Last night, while playing a game of Vanguard, we had an interesting (and confusing) interaction come up. I was playing Bermuda Triangle (in preparation for the Sneak Peak on 22/08), while my opponent was playing Gear Chronicle. Now, Gear Chronicle usually have very simple effects: they return a unit to the bottom of the deck, then they continue on their merry way. However, what confused us last night was this: Interdimensional Beast, Upheaval Pegasus.

For those of you unfamiliar the the card, Pegasus’ effect is somewhat unusual. It consists of two parts: the first is to return all your opponent’s rear-guards to the bottom of the deck, then the second part is to call an equal number from the top of the deck. What makes it interesting in terms of rulings is each of those cards is called one at a time. Our question was how this interacts with AUTO abilities, specifically, ones which activate on-call.

If all of the cards were called at the same time, there would be little confusion. Say that my opponent wanted to use Pegasus, then follow up with the on-stride of Chronojet Dragon. Upheaval Pegasus’ ability would entirely resolve, we enter the ‘check timing’ step, his Chronojet Dragon’s effect resolves, and then I get to use my on-calls. This uses the nice and easy principle that, when both players effects activate at the same time, the turn player gets to resolve them first.

But, as I said, Upheaval Pegasus calls them all one by one. I had three units on the field, so I had to call three units in succession. My first was Superb New Student, Shizuku (pictured). Her ability is based on Harmony, so it’s not quite an on-call, but similar enough! My second unit was a Grade 2, so I placed that in the same column as Shizuku (triggering her Harmony effect), and my third was largely irrelevant. In this way, my AUTO ability triggered part way through the resolution of another units ability. Therefore, when do I get to use Shizuku’s effect?

The Cardfight!! Vanguard Comprehensive Rulebook has a few things to say on the issue:And:So, there is no question that I can and must activate my AUTO ability, but when exactly does it happen? In our game state, the Gear Chronicle player has two AUTO abilities that he needs to resolve – that of Upheaval Pegasus (mid-resolution) and that of Chronojet Dragon (on standby). I have one AUTO ability to resolve – that of Suberb New Student, Shizuku. According to the official rules, we should be checking the AUTO abilities of the Gear Chronicle user before my own. As such, the priority has to be on the full resolution of his Upheaval Pegasus’ effect. My AUTO ability does not get to resolve partway through the resolution of his Upheaval Pegasus, rather, if any ability could interrupt and resolve, it would have to be his Chronojet Dragon’s, as he is the turn player! As such, the actual sequence of events would be:

1. Stride Interdimensional Beast, Upheaval Pegasus
2. (Timing window for the effects of Interdimensional Beast, Upheaval Pegasus and for Chronojet Dragon)
3. Start of Upheaval Pegasus’ effect
4. My three units are returned to the deck
5. I call Superb New Student, Shizuku to my back row
6. I call Admired Sparkle, Spica to my front row, in Shizuku’s column
7. (Shizuku enters Harmony State; timing window for Shizuku’s effect)
8. I call my final unit
9. Chronojet Dragon’s AUTO ability resolves, returning one of my units to the bottom of the deck
10. Shizuku’s ability resolves.

So, as we can see, it turns out that Upheaval Pegasus’ effect interacts with other effects as if all the units were called at once. Essentially, the whole ability needs to resolve, then the turn player’s AUTOs, then the non-turn player’s AUTOs. Even though several cards might have their effects triggered at several different times, they all wait on standby until the turn player has finished.

As a final note, what happens if he uses his Chronojet Dragon to remove my Shizuku before her effect is resolved? According to the rulebook:My Shizuku still would get to use her ability, even when removed.

So, in the end, our confusion was misplaced. All we needed to do was resolve the ability fully and play on as if it were any other ability (which we did), but it turns out that was actually the correct ruling! It opened up some interesting questions about simultaneous effects, so hopefully this can be helpful for when situations come up in your games.

Cardfight Vanguard singles are available to purchase at Big orbit Cards: Cardfight Vanguard

Welcome back to our discussion of Vanguard!! rules! In this instalment, we shall discuss the rules concerning deck construction and how to G-assist. We will also cover basic tactics in deck design, including end-game, combos and resource management.

Absolute Rules

Vanguard has certain rules that must be obeyed during deck construction:

1. Decks must be exactly fifty cards (including starting vanguard).
2. There cannot be more than four copies of cards with the same name in a deck (Unless the card states otherwise). This means that even if two cards have the same name but different effects (such as Phantom Blaster Dragon), there can only be four cards named ‘Phantom Blaster Dragon’ in the deck.
3. Decks must contain exactly sixteen trigger units, of which only four may be heal triggers.
4. Decks may only contain four units with the Continuous skill ‘Sentinel’.
5. Decks may include a G-deck of up to eight units.

Further, decks may only be formed out of units from a single clan, meaning that, if a player wanted to make a Gold Paladin deck, only Gold Paladin units could be included. There are few exceptions to the rule:

1. Cray Elemental units can be included in any deck, as they have the Continuous skill of being from all clans and all nations.
2. Royal Paladins can contain up to four copies of Blaster Dark (a Shadow Paladin), so that they can use the effect of Majesty Lord Blaster.
3. Link Joker can use any card with ‘Я’ in its name, because of the effects of Star-vader, “Omega” Glendios and similar cards. These are Continuous skills which mean that any unit with ‘Я’ in its name is always also counted as a Link Joker.
4. Some units have continuous effects which make them part of two clans at once. So far, only three units have this ability: Blaster Blade Spirit (Royal Paladin) and Blaster Dark Spirit (Shadow Paladin) both count as Gold Paladins, while Coral Princess, Thetis is an Etranger who also counts as an Aqua Force.

Guidelines

Grade Balance

Most decks follow a similar Grade ratio, with a few notable exceptions. This is:

• 17 Grade 0s (16 triggers and 1 starter)
• 15 Grade 1s
• 10 Grade 2s
• 8 Grade 3s

This ‘pyramid’ structure means that you are less likely to get ‘grade stuck’ early game, as Grade 1s and 2s are significantly more likely to turn up than Grade 3s. As the Vanguard must be upgraded over a series of turns, it is likely that the user will draw into a Grade 3 by the turn they need to ride one. Even though Grade 3 units have a high power, most players prefer to use Grade 2s as their main front-row rear-guards as they can be used to intercept and so keep their shield value. Many Grade 3s, therefore, are run at 8 largely for the purpose of consistency and to provide good cards to discard for Strides or Perfect Guards. Some Grade 3 units like Nightmare Doll, Alice are used as dedicated rear-guards for the usefulness of their skills.

Sometimes, even with this consistent Grade ratio, a player is unable to ride. It is at this point that G-Assist is used. Click here to learn how to perform it.

End Game Goal

A good place to start choosing cards for your deck is to work out how you want to win the game, and then build the deck with this in mind. Often, this is by choosing a Grade 3 or 4 ‘boss monster’ to focus on, and then choosing good units to support it. In Dark Irregulars, for example, a player might wish to focus on Abominable One, Gilles de Rais. He has two effects which only activate with either ten or fifteen cards in the Soul, which means that a deck which uses him needs to include many soul-charging effects. As Gilles is a Grade 4, the player will need a Grade 3 to use as their main Vanguard – they might choose Psychic of Storm, Rigil for his ability to soul-charge quickly and for his powerful retirement ability. As Rigil can soul-charge five cards on his own per turn, including Doreen the Thruster in the deck would be sensible, as she can gain 15000 power from his effect alone! From choosing simply one boss monster and selecting cards to help his effect, a deck with powerful synergy can start to be formed. In decks which focus on boss monsters with Limit Break 4, players usually use Limit Break Enablers. Some combinations are more obvious than others, and admittedly some research needs to be done to find the interactions between the cards, but that’s just part of the fun of deck construction!

Choosing Rear Guards

Not all rear-guards have to support the ‘boss monster’ of the deck, and many are useful because they are strong in their own right. In the case of Gilles de Rais, it’s a good idea to make sure that there are enough units which can soul-charge to be able to use his effects, but dedicating too much of the deck to setting up the soul means that the deck will not be able to do anything outside of soul-charging. There are several things to think about when selecting rear-guards, such as their power, costs and effects. Many strong effects use counter-blasts or soul-blasts as their costs, which limits how many times they can be used in a game. As tempting as it can be to use loads of these effects, they do not work when the player runs out of that resource! A balance needs to be found between these sorts of effects and ones which can help to pay for them. Battle Sister, Lemonade can be used to reset counter-blasts, but equally uses a large amount of soul to do so. As such, she converts a resource used relatively rarely by her clan (the Soul) in order to help what is very commonly used (counter-blasts). With certain units that consistently soul-charge, like CEO Amaterasu, her effect might be able to be used multiple times in one game, but her effect will most likely only be able to be used once as it has an expensive cost. However, the advantage that can be gained by being able to use more counter-blasts can be significant. Being able to use Diviner, Kuroikazuchi more times in a game is valuable, and so finding a balance between resetting costs and using them is important. Most players, therefore, will try to use some cards with costs for their effects, some without costs for their effects and some to help pay costs.

It is also important to consider power when constructing a deck. As most Grade 3 vanguards have 11000 power, it is good to make columns that can reach 11000, 16000 or 21000 power. As shield can only be applied in 5000 point blocks, an 11000 power attack against a vanguard is often identical to a 15000 power attack, as they both require 5000 shield to block! As such, the selection of Grade 1 and 2 units is often made to form columns which reach these power thresholds, as it enables them to hit efficiently. Diviner, Kuroikazuchi can be boosted by a 7000 or more booster to force a 10000 shield, and so has both a strong effect and a strong offensive presence. Battle Sister, Lemonade has a great effect too, but a tiny power, and so finds it difficult to create strong columns. She would work well boosting Diviner, Shinatsuhiko (who can gain 3000 power when attacking a vanguard, becoming 12000 on her own), as she grants just enough power to reach the next stage. Many players like to run similar 12000 attackers as they can hit a vanguard un-boosted – these cards also usually do not use any resources, and so can be included in most decks without problem.

Sentinels

Some cards have the Continuous ability Sentinel, which means that only four cards in total may have that ability in the deck, even if the units have different names. Newer Sentinels may be easily recognised by their golden shield crest, although the first Sentinels merely had a shield with a value of ‘0’. There are currently two main types of Sentinel units, Perfect Guards and Quintet Walls.

Perfect Guards are the most commonly used form of Sentinel, and for good reason. At the cost of discarding a card, they can make a unit entirely immune to an attack, allowing even the strongest attacks to be blocked with two cards. Some Perfect Guards can only be used to defend attacks made against the Vanguard, while others may block any unit. The Vanguard-only Sentinels almost always have the ability to turn damage face up provided another copy of them is in the Drop Zone, allowing that user to use more abilities in the future. The other Perfect Guards are significantly more flexible, being able to guard rear-guards and be used when called from the deck (rather than just from the hand), but do not un-flip damage. As such, they are often considered to be superior in decks which value their rear-guards highly, and also are considered to be better against units such as Dragonic Overlord, the End.

Quintet Walls are substantially different. The user does not need to discard a card, but equally their shield is less strong. At the cost of a counter-blast, they call the top five cards of the deck to the guardian circle to guard. As such, depending on luck, they can be anywhere between a 0 to 50000 shield, but most commonly act as a 25000 shield. Quintet Walls are usually used in decks which expect to have a low hand size or in Legion decks, as they can single-handedly set up the Drop Zone to Legion. Some cards, such as Apple Witch, Cider, can be used with Quintet Walls to make them more efficient, in this case by placing all the cards called into the Soul instead of the Drop Zone.

Almost all competitive decks use four Sentinels, as they are extremely useful cards. They allow even the most powerful attacks to be easily blocked, and can make the difference between winning and losing.

Trigger Line-up

The choice of triggers is often best left until the rest of the deck has been planned, as they should be chosen to compliment its strengths. Decks usually contain all four heal triggers, as healing is a valuable resource, so the decision usually comes down to how to allocate the remaining twelve. Many decks work best with eight to twelve critical triggers, which means that even one attack hitting can be devastating to the opponent. Critical triggers work well in decks with otherwise weak rear-guards, as, even though only a few attacks will hit, they will be powerful when they do. They can also punish the opponent heavily for not guarding attacks from the vanguard, as Stride units can potentially deal four damage in a single attack, even without their effects. Stand triggers, by contrast, work best in decks with powerful rear-guards and ones which expect to have a large field presence. The idea behind stand triggers is to force the opponent to use more cards to guard attacks, and a great example of their optimal use is in Murakumo’s Covert Demonic Dragon, Hyakki Vogue “Яeverse”. He can easily produce a pair of rear guards with 31000 power, and stand triggers mean that the opponent might well need to block five attacks at that power! Clearly, this can be a devastating combination, and forces the opponent to take substantial damage or else use their whole hand and field to guard. Draw triggers are used to add consistency to decks, especially those which rely on multiple copies of certain cards, rely on having a greater hand size than the opponent, or use many discarding and retiring effects. As draw triggers only have 5000 shield, they are not inherently defensive cards unless combined with Perfect Guards. Draw triggers are often seen used at four copies, allowing the focus to be on critical or stand triggers. If you’re unsure about what line-up to use, the ‘Rainbow’ set of four of each kind of trigger is often a good starting point, allowing the user to test which ones are better than others in actual gameplay, and to change their deck accordingly.

Starting Vanguard

Most starting vanguards that are used have the ability ‘Forerunner’, which allows them to be called to a rear-guard circle when they are ridden. Forerunners often have an ability which is activated by putting them into the Soul, which allows them to be later used for soul-blasting. Several starters, however, are designed to stay in the Soul when ridden. This is often as part of something called a ‘ride chain’, where the player attempts to ride specific units in succession for powerful bonuses. An example of this is Godhawk, Ichibyoshi, which is used to set up the Tsukuyomi series. If you are using a ride chain, then your starting vanguard is pretty much determined for you! For other decks, the choice of Forerunner is largely based on what effects you value more highly, and should be tailored to suit your playstyle.

Conclusion

Most decks, therefore, have a lot of flexibility in which cards can be run. Using four Sentinels and a good variety of triggers is a must, but everything else can be tailored to suit your end-game goal. The choice of cards for the G-Zone should be made to complement the main deck, although, as you can Stride whichever unit you like, it is much more viable to include situational cards. The main deck requires a little more balance between effects, and spending the time to make sure that the deck has balanced costs, decent columns and reliable combos is well worth the time.

G-Assist

When a player is unable to ride to a higher Grade and have not yet reached Grade 3, they may perform a G-Assist. The player reveals their hand, then searches the top five cards of their deck for the Grade they need. If they find one, then they remove two cards from their hand and two cards from their G-Deck from the game, then can continue to their Ride step as usual. The cards removed from the hand and G-Deck are not considered to have been discarded or Bound, so, even though the cards removed from the G-Deck are removed face-up, they do not count for the purposes of Generation Break abilities. Further, if the player attempts to G-Assist with only one card in hand, then they will need to remove the card they added to pay the cost. A player who foresees being unable to ride should therefore keep a hand size of at least one to be able to G-Assist usefully. If no card is added to the hand by G-Assist, the cost is not paid.

Previous Rules

Cardfight Vanguard singles are available to purchase at Big Orbit Cards: Cardfight Vanguard.

Welcome back to our discussion of Vanguard rules! In this instalment, we will be explaining the various effects and their costs, and discussing the more complicated aspects of the game such as timing. This article aims to discuss everything you need to know about how effects in Vanguard interact!

In Vanguard, many actions are shown by a visual shorthand. We have already discussed the Grade abilities of Boost (), Intercept () and Twin Drive (), so we will ignore these and move on to the other symbols!

Types of abilities

Firstly, there are three main types of abilities:

– Active skills can only be used in the Main Phase of the player’s own turn. When the player wishes to use the ability, they simply pay the cost and then resolve it. Unless they have a ‘once per turn’ clause, these abilities can be used as many times as the player wishes, provided the cost can be paid, and can be used to create serious advantage for the player.

– Automatic abilities respond to a specific event, and can only be activated once each time that event occurs. An example might be Battle Sister, Maple, who gains 3000 power when she attacks if her controller has four or more cards in hand. Unless they have a ‘once per turn’ clause, these abilities can be used as many times as their event occurs.

– Continuous abilities provide lasting benefits for as long as their conditions are fulfilled. For example, this can involve an increase to a units power provided a certain card is in the Soul. Continuous abilities are active on both players’ turns.

These are often accompanied by a symbol to show where the cards may be activated. This can be for the Vanguard Circle, for the Rearguard Circles, for the Guardian Circle, while other zones are usually put in brackets and followed by a colon, such as ‘[Drop Zone]:’.

Costs and effects

Card costs and effects are easily distinguished by the fact that costs are put in brackets following the symbol which designates the zone in which it may be activated. For example, a card could read ‘: [Put this unit into your soul]’, which allows for the card to be read easily and without confusion. The following is a common list of symbols seen as costs and effects.

– One of the most common symbols is Counter Blast. Most often seen as a cost to be paid, a Counter Blast is turning a face-up damage of the player’s choice in their Damage Zone face-down. This limits abilities to being used only after the controller has taken enough damage, and effectively serves as a ‘comeback mechanic’. Abilities with a Counter Blast cost cannot be used unless that many cards can be turned face-down.

– Counter Charging is the reverse of Counter Blasting. This symbol has only recently begun to be used in the game, and previously has been represented by the phrase ‘choose a card from your Damage Zone, and turn it face up’. This allows the player to re-use cards for Counter Blasts without taking additional damage.

– Soul Blasting is often seen as a cost for abilities, and uses the Soul (the stack of cards under the Vanguard) as its resource. A Soul Blast is to take a card from the Soul and put it in the Drop Zone, and effects using this resource cannot be activated if there are not enough cards in the soul. Without its opposite effect, most players will only have access to two or three Soul over the course of the game.

– Soul Charging is the reverse of Soul Blasting. This is sometimes seen as a cost, but is more often part of an effect. To Soul Charge, you take x cards from the top of the deck and place them underneath the Vanguard. Trigger effects are not activated at this time.

– The Stand symbol shows that you may Stand one of your units, allowing it to attack again.

– Often seen as a cost, the Rest symbol tells you to Rest one of your units. As always, Rested units cannot attack unless they are made to Stand by an effect.

Swords and Shields represent power and shield value, respectively.

Special restrictions

Certain abilities are restricted to only being used at a certain point in the game, and they have special symbols which represent them:

/ – Limit Breaks are somewhat of an older mechanic, but one which is still seen in many decks today. Limit Break abilities are always restricted to the , and restrict the ability they govern to only being used after a certain amount of damage has been taken. This is usually four damage (), but can be five damage (). As these abilities can essentially only be used on the verge of defeat, they are usually stronger than similar skills. Many Clans now have support cards which allow Limit Break abilities to be used on three or less damage, allowing players to use these powerful abilities before taking significant damage.

– Legion is an interesting mechanic which, in short, allows there to be two units on the Vanguard Circle. Before I explain how Legion works, I will briefly explain how it governs other units. Certain abilities can only be used when your Vanguard is in Legion, and they have two different timings. One is ‘if your Vanguard is ‘, which means that the ability can be used at any point after Legion has been performed; the other is ‘when your Vanguard ‘, which means that it can only be used immediately after Legion has been performed, just like how Automatic abilities work. To skip to how to perform Legion, click here.

/ – Generation Break is a mechanic seen only on cards from the G-Boosters. This restricts abilities to only being used when there are face-up G-Units on the Vanguard Circle or in the G-Zone. The G-Zone is a separate deck of up to eight cards, and contains Grade 4 units which cannot be included in the main deck – they are turned face up by performing an action called Stride, which is only available when both players have upgraded their Vanguard to Grade 3 or higher. To skip to how to perform Stride, click here.

Simultaneous abilities

Sometimes, several cards will have the timing for their effects fulfilled at the same time. In this case, the player decides the order in which the effects will activate.

For example, if Witch of Ravens, Chamomile and Witch of Frogs, Melissa were Soul Blasted at the same time, both of their effects would be able to activate at once. However, they are resolved one at a time, so the player would call one of the cards, then call the other. Either Melissa or Chamomile can be called first, and both will be able to be called.

In Vanguard, effects cannot ‘miss the timing’ – when an automatic ability has been triggered, it is always able to resolve if applicable. This means that, even if abilities interrupt others, they can still activate. Let’s look at a more complicated example:

In this example, the two copies of Onifundo activate at the beginning of the Main Phase. The player decides to use the first copy of Onifundo to call Hiden Scroll. At this point, the player can resolve Hiden Scroll or the second Onifundo, but chooses to resolve Hiden Scroll. Hiden Scroll returns to the deck to call two copies of Million Rat, both of whose effects could activate at this time. At this point, the player can choose to activate either the effects of Million Rat or of the second Onifundo. The player chooses to Counterblast 1 to call another Million Rat, then finally resolves the second Onifundo. Even though both Onifundo activated at the same time, one was resolved much later than the other!

It is also worth noting that players may choose the order in which effects end in the End Phase. If a unit is locked, for example, but is also supposed to return to the deck in the End Phase, the player may choose to return it to the deck first (which it cannot do, owing to how Lock works), then unlock it. This also works with Stride – players can return the Stride unit to the G Zone before or after resolving other End Phase effects.

How to Legion

Legion is an active ability which may only be used by certain Vanguards when both players have a Grade 3 or greater Vanguard. It allows the Vanguard to share the Vanguard Circle with another specific unit, counting as one Vanguard. Usually, this is between a Grade 3 and a Grade 2, but sometimes it is two Grade 3s. Don’t worry, this is less confusing than it sounds! The easiest way to understand Legion is to look at an example:

This is a unit in Legion state. To Legion, you use the active ability of your Vanguard to return exactly four cards from the Drop Zone to the Deck, search the deck for the ‘Mate’ (which, in this case, is Midday Regalia, Hemera’) and place it alongside the Vanguard. As you can see, not only does the art flow over between the cards, but there are additional symbols on the bottom of the cards, forming a crest. This serves as a reminder that the Mate is placed to the left of the ‘Leader’. At this point, both units are the player’s Vanguard, and take up only the Vanguard Circle.

When a Vanguard in Legion attacks, it counts as having the combined power of the two units, shown by the ‘Legion 20000’ on the Leader. The Vanguard can be boosted as usual, and may perform two Drive Checks, as per its Twin Drive ability. If an attack in Legion hits, then, unless an effect states otherwise, it does one damage, just like a normal Vanguard. When a unit in Legion is attacked, however, only the Leader’s power is used to calculate who wins. For the purposes of defence, therefore, the above pair would only be at 11000 power, and so Legion can be seen as a more offensively focussed skill.

Legion may be performed in the Main Phase of any turn, provided the card has not already performed Legion. If the player using Legion went first, when they rode to Grade 3, they would not be able to perform Legion on that turn (as their opponent would be on Grade 2) – on their next turn, however, it would be possible for Legion to occur! Legion may only be performed once with the same Vanguard, so, if a player wishes to perform Legion again, then they must first Ride another Vanguard. When a Vanguard in Legion is ridden over in this way, both the Mate and the Leader enter the soul.

How to Stride

Striding is perhaps an easier mechanic to understand than Legion. Players may have a separate deck of eight face down Grade 4 units, which is placed in the G-Zone. When both players have a Vanguard of Grade 3 or higher, a player can discard cards from their hand with a total grade of 3 or higher to choose one face-down unit and place it on top of their Vanguard. This occurs in the Stride Phase, which follows the Ride Phase, allowing the player who goes second to Stride first. This is an example G-Unit:

There are two things to note about the card: it has (Triple Drive), which allows it to check three cards from the top of the deck when it attacks; secondly, its power is 15000+. Stride units are unique in the fact that they take on the characteristics of the card they Strode on top of. The previous Vanguard (or Vanguards, if in Legion) become the Heart, and you choose one of the Heart Units, and the Stride unit gains that card’s name, power and state (as in being at Rest or Stand).

In this example, ‘Miracle Element, Atmos’ is also called ‘Fantasy Petal Storm, Shirayuki’, and has 26000 power when it attacks. This only uses the printed power of the card. The Normal Unit Shirayuki is not considered to be in the Soul, as the Heart is different.

Strides only last until the end of the turn they were used. At the End Phase, the G-Unit returns to the G-Zone face-up, and that face-up card cannot be used again. The Vanguard remains in the state the Stride was in at the end of the turn (so, it would be at rest if the G-Unit attacked), and the Heart Cards become the Vanguard again. Any cards in Legion remain in Legion state though are not counted as Legion when you have a G-Unit on the Vanguard Circle, so effects that only work if your Vanguard is in Legion wont take effect.

Summary

In this instalment, we have covered effect types, symbols, timings, Legion and Striding. In the next instalment, we will cover G-Assist and the rules for deck construction!

Previous Rules, Next Rules

Cardfight Vanguard singles are available to purchase at Big Orbit Cards: Cardfight Vanguard.

Welcome to the first part of our discussion and introduction to the world of Vanguard! In these articles, we’ll be trying to explain the rules of the game in a logical and easy to follow fashion, explaining potential points of confusion along the way.

What is Vanguard?

Vanguard is a trading card game with several interesting features. Players use various cards named units to fight on their behalf, the most important of which is the Vanguard. This is a unit which becomes stronger over the course of the game and can never be destroyed, but which slowly takes damage from the enemy’s attacks. When it takes six damage, represented by losing the top card of the deck, the player who owns it loses. The primary form of defence in the game is to use cards from the hand to protect units, so this means that, in order to attack more strongly, that player sacrifices defence. There are no ‘spells’ or ‘sorceries’ in the game, so all special effects come from the units themselves. Finally, some cards in the deck have special effects when they are revealed, named Trigger Units, which can range from doing more damage to drawing a card to healing the damage inflicted over the course of the game.

Units

Units come in a variety of different forms, but the most important distinction between them is their Grade. There are currently five different Grades: 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4, although, for the time being, we will only concentrate on 0-3.

This is an example Trigger Unit, Witch of Black Doves, Goewin. The top-left corner states its grade and ability (Boost, ), while the top-right corner states its Trigger effect (Critical and +5000 Power). Only Grade 0 units can be Triggers, and all decks have to run exactly sixteen of them. The middle-left box (with the sideways text) states the card’s Shield value, which in this case is 10000. Grade 3 and 4 units have no shield value. The white-tinted box is the card’s effect, which many (but not all) units have. The bottom-left corner contains the card’s Power (4000), the bottom-middle the card’s Critical (damage on attack), and the bottom-right the card’s Clan (Shadow Paladin) and Race (Elf).

By contrast, this is an example Normal Unit – the Grade 3, Chronojet Dragon. This card has no Shield value or Trigger effect, and also a different ability (Twin Drive, ). Its power is significantly higher (11000). This card is a more offensive unit, but doesn’t have any Shield.

The ability symbols are common to all units of that grade. Grade 0 and 1 units have Boost (), which allows them to increase the Power of other units when they attack; Grade 2 units have Intercept (), which allows them to guard even when on the field; Grade 3 units have Twin Drive (), which allows them to check two triggers when they attack as a vanguard.

The Field

The field for Vanguard is somewhat unusual compared to other TCGs. It features one ‘Vanguard Circle’ (which is the blue upper-middle circle) and five ‘Rearguard Circles’. Each circle may only contain one unit (with the exception of Legion), and units may only declare attacks when on the front row (unless an effect says otherwise). Intercepting (the Grade 2 ability) is also only able to occur on a front row Rearguard circle. The back row can be occupied by any unit, but is most usefully occupied by Grade 0 or 1 units, who can Boost an attacking unit in the same column. The Drop Zone is equivalent to the Graveyard in other games, and is the location retired units enter. The Trigger Zone is a special ‘holding zone’ used when attacking or taking damage. The Damage Zone is where cards taken as damage are held.

How to Set Up

The game begins by both players choosing a Grade 0 unit from their deck as their first Vanguard, then shuffling and drawing five cards. Players look at their hand, and once before the game begins, may return any number of cards from it into the deck, shuffle, and draw back as many cards as they put back. This allows players to improve their opening hand, and is used to find units from each grade, as they are needed to strengthen the player’s Vanguard. When both players have performed this step, then the game begins with the first turn.

Turn Structure

The order of a turn is as follows:

1. Stand Phase
2. Draw Phase
3. Ride Phase
4. Stride Phase (to be covered in the next article)
5. Main Phase
6. Battle Phase
7. End Phase

Stand and Draw Phases

The first two steps of the turn are to ‘Stand’ (turn any sideways units upright) and then to draw a card from the deck. This is equivalent to the ‘untap’ step of games such as Magic the Gathering.

Ride Phase

The Ride Phase is the point in your turn where you can improve your vanguard, increasing its grade. Units of higher grades tend to have higher powers, so it is really important for both offence and defence to get to grade 3 as soon as possible.

A ‘Ride’ is where a player places a unit of the same or one grade higher as their Vanguard onto the Vanguard Circle. The previous Vanguard stays in place below the new one, creating a stack of cards known as the ‘Soul’. Riding can only be performed once a turn.

Main Phase

During the Main Phase, units can be placed on Rearguard circles from the hand in an action known as ‘Calling’. They can only be called if they are the same Grade or lower than the Vanguard (another reason why increasing the Grade of the Vanguard is vital), but other than that, as many can be called in a single turn as the user wishes. If a unit is placed on an already occupied circle, then the unit beneath it enters the Drop Zone. During this phase, units are able to move back and forth in the same column, trading places between the front and back rows), but cannot be moved between columns. Active (ACT) effects can only be activated during the Main Phase.

The Battle Phase

The Battle Phase is when attacks may be declared. Units attack one by one if and when the controller wishes.

Declaring an attack

Attacks may be directed against any unit in the front row, allowing players a choice between dealing damage and attempting to remove the opponent’s Rearguards (who enter the drop zone when hit). There is no ‘summoning sickness’ in the game, so all units may attack and boost on the turn they are called. Fighting in Vanguard works by comparing the power of the attacking unit with that of the defender, and then, if the attacker’s power is equal to or higher than the defending unit, the defender is hit. For example, if a 11000 power unit attacks another 11000 unit, then that unit is hit. However, units can boost others, which means that they can add their power to the unit in front, greatly increasing their power.

In this example, the opponent’s Vanguard would be hit, even though the Rearguard’s own power is only 8000. As the unit behind the attacking Rearguard is a Grade 1 and is on the back row, it can boost the unit above it, adding its 8000 power onto the attack. Thus, they attack for 16000 when combined, which is easily enough to hit the Vanguard! When units attack or boost, they are turned sideways into ‘Rest position’, which shows that they cannot do that action again. Units can attack again on the same turn if an effect causes them to re-Stand, but, outside of Stand Triggers, these effects are rare. Most decks, therefore, will perform between one and three attacks a turn.

Attacking units suffer no consequences for a failed attack, so, even if the opponent’s unit overpowers them, they will not be retired or take damage.

Guarding

Guarding occurs after the initial declaration of the attack, and before Triggers are checked. Guarding units are called from the hand to the Guardian Circle, which is between both players, or are moved there from the front row if they are Grade 2s using their Intercept ability.

Here, the Gear Chronicle player has guarded the attack from hand using a 10000 Shield. The Shield Value of the card is added to the Vanguard’s power, effectively making the opponent’s Vanguard 21000 power. Thus, the attack of the Rearguard is blocked, as its power is too low to hit. No Drive Checks occur, as the attacking unit is a rear-guard, and the unit used to guard is retired and placed in the drop zone. In this way, units can only be used to guard against attacks once, so efficient defending is very important!

Triggers and Damage

When your Vanguard attacks, after the opponent has declared guard, you reveal the top card or two cards (if using Twin Drive) of your deck. If a Trigger is revealed, it activates – this is called a Drive Check. Triggers combine two effects when revealed, and these can be assigned separately. All Triggers have an effect to give a 5000 power boost until the end of the turn they are revealed, but also have a second effect. Critical Triggers make a unit do extra damage to the Vanguard should they hit, with each Critical increasing damage by one; Stand Triggers allow a Rearguard which is at Rest to stand (and attack) again; Draw Triggers allow the owner to draw a card; Heal Triggers allow the owner to remove one damage by taking it from the Damage Zone and putting it in the Drop Zone, provided that the owner has more or equal damage to their opponent. Cards revealed during a Drive Check are added to the hand, which effectively means that players draw two to three cards a turn if they attack. Even if your Vanguard’s power is too low to hit anything, it is still worth attacking to get these free cards!

In this example, the Vanguard is attacking. This attack can be blocked with 10000 shield, but if the Vanguard were to check a Trigger, the added power would allow the attack to go through.

If the attack hit, the opponent would take one damage. Damage is tracked by revealing the top card of the deck and placing it into the Damage Zone face-up, and any Trigger Effects take place at this time. For example, if you took a damage and revealed a Draw Trigger, you would still get to draw a card and give a unit an extra 5000 power until the end of the turn. It is worth noting that Triggers revealed in this way technically go to the Trigger Zone when being resolved,  so Heal Triggers cannot heal themselves, as they are not actually in the Damage Zone at the time. Heal Triggers allow the player to survive taking their sixth damage, as they heal before entering the Damage Zone.

Summary

So, in this instalment, we have covered Grades and their abilities, the Vanguard and Rear-Guards, set-up, turn structure, Trigger types, attacking, guarding and taking damage. Next time, we’ll explore card effects.

Next Rules

Cardfight Vanguard singles are available to purchase at Big Orbit Cards: Cardfight Vanguard.