Monday, July 30, 2012

Pale Moon, Qualifiers and a Request to All!

Hey guys,

Just thought I would write an update to what I've been up to in terms of Cardfight!! Vanguard, plans for the near future and a request to all of you!

I have just recently finished my Goku Kagero deck, which is the deck I will most likely play at regionals. My Spike Brothers deck is fun and all, but I feel much more confident playing Goku Kagero. Maybe it's because it was the first deck that I ever played, so I'm more comfortable with it. If anyone wants the decklist, here's a deck profile I made on YouTube. In terms of my next deck project, I'm working on a Pale Moon beatdown deck, revolving around Crimson Beast Tamer, Turquoise Beast Tamer and Midnight Invader. With Crimson Beast Tamer in soul, Turquoise Beast Tamer becomes a 9k booster, and with Midnight Invader, a new card that was released in Set 7 (in Japan) which gains +2k when it attacks the Vanguard (10k base, Grade 3), it becomes really easy to set up 21k columns. Topping off the deck is another new card from Set 7, Sword Magician Sara. Apart from gaining 3k when it's booster by a Pale Moon when she is the Vanguard, whenever I drive check a Grade 3, I can swap in a Grade 3 from my field for another card in the soul, which can set up another column with the help of Purple Trapezist. The main Vanguard though is yet another card from Set 7, Nightmare Doll Amy. She is simply a soulcharger that gains +2k on my turn. Not only does that allow for my soul to grow quickly, but her +2k allows her to swing for 21k with a powered up Turquoise Beast Tamer. Easy game right? Easy 21k columns along with that Pale Moon soul versatility is what makes the deck really fun to play and makes me want to finish it as soon as possible.

A bunch of friends and I have also started to plan our trip to Everett for the Continental Qualifiers, where we plan on competing. As I mentioned before I will be playing Goku Kagero and I have every intention of topping with it. A free trip to LA sounds like a sweet deal to me, even though I'm not sure if exams will restrict me from being able to attend the championship, if I top. I feel confident in my ability, although my weakness is the "tunnel vision" I get sometimes when I play. What I mean is that if I focus on something too much, I disregard everything else in the match, which can cause me to misplay - but through playing more games, I should be able to handle it. Even then, meeting other people and the experience will be worth the trip. I can't wait until September.

Lastly I have a simple question to ask all of you: what should I write about? Lately I haven't had much inspiration to write the longer articles that I used to, but it's not that I want to stop writing. Let me know what you want to see! What clans should I write about? What aspects of the game? Do you want more Japanese tournament coverage? Comment here what you want me to write about, or if you came from Pojo or Vanguard Rider, PM me through there.

Thanks for reading!
HerO

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

Sunday, July 29, 2012

DifferenceInSkill Reaches 1000 Subs

^_________^
Thanks to everyone that supports us, Chan and I love you all :D


HerO

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

[News] Dimensional Police CROSSRIDE Leaked!

Just what this game needed, am I right? A new crossride unit has been leaked - this time for Dimensional Police. The unit revolves around "Dimensional Robo" units, such as Super Dimensional Robo Great Daiyusha. Among the new crossride unit, a bunch of new "Dimensional Robo" support has been leaked, which you can check out by clicking here.

Without further ado:
Ultimate Dimensional Robo Great Daiyusha
G3 / POWER: 11000 / GUARD: 0
[Continuous](V):<LB4> During your turn if you have 3 or more units with Dimensional Robo in your soul, this unit gets POWER+2000, Critical +1.
[Continuous](V/R): If you have any non- Dimension Police units on your field, this unit gets POWER -2000.
[Continuous](V): If you have a Dimensional Robo Daiyusha in your soul, this unit gets POWER+2000. 

I won't get into detail as what this means for the game, etc. Just be aware of it's existence ;)

HerO

Check out KS Games for all your Cardfight!! Vanguard needs!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Vancouver, BC Team Tournament Report

This past Saturday, Chan from DifferenceInSkill held another team tournament at our locals. The prize was a whole box of Japanese Set 7, with second place taking home 15 packs (half a box). Teams consisted of three people a la anime, and each team member played a best of 1 versus an opposing team member, creating a best of 3. Eight teams actually showed up to compete, so we were split into two groups of four teams each. The teams then play round-robin style within their own groups. Top 2 groups advance to the playoffs.

Our team, called iS4 (Infinite Sack 4) consisted of a couple of friends and I. I played Spike Brothers, and my teammates played Royal and Gold Paladin, which was a good combination if I do say so myself. I was the team's starter, so it was pretty important that I get the first wins. 

I barely remember my own matches, but I'll try my best and probably not go into detail about my teammate's matches. Without further ado, here we go.

Group Round 1 - Team iS4 vs. Team Har Har Har

HerO (Spike Brothers) vs. Robbie (Granblue)
 I went first, so i just rode Dudley Daisy and ended. He rode Deadly Nightmare, moved Captain Nightkid to the front and called a Romario behind it. He swung with the Vanguard, which I guarded for 10k, got no trigger, and then I took the Captain Nightkid's attack. On my turn I rode Field Driller, used Mecha Trainer to get a Wonder Boy, called the Wonder Boy behind Field Driller, and called a Brakki, Reckless Express and Medical Manager. I swung with the Vanguard first, which he didn't guard, I got no trigger but still drew my free card from Field Driller's effect. I swung with the lone Reckless Express, which he guarded and I swung with the boosted Brakki, which he took. I ended. Next few turns not a lot happened, he rode Cocytus and got a critical which pushed me to 4 damage with Emperor in my hand. On my next turn I ride Emperor, call Juggernaut and ready my onslaught. I swing with Juggernaut unboosted, which he takes for his 5th damage. I then attack with a boosted Reckless Express and at this point he realizes what's going on. He guards for 10k and then I Limit Break, calling a Brakki and a Juggernaut. He perfect guards my Emperor but I get a critical and a heal trigger in my checks, making both attacks impossible to stop. I take the game.

ONImuzik (Royal Paladin) vs. King of Knights (Royal Paladin)
ONImuzik guards for 2 triggers to pass and King of Knights sacks a critical and a heal.

Dan (Gold Paladin) vs. Henry (Gold Paladin)
Both players went back and forth, not really checking too many triggers but due to Dan getting the 1 trigger he needed to pass his opponent's shield, Dan acquired an advantage he didn't let go of and took the game.

Team iS4 2 - 1 Team Har Har Har

Group Round 2  - Team iS4 vs. Team Little Kids #1
I name this team "Team Little Kids #1" because there were two teams that were composed of younger kids which we had never seen before and don't know the names of. I don't actually remember what their team name was. THEY ALSO WERE NOT USING SLEEVES. UGHHHHHHHHHHHH.

HerO (Spike Brothers) vs. Little Boy #1 (Narukami)
Everything was going fine until he got gradestuck at Grade 1 for 2 turns. Meanwhile I rode to Emperor and was constantly swinging for 21k and hitting hard with my rearguards. Once he got me to 4 damage, it was pretty easy to finish him with my Limit Break. I felt kind of bad for him because he was actually a decent player but just got unlucky.

ONImuzik (Royal Paladin) vs. Little Girl #1 (Royal Paladin)
Unfortunately, this girl looked like she was playing two Royal Paladin trial decks put together at the last minute. ONImuzik using his superior deck managed to take the game pretty easily. The girl looked like a new player too, she was barely familiar with the rules - but it seemed like they all had fun despite the results.

Team iS4 2 - 0 Team Little Kids #1

Group Round 3 - Team iS4 vs. Team Little Kids #2
Another team with younger kids, free win right?

HerO (Spike Brothers) vs. Little Boy #2 (Nova Grappler)
I notice that he's running Stern Blaukruger because of his starting Vanguard, so I make a mental note. He missed both ride chain rides so I was feeling more comfortable while rushing him as much as possible. He called a 4k trigger behind his Vanguard so throughout the game his Stern Blaukruger was swinging for 14k, so I was able to guard his Vanguard with a 10k shield every time. Eventually he was left with three cards, two of which he had checked last turn - a draw trigger and a Grade 3 - which left the card he drew with the draw trigger. He was only at 3 damage (because he kept getting heal triggers) so I swung with Emperor, which he let through. Naturally, since it's a critical (see what I did there) point in the game, I got no triggers. So with him at 4 damage, I was left to gamble and hope that the card he drew was only a 5k shield. I swung with a booster Brakki + soublasted for 21k. He let it through and got no damage check trigger. I then boosted Reckless Express with Wonder Boy and soulblasted for 20k on his 10k Vanguard. He was about to guard until he realized he didn't have enough (as I had predicted) and checked his last damage. Would've been a nicer game if the boy was a slightly better player, but still wasn't too bad.

ONImuzik (Royal Paladin) vs. Little Girl #2 (Gold Paladin)
Basically ONImuzik got gradestuck at 1 for 3 turns. Should say enough.

Dan (Gold Paladin) vs. Bigger Boy #1 (Majesty Lord Blaster)
A couple things about this kid. He was much taller than all the other kids. He ran only 1 copy of Majesty Lord Blaster. He had an SP Blaster Dark. AND HE DIDN'T USE SLEEVES. UGHHHHHHHHH. 

Bigger Boy #1 started off the game pretty aggressively, which would've been fine if Dan hadn't let every single attack through. He had triggers in his hand to guard with, he just decided to not guard for some reason. While Dan rode Garmore, Bigger Boy rode Gancelot. Yes you read right - he rode Gancelot. Not only that, he used Gancelot's effect twice to run into Dan's perfect guard. One thing though was that Bigger Boy kept getting triggers and Dan did not, and since Dan decided to let attacks through in the early game that could've been guarded for 5k, instead he had to drop 15k to guard these late game ones. It got to the point that it was too much to handle, and Dan lost. To a guy that rode Gancelot. Sigh.

Team iS4 1 - 2 Team Little Kids #2

So we lose the last group round, but we still make it to the playoffs along with Team Har Har Har. Our first semi-final match was against Team ReallyFobbyName. Instead of badly explaining to you what happens, why don't I just show you?

Semi Finals - Team iS4 vs. Team ReallyFobbyName

HerO (Spike Brothers) vs. Stanley (Dark Irregulars)

ONImuzik (Royal Paladin) vs. Anson (Dragonic Overlord The End)

Finals - Team iS4  vs. Team WheresJohnny

HerO (Spike Brothers) vs. Willie (Soulless OTT)



ONImuzik (Royal Paladin) vs. Why (Narukami)

So yeah, we finished in second place and took home 15 packs between the 3 of us, so 5 packs each. I pulled a Dark Lord of the Abyss, ONImuzik pulled a Lequier and Dan pulled 5 R's LOL

All in all not a bad performace by Team iS4. I'm happy with the amount of teams that showed up and how each team tournament is getting bigger and bigger. Can't wait to see where Vanguard will be weeks, months even years from now.

Thanks for reading this long, badly written post,
HerO

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

Thursday, July 19, 2012

[Video] Spike Brothers Deck Profile and Analysis

I've whipped up a couple videos focussing on Spike Brothers and put them up on the DifferenceInSkill YouTube channel. I know I haven't put up solid videos or blog posts up lately, but I plan to change that.


For now I hope this tides you over, enjoy:


Deck Profile:


Analysis Video:


HerO


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

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

[News] Barcgal banned starting in August!

Bushiroad's statement:

"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."

To be honest, I'm surprised that they banned it at all for a couple of reasons. Number one, it was not banned in Japan until AFTER competitive tournament play (ie. District Tournaments) AFTER Bushiroad realized that due to Barcgal, no one would bother playing anything other than Royal Paladin. Seeing as the English format has yet to see high-level, competitive play, there's no way to tell if most people are whoring Royal Paladin due to Barcgal.

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.

HerO


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

Sunday, July 1, 2012

[News] North America Continental Qualifier Locations Announced

First announced at the Cardfight!! Vanguard Anime Expo 2012 panel, the locations and dates for all the North America Continental Qualifiers have been announced. Check out below for a location near you!

[Schedule]
Date
Venue

September 01, 2012
Canada – Marriott Toronto Airport Hotel, Toronto

September 08, 2012
Dallas/USA – Wyndham Dallas Love Field

September 15, 2012
Mexico – Gamesmart MX, Mexico City

September 15, 2012
Seattle/USA – Edward D Hansen Conference Center, Comcast Arena

September 22, 2012
Chicago/USA – Chicago Marriott Schaumburg, Illinois

October 06, 2012
New York/USA – New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center

October 13, 2012
Atlanta/USA – North Atlanta Trade Center

November 03, 2012
Los Angeles/USA – Anaheim Convention Center
Source: http://cf-vanguard.com/en/event/worlds2012/

I personally will be going to the Seattle qualifier to hopefully meet some of you! Good luck to all.

HerO

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