Interview 1

What do you think about the state of Vanguard in general currently? Do you think that it's in a balanced or somewhat stable state, or are there massive power imbalances? Has the meta become stagnant, or is it fresh - maybe still changing?

I think the current game state is pretty good, g-guards improved the game and it brought in lots of unpredictability. Before vanguard was the same of making 21k lanes to make opponent drop 2 cards till stride era and you could easily predict on how to beat an opponent. Now even on a 5 card hand you can't assure winning because of g-guards even 1 card blocking vanguard itself. So upping the defensiveness and making games last longer is definitely a good bonus to the gamestate itself, before with 12c and strides it was, you could barely live without pgs and you could get rushed to 4-5 damage easily.

I like a lot of decks lately and majority have good combos and uniqueness running for them, Dark Irregular, Nubutama, etc. They're strong but not overpowered, there was time where it was just Gear Chronicle, Granblue and you can't compete because it's way too unbalanced. Right now the game itself is fine and great its just 1 or 2 poorly made strides ruin things and not only skill level of deck like Kagero and OTT gets ruined but it gets a literal turn-off knowing you really can't do much against it. Vanguard has luck in it but a person should do what they can to maximize the odds of lowering it but against certain meta or strides, you just have to pray for getting g-guards or pgs. Or if your clan can't recycle pgs and what not they just die. So it's on the right direction just if you launch a new stride for a clan that can easily overwhelm another, it's hard for people to play what they want and enjoy their favorite clans because they'll get cheesed. But I think it's better than what it was since legion era.


On the subject of Ichikishima - it's caused a lot of divide in the community about whether it was a good idea or not, or if Oracle Think Tank deserved it. What are your views on that? Do you think Ichikishima was even remotely deserved? And do you think that Ichikishima is the worst example of Bushiroad attempting to force a clan into relevancy, or have there been other, more divisive cards that caused entire metas to shift due to their existence?

Ichikishima shouldn't have been made, OTT itself got amazing support with bunch of units working non GB early game, Nanase, Ophidian, Nazuna, Ame-no. Their early game is massively good and almost every card procs and they can generate amazing advantage. Cards like Ichikishima are just downright poor design. Anything costless with a super strong skill like that shouldn't be made. If it had a ridiculous cost like CB3 to block off g-guard and g0s as a one time big finisher then yeah it's not bad. Sure you can CC2 with lemonade and what not but at least the deck will be commited towards it and will be not as rushy, etc. It's bad to make cards with skill like that but it's passable if you allow a massive cost upon it. I don't think it should've been made as it is now, It's like an upgraded Gear Groovy and nobody likes Gear Groovy.

While it's obvious that the meta is at the whims of Bushiroad, do you think that perhaps they sometimes go too far? For example, many people say that support is directed at clans Bushiroad "likes" or make money, instead of clans that desperately need it. Do you think that Ichikishima is an example of Bushiroad giving a clan a card that's widely regarded as overpowered so people will buy it, or does it disprove this, as they gave a "broken" card to a clan that was for the longest time regarded as a joke in the community.

I have no thoughts on this, I don't think about these things honestly. I just see whatever support is getting released and how to adept to the meta

Alright - you view Ichikishima as a card that shouldn't have been made. How do you think Bushiroad should go about correcting the massive shift she's had on the meta in such a short time? Is banning her too much, or an appropriate response? Should cards made to help mitigate her be created?

I'd just errata her and make the GB3 part cost CB2.

A fair enough response.
Now, to sidetrack a little bit - there's a lot of talk about a potential new mechanic being introduced in the future, or perhaps more accurately, an extension of Stride due to the new set being named "Ultimate Stride", the strange star-like design present on the cover cards, a new rarity and the new season of the anime coming all at once. Regardless of whether this is true or not, do you think a new mechanic would be good for the game?

I don't judge until I see what comes to the table, people will always complain about a new mechanic and power creep it brings but generally bushiroads new mechanics are always good and fun.

Do you think that the latest mechanics we were given - Stride and G-guards - were a good influence on the game? Some people argue that they allow older decks to keep up, whilst others say that not Striding is a death sentence now.

Strides and g-guards were good because g3's aren't dead cards in hand late game, unless there was a skill that co-related with it because naturally people would always prefer g2s in board. G-guard is the best thing that happened imo, defense in vanguard was heavily lacking, wish it was done differently instead of heal trigger discard, so it's less sack oriented. Maybe total of g4 discarded and heals could've been +4 Grade in hand for G-guard cost. I dunno, could've been handled better, that way dropping a g3 and a g1 for defensive purposes would've been good.

And finally, do you have any particular hopes for the game going forward - such as the upcoming support? What sort of things would you like to see to help improve the game, and what do you think should be avoided?

Avoid poorly designed cards like Ichikishima or that D-Robo that can double guard break and deal critical 3. Cheesing cards are never good because it also makes it worse to make support even moreso later on. You throw Tsukumoran in any Nubutama deck and it has a high chance of winning.

Improving the game I don't know honestly, side decks, better cray elemental and new mechanic is needed yeah.