Press Release: Another Cardfight!! Vanguard Expansion Sold Out – Booster Pack Vol. 16 ‘Legion of Dragons & Blades’ ver.E

The following is a press release distributed by Bushiroad USA and may not reflect the views or opinions of Cardfight Pro or its editors.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Another Cardfight!! Vanguard Expansion Sold Out – Booster Pack Vol. 16 ‘Legion of Dragons & Blades’ ver.E

Singapore (January 16, 2015) – More than 950,000 packs were sold in less than one month after the official release of Cardfight!! Vanguard Booster Pack Vol. 16 ‘Legion of Dragons & Blades’ ver.E on December 19, 2014.

This booster pack expansion joins the list of other Cardfight!! Vanguard expansions that were completely sold out within weeks of their release dates. Previous expansions, Extra Booster Pack Vol. 11 ‘Requiem at Dusk’ and Extra Booster Pack Vol. 12 ‘Waltz of the Goddess’, sold more than 600,000 packs over the weekend.

The next expansion, Booster Pack Vol. 17 ‘Blazing Perdition’ ver.E, will hit the shelves from January 23, 2015.

Cardfight!! Vanguard is a popular trading card game developed by Bushiroad Inc. in early 2011. It is currently available in four languages; Japanese, English, Korean and Thai.

Press Release: BT16 ver. E Announced for December Release

In a recent press release, Bushiroad has announced its modified schedule for 2014. Key announcements are the simultaneous release of five products on November 21st, as well as the announcement of the new booster set, BT16 ver. E: Legion of Dragons and Blades. Although billed as an English edition of BT16, ver. E's contents will significantly differ from its Japanese counterpart, including "cards from multiple sets." Scheduled to be released on December 19th, with prerelease events from the 12th through the 14th, ver. E's modification was likely made with respect to the November schedule omitting TD15: Brawler of Friendship.

Based on the delay of Narukami's newest trial deck, the predominant theory at this time is that BT16 Ver. E will drop its Narukami support in favor of a merger with some of the cards from the upcoming Japanese Movie Booster Set, MBT01: Neon Messiah. Following this theory, ver. E would contain the Royal and Gold Paladin cards from MBT01 in place of its Narukami units, which would instead be shifted into a later set.

The current delay of BT16, previously scheduled to take place prior to Fighter's Collection 2014, was likely made to accommodate the mass November release schedule. Much like the multi-set mixup of 2012, the modified schedule will have an intense effect on professional play for the English-language game. The initial delay of BT16 pushes back the two decks popularly held to be the best in the Legion format, Thing Saver Dragon and Cat Butler Raizers, while also giving more opportunity for Genesis and Shadow Paladin cardfighters to build up a presence in tournament play using the new extra booster sets. The full press release is hosted below.

The following is a press release distributed by Bushiroad USA and may not reflect the views or opinions of Cardfight Pro or its editors.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5 English Edition Cardfight!! Vanguard Expansions Mega Release in November
Singapore (September 4, 2014) – Bushiroad announced the simultaneous release of 5 Cardfight!! Vanguard English Edition expansions which will be on sale from November 21, 2014. These expansions include 3 Trial Decks and 2 Extra Booster Packs, in addition to the previously announced special Fighters Collection 2014 expansion set.
Trial Deck Vol. 14 ‘Seeker of Hope’, Trial Deck Vol. 16 ‘Divine Judgment of the Bluish Flames’ and Trial Deck Vol. 17 ‘Will of the Locked Dragon’ will be released on the same date as Extra Booster Pack Vol. 11 ‘Requiem at Dusk’ and Extra Booster Pack Vol. 12 ‘Waltz of the Goddess’.
Bushiroad also announced plans to release an English Edition exclusive expansion which will include cards from multiple sets. This English Edition exclusive expansion, Booster Pack Vol. 16 ver. E ‘Legion of Dragons & Blades’, is scheduled to release in December 19, 2014. The Sneak Preview Events will run from December 12 to 14, 2014.
Trial Deck Vol. 14 ‘Seeker of Hope’ and Trial Deck Vol. 16 ‘Divine Judgment of the Bluish Flames’ features units from the ever-popular <<Royal Paladin>> and <<Gold Paladin>> clan.
Trial Deck Vol. 17 ‘Will of the Locked Dragon’ will contain the quintessential nemesis <<Link Joker>> units.
<<Shadow Paladin>> and <<Genesis>> units will make a comeback with the all-new ‘Legion’ ability in Extra Booster Pack Vol. 11 ‘Requiem at Dusk’ and Extra Booster Pack Vol. 12 ‘Waltz of the Goddess’ respectively.

News: Requiem at Dusk to Introduce "Abyss" Shadow Paladins, Sacred Regalia and Nouvelle Take Spotlight in Vanguard Festival Team Tournament

The latest poster leaks from Japan have named both VG-EB11: Requiem at Dusk's and VG-EB12: Waltz of the Goddess' dual cover cards, hinting at the identities of an anticipated quartet of new units for the Shadow Paladin and Genesis clans. Shadow Paladin's new Legion pair, Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss" (ブラスター・ダーク・撃退者 “Abyss” Burasutaa Daaku Ribenjaa “Abyss”) and Revenger Phantom Blaster "Abyss" (撃退者 ファントム・ブラスター “Abyss” Ribenjaa Fantomu Burasutaa “Abyss”) are named after an epithet for the original Phantom Blaster Dragon, the "Abyssal Dragon" (奈落竜 Narakuryuu also given as "Dragon of Hell.") The Abyss motif had previously been used for the Revengers in TD10 where 奈落の撃退者 was translated as "Purgatory Revenger" and referred to that trial deck's break ride, Mordred Phantom.

With Abyss-specific support expected to come out of the set along with the new Revenger cards, Blaster "Abyss" is currently set up to be the most supported Shadow Paladin boss in the clan's history, drawing simultaneously from four different subclans with its name alone.

A similar poster for EB12 has identified that set's Legion pair as Regalia of Destiny Norn (運命の神器ノルン Unmei no Jingi Norun) and Regalia of the Cosmos CEO Yggdrasil (宇宙の神器CEOユグドラシル Uchuu no Jingi CEO Yugodorashiru.) The paired units draw their origins from Norse mythology, where Norn was the tripartite goddess of fate, and Yggdrasil was the world tree that Norse cosmology was built around. Yggdrasil has been previously named in Genesis' card lores as both the CEO of Genesis and a goddess of Neo Nectar, and has been implied to have some connection to Cray's own world tree.

The character was previously alluded to in Jupiter's card lore and in the November 2013 issue of Monthly Bushiroad, where Yggdrasil was Genesis' CEO and working in secret with Hexagonal Magus, the acting head of Oracle Think Tank during Amaterasu's absence.

In other news, the fan-run Second Petit Vanguard Festival (第二回プチヴァンガ祭 Dai-Ni-Kai Puchi Vanga Matsuri) team tournament has just concluded in Japan, with a team of Sacred Regalia, Monarch Sanctuary-Zenith and Nouvelle Vague cardfighters taking first place. The triples tournament was named after Bushiroad's ongoing Vanguard Festival events, humorously rebranding itself as the "Petit" Festival rather than the official "Great" Festival to distinguish between the two.

Second place went to a team made up of Nouvelle Vague, Gancelot-Holy Shine Dragon and Omega Glendios fighters, with the Glendios fighter focusing on aggressive beatdown tactics rather than on their alternate win condition. The tournament finals were Regalia vs Nouvelle, Liberator vs Liberator and Nouvelle vs Glendios. Decklists are forthcoming. In all the Petit Festival had a turnout of 108 cardfighters divided into 36 teams, and the total deck makeup of the tournament is given below;

The Second Petit Vanguard Festival Clan Breakdown
3 Dragonic Overlord
1 Dauntless Dominate Dragon "Я"
22 Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
8 Shadow Paladin
21 Star-vader, "Omega" Glendios
5 Aqua Force
2 Neo Nectar
15 Bermuda Triangle
10 Gold Paladin
4 Pale Moon
1 Blau
8 Genesis
2 Brawler
5 Seeker
1 Other Royal Paladin

The Second Petit Festival represented the professional debut of Brawler and Seeker decks in Japan, the trial decks for which were just released yesterday. Although BT16 support is still a month away, the Legion abilities of Wingal Seeker and Skyhowl Dragon have proven sufficient to stand on their own in the new format. Notably, there were also no Eradicator decks in the tournament,  and strong support for both Omega Glendios and the new Duo builds as competitors against Nouvelle Vague.

News: Extra Booster 11 "Requiem at Dusk" and Extra Booster 12 "Waltz of the Goddess" to Support Shadow Paladin and Genesis, New Witch Cards to be Introduced

Images circulating on Twitter Japan this morning unveiled the next two extra boosters for the Japanese edition of Cardfight!! Vanguard, VG-EB11: Requiem at Dusk (宵闇の鎮魂歌 Yoiyami no Chinkonka, "Requiem of Twilight") and VG-EB12: Waltz of the Goddess (女神の円舞曲 Megami no Enbukyoku, "Goddess' Waltz.") Stated to provide exclusive support for the Shadow Paladin and Genesis clans, and feature cards used by Suzugamori Ren and Tokura Misaki in the TV anime Cardfight!! Vanguard Legion Mate, the extra boosters are confirmed to support the Revenger and Regalia subclans that were introduced last year. In addition, EB11 will introduce a series of Shadow Paladin "jet-black witch" (漆黒の魔女) cards, while EB12 will introduce "snow-white witches" (純白の魔女) for Genesis.

新たな力、漆黒の【魔女】達を集めて新しくヴァンガードをはじめることもできる！
Aratana chikara, shikkoku no majo-tachi wo atsumete atarashiku Vangaado wo hajimerukoto mo dekiru! 

"By collecting the jet-black "Witches" you can use a new power to begin a new kind of Vanguard!"

EB11 and EB12 will be released on June 20th in Japan. Each set will feature 35 cards, 25 new with 10 reprints (3 RRR, 5 RR, 8 R, and 19 C-rarity cards, with 6 Special Parallels containing only 1 reprint and 2 Legion Rares.) Blaster Dark Revenger is popularly believed to be one of the reprints in the set, with alternate artwork derived of the promotional image seen above, and a Legion marker to allow connectivity with the new boss card. There is also a possibility that he will be modified to be closer to Blaster Blade Seeker in skill. The sets are confirmed to include use the Legion mechanic, as was suggested at a previous press conference.