News: English Launch of G-Comic Booster 01 "Vanguard & Deletor" for November

August 5th, 2015. Today Bushiroad Inc. has announced a November 20th launch for the English edition of G-Comic Booster 01: Vanguard & Deletor, which will contain cards featured in Itou Akira's Cardfight!! Vanguard manga. Vanguard & Deletor will feature Link Joker cards supporting Ibuki's "Docking Deletor Greion," and Royal Paladin units supporting Aichi's Alfred deck. There will also be a series of prerelease tournaments from November 13th through the 15th, a week prior to the set's launch date. Although the associated volumes of the Cardfight!! Vanguard manga featuring Ibuki were set to launch this month and in November, according to publisher Vertical Inc. the release of volumes 7 and 8 have been delayed.

In total the Vanguard & Deletor setlist will comprise 45 cards; 29 new cards and 16 reprints. The set will include one generation rare, four triple rares, seven double rares, fourteen single rares, nineteen commons, and six special parallel prints of cards from lower rarities. The set will also include alternate artwork prints of several cards.

Each sealed box will contain twelve booster packs, with seven cards in each, two of which will always be single rare or higher. Prerelease kits will contain 32 booster packs, with four packs being given out to every player, for 28 cards per participant, as well as 9 promotional cards and two playmats.

Artwork published to generate interest in the set shows off Docking Deletor Greion, Blaster Blade in his appearance as Ames (Blaster Blade prior to having receiving his titular sword and having succeeded Yuunos, who became Blaster Dark) in Koshimizu Makoto's Shining Swordsman manga, and Lola (the future Blaster Rapier) of the same.

One noted change between the Japanese and international key art is the use of Blaster Blade's Descent of the King of Knights special parallel print for the English edition; in the Japanese edition, Aichi held an unidentified Vanguard card. Past English-language sets have made a point of editing out stride card backs for standard ones, but in this case the card Aichi was holding was completely innocuous by the standards of the international game.

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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: Vanguard Manga Volume 5 to Include Episode Zero, Exculpate the Blaster Promo

Yesterday evening Vertical Inc. posted a vine of Cardfight!! Vanguard volume 5, showcasing both the manga's latest promotional card and a page from the volume's omake, Episode 0. This zeroth chapter of the manga details Kai Toshiki's past, and is the first canonical appearance of Link Joker cardfighter Ibuki Kouji, a major character in the fifth anime series Cardfight!! Vanguard G as well as the principle antagonist in the film Neon Messiah. Having first debuted in Japan in January of 2013, the English translation of the zeroth chapter marks the close of the manga's first arc. The initial five volumes of the Cardfight!! Vanguard manga approximately correspond to the first season of the anime series, while the sixth through eighth volumes currently released in Japan correspond to the anime's Link Joker and Neon Messiah chapters.

While the first three volumes were packaged with Studio TMS' alternate artworks for Blaster Blade, Dragonic Overlord and Blaster Dark, beginning with volume 4 the English-language promotional cards  have matched their Japanese counterparts. Hence while volume 4's was The Dark Dictator, volume 5's is Exculpate the Blaster. The motivation behind reprinting the promo cards, which in English were originally distributed as box toppers, was likely that these cards have not been reprinted since their initial run two years prior. Exculpate in particular was only available as a topper for VGE-EB01: Comic Style Vol. 1, one of the least successful sets in the history of the English-language card game.

The fifth volume of the Cardfight!! Vanguard manga will be released on February 17th, and can be preordered through Amazon. Volume 6 is to follow on May 26th, and volume 7 on August 25th.

News: Fourth Neon Messiah Trailer Showcases Miyano Mamoru as Voice of Ibuki Kouji

Early this morning a fourth trailer for the upcoming film Cardfight!! Vanguard Neon Messiah was put up by the Japanese theater and motion picture company Shochiku Channel. The PV provides a first look at the voice work of seiyuu Miyano Mamoru, who was previously confirmed to be voicing Ibuki. Many of the other leaks from the film's prescreening have been confirmed by the trailer and recent promotional materials, including Kai's new grade 3 Dragonic Overlord the Great, and several of the tournament matchups for the Messiah Scramble.

The trailer focuses on the motivations of antagonist Ibuki Kouji, as well as the matchups of the upcoming Messiah Scramble tournament. Ibuki's goal is the total destruction of the Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game, using his Deleter deck and the awakening of "the Messiah," implied to be the grade 4 Harmonics Messiah. The trailer suggests that this will allow him to erase Cray and the card game with it; while Ibuki's full reasoning is not known, he states that Vanguard "invites calamity and misfortune," painting him to be well-intentioned but unaware that Cray's destruction will also be Earth's.

Neon Messiah's fourth PV was fansubtitled and reuploaded to YouTube, and is hosted below. Western demand for the film is strong, but no announcements regarding its international release have been made as of yet. The movie will debut in theaters in Japan this Saturday.

News: Miyano Mamoru to Voice Ibuki Kouji, Neon Messiah Spoilers Leaked to Twitter

Over the 25th a prescreening of the upcoming Cardfight!! Vanguard film, Neon Messiah, was held in Japan, and spoilers for the movie were leaked through Twitter by some of those attending. According to this information, the film's key antagonist Ibuki Kouji will be voiced by celebrity voice actor Miyano Mamoru, known for his past roles as Yagami Light in Death Note and Setsuna F. Seiei in Mobile Suit Gundam 00.

From these same sources, the Kagerou grade 3 Dragonic Overlord is to receive a Legion remake in the film as Dragonic Overlord the Great (ドラゴニックオーバーロード・ザ・グレート Doragonikku Oobaaroodo Za Gureeto.) His mate has not been made public. Furthermore, as Neon Messiah is stated to be a general-interest film, card effects in the movie are not gone into in-depth.

Warning: Spoilers for Neon Messiah follow. The veracity of this information cannot be wholly confirmed.
The film's protagonist is said to be Sendou Aichi, returning after his long absence this past season, while the heroine is Tokura Misaki, and Kai Toshiki serves a supporting role.

According to these leaks there are at least seven fights in the film; Leon vs Gaillard (Leon's victory), Misaki vs Christopher Lo (Misaki's victory), Katsuragi Kamui vs Philip Neve (Kamui's victory), Kai Toshiki vs Mitsusada Kenji (Kai's victory), Sendou Aichi vs Ibuki Kouji (outcome unclear; Blaster Blade is deleted by Ibuki's Wokshyz but the rest of the Royal Paladins are safe), Leon and Misaki vs Ibuki (Ibuki's victory) and Aichi vs Tatsunagi Takuto. This last fight is said to be a battle to undelete Blaster Blade, involving Aichi's power of PSY Qualia. These users did not mention the apparent finale featured in the most recent trailer, where Aichi confronts Ibuki alongside Kai, nor Ren's fight with Ibuki hinted at in the same.

The return of Takuto has come as a shock to many, as fans were under the impression that Takuto would not be returning after his departure in Link Joker. The character in general has been poorly received in the past, with his status among fans comparable to Tingle of the Legend of Zelda series. The titular Messiah are said to be a pair of grade 0 and grade 4 cards, with the 0 as the Neon Messiah. The name of the grade 4 unit is Harmonics Messiah.

Aichi and Kai allegedly sit on a bed in one scene of the film; this is likely a form of fanservice in reference to the album cover of their previous duet character song, Fate Breaker. Aichi is also said to take off his shirt for one scene.

News: Daunting Deleter Wokshyz and "Delete" Unveiled

デリートされたユニットは裏向きになり、パワ—が０でテキストを失う。持ち主のターンの終わりに表に戻る

"A Deleted Unit is flipped face-down, its Power becomes 0 and it loses all Text. At the end of its owner’s turn, it is flipped face-up."

The official Japanese portal updated early this morning with information on the upcoming mechanic introduced in VG-MTD01: Malefic Deleter, delete. Featuring the trial deck's cover unit Daunting Deleter Wokshyz as the card of the day, this unit is at present the only one capable of inflicting a delete. Wokshyz separates the cardfighter's astral body from their vanguard by deleting it, forcing the player to fight as themselves without their main unit to protect them. Fitting this idea, once deleted the vanguard turns face-down and has its power reduced to 0, reflecting the native weakness of the player's astral from. All of the vanguard's skills are removed, and if the vanguard is in a Legion then both halves of it will be affected. Like a locked card, the vanguard turns face-up at the end of its owner's turn.

The massive power reduction effectively strengthens the entire Deleter cardfighter's field by 11000 power and negates the effects of crossrides, while also decreasing the amount of shield they will need to spend on defending the next turn and preventing strong comebacks from limit break and Legion skills. However, because the vanguard retains its name, grade, clan, nation and critical it will still have twin drive if at grade 3, activate the rearguards' subclan-related skills and be able to deal damage if its attack goes through. That fighter's soul still remains a usable resource, and the delete can be partially bypassed by riding over the deleted unit, but if the deleted vanguard was a break ride then its limit break will not activate because it still deleted at the moment that it is ridden.

Wokshyz itself blocks the opponent from riding by taking a leaf from Dueling Dragon ZANBAKU and forcing them to discard a card at the beginning of their ride phase if their vanguard is already deleted; if they cannot discard a card or choose not to, then they cannot perform a normal ride. Wokshyz's delete is notably not a limit break or Legion skill, so it may be used regardless of conditions with only 3 damage, putting it in the same class of unit as the primary first season bosses. And while it is clearly one of the strongest cards in that classification, the skill is expensive;

Daunting Deleter, Wokshyz
Activate (Vanguard Circle): [Counter Blast 3 Cards with “Deleter” in their card name, Choose 1 of your Rearguards, place it in your Soul] Delete all of your opponent’s Vanguard, during this turn, this Unit gains Power +10000. (A Deleted Unit is flipped face-down, its Power becomes 0 and it loses all Text. At the end of its owner’s turn, it is flipped face-up.) 

Requiring three especial counterblasts for its main skill means that none of the pre-Malefic Deleter support is compatible with Wokshyz, forcing Link Joker cardfighters to find a fresh start in the trial deck and Neon Messiah booster set. As an offensive incarnation of Link Joker focused on dramatically weakening the opponent in order to strip them of their abilities just long enough to win the game, the deletion strategy stands in contrast to their past defensive play style. Accounting for those differences, delete can be expected to attract completely different kinds of cardfighters from lock.

MTD01: Malefic Deleter and MBT01: Neon Messiah are both due for September 24th release date in Japan, with a limited theatrical release on September 13th.

News: Link Joker Trial Deck VG-MTD01: Malefic Deleter Announced, Ibuki Kouji to Appear in Neon Messiah Film

The above teaser for one of the Cardfight!! Vanguard movies' promotional sets VG-MTD01: Malefic Deleter was put up on the Japanese Vanguard portal early this morning, giving an early look at the upcoming cards for the climactic movie tie-in to the ongoing fourth season. Set for a September 24th release date, the trial deck will promote the upcoming movie Neon Messiah by featuring cards used in the film by antagonist Ibuki Kouji (伊吹コウジ). Introduced more than a year ago in the Zero Starter Set chapter of the manga as a childhood friend to Kai Toshiki, Ibuki is the primary user of the Link Joker clan in the manga and a character many have waited for to be introduced to the anime series.

Unlike the Link Joker units introduced in the third season of the anime, Ibuki's Deleters in the manga each have a much more grotesque and alien slant to them, resembling monsters out of traditional science fiction rather than the Star-vaders' elaborate Cyber Dragons. Ibuki's strategy in the manga is to use the new mechanic Banish Delete (バニッシュデリート Banisshu Deriito) which sends an opponent's rearguard into the drop zone in the Locked position, in practical terms removing it from the game and preventing its use. This has so far only been demonstrated with his grade 2 Swift Deleter Geary, who retires one of Ibuki's own rearguards to retire one of the opponent's face down. Moreover, he has recently demonstrated another ability through his grade 3 Docking Deleter Gray One, "Delete End" (デリート・エンド  Deriito Endo) whereby the game is automatically won through the condition of having the opponent's vanguard face-down. Not much has been shown about how this is achieved, so the mechanic is poorly understood.

Swift Deleter, Geary/スイフトデリーター ギアリ
『ライド時に自分のリアガードを１体退却、その後、相手のリアガードを１体退却。退却させた相手のカードは裏側状態でドロップに送られる』
"When ridden, retire 1 of your own rearguards, and then retire 1 of your opponent's rearguards. Your opponent's retired card enters the drop zone face-down."

Malefic Deleter is slated to be accompanied by another movie-centric set with the same release date, VG-MBT01: Neon Messiah. Comprised of just fifty cards, MBT01 will support the Link Joker, Kagerou, Gold Paladin and Royal Paladin clans, and the cards present in the set will be compatible with those in Malefic Deleter.