Randomization: Cheating Caught in 2012 Fighters' Road

This post is somewhat related to my previous post about people cheat in the game. Apparently, a real case just happened in the 2012 Fighters' Road Japanese Nationals.

According to Bushiroad's official report, one player was caught cheating by attempting to 'pinpoint' his triggers by marking his sleeves/double sleeves. In any official events, cheating is strictly prohibited, and of course, he paid the consequences of doing so.

He was instantly disqualified from the tournament, and he also suffered a 18-month ban from playing in any Bushiroad sanctioned tournaments (which include shop tourneys, special tourneys, Regionals and Nationals). In short, no more competitive Vanguard for him starting from 23/7/2012 to 22/1/2014.

Serves him right.

Kudos for the Bushiroad officials for being such effective and alert in catching these people. These retarded idiots thought they can cheat away and be happy with it, but they should remember: You can run, but you can't hide. Eventually you'll get caught.

I just hope that when sanctioned tourneys are held in my country, the officials should be more vigilant, and don't try to 'side' with those people (as I know certain officials are quite good friends with those people). The best is Bushiroad send in their own judges to our tournaments.

By allowing these people to remain in the community, it'll just destroy the game. Existing players will quit the game, and new players will be discouraged from starting the game, just because of these few retarded idiots. Not to say I'm specifically aiming these people, but come on, if you wanna win, win with your own skills.

As I said earlier, if you win because you cheat, its because you cheat, not because you're skilled. Strip off your ability to cheat, you're just nothing. Don't try to destroy your reputation just for some temporary fame. And don't let me caught you doing so, because I WILL destroy your reputation (these people deserve a lesson, a harsh lesson).

That's all for now, Homura signing out.

Randomization: Speculations and Bannings

Hey there, sorry for the sudden post of non-game related stuff. After I finish posting this I'll be posting up my usual stuffs again. The reason why I decided to write this article is because I saw a post at Facebook from one of the VG players at my local playgroup. After I read that post, I gave myself a facepalm for seeing such nonsense.

The post that I just read was about some speculation about 'banned' cards in the Japanese VG tournaments. According to the poster (I don't want to name names), he said that Incandescent Lion, Blonde Ezel, as well as Phantom Blaster Overlord is banned in all formats of Japanese tournaments. I was like 'LOL?' How can these two cards got banned?

First things first, as far as I know, Bushiroad does not simply ban cards. The only card they did so far is Barcgal, and they didn't even ban it, just restrict it as the First Vanguard. The reason why they did so is reasonable, as Barcgal really causes the environment to be filled with Royal Paladins only, where other decks don't even get enough screen time. The consistency of Barcgal gives RP players a confirmed ride to G2, as well as setting up for Soul Saviour Dragon. WIth this kind of advantage given to them, I find that there's no reason not to restrict it as a starter because weighing the advantages given to the cost of gaining the advantage, it's too easy.

If other clans like Kagero, Oracles, or even Nova can do that, then I would say that a one sided-ban is harsh for RP players. Yes, Kagero do have multiple Superior Ride chains, but compared to Barcgal, they're nothing because the cost is too high (3 cards), and the condition is too hard to fulfill (you need all the specific cards) without the help of tutoring abilities like Barcgal. So people, please don't complain why Bushiroad restrict Barcgal as a starter.

As for the post that I read from Facebook, the speculation doesn't make any sense to me. Why they want to ban those 2 cards? First of all, Ezel does generate board presence while gaining absurdly high power bonuses, but his skill can't be used when you have more than 4 RG, and also the Superior Call is random. If his skill says that SEARCH YOUR DECK FOR A GOLD PALADIN UNIT AND SUPERIOR CALL, and also GAIN POWER EQUAL TO THAT UNIT"S BASE POWER, I would say yes, Ezel is freaking broken and they should perma-ban the card. If a ban is really needed for Ezel's case, I would say they should ban Kryph instead, so that they can't abuse Ezel early.

As for the case of Phantom Blaster Overlord, the banning of this card (if it's true) is even more retarded. Why should it be banned? Because he can be 13k? If it's like that Dragonic Overlord The End and Majesty Lord Blaster should be banned also. Furthermore, PBO's skill is so freaking predictable that a null guard can just stop it in its tracks, so I couldn't see the reason of its banning.

If Bushiroad really want to ban these cards, I think they should ban all G3's with skills, like some of the following ones:


Dark Lord of Abyss
Wow! Insanely high numbers while pumping Soul, and can hit 30k++ without being boosted? Ban!


Dragonic Kaiser Vermilion

He can attack 3 units in a row? Ban!



Silver Dragon Tamer, Lukie
She can call out 4 units at once? So broken! Ban!


Sowrdsman of Exploding Flames, Baromedes
Can become 13k just by having 2 Grade 3s on field? Broken! Ban!


Sealed Dragon Blockade
Stopping your opponent from Intercepting? Broken! Ban!

(The above is just for laughs, I just have to do that)



I don't know which source he got that information from, but I think the source is either trying to pull a joke (not funny at all), or that fella kept losing to those cards that's why he go and start this speculation (I'm sorry mate, that one is your problem, not Bushiroad's).

The main point that I want to make here is please don't simply speculate. Everything that you say must have some sort of proof. Speculating without any proof will just make somebody looks stupid.

Randomization: A Player's Mentality

Hello there and this is Homura with something different installed for you all today. Today, we'll not going to dissect decks, or discuss things related to the game. Instead, I'll be talking about mentality issues of players nowadays.

I'm sure that most of you that plays any game, not only Vanguard, will somehow want to gain some achievement in the game. Once you start winning, you'll want to win more, and hopefully gain recognition from other players as the top player of the community. Truthfully speaking, who doesn't? I'll admit that I do. After so many games that I've played so far, I have tried my best to be the one of the best, if not the best. But, no matter how hard I tried, I still can't, and I felt very disheartened and sad.

But then, I told my self, why take it so serious? It's a game, and we're supposed to enjoy the game. To enjoy the game, it's not necessary for me to be the best player. What I need is just recognition from others. When others know your existence, and they have respect for you, it's already good enough. I'm not saying that it's pointless to go competitive, but remember, just enjoy the game and don't really worry about the results.

I know, taking losses as if nothing has happened is very hard for certain people, when they have this thing called 'ego' in their way. But think of this in another perspective. When you play a game, there's always a winner and a loser. If you win, you should feel proud and happy because your hardwork in building the deck and testing out the deck finally pays off. If you lose, take it as an experience, and ask yourself what else you can improve to make yourself better. By doing that only you can overcome the feelings that come up after losing and do better next time.

Another thing, when people lose against an experienced player, they'll always complain that they're bullying and toying around with the newbies. What logic is that? Have you asked yourself, are they really bullying you, or is your skills still lacking? Playing against experienced players will only make you better, if you take it in a positive thinking. I ask you, do you really want to just stick with players that are same level as you? You don't even want to improve? If so, then I got nothing to say.

Besides, you think we experienced players were born a pro? The thing you didn't know is how many losses we have endured throughout the process to be at this level. We might be good now, but same as you all, we used to be noobs last time. If all of us only know how to whine about our losses and giving excuses, there won't be any good players around us right? It's the experiences of losing, improving, losing, improving, and finally winning that made us what we are now. There isn't an easy way to be good (unless you cheat, but what's the point, right?).

So yeah, don't take losses so seriously, and never stop improving yourselves. Gain more experience, learn more. I will not say that my plays are perfect, sometimes i still make stupid mistakes, but hey, I'm still learning. And so should you.

That's all for today, and I'll be back with my usual posts tomorrow, or later when I have the mood to write again (work is killing me lol...)

Randomization: Do You Have A Problem in Reading?

Hello there. While I was browsing through some Cardfight Vanguard group pages in Facebook in office (YES, I'm working on a freaking Saturday, FML!!!), a very interesting post caught my eye, and that post gave me some inspiration to write this article. Here's roughly what the post was mentioning.

This were the text written on Feather Palace's skill box:

AUTO [V]: At the beginning of your main phase, SC1, this unit gets +2000 power until the end of turn.
AUTO [V]: [SB8 & CB5] When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, for each <Angel Feather> Rear Guard on your field, choose a card from your damage zone to heal.

Got it? I presume that everybody here know's how to read ENGLISH. Okay, here's the funny part. In that particular group, someone mentioned that they checked the ruling for Feather Palace's Megablast skill. And the conclusion that they came up with was that Feather Palace's skill MUST FOLLOW the ruling for Heal Triggers, i.e. you can only heal until you have 1 less damage than your opponent.

Err... the moment I saw that comment, I was like "Hmm... WHAT?" There's not even a reference to this kind of ruling anywhere! And the most important 'Golden Rule' of TCGs is when a card's rule contradicts with the rulebook, the card take precedence, meaning you FOLLOW whatever the card says. I already asked them to show me evidence for their conclusion, and I'm still waiting (or kinda like expecting what are they gonna say).

Actually this kind of situation already happened once when BT-01 just came out. This was the confusion caused thanks to those that don't know how to READ (again, no offence intended):

The confusion that this card created was its CB3 skill. This was the actual wording of the skill:

ACTIVATE [V / R]: [CB3] During this turn, this unit gets +5000 power, and gain "AUTO [V / R]: When this unit's attack hits a Rear Guard, stand this unit", and loses [Twin Drive!!].

Got it? Yes? No? Maybe? The wording said that Overlord gains the AUTO ability, and loses Twin Drive in return, not "When this unit's attack hits a RG, stand it and lose Twin Drive". Some of the players that misunderstood the wording concludes that Overlord only loses Twin Drive when it is hitting a RG using its skill. When it is attacking the Vanguard, the Twin Drive still remain. NO! IT DOESN'T! The moment you activate the skill, you LOSE the Twin Drive for a new skill!

The point of this article is, don't simply come up with your own conclusions by just roughly glance through the card, and translate it with your own language (yet again, no offence intended). Ask someone that knows Japanese good enough to translate it for you, and please, don't trust Wikis easily, as anybody can just log in and edit the content. Always follow the official FAQ from the official website (if your Japanese is not that good, study or ask those that are good). If Bushiroad didn't mention any changes for a card, please don't simply create rulings on your own.

One of the members in the group even confidently said that Bushiroad already confirmed the ruling (what bulls*it is this?) Evidence, guys. Evidence. Rock-hard solid evidence. No evidence, don't try to talk big.

I know this post might get some hate if they saw this, but hey, I'm only telling the truth. So to prove who's right and who's wrong, let's just wait for Bushiroad's reply (I already asked them) and see who gets the last laugh, LOL.

Randomization: Some 'Genius' Statement

I know that this is my third post of the day, but seriously, I found a very 'genius' statement in someone's blog which I think that I really need to 'shoot' that fella for making such an offensive (and somewhat idiotic) statement. This was what he said:

"if you don't use Limit Breakers and your clan has one, you're an idiot. Stop playing Vanguard."

Errr... The point that I wanna make here is, does Limit Break really necessary in your deck? Take myself for an example. I have been playing DOTE since it came out. Now Kagero has a Limit Break Unit - Dragonic Lawkeeper. Indeed, it's effect is good, but do I really need to play him? What should I remove? Use him as a Vanguard and render my DOTE useless? Let my opponent rape me with 20k lines after I used the LB?

Come on, LB is GOOD, but not GOD. There's a reason why clans with LB seldom top in tourneys. So next time, think carefully when you make such statements.

We eat Limit Break for lunch (LOL!)