Press Release: Cardfight!! Vanguard Summer/Winter 2013 Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cardfight!! Vanguard Summer/Winter 2013 Releases

Los Angeles, CA (June 7, 2013) – Bushiroad reveals their English edition Cardfight!! Vanguard releases in the latter half of 2013 with 6 new expansions.

“Extra Booster Pack Vol. 4: Infinite Phantom Legion” and “Extra Booster Pack Vol. 5: Celestial Valkyries” are paired together for release on September 6, 2013. A special combined Sneak Preview Kit will be available to commemorate the release.

“Trial Deck Vol. 8: Liberator of the Sanctuary” and “Trial Deck Vol. 9: Eradicator of the Empire” will be available from October 4, 2013. These new decks provide crucial new units, mechanics and deck-building options for fan favorite clans, Gold Paladin and Narukami.

The “Booster Pack Vol. 10: Triumphant Return of the King of Knights” introduces new Royal Paladin units and a new clan, Genesis, on October 25, 2013. This expansion promises to shake up the meta-game with powerful new mechanics for new players and veterans alike.

“Booster Pack Vol. 11: Seal Dragons Unleashed” brings the Kagero clan back into the scene with new deck-building options on December 13, 2013.

Bushiroad will continue to provide Sneak Preview Kits for Booster Pack and Extra Booster Pack releases with new and exciting promotional items for the international market.

All new expansions are legal for use 1 week after the respective release dates in the upcoming Cardfight!! Vanguard World Championship 2013.

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Cardfight!! Vanguard is a popular trading card game developed by Bushiroad Group Publishing Inc. It is currently available in three languages: Japanese, English and Korean.

In July 2012, the first ever English edition Cardfight!! Vanguard World Championship was announced. Between September and October, national qualifiers were held worldwide across different multiple regions and countries such as Australia, Germany, Japan, Singapore, USA, Mexico and more.

The finalists of each region were invited to the Cardfight!! Vanguard World Championship Grand Final held at Tokyo Dome Hotel on December 9, 2012. The winner of the final was crowned the first ever Cardfight!! Vanguard World Champion.

News: FR2013 Kanazawa Decklists, Aqua Force and Majesty Lord Blaster Sweep Through Team Tournaments

The Fighter's Road 2013 Kanazawa decklists are out, revealing names of the newest emerging pro fighters of this year's national championship. Despite their restriction earlier this year, Eradicators have consistently maintained a steady grip on the Open division as the favorite pro deck of choice, with the Liberator subgroup as their constant rival. While they aren't shining as prominently, Angel Feather's Celestials made it into Kanazawa's best 8, pointing to a more even playing field than the top two results would suggest. The Open division may be business as usual for the Eradicator-Liberator deadlock, but the Junior class tournament is the center of attention for the crossride-centric Dragonic Overlord The End build that has reappeared here after a six month hiatus, this time taking advantage of Corduroy's cheaper cost and a pool of Seal Dragon triggers to make retiring easier on a build that wants to reserve its damage zone for The End's persona blast. The deck is being piloted by Niida Kazuki, a veteran of the 2012 Fighter's Road tournaments who previously used The End. Since that time it's clear that Niida's play style has cultivated in a different direction entirely, turning away form the Burning Horn Dragon that he once ran at four in favor of Corduroy, Berserk Dragon and Bellicosity Dragon's utility skills.

In an interesting twist of history, Eboshida Daito has reappeared in the best 8 for Kanazawa's Juniors division; while Eboshida has never been an especially prominent name among pros, at the game's beginning in late 2011 he was the runner up for the Nagoya Junior regional tournament using a Nova Grappler-Royal Paladin hybrid deck, and was also the runner up in the Kanazawa Junior regional for Fighter's Road 2012. Since 2012 he appears to have settled into Gold Paladin as his clan of choice, this time using a Liberator deck instead of Ezel support. Unfortunately, Eboshida did not place high enough to continue contending for this year's national title.

In VFHS news, teams sporting both Dragonic Descendant and Majesty Lord Blaster are gaining ground as a popular combination. With a modernized, break ride-focused Dragonic Overlord The End filling the third space, Hirayama Ken, Ishida Koudai and Watanabe Shouhei are together making for a dangerous combination of all-star builds, in spite of their neophyte status to the world of pros. The direction of the team is ambitious, but it remains to be see if their combination pays off or if the next wave of strategy pushes back the tide.

The Student-only division has taken a different course, with a tech-heavy Maelstrom deck emerging under the command of up-and-coming fighter Torimi Akitaka. Torimi is of interest due to Aqua Force's overall weaker presence in professional play, as the clan is generally agreed upon as strong but difficult to use compared to contemporaries with a less steep learning curve. As the format up until January was heavily defined by defensive play and base 13000 vanguards that Aqua Force units could generally not target with Diamantes or Basil, and the emphasis on aggressive play has only developed within February-on, Aqua Force fighters have been generally slower to come out of the woodwork.

Open Class Regional Tournament
Regional Champion: Shinohara Shigeki/篠原成貴
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FVG)
x3 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x1 Malevolent Djinn CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Pollux CT
Grade 1
x3 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x3 Iron Blood Eradicator, Shuki
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Sweep Command Dragon

Runner-up: Nakanishi Yuusuke/中西雄亮
Grade 0
x1 Spring Breeze Messenger (FVG)
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Strike Liberator CT
x4 Weapons Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
Grade 1
x2 Liberator, Flare Mane Stallion
x4 Curved Blade Liberator, Josephus
x4 Little Liberator, Marron
x4 Halo Liberator, Mark
Grade 2
x3 Blaster Blade Liberator
x4 Liberator of Silence, Gallatin
x4 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred
x4 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot

Doctor O's Pick: Yoshida Shouji/吉田祥二
Grade 0
x1 First Aid Celestial, Penuel (FVG)
x4 Healing Celestial, Ramiel HT
x4 Celestial, Landing Pegasus DT
x4 Punishment Celestial, Shemhazai CT
x2 Critical Hit Angel CT
x2 Rocket Dash Unicorn CT
Grade 1
x4 Marking Celestial, Arabaki
x4 Underlay Celestial, Hesediel
x1 Order Celestial, Yeqon
x4 Adamantine Celestial, Aniel
Grade 2
x4 Candle Celestial, Sariel
x4 Wildshot Celestial, Raquel
x4 Love Machine Gun, Nociel
Grade 3
x4 Prophecy Celestial, Ramiel
x4 Solidify Celestial, Zerachiel

Junior Class Regional Tournament 
Regional Champion: Niida Kazuki/新井田和輝
Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FVG)
x3 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x1 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
x3 Seal Dragon, Artpitch DT
x4 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
x4 Seal Dragon, Shading HT
x1 Blue-Ray Dracokid CT
Grade 1
x2 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
x4 Seal Dragon, Kersey
x4 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x3 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x1 Flame of Hope, Aermo
Grade 2
x4 Seal Dragon, Hunger Hell Dragon
x4 Seal Dragon, Corduroy
x2 Berserk Dragon
x2 Bellicosity Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord The End
x3 Dragonic Overlord

Runner-up: Takamoto Yutaka/高本豊将
Grade 0
x1 Dreaming Sage, Korron (FVG)
x2 Flame of Victory CT
x4 Silent Punisher CT
x3 Dantengal CT
x2 Loonbau ST
x3 Speeder Hound DT
x4 Elixir Sommelier HT
Grade 1
x2 Little Battler, Tron
x2 Blessing Owl
x2 Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan
x3 Advance of the Black Chains, Kahedin
x3 Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
x2 Disciple of Pain
Grade 2
x2 Master of Pain
x3 Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion
x1 Mage of Calamity, Tripp
x3 Knight of Passion, Bagdemagus
x3 Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
Grade 3
x1 Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel
x2 Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel
x1 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot
x2 Battlefield Storm, Sagramore
x1 Holy Mage, Manawydan

Doctor O's Pick: Eboshida Daito/烏帽子田大翔
Grade 0
x1 Little Battler, Cron (FVG)
x4 Liberator of Hope, Epona CT
x4 Strike Liberator CT
x4 Weapons Liberator, Gwydion DT
x4 Elixir Liberator HT
Grade 1
x2 Silver Fang Witch
x4 Curved Blade Liberator, Josephus
x3 Little Liberator, Marron
x3 Halo Liberator, Mark
x1 Halo Shield, Mark
Grade 2
x4 Liberator of the Flute, Escrad
x1 Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
x4 Liberator of Silence, Gallatin
x3 Liberator of Royalty, Phallon
Grade 3
x4 Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred
x2 Solitary Liberator, Gancelot
x2 Steel Spear Liberator, Bleoberis

Vanguard Fight High School 2013 Summer, Open Class Kanazawa Regional Tournament Championship Team
Hirayama Ken/平山謙
Grade 0
x1 Ambush Dragon Eradicator, Linchu (FVG)
x3 Eradicator, Dragon Mage DT
x1 Malevolent Djinn CT
x4 Demonic Dragon Eradicator, Seiobo HT
x4 Eradicator, Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Eradicator of the Divine Spear, Castor CT
Grade 1
x2 Rising Phoenix
x4 Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld
x4 Eradicator, Demolition Dragon
x4 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
Grade 2
x4 Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon
x3 Dragonic Deathscythe
x4 Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Chou-Ou
Grade 3
x2 Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant
x4 Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon
x2 Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

Ishida Koudai/石田航大
Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FVG)
x2 Dragon Dancer, Monica DT
x4 Embodiment of Spear, Tahr CT
x1 Seal Dragon, Artpitch DT
x4 Seal Dragon, Biera CT
x4 Seal Dragon, Shading HT
x1 Red Gem Carbuncle DT
Grade 1
x4 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
x1 Seal Dragon, Kersey
x4 Seal Dragon, Rinocross
x4 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x1 Flame of Hope, Aermo
Grade 2
x2 Seal Dragon, Hunger Hell Dragon
x4 Dragon Knight, Nehalem
x3 Berserk Dragon
x2 Cross Shot, Garp
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord The End
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon

Watanabe Shouhei/渡辺翔平
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FVG)
x4 Enthusiastic Jewel Knight, Polly HT
x3 Margal DT
x1 Alabaster Owl CT
x4 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
x4 Blazing Jewel Knight, Rachelle CT
Grade 1
x2 Toypugal
x2 Lake Maiden, Lien
x4 Little Sage, Marron
x4 Flashing Jewel Knight, Iseult
x3 Knight of Friendship, Kay
Grade 2
x3 Star Call Trumpeter
x3 Blaster Blade Spirit
x3 Blaster Blade
x4 Blaster Dark
Grade 3
x2 Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes
x2 Majesty Lord Blaster
x1 King of Knights, Alfred

Vanguard Fight High School 2013 Summer, Student-only Class Kanazawa Regional Tournament Championship Team 
Grade 0
x1 Little Witch, LuLu (FVG)
x4 Oracle Guardian, Nike CT
x4 Psychic Bird CT
x4 Battle Sister, Ginger CT
x4 Lozenge Magus HT
Grade 1
x1 Battle Sister, Omelet
x4 Battle Sister, Chocolat
x2 Battle Sister, Cream
x2 Battle Sister, Cocoa
x2 Emerald Witch, LaLa
x4 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
Grade 2
x3 Battle Sister, Tart
x3 Battle Sister, Mocha
x4 Silent Tom
Grade 3
x4 Battle Sister, Cookie
x4 Scarlet Witch, CoCo

Ueki Shun'ya/上木駿矢
Grade 0
x1 Spark Kid Dragoon (FVG)
x4 Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo HT
x3 Mischievous Girl, Kyon-She DT
x4 Yellow Gem Carbuncle CT
x4 Malevolent Djinn CT
x1 Spark Edge Dracokid DT
Grade 1
x2 Eradicator of the Ceremonial Bonfire, Castor
x4 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x2 Photon Bomber Wyvern
x1 Eradicator of the True Flames, Kougaiji
x1 Rising Phoenix
x1 Dragon Monk, Ginkaku
x4 Red River Dragoon
Grade 2
x4 Thunder Storm Dragoon
x4 Dusty Plasma Dragon
x2 Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda
x1 Dragon Dancer, Veronica
Grade 3
x3 Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD"
x4 Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion

Torimi Akitaka/鳥見皓宇
Grade 0
x1 Officer Cadet, Erikk (FVG)
x2 Mass Production Sailor ST
x2 Enemy Seeking Seagull Soldier ST
x3 Dolphin Soldier of High Speeds, Raids ST
x3 Pyroxene Communications Sea Otter Soldier DT
x2 Supersonic Sailor CT
x4 Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir HT
Grade 1
x2 Tear Knight, Theo
x4 Emerald Shield, Paschalis
x2 Battle Siren, Dorothea
x2 Flash Signal Light Penguin Soldier
x3 Shortstop Brave Shooter
Grade 2
x4 Tear Knight, Lazarus
x2 Storm Rider, Basil
x3 Twin Strike Brave Shooter
x2 Veteran Strategic Commander
Grade 3
x4 Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom
x1 Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom
x1 Last Card, Revonn
x3 Storm Rider, Diamantes

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: Kaden Kawakami's National Championship Decklist Leaked

Reigning national champion Kaden Kawakami's decklist has gotten out to the public before Bushiroad USA could publish it on the official portal, breaking the otherwise-tight media blackout that has dominated the Challenge Cup since its opening rounds. In a video interview Kawakami has lain out his entire deck card by card, putting to rest a number of rumors surrounding its makeup. Although some controversy has arisen over Kawakami having possibly emulated a build that he had seen in his local tournaments, the national champion later clarified through Facebook that he had co-developed it with a friend, a situation similar to Smith and Bastianelli's teamwork on the previous championship's Spectral Duke Dragon deck.

Grade 0
x1 Lizard Soldier, Conroe (FVG)
x4 Dragon Monk, Genjo HT
x4 Flame Seed Salamander ST
x2 Lizard Soldier, Gan-Lu ST
x4 Gatling Claw Dragon DT
x2 Dragon Dancer, Monica DT
Grade 1
x3 Wyvern Guard, Barri
x4 Embodiment of Armor, Bahr
x3 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x2 Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimanra
x1 Heatnail Salamander
x1 Flame of Hope, Aermo
Grade 2
x4 Burning Horn Dragon
x3 Cross Shot, Garp
x1 Dragon Knight, Nehalem
x2 Bellicosity Dragon
x2 Wyvern Strike, Tejas
Grade 3
x4 Dragonic Overlord The End
x3 Dragonic Overlord

Probably the most noted feature of the deck is its six stand triggers, previously rumored to be as high as seven or eight, and the absence of critical triggers. While one of Dragonic Overlord The End's strongest features is his ability to multiply the effects of a critical trigger by standing after checking one, Kawakami recognized The End's strategic value as a vanguard whose attack would never be allowed to hit, and instead reinforced his rearguard attacks with stand triggers, taking advantage of Burning Horn Dragon's power-gain skill in the process while also using Flame Seed Salamander's skill to reduce the total number of cards in play, recycling his stands for better rearguard offenses while making it increasingly more difficult for the opponent to defend against The End as the game went on.

News: FR2013 Kanazawa Results, Dragonic Overlord and Ezel Return to the Fore

Even though the world of North American Cardfight is currently caught up in the crowning of Kaden Kawakami, the world outside is still turning. While Kawakami was receiving his trophy, the next branch of Fighter's Road 2013 was taking place, and Doctor O has the scoop.

In the Juniors' division, Dragonic Overlord The End is picking up steam after its mild success in Kyoto's best 8. First place was taken by a The End cardfighter, although currently it is reported to not use the Dauntless Drive support that has drawn so much professional attention. Second place went to a Gold Paladin cardfighter using an Ezel build, suspected to specifically focus on the Platina Ezel crossride and his ultimate break. The Open division remains consistently dominated by the Eradicators even in their restricted incarnation, with Gauntlet Buster Dragon taking the top spot, and a Gold Paladin Liberator build placing second.  The disparity between the results of Junior class and Open class tournaments through this current season has been noted, as previous tournaments under the Junior and Senior models were relatively uniform when it came to which decks dominated the competition. While on the surface, the Eradicator and Liberator decks appear to be the defining builds of the format, this disparity between divisions may be a sign of a lack of consensus. Neither build has been as prolific as The End or Soul Saver Dragon from 2012 and 2011.

Based on Bushiroad's previous schedule, tournament decklists should go out within the next few days. The remaining five tournaments will take place in Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagoya with the Hiroshima tournament being next in line on the 16th. This will be the first time that Fukuoka prefecture has been included in the national tournament, and also the first time that Okayama, Hakata and Osaka will not be participating.

News: Kaden Kawakami Crowned Next National Champion

Original photo taken by Brandon Smith, used with permission.

After three months of fierce competition, the Stand Up Challenge Cup has come to a close with the coronation of the second North American national champion, succeeding Brandon Smith's seven month reign. Crowned at Champion's Gate, Florida, Kawakami is taking home the crystal cup with a radical Dragonic Overlord The End build that has drawn attention for running no critical triggers, instead filling out the space with seven stands and five draw triggers. The End has defined much of English Cardfight's professional play since February, but what sealed the tournament for Kawakami was the enhanced rearguard pressure of his deck, extending outside of his strong center line.

The runner up for the national title is John Muir, who used a Gold Paladin deck combining Incandescent Lion Blond Ezel and Great Silver Wolf Garmore. Within the best 8 were five The End cardfighters, Muir's Gold Paladin build, one Majesty Lord Blaster cardfighter and one Great Daiyusha cardfighter. The End having a greater presence is surprising to some due to Majesty Lord's firm dominance over him in the Japanese scene, but the Blaster deck as a whole has been noted to have a much lower overall presence within the North American play. Its unpopularity is generally attributed to North American fighters preferring The End's card advantage compared to Lord Blaster's static critical, and also to general overexposure among American cardfighters to The End from studying top Japanese decks.

With the Challenge Cup having come to a close, the last tournament to be resolved before the next World Championships will be the Team League 2013. The North American branch of the League will be concluded on July 14th, aboard the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. The Asian League will finish on July 7th at the Suntec City Convention Center, Singapore, and the European League on July 27th at Thistle Barbican in London.

Kagerou Extra Study Material: Seal Dragon, Blockade

Photo by rawritzrichii, not to be reposted elsewhere without the original photographer's express permission.

Within Kagerou, there exist certain dragons that have been sealed away by the Dragon Emperor for their crimes. These criminals, normally housed in the underground Magma Prison, have been granted parole in a controversial mass counterattack against the invasion of Link Joker. BT11: Seal Dragons Unleashed discharges fourteen of their number, and while it will take skilled play for Kagerou cardfighters to properly break their seals, those very imprisoning mechanisms can also be used to enhance the fighting power of a Seal Dragon deck.

The subgroup's first vanguard is Seal Dragon, Terrycloth. Once a revolutionary that rebelled against the empire, Terrycloth in his sealed form has had his body and magic rewound three thousand years. While that seal is in theory indefinite and meant to assist a life sentence, Terrycloth still has access to some of his magical power. His especial counterblast soulcharges himself, then retires an opponent's rearguard; the opponent can then look at up to four cards from the top of their deck and superior call 1. Note that even if the opponent chooses to look at up to zero, they still have to shuffle their deck, so this ruins the deck stacking strategies of Tsukuyomi and Mandalalord.

Also note that Terrycloth is the key to a specific Seal Dragon combo. The majority of Seal Dragons specialize in retiring grade 2 units for cheaper costs than standard Kagerou cards would pay to retire any unit, attempting to pay less and then gamble that the opponent does not get a different grade 2 off the top of their deck. However, Terrycloth can retire any unit, allowing you to force the opponent to replace a grade 0 or 1 in a boosting position with a grade 2, which locks up their field. Furthermore, the Vanishing Field skill of this deck's key card prevents the opponent from intercepting, which completes the lock by forcing them to guarantee you a cheap retire by removing the grade 2 that your skill called.

The point to be wary about with Seal Dragon retire skills is that they will also activate "when this unit is called" autoskills; so you could for example, end up superior calling a Blaster Blade that then retires one of your units, or a Nemain that reinforces the opponent's hand, or even end up helping the opponent to superior ride on your turn by calling a Lop Ear Shooter that they then combo with Pellinore. There's a lot of risk involved with sealed magic, and part of the reason that the magic of these cards is forbidden in the first place is because it operates in a completely different way from every other skill type in the game.

To better feed its consistency, the Seal Dragons have imported LaLa's skill for their own purposes. Seal Dragon, Kersey is a base 7000 grade 1 that when called can drop a card from your hand to draw one if the opponent has a grade 2 vanguard or rearguard. This condition plays back into the mechanics of sealed magic, letting you play the same old Kagerou tricks of concealing the cards in your hand by card changing drive checks and searching for key parts of your strategy without having to leave it in the opponent's hands with Aermo or losing out on a booster through Gojo. Kersey is also important as a damage check, as Seal Dragons are reliant on counterblasts of units with "Seal Dragon" in their name to use their skills.

Offensively the Seal Dragons have grade 1 and grade 2 units that match each other's skills, both getting +3000 power on-attack when you have a Seal Dragon vanguard. Flannel and Jakado operate off of 7000 and 9000-power bases, which assists in making flexible 18000-power lines for assailing crossrides as well as forming a 20000 line between Jakado and Bahr for fighting CoCo and contemporary base 10000 vanguards. Note that while this last point is the traditional application of Masquerade copies, BT10, BT11 and DG01 have all reinstated 11000 bases as the competitive power of the format and base 10000 grade 3s are rare. Because of this and the proliferation of subgroups, early game offense is more of a priority and you will likely need Flannel more than you will Jakado.

Corduroy is the star of this build's grade 2s. An insane dragon, Corduroy was dissatisfied with run-of-the-mill dragon magic and turned to investigating the cursed black arts to feed his unending greed. When called or ridden he can counterblast 1 Seal Dragon to retire one of the opponent's rearguards, and from there the skill operates exactly the same as Terrycloth. This is important because while Terrycloth interacts as turning your advantage from +1 to 0 to either give the opponent a -1 or -0 with weaker field setup, which means that at most you can get no card lead out of it and at worst be put behind two cards--even more if the grade 2 the opponent calls retires one of your units--but Corduroy is always a -1 or -0 to the opponent without giving an inherent loss to your own advantage. Mirror matches with him get silly fast though, because you can end up with scenarios where you Corduroy an opponent's rearguard and they respond by Corduroying your Corduroy and you're Corduroying their Corduroy and it goes in a loop until you're both out of Corduroys and counterblast or someone fails to find a grade 2 in the top 4, because neither one of you wants to miss a chance to put the other behind one card.

The vanguard that ties the deck together is Seal Dragon, Blockade. While he only has a 10000 power base in a clan of 11000-power units, Blockade's Vanishing Field stops the opponent from intercepting during your own turn. Blockade is paired with Seal Dragon Chambray as his custom booster. While not strong individually, Chambray is the servant of Blockade whose research serves to fuel control and the expansion of the Vanishing Field, and when he boosts Blockade he can soulblast 1 to give the Seal Dragon an additional +6000 power over Chambray's 4000 base, in the style of Apocalypse Bat. When coupled with the 3 soul from Terrycloth returning below your vanguard, this allows for several turns of a consistent 20000-power line. Unlike Apocalypse however, the Seal Dragons have no Macha to run Chambray as a tech with, so actually getting that line out is much more difficult.

Blockade himself has two forms. In his sealed form the Vanishing Field can only be momentarily expressed, but BT11 finally opens up the ability to unseal the original Sealed Dragon. In his crossridden form as Hellfire Seal Dragon, Blockade Inferno, his cursed magic runs wild and the Vanishing Field with that. Having a continuous 13000 power base for having the original Seal Dragon in the soul means a 21-23000 power line offensively and a defense that shrugs away anything under 18000 power, but thanks to the developments of the format up to Blockade Inferno's release, this is no longer as useful a bonus as it once was. Within the break ride format, where the same setup that is given to crossrides can guarantee +10000 power to the vanguard on multiple turns and similar gains be applied to the rearguards between most clans, where every clan has access to easy 18000+ lines as a matter of course instead of as a special exception, crossride defense is simply not relevant anymore. Most break rides gain +2000 power on-attack while having an 11000 base to work with, which means 23000 with base 10000 boosters that are becoming increasingly common, their subgroup rearguards are base 9000 units that jump up to 12000 on-attack and can go for 18000 with very nearly any grade 1, and as a whole crossrides no longer have an impact.

That said, Blockade Inferno is one of the few units to actively benefit from this mechanic even in the postcrossride era, because his only other skill is a limit break 4. Since this skill isn't accessible until the middle to the end of the game, being able to use Blockade first to lock down those grade 2s on the opponent's field helps pace him and prevent you from overextending yourself too early. Missing the initial form of a limit break crossrides is a critical problem because you are working with an 11000-power vanilla and are completely at the opponent's mercy to activate that unit's skills. The faster pace of the break ride format helps ease the problems associated with this, but because of these characteristics the card is not timeless. Future formats may see the pace cool down once again while continuing to make crossride defense a broken shield, decreasing Inferno's playability.

Blockade Inferno's limit break is to counterblast 2 Seal Dragons, then retire all of the opponent's grade 2 rearguards and get +10000 power until the end of turn. With Bahr, that's a 31000 power line, but the field control is the more important factor here. The setup that has been established thus far is to use Terrycloth and Corduroy to retire the opponent's grade 1 and grade 0 units, replacing them with grade 2s that help lock down the field, then keep them trapped there with Blockade. After crossriding Blockade Inferno, you then take advantage of this through his especial counterblast to destroy those units that you locked into the opponent's field, giving them up to a -3 in a good game and potential field wipe on the extreme end. As a radical evolution of Berserk Dragon's mechanics, this is easily one of the best control skills in Cardfight as a whole and a prime example of how a limit break can be used to its greatest effect. Certain clans like Tachikaze can counteract this strategy by retiring their units on the preceding turns to pay costs, but because the setup is flexible enough to be conducted either throughout the game or on-the-spot by saving Corduroy and Terrycloth for the moments before your limit break it's very difficult to fight back against a skilled Seal Dragon cardfighter.

While Blockade Inferno is the boss card of the Seal Dragon build, it is not the end-all source of the play style's momentum. The deck is very firmly a combo deck that demands both rapid and smart play, defined by how its rearguards work together with the vanguard. Because the counterblasts that the deck is reliant on are all especial counterblasts, finding the right mix of sealed and nonsealed units takes practice and experimentation. The deck has been relatively slow to be adapted by Japanese pros, but in the month since BT11's Japanese release it has already begun to compete at higher levels than The End is capable of.

Two pros use this build.