News: ARG Unveils Orlando Circuit Facebook Page, Thing Saver-“Abyss” to be Legal

In advance of the upcoming tournament next week on Sunday January 4th, Alter Reality Games has set up a Facebook page for the Orlando Circuit. The tournament will take place at the Ramada Gateway Hotel (7470 Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy 192, Kissimmee, FL 34747) and will have a total payout of $500 to the top 8 cardfighters. First place will receive $200 in prize credit as well as a playmat exclusive to the tournament champion, while second place will get $100, third and fourth $50, fifth through eighth $25, and all places from second to eighth will receive a top 8 playmat. If the tournament attracts more than 40 participants, the prizes will be paid out in cash. The top 8 will be broadcast live to ARG's Twitch channel, so even those not attending the tournament can tune in to see the final games played out. Cardfight Pro editor Touya will be attending the event to do on-site coverage and interviews.

Registration will begin at 10:00 AM and the tournament will begin an hour later. Preregistration is not possible. Participants are advised to print out one of these deck sheets to write out their decklists on. The tournament will require a $20 entry fee, and participants will receive five booster packs with their entry. Tournament format will be Swiss, meaning that players with similar records will be paired together each round where possible, and unlike Bushiroad's official tournaments, ARG Orlando will be best-of-three games. The time limit on each round is 40 minutes. Any questions can be answered by sending an e-mail to events@alterealitygames.com. 

Note that ARG has ruled that clan mixing will be legal at Orlando, so cardfighters will be able to use Thing Saver-“Abyss” and other mixed decks. The announcement is concerning to some, as most cards from BT16-on do not require a vanguard of a specific clan nor do they target only cards within their clan, and the Lord keytext is no longer being printed on grade 3 cards. This means that units like Frozen Ogle, Silver Blaze and Brawler Yojin can be played in any deck so long as that deck uses legion vanguards and no boss cards from BT15 or earlier.

The ARG Circuit series is publicly endorsed by Cardfight Pro as a professional tournament system. Those who place in the tournament will be recognized by Cardfight Pro as professional cardfighters of the same caliber as those that qualify in the world championships and VGCS tournaments.

News: Fighter's Rules Kill Thing Saver-“Abyss” for the End of September, Modified Legion Ruling

The Fighter's Rules for the Japanese format were amended earlier today, modifying a portion of the standard Clan Fight ruleset that has been in place since January 2012; beginning on September 29, Royal Paladin cardfighters may no longer include up to ten Shadow Paladin cards in their decks. Instead, they may only include up to four copies of Blaster Dark. (BD variants "Blaster Dark Spirit," "Blaster Dark Revenger" and "Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”" are not acceptable.) The original ruling was made in order to promote the use of Majesty Lord Blaster in clan-restricted formats back when the deck debuted, as MLB is one of the few decks which is designed around mixing clans by using both Royal and Shadow Paladin cards, but of late the ruling has seen mass exploitation as an easy way of building up enough soul for Seeker decks to restand their core boss card, Thing Saver Dragon, twice in a turn. At the head of Thing Saver-“Abyss'” popularity the deck topped in five consecutive tournaments, and at the end of August was used by pro cardfighter Hayashi Hiroki to win the summer 2014 Japanese national championships.

This new rule is subject to some criticism, as it prevents Majesty Lord Blaster cardfighters from using other Shadow Paladin cards which support it. Past Majesty decks have made use of Apocalypse Bat and Blaster Javelin from the Shadow Paladin clan, cards which would no longer be permitted under the new ruling. However, Majesty Lord is generally considered irrelevant in the present format when compared to Royal Paladin's modern deck options, so while the principles of the rule may clash with the intent of giving fighters the freedom to play MLB, in practice few will be affected by it. The primary concern is for Seeker cardfighters, who will have to return to playing Sacred Wingal or Brutus as Thing Saver's alternative grade 3. Given the deck's overwhelming success prior to the discovery of “Abyss” however, it is unlikely that pure TSD's stranglehold on the format will be broken.

Also pressing is that the Fighter's Rules have changed the behavior of Legion. Originally, a vanguard which entered Legion through card effects (in the case of TSD's superior Legion from the soul, and in the Metalborgs' example of superior riding into a Legion) was still able to activate its Legion effect if it had not already, and return four cards to the deck. While this would not seek the Legion's mate, it would recycle trigger units and cards with the Sentinel skill, and help to prevent decking out in the slower format. The new ruling prevents cards which are already in Legion from activating their Legion altogether, dealing a further blow to TSD. It will be implemented by modifying Legion skill text to state "If this unit is not in Legion, and if your opponent has a grade 3 vanguard..."

News: Japanese National Championship Won with Thing Saver-“Abyss,” Hayashi Hiroki Crowned National Champion

Right to left; National Champion Hayashi Hiroki, CEO Takaaki Kidani and National Runner-up Hayashida Kenjun.

The results of the most recent Japanese national championships were made public this past week, with Kanazawa cardfighter Hayashi Hiroki being crowned as Japan's summer 2014 National Champion, succeeding Lee Innyeng. The finals took place in Tokyo over August 31st, and were livestreamed onto the Japanese video hosting service NicoNico Douga. NND user Kururun (クルルん) recorded the live broadcast and reuploaded it afterwards, forever preserving the fight. The full ceremony can be viewed in five parts by those with NND accounts here, but the fight by itself has been hosted below for those without accounts. Commentary was handled by TV personality Doctor O, actress Kitta Izumi (voice of Tokura Misaki) and actor Morishima Shuuta (voice of Nitta Shin) while awards were handed out by Bushiroad CEO Takaaki Kidani.

Note that while no disrespect is intended, due to their similar surnames, for the sake of clarity Hayashi and Hayashida will hereon be referred to by their given names Hiroki and Kenjun.

Hiroki played the familiar Royal Paladin-Shadow Paladin hybrid deck that has come to dominate professional play, Thing Saver-“Abyss.” His opponent was fourteen-year-old Hayashida Kenjun playing Star-vader “Ω” Glendios. Glendios has remained an everpresent element of the format since its introduction in VG-BT15: Infinite Rebirth, and the finals are of particular interest to international cardfighters because the card is just on the verge of being released in thirteen days' time. The video of their fight also has relevance beyond this tournament, as it is one of the few recordings of how Thing Saver-“Abyss” is used in Japanese play.

(Hiroki is on the left, Kenjun on right.) Having won the janken during their pile shuffling and redraw, Kenjun opened the first turn of the game. Each turn up to reaching grade 3, Kenjun used World Line Dragon's skill prior to his ride phase, discarding “Я” units to search for Link Joker cards to ride. This meant that by the time he rode Glendios, Kenjun could already build advantage out of this drop zone with Ruin Magician, which helped compensate for the amount of early guarding he had to do versus Hiroki's Blaster deck. Hiroki had a considerably stronger early game, able to make extra attacks each turn, capitalize on strong trigger checks and search out his copy of Phantom Blaster “Abyss” while Kenjun was restricted by his deck's reliance on running 14 grade 3s and only being able to bring them out one turn at a time. Hiroki's earlier aggression translated to a stronger endgame with Thing Saver, such that instead of being able to grind the game to a halt Kenjun was instead overwhelmed by trying to keep Hiroki's field in check. An important point is that Kenjun was forced to ride one of his two copies of Companion Star-vader Photon early on, and if he had access to a copy of it later then locking both of Hiroki's frontrow rearguards would have made defending through his double restand easier.

The turn that Kenjun rode Glendios, he opened the turn at -2 to +1 card advantage; by locking Blaster Dark with Vowing Saber “Я,” then using Colony Maker to play off of that lock and call out Ruin Magician from the deck, and then adding Hyakki Vogue “Я” back to hand with Magician's skill, Kenjun was able to immediately close the gap and tie the advantage +0 to +0. But while this enabled him to keep a stable circulation of “Яeverse” cards in play to maintain locks with, it did not make up for the existing gap in damage.

Hiroki was careful to keep Kenjun out of being able to start a chain of omega locks before he could prep his legion properly, attacking Vowing Saber rather than the vanguard at 07:26 to avoid giving Kenjun limit break too early. Moreover, getting Vowing Saber into the drop zone prevented a potential Ruin Magician play to recover both Cocytus “Я” and a theoretical discard for omega lock, which limited Kenjun's midgame advantage plays. Kenjun's decision to lock Mackart rather than Blaster Dark in turn kept Hiroki from superior calling off of his legion, and from abusing Mackart to call and deck thin during Thing Saver's on-stand Legions.

Hiroki's decision to go ahead with his Legion was made with the full knowledge that he would be taking advantage of “Abyss” exclusively for restanding Thing Saver; at 12:40 when he finally rides Thing Saver Dragon he has exactly 5 soul, which is just enough to use Thing Saver's skill twice. The soulblast 3 requirement, along with the previous Thing Saver remaining in the soul, ensured this. Many decks could not come back from the position Hiroki was in at the time, -9 to -4, but the neutral exchange off of his restand and access to a remaining rearguard column to receive trigger checks while being able to make three sequential attacks with his vanguard helped to overwhelm Kenjun's defenses and destroy his remaining resources in the long term, even though the game was not won on that turn. Note that around the 15 minute mark Hiroki could have theoretically won early; Kenjun did not have the resources to guard both Blaster Blade Spirit and all of Thing Saver's attacks, and declared no-guard while at four damage. This turn ended at -7 to -8 after Hiroki's draw trigger and Mackart unlocking, a complete recovery into a positive position.

There are several points which could have evened out the fight. One of Glendios' primary advantages versus TSD-“Abyss” in this format is its access to Taboo Star-vader Rubidium, whose on-guard skill would have allowed Kenjun to change the target of Thing Saver's attack to a “Яeverse” unit on the field. Because Thing Saver can only restand after attacking a vanguard, this could have completely shut down Hiroki's decisive turn. However, the play is dependent on having Rubidium in hand, and the only copy Kenjun drew in the game was the one that he rode on the first turn. More to the point, Hiroki's game would have been slowed considerably if Kenjun had allocated the 15000 shield he dropped on Hiroki's grade 2 turn to the vanguard instead of the rearguard. This would have prevented Hiroki from searching out “Abyss,” forcing him to ride Thing Saver on his grade 3 turn, and slowed the buildup of soul by another turn--potentially preventing him from initiating the double restand maneuver entirely, although the full outcome of the fight cannot be predicted because preventing the search and shuffle off of Wingal Brave would completely change how it flowed.

While Thing Saver-“Abyss” and Glendios have been cemented as the key offensive and defensive decks of this era, fourth place in the national finals went to the format's unsung hero, Big Bang Knuckle Buster. A crossride of Big Bang Knuckle Dragon, Knuckle Buster has been championed as one of the most effective field control decks; his on-attack skill sends a Big Bang card from the hand to the soul while in Legion to battle four separate units. Accounting for the late game defense necessary to protect the vanguard, this typically translates to a -6 overall, but also falls afoul of Glendios' defensive capabilities because the aforementioned Rubidium can change all of Knuckle Buster's targets to a single “Я” unit. The increased prevalence of Quintet Walls and fighters' increasing awareness of being able to guard units separately with what a Quintet Wall calls has also diminished Knuckle Buster's impact. So while highly effective at devastating the opponent's field in most scenarios, the deck's progress has been stymied by the format's defensive options.

The contestants notably did not display the kind of strict fight manners Bushiroad has become infamous for in the west. While there are countless horror stories told over American judges handing out game losses for not placing drive checked cards in the trigger zone, Hiroki and Kenjun both fell back on the commonplace habit of drive checking onto the fight table.

Fighter's Road 2014 National Championship, Open Division
National Champion: Hayashi Hiroki/林大貴
Grade 0
x2 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer  HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x4 Knight of the Future, Llew CT
Grade 1
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x1 Glynngal Seeker
x2 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 2
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
x3 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x4 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackrt
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”

Runner-up: Hayashida Kenjun/林田健順
Grade 0
x1 Star-vader, World Line Dragon (FV)
x4 Star-vader, Pixie Powder HT
x3 Star-vader, Jailer Tail DT
x4 Vortex Star-vader, Molybdenum DT
x4 Star-vader, Apollo Nail Dragon CT
x1 Star-vader, Spark Doll CT
Grade 1
x4 Barrier Star-vader, Promethium
x4 Taboo Star-vader, Rubidium
x4 Star-vader, Ruin Magician
Grade 2
x2 Companion Star-vader, Photon
x3 Star-vader, Colony Maker
x2 Star-vader, Magnet Hollow
Grade 3
x3 Star-vader, “Ω” Glendios
x4 Star-vader, “Я” Cradle
x1 Blue Storm Karma Dragon, Maelstrom “Я”
x1 Covert Demonic Dragon, Hyakki Vogue “Я”
x1 Cleanup Celestial, Ramiel “Я”
x1 Ice Prison Hades Emperor, Cocytus “Я”
x1 Dauntless Dominate Dragon “Я”
x1 Demon God Marquis, Amon “Я”
x1 Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon “Я”

Third place: Itou Tatsuya/伊藤竜也
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FV)
x4 Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle HT
x1 Brawler, Heavy Trailer Dragon DT
x4 Brawler, Dokouson DT
x1 Brawler of Heavens, Youzen CT
x2 Brawler, Plasma Kid Dragon CT
x4 Malevolent Djinn CT
Grade 1
x3 Wyvern Guard, Guld
x1 Hardship Brawler, Toshu
x4 Tonfa Wielding Brawler, Aak
x2 Threatening Brawler, Koumei
x4 Rising Phoenix
Grade 2
x4 Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster
x2 Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon
x3 Brawler, Wild Fist Dragon
x2 Dragonic Deathscythe
Grade 3
x4 Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster
x4 Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon

Fourth place: Hirano Masayoshi/平野誠祥
Grade 0
x3 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer  HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
Grade 1
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x2 Witch of Nostrum, Arianrhod
Grade 2
x1 Blaster Blade Spirit
x4 Blaster Blade, Seeker
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”

News: Thing Saver-“Abyss” Tops Five Consecutive Tournaments, FC2014 to Implement Extreme Fight Rules

Note: Due to the length of the following article and volume of information to be covered, only the first place decklists in today's tournaments are given in full.
Bushiroad of Japan announced last Friday that the upcoming Fighter's Climax 2014 winter national tournament will implement Extreme Fight Rules for one of its sub-events, providing an alternative play environment to the current form of competition. Unlike with standard rules, EFR promotes open use of all cards belonging to all clans within one deck, with no restrictions on clan-related trigger activation conditions or skills. The Lord skill, which was once used to prevent the mixing of clans within one deck, is ignored in this format, as are the Fighter's Rules and restricted list. The implementation of EFR in FC2014 was made in light of the release of Extra Boosters 10 and 11, which each promote synergy between the Shadow Paladin and Genesis clans through sharing cards which bear the "Witch" subclan. The winter tournament will also see the revival of the Open class division for the VF Koushien team tournament series, meaning that there will once again be two separate classes of age-based participation for triples competition.

Bushiroad further announced that stocks of the recently-released VG-BT17: Blazing Perdition are completely sold out in Japan, necessitating another print run to meet up with demand.

Meanwhile the weekend of August 10th quickly became the one of the busiest for Japan's underground tournament scene, with six simultaneous competitions taking place at Kanazawa, Nagoya, Chiba city, Minamikoshigaya, Tachikawa city and in Fukuoka prefecture. Of these the Kin no Shacchi CS became the first competition that the newly-released Perdition Dragons topped in, while the results of the remaining tournaments border on a caricature of current Japanese tournament play; cardfighters playing Thing Saver-“Abyss” took first place in five large simultaneous tournaments. This sweeping success has led to more intense criticism of Bushiroad's newest restricted list, which saw the restriction of Cat Butler to two copies per deck but did nothing to obstruct Thing Saver-“Abyss” decks. A comparative table of the tournaments and their results is given below.

A poster for the Hyakumangoku CS (displayed above) provided a prescient commentary on tournament play, satirizing several of the important cards of the current format. Cat Butler and Miss Mist look down on the current Legion decks, while Revenger Phantom Blaster “Abyss” and Seeker Thing Saver Dragon paired together with their Legion Mates stand on Butler's platter; Star-vader “Ω” Glendios is being pulled up by Rubidium, while Dragonic Nouvelle Vague falls off of the platform alongside Duo Temptation Reit.

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.

Kanazawa - Hyakumangoku CS/百万石CS
First place: Fujimaru playing Thing Saver-“Abyss.” Fujibaru's TSA was the five grade 3 variant
Second place: Gray playing Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Third place: Burst with Thing Saver-Sacred Wingal
Fourth place: Kae with Thing Saver-Light Saver Dragon
The Hyakumangoku CS had 53 participants, and five Swiss rounds followed by a cut to top 8 for the four-round finals. A video of the finals taken from a viewer's iPhone was livestreamed to the Twitcasting mobile video service, but there is no public recording of it. In order to prevent the kind of Legion-based mixing seen at the Fourth Laketown VGCS, Hyakumangoku's tournament organizers implemented Bushiroad's Clan Fight rules, restricting each participant to playing only a single declared clan, except for Royal Paladin fighters who are permitted to use up to 10 Shadow Paladin cards due to a loophole based on Majesty Lord Blaster's deck requirements.

One of the reasons “Abyss” has proven so successful in the deck is because of its role as an opening grade 3 ride. This helps build soul for Thing Saver because both parts of a Legion will move into the soul on-ride, which makes it easier for TSD to restand multiple times while “Abyss” becomes an earlier restand fueled by Mackart and Dark Bond Trumpeter. Although pure Seeker cardfighters have persevered, either sticking to their guns with Sacred Wingal as their supporting grade 3 or by experimenting with the new Light Saver Legion, at this particular tournament they were outnumbered by their Thing Saver-“Abyss” counterparts 8-4. TSA has supplanted actual TS as the definitive Royal Paladin deck of this format.

Clan breakdown
12 Royal Paladin (8 Thing Saver 4 Thing Saver-“Abyss”)
7 Shadow Paladin (6 Revenger 1 Witch)
6 Nova Grappler (Raizer)
5 Link Joker (1 Chaos Breaker-Dark Zodiac, 1 Chaos Breaker-Garnet Star, 1 Imaginary Plane-Garnet Star 1 Imaginary Plane-Dark Zodiac)
4 Brawler (3 Big Bang 1 Shotgun)
4 Regalia (Yggdrasil)
3 Bermuda Triangle
3 Oracle Think Tank (Battle Sister)
3 Gold Paladin (Liberator)
2 Aqua Force
1 Tachikaze
1 Kagerou (Perdition Dragon)
1 Great Nature
1 Granblue

Fujimaru's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer  HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x3 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x1 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x1 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
x1 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter
x1 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x3 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
x1 Knight of Loyalty, Bedivere
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”

Nagoya - Kin no Shacchi VGCS/金ノ鯱VGCS
First place: Veronica with Perdition Dragons
Second place: Shokushu with Cat Butler Raizers
Third place: Sawa with Thing-Saver “Abyss”
Fourth place: Mirutae with Seekers
The Kin no Sacchi championship had 42 participants, and is the first victory for Perdition Dragons in the BT17-on format. Tournament champion Veronica's Perditions show many of the same bases and strategies as Nouvelle Vague and Dauntless Dominate from the Link Joker era. This lends credence to the Perditions as not just one of the next major subclans, but also as the next major Kagerou deck as a whole. Further down at the Chiba Brave Cup a similar Perdition deck that integrated Nouvelle support topped on the same principles. Veronica's Perditions display the aggression and control focus of DNV; Menace Laser Dragon fills the role that Nouvellecritic once did, while Bellicosity and Berserk Dragon are retained in their old roles. The deck even makes use of Dauntless Drive rather than Pain Laser, the intended supporting grade 3 from BT17. A breakdown of participating fighters' decks is not available.

Veronica's Perdition
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x4 Dragon Dancer, Barbara HT
x4 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x2 Perdition Spirit, Flare Looper DT
x4 Perdition Dragon, Buster Rain Dragon CT
x2 Blue-ray Dracokid CT
Grade 1
x4 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x2 Perdition Dragon Knight, Sheer
x4 Perdition Dragon, Rampart Dragon
x3 Calamity Tower Wyvern
Grade 2
x4 Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon
x3 Perdition Dragon, Menace Laser Dragon
x3 Bellicosity Dragon
x2 Berserk Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Perdition Dragon, Vortex Dragonute
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon

Chiba City - First VG Chiba Brave Cup/第一回千葉ぶれいぶ杯
First place: Tsukishiro with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Second place: Asano with Vortex Dragonewt-Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
Third place: Kitsunemaru with Regalia
Fourth place: Tatara with Thing Saver
At Chiba there were 92 participants, with TSA and Vortex Dragonewt-DNV in first and second. Asano's Nouvelle deck played three copies of both Dragonic Nouvelle Vague and Vortex Dragonewt, supported by two Dauntless Drive and a playset of Nouvelleroman. Meanwhile Kitsunemaru's Regalia deck ran four of CEO Yggdrasil, three Angelica break rides and two Minerva as a finishing move. Overall the rest of this deck was very similar to the Regalia decks played by Warosu at the third Kansai VGCS, but with a playset of Apple Witch Cider replacing Pure Angel and Ordain Owl in place of Juno.

Clan breakdown
Thing Saver 3
Thing Saver-“Abyss” 11
Brawler 13
Eradicator 1
Vortex-Nouvelle 7
Kagerou (Vortex-Menace Laser) 6
Star-vader 7
Glendios 2
Revenger 8
Regalia 5
Witch 1
Aqua Force 2
Raizer 2
Metalborg 2
Bermuda Triangle 2
Murakumo 2
Granblue 2
Spike Brothers 1
Machining 1
Amaterasu 1

Tsukishiro's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer  HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x3 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x1 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x3 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
x1 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x2 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
x1 Knight of Loyalty, Bedivere
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x2 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”

Minamikoshigaya - Third Beast Deity Cup/第三回獣神杯
First place: Moyashitaro with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Second place: Shiimo with Link Joker
Third Place: Hyoga with Pale Moon
Fourth place: Leviath with Liberator
The Third Beast Deity Cup had 55 participants. Fourth place fighter Leviath played a combination of the new Prominence Core and Percival cards in his Gold Paladin deck. Much of the theorizing surrounding the new Liberators has typically included Monarch Sanctuary Alfred as at least a 2-of, owing to the importance of the Link Joker matchup in the BT17-on format. Instead Leviath limited his use of the old Gold Paladins to grade 1 supporting rearguards with on-call skills that would trigger a cascade of different effects through Prominence and Percival.

Runner-up Shiimo played a fusion of Dark Zodiac and Garnet Star in his Link Joker deck, with Colony Maker, Opener of Dark Gates and Lanthanum as supporting units. Notably, this deck only used a single perfect defense card, running three copies of Link Joker's new Rejection Dragon Quintet Wall in place of additional Promethiums. As the main feature of the deck, Dark Zodiac is noted for his ability to prevent the opponent's cards from unlocking, which is why some fighters have turned to pairing him with Omega Glendios in order to active the World End win condition; getting to the damage level necessary for this usually requires exposing oneself to an unguarded vanguard at some point, hence it has not caught on in Japanese play compared to pairing Zodiac with Garnet Star or Imaginary Plane.

Third place fighter Hyoga's Pale Moon deck was a Cracking Beast Tamer and Miracle Pop build, with vanilla 10000-power units for the rest of the grade 2 lineup. By getting away from the Silver Thorn cards and focusing on his Legion, Hyoga was able to include three copies of Midnight Bunny and Egg Juggler in order to trigger multiple attacks, create pressure lanes and build up card advantage through draw power.

Clan breakdown
14 Royal Paladin (10 Thing Saver-“Abyss” 4 Thing Saver-Sacred Wingal)
5 Gold Paladin (Liberator)
5 Kagerou (Perdition Dragon)
6 Link Joker (Star-vader)
3 Nova Grappler (1 Blau 1 Raizer 1 Asura)
3 Narukami (Brawler)
2 Genesis (Regalia)
4 Shadow Paladin (3 Revenger, 1 Revenger-Gust)
2 Neo Nectar (Musketeers)
2 Pale Moon (1 Silver Thorns 1 Cracking Beast Tamer)
1 Aqua Force (Blue Storm)
1 Tachikaze (Ancient Dragons)
1 Granblue
1 Oracle Think Tank (Battle Sister)
1 Nubatama
4 Not public

Moyashitaro's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer  HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x2 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x4 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”

Tachikawa City - Fifth Tachikawa VGCS/第五回立川VGCS
First place: Healer with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Second place: Tsumayouji with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Third place: Seruru with Revengers
Fourth place: Shirley@YourOrderIsARabbit? with Thing Saver-Brutus
73 participants attended the fifth Tachikawa CS and while Thing Saver-“Abyss” has continued to outshine both actual TS and Phantom Blaster “Abyss” decks, third place fighter Seruru was nonetheless able to make top 4 with an “Abyss” deck of his own. Seruru's Revengers used 4 copies of “Abyss” and 4 Raging Form Dragon, eschewing Masquerade for a grade 2 lineup of Tartu, both Dark Revenger variants and one Mana, which follows the trend set by last months Kansai championship. In a deck where the rearguards largely serve to provide sacrifices for one or two powerful turns with a high-power vanguard lane, independent attackers like Masquerade are not strongly called for because they are not likely to remain on the field for very long.

Clan breakdown
19 Royal Paladin (13 Thing Saver-“Abyss” 6 Other Thing Saver)
10 Kagerou (6 Perdition, 3 Perdition-Nouvelle, 1 Nouvelle)
9 Liberator
7 Shadow Paladin (6 Revenger 1 Witch)
5 Star-vader
4 Narukami (3 Brawler, 1 Eradicator)
4 Great Nature
4 Regalia
3 Nova Grappler (2 Raizer 1 Blau)
2 Musketeers
1 Celestials
1 Dark Irregular
1 Ancient Dragons
1 Battle Sister
1 Blue Storm
1 Metalborg

Healer's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer  HT
x4 Margal DT
x1 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Jewel Knight, Noble Stinger CT
x3 Blazing Jewel Knight, Rachelle CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x4 Pongal
x3 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x1 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
x3 Lake Maiden, Lien
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x4 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x1 Blaster Blade Spirit
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Soul Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”

Fukuoka - Second Kitakyuu VGCS/第二回キタキューVGCS
First place: Seishirou with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Second place: Porakis with Cat Butler Raizers
Third place: Kirisaamen with Thing Saver-Brutus
Fourth place: Mishima Osu with Cat Butler Raizers
Finally, 40 fighters entered the second Kitakyuu CS, with the top 4 being split between Royal Paladin and Nova Grappler decks. One point that Kitakyuu has illustrated is the overall similarities between the major Legion decks of Japanese play, with certain necessities cropping up in each. Card changing grade 1s--primarily clones of Dragon Monk Gojo but with some Emerald Witch cropping up--are now a necessity in most Legion decks, as are at least one or two Quintet Walls. And while the cards are not completely equivalent in comparison, just as Revenger decks have become heavily dependent on Judgebau into double Swordbreakers to soulblast and build up card advantage in the hand, any deck with access to Luck Bird clones (and in Nova Grappler's case, Street Bouncer) is running them near to or maxed. Conversely the 12000-power attackers of last year are diminishing except when called for by a Legion vanguard. The homogeneity of past formats has not disappeared, but has been channeled into different points.

Clan breakdown
7 Royal Plaadin
6 Shadow Plaadin
4 Nova Grappler
3 Narukami
3 Link Joker
3 GOld Pladin
3 Spike Brothers
2 Genesis
2 Dimension Police
2 Neo Nectar
2 Kagerou
1 Pale Moon
1 Bermuda Triangle

Seishirou's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine HT
x4 Margal DT
x1 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x3 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x2 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x2 Glynngal Seeker
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
x1 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x2 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x2 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”