FC2015: A quick overview (Part 1)

Today I will be talking about the main G units featured for all clans in the upcoming FC2015. Just a brief explanation, I won't be talking about the Cray Elementals, as that's for another article altogether.
Since all clans are featured, this will be a rather long article, so bear with me. Now then, let's begin, shall we?

Holy Dragon, Religious Soul Saver 

 [AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card named "Holy Dragon, Religious Soul Saver" from your G zone, and turn it face up] When this unit is placed on (VC), if you have a heart card with "Blaster" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to three of your units, and they get [Power]+5000 until end of turn. Then, if the number of cards in your soul with "Blaster" in its card name is two or more, this unit gets [Critical]+1 until end of turn.
The obvious deck choice to run this with would be MLB(Majesty Lord Blaster). On your G3 turn, make sure you get Blaster Dark, and Blaster Blade into the soul with MLB's skill. Next turn, stride this card for a free crit pressure and high-powered rear guard columns. Make sure you have at least 3 RGs to maximize this effect; 2 in your left column, 1 on the right at least, vice-versa. You can throw a RG behind your VG, but your opponent is likely to just kanzen, so you'd best save your hand, unless you know for sure he does not have a kanzen in hand.

Deity of the Evening Moon, Tsukuyomi 

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Choose a face down card named "Deity of the Evening Moon, Tsukuyomi" from your G zone, and turn it face up & Choose a card with "Tsukuyomi" in its card name from your hand, and put it into your soul] If you have a heart card with "Tsukuyomi" in its card name, look at five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to two cards from among them, put them into your hand, and put the rest on the bottom of your deck in any order.
This stride is kinda lackluster for a GR, but pretty good nonetheless. Since it doesn't use any counterblast, you can save the CB for Full moon Tsukuyomi's skill. This stride will ensure that your g1 and g2 Tsukuyomi's do not become dead fodder in your hand. Granting a net +1, not very good, but this helps reach your stack even faster.

Purgation Lion Emperor, Mithril Ezel

ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card named "Purgation Lion Emperor, Mithril Ezel" from your G zone, and turn it face up] If you have a heart card with "Ezel" in its card name, unlock all of your locked cards, look at five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one card from among them, call it to (RC), shuffle your deck, and increase that unit and this unit's [Power] by the original [Power] of the unit called with this effect until end of turn.
With the return of Link Joker and Glendios(and his stride) this card can be a major killjoy for your opponent when he's about to World End you next turn. It doesn't take as much counterblast and soulblast as Ezel Scissors, so you can keep unlocking just for the trolls. The advantage of being able to superior call something slightly more specific than what Blond Ezel can give is good. Even if your opponent is not a Link Joker, you still get the +1 from the new rear-guard, and the extra power for increased pressure on your turn. 

Supreme Heavenly Emperor, Dragonic Overlord "The Ace"

[ACT](VC):[Counter Blast (2) & Choose a face down card named "Supreme Heavenly Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord "The Ace"" from your G zone, and turn it face-up] If the number of face up cards in your G zone is two or more, until end of turn, this unit gets drive-1 and "[AUTO](VC)[1/Turn]:[Choose a card from your hand, and discard it & Choose a card with "Overlord" in its card name from your hand, and discard it] At the end of the battle that this unit attacked a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, [Stand] this unit, and this unit gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn. (Even if you do not pay the cost, this ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn)".
I see a lot of problems with this unit. The counterblast cost is 1. Imagine using this in a DOTX or DOTR deck. Spend 2 counterblast on this, and what have you left to restand with your boss G3? Another problem is the discard cost. In any Overlord deck, you have to already discard a G3 for stride, then you need to have another Overlord in hand. Since all Overlords a G3s, this may be a problem in all Overlord decks, and WILL be a problem in a DOTX deck. Both DOTE and DOTX require a persona blast to activate their skills. If you throw one of them from your hand, that's 1 less chance to pull off a restand with DOTE or a burn with DOTX. The way I see it, the best part about this card is the high power restand, and the additional +5K after restand. Other than that, not so good. Kind like Dragonic Overlord "The Hype". Haters gonna hate on me, but this is how I see this card.

True Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Turbo

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1) & Soul Blast (1) & Choose a face down card from your G zone, and turn it face up] If you have a heart card with "Big Bang Knuckle" in its name, until end of turn, this unit gets "[CONT](VC):When this unit would choose a unit to attack, choose up to three of your opponent's units for each of your heart cards instead, and this unit battles all of the chosen units in one attack.", and this unit gets [Power]+5000 for each face up "True Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Turbo" in your G zone.
This is so good. Just being in Legion mode ensures you can hit the whole field, and kill all your opponent's rear guards in one shot. Having 2 Big Bang Slash Busters in your left and right column would make for immense attacking power, as if your Vanguard didn't have that already. The consistency is just soooo good. Once you've used up all 4 of this in your G Zone, you can just stick with your Legioned Big Bang Knuckle Buster and whack for high numbers and pressure. With this, your opponent can only attack with his Vanguard or waste resources trying to build a rear-guard presence. Bye-bye Aqua Force.

Death Star-Vader, "Omega Loop" Glendios

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]: [Counter Blast (2) & Choose a face-down card named "Death Star-Vader, "Omega Loop" Glendios" from your G Zone, and turn it face-up] If you have a heart with "Glendios" in its card name, your opponent chooses one of his or her (RC) for each of your rear-guards with "Я" in its card name, and puts the top card of his or her deck into that (RC) face down as a locked card. Then if the number of cards in your damage zone is five or more, all your opponent's locked cards cannot be unlocked during his or her next end phase.

Although this card sets up for your World End, the problem is that all your Reverse units from other clans can't attack, since they are no longer considered to be Link Joker units. You'll be screwed over by one heal, and then your opponent can just whack a rear-guard with his Vanguard. Another problem is that you might not have enough counterblast left after using Magnet Hollow's skills and maybe some others you might have, depending on deck build. In short, this card looks good on the surface, and would be good, if it just wasn't so circumstantial. 

Blue Storm Master Dragon, Admiral Maelstrom

[AUTO](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card from your G zone, and turn it face up] When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, if it is the fourth battle of that turn or more, and you have a heart card with "Maelstrom" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card, choose three of your opponent's rear-guards, your opponent chooses one from them for each face up "Blue Storm Master Dragon, Admiral Maelstrom" in your G zone, and retires them.

Obviously, Aqua Force can very well achieve a fourth attack with the Vanguard. In this situation, your opponent will either retire 1 or 3 of their rear-guards from the skill. The only issue here is thatthe skill is an on-hit effect. This can be seen not as a problem, but as an advantage which would force shield out of your opponent before you use Glory Maelstrom or Reverse Maelstrom's skill. This way, the deck becomes more pressure-centric, and it would be meant to outlast your opponent but whittling down their hand until they have nothing left.

Interdimensional Dragon, Epoch Maker Dragon

[AUTO](VC):When this unit's attack hits a vanguard, you may choose one of your rear-guards, and bind it face up. If you do, search your deck for up to one grade 3 card, call it to (RC), shuffle your deck, and at the end of your turn, put the unit called with this effect on the bottom of your deck. If you put a card on the bottom of your deck this way, choose a card bound with this effect from your bind zone, and call it to (RC).
This card basically allows for you to get a fourth attack in one turn, not accounting for stand triggers. Again, the issue/advantage is that this is an on-hit effect. Your opponent can either choose to no guard and risk taking around 3 damage(including 1 crit trigger) or waste shield guarding this, and be open to your Ragnaclock's crit later in the game. This effect was not really meant to go off most of the time, but this card acts as a pressure unit in the deck.

Holy Celestial, Mikael

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Counter Blast (1)] If you have a heart card with "Celestial" in its card name, put the top card of your deck into your damage zone, choose a face up card from your damage zone, and call it to (RC). Then, if you have a face up card in your damage zone with the same name as a card in your hearts, the unit called with this effect gets [Power]+5000 until end of turn.
This card is one of the good cards from this set, as it works with any of the Celestial bosses in Angel Feather(except maybe the FC2014 card). The best card to run this with would be the Celestial Legion, considering its ability to create huge-powered columns. For old school, you can run this with Zerachiel or Ramiel Reverse to build your field for their limit break to go off next turn.

True Revenger, Dragruler Revenant

[ACT](VC)[1/Turn]:[Choose one of your rear-guards with "Revenger" in its card name, and retire it] If you have a heart card with "Revenger" in its card name, search your deck for up to one grade 1 or less card with "Revenger" in its card name, call it to (RC), shuffle your deck, that unit and this unit get [Power]+3000 until end of turn.
As the name suggests, it's best to run this card with Dragruler to create columns harder to guard while your opponent is already at 5 damage thanks to Dragruler's skill. The best way to abuse the ability is to call something with Mana, then kill it with this skill and summon either a Blaster Dark or Masquerade. A so-so card, you can run it with any Shadow Paladin Revenger deck, although it doesn't exactly generate any pluses.

Divine Flame Ultimate Regalia, Demeter

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, if you have a heart card with "Regalia" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, for each of your heart cards, Soul Charge (3), choose a card from your damage zone, and turn it face up.
Simple, but great. There's several ways to use this card. You can ride Angelica then stride this, so you can use pure angel's secondary skill to draw one card and still be able to break ride next turn. Even if you soul charge triggers this way, you can soul blast it out with the break ride. You can also use this to refill your soul after using CEO Yggdrasil's skill. If your Vanguard is in Legion when you stride this, it's a instant 6 soul for you, allowing you to use Yggdrasil again next turn for more pressure.

Six Realms Stealth Dragon, Jorurirakan

[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent's rear-guards, bind it face up, your opponent chooses a card from his or her hand, and binds it face down. At the end of that turn, if you have a heart card with "Shura Stealth Dragon" in its card name, your opponent puts the cards bound with this effect into his or her drop zone, if you do not have, your opponent puts the cards bound with this effect into his or her hand.
This G unit works with any of the current Nubatama bosses, even the break ride, since they all have Shura Stealth Dragon in the name. You can choose a pesky rear-guard from your opponent's field, and get rid of it by the end of your turn(I'm looking at Aqua Force and Nova Grapplers). And while they are allowed to choose which card from hand to bind, it's likely they'll have to throw some shield or an important card, allowing higher chances for your attacks to get through. This is the kind of good support Nubatama's been waiting for for so long.

 Super Ancient Dragon, Parititian

[AUTO]:When this unit placed on (VC), if you have a heart card with "Ancient Dragon" in its card name, choose a rear-guard of all fighters, retire them, and increase this unit's [Power] by the sum of the original [Power] of the units retired with this effect until end of turn. Then, if the [Power] increased with this effect is 20000 or more, this unit gets [Critical]+1 until end of turn.
Translation: you and your opponent retire 1 rear-guard each, and if the total power of those 2 units is 20K or more, this unit gets +1 crit. It seems good, it's hard to get that extra critical. One will have to retire a 11K rear-guard, and the other a 9K rear-guard. Obviously your opponent wouldn't want you getting that extra crit, so he'll choose a G1 with about 7K power. The only surefire way to make sure you get that crit is in a tag match, where all 4 players will have to retire 1. In normal matches, the main purpose of this card is to force your opponent to retire their rear-guards, and you can keep yours by choosing Tyrannobite or the G1 version to retire, then revive them with their counterblast skill. This card is meant to work in a deck with Tyrannoquake and/or Tyrannolegend to keep up the pressure with high-powered attacks and easy-to-get crits.

I will continue this article with a Part 2 coming very soon :) 
For now, feel free to comment on anything below :)
Note: I don't own any of the images above. Credits to their respective owners and Bushiroad Inc.
-Megan Lee

Cray Journal: Oracle Think Tank Stride~

As a huge OTT fan, I'm just sooooo happy that they FINALLY got support. It's been so long since they were supported it's hard to believe they were once considered meta. Anyways, moving on to the main point of my article, their new stride units and G-BT01 support.

Supreme Sky Battle Deity, Susanoo

[CONT](VC) Generation Break 2(This ability is active if you have 2 or more face up G units on your (VC) and/or G Zone) During your turn, if you have 4 or more cards in your hand, this unit gains [Power]+5000/[Critical]+1
[AUTO](VC): [Counter Blast (1)] During your turn, when your G unit Stride, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at the top 2 cards of your deck, search for one card, put it into your hand, and put the rest at the bottom of your deck in any order. 

Kinda lackluster for a RRR, but decent nonetheless. The GB2 ability will create a lot of pressure for your opponent. By the time you have used stride twice, it would be late game, with both opponents at 3-4 damage.
The second skill is the better part of this card. Since striding is essentially a net +/-0, this would make striding a net +1 for one counterblast. It would also let you stack your triggers at the bottom of the deck, so if you have a great memory, you will know what's coming once your stack is reached. In this sense, this card works rather well with the tsukuyomi ride chain.

Now let's look at the two G units that came out in this

Sword Deity of Divine Sound, Takemikazuchi

Stride- [Choose one or more cards from your hand with the sum of grades being 3 or greater, and discard them] Stride this face down card on  your (VC)
[ACT](VC): [Counter Blast (2) & Choose a face-down card named "Sword Deity of Divine Sound, Takemikazuchi" from your G Zone, and turn it face up] If the number of face-up cards in your G Zone is 2 or more, look at the top 4 cards of your deck, search for 2 cards, put them into your hand, and put the rest at the bottom of your deck in any order. 

Just like Susanoo, this card works really well with the Tsukuyomi chain, letting you reach your stack even faster and stacking more at the bottom. This ability is meant to be used sometime late to mid-game, to help you out of a pinch or get the desired cards into your hand.
Since the effect cost makes you turn another copy of itself face-up in the G Zone, you'll have to run an even number of these to fully utilize the effect.
But of course, you'll need another G unit in your deck to even use this card, so let's look at the other G unit released in this set:

Soaring Auspicious Beast, Qilin

Stride-  [Choose one or more cards from your hand with the sum of grades being 3 or greater, and discard them] Stride this face down card on  your (VC)
[AUTO](VC): When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, look at 2 cards from the top of your deck, search for 1 card from among them, put it into your hand, and place the rest at the bottom of your deck in any order.

This unit is meant for early game rush. The instant both you and your opponent are at Grade 3, release this to pressure so you can build your hand early. Most people would not have a negate by that time, and would not be likely to throw a 30K shield for 2 pass at this point. This gives you even more reason to go second at the start of the game(or so I feel).
And the fact that this is only a R is so great~

Now I think I've said enough about those 2 G units, so moving on to a proper deck build:
4 Supreme Sky Battle Deity, Susanoo; 4 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi
4 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi; 4 Diviner, Shinatsuhiko; 3 Silent Tom
4 Mediator, Amenosagiri(PG); 4 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi; 3 Divine Sword, Amenomurakumo, 3 Oracle Guardian, Gemini
4 Psychic Bird(critical); 4 Battle Sister,Ginger(critical); 4 Dream Eater(draw); 4 Lozenge Magus(heal)
Starter: Godhawk, Ichibiyoshi
G Zone: 4 Sword Deity of Divine Sound, Takemikazuchi; 4 Soaring Auspicious Beast, Qilin

The G3 Tsukuyomi is here because, what better G3 to run than this? Monaka is fine too, but her effect is LB, and you don't exactly have enough G1 space to put a LB enabler. Her effect isn't exactly a finisher either, and you won't have enough G3s left to use as stride fodder.
Shintatsuhiko's name may be a mouthful, but it's nothing more than a GB1 12K whacker. Nuff' said.
Silent Tom. The silent killer. With triple drive check and a higher chance of getting triggers, why would you NOT run this?
Amenomurakumo. Another mouthful. It's a G1 with the ability to reveal a G3 and drop 1 card to search out Susanoo. This is effect is not meant to be used as it will ruin your stack. It's main effect is to drop for stride. If this unit is to be used to pay the cost for stride, it gains 2 grades, meaning you can just drop this card from your hand and stride.
I know the new negates have a restriction in that they can only defend your Vanguard. But in this deck, the CB usage is really high, and you'll need a way to unflip, and this is the only possible way. Running Lemonade(sb2, unflip 2) is not an option here as there isn't enough G1 space.
8 crit 4 draw is standard and will help maintain the large hand size OTT is known for.
Psychic Bird is a must because you'll need the 6 soul requirement if you were to accidentally ride Tsukuyomi first.
The main purpose of this deck is to draw until you reach your stack, and pull a double/triple trigger to kill your opponent instantly.

For those of you a little tight on budget, here's an alternative decklist:
4 Supreme Sky Battle Deity, Susanoo; 4 Battle Sister, Mille Feuillle
4 Diviner, Shinatsuhiko; 4 Diviner, Kuroikazuchi; 3 Battle Sister, Marshmallow
4 Mediator, Amenosagiri(PG); 4 Divine Sword, Amenomurakumo; 3 Oracle Guardian Gemini; 3 Battle Sister, Lemonade
4 Psychic Bird; 4 Battle Sister, Ginger; 4 Dream Eater; 4 Lozenge Magus
Starter: Battle Sister, Eclair

Mille Feuille is a C card with an on ride ability to CB1, SB1 to draw one card. Her GB1 ability is an ACT ability to CB2, check the top 2, take 1, and put the other at the bottom. She doesn't have much use on the Vanguard, so you can ride her first to fulfill the conditions for Marshmallow, and then use her as stride fodder once you ride into Susanoo.
Marshmallow is a pressure unit that lets you soul charge 1 and unflip 1 when her attack hits the Vanguard, and your Vanguard is a battle sister. It's a VC/RC effect, so it would be best to ride her on your G2 turn.
Kuroikazuchi is a RR. Her GB1 ability: when she is boosted, and attacking a Vanguard, you can CB1 to draw 1 card.
Psychic Bird again is a must to fuel the soul for unflipping. This build uses even more counterblasts than the previous one, so you're gonna need lemonade and the negate to unflip as many times as possible for you.
The main purpose of this deck is to filter until you have mostly triggers left in the deck. Lozenge Magus and Eclair are needed to shuffle so the triggers don't all get stuck at the bottom. If they do, by the time you reach them, you would lose by deck out.

Overall, OTT is still very fun to use, and you get to traumatize your opponents with your huge handsizes~
I really don't think I can say any more about this clan, so have fun Vanguarding everyone~

Signing off,
Lee Megan

Stride Generation~ G!!

Following the introduction of Cardfight!! Vanguard G, we have new G units, and stride.

What are G units?

G units are Grade 4 units with "Triple Drive!". They are not placed in the main deck, but in the G Zone, a zone right abobe the damage zone on the typical playmat. G units can be used for Stride, and each player can have up to 8 G units, with a maximum of 4 copies per unit. 

What is Stride?

Stride is an ability unlocked when both players' Vanguards are Grade 3 or greater. To stride, one must discard 1 or more cards with the grades totaling to 3 or more. All G units are face down in the G Zone at the start of the game. When you stride, choose a G unit and place it face up on the Vanguard circle. At the end of your turn, that unit goes back to the G Zone face up, and cannot be used for stride again. When you stride on your Vanguard, the G unit gains the name and original power value of your "heart". If your original Vanguard is in Legion, choose 1 unit to be the heart. The G unit does not gain the skills of the heart. As the term "triple drive" suggests, you get 3 drive checks when you stride. 

Generation Break

You may have noticed some new units have the symbol GB1 or GB2. These abilities are unlocked when there is the stated number of G units face up in the G Zone or on the Vanguard circle. So for example, if your grade 2 rear guard has a GB1 ability, it can be activated when you have a Striden Vanguard or when there is one face up G unit in the G Zone. 

G Assist:

G assist is a new mechanic designed to help with misgrading. You need to have at least 2 G units to use this. Here's how it works:

1)Reveal your hand to your opponent, proving you don't have a unit 1 grade higher than your Vanguard. 

2)Check the top 5 cards of your deck for a unit 1 grade higher than your Vanguard, and add it to your hand. Shuffle your deck. 

3)Choose 2 G units from your G Zone, and 2 cards from your hand, and remove them from the match. This is not bind or discard. The lost G units cannot be used to fulfil the conditions for Generation Break. 

4) Proceed to ride phase. 

If you did not add a card to your hand during step 2, skip step 3 and jump to step 4. 

The G Assist ability is very costly, hence it should only be used when truly desperate. 

Examples of G units: 

All clans: Harmonics Messiah; Heat Elemental, Magnum; Miracle Elemental, Atmos

Gear Chronicle: Interdimensional Dragon, Mystery Flare Dragon

Royal Paladin: Vague Sacred Knight, Gablade

Oracle Think Tank: Sword Deity of Divine Sound, Takemikazuchi

Nova Grappler: Meteorkaiser, Viktplasma

Kagero: Imperial Flame Dragon King, Route Flare Dragon

This is just a short list of the current known Stride units. Certain clans have new cards which combo well with the Stride mechanic to net huge advantages.
If your favorite clan does not have Stride units yet, you can use the generic clan G units to power up your current deck, or wait for Bushiroad to release G units for that clan.

Happy Cardfighting everyone~!

Signing off,
Lee Megan

New Banlist Update May 2013

With effect from the 11th of May 2013,

for the Japanese version of Cardfight!! Vanguard,
the cards highlighted in the following list will be
restricted to up to a total of two cards in the deck
(including the first vanguard).

Restriction list for Japanese Vanguard
<Royal Paladin>
Majesty Lord Blaster

<Oracle Think Tank>
Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

<Narukami>
Eraser Dragonic decendent

*This includes all cards of the same
name with different rarities.

[Example]
OK: Majesty lord Blastrr x 2
OK: Majesty Lord Blaster x 1, 

 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi x 1

- Total of 2 types in a deck, so it’s fine.

Not OK: Majesty Lord Blaster x 2,

Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi x 1

Alfred, silent Tom etc from the previous 
list will be unbanned from 11th may 2013

Barcgal can not be used as the First Vanguard