Monday, April 30, 2012

Extra Booster 3

I get the feeling that Kagerou, Royal Paladin, and Shadow Paladins will be getting only two cards in the extra booster.

Looking at the commons, it seems that Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin, and Kagerou are at the bottom of the list, preceded by Gold Paladin.

Of course, these 3 clans will be EB03/005,6, and 7, in RR/SP form to give these clans the much needed LIMITTO BREAKU to keep up to meta.

From this, we can see that The former big 3 clans are at the BOTTOM of the clan order, hence their Rs and Cs will be at the bottom of the number as well


Unfortunately, that leaves 1 slot for each of the clans, their new 10k Vanilla, filling up their slot for C.


well, that leaves R right?

Sorry, EB03/015 is the final R, and its already confirmed to be Wartimer.


Too bad, RP/SP/KG players.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

STAND UP! ヴァンガード! The drama

Hello everyone, And welcome to SO IMBA!

Where we learn how to be a better cardfighter.

Today, I have a special treat for you, some preliminary information about the card fight drama, stand up vanguard.

Well, it is the first ever card fight drama in the world.

Would you like to know why?

Because its a REALLY DUMB IDEA!

No, really.
Seriously?
A card. Fight. Drama.
I thought a card fight vanguard comedy tv show was already enough.

Then there's already a vanguard English lessons airing on Thursday's.

Oh well, so on with the story!

Daigo, having graduated from Harvada University, returns to Japan, hoping to bring joy and happiness to the world in Japan.
Oe day, He sees a young boy, hiroki, being bullied in the park, and tries to help him.
However, hiroki is unwilling to open up his heart, and Daigo continues to try to help him open up, by following him home, Invading his privacy in his home as well as his school, where Daigo attempts to use hirokis home room teacher and school nurse to approach him.

One day, he happens upon the one thing hiroki has opened his heart to: Cardfight Vanguard, when Daigo finds one card outside hirokis room.
Hirokis only faith in himself was that he would never lose to anyone in vanguard (LOOOL CRITICAL TRIGGER SAYS HI YOU NOOB)

"no matter how many attacks come their way, or whatever enemy stands in their path, a vanguard Will always hold his heart high and continue to fight" ( errr no, the vanguard will die when you take 6 damage >.>)

Hearing these words, Daigo Starts vanguard to try to help hiroki open up and make friends
Hiroki, however, is also moved by how no matter how many time Daigo loses, he never gives up or wavers.

The two of them help each other grow as both people and vanguard fighters, until one day a poster for a vanguard tournament is posted up in the town.
Knowing the bully at his school would be entering, Hiroki signs up to settle things once and for all.

And so begins the story of Stand Up! vanguard!, a story of Bullies, parents, life as an elementary school child, parental neglect and abuse, loss of loved ones, university graduates who have tons of money and no job, 18 year olds who have graduated and are working as nurses, and CARD GAMES!(serious business).


Seem character background of hiroki(lol since nobody cares about Daigo, hes just there for... Well nobody quite knows)
He is a 5th grader
Two years ago, his mother passed away :(. She taught hiroki vanguard and always wanted him to be happy and do the best he could.
His father is a very busy salary man, with no time for his child. Parental abuse is not stated but highly implied (itou Akira seems to have a thing for parental abuse in his mangas and scripts, no?)

That's all for today



Monday, April 23, 2012

Sixth Sense

I get the sixth sense that Angel Feathers

Will have a starter similar to Rivael for Bermuda Triangle.
It can call itself to the rear guard if something OTHER than its grade 1 is rode.

And maybe something else when you ride G1. Who knows?

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Rest well

So lately, theres been talk going around online about some people talking to their cards.

Its becoming a sort of a trend lately, actually.

Players nowadays are saying please, asking for the units powers, and thanking them when they are retired.

Since your cards are your friends, fighting alongside you, it only makes sense that you say please and thank you, no?

Friday, April 20, 2012

Flame Seed

Hello everyone, and welcome to SO IMBA!,

Where we learn how to be a better card fighter.

I am your host, Rauzes, and today, we discuss the solution to all your problems: Flame Seed Salamander.

In Kagerou decks, the main problem they face is Majesty Lord Blaster decks with Baromedes Stand.
(Seriously THE END is afraid of this and... Yeah thats about it)

Lets start with how your problems are solved in the Early game.

Now, the most annoying thing about Majesty Lord Blaster decks is their ability to Tutor ALL their Key Cards with an annoying little dog called Wingal Brave.

Which is awesome! So long as they dont draw Wingal Brave...

Wait, what? Its their STARTER? Oh that cant be right...

Now, Flame Seed Salamander is one of the two ways this problem is solved.

Flame Seed Salamander allows itself to return to the deck, if the attack hits the Vanguard, and retires a G0 unit, namely wingal brave.

Now, the opponent has a tough choice on your first attack. Regardless if youre going first or second, they will have to either guard the attack at full force, or risk losing their all important tutor for their combo parts.

With Flame Seed Salamander, you post an early game threat as much as Majesty Lord Blaster decks do.

To keep applying the pressure, Ride a Nehalem, and keep the pressure on.
If they have rode blaster Blade/Dark, they will only be 9k Power, so the added 14k Power poses a lot of threat, especially since you protected their wingal Brave attack.

Nehalem, actually, is a good card to combat MLB decks.
How it does so is that when you have a 10k, a Wingal Brave + Blaster Blade/Dark attack will only total 14k. If you have a 9k Vanguard, a 10k Shield will not be enough to potentially stop the attack.
However, with Nehalem, its a different story. Any amount of power pump will not be enough for them to break through. You have effectively shut down their deck! (Sans a sneaky Cross Ride on their part)

Now, in the Late game, Flame seed salamander has affinity with one card: Burning Horn Dragon.
The aim for Stand Triggers is to stand and pump that unit, giving it 5k, and to bring it to 5k More than the opponents Vanguard, so a 10k Guard can be burned, and that the attack can still pass if they open a trigger.

 With Burning Horn Dragon, it solves these problems, giving you late game pressure as well.

Mid Game, well, THE END handles that pretty well alone, so...

Until next time,

See ya!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Murakumo Revisted

Hello everyone, and welcome to SO IMBA!,

Where we learn how to be a better card fighter.

I am your host, Rauzes, and today,we re-visit some Murakumo cards

Murakumo is an underlooked clan, mainly because they arent so strong to start with, but also that their effects seem... kinda useless at the first glance.

For a more in-depth at the rest of the clan as a deck, check here

Today, we will be visiting three cards in particular:

First is Dual Swordsman MUSASHI, Followed by The Quick Arrow FUSHIMI and The Left and Right arresters

First up is MUSASHI.
Now, it may seem like an unlikely choice, but Musashi has one thing no other murakumo has, and that is Attacking Power.
Any other Murakumo card has at maximum 11k Power while attacking, so Musashi, along with an 8k Boost, can reach up to 20k Power.

In a deck such as Murakumo that likes to control the game by eliminating rear guards, Its conditions are easily met.
Playing one or two may throw the game in your favor. Especially the 12k attacking power can allow it to tackle most rear guards with no problem.

Second up is the Arresters.
Nothing much new here, only that the arresters gain power not during your turn only, but during both turns, making them exceptionally easy to protect.

The last is FUSHIMI.
Recently, it has become a mainstay in Murakumo decks recently, for one reason:
Although it only has the effect the turn you ride it, you can attack any unit in the back row.

Thats right,
ANY Unit, not just the one behind the Vanguard.
As most decks run a very troublesome First Vanguard, such as Wingal Brave or Conroe, being able to take out boosts in the early game is so painful, players are dedicating more and more space to this Fushimi.

Besides, as a Rear guard, it sure beats the hell out of the other low powered units in the already power defecit Murakumo Clan.

Thats all for today, and recent updates in Murakumo.

See ya.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

CRIT VS STAND

Hello everyone, and welcome to SO IMBA!,

Where we learn how to be a better card fighter.

I am your host, Rauzes, and today, we will be comparing STAND styles versus CRIT styles.

Most decks out there run one of these three styles of trigger balance:

8 Crit, 4 Draw, 4 Heal
8 Stand, 4 Draw, 4 Heal
4 Stand, 4 Crit, 4 Draw, and 4 Heal

Notice the difference that some decks work better with more STAND and others with more CRIT.

Now, lately, the top decks seem to be playing more and more stand...

The reason for this is that certain decks run better with stand and others with Crit.

And, quite frankly, with 11k, 12k, and 13k Vanguards running around, games become longer and longer, which is the reason for the shift to making stand more powerful.

So, what decks prefer Stand and which decks like Crit more?

Well, first off, Critical Triggers means that the opponent effectively can take less attacks.

Hence, its best for decks that can be fast and hard, attacking fast and with high power, such as Fangs of Light build, or Royal Paladins of other styles.
Fangs of light has the strength of being able to create medium power lines... at MUCH faster rates, another point to take into consideration for the Criticals.

Styles that can generate high power lines in all 3 columns should aim at putting more crit, as it will bring the opponent to 5 damage faster, and burn through their cards at a faster rate.

Hence, Critical styles are better for decks that have LOW base power for their G2 and G3 attackers, but higher power for their G0 and G1s.

Clans that best fit this are Grand blue, Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin and Dark Irregulars(But they dont have many crit :(

Stand styles, on the other hand, require rear guards hat have a high attack power, before the stand.

A deck style that has many 11k or 12k attackers, such as Nova Grapplers, can fully utilize stand triggers, as even without a boost, their attack power is very high.

Clans that have a high front row power, but lack high power boost units that are stable fall into this category.

Clans such as Kagerou, Nova Grapplers, Murakumo, Tachikaze, etc

The other reason you would use stand is for a specific purpose, such as in Dimension Police decks for Miracle Beauty, and to increase the number of attacks so a specific few can hit the vanguard, like in Neo Nectar.

Ill leave you with Kai and his FINAL TURN!!!


And, as always
Thanks for reading

Free Ride


Hello everyone, and welcome to SO IMBA!,

Where we learn how to be a better card fighter.

I am your host, Rauzes, and today, we will be talking about Free Rides!

What is a Free Ride?

Now, normally a Ride would give a -1 Card Advantage, as you take up one card in your hand to Ride.


Now, some cards will have some effect to give you those cards back, by either giving you draw or some other effect that will give you a +1 card advantage, without any cost.




There often are effects that will give you more advantage with a cost, but lets leave those out for a while.

Not all of these are 100%. If they were, they become too powerful. However, if you do fulfill these conditions, they become very powerful.

Now, most of the "Free Ride" cards are in fact G0 Cards.

The most common cards that are free ride are ones that call themselves to rear guard, becoming a 5k boost(or attacker).

They other form of "Free Ride" is a card that allows you to search out the G2 card, such as in Megacolony and Shadow Paladins.
This style allows you to generate advantage, in the form of a secured ride to G2.

Other than these, there are other forms of Free Ride.

One of them is the Gallahad/Tsukiyomi style, which will search the top 5 cards and potentially give you a free card. Although it does demand a large chunk of your deck dedicated to it, it provides a stable source of free ride.
It doesnt give you advantage as you ride, but instead give you the ride to you on a silver platter.

Another notable example is Alfred Early, one of the few Grade 3 units with a Free-Ride ability(any only a free ride ability)
When you ride Alfred Early, you can superior call Blaster Blade to the rear guard, an inherent +1 in terms of card advantage. Thus, if you have rode Blaster Blade the previous turn, you get a ride that essentially pays for itself. This is the power of Alfred Early(and that it can give you blaster blade's effect again)

The last example of Free ride is the Riviel chain for Bermuda Triangle. The G0 to G1 will allow you a search, and the G2 and G3 rides themselves pay for themselves if you ride in order, as they give you one draw each.

When thinking of card advantage alone, free rides are irreplaceable, but there is much more to Vanguard that just card advantage.

Thats all for today

I'll leave you with an example of how to properly declare LIMIT BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And as always
Thanks for reading.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Reading Plays


Hello everyone, and welcome to SO IMBA!,

Where we learn how to be a better card fighter.

I am your host, Rauzes, and today, we will be reading plays!

Believe it or not, each individual play telegraphs more about your hand and potential plays than you think they do.

Before we begin, who else noticed that the Vanguard Logo in the anime for the posters/televisions has changed to the ENGLISH logo?


Vanguard is a game that rewards not having the better cards, but reacting properly to the cards you have received.


Once enough time has passed, you can essentially know more than 2/3 of the cards the opponent has in their hand.

But in the early game, knowledge of the opponent's hand will help immensely, depending on your deck/hand.

In decks like Shadow Paladin, it doesnt really matter since your choices for Riding for G2 is limited to one, and G3 to 2, no biggie.

But for other decks, it may matter. For instance, if you know the opponent has no Blaster in hand, you will choose to instead ride Bellicosty, Search and call Bahr, and swing to open damage, without being afraid of the MLB search by Wingal Brave.
However, if you know the opponent is holding a G2 Blaster, and has called wingal brave to the rear guard behind Vanguard, you are better off riding Striken(or Nehalem, but who uses that any more lol).
(The proper follow up depends if the opponent tries to lay out an attack. If he does, ride overlord, counter blast, burn them all to ashes. If not, Ride overlord and whack their Vanguard with the extra Crit.)

So what about some examples of reading plays?

Ill start you off with this example: The Kagerou player opens the game, riding Bahr, and calls conroe behind the vanguard.
They call Gojou to the rear guard in the corner.
They then tap Gojou, discarding Gojou to draw one.

Believe it or not, this has telegraphed a LOT about their hand

So, if they played this as their opening hand, this means two things:
They opened with 3 of more grade 1s(well, obviously, since, they have played 3 already this turn)
They do NOT have a Draw trigger/weak technical cards in their hand. If they did, they would discard those instead of a potential boost.

Considering they called Conroe BEHIND the Vanguard, they are considering using Conroe as a low power boost in the long term, so they do NOT have any Vanguard specific boost/Aermo/extra Bahr in hand, as they would play those behind the Vanguard instead. This also means that the enemy does not have extra G2/G3s to be boosted by Conroe.

They have very few Grade 3 or Grade 2.
They opened the game, but did NOT ride Gojou, instead choosing to call it to rear guard.
There is one advantage to this: Being able to use the effect more than once.
By calling to the rear guard, the opponent wants to use the effect more than once.
In fact, because they did not ride, chances are that they are missing a G2, not a G3.

Why? Because of Bahr's size as a vanilla, he can fight G2 units with Conroes help, and be able to guard to a minor extent. Gojou cannot. Hes just too small.

This lack of G2/G3 means hes lacking attackers in general as well.

From this information, I would say their hand would look something like this
Tahr, Bahr, Gojou, Gojou, Overlord, Bahr

Now, out of this hand, what would you discard?
Obviously, you would not risk losing your Overlord, nor that Tahr for the oh-so-important guard against a Wingal Brave boosted Blaster Blade/Dark

A second Bahr, and discarding that leaving only 2 in your deck? Do not even consider, up against a RP deck. A Bahr + Burning Horn is just so important.

So, the obvious choice would be Gojou.




Some of the less complex examples also exist

For instance, if the opponent had a field of the following:

Gojou(rest) - Bahr - Bahr
Empty - Overlord(V) - Berserk Dragon

and had three cards in their hand, you could estimate that none of them are grade 3 or 2, as they would have used them and called to attack. Hence, the best thing to attack would be the Berserk Dragon, as they seem to have little fighting power in their hand.
On top of this, they used Gojous effect to try to get new cards, further suggesting this.

Another example of the opposite

Empty - Conroe - Empty
Burning Horn - Overlord the End(V) - Overlord

In this situation, you can clearly see that the opponent has a lack of G1s to boost, and possibly a lack of G0 boosts as well. Hence, you would try to aim down their Vanguard, as even if you do kill off a rear guard, they will easily be able to replace them.

Putting G0 Triggers as boost.
This more or less outright declares your hand sucks. Dont do it.
This means that you have resorted to using your shield cards as boost, just to get hits in, and hence have no G1s and G2s and have a field and hand of G3s.
Just dont do it, especially against Kagerou and Dark Irregulars.

Thats all for today.
Until next time

See Ya!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Majesty Barcgal

Hello everyone, and welcome to SO IMBA!,

Where we learn how to be a better card fighter.

I am your host, Rauzes, and today, we discuss MLB with Barcgal!

Barcgal MLB is an interesting build, it utilizes Barcgal to re-fill the field when its emptied by MLB.

First, we start with a sample decklist

2 Majesty Lord Blaster
3 Swordsman of Exploding Flames, Baromedes

4 Blaster Blade
4 Blaster Dark
3 Starcall Trumpeter

4 Maron the Little Sage
3 Toypugal
3 Isolde the Flash Shield
3 Borgal
1 Blaster Javelin

3 Barcgal
4 Llew, Future Knight
4 Flogal
4 Margal
4 Elaine the Priestess of the World Tree

1 Wingal Brave (FV)


One thing about this deck that most other decks cannot keep up with is its ability to guard.

With 3 Extra 10k Shields, and 3 less grade 3s, this deck will very rarely be unable to guard.

As I previously mentioned, the deck prides itself with the ability to maintain a full field with the ability of Barcgal to pull boosts from the deck.

Personally, If I were to tailor the deck slightly, it would look something like this:

3 Majesty Lord Blaster
3 Swordsman of Exploding Flames, Baromedes

4 Blaster Blade
4 Blaster Dark
3 Starcall Trumpeter

3 Maron the Little Sage
2 Kei
4 Isolde the Flash Shield
3 Borgal
1 Blaster Javelin

3 Barcgal
4 Llew, Future Knight
4 Flogal
4 Margal
4 Elaine the Priestess of the World Tree

1 Wingal Brave (FV)


Keep in mind that Borgal in this deck is usable thanks to Llew, Barcgals, as well as the lowered Shadow Paladin count.
Borgal, unlike Toypugal, can attack by itself at 9k power, which is why we choose him over toypugal.

So yeah. Nothing much special to discuss here other than the superior call abilities filling back up your fields.

Imba Heal Triggers and You

Hello everyone, and welcome to SO IMBA!,

Where we learn how to be a better card fighter.

Today, we discuss the imba heal trigger.

What is an imba heal trigger?
Well, as the name suggests, its the heal trigger at the right moment, as a damage check for the 6th damage.

So, if the opponent manages to get an "Imba Heal Trigger", what should you do?

The most obvious thing that the opponent will do is put the power to the vanguard, to protect it better.

 And in response, what you should do is instead start attacking the opponent's rear guards.

Now, the fact that the opponent has willingly taken the 6th damage in hopes of a heal trigger means that he was unable to guard all 3 of your attacks.

If you, in response destroy his rear guards, he will be unable to fight back the following turn with sufficient power, allowing you to guard well and protect yourself.

 If you instead attack the vanguard, it will be easier for the opponent to guard, as they already have the added power.

 If the opponents rear guards are no more, it will be easy to guard the attacks and end them the next turn.

 So, next time, when the opponent opens at 6th damage heal trigger in your face, instead go and destroy their rear guards.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Monday, April 2, 2012

English And Japanese

So english and Japanese for box 6 onwards will be the same meta, with the same cards released!

Interesting!

I think I'll be starting Gold Paladins(Ren Version) when it comes out in English

RIDE ZA VANGUARD! Spectral Duke Dragon!