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

Today's Card Analysis: Interdimensional Dragon Ragnaclock Dragon

"Ah, the time for everything to end
has come once again."

Today's Japanese card of the day is a stride unit for the Gear Chronicle clan, Ragnaclock Dragon. Illustrated by Amemiya Keita (Werwolf Sieger, Dark Lord of Abyss) Ragnaclock is intended as a game-finishing generation unit that combines the overwhelming power of a stridden grade 4 with guard manipulation and additional critical to help secure the end of the match, and the opponent with it.

When Ragnaclock attacks the vanguard, you can counterblast 1 and turn a copy of itself in the generation zone face-up; this prevents the opponent from calling grade 0 cards to the guardian circle from their hand, and if there are two or more face-up generation units in the generation zone, Ragnaclock will get an additional critical. Since getting the most out of Ragnaclock's counterblast requires you to have already stridden on a previous turn, he's ideal as a followup to Chronos Command Dragon. For counterblast 2 soulblast 1 Chronos Command sends the opponent's entire field to the bottom of their deck when his attack hits the vanguard, and as a stride unit he will innately attack for ~26000 power, forcing the opponent to spend perfect defense cards on his attack even while they're at 2~3 damage, or otherwise risk taking up to a -5 from what is effectively a field retire skill on par with Nouvelle Vague's. The counterblast and soulblast costs do not have to be dedicated until the moment he actually hits, so keeping up with defending against Chronos Command for several turns severely taxes the opponent's hand and leaves them open to rearguard attacks that will eventually put them in the range of 4 damage. This is when Ragnaclock is intended to come out, catching the opponent without the perfect defense in hand to guard with.

Alternatively, you can bring Ragnaclock in when the opponent is still at 3 damage if their hand is full of 0s, to try and go for the endgame. Attacking boosted for 31000 2 critical effectively takes a leaf from Genesis' book, requiring the opponent to either drop a perfect defense or risk the critical. Like Vict Plasma and many of the other grade 4s from G-BT01: Generation Stride, Ragnaclock's persona cost prevents you from using his skill more than twice per game under normal circumstances. But Gear Chronicle is one of the few clans with a means to circumvent this; their stand trigger Waku Waku Worker has a generation break skill that turns a G-unit face-down after its boost, then recycles Waku back into the deck. Ragnaclock's persona cost is thus limited only by the number of Workers that can be brought out, but seeing as it's critical triggers that make Ragnaclock threatening prior to 5 damage, it's difficult to recommend a default trigger ratio to this kind of deckbuild. A 4-4-4-4 rainbow trigger spread is just as easily recommendable as 4 stand 8 critical, but more unorthodox ideas like 3 stand 3 draw 6 critical--effectively a standard 6 draw 6 critical option with 3 stands substituted in--are also feasible. As one of the newest clans in the game, Gear Chronicle has a lot of room for experimentation with new ideas tailored to its stride-centric strategies.

News: Dengeki Online Publishes Early Cardfight!! Vanguard G Screencaps

This evening Dengeki Online uploaded 21 screencaps from the first episode of Cardfight!! Vanguard G, "Shindou Chrono," which will air on TV Tokyo twenty-two hours from now. As the first proper sequel series in the franchise, G will follow three new protagonists introduced at Bushiroad's preceding press conference. According to Dengeki, the first episode is numbered 01 rather than 197, fitting its role as the introduction of the new series.

#01 "Shindou Chrono"

One day on his way to school, Shindou Chrono found a mysterious deck planted by someone in his shoe locker, alongside a map leading somewhere. After school, Chrono went to the place written on the map. That place was a card shop called "Card Capital, Location 2."

Set three years after Cardfight!! Vanguard, Chrono is a beginner in the game who receives a "Gear Chronicle" deck. Because of this clan that no one seems to know, Chrono's fate becomes entangled with that of Kijou Shion and Anjou Tokoha. The Card Capital 2 that Shindou visits bears some resemblance to Card Kingdom, the Japanese chain of card shops that Card Capital was originally based on.

Among the initial images are a cardfight between the now-10th grader Katsuragi Kamui and Tokoha's older brother, Anjou Mamoru. The fight takes visual cues from both the first season of Cardfight!! Vanguard and its sister anime Future Card Buddyfight, with cards levitating in front of the cardfighters while they imagine themselves on the planet Cray.

The artwork for the new series is notably of higher quality than its immediate predecessor Legion Mate, which was strongly criticized for its static animation and the perceived lack of effort put into cardfights. These initial screencaps of G compare favorably to the better-received first season and Link Joker arc.

Like past seasons, Cardfight!! Vanguard G will be simulcast with English subtitles through Crunchyroll, although for the time being it is listed under the fold of Legion Mate as its 197th episode. Viewers are asked to support this official release of the anime by registering a Premium account with Crunchyroll, which will also allow immediate access to the new episodes an hour after they debut, in high definition.

News: Fifth Season Cardfight!! Vanguard G Announced, Harmonics Messiah Mechanics Detailed

Left to right; Kiba Shion, Shindou Chrono, Anjou Tokoha

A broadcast from Bushiroad's special conference today has announced the start of a new season of Cardfight!! Vanguard on October 26th, Cardfight!! Vanguard G. Coming alongside the introduction of a new separate product line for the multimedia franchise, G offers to both wipe the slate clean for newcomers and build on the material familiar to older fans of the series.

Taking place after a three-year timeskip, the series will follow Shindou Kurono, Kiba Shion and Anjou Tokoha as the new protagonists of G, with returning cast Katsuragi Kamui and Tokura Misaki serving as supporting characters. A website for the season went up shortly after the broadcast, describing the new characters introduced by G. Kurono is a protagonist who "lost his parents at an early age and relies on his own power," while Shion is "both the class clown and a cool young man, educated in fencing." Tokoha meanwhile is "a true Tokyoite girl with a graceful appearance." Kurono uses the never-before-seen clan Gear Chronicle, which brings together the destinies of these three towards an "impossible future, an impossible self signifying 'Generation.'"

Principle protagonist Shindou Kurono's name is a dual-language pun on the word Chrono "Time," while the kanji for his surname 新導 approximate the meaning "New Lead" in contrast to preceding Sendou Aichi's 先導 "Forward Lead." Returning character Kamui will be working part time at a second Card Capital location, while Misaki inherits the chain as a whole and serves as its owner.

Miyano Mamoru will be returning to voice Ibuki Kouji as a key supporting character, and to sing the new opening theme for Cardfight!! Vanguard G. Notably, Miyano's introduction in the stream doubled the number of viewers and caused a suddenly influx of Premium NND users to join, kicking out non-Premium members for the limited seating available to the livestream. The stream ultimately garnered a 72% approval rating with an audience of more than 22,000 viewers and more than 5,000 comments posted within the hour.

Starting with G the previous director and series writer Tsuji Hatsuki and Urahata Tatsuhiko will be departing from the franchise. These two have served as director and writer for Cardfight!! Vanguard, Asia Circuit, Link Joker and Legion Mate. For G their roles are filled by Yoshimura Kyoko (吉村清子) and Umemoto Yui (梅本唯.) Yoshimura is known for her work on Final Fantasy Unlimited and Witchblade, as well as serving as the co-director to Vanguard's Link Joker arc, while Umemoto is already well-appreciated for her contributions to the first season of Cardfight!! Vanguard. She has both storyboarded and directed Suzugamori Ren's introduction to the series in episode 23, the battle between Kai and Ren in 47, and the masterpiece episode 62, better known as the first instance of Tsukuyomi being used to stack the deck.

G will make use of the new Stride mechanic introduced earlier by the Neon Messiah movie promo card, Harmonics Messiah. Each of the main characters of G will be featured using a Stride unit, cards which are kept outside of the main deck and used after the ride phase of the turn; by discarding cards with total of 3 or more grade from the hand while the vanguard is at grade 3 or greater, a Stride unit can be placed over the vanguard until the end of the turn. So far this has not been treated as a ride, and according to the stream can be performed after a normal ride, meaning that break ride skills will not activate, and the Stridden card retains the names of both itself and of the base form it has Stridden over. The power of the unit Stridden is added to the Stride unit, however. The introduction of a "G-Assist Step" will see further interaction with Stride, allowing it to be performed to cope with being gradelocked.

Of the revisions made to the TCG by G, the upcoming trial decks for the season will contain four copies of their RRR-rarity card instead of just one, as well as two perfect defense cards and two copies of their cover card each. The products for the new season will also partially reset the set order, reflecting the divide between Cardfight!! Vanguard and Cardfight!! Vanguard G. On November 21st the first trial decks of the new season will come out, VG-G-TD01: Awakening of the Interdimensional Dragon and VG-G-TD02: Divine Swordsman of the Shiny Star. These will be followed on December 5th by VG-G-BT01: Generation Stride. (時空超越/ストライドジェネレーション Jikuchuuetsu/Sutoraido Jenereeshon "Space-time Transcendence/Stride Generation.") VG-G-TD03 and 04 will follow in January, then VG-G-BT02 in February, and the first extra booster set of the season will be released in March. TD01 will support the new Gear Chronicle clan, while TD02 will support Royal Paladin, and BT01 will contain cards for Royal Paladin, Gear Chronicle, Kagerou, Nova Grappler and Oracle Think Tank.