Vanguard, a run through of the game!

Welcome back to Cray and let me tell you, things are starting to heat up.

This post will be an explanation into how the game is played so please bear with the longer post :)

Cardfight!! Vanguard, in my view and opinion, is a mash up of Yu-Gi-Oh! (the artwork and anime design), and Pokemon (similar game play and turn system).

Ok, I have typed out, deleted, re typed out, and re deleted this so many times I am starting to get dizzy. The easiest way for me to explain Vanguard is to start from the beginning.

Building a deck:

• A deck must consist of exactly 50 cards. (This number includes your starting Vanguard).

• A deck may not contain more than 4 of any individual card.

• A deck must contain exactly 16 Trigger Units

• A deck may only contain 4 cards with the "heal" trigger ability.

The field of play is made up of one "Vanguard" circle surrounded by five "Rear guard" circles. The Vanguard circle is exactly that, the circle your Vanguard is placed in and leads his team from. The Rear guard circles are used for extra attack and defence when the time calls for it. Between your Vanguard and your opponents, is a Guardian circle.

The Vanguard circle is where your beginning Vanguard is placed at the start of the game.

Rear guard circles are for units to support your Vanguard.

The Guardian circle is where blockers and intercepts are put (Explanations will follow bellow).

Now all this may seam like a lot to take in, but like we all know, reading the rules and set up once, makes the game a lot easier when actually giving it a go later on.

Now>

Turn phases are as follows:

1) Stand Phase

• In this phase, you stand all rear guards and vanguard cards.

2) Draw Phase

As you would expect, you now draw a card from your deck and add it to your hand. If you are unable as your deck has no cards you loose (like most if not all TCGs)

3) Ride Phase

• You may now place a unit from your hand on top of your existing vanguard. This is called Riding your vanguard. The unit can be of the same grade or one (1) grade higher than the existing Vanguard.
• This is done once each turn, but you do not have to if you do not want to/can't.
• Point to note, riding your vanguard does not heal any damage taken on your vanguard.

4) Main Phase

Calling units

• This is where you call units from your hand onto the rear guard circles to support your Vanguard (Their grade can be equal to or less than that of the Vanguard. Not higher.).
• You may call units into already occupied rear guard circles, however, you must first retire the unit that is currently there.

Promoting/Demoting units

• You may move units in the rear guard forward or back in the rows, but never side to side.
• Units in the same column may switch with each other, but never from one column to another.

Using Card Abilities

• Some units have abilities which are only activated in certain phases. Read each ability to find when it can be activated (Auto, main, Vanguard/Rear guard, continuous).

5) Battle Phase

As soon as you have finished all actions in the main phase, the Battle phase is entered.

In the battle phase, as many attacks are able to be made as long as units are able to attack.

To initiate an attack, declare a front row unit to attack, and declare a target for the attack from the opponents front row units (unless otherwise stated on the attacking card).

• If a card directly behind the attacking card has a "Boost" symbol, this unit can be rested to provide a boost to the attacking unit.
• For example, my front row unit has a base attack of 10000, and my rear guard unit has a base attack of 8000, by resting the back unit, my new attack from the front unit is now 18000.

At this point, the opponent may call a guard unit from his/her hand to defend against the attack. This can be any number of cards deemed necessary by the opponent.

• They are placed in the guardian circle (Between the two vanguard circles).
• Some units may intercept to defend (Specific to Grade 2 units).
• This may happen by taking the unit with intercept and placing it in the guardian circle.

Now, if you attacked with your Vanguard another step is added.

Drive Check

When attacking with your vanguard, you perform an action called a drive check.

You reveal the top card from your deck. The purpose of this is to check for a trigger unit.

If the card is a Trigger Unit and is of a Clan that is also in your Vanguard or Rear-Guard, then its Trigger effect activates. Regardless of whether the card is a Trigger Unit or not, add the card to your Hand after resolving it.

• There are four (4) types of triggers:
• Each Trigger has a +5000 bonus to a unit of the players choice.
• Critical - You add one to the Critical of any unit on the board, until the end of your turn. You may choose to give the Critical and +5000 to different Units
• Draw - You draw a card into your hand.
• Stand - You Stand a Resting Rear-Guard and then use it to attack or boost again.
• Heal - You move one card of your choice from your Damage Zone to your Drop Zone if the number of cards in your damage zone is greater than or equal to your opponent's
• If your Vanguard has a "Twin Drive" symbol (Specific to grade 3), this is done twice.
• To determine the winner of the battle, compare the total attacking power with the power of the target (Modifying for boosts and guards respectively).
• If the attacking power was equal to or more than the target, the attack is a success. If the target was a rear guard, it is removed from play and placed in the drop zone. If the target was the Vanguard, the opponent then performs a damage check. Much like a Drive check, the damage check reveals the top card of the deck looking for a trigger. The damage check follows the same rules as the drive check, however, the Trigger Unit does not have to be the same Clan as the Target.
• This is repeated until all front row rear guards are rested and can no longer attack.

6) End Phase

• After all attacks have been competed and all effects carried out, the turn ends and play is handed over to the next player.

Now with all this, you might be able to get a small grasp on the rules and maybe even perfect your game a little more. As we all know, giving it a go is a lot more fun than reading about it, so come on into the Card House and hit me up for a game. I have a few different decks so don't worry if you haven't got a deck of your own. This is all about fun so come on down and have a few rounds :) 

Again, i apologise for the length of this post. I only realised it takes a lot longer to type it all out than it actually takes to play the games.

I hope you all enjoyed this Walkthrough :P and I will catch you all around the Cardy.

From Cray, 

I say good battling, and may the best clan win!