Kagerо̄ Start Decks being given out at Spring Fest 2018

Beginning with the Brussels and Anaheim Team League tournaments on May 12th, the English edition Crested Dragon Start Decks are being distributed at Bushiroad Spring Fest 2018 events. These are the first legal cards of the Standard format; the equivalent Royal Paladin Start Deck will be distributed to card shops beginning May 29th for use in the international Demo Caravan. So far the decks are being given out on both days of each event, even when day 2 doesn't otherwise involve Cardfight!! Vanguard.

Next issue of Monthly Bushiroad to come with Star Drive deck

The June issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine will contain a 50-card Stardrive Dragon Start Deck featuring an alternate artwork Knight of Silence Gallatin, to match the Nehalem alternate artwork Crested deck distributed last month. The June issue will go on store shelves in Japan May 5th, 2018.

The Stardrive and Crested Dragon decks consist primarily of alternate versions of cards from the upcoming V-Trial Decks. Although some of these cards are deliberately inferior versions of the TD units, with lower base powers or more costly skills, some like the titular boss cards are arguably better than their Trial Deck counterparts. Both the Start Deck and Trial Deck cards are legal for play in Standard format thanks to a special rule, even though SD cards do not have the V-series marker that normally indicates valid Standard cards.

Today's Card Analysis: Crested & Stardrive Dragons

The Japanese cards of the day for April 27th are the supporting grade 3s from V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and 02: Kai Toshiki, Stardrive Dragon and Crested Dragon. Longtime cardfighters will remember these from the Stardrive and Crested Flash Decks distributed prior to the game's actual launch in early 2011, and these cards have served much the same purpose in the rebooted Cardfight!! Vanguard as the headliners for the Start Decks distributed during the worldwide Demo Caravans. (To be held in June for the English format.) The Trial Deck versions of these cards differ significantly from their Start Deck counterparts, and both versions will be legal under the Standard rules, so which should you run?

Crested Dragon
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When it attacks a vanguard, if the number of your opponent's rearguards is 3 or less, this unit gets Power +5000 until end of battle.

Stardrive Dragon
AUTO [Rearguard Circle]: When it attacks a vanguard, if the number of your rearguards is 3 or greater, this unit gets Power +5000 until end of battle.

Appropriately for Royal Paladin and Kagerо̄, the new Stardrive and Crested Dragons are essentially inversions of each another's conditions, with Stardrive gaining power based on increasing your own rearguards and Crested gaining it based on reducing the opponent's. Their SD incarnations instead gained just 3k power, but those versions were active in both vanguard and rearguard circles, and both required their fighter to have three or more rearguards in play.

The 5k power bonus means that the new cards can swing for 18 alone, which meets the base requirement to force the opponent to guard with 10k shield. (13 being the normal base power for a grade 3 vanguard in Standard.) With as low as a 5k boost these cards can go for 23k and force a guard with a Critical Trigger or better, but the problem is reaching the stage after 23. 28k is the threshold at which rearguard columns become truly threatening in the Standard format, and the only way for these cards to reach that threshold is with Allen, Marron, Gojo, or Auspice Falcon. These cards each have skills capable of powering up either themselves or these attackers, bringing them in the range of 28~29k. Without these specific units, there isn't a tangible difference between the SD and TD versions of these cards, as virtually any booster will make a 23 column with the Start Deck versions.

No matter which version is your preference, they each have the Force icon, granting you another instance of a continuous +10k during your turn to a circle of your choice--for the rest of the game. That brings us to an important issue with these cards; they contradict the goals of your deck.

In the new format, the ideal play strategy is to continuously ride another grade 3 every turn from the first moment possible, gaining another instance of your clan's Imaginary Gift to further strengthen your board and force additional guard from the opponent. (Or in the case of Protect, progressing another step on the long road towards an unbreakable defense.) Playing grade 3s with a Gift to the rearguard directly contradicts the ideal flow of Standard decks. Vortex Dragon and Gigantech Charger can get away with it because these cards don't have Force, and as a trade-off are capable of a much higher maximum threshold of power than Crested or Star Drive, with Vortex getting 5k every time you use Bahr, Burj, Berserk Dragon, or Spillover, and Gigantech getting 10k on-place or when you ride.

What this means in the long run is that the Start Deck versions are preferable because these at least can make a power difference on the vanguard circle with base 7k grade 1s or with vanguard-specific boosters like Miru Biru. The Trial Deck equivalents are vanilla 13ks on vanguard, and if you were going to run them for their rearguard boost then you would find better versions of that strategy waiting in BT01. (For $0.50 and $0.25 per card, at that!)

At the end of the day, the Start Deck vs Trial Deck version debate won't have long to live. The Trial Decks hit June 8th for the English format, and we move on to BT01 format just 22 days later. By then multiple new grade 3s will have likely swept all this under the rug. But for those 22 days, it's probably best to switch these units out for their Start Deck prints.

With these two cards out of the way, we have one final set of uncertainties regarding the Trial Decks; whether or not the grade 1 perfect guards will differ from their Start Deck counterparts, and if any of the triggers will be effect triggers.

The previous Japanese card of the day was Bellicosity Dragon.

V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. They will be accompanied by a new sleeve based on the "Imaginary Gift" design. The first Booster Set of the Standard format, V-BT 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4 will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. It will be accompanied by sleeves based on Dragonic Overlord and Blaster Blade.

The first Extra Booster set of Standard, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and August 3rd for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll.

More than 12000 people have participated in the Vanguard Spring Caravan

Uploaded by @hasetch_tenchou.

Bushiroad reports that the Cardfight!! Vanguard Spring Caravan has been demoed by more than 12000 people at 158 stores across Japan since its inception in March. The number of participants is likely to double by the time the Caravan concludes on the 30th, by which time over 300 stores will have hosted demo events for the Standard format.

The equivalent English events are stated to start in June, closer to the launch of the Trial Decks.

A newly-opened carton of Start Decks given out to card shops. Uploaded by @nextonenabari.

The Spring Caravan is a unique opportunity for new fighters to learn the ropes of the Standard format, and walk away with a free Start Deck. The Stardrive Dragon deck was given out between March 16th and April 6th, while after today shops will begin distributing the Crested Dragon deck. Both Start Decks come with a vanilla Blaster Blade promotional card. Those that complete the workshop also receive a commemorative certificate featuring Kai Toshiki welcoming them to the world of Vanguard. Bushiroad last reported around 5000 participants by March 24th.

Uploaded by cfvanguard_PR.

V-Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and V-Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. They will be accompanied by a new sleeve based on the "Imaginary Gift" design. The first Booster Set of the Standard format, V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. The first Extra Booster set, V-EB01: The Destructive Roar will launch in Japan June 29th, 2018, and in July for the English-speaking world. The accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Anime Japan 2018 recap: Vanguard Origin TV schedule

At the Anime Japan 2018 convention this past weekend, Bushiroad conducted demo workshops with the Stardrive and Crested Dragon Star Decks, helping newcomers learn the rules and preview what the Standard format will be like when it launches in May. In addition to the free decks and Blaster Blade promotional card, participants were given a copy of the 2018 Vanguard beginner's guide with accompanying manga chapter illustrated by author Itou Akira. This was the first time the Crested deck was made publicly available; it will next be distributed in the May issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine, before being sent out to shops April 7th.

At the Tokyo MX booth, Kitta Izumi and Itou Ayasa appeared as part of a special panel to promote the TV segment "Monthly Bushiroad with Vanguard," which will be used to introduce each new episode of the next season of Cardfight!! Vanguard on its primary channels, Tokyo MX and Sun TV. These segments will air at 10:00 PM Saturdays and 3:00 AM Sundays Japanese time, beginning April 7th for MX and April 8th for Sun TV. Kitta has voiced Tokura Misaki on Cardfight!! Vanguard since the first episode debuted in 2011, and spent some time discussing how the character evolved. Itou Ayasa is the voice of Yatomi Saya in Cardfight!! Vanguard G, and the two of them will be cohosting "Monthly Bushiroad with Vanguard."

The air schedule for the new season's first episode is as follows;

Bushiroad TV with Vanguard
Tokyo MX
Saturday April 7th, 10:00 PM
Sun TV
Monday April 9th, 3:00 AM

Cardfight!! Vanguard
AbemaTV
Saturday May 5th, 9:00 PM
YouTube
Monday May 6th, 12:00 AM

Cardfight!! Vanguard
Tokyo MX
Saturday May 5th, 10:30 PM
Sunday May 6th, 11:00 AM
Wednesday May 9th, 7:00 PM
Sun TV
Saturday May 5th, 10:30 PM
Sunday May 6th, 11:00 AM
Wednesday May 9th, 7:00 PM

While Vanguard's target demographic is in the range middle through high school students, and it has enjoyed a strong viewership among elementary-aged children, the new programming schedule puts the anime almost exclusively in late night timeslots with low exposure. The first season originally aired Saturday mornings at 8:00 AM, while its sequel Asia Circuit moved to 10:00 AM on Sunday. This is the timeslot Vanguard has retained throughout its entire run up until the final episode of GZ this coming Sunday, and some suspect Tokyo MX to be setting the series up for failure.

Poor ratings would make a handy justification to end their contract with Bushiroad; while four years ago CEO Kidani Takaaki could boast of three more seasons of Vanguard being greenlit at once, that kind of confidence is now a thing of the past. Bushiroad's sudden blitz of advertising, taking over the Yamanote Line and pushing demos out to more than three hundred stores nationwide, could be seen as the company taking appropriate responses to ensure the franchise's survival. Of note is that the new season's 9:00 PM slot on AbemaTV is the one most frequently advertised online, despite Bushiroad creating the Monthly Bushiroad block for Tokyo MX.

The new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll. Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018.

Spring Demo Caravan draws over 5000 participants

Since the beginning of the Cardfight!! Vanguard Spring Caravan one week ago, more than 5,000 people have taken part in the official demos of Standard format, held at 65 shops across Japan. Participants were able to take a beginner's class in the game's rules, and receive a free Stardrive Dragon Start Deck. This weekend Bushiroad will begin distributing its Kagerou counterpart, the Crested Dragon Start Deck, at the Anime Japan 2018 trade show. The deck will then become available in Monthly Bushiroad magazine, and go out to shops for distribution April 7th.

Bushiroad will be giving out one hundred thousand such decks at over 300 locations in the coming months, in Japan as well as in Asia. Similar demo events will be held overseas, in the United States and other English-speaking countries.

The new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll. Trial Deck 01: Sendou Aichi and Trial Deck 02: Kai Toshiki will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018.

Cardfight!! Vanguard manga to rerun in full color

March 20th, 2018. In episode 23 of the Weekly Bites Z stream series, Cardfight!! Vanguard representative Doctor O announced that the May issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine will rerelease the first chapter of the original Cardfight!! Vanguard manga by Itou Akira in full color. The publication will coincide with the airing of the Vanguard reboot series, which itself more closely follows the manga. As the manga ran in KeroKero Ace from 2011 to 2013, this is the first time this chapter will be run in Monthly Bushiroad.

Itou himself is doing the color work, much as he did for the manga's set of LINE messenger stamps. This issue will cover approximately the first half of chapter 1, comprising 48 pages. It's currently unclear if the color edition will proceed into the June issue.

In related news, a series of Cardfight!! Vanguard short novels acting as excerpts from the card game's lore are being compiled in a standalone tankōbon format. Cray Chronicle Notes: Beginning will be available for purchase at the Monthly Bushiroad booth as part of the 2018 Great Vanguard Festival on April 29th. More information will be found in the May issue of Monthly Bushiroad.

Doctor O also announced that Bushiroad will be hosting a booth from March 24th~25th at AnimeJapan 2018 in the Tokyo Big Sight building. They will be doing a demo session of the new Standard-format game using cards from the Crested Dragon Start Deck, and will be giving out copies of the deck to participants.

Although currently only the Stardrive deck has been distributed to the participating venues as part of the March-June demo caravan for Standard format, the Crested deck will also be distributed beginning April 7th. It contains three copies of Dragon Knight Nehalem, who has been redesigned into unit that retires the opponent's cards rather than as a vanilla. A special edition version of the card with alternate artwork pulled from its original incarnation will be available in Monthly Bushiroad magazine, where it will be distributed as part of a Kagerou deck.

More than 3,000 people have already participated in the spring caravan demos in the four days since they began. Those that attend receive a free Stardrive deck with alternate versions of upcoming cards, and a promotional Blaster Blade exclusive to the event. All of these cards will be legal in the Standard game.

Doctor O also showed off the certificate fighters get for completing the demo workshop, which features art of the rebooted Kai Toshiki from the new series. The quotation on the certificate reads "So you were able to picture it. Let's begin...Now you too, are a Vanguard Fighter!"

The next episode of Weekly Bites will be air Tuesday March 27th, at 9:00 PM JST on NicoNico Live and YouTube Live. The previous special episode featured 20 questions from fans answered by Doctor O, Vanguard executive producer Shimamura Masatoshi, and original concept creator Itou Akira.

A guide to what's legal in Standard format

Stardrive and Crested deck cards are tournament legal.

The V-series icon, found at the bottom left of cards printed for Standard.

For the Japanese format beginning May 1st, cardfighters playing in Standard format will have to choose a clan and compose their deck entirely from that clan, using only cards that have the V-series icon. The exception to the rule is that cards with the numbers V-SD/001~014, V-SD02/001~014, and VPR/0001 are all treated as cards with the V-series icon, and can be used in decks despite not actually having it. Included in this is the Blaster Blade promotional card distributed alongside the Start Decks given away at the demo caravan events, and all of the cards in the Stardrive and Crested decks themselves.

Conversely, only cards without the V-series simple (including the aforementioned Start Decks and promo cards) can be used in the G Standard format, which will only include cards printed prior to the V-series. All cards may be used in Premium Standard format, unless their abilities specifically prevent them from doing so like Epitome of Knowledge Silvest. Those cards may only be used in Premium Standard Extreme Fight.

For the English format, only cards released after April 28th can be used, excluding PR cards. Bushiroad has stated more information will be coming on this front, but it is safe to assume that the English demo deck and VPR promotional cards will be tournament legal just like their Japanese counterparts.

From Bushiroad booth at 2018 GAMA Trade Show.

The first Trial Decks of the Standard format, V-Trial Deck 01: Blaster Blade and V-Trial Deck 02: Dragonic Overlord will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. The first booster set of Standard, V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. Their accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll.

2018 Blaster Blade promo recalls the beginning of Vanguard, seven years prior

Uploaded by @Sora_reunion2.

The first promo card of Vanguard's new era has gone out in Japan, distributed at demo workshops for the game's new mechanics. Each card is a base 10000 Blaster Blade with 5000 shield, with an advertisement for the anime series printed in place of skill text. These stats may sound par for the course for a vanilla grade 2 coming from the old Vanguard, but in the Standard-format game most grade 2s already have 10k base power, and the vanillas seen thus far have 10k shield.

The text on the card reads:

"A new work begins May 5th, 2018!!

The new TV anime starts broadcasting Saturday May 5th!

You can watch the whole series on the official YouTube channel!"

Although the card is numbered VPR/0001, it does not have the V-era symbol found at the bottom left of Alfred Early and upcoming Trial Deck cards. Some fighters in Japan have taken to going to multiple demo events to acquire additional copies of the promo.

This 2011 photo, taken at that year's Tokyo Toy Show, was among the first Vanguard-related images circulated on the web. The text reads "Cardfight!! Vanguard TV anime airing in 2011!!"

This is not the first time Bushiroad has slapped an anime advertisement on a card, rather than vice-versa. When Cardfight!! Vanguard was being brought out to toy and hobby shows in late 2010 and early 2011, the company distributed two similarly-structured Blaster Blades. The first was based on a prototype card design from before Nakamura Satoshi's team had finalized what Vanguard's aesthetic would be, using artwork drawn by Studio TMS of Aichi in Blade's armor.

The second was after the cards' frame and format had been decided on, and was distributed alongside the Stardrive and Crested Dragon Flash Fight half decks at demo events and in issues of KeroKero Ace magazine. (A third-party predecessor to Monthly Bushiroad.) The alternate artwork used in this vanilla version of Blaster Blade is often pointed to as the origin point for the character Blaster Dark (née Junos/Yuunos) who in lore lacked the courage to use his sword's hidden skill.

Similar to the initial prototype card at the Tokyo Toy Show, an English-language Blaster Blade with a website ad in place of a skill was distributed in mid-2011 at the Anime Expo kick-off event to promote the game's English launch. While the flavor text was identical to its Trial Deck counterpart, the skill text instead read;

"The new era trading card game "Cardfight!! Vanguard"

Check the official website!

http://cf-vanguard.com/"

The new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll. V-Trial Deck 01: Blaster Blade and V-Trial Deck 02: Dragonic Overlord will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018.

Trial Deck Wingal and Gojo have different stats from Demo Deck versions

During your turn, all of your "Blaster Blade" on the same column as this unit get Power +5000.

The two Wingals (left) and two Gojos. (Right) Stardrive and Crested deck versions have lower base power.

Higher-definition images from Wednesday's bombshell announcement of a Cardfight!! Vanguard reboot series reveal a surprising fact about the upcoming first trial decks for the series, V-TD01: Blaster Blade and V-TD02: Dragonic Overlord. The Wingal and Dragon Monk Gojo promotional cards packaged with the decks have higher base power, tweaked effects, and different background art compared to the ones being used in the official demos of the game.

Both promotional versions of the grade 1s have 8000 base power rather than 7000, and while promo Gojo's skill is identical to its Crested deck counterpart, Wingal has a radically different skill that all but guarantees its staple status in Royal Paladin;

Dragon Monk Gojo (V-SD02/009 and VPR/000?)
ブーストした時 あなたのリアガードが相手より多いなら、そのターン中、ブーストされたユニットのパワー＋３０００。
"When boosting, if you have more rearguards than your opponent, during this turn, the boosted unit gets Power +3000."

Wingal (V-SD01/009)
ヴァンガードをブーストした時、そのバトル中、このユニットのパワー＋５０００。
"When boosting a vanguard, during that battle, this unit gets Power +5000."

Wingal (VPR/000?)
あなたのターン中、このユニットと同じ縦列に、あなとの「ブラスター・ブレード」すべてのパワー＋５０００。
"During your turn, all of your "Blaster Blade" on the same column as this unit get Power +5000."

The sample image text compared with the phrase "on the same column."

While the resolution of the images is high enough to distinguish most of the text, "on the same column" should be treated as a tentative translation, as it's difficult to make out if the kanji really matches this phrase. Moreover, the promo card images are too low of a resolution to gauge their card numbers.

Vanguard has had multiple cards with the same name and radically different skills in the past, but usually separated by months or years. If the new Wingal really is as he appears to be, it's an upgrade competitive Royal Paladin fighters will be scrambling for. 8000 power grade 1s are sorely desired by those that have tried the new format, as while grade 2s have received a power bump to adjust for grade 3s being inflated into crossride-levels of base defense, the same can't be said for grade 1s as a whole.

Original image uploaded by @Bushiroad-Global. Note the Force Gift Markers near the edge of the table.

More than 300 locations "worldwide" are participating in the demo caravan campaign, which for the English game is set to begin in June, closer to the launch of the trial decks and first booster set. The first location to demo the English versions of the cards at all was the GAMA Trade Show in Reno, Nevada, over March 14th-16th. (Simultaneous demonstrations were held at Akihabara Gamers.) No English-language schedule of events has been released yet, while Japan has 318 such demonstrations scheduled in the months leading up to the May launch.

In Japan, the upgraded Wingal and Gojo will be distributed as part of a special bundle of one of the trial decks, a set of 70 card sleeves featuring Sendou Aichi or Kai Toshiki, and one copy of the promo card itself sporting an RRR-rarity foil. It's possible but not yet confirmed that non-foiled versions of these cards will also be in the Trial Decks, which are set to include four copies each of Blaster Blade, Dragonic Overlord, and their respective perfect defense cards. An English distribution for the promo cards has not yet been announced.

V-TD01: Blaster Blade and V-TD02: Dragonic Overlord will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018.