News: Cat Butler to be Restricted on the 18th, Dragonic Descendant Removed from List

The official cf-vanguard webportal updated this morning to reflect new changes made to the Japanese restricted list. After several months of play in the current Raizer deck, the grade 0 Cat Butler has been restricted to being played at a maximum of two copies, limiting how consistently its skill can be pulled off. Meanwhile the once-infamous Dragonic Descendant has been taken off the list, after being restricted to two for the past year. Lizard Soldier Conroe and Barcgal remain restricted from being placed as the first vanguard. The new restrictions will take effect on August 18th.

Cat Butler has gained infamy internationally for making every Raizer Legion a restanding vanguard with a positive exchange in card advantage, retiring Butler to drive check an additional two cards. This has proven deadly in combination with their core grade 3, Ultimate Raizer Mega Flare. MF's extra critical encourages the opponent to guard it at all costs, and Cat Butler's skill only activates when the vanguard's attack does not hit, creating a consistent combo wherein the opponent is forced to accept multiple vanguard attacks rather than risk potentially game-ending damage.

Butler's restriction coincides with recent modifications made to the list for the English-language format, bringing changes instituted in Japan back during the height of Dragonic Nouvelle Vague's popularity.

Although the modification has answered the general dominance of Cat Butler Raizers, observant fighters have noted that the new restricted list does not address the rise of Thing Saver-Phantom Blaster “Abyss,” which has just recently come to prominence in the Japanese pro scene as a powerful hybrid deck.

News: Ozan Fincan Wins May BeNeLux Tournament with Chaos Breaker Dragon

Yesterday's BeNeLux ended with the fan-favorite Link Joker clan in first place, played by European cardfighter Ozan Fincan. Unusually for a fan competition, this month's BeNeLux was the first major tournament of the BT13-on format, with its top 8 showcasing several of the competitive favorites from Catastrophic Outbreak, in particular Link Joker's new trump card Chaos Breaker Dragon and the Nova Grappler Reverse unit, Ethics Buster "Яeverse." The BeNeLux tournaments are a line of unofficial competitions organized by the joint vanguard community of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Although open to being held in any of the three countries' major cities, it is typically held in Antwerp, Belgium on a monthly to bimonthly basis.

Participation this month was high in spite of the latent controversies surrounding the last BeNeLux winner. With an Xbox 360 for first place as an incentive to participate, a total 28 participants joined the tournament, with clan usage breaking down as follows;

May 4th BeNeLux Clan Breakdown
6 Shadow Paladin
5 Narukami
4 Link Joker
3 Nova Grappler
2 Kagero
2 Dimension Police
1 Dark Irregulars
1 Genesis
1 Gold paladin
1 Angel Feather
1 Murakumo
1 Aqua Force

Chaos Breaker's successful debut was well forecasted by the greater community, as the card's unique ability to slow the pace of the game by cheaply Locking the opponent's cards, preserving Locks with its support unit Palladium, and then later retire those cards as they unlock to draw allows it to control the general flow of card advantage throughout a fight and prevent opponents from efficiently fighting back. Despite the presence of the new decks, the top 8 was generally dominated by Eradicator cardfighters, with Dragonic Descendant-Gauntlet Buster as the most played build of the top 8, and the tournament as a whole saw heavier Shadow Paladin presence than anything else.

May 4th BeNeLux Top 8
1. Ozan Fincan (Link joker - Chaos Breaker Dragon)
2. Daniel Gallardo (Eradicator - Descendant/Gauntlet)
3. Vincent De Baere (Eradicator - Descendant/Gauntlet)
4. Gillian van Sande (Dark Irregulars - Amon Reverse)
5. Frederik De Baere (Nova Grappler - Ethics Buster Reverse)
6. Corentin Janssens (Eradicator - Descendant/Gauntlet)
7. Andy Van den Ouwelant (Link Joker - Chaos Breaker Dragon)
8. Kim Geerinckx (Genesis - Fortuna)

Seventh place in the tournament is a familiar face for professional play, taken by none other than 2012 French regional champion Andy Van den Ouwelant. Van den Ouwelant made a strong showing in World Championship 2012, winning his regional title with a Spectral Duke Dragon deck played against William Astoul's Dragonic Lawkeeper, and after two years has continued to persevere in modern play by adapting to Link Joker alongside a host of other international cardfighters. Chaos Breaker's international tenure is projected to be short-lived, as VGE-EB09: Divine Dragon Progression is due early next month alongside the grade 4 unit that has proved to be the terror of Japanese play.

News: Gauntlet Buster and Sweep Command Dragon Storm Fukuoka

This morning Doctor O tweeted the results of the Fukuoka branch of Fighters Road 2013, Japan's ongoing national championship. The Junior class champion took first place using a Narukami deck, with second place going to a Kagerou cardfighter.  The Open class tournament had both its first and second place spots taken by Narukami fighters, one using a now-standard Gauntlet Buster Dragon and Descendant deck, with the other using a different Eradicator build that combined Spark Horn and Sweep Command Dragon, using cards from the eleventh booster set, BT11: Seal Dragon Unleashed. Spark Horn has drawn some attention as a variation on the Eradicator formula, as when his attack hits a vanguard he can use an especial counterblast to retire an opponent's rearguard--without needing to be at limit break. This gives a Narukami fighter a stronger midgame, pressuring the opponent to drop cards for defense earlier in a fight, weakening their overall presence when the time comes for Sweep Command to hit the field, simultaneously retiring the opponent's rearguards and drawing new cards through his limit break and a combo with the Eradicators' many retire skills.

The Eradicators' continued dominance throughout this tournament season has drawn criticism, as the Narukami clan as a whole has continued to receive support from every core booster set since BT08, with multiple cards coming out as definitively competitive decks of their own, and this trend will not be broken until VG-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak. With Descendant having come out as a competitive deck surpassing Dragonic Overlord The End in threat, the restricted list having done little to stop his reign, currently accounting for five of the eight Open class decks currently being used to contend for the national title and 32% of all 2013 tournament decks, an extremely powerful crossbreak Reverse unit coming for the clan in VG-BT12: Binding Force of the Black Rings, and the build only becoming stronger as a counter to the new Lock mechanic, many are calling for the plug to be pulled on the clan altogether. For some however, Spike Brothers having broken the Eradicator's stranglehold on the format at Hiroshima has inspired new hope.

The remaining three tournaments will take place in Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagoya with the Tokyo tournament being next in line on the 7th of July. This will be the first time that Okayama, Hakata and Osaka will not be participating.

News: Spike Brothers Tops Hiroshima's Open Division Regional

Although high hopes have been pinned on the clan ever since Bad End Dragger's unveiling in VG-BT10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights, in general the Spike Brothers clan's tournament results have not been above the bar set by the 2013 format shift. This trend was overturned earlier today, when Doctor O reported the Hiroshima regional results for the ongoing Japanese national championship, where a determined Spike Brothers cardfighter placed first in the tournament brackets, breaking the Eradicator-Liberator deadlock that has persisted since the onset of the current tournament season. Second place went to a Gauntlet Buster deck, while the Junior class tournament has seen Kagerou remain a consistent favorite, with Dauntless Drive Dragon breaking into first place. The tournament decklists should be out later this week.

The remaining four tournaments will take place in Fukuoka, Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagoya with the Fukuoka tournament being next in line on the 22nd. This will be the first time that Fukuoka prefecture has been included in the national tournament, and also the first time that Okayama, Hakata and Osaka will not be participating.

News: Fighter's Road 2013 Kyoto Results, Stand Up Cup Finals to be Held Sunday

Today the results for Japan's ongoing national championship went public, following up Doctor O's report from Saturday. In the Open division Dragonic Descendant has continued to consistently place first in spite of now being restricted to two copies per deck, while Liberator Alfred has continued to be only second best. Interestingly, the best 16 is seeing some greater experimentation among pros as Doctor O's pick from the open class tournament is a fusion of Dauntless Drive Dragon and Flare Whip Dragon. While Flare Whip has been well liked among some professionals--his skill gives him +3000 power when a Kagerou with the race of Flame Dragon is drive checked, for a consistent 16000 vanguard prior to calculating boost--before it was difficult to compose a deck purely of Flame Dragons that was also competitive, as Dragonic Overlord The End was typically the better option. Tanimoto Naoya's variant uses Seal Dragon units in concert with existing Flame Dragon race cards and Dauntless Drive to have a vanguard line that on its key turn goes for 26000 power on both of its twin drive checks.

In the Junior Class tournament a Beast Deity deck using Ethics Buster and a Stern Blaukluger tech placed first, drawing much attention for running only a single critical trigger in the deck while using seven stands instead in concert with Dancing Wolf's skill to force its way to the top. An Angel Feather build with an astonishing amount of variation placed second; while the deck's primary vanguard is Shamsiel, it also employs single copies of Metatron, Calamity Flame, Remiel and Kiriel that are easily fetched through the damage zone manipulation skills of Shamsiel, Nociel and Turiel. While erratic, the innovative build does bring out one of Angel Feather's best qualities in always having the card it wants in hand.

Doctor O's pick from the Junior class' best 16 is surprising. After its long reign, the legendary Dragonic Overlord The End has fallen far enough to not even place second. The deck is a mostly traditional, crossride-oriented The End deck using Seal Dragon cards to make use of Corduroy's skill, but the fact that this deck needed to be spotlighted to be known of at all speaks volumes for how far it has fallen. By contrast, in the VF High School Tournaments' Open division, The End's classic rival Majesty Lord Blaster is making a comeback. While unlike The End, Majesty is currently restricted to just two copies, emerging pro Masami Daishi is taking the restriction in stride by only using Majesty at one copy, playing his deck as a traditional Alfred-Palamedes build up until Wingal Brave's attack hits to grab Lord Blaster, then using Starcall to bring out Blaster Dark for Majesty's skills. His teammates have employed more modern tactics, using proven Descendant and Liberator builds. The Student-only division's top team was more off the wall, with Kitaoka Tomooki using a break-ride oriented Gauntlet Buster deck while Kitaoka's teammates brought successful Dauntless Drive-Blockade Inferno and Chromejailer-Liberator fusion builds. Overall Kyoto has seen much more diversity of play than at Sendai, in spite of the top Open class decks remaining the same.

On the English side of pro play, the Stand Up Challenge Cup will be coming to a close this Sunday as the next US national champion is decided. Reigning champion Brandon Smith is no longer running for the Cup title, but instead will be hosting a gunslinger event to play against cardfighters that want to test their skills against the current champion. Because of this, there is no direct favorite for the national title as there was in 2012, and the public eye is turned now toward the question of who will step up to fill the interregnum period between Smith and the WCS2013 national champion. Saturday will see the last regional event prior to the Cup finals take place at the Champion's Gate, Florida. Unlike previous regionals, the Last Minute Qualifier is open to any who are in line in time to join. Including this qualifier, there are 27 regionals spread out between the United States, Mexico and Canada, with two fighters from each participating in the finals for a 54-person final stage that will dwarf the previous national's 16-person finale.

Open Class Regional Tournament
Regional Champion: Aoyama Takuya/青山拓也
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Castor CT
Grade 1
x2 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
x2 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x2 Dragonic Deathscythe
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

Runner-up: Gisuji Junpei/宜壽次隼兵
Grade 0
x1 Little Battler, Cron (FVG)
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Strike Liberator CT
x4 Weapons Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
Grade 1
x2 Pomergal Liberator
x2 Liberator, Flare Mane Stallion
x2 Liberator of the Future, Llew
x4 Little Liberator, Marron
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
Grade 2
x2 Blaster Blade Liberator
x3 Liberator of Silence, Gallatin
x4 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
x3 Liberator of the Flute, Escrad
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred
x3 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot

Doctor O's Pick: Tanimoto Naoya/谷本直也
Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FVG)
x4 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
x4 Blue Ray Dracokid CT
x4 Seal Dragon, Artpitch DT
x4 Seal Dragon, Shading HT
Grade 1
x4 Seal Dragon, Flannel
x4 Seal Dragon, Kersey
x2 Iron Tail Dragon
x4 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
Grade 2
x4 Seal Dragon, Hunger Hell Dragon
x4 Seal Dragon, Corduroy
x3 Berserk Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Flare Whip Dragon
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon

Junior Class Regional Tournament
Regional Champion: Nishida Sachi/西田祥
Grade 1
x2 Beast Deity, Riot Horn (FVG)
x4 The Gong DT
x1 Red Lightning CT
x3 Turboraizer ST
x4 Battleraizer ST
x4 Wall Boy HT
Grade 1
x4 Twin Blader
x4 Beast Deity, Blank Marsh
x3 Dancing Wolf
x2 Tough Boy
Grade 2
x3 King of Sword
x4 Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos
x4 Beast Deity, Golden Anglet
Grade 3
x4 Beast Deity, Ethics Buster
x3 Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon
x1 Stern Blaukluger

Runner-up: Shoutsubo Mizuki/庄坪瑞生
Grade 0
x1 Hope Child, Turiel (FVG)
x4 Fever Therapy Nurse DT
x4 Critical Hit Angel CT
x4 Happy Bell, Nociel ST
x4 Sunny Smile Angel HT
Grade 1
x3 Battle Cupid, Nociel
x3 Crimson Mind, Baruch
x2 Clutch Rifle Angel
x4 Thousand Ray Pegasus
x2 Pure Keeper, Requiel
x1 Adamantine Celestial, Aniel
Grade 2
x1 Candle Celestial, Sariel
x1 Love Machine Gun, Nociel
x1 Core Memory, Armaros
x4 Crimson Drive, Aphrodite
x3 Million Ray Pegasus
Grade 3
x4 Chief Nurse, Shamsiel
x1 Crimson Impact, Metatron
x1 The Phoenix, Calamity Flame
x1 Prophecy Celestial, Remiel
x1 Circular Saw, Kiriel

Doctor O's Pick: Gotou Yuusuke/後藤優介
Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FVG)
x4 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x2 Embodiment of Armor, Tahr CT
x2 Seal Dragon, Artpitch DT
x2 Dragon Mmonk, Genjo HT
x2 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
x2 Seal Dragon, Shading HT
x2 Blue Ray Dracokid CT
Grade 1
x4 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
x2 Seal Dragon, Kersey
x3 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x3 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x1 Flame of Hope, Aermo
x1 Flame of Promise, Aermo
Grade 2
x1 Seal Dragon, Hunger Hell Dragon
x2 Seal Draogn, Corduroy
x4 Burning Horn Dragon
x4 Bellicosity Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord The End
x4 Dragonic Overlord

Vanguard Fight High School 2013 Summer, Open Class Kyoto Regional Tournament Championship Team
Masami Daishi/正躰大士
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FVG)
x3 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
x3 Alabaster Owl CT
x3 Future Knight, Llew CT
x3 Margal DT
x4 Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine HT
Grade 1
x4 Little Sage, Marron
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x4 Flash Shield, Iseult
x2 Toypugal
Grade 2
x3 Blaster Blade Spirit
x4 Blaster Blade
x2 Blaster Dark
x3 Star Call Trumpeter
Grade 3
x4 King of Knights, Alfred
x1 Majesty Lord Blaster
x2 Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes

Koukuchi Satoya/髙口賢哉
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Castor CT
Grade 1
x3 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon


Yamaguchi Atsu/山口篤
Grade 0
x1 Little Battler, Cron (FVG)
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Strike Liberator CT
x3 Weapons Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
x1 Flame of Victory CT
Grade 1
x4 Curved Blade Liberator, Josephus
x2 Silver Fang Witch
x4 Little Liberator, Marron
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Liberator
x4 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
x4 Liberator of the Flute, Escrad
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred
x3 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot

Vanguard Fight High School 2013 Summer, Student-only Class Kyoto Regional Tournament Championship Team
Kitaoka Tomooki/北岡誠起
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Castor CT
Grade 1
x3 Eradicator of the True Flames, Kougaiji
x4 Wyvern Guard, Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x1 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
x3 Red River Dragoon
Grade 2
x3 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x2 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
x1 Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon
x1 Eradicator, Saucer Cannon Wyvern
Grade 3
x3 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x1 Eradicator, Sweep Command Dragon

Takimoto Yuuki/瀧本祐希
Grade 0
x1 Seal Dragon, Terrycloth (FVG)
x4 Seal Dragon, Shading HT
x4 Seal Dragon, Artpitch DT
x2 Dragon Dancer, Monica DT
x4 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
x2 Demonic Dragon Mage, Raksha CT
Grade 1
x4 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x3 Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara
x4 Seal Dragon, Kersey
x4 Seal Dragon, Flannel
Grade 2
x3 Seal Dragon, Jakado
x3 Seal Dragon, Corduroy
x4 Seal Dragon, Hunger Hell Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon
x4 Burning Hell Seal Dragon, Blockade Inferno

Irino Yuuichiro/入野裕一郎
Grade 0
x1 Spring Breeze Messenger (FVG)
x3 Flame of Victory CT
x3 Dantengal CT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
x4 Falcon Knight of the Azure DT
x2 Weapons Dealer, Gwydion DT
Grade 1
x2 Blackmane Witch
x4 Halo Shield, Mark
x4 Listener of Truth, Dindrane
x4 Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
Grade 2
x1 Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
x1 Blaster Dark Spirit
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
x3 Mage of Calamity, Tripp
x4 Lop Ear Shooter
Grade 3
x4 Conviction Dragon, Chromejailer Dragon
x4 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot

News: Doctor O Tweets BCF2013 Vanguard Stage in Sendai Results

Doctor O tweeted the results of the Bushiroad Cardfight 2013 Vanguard Stage this morning through his official account, revealing the outcome of the Senior and Junior tournaments held on the 12th. BCF2013 is part of a nationwide tour lasting through July, which also forms the Fighter's Road 2013 summer national tournament. Of the sixteen finalists for FR2013, eight of them will be determined through BCF2013 events, with four others being Asia Circuit Memorial Tournament champions, and four more being finalists from the Great Vanguard Festival event. The eight participants for the Juniors division of FR2013 will be coming purely from the Fighter's Road 2013 regional events. Only elementary students and younger may participate in the Juniors division, while the Seniors division is open to all ages.

 

While the decklists and names are not yet available, Doctor O stated that the Senior champion used a Gauntlet Buster Dragon-based Narukami deck, while the runner up was also using a Narukami deck, but based on Sweep Commando Dragon. The Junior champion is one of the first major Kagerou victories in a long time, taking the top spot with a Seal Dragon deck, while the runner up used a Gold Paladin Liberator deck.

The remaining seven tournaments will take place in Kyoto, Kanazawa, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagoya. This will be the first time that the Fukuoka and Kyoto prefectures have been included in the national tournament, and also the first time that Okayama, Hakata and Osaka will not be participating.

News: May Vanguard Championship Results, Eradicators Stay Strong in Face of Restricted List, Celestials Reach Top 16

The results of the most recent Vanguard Championship have come in, opening the month of May with a look at how the new restricted list will affect the format. As a preemptive measure, this VGCS event adopted the May 11 restrictions before they will actually take effect later this week. This time being held in the Hachiouji Civic Center in Hachiouji, Tokyo, the event drew 114 participants. Pairings were put together using the Swiss system, with the opening rounds conducted over the course of 20 minutes; 50 minutes were allotted for a best of 3 format among the top 16 fighters. Unlike in the previous tournament, matches were not recorded on camera.

The VGCS tournaments are a line of unofficial, amateur tournaments organized by fans and card shops and coordinated through the internet. The tournament environment is fiercely competitive, and unlike in Bushiroad's official tournaments, it's customary for participants to compete under pseudonyms and internet handles rather than using their real names.

First place was taken by Tonkatsu ("Pork Cutlet") and his restricted Dragonic Descendant deck, displaying greater break ride synergy and the integration of cards from BT11 to overcome the deck's more limited capabilities. Second went to Gaga's Liberator build, with third and fourth places going to other, almost-identical Descendant decks. Surprisingly, Dragonic Overlord The End did not do as well as predicted within the tournament, only placing within the top 16 and being ousted from the best 8 by CoCo-Cookie Oracle Think Tank decks, and Blockade Inferno was likewise low on the list. Majesty Lord Blaster has continued to maintain a competitive presence, penetrating into the top 16 with decks that use five and three grade 3s respectively. The most interesting development is the presence of a Celestial deck within the top 16, as Angel Feather has never been one of the top competitive clans, so its steady emergence into the height of amateur play may prove promising for how the world of professional cardfighters approaches it in the new format.

Of the clans participating in the tournament, there were 31 Narukami, 19 Kagerou, 15 Royal Paladin, 14 Oracle Think Tank, 7 Gold Paladin, 7 Angel Feather, 6 Genesis, 5 Tachikaze, 5 Aqua Force, 1 Bermuda Triangle, 1 Pale Moon, 1 Spike Brothers, 1 Neo Nectar, and 1 Shadow Paladin decks. First place received a Nintendo 3DS LL along with a copy of Cardfight!! Vanguard Ride to Victory. Second place won a regular 3DS, third two boxes of VG-BT11: Seal Dragons Unleashed and fourth one box of BT11. Fifth through eighth places received a box of VG-EB06: Dazzling Divas.

First Place
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Eradicator Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Divine Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
x3 Eradicator Dragon Mage DT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x1 Spark Edge Dracokid CT
Grade 1
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x3 Rising Phoenix
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x4 Dragonic Deathscythe
x3 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Cho-Ou
Grade 3
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant

Second Place
Grade 0
x1 Spring Breeze Messenger (FV)
x4 Strike Liberator CT
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Weapons Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
Grade 1
x4 Little Liberator, Marron
x4 Curved Blade Liberator, Yoseph
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
x2 Silver Fang Witch
Grade 2
x4 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
x4 Liberator of the Flute, Escrad
x4 Blaster Blade Liberator
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred
x3 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot

Top 16 Celestial Deck
Grade 0
x1 First Aid Celestial, Penuel (FV)
x4 Celestial, Landing Pegasus DT
x4 Punishment Celestial, Shemhazai CT
x4 Healing Celestial, Ramiel CT
x2 Rampage Cart Angel CT
x1 Critical Hit Angel CT
x1 Rocket Dash Unicorn CT
Grade 1
x4 Adamantine Celestial, Aniel
x3 Marking Celestial, Arabaki
x3 Underlay Celestial, Hesediel
x3 Order Celestial, Yeqon
x2 Battle Cupid, Nociel
Grade 2
x4 Wildshot Celestial, Raquel
x4 Candle Celestial, Sariel
x3 Essence Celestial, Becca
Grade 3
x4 Solidify Celestial, Zerachiel
x3 Prophecy Celestial, Remiel

Spotlight: Uemura Shouhei/上村昌平

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

Uemura Shouhei/上村昌平
Age: Unknown
Titles Won: Asia Circuit Memorial Tournament Event Champion (Osaka), Fighter's Road 2013 National Runner-up
Current Status: Fighter's Road 2013 National Runner-up
Deck Type: Narukami (Eradicator)
Uemura Shouhei was one of the leading fighters of 2013, first appearing as the victor in the Osaka Memorial Tournament held in March of that year. Uemura proved to be a trendsetter for his time, with his deck prompting many cardfighters to follow suit in adapting a Dragonic Descendant-based Narukami deck as a replacement for Dragonic Overlord The End, who had been restricted in January. Regarded as one of the most influential cardfighters of his period, Uemura used his qualification to contend for the Japanese national title, coming in second behind one of his former imitators Kokubo Hikaru. While other fighters, Kokubo included, would drop away from the Eradicator deck after the new restricted list was set in place to limit its key card to 2, Uemura remained with the build throughout the tournament season.

Decks and Play Style
Uemura's deck as a whole evolved from the standard Narukami build of the time, based out of Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD." Spark Kid Dragoon as Narukami's first vanguard and the eight-critical four-draw trigger setup were already endemic to Uemura's format as a normal part of playing his clan. Rising Phoenix was likewise a holdover from the Vermillion build that had emerged during the previous Trio Fest tournament, used to take advantage of the clan's multiple 11000 base grade 3s and build on the lead in advantage from their limit breaks. Uemura's innovation came from adapting the framework for the Eradicator subgroup and applying his keen understanding of what needed to change versus what needed to be left alone.

Uemura chose to avoid the break rides that were projected to be dominant in his format, opting for a faster paced game by combining Dragonic Descendant and Gauntlet Buster Dragon. As a result, there is no bad grade 3 ride for his deck, and their 11000 bases allow them to still act as useful rearguards. Both units have skills that can be activated outside of their limit break, which gives them greater use throughout the entire match rather than just in the endgame, and discourages the opponent from baiting them by leaving the fighter at three damage. Gauntlet Buster's especial counterblast 2 forces the opponent to retire a unit, while his limit break gives him +3000 power and +1 critical whenever an opponent's unit is retired. Meanwhile, Descendant's counterblast gives him +5000 power, and his limit break acts as Narukami's The End, discarding 3 Eradicators in a battle in which his attack did not hit to stand and gain +1 critical. Uemura, knowing that both of these units had skills which gave them power and critical, recognized the Photon Bomber Wyvern that had long been a staple of Narukami decks as superfluous and chose not to run the unit at all, bringing out greater consistency and especial counterblast synergy with additional Eradicator units like Castor.

Dragonic Deathscythe on the other hand, was a unit that firmly supported Gauntlet Buster and gave Narukami better control of the field. Uemura's Eradicator deck retained it for this reason, showing some powerful foresight and mastery over the clan. In general, Uemura's build was not wholly Eradicator or standard Narukami, but represented a skilled fusion of the two to better play to the deck's strengths.

Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seioubo HT
x4 Divine Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x2 Rising Phoenix
x1 Dust Storm Eradicator Tokou
x4 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Thunderboom Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
Grade 3
x3 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon

Uemura eventually came in second place for the national championship, continuing to use his original Eradicator deck after having modified it to account for the restricted list. This new build adapted many of the strategies that other Eradicator cardfighters had developed in the interim period, using cards from BT11: Seal Dragons Unleashed and BT12: Binding Force of the Black Rings. Uemura made the transition to a much more Eradicator-like deck in this period, using the new Cho-ou to retire the opponent's rearguards and build up soul for Rising Phoenix and maintain better overall synergy, as well as Zuitan to unflip his damage and again build that soul. Castor and Phoenix together allowed Uemura to see many cards from his deck in a game and dig through for one of those Dragonic Descendant copies, with Vowing Sword Dragon sometimes employed as a buildup ride prior to reaching limit break.

Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x1 Eradicator, Blue Gem Carbuncle DT
x3 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seioubo HT
x4 Divine Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x3 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
Grade 2
x3 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Cho-ou
x2 Supreme Army Eradicator, Zuitan
x4 Dragonic Deathscythe
x2 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

News: Asia Circuit Memorial Tournament Hakata Results, Doctor O's Picks

Closing the Memorial Tournament that previously visited Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo, the Hakata stage of the Asia Circuit Memorial Tournament is ending on a slight overturn, as the Eradicators that seemed to be set to maintain steady dominance throughout the tournament were relegated to "just" second place in Hakata. Beaten out by an Ezel-based deck that incorporates Gancelot as its break ride, the upset is further emphasized because the runner-up may be the reigning national champion Nakamura Seishirou, who took the title in the previous year's Fighter's Climax 2012 tournament. Photographs of the tournament have not yet surfaced, but this name and particular combination of kanji are both rare and somewhat old fashioned; although not as unique as Rikino Sakura, there is a high probability that it's the same fighter. Nakamura previously played a Majesty Lord Blaster-based Royal Paladin deck, but his build was crippled by the January-on restricted list that Bushiroad instituted following his victory.

To finish the tournament, Doctor O also picked his favorite decks remaining from the top 8 of each tournament, amending the decklists previously uploaded to CF-Vanguard in the process. These decks did not make it to first or second place, but are simply decks that he liked.

Prizewinner: Fukuoka Koushirou/福岡幸四郎
Grade 0
x1 Crimson Lion Cub, Kyrph (FVG)
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
x4 Speeder Hound DT
x1 Flame of Victory CT
x2 Dantengal CT
x2 Silent Punisher CT
x3 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
Grade 1
x4 Sleygal Dagger
x4 Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
x3 Disciple of Pain
Grade 2
x4 Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
x4 Knight of Passion, Bagdemagus
x2 Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane
Grade 3
x3 Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel
x3 Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel
x2 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot

Runner-up: Nakamura Seishirou/中村誠志朗
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FVG)
x1 Malevolent Djinn CT
x4 Divine Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
x4 Demonic Draogn Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x3 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
Grade 1
x2 Raging Phoenix
x4 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
Grade 3
x4 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon

Doctor O's Pick: Itou Kazuma/伊藤和真
Grade 0
x1 PR♥SM-Smile, Koro (FVG)
x4 PR♥SM-Miracle, Timor HT
x1 Gunslinger Star, Florida CT
x1 Drive Quarter, Shuplu CT
x1 Comical Rainie CT
x4 PR♥SM-Miracle Canaria CT
x2 Heartful Yale, Fundy DT
x3 PR♥SM-Miracle, Adria DT
Grade 1
x4 Mermaid Idol, Erie
x2 Mermaid Idol, Felucca
x3 PR♥SM-Romance, Mercure
x2 PR♥SM-Promise, Leyte
x3 PR♥SM-Image, Clear
Grade 2
x2 PR♥SM-Smile Liguria
x4 PR♥SM-Romance, Lumiere
x2 PR♥SM-Promise Celt
x1 PR♥SM-Image, Rose
x2 Pearl Sisters, Perla
x1 Girls' Rock, Rio
Grade 3
x4 PR♥SM-Promise Labrador
x3 PR♥SM-Image Vert

News: Kyoto & Kanto Vanguard Championship Tournament Results

Vanguard Announce has come out with the latest results of the amateur Vanguard Championships, this time including the first Kyoto and the fourth Kanto VGCS. These large-scale amateur tournaments are organized by Kohaku ("Amber") and a network of card shops; they are unaffiliated with Bushiroad, but as a result of their independent status, both the entry fees and prizes are much higher than would be acceptable in official events. Cardfighters participating in the VGCS tend to operate under pseudonyms and net handles, rather than providing their real names as in Bushiroad's organized play. And unlike the official best of one, double elimination format, these amateur events are done in a best of three, Swiss tournament model. This makes the tournaments very drawn out, so attending can mean a full day's commitment, but it also creates a more intensely competitive environment where only fighters with the ability to control absolutely every game can reach the top brackets. The underground, anonymous nature of the amateur Vanguard Championships is intimidating to some, but the rewards are high as the top fighters can win up to five boxes from the latest booster sets.

Photo source, from 2008. The Kyoto Education and Cultural Center is a culture center established by the city of Kyoto. Spaces within the building are frequently rented to provide environments for an event.

The Kyoto tournament held on March 24th saw 74 participants and was held at the Kyoto Education and Cultural Center. The top three places were won using Eradicator-based Narukami decks, while fourth place went to a PRISM-based Bermuda Triangle build. Of the decks used, the Eradicators were the most populous with 23 participants using them, followed by the Liberators and PRISM Bermuda Triangle at just 12, then 5 Spike Brothers and 4 Oracle Think Tank decks. The remaining cardfighters included 2 standard Royal Paladin decks, 1 Jewel Knight deck, 1 old model Gold Paladin deck, and 1 deck of every remaining clan except for Aqua Force, Etranger, Kagerou, Nubatama, Granblue and Murakumo.


Meanwhile, the fourth Kanto VGCS on March 31st saw a turnout of 85 participants, with the top two places being taken by Eradicator decks, the third by a Spike Brothers build, and the fourth by another Eradicator deck. This particular tournament was held in a Round Robin format, initially divided into sixteen blocks, with the top two from each block then proceeding to the top 32. Rounds were best of five, allowing each fighter up to two losses. The top 8 included two more Eradicators, another Liberator and a PRISM build. Unlike at Kyoto, the Kanto tournament included videos of the matches including the final Narukami v. Liberator fight (above), providing a rare look at how the highest levels of Japan's competition play out.

The deck distribution this time included 29 Eradicator decks, 17 of them being Dragonic Descendant-Gauntlet Buster Dragon builds, with 11 others including Vowing Sword Dragon in the mix alongside Gauntlet and Descendant. Other decks included 22 Liberators, 7 PRISM, 3 Pacifica, and 4 Majesty Lord Blaster builds

News: Asia Circuit Memorial Tournament Nagoya Results

Today the results of the Asia Circuit Memorial Tournament, Nagoya Stage, were made public through cf-vanguard JP. Continuing the trend of Narukami dominance and the current format's adamant avoidance of the break ride mechanic, the Eradicators now have a stranglehold on the Japanese professional scene. Gauntlet Buster Dragon and Dragonic Descendant have come out as the most prolific units of the 2013 tournament season, and because of a certain controversy surrounding today's tournament results, their deck is being pointed to as the new "The End" of the format.

Event champion Kokubo Hikaru's Eradicator deck is notably a card-for-card copy of Uemura Shouhei's first place deck from the Osaka championship. As the results of the Osaka event were publicized on March 19th and the Nagoya stage took place on the 30th, there was ample time for Kokubo to have read Uemura's decklist. Meanwhile, runner-up Samura Naoya is getting attention as the first Narukami cardfighter to use Vowing Sword Dragon in an official tournament, and the first to make use of Dragonic Descendant's superior ride.

The Memorial Tournament operates under special rules which require cardfighters to use more than four grade 3s in their deck, shutting down one of the major strategies of the late 2012 format. Widely believed to be an attempt at closing off the kind of play that had been steadily gaining ground among pro fighters since the end of the winter championship, this modification seems to have become a kingmaker scenario for the Eradicators, as the Kagawa-style Magatsu Storm and revived Blaster deck that had been so prominent during this year's opening Trio Festival have been crippled by the new rule. This has left Dragonic Descendant to take center stage as the major self-standing vanguard of Japan's current tournament season, much like Dragonic Overlord The End and--in the EN format--Spectral Duke Dragon before him.

Prizewinner: Kokubo Hikaru/小久保光
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seioubo HT
x4 Divine Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x2 Rising Phoenix
x1 Dust Storm Eradicator Tokou
x4 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Thunderboom Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
Grade 3
x3 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon

Runner-up: Samura Naoya/佐村直也
Grade 0
x1 Eradicator, Strike Dagger Dragon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seioubo HT
x4 Divine Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x4 Sword Dancer Eradicator, Hisen
x4 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x2 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Thunderboom Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x4 Conquering Eradicator, Zuitan
Grade 3
x4 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x1 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

News: Asia Circuit Memorial Tournament Tokyo Results

Yesterday evening the Japanese Cardfight portal released the top two decklists for the Tokyo branch of the Asia Circuit Memorial Tournament, held in commemoration of the end of the controversial second season of the Cardfight Vanguard!! anime. Following up what the Osaka tournament began, the event operates under special rules which require all participating cardfighters to have more than four grade 3s in their deck, in response to pro cardfighters Tachibana Souten and Nakamura Mitsuaki emulating contenders from the previous year's national title in creating decks with less than that number. These pros made use of specific search skills to dominate their respective tournaments, on a smaller scale than the Tsukuyomi-based cardfighters of previous years had done before them. Speculation abounds that the Memorial Tournament rules, if successful, could become standardized rules for professional Cardfight as a whole, permanently bringing a close to this trend in deckbuilding.

With two more stages yet remaining--in Nagoya and Hakata--the Memorial Tournament has so far been dominated by the new Eradicator subgroup, in contrast to the underground success of the Shadow Paladins in the current format. The Eradicators are a subgroup of the retire-based Narukami clan, and focus on maintaining a static critical for the vanguard line each turn, as well as on standing their vanguard like Kagerou did before them. Tokyo has seen an upset in the pattern, as second place was taken by a Battle Sister-based variation on the soulless CoCo deck, retooling it for the modern format built around base 11000 vanguards. Note that while the Tokyo winners share a surname, they are currently believed to be unrelated. On the Narukami side of things, all of the Eradicator decks seen thus far are extremely similar in build, but Uemura Shouhei from the Osaka tournament seems to be coming up as the more influential cardfighter, having worked out the "blueprint" for the Eradicators.

The Nagoya and Hakata stages of the Memorial Tournament are to take place on March 30th and April 6th, respectively. The winners of the Memorial Tournament will have an invitation to the Fighter's Road 2013 national championship.

Prizewinner: Itou Hiroaki/伊藤寛明
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Eradicator Dragon Mage DT
x4 Eradicator Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Divine Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x2 Rising Phoenix
x2 Eradicator of True Flames, Kougaiji
x3 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
Grade 2
x3 Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Sparkrain Dragon
x4 Dragonic Deathscythe
Grade 3
x4 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x3 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon

Runner-Up: Itou Yuki/伊藤翔
Grade 0
x1 Little Witch, LuLu (FVG)
x4 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x4 Psychic Bird CT
x4 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
x4 Lozenge Magus HT
Grade 1
x4 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
x4 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x3 Dark Cat
x2 Battle Sister, Omelette
x1 Red River Dragoon
Grade 2
x4 Battle Sister, Mocha
x3 Promise Daughter
x2 Silent Tom
x2 Battle Sister, Macaron
Grade 3
x4 Battle Sister, Cookie
x4 Scarlet Witch, CoCo

News: Hobby Station Vanguard Championship Tournament Results, Shadow Paladin Victory, Eradicators Defeated

The Japanese pro scene is currently exploding from the Hobby Station Vanguard Championship tournament results, where in a surprise final match, a Dark Dictator-based Shadow Paladin cardfighter defeated his Eradicator opponent. Hot off the presses from BT10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights, the Eradicators have been hailed as one of the definitive competitive decks of Japan's January-on format. Their defeat by Dictator, an underground deck that has never been mainstream in the nine months since its June 2012 release, has shaken the world of pros to its core.

Notably, photos of the event show the Shadow Paladin cardfighter with somewhere between five and eight base 8000 grade 1s, accomplished by running the TD09 reprint of Red River Dragon in addition to Black Sage Charon. Because crossride mechanics are currently irrelevant in Japan's break ride format, the current scene is dominated largely by base 11000 vanguards, which means that anticrossride base 10000 units like CoCo and Garmore have gone out of style. As a result, Dictator's full 20000 power is no longer a goal for Shadow Paladin cardfighters--with this in mind, tournament champion "Jaguar" likely realized that he could afford to miss out on that maximized power in exchange for a more consistent rearguard boost. While some blogs have speculated that this Dictator deck uses Phantom Blaster Overlord as a finisher, Overlord's continuous -2000 for having a non-Shadow Paladin rearguard in play versus the inclusion of Red River suggests otherwise. A proper deck recipe is forthcoming, expected to go up on the 20th.


Update 3/20/3012: The deck recipe has been posted.

Deck Name: ShadoPala
Handle: Jaguar
Grade 3
x4 The Dark Dictator
x3 Origin Mage, Ildona
Grade 2
x4 Knight of Darkness, Rugos
x2 Cursed Lancer
x3 Darkness Maiden, Macha
x4 Skull Witch, Nemain
Grade 1
x4 Black Sage, Charon
x4 Witch of Nostrum, Arianrhod
x4 Dark Shield, Mac Lir
x1 Red River Dragoon
Grade 0
x1 Creeping Dark Goat (FVG)
x4 Grim Reaper CT
x4 Death Feather Eagle CT
x4 Abyss Freezer DT
x4 Abyss Healer HT

VGCS tournaments are unofficial, large-scale amateur tournaments unaffiliated with Bushiroad Inc. that are often organized by Japan's network of fans and card shops. Despite their unofficial nature, these tournaments are being carefully observed in Japan because of their high turnout and utility as a way to observe the state of the game between official events. Hobby Station's VGCS is just the latest of these amateur events, boasting a massive bracket of 92 participating cardfighters. The large scale of the tournaments is self-supporting, as the entry fees go toward supporting prizes for the top eight cardfighters, which start at fifteen booster packs and can climb as high as five boxes from the latest booster set. Entry costs 1,000円 per person (a little under $11.)

VGCS is primarily organized by Kohaku ("Amber") of 立川VGCS, a blog that serves as the announcement page for the tournaments. Due to the high success of this VGCS, a followup tournament is in the works.

(via hstachikawa, 立川VGCS, Vanguard Announce and 2critical)

Character: Ishida Naoki

"Break time!"

Ishida Naoki/石田ナオキ
Age: 15/16 (presumed)
Voice Actor: Nara Touru (Japanese)
Anime Biography: A first-year high school student at Miyaji Academy, at the start of the third season Naoki was dissatisfied with his everyday school life. Alienated by the serious, academic atmosphere of Miyaji, Naoki followed his new classmate Sendou Aichi to Card Capital after seeing an abrupt shift in the transfer student's personality. Convinced by the visiting Team SIT Genius members and Sendou himself to partake in a cardfight, Ishida picked up the game seriously after becoming fired up in an introductory game with Sendou, and bought a trial deck on the spot.

Manga Biography: At his original debut Naoki was a coarse and distant boy, hazing Aichi for his hobbies and refusing to look into Sendou's school club.

Spoiler warning: Manga details follow.
Although not yet confirmed, it's implied that Naoki was the one who tore down Aichi's club poster at Miyaji.
Spoilers end here.

Universal Notes: Due to becoming too fired up in gameplay, Naoki tends to call every card his "avatar" card, mimicking the phrase that he first learned from Aichi.

Fan Culture: Naoki has been compared to one of Nara Touru's other acting roles, as Nishida "Nikuman-kun" Yūsei of Chihayafuru. At Ishida's debut, Nara was very popular for his role as Nishida, and the similarities in portrayal between the two characters have been favorably compared. A common joke among fans is to see the two characters confused because of the similar voice that Nara gives them, despite their lack of visual similarities.

Naoki's Engrish catchphrase "Break Time!" has often been parodied by both Japanese and overseas fans in conjunction with Kit Kat products, in part because of the international slogan for Kit Kat, "Have a break... have a Kit Kat".

Decks and Play Style
Naoki's deck is based out of a Narukami trial deck that he bought from Card Capital, TD08: Eraser of the Empire. Based around controlling the opponent's front row in the early game and mowing them down with powerful limit breaks in the late, his deck has a stronger endgame than contemporary Narukami decks because of Vowing Sword Dragon's break ride skill. His take on the clan is based heavily around the Eradicator subgroup, which gain power bonuses from having a vanguard with "Eradicator" in its name, promoting field unity for overwhelming power.

One difficulty Naoki experiences while cardfighting is his wholehearted devotion to attack, calling units that most fighters would normally reserve for defense. Because of this and his lack of early guarding, even while holding an advantage over opponents in terms of total cards controlled, Ishida tends to be unable to last through the late game to see his limit break skills come out.

Rides 105-106 (21/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Stone Bullet Eradicator, Houki (FVG)
x2 Zephyr Eradicator, Hayate ST
x2 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x1 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
Grade 1
x2 Dust Storm Eradicator, Toko
x1 Red River Dragoon
x1 Eradicator of True Flames, Kougaiji
x1 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
Grade 2
x2 Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon
x1 Assassin Sword Eradicator, Susei
x1 Lightning Blade Eradicator, Jeem
x1 Dragon Dancer, Veronica
x1 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
Grade 3
x2 Discharging Dragon
x1 Chain-Attack Eradicator, Shion
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

Around ride 107, Naoki began to make serious modifications to the deck, having been inspired by Kourin's retreating first vanguard. Unlike Kai, Naoki's Narukami deck is built more around field control, using Gauntlet Buster Dragon along with Vowing Sword and Gauntlet support cards to quickly clear out the opponent's rearguards while also building up power and critical for a strong center line.

Rides 107-Current (18/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FVG)
x1 Zephyr Kid, Hayate ST
x1 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x1 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x1 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
Grade 1
x1 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x4 Thunder Fist Eradicator, Dui
x1 Dust Storm Eradicator, Tokou
x2 Red River Dragoon

Grade 2
x1 Assassin Sword Eradicator, Susei
x1 Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon
x1 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon
x1 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon