News: Bushiroad Announces New Trial Deck, Confirms WCS2013, BT11 to be Released Before BT10

Today Bushiroad USA has put out a press release detailing their plans for 2013, bringing with it the formal announcement of WCS2013 as well as its European and Asia-Oceanian branches. Careful reading of the press release also reveals a new trial deck, "Extra Trial Deck EXTD-01" which will "contain exclusive deck accessories for both new and veteran players". Some speculate that EXTD-01, scheduled to be sold during the 2013 holiday season, may be a counterpart to the VG-DG01 DAIGO Special Set, but Bushiroad has kept quiet about the matter.

Surprisingly, Bushiroad has also announced that VGE-BT11: Seal Dragons Unleashed, which was previously slated for a December 13th release following VGE-BT10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights on October 25th, has had its release date swapped and will be released on October 25th while BT10 will instead come in December. Producer of the English-language Cardfight!! Vanguard TCG cited "production and operational issues." This may be a move to prevent Dragonic Descendant from gaining the same dominance in the English format that he held until recently in Japan, as BT10's new release date is outside the bounds of the now-confirmed dates for World Championship 2013 while before it would have been released prior to the finals in November.

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Bushiroad Unveils World Championship 2013, New Cardfight!! Vanguard Product and Future Card Buddyfight Plans

Singapore (July 7, 2013) – Bushiroad announced the official logo and qualifying structure for the upcoming Cardfight!! Vanguard World Championship 2013. Similar to the first ever World Championship held in 2012, open national qualifiers will be held in the regions of North America, Europe and Asia-Oceania.

These qualifiers are scheduled to be held in September and October 2013. The finalists from the qualifiers will face each other in their respective continental championships in November 2013. The continental representatives will then battle for the World Championship 2013 title in December in a currently undisclosed venue.

A new Cardfight!! Vanguard product under the working title, Extra Trial Deck EXTD-01, was also revealed at the conference. This premium trial deck gift set will contain exclusive deck accessories for both new and veteran players and is expected to be sold during the festive seasons at the end of 2013.

Bushiroad also announced changes to the release dates of Booster Pack Vol. 10 and Booster Pack Vol. 11. Mr. Shunichi Taira, producer of the English edition Cardfight!! Vanguard, cited that the changes were made due to production and operational issues.

Booster Pack Vol. 11 Seal Dragons Unleashed was brought forward to October 25, 2013. Booster Pack Vol. 10 Triumphant Return of the King of Knights will be available from December 13, 2013.

Bushiroad revealed more information about the new license, “Future Card Buddyfight,” that was previously unveiled in June 2013. The rules are easy to pick up, and players will be able to learn the rules by watching the TV animation. Players can choose their favorite monster to be their ‘Buddy Monster.’ Monsters from different worlds in Buddyfight allow players to bring different strategies to the game.

Bushiroad USA Inc. and Bushiroad South East Asia Pte Ltd will provide support during the simultaneous release of the Japanese and English editions of Future Card Buddyfight in January 2014.

The Future Card Buddyfight license will be heavily promoted through comic serialization and animation.  Comic serialization begins from Winter 2013 in Shogakukan’s “CoroCoro Comic.” The TV animation will be released in Japan in early 2014, with the animation done by OLM Inc., the animation studio behind the Pokémon movie series and “Inazuma Eleven.” Bushiroad has also announced plans to air the English-dubbed animation in Singapore, Malaysia and on YouTube.

News: Gauntlet Buster and Sweep Command Dragon Storm Fukuoka

This morning Doctor O tweeted the results of the Fukuoka branch of Fighters Road 2013, Japan's ongoing national championship. The Junior class champion took first place using a Narukami deck, with second place going to a Kagerou cardfighter.  The Open class tournament had both its first and second place spots taken by Narukami fighters, one using a now-standard Gauntlet Buster Dragon and Descendant deck, with the other using a different Eradicator build that combined Spark Horn and Sweep Command Dragon, using cards from the eleventh booster set, BT11: Seal Dragon Unleashed. Spark Horn has drawn some attention as a variation on the Eradicator formula, as when his attack hits a vanguard he can use an especial counterblast to retire an opponent's rearguard--without needing to be at limit break. This gives a Narukami fighter a stronger midgame, pressuring the opponent to drop cards for defense earlier in a fight, weakening their overall presence when the time comes for Sweep Command to hit the field, simultaneously retiring the opponent's rearguards and drawing new cards through his limit break and a combo with the Eradicators' many retire skills.

The Eradicators' continued dominance throughout this tournament season has drawn criticism, as the Narukami clan as a whole has continued to receive support from every core booster set since BT08, with multiple cards coming out as definitively competitive decks of their own, and this trend will not be broken until VG-BT13: Catastrophic Outbreak. With Descendant having come out as a competitive deck surpassing Dragonic Overlord The End in threat, the restricted list having done little to stop his reign, currently accounting for five of the eight Open class decks currently being used to contend for the national title and 32% of all 2013 tournament decks, an extremely powerful crossbreak Reverse unit coming for the clan in VG-BT12: Binding Force of the Black Rings, and the build only becoming stronger as a counter to the new Lock mechanic, many are calling for the plug to be pulled on the clan altogether. For some however, Spike Brothers having broken the Eradicator's stranglehold on the format at Hiroshima has inspired new hope.

The remaining three tournaments will take place in Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagoya with the Tokyo tournament being next in line on the 7th of July. This will be the first time that Okayama, Hakata and Osaka will not be participating.

News: Death Army and Battle Sister Cards to Storm North America in September, TD08 & 09, BT10 for October Release

This morning Bushiroad took the world by surprise with the official announcement of western release dates for two extra boosters, two trial decks and two booster sets, laying out their schedule of releases for up through December 2013. VGE-EB04: Infinite Phantom Legion will reprint many Nova Grappler units from BT01-BT06, including the clan's perfect defense card Twin Blader, and an alternate artwork of EB01's Perfect Raizer from the same artists that designed and illustrated the original, Itou Akira and ToMo. EB04 will also introduce new Death Army series cards, including a remake of BT03's Ultimate Lifeform Cosmo Lord, Infinite Death Army Invader Cosmo Lord. EB04 is slated for a September 6th release.

VGE-EB05: Celestial Valkyries will give the same treatment to Oracle Think Tank, reprinting key units from BT01-BT05, with one of those being an alternate artwork of the clan's boss card CEO Amaterasu, illustrated by Hitowa, the same artist behind Water General of Wave-like Spirals Benedict, and Goddess of Good Luck Fortuna. Celestial Valkyries will also bring new Battle Sister units to OraThin's card pool, fleshing them out into a powerful subgroup. EB05 is slated for a September 6th release.

VGE-TD08: Liberator of the Sanctuary will be the second Gold Paladin trial deck to be released, restarting the clan from the ground up through the Liberator subgroup of cards, which focus on the use of the new Blaster Blade Liberator as the axis of one's deck and applying key power increases to the whole field through the new break ride mechanic. After their initially disappointing run from TD05 through BT09, these new Gold Paladins breath new life into the clan by reimagining old cards like Gancelot and Gallatin. TD08 is slated for an October 4th release.

VGE-TD09: Eradicator of the Empire will introduce the Eradicator subgroup for Narukami, allowing selective control of the opponent's front row through break ride. While TD08's support is generally designed to encourage the use of new Liberator units, and TD09 provides similar support, TD09 is also geared toward more generic support for non-Eradicator decks through its Vowing Sword Dragon key card. TD09 is slated for an October 4th release.

VGE-BT10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights will reinforce the Liberators to allow for an additional focus on the center line in addition to the rearguards, through its key card Liberator of the Round Table Alfred. It will also revive the Royal Paladins as the critical-focused Jewel Knight subgroup designed to emulate the strengths of the previous Blaster cards, and bring in the new, soulblast-focused Genesis clan used by Tokura Misaki during the third season of Cardfight!! Vanguard. Unlike Oracle Think Tank, Genesis is built around rapidly filling up and then discharging the soul for simultaneous draw power and power boosts, giving both short-term power and long-term longevity so long as their fighter can pay the extraordinary costs. BT10 is slated for an October 25th release.

VGE-BT11: Seal Dragons Unleashed will bring the new Seal Dragon series to the fore, while bringing the Dragonic Overlord The End deck its own break ride in Dauntless Drive Dragon, allowing up to six and eight drive checks in a single turn. Just as BT10 is the third season's reimagining of BT01, BT11 is its equivalent to BT02, focusing on breaking the seals imprisoning powerful dragons. The Seal Dragon series will reinforce Kagerou by using Seal Dragon Blockade from BT02: Onslaught of Dragon Souls as its focal card, both reprinting the unit and introducing the Blockade Inferno crossride. Although crossrides are generally regarded as a thing of the past due to their low payout relative to the setup required in the extremely aggressive BT10-on format, Blockade Inferno has been given special attention from professional cardfighters for the devastating power of his limit break and the overall synergy between him, his sealed form and his supporting Seal Dragon rearguards. BT11 is slated for a December 13th release, making it the last English release of 2013, coming out just three days after the international anniversary of VGE-BT01: Descent of the King of Knights.

News: VG-BT11: Seal Dragons Unleashed Announcement, EB06: Dazzling Divas Information

Previews for the eleventh Japanese booster set of the Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game, VG-BT11: Seal Dragons Unleashed have been unveiled, lighting a storm of speculation in the community. The advertisement touts the return of Kagerou, promising that complete decks for this clan along with Angel Feather and Tachikaze can be built using only cards from the upcoming set. In addition to these, Narukami, Genesis and Aqua Force will be supported by BT11.  Also promised is breakride support and a crossride for Seal Dragon, Blockade, now believed to be the titular Seal Dragon that the set will unleash.

BT11: Seal Dragons Unleashed will contain 102 cards with two reprints in them, one of which is currently believed to be Dragonic Overlord because of the previous press conference, the second of which is unknown. Like Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark, this reprint will also be packaged with Ride to Victory.

Because it is claimed that complete decks for Kagerou, Angel Feather and Tachikaze can be built using BT11 alone, and that the last time this claim was circulated was for EB04 and EB05 which reprinted their clans' respective perfect defense cards, there is speculation that the second reprint will be Barri, Archbird or Requiel, with the remaining two units being reimagined as subgroup perfect defense units in the style of Jewel Knight, Iseult. Note that BT01: Descent of the King of Knights is out of print in Japan, setting precedent for a Barri reprint.

Additional news has emerged surrounding EB06: Dazzling Divas, the second Bermuda Triangle extra booster. The set has been confirmed to introduce both crossrides and breakrides to the clan, with its cover card, Eternal Idol Pacifica, at the center of attention as the most likely candidate for the former. The new Pacifica's skills are unknown, although images of what many have called out as a forgery have been circulated repeatedly in fan circles. Said image has an R foil instead of RRR/SP, limit break placed at the bottom of the text box when it is universally placed at the top elsewhere, and Lord situated close to the top of the box instead of at the bottom. The production of such falsified images is not unprecedented, as the thriving OriCa community and fake magazine scans that have taken life on the net have shown.

Moreover, EB06 is drawing attention for having Tanihara Natsuki, a celebrated artist who has previously done work for one of Bushiroad's other properties Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, on board as an illustrator. Tanihara seems to be illustrating Bermuda Triangle's breakride unit, although the name of the card and what kind of skill it will have is not known.

EB06: Dazzling Divas is due for a March 23rd Japanese release and June 26th English release.







 2/6/2013 Update: A new image has since surfaced of Kai on the cover of BT11, along with the Blockade crossride. Parallels are being drawn to BT02: Onslaught of Dragon Souls, much as they were to BT01: Descent of the King of Knights and BT10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights. Current speculation is that, because of his being featured on a Kagerou-focused set alongside the Blockade cover card, and because of Dragonic Overlord's reprint within the set, Kai may be converting back to the Kagerou clan.