[Japanese Meta] Analysing Top Decks from 2012 Regionals

Introduction
About two weeks ago, Bushiroad released the top 4 decks from every district that participated in the 2012  Regional Championships. There were three districts, Nagoya, Hiroshima and Kanazawa. Each regional is also split into two classes, Senior class and Junior class. I will be looking at the bigger picture in terms of what decks were clearly successful and hopefuls that didn't seem to make it. I will only go into detail about the six decks that topped (three in Senior class and three in Junior class), so here we go.


Deck Breakdown
Nagoya District Senior Class:
Winner: Gold Paladin (2 Ezel, 2 Gigantech Destroyer, 4 Garmore)
Runner-up: Dragonic Overlord the End


Hiroshima District Senior Class:
Winner: Gold Paladin (4 Ezel, 2 Manawydan)
Runner-up: Majesty Lord Blaster (1 Pendragon, 1 Soul Savior Dragon)


Kanazawa District Senior Class:
Winner: Majesty Lord Blaster
Runner-up: Dragonic Overlord the End


Nagoya District Junior Class:
Winner: Spike Brothers (Dudley Emperor)
Runner-up: Dragonic Overlord the End


Hiroshima District Junior Class:
Winner: Dragonic Overlord the End
Runner-up: Neo Nectar (LOLWUT?)


Kanazawa District Junior Class:
Winner: Dragonic Overlord the End
Runner-up: Gold Paladin (3 Ezel, 4 Garmore, 1 Sagramroe)


Total tops:
Dragonic Overlord the End: 5
Gold Paladin: 3
Majesty Lord Blaster: 2
Spike Brothers: 1
Neo Nectar: 1


Familiar Faces & The New Kids on the Block

Even with the release of Booster Set 6 and new clans and cards, familiar faces still appeared on the podium. There was no shortage of Dragonic Overlord the End tops and Majesty Lord Blaster showed it's face here and there, showing that the older decks could still compete with the new kids on the block. Not a lot has changed in terms of card choices for these decks either, with the exception of a Pendragon in one of the Majesty Lord Blaster decks, showing that they're still a couple of solid, true and tested decks that worked a few months ago, and still work today.


There was one new deck however that topped a fair amount of times - Gold Paladin. With powerful abilities and Limit Break effects that push for large numbers, it seems that it was too much to handle for others. As I expected, the dominating build was Ezel/Garmore oriented, supporting my earlier prediction that Spectral Duke Dragon would have a hard time seeing the light of top competitive play. It's dependence on it's ride chain and consequential lack of consistency seemed to have been it's downfall, and was pushed aside for the more consistent and harder hitting Ezel/Garmore builds. This can lead one to believe that with a lack of Majesty Lord Blaster and Dragonic Overlord the End in the English meta, Gold Paladins may run rampant in the future Continental Qualifiers, along with perhaps Spike Brothers, Pale Moon (post Set 7), Royal Paladin, Great Nature and Kagero managing to keep up.


Surprise Appearances
A couple of surprising decks topped as well, namely Spike Brothers and Neo Nectar. With Extra Booster 3, Spike Brothers have received a huge boost in terms of consistency and competitiveness. This boost was clear in the Nagoya District's Junior class, where a Spike Brother deck topped. Some of the card choices baffled me at first. It ran no Douglas, and ran Field Driller instead. It didn't make sense to me until I realized that in order to make up for the slow mid game, Spikes had to go aggro in the early game. That's why cards such as Zachary and Field Driller were used. Field Driller although it may have low power, thanks to Mecha Trainer it's easy to get good boosters for it to hit good numbers, especially against Grade 1 and Grade 2 opposing Vanguards. These cards force your opponent to either guard, or you gain an advantage, either drawing straight up with Field Driller, or drawing and freeing up a spot in front with Zachary's tagging out effect. It seems the Japanese know what they're doing.


Failed Hopefuls

Even with Gold Paladins taking the podium in many districts, it seems that they're the only deck representing Booster Set 6 and simply "Limit Break clans" in general. There were no Narukami decks anywhere, once again supporting my statement of them being "a flop" and that Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion is not nearly as good as many people, including myself made it out to be when it was first released. Another noticeable absence was that of Angel Feather - they were nowhere to be seen. To be fair though, they were never expected to be that competitive, mostly a fun deck to play on the side perhaps. Spectral Duke Dragon was also a no-show, as I stated above and so was Tsukuyomi, in my opinion due to Tsukuyomi players dropping the deck for something newer, such as Gold Paladin. Another surprise was the lack of Shadow Paladins  anywhere. Even though they were never tier 0, one would assume that a 13k Vanguard along with cards that create pure advantage would allow them to top here or there among the Paladins and Dragons. All in all a lot of decks disappointed, overshadowed by Gold Paladin's  and Dragonic Overlord the End's success.


Conclusion
While old faces still won their share, Gold Paladins were the new force to be reckoned with. There were also some surprises with Spike Brothers and Neo Nectar topping once each. It appears that the Japanese meta rather than being recreated was simply supplemented, with the addition of Gold Paladins. The surprise tops simply prove that in Cardfight!! Vanguard, anything has a chance of topping. I am genuinely excited to see what the English meta shapes into once the Continental Qualifiers roll around.


HerO


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

[News] Cardfight!! Vanguard World Championship 2012 Announced

Bushiroad has announced a couple of days ago the first details of the Cardfight!! Vanguard World Championship 2012. There are a few steps you have to complete before you are qualified for worlds however. The way it's going to work is that you will have to first play in a "Continental Qualifier". 

Qualifiers

[Tournament Information]

Date	Scheduled for September to October 2012
Venue	See schedule here.
Eligibility	All fighters living in North America/Europe/Asia or Oceania may participate. Fighters living outside of  North America/Europe/Asia or Oceania may not participate.
Deck Regulations	All English version cards can be used. Cards of other languages may not be used.
Prize	Top finishers will get an invitation to the North American/European/Asian-Oceanian Championship.

Other than the six scheduled Qualifiers in the USA, 1 in Canada and 1 in Mexico, there will also be continental qualifiers in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Great Britain, France and Germany. Top players in the qualifiers will be able to play in their respective Continental Championship:

Championship

[Tournament Information]

Date	Scheduled for November 2012
Venue	USA/Great Britain/Singapore (details TBA)
Eligibility	You will need to get an invitation in the qualifiers to participate.
Deck Regulations	All English version cards can be used. Cards of other languages may not be used.
Prize	Top finishers will get an invitation to the World Championship.

The other two Continental Championships will take place in Great Britain and Singapore.


And lastly, top players in the Continental Championships will get an invite to compete in the Cardfight!! Vanguard World Championship 2012 in Tokyo, Japan!
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[Tournament Information]

Date	Scheduled for December 2012
Venue	Tokyo, Japan (details TBA)
Eligibility	Only fighters with an invitation from the continental championships may participate.
Deck Regulations	All English version cards can be used. Cards of other languages may not be used.

I for one am extremely excited for this and hope that as many as you can make it to a qualifiers in order to make this huge circuit a success! Wish you all the best of luck!

HerO

SOURCE: http://cf-vanguard.com/en/event/worlds2012

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

[Video] 500 Subscriber Giveaway with DifferenceInSkill!

Hey guys,
As you all should know, I also co-run a YouTube channel that has a ton of Cardfight!! Vanguard content called DifferenceInSkill! We've recently reached 500 susbcribers and are holding a giveaway! Check out the video below for instructions on how to enter and the prizes!

Thanks,
HerO

Announcements + Article Roundup

Hey guys.

First of all I'd like to take the time to thank each and every one of you for reading my blog. This blog, along with my videos on the YouTube channel DifferenceInSkill is what has really given me the privilege to give back to the community. Every time someone thanks me for doing a video or someone tells me that because of my article they've become better players, it's the best feeling because that's why I do this in the first place - to make better players out of everyone that reads or watches my content. For that, I thank all of you.

Secondly, if you haven't yet, subscribe to DifferenceInSkill on YouTube. Run by a few friends and I, we feature both Cardfight!! Vanguard and Weiss Schwarz (although it's mostly Cardfight!! Vanguard). There you will find tutorial videos, analysis of cards or clans, deck profiles, cardfights and box openings. If we get to 500 subscribers we've decided to do a Narukami trial deck giveaway, so help us out!

Lastly, I've decided to roundup some of my better, older articles here, so that newer followers/readers don't miss out on those as well.

• Guarding and Taking Damage
• Oracle Think Tank 101
• The Perfect Guard Problem
• Analysing Top Decks from the Tokyo District Vanguard Team Fight Festival 
• Analysing the EB03 Spike Brothers Cards

Thanks,

HerO


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

[Video] Spike Brothers Deck Profile

Hey guys,
Here's a video of my Spike Brothers deck that I profiled on the YouTube channel, DifferenceInSkill.
Check it out below, and don't forget to like, comment and sub!

Decklist:

GRADE 0 (17)
*1 Mecha Trainer (imba starter)
*4 Cheer Girl Tiara
*4 Silent Joker
*4 Sonic Breaker
*4 Cheerful Lynx

GRADE 1 (14)
*2 Cyclone Blitz
*4 Dudley Dan
*4 Cheer Girl Marilyn
*4 Wonder Boy

GRADE 2 (10)
*2 Panzer Gale
*4 Treasured Black Panther
*4 Highspeed Brakki

GRADE 3 (9)
*4 Juggernaut Maximum
*3 General Seifried
*2 Sky Diver



Thanks,
HerO


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

[News] Booster Pack Vol.3 + Extra Booster Pack Vol.2 English Release

Bushiroad has just announced information regarding  Booster Pack Vol.3: Demonic Lord Invasion and Extra Booster Pack Vol.2: Banquet of Divas in English!

Booster Pack Vol.3: Demonic Lord Invasion
International Release Date: August 11, 2012
Singapore Release Date: August 4, 2012

They have also announced that Extra Booster Pack Vol.2: Banquet of Divas and Booster Pack Vol.7: Rampage of the Beast King will be coming this Fall!

Look forward to Dark Irregulars, Pale Moon, Tsukuyomi and of course Palamedes this August!

HerO


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

[News] BT08 - Blue Storm Armada Announced!

Booster Set 8 Blue Storm Armada is set to be released on September 22nd, 2012.
*NOTE: This is the release date for the Japanese version, no date has been set for the English version.


Featured clans:

• Dimensional Police
• Tachikaze
• Neo Nectar
• Narukami
• Great Nature
• Aqua Force

HerO

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

Guarding and Taking Damage

VIDEO: CLICK HERE.

Introduction
An aspect of the game, a decision if you will, that commonly gets overlooked in Cardfight!! Vanguard is the choice between guarding and taking damage. The point of the game after all, is to get your opponent to 6 damage before yourself. That means that every time you take a point of damage, you're one step closer to losing the game. But at what times is it appropriate to guard, and when is it best to let the attack through? In this article I hope to shed some light on the above questions, in hopes of making you, the reader, a better player.


Consequences of Guarding/Taking Damage
What are the pros and cons of each? Let's take a look:


Taking Damage
Pros: Costs no cards from your hand, allows for beneficial effects from damage checked triggers.
Cons: One step closer to losing.


Guarding
Pros: Stops you from taking damage (duh).
Cons: Costs cards from your hand, no beneficial effects from triggers.


So at first, the difference between the two should be common sense and really basic. However, when we get really down to it, an early game decision between guarding and no-guarding could cost you the game.


Early Game Gets the Worm
The early game is actually a lot more important than people think when it comes to guarding or not guarding. Decisions that you make at this point in the game can greatly affect your hand size later on. What I've noticed most people do is just take damage early. Players are generally more conservative at this stage in the game and don't wish to guard. However, this can come bite them later in the game.


While it's strongly dependent on your hand, by guarding early in the game, (5k for rearguard attacks, 10k for Vanguard attacks) you are then able to take Vanguard hits later in the game when your opponent gets Twin Drive, allowing you to get hand advantage while your opponent has to guard for a fear of a Critical trigger because you got them to 4 damage early in the game. By dropping that 5k or 10k shield in the early game (early game being defined as before either player rides to Grade 3) and preventing damage, you are allowing yourself to take damage in the late game, where 10k/15k shields would have been necessary.


A general rule of thumb should be to not take 4 damage before your opponent rides to Grade 3. Why 4 damage? Once at 4 damage, a player will try to block all Vanguard attacks in fear of a Critical trigger- while you at less than that can more safely take a Grade 3 Vanguard hit (unless you get double critical triggered, then that's not my fault) simply because you guarded for that 5k/10k in the early game. As such, your hand suffers less than your opponents, hopefully netting you the hand advantage going into the all-important late game.


Unfortunately, your ability to guard in the early game is heavily determined by your starting hand. If you have no triggers in hand, then there's not a lot you can do. But that being said, don't fret too much when you mull 2 cards and end up drawing back two other triggers, as they might just end up making the difference.


Common Sense
The following may be common sense to some, but I see many players misplaying like this:

• Let's imagine for a second that it's your opponent's turn and you're at 4 damage. Your Vanguard is 10k and you've guarded their Vanguard attack, so they've got their rearguards left.
• One rearguard column is attacking for 18k, and another is swinging for 20k. Since you're at 4 damage, you are willing to take an attack and guard the other.
• Your opponent attacks with their 18k rearguard column. You take that attack in hopes of getting a damage check trigger so the next attack is easier to guard.

NO. STOP RIGHT THERE. BAD. BAD READER. Even if you do get damage trigger, you would still need 10k shield to block the other attack. And if you don't? You would need 15k. Why risk it? Simply guard the 18k attack for 10k, and then take the other attack for a 5th damage. It's the same thing.


Like I said, to some this is common sense, but I bet more of you than not have done this yourselves.


Conclusion
Commonly overlooked, the correct decision making in the early game when it comes to guarding allows for a smoother and easier transition to the late game. Remember that this game rewards the aggressive player, either you force them to use cards from their hand, or you are closer to winning (which is why decks such as Spike Brothers are strictly balanced, ie. Imagine if Dudley Dan did not require a card to be added to the soul from the hand. There are plenty of Counterblast 2 effects that give +1's, but not in an aggressive way like Dudley Dan). Knowing when to take damage and guard is just one the of the aspects of the game that needs to be mastered in order to have as much of an edge over your opponent as possible.


HerO


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

Purple Trapezist Reprint in BT07

Have you really wanted to play Pale Moon, but were turned off due to the fact that a key card in Purple Trapezist is a $15-$20 Promo card? Well fret no more, Purple Trapezist is getting a reprint in the upcoming BT07 as an R rare card, an awesome move done by Bushiroad.

This news, along with the fact that the English BT06 had some other Promo cards as commons and that the English EB03 has 13 extra cards than the Japanese version can only mean that Bushiroad has the intention of giving English all the Promo cards Japanese has, which is awesome for English players.


Maybe we'll see a reprint of Cursed Lancer as well which will make all them Japanese players jealous.


HerO


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