Press Release: 3 Major English Edition Cardfight!! Vanguard Expansions in June 2015

The following is a press release distributed by Bushiroad USA and may not reflect the views or opinions of Cardfight Pro or its editors.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

3 Major English Edition Cardfight!! Vanguard Expansions in June 2015

Singapore (March 12, 2015) – Bushiroad announced the simultaneous release of 3 Cardfight!! Vanguard G English Edition products which will be on sale on June 19, 2015. These expansions include one new Trial Deck, the 2015 edition of the Fighters Collection and an all-new product, the Legend Deck.

 

Cardfight!! Vanguard G Trial Deck Vol. 5 ‘Fateful Star Messiah’, Fighters Collection 2015 and Legend Deck Vol. 1 ‘The Dark “Ren Suzugamori”’ feature the latest in the Cardfight!! Vanguard G series and contain new cards that will feature units with the Stride and Generation Break abilities.

G Trial Deck Vol. 5 ‘Fateful Star Messiah’ features the <<Link Joker>> clan, while the Fighters Collection 2015 will contain new G-units for all clans that have been released thus far, excluding the <<Etranger>> clan.

The Legend Deck series is a new product that shines the spotlight on “Legendary Fighters” from the Cardfight!! Vanguard animation. Legend Deck Vol. 1 will feature the fan-favorite Ren Suzugamori and his popular <<Shadow Paladin>> deck. It is the first of its kind, and will contain premium items such as an exclusive deck holder, fighter’s counter as well as a special foiled promotional card.

G Trial Deck Vol. 5 ‘Fateful Star Messiah’ and Legend Deck Vol.1 ‘The Dark “Ren Suzugamori”’ will also include one hot-stamped card randomly inserted into decks.

News: International Game to See LD01: The Dark “Ren Suzugamori” in June, VGE-TD05: Fateful Star Messiah and Fighter's Collection 2015

Today the English Cardfight portal updated with release information for the international distribution of G-LD01: The Dark “Ren Suzugamori,” G-TD05: Fateful Star Messiah and G-FC01: Fighter's Collection 2015. All three sets will hit western shores simultaneously on June 19th 2015. The legend deck will notably contain all of the accoutrements of its Japanese counterpart sans sleeves, including the triple rare promotional card Grim Recruiter.

The Dark “Ren Suzugamori,” first announced in late January, will introduce the new Shadow Paladin cards used by legacy character Suzugamori Ren in the Cardfight!! Vanguard G anime series. Careful scrutinizing of a promotional poster distributed in early February reveals that the cards teased so far each have partial grade information in their grade circles. The number of bars inside their grade circles indicate that the new Nemain and Charon units are grade 1s, Macha and Mac Lir grade 2s, and Blaster Dark “Diablo” is a grade 3. Furthermore, Nemain's gold shield icon points to her being a card with the Sentinel skill, and Phantom Blaster “Diablo's” card color corresponds to a G Unit.

The legend deck will come out on April 24th in Japan.

Fateful Star Messiah was announced in Japan only last week, alongside the upcoming booster set G-TD05: Dragonic Star of the Supreme Way. The set will feature Ibuki Kouji's Messiah units, a new series of Link Joker-turned variations on the original stride Harmonics Messiah. Japan will receive Fateful Star Messiah on May 29th.

Fighter's Collection 2015 is a special form of extra booster that will provide G Units for every clan sans Etranger. The set will reach Japanese waters on May 5th.

News: Fighter's Collection 2015 Units, Neon Messiah DVD & Blu-ray for May

Caption: "Stride for every clan!" CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD G FIGHTER'S COLLECTION 2015

Yesterday Duel Portal dropped the first promotional materials for VG-G-FC01: Fighter's Collection 2015, quickly followed by an update to the Japanese portal site. FC2015 promises to introduce stride support for all 25 main clans sans Etranger, and the early promotions have so far revealed such cards for Gold Paladin, Angel Feather and Dark Irregulars. Concept images for the set show what appear to be Bermuda △ and Granblue strides. Furthermore, a Nicodouga broadcast from Bushiroad teased a poster for the upcoming Legend Deck 01: The Dark “Ren Suzugamori,” to be released this April.

The same broadcast also gave a Japanese release date for the DVD and Blu-ray prints of the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime film, Neon Messiah. The movie recently debuted in theaters in Singapore, subtitled in English, but there has been no word on other international releases either in the United States or in Europe. This has proven problematic for fans, as the currently airing season of Cardfight!! Vanguard G features the film's principle antagonist Ibuki Kouji, and presumes the viewers have previously seen Neon Messiah. The home video edition of Neon Messiah will hit Japanese shelves on May 2nd, and will retail for 3800 yen on DVD (approx. $32 US) and 6800 yen on Blu-ray (approx. $57 US.) The Blu-ray edition also contains the live action film The Three Games. While these prices will likely appear exorbitant to western fans, but are par for the course in Japan where DVD and Blu-ray sales are typically low and appeal to a niche audience.

Out of FC2015 Gold Paladin is receiving Purgation Lion King, Mithril Ezel (浄罪の獅子王 Jouzai no Shishiou "Sin-cleansing Lion King") a support card for the Ezel subclan previously expanded in BT06, BT09 and BT13. Like his preceding grade 3 incarnation Ezel Scissors, Mithril is a field unlocking unit that counters Link Joker decks. However, he also takes elements from his original debut as Blond Ezel, superior calling and gaining power from a rearguard.

ACT (Vanguard circle): [Counterblast 1, Choose a face down card named “Purgation Lion King, Mithril Ezel” in your generation zone, turn it face up] If your heart has "Ezel" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, unlock all of your locked cards, look at 5 cards from the top of your deck, choose 1 card, call it to a rearguard circle, shuffle that deck, during this turn, increase both that unit and this unit's Power. The number increased is the original Power of the unit called by this ability.

Unlike other stride units, because of his heart restrictions Mithril Ezel is specific to the Ezel subclan and will not work outside of an Ezel deck.

This is a running theme for the FC2015 cards, as Holy Celestial, Michael (聖霊守護天使ミカエル Seirei Shugotenshi Mikaeru "Guardian Angel of the Holy Spirit, Michael" with the forced reading of "Holy Celestial") is also specific to one subclan. Her skill is designed to build field advantage similar to Kiriel from years past, but also carries on the Celestial-specific mechanic of gaining power bonuses based on having a copy of the vanguard in the damage zone.

ACT (Vanguard circle): Once per turn: [Counterblast 1] If your heart has "Celestial" in its card name, put the top card of your deck into the damage zone, choose a face up card from your damage zone and call it to a rearguard circle. Then, if you have a card with the same name as your heart in your damage zone, the unit called with this ability gets Power +5000 until end of turn.

Finally, the Great Devil Soulless Demagogue (大魔神 "Great Demon God") emulates an old play style of Dark Irregulars,  conserving card skills until the moment of his stride and then mass soulcharging to gain power bonuses.

AUTO (Vanguard circle): During your main phase, when a card is put into your soul, until end of turn this unit gets "CONT (Vanguard circle.): During your turn, all units in your front row get Power +1000."

The soulcharges that Demagogue amasses are only useful on the turn that he is stridden. Like other strides, one of the best ways to use him at present is to take advantage of him receiving the name of the heart. By running Demagogue in an Amon deck, one can make use of the Hell's Draw and Hell's deal line to get off 4~6 soulcharges in one turn, stacking up instances of his continuous skill to give +6000 to the front row. After two turns of this, it leaves the soul set up for cards like Astaroth that depend on having a preexisting base of soul.

News: Fighter's Collection Units to be Remade as Legion Pairs, Thing Saver Dragon Saves All of the Things in FR2014 Tokyo

Fourteen hours ago Bushiroad representative Doctor O tweeted a surprising piece of information on upcoming cards, revealing that on June 10th 8:00 PM JST a special conference will be held through NicoNico Douga, outlining the schedule of Legion releases for the remaining clans in a product lineup for the season. Accompanying this announcement will be the beginning of the "Grade 3 Revival Campaign," which will feature the remaking of old boss cards with new Legion skills to bring them up to speed with new game mechanics. The units chosen came from a survey based on Fighter's Collection 2013, with the fan favorite units getting remakes. Each month, the official cf-vanguard portal will be revealing one of the units included in the game, with July's Legion pair being CEO Amaterasu and a new card to Legion with her. Remaining Legion pairs will be released from August onwards. The conference will also include information on Cardfight!! Vanguard Legion Mate, the currently-airing fourth season of the anime series.

Original photo by EnjoyVanguard.

In other news, the decklists from Japan's ongoing summer national tournament "Fighter's Road 2014" have been uploaded to the official Japanese Cardfight portal, unveiling the Thing Saver Dragon decks used by Takagi Yuuta and Ooyama Takeshi to take first and second place in the open-class regional qualifier. Following suit in the junior's division, the Victory Cup regional qualifier brought its own surprises as according to his Twitter page, the junior regional champion for Tokyo is none other than child actor Horiki Takumi, who played the deuteragonist of the 2012 Cardfight!! Vanguard live-action film and also made guest appearances on the Vanguard TV programming block Vanguard Kids. These successes on the Royal Paladin end of professional play have come on the heels of high placements from Thing Saver cardfighters thinking along similar lines at the Second Beast Deity Cup and Fourth Laketown Championship. The Tokyo regional decklists each placed particular emphasis on the Quintet Wall, Summoning Jewel Knight Gloria, reflecting the general favor Quintet cards have received from professional cardfighters in the BT16-on format. You can jump directly to the Fighter's Road decklists or the Victory Cup decklists by searching the page for [FR14OC] or [FR14VC] while VF Koushien decklists can be jumped to by searching for [FR14KS]

FR2014 Tokyo Regional Qualifier Top 8 (Open Class)
Takagi Yuuta/高木 裕太 - Royal Paladin
Ooyama Takeshi/大山 強志 - Royal Paladin
Sakumagazuki/サクマ カズキ (Doctor O Award) - Narukami
Saito Takato/斉藤 理斗 - Neo Nectar
Onodera Yuuta/小野寺 佑太 - Dimension Police
Okuwaki Yu/奥脇 優 - Nova Grappler
Takahashi Kazuya/高橋 和也 - Pale Moon
Watanabe Hitomi/渡部 瞳 - Aqua Force

Also notable is that the Brawler decklist that received the Doctor O award does not use Skybeat Dragon as was the convention prior to the release of BT16: Legion of Dragons and Blades, but instead Narukami cardfighter Sakumagazuki (alias) replaced it with Wild Rush Dragon, a Legion grade 3 whose skill lets it counterblast 1 for +10000 power and +1 critical when it drive checks a card with the same name as one of the two units on the vanguard circle, increasing its power after the guard step has already taken place and potentially surpassing the value of what would otherwise be a no-pass defense. Prior to BT16 there was some debate of whether Bigbang Knuckle Dragon's mass frontrow attack or Wild Rush's unpredictable persona blast-like effect would be favored in competitive play, and it seems that for now the more difficult to anticipate card has gained ground with pros.

The Tokyo regional qualifier also represents the first Metalborg victory for the Dimension Police clan, with Sin Buster cardfighter Shibata Takumi coming in second place in the Victory Cup tournament. Shibata's strategy was to use Sin Buster along with the special booster Black Doctor to create a strong center lane, and the supporting rearguard Commander Laurel to restand his vanguard. Sin Buster's Legion skill prevents the opponent from guarding with grade 1 or greater units from their hand if Sin Buster's power exceeds 30000, and unlike a variety of old-style Dimension Police units, this power threshold only has be reached after boosting. Black Doctor is a base 10000 booster whenever the unit is in Legion, so that with Sin and Doctor alone the post-Legion skill will be constantly active.

Even when Doctor is not available, the skills of Russell Blizzard and the stand trigger Metalborg Operator Kirika can increase the power of up to two vanguards by +3000 power, simultaneously giving power to the entire Legion pair of Sin Buster and Ur Buster. Since the opponent can only guard with grade 0 units, this makes their defensive power finite, and when his attack hits Sin Buster's innate skill will let him draw a card, while Commander Laurel's skill follows the time-tested strategy of resting four rearguards to restand the vanguard, a threat which is becoming more difficult than ever to defend because of the ability to block both perfect defense cards and Quintet Walls. Even should the opponent survive the turn, the initial draw from Sin Buster and the +2 from using Commander Laurel helps secure the game by keeping handsize high, making the Shibata's Metalborg deck formidable in professional play.

FR2014 Open Class Tokyo Regional Qualifier [FR14OC]
First place: Takagi Yuuta/高木裕太
Grade 0
x1 Advance Party Seeker, File (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
Grade 1
x3 Flash Shield, Iseult
x1 Summoning Jewel Knight, Gloria
x2 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Glynngal Seeker
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x3 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x4 Crossbow Seeker, Gildas
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x4 Seeker, Sacred Wingal

Second place: Ooyama Takeshi/大山強志
Grade 0
x1 Advance Party Seeker, File (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
Grade 1
x2 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x2 Summoning Jewel Knight, Gloria
x3 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Glynngal Seeker
x1 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x3 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x4 Crossbow Seeker, Gildas
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x4 Seeker, Sacred Wingal

Doctor O Prize: Sakumagazuki/サクマカズキ
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle HT
x3 Brawler, Dokouson DT
x4 Malevolent Djinn CT
x4 Brawler, Plasmakick Dragon CT
x1 Brawler of Heavens, Youzen
Grade 1
x2 Hardship Brawler, Toshu
x2 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld
x2 Tonfa Wielding Brawler, Ark
x3 Rising Phoenix
x1 Bonfire Eradicator, Castor
x4 Threatening Brawler, Koumei
Grade 2
x4 Brawler, Wild Fist Dragon
x3 Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon
x2 Military Brawler, Lisei
x1 Brawler, Plasma Claw Dragon
x2 Brawler Youjin
Grade 3
x4 Brawler, Shotgun Blow Dragon
x3 Brawler, Wild Rush Dragon

FR2014 Victory Cup Tokyo Regional Qualifier [FR14VC]
First place: Horiki Takumi/堀切拓海
Grade 0
x1 Advance Party Seeker, File (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
Grade 1
x2 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x2 Summoning Jewel Knight, Gloria
x4 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x3 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Glynngal Seeker
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x3 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x2 Crossbow Seeker, Gildas
x2 Seeker of Bravery, Ars
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x3 Seeker, Sacred Wingal

Second place: Shibata Takuma/柴田拓真
Grade 0
x1 Destined Warrior, Dai (FV)
x4 Metalborg, Black Nurse HT
x4 Metalborg, Devil Roader DT
x4 Metalborg, Battle Roller CT
x4 Metalborg, Operator Kirika ST
Grade 1
x4 Metalborg, Mist Ghost
x2 Dimensional Robo, Daishield
x2 Metalborg, Bri Knuckle
x4 Commander Laurel
x3 Metalborg, Black Doctor
Grade 2
x4 Metalborg, Lionetter
x3 Metalborg, Russell Blizzard
x4 Metalborg, Ur Buster
Grade 3
x4 Metalborg, Sin Buster
x3 Metalborg, Draion

Doctor O Prize: Nishiguchi Reiji/西口玲侍
Grade 0
x1 Advance Party Seeker, File (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x4 Margal DT
x1 Messgal Seeker DT
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x3 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x2 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Glynngal Seeker
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x4 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x3 Crossbow Seeker, Gildas
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x4 Seeker, Sacred Wingal

FR2014 Tokyo VF Koushien Team Tournament [FR14KS]
Foreward: Andou Masaya/安藤雅也
Grade 0
x1 Starting Ripple, Alecs (FV)
x4 Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir HT
x4 Blue Storm Soldier, Missile Trooper CT
x1 Battleship Intelligence CT
x4 Dolphin Soldier of High Speed Raids ST
x2 Pyroxene Beam Blue Dragon Soldier ST
x1 Enemy Seeking Seagull Soldier ST
Grade 1
x1 Battle Siren, Dorothea
x3 Patrol Swimming Jellyfish Soldier
x3 Tear Knight, Cyprus
x3 Tear Knight, Theo
x4 Emerald Shield, Paschal
Grade 2
x1 Twin Strike Brave Shooter
x1 Coral Assault
x2 Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Assault
x2 Tear Knight, Lazarus
x4 Tidal Assault
Grade 3
x4 Blue Flight Dragon, Transcore Dragon
x4 Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra Drive Dragon

Midfighter: Kawamoto Suzumi/河本涼生
Grade 0
x1 Liberator, Cheer Up Trumpeter (FV)
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
x4 Armed Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Strike Liberator CT
Grade 1
x4 May Rain Liberator, Bruno
x4 White Rainbow Liberator, Balan
x2 Sword Formation Liberator, Igraine
x2 Halo Liberator, Mark
x2 Starry Skies Liberator, Guinevere
Grade 2
x3 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
x4 Liberator, Star Rain Trumpeter
x4 Blaster Blade Liberator
Grade 3
x2 Liberator, Monarch Sanctuary Alfred
x2 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot
x4 Liberator of Bonds, Gancelot Zenith

Captain: Yamamoto Hiroki/山本拓希
Grade 0
x1 Advance Party Seeker, File (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x2 Margal DT
x2 Messgal Seeker DT
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
Grade 1
x2 Summoning Jewel Knight, Gloria
x2 Flash Shield, Iseult
x3 Seeker, Rune Eagle
x4 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x3 Glynngal Seeker
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x4 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x3 Crossbow Seeker, Gildas
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x4 Seeker, Sacred Wingal

News: Fighter's Collection 2014 to See English Release, English TCG Approaching Synchronization

The next eight English-language set releases have been announced through the official Cardfight!! Vanguard USA Facebook page, and much excitement has been raised over the upcoming release of VGE-FC: Fighter's Collection 2014 at the end of the year. Due to the nature of FC sets as primarily featuring reprints with few new cards and the rapid release schedule of the game's English edition, it has been a concern of the English-language Cardfight community that they would never get a western release. FC2014, which is set to feature at least 23 new cards with one new grade 3 for each of the clans, has more incentive to be brought over to western shores due to the decreased count of reprints. All of these sets have been added to the official products page, sans set images.

With 37 cards and just 7 known reprints, FC2014 will feature SP reprints of Majesty Lord Blaster, Goddess of the Full Moon Tsukuyomi, Phantom Blaster Overlord, Dragonic Overlord the End, Eradicator Vowing Sword Dragon, Perfect Raizer and Top Idol Pacifica. The full Japanese setlist is not yet currently known, but as no English release of FC2013 has been announced and the set size of Fighter's Collection sets is not necessarily set in stone, it has been variously speculated that the English release could include cards from FC2013 by bumping the set size up to a full 72~80 cards, similar to the set sizes of BT01~BT05. The lack of a release for FC2013 has been a sore spot for westerners, in part due to the exclusive break rides Bleoberis and Electric Shaper Dragon, and also due to the highly coveted alternate artworks in the set for Asura Kaiser, Phantom Blaster Dragon, Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark.

More immediately, VG-BT14: Brilliant Strike and its accompanying pool of Reverse cards are suspected to be arriving in July or August. Eight releases are scheduled for after June, and with only six months remaining in that time period, it's possible that some of these will be dual releases within a single month. In particular, TD13: Successors of the Sacred Regalia and the later trial decks TD14: Seeker of Hope and TD15: Brawler of Friendship are all opportune products to release in the same month as accompanying booster sets due to how they complement the cards in Brilliant Strike and Legion of Dragons and Blades. Another possibility is for the sets following Infinite Rebirth to be released in the winter months following the new year, though this would contradict Fighter's Collection 2014's placement.

With these factors in mind, the annual World Championships--which have historically taken place in August/September through December/January--will likely be held in at least a Brilliant Strike or Divas Duet-on format, with Infinite Rebirth available in time for the finals. This oncoming rapid release schedule will likely put the English card game close to being totally synchronized with the Japanese TCG, matching the goal outlined at last year's Anime Expo of achieving simultaneous release.

News: Fighter's Collection 2014 to Release in May, Majesty Lord Blaster to See Reprint

Illustration: Yamazaki Nanae, Sekiyama Konomu, Ebira, Tanimeso, Kawasumi, Ririnra.

As part of his coverage for the upcoming Great Vanguard Festival, Doctor O has revealed the next issue in the Fighter's Collection series of boosters, VG-FC02: Fighter's Collection 2014. Stated to support all of Cray's clans with new RRR-print grade 3s, the set will go on sale on May 2nd, coincidentally on the same day as the international release of Catastrophic Outbreak. According to the Japanese Cardfight portal, this entry in Fighter's Collection will support "all 23 clans" with exception given to Etranger. Like in the upcoming EB10, Bermuda Triangle units will have both black and white prints of the same card, with different artwork.

Most interestingly, the recently-unrestricted Majesty Lord Blaster is explicitly stated to be reprinted in the set, both on cf-vanguard and by Doctor O, and will be one of the Special Parallel prints for FC2014 in the same style of the 2013 set with golden calligraphy foil in place of its flavor text. Note that SPs in a Fighter's Colleciton set are considerably less rare than in standard booster sets, as there is an SP in every box rather than in every case of 16 boxes.

Prior to its store date, boxes of this year's Fighter's Collection will be sold on-site at Vanguard Fest 2014 on April 26th and 27th. It will be priced at 3000 yen a box (approx. $30) and each pack will contain 10 packs.