Vanguard 101: Limit Break

Whenever you are already down to five damage, it seems that hope is already lost and that there’s only a very thin chance of you turning the tide of the game and eventually winning it.  This is a predicament that any player would never want to be in. Fortunately, there came the mechanic of Limit Break. 

Photo owned by James Gabriel C. Garrido. This Photo is not to be used or be posted elsewhere without the owner's permission.

What is “Limit Break”?

The mechanic of Limit Break was first introduced when TD05 (Slash of Silver Wolf) and TD06 (Resonance of ThunderDragon) were released, together with BT06 Breaker of Limits. The two trial decks, which consisted of (and the debut of) the Gold Paladin clan (TD05) and the Narukami clan (TD06), were the very first clans to ever have the Limit Break mechanic and too, were the very first ones to use it in competitive play. Later sets then followed and gave Limit Break units to already existing clans and further expanded the meta of the game.

Limit Break is a mechanic of the game that enables a player to fully utilize the damage predicament of a player. It is a strong and dangerous ability which turns “good” vanguard units into devastating and destructive forces. What it does is that when a player is at four damage, an ability or skill becomes active. Usually these Limit Break skills are very broken or overpowered. Because of which, Limit Break grants the player a chance of still winning a game despite of the near loss situation that that player is maybe in. Cards like Blonde Ezel or Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion are such examples of units that are very dangerous when at Limit Break.

Of course there’s also a downside to this. Some units such as Spectral Duke Dragon are only strong and dangerous when their Limit Break is active. Otherwise, they are just vanguard units that remain there activating no skill whatsoever until only the player is at four damage. Waiting to be damaged doesn’t really sound as rational as it should be, knowing that you have to win as fast as you can and grab every opportunity that you are able to, to break your opponent badly.

But majority of these units (which have Limit Break) are in overall effective and dangerous. These cards can guarantee victory provided that they are also used properly and at their full potential. Limit Break has proven to be one of the factors that could affect how a deck totally works, and in a bigger view, how players win by them. So break past your limits and surpass thy boundary!

-kamiprince39-

Vanguard 101: Perfect Guards

Greetings fellow card fighters. Today we will be discussing about a type of card which is essential in playing better at this game. We will be discussing all about PERFECT GUARDS.

Photo owned by James Gabriel C. Garrido. This photo is not allowed to be used or be posted elsewhere without the owner's permission.

So what are Perfect Guards basically? Well, Perfect Guards or PG’s (as their title implies,) provide “PERFECT” or absolute DEFENSE or SHIELD. They are indicated by the Zero (0) numeral value on their shield icon (and are now distinctively distinguished by the gold shield which started post set 8 until the current sets) and all are RR in rarity. All Perfect guards so far are Grade 1 normal units with their normal boost ability and have 6000 base attack power. All PG’s also have the same cost (discard 1 card from your hand with the same clan as this unit) and only up four (4) copies of cards which have “sentinel” ability can only be brought in a deck.

(FUN FACT: “Perfect Guards” aren't officially called as it is by Bushiroad. They are formally known by the company to be “Sentinels” (the name of their ability indicated on their skill). In the animated series, they are called “Null Guards”. The former was only coined by players yet is now formally recognized in the Japanese animated series as the universal title (maybe due to its already tolerant popularity).

So what is the essence of these cards?

Well let us explain. When you guard against an opponent’s attack, it takes up so much units in your hand to be used as guards just to ensure that your opponent’s attack doesn't hit. Each turn you are losing more and more cards, while you only get to draw 2-3 cards per turn with your normal draws and drive check. This causes hand-card disadvantage and hand-card disadvantage is a huge factor in the game which can bring you to your own demise. Even with having abundant hand cards, players still need to play conservatively.

With Perfect Guards though, instead of losing 3-4 cards in guarding against an attack, you only lose 2 cards: the Perfect Guard itself and the card discarded for its cost. And what’s best about it is that it IS assured that the attack will not hit, unlike normal guarding which wastes so much and yet there’s still a chance for the attack to pass through if the attacking vanguard hits triggers and surpasses the total shield of the opponent. PG’s then offer two advantage points: 1.) Ensured protection, and 2.) Conserved hand-card advantage.

Perfect Guards, albeit useful and efficient, also impose a disadvantage factor to the player running it in his/her deck. 

Photo owned by Cardfight!! Vanguard Bushiroad (via ideal808.com). All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

In some decks, such as that of Blade Wing Reijys (Dark Irregulars) whose primary focus is to soul charge units to bulk up the soul and win games with their skills which are heavily based on soul quantity, PG’s provide only obstruction in the strategy of the deck. These builds carry only (if not all, then maybe most) cards which help in bulking up the soul to finish games quickly. PG’s which only provide absolute protection and have no assistance whatsoever in soul-feeding, will only slow down the pace of these decks and thus could even cause the loss for the player. This is the reason that some decks only bring 3 copies or none at all.

Also, if Perfect Guards are bought singly or online, these cards cost so much! These cards are very darn expensive due to their scarcity and very-hard to find nature in packs. This results in the inaccessibility of a player to it which is negatively appreciated.

Still, Perfect Guards are considered to be one of the very essential cards in playing the game. Despite their big price tags, they still provide convenience and efficiency especially during late games and there are only a small number of cards left to be played. Perfect guards are then still recommended. 

-kamiprince39-

Cardfight!! Vanguard Introduction: Part 3-B

Let's play some Vanguard!

At last, we are finally on the verge of finally being able to play the game. This will be the last post regarding the tutorial essences necessary in playing the game and in the succeeding posts we will formally be talking about in-depth analyses and discussion of certain aspects regarding to the game.

To start with, both players place their FVG’s  to their respective Vanguard circle face-down. Players then must decide on who will be playing first by rolling a die, or by rock-paper-scissors, or any other method that both players would agree to. After this has been decided, both players draw five (5) cards from their respective decks (note: during only the first turn, a player may opt to reshuffle any number of cards that that player drew and can draw again the same number of cards that he/she returned to the deck; also called a mulligan). Both players then Stand their Vanguard by flipping it face up. So basically, what happens in a turn? We’ll start off with ‘your’ turn.

During a turn, there are several phases that occur and each of these phases has a corresponding actions that is to be done so. The first phase during a player’s turn is the Stand phase or the phase where the turn player stands his/her Vanguard. Next to this phase is the Draw phase where the turn player draws a card from his/her respective deck, after which is the Ride phase followed by the Main phase. The Ride phase is that part of the turn where the turn player may opt to or not to ride a unit that is of equal or higher grade than the Vanguard unit currently present on his/her field, and the Main phase is where the turn player is given the opportunity to call or summon forth units (that are equal or lesser in grade to the Vanguard unit) to the five (5) Rear Guard circles.

The last phase in a turn is the Battle phase – although no battle phase can occur during the first turn of the game – where the turn player has the opportunity to attack the opponent’s front row units. Note that during a battle, only the front-row units can attack and be selected as attack targets (and only the front-rear guards are allowed to intercept). Units in the back row only provide support and attack boost (grade 0 or 1 units). After a unit has attacked, that unit is put to rest (indicated by putting it sideways) and  after a rear guard unit is attacked and hit, that rear guard unit is sent into the drop zone. When all the battles have been commenced, the turn player now ends his/her turn (or is in the End phase of the turn) and the same phase pattern is to be followed by the opponent.

You win the game when you've already dealt equal to or more than six (6) damage to your opponent or when your opponent is unable to draw any more cards from his/her respective deck during his/her normal draw on his/her draw phase. This is also called a deck-out.

EXTENSION: Detailed and thorough Demonstration of the game

The Field positions

a.) Vanguard circle [V]– this is where the Vanguard or the main unit (the axis) of the deck is placed into. Units in the vanguard circle cannot be removed at any time during the game. Units that are underneath the vanguard unit are called the soul.

b.) Rear Guard circles [R] – or the circles that units other than the vanguard are put into and these units provide support to the main unit (the vanguard). Front row rear guard units can attack and be attacked by the opponent’s front row units. Back-row units however, cannot attack or be attacked (unless stated otherwise) by opposing units. Rear guard units that are located on the sides can move or switch places with the Rear guard unit that is directly in front of them(this process can be repeated for as many times during the game as long as it is your turn).

c.) Guardian circle [G] – or the circle where units that are used to guard are placed into.  After that particular battle, units used to guard are sent to the drop zone.

d.)  The Drop zone – the part of the field where units from rear guard circles (after being hit) and units from the guardian circle (after being used to guard) are sent to or are discarded to.

e.) Deck zone – or the zone where the deck is put to. If in any case a player has no more cards to draw (during his/her turn’s draw phase), then that player loses the game.

f.) Trigger zone – or the area where the drive/trigger checked card is revealed

g.) Damage zone – whenever a player’s vanguard unit is hit by an opponent’s attack, the player checks the top card of his/her deck for a trigger (and if it is, the trigger effect is applied) and then sends that card to the damage zone. If the opponent has exactly or more than six (6) damage, then that player loses the game.

 A.      DURING YOUR TURN:

Place FVG on the Vanguard Circle (face-down)

STAND PHASE

(Shout “Stand-up, the VANGUARD!!!!”)

Stand your Vanguard  and then draw 5 cards. You may or may not choose to mulligan. This is then followed by your DRAW PHASE where you get to draw the top card of your deck.

RIDE PHASE

You can select a unit from your hand which has a grade that is equal to or greater than the grade of  the vanguard unit you have that is currently on your field. In this photo, “Blade Feather Valkyrie” (a grade 1 normal unit) rides over the grade 0 normal unit (the FVG), “Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer”. You may or may not choose to ride during a turn.

MAIN PHASE

During the main phase, you may call as many units to your rear guard circles as rear guard units as long as the units that you are trying to call or summon to the field has a grade no greater than your vanguard unit.

BATLE PHASE

During this phase, you can engage your units to attack the opposing front row units that your opponent controls. Front row units (2 rear guards, and 1 vanguard) are the ones that will attack while backrow units support by adding their power to the unit directly in front of them, provided of course that the backrow units are grade 0 or 1 (or the units which have the ‘BOOST’ability).

Example:

“Blade Feather Valkyrie” is to attack.  To indicate that a unit is attacking, turn is sideways and then select the unit which will be the target of your attack.

“Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth”, a grade 1 normal unit (which is placed directly behind the vanguard unit), boosts Blade Feather Valkyrie. Boosting also requires the boosting unit to rest and is also indicated by turning it sideways.

In this case, Gareth’s 8k attack power is given or is added to Valkyrie’s 7k attack power, totalling up to a 15k power line.  This process also applies to rear guard units whenever they attack too.

*DRIVE CHECK*

When you attack, your opponent is given the option to either guard or to not guard. When your vanguard unit attacks, after your opponent has decided the number of guards or what are the units which  he/she will be using to guard for your attack, you have the opportunity to drive check. When your [V]  unit attacks, you will check and see the top card of your deck  and then add it to your hand. If a trigger unit is drive checked, the effect is activated (provided that you have at least one unit on your field which is of the same clan as the card that is being drive checked).Only the vanguard unit is allowed to drive check. Trigger effects can be distributed separately to your units and not necessarily on one unit only. Lastly, trigger effects only last until the end phase of that particular turn. 

Valkyrie attacks with support from Gareth. Turn player checks the top card of his/her deck for a trigger:

Turn Player Drive checks a Draw trigger. He/She decides to give the +5k power boost effect to one of his [R] units and then draws a card.

After all battles have commenced, the turn player decides to end his/her turn. This is called the END PHASE.

B.) DURING YOUR OPPONENT’S TURN:

During your opponent’s turn, you are most likely just going to be sitting there, watching him/her make his/her combos while the only action you’re left to  (and only allowed to) do is guard and successfully survive all of his/her attacks. The only part of your opponent’s turn where you would be active is during (only) his/her battle phase – unless stated otherwise by a card effect. 

*GUARDING*

So when your opponent decides to attack, you have the opportunity to decide whether you will guard or not that particular attack initiated by your opponent. Often cases, you will be forced to guard in order for you to keep your damage to a minimum or have rearguard presence advantage (the more the better).

When you guard, you can select any number of units from your hand and/or any of the two (or both of the) grade 2 rear guard units in the front row (which have the intercept ability), and place them to the guardian circle. When you guard, make sure that total shield power value added to the unit you are trying to protect is more than the attack power of the unit that is attacking. This will ensure that the attack will not hit thus a definite protection to your unit. After that particular battle, units that were used to guard are then sent to the drop zone.

Example:

Player  B (Masquerade) decides to attack Player A (Valkyrie).

Masquerade has an attack power of 9000. With its drive check, it could possible that it can hit for 14,000.

Player A decides to guard. He/she guards with “Scout of Darkness, Vortimer” (left) and “Dantegal” (right).

Vortimer (5k shield) plus Dantegal’s (10k shield) shield power combined together sums up to a 15k shield power, enough to reassuringly guard masquerade’s attempted attack.

After all of your opponent’s attack he/she will end his/her turn  (End Phase) and it is your turn again.The same procedures will apply and be repeated for the rest of the game.

During your next turn, you are to stand your units, draw a card, and ride another unit the same or greater grade than your current Vanguard. 

Also, you may call again as many units as you opt to

When you’re trying to call a unit to a [R] circle and all the [R] circles have already been filled up or no [R] circle is open, you just simply Retire (or remove) the unit in the designated [R]circle and “replace” it with the unit that you want to call.

Example:

“Flash Edge Valkyrie” is placed on the [R] circle, and “Scout of Darkness, Vortimer” is retired and sent to the drop zone.

After a long game of wits and survival, when you have finally dealt six damages to your opponent, or you finally managed to drain out all the resources from his/her deck − casuing them to be unable to draw anymore cards – then you’ve won the game.

Spectral Duke Dragon delivered “Final turn” to the Shadow Paladins

*six (6) damages (end of game; gg)

So there you have it. Some more practice and you’ll be a good player in no time. It just takes a lot of perseverance and hard work in order to become better at playing this game. And always remember, that it is not in victory that power is attained, but it is in learning – especially in one’s losses. And thru learning, one will grow stronger and become better. And what’s the best part about this? There is never an end to learning.

Cardfight!! Vanguard Introduction: Part 3-A

Photo owned by Cardfight!! Vanguard USA (Bushiroad).  No copyright infringement is intended.

We’ve reached this part of the Introduction posts where in this post, we will be discussing about all the game mechanics that are needed in playing the game. This will be the last part of the tutorial posts which will be divided into two (2) parts, respectively: 1.) What is (and how to build) a deck, 2.) Playing the game itself.

So to begin with this, “what is a deck?”

A brief definition of this is that a deck is any number of cards − depending on that particular game − that are joined together to form or create one cohesive group. In Cardfight!! Vanguard, a player is ONLY allowed to have EXACTLY  FIFTY (50) cards in a deck.  There can only be a maximum of four (4) copies per card in that deck (unless stated otherwise in the Official Restriction List of Cards decreed by Bushiroad) and every deck should have exactly sixteen (16) trigger units (in any combination of the trigger types) and no more than four (4) of that can be heal triggers.

In building a deck (in Cardfight!! Vanguard), one must have to choose one (1) clan among the numerous playable ones that are available in the game. So why only one?  Albeit it’s allowed to play multiple clans in a deck, it’s because of the rule that trigger effects produced by the trigger units themselves can and will ONLY activate if and if only that player who drive trigger checked has a unit (that is of the same clan as the trigger that is being checked) that is currently on the battlefield . So if a player is playing multiple clans in the deck, then there will be lesser chances of successfully activating a trigger, resulting to the futility of the checked trigger card.

Some of the clans that are available in the game. All rights to this photo belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

Also, in a deck higher grade units are brought in lesser number compared to lower grade units. This is done to prevent being grade-screwed (or grade-locked ) by having clogged Grade 2 or 3 units in the hand thus being unable to ride to the supposed-to-be grade unit of your current vanguard on the field. It is often advised to copy or imitate the grade lineups that are listed on (and formulated by) the trial decks (it has been found and have been proven to be very effective), that is: 7 Grade 3’s, 12 Grade 2’s, 14 Grade 1’s, and 17 Grade 0’s (including of which is the FVG or the starting vanguard and the 16 others, the trigger units).

Photo owned by Cardfight!! Vanguard USA (Bushiroad).  No copyright infringement is intended.

So now that we know how to build a deck, it’s finally time for us to play that deck and have some fun competition with other players. But hold your horses, we’re still not finished. On the next post, we will discuss about playing the game and the mechanics that are ruled to the game. ‘Til next time, ciao.

-KamiPrince-

Cardfight!! Vanguard Introduction: Part 2-B

Card Anatomy: Grade Essence

                  On our last post, we discussed about the two types of cards that are used in the game as well as the fundamental components that make up a card. A component that we (intentionally) skipped to discuss on our last post was about Grades. This was because we wanted to put this in separate post where we can comprehensively discuss and explain it in as much as in-depth as we can so that players may be able to fully grasp its essence to the game.

What are Grades? Or What does the Grade of a card pertain to?

Vortimer Ride Chain

                   In Cardfight!! Vanguard,  units ‘evolve’ or become stronger and bigger as the game progresses.  The grade of a card (which is located on the top left portion of the card) determines the part in the evolution process in which that unit is supposed to be placed to.  A player starts the game by having a Grade 0 unit (called a FVG or starter vanguard) on his/her Vanguard circle and in each turn, a player  is able to ‘evolve’ or make that unit grow. This process is called “Riding” wherein a unit with an equal or higher grade rides on top of the Vanguard unit.

                 The grade of a card also signifies the technical game “ability” (or mechanic) that each grade corresponds to.  Every grade has a unique and distinct ability that makes the game more exciting and challenging. There are three (3) abilities that are presently being used in the game. These are the following:

 

Boost  () is the ability that both Grade 0 and Grade 1 units have in common, and is exclusive only to the two. This ability enables them to give and/or add their Attack power to the unit in the Rear Guard/Vanguard circle that is directly (or vertically) in front of them. This is why most Grade 1 and Grade 0 units are put on the backrow rear guard portion of the battlefield in order  to boost the units that are in front of them,  dishing out a massive attack power that would get pass through the opponent’s shield defenses and ensure a hit on an opposing unit .         

Intercept  () is the ability that all (and only) Grade 2 units have. An ability that enables them to move to the Guardian Circle (or be used as a unit to guard against an attack) while currently being on a frontrow Rear Guard circle. Afterwards, just like any other unit called to the Guardian Circle, it is sent to the drop zone after that particular battle.  Of course, this ability is only allowed to Rear guard units in the front row as the unit in the Vanguard (or the main) Circle cannot be removed from the battlefield.

Twin Drive  ()  or the double drive check ability is an ability that is exclusive only to Grade 3 units and is only active to a Grade 3 unit who is in the Vanguard circle. When the unit in the vanguard circle attacks, a player has the opportunity to drive check or to look at the top card of the deck and to see whether a trigger unit is drawn, wherein in both cases the card checked  is added to the hand of the player – but this only occurs once in a turn. What this ability does, is that it grants the player for an additional drive check that in so doing, there is of higher chances of pulling a trigger unit.  Regardless of pulling one, an additional hand card is still very useful (greater number of hand cards is never a bad situation in a cardgame).

           That was last important mechanic that a player needs to know about the components of a card , but not about the game (yet). On the next post, we will talk about some other products that are quite useful in playing the game. Till then,ciao

-KamiPrince-

Cardfight!! Vanguard Introduction: Part 2-A

Card anatomy: Know thy card

Photo owned Cardfight!! Vanguard USA (Bushiroad).
 No copyright infringement intended.

                      Now that you've gotten the cards, it’s time to learn what are the parts that make up the card, and to know how each part works in the game. This is very crucial in the same way as you need to know how  oxygen and two hydrogen atoms come together to form water.

Blaster Dark (left) and Fortune Bell (right)

In the game, the “cards” being played are called “units”. There are two types of units:  Normal Units (left), and Trigger Units (right). Normal Units are units whose primary purpose is to be (or at the very least, ‘be called upon as a guard or rear guard or) the Vanguard in the battlefield. Meanwhile, Trigger Units are units who serve as support to the Vanguard during a drive check or when taking damage. We’ll discuss later in the succeeding posts about what a drive check is and what a Vanguard, or a Rear Guard  is all about.

"Stand, my Avatar and send thy enemies into hades in scourge! Blaster Dark"- Ren Suzugamori

Here, we have Blaster Dark. Blaster Dark is a Grade 2 Normal Unit which has a power of 9000. Basically, a card’s Power indicates how much attack value it can deal to an opposing unit. Below the Power, you will see the Set Number of a card (which signifies the information of what or which set and volume that card is available from) and the Rarity of the card.

Right to the power is the critical value (amount). Critical values indicate the damage value taken by a player when the Vanguard unit is hit by an opposing unit. To its right is the clan affiliation of that card and that card’s race. The clan and the race of a card shows as to what tribe or archetype that card is associated to. There are 23 different clans in total which will later be discussed further in the future posts to come.

Above the card name, a card’s skill can be found. The skill indicates the ability and/or capacity that a card is able to do. There are three types of skills: 1.) Continuous Skills [CONT] which are active skills of a unit and remain as ‘active’ over a period of time depending on the card text and the met conditions, 2.) Automatic Abilities [AUTO] are skills that activate during a specific or a particular part of time or phase (there is a timing required), 3.) Activate Skills [ACT] or skills that are ‘manually’ activated during the main phase of the turn (unless stated otherwise). Most skills have a required cost to pay or condition to fulfill in order for that ability to be activated. Albeit some units lack skills, in return, they are compensated by their higher Power value to those who have (these units are unofficially called "vanillas").

On the middle left side of the card is the Shield power of a card (or the power value added to the power value of an attacked unit) when used to guard against an attack of an opposing unit. Grade 0 units except draw triggers have 10k shield power (draw triggers only have 5k shield), while Grade 1 and Grade 2 units have 5k shield value. Grade3 units however do not have shield values. Only Grades 0-2 have shield power.

The Four types of Triggers

On to trigger units (or simply put, “triggers”) are cards that add a 5k power boost to any unit on the battlefield until the end of the turn .There are four types of triggers available in the game. Namely, a.) Critical Triggers, b.) Heal Triggers, c.) Stand Triggers, d.) Draw triggers, with each trigger having a corresponding effect on the game. A deck must contain exactly sixteen (16) triggers in total. These units ONLY activate during a drive trigger check.

Critical triggers (infor., “crit/s”) are triggers that have one function in mind: to beat down an opponent so bad and in as much as possible, end a game quickly. What a critical trigger does is that it adds an extra (+1) critical value to any unit on the field in addition to the 5k power boost that a trigger provides. This gives easier access to easily reach the 6-point damage victory condition of the game.

Stand triggers on the other hand are triggers that provide extra attack opportunity in a single turn. After a unit attacks, that unit is put to rest (or is faced sideways) and is allowed only to attack once again during the next turn of the player (who attacked). However, with stand triggers, in a single turn, a player can reach up to more than the regular number of attacks - which is up to three only – and cause more damage to the opponent.

Draw Triggers – in comparison to the aforementioned triggers – are triggers that are of most versatility among all the four types of triggers. Simply because it gives an extra card to the hand whenever it is drive or trigger checked. That extra card can either be used as an extra unit of defense for guarding against an attack or as an offensive unit that could help in bringing an end over the game.

Of all the trigger types, Heal triggers are the only type of triggers that are limited to up to four (4) per deck. That is, a deck can only have no more than four heal triggers. What heal triggers do is that whenever it is drive/trigger checked and the player has more or equal number of damage as to the opponent, then that player  who checked the heal trigger may heal one point of damage in his/her damage zone –  giving the player more chances of winning the game by surviving an extra turn or so. 

Most triggers though have no skill whatsoever, albeit a few have. Such an example is seen above where Flame of Victory,a critical trigger, has an [ACT] skill while Darkside Trumpeteer doesn’t. Trigger units like these often are lower in power compared to those who don't have any.

And those are the types of cards that are played in the game (as well as what a card is composed of or its parts and components). On the next post, we’ll discuss about Grades and the types of grades that are played in the game and what is the significance of grades. Till then, ciao.

-KamiPrince-