News: Interview with French Regional Runner-up Helene Bourree, Bushiroad to Open European Offices

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

News: World Champion Steals €4000 of Merchandise from Luxembourg Card Shop, Interview with Paris Regional Runner-up Team SKET

Last week a massive break-in took place in one of Luxembourg's largest card shops, La Caverne du Gobelin; more than €4000 (approx. $5500) in Cardfight!! Vanguard and Yu-Gi-Oh! merchandise were stolen. The break-in at La Caverne was linked to a string of three thefts at the Team League 2014 Paris regional qualifier. Three decks were stolen, two of which were known to be a Dauntless Drive Dragon-Dragonic Overlord the End and a Link Joker deck; one of the decks belonged to an eleven-year-old boy. A player from La Caverne du Gobelin, who requested that his name not be used, volunteered to us information regarding the break-in, and our previous source in the unfolding story concerning alleged cheating at the French regional has likewise come forward to corroborate some of these statements.

Stewart as seen in 2013.

Reigning world champion Almeida Stewart was initially suspected to be involved in the theft at the regional qualifier, but not in the break-in at La Caverne due to the timing of the burglary taking place close to the regional tournament on the 19th. However, after an investigation by the Luxembourg police, fingerprints were used to connect Stewart and both of his teammates back to the burglary. Following this, La Caverne du Gobelin released a statement on their Facebook page on the 21st stating that the burglars had confessed to the Luxembourg police and issued an apology to the store. On the 26th the shop then made the announcement that Stewart, his brother Christopher and their teammate Vladyaslav Khimenko have since been permanently banned from La Caverne's various locations and organized play. Furthermore, the player from La Caverne attested to Stewart having cheated in tournaments by drawing extra cards and putting heal triggers on the top of his deck from his hand. According to this same source, after La Caverne reported the incident to Bushiroad the company placed a ban on Stewart preventing him from participating in official tournaments. However, this last piece of information has not yet been confirmed by Bushiroad and is the only piece of the story that has not been corroborated elsewhere. We granted the company an opportunity to respond, but have yet to receive a statement.

As the reports of the Luxembourg police are not filed as a matter of public record, a police report regarding the theft could not be obtained during our investigation.

With regards to the cheating accusations that have surfaced, tournament host Epitanime issued a statement on Bushiroad.fm on the 24th regarding the existence of the alleged video evidence of Stewart's cheating during the regional tournament;

Contrary to what has been reported, neither Parkage nor Games from Japan, hosting the tournament, nor the judges, have such a video confirming or reversing the suspicion on this player which could likely be used as an evidence.
Parkage and Games from Japan wish to emphasize the attention given to this kind of behaviour during our tournaments by our judges ; unfortunatly such cheating act may remain unnoticed.

Care should be taken with reading the statement that "neither Parkage nor Games from Japan [...] nor the judges, have such a video confirming or reversing the suspicion on this player which could likely be used as an evidence." Epitanime's statement as it is worded does not deny the existence of a video, but denies possessing a video which can be used as evidence for either confirming or denying Stewart's alleged cheating. It may be reasonably inferred that Epitanime is in possession of a video which they consider inconclusive. The denial of possession can also point to having turned the video over to another party, i.e. Bushiroad.

Epitanime's statements are written to deliberately be in conflict with those of on-site witnesses who have stated with confidence that the games were recorded on video, and by depriving the public of the only known visual evidence can falsely give the appearance of there being no incident at all. The possible coverup will ring familiar to veteran American cardfighters, as it can be compared to the 2012 case of Thomas Cassidy; accused of cheating by performing a twin drive while still at grade 2 in order to win the Dallas regional qualifiers in WCS2012, despite a crowd of over 200 onlookers attesting to the incident, none of the six judges noticed the illegal move and Bushiroad USA subsequently refused to release the video of Cassidy's game to the public. While in Cassidy's case the cheating was believed to be accidental rather than intentional, the fact remains that in both instances releasing the videos would resolve the tensions openly by letting the public see the games as they were played and judge the truth for themselves, rather than try to obscure the facts and promote a closed book policy. Epitanime's stance does not expressly deny that the video exists, but dodges the question of what it depicted.

Regarding the regional qualifier itself, the results of the tournament have been published by Bushiroad along with the official decklists, and in addition to that we at Cardfight Pro have secured the decklists of the runner-up Team SKET, as well as interviews with all three of its members. The first place decklists can be jumped to by searching the page for [T14FR1] while the second place decklists can be reached by searching for [T14FR2] These interviews include details on why their team members chose to side with the Invaders instead of Defenders, their favorite qualities of their decks, and what SKET stands for. The translation of our questions and of team SKET's answers were graciously handled by Kyo, a leading figure in the French Cardfight community.

Q: What kind of people are you, and why did you decide to play your decks?
A: We are 3 friends who happened to know each other on a forum which gathered the big part of the French community. Thus, we met through Internet and became friends ; and today two of us (of the Team) are playing in the same card shop. Initially, we intended to come in order to support the whole Event, as we did not get a French event last year. It was really important for us to show Bushiroad how much France loves this game, and how much we want the game to expand. Ultimately, we came in order to have fun, to laugh, and to spend a good time with our opponents, while showing our skills.

(Arnaud "JUN" Faber): I played Eradicator, based on Vowing Saber Dragon "Reverse", Gauntlet Buster and Dragonic Descendant, mainly because of their artworks ; I also happen to play the clan since its original release in BT06: Breaker of Limits. Regarding Vowing Saber Dragon "Reverse", I love its gameplay, which makes you wonder about the right timing about activating its Limit Break ; in order to counterbalance the Lock cost.

(Axel "Shinigami" Verdier): I love Link Joker artworks, are they are both futuristic and fiendish, Chaos Breaker Dragon in particular. I was really pleased by Nebula Lord Dragon's playstyle, mixing both control and aggressive strategies ; up to the point that Stand Triggers can become really nasty.

(Anthony "Snake" Lamontre): I played Pale Moon as I love their artworks since the beginning, and I also like Soul-based gameplays. I chose the Silver Thorn series as I find the archetype fitting my playstyle.

Q: Why did you go to Invaders instead of Defenders ?
A: For some RP aspect. It was funnier to act as the evil ones instead of the heroes, but also because many of the key units in the BT12: Binding of the Black Rings format are Reverse units.

Q: What are the favourite qualities of your Decks ?
A: (Arnaud "JUN" Faber): I was initially going to play a regular Crossbreak Ride Deck. However, it was too weak in terms of early gameplays. I then decided to remove the Break Ride units from my Deck in order to put 3 Gauntlet Buster, which is able to pull off a brutal early gameplay thanks to Ginkaku (Damage Pluser). As such, I think that the main quality of my Deck is its versatility : I can pull off pressure thanks to Ginkaku and Gauntlet Buster's extra Critical, while taking into account Chou-ou or beatstick units ; without giving the Limit Break to my opponent if I cannot manage it. Or if I need to wipe out the opponent's units as I suffered from being rushed, thanks to Vowing Saber Dragon "Reverse" while having powerful Rearguard columns. Third point, Descendant is here to finish off my opponent through the remaining Counterblasts. Therefore, I am able to adapt myself to the current situation and act accordingly.

(Axel "Shinigami" Verdier): I love playing this Deck for several reasons. The first of them is that they are able of both controlling my opponent, but being aggressive. The former part is thanks to Nebula Lord Dragon's Limit Break, powering up my front-row units ; plus units like Lanthanum and Niobium and the usual Neon and Radon stuff. All of these units are able to take advantage from Stand Triggers in order to widen the gap. As for the control part, it is made possible through the Lock mechanic itself ; like in Infinite Zero Dragon, Dust Tail Unicorn and Moebius Breath Dragon. Draw Triggers and Opener of Dark Gates are also important as you cannot "control" your own hand. The second reason is that this Deck doesn't have a "bad Ride". Of course you would prefer some order of Riding, like in any other Deck. But with some mastery, you can do something regardless of what you Ride first, and make the Deck work.

(Anthony "Snake" Lamontre): The Luquier "Reverse" Deck has a great advantage of doing a controlled Soul Charge rythym, let alone you have a better range for what goes into the Soul ; this is made through Irina or Dancing Princess of the Night Sky who will feed the Soul for further Limit Break moves - with Luquier. She is able to provide a quality Card Advantage, while providing me the regular Crossride defense if the original Luquier is in the Soul. Further more, the main goal is to Break Ride Luquier "Reverse", in order to perform 5 attacks in the same turn with 2 Purple Trapezists in the Soul. All of this in order to finish off my opponent, or to make him give up his hand by making use of the Soul thanks to Luquier "Reverse" +5000 bonus. Like Arnaud, I think that this Deck has several uses.

Q: And what does "SKET" stand for ?
A: Support Kindness Encouragement Troubleshot. It actually comes from the "SKET Dance" manga, the three of us love it. In "SKET Dance", the heroes are 3, they are nice, considerate, motivated, but the main point is that they have a quirky humour ; and we hope that people felt the same way towards us during this event.

We thank you a lot for your time.

Team League 2014 France First Place: Team United Force [T14FR2]
Liu Bo Chen's Decklist: Sacking to the Max La
Grade 0
x1 Liberator, Cheer Up Trumpeter (FV)
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Strike Liberator CT
x4 Armed Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
Grade 1
x4 Little Liberator, Marron
x2 Future Liberator, Llew
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
x4 Fast Chase Liberator, Josephus
Grade 2
x2 Liberator of Silence, Gallatin
x4 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
x2 Blaster Blade Liberator
x3 Liberator of the Flute, Escrad
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred
x4 Wolf Fang Liberator, Garmore

Edwin Talahatu's Decklist: Sackmeester weet raad, idd La :P
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FV)
x3 Eradicator, Blue Gem Carbuncle DT
x3 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x3 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x3 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Pollux CT
x4 Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo HT
Grade 1
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x4 Steel-blooded Eradicator, Shuki
x2 Rising Phoenix
Grade 2
x3 Eradicator, Thunder Boom Dragon
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x4 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon

Vincent Van Der Schee's Decklist: Mijn Bunshin is OP LA :P
Grade 0
x1 Frontline Revenger, Claudas (FV)
x4 Healing Revenger HT
x4 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Grim Revenger CT
x4 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorin
x4 Dark Revenger, Mac Lir
x4 Transience Revenger, Masquerade
x2 Sacrilege Revenger, Baal-berith
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger
x3 Dark Cloak Revenger, Tartu
x4 Nullity Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 3
x4 Revenger, Raging Form Dragon
x4 Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom

Team League 2014 France Second Place: Team SKET [T14FR2]
Arnaud "JUN" Faber's Decklist: Narukami - Eradicator'tue Ninja/Ninja Eradicaturtle
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (First Vanguard)
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle (CT)
x4 Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo (HT)
x4 Eradicator, Red Gem Carbuncle (DT)
x3 Sacred Spear Eradicator, Pollux (CT)
x1 Eradicator, Old Dragon Mage (DT)
Grade 1
x4 Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld (Sentinel)
x4 Steel-blooded Eradicator, Shuki
x3 Dragon Monk, Ginkaku
x3 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
Grade 2
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-ou
x3 Double Gun Eradicator, Hakushou
x2 Homing Eradicator, Rochishin
x2 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
Grade 3
x3 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon "Reverse"
x3 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x1 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

Axel "Shinigami" Verdier's Decklist: Link Joker - Nebulamitié <3/Nebulafriendship
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, Dust Tail Unicorn (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage (HT)
x3 Keyboard Star-vader, Bismuth (ST)
x3 Star-vader, Scouting Ferris (DT)
x2 Star-vader, Moon Commander (ST)
x2 Star-vader, Nebula Captor (DT)
x1 Star-vader, Weiss Soldier (CT)
x1 Star-vader, Meteor Liger (CT)
Grade 1
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium (Sentinel)
x4 Demon Claw Star-vader, Lanthanum
x4 Mana Shot Star-vader, Neon
x2 Opener of Dark Gates
Grade 2
x4 Unrivaled Star-vader Radon
x4 Furious Claw Star-vader, Niobium
x3 Star-vader, Moebius Breath Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon
x4 Star-vader, Nebula Lord Dragon

Anthony "Snake" Lamontre's Decklist: Pale Moon - Silverpop "Reverse"
Grade 0
x1 Innocent Magician (FV)
x4 Poison Juggler (CT)
x4 Rainbow Magician (DT)
x4 Silver Thorn Juggler, Nadia (HT)
x3 Silver Thorn, Barking Dragon (DT)
x1 Silver Thorn Marionette, Natasha (DT)
Grade 1
x4 Silver Thorn Hypnos, Lydia (Sentinel)
x4 Silver Thorn Assistant, Irina
x3 Purple Trapezist
x2 Silver Thorn Beast Tamer, Ana
x1 Midnight Bunny
Grade 2
x4 Silver Thorn Rising Dragon
x3 SIlver Thorn Beast Tamer, Maricica
x2 Silver Thorn Marionette, Lilian
x2 Dancing Princess of the Night Sky
Grade 3
x3 Miracle Pop, Eva
x3 Silver Thorn Dragon Queen, Luquier "Reverse"
x2 Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier

News: World Champion Almeida Stewart Accused of Cheating

A tremor is running through the professional Cardfight!! Vanguard community as allegations of cheating have surfaced in the aftermath of Team League 2014's Paris regional. Although his team did not make first or second place in the tournament, reigning world champion Almeida Stewart has been accused of stacking his opponents' decks during the elimination rounds and in the top 8. The story has been corroborated both by several of Stewart's opponents in the tournament and by a personal acquaintance of his. On-site judges have allegedly confirmed the story after reviewing a video of his gameplay, but the video has not yet been made public.

Photo of Stewart from January 2014.

According to a source who has requested to remain anonymous, Stewart has been stacking constantly since he began playing, even in non-tournament casual games, and as a result his techniques for stacking decks have become nearly imperceptible. He made a habit of trying to find ways to accuse other players of breaking the rules to put them at an unfair disadvantage, in one example telling them that they could not stand their units after they mistakenly conducted their draw phase before their stand phase. According to our source, the statement "If you cheat, cheat good" attributed to him by those that attended the tournament, has been a common saying from him throughout his career. The allegations disturb the legitimacy of Stewart's title and potentially that of the World Championship, which has experienced problems with its on-site judge training program and spotting cheating from the beginning.

Cheating is a regular hazard in the world of professional play and developing methods to prevent it has been a constant concern, but it has not been seen on such a grand scale since Kanamaru Makoto was issued a two-year ban from playing in tournaments because of marking his cards back in 2012. Kanamaru's sentence expired just last January. The world's eyes are currently on Bushiroad International, waiting for the video evidence to be released, and for a final conclusion to be drawn on his guilt or innocence.

EDIT: A followup story has been published.

News: Team League 2014 France Won by Defender Team, Invaders in Second

Photo courtesy of Alunyan.

The first stage of Team League 2014: Invasion concluded in Paris yesterday, with first place taken by a team from the Netherlands. 39 teams took part in the regional qualifier, numbering 117 persons in total, with a native French team placing second. According to eyewitness accounts the French team was in the minority of those playing Invader side of the tournament; Team League 2014 is divided into two halves according to its special rules, the Cray Defenders and Void Invaders, and depending on which force a team chooses to side with they are restricted to either being unable to use Link Joker and "Яeverse" cards or are required to use them in their decks.

Photo courtesy of Alunyan.

Following the announcement that Extra Booster 9: Divine Dragon Progression will be getting an English release midway through the Team League tournament, many teams have preemptively chosen to side with the Defenders in anticipation of Dragonic Nouvelle Vague's sweeping effect on the format. In spite of Chaos Breaker Dragon's upcoming release in BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak within the next two weeks, this has ironically left Void understaffed.

The first place team, United Force, was led by a Gold Paladin cardfighter playing a Liberator deck that combined Liberator Alfred's topdeck superior call to fill the field with a massive field power bonus from Gancelot's break ride skill. Middle and rear positions were played by Shadow Paladin and Eradicator cardfighters, with the self-standing Raging Form Dragon as the marquee card of the Shadow Paladin fighter's Revenger deck. Second place team SKET played Luquier "Яeverse," Nebula Lord Dragon and Vowing Saber Dragon "Яeverse."

The regional qualifiers for Mexico and Canada also took place on the 19th, with their results currently forthcoming.