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!