TD08/TD09/BT10 Updates AKA Power Creep Anyone?

Trial Deck 08

Solitary Liberator, Gancelot

Auto Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have 4 or more damage): When another <Gold Paladin> rides this unit, choose one of your vanguard, it gets power +10000 until end of turn. Choose up to three of your <Gold Paladin> rear-guards, they get power +5000 until end of turn.

Auto [V]: When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets power +2000 until end of battle.

Continuous [V/R]: Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong in the same clanas this unit, this unit cannot attack.

HehehehehehhehEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHOHOHIHIHIHIHIHIHIAEHHAEKJALGKSJDLGKSJDGLKSDJGKLSDKGJLKSDG

Fuck this game.

Trial Deck 09

Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon

[AUTO] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage):When a «Narukami» rides this unit, you may choose one of your opponent's front row rear-guards, and retire it, choose one of your vanguards, and that unit gets [Power]+10000 until end of turn.

[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks, if the number of cards in your opponent's damage zone is three or more, this unit gets [Power]+2000 until end of that battle.

[CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Booster Set 10

Spike Brothers

Bad End Dragger

Auto Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have 4 or more damage): When another <Spike Brothers> rides this unit, choose one of your vanguard, until end of turn, it gets power +10000, and"Auto [R]: When your <Spike Brothers> rear-guard attacks, it gets power +10000 until end of battle, and at the end of the battle, place that unit at the bottom of your deck.".

Auto [V]: When this unit is boosted by a <Spike Brothers>, this unit gets power +2000 until end of battle.

Continuous [V/R]: Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Grateful Catapult

Auto [V] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have 4 or more damage): [Counter Blast(2) & Choose a card in your hand named "Greatful Catapult", and discard it] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to two of your <Spike Brothers> from your deck, call them to open rear-guard circle, and shuffle your deck.

Continuous [V/R]: Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Dudley Mason

Auto [V/R]: [Counter Blast(2) & Choose a <Spike Brothers> from your hand, and put it into soul] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, if you have a <Spike Brothers> vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to one <Spike Brothers> from your deck, call it to an open rear-guard circle, and shuffle your deck.

Dudley Phantom

Auto [R]: During the battle when this unit boosts a <Spike Brothers>, the boosted unit gets power +4000, and at the end of the battle, put this unit at the bottom of your deck.

Cheer Girl, Marilyn (Alt Art)

Continuous: Sentinel (You may only have up to four cards with "Sentinel" in a deck)

Auto: [Choose a <Spike Brothers> from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on the guardian circle, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your <Spike Brothers> that is being attacked, and that unit cannot be hit until end of that battle.

Narukami

Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant

Auto [V] Limit Break 4 (This unit is active if you have 4 or more damage): [Counter Blast(1) & Choose three cards with "Eradicator" in their name from your hand, and discard it] During the battle when this unit attacks, and if that attack does not hit, you may pay the cost. If you do, stand this unit, until end of turn, this unit gets Critical +1 and this ability cannot be used again.
Activate [V]: [Counter Blast(2) - Cards with "Eradicator" in their name] Until end of turn, this unit gets power +5000.
Continuous [V/R]: Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon

Auto [V] Limit Break 4 (This unit is active if you have 4 or more damage): When your card's effect puts any opponent's rear-guards to their drop zone, until end of turn, this unit gets power +3000 and Critical +1.

Activate [V]: [Counter Blast(2) - Cards with "Eradicator" in their name] Choose one of your opponent's front row rear-guard, and retire it.

Continuous [V/R]: Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)

Martial Arts General, Daimu

Auto [V]: At the start of your main phase, Soul Charge(1), until end of turn, this unit gets power +2000.

Activate [V]: [Soul Blast(8) & Counter Blast(5)] For each of your <Narukami> rear-guards, choose one opponent's rear-guard, and retire them.

Eradicator, Strike Dagger Dragon

Auto: Pioneer (When another unit with the same clan rides this unit, you may call this unit to a rear-guard circle)

Activate [R]: [Put this unit into soul & Choose a unit named "Sword Dance Eradicator, Hisen" from your rear-guard circles, and put it into soul] If you have a unit named "Supreme Army Eradicator, Zetan" on your vanguard circle, search your deck for a card named "Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant", ride it, and shuffle your deck.

And of course, the mandatory subpar pity Royal Paladin support:

Blaster Blade Burst

[CONT](VC):Your units cannot boost this unit.

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (2) - «Royal Paladin»] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, increase this unit's power by the total original [Power] of your front row «Royal Paladin» rear-guards until end of that battle.

[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of battle.

[Japan] New Restrictions Placed by Bushiroad + Personal Opinion

New Restrictions

With effect from the 1st of January 2013, for the Japanese version of Cardfight!! Vanguard, the cards highlighted in the following list will be restricted to up to a total of two cards in the deck (including the first vanguard).

New Restriction, Jan 1, 2013

<Royal Paladin>
King of Knights, Alfred
Majesty Lord Blaster
Wingal Brave

<Kagero>
Lizard Soldier, Conroe
Dragonic Overlord the End

<Oracle Think Tank>
Silent Tom
Godhawk, Ichibyoshi
Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

[Example]
OK: King of Knights, Alfred x 2
OK: Majesty Lord Blaster x 1, Wingal Brave x 1
- Total of 2 in a deck, so it’s fine.

Not OK: Majesty Lord Blaster x 2, Wingal Brave x 1
Not OK: Dragonic Overlord the End x 2, Lizard Soldier, Conroe x 1

There are currently no intentions of placing this restriction in the English version of Cardfight!! Vanguard.

Personal Opinion

First, let's make some assumptions:

-Bushiroad is restricting these clans/decks due to their dominance in the Japanese meta.

-Bushiroad wants a more diverse meta, so they restrict cards from these clans/decks.

Now some facts:

-5 new crossrides have just been released in Set 9.

-Bushiroad wants to diversify the meta... by taking away decks from the meta.

This makes no sense to me. By completely making some of the most popular decks unplayable at this time, they're allowing the meta to shift to another 2-3 decks that will completely dominate. Glory Maelstrom and Platinum Ezel to me seem like far and away the better crossrides, with clans that have a fair amount of solid support. In my opinion, Bushiroad are doing the opposite of diversifying the meta. All that will happen is instead of a meta filled with MLB, Dragonic Overlord the End and Tsukuyomi, we will have Glory Maelstrom, Platinum Ezel and maybe Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. They are trading 2-3 decks for 2-3 decks.

What they should have done is nerf (there is a fine line between nerfing, and making unplayable) MLB, Tsukuyomi and Dragonic Overlord the End in order to PERSUADE players into playing something else. This will create an actual diversity of 5-6 decks - those playing the nerfed (yet still playable) old decks and those that decided to play something new. FORCING players into playing something else will do nothing in terms of diversifying the meta in Japan.

My suggestion is that they up the number of allowed cards from those card pools from 2 to 3. This will allow in some level of playability in all the decks, while still bringing them down a notch in terms of dominance. This will give the newer decks a chance to do well against them, once again creating an ACTUAL diversity in the meta.

I sincerely hope that this doesn't happen in the English version of the game.

Royal Paladin 101 - Guide & Discussion

Introduction
Long overdue, I'm finally getting the chance to go over Royal Paladin as a whole. The builds, the cards, their state in the current meta, it's been something that I've been wanting to write for a while, but have been too busy due to school. Now that I find myself with some free time, inspiration and motivation, let's begin!

Note: I will be focussing my discussion around the current English meta.

Royal Paladin have been around since the game's inception. With Set 1 being a good chunk of their current support, they were the most popular and competitive clan right from the start. With cards such as King of Knights Alfred, Blaster Blade and Barcgal it quickly became one of the best decks in the game. In it's current state, Royal Paladin are still known for their nearly unparalleled consistency and easy ability to create high powered rearguard columns due to Swordsman of the Explosive Flames Palamedes. Staples back from Set 1 & 2 are still staples today, which include Soul Saver Dragon. Unfortunately they have been overshadowed and overlooked by their golden counterparts - Gold Paladin, which had their fair share of strong support in their debut Set. Even so, Royal Paladin still remains to be relatively popular with new and old players alike - even more so with the upcoming release of Set 5, and their flagship Grade 3 - Majesty Lord Blaster.

The Builds
With it's abundant support, it is only natural that multiple builds be available for Royal Paladin. There are currently 4 competitive builds that are, or will be in the near future, available to Royal Paladin players.

Alfred Beat/Toolbox
The classic. Alfred Beat or Alfred Toolbox is one of the best decks in the game. It has won it's fair amount of tournaments in Japan, including the Japanese National Tournament this year. The deck revolves around riding King of Knights Alfred, tutoring cards to the field with cards such as High Dog Breeder Akane and King of Knights Alfred himself. The "beat" part of the deck is supplied by none other than Swordsman of the Explosive Flames Palamedes due to it's ability to create 20k-22k columns instantly. Advantage is created by using tutoring effects, and using Palamedes to quickly deplete your opponent's hand. The trigger line-up can play an important role too, as many players prefer the 12 Criticals approach to the deck. This leads to more damage faster, at a cost of having no beneficial damage checks, other than heals. Simple, straightforward and damn good. Disadvantages to the deck includes it's relatively high price, 10k Vanguard and lack of a game-pusher in the late game. If consistency is the name of the game, this deck is the deck for you.

Galahad Ride Chain
The only ride chain available to Royal Paladin, some people prefer to take this route. With a Tsukuyomi-esque ride chain, the Grade 0, Drangal checks the top five cards for the Grade 1, Knight of Quests Galahad, the Grade 1 for the Grade 2, Knight of Tribulations Galahad, and finally the Grade 2 for the Grade 3, Knight of Godly Speed Galahad. Once you get six or more cards into your soul, you may activate Godly Speed's effect: Counterblast 2, and until the end of the turn it gains +3k power and 1 Critical. As of now, most players that play the Galahad ride chain choose to skip the Grade 3 altogether, deciding to save the counterblast use to something else such as High Dog Breeder Akane, Blaster Blade or King of Knights Alfred. With the ride chain, you are able to potentially +2 from being able to ride a card from your deck instead of your hand - conserving your hand for rearguard prescence. Disadvantages include having to cut some key Grade 1's and Grade 2's in order to make room for the Galahad pieces, and if you run the Grade 3, possible inconsistency if the ride chain fails, leaving you with a 9k Vanguard. If you like to be wild, tend to be good with ride chains, and have a weird affinity to metrosexual motorcyclists, then maybe this variation is the deck for you.

Snogal Royal Paladin
With Set 4 comes a new line of support for Royal Paladin - the Garmore/Snogal line. Snogal is a Grade 1 6k that gains 1k power for every other Snogal on the field, making it an 8k booster if you have 3 as your backrow. Beast Knight Garmore is an 8k Grade 2, that when called to the field, may search for a Snogal from your deck and superior call it to the field - for the cost of a card from your hand. Fang of Light Garmore is a Grade 3 with a similar effect, who can furthermore gain 1k power for every Bluegal or Snogal on the field, swinging for 21k with 3 Snogal in the backrow. With all this mid-game tutoring power, the deck tends to focus on more of the aggressive side, making 12 Criticals a common choice for triggers. It's also mad consistent, as not being able to get boosters is not a problem since 4-8 cards in your deck can tutor boosters immediately. Disadvantages include vulnerability to removal, due to Snogals getting their power from having more on the field. Weak Rearguards in High Dog Breeder Akane and Beast Knight Garmore are also not great to have to ride, although it is only a temporary weakness. If you like to be aggressive from the get-go, and love dogs, then maybe this is the deck you want.

Majesty Lord Blaster
Finally, one of the most popular decks in Japan, and one of the most-awaited decks in English, Majesty Lord Blaster. When both Blaster Dark and Blaster Blade are in the soul, he gains a permanent 2k power and +1 Critical. Furthermore, if you have both Blaster Blade and Dark out on the field, you can add them both to the soul when you attack to let Majesty Lord Blaster gain 10k power for that turn (and the 2k power, +1 critical if you didn't have Blaster Blade or Dark in soul before the attack). Good card is definitely good. 2 Critical means you're constantly pressuring your opponent to guard, even at 3-4 damage. Not only that, but a 12k permanent Vanguard helps you to defend as well, forcing 17k and 22k Magic Numbers from your opponent. Along with him come a few support cards as well in Set 5, while will be covered later on. If you want to be a boss and get all the women, then this deck is for you.

The Cards
So what cards exactly are available to us? I'm going to go through each of the main cards the clan has to offer, relevant to the builds stated above, along with a blurb at the bottom with some information.

Grade 0

Barcgal - Power 4000/10000 Shield

[AUTO]:When another «Royal Paladin» rides this unit, you may call this card to (RC).

[ACT](RC):[Rest this unit] Search your deck for up to one card named "Future Knight, Llew" or "Flogal", call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.

Good card is good, and banned card is banned. Everyone in Japan wanted to play Royal Paladin and nothing else, so Bushiroad banned this card as a starting Vanguard. For some reason or another, despite not being nearly as popular in English, they did the same for English. Apparently a 5k booster on turn one and a guaranteed Grade 2, (which you'll get 19/20 games anyway) is too broken.

Drangal - Power 5000/10000 Shield

AUTO【V】: At the beginning of your ride phase, look at five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one card named "Knight of Quests, Galahad" from among them, ride it, and put the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order. If you rode, you cannot normal ride during that ride phase.

The next starting Vanguard Royal Paladin got after Barcgal was banned. The starting Vanguard for the Galahad ride chain, use only if you're playing the Galahad ride chain.

Bluegal - Power 4000/10000 Shield

Continuous【R】: During your turn, this unit gains +1000 Power for each other "Bluegal" in your Vanguard or Rearguard Circle.

Auto : When you ride with another 《Royal Paladin》 Unit, you may call this card out to the Rear Guard Circle.

It's supposed to be the starter for a Garmore build, but since there's no way to get rid of it, you'll have to play over it to get all 3 Snogals out on the field. For this reason, this card is best used for Alfred Beat, since you just need it's presence for Alfred to hit 20k Power. This card should only be used between the time that Set 4 is out, but Set 5 isn't.

Wingal Brave - Power 5000/10000 Shield

[AUTO]:When another «Royal Paladin» rides this unit, you may call this card to (RC).

[AUTO](RC):[Put this unit into your soul] When an attack hits during the battle that this unit boosts a card with "Blaster" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one card with "Blaster" in its card name, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.

The card that outclasses Bluegal in every way. This becomes the started in basically every variation of Royal Paladin (except Galahad of course) once Set 5 comes out. 5k Power and a (useful) way of getting rid of it makes it potent in every deck. Need a quick booster? Great in Alfred Beat. Need a quick booster that you can get rid of to play Snogals? Great in Garmore/Snogal. Need a way to search out your Blaster units? Best in Majesty Lord Blaster. Use this once Set 5 comes out as soon as possible.

Grade 1

Flash Shield Iseult

[CONT]: Sentinel (You may only have up to four cards with "Sentinel" in a deck)

[AUTO]:[Choose a «Royal Paladin» from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on (GC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your «Royal Paladin», and that unit cannot be hit until end of that battle.

Our Sentinel, or "Perfect Guard". She makes sure that we definitely do not get hit in battle. Used in stopping high-powered attacks that would have otherwise depleted our hand by 2 or more cards. I highly, highly recommend running 4, but some people decide against it for some crazy reason. Run 4 in any build.

Knight of Friendship, Kay

[AUTO](RC):When this unit attacks, if you have a vanguard with "Blaster" in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

Need an attacker in a pinch? Simply move this guy up to a front rearguard circle and swing for 10k. Released in Set 5, this really versatile card does need a Blaster Vanguard, therefore it is best used in Majesty Lord Blaster builds. Run 2-4 in Majesty Lord Blaster builds, 0 in all others.

Lake Maiden Lien

ACT 【V/R】: [Rest this unit & Choose a card from your hand, and discard it] Draw a card.

Most useful in Alfred Beat, since putting it behind Alfred allows you to cycle a card every turn without suffering any consequences for having to Rest it. Run 2-3 in Alfred Beat, 0-2 in all other builds.

Little Sage, Marron

Our 8k vanilla booster. Allows us to hit great numbers with Palamedes and Bediviere, and just simply a staple. Run 4 in all builds except Snogal/Garmore, where 2-4 is enough.

Pongal

ACT](RC):[Counter Blast (1)] & Put this unit into your soul] If you have a «Royal Paladin» vanguard, search your deck for up to one card named "Soul Saver Dragon", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.

Sets up the soul requirement for Soul Saver Dragon's effect while adding it to your hand. Boosts consistency of Grade 3 rides due to its ability to tutor one to your hand. Running this will imply you run Soul Saver Dragons and generally the decks with enough room for it are Snogal/Garmore, Galahad and perhaps Alfred Beat. Run 2-3.

Snogal

Continuous【R】: During your turn, this unit gains +1000 Power for each other "Snogal" on your Vanguard or Rearguard Circle.

Released in Set 4, this card is the focus of any Snogal/Garmore deck. Run 4 in that build, 0 in others.

Toypugal

AUTO【V/R】: When this unit boosts, if the number of grade 3 «Royal Paladin» vanguards and/or rear-guards you have is two or more, this unit gets Power +3000 until end of that battle.

A bit of a controversial card, some say it's not worth running as Marron let's you hit the same level of Magic Numbers. Once crossrides become more common, it'll definitely become more popular. Furthermore, you can tutor it with High Dog Breeder Akane, which is especially useful in Alfred Beat. Run 2-3 in Alfred Beat and Majesty Lord Blaster, 0 in all other builds (Galahad due to space issues).

Grade 2

Blaster Blade

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit is placed on (VC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose an opponent's rear-guard, and retire it.

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit is placed on (RC), if you have a «Royal Paladin» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose an opponent's grade 2 or greater rear-guard, and retire it.

The card that started it all. You think Royal Paladin, you should immediately think of Blaster Blade. Its removal effect is pretty good in the late game, however it's pretty heavy in counterblast. Run 4 in Majesty Lord Blaster, as it's needed for Majesty Lord Blaster's effect and 0-2 in all other builds. But come on, let's face it. It's not a Royal Paladin deck without at least one of this guy in there.

Beast Knight Garmore

[AUTO]:[Choose a «Royal Paladin» from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on (VC) or (RC), if you have a «Royal Paladin» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search from your deck for up to one card named "Snowgal" or "Bluegal", call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.

Used for getting out Snogals as soon as possible in Snogal/Garmore builds. Run 4 in that build and 0 in others.

High Dog Breeder Akane

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit is placed on (VC) or (RC), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one «Royal Paladin» <High Beast>, call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.

I love this card. Allows in tutoring of Snogal, Pongal or Toypugal. Free boosters are always welcome and she's a big factor in why Royal Paladin are so consistent. Run 2-3 in Snogal/Garmore, Alfred Beat and Galahad. You probably won't have space for her in Majesty Lord Blaster due to the Blasters taking up 8 spots already.

Knight of Loyalty, Bedeviere

[AUTO](RC):When this unit attacks, if you have a vanguard with "Blaster" in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

Released in Set 5, Bediviere is a great beater to use in Majesty Lord Blaster (since it requires a Blaster Vanguard). Run 2-3 in Majesty Lord Blaster and 0 in other builds.

Knight of Silence Gallatin/Knight of Determination Lamorak

Our two 10k vanilla beaters. You generally run them as fillers, although I run 6 (3/3 split of each) in my own Alfred Beat deck. The only deck that won't have room for them is Majesty Lord Blaster, once again due to space issues. Run as many as you like!

Starcall Trumpeter

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit is placed on (VC) or (RC), if you have «Royal Paladin» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one grade 2 or less card with "Blaster" in its card name, call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.

Not a fan of this card due to her low power and counterblast use. In my opinion I'd rather she just be the 4th Blasters I'd cut in order to be able to fit her in the first place. She's released in Set 5. Run 0-2 in Majesty Lord Blaster, 0 in other builds.

Grade 3

Alfred Early

AUTO: When this unit is placed on Vanguard Circle, choose up to one card named "Blaster Blade" from your soul, and call it to Rear-guard Circle.

An alright card, can be useful in Majesty Lord Blaster if you had to ride Blaster Blade and want to get it out of the soul to use Majesty Lord Blaster's effect. Run 0-2 in any build, would be best in Majesty Lord Blaster.

Fang of Light Garmore

[CONT](VC): During your turn, this unit gets [Power]+1000 for each unit named "Snogal" and "Bluegal" in your (RC).

[AUTO]:[Choose a «Royal Paladin» from your hand, and discard it] When this unit is placed on (VC) or (RC), if you have a «Royal Paladin» vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, search from your deck for up to one card named "Snogal" or "Bluegal", call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.

To be used in Snogal/Garmore builds obviously. Run 0-3.

Solitary Knight Gancelot

[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (2)] If you have a card named "Blaster Blade" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+5000/[Critical]+1 until end of turn.

[ACT](Hand):[Reveal this card to your opponent, and put it on top of your deck] Search your deck for up to one card named "Blaster Blade", reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.

Great card to tutor Blaster Blade. You generally don't want to ride him due to his low 9k power, restricted effect and subpar effect/counterblast use. As such, he's most useful in Majesty Lord Blaster as a one-of to tutor Blaster Blade to your hand. Run 0-1.

Swordsman of the Explosive Flames Palamedes

[AUTO](VC/RC):When this unit attacks, if the number of grade 3 «Royal Paladin» vanguards and/or rear-guards you have is two or more, this unit gets Power +3000 until end of that battle.

Arguably the best card in the game. It's effect allows you to hit with him for 13k as a rearguard or more importantly, 20k-22k boosted effortlessly. Forces 15k shield from your opponents hand just like that, and it's art is nothing short of amazing. Run 2-4 in all builds, just too good of a card to pass up.

Soul Saver Dragon

AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks a vanguard, this unit gets [Power]+3000 until end of that battle.

[AUTO]:[Soul Blast (5)] When this unit is placed on (VC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to three of your «Royal Paladin» rear-guards, and those units get [Power]+5000 until end of turn.

One of the best game-pushers that Royal Paladin have at its disposal, however due to its 5 soul requirement some builds have harder time setting it up than others. It's tougher in Alfred Beat due to the starting Vanguard coming out of the soul. However, Galahad and Majesty Lord Blaster builds have an easier time due to Galahad keeping the cards in soul after every ride (plus riding the Grade 3 Galahad allows you to soulcharge 2 cards) and Majesty Lord Blaster puts the Blasters into the soul. Be careful though, riding this card requires timing, especially if you want to ride it over Majesty Lord Blaster. Run 0-2.

King of Knights Alfred

[CONT](VC):Your units cannot boost this unit.

[CONT](VC):During your turn, this unit gets [Power]+2000 for each of your «Royal Paladin» rear-guards.

[ACT](VC/RC):[Counter Blast (3)] Search your deck for up to one grade 2 or less «Royal Paladin», call it to (RC), and shuffle your deck.

Ah it's the King of Knights himself. His ability allows you to not have to commit to the Vanguard's backrow since he gains power due to the sheer presence of your cards on the field. His second counterblast ability allows you to call anything from the deck, once again boosting the consistency of the clan. Just a solid card all around, and even in Majesty Lord Blaster, it makes a great backup Vanguard. Run 1-4, depending on the build, with 3-4 in Alfred Beat.

Majesty Lord Blaster

CONT 【V】: If you have a card named "Blaster Blade", and a card named "Blaster Dark" in your soul, this unit gets Power +2000/Critical +1.

AUTO 【V】: [Choose a unit named "Blaster Blade", and a unit named "Blaster Dark" from your Rear-guard Circle, and put them into your soul] When this unit attacks, you may pay the cost. If you do, this unit gets Power +10000 until end of the Battle.

Finally the beast himself. I think I've said enough about him. Good card, run 3-4 in Majesty Lord Blaster builds (duh).

Sample Decks

Here are some sample deck skeletons for each build. These are meant to be merely guides. Make your own card choices dependent on your preference and playstyle. Make the deck your own.

Alfred Beat

Grade 0:

1 Bluegal / Wingal Brave (once Set 5 permits)

16 Triggers (8 Critical/4 Draw/4 Heal is the standard).

Grade 1:

4 Little Sage, Marron

4 Flash Shield Iseult

1-3 Lake Maiden Lien

0-3 Pongal (if running Soul Saver Dragon)

0-3 Toypugal

Grade 2:

0-2 Blaster Blade

1-3 High Dog Breeder Akane

2-6 Knight of Silence Gallatin / Knight of Determination Lamorak

Grade 3:

0-2 Soul Saver Dragon

3-4 King of Knights Alfred

2-4 Swordsman of the Explosive Flames Palamedes

Galahad Ride Chain

Grade 0:

1 Drangal

16 Triggers

Grade 1:

4 Knight of Quests Galahad

4 Little Sage Marron

4 Flash Shield Iseult

0-3 Pongal (if running Soul Saver Dragon)

0-3 Toypugal

0-3 Lake Maiden Lien

Grade 2:

4 Knight of Tribulations Galahad

0-2 High Dog Breeder Akane

0-2 Blaster Blade

2-4 Knight of Silence Gallatin / Knight of Determination Lamorak

Grade 3:

0-4 Knight of Godly Speed Galahad

0-3 King of Knights Alfred

0-2 Soul Saver Dragon

2-3 Swordsman of the Explosive Flames Palamedes

Snogal/Garmore

Grade 0:

1 Bluegal / Wingal Brave (once Set 5 permits)

16 Triggers

Grade 1:

4 Snogal

4 Flash Shield Iseult

2-4 Little Sage Marron

0-3 Toypugal

0-3 Pongal (if running Soul Saver Dragon)

Grade 2:

4 Beast Knight Garmore

2-3 High Dog Breeder Akane

0-2 Blaster Blade

2-4 Knight of Silence Gallatin / Knight of Determination Lamorak

Grade 3:

0-3 Fang of Light Garmore

0-3 King of Knights Alfred

0-2 Soul Saver Dragon

2-3 Swordsman of the Explosive Flames Palamedes

Majesty Lord Blaster (once Set 5 permits)

Grade 0:

1 Wingal Brave

16 Triggers

Grade 1:

4 Flash Shield Iseult

4 Little Sage Marron

0-3 Knight of Friendship Kay

2-3 Toypugal

1-2 Pongal (if running Soul Saver Dragon)

Grade 2:

3-4 Blaster Blade

3-4 Blaster Dark

0-2 Starcall Trumpeter

0-3 Knight of Loyalty Bediviere

Grade 3:

0-1 Alfred Early

0-1 Solitary Knight Gancelot

3-4 Majesty Lord Blaster

2-3 Swordsman of the Explosive Flames Palamedes

0-2 King of Knights Alfred

0-1 Soul Saver Dragon

note: For all decks, the recommended grade ratios are no more than 15 Grade 1's, no more than 12 Grade 2's and no more than 8 Grade 3's.

Conclusion

Royal Paladin are, and will continue to be my absolute favourite clan. They are a strong, competitive and consistent pick in the current meta although they are overshadowed by their golden counterparts due to a lack of recent support. In the Japanese side, Royal Paladin have not received support since Set 5 still, and they're already nearly at Set 9, yet Royal Paladin continue to top in regional and national tournaments there as one of the best supported clans. Perhaps our support is a tad out of date compared to the silly things Bushiroad keeps releasing for Gold Paladin and other clans, but their retro feel, amazing artwork and legendary consistency will always make Royal Paladin my favourite clan. I hope this guide inspires at least some of you to try the clan out, and hopefully you'll love them as much as I do!

HerO

Exculpate the Blaster - First Impressions

Hey guys,

Just in case you weren't aware of it, Royal Paladin are getting a new "boss" Grade 3 as a manga promo sometime in the near future. The card, Exculpate the Blaster, has an interesting effect which comes with interesting restrictions. Let's take a look:

[CONT](Hand):If you do not have a Grade 3 «Royal Paladin» vanguard, you cannot normal ride this card.
[CONT](VC):If you do not have a card named "Blaster Blade" in your soul, this unit cannot attack.
[AUTO]:When this card is placed on (RC), retire it.
[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (3)] Until end of turn, this unit battles every unit on your opponent's field in one attack.
[AUTO](VC):When this unit attacks, put all cards other than "Blaster Blade" from your soul into your drop zone, and this unit gets [Power]+2000 for each cards placed in the drop zone with this effect until end of that battle.
[AUTO](VC):At the beginning of the close step of the battle that this unit attacked, choose one card named "Blaster Blade" from your soul or drop zone, ride it as [Rest], and put all cards from your soul into your drop zone.

Restrictions. A lot of them. Having to have Blaster Blade in soul is the hardest one to achieve, especially with Barcgal banned. One of the only means of tutoring a Blaster Blade outside of Barcgal is Gancelot, which is a giant waste of a Grade 3 spot when there are so many MUCH better Grade 3's to choose from, however thanks to Majesty Lord Blaster, we have a much better chance of getting it into the soul. Even so, if you have Exculpate in hand and Blaster Blade in soul, you need another Grade 3 in your hand unless you want to be grade stuck the following turn. Having to ride over a Grade 3 with Exculpate and yet with another Grade 3 over Blaster Blade the following turn, means you essentially -2 (two Grade 3 rides your opponent doesn't have to do) in order to play Exculpate. Even with Majesty Lord Blaster, all that does is give you an easier time of getting it into the soul. Chances are due to perfect guards, that you are not going to finish them off. Then what? If you're running Exculpate and MLB in the same deck, that's already 5-6 Grade 3's that will either be either of those cards. One is a 10k vanilla, the other you can't even ride over Blaster Blade. The last 3 Grade 3's will most likely be Palamedes, once again a 10k vanilla. Of course, after Exculpate goes off your opponent may not have enough cards to attack with and you end up winning in a war of attrition, but is that worth losing your 12k Crit 2 Vanguard for? Timing would have to be everything with this card. Majesty Lord Blaster can also do a good job of using up their perfect guards. Once you're sure they don't have any more in their hand, swinging for 30k+ for game will sure feel good.

Now onto Exculpate himself, the effect is obviously very good, clearing your opponent's field in one swift blow. Once again, the net advantage it creates is only +2-+3, but completely wiping your opponent's field is definitely nothing to scoff at. However, if we take a look at the main deck in the meta, Gold Paladin, outside of their Gigantech Destroyer + Sleygal Dagger combo, they don't really require any field set-up to be good. Excupate would greatly counter SDD however, by forcing your opponent to play at least 3 more cards from their hand in order to make SDD's Limit Break even available, but let's not forget that due to Exculpate's last effect, you are stuck with a 9k Vanguard the following turn, making it much easier to hit magic numbers on you.

In the end, Exculpate completely deviates away from the whole playstyle of Royal Paladin. This isn't Kagero, Royal Paladin are supposed to create advantage by calling allies to the field, not wiping my opponent's field. Furthermore, we have now seen in this meta that pure power pushes, due to perfect guards, are not good enough anymore to be efficient game pushers. How many times has a beefed up Ezel won a game? Now ask yourself how many times an SDD player has won a game with it's Limit Break? The numbers are probably not even close, simply due to the fact that SDD doesn't care about perfect guards, and a single high powered column gets stopped so easily unless your opponent is unfortunate enough to not have one of the 4 copies of a perfect guard he runs in his hand in the late game. Once again, good use of Majesty Lord Blaster and timing would have to be perfect in order to use Exculpate most efficiently and make the tradeoff from your 12k Crit 2 Vanguard worth it.

Although the card may force you to run a certain build in order to get over restrictions in an easier fashion, the card is still tricky to rate without any testing. Will the power boost be enough to win the game, or will it's backlash consequences after it's effect goes off end up not being beneficial enough to give up a 12k Crit 2 Vanguard? Only testing and time will tell, but I have high hopes that this is indeed the card that Royal Paladin need.

HerO

Don't forget to check out KS Games for all your Cardfight!! Vanguard needs!

Don't forget to check out DifferenceInSkill on YouTube for all your Cardfight!! Vanguard content!

PSA: Warning about impersonators on BYOND (Cardfight Capital)

I've received reports of people impersonating me on the popular online Cardfight!! Vanguard game, Cardfight Capital, hosted on BYOND. From spamming the chat to playing people and telling them that they are me, it seems to have become an issue that I need to address.

One way to make sure that I'm actually me, is to look at my BYOND key. When a player logs into Cardfight Capital, two names appear. The first name without brackets is their in-game name - the name that can be changed in the Cardfight Capital client and is NOT unique, meaning multiple people may have the same name at a time. The second name that is in brackets is known as the BYOND key, the username of the general BYOND account that they used to log in - a name that IS unique, meaning only one person may have that name. My in-game name is HerO, while my BYOND key is Expected; ie:

If you see ANYONE else with the name HerO, but the name in brackets is different - then that person is NOT me. Do NOT listen to them if they say anything about me, my blog, youtube channel, etc. They might challenge you and might even convince you that they are me. They are obviously not.

If you do see anyone logging in with HerO or [DiS] HerO but their BYOND key is different, make sure to let people know that that person is up to no good, a potential spammer and an impostor. This will help keep my name and identity seperate from these impersonators.

Known impostors:

Thank you for your guys' help,

HerO

Vancouver Team Tournament Results

Results of the Team Tournament in Vancouver:

1st Place: 
Team Blue Ballz for the Win
1st - Narukami
2nd - Gold Paladin(Spectral Duke)
3rd - Angel Feathers

2nd Place:
Team Late

1st - Great Daiyuusha
2nd - Murakumo
3rd - Aqua Force

3rd & 4th Place:
Team Better than All the Other Teams Unless They Have 3 The Ends
1st - Dark Irregulars(Reijy)
2nd - Gold Paladin(Spectral Duke)
3rd - Narukami

Team Fock the Lox
1st - Narukami
2nd - Gold Paladin(Garmore Bunnies)
3rd - Angel Feathers

There was a total of 10 teams participating.

I was not able to play or attend the tournament due to school, maybe next time.


HerO

IF EVERYONE HAS A CROSSRIDE, THEN NOBODY HAS A CROSSRIDE

Supremacy Blue Storm Dragon, Glory Maelstrom 「蒼嵐覇竜 グローリー・メイルストローム

Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu 「日輪の女神 アマテラス」

Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" 「ドラゴニック・カイザー・ヴァーミリオン “THE BLOOD”

Spectral Duke Dragon Crossride (Name still unknown)

NOT A CROSSRIDE, REJOICE!

THAT IS ALL.

BT09 New Crossrides Leaked

Introduction

So school and stuff has been keeping me from creating content, but I have been keeping up with Vanguard news. Last night a bunch of new cards were revealed, and are pretty huge in terms of meta-changing cards, so now that I have a bit of a break, I decided to quickly preview them for you guys.

Crossrides

Two crossrides have been leaked:

Lion of Radiant Platinum, Ezel

ACT [V][LB5] (This skill can only be used if you have 5 damage or more): [Counterblast 3] Choose 5 of your <<Gold Paladin>> Rearguard units, during this turn, they gain +5000.

CONT [V]: If you have "Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel" in your Soul, this unit gains +2000 Power.
CONT [V/R]: (If you have a unit with a different clan from this unit, this unit cannot attack).

Best way to decrease the amount of people whoring Gold Paladin? Give them a Crossride! Oh wait. The most stupid thing about this thing is that thanks to Kryph, it is possible to have a 13k Vanguard before your opponent is at Grade 3. Stupid.

Gold Paladin aren't the only one getting one:

Super Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon

AUTO [V] Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have 4 or more damage): [Counterblast(3)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to 2 of your rear-guards with "Beast Deity" in their names, and [Stand] them.

CONT [V]: If you have "Beast Deity, Azure Dragon" in your Soul, this unit gains +2000 Power.
CONT [V/R]: (If you have a unit with a different clan from this unit, this unit cannot attack).

I think Nova Grappler deserve this one as they haven't gotten any solid support on the last 2-3 sets. It's a balanced crossrides because conditions need to be met, (ie. have 2 Beast Deity rearguards).

Clans also most likely to get crossrides include Narukami and another Gold Paladin one in the form of Spectral Duke Dragon. Other cards being revealed, include Raizer support, some promos (ditch a card, gain 6k if Vanguard, 3k if Rearguard clones) and a new draw trigger for Angel Feather. I will try to keep posting about the new cards and my opinions of them. There's also a rumour of a new Royal Paladin Grade 3, the first glimpse of Royal Paladin support since Set 5.

HerO

School

.. is taking up a lot of my time.

Content has clearly slowed, both here and on our YouTube channel.

Sorry, but we're still alive - don't worry!

HerO

[Seattle] World Championship Qualifier Tournament Report

Introduction
Finally, a chance to write this report. I took notes every game on my phone to make sure I didn't forget some important details for this report. As I said in my last post, the qualifiers consisted of a double-elimination, best-of-1, seven round tournament. Participants were split into four blocks, A, B, C, and D. From rounds 1-3 you would play players from your own block with similar records. From 4-5 blocks A and C, and B and D were combined and lastly in rounds 6 and 7 all blocks were combined for the top tables.

We got there about an hour before the doors were to open for registration. There were already ~15 people in line, so we lined up. In the meantime we played a few games, warming up and I recorded some footage for the vlog that I will edit and upload soon. At one point I had to go to the washroom, so I had to walk past everyone that was in line. Next thing I hear is someone yell out "HERO!" and I turn around and a couple of guys were waving to me. I came over, greeted them, shook their hand and told them to say a few words to the camera for my vlog. They claimed to be my number 1 and 2 fans, which I don't doubt and I really appreciated their kind words. Shortly after coming back from the washroom, more people came up to me to say hi and meet me, which made me feel fuzzy inside. A bit after, they opened the doors to let us in.

We registered, got our goodie bag and wrote down our decklists on our sheets (which was tedious since we had to write down the whole card number, for example BT03/005EN Swordsman of Explosive Flames, Palamedes). The goodie bags were awesome, containing a pen, deck box, box for deck boxes, manga booklet and a Bushiroad catalogue. After this I just wandered for a bit, checked out the vendors, met more people, took my picture with Dr. K and got ready for the first round. Dr. K announced that they would be starting soon, and we lined up near the tables of our respective blocks. Then pairings were announced and we were told to sit down. After a brief opening ceremony, Dr. K announced the start of the tournament, with a resounding "STAND UP. VANGUARD!".

Round 1 - Gerardo R (Royal Paladin) vs. Connor W (Nova Grappler/Nubatama)

I recognized him from the line-up before registering. He had a twin brother who was wearing an SFU shirt, which is a university close to Vancouver. Upon revealing his starting Vanguard (Turboraizer) I felt pretty confident going into the match, especially with such a solid hand. I got the Grade 1 Galahad ride, missed the second but just rode Gallatin. My hand allowed me to pressure him early with some rearguards, and he seemed to not have any so I took the early advantage in damage. He then rode Mr. Invincible and called two rearguard Stealth Dragon, Voidmasters, but with no boosters all he could do was poke my 9k Galahad rearguard which is what he did. I even let him hit with one at one point since my hand was cluttered with Grade 3's, but he didn't bother to use it's effect. Even though I didn't check a single trigger up this point, my full field compared to his booster-less one was enough for me to take the hand advantage, even after he healed twice. Eventually he just didn't have enough to guard, and at 5 damage declared no guard where I proceeded to double crit him. He took the 6th damage and I took my first win.

1-0

Round 2  - Gerardo R (Royal Paladin) vs. Robert S (Pale Moon)

Second match, I get paired up against my friend that I roomed with. Small world eh? After an uneventful early game, we're both at about 2 damage. He rides Robert and checked the top card, but put it at the bottom more often than not. I rode Alfred calling another rearguard Alfred and a Grade 2 rearguard and a bunch of boosters. After a few turns of going back and forth, we both found ourselves with few cards in our hand and at 5 damage. On my turn I attack with Alfred for 20k, and he guards for 1 trigger to pass. First check, nothing. Second check, nothing. Disappointed, I attack with my rearguards and he guards with everything else that he has left. On his next turn he leaves the card checked with Robert on the top and attacks. I perfect guard and he indeed gets a trigger and adds the power to his Alice. Using up the rest of my hand, I guard the two other attacks. On my turn again, I attack with my Vanguard and he once again guards for 1 to pass, and once again I whiff. He manages to guard my rearguard attacks again and at this point I'm fearing for myself. On his next turn he draws, soulcharges puts the card on top to the bottom and uses Robert's megablast - one I had completely forgotten about. It was now my turn to guard for 1 trigger to pass. First check, nothing. Second check, nothing. Phew. Using everything else I had, including my intercept I survive but I am left with only a rearguard Alfred and my Vanguard. I draw into a Margal, and I do the only thing I can do with it. I soulcharge it to add the +3k power to my Vanguard Alfred, so it swings for 15k. With only 15k Shield in his hand I know that he has to guard for 1 to pass, but ends up guarding for 2 anyway. First check, draw trigger (of course my Margals would be together), draw, second check Critical Trigger. All effects were placed on my rearguard Alfred, which dealt the finishing blow. We both exhaled and shook hands and agreed that it was probably the best game we've ever played against each other. Glad he kept his good mood after such an epic game.

2-0

Round 3 - Gerardo R (Royal Paladin) vs. Tim W (Royal Paladin)

I didn't know what he was playing until we flipped over our Vanguards and we saw that it was a mirror match-up. Going first, I got the superior ride to the Grade 1 Galahad and ended. He also got the Grade 1 Galahad ride and calls another one to rear. I give him a 5k for the rearguard, and I take the Vanguard. Next turn I also get the Grade 2 superior ride leaving me with plenty of cards to call as rearguards, including a 17k Gallatin column. Attacking with my lone rearguard first, he takes the attack. Guards the Vanguard for 10k and takes the Gallatin 17k attack (magic numbers!). He misses his Grade 2 ride and rides Gallatin instead, but has no other rearguards to call. I take the Vanguard, and on my next turn ride Alfred. With my available rearguards I continously attack him, giving me damage and hand advantage. If I remember correctly, he rides Palamedes and then calls another one on the side, also calling a Toypugal, but can't boost his Vanguard, making it easy to guard against. In the eventual end game, we're both sitting on Alfred and he has two Palamedes on either side. I Blaster Blade one of them, and swing for an easy 20k as I called a booster behind Alfred ready for SSD my next turn. Being low on cards due to the early-mid game pressure, he can't guard a 25k Crit 2 Palamedes at 3 damage, so he eats 2 damage. Eventually he just can't keep up in cards, and I take the game. He later tells me that he opened with 2 Palamedes and a bunch of triggers meaning he couldn't do much to counter the pressure. I wished him luck in future rounds, and I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed that I had to knock down a fellow Royal Paladin player.

3-0

Round 4 - Gerardo R (Royal Paladin) vs. Stacy S (Narukami)

This game. THIS GAME. Probably the best and worst game of my life, and you guys will see why. I open with 2 Palamedes, 1 Iseult and 2 Grade 1 Galahads. We stand our Vanguards and I'm glad to see Lizard Soldier, Saishin. Going second I draw into another Iseult for turn, don't get the superior ride but ride the Grade 1 Galahad from my hand and call another one to rear. I end up hitting with both attacks but it turned out to be a bit of a misplay as next turn he rides Deathscythe, killing my only booster available to me. He proceeds to call two other Grade 2 rearguards, one with a booster. I give him 10k for the lone 10k vanilla (ugh) and take the other two attacks, in the process damage checking a Pongal (which will be important for later). I draw and ride Gallatin from my hand because I didn't get the Grade 2 Galahad in the check, but with no boosters other than Iseults (I've drawn 2 in my last 2 turns), and no other Grade 2 rearguards I attack with my lone Gallatin. Next turn he rides Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, and then retires his 10k vanilla for another Dragonic Kaisier Vermillion. I thought to myself I can't believe that I might lose to this guy. At this point I'm looking at my hand and all I see are Palamedes, Iseults and triggers, while he as 5+ cards in his hand and field. I guard the best I can but end up taking some damage, bumping me to 4 to his 2 (I think he healed). Next turn I draw into yet another trigger and ride Palamedes, calling the other to rear. With still no boosters, I poke with my rear and Vanguard checking an Akane and Pongal. On his next turn he attacks, I perfect guard and take another attack for my 5th damage, to his 3. Right before I draw I thought to myself, "okay as long as I don't draw into my last Pongal in the deck, I can finally get some boosters for my Palamedes". And what happens? I of course draw into my last Pongal in the deck. With no other options left, I call 2 out of the 3 Iseults in my hand to boost my Palamedes and just call the Akane and Pongal, unable to use her counterblast due to no targets being left in my deck. 15, 19k and 19k columns against an 11k Vanguard. Delicious. I attack with Palamedes, which he perfect guards and I of course get no triggers so guarding everything else is ezpz. On his next turn he calls another booster and attacks me for 17k with his Vanguard. I have no choice and give him 1 to pass. First check, nothing. Second check, nothing. Phew. I guard everything else (including a 20k column with Djinn and an 8k booster with a perfect guard) and manage to survive. Meanwhile he's sitting pretty at 3 damage, and I draw into an Alabaster Owl. Left with a lone Pongal and two Palamedes boosted by Iseults, I use Pongal's effect to get SSD to my hand. Note that I ask him to cut my deck, and he said it was fine. I call the Alabaster Owl and the SSD and I know this is going to be my final turn. I attack with my Vanguard for 19k and he gives me 2 to pass.

First check.

Critical trigger. Without hesitation, I put all effects on the Vanguard.

Second check.

.

.

.

.

.

I could not believe what had just happened. There were about 15-20 people watching since our match had gone for so long and we were at the top tables. Everyone just goes "Wow...' and I myself are nearly speechless with what just happened. His damage checks revealed nothing and I manage to win the game. He then proceeds to show me a perfect guard in his hand and says "I probably should've used this". Yeah, probably. I just exhale and throw my hands through my hair in disbelief.

4-0

Round 5 - Gerardo R (Royal Paladin) vs. Tony L (Nova Grappler)

I was surprised to see Nova Grappler this far up, so at this point I knew he was either a sack, or a legitimately good player. Gladly, it turned out to be the latter.

The game starts off pretty normal, although he did pressure a fair amount early on, and with a subpar hand there wasn't a lot I could do about it. Once again all my boosters decided to go and hide at the bottom of my deck, so I couldn't pressure him as much as I would've liked. I also had to do some "unnecessary" guarding because he kept targeting my rearguard Palamedes, but without it I wouldn't have any rearguards that could hit his Vanguard. I eventually get boosters, and with some clutch heal and draw triggers, I manage to stay afloat. He retaliates with some clutch critical triggers of his own, once again putting me in the danger zone. With some skill and some luck, he gets a Grade 3 to stand his Deatharmy column, which I can't guard and he takes the game. It was a bit of a weird game because I couldn't quite pinpoint why I lost. We both got triggers equally, but I guess what made the difference was my early game struggles to hit his Vanguard, (he also rode Brutal Jack), giving him early hand advantage. He seemed like a really friendly guy so I wasn't salty. I'd rather lose to a friendly Nova Grappler player than a Gold Paladin dick.

4-1

Round 6 - Bye

After calling all the names for the next round, I couldn't find mine. I eventually do at the end of the table by myself. A judge sees me and he says "HerO, you have a bye". I think what was more awesome was the fact that the judge called me HerO. The bye was a little disappointing because I did want to play, but I took this opportunity to focus for the final round.

"5-1"

Final Round - Gerardo R (Royal Paladin) vs. Michael R (Tsukuyomi)

Before the match started, I was originally paired with Tony L again. The judge came over, and completely arbitrarily switched my opponent with the person on the left who had a Bye, which turned out to be Michael. Because of this, Tony got the Bye, and actually got to Top 8 with it. This would've been fine, if my friend who had gone a legit 6-1 had not made the cut. The way the judges told me they determined Top 8 was by looking at your wins and you were awarded points based on the win rate of the person you beat. Even so, getting a Bye to Top 8 over someone that went legit 6-1 doesn't sit right with me. But oh well, moving on.

In my opening hand I had no Grade 1. At all. I was completely depending on Drangal to get me the Grade 1. I go first, so I check the top 5. First, second, third, fourth.. oh god please. Fifth card. YES, I get the Grade 1 Galahad and superior rode. Having dodged that bullet I end. He rides the Grade 1 Tsukuyomi from his hand and calls another rearguard. I take the rearguard one since I have no 5k's in my hand, but instead of dropping 10k for the unboosted Vanguard, I commit the misplay that could have potentially cost me a championship: I don't guard and he gets a Critical trigger. Before I get to Grade 2, I'm already at 3 damage. To make things even worse, throughout the game I either damage checked or drew all of my triggers, leaving me with only 4 in the deck for about half the game. I can only imagine that I would've drive checked those instead, if I hadn't taken 2 damage for no reason. UGH. Next turn I superior ride the Grade 2 Galahad and call a Gallatin. I poke twice and end. He superior rides the Half-Moon and calls a Red-Eye. At this point guarding the Red-Eye didn't matter since he had already used a Psychic Bird on his first turn. I also had to keep a mental check of each stack. How many cards were in the whole stack? How many per each individual stack? Keeping track of this is extremely vital if you don't want to get overwhelmed by Tsukuyomi. Moving along, we both have decent fields but he's ahead in card advantage for obvious reasons. Not being able to do much other than get rid of his Silent Toms, I just prepare in order to deal with the incoming triggers. My deck unfortunately decided to damage check 2 of my Iseults, (all goes back to that early game misplay) and I was forced to use another for a Silent Tom earlier, so I had none going into the stacks. I count his deck, see that he's at his stack and I overguard with 20k. He splits the powers and I manage to guard it all, but for how long? I take my turn, and once again I can't do anything but swing for mediocre numbers. On his next turn I was about 90% sure that he was off his stack by 1, so I give him 2 to pass for his Vanguard. As I predicted, he only checks one and gives it the power to his Silent Tom. I am able to guard everything, but at the cost of nearly all my cards.

Off-topic rant: This is what Royal Paladin are missing. A solid card that can push for game and doesn't require set-up and field commitment (Soul Saver Dragon). Spectral Duke, Ezel, Spike Brothers, even Tsukuyomi with Silent Tom to some extent are able to make it harder for your opponent to guard in some way or another that allow them to push for game. Palamedes is not enough any more compared to the finishing abilities that other clans have access to. This is why I find Tsukuyomi such a tough match-up. If you don't open ideally to rush them, or sack them, then I'm just a sitting duck.

With only 3 triggers left in a 15+ card deck, my chances of winning were slipping away. With no 10k shields in hand and being able to do nothing, I just attack and hope for the best. I check nothing, try to take out the Silent Tom and end my turn. Knowing that he's at his last stack, I just give him 1 to pass, hoping that maybe, just maybe he had no triggers in that last stack. But alas, no such luck. He checks a heal trigger, and I take my last point of damage in the tournament.

It was a solid game, and he was a great player, but I cannot stop thinking about that early game misplay that more than could've changed the outcome of the game, even of the whole tournament. I got so close, just to throw it away myself.

5-2

Conclusion

So I finished Top 16, not what I wanted but I was close. I met some awesome people, met a lot of fans, got a bunch of free stuff and of course the experience. I am loving how far and successful this game has become here in North America and I can only imagine what this game will be like this time next year. Congratulations to the top players at Seattle, including the winner of course, who is actually a friend of DiS Guy/Wai/Why.

I'll get you next time Seattle.

HerO

Don't forget to check out KS Games for all your Cardfight!! Vanguard needs!

Don't forget to check out DifferenceInSkill on YouTube for all your Cardfight!! Vanguard content!