News: Sixth Season "Cardfight!! Vanguard G GIAS Crisis" to Air, Comic Booster to Introduce "Docking Deletor, Graywon," Granblue to Receive Trial Deck

July 9th, 2015. At Bushiroad's Grand Strategy Presentation, Cardfight!! Vanguard producer Shima P unveiled the next season of the anime series, titled the Cardfight!! Vanguard G GIAS Crisis chapter (カードファイト！！ヴァンガードGギアースクライシス編 Kaadofaito!! Vangaado G Giaasu Kuraishisu Hen). When questioned as to what the titular crisis would be, Shima P was reluctant to answer, telling the audience to wait and see for themselves. The 30 minute Vanguard section of the presentation can be viewed below at the bottom of the page.

The season will introduce two new characters designed by franchise creator Itou Akira, Yumizuki Luna (弓月ルーナ) and Chouno Amu (蝶野アム). Luna's surname is written with the kanji for "moon bow" and her given name is taken from the Latin name for the moon. Amu's surname is written with the kanji for "butterfly field;" her given name is a play on the Japanese word amu 虻 meaning gadfly.

Additionally, it was announced at the conference that the long-awaited followup to Comic Style Vol. 1 will finally debut. G-Comic Booster 01: Leader and Deletor (先導者と根絶者 Sendousha to Deriitaa) will hit store shelves on September 25th, containing support exclusively for the Link Joker and Royal Paladin clans. Featuring Ibuki Kouji's Deletors and Sendou Aichi's Alfred cards from the manga, it has been announced that the card will introduce Ibuki's signature grade 3 from the manga, Docking Deletor Graywon.

The producer also revealed the current schedule for Cardfight!! Vanguard's upcoming products. In October 2015 there will be a clan booster for Aqua Force, in November there will be a set of trial decks featuring Gear Chronicle and Pale Moon, and a booster set featuring support for those clans as well as Link Joker, Narukami, and Oracle Think Tank. In December the next Fighter's Collection booster will feature support for all clans except for Etranger, Cray Elemetnal and Touken Ranbu. January will see another booster set drop, containing support for Nubatama, Tachikaze, and Spike Brothers. Finally, in January Granblue will receive a trial deck, and the booster set for that month will include support for Royal Paladin, Neo Nectar, Nova Grappler, Shadow Paladin, and Pale Moon.

Today's article was made possible by the donations of our patrons at Patreon. Cardfight Pro is funded by public contributions from readers like you.

News: KeroKero Ace's Final Issue, Extra Booster 7 and BT13 Spoilers, Magus Cards, Nubatama and Dimension Police

The latest and final issue of KeroKero Ace magazine is now out, bringing with it our monthly spoilers for Cardfight!! Vanguard, this time focusing on VG-EB07: Mystical Magus and VG-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak. It was revealed just yesterday morning that KKA will be ceasing publication following this issue, and to cope with that Bushiroad Inc. will be publishing its own monthly magazine starting in September, Monthly Bushiroad. To commemorate the return of the long-awaited Nubatama ninja clan that will be finally completed after a twelve-set hiatus spread out over two years, this issue is being released with a promo print of Stealth Dragon, Voidmaster, Nubatama's first boss card.

Translations of the issue's key cards are below. Most of these were translated by NeoArkadia and FelGrand. Pentagonal Magus was translated by winterhurtz.

7/25/2013 Edit: Nubatama translations revised. Kujikirikongou has the opponent choose the cards to discard and bind.

Oracle Think Tank units
Hexagonal Magus
11000 Power/Oracle Think Tank/Human
AUTO: [Limit Break 4] When another <<Oracle Think Tank>> rides on this unit, look at the top 3 cards of your deck, select one of the cards within and add it to your hand, then return the remaining card(s) to the top of your deck. During this turn, your Vanguard gains Power +10000.
CONT [V]: During your turn, if you have 4 or more cards in your hand, this unit gets [Power]+2000.
CONT [V/R]: Lord.

Pentagonal Magus
Grade 3/11000 Power/Oracle Think Tank/Human
AUTO: [Limit Break 4] When this unit attacks the Vanguard, you can declare the name of 1 "Oracle Think Tank" unit and reveal the Top Card of your Deck. If the name of the revealed card matches the name you declared, during this battle, this unit gets Power +5000/Critical +1.
ACT [V]: [Counterblast 1 "Magus"] Until the end of the turn, this unit gets Power +5000.
CONT [V/R]: Lord.

Note: Pentagonal Magus will be a promo card released with volume 6 of the Cardfight!! Vanguard manga, and an RR print in VG-EB07: Mystical Magus.

Crescent Magus
Grade 1/Oracle Think Tank/6000 Power/5000 Shield
AUTO [R]: When this unit boosts an <<Oracle Think Tank>>, you may declare a name of an <<Oracle Think Tank>>. Reveal the top card of your deck, and if it's the card that you have declared, during this battle, the boosted unit gains +3000.

Stella Magus
Grade 2/Oracle Think Tank/9000 Power/5000 Shield
AUTO [V/R]: [Counterblast 1] When this unit attacks, and you have a <<Oracle Think Tank>> Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, declare a name of an <<Oracle Think Tank>>, and reveal the top card of your deck. If the card revealed is the declared card, you may add it to your hand, if not, return that card to the top of your deck and choose one card in your damage zone and turn it face-up.








Briolette Magus
Grade 2/9000 Power/5000 Shield/Oracle Think Tank/Human
ACT [R]: [Soulblast 1] If you have an Oracle Think Tank vanguard, draw one card, and put this unit on the top of your deck.

Nubatama units
Ashura Stealth Dragon, Kujikirikongou
Grade 3/Nubatama/11000 Power
AUTO [Limit Break 4]: When a <<Nubatama>> Rides this Unit, choose 1 of your Vanguards, it gains 10000 Power, then your opponent chooses 1 card in their hand, discards it, then your opponent selects 1 card in their hand, they Bind it face-down, then when at the beginning of the End of this turn, your opponent adds the Bound card to their hand.
AUTO [V]: When this Unit attacks, if your opponent has 3 or less cards in their hand, this Unit gains 2000 Power during this battle.
CONT [V/R]: Lord

Ashura Stealth Dragon, Kabukikongou
Grade 3/Nubatama/11000 Power
AUTO [V] [Limit Break 4]: [Counterblast 1] When this unit attacks the opponent's Vanguard, you may  pay the cost. If you do, Bind all your opponent's Rearguards face-down. If you bind 3 or more Units, this Unit gets Power +10000 during this battle. During the end of that turn, your opponent returns all the Bound Units to their hand.
ACT [V]: [Counterblast 1] This Unit gains Power +2000 during this turn.
CONT [V/R]: Lord.

Stealth Beast, Kuroko
Grade 0/Nubatama/5000 Power/10000 Shield
AUTO: Forerunner
AUTO [R]: [Soul Blast 1] When an attack hits the Vanguard that this Unit boosted, you can select 2 cards in your opponent's Bind Zone and discard them.

Storm Stealth Rogue, Fuuki
Grade 1/Nubatama/7000 Power/5000 Shield
AUTO [R]: [Counterblast 1, Place this Unit in the Soul] If your opponent has 3 or more cards in their hand, you can choose one of them at random and Bind it face-down. During the End of this turn, return the Bound Card to the opponent's hand.

Stealth Beast, Tamahagane
Grade 2/Nubatama/9000 Power/5000 Shield
AUTO: When this Unit appears in a Vanguard/Rearguard Circle, you can choose 1 of your opponent's Rearguards, Bind it. During the end of the turn, the Bound Card is returned to the opponent's hand.

Dimension Police units
Dimensional Robo, Daimagnum
Grade 0/Dimension Police/5000 Power/10000 Shield
AUTO: Forerunner
ACT [R]: [Place this Unit in your Soul] Select 1 of your <<Dimension Police>> Vanguards, it gains 4000 Power during this turn.

Dimensional Robo, Daicannon
Grade 1/6000 Power/5000 Shield/Dimension Police
ACT: (Rearguard Circle) [Put this card into your soul, and choose one of your "Dimensional Robo" rearguards and put it into your soul] Choose your vanguard with "Daiyuusha" in its name, and it gets Critical +1 until the end of the turn.

Dimensional Robo, Daiheart
Grade 2/Dimension Police/9000 Power/5000 Shield
AUTO [V]: At the start of the attack step when this unit attacks, if it has 13000 Power or more, this unit gets: "AUTO [V]: [Select 2 Grade 3 "Dimensional Robo" units from your hand, and place them into the Soul] When this unit's attack hits the Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for a Grade 3 "Dimensional Robo" unit, and ride it in <<Rest>> Position. Then, shuffle your deck." until the end of the battle.

News: Nubatama to be Completed in BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak, New Rarity Introduced

The impossible has been made possible this morning as Bushiroad Inc. has revealed which clans will be receiving support in the upcoming booster set, VG-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak. Two years, three months and two days to the date, the Nubatama ninja clan will be receiving its first new support cards since VG-BT01: Descent of the King of Knights. Bushiroad of Japan stated through their official Twitter channels in 2011 that they had dropped Nubatama entirely, due to balance issues. The clan's theme of forcing the opponent to discard cards was seen as potentially destabilizing in a game where the ability to defend from the hand is the most important point in countering the opponent's turn, and to avoid that destabilization Bushiroad chose to reinvision the clan as Murakumo in EB01: Comic Style Vol. 1, converting the at-the-time new Nubatama cards Left Arrestor, Right Arrestor, Archer FUSHIMI, Twin Swordsman MUSASHI and Dueling Dragon ZANBAKU that Itou Akira had created for the clan into Murakumo units. After BT05: Awakening of Twin Blades had completed the process by branching Murakumo out into a fully playable deck of its own where Nubatama remained unsupported, all hope seemed lost for the fan-favorite clan and its signature cardfighter Ninja Master M. Earlier this year however, CEO Kidani Takaaki mentioned in a Q&A session that Nubatama would be completed within 2013, and BT13 appears to be making good on that promise.

BT13 will be providing support for the Link Joker, Dimension Police, Nova Grappler, Nubatama, Aqua Force, Angel Feather, Great Nature and Granblue clans. As a climax set, BT13 represents a dramatic high point in the storyline, and prominently features Kai Toshiki with a new Link Joker cover card. The set will also have one Oracle Think Tank card, a print of CEO Amaterasu as drawn by the artist behind the Mini-Van manga and Flash anime, Quily. This Amaterasu will introduce a new rarity, Secret Rare, and is being issued to celebrate the release of the Mini-Van DVDs. Quily has previously done renditions of Midnight Bunny and Alluring Succubus as promo cards.

Catastrophic Outbreak will also bring new Reverse units to the clans it's supporting, distributing the powerful Lock mechanic both as a way to pay costs for game-ending skills, and as an offensive tool to be used against the opponent. The set will contain 102 cards, 8 RRR/12 RR/22 R/60 C with 12 Special Parallel prints of those. Each box will come with 1 of 6 Link Joker promo cards.

其れは尽きる事の無い禍い―

"It's a catastrophe with no end in sight..."

Rumor: Extra Booster 04: 暗雲の刺客/Assassins of the Dark Clouds

The following is a rumor that has been officially dismissed and remains here purely for historical purposes. Please do not treat it at as fact.

Last night this image began circulating in the Japanese blogosphere, allegedly depicting EB04: Assassins of the Dark Clouds. Immediately jumped upon as a set to fully expand the fan-favorite clan Nubatama, which has not seen any support since March of last year, several factors nevertheless point to the set image being a clever fake;

• All sets since BT06 have included an English subtitle below their original kanji, and all sets since BT01 have included furigana above said kanji to act as pronunciation guides.
• The set image itself appears to be a poor photoshop, as the font for VG-EB04 lacks the white outline of previous sets, and Bushiroad's copyright information is not present anywhere in the image.
• Clan text for unrevealed cards always uses the United Sanctuary's orange, while the cards shown in the image use the Dragon Empire's red.
• Nubatama itself has been purposely replaced by Murakumo. ZANBAKU, FUSHIMI and the Arrestor series--which were originally Nubatama cards in their manga debut--were converted into Murakumo in Comic Style Vol.1, and Bushiroad has been pushing for Murakumo to be the only ninja clan ever since. Hand control itself, while not currently overpowered in any way, is a dangerous mechanic to play with and possibly too difficult to make truly balanced if given to a complete clan.

As templates for fan-made cards have been circulating for some time now, the cards in the EB04 image cannot be taken as evidence of the image's authenticity.

Character: Yahagi Kyou

"The guy with the most ability should stand at the top!"
"The Great Kyou rides General Seifried!"

Yahagi Kyou/矢作キョウ
Age: Unconfirmed
Birthday: July 4¹
Anime Biography: "Crusher Kyou" is rank 4 of the AL4 members, and tends to overestimate his ability as a Vanguard fighter. Like Asaka he gained his position through raw power, but he lacks her enthusiasm for Ren and none-too-subtly conspires against their leader. He uses a Spike Brothers deck, which superior calls other units while attacking in order to make more attacks per turn, using cards like Sky Diver and General Seifried.²

Spoiler warning: Season 1 details follow.
Kyou is the only member of AL4 to lose at the first national tournament, and for his loss to Kai is thrown out of Foo Fighter. Broken by his defeat and driven to madness after days of wandering on the streets, Kyou seeks revenge against Kai and Ren by rounding up other expelled Foo Fighters. Hoping to break into the national competition independently, Kyou takes his vengeance team to the next Kanto regional, but his overconfidence once again proves to be his undoing.

Kyou is nothing before Sendou Aichi's PSY Qualia, and as the fight goes on Kyou is gradually reigned in under its power, ending in a hallucination of Ren executing him on the planet Cray much as Aichi would later do to Kourin. His team humbled, they lose confidence in their leader--Kyou will hear none of this, but before he can attempt to convince them to continue with their rebellion, an elite Foo Fighter team, Brilliant Stars, appears before his group. Acting as Ren's personal execution squad, their leader Bidou calls in a crowd of FF enforcers to assault Kyou.³

Yahagi makes one more appearance in ride 53, jeering at the Brilliant Stars' own expulsion from Foo Fighter.

Spoilers end here.

During the Asia Circuit, Kyou and his remnant team resurface, acting independent of the current competition.

Spoiler warning: Asia Circuit details follow.
Kyou and his compatriots scheme to draw out Kai Toshiki during the VF Circuit, staging a scenario in which Kyou, under the guise of an abominable snowman, defeats famous fighters from around the world. With the rest of his similarly-disguised team leading said fighters to the "snowman," their plan leads to the defeat of many powerful individuals and to the snowman's rumor spreading, eventually bringing Kai to Kyou's snowfield. As part of "Project Yeti," they would defeat Kai, gain an invitation to the Circuit and then become the top fighters in the world.

Project Yeti is sabotaged by his own underestimation of Kai's strength. In their last turn the mountain at the snowfield's back comes apart from the noise, but Kyou, intending to see the fight through even in death, presses on to make his last damage check. Bitterly telling Kai that Toshiki won by luck, he prepares himself to be swallowed by the avalanche.

Kai carries him free of the snow. Kyou curses him for doing so, insisting that Toshiki will come to regret having ever saved his life, and that one day Yahagi will defeat Kai. He and his accomplices then adapt an unnamed jungle as their base of operations, eventually putting together a plot to travel back to Japan and hijack Souryuu Leon's airplane to the Japan stage of the Circuit, accosting him and his bodyguards and attempting to replace the team in the Japan stage. As in his fight with Sendou however, Kyou is defeated by PSY Qualia.

Spoilers end here.

Manga Biography: Kyou is responsible for overtaking Kamui's old card shop, running out its customers and holding the shop hostage with his fight gloves. Kamui eventually brings Aichi back to face off with Kyou. In the manga he's painted as a more sympathetic character, with something of an inferiority complex and a desire to prove himself. Later on, he even appears friendly toward Aichi.

Universal Notes: His family name contains the kanji for arrow and preparation, coming out as "to build arrows." Kyou is a counterpart to Kamui, made obvious by his use of the "Ore-sama" pronoun.

Fan Culture: Kyou is the subject of much fan derision, based on both his initial outfit and his outfit from two years ago, which give him resemblance to a call girl. His flashback outfit influenced a large influx of art on pixiv, leading to the fan nickname "Flashdance Kyou."

Decks and Playstyle
Kyou uses a Spike Brothers deck, with a heavy focus on removing units from the field to superior call others. This lets him push a highly offensive game, making more attacks per turn than his opponents can. His primary rearguard is Sky Diver, which with assistance from Dudley Dan, can form a combo that superior calls multiple units in a turn. Meanwhile his favored vanguard is General Seifried, which superior calls the grade 3 Spike Brothers that it drive checks.

Ride 30-77: Crusher Kyou (32/50 cards)

Grade 0 
x1 Mecha Trainer 
x1 Silence Joker CT
x3 Cheer Girl Tiara HT
x2 Cheerful Lynx DT
x1 Sonic Breaker CT
Grade 1 
x2 Wonder Boy
x2 Spike Brothers Assault Squad
x3 Dudley Dan
x2 Cheer Girl Marilyn
Grade 2
x3 Treasured, Black Panther
x2 Highspeed, Brakki
x3 Devil Summoner
Grade 3 
x3 Sky Diver
x2 Juggernaut Maximum 
x2 General Seifried

Kyou's deck during the Asia Circuit employs new Cavalry of Black Steel cards, most notably Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor. The Emperor's limit break allows him to superior call two Spike Brothers units when he attacks, but only to open rearguard circles. Kyou works this into his strategy by cycling his rearguards back into the deck before attacking with Emperor, in one case re-calling the very same Juggernaut he just cycled back in using Emperor's skill.

Notably, when this deck is later used against Joker X in ride 94, it shows several cards retained from his season 1 deck, including Yahagi's famous General Siefired.

Rides 77-Current: Avalanche Crush Rush (24/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Mecha Trainer (FVG)
x2 Cheerful Lynx DT
x1 Cheer Girl, Tiara HT
x1 Silence Joker CT
Grade 1
x2 Wonder Boy
x1 Reckless Express
x2 Cheer Girl, Marylin
x1 Cyclone Blitz
Grade 2
x2 Dudley Douglas
x2 Treasured, Black Panther
x4 Highspeed, Brakki
x1 Panzer Gale
Grade 3
x3 Juggernaut Maximum
x2 Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor
x1 Sky Diver
x1 General Siefired

Kyou briefly converts to a Megacolony deck as part of his plot to kidnap and replace Souryuu Leon in the VF Circuit, having been inspired by the strength of insects while traveling through an unidentified jungle. The deck's winning image is based on Megacolony's limit breaker, Martial Arts Mutant Master Beetle, using it and support cards to prevent the opponent's cards from standing with counterblast skills. The deck also takes advantage of the opponent's tendency to use every cards on the field to attack, with Tail Joe and Stealth Millipede, who gain power when all of the opponent's cards are rested, forming 11000-power independent units that can attack opposing cards unboosted, as well as a strong 21000+ line with Master Beetle. Interestingly, the denial nature of this deck is more in line with how he plays in the manga than in the anime. While Kyou's lockdown tactics are highly effective versus Souryuu's Aqua Force deck, he ultimately comes out the loser of the fight and jumps back to Spike Brothers when attempting to sabotage the Japan stage of the Circuit.

Ride 94: Break Time (23/50 cards)
Grade 0
x1 Megacolony Battler C (FVG)
x1 Shrapnel Scorpio CT
x2 Medical Combatant, Lamprey HT
x1 Raider Mantis DT
x1 Shelter Beetle CT
Grade 1
x2 Gloom Flyman
x2 Phantom Black
x3 Paralyze Madonna 
x1 Stealth Millipede
Grade 2
x2 Tail Joe
x1 Bloody Hercules
x2 Lady Bomb
Grade 3
x2 Martial Arts Mutant, Master Beetle
x2 Bewitching Officer, Lady Butterfly

In the manga Kyou uses a Nubatama deck, cutting down the enemy's hand size, but unlike Ninja Master M his particular deck focuses on preventing the opponent from riding. When his Left and Right Arrestors are at rest, the opponents' vanguard cannot stand; Kyou combines this with the skill of Dueling Dragon ZANBAKU, which stops his opponent from riding a grade 3. These effects were not maintained in the conversion from manga to TCG, and his Nubatama cards became their own separate clan, Murakumo.

Chapter 6-Current: Baku Geki Zan (10/50 cards)

Grade 0 
x2 Stealth Beast, Hagakure  
Grade 1 
x1 Stealth Beast, Chigasumi
x1 Stealth Dragon, Dread Master
Grade 2 
x1 Archer, FUSHIMI
x2 Left Arrestor
x1 Right Arrestor
Grade 3 
x1 Dueling Dragon, ZANBAKU
x1 Twin Swordsman, MUSASHI 


1. "Character birthdays." KeroKero Ace Vol. 50 1 Mar. 2012. Print.
2. Cardfight!! Vanguard Ride 30. Crunchyroll, 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. 
3. Cardfight!! Vanguard Ride 42. Crunchyroll, 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.

Character: Mark Whiting

"It looks like you've decided how you would survive, Sendou Aichi."

Mark Whiting (Mr. Mark) / マーク·ホワイテイング

Age: Unconfirmed

Anime Biography: An American with a rich love for Sengoku period history, Mr. Mark is Aichi's history teacher at Hitsue Middle School, and opens the series with his narration on the Second Battle of Kawanakajima(1555) between Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin. Unusually, Mr. Mark uses history trading cards in his classroom as a visual aid, and focuses on student participation to help with learning. Although he hasn't been seen since ride 16, Mr. Mark's teaching is essential to Aichi's character development, as it's his encouragement that leads Aichi to start seriously competing at Vanguard.

 

Spoiler warning: Season 1 details follow.

Outside of school, Mr. Mark operates under the alias of Ninja Master M. Until this year, Ninja Master M had shown up to each of Card Capital's twice-annual shop tournaments to compete against strong fighters with his Nubatama ninja cards. However, he is curiously absent from the second shop tournament in Ride 37, and is instead succeeded by one of his students, Morikawa Katsumi.

Spoilers end here.

Manga Biography: In the manga, Mr. Mark is the sponsor of Hitsue Junior High's CF Vanguard Research club--a club that consists of Morikawa, Izaki and two other students. Because the club members' average on their last test was 27.5, and the passing mark was 40, they were going to be disbanded; that is, until Aichi joined with a mark of 95.

Universal Notes: The reason for Mr. Mark's disappearance is most likely that his voice actor, Abe Atsushi, is also the voice actor of Suzugamori Ren. Since having the two active simultaneously in the series would mean having one actor do double the work, and possibly end up talking to themselves, it's simpler to have Abe only voice one person at a time.

Fan Culture: Next to Emi, Mr. Mark ranks as probably the most beloved secondary character of season 1, despite having nearly zero screen time. His clan has likewise developed a cult following, in no small part due to Bushiroad's complete negligence of it--because of a general perception of the Murakumo "replacing" the Nubatama, their popularity skyrocketed and the Nubatama became a kind of TCG martyr. Most discussion of upcoming booster packs begins with "I wonder if Nubatama will be completed."

Decks and Playstyle 

Mr. Mark's deck is a Kagerou-Nubatama mix which gradually reduces the opponent's hand through card skills, to gain a numbers-based advantage in straightforward battle.

 

Rides 9-11 (16/50 cards)

Grade 0

x2 Stealth Beast Hagakure

x1 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT

Grade 1

x2 Stealth Dragon, Dread Master

x1 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr

x1 Wyvern Guard, Barri

x1 Flame of Hope, Aermo

x1 Wing Dragon Skyptera

Grade 2

x3 Stealth Beast Chigasumi

x1 Dragon Knight Nehalem

Grade 3

x1 Exile Dragon

x2 Stealth Dragon, Void Master