Cardfight Vanguard -What clan are you???

OK you kinda like Vanguard...

You think you may wanna play more regularly and even competitively when the tag tourney scene gets up and going.

Sadly you play other cards games and money is tight so you don't wanna go full tilt on buying Vanguard cards.

Thats just fine due to the balanced nature of the game you really only need a couple cards but since Vanguard is only new here (most places outside of singapore and japan) you have the rare opportunity to look down the line of future releases to plan out your vanguard investment.

Cards cheap now may not be cheap later when other sets drop. So I wanted to take some time to talk about the clans and where the differences lay. It may be that that card that no one wants now will be the one you will need later when you want to build that deck thats just right for you.


Its interesting to note that CFV is made up of 6 Nations with 4 clans per nation.


United Sanctuary

United Sanctuary cards are represented by the color yellow.

Angel Feather
The game still is developing and as of now AFs do not have a lot to really sink your teeth into, they will be arriving in April BUT!!!! READ THIS!!!! despite being the 6th set "Breaker of Limits" it will be released simultaneously (prob may in the states) in the TCG world as set 3!!!! AGGGGG what to do lol Ill have a post about this because it will change around the game entirely

Gold Paladin
Also in may will be the Golden Paladin trial deck. and if there was a hard core RP player that never thought about running anything else they may be tempted with GPs. Unicorns become owls, Marron gets remade into a cool looking Gareth, you get some more soul blast effects, some return to hand effects, more draw effects, introduces the "Limit Break" BUT all in all its the same mentality as regular RPs only some slight modifications and new tricks BUT!!! maybe some of the best card art to date.

Oracle Think Tank 

Its a very cool mythological inspired deck that is all about stacking..... WHAT I CAN STACK??
LOL in a way. OTT is all about the draw power and about putting cards back in the deck if not acceptable at the time or meet certain conditions. An intelligent conscientious player will do well with this deck. It will also attract all those draw focused yugioh players that love hand advantage. Its a focused controlled game style that is best used by the methodical player. Its also quite expensive with some of the highest rarity counts in the game.

Royal Paladin
Paladins are like the blackwings of the vanguard world they swarm, call their other RP buddies and power each other up. They normally require a full use of the field and cooperative effects to make up for their loss in real defense (rear guards may be the weakest in the game) It doesn't involve a ton of skilled game play and ultimately besides a couple key cards not that expensive to run.

Shadow Paladin
If you watch the anime then you know if Royal Paladins are Jedi then Shadow Paladins are the Sith. RPs got sparkely unicorns with rainbows while SPs have witches and Allie devouring Dragons. Think of it this way RPs swarm to boost each other, SPs swarm and sacrifice to boosts. BEWARE OF THE DARK SIDE!



Dragon Empire

Dragon Empire cards are represented by the color red.

Kagerō
Kags are all about the destruction. They control the field in ways most others can't, they can plus off of destroying rear guards and have one of the only units that can hit the back row making em the bane of the RP world (nooooooo not my barcgal). Its the perfect deck for the aggro player since you can not only blow the enemy up but superior ride like crazy letting you hit grade 3 before your opponent even if they went first. All of this may be at the expense of consistency but for the more seasoned player it can mean a more diverse game play that lets you handle multiple situations in different ways.

Murakumo
I want to go on record as saying this aint no kids clan. It is extremely technical in nature so if you want auto pilot go else where. They superior call like crazy but then like the ninjas they are disappear from the field. So we are talking full field then nothing which can be tricky. There are some consistency issues but hey they are swarming ninjas what do you want?

Narukami
This one I really need to brush up on since they will be released with the english next set as well with the Angel Feathers. BUt just looking at Dragonic Kaiser, Vermillion Im thinking Big hits coming. It shares a lot of similarities to the Kagero like how others are sharing with the RPs of this set. 

Nubatama
Im kinda at a loss with Nubatama. It was introduced early on in set one, and in the anime as the deck played by Mark Whiting (Aichi's teacher) and the not so mysterious Ninja Master M. Then the deck just fell off the map and disappeared I know of no more additional support for this one. But as a side note its fun to tech in a Stealth Dragon Voidmaster into your Nova Grapler build due to its low counter blast cost :) for now until that deck gets more grade 3s

Tachikaze
If Darwin could have played CFV he woulda ran a Tachikaze deck. After all its all about the survival of the fittest. The gain huge power at the expense of your weaker units (attack gain +5000 but retire a rear guard after type stuff). Its an extremely functional deck and has a very straight forward win condition (more autopilot) and by looking at prices (of the ocg cards from future sets) It stays relatively inexpensive.


Dark Zone
Dark Zone cards are represented by the color purple.

Dark Irregulars
Are you goth? This is the deck for you. Do you think Edward and Jacob are a bunch of Pu$!es? This is the deck for you. If you think starlight unicorn is the most awesomeist card art ever.... this is not the deck for you! DI is all about the soul. They are Dark magical (slightly evil) vampires, werewolves and demons that are all about the soul. As they charge the soul they can gain effects.... with the size of the soul they gain effects. The outcome is like a snowball bigger and bigger till is massive. Its EXTREMELY powerful when done right but the consistency of it goes down when we see the lack of ability to search and draw (what you get is what you get) and it sucks down on your hand advantage.

Pale Moon
I think pale moon is cool as hell, Its a freakin evil circus what could be better??? Im not gonna say its a deck for advanced players but like OTT or Spike Bros you have to have a good understanding of timing and your card effects. The trick they have up their sleeve is they can superior ride from the soul. Many will play for the art which I personally like but many will play because they enjoy the complexity which gets rewarded by power.

Spike Brothers
Im guessing that this is how singapore sees american football, goblin and oger hoards that thirst for blood. Its kinda like the Gladiator Beasts from planet cray. The attack hard and fast and tag in and out of the deck (superior call) during battle to allow more hits per turn than most. Understanding of their dynamic is key because in exchange for all these over powered attacks is a high demand for resource management (counter blasts, cards in hand and on field) People that enjoy combo oriented plays that skate that line between epic win and epic fail will love spike bros. It is definitely not autopilot



Magallanica

Magallanica cards are represented by the color blue.

Bermuda △
Im not gonna say you need to be in touch with your feminine side but COME ON they are all like cute mermaid pop stars??? You wanna buy some pink card sleeves and be prepared for comments when you stand your vanguard up. LOL then laugh when your opponent gets beat by cute mermaids. The deck is no joke its skill is in bouncing back rear guards so you can re-call them to re use effects. Most boosters have a distribution of clans in the set Triangle is the first to get its own booster set that centers around it. May be a good idea to pick some up now if only for trade bait later.... or to get your girlfriend into card fighting 

Granblue
ZOMBIE PIRATES!!!! They are all about utilization of the drop zone one thing that is lacking out of all the other clans so far. It makes guarding and paying costs a strategic skill as much as anything else. They also can superior ride quite quick assuming you get the pieces in place that you need. They don't have any real big type boss monsters but they can can be quite consistent for the multitasking player that can manage deck, hand, field and drop zone all at once. Some may get frustrated with the lack of real knock out power but sometimes the guy that hits the most wins over the guy that hits the hardest


Zoo

Zoo cards are represented by the color green.

Great Nature
Not enough info on them yet its still developing

Megacolony
Honestly I think insect builds are all jinxed in card games. Im yet to come across one that works but Mega is interesting in that its all about your opponent. Its a suppression deck, where kagero is control via destruction mega is suppression via effects that keep your opponents units rested and unable to stand... so in many ways suppression and control are 2 sides of the same coin. It has possibilities in the right hands but its frustrating with the work arounds (stand triggers can still work, you can call right overtop of the rested unit etc etc) honestly I probably need to work with this archetype more to truly get how you can exploit it but the idea of keeping your opponents rested is nifty

Neo Nectar
Like their plant motif they are a clan of swarmers. When their attacks hit the vanguard their rear guard grows plus they can superior call from the deck making them an extremely aggro clan. Beauty can be in simplicity, its a simple yet effective play style making it very beginner friendly deck. If you are still morning the loss of spore then this may be your new deck

Star Gate
Star Gate cards are represented by the color grey.

Dimension Police
Similar to the NGs DPs (lol) are about standing as well although where they differ is DPs (chuckle) are all about the vanguard, they over power him and are less about the rear guard, so its not a fast winning deck. If you loved volition or ultra man say hello to your new deck. Your opponents will cringe each time you boost Daiyusha to give him that extra critical.

Etranger
only 2 cards here and promos to boot so... next although I love the frog version of blaster dark Blaster Keroro... makes me miss my frog deck :,( 

Nova Grappler
NGs have some really unique peculiarities that cause it to differ slightly than other decks In a way they are the most eco friendly clan because they are all about recycling. They recycle the damage counters (by having effects that unclip the counters) Recycle attackers ( lots of stand triggers and effects that stand units) and they recycle triggers by having units that are sent back to the deck after boosting. All this combined with some low level heavy hitters make for the perfect deck for the knock out artist that likes hard and fast. Its the deck that wins if it can grab the right pieces early enough but if it doesn't... well....