Special thanks to Kyo of France, who conducted and submitted the interview below.
Over September 27th the Paris regional qualifier took place, with Pale Moon and Kagerou cardfighters Jeremie Raso and Helene Bourree taking first and second place. The tournament was the first time a French national has placed first in France's annual regional qualifiers, and a major victory for advocates of both Venus Luquier and non-Nouvelle Kagerou. 164 cardfighters participated this year, up from Brussels' 81 person attendance in 2013 and Paris' 60 person attendance in 2012.
French contributor Kyo was able to secure an interview with Helene Bourree, one of the few professional female cardfighters in the world. As the runner-up Bourree is officially permitted to take part in the European continental championship, and potentially the world finals in Japan, but under the current WCS2014 regulations all fighters from France cannot have their travel expenses paid by Bushiroad due to the tournament finals being in Paris. Topics of the interview included the beginnings of her career, her deck and the controversial organization of the Paris qualifier, in which several cardfighters who had not been eliminated were arbitrarily cut from the tournament by proceeding directly to the top 8. A video of French regional finals can be viewed here.
In other news, Bushiroad Global tweeted today that the company is in the process of expanding its international offices, with a Bushiroad Europe branch opening in Germany this year. The development of a European office reflects the growth of Cardfight!! Vanguard's popularity in the region, Bushiroad had previously created the body of Bushiroad EU Inc. to officiate its European tournaments, and as with Bushiroad USA control of the company resides in Singapore with Bushiroad South East Asia Pte. Ltd. All of these subsidiaries ultimately answer to Bushiroad Inc. back in Japan.
The following interview is the result of contributor submission and may not reflect the views of Cardfight Pro or its editors. Spelling and grammar corrections have been made by the editor.
Interview with Helene "Reyson" Bourree
Q: Describe your career.
A: I started playing when the game was
released in English. For a while, it'd been just a fun game to play with
a bunch of friends during the weekend. But my vision of CFV changed
after my first national championship in Manchester (2012). I went with
Golds and went further as I could have ever hoped, as Garmore led me to
top 16. It was a revelation, and I've been playing for competition since
then, trying to attend all the main events in France and England.
Unfortunately I couldn't enter the Team League French qualifiers in
Paris last April, as I was asked to be the head judge. Another great
experience!
Q: Describe your Deck.
A: The deck I used was
inspired from a very close friend's build. I was ready to go with a
Nouvelle Vague deck, but deep inside me I hated my own deck for offering
nothing else but a win by sacking and going against the mechanics of
the game. Taking a damage and hoping for a trigger to be able to guard
the remaining attacks is part of the game and a valid strategy that
we've all used, or relying on a 6th damage heal! But in my eyes,
Nouvelle Vague and its skill broke the game.
This is why when Kyo
showed me his Kagero deck, I got inspired again, and chose to go with a hybrid Overlord BR, Rebirth, Dauntless Reverse, and...Georgette deck!
The focus was obviously on the Break Ride, as the push it allows is
immense. With Dauntless, you can retire up to 4 G1/0 with 2 attacks! An
amazing card that kills decks relying on their field, such as Kagero
(Rebirth), Aqua Force, etc. Then of course Rebirth was my main focus, as
you can stack the triggers on it, and attack 3 times. And Georgette...Well Georgette was supposed to used against Glendios...Which I didn't
get the opportunity to face!
Q: What do you think about the fact you're one of the few women in the professional world [of Vanguard]?
A: It
is a fact about card games in general. There are very few women, but
I've been playing card games for 10 years, and got used to that.
Surprisingly
enough, there were much more women in Paris that I would have expected!
Usually we are 5 regular players (and not bad ones!), but I think
remembering up to 15 women for the BWC this week end. Two of them went
4-2 (Genesis and Pale Moon), and another one went 5-1 (Genesis) but
didn't make it to the final cut (her only loss was against me!)
Men tend to see women as fragile and shy players, but it is our duty to show them wrong.
I guess we can say that there are clans women are naturally more
attracted to than others... But I personally prefer knights and dragons
in general. I guess this is why my fellow men players and friends have
been calling me for a while now "one of the guys"!
Q: What do
you think about the tournament's organization? I have heard that there
was a cut for top 8 while 16 players were remaining.
A: There were
15 remaining players after round 5, and the judges decided to go for a
6th one. After this round, 4 players were on 6-0, and 4 5-1 among the 8
(I guess?) still remaining. At this point I was on 5-1 too, as I lost
during last round to the player who was about to become the French
champion. My goal average was strong (among the players I beat, 2 of
them were on 5-1).
It was the right decision to make.
The
overall organization was a good one. Those big events are always
complicated to organize, but we had space. 3 rooms (we were playing in a
school) were dedicated to the tournaments (161 players), and 2 others
were then opened for the ones who wanted to go for the freeplay.
4
judges were here, and decisions had to be made (a player was accused of
cheating as there were huge fingerprints on his trigger sleeves.) A few
problems with the pairings as well, but nothing as important as the top 8
cut, where a player on 6-0 was forgotten, and a player on 5-1 had to
go...But it wasn't me!
Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
News: Invaders Take Sweden, May BeNeLux Decklists, Second Sapporo, Hokusetsu VGCS & Fighter's Road 2014 Nagoya Results
The number of Reverse fighters has been consistently low for the first two months of Team League 2014, but the Invading side of the tournament may be in for a turnaround with the release of VG-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak. Coming on the heels of a string of Cray Defender victories in Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Paris, Germany and New York, Sweden's regional qualifier marks the first major steal for the Reversed cardfighters. While according to Bushiroad's figures at Paris and New York the Invaders only accounted for 7.7% and 20.5% of the total participants, the flood of new Reverse cards introduced by Catastrophic Outbreak and the rise of Chaos Breaker Dragon as the Invaders' new flagship deck has given them a small foothold in both slots of Sweden's top 2. Along with Team SKET from second place at the Paris qualifier, Sweden's teams account for Void's only presence in the Team League, with all three teams being concentrated in the European branch of League 2014.
The respective teams are reported by our source to be composed of Leo-pald “Я,” Link Joker and Ethics Buster “Я” fighters for first place, and Amon “Я,” Link Joker and Luquier “Я” fighters for second. Meanwhile we've also received the decklists from the May BeNeLux tournament, provided below under [MBNL] First place in the tournament went to Ozan Fincan with Chaos Breaker Dragon, while second went to Daniel Gaillard with Dragonic Descendant. Both decks were noticeably heavy on their grade 2 counts, emphasizing the forms of fast aggression, field control and power gain that have proven to be exemplary qualities of the format.
In Japanese news the Nagoya regional qualifier for Fighter's Road 2014 finished up on the 11th, with first place going to a Dragonic Nouvelle Vague cardfighter and second to one running the new Narukami Brawler subclan. Third and fourth place went to Sacred Regalia and Bermuda Triangle fighters, with the remaining half of the top 8 being unsorted as Musketeer, Pale Moon, Liberator and Glendios cardfighters. The Brawlers' success coincides with their widespread adoption in the unofficial Vanguard Championships; the second Sapporo and first Hokusetsu team tournaments saw both Brawlers and the new Royal Paladin Seekers make spots in the top 4. Sapporo's first place team was led by Nouvelle Vague cardfighter Dasukuro, and was captained by Northern Jewel's Omega Glendios build, in keeping with the progression of professional play since Infinite Rebirth's release.
The team's midfighter valdy (sic), brought a Brawler deck that focused on the Legion skills of Shotgun Blow Dragon, a boss card released just over a week ago in VG-FC02: Fighter's Collection 2014. Shotgun's Legion 20000 with the grade 2 Military Brawler Lisei fuses a Lisei from the deck to the vanguard circle, adding Lisei's power to Shotgun's own for a 20000 base during his fighter's turn, and when they Legion his counterblast 2 forces the opponent to retire two of their own rearguards. If Shotgun's field is greater than the opponent's immediately after the skill is activated, he also gets an extra critical. The Legion retire combos with Lisei and the grade 1 Ark's skills, both getting +3000 power for each rearguard retired during the turn to easily make a 28000-power rearguard lane together. Furthermore, the grade 2 Brawler Yousei automatically retires an opponent's frontrow rearguard for no cost when the vanguard Legions, destroying three fifths of the field with Shotgun Blow and further powering up Lisei and Ark.
Although Shotgun Blow is the backbone of the deck, Skybeat Dragon from TD15: Brawler of Friendship is also an important supporting element of it. Since Shotgun Blow can only effectively activate once, being able to ride over him with Skybeat if another copy of Shotgun isn't available is important, because riding over a Legioned vanguard will send both Legion pieces into the soul and put a new unit on the vanguard circle, allowing Legion to be activated again. This opens the door to Skybeat's Legion with Skyhowl Dragon being activated, and his on-Legion frontrow retire skill, effectively trading the Skybeat ridden for one of the opponent's frontrow rearguards. Rising Phoenix provides reliable synergy with this strategy since the two units sent into the soul from riding over a Legioned vanguard can then be soulblasted to draw a card with Phoenix's on-call skill, making for an aggressive and circular strategy that continually pushes the opponent down throughout the fight while keeping the Brawlers at a steady place in advantage above them.
It's very rare for trial deck cards to see immediate adoption in pro play without their corresponding booster set available, but the Brawlers' and Seeker's shared strength of not needing to be at limit break to use their skills has made them extremely compelling competitively. Only needing four cards in the drop zone to activate Legion promotes earlier guards and staying in the range of 2~3 damage rather than risk going to 4 early. Some have expressed trouble adjusting to the nascent format, and after two years under the 4 damage restriction many of the cardfighters competing today have never played in a world without limit break. The ability to drastically outspeed the likes of Nouvelle Vague and Raging Form is thus a crucial advantage, and these new builds are likely to totally eclipse their past Narukami and Royal counterparts with the release of Legion of Dragons and Blades this Friday.
The first place team at Sapporo won three Nintendo 3DS XLs, while second place won three boxes of VG-BT15: Infinite Rebirth, and third place won three boxes of VG-EB10: Divas Duet. In total 81 persons attended the tournament, divided into 27 teams of 3. Second place team "Over Maxi Boost" was composed of Revenger, Glendios and Brawler cardfighters, while third was made up of Nouvelle, Galaxy Blaukluger and Glendios fighters, and fourth by Nouvelle, Brawler and Glendios. You can jump directly to the Sapporo decklists by searching the page for [2SVGCS] Overall Sapporo saw 81 participants, and a breakdown of the decks used by those cardfighters is available below.
Over at the Hokusetsu VGCS, this team tournament was taken by Team Wild Hitter. While team forward Hokaze's Glendios and midfighter Yakan's Nouvelle are familiar, it's the captain Rinon's Seeker deck that is attracting the most attention. His build combines the trial deck cards with the 2014 Vanguard Festival promos and Fighter's Collection 2014 support, focusing on a combination of hand conservation through traditional Royal Paladin superior call tactics, limited frontrow control and strong endgame field power boosts. Surprisingly, the build includes both the perfect defense card Iseult and the Quintent Wall Gloria, mixing them at 2-2. Previously Quintets were standardized at 0~1 in pro decks due to their comparative ineffectiveness versus the powerful extremes of the format, but for Legion decks the ability to instantly put 6 cards into the drop zone while denying an early game attack can mean near-instant setup of a game defining strategy. As limit break is not a concern for these builds and more emphasis is being placed on having a highly developed early to midgame, Quintets occupy a unique place in the new format as both the saving grace against going to high damage early and a utility role that potentially supersedes their importance as defense.
Much as the new Brawler decks are relying on mixing Castor from the Eradicators in to quickly fill the drop zone in the early game, Rinon's Seeker build uses four copies of Lake Maiden Lien and mixes in the Shadow Paladins' Arianrhod to capitalize on how card changing effectively supports Legion. The cheap counterblast 1 costs associated with the Seekers makes setting up Legion as fast as possible a priority, and the cards dropped for Lien and Arianrhod are no longer lost permanently thanks to Legion returning trigger units, making trigger units and Legion components like Blaster Blade Seeker and Combined Strength Seeker Locrinus ideal targets for card changing. The main strategy of the deck is to use Seeker Sacred Wingal with its first vanguard File; both of their skills activate when Wingal Legions to Blade Seeker, with File going into the soul at that time to superior call a Blade Seeker to the rearguard, where Sacred pays counterblast 1 to call a grade 2 or greater Seeker. Effectively, even if frontrow units aren't immediately accessible in hand, File and Sacred can together bring two frontrow cards out from the deck just by Legioning, and then with the two Blaster Blades' counterblasts can take out the opponent's entire front row.
The alternative grade 3, Splitting Seeker Brutus from Fighter's Collection 2014, has a more distinct early game compared to Sacred Wingal; when placed on the vanguard circle he can counterblast 1 to search the deck for Locrinus and call it to the rearguard. His especial counterblast activates when he attacks the vanguard and has Legion, endowing four frontrow Seekers with +3000 power. Since the both halves of the Legion pair may be selected, this causes the vanguard lane to swing for 26000 power by itself, while the rearguard lanes attack in the range of 19~22000 boosted. Although not as combo heavy as the Brawlers, being able to reliably make both frontrow rearguards break the ~21000 line for counterblast 1 every turn makes Brutus a modern Soul Saver Dragon capable of a staggeringly strong endgame. Unlike Sacred Wingal, whose superior calls and potential double frontrow retire are strong plays at any part of the match, Brutus' field power bonus can fall flat in the early and middle of a fight where the opponent is starting the turn at low damage. Comparing preview cards from upcoming sets BT16 and EB10~11, Legion skills that are purely used for the endgame are already a rarity. Brutus is considered likely to be replaced by Thing Saver Dragon from BT16, a card already preordering for 3000 yen apiece (approx. $30 in US money) double the price of a Dragonic Nouvelle Vague.
Also of note is Sigma's Pale Moon deck in the lead of the second place team. Venus Luquier is a rare sight for professional play, as while she's an effective successor to the Luquier ”Я” that took last year's winter national championship, she's been generally overshadowed by the likes of Nouvelle Vague and the Revenger series. Sigma's approach to the deck dropped Silver Thorn Assistant Irina--often regarded as the crux of the Silver Thorns' soulcharging engine and a staple in their builds--in favor of Beast Tamer Ana's aggressive on-boost counterblast, using her in combination with the grade 2 Maricica to bring out an extra lane when their attack hits, with the potential to target Assistant Zelma for their skills and then swap Maricica into the soul to call out one more attacker. With the right combination of plays, these types of multiple attack chains will also power up Silver Thorn Upright Lion and the original Luquier herself. While modern Luquier has been typically thought of in terms of being a soul-derived advantage engine, these aggressive plays are a fresh and interesting approach to Silver Thorns. You can jump directly to the decklists by searching the page for [2HVGCS]
May BeNeLux Tournament [MBNL]
First Place: Ozan Fincan
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, Dust Tail Unicorn (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT
x4 Star-vader, Scouting Ferris DT
x2 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
x4 Star-vader, Meteoliger CT
x2 Star-vader, Weiss Soldat CT
Grade 1
x3 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x2 Demonic Claw Star-vader, Lanthanum
x4 Prison Gate Star-vader, Palladium
x4 Mana Shot Star-vader, Neon
Grade 2
x3 Star-vader, Colony Maker
x3 Star-vader, Moebius Breath Dragon
x4 Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon
x3 Furious Claw Star-vader, Niobium
Grade 3
x1 Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon
x3 Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon
x3 Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon
Second Place: Daniel Gaillard
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FV)
x4 Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x2 Eradicator, Blue Gem Carbuncle DT
x2 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Sacred Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x3 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x2 Rising Phoenix
x4 Steel Blooded Eradicator, Shuki
x4 Eradicator, Demoliton Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
x1 Supreme Army Eradicator, Zuitan
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x3 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
Second Sapporo VGCS [2SVGCS]
First Place Team: ○るでぃがわからせる
Foreward: Dasukuro/だすくろ
Deck Name: Deck Descended of the Demonic Dragon 2014/魔竜降臨したデッキ 2014
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x4 Seal Dragon, Shirting HT
x4 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x1 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x3 Demonic Dragon Mage, Abarara CT
x4 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
Grade 1
x2 Seal Dragon, Kersey
x4 Nouvelle Roman Dragon
x4 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x3 Calamity Tower Wyvern
Grade 2
x4 Nouvelle Critique Dragon
x4 Berserk Dragon
x3 Dominate Drive Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon
x1 Cruel Dragon
Grade 4
x4 Transcendence Dragon, Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
Midfighter: valdy (sic)
Deck Name: Vowing Valdy Special 2014/ボーイングヴぁるでぃスペシャル 2014
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x2 Eradicator, Blue Gem Carbuncle DT
x2 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Malevolent Djinn CT
Grade 1
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x4 Tonfa Wielding Brawler, Ark
x4 Rising Phoenix
x2 Eradicator of the True Flames, Castor
Grade 2
x4 Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon
x3 Military Brawler, Lisei
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x2 Brawler Youjin
Grade 3
x4 Brawler, Shotgun Blow Dragon
x3 Brawler, Skybeat Dragon
Captain: Northern Jewel/北の八坂 (Kita no Yasakani)
Deck Name: Golembeat 2014/ゴーレムビート 2014
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x3 Star-vader, Meteo Liger CT
x4 Star-Vader, Weiss Soldat CT
x2 Star-vader, Scounting Ferris DT
x2 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
x1 Star-vader, Jailer Tail DT
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT
Grade 1
x4 Star-vader, Ruin Magician
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x4 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
x2 Engraving Star-vader, Praseodymium
Grade 2
x4 Star-vader Magnet Hollow
x3 Star-vader, Colony Maker
Grade 3
x3 Star-vader, ”Ω” Glendios
x4 Star-vader, ”Я” Cradle
x1 Dauntless Dominate Draogn ”Я”
x1 Dragonic Overlord ”The Яebirth”
x1 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier ”Я”
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon ”Я”
Second Place Team: Over Maxi Boost/マキシブースト終わった
Foreward: Buster/バスター
Deck Name: Shadow Paladin/シャドウパラディン
Grade 0
x2 Judgebau Revenger (FV)
x4 Healing Revenger HT
x4 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Grim Revenger CT
x4 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Dark Revenger, Mac Lir
x3 Self-control Revenger, Rakia
x2 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter
x1 Black-winged Sword Breaker
x2 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 2
x4 Nullity Revenger, Masquerade
x4 Overcoming Revenger, Lukea
x3 Wiles Revenger, Mana
Grade 3
x4 Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom
x4 Revenger, Dragruler Phantom
Midfighter: Hide/ひで
Deck Name: Papparapaa/パッパラパー
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT
x4 Star-vader, Meteoliger CT
x2 Star-vader, Weiss Soldat CT
x2 Star-vader, Scouting Felis DT
x4 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
Grade 1
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x4 Star-vader, Ruin Magician
x1 Carved Seal Star-vader, Praseodymium
x4 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
Grade 2
x4 Star-vader, Magnet Hollow
x4 Star-vader, Colony Maker
Grade 3
x4 Star-vader, “Ω” Glendios
x4 Star-vader, “Я” Cradle
x1 Dragonic Overlord “The Яe-birth”
x1 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier “Я”
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon “Я”
Captain: Shitarabakizoku/したらば貴族
Deck Name: 夏野こおりが好きだ
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle HT
x4 Malevolent Djinn CT
x4 Brawler, Dokouson DT
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
Grade 1
x4 Wyvern Guard, Guld
x2 Tonfa Wielding Brawler, Ark
x4 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator of the True Flames, Castor
Grade 2
x4 Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon
x3 Military Brawler, Lisei
x3 Brawler Youjin
x2 Dragonic Deathscythe
Grade 3
x4 Brawler, Shotgun Blow Dragon
x3 Brawler, Skybeat Dragon
First Hokusetsu VGCS [1HVGCS]
First Place Team: Wild Hitter/ワイルドヒッター
Forward: Hokaze/ほかぜ
Deck Name: Cute Deep Crimson (Shinku Kawaii/真紅)
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x2 Star-vader, Spark Doll CT
x3 Star-Vader, Weiss Soldat CT
x2 Star-vader, Scounting Ferris DT
x3 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
x1 Star-vader, Jailer Tail DT
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT
Grade 1
x4 Star-vader, Ruin Magician
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x3 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
x4 Engraving Star-vader, Praseodymium
Grade 2
x4 Star-vader Magnet Hollow
x2 Star-vader, Colony Maker
Grade 3
x3 Star-vader, ”Ω” Glendios
x4 Star-vader, ”Я” Cradle
x1 Dauntless Dominate Draogn ”Я”
x1 Ice Prison Dark Lord, Cocytus ”Я”
x1 Deadliest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster ”Я”
x1 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier ”Я”
x1 Covert Demonic Dragon, Hyakki Vogue ”Я”
x1 Maiden of Venus Trap ”Я”
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon ”Я”
Midfighter: Yakan/やかん
Deck name: Cute Luna-sama (Runa-sama Kawaii) ルナ様かわいい
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x2 Blue-ray Dracokid CT
x1 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
x4 Dragon Dancer, Barbara HT
x2 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x1 Dragon Dancer, Monica DT
x3 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x2 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
Grade 1
x4 Nouvelle Roman Dragon
x4 Dragon Dancer, Maria
x4 Calamity Tower Wyvern
x1 Diable Drive Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Nouvelle Critique Dragon
x4 Berserk Dragon
x3 Dominate Drive Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon
x1 Dragonic Overlord (BT15/004)
Grade 4
x4 Transcendence Dragon, Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
Captain: Rinon/りのん
Deck Name: Stomachache (Itsuu/胃痛)
Grade 0
x1 Advance Party Seeker, File (FV)
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x4 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
x4 Messegal Seeker DT
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
Grade 1
x2 Flash Shield, Iseult
x2 Summoning Jewel Knight, Gloria
x4 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x1 Witch of Nostrum, Arianrhod
x1 Seeker of the Right Path, Gangalen
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x4 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x3 Combined Strength Seeker, Locrinus
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Sacred Wingal
x4 Splitting Seeker, Brutus
Second Place Team: 24 Year-old VG Fighters/２４歳、ＶＧファイターです
Forward: Sigma/シグマ
Deck Name: Pale Moon/ペイルムーン
Grade 0
x1 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Emil (FV)
x4 Silver Thorn Barking Dragon CT
x2 Dynamite Juggler CT
x4 Poison Juggler CT
x2 Silver Thorn Marionette, Natasha DT
x4 Silver Thorn Juggler, Nadia HT
Grade 1
x4 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Ana
x4 Silver Thorn Assistant, Zelma
x4 Silver Thorn Hypnos, Lydia
x2 Silver Thorn Breathing Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Maricica
x4 Silver Thorn Rising Dragon
x3 Silver Thorn Upright Lion
Grade 3
x4 Silver Thorn Dragon Empress, Venus Luquier
x3 Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier
x1 Miracle Pop, Eva
Midfighter: Daigo (TL note; the cardfighter's name is written with the kanji for "Enormous Mistake" 大誤 read phonetically as "Daigo.")
Deck Name: Bermuda △
Grade 0
x1 PRISM-Smile, Coro (FV)
x4 Heartful Ale, Fundy DT
x4 Duo Gran Pasturn, Syanon CT
x4 Duo Pride Crown, Madeira CT
x4 Duo Tropical Healer, Mejelda HT
Grade 1
x4 Duo Afternoon Tea, Parana
x3 Apprentice Idol, Karen
x3 Mermaid Idol, Felucca
x4 PRISM-Duo Aria
Grade 2
x4 Duo Mini Hat, Rhone
x4 Duo Kelpie Jockey, Syrdarya
x3 Duo White Ice Crystal, Rikka
Grade 3
x4 Duo Temptation, Ried
x4 Duo True Sister, Mare
Captain: Kakao
Deck Name: Kagerou
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x2 Blue-ray Dracokid CT
x2 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
x1 Lizard Soldier, Goraha CT
x1 Demonic Dragon Mage, Abarara CT
x1 Dragon Monk, Genjo HT
x1 Dragon Dancer, Therese HT
x1 Seal Dragon, Sharting HT
x1 Dragon Dancer, Barbara HT
x4 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x1 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x1 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
Grade 1
x4 Nouvelle Roman Dragon
x2 Dragon Dancer, Maria
x1 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x1 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x3 Calamity Tower Wyvern
x3 Dragon Monk, Gojo
Grade 2
x4 Nouvelle Critique Dragon
x4 Berserk Dragon
x2 Dragonic Burnout
Grade 3
x3 Dauntless Drive Dragon
x2 Dragonic Overlord (BT15/004)
Grade 4
x4 Transcendence Dragon, Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
The respective teams are reported by our source to be composed of Leo-pald “Я,” Link Joker and Ethics Buster “Я” fighters for first place, and Amon “Я,” Link Joker and Luquier “Я” fighters for second. Meanwhile we've also received the decklists from the May BeNeLux tournament, provided below under [MBNL] First place in the tournament went to Ozan Fincan with Chaos Breaker Dragon, while second went to Daniel Gaillard with Dragonic Descendant. Both decks were noticeably heavy on their grade 2 counts, emphasizing the forms of fast aggression, field control and power gain that have proven to be exemplary qualities of the format.
In Japanese news the Nagoya regional qualifier for Fighter's Road 2014 finished up on the 11th, with first place going to a Dragonic Nouvelle Vague cardfighter and second to one running the new Narukami Brawler subclan. Third and fourth place went to Sacred Regalia and Bermuda Triangle fighters, with the remaining half of the top 8 being unsorted as Musketeer, Pale Moon, Liberator and Glendios cardfighters. The Brawlers' success coincides with their widespread adoption in the unofficial Vanguard Championships; the second Sapporo and first Hokusetsu team tournaments saw both Brawlers and the new Royal Paladin Seekers make spots in the top 4. Sapporo's first place team was led by Nouvelle Vague cardfighter Dasukuro, and was captained by Northern Jewel's Omega Glendios build, in keeping with the progression of professional play since Infinite Rebirth's release.
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| Brawler, Shotgun Blow Dragon. |
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| Brawler, Skybeat Dragon. |
It's very rare for trial deck cards to see immediate adoption in pro play without their corresponding booster set available, but the Brawlers' and Seeker's shared strength of not needing to be at limit break to use their skills has made them extremely compelling competitively. Only needing four cards in the drop zone to activate Legion promotes earlier guards and staying in the range of 2~3 damage rather than risk going to 4 early. Some have expressed trouble adjusting to the nascent format, and after two years under the 4 damage restriction many of the cardfighters competing today have never played in a world without limit break. The ability to drastically outspeed the likes of Nouvelle Vague and Raging Form is thus a crucial advantage, and these new builds are likely to totally eclipse their past Narukami and Royal counterparts with the release of Legion of Dragons and Blades this Friday.
The first place team at Sapporo won three Nintendo 3DS XLs, while second place won three boxes of VG-BT15: Infinite Rebirth, and third place won three boxes of VG-EB10: Divas Duet. In total 81 persons attended the tournament, divided into 27 teams of 3. Second place team "Over Maxi Boost" was composed of Revenger, Glendios and Brawler cardfighters, while third was made up of Nouvelle, Galaxy Blaukluger and Glendios fighters, and fourth by Nouvelle, Brawler and Glendios. You can jump directly to the Sapporo decklists by searching the page for [2SVGCS] Overall Sapporo saw 81 participants, and a breakdown of the decks used by those cardfighters is available below.
Second Sapporo VGCS Deck Breakdown
13 ”Ω” Glendios
13 Nouvelle
9 Sacred Regalia
8 Revenger
6 Brawler
6 Pale Moon
4 Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth"
4 Blue Storm
3 Seeker
3 Bermuda △
3 Dimensional Robo
3 Blau
2 Liberator
1 Eradicator
1 Ezel
1 Dauntless Dominate Dragon "Я"
1 Seal Dragons
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| Seeker, Sacred Wingal. |
Much as the new Brawler decks are relying on mixing Castor from the Eradicators in to quickly fill the drop zone in the early game, Rinon's Seeker build uses four copies of Lake Maiden Lien and mixes in the Shadow Paladins' Arianrhod to capitalize on how card changing effectively supports Legion. The cheap counterblast 1 costs associated with the Seekers makes setting up Legion as fast as possible a priority, and the cards dropped for Lien and Arianrhod are no longer lost permanently thanks to Legion returning trigger units, making trigger units and Legion components like Blaster Blade Seeker and Combined Strength Seeker Locrinus ideal targets for card changing. The main strategy of the deck is to use Seeker Sacred Wingal with its first vanguard File; both of their skills activate when Wingal Legions to Blade Seeker, with File going into the soul at that time to superior call a Blade Seeker to the rearguard, where Sacred pays counterblast 1 to call a grade 2 or greater Seeker. Effectively, even if frontrow units aren't immediately accessible in hand, File and Sacred can together bring two frontrow cards out from the deck just by Legioning, and then with the two Blaster Blades' counterblasts can take out the opponent's entire front row.
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| Splitting, Seeker Brutus. |
May BeNeLux Tournament [MBNL]
First Place: Ozan Fincan
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, Dust Tail Unicorn (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT
x4 Star-vader, Scouting Ferris DT
x2 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
x4 Star-vader, Meteoliger CT
x2 Star-vader, Weiss Soldat CT
Grade 1
x3 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x2 Demonic Claw Star-vader, Lanthanum
x4 Prison Gate Star-vader, Palladium
x4 Mana Shot Star-vader, Neon
Grade 2
x3 Star-vader, Colony Maker
x3 Star-vader, Moebius Breath Dragon
x4 Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon
x3 Furious Claw Star-vader, Niobium
Grade 3
x1 Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon
x3 Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon
x3 Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon
Second Place: Daniel Gaillard
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FV)
x4 Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x2 Eradicator, Blue Gem Carbuncle DT
x2 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Sacred Spear Eradicator, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x3 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x2 Rising Phoenix
x4 Steel Blooded Eradicator, Shuki
x4 Eradicator, Demoliton Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
x1 Supreme Army Eradicator, Zuitan
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x3 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
Second Sapporo VGCS [2SVGCS]
First Place Team: ○るでぃがわからせる
Foreward: Dasukuro/だすくろ
Deck Name: Deck Descended of the Demonic Dragon 2014/魔竜降臨したデッキ 2014
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x4 Seal Dragon, Shirting HT
x4 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x1 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x3 Demonic Dragon Mage, Abarara CT
x4 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
Grade 1
x2 Seal Dragon, Kersey
x4 Nouvelle Roman Dragon
x4 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x3 Calamity Tower Wyvern
Grade 2
x4 Nouvelle Critique Dragon
x4 Berserk Dragon
x3 Dominate Drive Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon
x1 Cruel Dragon
Grade 4
x4 Transcendence Dragon, Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
Midfighter: valdy (sic)
Deck Name: Vowing Valdy Special 2014/ボーイングヴぁるでぃスペシャル 2014
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x2 Eradicator, Blue Gem Carbuncle DT
x2 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Malevolent Djinn CT
Grade 1
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x4 Tonfa Wielding Brawler, Ark
x4 Rising Phoenix
x2 Eradicator of the True Flames, Castor
Grade 2
x4 Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon
x3 Military Brawler, Lisei
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x2 Brawler Youjin
Grade 3
x4 Brawler, Shotgun Blow Dragon
x3 Brawler, Skybeat Dragon
Captain: Northern Jewel/北の八坂 (Kita no Yasakani)
Deck Name: Golembeat 2014/ゴーレムビート 2014
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x3 Star-vader, Meteo Liger CT
x4 Star-Vader, Weiss Soldat CT
x2 Star-vader, Scounting Ferris DT
x2 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
x1 Star-vader, Jailer Tail DT
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT
Grade 1
x4 Star-vader, Ruin Magician
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x4 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
x2 Engraving Star-vader, Praseodymium
Grade 2
x4 Star-vader Magnet Hollow
x3 Star-vader, Colony Maker
Grade 3
x3 Star-vader, ”Ω” Glendios
x4 Star-vader, ”Я” Cradle
x1 Dauntless Dominate Draogn ”Я”
x1 Dragonic Overlord ”The Яebirth”
x1 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier ”Я”
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon ”Я”
Second Place Team: Over Maxi Boost/マキシブースト終わった
Foreward: Buster/バスター
Deck Name: Shadow Paladin/シャドウパラディン
Grade 0
x2 Judgebau Revenger (FV)
x4 Healing Revenger HT
x4 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Grim Revenger CT
x4 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Dark Revenger, Mac Lir
x3 Self-control Revenger, Rakia
x2 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter
x1 Black-winged Sword Breaker
x2 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 2
x4 Nullity Revenger, Masquerade
x4 Overcoming Revenger, Lukea
x3 Wiles Revenger, Mana
Grade 3
x4 Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom
x4 Revenger, Dragruler Phantom
Midfighter: Hide/ひで
Deck Name: Papparapaa/パッパラパー
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT
x4 Star-vader, Meteoliger CT
x2 Star-vader, Weiss Soldat CT
x2 Star-vader, Scouting Felis DT
x4 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
Grade 1
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x4 Star-vader, Ruin Magician
x1 Carved Seal Star-vader, Praseodymium
x4 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
Grade 2
x4 Star-vader, Magnet Hollow
x4 Star-vader, Colony Maker
Grade 3
x4 Star-vader, “Ω” Glendios
x4 Star-vader, “Я” Cradle
x1 Dragonic Overlord “The Яe-birth”
x1 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier “Я”
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon “Я”
Captain: Shitarabakizoku/したらば貴族
Deck Name: 夏野こおりが好きだ
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle HT
x4 Malevolent Djinn CT
x4 Brawler, Dokouson DT
x4 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
Grade 1
x4 Wyvern Guard, Guld
x2 Tonfa Wielding Brawler, Ark
x4 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator of the True Flames, Castor
Grade 2
x4 Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon
x3 Military Brawler, Lisei
x3 Brawler Youjin
x2 Dragonic Deathscythe
Grade 3
x4 Brawler, Shotgun Blow Dragon
x3 Brawler, Skybeat Dragon
First Hokusetsu VGCS [1HVGCS]
First Place Team: Wild Hitter/ワイルドヒッター
Forward: Hokaze/ほかぜ
Deck Name: Cute Deep Crimson (Shinku Kawaii/真紅)
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x2 Star-vader, Spark Doll CT
x3 Star-Vader, Weiss Soldat CT
x2 Star-vader, Scounting Ferris DT
x3 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
x1 Star-vader, Jailer Tail DT
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT
Grade 1
x4 Star-vader, Ruin Magician
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x3 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
x4 Engraving Star-vader, Praseodymium
Grade 2
x4 Star-vader Magnet Hollow
x2 Star-vader, Colony Maker
Grade 3
x3 Star-vader, ”Ω” Glendios
x4 Star-vader, ”Я” Cradle
x1 Dauntless Dominate Draogn ”Я”
x1 Ice Prison Dark Lord, Cocytus ”Я”
x1 Deadliest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster ”Я”
x1 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier ”Я”
x1 Covert Demonic Dragon, Hyakki Vogue ”Я”
x1 Maiden of Venus Trap ”Я”
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon ”Я”
Midfighter: Yakan/やかん
Deck name: Cute Luna-sama (Runa-sama Kawaii) ルナ様かわいい
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x2 Blue-ray Dracokid CT
x1 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
x4 Dragon Dancer, Barbara HT
x2 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x1 Dragon Dancer, Monica DT
x3 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x2 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
Grade 1
x4 Nouvelle Roman Dragon
x4 Dragon Dancer, Maria
x4 Calamity Tower Wyvern
x1 Diable Drive Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Nouvelle Critique Dragon
x4 Berserk Dragon
x3 Dominate Drive Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon
x1 Dragonic Overlord (BT15/004)
Grade 4
x4 Transcendence Dragon, Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
Captain: Rinon/りのん
Deck Name: Stomachache (Itsuu/胃痛)
Grade 0
x1 Advance Party Seeker, File (FV)
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x4 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
x4 Messegal Seeker DT
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
Grade 1
x2 Flash Shield, Iseult
x2 Summoning Jewel Knight, Gloria
x4 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x1 Witch of Nostrum, Arianrhod
x1 Seeker of the Right Path, Gangalen
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x4 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x3 Combined Strength Seeker, Locrinus
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Sacred Wingal
x4 Splitting Seeker, Brutus
Second Place Team: 24 Year-old VG Fighters/２４歳、ＶＧファイターです
Forward: Sigma/シグマ
Deck Name: Pale Moon/ペイルムーン
Grade 0
x1 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Emil (FV)
x4 Silver Thorn Barking Dragon CT
x2 Dynamite Juggler CT
x4 Poison Juggler CT
x2 Silver Thorn Marionette, Natasha DT
x4 Silver Thorn Juggler, Nadia HT
Grade 1
x4 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Ana
x4 Silver Thorn Assistant, Zelma
x4 Silver Thorn Hypnos, Lydia
x2 Silver Thorn Breathing Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Maricica
x4 Silver Thorn Rising Dragon
x3 Silver Thorn Upright Lion
Grade 3
x4 Silver Thorn Dragon Empress, Venus Luquier
x3 Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier
x1 Miracle Pop, Eva
Midfighter: Daigo (TL note; the cardfighter's name is written with the kanji for "Enormous Mistake" 大誤 read phonetically as "Daigo.")
Deck Name: Bermuda △
Grade 0
x1 PRISM-Smile, Coro (FV)
x4 Heartful Ale, Fundy DT
x4 Duo Gran Pasturn, Syanon CT
x4 Duo Pride Crown, Madeira CT
x4 Duo Tropical Healer, Mejelda HT
Grade 1
x4 Duo Afternoon Tea, Parana
x3 Apprentice Idol, Karen
x3 Mermaid Idol, Felucca
x4 PRISM-Duo Aria
Grade 2
x4 Duo Mini Hat, Rhone
x4 Duo Kelpie Jockey, Syrdarya
x3 Duo White Ice Crystal, Rikka
Grade 3
x4 Duo Temptation, Ried
x4 Duo True Sister, Mare
Captain: Kakao
Deck Name: Kagerou
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x2 Blue-ray Dracokid CT
x2 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
x1 Lizard Soldier, Goraha CT
x1 Demonic Dragon Mage, Abarara CT
x1 Dragon Monk, Genjo HT
x1 Dragon Dancer, Therese HT
x1 Seal Dragon, Sharting HT
x1 Dragon Dancer, Barbara HT
x4 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x1 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x1 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
Grade 1
x4 Nouvelle Roman Dragon
x2 Dragon Dancer, Maria
x1 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x1 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x3 Calamity Tower Wyvern
x3 Dragon Monk, Gojo
Grade 2
x4 Nouvelle Critique Dragon
x4 Berserk Dragon
x2 Dragonic Burnout
Grade 3
x3 Dauntless Drive Dragon
x2 Dragonic Overlord (BT15/004)
Grade 4
x4 Transcendence Dragon, Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Spotlight: Almeida Stewart
Fighter's Spotlight is an ongoing project concerned with tracking real-world professional cardfighters across the globe.
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| Almeida Stewart (far left) with Albert Lee, Adwin Leong and Kevin Lang. Original photo by Cardfight!! Vanguard USA. |
Titles Won: Belgium Regional Champion, European National Champion, World Champion (2013)
Current Status: World Champion (2013)
Deck Type: Kagerou (Dragonic Overlord), Gold Paladin (Great Silver Wolf), Aqua Force (Genovius)
Almeida Stewart is the second Cardfight!! Vanguard world champion, having formally succeeded his predecessor Brandon Smith on January 12, 2014. Although originally celebrated at his ascension, subsequent cheating scandals disgraced his reputation as a professional cardfighter within the community.
An eclectic player who had experience with many different clans, Stewart first made an appearance at the 2013 Belgium regional qualifier, taking first place with a Dragonic Overlord the End deck that would go on to be one of the mainstays of his emerging career. Stewart's qualifier had a turnout of 81 persons, which was relatively high for a European tournament but small compared to the size of regionals abroad. For the national finals he chose to play a Gold Paladin deck, coming out as the European national champion with using a Gancelot-Garmore Gold Paladin deck, and in the WCS2013 finals Stewart put Luxembourg on the map for professional play by becoming world champion with a modified Overlord build. As this was at a time when Kagerou had largely fallen out of favor in the international pro scene and was almost wholly replaced by Eradicator Dragonic Descendant, Stewart's decision to play a more deliberate DOTE than what had dominated in previous world championship qualifiers proved highly effective versus the rest of the world's top 8, then comprised entirely of Eradicator cardfighters save for one other player. Stewart made it to the top 2 with this other fighter, Albert Lee, who had been playing a Nova Grappler Beast Deity deck. Although the recordings of their games have not been made available to the public, Stewart achieved considerable fame for winning the world championship with an otherwise abandoned deck.
Stewart also did well in underground play, placing first in the March 9th BeNeLux tournament, at the time one of the larger unofficial tournaments of the Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg circuit.
In 2014 it came to light that Stewart was a repeat-offense cheater both in local tournaments and in professional play; individuals close to him came forward to Cardfight Pro with testimony against Stewart during the Paris regional qualifiers, and his fingerprints were later connected by the Luxembourg police with a robbery at card shop La Caverne du Gobelin on top of the existing accusations. Allegedly one of Stewart's personal mottos at the time was "If you cheat, cheat good," and he favored draw triggers on in his decks so that he could touch them more frequently to stack the cards. Video footage from the Paris qualifier supposedly proved him stacking his deck on stream, but this footage was turned out by the organizers to Bushiroad without being disclosed to the general public, and Bushiroad later denied its existence. After his team was connected to the robbery at La Caverne, Stewart formally apologized, returned the stolen merchandise, and was banned for life from the card shop. Bushiroad has never instigated a further investigation of Stewart, nor issued any sanction against him for his behavior.
Decks and Play Style
Stewart's playstyle was marked by a heavy overall focus on draw power, consistency and acceleration, as auxiliary support for his deck's core strategy. He once commented that he played four draw triggers in his Aqua Force deck "because Aqua Force only has four." He tended to favor trigger lineups that ran six draw and six critical triggers, and card changing units to exchange the draw triggers after he'd checked them.
The Overlord decklist that Stewart won Belgium with is generally in line with the majority of DOTE decks being played in that era; by crossriding Dragonic Overlord the End over Dragonic Overlord, Stewart set up a base 13000 defense that allows standard 16000-power lines to be blocked with a single 5000 shield, while also creating a 21~23000 power vanguard line with either Embodiment of Armor Bahr or Flame of Promise Aermo. If the End's attack hit, his persona blast skill allowed him to stand for a +1 in card advantage and two extra drive checks, which in combination caould snowball into a high-power, high-critical vanguard line. The real value of the End during this era was its status as a "pressure unit" that forced the opponent to drop more defense than normal, as DOTE could absolutely not be allowed to hit in the minds of Stewart's opponents. The intention of the deck is thus not necessarily to use DOTE's persona blast, but to drop more cards than normal from the opponent's hand to prevent the on-hit skill where otherwise they would simply no-guard the powerful center lane. The first vanguard Conroe allowed both Bahr and Aermo to be searched effectively, while Gattling Claw Dragon controlled the opponents' first vanguard and built additional soul for Flame of Promise's soulblast. As Kagerou's damage unflipper, Bellicosity Dragon kept the damage zone open after using Conroe or Berserk Dragon's field control skill, to keep threatening the opponent with DOTE's persona blast. At endgame when it was certain that there was no more room for the vanguard to hit, it was then possible to use a rearguard Dragonic Overlord's counterblast 3 as a finishing move, with a rearguard in the range of 23000 power either crippling the opponent's frontrow while also dealing damage to their vanguard or draining their hand sufficiently that the game would end that turn.
The biggest difference between standard decks and Stewart's is the trigger lineup. Stewart chose to run additional draw triggers rather than critical triggers so that he would continually build card advantage while the opponent lost it from defending DOTE, and he would then use Gojo or Flame of Hope to card change out the draw triggers for more useful units. The use of Tejas to attack the opponent's backrow units is also unusual for an international deck where Nehalem as a base 10000 unit is more common, although it will appear familiar to Japanese cardfighters due to overall differences in unit usage. Running just four critical triggers did run the risk of running out of criticals entirely and losing out on one of the points that the End so threatening during this period, but that also requires the opponent to notice that there are only four critical triggers. This was also a period when some cardfighters were choosing to counter the End by not playing the mindgames he created at all and allowing his skill to go off early, guarding Bellicosity but letting the vanguard hit, putting them at higher damage to use for fighting back with limit breaks and leaving the DOTE fighter with a majority of their counterblast used up. Nevertheless, Stewart's strategy was brutally effective in Belgium and brought him to first place.
Winter 2013 Regional Tournament, Belgium
Card Pool: TD01-EB06, PR 0001-0071
Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FV)
x2 Dragonic Dancer, Monica DT
x4 Dragon Monk, Genjo HT
x4 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x4 Blue Ray Dracokid CT
x2 Red Gem Carbuncle DT
Grade 1
x2 Flame of Hope, Aermo
x4 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x3 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
x2 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x2 Flame of Promise, Aermo
Grade 2
x2 Berserk Dragon
x2 Dragon Knight, Nehalem
x2 Wyvern Strike, Tejas
x4 Burning Horn Dragon
x2 Bellicosity Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord
x4 Dragonic Overlord the End
Stewart's Garmore build uses five draw and seven critical triggers, an uncommon count at the time that helps to secure his break ride setup with higher on average acceleration. The deck's key feature is how it utilizes skill timing; Liberator Gancelot's break ride skill can give up to three Gold Paladin rearguards +5000 power, equivalent to riding a Soul Saver Dragon in Royal Paladin decks, but encounters the problem of having three rearguards on the field to power up. Since Garmore and Gancelot share the same timing of when Garmore is placed on the vanguard circle, Garmore's on-ride counterblast 2 can fetch a rearguard for Gancelot to power up, negating one of the major weaknesses of the deck while also breaking even in card advantage from dropping a second grade 3 to make the break ride take place. Garmore's ideal target is the grade 1 Dindrane, a base 6000 unit that when called from the deck can soulblast 1 to draw a card, playing into Stewart's advantage-based play style by effectively trading the extra grade 3 he puts down for a usable booster and then giving him another card in hand. Blaster Blade Spirit is also an important tech for the build, since Garmore can fetch Spirit and then use his on-call counterblast 1 to retire an opponent's rearguard, pushing the opponent down in advantage and making it more difficult for them to guard all three lanes which attack in the ballpark of 21000, 31000 and 26000 power. The build is also able to utilize Tripp to keep the damage zone open in the same way that Bellicosity was played in his previous deck, use Nimue and Viviane as early pressure units to convince the opponent to guard their counterblast 1 on-hit skills, and build base 21000 rearguard lanes using Charjgal with additional Garmore copies.
Due to the original Overlord fading out of use, at this point crossride defense was becoming a negligible element of the format, and this helped the use of lower power rearguards like Dindrane and Viviane where previously base 12000 attackers had been the staple cards of any competitive deck. Although the public was uncertain of which deck Stewart would bring to the championship, by the time of the international finals he was deciding between either a modified Overlord or a Scarlet Witch CoCo-Battle Sister Cookie deck, and had traded away this Gold Paladin deck.
Winter 2013 National Tournament, Europe
Card Pool: TD01-EB06, BT11, PR 0001-0078
Grade 0
x1 Spring Breeze Messenger (FV)
x2 Silent Punisher CT
x1 Weapons Dealer, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Sommelier HT
x4 Armed Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Flame of Victory CT
x1 Dantegal CT
Grade 1
x2 Charjgal
x4 Halo Shield, Mark
x1 Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue
x4 Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
x3 Listener of Truth, Dindrane
Grade 2
x2 Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion
x3 Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane
x3 Mage of Calamity, Tripp
x2 Lop Ear Shooter
x1 Blaster Blade Spirit
Grade 3
x4 Great Silver Wolf, Garmore
x4 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot
For the championship finals Stewart built his own variation on Overlord, incorporating the Dauntless Drive Dragon break ride that by then had become well established in pro play. Several supporting cards expedite his previous strategy's consistency; while this deck runs six draw instead of eight, the new draw trigger Artpique helps him power up his rearguards to break 21000 power and strengthen his vanguard line where necessary. Seal Dragon Kersey generally replaced Gojo's role, since it could card change one of his draw triggers out just by being called as long as the opponent has a grade 2 in play.
The game-deciding play for the deck is to break ride Dragonic Overlord the End over Dauntless Drive Dragon, forcing the opponent into a situation where there are no good decisions. Dauntless' break ride skill activates after the vanguard has attacked, allowing it to discard 3 cards to stand if it has not already stood that turn; the opponent is thus forced to choose between giving Stewart two vanguard attacks with a +1 from DOTE's persona blast or a -1 from Dauntless' skill, but if the first attack is defended then they also run the risk of the second attack connecting and triggering the End's persona blast. Earlier plays are made possible by break riding Dauntless over Dauntless, and the losses in card advantage are generally made up for by the draw-heavy focus of Stewart's build. The only safe counter is to no-guard the first attack and allow the persona blast to activate so that no more skills will activate that turn, but from a more pessimistic perspective this means that the safest play is to allow the End's skill to activate and improve Stewart's position.
Winter 2013 International Tournament, Japan
Card Pool: TD01-BT10, PR 0001-0078
Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FV)
x4 Dragon Monk, Genjo HT
x4 Seal Dragon, Artpique DT
x2 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x4 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
x1 Blue Ray Dracokid CT
x1 Seal Dragon, Biella CT
Grade 1
x4 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x1 Flame of Hope, Aermo
x4 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
x2 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x4 Seal Dragon, Kersey
Grade 2
x2 Berserk Dragon
x4 Dragon Knight, Nehalem
x3 Burning Horn Dragon
x1 Bellicosity Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord the End
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon
Stewart surprised the professional community in early March by taking first in a BeNeLux tournament using an Aqua Force deck unrelated to his established builds. By using Penguin Soldier in his deck he achieved a similar level of acceleration and consistency to his other decks with its on-call draw skill, and because of his deck's focus on break riding over Transcore Dragon he generally has the 4 soul necessary to use two Penguin Soldiers per game. The core of this deck uses the Ripple evolution cards for ride security to search out Pavroth or Genovius, with the grade 1 and 2 Brave Shooter support for base 10000 and 12000 attackers that allow early aggression. This also works well with Pavroth's ability to stand and power up a rearguard in the midgame, turning Twin Strike Brave Shooter into a base 15000 attacker on the second strike.
Similar to contemporary break ride-based decks, Stewart's main strategy is to break ride his main grade 3 Genovius over the supporting Transcore Dragon; attacking with both rearguard lanes first brings the opponent to 5 damage, Transcore's skill forces the opponent to discard a card just to be able to guard Genovius in the first place to ensure a -3 even if they have a perfect defense card, and Genovius' persona blast stands both rearguard columns to ensure two more attacks waiting to receive any following trigger checks. The maneuver becomes even more dangerous if the opponent is already at 5 damage, where any one of the five attacks can win the game. For endgame purposes Stewart runs a tech copy of Blue Storm Supreme Dragon Glory Maelstrom, using Glory Maelstrom's ultimate break to prevent the opponent from guarding with perfect defense cards while increasing his own power. The decision synergizes well with his focus on draw power and grade security, where it's easier to acquire tech cards towards the end of a fight, but the build's synergy is hurt somewhat by the lack of card changing to drop Sea Otters for other units.
March 9th BeNeLux Tournament, Belgium
Card Pool: TD01-BT12, PR 0001-0078
Grade 0
x1 Starting Ripple, Alecs (FV)
x2 Ice Floe Angel HT
x2 Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir HT
x4 Pyroxene Communications Sea Otter DT
x4 Jet-Ski Rider CT
x4 Supersonic Sailor CT
Grade 1
x4 Silent Ripple, Sotirio
x4 Mercenary Brave Shooter
x4 Emerald Shield, Paschal
x3 Light Signals Penguin Soldier
Grade 2
x4 Rising Ripple, Pavroth
x4 Twin Strike Brave Shooter
x2 Tear Knight, Lucas
Grade 3
x4 Thundering Ripple, Genovius
x3 Blue Flight Dragon, Transcore Dragon
x1 Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
News: Team League 2014 Ruleset Announced, Triples Format to Begin Using Best of 3
The official English portal for Cardfight!! Vanguard has updated with information on the upcoming 2014 team tournaments, "Team League 2014: Invasion." The Invasion is slated to begin in April and last through July; the current schedule states that nationals will start before regionals, but appears to rely on a different definition of "national" and "regional" championships. As defined further down, placing first or second in the national tournaments will qualify the teams for regionals. Taking place after the release of VGE-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak in May, the Invasion's special rules will deliver a more immersive game experience by dividing participating teams into the Cray Defenders and Void Invaders, and the outcome of their battles will determine whether Cray is overtaken by the forces of darkness or if the soldiers of Link Joker are successfully repelled.
As in Team League 2013 players will form teams of three to participate in triples fights, and each team member must use a different clan. However, the Invasion ruleset regulates teams more heavily than they were in the preceding team tournaments, drawing clear inspiration from Japan's New Years 2014 tournament. Cray Defender teams cannot use cards from the Link Joker clan or “Яeverse” cards in their decks, while Void Invader teams may only use Link Joker or decks with 3 or more “Яeverse” cards bearing the same name in them. A special rule allows Royal Paladin cardfighters on the Cray Defender side to use up to 10 Shadow Paladin cards in their decks, making a provision for Majesty Lord Blaster cardfighters. Each team member will receive a corresponding button as a participation prize, identifying them as a Defender or Invader, although team alignment will not be taken into account when determining round pairings. Which players fight which is determined by a team member's number. Each member is assigned either 1st, 2nd or 3rd position, and they are paired against opponents of the same number on the opposing team. This is similar to the Japanese team tournament structure used from 2011 to 2013, where players were assigned to be 先鋒 senpou "Foreward," 中堅 chuuken "Middle player" and the 大将 taishou "General" which have similar meanings, but also have double meanings like "Vanguard" for the Foreward and "Team Captain" for the General.
Unlike in Teams 2013, there will be no shop qualifiers. Currently there are national championships scheduled for the North American, European and Asia-Oceanian territories. The initial rounds of each tournament will use a modified Swiss, double elimination ruleset where if an entire team loses two rounds they are eliminated from the tournament, with each round being best of 1 games, followed by a cut to top 8. Top 8 will be single elimination but best 2 out of 3 games. This is an important development as previously best of 3 was reserved for continental and international-level events, and starting with League 2014 it is being implemented at lower levels. The winning team will receive the Team League 2014 national champion's trophy, a corresponding certificate, and an invitation to their respective regional championship finals, while the runner-up team will receive a second place certificate and an invitation to the regional finals. For first place travel accommodations will be provided, except for players from the United Kingdom and Singapore.
There will be no entry fees for the Invasion's qualifiers, except if the venues themselves charge for entry because of the tournament being held instead of another event.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
News: Almeida Stewart Becomes 2013 World Champion, Nova Grappler and Shadow Paladin Fighters Take Japanese Championship
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| Stewart, fourth from the left, stands alongside his fellow competitors as well as Morishima Shuuta and Mimori Suzuko in Tokyo Dome City's Prism Hall, Japan. Original photo by Cardfight!! Vanguard USA. |
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| Original photo by Cardfight!! Vanguard USA. |
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| Almeida Stewart, Albert Lee, Adwin Leong and Kevin Lang. Original photo by Cardfight!! Vanguard USA. |
At the same time, since the release of BT11 Dauntless has received some praise for revising the DOTE build to both be more effective and require more thought to bring out that effectiveness, as the deck's plethora of support options from both old staples like Berserk Dragon and Heatnail Salamander as well as newer cards like Corduory and Kersey have demanded more work in the deckbuilding process and careful play in determining which of the opponent's cards are most important to control with the fighter's limited counterblast. With overlapping support from the Seal Dragons and consistent ways to remove the rearguards, Dauntless has proved to be one of the most effective and challenging decks in 2013. The Dauntless DOTE deck's major contender within the format, the Eradicator build, has been contrasted as being much more of an autopilot deck that takes much of the direct decision making out of its cardfighters' hands. After plaguing Japanese play for the past year, the Eradicators finally debuted in English-language competition for the first time in the world finals, bringing with them a powerful engine for field control and card destruction.
While BT10's break ride cards have been hyped across the board as some of the most decisive tools of the new format, most Eradicator cardfighters have eschewed their Vowing Sword break ride in favor of running an Eradicator deck that uses both Gauntlet Buster Dragon and Dragonic Descendant. Gauntlet Buster, whose limit break increases his power and critical every time an opponent's rearguard is retired, is commonly played as the deck's midgame to destroy the opponent's cards using his counterblast skill, then build up extra critical that demands perfect defense cards to be repeatedly played across two or more turns. With Zuitan to unflip damage to further support Buster, as well as lesser rearguards like Chou-ou that can retire an opponent's rearguard by putting one of the Eradicator fighter's into the soul and then recoup the loss with Rising Phoenix's soulblast-to-draw skill, the subclan's gameplan has proved overwhelming by continuously pushing the opponent's advantage down while the Narukami fighter's has stayed static. Meanwhile Dragonic Descendant has functioned as the clan's self-standing vanguard, able to limit break with a very cheap counterblast 1 and discard cost when his attack does not hit in order to swing again with an extra critical that makes his attack functionally impossible to declare no-guard against. For this reason Descendant has been limited to 2 in Japan since last May, but critics of the subclan have pointed out that with so many other powerful grade 3 options in Vowing Sword and the upcoming Vowing Saber Dragon crossbreak ride, the truly daunting issue surrounding the Eradicator deck is that each card individually could make or break a build on their own, where together they snowball into one overwhelming subclan. Even so, with Worlds 2014 likely eight to nine months away, and the upcoming releases of VGE-BT12: Binding Force of the Black Rings and VGE-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak within that timeframe, international cardfight may never see the Eradicators rise to the same prominence they did in their home country. Current predictions are that Link Joker decks will get widespread adoption in North America, where the clan has proved exceedingly popular and Chaos Breaker Dragon has become the buzzcard of the day.
2013 has left a complicated legacy for professional cardfight, but with Europe emerging as a vanguard force in competitive play the future may see more standout names making the headlines, inspired by Stewart's success story. For the time being, decklists are expected to go up within the week. And while the world is discussing the results of WCS2013, Japan's Fighter's Climax 2013 national tournament has just concluded with the junior class national champion seizing the title with a Nova Grappler deck, according to Doctor O. While their names are not yet public, Nova Grappler was extremely prolific in the juniors' division this year and there are six probable cardfighters that could have taken first, with five of them being Beast Deity fighters using a combination of Ethics Buster Extreme and Reverse alongside their break ride, and the remaining sixth being veteran Nova Grappler fighter Nishida Sachi, who had previously been noted for his Beast Deity deck with Stern Blaukluger tech in FR2013 Kyoto, and who had recently taken a full Stern deck to second place at Osaka. Meanwhile in the open class division, a Shadow Paladin cardfighter rumored to be playing Raging Form Dragon took first place, with the runner-up playing Link Joker. In total, the representation for this year showed 4 Kagerou, 3 Genesis, 2 Shadow Paladin, 2 Link Joker, 2 Aqua Force, 1 Gold Paladin, 1 Narukami and 1 Great Nature decks in the open class finals.
Friday, February 15, 2013
News: Team League 2013, World Championship 2013 Announced
Just today Bushiroad has opened up about the Cardfight!! Vanguard Team League 2013, an international team tournament that drew much attention from what was seen on posters but that up until today very little of which was concretely known about.
Bushiroad's press release paints a clear picture of how the tournament is being structured, as the first international team tournament of its kind. Spread out over three months from April through July, the Team League will be held in North America, Europe and Asia-Oceania; each team will consist of three members in a three-on-three format unique to Bushiroad properties. As with the 2013 National Championship, tournaments begin at the shop qualifier level in April to May, progressing to regional qualifiers in select stores from May to June, and then go on to continental finals for each region in June to July. For North America, the continental finals will be in Los Angeles. Listings will open up in March 2013, and as with NC2013 there will be a last-minute qualifier the day before the continental finals.
Most surprisingly however, in something of a Steve Jobs "one more thing" moment, the very last line of the press release confirms what many have been speculating on for some time now, that there will be a World Championship 2013 in the latter half of the year. The original press release is presented below, unmodified.
"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bushiroad Announces Cardfight!! Vanguard Team League 2013
Singapore, February 15, 2013 – Bushiroad South East Asia Pte Ltd and Bushiroad USA Inc announced a new Cardfight!! Vanguard tournament series: the Team League 2013. This will be the first ever Bushiroad-sanctioned international team tournaments in Cardfight!! Vanguard.
The Cardfight!! Vanguard Team League 2013 is a three-stage, team tournament campaign running from April through July across the North American, Europe and Asia-Oceania regions.
Players of all ages may form teams, consisting of three members, to face against rival teams in a continental level championship utilizing Bushiroad’s unique three-on-three team tournament format. Participating teams will receive promotional goods unique to Team League 2013.
The tournament structure is split across three phases; open shop qualifiers from April to May, regional qualifiers in selected tournament stores from May to June, and continental finals for each region in end June to July.
Tournament shops currently registered with Bushiroad will be eligible to hold open shop qualifiers.
The open shop qualifiers will be open to all teams across all three regions. These qualifiers will be listed on the Cardfight!! Vanguard website in March 2013. The top placing teams in each shop qualifier will receive an invitation to regional qualifiers in selected tournament stores in their specific regions. Regional qualifier team champions will be awarded with invitations and travel/lodging fees to the continental finals in their region. Second placing teams will only be awarded invitations to the continental finals in each region.
The finals for the North American region will be held in Los Angeles, CA, in July, with a venue to be confirmed. An open qualifier for the Team League will take place the day before the Team League finals (venue and date TBD), for players who have missed their chance on participating in the open shop qualifiers.
The finals for the European region will be held in the United Kingdom in July, with a venue and specific date to be confirmed.
The finals for the Asia-Oceania region will be held in Singapore in end June/early July, with a venue and specific date to be announced. Similar to the North American Team League qualifiers, an open qualifier will take place the day before at the same venue.
More details will be revealed on the Cardfight!! Vanguard website and Facebook pages as the dates draws near.
Bushiroad concluded their first international tournament series: World Championship 2012, in December 2012. The World Championship 2012 focused on individual players. The World Championship 2013 will be held in the latter half of 2013."
Monday, June 18, 2012
News: World Championship 2012 Announced
This morning on Bushiroad's official English website and Facebook page, the first international championship season for Cardfight!! Vanguard was announced. Three sets of continental qualifiers are now open for North America, Asia-Oceania and Europe. These qualifiers, held in September and October, will then qualify the winners for an invitation to the national championships of those respective territories. The national champions of those areas will then proceed to the international championship held in Tokyo during December.
Participating cardfighters must be current residents of their corresponding qualifiers to participate. North American cardfighters may not participate in European qualifiers, and vice-versa. Only English-language cards may be used. Currently there are eight qualifiers in North America, one of which will be in Canada and another in Mexico; Europe by contrast has only three qualifiers, in Great Britain, France and Germany. Asia-Oceania has nine qualifiers, two in Japan, one in Singapore, one in Taiwan, one in Hong Kong, one in Malaysia, one in Indonesia, one in the Philippines and one in Australia.
Participating cardfighters must be current residents of their corresponding qualifiers to participate. North American cardfighters may not participate in European qualifiers, and vice-versa. Only English-language cards may be used. Currently there are eight qualifiers in North America, one of which will be in Canada and another in Mexico; Europe by contrast has only three qualifiers, in Great Britain, France and Germany. Asia-Oceania has nine qualifiers, two in Japan, one in Singapore, one in Taiwan, one in Hong Kong, one in Malaysia, one in Indonesia, one in the Philippines and one in Australia.
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