Overview of Standard-format Japanese tournaments through early July 2018

This is a list of Standard-format Japanese Cardfight!! Vanguard tournaments running from V-BT01's launch on May 25th through early July. This does not include G Standard or Premium Standard events. Of the 18 tournaments currently scheduled for after the launch of V-BT01, 12 of those are Standard format, 2 are Premium Standard, 3 are G Standard, and 1 is G Regulation.

May

First TraCaider VGCS
May 26th, 2018 (Day after V-BT01 launch)
Participants: 64
Entry fee: 1000 yen/person
Round 1 start time: 11:20 PM
Sponsored by card shop TraCaider, Matsuyama branch. The preliminaries will consist of 5 rounds of best-of-one Swiss pairings, followed by a 4-round tournament bracket to decide the champion. The first round of Swiss will begin at 11:20 PM, with the top cut starting at 2:30 PM. Swiss rounds will be 20 minutes each, followed by 40 minutes best-of-three for the tournament finals.

During the preliminary rounds hitting time will result in a double loss, while in the top cut fighters will be allotted a total of 4 extra turns beginning with the current turn player, and at the end of those four turns the player with less damage wins. If there is still a tie at the end of those four turns, it will go to sudden death, and any change in damage after resolving triggers will decide the winner.

First place will win four booster boxes of V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4, second place three boxes, third place two, fourht place one, and the rest of the top 8 along with the other participants will receive a participation prize in the form of a discount at Card Shop TraCaider.

A sub-event held on-site will see players competing for a booster box, with an entry fee of 500 yen.

Cardfight!! Vanguard May Exchange Meeting at shop BM ZERO
May 26th, 2018
Participants: 30
Entry fee: None
Round 1 start time: 2:00 PM
Organized by Taka of card shop Big Magic Zero. The tournament will consist of 3 rounds of best-of-one Swiss pairings lasting 25 minutes each, with a 5 minute interval between. There will be no top cut; the awards ceremony will begin at 3:30 PM. The new G Assist and redraw/mulligan will be implemented, and explained before the tournament. Fighters are not allowed to surrender.

Nighttime Vanguard Meetup
May 26th, 2018
Participants: 16
Entry fee: 500 yen/person
Round 1 start time: 8:00 PM
Organized by Bchan. Reception begins at 6:00 PM, with round 1 starting at 8:00 PM. All-you-can-drink soft drinks provided.

4 rounds of Swiss, winner gets 2 sleeves and a shop tournament WINNER promotional card. Four other participants will be chosen by lottery to receive prizes; WINNER cards for 2, and sleeves for 2, with no overlap in prize distribution.

June

First SukaCat CS
June 3rd, 2018
Participants: 126 (42 teams of 3)
Entry fee: 4500 yen/team
Round 1 start time: 12:00 PM
This is the first entry in the rebooted SukaCat Championships, a long line of Vanguard Championships dating back to January 2015; the only continuously-running VGCS older than it is the Kansai VGCS, which goes back to January 2014 and passed through its 20th iteration late last year.

The tournament will consist of 4 rounds of 30 minute best-of-one match Swiss pairings, followed by a cut to a 3-round tournament bracket with 60-minute best-of-three matches for the finals.

First place will receive 12 boxes of V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4, as well as three playmats exclusive to the Sukacat VGCS, and three Pongal promotional cards featuring the shop tournament winner gold foiling.
Second place will receive 6 boxes of V-BT01, and three Sukacat VGCS playmats.
Third place will receive 3 boxes of V-BT01.
Fourth place will receive 1 box of V-BT01.
All participating teams will receive 3 copies of the High Dog Breeder Seiran promo.

10th KitoKito Cup
June 3rd, 2018
Participants: 64
Entry fee: 1000 yen/person
Round 1 start time: 2:00 PM
Organized by KitoKito CS, oriented towards new fighters. 5 rounds of Swiss pairings followed by a 3-round tournament bracket. Round 1 will begin at 2:00 PM, top cut will begin at 4:50 PM. The entire tournament will use best-of-one 25-minute rounds.

First place will win 2 boxes of V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4, second place one box, third and fourth place 8 packs, and the rest of top 8 will receive 4 packs.

Sub-events will include an 8-person Standard-format "mini-tournament" with a 500 yen entry fee, where participants will compete for a box of V-BT01, and a Premium Standard format mini-tournament under the same conditions.

4th Fukuoka VG Women's Tournament
June 3rd, 2018
Participants: 30
Entry fee: 700 yen/person
Round 1 start time: 10:30 AM
Only women may participate. The staff are also all-female.

2nd Inaba VGCS
June 10th, 2018
Participants: 84
Entry fee: 1500 yen/person
Round 1 start time: 12:20 PM
5 rounds of best-of-one Swiss pairings, followed by a cut to top 16. Top cut will be 3 rounds best-of-three tournament bracket. Each preliminary round is 30 minutes long, and each round of the top cut is 1 hour.

Vanguard Standard x Preyz Cup
June 17th, 2018
Participants: 32
Entry fee: 1000 yen/person
Round 1 start time: 1:20 PM
Sponsored by Card Shop Preyz. 6-round best-of-one tournament bracket. (No Swiss, no top cut.) Tournament finals will be a best-of-three match with unlimited time.

First, second, third and fourth place will win a box of V-Booster Set 01: UNITE! TEAM Q4. All participants will be entered in a Preyz shop raffle as a participation prize.

July

Aoba VGCS
July 1st, 2018
Participants: 64
Entry fee: None
Round 1 start time: 11:00 AM
5 rounds of Swiss pairings, followed by a cut to top 16. Swiss rounds are 25 minutes best-of-one each, tournament rounds are 50 minutes best-of-three.

First place wins two boxes of V-EB01: The Destructive Roar and a discount ticket for 5000 yen at the Seagull Single.
Second place wins two boxes of V-EB01 and a 3000 yen discount ticket at Seagull Single.
Third place wins a 1000 yen discount ticket at Seagull Single.
Fourth place wins a 500 yen discount ticket at Seagull Single.

1st TriCri VGCS
July 7th, 2018
Participants: 96 (32 3-man teams)
Entry fee: 4500 yen/person
Round 1 start time: 11:30 AM
4 preliminary best-of-one 30-minute rounds followed by a cut to top 8 teams. Top 8 will consist of a 3-round tournament bracket, 50 minutes each round, best-of-three for each team member.

Team member clans may not overlap.

First place wins three Amazon gift cards worth 15000 yen, and free entry into the 2nd TriCri VGCS, or a box of V-EB02: Champions of the Asia Circuit.
Second place wins three Amazon gift cards worth 5000 yen, and free entry into the 2nd TriCri VGCS, or a box of V-EB02.
Third place wins 3 boxes of V-EB01.
Fourth place wins 2 boxes of V-EB01.

Oita VGCS
July 8th, 2018
Participants: 38
Entry fee: 1000 yen/player, high school students and younger can enter for just 500 yen
Round 1 start time: 11:20 AM
Sponsored by Cardplace. 4 rounds of Swiss pairings followed by a 3-round cut to top 16. Swiss rounds will be 25 minutes best-of-one, while the top cut will be 50 minutes best-of-three.
 
First place wins 5 boxes of V-EB01: The Destructive Roar.
Second place wins 2 box of V-EB01.
Third place wins three Vanguard character sleeves of their choice.
Fourth place wins three Vanguard character sleeves of their choice.
The participation prize is a foil trigger pack provided by Bushiroad, either Heal or Critical depending.

A guide to what's legal in Standard format

Stardrive and Crested deck cards are tournament legal.

The V-series icon, found at the bottom left of cards printed for Standard.

For the Japanese format beginning May 1st, cardfighters playing in Standard format will have to choose a clan and compose their deck entirely from that clan, using only cards that have the V-series icon. The exception to the rule is that cards with the numbers V-SD/001~014, V-SD02/001~014, and VPR/0001 are all treated as cards with the V-series icon, and can be used in decks despite not actually having it. Included in this is the Blaster Blade promotional card distributed alongside the Start Decks given away at the demo caravan events, and all of the cards in the Stardrive and Crested decks themselves.

Conversely, only cards without the V-series simple (including the aforementioned Start Decks and promo cards) can be used in the G Standard format, which will only include cards printed prior to the V-series. All cards may be used in Premium Standard format, unless their abilities specifically prevent them from doing so like Epitome of Knowledge Silvest. Those cards may only be used in Premium Standard Extreme Fight.

For the English format, only cards released after April 28th can be used, excluding PR cards. Bushiroad has stated more information will be coming on this front, but it is safe to assume that the English demo deck and VPR promotional cards will be tournament legal just like their Japanese counterparts.

From Bushiroad booth at 2018 GAMA Trade Show.

The first Trial Decks of the Standard format, V-Trial Deck 01: Blaster Blade and V-Trial Deck 02: Dragonic Overlord will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. The first booster set of Standard, V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018. Their accompanying new anime series, codenamed "Origin," will begin airing May 5th, 2018, on TV Tokyo and affiliated stations. It will be simulcast with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll.

Trial Deck Wingal and Gojo have different stats from Demo Deck versions

During your turn, all of your "Blaster Blade" on the same column as this unit get Power +5000.

The two Wingals (left) and two Gojos. (Right) Stardrive and Crested deck versions have lower base power.

Higher-definition images from Wednesday's bombshell announcement of a Cardfight!! Vanguard reboot series reveal a surprising fact about the upcoming first trial decks for the series, V-TD01: Blaster Blade and V-TD02: Dragonic Overlord. The Wingal and Dragon Monk Gojo promotional cards packaged with the decks have higher base power, tweaked effects, and different background art compared to the ones being used in the official demos of the game.

Both promotional versions of the grade 1s have 8000 base power rather than 7000, and while promo Gojo's skill is identical to its Crested deck counterpart, Wingal has a radically different skill that all but guarantees its staple status in Royal Paladin;

Dragon Monk Gojo (V-SD02/009 and VPR/000?)
ブーストした時 あなたのリアガードが相手より多いなら、そのターン中、ブーストされたユニットのパワー＋３０００。
"When boosting, if you have more rearguards than your opponent, during this turn, the boosted unit gets Power +3000."

Wingal (V-SD01/009)
ヴァンガードをブーストした時、そのバトル中、このユニットのパワー＋５０００。
"When boosting a vanguard, during that battle, this unit gets Power +5000."

Wingal (VPR/000?)
あなたのターン中、このユニットと同じ縦列に、あなとの「ブラスター・ブレード」すべてのパワー＋５０００。
"During your turn, all of your "Blaster Blade" on the same column as this unit get Power +5000."

The sample image text compared with the phrase "on the same column."

While the resolution of the images is high enough to distinguish most of the text, "on the same column" should be treated as a tentative translation, as it's difficult to make out if the kanji really matches this phrase. Moreover, the promo card images are too low of a resolution to gauge their card numbers.

Vanguard has had multiple cards with the same name and radically different skills in the past, but usually separated by months or years. If the new Wingal really is as he appears to be, it's an upgrade competitive Royal Paladin fighters will be scrambling for. 8000 power grade 1s are sorely desired by those that have tried the new format, as while grade 2s have received a power bump to adjust for grade 3s being inflated into crossride-levels of base defense, the same can't be said for grade 1s as a whole.

Original image uploaded by @Bushiroad-Global. Note the Force Gift Markers near the edge of the table.

More than 300 locations "worldwide" are participating in the demo caravan campaign, which for the English game is set to begin in June, closer to the launch of the trial decks and first booster set. The first location to demo the English versions of the cards at all was the GAMA Trade Show in Reno, Nevada, over March 14th-16th. (Simultaneous demonstrations were held at Akihabara Gamers.) No English-language schedule of events has been released yet, while Japan has 318 such demonstrations scheduled in the months leading up to the May launch.

In Japan, the upgraded Wingal and Gojo will be distributed as part of a special bundle of one of the trial decks, a set of 70 card sleeves featuring Sendou Aichi or Kai Toshiki, and one copy of the promo card itself sporting an RRR-rarity foil. It's possible but not yet confirmed that non-foiled versions of these cards will also be in the Trial Decks, which are set to include four copies each of Blaster Blade, Dragonic Overlord, and their respective perfect defense cards. An English distribution for the promo cards has not yet been announced.

V-TD01: Blaster Blade and V-TD02: Dragonic Overlord will launch in Japanese May 11th, 2018, and in English June 8th, 2018. V-BT01: UNITE! TEAM Q4! will launch in Japan May 25th, 2018, and in English June 22nd, 2018.

Not every clan will be getting Front Triggers, Triple Drive not in manual

A leaked image from the Japanese First Guides distributed with the first Standard format flash decks reveals that not every clan will be getting Cardfight!! Vanguard's newest trigger type.

Front Trigger
"All of your front-row units gain +10000 Power. This is a trigger that only certain clans possess."
前列ユニット、すべてのパワーを＋１００００する。特定のクランのみが持つトリガーだ。

As Front Triggers were created to replace Stand Triggers--which executive producer Shimamura Masatoshi confirmed there will be no more of--it's possible that Bushiroad R&D is seeking to balance Fronts by only giving them to the clans specifically designed for them. In particular, Front benefits Accel clans much more than it does Force or Protect, as it addresses both their weakness of being unable to boost their additional rearguard circles and their comparative defensive weakness by giving them a more powerful damage check. (The currently revealed Accel clans in Standard release order are Nova Grappler, Tachikaze, Aqua Force, Pale Moon, and Murakumo.)

Also of note is that where the First Guide describes the different unit abilities like Boost and Intercept, no description of Triple Drive!!! is presented, reinforcing the idea that there will be no strides printed for Standard format. It is possible that Triple Drive!!! is not explained because none of the cards in the flash decks have this ability, but Front Triggers are also not present in either of these.