Announcement: Cardfight Pro Live on Patreon, Twitter

Over the past few months, we at Cardfight Pro have increasingly had to face a problem that we would be remiss to ignore. No one should ever be expected to work 48 hours a week and not be paid a living wage for their contributions, but this is exactly the dilemma we have to address. When we started out in 2011 our work was done for free, as a labor of love; but the bar is higher in 2015, and the hours necessary to create quality news are longer. Our goal is to be the NPR of Vanguard. We want to provide the community with a free, nonprofit centralized news source for information about professional level competition in the Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game, and provide support for its burgeoning tournament scene. We also want to be able to pay our writers and contributors a living wage for the work they've done for this community. Working for the good of the community and paying our employees are not mutually exclusive decisions; as part of our solution, we've opened up our Patreon page to public donations. Cardfight Pro will be written for and supported by the public.

Patreon is an efficient system which allows patrons to donate whatever amount they feel the content is worth, or are able to pay. Patrons of Cardfight Pro can donate through a pledge, paying whatever amount they feel comfortable with on a monthly basis. We do not need a tremendous amount of money, nor should anyone feel compelled to donate large sums. If all of our readers donated just $4 a year, our chief editor would make minimum wage. (Note that a pledge can be made for one month only and then canceled later, to make the donation truly one-time.) As Cardfight!! Vanguard continues to grow and Cardfight Pro grows along with it, we will be able to hire more permanent staff, and realize our long-term goal; a print publication available on the magazine racks of retailers and bookstores across the United States. If our campaign is successful, readers will observe an immediate effect of their support--Cardfight Pro will move to a twice-daily schedule, updating in the mornings and evenings every day of the week. As an immediate reward, patrons who pledge $4 or more will be able to suggest articles to be written and published on Cardfight Pro, and all patrons will have the option to receive public acknowledgment (in the form of their name, their username or other preferred identification) at the end of news articles. Business owners that pledge $8 or more will also be able to have their business identified as a source of support, allowing them to advertise their brand on the site. Those who pledge $30 or more will be able to have a strategy or deck analysis article written at their request.

As part of our transparency policy, all funds donated through Patreon will be disclosed annually during our end-of-year reporting in December. Money paid to employees and contributors will be clearly labeled, as will work-related expenses for travel and equipment. At this time it is believed that upwards of 98% of the funds received will go to paying the employees. We have no desire to misuse the funding our supporters provide; Cardfight Pro must match the will of the community as nearly as is possible. Our services will always remain free to the public. No one will be excluded from content based on donating too little or not at all.

Although the bar can always be set higher, Cardfight!! Vanguard is by far one of the best balanced games of its era and we do not want to drop an opportunity to help develop the very special community it is host to. Your donations will enable us to travel nationwide to cover tournaments across the United States, and eventually internationally.

We are also now live on Twitter; follow us @vanguardus

News: Mixed Deletor Chwawos Revealed in Bushiroad's Weekly Information Bulletin

This morning Bushiroad's weekly information bulletin revealed five cards from the upcoming booster set G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon, including a new double rare boss card for the Deletor subclan. Chwawos was preceded by several rearguard support units for the Deletors, as well as two new cards for the Murakumo ninja clan. The broadcast opened with summaries of key episodes from the first two cours of Cardfight!! Vanguard G, followed by a discussion of several upcoming Clan Leader decks designed by Bushiroad's staff and presented by a representative from the research & development team. The Clan Leader decks addressed were Revenger Shadow Paladins, Kaiser Vermillion Narukami, Machining Megacolony and Hyakki Vogue. Doctor O then proceeded with the introductions for several cards from G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon, translated below.


Mixed Deletor, Chwawos
Grade 3/11000 Power/No Shield/Link Joker - Alien/
AUTO: [Counterblast 2 "Deletors," choose two cards from your hand and discard them] When this unit is placed on the vanguard circle, you may pay the cost. If you do, delete all of your opponent's vanguard and choose up to two of their rearguards and lock them.
AUTO (Vanguard circle): When this unit attacks a vanguard, it gets Power +2000 until the end of that battle.

Deriding Deletor, Awiida
Grade 1/7000 Power/5000 Shield/Link Joker - Alien/
AUTO (Rearguard circle): [Soulblast 1] During a battle in which this unit boosts and the attack hits a vanguard, if your opponent's vanguard is deleted you may pay the cost, if you do, draw 1 card.

Clamping Deletor, Edi
Stand Trigger
Grade 0/4000 Power/10000 Shield/Link Joker - Alien/
AUTO: When this unit is called to a rearguard circle, if you have a "Deletor" vanguard, and your opponent's vanguard is deleted, draw a card.

Stealth Beast, Charcoal Fox
Grade 1/7000 Power/5000 Shield/Murakumo - High Beast/
AUTO: Generation break 1: When this unit is called to a rearguard circle, choose up to four of your "Stealth Beast, Charcoal Fox," during this turn, they get Power +2000.

Hanagasa Stealth Rogue, Fujino
Grade 2/9000 Power/5000 Shield/Murakumo - Demon/
AUTO (Rearguard circle): When another of your "Hanagasa Stealth Rogue, Fujino" is called to a rearguard circle, during this turn this unit gets Power +2000 and "AUTO (Rearguard circle): When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, choose a card from your damage zone and turn it face-up."

(Note: hanagasa are a type of traditional flower-adorned straw hat used in Japanese drama and performing arts)

In total the broadcast attracted over fourteen thousand viewers and almost seven thousand comments in fifty minutes. It was not without incident; at one point Doctor O's mic was displaced, temporarily muting him for the viewers. Bushiroad's weekly information bulletins air every Tuesday evening at 8:00 PM Japanese Standard Time. They first began in late January to accommodate a new information distribution model for Cardfight!! Vanguard G, as the amount of card information covered in Monthly Bushiroad magazine decreased and was redirected to other routes of distribution.

News: Phantom Blaster “Diablo” Dominates Fifth Sapporo VGCS

Original image provided by SapporoVGCS

Sapporo Citizens' Hall, Japan. Yesterday morning the fifth Sapporo Vanguard Championship took place, and when the curtain closed on this tournament it cemented “Abyss” Shadow Paladins as the dominant deck of the day. First place at the tournament finals was Igachuu playing Phantom Blaster  “Abyss” with supplementary support from Legend Deck 01: The Dark “Ren Suzugamori.” Second place was Goppii with Thing Saver Dragon, third valdy (sic) and fourth Lelouch, each of them also playing Abyss decks. The tournaments top bracket was made up of veteran professional cardfighters, with Igachuu having also won the fourth Sapporo CS with “Abyss” last November and valdy acting as the midfighter for the team that topped the second Sapporo championship one year ago. However, it's not just the top 4 that was being dominated by Revenger decks; 36% of the participants at Sapporo were playing Shadow Paladin decks, greater than the combined total of Royal and Kagerou cardfighters present. Decklists are provided below.

Although these decks spend a significant portion of their gameplay on either Mordred or Phantom Blaster “Abyss,” the release of the Legend Deck on April 24th has made “Diablo” into the face of the deck. By turning a copy of himself in the generation zone face-up, “Diablo” gains +10000 power +1 critical and an on-attack skill. When he attacks a vanguard, “Diablo” pays a retire 3 cost; and then if the opponent does not retire two of their own rearguards, they cannot call cards from their hand to the guardian circle. This prevents even strategies like using “Ω” Glendios' Rubidium to redirect the attack from working, since that requires a call to the guardian circle to be made. In a pure generation break deck “Diablo's” function would be to force the opponent to both retire their rearguards and drop a perfect defense card, incurring a net -4.

However, in the Revenger deck “Diablo” receives the name of its heart, becoming a Revenger itself and then gaining access to the grade 2s Blaster Dark Revenger and BDR “Abyss.” With Dorint the former Dark Revenger can effectively counterblast 1 to retire a frontrow unit, and Revenger “Abyss” can counterblast 1 to retire a backrow unit. If the opponent only has three rearguards out this prevents the opponent from guarding altogether because they do not have two rearguards to pay the cost. And in a format where Resist is becoming increasingly prevalent, “Diablo” has one more leg up over the competition, because units with Resist cannot be chosen for “Diablo's” on-attack skill. Hence removing enough of the opponent's rearguards that they only have one eligible target in play has become an automatic win condition far more effective than the World End of past formats, as it allows “Diablo” to send the opponent from four to six damage directly.


The result is that “Abyss'” restand is secondary to the twin Blaster Darks' field control skills and “Diablo's” persona generation. In many games, Phantom Blaster “Abyss'” actual skills go unused entirely, and the card becomes purely a target to gain the Revenger name from. Supplementary to “Diablo” is the introduction of Darkheart Trumpeter, whose generation break 1 can search for any grade 1 other than herself as long as the vanguard has Blaster in its card name, and Dark Night Maiden Macha who at generation break 1 can counterblast to search for any grade 1 on-attack as long as she's boosted. Hence Macha can search out Darkheart, who then superior call Black-winged Swordbreaker to draw a card from. Pitch Black Sage Charon is a common tech in these decks, since Charon counts as two units when sacrificed for a Blaster card skill, which helps with the all-important “Diablo” mirror match by ensuring that three cards will be on the field during the opponent's turn. “Diablo” is arguably its own most difficult matchup at this point, as the sacrificial nature of “Abyss” Shadow Paladins helps consolidate cards in hand for defending against Thing Saver, while using the rearguards to pay costs in general prevents Kagerou decks from retiring them.

Many thanks to Siulzen for transcribing the clan distribution below.

Fifth Sapporo VGCS clan distribution (96 participants, 95 listed)
34 Shadow Paladin
15 Royal Paladin
13 Kagero
8 Aqua Force
6 Nova Grappler
5 Great Nature
3 Oracle Think Tank
3 Narukami
2 Nubatama
1 Gold Paladin
1 Spike Brothers
1 Dimension Police
1 Link Joker
1 Bermuda Triangle
1 Pale Moon

Notably, this is the first tournament that Gear Chronicle has completely flatlined in since its introduction; no cardfighters taking part in this month's Sapporo VGCS played Gear Chronicle. This is also the first significant reduction in Royal Paladin play, as at the preceding Phantom CS Thing Saver accounted for 46% of all decks played.

Entry at Sapporo was 1000 yen ($10 approx.) The tournament champion received a New 3DS XL, second place four boxes of VG-G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon, third place two boxes of the same, and fourth place one box. As the set does not come out until the 29th of the month, these boxes are promised to the winners in advance and shipped to them at the release date. The tournament enforced clan fight rules, with a 50 minute time limit and best-of-two rounds; five rounds of Swiss pairings, followed to be a four round cut to top 16. Registration at Sapporo ran from 9:30 AM to 10:15 AM, followed by a fifteen minute opening ceremony, and the tournament proper began at 10:45 AM. A fifteen minute break interrupted each 50-minute round, with the tournament finals beginning at 8:30 PM.

Fifth Sapporo VGCS
First place: Igachuu/イガチュウ
Grade 0
x1 Judgebau Revenger (FV)
x4 Healing Revenger HT
x4 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Grim Revenger CT
x4 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Dark Revenger, Mac Lir
x2 Black-winged Sword Breaker
x2 Darkheart Trumpeter
x2 Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorint
x3 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss” 
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger
x2 Fighting Spirit Revenger, Macart
x3 Dark Night Maiden, Macha
Grade 3
x4 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
x4 Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x1 Rain Element, Madew
x1 True Revenger, Dragruler Revenant
x2 Dark Knight, Grim Recruiter
x4 Dark Dragon, Phantom Blaster “Diablo”

Second place: Goppii/ごっぴー
Grade 0
x1 Dreaming Jewel Knight, Tiffany (FV)
x4 Jewel Knight, Hilmy HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Jewel Knight, Noble Stinger CT
x4 Blazing Jewel Knight, Rachelle CT
Grade 1
x4 Holy Knight Guardian
x4 Laurel Knight, Sicilus
x4 Heat Wind Jewel Knight, Cymbeline
x2 Jewel Knight, Sabremy
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x4 Jewel Knight, Swordmy
x2 Fellowship Jewel Knight, Tracie
x1 Knight of Twin Sword
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x4 Broken Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei “Яeverse”
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x2 Shrouded Divine Knight, Gablade
x4 Holy Dragon, Saint Blow Dragon
x1 Flash Flame Divine Knight, Samuil
x1 Great Sage of Contradiction, Jirron

Third place: valdy
Grade 0
x1 Judgebau Revenger (FV)
x4 Healing Revenger HT
x4 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
x4 Revenger, Wounded Angel CT
Grade 1
x4 Dark Revenger, Mac Lir
x2 Black-winged Sword Breaker
x2 Darkheart Trumpeter
x3 Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorint
x2 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
x1 Pitch Black Sage, Charon
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss” 
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger
x3 Dark Night Maiden, Macha
Grade 3
x4 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
x4 Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x1 Dark Knight, Efnysian
x1 True Revenger, Dragruler Phantom
x2 Dark Knight, Grim Recruiter
x4 Dark Dragon, Phantom Blaster “Diablo”

Fourth place: Lelouch
Grade 0
x1 Judgebau Revenger (FV)
x4 Healing Revenger HT
x4 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Grim Revenger CT
x4 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Young Skull Witch, Nemain
x2 Black-winged Swordbreaker
x2 Darkheart Trumpeter
x3 Barrier Troop Revenger, Dorint
x3 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss” 
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger
x3 Fighting Spirit Revenger, Macart
Grade 3
x4 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
x4 Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom
Grade 4 (Generation Zone)
x4 Dark Dragon, Phantom Blaster “Diablo”
x2 Dark Knight, Grim Recruiter
x1 True Revenger, Dragruler Phantom
x1 Rain Element, Madew

News: Bushiroad Develops "Fight Table G" Electronic Light Display for Standing Fight Tables

Original image and video taken by Keikan & Ruin (軽缶＆ルイン)

At this year's Great Vanguard Festival during the Tokyo Big Sight event from May 24th through the 26th, Bushiroad of Japan displayed an under-development version of the standing fight table popularized by the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime series. While holographic projection of the card game's characters is still a long ways off, the Fight Table G seeks to functionally recognize the faces of licensed Cardfight!! Vanguard trading cards in real time and display their base power, shield value, critical and other key statistics to aid in cardfighting. The system also indicates boost, increases from triggers and attack targets. Previously standing fight tables were wholly decorative electronically-lit playmats, and exclusive to Bushiroad's partner shop Card Kingdom.

Although several companies have produced toys in the likeness of similar systems from other card game franchises like Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Duel Disks, none have ever seriously attempted a professional projection system on this scale before. The G prototype has potential as a semi-portable system for avoiding human error in power and damage calculation, as well as other areas. It could one day be standardized for top 16 at major tournaments, just as the GIAS system is in the world of Cardfight!! Vanguard G. Three videos of the system in demo mode can be viewed below.

Original image by @Ranifuuyuki

Trial decks were used for the demo displays at the Big Sight event, which attending fans could go through a trial run with under the supervision of the event staff. Use of the system requires cards to be either unsleeved or in sleeves recognizable the system. (i.e. sleeves which do not obscure the card faces.) Although the prototype system requires special electronics equipment to compute and project, and stands between both cardfighters, it also projects images of the opponent's frontrow onto each fighter's side of the field to avoid interfering with gameplay. A paper marker on either side of the center is used to indicate to the projector's targeting which of the opponent's units each fighter is attacking, but how this will function with units capable of attacking the backrow is unclear.

The field layout is slightly modified to accommodate the limitations of the system. Since the marker to designate attack targets is in the center where the guardian circle usually lies, the space for the deck is shifted to the right slightly, and the guardian circle moves to where the trigger zone is typically set. When performing stride, the entire field lights up with rainbow colors.

The software appears generally similar to that used in the 3DS games Ride to Victory!! and Lock on Victory!! There are still a lot of questions  regarding the Fight Table G--for example, how it handles changes to power from card skills, skills that activate during the opponent's turn like those of Mandalalord and Shirayuki, and if it can keep track of the number of cards in soul. The most immediately flaw in the system at this time is that it does not support the damage zone. But if the prototype gives any indications for what the future may look like, the Fight Table G could be an exciting addition to tournament play.

News: Voice of Sendou Aichi Yonaga Tsubasa Married

Yonaga Tsubasa

Less than an hour ago professional voice actor and singer Yonaga "Wing" Tsubasa, the man behind the voice of Sendou Aichi, announced his marriage to actress Nishigaki Yuka on Twitter. The announcement surprised many, attracting over fifty thousand retweets within a forty minute period. Just last week Yonaga had been attending the 2015 Great Vanguard Festival.

Nishigaki Yuka

Nishigaki is not a Vanguard-related actress, and has primarily voiced supporting and background characters since 2004; readers may remember her as Kazemaru Ichirouta in Inazuma Eleven. Both actors currently work for Ken Productions. Japanese and international fans alike are congratulating Yonaga on his marriage.

News: Claret Sword, Aurageyser Dragon and Rebel Shadow Paladins Shown in Anime

This morning's Japanese episode of Cardfight!! Vanguard G (ride 27) partially revealed the skills of several upcoming Shadow Paladin cards from G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon, including what may be the titular dragon itself. Used by director Kanzaki Yuuichirou, these Shadow Paladins are comprised of a group of dissenters united under Claret Sword Dragon, who in a short novel published in last month's issue of Monthly Bushiroad magazine challenged Blaster Dark “Diablo” for control of the Shadow Paladin clan. Their skills, as best can be reconstructed from the anime and the existing template for these types of cards, are given below.

As Kanzaki's damage zone was not shown at any point after his initial stride, all counterblast costs are conjectural and are based on comparison with existing cards. (Altomile, Chronojet Dragon, Neon Messiah et al.)

11:00 PM Update: Several summaries of the fight conditions added to and expanded on below.

Black Dragon, Claret Sword Dragon/黒竜クラレットソード・ドラゴン
Grade 3/11000 Power/No Shield
(Vanguard circle): Generation break 2: (Active if you have 2 or more face-up G Units in your vanguard circle or generation zone) Unknown
AUTO (Vanguard circle): [Counterblast 1] During your turn, when your G unit strides, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for one grade 1 or less card, and call it to a rearguard circle.

In the episode, Kanzaki first used Claret Sword's on-stride skill to superior call a Night Sky Eagle from his deck. On his second stride, he used the skill to call a second copy of his first vanguard Daffyd from the deck. It is also possible that Claret gives between +2000 and +6000 power to the unit that he superior calls, because when Kanzaki attacks with Giiva boosted by Eagle (normally a 14000 power column) his opponent guards with a 10000 shield trigger from the hand rather than intercepting. Claret's on-stride may return retired units to the deck; see below.

Sovereign Black Dragon, Aurageyser Dragon/覇道黒竜 オーラガイザー・ドラゴン
Grade 4/15000 Power/No Shield
Stride (Released when both players' vanguards are grade 3 or greater!)-Stride Step-[Choose one or more cards with the sum of their grades being 3 or greater from your hand, and discard them] Stride this card on your vanguard circle from face down.
AUTO (Vanguard circle): [Choose two/one of your rearguards, and retire them] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, until the end of that battle this unit gets Power +10000, search your deck for one/two grade 1 card(s), reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle that deck.

Some Japanese fans have suggested that Aurageyser retires three cards to search for two, rather than retiring two to search for one. One-for-one has also been put forth. In the episode Kanzaki retired a Daffyd to search for two perfect defense cards; based on him then drive checking a Daffyd and superior calling a second one on his next turn, 2critical theorized a card recycling skill attached to Claret's on-stride effects, but this could also be part of Daffyd's skills or even Aurageyser's. Searching for two perfect defense cards may have actually been the result of multiple skills (both Auragesyer's and Daffyd's) being used in succession. (An animation error showed the Daffyd he drove check being on the field during the activation of Claret Sword's skill during his next turn, but immediately before this the field was empty, and subsequent call animations showed Daffyd being called behind a Night Sky Eagle.)

Knight of ???, Daffyd/☓☓の騎士ダフィド 
AUTO:Forerunner (When a unit of the same clan rides this unit, you may call this unit to a rearguard circle) 
AUTO?: [Generation break 1]:

• Daffyd's skill may be either a generation break version of Pitch Black Sage Charon's skill or an on-retire search for a grade 1 card.
• May involve a self-cycling effect that returns Daffyd to the deck; after Daffyd was retired, another copy was drive checked by Kanzaki (manually called on the next turn), and yet another Daffyd was superior called on the next turn.

Knight of Contempt, Giiva/黙殺の騎士ギーヴァ
Grade 2/7000 Power/5000 Shield
AUTO: [Generation break 1] [Choose a card from your hand, and discard it.] When this unit is called to a rearguard circle, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw 2 cards.

• Kanzaki called Giiva on his grade 2 turn as well, but his hand size matches being unable to use the skill due to not being at generation break.

Night Sky Eagle/ナイトスカイ・イーグル
Grade 1/7000 Power/5000 Shield
AUTO: [Generation break 1] [Choose one of your rearguards, and retire it] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, this unit gets Power +4000 until the end of that battle.

• During Kanzaki's final turn of the episode, Eagle was able to attack for 16000 power with Daffyd as its booster, and that Kanzaki's opponent guarded with two separate 5000 shield units.
• A Night Sky Eagle on Kanzaki's left side of the field was retired by Parititan's on-stride skill.

Name Unknown
Grade 1/6000 Power/5000 Shield
CONT: Sentinel (You may only have up to four cards with "CONT: Sentinel" in a deck)
AUTO: [Choose a card from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on the guardian circle from hand, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your vanguards that is being attacked, and that unit cannot be hit until end of that battle. Then, if you have a card with the same name in your drop zone, choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up.

• Two copies were searched by some combination of Aurageyser and Daffyd.

Knight of ???, Matholwch/☓☓の騎士マソルフ
Grade 1/8000 Power/5000 Shield

White Eagle Knight, Gwawl/白鷲の騎士 グワウル
Grade 2/10000 Power/5000 Shield

Yesterday's Card Analysis: Abhorrent One, Gilles des Rais

"Behold, all the evil in this world stands there before you."

Friday's Japanese card of the day is a superpredator among vampires who stands apart from the infighting of Dark Zone's noble houses, the Abhorrent One. A triple rare stride for Dark Irregulars from G-BT03: Sovereign Star Dragon, the Abhorrent One is a lethal finishing move that rewards cardfighters for building up their soul in a way that surpasses all of the clan's past boss cards. Be sure to read his card lore at Arkadiaworks.

ACT (Vanguard circle): Once per turn: [Choose a face down card named “Abhorrent One, Gilles des Rais” in your generation zone, turn it face up] If the number of cards in your soul is 10 or more, this unit gets Power +10000 until end of turn. Then, if the number of cards in your soul is 15 or more, until end of turn, this unit gets "AUTO (Vanguard circle): When this unit attacks a vanguard, until end of that battle, your opponent cannot call grade 1 or greater units from hand to the guardian circle." If the number of face up cards in your generation zone is two or more, this unit gets Critical +1 until end of turn.

While past cards from the House of Amon series have advanced a center lane-strategy that uses the soul as a threshold to increase the vanguard's power and critical by, and the mutant Fighter's Collection 2014 unit Echo of Nemesis controlled the cards the opponent could guard with, the Abhorrent One unites these two ideas into a single killing blow. Several conditional factors ensure that the Abhorrent One can do progressively more damage to the opponent's resources the longer the game goes on; if the number of cards in the soul is ten or greater, the Abhorrent One's power increases by 10000. If the soul count reaches fifteen or greater, the opponent cannot guard with grade 1 or greater cards, negating the benefits of perfect defense and quintet wall skills. Finally, if there are two or more face-up cards in the generation zone, his critical increases by one--factor in triple drive and you have a surefire killing blow that will send the opponent from four to six damage immediately. With his power bonus and a booster with a base power of at least 7000, at fifteen or greater soul the Abhorrent One will attack for 43000 power, demanding 50000 shield to guarantee a block. That's approximately one-third the shield your opponent will have available to them in their entire deck with grade 1 and greater cards invalidated.

As a stride, one of the benefits the Abhorrent One enjoys is taking on the name of the grade 3 used as his heart card. Thus by striding over a unit that belongs to the House of Amon, like Demon World Marquis Amon or his legion revival Astaroth, it becomes possible to use Amon-series support with the Abhorrent One. This makes it easy to reach the requisite soul count using Hell's Draw and Hell's Deal to soulcharge 2 on-call for each, but more importantly it also allows you to take advantage of the new Amon support units introduced in Sovereign Star Dragon. The subclan's new first vanguard, Barmaid Grace, is especially relevant to the Abhorrent One. By resting her and paying counterblast 1, you can use Grace to soulcharge 2 and give your vanguard a continuous +1000 power for every card in the soul; with exactly fifteen cards in the soul, the Abhorrent One will reaches 58000 power after boosting, raising the threshold to guard him by one-tenth of the total grade 0 shield in the deck.

Running the Abhorrent One in Amon is not your only option. When using him in pure Dark Irregulars, you can benefit from their breakstride Charharlot Vampir, as well as an existing FVG from BT07: Rampage of the Beast King. Greedy Hand is an old hat combo for veteran Dark Irregulars cardfighters; the idea is that you use his counterblast 1 to put him into the soul and search the deck for Dimension Creeper (Binding Force of the Black Rings) to soulblast itself and soulcharge 2. This is a net -1 in card advantage, but with Charharlot's on-stride soulcharge 2 and additional soulcharges from the promotional card Flying Librarian, it helps expedite the initial buildup to 15 soul. A playset of Dimension Creeper can come in handy, since it allows you to effectively soulcharge an additional card every time you get Creeper into the soul, and unlike the Hell's series Creeper doesn't require you to have any specific cards in hand.

The chief difficulty behind the Abhorrent One is that his soul threshold is so much higher than what was once the standard for Dark Irregulars. Years ago it was feasible to stop soulcharging at as low as six or eight cards, and even Astaroth would stay at ten; twenty soul would only be reached very late in the fight. Needing to hit fifteen and have a third of the entire deck in the soul is a very high-maintenance strategy. Without the Amon series soulcharge support, reaching that number is an uphill battle. But the greatest vampire in the world makes it worth the effort invested, as he brings together the best of Dark Irregulars' past boss cards. Where the House of Amon struggles for total dominance of the nation Dark Zone, the Abhorrent One rejects all goals and seeks only to continue destroying, consuming and draining the world of life.