Weekly Bites reveals: Producer Shimamura Masatoshi's comments

Cardfight!! Vanguard TCG producer Shimamura Masatoshi joins Doctor O to discuss game balance.

Force is a balanced Gift type with higher base power on its grade 2s and 3s for defense, and power gain from its Marker placement. It's dependent on the clan, but it tends to do well at attacking so long as you can strategically make use of the Force Markers.

Accel is an attack-oriented Gift. Its exclusive trait is Front Triggers, and depending on the clan tends towards standing rearguards through skills.

Protect is a defense-oriented Gift. Its markers can be used both as perfect guards and as discards for costs. The Gift tends to shine most in combination with each clan's specialties; searching the deck, draws, drawing, retiring, and so on.

Angel Feather can heal by putting Protect Markers into the damage zone

In the 27th episode of Weekly Bites Z, Vanguard producer Shimamura "Shima-P" Masatoshi issued an important ruling on the Angel Feather clan. Angel Feather is one of seven Protect clans, each of which add a Protect Marker to hand when they ride a grade 3 with the Protect ability. That Marker functions as a perfect guard with no grade nor other unit information, but as ruled previously cannot exist outside the hand or guardian circle; therefore if Angel Feather uses one of its skills to send a Protect Marker to the damage zone and take another card out, the Protect Marker will instead be sent to where the fighter stores their Gifts, and the Angel Feather cardfighter will functionally heal a damage.

This gives Angel Feather the capacity to heal as many times as they have Protect grade 3s in a deck, an ability closely guarded up to now; previously healing without adding cards to the damage zone was limited to a handful of units, and gated behind specific conditions like on-hit skills or Generation Break 2.

Shima-P did not announce when Angel Feather will actually be hitting the Standard format, but based on the current schedule it won't be until October at the earliest. Until the clan actually receives units with the Protect ability, the ruling is little more than trivia.

Royal Paladin's first RRR revealed on stream, High Dog Breeder Akane & Pongal text

April 10th, 2018. On the 26th episode of Weekly Bites Z, Doctor O showed off a Single Rare and our first Triple Rare of the new format, from V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4!, the grade 1 Pongal and grade 2 High Dog Breeder Akane.

Pongal (V-BT01/027 R)

AUTO: When placed, if there is another unit in the same column as this unit, you may Soulcharge 1. If you soulcharge a Trigger Unit, this unit gets Power +5000 until end of turn.

A promotional version of Pongal is being distributed to the winners of Standard-format weekly shop tournaments in Japan this May. This version features alternate artwork in the style of an Origin Rare, using the original illustration from Pongal's debut in BT02: Onslaught of Dragon Souls.

Pongal being 027 in the setlist puts him right after Knight of Rose, Morgana, the current Japanese Card of the Day.

High Dog Breeder, Akane (V-BT01/006 RRR)

AUTO [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: When placed, you may [Counterblast 1] to search for up to 1 "Pongal" from your deck, call it to a Rearguard Circle, and shuffle your deck.
CONT [Vanguard/Rearguard Circles]: During the battle it is boosted by a High Beast, this unit gets Power +3000.

The new set is confirmed to contain 4 Vanguard Rare and 8 Triple Rare cards, with Akane's numbering confirming her as one of at least two Triple Rare cards for Royals. Right now the easy assumption to make is that each of the four clans in UNITE! TEAM Q4! will get at least one Vanguard Rare, with Royal Paladin's being the cover card of the set, the King of Knights Alfred. The RRR before her can only be a grade 2 or 3 based on the set's numbering; although no cards have referred to her by name, many believe it to be Soul Saver Dragon based on Aichi's heavy usage of her in the manga. On the other hand, Itou Akira's illustration for Blaster Blade shows what appears to be Thing Saver Dragon nearby.

Thing Saver Dragon's legs appear in the upper left of Blaster Blade's art

"Let's ride! To a new Vanguard!"

V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. It will be preceded by the first Trial Decks of the new format, V-TD 01: Sendou Aichi and V-TD 02: Kai Toshiki, launching 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 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.

New Bushiroad mobile game "Triple Monsters" to feature Cardfight!! Vanguard units

Gacha? Gotcha.

The 24th episode of Weekly Bites Z opened today with an announcement regarding a new card game from Bushiroad, Triple Monsters. Doctor O's special guest cohosts Sasaki Mikoi (voice of Okazaki Kumi in Vanguard G) and Katherine represented the "TriMon" franchise, which will be collaborating with Cardfight!! Vanguard; three associated music CDs releasing March 28th will come packaged with a set of promotional Vanguard cards featuring TriMon characters.

TriMon is a card game played on smartphones, which facilitates "digital cardfights." Its key art and character designs are done by Suzuhito Yasuda. (Devil Survivor, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, Durarara!!) Vanguard characters like Blaster Blade and Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer Luquier will be appearing in the game as playable cards, which begins its Japanese closed beta test on the 28th. The final game is planned to launch in April.

TriMon isn't the only smartphone game Bushiroad is pushing in 2018, as the company is also working on its Vanguard app Cardfight!! Vanguard Zero, due out this winter. This isn't the first time Vanguard's crossed over with a game like this either--previously Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark appeared in Bound Monster.

The TriMon cards are each grade 3 units with a base power of 333, and are hotstamped in gold foil with the autographs of the characters' respective voice actors. They each bear an accompanying quote from that character in place of flavor text, and pull directly from Suzuhito Yasuda's illustrations of the cast.

Doctor O also announced that new Supply Set for Vanguard will be available for purchase at this year's Great Vanguard Festival, consisting of 4000 yen (approx. $38) bundles of card sleeve sets and playmats. The sets are themed after teams from the anime. The Team Jaime Flowers set contains a Ranunculus of Phantasmic Blue Ahsha playmat with Battle Sister Florentine and One Who Proceeds Toward Daybreak Scharhrot sleeves; the Team Striders set contains a Dragabyss Luard playmat with Chronojet Dragon Z and Golden Holy Sword Gurguit sleeves; and the Fukuhara High Vanguard Club set consists of a Black Shock Gavrail Prim playmat accompanied by Higher Deity Knight Altmile and Dragonic Vanquisher “SPARKING” sleeves.

Fans in Japan will be able to preorder the items from 3:00 PM JST March 30th through 1:00 AM April 9th. These will be delivered in the latter half of June. Those outside Japan will have to work through an intermediary.

The next episode of Weekly Bites Z, #25 will air April 3rd at 9:00 PM JST. It will be the first episode of Weekly Bites to air after the end of the G era. The previous episode unveiled a color rerun of the first Cardfight!! Vanguard manga.

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.

G Units' future "unclear," new 3DS game "up to FuRyu" says Vanguard producer

Will Chrono appear in the new anime? How is Legion affected by Force? Producers answer 20 questions from fans.

March 16th, 2018. At 9:00 PM Japanese Standard Time, Cardfight!! Vanguard representative Doctor O began a special Weekly Bites stream alongside executive producer Shimamura "Shima-P" Masatoshi and original concept creator-manga author Itou Akira. The three of them answered 20 questions from fans about the new anime and game mechanics, and unveiled the first set of shop tournament promotional cards for the Standard format of the Cardfight!! Vanguard Trading Card Game, which will formally begin in May for Japan. The special episode of the stream was only announced the day before, and aired on both YouTube and NicoNico Live, with approximately 2000 and 1900 viewers joining in at peak times.

With regard to the appearance of G Units in the new anime and card game reboot, Shimamura stated that he was "unclear" on it. Explaining that "in the era Aichi and his friends live in, G Units do not exist yet," Shimamura considered it unlikely. In light of the official website displaying Gift Markers being used on a field with no G Zone present, this implies that no new strides will be printed for Standard format in the immediate future.

Concerning to the Cray Elemental and Etranger clans, Shimamura is likewise ambivalent on whether or not Cray Elementals will be available in the card game. As Etranger deals with cameos not from the world of Vanguard, he's certain players won't be able to build a full deck of them in the new series. For players that want to continue using G Units and Cray Elementals, Shimamura and Doctor O encouraged them to play the Premium format instead.

The May promotional cards for Standard format will be High Dog Breeder Seiran, and an alternate artwork print of Pongal from V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4. Seiran is the participation prize for May, while Pongal is given exclusively to the winner and has embossed congratulatory text. This Pongal is being done in the style of an Origin Rare, using its 2011 artwork from BT02: Onslaught of Dragon Souls alongside its new effect.

For June the Standard format participation prize will be Demonic Dragon Madonna Joka, and the first-place prize will be an alternate artwork print of Lizard Soldier Raopia from V-BT01. Like Pongal, this Raopia is using its 2011 artwork from the BT04: Eclipse of Illusionary Shadows.

The skills of these promotional cards remain "secret."

Doctor O also announced that Roselia, the band responsible for the opening sequence to the next anime season, will be performing a cover of JAM Project's Believe in my Existence as part of a crossover with Bushiroad's BanG Dream! Girls' Band Party! franchise. Believe in my Existence was originally used as the second opening to the first season of the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime, used from September 2011-March 2012.

The cover will debut in May.

The new restricted list for the Premium Standard and G Standard formats will be released on Tuesday April 17th. According to Shimamura, both the Premium Standard and Standard formats will be continued for "a long time." Premium is intended to be Vanguard as it has been up to now, while Standard will be a new body of regulations for a new Vanguard; these two will coexist, while G Standard will eventually be discontinued in October.

Doctor O also briefly showed cards from the first two 25-card flash fight decks, which will be used in training sessions across Japan from April 16th to May 30th. The full contents of the Star Drive and Crested Dragon decks have already been posted to the Japanese Cardfight portal.

A special version of the Crested Dragon deck will be distributed in the May issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine, containing an alternate artwork of Dragon Knight Nehalem that uses his 2011 artwork from TD02: Raging Dragon of the Empire.

Doctor O shows off the Force Gift Marker.

The trio took on 20 questions from fans, primarily clarifying the Imaginary Gift mechanic;

1.) Will Chrono and his friends, and the other G Series characters appear in the new series?
Itou: I can't say they won't.
Doctor O: Chrono does exist in this new world, though?
Itou: He does. [...] The manga is the basis for this new series, so we're following Aichi right now.
Shimamura: We're starting from the beginning with the manga as the base.
Itou: It's not exactly the "Comic Chapter" in the way that Vanguard G is the "G Chapter," but a new title.

2.) Will the broadcast/information delivery system used up to now continue?
Shimamura: It will continue on NicoNico Douga and YouTube.

3.) Is "Origin" the formal subtitle of the new series?
Shimamura: My apologies, it is not the formal subtitle. "Origin" is just a code name.

4.) Are Gift Markers only in trial decks?
Shimamura: Aside from the 3 Gift Markers you get in a trial deck, they will be available elsewhere, in booster packs and such.

5.) Please explain where we should place Gift Markers, how many we can have, how we should sleeve them, etc.
Shimamura: Gift Markers are placed approximately in the area used for the G Zone. They should be sleeved differently from both your main deck and your G Zone. You may have any number of Gift Markers.
Doctor O: Though it might be hard to use more than three.

6.)  Do we have to use the Gift Markers found in official products, or can we make our own?
Shimamura: In free play you may do as you please, but in the official tournaments you must use official Markers.

7.) Are the Gift Markers "Force" and "Accel" treated as cards while on the field?
Shimamura: No. Gift Markers are not cards. For example, they are not affected by Perfect Performance Ange.

8.) If a circle with "Force" or "Accel" on it is Locked, what do we do with the Gift Marker?
Shimamura: The circle becomes a Locked circle, but that is all. Even the card on top of a Marker is Locked, the Marker remains, and when it Unlocks, the Marker is still there.

9.) What happens if you Dominate a unit with a Marker on it?
Shimamura: [Force and Accel] Gift Markers only take effect "on your turn," and you only become master of the unit, not the marker, so it does not take effect while the unit is Dominated.

10.) What happens if the "Protect" Marker leaves my hand?
Shimamura: It returns to the Gift Marker area. Protect cannot exist outside of the hand or guardian circle. If it's placed from hand to rearguard Locked [like with Chaos Universe] or if it's bound from hand [like with Euryale] the Marker simply returns to the Gift area.

11.) Can the "Protect" Gift Maker be chosen for Super Dimensional Robo Daikaiser's effect while it's on the guardian circle?
Shimamura: When it is placed into the guardian circle it becomes a unit, so it can be chosen and broken by Daikaiser's skill.

12.) Will the triggers made up to now, that give +5000 power, become +10000 power triggers?
Shimamura: They will not. +5000 power triggers will remain +5000 power triggers. Although the power differential may make you want to use one over the other, many +5000 power triggers still have desirable abilities. So it's a trade-off.

13.) What will become of the Stand Trigger?
Shimamura: There are no plans to print new Stand Triggers in the future. Existing triggers can still be used.

14.) Will Narukami, Oracle Think Tank, Pale Moon, and Granblue ever get unique effect heal triggers?
Shimamura: It may take some time, but it will definitely happen.

15.) Will the activation conditions for "Stride" and "Legion" change?
Shimamura: They will.

[The change to stride has already been detailed on the Japanese portal. Stride can now be performed if at the beginning of your turn, before any of your phases, you have a grade 3 or greater vanguard, regardless of whether or not the opponent is at grade 3.]

16.) If the vanguard circle is under the effect of "Force," and you have a Legion active, how does the power increase apply?
Shimamura: Both the Legion Mate and Legion Leader get the power boost from a single Force applied to the vanguard circle. So if you have a 20000-power Legion, one Force would make it 40000-power by increasing both halves by +10000.

17.) When performing Legion, if a Front Trigger activates, what becomes of its power?
Shimamura: Because Front Triggers affect the entire Front Row, both Legion Mate and Legion Leader will gain +10000 power.

18.) At the Great Vanguard Festival's Fight Corner, what regulations will be used?
Shimamura: Because of the timing [April 29th-30th] we will use the regulations from up to now.

19.) What regulations will be used during the Bushiroad Card Fight and World Grand Prix?
Shimamura: BCF will use Standard and G Standard. Premium Standard will only be used in Free Fights. WGP will use Premium Standard and Standard.

20.) Will there be a new 3DS game?
Shimamura: I'm sorry, but it's up to FuRyu. I would like a new 3DS title, but it's in their hands.


The next regular episode of Weekly Bites will air March 20th, at 9:00 PM JST.

News: Japanese Cardfight Twitter Reaches 30 Thousand Followers, Dark Quartz Dragon Leaked by Weekly Stream

Today Bushiroad's weekly Cardfight!! Vanguard livestream discussed several cards from G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme, focusing on upcoming support for Claret Sword Dragon. In addition to this, the stream discussed upcoming promotional products including a Vangarou-kun themed deck box, and a new poster for G-BT04. Doctor O also announced that official Cardfight!! Vanguard Twitter account has reached over thirty thousand followers, thanking the page's fans for their support. A recording of the livestream can be viewed below.

Doctor O gave an overview of "Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Damned," introducing the the terminology cross stride to describe Damned's ability to turn a copy of the original Aurageyser Dragon face-up. He also discussed the current card of the day "Dark Pride Dragon," and revealed its support unit "Dark Quartz Dragon." Dark Quartz's generation break 1 gives both itself and a Claret Sword Dragon vanguard +3000 power when Dark Quartz is called, and by using Dark Pride's skill it's possible to superior call Dark Quartz from the deck when Dark Pride is retired.

Dark Quartz Dragon
AUTO: Generation break 1: When this unit is placed on a rearguard circle, if you have a grade 3 or greater vanguard with "Claret Sword Dragon" in its card name, choose one of your vanguards, during this turn, this unit and that unit get Power +3000.

The latest G-BT04 poster features units from Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin, Neo Nectar, Angel Feather, Genesis, and Gear Chronicle, several of which have yet to be properly unveiled.

Doctor O also showed off an upcoming deck box. As part of the Get! Treasure Campaign, a Vangarou-kun themed deck box will be available from events as a promotional item in Japan starting July 31st and August 2nd, and be available from TCG Station retailers beginning on August 7th. The base of the deck box has tiny black circles representing the bottom of Vangarou-kun's feet, and the back is modeled after the Friendly International Vanguard Association logo.

(Vangarou-kun deck box at 14:11, G-BT04 cards shown at 25:52.)

Thirteen thousand live viewers tuned into the stream during its run. Bushiroad's weekly information bulletins air every Tuesday evening at 8:50 PM Japanese Standard Time. They first began in late January to accommodate a new information distribution model for Cardfight!! Vanguard G, as the amount of card information covered in Monthly Bushiroad magazine decreased and was redirected to other routes of distribution. The previous week featured guest stars Enoki Junya and Hama Kento to commemorate the Japanese launch of G-Title Booster 01: Touken Ranbu -ONLINE-, while the week before covered new Machining, Celestial, and Jewel Knight support cards from G-BT04: Soul Strike Against the Supreme.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

News: Weekly Broadcast Features Harmony Versus Duo Fight

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

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

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

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

News: 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