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

Nightrose Deck Profile!

The Night is Her Domain! 

So as you are all probably aware of at this point, the most recent G-Booster set introduced Granblue support, for the first time since BT17. So naturally a lot of card fighters, including those who have never played the clan before in their life, are very excited to see what this clan can do, especially as Granblue has, up until now, been a difficult clan to pick cards up for due to how long ago some of the key cards (i.e Sentinels) were printed (in the same way that pale moon was difficult pre-Harri because the best builds, Silver-Thorn, required the original Luquier, who even now values at between £25 and £35!). Am and Luna have a lot to offer new and old players alike, and in this post we're going to take a look at Am's avatar; Nightrose! 

Only took 3 trial decks to pull! (I know, I know)

Nightrose's Phantom Crew

So lets take a look at exactly what support has been released for Am (and anyone else interested in Pirates. Which is pretty much most people) to play with! As well as booster support in the recently released G-Set 6, a trial deck was released just it was for Pale Moon a few months ago, so lets take a look at some of the key cards we got, starting of course with the princess herself- 

Vampire Princess of Nightmist, Nightrose 

GB2- 1/turn - (Put 3 cards from the top of your deck into the drop zone) When your rearguard is put into the drop zone from your rearguard circle, you may pay the cost, if you do you may call that unit to a rearguard circle. 

(Counterblast 1) During your turn when your G-Unit stride you may pay the cost, if you do you may choose up to one card from your drop-zone, call it to rearguard circle, and that unit gets Power +2000 until end of turn. 

So the on-stride skill is very self explanatory, you stride. You revive one and give it power. It is what Granblue do. The less predictable part of this unit is her Generation Break. Well. Unpredictable that was until our keyword was announced. So lets take a look at that key word: 

Hollow- When this unit is placed on (RC) you may have it become hollow, if you do it is retired during the end phase. 

So Hollow is a state that some units can be put in when called to a rearguard circle. The significance is that these units that can be hollowed get bonus abilities when hollowed (as we will see in a moment!) 

So Nightrose's  Generation Break (2) ability is useful for the following: 

- Reviving units that are retired due to being in a state of Hollow 
- Adding more units to your drop zone via the cost
- Keeping field presence against decks that retire rearguards a lot. 
- Keeping rear-guards that are used to pay the cost of units that retire one in order to call themselves. 

It is a very diverse skill. The optimal in a Nightrose based deck is to stride, but if you can't there are still things you can do. 

So lets take a look at an example of a Hollow unit: 

Witch Doctor of the Rotten Seas, Negrorook


Hollow

GB1- AUTO- When this unit attacks this unit gets Power +2000 power until the end of that battle, and if this unit is hollowed this unit gets power +5000 until end of that battle








This guy is a good example of a unit with Hollow. And he is a strong unit. 16000 power on call if he is Hollowed is very powerful, and bare in mind that it is not limited to being called the drop zone, if you call him from the hand he can also become hollowed. This means he can be called, hollowed and swing for a huge 16000, enough to hit the average vanguard unboosted and require at least 10000 worth of shield, then return go to the drop zone during the end phase, ready to be resurrected with other skills (or resurrected instantly from Nightrose's GB2). 



So lets take a look at an idea for a deck list!

Nightrose and her Spectral Crew! 

4x Vampire Princess of Nightmist, Nightrose

2x Ghoul Dragon, Gast Dragon 

2x Mighty Rogue, Nightstorm

4x Witch Doctor of Languor, Negrolazy

2x Pirate Swordsman, Columbard

3x Witch Doctor of the Rotten Sea, Negrorook

2x Skeleton Cannoneer 

4x Waterspout Djinn (PGG)

4x Tommy the Ghostie Brothers

3x Witch Doctor of the Powdered Bone, Negrobone

2x Sea-Strolling Banshee

4x HEAL 

4x Rough Seas Banshee (CRIT, move into soul to draw, draw and charge soul)

4x Any other Crit

4x Mick the Ghostie and Family (STAND and Hollow, if called from drop zone, if hollowed give another unit 10000 power and when Mick is put into drop zone, shuffle him back into deck) 

1x Undying Departed, Grenache

1x Forbidden Space Banshee

4x Mist Phantasm Pirate King, Nightrise

2x Pirate King of Secret Schemes, Bandit Rum

1x Ghostie Great King, Obadaiah 

1x Pirate King of the Abyss, Blueheart

This deck is deceivingly easy-looking to build. This isn't the first build of the deck I have put together and it may not be the last. This current build is based on aggression. So lets start from the bottom with the grade zeroes. We are running 2 of them, in addition to our triggers, with Forbidden Space as our starter. Her ability is to counter blast 1, after you have performed stride, move herself to the soul and then check the top ten cards of your deck, putting three units with the Hollow ability into your drop zone. The benefits of having this as a starter unit is that she can stay as your vanguard's booster until you stride, and also sets up your drop-zone for later plays, or even more aggressive first stride turns, i.e Being able to stride into Blueheart first, over Obadaiah. You do usually want to stride Obadaiah first, but Forbidden Space Banshee gives you options to play more aggressively on your first stride turn if you need to. Grenache is an amazing unit, but doesn't work as well as a starting vanguard, yes you can Hollow him turn one when you ride your grade one, but this leaves your vanguard attacks significantly weaker until grade 3. This is more a personal choice. But the double counter-charge Grenache offers, makes it worth running both. 

The trigger line-up is also very aggressive. First obvious point is no draw triggers. Granblue as a clan can get through their deck very quickly, especially now stride units are around. Draw triggers can lose the games. The down-side is of course that you can't hit defensive triggers and a free card, or rather have the chance to, but the positives of lasting another turn or two far outweigh that. As an add-on to that point, one of the main pools of resources you will have access to is your drop zone, a lot of your units generate cards on the field, which in my mind make up for all offensive triggers. 
 Eight critical triggers. Four of which must be Rough Seas Banshee. Speaking of making up for not playing draws, this little gem is an incredible unit. While there may not be so much appeal in giving up a 10000 shield to draw, think of it more as getting a soul-charge. The soul has become more of a resource to Granblue and you don't want to not be able to use the skill of Negrolazy because you got a draw off of Sea-Strolling Banshee. 
 The stand trigger is a pretty strong unit, another testament towards Bushiroad really wanting us to use stand triggers (anyone who has faced an Angel Feather deck since GBT-04 knows exactly what I mean). Mick allows us to give 10000 power to a unit when he is called from the drop zone and Hollowed. Then when he returns to the drop zone at the end of the turn, he returns to the deck. 10000 power is never not good, he has the Hollow ability so he can be sent straight from the deck to the drop zone and he is a recyclable stand trigger. Overall with all things considered, he is much better than four ability-less draw triggers. 


On to the grade 1 units, the first eight of which are self explanatory, G-perfect guards and Nightrose's stride assister. Has to be the G-perfects because of how this deck eats counterblasts and finding Nightrose and striding are very important to this deck. Negrobone is a unit that allows you to retire a unit he has boosted, at the cost of a counter-blast, to choose a unit from your drop zone and call it to rearguard. This of this guy boosting Negrorook. You attack for 23000. You then retire Negrorook with Negrobone call back Negrorook and you then have another unit attacking for 16000. Which is essentially a whole extra boosted attack in terms of quality of the attack. Very strong for the cost of a single counter-blast. And lets not forget how aggressive our triggers are. Seal Strolling doesn't create quite the same pressure of attacks, but does give us a draw. Only two of her to make room for two non-trigger grade 0 units, but with the searching and dumping we do, it isn't too big an issue. It isn't a key ability, but it is one that can be nice to have the option to use. 


Onto the grade two units. This is probably the part of the deck that was hardest to decide on a line-up for.  Part of the reason this deck doesn't play a legion, in order to refuel the deck, is that I couldn't find room for the legion-mate. No matter how I look at it I can't justify not playing four Negrolazy. He is a unit that has basically taken everything that Granblue is trying to do with their G-Support and put it into one unit. He has Hollow. He revives. He empowers. He soul charges. He counter-charges. Arguably one of the better Glimmer-Breath clones if not the best. So the deck is focused around Hollow. Essentially for utilizing that mechanic, this guy will refund you his entire cost. I really think in a Nightrose based deck four is just essential, which I know is a pain given that, in the English prints at least, he was short-printed with some people claiming only opening two or three copies per case. My advice to you would be pick them up when you see them. His value is hovering around the £8-£10 mark, which is the most expensive a new RR has been for a while now. If you are looking to build more budget based then a Seven Seas based deck may be a better option. 

 Our Amber clone (GB1 (CB1) When this unit is boosted etc.) pales in comparison to Negrolazy. He is a decent unit nonetheless. His effect is simply what people expect, a simple call. The lack of power boost was disappointing but not too unpredictable. This guy is somewhat floating between being in and out. The other option I was debating is Ruin Shade just to allow for a bit more grave-charging. Further testing will decide, but the lean currently is towards Columbard just for the fact that resurrecting is what the deck does, but currently only Obadaiah and Forbidden Space actually purposely dump units into the drop zone. But of course units end there as the game progresses anyway. Further testing will be needed. Give it a go yourself! See if you prefer Columbard or Ruin Shade. The decision may come down to whether or not you have an original RRR Ruin! 

 The last grade 2 that I just had to find room for is our Skeleton Cannoneer. What he lacks in the power of Negrorook and the utility of Negrolazy he makes up for in what he brings to the deck.  When he is called from the drop zone you can counter-blast 1 in order to retire one of your opponents units. Any one of your opponents units. Whether or not he is hollowed. Then, if he is, you can draw one. I couldn't not make room for a pair of these. You probably share my initial doubts of his cost, despite doing a lot for it, it is still a counter-blast. But that is why I play Grenache. Negrolazy refunds his counter-blast, the sentinel unflips and Grenache is a unit you can search out that will also counter-charge for you. The deck is built around how you spend your counter-blasts in your big turns, rather than conservatively holding onto them before that point. 


Grade 3s. Much simpler. Four Nightrose because you never want to not be ridden into Nightrose. Two Gast Dragon because he can make huge columns (26000 if hollowed and combined with a 7k booster). Rogue because he can do things on the rearguard (essentially has the skill of Negrobone on himself)  and if you absolutely have to ride him, you can at the very least get the Hollow search. But just to stress. You really. Want to ride Nightrose. 

Strides can be broken down into what they are good for:



Best first stride: 


Great Ghostie King, Obadaiah 

 - Sets up your drop zone



Situational First Stride:


Pirate King of the Abyss, Blueheart 

- If you played hard aggression early and guarded early this as a first stride can help to trigger hollow skills

Pirate King of Secret Schemes, Bandit Rum 

- If you haven't been able to stride for a turn, i.e a turn behind your opponent, and have been able, through guarding, to get some cards in your drop zone AND you know the following turn you are going to have a big aggressive turn, this guy can force a perfect guard, or get another attack in. Particularly good with Negrorook or Gast Dragon in the drop zone. 

No Field Presence/Poor Field Presence 


Mist Phantasm Pirate King, Nightrose

- Gets field presence, triggers hollow. 


Pirate King of the Abyss, Blueheart 

-  Can correct field, allowing units with Hollow that were not put into a Hollow state to go to the drop zone. 




End Game (When you know you can can go all in.) 



Mist Phantasm Pirate King, Nightrose

- If you have the counter-blasts this is your in. 


At this point, if you can't afford Nightrose's counter-blast cost, the second Bandit Rum is the best option. 





Bit of a long post this one, so I'll do a little tl;dr. I do recommend you read the full article as it is my analysis and understanding of the deck and not just a list. But if you just want a decklist and a summary, he is a simplified version. 


- Aggression. 
- Make sure your drop zone has a good mix of units to be able to adapt to the tempo/situation of the match. 
- Be aware of your counter-blasting but don't be overly conservative with them. 
- Nightrose is really. Really cool. But Seven Seas is cool too. And a little bit cheaper!




Thank you for reading, I appreciate any feedback and would love to hear your own interpretation of the clan and any preferences you have! 

G Set 7 and 8 Predictions!

I meant to do a post like this prior to the announcement of Set 7, but didn't get around to it, but as so little has, at this point been revealed, there is still an amount of predicting to be done!

So Set 7 will be supporting: 

- Gold Paladins
- Angel Feather
- Dark Irregulars 
- Dimension Police 
- Gear Chronicle 
- Kagero

I'm going to try and break down what we know about the support already as well as make some predictions for the clans I have experience with!


So far we know very little. The obvious things like Stride fusions for Gurguit, Gavrail and Grandgallop, which so far have no skills, but look incredible: 

We've also had a few other cards confirmed that also confirm further support of certain subclans, i.e. Cosmic Heroes and Blade Wings, as well as the long awaited reprint of Doreen the Thruster, with a brand new alternative art: 

Some units are a given to be in the set, i.e. the RR critical trigger for Gurguit and Gavrail, as well as Benizel clones (counterblast 1, soulblast 1 when you have a vanguard with "x" etc.). 

Gold Paladins

I played a Gurguit deck when they debuted in Set 3 and found it to be very underwhelming, particularly compared to the strength Gold Paladins have had in the past. Hopefully the new support doesn't just keep it just up to speed enough to play, but give something a little more substantial.

 The set of course will add to the key word added in the starter deck, Unite, which triggers effects if two or more units have been called to either the (RC) or (GC). The terms of the keyword mean that normal calls as well as superior calls trigger them, so they aren't going to be difficult to activate, so they have an easily accessible keyword to play with. It is also important to note that Unite can trigger when units are placed on the guardian circle, so we may see more units that act defensively

That may be the new Gold Paladin playstyle as oppose to the heavy aggressive rush games they have played in the past. Gurguit's GB2 is a good example of this more defensive play-style.

We can probably also expect some form of Bluish Flame support.

Angel Feather

Angel Feather is more difficult to predict, because the support they received in GBT04 had incredible synergy with the previously released cards, a point further proven by how seamlessly the Nociel engine can be incorporated into it (even without the grade 3 and stride, the Grade 1 and 2 still fit perfectly).

 It will be interesting to see exactly what they do with Angels in this set. The current combo of the rare stride from GBT04, Nurse of Broken Heart and the stand trigger ( that you may recall me calling one of the best stand triggers in the game) is one of the strongest, if not the single strongest turn an Angel Feather deck can do. There is a certain skill curve to the deck, but once you do it it is a deadly turn. The problem is that it is all very compact together, where you can make variations there just isn't the room to drop much. What we are waiting on is the key word. The assumption on everyone's minds is that the keyword triggers when a card is put into the damage zone. I am one of the many people who would be incredibly surprised if it isn't just that. 

My prediction is that this is going to be a big set for Angel Feather. It has to be to top the aforementioned combo. We haven't seen a revival legion, so that may be something to look out for, and it can be assumed there will be a few cards for Celestials as well. But in terms of the G support it is really hard to say. If we look at stride fusions of we have so far, they essentially do a bigger version of the unit they are based on, i.e. Altmile calls from the hand, Aerial Divine Knight calls from the deck. However something Angel Feather do not have is a unit that is a huge play. Think of how Royal Paladins have Saint Blow Dragon, Dark Irregulars have Gilles De Rais. Angel Feather plays come from the set up of rearguards and the set-up skills of the vanguard (i.e. Holy Seraph, Raziel) rather than a huge attack down the middle. Our GB2 is a no questions asked heal. That is one flaw the deck has in it's current state. If the opponent knows that the strength is in the rear-guards, they can hugely take take advantage of that. I'm hope the Black Seraph is a big down the middle skill, as well as however else she interacts with the engine. 

Dark Irregulars

First comment to make is that the Doreen reprint is long overdue. For a long time now she has acted as a barrier to a lot of players who don't play DI simply because they can't find or avoid this little devil. The reprint is a really good call on Bushiroad's part. 

The only other card revealed at the moment is Wings of Reincarnation, Blade Wing Reijy

Hate the art personally. But the skill is interesting. It's another "Psuedo-Standing-Crossride" sort of concept (like Duo Eternal Sister, Meer) . Except different. With the 2-card support in the Winter Fighter's Collection it was very likely that we would see some form of Blade Wing, whether this one card is that support, or if we will see more will remain to be seen. I have a feeling like this may be it. 

In a nutshell, the skill is that after your grade 3 Blade Wing has attacked, you counterblast 1, pitch 3, and ride this guy from your soul, if the attack did not hit. Then the other skill is to soulblast 15 when he attacks, if you have original Reijy in your soul to give him 15k power and 2 additional critical. The idea is that if you aren't striding Reijy will be swinging for three damage, and if you guard that, the new one comes in for a huge 26k for 3 damage anyway. As is the Blade Wing way (the 15 Pieces of the Destruction Wing) you need 15 cards in your soul, making it a very late game thing, that you are likely to get off once. Obviously in the case of a grind game Tibold (the Blade Wing stride) can reset your drop zone, giving you the very real option to set it up again. If we assume that Blade Wings get no other support, basically what you have is a deck that doesn't need to tech Blade Wings into a Vampir build, but a full dedicated deck. Like all DI decks it suffers from awful early game, but through this guy, Tibold and Gilles de Rais a decent mid-late game. This is why Reijy has taken another obnoxious jump in price. 

But Blade Wings aside. We may see an Amon stride. Or may not. Their sort of like Bluish Flames where they are very strong and up to date with what they currently have, Amon arguably being the strongest DI build at the moment.

But the real question is what will happen to Scharharaarahar- Scarlet. Scarlet Vampir and the rest of the G-specific support. Well as mentioned before a RR crit and Benizel clone are pretty much a given. Beyond that is hard to say. Presumably we are going to get a stride fusion, the question becomes whether or not we will get four in one set. Everything in this set has previously had support in the G-era, and it is the first set to do that. So it is not entirely out of the question. As for the skill. Either something to do with retiring and powering up (from the grade 3 version) or something that triggers the keyword. Which like Angel Feather in terms of obviousness, will be something to do with the soul. Most likely when a certain number of cards go into the soul. Beyond that would be hard to tell. 


The other three clans in the set I have never played so can't really give much more than a summary; 

- Kagero will see support for the Legend deck and well as for Blademaster, including a potential stride fusion. 
- D-Police will see support for Cosmic Hero and maybe Metalborg. (Hang on to those Sin Busters!)
- Gear Chronicle will just get further support for Time-Leap and Maybe another Chronojet Stride


That is about as much as I can say for them. 

Set 8!

At this  point the most I can give is a list of clans I predict to be featured (baring in mind the next technical booster features Great Nature, Murakumo and Megacolony)

- Genesis (my original prediction put these guys in set 7)
- Granblue (potentially further support) 
- Aqua Force (these have not seen support since the clan booster) 
- 1 or 2 of the clans booster in The Reckless Rampage 

Very lose predictions based on not a whole lot! 


So those are my predictions for the next two Core sets! Watch this space for upcoming info on spoilers for the next set!

Is the New Meer Stride a Bad card?

So very recently it was announced that three special Bermuda Triangle sets would be being released later this year, likely at a similar time to the inevitable yearly does of Bermuda Triangle in the shape of a mermaid extra/clan booster, that feature three new forms for older cards. I'll do a whole blog post about them, but for this one, the card I wanted to talk about is one on who's Wikia page I found the comment that essentially said "The card this deck supports is bad" ; The "Meer" stride. 

The comment essentially said- 

"Meer is still bad" 

And this got me thinking about cards that individually are very underwhelming, but when worked as part of a combo, become significantly better. Let's first take a look at new Meer's skill- 

Duo Absolute Sister, Meer

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]

:[Soul Blast (1)]

 If you have a heart card with "Meer" in its card name, choose up to one of your rear-guards with "Duo" in its card name, return it to your hand, search your deck for up to one card with "Meer" in its card name, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck. Then, you may choose up to three cards from your hand, and reveal them. If you revealed three cards, and all of the cards revealed have the same card name, search your deck for up to one card with "Meer" in its card name, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.




So lets break her skills down. First of all; the end result. What you get for striding this unit and using her skill. If you meet all of the conditions you add two grade 3 units to your hand. Specifically "Meer" units, so either "Eternal" or "True" sister. So how do you get those two grade 3 units? 

Well the first thing you do is Soulblast 1 (remember that.) Soulblast any one card, not, for example, a Duo unit specifically. (Remember that too). 

This nets you not just a grade 3 "Meer" unit, but also a free bounce back to your hand. (also remember that, I'm going somewhere with this I promise). To get the other search, all you need to do is reveal three units with the same name. 


So that is a lot to take in at once. So let's take a look at the Duo engine, or more specifically a Meer-based Duo deck.

The Duo Engine

 The Duo sub-clan is all about getting bonuses based on having multiple units with the same name, but not necessarily just on the field or used for the sake of cloning units, as is the case in Neo Nectar. Duo uses multiple units with the same name to power up their units, or draw, or counter-charge, or to pay cost. 

For example "Duo Petite Etoile, Peace" allows you to (CB)1 when she returns to your hand in order to draw a card, then if you reveal 3 copies of peace in your hand you may counter-charge. If you return all three or even four copies at the same time you can draw a card for as many times as you have returned (as a skill that returns multiple units happen at the same time, i.e. with "Duo True Sister, Meer" 's break-ride skill). 

Another example is the skill of Stride "Meer" herself. By revealing 3 units with the same name you add a "Meer" to your hand. 

So now lets take a look at the Meer specific engine

Meer-Meer

So this deck came about last summer when the original break-ride got a "pseudo-crossride". The Ancient Dragon break-ride got a similar treatment in the technical booster. The tl;dr version of it is you can ride the break-ride from your soul in stand position, paying the cost as if the vanguard has stood (which is essentially what has happened, you get to swing again with twin drive, so essentially the cost is one from hand in order to restand). The idea is that the "Eternal" gets the plus 10000 from the break-ride, meaning that when you swing with the newly ridden break-ride you can boost her, to be hitting at least 16k (hopefully). The obvious risk being that your opponent may have gotten damage triggers, and you can't dump triggers on "Eternal" as she will be going into your soul, meaning you need to put those crits on rearguards. The benefit of this was that you add a "Eternal" from your soul to your hand at the cost of a discard, meaning you have a grade 3 unit to either stride with or play the combo again. The deck is notoriously counterblast heavy due to the skills of both Meers and the duo engine.

So lets take a look at the stride: 

- Soulblast cost (setting up plays as well as a bounce without eating a valuable counterblast) 

- Searchs Grade 3 units (at any stage in the game you can get what you need, either Eternal because you are sat on the break ride or want to stride, or the break-ride because you already have a copy in the soul and you want to deck thin and fetch yourself stride fodder (essentially netting a free stride) 

- Allows you to stride her first (whichever Meer you stride using you can fetch it back, or if you rode the break ride and have another in your hand you can ditch it to find the "Eternal". There are a lot of options) 

- It's specific to Meer and Duo, but doesn't specify which (so this means you can play the Meer break-ride, which in itself is a very strong unit, with something other than "Eternal sister. While double-Meer decks make the most of this stride, it doesn't require you to flip up a copy of itself, so you can play even just one copy as an option in a, for example Labrador/Meer deck. )

To go back to the original argument. "Meer is still bad". 

"Eternal" Meer is not the best card in Bermuda Triangle have. Not even close to it. But this new stride has a lot going for it. It isn't a card that solves problems the deck had, but just gives the deck more options that it can use. Which is fun as well as good for a deck overall. 

All three of the units revealed that will be getting their own sleeves and deckbox set aren't the best units in the game. They just aren't. Of the three, in my opinion, Meer is the best in terms of overall synergy with the deck she supports. But we will be getting these units around the same time as the summer Bermuda booster, so only time will tell what will come in that, and what will then be the best Bermuda build. But until then, with the stride revealed Meer is not a deck to be completely overlooked. 

And remember. Good cards make bad cards better. And a good engine can carry a meh card!

Why the blog has slowed down

So as some of you may know, this isn't the first vanguard blog I've started. A few months ago I had another one. This other one has about twelve posts and had a fair amount of views on it. Now I am not doing this for the views. Let me make that clear. But when I lost that blog, it was still disheartening.

I lost the blog because of changing computer that I use it on. I had problems with G-mail and had the blog on a g-mail account that I don't often use. So when I couldn't log into that I couldn't access the first blog. I tried to recover it, but to no avail. That, I guess, would be why I have had so much less enthusiasm to write blog posts in the level of detail that I did before losing it. But that is not the only reason why I have not been as active on this second blog, in fact that probably plays a comparatively small role.

I'm not going to write a full blog post crying about how bad my life is. If I was going to do that I would use tumblr. Although. Just to clarify. I wouldn't use tumblr. But if I was the kinda guy to cry to the internet about my problems, then I would use the medium that everyone else does to do it. Consider this an explanation, moreso than crying.

Last June I had a death in my close family. Something that I had never experienced before, only ever having lost people who I wasn't as close to, or didn't see as much of. But the person I lost was someone I saw everyday of my life, since the day I was born. And it hit me really hard. Even though it was 8 months ago now my life is still not back to normal. Or what you could call normal. See. A lot of things in my life were delayed. When I first started college I dropped out, found myself a job, and spent 9 months hating every second of that job. So I found myself going back to that same college the following September. Which of course delayed my growing up, you could say, by a whole year. Problem is I am someone who has never known exactly what I want to do with my life. I have never been at a point that I know without a shadow of a doubt what it is I want for a job. And I'm someone who that concept terrifies. My biggest fear in life is to be laying on my death bed and regretting. Regretting that I didn't try my hardest to be happy in my job. You spend a lot of your life in whatever job you choose to do. I've always felt that you gotta make sure you pick the right one. After I finished college I found myself back in a retail job, nothing massive, just 18-20 hours a week to support myself. But it became more than that. It became all I was doing. Working. Or waiting to work. Or wasting away every second of the day that was mine while I wasn't at work. And I know it is pathetic really, I was working less than half of what most people do each week, but I hated it. It wasn't the people, or even the job so much, but the constant what if in the back of my mind. What if I went to uni. What if it's too late.

The close death brought home the cruel reality of being human. Nobody lasts forever. It is true that memories of your loved one will. They don't die with the person they die with you. And yes. The memories I have with that loved one will stay with me until the day I die. But it makes you realise that people do die. It's a morbid thought. But it is true. I'm not trying to depress anyone. But that's something that got to me. Even more reason to find what my perfect job is. To get it right. And honestly I still don't know. I don't mind the job I have right now, a new one since the retail job, but it isn't the one.

So that's basically it. I won't deny, I am a huge procrastinator. A trait I do hate. But there were things underlying that contributed to not wanting to do anything.

But onto another note. I am trying. My aim is to be more active on you tube with deck videos/discussions as well as filming opening of product. I am also one episode deep into an abridged series of one of my favourite animes of all time, and I do have a more positive outlook on things. I'm working on projects I care about and valuing my spare time a lot more.

I don't know yet what my perfect job is. But I'll get there.

So obviously this has very little to do with Cardfight Vanguard, but I needed a space to vent. Like I said it's not about the number of views. It's about passion. About really caring about something. It doesn't matter what it is. Free thinking and passion are what set us apart as a species. So. If I can give you anything to take away from this it's that. Do the thing. Whatever your passion is (the law allowing of course.. ) Do it. I don't mean to go all
Just do it!
But he does have a point.

What you want to so isn't going to do itself. And if it's something that is difficult, or that few people get to do, then if you don't do it there will be someone right there waiting who will do it.

Thanks for baring with that long post that had nothing to do with the content of the blog. If you did read it I hope you can take a little something from it. And if it helped you, even a tiny bit, then it was worth it.

I;m working on being more active to bring you guys fun vanguard content. And if you don't like reading, check out my you tube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC62FQJ5DDS9MmoscoMfi1BA