"Starting from August 1, 2012, “Barcgal” (BT01/003EN and BT01/S03EN) cannot be used as a first Vanguard in all Bushiroad official and Bushiroad sanctioned English version tournaments. Up to four “Barcgal” can still be included in a deck as long as it is not used as a first Vanguard.
The reason for the restriction was because Royal Paladin decks using “Barcgal” as the first Vanguard was too powerful. With the release of booster pack “Demonic Lord Invasion” in August, the Royal Paladin decks’ power would be reinforced. We felt that with one clan being too powerful, it would prevent fighters from wanting to play with the other clans, thus taking away the fun from tournament play. Therefore, with the release of the upcoming “Demonic Lord Invasion”, we have decided to take preemptive action."
Secondly, due to Set 6 (and Set 7 soon), the English meta is much more diverse than the Japanese one was at this point in time. We have Gold Paladin, Narukami, Angel Feather with huge support for Dark Irregulars and Pale Moon coming up. Because of this, I don't see Barcgal or "too many people" playing Royal Paladin becoming an issue.
Not only this, but due to the fact that Set 3 does not come out until August 11th, Royal Paladin players will have to resort to starting with Stardust Trumpeter, and those that personally do not like Galahad or it's ride chain will be forced to play it anyways in hopes of staying competitive.
Not my favourite move by Bushiroad.
What really sucks for RP players is that wingal brave and set 5 in general won't be out till next year
ReplyDeleteHerO-san, do you believe that Barcgal should be un-restricted in JP? I see no reasons to maintain the restriction in one side and don't restrict on another, as today, the japanese meta is certainly wider than the english one (although I agree that the english today is wider than the japanese from BT03).
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I agree with you. I see no reason to keep it banned. With so many new clans that are actually competitive, everyone playing Barcgal should not be a problem, especially since Wingal Brave is better in MLB anyways, so it's not like it would make that any stronger. All that Barcgal would do is slightly increase the consistency in non-MLB decks. That's it. And it's not even like Bushiroad can make the English and Japanese formats the same since there are already cards out, ie. Blond Ezel that have slight differences in their effects between languages.
DeleteI understood, thank you for your response.
DeleteI had asked this questions to some friends with opinion similar to yours, I would like to read your opinion here too: Why do you think Bushiroad didn't un-restricted Barcgal in JP?
Aside of that, I know no difference in the Blonde Ezel effects... I remember some comments in the English blog about how they are worded differently (like "4 ou less rearguards" in one and "must have a empty rearguard circle" in another; same effect, as you must have 4 ou less rearguards to have an empty rearguard circle), but as this difference is purely aesthetic, it won't bother the players...
There is another difference that I'm unaware?
Japanese Ezel states that the card MUST be called, while the English version states you can select up to 1 Gold Paladin, which means you can choose to not call the unit.
DeleteAnd I don't know why Bushiroad doesn't want to unban Barcgal presently, but I think they will in due time.