News: Monthly Bushiroad Leaks, Cosmic Roar to Hit Western Shelves in April

Everyone's favorite time of the month has rolled around once again, coinciding with a morning announcement from Bushiroad South East Asia unveiling the English-language logos for G-EB01: Cosmic Roar and G-TD04: Blue Cavalry of the Divine Marine Spirits. Cosmic Roar was announced last December, and will be released in Japanese on March 13th and in English on April 17th. The set consists entirely of cards for the Dimension Police clan, with support for the Dimensional Robo, Enigman, Zeal and Metalborg subclans. Anticipating problems with game balance following the set's release, Bushiroad has preemptively restricted Commander Laurel in Japan to just one copy in order to mitigate his use with the new stride units. This month's issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine revealed several cards from Cosmic Roar alongside cards from G-BT02: Soaring Ascent, introducing the first new Enigman and Zeal support cards since BT08: Blue Storm Armada and BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak.

The first card revealed is the grade 1 Enigman Cloud, an homage to 2011's Enigman Ripple.

AUTO: [Soulblast 1] When this unit is placed on a rearguard circle, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at up to 5 cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one grade 2 or less card with "Enigman" in its card name, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand and shuffle your deck. If put into your hand, choose a card from your hand, and put it into your soul.

When successful Cloud's skill effectively trades a card in hand for an Enigman from the deck, and opens up the potential for correcting the rides of Enigman decks that use the Storm evolution line. Cloud can search for himself, which can lead to rapidly changing out less useful cards like draw triggers to quickly fill the field.

Next is Evolving Beast Darvain, who similarly manipulates the soul but does so by trading cards from the field rather than from the hand.

AUTO: [Choose one of your other rearguards, and put it into your soul.] When this unit is placed on a rearguard circle, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one card with "Zeal" in its card name with the same grade as your vanguard, ride it as stand, and shuffle that deck. If you rode, choose a card from your soul with the same grade as your vanguard, call it to a rearguard circle and choose one of your opponent's vanguards, during this turn it gets Power -3000.

In the early game Darvain can be used to trade copies of draw triggers or spent on-call rearguards for lower graded Zeal units, aggressively decreasing the opponent's power even prior to reaching grade 3 while also ensuring that you ride the key units Eye of Destruction and Devourer of Planets Zeal. If you open with multiple copies of Darvain it's also possible to put your first copy into the soul for the cost of the second and then pull it out again, triggering a loop limited only by the number of Eye of Destruction Zeals in your deck. The second Darvain when called out will put the first one into the soul and call it back out, which in turn puts the second one in and out again. While only truly useful when going second or while gradelocked, this can put the opponent down to -12000 power if you don't open with Eye of Destruction. Later on Darvain can help replenish the field using cards from the soul while stacking negative power bonuses on top of Zeal's. Galactic Beast cardfighters have always favored stand triggers and aggressive turns to capitalize on the decreased power, which Darvain caters to.

The Evolution Beast's skill can also be used to superior ride Zeal over a break ride, allowing you to use Original Saver Zero to give the opponent a net -8000 power from both Zero and Darvain's skills. This exchange causes you to break even on your own card advantage, as Darvain's soul-in and superior call are a net +0, providing multiple incentives to ride through Darvain rather than through the hand. If you have the limit break enabler Dailion in play, then you can execute this play the moment you ride Zero on your third turn. With Galactic Beast Zeal's limit break, these can together stack up to -13000 power, leveling even crossrides to 0 power.

The last Dimension Police unit revealed in the issue is the grade 2 Metalborg, Magma Fork. Fork is a custom attack that specifically takes advantage of legion mechanics, as is characteristic of the Metalborg subclan as a whole.

AUTO: [Counterblast 1 "Metalborg"] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, during that battle, for each card on your vanguard circle this unit gets Power +3000.

While in any other deck Fork's counterblast would seem wasted compared to a standard subclan attacker, with an in-legion Metalborg vanguard Fork can gain two instances of the power bonus, becoming a 22000-power attacker that can help overwhelm the opponent after the vanguard has drained their hand.

Other key units revealed in the magazine issue include Sleepy Tapir and a new legion for Gear Chronicle. Tapir is a clone of Binoculus Tiger empowered with Resist, who can give +4000 power to a different rearguard when he attacks but then has to retire it during the end phase of the turn.

The new Gear Chronicle legion is Nixie Number Dragon and his legion mate, Steam Knight Zangu. Zangu's counterblast 1 lets him send an opponent's grade 1 or lesser rearguard to the bottom of their deck when the vanguard is in legion and his attack hits, making him a conditional replacement for the Relic Master Dragon introduced in the previous issue. Nixie Number's legion skill follows up on Chronojet's from the trial deck; when one of his fighter's card skills places an opponent's rearguard on the bottom of their deck, Nixie Number gets a skill that prevents the opponent from calling grade 1 and greater cards to the guardian circle, blocking perfect defense cards. Perhaps the most shocking reveal about these cards is that Nixie Number and Zangu are normal rares in the set, not double or triple rares. This gives very easy access to a guard manipulation unit for newer Gear Chronicle cardfighters, and one that independently attacks for 23000 power.

Nixie Number Dragon
Legion 20000 "Steam Knight Zangu"
AUTO (Vanguard circle): When your card effect places your opponent's rearguard into their deck, if this unit is in legion, during this turn, this unit gains "AUTO (Vanguard circle): When this unit attacks a vanguard, during this battle, your opponent cannot call Grade 1 or higher cards from their hand to their guardian circle".
AUTO (Vanguard circle): When this unit attacks a vanguard, if there is another unit in your center column, this unit gets Power +3000 during this battle.

News: G-EB01: "Roar of the Universe" Announced, Zeal, Enigman, Dimensional Robo and Metalborg Support Incoming

Six hours ago one of Bushiroad of Japan's associated card shops, Card Kingdom, tweeted early promotional materials for the first extra booster of Cardfight!! Vanguard G, G-EB01: Roar of the Universe (宇宙の咆哮 Sora no Houkou, 宇宙 is normally read as Uchuu "Outer space" but here has the pronunciation for "Sky" Sora forced on it.) According to these first blurbs, the extra booster set will be composed entirely of Dimension Police units from the clan's various subclans, including Dimensional Robo, Zeal, Enigman, Metalborg and new units. Roar of the Universe will introduce stride cards specifically for Dimension Police that all of these decks will be able to make use of. The set will be released on March 13 2015, and will use the now-standard extra booster size of 35 cards, with 3 triple rare, 5 double rare, 8 rare, 19 commons per box and 4 special parallel reprints of cards from the set.

With so many clans to support, G-EB01 is setting up to introduce an eclectic mix of strategies both old and new much like Champions of the Cosmos last year. The revitalization of the Zeal deck has been on fans' wishlist since Dimensional Robos took hold over most of the clan's support, while the Enigmen have remained a long-forgotten piece of Dimension Police history that most cardfighters haven't touched since 2012. With limit break enabler support probable, the usable card pool for the D-Police is likely to be expanded out of its current limitations. And given the recent shift in tone of revival legions towards 2012's limit breaks grade 3s, Zeal himself may find a place in the set as the target of a second revival legion for Dimension Police. While the set blurbs make no mention of crossrides, every booster containing the Dimensional Robo subclan has introduced one since BT08: Blue Storm Armada.

News: Neo Nectar, Dimension Police and Nova Grappler Cut from BT16 ver. E, Alfred XIV and Knuckle Buster to Join Legion of Dragons & Blades

Following up on the previous announcement from late on the 18th that Harmonics Messiah will be reaching the English format, Bushiroad's international branch has made a continuing statement on the official Cardfight portal and via Facebook, listing the clans available in BT16 ver. E. The English edition set will include support for the Royal Paladin, Gold Paladin, Narukami, Link Joker, Aqua Force and Spike Brothers clans, integrating cards from three of the Japanese booster packs and two trial decks by removing the Neo Nectar, Dimension Police and Nova Grappler cards originally present in BT16: Legion of Dragons & Blades. These cards are presumed to have been moved to later sets.

The removal of these three clans was made to accommodate the introduction of BT17, MBT01 and MTD01's Gold Paladin, Link Joker, Aqua Force and Royal Paladin cards as well as additional Narukami units from TD16 and BT17. By removing these clans from the set, room was made for 56 cards in addition to the 42 added into the set size. This brings the total count of cards from other sets to at least 108, making room for almost the entire combined card pool of Malefic Deleter, Neon Messiah, as well as the Gold Paladin, Narukami and Aqua Force units of Blazing Perdition. However, it is unknown which cards from each set will be cut to make room for the accompanying Brawler of Friendship unit.

Additional reasons can be inferred from the clans targeted; Nova Grappler has been singled out in the professional community for its infamous Cat Butler Raizer deck, a once-dominant deck from Japanese play that uses the grade 0 Cat Butler to restand its Legioned vanguard. Within the past few months the build was subject to restriction in the Japanese Fighter's Rules. While fears regarding Cat Butler lack foundation compared to the raw unparalleled dominance of Thing Saver Dragon in Japanese play, delaying the hit of Raizers to the English-language format can be seen as a preemptive response to player outcry.

Neo Nectar and Dimension Police may have been switched out due to their lack of popularity overseas, as western competition has generally favored Aqua Force's extremely consistent aggressive play style and Link Joker's perceived ability to shut down the game, in comparison to Neo Nectar's demanding strategic buildup and Dimension Police's tendency towards all-or-nothing plays.

News: Hachioji Cup Won by Thing Saver-“Abyss,” Metalborgs in Fourth

Photograph taken by jupiter6062.

Koyasu Community Center, Hachioji city, Tokyo. One hundred and eleven cardfighters gathered here over July 12th for the Hachioji Cup, many of them arriving by train--the Center is a five minute walk from Japan Railways' Hachioji stop. Although originally intended as a 96-person tournament, the Cup ended up accepting entries well beyond its original capacity.

First place was taken by Gungnir, who had previously won last year's Tsurumai Vanguard Championship and placed fourth in the fifth Fateclock CS. As in those tournaments, Gungnir played a restanding vanguard deck, this time bringing a variation on the Thing Saver-Phantom Blaster “Abyss” deck that hybridizes Royal Paladin and Shadow Paladin cards. The build has gained popularity after this year's Kanazawa regional qualifier, where regional champion Hayashi Daiki demonstrated techniques for integrating old Blaster card support with the deck to effectively use “Abyss” in a primarily Royal Paladin build. The deck subsequently proliferated in the third Kansai VGCS team tournament, where the number of Thing Saver-“Abyss” fighters just barely outnumbered the number of pure Thing Saver fighters. Gungnir's deck follows the general conventions of Hayashi's FR2014 design, using MacArt's on-Legion rearguard skill to superior call Dark Bond Trumpeter and use her to call out his teched Air Raid Dragon, setting up three Revenger rearguards for “Abyss” to retire. “Abyss” himself can be searched by the deck's first vanguard Wingal Brave by having Brave boost any of deck's three Blaster grade 2s.

In second place was Zaki with the likewise-successful Cat Butler Raizers. Like Thing Saver the deck is based around a restanding vanguard line, and combines this with a high-critical center lane from Ultimate Raizer Mega Flare, while the restanding skill itself comes from the grade 0 Cat Butler. Butler can retire itself after a grade 2 Nova Grappler vanguard attacks to restand it, and after it was ruled by Bushiroad that a vanguard in Legion is both a grade 2 and a grade 3 the build found instant popularity. The subsequent second Beast Deity Cup, fourth Tachikawa CS and fourth Laketown CS each built on the dominance of Cat Butler.

Third and fourth places at Hachioji were Hibari and Tsukasa with a standard Thing Saver and a Metalborg deck. Although the successors to last year's Dimensional Robos have maintained a rocky foothold in the format, the Metalborgs' ability to prevent the opponent from using perfect defense cards while maintaining a high-power center lane has proved troublesome where implemented well. Tsukasa's Metalborg notably differs from past incarnations in how it uses the Super Dimensional Robo Daikaiser break ride. Daikaiser's break ride skill has been a recurring problem since its debut in 2013; when ridden it gives the new vanguard +10000 power and an additional critical, while also giving it the ability to retire the cards the opponent guards with when a grade 3 is drive checked. This power boosted innately activates both of Metalborg Sin Buster's skills, bringing together a powerful combo of preventing the opponent from guarding with grade 1 units while also retiring the cards they guard with. This prevents the hard answer to Daikaiser, Quintet Walls, from being used against it while still demanding in the range of 35000~40000 shield to block Sin Buster's attack. No-guarding is hardly an option when the vanguard is attacking for two damage. However, in the Legion format where many fighters prefer to stay at the safe range of 2~3 damage for the majority of the fight, this play is not met with universal success.

The Hachioji Cup's initial four rounds of Swiss draw lasted 30 minutes each, with the first round beginning at 1:30 PM and the fourth concluding at 4:00 PM. Unlike most VGCS events, Swiss draw was handled in a best-of-one games model. Best-of-one in Cardfight!! Vanguard has been criticized as being nonrepresentative of player skill and tantamount to gambling, as one game of gradelock or mass trigger checking from the opponent is enough to kick skilled fighters into loser's bracket or out of the tournament entirely, without an opportunity to play serious games. The tournament finals following the cut to top 16 were conducted using the more popular best-of-three games ruleset, with a 50 minute time limit. Finals began at 4:40 PM and lasted until 8:30 PM. First place won a Nintendo 3DS XL and one box of VG-BT16: Legion of Dragons and Blades, second place won a standard 3DS, third place two boxes of BT16 and one Beginning Set of their choice, and fourth place one box of BT16 and a Beginning Set. Fifth through eighth place were given a choice of two trial decks, between Liberator of Bluish Flames and Will of the Locked Dragon. Entry fee was 1000 yen (approx. $10) per person.

A detailed breakdown of clan participation is not available.

The VGCS tournaments are a series of unofficial tournaments organized by fans and cardshops. Unlike Bushiroad's larger official tournaments, most VGCS events are done using a best of 3, Swiss tournament model. Turnout is typically 70-80 persons, but some events see 100 or more participants, all of whom compete using pseudonyms and internet handles rather than their real names as in official events. The VGCS model of fan-organized play has begun to gain popularity internationally, with the bi-monthly BeNeLux tournaments serving as their European equivalent, and there are now similar grassroots organizations emerging in the United States like Cosmic Oasis' tournament series and the ongoing King of Cardfight competition in the American midwest.

Hachioji Cup/八王子杯
First place: Gungnir/ぐんぐにーる
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer  HT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x2 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x1 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
x1 Seeker, Bucephalus ST
x4 Margal DT
Grade 1
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
x2 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
Grade 2
x3 Blaster Blade Spirit
x3 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x2 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x4 Fighting Spirit Revenger, MacArt
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”

Second place: Zaki/ざき
Grade 0
x1 Transmigrating Evolution, Miraioh (FV)
x4 Cat Butler
x1 Raizer Girl, Kate HT
x3 Round Girl, Clara HT
x3 Raizer Crew DT
x1 The Gong DT
x2 Shining Lady CT
x3 Meteoraizer CT
x1 Minimum Raizer CT
x1 Red Lightning CT
x1 Fighting Battleship, Prometheus CT
Grade 1
x4 Shieldraizer
x3 Energy Charger
x4 The Screamin' and Dancin' Announcer, Shout
x4 Cannon Raizer
Grade 2
x4 Ultimate Raizer, DF
x4 Phoenix Raizer, FW
x2 Street Bouncer
Grade 3

x4 Ultimate Raizer, MF

Third place: Hibari/ヒバリ
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 Summoning Jewel Knight, Gloria
x2 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x2 Little Sage, Marron
x3 Good Faith Seeker, Cynric
x4 Snowgal
x2 Pongal
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x4 Full Bloom Seeker, Cerdic
x4 Beast Knight, Garmore
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Soul Saver Dragon

Fourth place: Tsukasa
Grade 0
x1 Destined Warrior, Dai (FV)
x4 Metalborg, Black Nurse HT
x3 Army Penguin DT
x3 Metalborg, Devil Roader DT
x3 Metalborg, Battle Roller CT
x3 Metalborg, Operator Kirika ST
Grade 1
x4 Metalborg, Mist Ghost
x4 Diamond Ace
x2 Metalborg, Black Doctor
x4 Commander Laurel
Grade 2
x3 Twin Order
x2 Metalborg, Digalion
x4 Metalborg, Ur Buster
x2 Metalborg, Russell Blizzard
Grade 3
x4 Metalborg, Sin Buster
x4 Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser

Feature: A General Discourse on the State of Professional Play on the Japanese Side of 2014

Dragonic Nouvelle Vague is dead and Thing Saver Dragon has killed him. This is the general situation faced by pro cardfighters in Japan; after six months of near-uninterrupted dominance, the competitive favorite evaporated and gave way to a new era of Legion decks. And while Nouvelle's reign had several upsets from the Dragruler-Raging Form cardfighters along with the occasional offbeat build like pre-BT16 Musketeers, it's no understatement to say that the deckbuild was previously one of the most successful in Cardfight!! Vanguard's existing history.

The exact mechanics of Nouvelle's defeat are best summarized as speed, cost and consistency. DNV can create a devastating, game-defining turn which involves two vanguard attacks each exceeding 23~28000 power in which the opponent cannot guard with grade 0 units while their defensive trigger checks are canceled out, meaning that if even a single hit from any unit is taken once the defending player is at five damage, they automatically lose with no chance to pull a heal trigger. Due to his high power and Silent Tom-like skill, it is not uncommon to see a player with seven cards in hand be unable to guard because their primary shield comes from 10000-power units. DNV's persona blast can also be a game-winning maneuver in the rare case that playing multiple Calamity Tower Wyverns is not the superior play, and if the opponent somehow survives the initial strike then DNV still has a base 13000 crossride-level defense to fall back on and retains its grade 0-stopping, trigger-cancelling skills for following turns. However, while these skills are some of the most devastating the game has seen, and can be understood as removing the chance aspects of the game without reintroducing an equal level of skill to compensate, they fall short of the bar set by the decks of BT16-on by needing extensive setup.

In order to have a properly setup restanding DNV that can win the game when it is put into play, Kagerou cardfighters need to first have Dauntless Drive Dragon ready on the vanguard circle at limit break, a copy of DNV in hand, the opponent needs to be at four or more damage so that the initial DNV attack will be relevant, and because savvy opponents will try to stay at three damage in order to take the first of Nouvelle's attacks this can all take four to six turns to arrange. Meanwhile, the Legion decks of the new format are active on turn three by drawing a single card. Through the normal process of guarding attacks to avoid going to higher damage earlier and card changing out less useful cards, the various builds introduced by BT16 are able to naturally achieve their setup without dedicating to a limit break of any kind. The competition between DNV and these new decks illustrates the unnatural nature of limit break as an artificial and redundant limitation placed on the game in an effort to rebalance it in BT06-on, and it's no surprise that two years after its introduction the first decks to abandon limit break are also the most successful. DNV needs Dauntless, needs limit break, needs to meet sensitive timing conditions and have the opponent in the right position, but the best Legion builds need only draw their intended grade 3 and immediately Seek Mate to trigger their abilities. The whole process is expedited by the presence of Quintet Walls and Luck Bird clones to quickly build up the drop zone for Legion.

So while Nouvelle Vague has fallen, why has Thing Saver Dragon risen in its place and not Cat Butler Raizers? To recap a bit, Cat Butler was forecast to be a primary feature of the new format after Bushiroad's celebrity personality Doctor O confirmed over Twitter that its vanguard-standing skill is compatible with a vanguard that is in Legion. Ordinarily Butler only retires itself to stand a grade 2 vanguard whose attack has not hit, but because a vanguard in Legion is considered to be both its grade 2 and grade 3 units, it's valid for Butler's skill. This has built up the new Nova Grappler Legion deck, Ultimate Raizer Mega Flare, into a considerable force to be reckoned with because its Legion skill already gives it an extra critical, and it can restand as many times as there are Cat Butlers to retire while also getting +1 card advantage off of each restand. A Legioned MF can only reach 20000 power unboosted, which in a format of primarily base 11000 vanguards means that its power is not quite on par with DNV's, but its restands come several turns in a row instead of being once per game. The Cat Butler deck has consequently been set up by the western playerbase as a potential best deck in format, with some even rallying around the idea of it being put onto the restricted list or receiving an errata to prevent it from being used with Legion vanguards, but Bushiroad Inc. has shown no signs of supporting these efforts and with the encouragement of Doctor O it appears that their full intention is to celebrate this deckbuilding option rather than try to limit it. Cynically, one could argue that Cat Butler is in fact driving both BT16's sales and clearing out old stocks of EB01: Comic Style Vol. 1, but the tournament results tell a different story.

While Cat Butler Raizers has been a major player of the format, as at the Second Beast Deity Cup, Fourth Tachikawa VGCS, Fourth Laketown CS and at the recent YVGCS team tournament where victorious team midcaptain Yuuhi immitated Tatarimetype2's Cat Butler decklist from Tachikawa, it has not been the most dominant or most used deck of the format. Not only have Thing Saver Dragon decks been close at the heels of Cat Butler builds at each of the aforementioned tournaments, but the build has dominated in competition with Narukami's Shotgun Blow Dragon at FR2014 Tokyo, placed first at FR2014 Sapporo and turned up on the first place team of the second Hokusetsu VGCS. Usage numbers from these VGCS tournaments slant towards Seekers, as in the case of Tachikawa's 33 Seeker to 21 Raizer tally, and Cat Butler can hardly be called Thing Saver's lone rival either. Dimension Police's Metalborgs have also accounted for a significant portion of pro play in the new format, drawing their strengths from preventing the opponent from using grade 1 or greater units--including perfect defense cards and Quintet Walls--against the deck's high-power grade 3 Sin Buster. Second place in the Tokyo Victory Cup went to Shibata Takuma with a Sin Buster-Draion deck, while Metalborgs were the third most represented deckbuild at Tachikawa, accounting for 16 players, and making top 8 at FR2014 Sapporo, Tokyo and Fukuoka's open class tournaments. Despite still operating in the constraints of limit break, Bermuda Triangle's PRISM-Duo series from EB10 has been the dark horse deck of the professional season, with the break ride True Sister Mare and self-standing vanguard Duo Temptation Reite as the preferred combination of the year. PRISM-Duo made an early debut in the season prior to Legion of Dragons and Blades' release, placing third at the Second Kansai VGCS and more recently taking first place under the command of Fukuoka regional champion Yamazaki Tatsuya (山崎竜矢) at FR2014 Fukuoka. Further complicating TSD's dominance and Cat Butler's high status, Shotgun Blow Dragon was shaping up as the dominant build of the season prior to BT16 hitting and has continued to prosper in wake of Wild Rush Dragon emerging as a complementary high-power, high-critical vanguard, with Brawlers making top 8 at four of the five Fighter's Road tournaments and accounting for a small portion of each VGCS. So while there is evidence in favor of Thing Saver and Cat Butler Raizers as the dominant decks within Japan, the fragmentation of professional play in light of Nouvelle's perceived lack of viability has caused the lower ranks to be filled with potential competitors, such that the Brawlers, Spike Brothers, Metalborgs, PRISM-Duo and other builds that have received less attention are potentially more dangerous to the most played decks than they are to each other. While some doomsayers are fond of ominously commenting about Legion being "dangerous" for the game, describing it as a "pure plus" or "broken," the reality is that the stark modifications to the pace of individuals games have not changed how professional play behaves on a large scale. The decks with the most potential continue to be those that break the mold and are understood the least.

In comparing Thing Saver Dragon and Mega Flare-Cat Butler's value as restanding builds, we need to be mindful of the same characteristics that caused Majesty Lord Blaster to prevail over Perfect Raizer back during Japan's pre-BT06 format. Royal Paladin is a clan which emphasizes conservation through superior calls, needing to put less cards down on average to fill the field than other clans, and in that way preserving the resources in the hand for allocation elsewhere. In TSD this is expressed through File and Gildas; File trades himself into the soul for a Blaster Blade Seeker when the vanguard Seeks Mate, while Gildas performs a flat superior call with the same timing. Since Legion vanguards can generally be flexible with their booster once Legion is activated, File allows easier setup of a rearguard column in exchange for giving up his boost. Gildas helps to complete that column, and the easy access to Blaster Blade Seeker gives Royal Paladin a cheap form of frontrow field control that Raizers lack. Seeker decks also need to draw only a single card to have their self-standing skill active, while Raizers need to draw two, making TSD immediately more consistent than Cat Butler decks. The only time that Royal Paladin will be in-Legion yet unable to use its self-stand is when there are no Thing Saver Dragons remaining in the deck, not enough counterblast or not enough soul, and each of these scenarios is less likely to become reality than not drawing a Cat Butler while in Legion. Cat Butler is also predictable, as the opponent can tell when it can and cannot be used because it must be on the field in order for its skill to be active, whereas they can't always guarantee that you'll play TSD's superior ride when you are able to do so. The card advantage game is an important part in comparing the two decks, because it's clear from how Cat Butler cardfighters are building their decks that keeping up with TSD is a necessary part of the format; the favoritism towards Energy Charger and Street Bouncer in Raizer decks highlights that importance. CBR relies on less stable rearguards with lower base powers and less efficient ways of building the field and advantage over time compared to TSD.

However, in establishing this binary dominance of TSD and Cat Butler, pro play has arguably fallen into a creative rut. The release of EB12: Waltz of the Goddess in Japan today is expected to bring at least one major change to the format, with the new Regalia series introducing CEO Yggdrasil, a Legion vanguard who combines high base power (23000 power unboosted) with an additional critical and not being guardable using grade 1 or greater cards. But by contrast, where Yggdrasil forces the opponent to put down a large amount of cards to stop her from almost certainly sending them from four to six damage, or from three to six with a stray trigger, the new Revengers from EB11: Requiem at Dusk have disappointed many. Monthly Bushiroad magazine's revelation that Phantom Blaster "Abyss" can only use its self-standing skill on the turn that it Legions has severely restricted the Revengers' potential in the current format, with many eyes now being on the new Witch cards introduced by EB11. While lacking a restanding vanguard, the Witch series is able to cripple the opponent's field with an entirely new mechanic, calling their triggers from their deck and drop zone over their existing units and then activating supplementary skills based on those triggers being on the field, doing such things as reducing the opposing vanguard's power by -5000 for a turn to effectively power up in the entire field in a “Яeverse” Daiyusha-like fashion, or simply drawing extra cards to build up advantage. Concern should be addressed at the effectiveness of the Regalia units and Witch cards in competitive play; if neither can sufficiently shake up the top brackets, then in absence of a breakout deck from among the aforementioned underdogs the format is likely to remain stale until the rise of VG-BT17: Blazing Perdition in early August.

With regards to BT17, the primary concern for the time being is focused on the announcement of a new type of grade 1 in Bushiroad's latest NicoNico Douga live broadcast. Described as a supporting grade 1 that allows the use of limit break while at three or less damage, the unit is expected to revitalize many decks that were outmoded in the emergent Legion format by allowing them to situationally ignore damage limits, as if every grade 3 were designed with a 2011-type format in mind. While the possibilities unleashed by this are numerous, it can be reasonably inferred that this new type of card will be distributed similarly to Quintet Walls during their original debut, and that only clans receiving support in BT17 will initially receive a copy of the new card. Currently this includes Gold Paladin, Link Joker, Kagerou, Royal Paladin, Aqua Force, Granblue, Tachikaze and Narukami as potential targets for the new limit break support. As this only extends to limit break 4 units, ultimate break skills like those of "Ω" Glendios and Platina Ezel are exempt from the support. The implications of these clans receiving this form of support are nevertheless severe; at present the most prominent decks of each clan to benefit from it would be Grand Ezel Scissors, Chaos Breaker Dragon, Dragonic Overlord “The Яe-birth,” Ashlei “Яeverse,” Tetra Drive Dragon and Maelsrom “Яeverse,” Nightsnow and Nightmist, Tyrannolegend and Tempest Bolt Dragon. The last of these is particularly notable because with the new grade 1 available, it becomes possible to retaliate effectively against an opponent who is filling the field quickly, calling few rearguards and using Tempest Bolt's counterblast 3 limit break on turn 3 to wipe out the opponent's field, punishing them for reckless attacks. And among the Aqua Force units mentioned, both Maelstrom variations can benefit from the new limit break support because benefits from being able to hit the opponent. Blue Storm Maelstrom's on-hit gives it an overall increase in advantage by two when its attack hits, retiring an opponent's rearguard and drawing a card, while Maelstrom “Яeverse” can reasonably land its extra critical when the opponent is at lower damage before moving in for a similar effect to its predecessor when the opponent begins to guard. While for many decks of 2012-on the new limit break support comes too little too late, those that were already powerful in the first place now have a chance at keeping up with the modern pace of the game. Even the possibility of DNV making a comeback is present, but unlikely because the card is still a grade 4 unit in need of a grade 3 to precede its debut and removing the sensitive timing would not make it any less slow compared to the benefits of running a self-standing Legion or opting for the much simpler “The Яe-birth.” Each clan represented by the setting receiving limit break support is not necessarily guaranteed; in the case of Link Joker this would make it much easier for Chaos Breaker and Glendios' Omega Lock to bring games to a screeching halt until one player decks out first, and depending on how the new Perdition Dragons are designed the limit break support enabling “The Яe-birth” could stand to undermine the reception of the new units.

Exactly where professional play is headed in EB12-on is fairy easy to predict. The existing BT16 decks are here to stay, while Yggdrassil and perhaps Fianna are to join them. The bigger overarching question is how much one card can redeem two years of limit breaks and how relevant the old material will be in the present format. None of the most played decks of the format shut down the opponent in the same way that Nouvelle Vague did, which leaves more room for a response and gives more of a role to the less played builds. The relative stability of the competition at the moment is liable to break down into a more of a free-for-all as the pace of limit break decks develop around staying closer to the same damage as Legion builds, disrupting the certainty that TSD and CBR have brought with them as alternative decks become more viable over time. One of the domineering aspects of the format though is that not every clan will immediately have access to these limit break enabling cards. The Revengers in particular are unlikely to experience a revival without promo card support, despite being major players since BT12, while Great Nature, Angel Feather, Oracle Think Tank, Murakumo, Nubatama, Pale Moon and Megacolony are each left without an easy option to stay relevant in an increasingly midgame-centric format.

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