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.

English Demo Caravan to begin May 29th

The English-language Cardfight!! Vanguard portal updated Tuesday with the first dates for the international Demo Caravan. Set to span over 300 locations worldwide, currently just 87 locations have been listed for the United States, with more to be posted in the coming weeks. The event will take place from May 29th to July 29th, with dates varying by location. Participants will receive a free Stardrive Dragon Start Deck; its Crested Dragon counterpart has not yet been announced for English distribution.

In addition to the 87 listings for the United States, 26 locations are listed for Europe, and 14 for Asia-Oceania. Several of Bushiroad's biggest markets are missing from the demo list, including much of the American west coast and midwest, as well as their English headquarters in Singapore. In Japan the caravan attracted over 12,000 participants within its first three weeks, finally coming to a close on April 30th. The Japanese Start Decks came with vanilla Blaster Blade promotional cards, but the English Caravan seems to instead feature Buddyfight, Weiss Schwarz, and Dragoborne promo cards.

The chase cards out of the Start Deck are the alternate-skill prints of Sage of the Arts Jauron and Stardrive Dragon, which some prefer over their Trial Deck equivalents. Although the Start Deck cards do not have the V-series symbol, they are legal under Standard format thanks to a special rule that treats them as V-series cards. For collectors, the Start Decks are currently the only available prints of Aggregate Knight Firno and Wyvern Strike Agaruda.

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.

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.

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.

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.