Interview 2

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 that with GBT11 the game was in a good spot. i honestly found that the game was fairly balanced, actually
despite a few outstanding decks nothing was really dominating the meta
with GBT12 and the release of ichiki the game has went to shit tbh
suddenly the entire meta revolved around a single card and everything that was relevant either played it or hard checked it
i like the way the meta is evolving
we're seeing a lot of new faces in the japanese meta- blademas, bladewing, jet ztb
all fairly new decks competing against the heavy hitters like rose and TL
overall, i feel the game is an awful state in GBT12 format, though i am happy with how the game has progressed up to that point

What do you think can be done to counteract this? How can Bushiroad fix the huge change Ichikishima has had on the game, arguably for the worse?

the best way for bushi to deal with ichiki is to down it to 2
introducing a new defensive mechanic to stop her will make the game move too quickly and i'd rather bushi focus on strengthening stride and g guardians
ichiki was a mistake
apart from being an incredibly powerful card she forced OTT into a limbo where they are not allowed to get good cards as they will only buff here and make her stronger
the beat way for them to cope with ichiki is to admit they fucked up and down it


Concerning this, do you think that Bushiroad's decision to ban certain cards or limit them was a good idea, or should they have focused more on counteracting these power players with other, equally stronger or even stronger cards? Some call it a band-aid fix for an issue that would have solved itself, likely through power creep.

i think restrictions are fine for the game
temporarily banning something and letting it go later on when the card has become more less relevant is a fine way to help the game progress smoothly
i have never believed that counteracting strong cards with stronger cards is a good idea in my opinion
you won't solve issues by creating new problems

Following on from what you said about Ichikishima - what are your thoughts concerning the possibility of a new mechanic in the near future, especially with the looming 'Ultimate Stride' and 'ZRarity'?

i feel the game is really crammed as is and introducing a new mechanic will cause the game to become even less beginner-friendly, and as such, less accessible
increasing g zone size from 8 to 16 was a massive turnaway from me wanting to play the game irl but i feel g guardians and the expanded g zone have improved the game in the long run
new mechanics have always been a double-edged sword to me
while they keep the game fresh and exciting, they also make the game more difficult to get into
i hope that in the long run, they benefit the game like g guardians instead of affect the game negatively
ultimate stride honestly is shaping up to be a really good set
several subclans who haven't received proper support are finally getting their time in the limelight again
while somewhat unlikely, i hope ZR will simply be an alternative to SGR, as i can't really think of anything else that would top the current rarity ratings, nor is there anything the system currently needs
imo
GR - niche, 1-ofs
RRR- heavy hitters, 'main' strides
RR - staple main deck cards
R/C - spacefillers/unintentionally borked shit

On the subject of mechanics - there's a lot of divide in the Vanguard community concerning the good Strides and Generation Guards did for the game. Some say Strides help older decks keep up and Generation Guards were needed to keep the game balanced. Others say that the game has become so Stride focussed that it is the only real 'option' - so much so that if you can't Stride, you lose.

i'm inclined to agree with the latter
when stride was in its infancy, piggybacking off a unit's GB2 was horribly inefficient and this problem is now further accentuated by the complete lack of non-stride based skills prominent in several of the retrained stride vessels
while this may seem like an intentional push by bushiroad in order to support the mechanic and let it go to new places by having the entire mechanic revolve around it, yet it leaves other decks, particularly those that use older, slower mechanics such as LB and LGN, feel lacking in comparison
on the topic of generation guards, i feel they are a great defensive mechanic that help prolong what is otherwise a very fast game, letting matches be more in-depth as well as allowing an extra layer of interaction and complexity into the otherwise dead simple cycle of guarding

Finally, with the recent example of Ichikishima, do you think the state of the game is largely dependant on Bushiroad's whims, or is it player based? Many people believe that Bushiroad pushes whatever it wants into meta with little regard of where it currently stands, or what may require support. Others think that some broken cards were merely oversights that players found ways to abuse that Bushiroad hadn't seen coming.

it depends
i feel some decks like the previously mentioned OTT and some other decks such as kagero and say- bladewing rely on a few blatently overpowered cards that were clearly oversights on bushi's part
however, i feel other decks like nightrose and jet ztb rely far more on the sum of its parts rather than its individual pieces being above the standard issue support card and thus were formed by the playerbase making an optimal deck from the available cards(edited)
i do agree that sometimes, bushiroad can push a clan too far in too little time
a good example of this was gash in GBT08, a card in a clan that was topping rather consistently and was clearly strong enough and held its own before receiving an incredibly powerful card that shot the deck up immensely