Playing Vanguard! Part III- The Clans Part 1- The Dark Zone

Important note: All of the below information has been researched and was accurate at the time of writing of this post, however as with any card game, the meta-game changes. The core concept of the clan will not likely change, certain key cards/ strategies may. 

With that being said, and in no particular order; Here are the Dark Zone clans of Cardfight Vanguard!!

The Clans of Cray- Part 1- The Dark Zone

Gear Chronicle

The newest clan in the game, Gear Chronicle is a Dark Zone clan that was first introduced to the game with the first G-Era booster set; Generation Stride. Originally with a theme of bouncing opponents units to the bottom of their decks, the main strategy of the clan has evolved into a heavy assault deck that can easily pull off many attacks in a single turn thanks to their key word; Timeleap. Timeleap is the act of binding a unit and searching your deck for a unit that is a grade higher. The strategy revolved around cards that gain power on attack and then downgrade themselves to a lower grade unit that can then be time-leaped for another attack. The name of the game is many small rather than fewer big. as the average attack only hits around 11k. 

 Generally speaking the deck has a central theme of time, with all of the units having a cool look about them that is sometimes steam-punk, sometimes cyber-punk. If you like steam-punk style humans and big dragons with lots of gears this is a clan to check out!

Dark Irregulars

Like all of the clans from this Nation, the Dark Irregulars make use of the soul, the cards that go underneath your vanguard. Dark Irregulars use the soul less so as a resource but more so as a way of unlocking stronger skills. The clan is made up of demons, monsters and humans with strange abilities, with the lore concept of building soul being a literally amalgamation of souls. The fun thing about Dark Irregulars is that they are very rarely very competitive, which sounds like a strange statement but because there is no one build that has a very good chance of topping tournaments you can have fun playing different builds and strategies. It also means that cards generally won't be quite as expensive. It isn't currently a deck I would recommend to build if your goal is to attend events wanting to top. One of the major flaws with the deck is that to optimise your mid to late game you need to soul-charge a lot. This means that inevitably your combo pieces will end up in your soul which can mean that a solid strategy that involves attacking mainly with your vanguard can sometimes be all you can guarantee.
  The keyword Darkness is a skill that triggers when a card moves into your soul, this somewhat added to the usefulness you can get out of your rearguards given that units with Darkness often have strong skills, but the deck can still struggle. Ultimately, Dark Irregulars is a cool clan with lots of interesting card-arts that, while not always competitive, is a lot of fun to play.

Pale Moon

I have tried to be as completely unbiased as I possibly can, but Pale Moon was the very first clan I played; the clan that got me into Vanguard. Pale Moon use the soul in a very unique way. Like a circus, that the theme of the units reflects, the units bounce in and out of the soul to make attacks, often getting abilities to gain power or to call more units out of the soul. Whereas Dark Irregulars like to soul-charge en-mass, Pale Moon likes to be a little bit more picky. What is important is not how many cards you have in the soul, but what cards you have in the soul; what pieces of the performance you have that you can chain together. I would honestly recommend anyone who is just starting out to look into Pale Moon. It is a really fun deck that is a good introduction to turns and plays that have multiple parts to think about. And that isn't even to mention how cool all the units look!

Spike Brothers

Ah Spike Brothers. I don't think there has ever been a clan in this game that has been less appreciated. The inherit problem of this clan is that they are afraid to make them too good. Themed around being a fantasy American football team, Spike Brothers make their attacks from the deck; units are called from the deck to the field with often very high attack power, to them return to the deck after their attack. The problem is there is only so far you can take that mechanic before it becomes too powerful. Spikes are one of those clans that don't often get support, but when they do it is just enough to keep them playable. Their most recent support gave them the keyword Charge, which occurs when a unit is place on rear guard by an effect; that unit is considered to be charging. When a charging unit attacks it returns to the deck. This can be very powerful and can, in the mid-game, create turns that simply can't be guarded against due to raw power and number of attacks. The problem occurs when not hitting the right combo pieces to make the perfect turn, as not hitting the right cards can leave you with absolutely nothing, and due to the glass cannon nature of the deck when you commit to an attacking turn you have to commit hard as you are unlikely to have the cards to guard the next turn. It can be a tricky deck to play as you need to make the right judgements of when it is time to go fully in. If you are looking for a deck that is going to get regular support then Spike Brothers may not be for you. However, if you are on a budget, it is a really cool clan to get into as you won't to spend money on it as much. Cool theme, a lot of potential and really fun when you learn how to play it!

So that is the Dark Zone! As you can see the central theme of the Nation is the super-natural; Demons, Elves, Monsters and twisted humans. The soul plays a key role in all of these clans (even if just to pay costs), so if you are looking to sit on more than your rides then the Dark Zone is for you!

In the next post I will be covering another Nation; The United Sanctuary!

Please do let me know if you found this in anyway helpful!

Playing Vanguard! Part II- Where to Start

 So you want to play Cardfight Vangaurd? 

 

Well awesome because you are looking at investing in not just a fun, fast paced, ever growing card game, but also into a community that will welcome you with open arms. So here is an easy step by step guide to getting into Vanguard!

Step 0- (Optional): Get Some Friends to Join you!

While you can have just as much fun with Vanguard by just going along to a locals it can be a lot more fun to have someone to play with outside of what is perhaps only a once a week event. This also gives you someone to play against while you are learning the basic mechanics of the game! Of course if your locals is anything like mine then there will definitely be someone willing to take the time to teach you how to play!

Step 1- Start Simple: Trial Decks

One of the great things about Vanguard is that anyone can pick it up. But do not be fooled! Like anything else you need to start simple and this game has the very aptly named Trial Decks for that! It is important to note that while very similar in function to a Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic starter deck, Trial Decks have a few notable differences- 

1. Trial Decks Can Win! As I stated in my previous post due to the nature of this game it isn't     like a trial deck can't be played out of the box at an event.

2. Trial Deck cards aren't just good for learning how to play! This is particularly true in the         new "G" era (more on G later on!) where trial decks come with key cards that you can 

    only find in the trial decks. 

I am planning to do an opening video of a Trial Deck when the Shadow Paladin one is released in December, just to show what a trial deck comes with. I will post a link to that when that is uploaded!

One thing to remember though that a trial deck can be a stepping stone into your next, more custom deck or just, as the name suggests, a way to trial out the game. See if you do actually want to play!

Another option is the "Legend" decks. These have a little bit more structure than a trial deck and make a great start if you are willing to spend a little bit more! These sell at my shop for £22, whereas Trial Decks are only £13. If you are sure you want to play Vanguard then these "Legend" decks may be the ideal start for you! 

Step 2- Learn the Basics and Get Playing!

This sounds like an obvious step and it is but none the less is an important part of getting into the game. Trial Decks all come with a rulebook as well as a "how to play" guide. They are designed to be simple, but with enough in them to be able to introduce new players to the game. They are not simple to the same degree that a Yu-Gi-Oh starter deck is, but not enough to over complicate anything and put off new players. 

Once you have a basic idea of how to play and what the cards in your trial deck do it is time to start playing! 

Step 3- Finding Somewhere To Play

As step 0 covered it isn't totally necessary to start the game with a friend or group of friends, but it does help, simply because with someone else you can play. This can be anywhere! When me and my friends got into the game we were not above playing Vanguard in the ICT rooms at college! But if you don't have friends who want to play Vanguard or you want to play against a larger variety of people then you need to look for a local tournament. 

On the official Cardfight Vanguard website there is a section where you can find shops that run Cardfight Vanguard events in your country! ( http://cf-vanguard.com/en/shop/ ) And hey. If you are ever in South-East England  on a Sunday look up The Games Shop in Aldershot and come say hello! 

Step 4- The Next Step

This is a place we are all at! Through playing games against a variety of people you can come to learn what is out there and what you might like to try playing. And if that doesn't help you work out then Part III might! 

The next part will be looking a little into all of the clans and what they do!

Hopefully this has helped you in how to take your first steps into Vanguard!

 Thanks for reading! 

Playing Vanguard! Part I- My Vanguard Story

  This is something that has indirectly come up at my locals and I thought I would write a little bit about my thoughts on it, because it can either be as simple as it sounds or a total nightmare! This post is going to be a little different because it is all completely my own opinion as oppose to something that can be backed up by facts. So bare that it mind if you decide to read on!

 Vanguard is different to all of the other card games I have played, and I, like most Vanguard players, have tried a lot (I'm convinced that well over 80% of people who play Vanguard played another card game before and of those at least 70% played Yu-Gi-Oh!). Vanguard was a game that, for me personally, appeared when Yu-Gi-Oh was starting to get stale. The game was getting too expensive for my, at the time, very limited budget and my local competitive scene was less than friendly. In the true style of the first series of the anime for Vanguard I found out about this new game through the owner of my local card shop. At first I was sceptical. New card games came and went (ehem. The Spoils) but the three main pillars of successful card games had always stood as the three you would choose from; Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic and Pokemon. When Vanguard was coming out I had tried all three and was ready to give something new a go. At this point of course I didn't know that it would be the game to keep me hooked!

  I think it's important for me to clarify that I am not knocking Yu-Gi-Oh!, This is somewhat off topic and perhaps should have appeared as a disclaimer at the start of the post! I have been playing card games since Yu-Gi-Oh became a craze at my primary school when I was about 7 years old. I made two of my closest friends through the game and without it I wouldn't be the cardy that I am today! I enjoyed Yu-Gi-Oh as a child, from a child's perspective. It wasn't about having a top tier deck that could win big events, it was about having fun with friends. I don't know if it is the case everywhere, but at my local scene it is a lot different to that. Don't get me wrong, I understand that that is how the game works now. At my local shop everyone is playing high tier decks and aren't all that understanding of newer or less skilled players. What this does create is a high skill level arena perfectly orchestrated towards honing your play for the many regional and national events that Konami hold across the country, the continent and the world. If you want to be a highly competitive player it is ideal. If you don't, as I didn't at the time the game doesn't have a lot to offer you in the range of regular meet-ups. But back to the story!

 So I watched the anime and what I got was something totally new and fresh; this was an anime about playing card games. Not an anime about saving the world through the card games (Not in season 1 anyway!). I knew this was something I wanted to play. A way to play card games without the hardcore atmosphere of the more competitive ones. The fact that there were no events at my local shop was at first a curse but shortly after became a blessing. So I became the Tournament Organiser. Our community was small at first, just like the game itself, but slowly, gradually we built up a community. I was able to create a space that was totally different to other tournaments, and as more and more people fell away from the other, bigger card games, Vanguard became just what they were looking for. Nearly four years later and Sunday is still my favourite day of the week because of it!

 Vanguard is easy to pick up. Literally anyone over the age of about 8 could pick up a trial deck and play it. It's for that reason that I wanted my tournament to be a friendly and welcoming place, even for players who are brand new to the game. As sad as it sounds I wanted my little tournament to be a similar place to Card Capital in the anime. Now time for another little disclaimer. I am not an otaku. I don't watch nearly enough anime for that, and my goal wasn't a perfect little slice of anime world. The anime just helped me to see that card games can be a catapult into friendships and personal development. Aichi's story in the anime is an extreme version of that, but throw the tournament I have grown as a person and made a lot of friends. Something I may not have been able to do in other card games without being very good at the game. Vanguard isn't made to just be played competitively, the evidence of which being that we only get two major sets of events a year; Trios and World Championships, to the point where, if you played very well, won every game you played and made it to the Worlds Finals you would still probably play only about 6 events in the year. But for the majority of people 2-3 events a year is average. This means that a lot of cards come out either after or before big events, meaning that they may never see big tournament play before the next support comes out. But still people buy those cards, and that is another big difference in Vanguard; Cards don't have to be the very best for people to want to play them.

Of course some players will only play the best decks to have the best possible chance at winning events, but a great many more are happy to play a deck just because it is their favourite clan. Vanguard lets you do that. There is an undeniable element of luck to the game, to the point where it is perfectly feasible for a £15 trial deck to beat a £300 tier 1 deck. I'm not denying or discounting the amount of skill that is involved in vanguard, but because of the nature of triggers any deck can win. What this creates is variety. Of course in the very top circle you will have the two or three decks just a little above the rest, but when you look at results from across the world there is a lot of variety. Even if you look closer to home at local events, you see variety. As an example, off the top of my head, at my locals this weekend I saw-

- Fenrir
- Messiah
- Magia
- Seven Seas/ Nightrose
- Gear Chronicle
- Dark Irregular Legion/Nightmareland
- Bloom
- Silver Thorn

 The point is that Vanguard allows people to play what they want to play. So how do you know what is the right deck for you? This is a question that came up when I was talking with friends at locals about different playstyles and how that can affect deck choice. When I first started playing this game at locals it was shortly before the English release of BT04, so there was a lot to choose from. I had no idea what clans did what at the time so my choice came down to what I thought looked coolest. After narrowing it down to Angel Feather and Pale Moon I ended up with a Sword Magician Sarah Pale Moon deck (As Luquier was and still is a pain to get a hold of!). I was lucky enough that the deck I liked the look of was also a lot of fun, but I may have hated it. As such as part of this new series of posts I will be looking at all the clans and giving you a brief idea about what they do!


 Ok so I know that was a lot of reading so if you are still here thank you! This was just a little introduction to how I started to play Vanguard as a way to introduce my new series of posts which is going to explore getting started in the game and eventually into more advanced techniques!

Thanks for reading!

Revival English Only Set Predictions!

A long-standing issue with English Cardfight Vanguard is the unavailability of older cards, and how that effectively locks out certain decks from people who want to try them, simply because they weren't playing when essential cards were released or they were playing but the cards were so "meh" at time of release or shortly after that people didn't hold onto them. The example I have always given is that you can't play a Nightmare Doll deck without Alice. This is because it's not like Alice is a strong addition to the deck, but Alice IS the deck. The same can be said about a pure Blade Wing deck. Revival Collection is a set that English players, including myself have been begging for for a long time now. Confirmed reprints include-

- Nightmare Doll Alice
- Blade Wing Reijy
- Lambros
-Aurageyser Dragon


From these reveals alone we can see the direction that Bushiroad are trying to take the English game. The reveals imply that it won't just be pre-G cards that are reprinted but essential hard to find cards. No Aqua Force deck doesn't run 4 copies of Lambros. Even when they get further support in G-Set 9 I can't imagine Lambros will be completely pushed out, to 2 I should think will be it. In my eyes that is what this set is about. We are coming to a point in the game where clans are going to get support, but you still need the older cards. Yes without a doubt it is to do with selling the new cards, but at the same time it means that we get to play with decks that before may have been completely inaccessible (Aurageyser is still sitting ona  value of around £30-50 online. You need 2. And that is £100 before any other shadow paladin cards.)

One downside I have seen players complain about is the destruction of the secondary market. The reprints are easy to find so the originals are less wanted so will lose value. My argument to that is tough. I have known of people to really go crazy with their prices because they know there is demand. This prevents that. And with this set being called Revival Collection Vol.1 I am hopeful that this may continue as the game grows. Fingers crossed for a Luquier reprint in Volume 2!

It is not confirmed how the numbers of the sort work out so these predictions are not as a setlist as a whole, more so what I think may get printed/what I would like to see!




Royal Paladin- Aerial Divine Knight Altmile
                       - Sanctuary Guard Dragon
                       - Seeker Support

Shadow Paladin- Witch Stride or Grade 3
                          -  Diablo Stride

Aqua Force- Transcore Grade 3
                   - Ripple support

Pale Moon- Silver Thorn Stride/ Grade 3
                  - Nightmare Doll Support

Gold Paladin- Liberator Support
                      -Salvation Lion Ezel Scissors

Oracle Think Tank- New: Battle Sister Support
                              - Silent Tom

Genesis-  Regalia Grade 3 (Minerva, CEO or New)
             -
Kagero - Overlord (because it's Overlord)

Tachikaze- Rex support

Murakumo- Zanbaku and/or support

Narukami- Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion
                - Confirmed Eradicator Support

Nova Grappler- Confirmed Beast Deity Support

Dimension Police- Dimensional Robo support.

Link Joker -  Chaos support

Spike Brothers- Dragger reprint/support

Gear Chronicle- Steam Maiden Melem

Granblue- Seven Seas Stride Reprint
               - Stride that flips a G Unit face up.

Bermuda Triangle- ??? (see notes (b)

Megacolony- Giraffa reprint/support.
                    - Machining support

Great Nature- Managarmr reprint
                 
Neo Nectar- Musketeer Support
                  - Maiden of support.



Notes


(a) Link Joker was a hard one as Messiahs, Star Vaders and Chaos have had a lot of support lately. Gears was tricky to because the question is how recent are they going back to get reprints? We know as GBT03 because of Aurageyser, so the question is; is GBT05 too recent? Melem is sitting at about £20-25 at the moment. which is a lot for a RR. With all the Gear support coming it seems illogical to me to not reprint her. But time will tell!

(b) For Bermuda Triangle I had no idea at all. They have so many different decks you can play that I couldn't quite decide what I think is most likely. Olyvia would have been the number 1 candidate were it not for the fact that she has literally just been reprinted. That being said I wouldn't say it is impossible. My guess would be Duo support, or more specifically; Meer. She got a stride in the Summer Collection but didn't do all that much to the deck itself. The deck lacks a finisher. Reit is good, but we need her in stride form! Or just a really decent Duo stride.



These are just some of my thoughts. Overall, from what has been revealed so far, this set is looking to bring good things to the game, and I am looking forward to more reprints int he future!

Types of Vanguard Players!

(Disclaimer! This post is completely satirical. Please don't take anything seriously or to heart! Thank you!)

Vanguard players. If you are reading this blog then you either are one, are thinking of becoming one, or are just a little bit curious about one actually is. Well whatever the case you are in the right place, because I'm going to tell you exactly what a Vanguard player is and how you can tell different types apart. First let's look at the definition of a Vanguard player-





  Vanguard Player- (Cardfight, Yugioh Dropout, Weaboo gamer) -

       A person who plays the game cardfight vanguard as a side game or is mad enough to invest in it as a main game.



Cardfight Vanguard was released to the world at a glorious time, and into a gap in the market that only it could fill. Most people who play card games (and lets make it crystal clear that they need to have little pictures on them and  not just numbers and symbols) have at some point in their lives played more than one game, because lets face it the people who design these games have not even the remotest idea of balance and what is is good and is widely played can be the dominant force for a long time, making for a stale metagame (but that is a topic for another post.) Lots of different people play vanguard for a lot of different reasons.. So can you really put them into categories as if certain traits dominate who that person is?.. Yes. You can.

1- The Weaboo 

Ah the weaboo, the usually non-asian, long-haired, anime t-shirt wearing guy at your locals who is instantly recognisable by his playmat with altogether way too much anime ass and/or tits. This kind of player has likely seen all of the episodes of the anime that goes with the game and can probably quote the names of moves used by units ingame. He will judge you either in his head, because his god-complex is assuring him he is better than you, or he will straight up say something offensive, because the 19 hours of anime he watches a day have all but murdered his social skills. 

Things to look out for- 

- Anime playmat: Likely not from the Vanguard anime but some soft-core porn anime, either official or custom. 

- Fedora - This comes into the whole "i think therefore everyone with a different believe to me is a degenerate" WARNING: Not all neckbeards are weaboos, but most weaboos are neckbeards! Discretion is advised. 

- Quotation of the Vanguard anime explicitly referencing his plays to the anime. 

- Openly discussing "Kaichi" (if you don't know you are better off. But trust me you don't want.)

2- The Claimer

Like the weaboo, the Claimer has an obsession too, but not over a culture he/she wasn't born into. Oh no! The Claimer is the player at locals who tries to take total ownership over part of the game. Confused? Ok. I'm sure there is one at your locals. Let me explain. The guy who claims to either; only play one deck, played a deck before anyone else, tries to have priority in trades if something he thinks he owns is involved. Still confused? Here is an example- 

You- Oh Sweet look i pulled an SP Kagero

The Claimer- You have to trade that to me. 

You- I mean I don't have to.. it depends what you have. 

The Claimer- No you have to because it is my clan.

Notice the insistence of that just being how it is and a claim to ownership of a clan.

Lets lay down one fact. A lot of people play this game. You having been the first to complete a deck, or having played a deck for a long time, or having more SP cards than anyone else in no way gives you anymore of a claim than anyone else. In fact, you have put so many trades into getting your SP cards that your trades are shit and you've got nothing I want. 

The Claimer is more intelligent than the weaboo. The Claimer is better at hiding their obsession. Well some of them. Some of them will just bumble through locals making himself look like a plonker, but some are more tactical. They know that "Mine" and "my" are words people don't like. So they don't use them. But you can still see the signs..

When they try to trade for, for example, an SP of a clan they have claimed, they won't just present their trades or cash in an attempt to get the card. Oh no. They will make sure you know why exactly they want card.- 

"Yeah it's like the last SP I need for the Clan"

"I'm the only one who needs it" 

Another tell-tale sign, if you are unfortunate another to have the Claimer on Facebook is that their profile picture and cover photo will likely feature the clan they claim. 

Remember! No Claimer wants to be labelled with how pathetic being a claimer is! If confronted their response will often be- 

"No I just like the clan"

 or

"I've always played it, it isn't a new thing."

Be aware!

3- The Noob 

Every locals has them. Infact every community of any activity ever has them. That person that just doesn't quite get things as much as everyone else  Remember! Noob doesn't just mean you are new to the game. People who are new can get better. If you have been playing for 6 months and still try and drive check with your rear-guards then you are having more than just teething problems!

      This is the guy who comes week after week and never manages to get more than one win (let's remember that anyone can rip triple critical). His deck is inconsistent to say the least, he doesn't play heal triggers. He always attacks with his vanguard first despite his only triggers being stands. In League of Legends this is what we would call "freelo"- a free win. 

 

4- The Salt

The Salt is divided into 3 categories- Losing, Winning and Supreme. 

Losing salt is self-explanatory. They lose and they get really mad. They will often have a full list of reasons why they lost- I got no triggers. I got no grade 2s. I got too many grade 3s. They will never be saying- "Good game!" or "Well played!" or "Perhaps it was down to the choices I made within the game that contributed to the outcome, perhaps if I put some time into working out why I lost I may be able to improve for my next game with this opponent." They are just salt. The other person is a bastard for getting triggers. 

Winning salt is almost not salt at all but is usually the result of continuous unbroken losing salt. When you lose a lot, you forget the nice feeling that comes hand-in-hand with victory. You get a bit cocky. If your situation is looking good, you might start talking a bit of shit to your opponent. People only do this if they have lost so much that they milk the feeling of victory for everything it is worth. Their arrogance and heightened euphoria often clouds their judgement and causes them to lose, resulting in even more salt, which they carry to their next game, which they then of course lose. it is a vicious salty cycle, which results in the ultimate salty form. 

The Salt Supreme. This is the guy who goes 0-X so often that winning for him is like some kind of mystical event foretold by the stars. This is the guy who goes red in the face when he loses his 5th game of the day, the same guy who won't shake your hand when you beat him. But eventually, by some stroke of luck, or if he is using Diablo, he will get a victory. And when he does he will not let you forget about it. Like ever. This once in a millennium event is all of his Christmases at once, he will talk about it every time he sees you, and tell tales of his victory wherever he goes. But from his next game onwards, when he inevitably loses again, his salt will build back up. This of it like filling up a salt shaker. With every game the shaker has more salt added to it. If you are the unlucky person to lose to his first stride triple trigger then you will have those months and months of salt poured all over you. But don't worry. You'll thrash him next time. 

5- The Former Yugioh Player

"This game is too simple"

"There is so much luck involved"

"im only playing this while Yugioh is bad"

"haha i wouldn't lose if this was actually a skill game"

6- The Former Magic Player

"some cards can't be holo?."

"Im not sure if a deck worth less than $800 is worth buying.."

"You only just have full arts?."

"There is only one format?.."

"There are other cards except Magic?.."

7- The Good Guy

This. This is the guy. He might play a deck because it is good or because he really likes the theme. He's just playing for fun. But he isn't bad at the game. He has done his research and may casually watch the anime. But he won't cuss you if you haven't. He doesn't think he is better than everyone else. He's just there to have fun playing Vanguard and he respects that you are too. He's not going to get salty if you lose or rub it in your face if he wins. He is. The Good Guy. 

Rule 1. Always be the Good Guy!

Nociel to the Rescue! (Post GBT07 Angel Feather Nociel Rescue deck!)

As anyone who has been here before will know, I have always been a Nociel enthusiast when it came to Angel Feather, going way back to the Jurassic period of Kiriel and Calamity when BT-06 came out. While the new set did not bring any Nociel specific support, the more generic rescue support has turned Nociel into a pre-stride engine that sets the rest of your game up for some very explosive turns which are ridiculously hard for your opponent to survive.

I've covered a lot of the good Angel Feather units in my previous post about Nociel, so this one is going to more so be about Nociel's synergy with Rescue and how that affects the build of the deck. So first let's take a look at our Angel Feather keyword; Rescue. 

What is Rescue? 

Rescue is the new keyword/mechanic for the Angel Feather clan which has shaped how the new support for the clan works, as well as reshaping how existing cards play. When you perform Rescue you heal a card from your damage zone, then deal your vanguard one damage (or 2 in the case of a certain stride unit's skill, but more on that later). Effectively Rescue allows you perform drive checks in addition to your vanguard's drive checks, at different points in the game, such as when guarding or after a rearguard has attacked. The great about Rescue, which arguably makes it one of the best keywords in the game, is the utility it brings. It can be used aggressively to perform more drive checks, or during your opponents turn to check for defensive damage triggers, all while filtering and effectively counter-charging damage (because Rescue heals any damage, face-up or face-down and deals a damage face-up). It is an incredibly strong mechanic. 

The Nociel Engine

As mentioned earlier Nociel is an engine. The cards that make up the engine have strong skills themselves as well as making up the official strength and consistency. The card that brought the engine together was Love Sniper, Nociel , a grade 3 that on the surface (if you didn't know she was part of an archetype) doesn't seem particularly strong. It's only when you play 4 of each grade of Nociel (that's at 0,1,2 and 3) that you realise how consistently you can plus. 16 cards in your 49 card main deck are have Nociel in their card name and when you combine this with the skills of all of the Nociel units below grade 3, you have a lot of chances to trigger the skill of the grade 3 and plus. In case you don't remember Love Sniper, here are her skills: 

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1)] When a card with "Nociel" in its card name is put into your damage zone, you may pay the cost. If you do, and that card is face up, put that card into your hand, then put the top card of your deck into your damage zone face up.


[AUTO]:[Choose a card from your hand, and put it into your damage zone face up] When this unit is placed on (VC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose a card from your damage zone, and put it into your hand.

As you can see it is very easy to plus off of this skill, given the sheer amount of Nociel units you play. And as if that wasn't enough she herself gives you a free one to boot. 

Nociel to the Rescue!

The synergy of this deck comes from the Nociel engine helping you to set up at hyper-speed, while the rescue support sets up turns that are ridiculously hard to guard. Remember we spoke about rescuing two at once? 

Black Seraph Gavrail. Nociel maybe royalty in terms of how good she is, but she is just a princess next to the true Queen of Angel Feather. Let's take a look at that skill. - 

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn] Generation Break 2:[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card named "Black Seraph, Gavrail" from your G zone, and turn it face up] Until end of turn, this unit gets "[AUTO](VC):When your card is put into your damage zone during the battle phase, choose up to two of your units, and they get [Power]+2000 until end of turn." and "Rescue 2-[AUTO](VC):At the end of the battle that this unit attacked, choose two cards from your damage zone, heal them, choose one of your vanguards, and deal two damage.".

X-Gallop can quad-drive? That's cute. Gavrail can perform 5 drive checks. 5. 3 from her attack and 2 just after from her Rescue 2 ability. Remember how disgustingly high columns can get in this deck, thanks to the likes of Nurse of Broken Heart and Thousand Ray Pegasus? Well now you have 5 chances to find those triggers, in a deck that has been thinned and siphoned thanks to your Nociel engine. And as if that wasn't enough, Black Seraph can dish out even more power after her rescue 2. The idea is that through Nociel you set up early game, to the point where Gavrail is usually enough to win the game. The rest of the G-Zone is almost just utility if you cannot end with Gavrail. 

Let's take a look at my Nociel Rescue deck (seeing as that is what most of you are waiting for!) and i'll explain some of the choices afterwards. 

Nociel Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue!

4x Love, Sniper Nociel 

1x Black Shiver, Gavrail

1x Holy Edge Celestial, Malchidael 

4x Nurse of Broken Heart

4x Love Machine Gun, Nociel 

2x Million Ray Pegasus 

2x Candle Celestial, Sariel 

1x Dosage Celestial, Asmodel 

4x Doctroid Remnon 

4x Battle Cupid, Nociel 

3x Black Call, Nakir 

3x Thousand Ray Pegasus 

4x Sunny Smile Angel (HEAL)

4x Happy Bell, Nociel (STAND) 

4x Doctroid Refros (STAND)

4x Surgery Angel (STAND) 

4x Black Seraph Gavrail

4x Holy Seraph Raphael 

1x Holy Seraph Uriel 

1x Holy Seraph Zachariel 

1x Holy Seraph Raziel 

1x Holy Seraph Nociel 

2x Holy Seraph Suriel 

1x Holy Seraph Oriphiel 

1x Metal Elemental Scryew 

The Nociel engine speaks for itself, but some of the cards are less self-explanatory. Let's start with the Grade 3 line-up. Nociel is one of those decks that can get away with running less than average amounts of grade 3 units (some builds have even played just the 4 nociel grade 3!). The Gavrail tech is there as a strong back-up ride. The standard Rescue deck plays 4 of her as the main vanguard, and the essential post-stride aggression is the same, just with different rear-guards, so hitting Gavrail instead of the Nociel isn't the end of the world, it is better than not hitting grade 3 at all during the game. You do have plays outside of striding, but the true strength comes from hitting Nociel. The other grade 3 tech is one of the Angel Feather Legion units. I was recommended her by a friend for two reasons. Firstly because Nociel gets through her deck really quickly. You want to be hitting Nociel units with her skill so that you can plus, but by doing this you are eating through your deck very quickly. Her legion skill isn't terrible, nothing particularly worth mentioning, but that four cards back into the deck can be the difference between decking out and losing or winning by stacking more triggers. 

For the Grade 2s we are playing one of the Legion mate, but again literally just for the off-chance you have to ride the Legion, damage checking the mate doesn't mean much, you play the legion just for the deck refuel. Broken Heart is Broken Heart. No more is needed to be to said. Nociel is Nociel. She fuels the engine and makes plays. Some people are no longer playing the Grade 2 pony, I personally still like it, it can create offensive or defensive plays outside of striding. She is also essentially the fifth and sixth Broken Heart. People know Broken Heart is a huge player in this deck and she will be targeted for attacks, retires, locks and binds. Playing two of the pony just means we have options when our Broken Hearts have to face control. Sariel is a popular tech simply because she lets you search out the Nociel you want which you then add to your hand through the skill of the grade 3 Nociel. The cost is to counterblast 2, but it's a specific plus, a plus that if you think a little bit creatively can net a what you need, for example, damaging a grade 3 nociel so you have something stride with next turn. 

Grade 1s: 4 Nociel. MVP. 3 Stride Assist. You want to be able to stride when you need to. You can make plays without striding, but Black Seraph is the big finish you want to be able to reach, with so few grade 3 units, these can help you get there. I'm playing the older support rather than the rescue specific support, simply because the rescue support has been more designed to synergise with Gav, but with Pegasus you can make the huge columns. I am however playing the rescue PG because it is a lot easier to forfil the condition of having one of her face-up when you guard with her, because of all the switching Nociel does (this was an issue I found in Pure Gavrail, whereby I would be in a position where I have to rescue off the face-up PG or use her to counter-blast, but in a deck where only two of your units are performing rescue, one of the stand triggers and the stride you want to end the game with, it is much less of an issue. 

G-Zone is very standard. One huge thing is no Seabreeze. The theory behind this is that, not only does Nociel not need stride to perform, but by not playing it we have more options in what we do, for example I'm playing Raziel over Seabreeze, because if I have 2 ponys and 2 Broken Heart on board, the turn I can do is much more threatening than a turn i would have done by striding while they were on grade 2. 

For the G-Guards I'm playing 2 of the new ones that perform rescue and one of the limit break 4 one. You check the top card of your deck and decide whether or not you want to damage it. This can do a multitude of things. If it's a nociel you can plus. If it is a trigger you can power up your vanguard. If it is a heal trigger you can heal. And, in a position of desperation where you need to get a heal to survive the turn, you have a chance to check the top two instead. Very strong. I'm playing one of the fighter collection G-Guard because sometimes you need the 20k shield, and that isn't something that the other g-guard can guarantee. And at the moment I am playing one of the screw, for the same reason as above, sometimes you just need a really big shield. 

So that is my take on Nociel Rescue. It is an extremely consistent deck, but also a deck that you need to spend time with to learn in order to maximise the potential. 

I hope you guys enjoyed reading, and let me know your thoughts!

Thanks- 

Flogal

Is Buying a case worth the money?

I think anyone who plays a card game and says they haven't at some point in their lives at least humoured the idea of buying a lot of sealed packs in bulk, is lying. Aside from playing the actual game itself, the gamble of a booster pack is something that all of us have fallen for at least once in our lives. And how could the allure not be there? There is no better feeling in than paying a few pounds for a booster pack and pulling a card that triples your money back, or more (except maybe triple critical for game, but other cardies don't quite get that!). We've all pulled great from booster packs and we've all gone rare for rare. But I recently took this one step further. or actually. 479 steps further.

I am currently in-between jobs and will in a few weeks be starting my first full time care role, so i thought I would try something I've never tried before, because I am not going to be in a position to do it again for the foreseeable future. I dropped a chunk of money on a case. 16 booster boxes, 480 booster packs. I have a video up of my first box as well as a review of my pulls on my you tube channel, but I thought I could better put in words here my experience of a case and whether or not I recommend anyone else to do the same.

So first off as I'm sure you are wondering, the case cost me £720 (about $1000), it was posted to me by courier on the day of release by Chaos Cards. (www.chaoscards.co.uk). If you do plan on buying bulk, or even just a box or two for the release date of anything, then I recommend Chaos Cards, I can't flaw them.

The case was delivered, sealed from Bushiroad, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pretty excited. I've been playing card games since I was in primary school ( about 7-8 years old) and I'd never even seen so many booster packs, let alone thought I'd be opening them. I'd only pre-sold a few parts so I was basically looking at a giant boost to my collection, as well as hopefully making some of my money back. So I got straight into it. I'd never opened more than one booster box before so for the first few boxes I was in a pretty good mood. But slowly. I got bored. I opened 8 boxes and the prospect of opening another 8 was daunting. You would think I would have rushed through them, but I actually had to take a break half-way through. All in all it took me well over two hours to open all of the boxes and probably another two or three to sort through them all. I had a friend who bought a case of GBT01 and he had told me it was hell, but I couldn't have believed that before I experienced it myself. The only word I can think to describe it is boredom. By the time I was half-way through I excruciatingly bored, I just wanted them all to be open so I could assess what I had pulled.

The thing with a case is that you buy so many packs that you are guaranteed a lot of good stuff. From GBT07 onwards the GR pull-rate is increased, you get two of the special SP clan packs in a case as well as one of each of the SGR. But these things are guaranteed. Even before I opened a single pack from the case I knew that I had all of those things guaranteed as well as a multiples of everything. There is a huge difference between buying a booster pack and pulling a money card, and pulling a money card from a case that you have already more than pre-paid for. To put it in non-card game terms, it is the difference between winning £200 on a £1 scratch-card and buying one million £1 scratchcards and winning £800,000. A good pull from a case isn't a good pull because you have already paid for it. The only difference between a good case and a bad case are the SP cards you get, and whether or not you got the cards that you wanted.

Originally I was going to buying a case of the Bermuda Triangle Clan pack, but about a month before the release of GBT07 I decided that a main booster set would be a better investment than one with only one clan, and I had a keen interest in Angel feather, Dark Irregulars and then later on Gold Paladins, so there was enough of a chunk of things I was after to be able to get what I wanted and make some money. But did I get everything I wanted for those 3 clans? Luckily yes, but the answer could just as easily have been no. Up until now the ratios within a case meant that a case was a purchase of at least four of every RR and above, excluding GR. With this set that has changed, and while the only RRR I didn't get 4 of was Chronofang Tiger and the Gold Paladin Grade 2, it seems it is impossible to guarantee play-sets, however I believe the GR and SGR have a much more fixed rate, I pulled 2 of each in GR and 1 of each in SGR.  But all that being said. Is it worth it?

The answer to that is it really depends. I managed to pull an SP Gavrail stride as well as clan packs for clans which I use (GP and DI) as well as being able to finish my Blade Wing and Rescue deck (profiles for both coming soon!) so that has to be taken into account when looking at value of the case; what I am using and what I have been able to sell. If we look for now purely after the case has been bought, i.e. ignoring the planning step before hand, then with what I am using and what I have been able to sell I have gone negative, but not more than about £100. Which, in fairness, is a lot, but when you dropped £720 to begin with it is only a small amount. one could argue that cost is for the experience. But there are a number of other things that need to be taken into account, such as how some RRR cards have significantly less value than others, for example Black Seraph Gavrail is 4 or 5 times more than Wings of Recurrence, Blade Wing Reijy,  because of popularity and how universal the card is to it's clan, as in any Angel Feather deck can play Black Seraph, whereas the new Reijy is exclusive to a new and under-whelmingly supported archetype. Every set has one or two RRR cards that you'd rather not pull (GBT06 had Clockfencer Dragon, for example which is now worth no more than an average RR). These need to be factored in when thinking about whether or not to buy a case.

Is it possible to break even or even plus on a case? Again, this question has a lot of factors that need to be taken into account. For example if I had not wanted to keep any of my SP cards, I could have made more money that way and been a lot closer to the bench-mark of breaking even, or if I didn't play one of the most popular clans in the set. But I chose not to, which drove down my chance at profit.

It's here that I want to talk about a company called Big Orbit Games, who trade also as Cardfight Vanguard Singles. These guys are both a blessing and a curse. Let me explain. For the most part the site has fair values, older cards that can be hard to find and they will even buy your cards for cash or credit in their store, which I highly recommend by the way, they don't buy all cards, but it's worth checking out what they are buying. I have two issues with them however. The first is to do with people using it as a platform to value cards (i'm going to do a big post about valuing cards, where I will go more into detail, so look out for that!). The second is that they are the secondary market for singles when a set is launched. You might be wondering, how is this in anyway bad? They have lots of stock and their prices are very fair, and the answer is that it isn't bad, it's actually great, many a time I have picked up full decks that have just been released on credit alone. As a buyer they are great. As a seller they are your biggest competitor. They buy bulk of new sets, in bulk, purchasing a number of cases, and the fact is when you are buying just the one, you cannot physically compete with them. The only way you will make sales out of your case is by undercutting the people who are undercutting everyone else. This may seem like an attack on B.O.G or slander, but it isn't. It is just me telling you, as someone who has experienced it, that competing with Cardfight Vanguard Singles is a total waste of your time, and if you have invested money.

So what is the point of getting a case then, I hear you crying out. Well. If you are one person looking to get all you want for a couple of decks and then break even, there isn't one. That is the situation I was in and the only plus is the experience of it. If you only want one deck out of a set and will sell the rest of everything else then you may break even or plus a little. But I will say this. If you are in that position and looking to make money off of it then do your research. B.O.G put up pre-order prices for play sets of everything in a clan in a set, so before you put down the money, see if it is possible for you to pre-sell everything you don't want and make money. It's important that you understand that Singles are able to sell at the prices they do and make profit, because they buy bulk in bulk. I can promise you they still make a lot of profit, otherwise they wouldn't crack cases, they are a business first. You, as an individual person will struggle to make profit using their prices or lower, which you have to otherwise you don't make sales.

So getting a case for yourself is a huge risk with very little actual reward. Is it ever worth buying a case if you are not a shop who can buy a lot of cases?

Well the answer to this question, is a lot more solid in my mind. Wait for a set with a clan in it you consider to be one of your favourites and say to people; "I want to experience a case. Who wants to go in for it with me?" Depending on the size of your locals, chances are you will be able to find 4 or 5 people who are interested. If you order from Chaos Cards, a case works out at £1.50 per booster pack. Decide if you want to just go in and all have some packs, or if you will wait to see values to decide who gets what. Like Vanguard as a whole, I think to fully enjoy a case you need to do experience it with a number of people, you will likely all be friends so you can make sure that everyone gets their money's worth. Take it from someone who has done it solo, as fun as it seems, it really is not. To end the article I'm just going to put a few number crunchers down as well as a few links to things i've spoke about in the post.





www.chaoscards.co.uk

 Cost of case = £720
£720= 16 boxes = 480 booster packs. = £1.50 per pack = £45 per box.

4 people pay 180 each, each box costs £45, they save £20 on the retail value of 4 boxes i.e. £5 saving per box.


alternatively you can wait to see how the cards value up and have each person pay in what they are wanting from the case, this method isn't so reliable since the lack of solid ratios, but is still something to consider.


Another option is if you and a single friend have a bit of money to spend, you can pay half each (£360) and split everything down the middle. (works out to 24 RRR each, 2 of each GR and 1 of each SGR each.) This method works if there is a lot in the set you are after and you are likely to be spending that kind of money on the cards anyway, as you get SGR and SP cards out of it also.



http://cardfightvanguardsingles.co.uk/

Cardfight Singles are worth checking out, if for nothing else than to see if you can make some money off your old cards!


As also thanks for reading!


- Flogal

Cardfight Etiquette

So I mentioned in my "How to win more in Vanguard" post that I was was going to do that post, because it is something I wanted to address based on experience, and this one has very little to do with actual game-play! This article will look at how you should and shouldn't treat your opponent.

What is Cardfight Etiquette

Well put simply it is how you conduct yourself during a game of Vanguard (or actually any cardgame). Some of this stuff will seem very obvious, but may not be something that you even think about. So i'm going to give 3 things you should do, and 3 things you shouldn't do!

Things you should Do

1. Pay your opponent attention. 

  Seems really obvious but it is easy to get distracted, especially in a casual locals environment, as the T.O (tournament organiser) and judge of my locals, it can be hard for me to focus on my games, because I need to be available for any ruling issues, and to be solely responsible for keeping track of time. Even then I make the utmost effort to pay my opponent the attention they deserve, and I expect the same back. As mentioned before, paying attention is a good way to play better. 

2. Respect your opponent's cards

  Again, seems obvious. But it is the little things. Don't touch your opponent's cards without permission. Obvious that doesn't including splitting the deck, but if you are unsure of what a skill does, just ask your opponent. Or ask if you can look at the card. 

3. Be gracious in victory AND defeat

   Sometimes games can be frustrating. You might have your next 4 or 5 turns planned out, but that is made redundant by a triple crit drive check, or you may be about to win, but then your opponent checks a heal trigger as their sixth damage, then wins the next turn. These things happen. And yes they are frustrating. But nonetheless, the game happens how it happens. There is nothing you could have done to change it, so don't take that frustration out on your opponent. Because it is unpleasant for them, to be punished with your scorn just for playing the game, and in all honesty it makes you look like a dick. It comes down to you being unsportsmanlike, salty and unable to handle losing a game. We have all won and lost to crits or heals or both. But saying "You got lucky" or "You only won because.. " is just unnecessary. As an example someone at my locals said "I would have won easily next turn. " And I just looked at him blankly and said "But there wasn't a next turn, because I won this turn." But he persisted with "but if i had another turn." He couldn't understand that it was irrelevant. In that situation, he lost because he couldn't guard my attack. If he couldn't get to the next turn with guard, then that turn doesn't matter. But. Following the advice here, I just shook his hand and said "Maybe next time". 

 Because on the other hand you should be humble in victory as you are gracious in defeat. In the same way that losing to a triple crit is something you can't change, winning by a triple crit isn't a reason to gloat. Or be smug. (Of course there is never a need to be gloat in a game. Again. It makes you look like a dick.). Not only does it make you look pretty bad but gloating when in a strong position can compromise the game. If you are so confident you have won, you may stop trying as hard, meanwhile your opponent is doing everything they can to wipe that smug grin off of your face. As another example from my locals, I was playing my Regalia CEO deck against a guy who was playing Aurageyser Shadow Paladins (I have no hate for shadow paladins, it could have been any deck, it just so happens that he was playing shadow paladins). Of course any deck with Aurageyser can build up a lot of hand. So when he was sat on about nine or more cards in hand, he got arrogant, dropping comments like "I wonder if I have enough to guard". You know the sort. Smug. Already written the game off as a win. Not concentrating. So therefore not paying attention to what I was doing. So therefore not seeing the three Norn in my soul, or the Ordain Owl on my field. And guess what? While he was busy gloating. He didn't remember CEO's skill. And guess what else? No. He didn't have enough to guard. So this also ties in to focusing. There may have been things he could do the turn before to change the outcome of the game. Regardless of that, he made himself look like an ass and didn't win the game anyway. Just something to think about. 

Things Not to Do

1.) Spend the whole game looking at your phone. 

  

  When someone sits down opposite me to have a cardfight with their phone in their hand, and don't put it down even after the round has started and we have drawn our cards, I feel pretty disregarded. It's the same with someone who spends the whole game with their headphones in. It's just rude. You've both come to the event to cardfight. So I don't understand why you wouldn't put your all into it. I have another example. Two friends of mine sit down, one is playing a Bermuda Triangle deck, the other Shadow Paladin. (it looks like i'm hating on shadow paladins but i promise i'm not). They sit down to play. And Mr.Shadow Paladin puts his phone on the table and puts his earphones in. He then proceeded to play the whole game alternating between looking at his own hand, doing his moves and looking at his phone. Needless to say the Bermuda player won. But it get's better. The Shadow Paladin then scoops the entire match after one game because he "Simply cannot beat Bermuda Triangle". Ladies and Gentlemen I know I am opening a whole other can of beans with that but that is for another time. Thankfully this is not something that happens very often. But again this can go back to my previous post. One way to win more at Vanguard. Is to play Vanguard. Of course in card games there are different skill brackets, people have strengths and weaknesses, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a go. If you don't even want to try why even bother playing the game? 

2. `Make the game awkward for your opponent to play. 

 I have had this done to me on more than one occasion. Let me explain. If your opponent is playing against you and winning. They aren't doing anything wrong. So don't make them feel like they are. You are both playing the game to meet the same objective, which is to win the game. If you are not getting the cards you need, or are grade stuck that is not your opponent's fault. Or your deck "hating you". It is chance. It is unfortunate, but again it is not something you can control. How good you are at the game is not determined by the outcome of one game. Or even one event. You might be having the worst game ever, but win every other game you play that day. Or you might have unlucky games all day, but then come back the next week and go undefeated. Being mad because you are losing is no excuse to make your opponent feel bad about winning. I had been insulted at locals before by an opponent who had disadvantage in the game because of being grade locked. Think about how you would feel if the tables were turned, if you were having a good game and your opponent made you feel bad about that. It feels pretty shit, and you almost feel like you should hold back. Here's the thing. You shouldn't hold back. You are playing the same game as your opponent, if they want to essentially sulk because they are losing then let them get on with it. Just be the bigger person. Win the game then move on. 



3. Be Mature/Appropriate


Yes Vanguard is designed to be played by people from ages 6 and up, and yes it is supposed to be fun, but when it comes to it you are both there to play the game and try and win it. The point is pretty general and all points before sort of wrap into this one. 
As for being appropriate, it's something that should be obvious, if you are playing a younger person don't swear. This obviously counts more at events then when playing with friends. Imagine how nail-bitingly nervous you would be as a parent. Don't let that parent's worst fears about organised tournaments be true. 



There are probably many more things that could be added to these lists, but the short version is think. Exactly the same as it is in-game, it's the same when interacting with other players. 




Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

How to win more at Vanguard!

So as I may have mentioned in earlier posts, my local tournament is on Sunday, so today I was able to test out Granblue for the first time. How did it perform? Honestly. Not that well. Over six rounds I ended with a record of 2-4.

Anyone can say "I had bad luck" ("I had no triggers." "if i had this card I would have won" "your deck is just better" We've all met the salty players). So instead of simply putting my performance with the deck down to factors out of my control, I thought I'd make a post to talk about things that went wrong for me, things in and out of my control and how I could have better controlled the factors that it is possible to control. The first thing to look at is reasons why you don't win a game of vanguard -




- Bad Match-up
- Misplays
- Little to No understanding of combos/mechanics
- Making errors in calculations
- No triggers!
- Not concentrating on the game (both your turn and your opponents)
- Too many of one grade
- Not enough of one grade.
- Grade Stuck!
- Triple crit on your opponents first stride
- Their playing THAT* deck
- 6th DAMAGE HEAL!!




*Where that deck is the deck you personally view as being most powerful and difficult to play against.




There probably are a great deal more reasons why you might lose a game. But these are the ones that came to mind first. So needless to say there a lot of ways that victory can slip through your fingers. So let's break it down into two groups. Things you CAN control/influence and things that are simply out of your control.

THINGS THAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL

- Triple crit on your opponents first stride
- Their playing THAT* deck
- 6th DAMAGE HEAL!!
-  No triggers!


So these are things that there is nothing you can do to change. They are all things that are just simply bad luck, which is a part of the game. These are all things that could have worked in your favour and helped you get the win, but just so happened to work in your opponent's to get the win for them. In other words, there is no need to be angry. Yeah it sucks if your opponent wins the game from getting three critical triggers off of their first stride, especially if you have meticulously planned out the next three or four turns. It's part of the game. You wouldn't be sorry if the tables were turned. You want to win. The point of playing a game is to try and win. In the heat of the moment you can feel frustrated, or even angry at your opponent. But try to not show that. It doesn't make them feel good, doesn't make you feel any better and if you have that kind of attitude when you lose, they may not want to play you again. (I have a whole post planned about "Tournament Etiquette" which will go a lot more into this subject).

So the short version is, you can essentially disregard these factors when looking at how to improve your chance of winning games. But lets have a look at the far more intricate workings that is the factors that we can control-

THINGS THAT YOU CAN CONTROL 

A more accurate title for this part would have been "things you can control or influence" but that doesn't have quite the same effect. These are, as the name suggests, things that you can do, and so therefore learn how to do better, that can greater increase your chances of winning. This can be broken in three parts; Pre-Game, During a Game and Post-game. 

Pre-Game

-  Too many/not enough of one grade

- Bad match-up

- Little to no understanding of deck mechanics/combos

So all of the pre-game aspects are to do with preparation for playing the game. Assessing why you aren't winning as much begins on the drawing board; the cards you are running. It seems obvious but you build your deck from nothing (again I will have an article on deck-building up at a later date). Make sure you know the average ratio grades (8,14,11,17) but also know any variations from that average that the deck you are building might benefit from (for example many Dragonic Overlord: The X decks play more than 8 grade 3 units because of the uses they can get out of them). Research pays off. I have often in the past looked up what other players are doing to help me with building my decks. Chances are, if you are reading this, that is how you found this blog, by looking up decklists, so you are already going in the right direction! 

So making sure your numbers of each grade is important, as of course, for a start, it minimizes your chances of being grade stuck. But what should also be taken into account when deck building is the combos that exist within a deck. You have a limited amount of space in your deck, now more than ever this new G-era. What is a key card in someone else's deck may massively hinder your deck. One thing you do need to bare in mind when looking up a deck list is that you may play the deck differently to how the author of the decklist would. The best way to build up an understanding of what a clan/deck can do is trying it out. Cardfight Area ( downloadable from cardfight.ru) is a great way to test decks online before you go to locals. Online you can try things, you can make mistakes and most importantly you can learn. One thing that I have discovered is that you can write ten pages of theory on why a particular card is good, but the only real way to truly find out, is to put it in a deck and test it out. Also you can try before you buy. You might love the look of a deck, but hate how it plays. 

Another great way to learn a deck is by watching other people play it. There is no end of videos on you tube of people playing games, in the exact same way that people learn by watching professional gamers in League of Legends. Of course this carries the risk that the person playing may not be very good with the deck, or may not realise the deck's full potential, you can get an idea of what the deck looks like in action. 

The tl;dr of the pre-game prep is to know your deck. 

As for bad match-up, it's the same. Know what your bad match-up is. Know why exactly it is a bad match-up, and what you can do to make the best of that game, rather than just saying "It's my bad match-up, i've lost". 

You could even argue that the process begins before you even pick a deck, by going to locals and scoping out what people play, and so therefore what the best deck to play is based on good match-ups. But lets assume that you are quite keen to play the deck you have chosen! (As I was with granblue). 

As an extension point to this, you basically need to actively use your brain. 

During the Game 

- Not concentrating on the game (both your turn and your opponents) 

- Making errors in calculations

So the first point is very general, and should be obvious, but sometimes is not. Vanguard is a game of two halves. Your turn and you opponents response, and your opponents turn and your response. It is of paramount importance that you pay attention during all of these things. It can be the difference between winning and losing. If you miss one important detail then it could be the difference between winning and losing. This is what you are looking for: 

- The cards in your opponents hand (the cards they search out and drive check)

  If you have an idea of what is in your opponents hand, you can more efficiently judge how to make the most of your turn. i.e. What is called where, and what attacks where. The obvious example is if they have five cards in hand, and you know three of them are grade 3 units then you know they have at most 20k plus a PG shield, or 30k. Knowing the absolute maximum your opponent can guard for is useful information to have, when planning your attacks, as well as preparing for your opponents next turn. By not paying attention to this very useful information you are handicapping yourself, especially if you opponent is doing it. 

-How your opponent is guarding 

Again this is free information that could be very important, though this one comes more under the mind games sort of category. For example, if you attack a large attack, say 19k, into a 9k rearguard, and they drop the 15k shield in order to defend it, you know that that unit has importance. They may be lacking in rearguards and don't want to lose the presence they have on the board. 

- Miscalculations 

This is something that can affect either player of course and usually accidental. But if neither player notices then play goes on. 1k power can make all of the difference in this game. 1k is often the difference between winning and losing, magic numbers at work! (more on those at a later date!). The best tip I can give is always do the math. Generally don't rely on your opponent to do it. Some decks, i.e. Angel Feather, give huge power boosts in one turn, but the same applies to huge numbers. 41k is a better attack then 40k. If a turn has a lot of moving parts (Again. Angel Feather, Refros is love) that isn't an excuse to turn off. Heal triggers happen. It is better to know exactly what is going on, even if you are praying on the heal. 

So far we have covered your two greatest weapons. Knowing your deck. And playing attention. These sound so obvious. But it is so easy to just slap a deck together, and then just play, in the same way that it can be easy to switch off during a game. It's a battle. You don't go to battle before you know how to fire your weapon. And if you switch off in a war zone, you're going to get shot (Or have a much higher chance of being shot). 

Post Game

So the game is over. What now? I lost. 

Well. You go back to the beginning. What did you learn from your game that you can then apply to your deck-building process. What combos worked well, and which combos didn't.

The way to get better is to practise; playing games. But the important thing, other than having fun of course, is to learn something!

Getting back to me and my Granblue deck. 

Today I basically took my paper theory on the deck, sleeved it up and jumped blind into the fire. I didn't know any of the combos. I didn't know how to optimize my plays to be able to get the most of the deck. So I can use this guide and come to the conclusion that I don't know the deck well yet. Concentration may have come into it, I haven't been very well for the past few days, but generally I know I can improve with the deck, so I have spent the evening play testing and will be posting a revised version of my deck (Which I will post!) 

Overall. Vanguard is a game that easy to pick up. Anyone could do it, the rules are simple and the objectives obvious. Vanguard has a steep learning curve though. But the main tool for climbing that curve is pro-active thinking. 

I really hope this post has helped you in any way, this is the way I personally plan to get better at the game! 

Thank you for reading, and may the triggers be ever in your favour!

- Flogal FTK