing so and instead fell behind once more. LeBon capitalized on Scarlet Bird, an at-the-time uncommon choice for Illuminal decks that was generally replaced by Burstraizer or Shout, and it was his very first turn that sent the match spiraling into such a vicious cycle.

Even so, the most critical moves were in turns 10 and 11. Had Perron blocked King of Sword's 2 critical attack, then on his own turn refrained from using his limit break and used Garuda to attack Black Tortoise and draw out more shield, his critical trigger that turn could send LeBon to 5 damage first, and Perron would still have been able to use rearguard Vermillion at 21000 against King of Sword even after LeBon's power-up. From the perspective of not having this prior knowledge, it was already clear that being the first fighter to go to 5 would be a dangerous decision without a copy of "THE BLOOD" in hand to turn the match around with his extra critical, two heal triggers were already missing from the deck and in going to 5 Perron empowered Illuminal Dragon by making it necessary to block every single one of his four full-power attacks.

Perron never drawing "THE BLOOD" was also a key factor to the direction of the match. LeBon's rearguards were on the whole not suited toward facing a crossride defense. It's debatable how much getting "THE BLOOD" would have improved the game for Perron because without many 5000 shield units he would have had to use 10000 shield triggers regardless. Being able to attack with an extra critical on T11 instead of with just DKV would have drastically changed the outcome of that turn however, because LeBon would have no choice but to drop two perfect defense cards, potentially without ever going to limit break on that turn after blocking the double critical trigger passed to rearguard DKV. This would mean that Perron and LeBon's net advantage at the end of the turn would be -8 to -10, a positive situation for Perron, and it would have taken up one of LeBon's perfect defense cards earlier.

Although in this particular match LeBon did not have any other choice on the first turn, in general opening with Scarlet Bird can be compared to opening on Tengen in Go; a contested and somewhat dangerous opening that invites the opponent to make a nonstandard move that can quickly spiral out into a complicated game with heavy losses. Prior to Perron v. LeBon it was generally held that giving the opponent the opportunity to completely block the opening attack and potential critical triggers with it made the play inherently weak, so running Scarlet Bird in general was frowned upon compared to using Transraizer or Announcer Shout in its place. The results of the game speak contrary to this idea. As with comparable moves, the correct play is not to directly meet the opening attack, but to resist the challenge and develop your resources so that this first turn will not become important. There is the conditional factor at play that some builds can tackle the situation in such a way that they can afford to play differently. Tsukuyomi cardfighters, with a higher base power grade 1 than Scarlet Bird and the ability to pull constant advantage from the deck each turn, can afford to drop the 10000 shield. CoCo cannot meet it because her major advantage boost comes at T5 in this scenario and guarding in the midgame is necessary versus Illuminal. Most Royal Paladin builds also cannot play this way because even though they can pull advantage out later by superior calling from the deck, their raw draw power is not sufficient to keep up with the Deities' offensives later, so protecting early is not worth lacking cards later on. Mandalalord-Shirayuki can play the matchup either way because of their own persona blasts and search skills effectively giving the deck an additional 20~60000 extra shield per game, but the results of guarding Bird and Tortoise are still Tengen games that come down to the wire. The defining difference is that Mandalalord-Shirayuki force Illuminal to make the same judgments as his opponent and they drain cards from him in the same fashion, mirroring the gameplan and limiting the resources that both cardfighters can use. Shirayuki specifically can accept going to limit break first because it is easier for her to completely stop every attack in a turn, without resorting to Leaves Mirage.

Beyond just the Beast Deities, the aggression principles demonstrated in Perron versus LeBon can also be applied to any clan with units similar to Beast Deity search units, at present Murakumo but also to Narukami's Storm Bring Dragon and clans with copies of it.

News: World Championship 2013 Canadian Regional Decklists

The official English Cardfight!! Vanguard portal has been updated with deck recipe spaces for every branch of this year's world championship, and with this update has come the decklists from the weekend's WCS2013 Toronto qualifier. The qualifier's results came as a surprise following a format that had been dominated largely by Dragonic Overlord the End, as regional champion Sebastian LeBon won the tournament using a Nova Grappler deck based around Illuminal Dragon, while runner-up Kevin Perron took his position with a Narukami deck built on Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion and his crossride "THE BLOOD."

Sebastian LeBon: Beast Deities 
Grade 0
x1 Beast Deity, White Tiger (FV)
x2 Shining Lady CT
x4 Ring Girl, Clara HT
x2 Three Minutes DT
x4 Red Lightning CT
x4 The Gong DT
Grade 1
x4 Tough Boy
x4 Twin Blader
x3 Beast Deity, Scarlet Bird
x4 Beast Deity, Blank Marsh
Grade 2
x2 King of Sword
x1 Hungry Dumpty
x4 Beast Deity, Black Tortoise
x4 Beast Deity, Golden Anglet
Grade 3
x4 Beast Deity, Azure Dragon
x3 Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon

Note that while only the top 2 decklists from Toronto are being provided, the top 4 finishers from the regional have been invited to the North American finals. The decks not represented in the deck recipes are Robert Ewell's Tri-stinger Dragon and Kevin Luu's Majesty Lord Blaster deck.

One of the differentiating features of LeBon's Illuminal deck is the use of Scarlet Bird. Many Beast Deity builds avoid the card now due to its low 6000 base that doesn't play well with a format dominated by 13000 power defense, but LeBon's deck plays toward making offensive moves throughout the entire length of a match rather than just after limit break, and Scarlet Bird's skill gives him one more way to search out one of the pieces of his main strategy without any need for counterblast. Although units like Blank Marsh and White Tiger aren't well suited to the endgame of the crossride format due to no single unit being able to break 13000 unboosted, many cardfighters have difficulty dealing with the earlier offensive plays and this helps feed to an endgame where Illuminal stands one full column after the opponent has hit 5 damage, letting it use every line to attack the opponent previously and still leave one standing to pass triggers onto. Attacking early and hard is a very simple strategy, but trying to oppose it oftentimes means surrendering the lead in card advantage for the duration of an entire game, and making that compromise can be a very risky play.

Kevon Perron: M.I.A. 
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo HT
x2 Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Malevolent Djinn CT
x3 Mischievous Girl, Kyon-she DT
x3 Spark Edge Dragokid CT
Grade 1
x4 Red River Dragoon
x4 Wyvern Guard, Guld
x3 Photon Bomber Wyvern
x3 Rising Phoenix
Grade 2
x2 Dragonic Deathscythe
x4 Thunderstorm Dragoon
x1 Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda
x4 Dusty Plasma Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion
x4 Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD"

Meanwhile Perron's Kaiser Vermillion stands out for its grade 2 lineup, focusing toward Thunderstorm and Dusty Plasma, both cards that assist in making those 18000 lines to negate crossride defense and in other cases make unboosted swings. Unlike contemporary DKV decks which frequently feature Deathscythe as a 4-card staple of the build, Perron chose to put Deathscythe on the backburner, entrusting field control to Vermillion. His treatment of Garuda is also an interesting choice. Many DKV decks run Garuda at 3 or 4 copies, but by focusing less on Deathscythe, Perron opened up his damage zone considerably so that he would not need a heavy focus on unflipping to use his Vermillions' skills multiple times. Of his grade 1 lineup, Rising Phoenix is arguably the most important supporting framework from the deck, since it can make up for Spark Kid Dragoon's skill failing or otherwise make use of the soul for a normal +1 that helps stretch out a difference in cards between Perron and his opponent when factoring in the -2~4 incurred to them by his limit breaks while providing improved consistency through raw draw power. Our hats are off to Mr. LeBon and Mr. Perron for a lively opening to this year's world tournament.

Bushiroad has also released a full breakdown of clan representation within the tournament. Kagerou and Gold Paladin were the most popular clans, followed by Bermuda Triangle, Narukami and Oracle Think Tank, with Royal Paladin as the sixth most played. These numbers are fairly normal, and can be taken to generally correspond to the six key units of the format DOTE, Platina Ezel, Labrador, "THE BLOOD," Tsukuyomi and Majesty Lord Blaster. Below is the full table of 19 clans reproduced in text, and numbered according to the order of Bushiroad's info graphic, which is based on how highly used each clan was. The only clan complete in the English format but not represented at Toronto are the Dark Irregulars, with every other available clan finding some representation.

1. Kagerou 11.6%
2. Gold Paladin 11.0%
3. Bermuda Triangle 9.7%
4. Narukami 7.7%
5. Oracle Think Tank 7.7%
6. Royal Paladin 6.5%
7. Aqua Force 5.8%
8. Nova Grappler 5.8%
9. Angel Feather 5.2%
10. Dimension Police 5.2%
11. Shadow Paladin 5.2%
12. Great Nature 3.9%
13. Neo Nectar 3.9%
14. Pale Moon 2.6%
15. Megacolony 1.9%
16. Murakumo 1.9%
17. Tachikaze 1.9%
18. Spike Brothers 1.3%
19. Granblue 0.6%
20. Hybrid 0.6% (represents a combination of clans)

News: Nova Grappler Places First in Toronto World Championship Qualifiers, Tri-stinger Dragon Turns Heads

Note: To help better organize the community and answer questions about WCS2013, there are now help threads on the Neo Ark Cradle forums and Cardgame!!Coalition.

The World Championship 2013 regional qualifiers have begun, with the first North American qualifier in Toronto having finished yesterday evening. Regional champion Sebastien LeBon fought his way to the top using a Nova Grappler deck, currently believed to be a Beast Deity build. The victory comes as a surprise to the world of pros, as Nova Grappler has never been a strong component of high level play, and even more surprising is that no Dragonic Overlord the End decks placed in the regional. LeBon may have brought some exciting innovations to how the Grapplers are played. Runner up Kevin Perron played a Narukami deck, rumored to be a Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" build, third place fighter Robert Ewell used an Aqua Force deck based around Tri-Stinger Dragon, and fourth went to Kevin Luu with Majesty Lord Blaster. All four cardfighters have received invitations to the North American national finals in Pasadena, California.

The presence of Tri-stinger in the regional finals instead of Glory Maelstrom has also been a surprise. The deck has been relatively underground up to this point, but those well versed in Aqua Force can attest to its strength. The main strategy of Tri-stinger builds is to use the Dragon's counterblast 2 to power up a rearguard Basil or Benedict by +3000, so that they can swing for 13000 with their initial attack, and then either (in Basil's case) swap places with Coral Assault or have Benedict stand and swing for 13000+ power again with as little as a 5000 power boost. With Tri-stinger's limit break, he unflips the 2 counterblast that he paid when he attacks in the third or more battle of the turn, allowing him to make the maneuver all over again in the next turn. This quality of making four 13000+ power attacks per turn helps Tri-stinger to contend effectively with the crossride decks that have caused so many problems for Aqua Force since their debut, quickly eating up their 5000 power shields and forcing them to drop 10000 shield per each attack by way of not having anything else to guard with. Furthermore, Tri-stinger plays a very vicious game against other limit break decks, deliberately using Astraea to make a 14000 power vanguard line that constantly baits the opponent to guard in a way that they never reach their limit break until they have no resources left to guard with.

According to on-site informants, approximately 300 people attended the Toronto regional. Reigning world champion Brandon Smith was in attendance, and lasted until the final elimination round to make it into the top 16, but took two losses spread across the tournament's third and seventh rounds from gradelock, causing him to be eliminated. As Smith will still be competing for this year's championship title in subsequent tournaments, we will not be disclosing his deck type.

Alarmingly, in the aftermath of the Toronto regional some sellers have taken to selling the WCS2013 regional promo PR/0069EN Creeping Dark Goat at four times the price of any other contemporary promo card, going as high as $18.99 for a single copy, and almost twice the price of Circle Magus, a previous world championship promo released last year. Goat is a promo card whose English-language release was met with celebration earlier this year, as the card has been called Shadow Paladin's most competitive first vanguard, both in the English and Japanese formats. Critics of the high price have pointed out that there is no real market for the pricetag, as without the Revengers in the English format Shadow Paladin is generally ranked lower than Megacolony in competitive application, and only played by hardcore fans of the clan. Consumers are discouraged from buying overpriced Goats, as that price is unlikely to go down unless CDG becomes unsellable at these artificially inflated prices.

News: The Stand Up Challenge Cup 2013 Begins!

The first North American national championship for 2013 formally began this past Friday, with shops all across the nation opening their doors as local qualifiers for gaining entry into the regional tournaments. Lasting up through March 31st, almost 300 shops across North America will be distributing regional invitations to the top two tournament winners; with 25 regionals being held, this means that more cardfighters will be turning pro in 2013 than in any preceding year.

Already the reigning national and world champion Brandon Smith has qualified, and like many others, is awaiting his regional assignment from Bushiroad USA. In addition to their regional invitations, those who qualify receive a commemorative button showing that they were one of the top two finishers at the tournament.

As part of our coverage, readers can send in their stories to be featured on Cardfight Pro as part of a community effort. To get your Challenge Cup story featured, mail it in to vanguardunitedstates@gmail.com. Photos of your events are also encouraged.

Spotlight: Brandon Smith

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

Smith is at the bottom right. Opposite him is John Pedro, the Canadian runner-up for 2012. Original photo by Cardfight USA.

Brandon Smith

Birthdate: July 29, 1986
Titles Won: Canadian Regional Champion, North American National Champion (2012), World Champion (2012)
Current Status: World Champion (Former, 2012)
Deck Type: Gold Paladin (Spectral Duke Dragon)
Brandon Smith is the former international champion and one of two out of 120 fighters to have qualified in Toronto to participate in the 2012 North American national championship. Originally an Oracle Think Tank cardfighter from outside Canada that later converted to Royal Paladin, he made the leap to Gold Paladin following Barcgal's restriction and used his experience from local play to rocket into the throne of the North American continent. Following this, he became the leading fighter in the world and the first World Champion in history. Smith was also instrumental in the early spearheading of Cardfight in the United States, bringing the game into Collectible Investments in the very first month of its release.

In addition to his victories at Toronto, Los Angeles and Tokyo, Smith participated in the Chicago regional while Brandon Bastianelli used their deck, but was eliminated in the top eight and came in sixth. During the North American Stand Up Challenge Cup, Smith used a Majesty Lord Blaster deck, but abstained from participating past the regional level due to a scheduling conflict with the on-site gunslinger event that he was running at the championship finals.

Smith competed using a Great Nature build in the 2013 World Championships, making top 16 at the Toronto regional qualifier and going 12-1 at Chicago; his one loss became the tiebreaker that set him outside the cut to top 8 without the chance to participate further. Despite being denied the opportunity to defend his title, Smith remained positive and continued to encourage others to play Cardfight!! Vanguard. His tenure as world champion ended with the close of the WCS2013 on January 12, 2014, with the title formally passing over to European cardfighter Almeida Stewart.

Decks and Play Style
Smith's deck was co-developed between him and Bastianelli, with Bastianelli having developed the early build, later dropping it for the Royals while Smith fine-tuned it. As a result of their diligence, the finished deck would eventually top both the Canadian and Chicago regionals, with no modifications made between appearances.

Smith adheres to the Spectral Duke Dragon style of play, using an eight critical, four draw build to try to maximize his output critical, forcing the opponent to race him for damage and activate his limit break more easily. The extra critical triggers also help with Duke Dragon's self-standing skill, as it retains the effects of the triggers upon standing, mitigating the relative lack of threat that it poses upon losing twin drive. Smith chose to use Gwydion over Falcon Knight for his lone draw, most likely because Gwydion's 5000 power can still push Duke Dragon up to 16000 or Gigantech up to 17000.

Sleygal Dagger and Little Battler, Tron both work as alternative boosters to one another, Tron turning Duke Dragon into a 21000-power column while Dagger can achieve similar numbers by repeating her counterblast. Due to the popularly questioned integrity of the 2012 championship's double and single elimination format, the most widely agreed upon point about Smith's deck is that its main feature is the ride security. Unlike other cardfighters, Smith's use of the Vortimer ride chain gives him seven extra cards to parse through for his grade 2 and 3 ride, helping to ensure that he does not miss a ride or on his initial twin drive.

Smith's Spectral Duke also emphasizes Viviane more commonly than contemporary builds, compensating for the steep loss in advantage that Duke Dragon's powerful limit break confers. His deck is somewhat weakened by the absence of Tripp, as without the ability to unflip damage, any counterblast that Smith uses is permanently lost. This weakens his capacity to survive the latter parts of a match, since without any counterblast the deck's skills are cut off from use, but as it's inherently difficult to survive a well executed Dragon rush, it's rare for the deck to reach that point in the game.

Winter 2012 Regional Tournament, Canada
Card Pool: TD01-BT03, BT06-EB03, PR 0001-0029
Grade 0
x1 Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer (FVG)
x4 Silent Punisher CT
x4 Elixir Sommelier HT
x4 Weapons Dealer, Gwydion DT
x4 Flame of Victory CT
Grade 1
x2 Sleygal Dagger
x4 Halo Shield, Mark
x1 Little Battler, Tron
x4 Scout of Darkness, Vortimer
x4 Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
Grade 2
x4 Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
x3 Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane
x4 Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer
Grade 3
x4 Spectral Duke Dragon
x3 Gigantech Destroyer

This decklist ultimately went unchanged for the national tournament, taking the North American title without modification.

Winter 2012 National Tournament, North America
Card Pool: TD01-BT03, BT06-BT07, PR 0001-0029
Grade 0
x1 Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer (FVG)
x4 Silent Punisher CT
x4 Elixir Sommelier HT
x4 Weapons Dealer, Gwydion DT
x4 Flame of Victory CT
Grade 1
x2 Sleygal Dagger
x4 Halo Shield, Mark
x1 Little Battler, Tron
x4 Scout of Darkness, Vortimer
x4 Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
Grade 2
x4 Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
x3 Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane
x4 Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer
Grade 3
x4 Spectral Duke Dragon
x3 Gigantech Destroyer

Smith's decklist proved extraordinarily long-lived, once again going unmodified for the world title.

Winter 2012 International Tournament, Japan
Card Pool: TD01-BT03, BT06-BT07, PR 0001-0029
Grade 0
x1 Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer (FVG)
x4 Silent Punisher CT
x4 Elixir Sommelier HT
x4 Weapons Dealer, Gwydion DT
x4 Flame of Victory CT
Grade 1
x2 Sleygal Dagger
x4 Halo Shield, Mark
x1 Little Battler, Tron
x4 Scout of Darkness, Vortimer
x4 Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
Grade 2
x4 Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
x3 Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane
x4 Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer
Grade 3
x4 Spectral Duke Dragon
x3 Gigantech Destroyer


Interviews
Smith and Bastianalli were both interviewed six minutes before the Chicago regional award ceremony, by an editor from Cardfight Pro (then operating under the "Game Set" brand.) The full text and an audio recording of the interview can be found here.

Additional Images

Smith is second from the left, holding the championship trophy. Original photo by Cardfight!! Vanguard. On the right is runner-up Henry Suharto, to the right of him fourth-place finalist Christopher Sok, and on the far left is third-place finalist Christopher Fernau.

North American National Championship Qualifier Locations

Initially leaked in an Anime Expo 2012 announcement, revised dating and location information for the 2012 North America qualifiers has just been added to the Bushiroad website. With consultation from professional event planner and media manager Alyssa Fisher, here is our forecast for the events.

Marriott Toronto Airport Hotel, Toronto, Canada: September 1st. Most event spaces at this hotel only seat 12-16 people, so speculating on the event's locale is easier. The conference rooms have enough room to host the Canadian qualifier, but do not provide a single open space for the tournament to be overseen in. The Grand (840-1000 individuals) or Junior Ballrooms (180) are much more likely locations due to their open shape and high carrying capacity.

Wyndham Dallas Love Field Hotel, Dallas, Texas: September 8th. Less information is available for this location than most, but the First Class A&B rooms can accommodate 330-600 people in various configurations.

Update: This location has been changed to Hyatt Regency Dallas. This is probably due to Hyatt's higher carrying capacity, as virtually any event space in the hotel can hold 1,000 people. Marsalis Hall on the exhibition level is one possibility due to its enormous size, well suited to being stocked with arranged and cordoned-off tables to create competition space, but it may be too large for the estimated attendance. The Reunion Ballroom or Landmark sections on the lobby level are also probable, with many configurations that lend themselves well to the qualifier while maintaining a high seating count.

Gamesmart MX, Mexico City, Mexico: September 15th. Information on this facility is sparse, but notably the website mentions that the winner of the qualifier will receive plane tickets and accommodations to the championship site.

The Comcast Arena, (Listed as Seattle, Washington but actually in Everett, Washington): September 15th. The Edward D. Hansen Conference Center addition is almost confirmed as the site (it's specified on the CF-Vanguard website where otherwise you would only list "The Comcast Arena"), but any given event space inside of it can hold up to 800 people, so there's no specific location that can be said of at this time.

Chicago Marriott Schaumburg Hotel, Chicago, Illinois: September 22nd. The most likely place for the qualifier is the ballroom, which can seat up to 1000 people. The only other area within the hotel grounds of comparable size is the Grand Marquis Tent, which can seat up to 350 people, but as it is a tent it is most likely unsuitable for the qualifier's purposes.

New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center, (Listed as New York but actually inside of New Jersey): October 6th. Any of the four exhibit halls has a carrying capacity exceeding 1000. The conference center can probably be ruled out due to how the space is compartmentalized, but exhibit halls A through D still stand. Taking into account the junior and main ballrooms, the designated space is basically impossible to predict.

North Atlanta Trade Center, Atlanta, Georgia: October 13th. Appears to provide only a single space, so speculation is unnecessary.

Anaheim Convention Center, (Listed as Los Angeles, California but actually located in Anaheim, California): November 3rd. This is where the national championship will be held. The situation is essentially the same as with the NJCEC, being that there's no particular space that lends itself well to the situation. The first floor exhibit halls are likely, however. Note that this was a past Anime Expo location.

While even the most popular of card games often only see a turnout of around 500 to these types of tournaments, when accounting for spectators, as well as friends and family brought in by the participants, the total room needed by the event space doubles.