Field Report: Card Arena Sunday Tourney 29/4/12

Hello to everyone, this is Homura with yet another tourney report.With BT-06 'Breaker of Limits' available in Malaysia on Saturday, a lot of players were very excited to try out their new decks, namely Gold Paladins, Narukami, and Angel Feather. And of course, players that joined this tourney were using Limit Break decks mostly.

I myself have an Eisele-Garmall build Gold Paladin deck, but I prefer to go for consistency and stability in tourneys, hence I stuck with Dragonic Overlord The End. Without further ado, here's the details of the tourney.

Tournament: Card Arena Sunday Tourney
Date: 29/4/12
Location: Card Arena SS15, Subang
No.of Players: 10
Deck Used: Dragonic Overlord - The End
Rounds Played: 4


1st Round vs Zend Chou (Narukami)

Basically I don't have much pressure in this match due to my opponent was quite a new player and he is only using a Narukami TD with a single piece of Dragonic Kaiser Vermilion. The moment I Cross Ride The End, I already shut down most of his units because the highest power that his units have was 10k. With a 13k tank parked at the Vanguard Circle, I was able to maintain my hand advantage.

A 21k attack by The End to his 9k Rear Guard spells destruction as I hit a Draw Trigger, and triggered a The End after that. Without further hesitation I Persona Blasted and smashed into the red zone, triggering Tahr to seal the deal.

1-0


2nd Round vs Mok Hann Yann (Narukami)

Well this Narukami matchup was more interesting as he's obviously a better player. I went second, and sent Gojo smashing into his Red River Dragoon. He then rode Wyvern of the Cursed Cannon and attacked. I then progressed from Gojo to Nehalem and then to Dragonic Overlord, whilst he was stuck at the Wyvern. Although I had the advantage of having Twin Drive, but I was lacking on boosters at the back row. With that, I can't pile up the pressure during mid game. Mok then rode into Dragonic Deathscythe, blasted away my Aermo which was my only booster at that time.

I Cross Rode into The End, but I'm still lacking boosters, making my Persona Blast attempts less threatening and easier to guard against. While I finally found boosters for my units, Mok rode into Dragonic Kaiser Vermilion, activated his Limit Break skill, and zapping off my attackers this time.

After a while more of trading blows here and there, I finally lost despite I already forced him to the dead end. Why? because I failed to apply pressure during early game due to bad draws (and lack of boosting units) and missing a lot of triggers that time.

1-1


3rd Round vs Ryan Kai (Narukami)

Yet another Narukami matchup, but with the added flavor of the Djinns found in the TD. My startup was Bahr>Burning Horn>Dragonic Overlord for my first 3 turns, whilst his was Red River Dragoon>Thunderstorm Dragoon>Djinn of the Lightning Flash. For this match I opted to go with a slower pace, picking off his threats slowly and guarding quite a lot of his attacks. This is because Ryan was quite an experienced player in terms of calculations and strategy planning since his Yugioh days, whilst I'm more of a tactician, playing and adopting tactics based on the field.

During mid to late game, I clearly had the advantage in terms of damage (1 for me, 4 for him), and hand cards (9 for me, 5 for him), but still I can't be careless about the game. He rode Thunder Break Dragon on top of his Djinn, and blasted away my 20k lines (Burning Horn + Bahr) with it and Dragonic Deathscythe.

I still can't get my Persona Blast go off since Ryan guarded all of The End's attacks with nulls. And I was about to exhaust my deck completely because I hit a lot of Draw Triggers, and dragging the game. But chance came when he nullified too many of The End's attacks, which left him with only 3 cards + 2 G3s that he Drive Checked earlier. And thanks to me hitting nothing except for Draws and Heals, most of my Criticals were still intact. I smashed into his Deathscythe, he opted for a one-trigger-break. I triggered a Heal, recovered one damage and broke through his guard, Persona Blasted and slammed into Thunder Break again. He can't guard it, and a timely Critical ended the longest game that night.

2-1


4th Round vs Witnes (Dragonic Overlord - The End)

As expected, I'm playing against a mirror (can't be helped, isn't it?), and the deck was almost similar to mine, besides some tech choices. I went second, and was lucky to drew Dragonic Overlord on my first draw phase because I don't have a grade 3 in my hand after I mulligan. I went from Gojo>Nehalem>Overlord>The End, whilst Witnes completed his ride until Grade 3 with Bahr>Nehalem>Overlord>The End.

We were quite ferocious in trading blows, but his was harder thanks to double Burning Horn Dragon + Bahr that kept on harassing my Vanguard. He called out Flame of Promises, Aermo behind his The End, and I immediately retired it with Berserk Dragon, because if left alone, it'll be a nuisance to me with its 10k boost.

At one point I have to take my 6th damage, but Genjo put me back into the fight, and with revitalized vigor, The End kept going into the red zone, and finally Witnes succumbed after a couple of turns later.

3-1

Conclusion: Both Witnes and me were tied for the top 2, but since I beat him in the final match, I became first (yet again, so happy, heh.). I won 3 packs of BT-06, and pulled crap out of them (stupid box GRRR!!!). But I'm happy because even though that Limit Break is slowly reforming the metagame, I can still hold it with the same old The End, and it proves that Persona Blast and 13k Vanguards were still standing strong.

Another tourney done, another report done. Be sure to keep tuning into this blog as I'll start posting articles about deckbuilding and single card discussions, since BT-06 is out! Until then, this is Homura, signing off!

Field Report: Card Arena Shop Tourney 27/4/12

Hello there. Homura is back after a few days hiatus due to work. Joined a tourney yesterday and here's the tourney report for it. Enjoy!

Tournament: Card Arena Shop Tourney
Date: 27/4/12
Location: Card Arena SS15, Subang
No. of Players: 10
Deck Used: Dragonic Overlord - The End
Rounds Played: 4

1st Round vs Darren Khong (Majesty Lord Blaster)

I started, drew my opening hand, and found no Grade 3. It's still the same after I mulligan, and that made me worried about stuck halfway at Grade 2. I rode Gojo, used his skill, dropped Gatling Claw Dragon, and drew a Dragonic Overlord (phew, lucky me!). Darren rode Marron, pulled Wingal Brave behind, attacked, and I took the damage.

Mid-game he had a Blaster Dark at VG whilst mine is Nehalem. He tried to attack, hoping that it'll go through for Wingal Brave's skill to activate, but I guarded it nicely. I rode Overlord afterwards, and started my onslaught towards the Vanguard due to him being unable to find a Grade 3. Having no choice, he had to rode Swordsman of Exploding Flames, Baromedes instead, and the 10k power of his Vanguard allowed me to hammer it with 20k lines of Burning Horn Dragon boosted by Bahr. The game was sealed when my The End Persona Blast-ed and hitting a Critical Trigger when he's at 4 damage.

1-0


2nd Round vs Lelouch Wong (Mirror)

As I said previously, the mirror was the most boring matchup for my deck. Basically from early till mid game we traded blows here and there with me riding Bahr>Berserk Dragon>Overlord and him riding Bahr>Nehalem>Overlord.

I managed to guard most of his attacks, and hitting Draw Triggers for the damages that I took, whilst hitting Criticals and Heals for my own attacks. Finally I Crossride-ed into The End, and he's still stuck at Overlord. He initially tried to stop me from using The End's Persona Blast with Barri when I attacked his 9k Rear Guards with a boost by Aermo (13k +6k =19k). In the end, he can't guard anymore due to his diminishing hand advantage, and once again I sealed the game with a Persona Blast, attacked with The End that has 2 Critical, and hitting a Heal Trigger when he only guarded for a one-trigger-break.

2-0


3rd Round vs Edmond Teh (Majesty Lord Blaster)

Somehow MLB really preferred to meet against me for some reason (lol...). Basically this was quite an easy game due to the mistakes made by him, and my hand advantage. My set-ups were quite standard, maintaining field advantage while picking off his threats like 18k lines and Blaster units.

He managed to rode into MLB, and I actually took a 2-Critical, 22k hit from it because I don't want to spend anymore hand to guard and I was still very healthy thanks to my defences earlier in the game. Although his MLB now is a 12k, 2-Critical monster, the lack of Rear Guards made me easier to handle the incoming attacks, whilst my The End and 17k Rear Guard lines kept MLB at bay. As usual, I did a Persona Blast when I got the chance and I won.

After the game my friend Eugene, whom was the judge on that day said "Wow, you really damn cruel man, not giving any chance, just hammering the Vanguard only..." I replied to him saying that it's still a tourney, and I bet he himself won't let the chance of winning slip away just because your opponent is a beginner.

3-0


4th Round vs Kae Kwang (Majesty Lord Blaster)

Again MLB. Nothing much to write about since the game was very similar to my previous games. The only notable scenes were Kae Kwang found no MLB, and rode Soul Saviour Dragon instead, as well as me having The End with only 11k power.

Since I did not hit the magic number against Paladins, hence I played in a slower pace, without overextending just to nail the coffin. It paid off when my high power attacks burned off a lot of his hand cards, and the tide of battle has began to go in my favor. Yet again I managed to Persona Blast, and he had to declare 'No Guard' due to his hand being Grade 3s. I hit a Critical trigger, and sealed the game from there.

4-0

Conclusion: Won first place with 3 packs in my pocket (decided to wait until I can claim BT-06 instead). And it shows that my modified deck really works. Very satisfied with the outcome of the tourney. And another thing: Persona Blast is WIN. Period.

So this ends my Field Report for this edition. Until next time when I have a chance to try out the new metagame decks, this is Homura, signing off!

Calm Before The Storm: Choose Your Avatar Pt.4

Hey guys, Homura here. It has been a few days of delay in posting, and apparently one of my friends already asking me to write something. As the release of BT-06 is approaching soon, 'Choose Your Avatar' won't appear that frequent, as I have to make space for new info and new columns to come in.

Nevertheless, I'll still write about this if all of you do request for something to be written-up. And now, this article will be talking about one of the decks that used to dominate the entire Japanese VG meta alongside Kagero and Royal Paladins before the appearance of Shadow Paladins took them out of the picture- Oracle Think Tanks.

Oracle Think Tanks


Oracle Think Tank, or OTT in short, made its debut in BT-01 as a fully supported clan, and has received support when each set is released, with the exception of BT-04, where the set has zero OTT cards inside. From what I can see in the Malaysian VG environment, OTT seems to be one of the more favored clan to start by players due to the vast amount of female characters in the clan (typical, right?), but whether or not they started OTT solely for this reason only or not, OTT is still a stable and decent clan to play with.

In game, OTT represents the aspect of 'Manipulation'. As you see from other card games, resource management (which in this case, hand cards) is quite important. OTT excels in this aspect as they have lots of cards tat allow them to draw, and not to mention their trademark, Draw Triggers.

Besides drawing cards, OTT also excels in deck manipulation. Their ace card CEO Amaterasu, allows the player to soulcharge 1, and check the top card of their deck. They may either choose to leave it on top, or put it below. This is a good ability as it allows the player to anticipate triggers accurately. Also, by soulcharging, it helps in pumping Amaterasu's Megablast, which allows them to draw 5 cards upon a successful attack. Battle Sister Cocoa, a 6k power Grade 1, has the same deck-checking ability as Amaterasu, making it one of the staple cards during that time.

When BT-02 is released, Scarlet Witch Coco is introduced as an alternate playstyle of OTT. A Coco-oriented deck requires the player to have zero Soul, which contradicts the purpose of Amaterasu. So in return to compensate the lack of the deck-checking ability, Coco gives the player more draws for having less Soul, as well as something OTT is really lacking-Power. 

Then, BT-03 brings OTT to it's pinnacle by providing player with the Tsukuyomi series. Each form of the ride-chain, starting from Godhawk Ichibyoshi, allows the player to check the top 5 cards of their deck. If the corresponding higher Grade unit is among those 5, you can superior ride it, then send all the other cards to the bottom of the deck. This deck combines all the advantages of the previous 2 builds together, whereby the Grade 3 Tsukuyomi is a 11k beatstick, topped with the ability to draw 2 and SC 1 unneeded card from hand, to fuel up the Soul count for other units that uses Soul.

With the super compatibility of both Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, OTT instantly becomes a force to be reckoned with, due to its consistent and stable performances in tourneys. Building an OTT deck does not require much problem, because just by choosing to use both Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, the deck pool instantly shrinks, only remain the most suitable cards that will work with the deck, for instance:

White Hare of Inaba: SC one OTT when comes into play, nice card to feed the 6th soul, or to soul in the missing Tsukuyomi part.

Battle Maiden Tagitsuhime: A 12k beater if you have 6 or more OTT in soul. Not a problem.

Psychic Bird: A Critical Trigger that draws a card. Nice to fill in the 6th  soul, and  replaces itself.

Oracle Guardian Red-Eye: Not really necessary, but good to serve as an attacker and a soulcharger.

The conclusion for now is, although OTT is no longer a dominating deck, but it is still stable enough to pose as a threat for other decks. If the opponent is really careless while facing OTT, they will sure pay for it.Overall, here's my review of OTT:

Pros: Stable / Consistent

Cons: Quite expensive to build due to the female artworks / No longer a metagame deck / Subtle tricks are hard to learn

Rating: 3.5/5

There's a confirmed news that BT-07 will have OTT cards in it, so we'll have to wait until then to see how OTT will evolve once more. Will OTT be able to shift the tides of the current meta? We can only wait. Until next time, stay tuned for more articles! This is Homura, signing out.

Calm Before The Storm: Choose Your Avatar Pt.3

Hey guys, Homura here. It has been a tiring day due to a site visit at Bangi since 10 a.m., and I just reached back to the office like 5 minutes ago. Since it's almost the end of my office hours, I might as well post something today (well, since I promised that I'll be writing something today).

Welcome to my 3rd installment of 'Choose Your Avatar'. Today, I'll be talking about the final member of the 'Big Three' - Shadow Paladins. This article is also a request from my friend that plays Shadow Paladins. Not wasting anymore time, here goes!

Shadow Paladins

Shadow Paladins (SP) made it's debut in BT-04 half a year back. In the anime series, this clan was used by the main anatagonist, Suzugamori Ren. Being a clan that plays an important part in the series, somehow please expect it to be a decent clan in terms of playability. And after a short period SP debuted, it quickly occupies Top 4 slots of various big and small tourneys, to the extent of replacing Oracle Think Tank as the newest member of the 'Big Three'

In game, SP embodies the aspect of 'Sacrifice', as their key cards usually require sacrifices to use their abilities. As the counterpart for Royal Paladins, SP does have cards that are the 'darker' versions of their RP cards, whether in art, or in abilities. Like RP, SP has the ability to swarm the field to provide 'sacrificial lambs' for their Vanguard's ability, just that their swarming rate is slower and lesser than RP due to the lack of tutors for the clan.

However, in return they gain an ability which RP does not have - Card Draw. Besides using Draw Triggers, SP has the help of Skull Witch Nevan, a card which allows the player to CB1, drop a card and draw 2. She proves to be a very important card because she can help a SP player to filter off redundant cards in their hands, as well as drawing out more fuel to 'feed' their Vanguard.

Skull Witch Nevan: Card Draw? Check. Hand Filter? Check. Hot Chick? CHECK!

So far, there's only one competitive build for SP since its release, which is using their ace card of that time, Phantom Blaster Dragon. With the introduction of the Chain-Ride system of BT-04, the PBD ride-chain proves to be a very stable ride-chain thanks to the tutoring abilities of cards in that chain.

Fullbau: It all starts here. Ride Javelin and search for Blaster Dark

Blaster Javelin: Gain extra power on top of Fullbau, and serves as a tutor/filter for PBD.

Blaster Dark: Gains extra power on top of Javelin, and chops someone upon entering play as Vanguard.

Phantom Blaster Dragon: The pinnacle of the ride-chain. A 11k monster on top of Blaster Dark, and can self-pump by 10k and gain extra critical by 'eating' 3 of its own allies.

A deck basing on PBD will instantly let the player know that he/she needs to have 'fuel' to feed PBD, or a way to regain board presence after activating PBD's skill. That's when the good supporters of SP come in to fill in these roles. Dark Maiden Maaha, is a 8k G2 that can Superior Call a G1 or lower unit behind her column. She is good to find a decent booster, like Dark Sage Charon (a 8k vanilla) to create a 16k line, or any utility card depending on the situation.

Another card that serves a similar purpose is Dark Mage Badhabh Cath. When called, he allows you to reveal the top card of your deck. If it's a SP card, you may Superior Call it out. There, instant board advantage. If you manage to reveal a second Badhabh Cath, you can keep on chaining the effect until you stop revealing a Badhabh Cath. But bear in mind that the unit must be called out, so you'll be risking calling out triggers where they can serve better inside the deck.

You think that Phantom Blaster Dragon is already a game-ender? Think again! With the release of BT-05, SP gains even more support to make it from terrifying, become horrifying. Enter their newest ace unit, Phantom Blaster Overlord.

Looks more violent when he wears more armor and holding two lances instead of one...

This monstrosity, when ridden on top of Phantom Blaster Dragon, becomes a 13k beatstick, and it still retains the ability of PBD, just that the cost has been changed from 'CB2, eat 3 units' to 'CB3, Persona Blast'. This helps you to conserve field presence as well as retaining the pressure to your opponent.

Last time, Demon World Castle Donnerschlag serves as a secondary attacker with its ability to become 12k if your vanguard is PBD. But now, when you ride PBO, Donnerschlag instantly becomes a 5k weakling. That is when the Knight of the Void, Masquerade steps in to rectify the problem.

This card becomes a 12k attacker when your Vanguard has 'Blaster' in its name. Yes, which means it'll retain the power bonus no matter your Vanguard is PBD or PBO. Plus, it's still a 9k when it's not your turn.

The bottom line is, SP is already making a big impact since its debut, and BT-05 just improves it a lot. I can't wait to see when 'Limit Break' cards are available for SP, where I highly think that SP will once more define the metagame of VG.

Pros: Strong / Consistent / Stable, Less cards to search for, Beginner-friendly

Cons: Expensive to build ( a lot of RRs and RRRs), Only PBD/PBO build is worth trying

Rating: 4.5/5

Well, that's it for this installment of 'Choose Your Avatar'. Be sure to tune in to my other columns (more are coming in soon) too, and don't forget to request for a 'Choose your Avatar' of other clans if you decide to pick it up and need more information! Until then, this is Homura, signing out.

Calm Before The Storm: Choose Your Avatar Pt.2

Hello there, this is Homura speaking, and welcome to another installment of 'Choose Your Avatar'. I know, it seems like my posts are quite frequent, but since I have spare time to kill in office (yes, my department is that FREE...), might as well do something a bit 'constructive' right? Heh!

Well, in this installment, I'll be talking about the 2nd member of the dominating deck trio know as The Big Three-Royal Paladins. Royal Paladins is one of then clans used by the anime series' main character, Sendou Aichi. As a main clan, there's no doubt that it'll receive some sort of support when each new set is released. And without any debate, RP is already a highly competitive deck since it's release in TD-01, and BT-01. Tournaments everywhere will have at least one RP deck in the top 4, sometimes even a clean sweep. What makes this clan so strong? I'll be giving out my insights of this clan now.

Royal Paladins

Royal Paladins (RP) is a clan that embodies the aspect of Teamwork. In game, this is reflected by their ability to continuously call out allies to swarm the field non-stop. What makes up for their standard power count is their numbers. The key cards for RP usually has the ability to increase their power count when you have more allies on the field, for example: Fang of Light, Garmall and Alfred, the King of Knights.

King of Knights, Alfred: Can't be boosted, but is a 20k monster if you have a full field. The ability to Superior Call allies out is very good.

Fang of Light, Garmall: Gets +1k for each Snowgal and Blugal on field, with the ability to Superior Call one of those two on appearing, and thus able to hit 21k lines easily.

When I say RP gets more effective when you have more allies on field, how are we supposed to do that? Well, RP has the most card searchers, or tutors in the whole VG game. These tutors are even spread out in different grades, allowing access to all your deck components easily. Usually these tutors can use their search ability when comes into play, so it actually nets you a +2 board advantage (tutor + unit tutored), not to mention their tutoring costs are quite worthwhile also (merely by CB2 or discard a card).

High Dog Breeder, Akane & Pongal: They are the core tutors of any RP decks, and can also form a combo chain that involves Akane>Pongal>Soul Saviour Dragon to ensure a smooth Ride to Grade 3.

And because of RP's superb ability to set up the field, they have the first card to be restricted as a starter Vanguard due it's ability to set up Soul Saviour Dragon's Soulblast consistently without any problem-Barcgal

Though RP might not have as much retiring effects as Kagero, it does have a very good unit with TWO built-in retiring abilities: Blaster Blade. As a Vanguard, Blaster Blade can CB2 to retire any opposing unit on the field. The thing that makes is good is his 2nd skill, which is CB2 to retire a G2 or G3 unit if you have a RP Vanguard. In the game, G3s mostly have good stats and dangerous abilities, which will serve as a constant threat if left untouched. Blaster Blade mitigates this problem with his valuable ability that even Kagero players are quite envious about it (Kagero does not have cards to retire G3s beside attacking them).

One of the best G2 in the game, and absolutely a core card in every RP deck build.

And when it comes to Grade 3s, they are also some Grade 3 units that are almost a guaranteed auto-include in decks, namely KOK Alfred, Soul Saviour Dragon, and Swordsman of Exploding Flames, Baromedes. All the stuff mentioned above, when combined, forms a solid base for all RP decks, nicely fitting the aspect of 'Teamwork', where each unit works in unison with others.

After the release of BT-05, RP gained access to their newest ace unit, Majesty Lord Blaster. The arrival of this unit not only enhanced the defense of their units, but also increased their damage output by giving MLB a permanent +2k power and +1 critical (if you have both Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark in soul). Together with it, supports for the new 'Blaster' archetype are given to make the deck more viable, thus bringing the deck to what it is today.

In short, RP is a deck that has so much stability that it is now a constant winner in small, and even major tourneys. There are so many different variant of RP decks now, and each of them are quite easy to pilot, that's why RP is considered one of the best beginner clans to learn as well.

Pros: Beginner friendly / Stable / Consistent

Cons: Pricey for wallet for those more competitive builds / Not all builds are worth building

Rating: 4.5/5

That's the Royal Paladins for you guys out there that is interested to build! In the next installment, I'll cover the final member of the Big Three, Shadow Paladins. Until then, this is Homura, signing out!

Calm Before The Storm: Choose Your Avatar Pt.1

Hi there, Homura here, and welcome to Cardfighters Unite!

I'll be bringing up a new column today, which is 'Calm Before The Storm' (CBTS). Bascially, this column will have articles about tactics, game plays, lore, and other random stuff which I can think of (lol!). Well, let's get started before the storm really hits in!

'Choose Your Avatar' is a article analyzing the clans of VG, and it'll be broken down to a few parts, featuring a clan in each installment. Today's featured clan will be the one of the dominating clan of the current format-Kagero

Kagero

In game, Kagero embodies the aspect of Destruction. Their main advantages of the game are higher-than-average raw power, speed, and their trademark-retiring.

One of the special things that Kagero have is the speed to Superior Ride into Grade 3s, gaining a 2-turn advantage over your opponent, or chase up to your opponent if you go second.

But the main highlight of this clan is their retiring power. Retiring effects generates a +1 to your field, and a -1/-2 to your opponent, because now your opponent has to either put another one down to maintain board advantage, or risk the lack of power. Kagero has cards that retire units from all Grades, thus allowing you to retire their most threatening units.

Also, Kagero Grade 3s are the most versatile among all the clans out there, having various utility effects that can change the tide of the battlefield.

Dragonic Waterfall (Power): A 13k Vanguard beatstick by itself, potential to go to 21k and 31k with a excess G3 in hand and boosted by Bahr.

Dragonic Overlord (Advantage/Defense): A devastating effect that instantly nets you board/hand advantage, packed together with a sweet 11k power, nice for offense and defense.

Sealed Dragon Blockade (Negation): With the ability to prevent intercepting, it means that your opponent has to spend more hand cards to guard, and an easier 'FINAL TURN' from you.

Blazing Flare Dragon (Retiring): One of the best retiring cards available for Kagero, BFD can virtually obliterate whoever that he doesn't like, and gaining a power boost from there as well.

Embodiment of Victory, Aleph (Speed): One of the Superior Ride chains together with BFD. Instant 2-turn advantage and +2 hand if you go first (TWIN DRIVE!!).

Of course, there are other Grade 3s as well, but it's totally up to the player's choice to include which one in their decks. And with the introduction of BT-05, Kagero has evolved into the next level with the appearance of their newest ace unit: Dragonic Overlord-The End.

DOTE restricts you to building your deck around it, but the advantages it provides in return are just too good. Firstly, you gain a 13k power Vanguard at all times (if Overlord is in your soul). Secondly, you gain a very powerful Persona Blast, which nets you a minimum of a +3 and a possible game ender. THE END?

Although Kagero has all these powerful effects, a Kagero player must think carefully when to use his CB where there's not much options to regain CB besides heal triggers and Bellycoisty Dragon.

So in conclusion, Kagero is a very competitive clan to play, and it's also beginner friendly. Because of the variety of decks that you can build, think twice before choosing the build you'll be focusing on.

Pros: Speed, Power, Advantage all in one / Beginner friendly / Auto-pilot (in a sense)

Cons: Pricey (in terms of both ability and wallet cost, depending on build) / Difficulty in looking for certain key cards.

Rating: 4.5/5

Here you go, the first installment of CBTS. Quite a lengthy one isn't it (sorry about that lol~)? Hope those that wanted to pick up Kagero will have a better understanding of the clan inside-out. Join me again next time for another installment of CBTS, or if you wanted to know more about a certain clan, do request for a 'Choose Your Avatar' written for them! Until then, this is Homura, signing out!

Field Report: Card Arena On-Demand-Tourney 16/4/12

Hello there and this is your friendly Cardfighter Homura speaking.

As the first 'official' post of the blog, Field Report is the column where I will be posting reports of tournaments that I've joined, plus those from other contributors (if they still remember the fights they had). Well, let's get started!

Tournament: Card Arena On-Demand-Tourney

Date: 16/4/12

Location: Card Arena SS15, Subang

No. of Players: 10

Deck Used: Dragonic Overlord-The End

Rounds: 4

1st Round vs Leon (Deathrex Tachikaze)

He starts the game with Sonic Noa and passes. I rode Bahr, attacked with Conroe's boost. He rode Blightops as his G2, calling out a Megarex and a Black Cannon Tiger behind it. I have to let his Critical Trigger to go back into the deck as I don't want to waste a lot of cards to guard. My turn I rode Nehalem, smashed into his Blightops hitting a Critical Trigger.

Leon finally brought out Deathrex, and sent forth his army of Dino Dragons into my then Dragonic Overlord. On my turn I managed to Cross Ride into The End, and took the game from there with 21k and 20k attacks (Burning Horn + Bahr)

1-0

2nd Round vs QHong (Neo Nectar)

This was a scary game for me, because I thought I was going to lose due to stuck Grade at Nehalem for 3 consecutive turns. Qhong already had Maiden of Trailing Rose ready, together with other 15k lines. To add salt to the wound, my Drive checks and Damage check were all misses, and the Triggers keep coming up to my hand. Since I'm losing advantage of Twin Drive, I have to send in whatever attackers that I drew into the fray, hoping to end the game ASAP.

Somehow, the Triggers in my hand serves to be a blessing in disguise, as the 10k shields helped me to survive the onslaught when I'm still stuck at G2.

After almost spending my entire hand to guard, I finally drew The End. Although it's only 11k, but I couldn't care much since what I need now is to regain my hand advantage. As Qhong was already in 4 damage, I just keep on pummeling his Vanguard non-stop, and my effort paid off as he used up his hand to guard as well. I survived his counter attack, and took the game with The End hitting a Critical Trigger to end it.

2-0

3rd Round vs Lawrence (Dragonic Overlord-The End)

One of the most boring matchups ever, the Kagero Mirror Match. Basically when pitted against a Kagero player, it's just basically a game of non-stop retiring, and trading blows with high-power attacks. Nothing much to be surprised, unless you managed to pull The End's Persona Blast multiple times.

Our starting moves were quite basic until G2 (Bahr>Nehalem for me, and Bahr>Bellicoisty for Lawrence). I rode Dragonic Overlord on my turn, then Cross Ride to The End the next, whilst he also did the same, and then the process of trading blows started. The thing worth noting here is Lawrence does not have a boost for his The End, meaning that he was only attacking me for 13k each turn. Since he does not have power, I can guard easier, spending only a 10k shield for a 2 trigger pass.

As for my side, I have a constant 3-attack lineup, and all of them require a 10k guard at least. I managed to pull of my Persona Blast once, and took the game when he guarded with only '1 trigger pass' worth of shield, and me triggering Blu-Ray Dracokid. After the match I asked him why can't he defend my attacks, and he told me that his hand only consists of 5k shields, and a The End (maybe he was aiming for a Persona Blast to search out boosters).

3-0

4th Round vs Ryan Kai (Dragonic Overlord-The End)

Again another mirror. Though it's kinda inevitable because the majority of players were playing The End.

Ryan was a good Yugioh player, and I did not doubt his skills in Vanguard as well, as he really put up a fight against me. The early game was the same as my previous round, and both of us have a 13k The End set up for late game. Since the numbers does not matter unless it's a multiple of 5, he opted to put Flame of Hope Aermo to help him in filtering redundant cards, while my booster is Bahr.

I tried my best to prevent him from doing his Persona Blast, and pulled one from my own The End, hitting a Draw Trigger on my initial Twin Drive. He also hit a trigger for his damage check. Basically the game ended after I Persona Blasted, and hitting a Tahr in my next Twin Drive, while he can only guard for 10k.

4-0

Conclusion: It has been a while since my deck has performed that well. I won 3 packs (pulled out crap rares) from the tourney, and overall I'm satisfied with my deck because this tourney gave me a chance to test out my modded deck.

Well, that's it for Field Report today, and I shall see you again later with more interesting tourney reports from me, as well as my fellow contributors! This is Homura, signing off!

You're Entering Cardfighters Unite!

Greetings to everybody, and welcome to Cardfighters Unite.

I'm sure that our blog here is definitely not the only one out there, as I myself personally know a few of my friends that write blogs about Cardfight!! Vanguard too (not to mention getting good responses).

Why I wanted to start this blog you might ask? Well, there's actually a few reasons behind it, and somehow they actually link together. Firstly, I'm a Mass Communications student majoring in writing, and I would like to write all the time to continuously polish my skills. Secondly, I'm a big fan of Vanguard, and as a fan, I want to contribute whatever ideas that I have to the community.

Unlike other blogs out there, I do not write a lot about the details of the game, like the ways of mulligan, trigger anticipation and others. Instead, I focus more on the actual gameplay itself, which includes deck strategies, deck building tips, single card discussions, and tournament reports. I focus more on these aspects because I think that those other players out there had already done a good job explaining the other aspects of the game which I do not cover.

And of course, this blog won't be solely handled by me alone. Occasionally, I'll have some contributors to help out in articles related to other clans as I don't play EVERY clan. So be sure to keep checking out this blog!

Alright, enough introduction and let's get down to business. Ready?

STAND UP! THE VANGUARD!