News: Trial Decks 14 & 15 Announced, Royal Paladins to Return for Legion Mate, Catastrophic Outbreak Sees English Release Date

Early this morning the Japanese cf-vanguard portal updated with information on two upcoming trial decks for the fourth season of the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime, Legion Mate. To be released on April 18, the 50-card preconstructed decks VG-TD14: Seeker of Hope (希望の探索者(シーカー) Kibou no Tansakumono (Shiikaa)) and VG-TD15: Brawler of Friendship (友情の喧嘩屋(ブロウラー) Yuujyou no Kenkaya (Burouraa)) will each introduce 17 new cards, with three foils in each TD, one RRR and two R-rarity cards. Unlike with past TDs which were reprinted later in the year of their introduction, both decks will launch alongside their Beginning Set equivalents, which will have the same contents but with RRR reprints of Claudia, Spark Kid Dragoon and two Royal Paladin and Narukami units from the as of yet untitled BT16. The Beginning Sets will also come with 53 official sleeves, a deckholder, a Fighter's Counter used to show power increases on cards, and a Cardfight Pack Vol. 13 with a random promo card inside. While TD14 & 15 will retail for 1000 yen each, their equivalent Beginning Sets will instead retail for 2400 yen. Unlike with past decks, there are currently no accompanying promotional images of the sets, leading to some speculation as to which characters will be using Royal Paladin and Narukami for Legion Mate.

Currently it is known that TD14 will feature "Seeker, Sacred Wingal" "Blaster Blade Seeker" and "Splendid Seeker, Cerdic" while TD15 will feature "Brawler, Skybeat Dragon" "Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon" and "Brawler, Wildfist Dragon." Based on the return of Wingal and Blaster Blade, TD14 is widely believed to be Sendou Aichi's trial deck for Legion Mate, but the seemingly deliberate ambiguity surrounding the deck and the presence of the young Kai's first vanguard, Claudia, in Beginning Set 14 has some Japanese fans speculating that Kai Toshiki will be picking up Royal Paladin for the fourth season, coming back to the clan that he used in his origin story Episode 0, and that Aichi will be missing for the beginning of Legion Mate. Regardless of who TD14 belongs to, the general consensus is that TD15's Brawlers are designed around Ishida Naoki's character traits.

The trial decks will introduce a new mechanic, dubbed "Legion" (双闘 Soutou レギオン Region pronounced in Japanese with a hard g sound.) This is distinct from the idea of a legion as a subclan, using the kanji for "pair" and "fight" together with an English reading. The details of Legion's function are as of yet unknown, but based on the reading of it as "fighting together/fighting as pairs" it has been variously interpreted as either letting units from different subclans interact or letting entirely different clans function together.

On our side of the water a release for VGE-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak is finally in sight, with the stated release date of May 2 bringing the set worldwide in time for Team League 2014. BT13 is most noted for its introduction of Chaos Break Dragon, widely regarded as Link Joker's optimal grade 3 second only to Infinite Zero Dragon in importance, and secondarily for the return of the much-awaited Nubatama clan and their combination of bind and discard mechanics.The set's Reverse cards, Dark Dimensional Robo "Я" Daiyusha, and Deadliest Beast Deity Ethics Buster "Я" have likewise embedded themselves in competitive play as definitive decks for their clans in professional play, with Ethics "Я" most recently making the headlines in a combination deck alongside Ethics Buster Extreme.

News: Black Rings Rise Over Tokyo Vanguard Championship, Chaos Breaker and “Я” Daiyusha Top

The West Tokyo VGCS finished on Monday evening, concluding a collaborative effort between the organizers of the Fateclo and Pitarui VGCS tournaments. 107 cardfighters participated in the West Tokyo VGCS, making it the second largest fan tournament in the game's history after the Hachiouji VGCS (114 cardfighters), albeit at only one third the size of a typical regional tournament. This was also the first Cardfight!! Vanguard competition to employ a new tournament structure which combined two different systems, four preliminary rounds of Swiss draw followed by four rounds for the finals using the remaining top 16 cardfighters. Each round lasted 50 minutes, and was conducted in a best of 3 games format between participants.

Unlike in the wholly elimination-based tournaments typical of official events, the Swiss format popular in fan tournaments has each participant play a certain number of rounds regardless of how many losses they take, scoring points based on their number of wins, losses and draws. While this guarantees every participant a certain amount of games even if they do not make the top cut, Swiss is not very time efficient because the same large number of players have to be paired each round where in an elimination tournament a certain percentage of players are eliminated in each round after the second, and a player that scores too highly in a protracted tournament may cause scenarios in which it is impossible for them to not place first, making the final round of the tournament effectively meaningless. The West Tokyo VGCS went for an optimal compromise by dividing the tournament into four Swiss rounds that would guarantee at least eight games to each player, then cutting to top 16 for the last four rounds, alleviating the time and point concerns approximately four hours into the event.

Of the fighters attending, 28 played Link Joker, 26 Revengers, 13 Eradicators, 6 Dimension Police, 5 Oracle Think Tank, 5 Great Nature, 5 Nova Grappler, 4 Pale Moon, 4 Angel Feather, 2 Granblue, 2 Aqua Force, 2 Kagerou, 2 Liberators, 1 Royal Paladin, 1 Spike Brothers and 1 Dark Irregulars. First through third place in the West Tokyo VGCS were won by Link Joker cardfighters, with fourth place going to a Dimension Police fighter wielding Dark Dimensional Robo, “Я” Daiyusha as his ace in the hole. Other highlights include a Zerachiel deck, as well as a Great Nature deck running Chatnoir, Polaris and Leo-pald “Я” in the top 8, as well as a Tetra Drive Dragon deck. Each decklist of the top 4 has been translated into English below.

The Second Hakata VGCS was also dominated by Link Joker, with 7 of the top 8 being Link Joker decks, and the remaining build being a Raging Form Dragon deck. Decklists are not yet available, but this is yet another tournament pointing to the strong impact of VG-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak on the format. Chaos Breaker Dragon has now become firmly established as one of the dominating forces of the format, owing to its strong control-based play style that exceeds past decks in scope by preventing units from being called as well as retiring them later on. The effect this has on the game is fairly close to some predictions of how format warping the card would be, in stark contrast to antagonist clans of the past. During the 2011 and 2012 tournament seasons, Shadow Paladin and Aqua Force followed a set formula of a dramatic introduction with only one or two deckbuilds, neither of which were especially prominent in competitive play. Link Joker however has had an immediate effect on the game from the beginning, and while that effect only began to really pick up speed in wake of BT13, their control-based play style and multiple strong customization options make them a deck to watch in the Fighter's Climax 2013 tournaments.

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, with entry fees in the vicinity of 1000 yen per person that go toward grand prizes like booster boxes, Nintendo 3DS handhelds and other merchandise. 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.

West Tokyo VGCS First Place
Handle Name: Battledome/バトルドーム

Grade 0

x1 Star-vader, Dusttail Unicorn (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT

x4 Star-vader, Meteoliger CT

x4 Star-vader, Weiss Soldat CT

x4 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT

Grade 1

x4 Demonic Bullet Star-vader, Neon
x4 Prison Gate Star-vader, Palladium
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x1 Opener of the Black Door
x1 Star-vader, Chaos Beat Dragon

Grade 2

x4 Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon
x4 Star-vader, Mobius Breath Dragon

x3 Star-vader, Colony Maker

Grade 3

x4 Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon

x4 Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon

Second Place
Handle Name: Masa/マサ

Grade 0

x1 Extending Black Ring, Pleiades (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT

x4 Star-vader, Meteoliger CT

x3 Star-vader, Weiss Soldat CT

x3 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT
x2 Star-vader, Scouting Felis DT

Grade 1

x3 Demonic Bullet Star-vader, Neon
x4 Prison Gate Star-vader, Palladium
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x3 Star-vader, Chaos Beat Dragon

Grade 2

x4 Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon
x3 Star-vader, Mobius Breath Dragon

x4 Star-vader, Colony Maker

Grade 3

x4 Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon

x4 Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon

Third Place
Handle Name: DDB/ＤＤＢ

Grade 0

x1 Star-vader, Dusttail Unicorn (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Stellar Garage HT

x4 Star-vader, Meteoliger CT

x4 Star-vader, Weiss Soldat CT

x4 Star-vader, Nebula Captor DT

Grade 1

x2 Demonic Bullet Star-vader, Neon
x4 Prison Gate Star-vader, Palladium
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x4 Star-vader, Chaos Beat Dragon

Grade 2

x3 Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon
x4 Soaring Star-vader, Krypton

x4 Star-vader, Colony Maker

Grade 3

x4 Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon

x4 Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon

Fourth Place
Handle Name: Flonne-senpai's pillow is gigantic/フロン先輩の枕はデカい
Grade 0
x1 Dimensional Robo, Daimagnum (FV)
x4 Dimensional Robo, Daibattles CT
x4 Dimensional Robo, Daicrane DT
x4 Dimensional Robo, Gorescue HT
x2 Justice Cobalt CT
x2 Army Penguin DT
Grade 1
x4 Dimensional Robo, Daibrave
x4 Dimensional Robo, Daishield
x4 Commander Laurel
x2 Dimensional Robo, Dailander
Grade 2
x4 Dimensional Robo, Daidragon
x4 Dimensional Robo, Kaizard
x1 Dimensional Robo, Daibarrett
Grade 3
x4 Dark Dimensional Robo, “Я” Daiyusha
x4 Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser
x2 Super Dimensional Robo, Daiyusha

News: Chaos Breaker Dragon's Skills Leaked

Following a long train of hype surrounding Link Joker's new boss card, Star-vader Chaos Breaker Dragon, his skill has been leaked through images of Monthly Bushiroad magazine. As Kai Toshiki's new key card, Chaos Breaker integrates Link Joker's Lock skills along with the retire aspects of his previous clans Kagerou and Narukami. The new unit's skill allows it to retire a rearguard when it is Unlocked and draw a card by eroding at Chaos Breaker's soul, preventing opponents from escaping Lock altogether.

Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon
Grade 3/11000 Power/No Shield/Link Joker - Cyber Dragon/
AUTO (V) [Limit Break 4]: [Soulblast 1 cards with "Star-vader" in their name] During the opponent's end phase, when an opponent's card Unlocks, retire that card and draw 1 card.
ACT (V): [Counterblast (1) "Star-vader" and discard 1 card with "Star-vader" in its name from your hand] Choose one of your opponent's rearguards and Lock it. This ability cannot be used for the rest of the turn.



Chaos Breaker is expected to carry a heavy impact on professional play, as prior to his debut Link Joker has been very reliant on the Infinite Zero Dragon break ride to achieve consistent field control, and his ability to retire Unlocked units is very destructive to the currently Reverse-centric Japanese competitive scene. At present there are two types of Reverse units that have shown themselves to be best all-around units in tournament play and preliminary testing. The first type are cards like Luquier “Я” and Cocytus “Я” that give +1 card advantage per counterblast spent, but are based on limiting that advantage to the manipulation of specific zones and rearguard skills. They get their mileage out of Lock by capitalizing on the fact that Locked cards open at the end of their owner's turn. Being able to retire the cards that the opponent's Reverse card Locked changes this, negating the +1 that Luquier and Cocytus “Я” achieve and instead giving it to Chaos Breaker.

The second type are cards like Vowing Saber “Я” and “Я” Daiyusha, which Breaker has an even better matchup against. This is because these units are reliant on Lock 2 skills to achieve overwhelming power. Normally, Vowing Saber uses his Lock 2 to retire 2 of the opponent's rearguards, which works out to a -2 to the opponent with only counterblast cost once the Locks open. “Я” Daiyusha doesn't directly take away the opponent's card advantage, but by decreasing the opposing vanguard's power he functionally forces the opponent to drop one more card per attack to defend successfully so that they incur a -3 each turn. Chaos Breaker breaks the formula because now Vowing Saber takes a -2 equal to the opponent's -2, and Chaos gets to draw 2 cards to replace the rearguards that Saber retired, while Daiyusha's impact on the game is similarly mitigated to a -2 for Daiyusha vs net -1 to Breaker. Using Reverse card skills no longer becomes sustainable because more resources are lost through using them than are gained. The use of those skills is likely to drive Chaos Breaker's cardfighter to limit break in the first place, enabling his counterplay. Furthermore, Vowing Saber and “Я” Daiyusha normally choose their vanguard booster as the primary sacrifice for their Lock 2 skills, because Saber gets +10000 power to go for 21-23000 unboosted and Daiyusha's Tyrannus Gravity has a functionally similar effect. Chaos Breaker's retire skill takes away those vanguard boosters, so that in either case Reverse cardfighters need to use their limit breaks just to attack at normal strength rather than to power up. This narrows down their resources even further when Breaker limit breaks again, perpetuating a vicious cycle that makes Chaos Breaker Dragon into a hard counter to Reverse cards.

Bushiroad has gone all out in making Reverse cards some of the best choices to build a deck around within their own clans, which suggests that Chaos Breaker will be a format-defining unit not just during the release of Catastrophic Outbreak, but also through future booster sets.