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The second Otona Buddy Festa of the year concluded this Saturday in Tokyo's TOC Ariake Convention Hall. A slew of competitions were held, but all eyes were on the "Trio Buddy Grand Prix" tournament, which was easily the highlight of the event.

The 3-man tournament was one of the largest and most-hyped official events held this year, hosting an estimated total of 192 players, or 64 teams. It is notable that each round was best-of-one, meaning sideboards were not permitted.

Original photo by @cardgamer_hj

The winning team consisted of:
1. Aiz - Magic World (Shadow Shades)
2. Tokoton - Star Dragon World (Jackknife Aster)
3. Koke - Dragon World (Sun Dragon)

Aiz piloted a rather standard Shadow Shades list, the only exception being 3 copies of Barbed Wire - which were likely used to deal with the new Dragon Force or just to fix rough matchups in general, considering the no-sideboard format.

Tokoton's take on Aster was the Japanese favorite - a hyper defensive variant that utilizes Divisigator to wall behind ridiculous numbers. With the addition of Future Gazer, Jackknife and Jackknife History following D-BT03's release, the deck has improved considerably in card quality. Perhaps the most jarring anomaly was Tokoton's bold tech choice of 4 Antimatter Cloud. While it suggested that the team anticipated a Size 3-centric metagame, it took great insight to successfully pull it off in an event of this scale.

The last entry was Koke's unconventional Size 3 Sun Dragon deck, which was essentially the direct opposite of Tokoton's list; a wall-breaker deck. Koke played 8 items, drastically improving the consistency of setting up the Gao Formation. Because Balguard could act as a pesudo-defensive spell, it reduced the item clog.

22/10/16 OBF 2016 2nd Tokyo "Trio Buddy Grand Prix"
First Place: Aiz
Flag: Magic World
Buddy Monster: Silhouette Spirit
Size 3: 7
4 Manipulator of Shadowform, Silhouette Terry
3 Master of the Evil Shadow Executioners, Silhouette Damian
Size 2: 3
3 Silhouette Sinbar
Size 0: 6
4 Silhouette Spirit
1 Battle Diety Robo, Silver Rabbit
1 Seventh Omni Earth Lord, Count Dawn
Spells: 30
4 The Shade
4 Trick or Trick
4 Nice One!
4 Never Say Never
4 Malicious Selector
3 Barbed Wire
2 That`s How I Roll
2 Key of Solomon, First Volume
2 Hundred Demons Sorcery, No-Brainer
1 Dragon Spell, Hiding Bomber
Impact Monsters: 4
4 Silhouette Joe, “Illusion Shadow Dragons”

First Place: Tokoton
Flag: Star Dragon World
Buddy Monster: Radiant Guardian, Jackknife "Aster"
Size 3: 4
2 Biggest Dragonarms, Sonic Blast
2 Biggest Dragonarms, Photonlancer
Size 2: 12
4 Radiant Guardian, Jackknife "Aster"
4 Star Dragoner, Jackknife
4 Future Gazer, Jackknife
Size 1: 16
4 Dragonarms, Divisigator
4 Dragonarms, Transportal
4 V Gradation, Quantum Ruler
2 Star Dragoner, Luminous Blue
2 Dragonarms, Roadworker
Spells: 15
4 Antimatter Cloud
4 Jackknife History
4 Star Jack Repair
3 Dragonarms Factory
Items: 3
3 Radiant Saber, Providence

First Place: Koke

Flag: Dragon World
Buddy Monster: Burning Rapier Dragon, "SD"
Size 3: 11
4 Phoenix Wing Virtuous Dragon, Zellhorus
4 Scorching Cavalry Dragon, Second Helios
3 Armordragon of the Fire Deity, Ame-no-Kagutsuchi
Size 0: 5
4 Burning Rapier Dragon, "SD"
1 Heat Dragon Jr.
Spells: 23
4 Sky Dragon Divinity
4 Blue Dragon Shield
4 Sun Dragon Shield
3 Blessing of the Sun
3 Dragodesperate
3 Green Dragon Shield
2 Dragobond
Items: 8
4 Sun Fist, Balguard
4 Dragon Twin Sword, Bal Saber
Impact Monsters: 3
3 Zellhorus, "Eradicate Flame"

Bushiroad Spring Fest 2016 Malaysia Regionals was held on 29th May at Dewan Cempaka, Cempaka Apartment Hotel. As the first Spring Fest in SEA following the release of D-BT01, most expected to see new and improved decks as compared to those who had won previous Spring Fest events in the region.

The Top 8 at this event consisted of
Rinaldo Giovanni Tan (Magic World - 72 Pillars)

Andrew Feng (Dungeon World - Dungeon Enemy)

Fabien Cheng (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

They Yuan Qi (Dragon World - Fifth Omni Cavalry Dragon, "Cavalry Dragon Arts, Seven Divine Execute!")

Terry Tai (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

Ziyin Loh (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

Andrew Phua (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

Paddy Ang Ting Yong (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

From left to right: Paddy Ang, Fabien Cheng, They Yuan Qi,
Terry Tai, Andrew Feng, Ziyin Loh, Andrew Phua,
Rinaldo Giovanni Tan. Original photo by Secrekt Storm.

Surprisingly, despite strong showings in previous Spring Fest from other regions, Magic World - Shadow Shade was completely unrepresented in the top cut. Other notable absentees include Hero World varients and Parade of Hundred Demons - O-Yamigedo which have also seen high placings in overseas events.

Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster proved to be a solid choice for the event, taking more than half of the top cut positions up for grabs. Outliers such as Dungeon World - Dungeon Enemy and Dragon World - Fifth Omni Cavalry Dragon, "Cavalry Dragon Arts, Seven Divine Execute!" managed to squeak past the rest of the competition to secure their places in the playoffs, with the last slot going to one of the more popular decks in this format, Magic World - 72 Pillars.

Unfortunately, the quarter finals saw Rinaldo Giovanni Tan pitted against Andrew Feng, ensuring that one of the mono-represented worlds would be eliminated from the tournament and at least two Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster players would become semi-finalists.

Fabien Cheng then made it 3 out of a possible 3 for Star Dragon World, as he eliminated They Yuan Qi in a close series 2 games to 1.

The Top 4 was narrowed down to

Andrew Feng (Dungeon World - Dungeon Enemy)

Fabien Cheng (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

Ziyin Loh (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

Andrew Phua (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

Aster's representation assured for the final, and it was up to Fabien Cheng to secure the title for Jackknife by defeating Andrew Feng, and he did so with gusto. With Fabien's victory, Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster was assured a minimum of 2 podium finishes, cementing its dominance in the event.

The Final was between

Fabien Cheng (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

Andrew Phua (Star Dragon World - Jackknife Aster)

Andrew Phua came out on top in this mirror matchup, securing himself the title of Champion of Bushiroad Spring Fest 2016 (Malaysia). In the third place decider, Andrew Feng edged out Ziyin Loh, preventing an all- Aster podium and securing his own invite for the Asia-Oceania Continental Finals along with Fabien Cheng.

Aster's seemingly effortless run to the title may have been a result of under representation from its counters, such as Legend World - Asgard, or simply decks with access to Hundred Demons Sorcery, No Brainer such as the aforementioned Magic World - Shadow Shade and Parade of Hundred Demons - O-Yamigedo. These decks are normally at a disadvantage when facing off against decks like Magic World - 72 Pillars or Dragon World - Fifth Omni, and so may have been left to dry early on in the Swiss rounds.

With the conclusion of the event, the final Spring Fest event in the Asia-Oceania region is Spring Fest Singapore, followed by the Asia-Oceania Continental Finals the day after. Buddy Rave will be legal by then, and greater diversity can be expected for both events.

FinalPhase would like to congratulate the three podium finishers for their invites to the Asia-Oceania Continental Finals; and a special congratulations to our very own Fabien Cheng. If you are interested in Fabien's own account of the event, coupled with his decklist, click here.

Shinjuku, Tokyo. The second Star Dragon Cup ended its run with “Draco” and “Sorter” (pseudonyms) crowned as first place team, piloting Star Dragon World and Hero World respectively. Second place went to “Taro” and “Cosket” (pseudonyms) playing Dragon World and Magic World.

The Star Dragon Cup is an unofficial 2-man team tournament series that adopts the popular Swiss tournament model. The first place team received 6 boxes of D-EB01: Buddyfight Collection and 2 copies of PR Black Dragon Shield (WINNER ver.), which has gold foil adorning its borders and text box.

A total of 28 teams attended the event. With the recent popularity surge of 72 Pillars variants in Japanese tournaments, Magic World became the most played flag of the tournament - accounting for 27% of the decks played. Star Dragon and Dragon World were the second most-played flags and both tied at 18%. It is notable that all flags made an appearance with the exception of Katana World.

Original photo by @stardragonhai

Draco’s Jackknife Aster deck is a popular variant in this metagame, cutting shields in favor of support spells and Dragonarms. The deck focuses on building Jackknife Aster as much as possible with Star Jack Repair and Star Dragoner, Luminous Blue, locking the player at a high life count to consistently cast Star Jack Boost. To improve Jackknife Aster’s survivability, Dragonarms, Divisigator is played at maximum copies. The heightened defense forces most decks to land only one attack on Jackknife Aster per turn, and ideally, even that can be negated by Biggest Dragonarms, The Main Force. Eventually, the Jackknife Aster snowballs into an immovable beast and the opposing player can no longer clear it to deal damage to Draco.

Sorter’s Kaizerion deck employed the Dark Hero engine for gauge accel and card draw. The deck also boasts pseudo-Shadow Dive capabilities with Darkness Fist, Gwen and Long-range Cannon. These are likely specific anti-meta measures – Shadow Dive bypasses Jackknife Aster entirely, rendering the deck helpless to direct attacks. The Dark Hero engine also helped the deck to cope against the heavy-destruction metagame, as the Dark Heroes bounce back to hand and avoid getting targeted by destruction effects. In addition, Sorter also played Unmovable Steel Mech, Gunzellar as a reliable attacker, which is immune to destruction effects entirely.

29/04/16 Star Dragon Cup 2-man Team Tournament
First Place: 'Draco'
Flag: Star Dragon World
Buddy Monster: V Gradation, Quantum Ruler
Size 3: 2
x2 Biggest Dragonarms, The Main Force
Size 2: 11
x4 Star Guardian, Jackknife
x4 Radiant Guardian, Jackknife "Aster"
x3 Jackknife, "Neo Aggressor"
Size 1: 20
x4 Star Dragoner, Luminous Blue
x4 V Gradation, Quantum Ruler
x4 Dragonarms, Divisigator
x3 Star Guardian, Jackknife "SD"
x2 Dragonarms, Transportal
x2 Dragonarms, Charger
x1 Dragonarms, Cavalier
Size 0: 2
x2 Dragonarms, Garbel Anchor
Items: 4
x4 Radient Saber, Providence
Spells: 11
x4 Star Jack Boost
x2 Barracal Barret
x2 Proto Barrier
x2 Star Jack Repair
x1 Escape

First Place: 'Sorter'
Flag: Hero World
Buddy Monster: Schwarz "SD"
Size 3: 5
x4 Great Sword Deity, Kaizerion
x1 Fourth Omni Fire Lord, Burn Nova
Size 2: 2
x2 Unmovable Steel Mech, Ganzallar
Size 1: 15
x4 Beast Diety, Tigerthrust
x4 Schwarz "SD"
x4 Darkness Fist, Gwen
x3 Rescue Dragon Mach Braver
Size 0: 4
x4 Beast Diety, Sabird
Spells: 24
x4 Hyper Energy
x4 Call, Super Machine!
x4 I've Seen Through Your Moves!
x4 ...Or So the Dream I had Went
x3 First Darkhero Hideout
x2 Body of Steel
x2 Long-range Cannon
Impacts: 2
x2 Brave Energy Full Drive!

(Source: Star Dragon Cup's Twitter)

Following the trend of how the Fifth Omni surpassed the Crimson Battlers, who overcame the Thunder Knights before them, one would guess that the baton should be passed on to the Sun Dragons. Players gripped with anticipation, waiting for someone to top with the Sun Dragons. As if responding to these wishes, 'Sorter' (pseudonym) proved their worth at Card World Akiba's shop tournament - bringing the protagonist's deck to greater heights.

08/04/16 Card World Akiba Shop Tournament
First Place: 'Sorter'
Flag: Dragon World
Buddy Monster: Heat Dragon Jr.
Size 0: 4
x4 Heat Dragon Jr.
Size 1: 6
x4 Flarefang Dragon
x2 Mera Blade Dragon
Size 2: 8
x4 Flamewing Dragon
x4 Sun Dragon, Bal Dragon
Size 3: 4
x4 Scorching Cavalry Dragon, Second Helios
Spells: 16
x4 Sun Dragon Shield
x4 Green Dragon Shield
x4 Blue Dragon Shield
x4 Dragobond
Items: 8
x4 Sun Sword, Daylight
x2 Sun Fist, Balknuckle
x1 Sun Fist, Burning Sun
x1 Sun Fist, Rising Knuckle
Impacts/Impact Monsters: 4
x4 4 Bal Dragon, "Bal Burst Smasher!!"

The structure of Sorter's deck is extremely linear, with multiple four of's and absence of tech choices. However, when a deck is this streamlined, it is also consistent.

Perhaps the highlight of the entire deck lies in his spell lineup. Sorter’s ‘triple Gao formation’ is backed by a reliable slew of twelve dragon shields, including the latest Sun Dragon Shield. The new shield grants perks from both Green and Blue, and even has a built-in immunity to nullification. While the card is extremely efficient, it is heavily reliant on having Sun Dragons on the field.

Thus, it becomes a necessity to maintain field presence in order to cast Sun Dragon Shield. However, destruction abilities are rampant post-D-BT01, with the surge in Black Dragon and Asmodai decks. These abilities distrupt the field and prevent the use of Sun Dragon Shield. To make things worse, the size 2 Sun Dragons are not armed with Soulguard, a stark contrast to the Fifth Omni Drums which boast topdeck Soulguard. Sorter rectifies this with four copies of Dragobond, an old yet relevant spell, keeping the vulnerable Sun Dragons alive.

Sorter's item choices are arguably bizzare. Sporter mains the vanilla weapon, Daylight, which sports 3000 power and 2 critical, unbefitting of the aggressive theme brought out by the Bal impact monster. It is possible that the use of Daylight is not brought by choice, but by necessity. After all, the higher quality Sun Dragon weapons are concentrated in D-BT01, and the set is still fresh - leaving most unable to complete their decks.

(Source: Card World Akiba's Twitter)

The first set in the Buddyfight Triple D series, D-BT01, was released in Japanese on the first of April. Yesterday, Card Kingdom Akihabara held the Aso Buddy Cup (ABC), a series of official Buddyfight shop tournaments sanctioned by Bushiroad. The tournament saw a turnout of 30, and it gave some insight on the metagame post-DBT01.

The champion was Takanashi, who piloted a Magic World ‘Asmodai’ deck. The deck incorporated several D-BT01 cards, namely, Lie-Spitting Shux, Hot-blooded Demon King Teacher, Asmodai, Emergency Treatment, Neverland and Magical Book, Theurgy.

03/04/16 Card Kingdom Akihabara Aso Buddy Cup (Turnout 30)
First Place: Takanashi

Flag: Magic World

Buddy Monster: Art of Body Duplication! Asmodai
Size 0: 5
x3 Boy Transformation! Asmodai
x2 Demon Musician, Amdukias
Size 1: 14
x4 Art of Body Duplication! Asmodai
x3 Lie-Spitting Shux
x3 Hot-blooded Demon King Teacher, Asmodai
x2 Let’s Play! Asmodai
x2 Street Racer, Eligos
Size 2: 5
x4 Dance! Asmodai
x1 Third Omni Water Lord, Miserea
Size 3: 2
x2 Champion Wrestler Asmodai
Spells: 13
x4 Nice One!
x4 Hardcore of Mind
x4 Magical Goodbye
x3 Solomon’s Shield
x2 Emergency Treatment, Neverland
x2 Never Say Never
x1 BAR King Solomon
Items: 2
x2 Magical Book, Theurgy
Impacts/Impact Monsters: 2
x2 Gatling Hardcore!!

The control deck used the Asmodai utility engine as its core. With Body Duplication Asmodai acting as an all-purpose toolbox, Takanashi had easy access to card draw, life gain, item break and monster removal.

The main focus of the deck, however, was Gatling Hardcore. The deck aimed to keep a closed-center, triple-monster formation at all times, thus maximizing the damage output of Gatling Hardcore. 72 Pillars set spells and items also count towards the ability of Gatling Hardcore, so Emergency Treatment, Neverland, BAR King Solomon, and Magical Book, Theurgy all help to increase the impact card’s damage.

Complementing the theme of 72 Pillars field swarm, Teacher Asmodai, Hardcore of Mind and Lie-Spitting Shux added much-needed value to keep the deck running. Magical Book, Theurgy’s monster defense reduction ability helped the deck’s monsters to reach better numbers during attacks. This was especially important against deck types where monster removal was ineffective, i.e. Jackknife Aster and Arc-En-Ciel.

The peculiar tech choice of Third Omni Water Lord, Miserea may have been attributed to the recent dominance of Jackknife Aster decks, since Miserea can clear two Aster souls in one fell swoop. Of course, there is also a possibility that Takanashi had simply wanted an efficient attacker in the ranks of his size 2s.

(Source: Card Kingdom Akihabara's Twitter)

Serangoon, Singapore. After a 4-hour long tournament run, the final set of the day commenced between two Star Dragon World decks in a mirror match showdown; both players representing Team FinalPhase.

First place at the Rowell single tournament was taken by Zach Lee, running a Star Dragon World (SDW) deck that featured Radiant Guardian, Jackknife “Aster”. Team FinalPhase captain, Chang Yong Jun, emerged second place with another Star Dragon World deck, running The Genesic, Omega Big Bang as focus instead of Aster. These decks, aptly dubbed ‘SDW Goodstuff’, have recently received support in H-PP01 in the form of Great Dragonarms, The Main Force. The new Crossnize kept key size 2 Neodragon monsters alive more consistently, earning itself a staple spot in most SDW decks today.

Third place went to Calvin ‘C.K.’ Khor, who piloted a Dragon Ein deck that utilized the high-critical Demonic Demise Sword, Aqulta Gwaneff to unleash the full potential of Dragon Lord Initiation, Giga Howling Crusher!! - dealing a whopping 8 to 9 irreducible damage in one shot. C.K.’s deck stands out as unconventional in the Singapore metagame, which is infamously known for the dominance of cookie-cutter decks that have been proven to yield results. C.K.’s battle for third place was with yet another SDW deck – if he had not prevailed, the top 3 would have been completely dominated by Star Dragon World decks.

While they did not make the top cut in this tournament, it is worth mentioning that Rainbow Dragon, Arc-en-ciel decks are starting to see more competitive play in Singapore. This shift is likely to be in response to the surge of Fifth Omni and Black Dragon decks, both capitalizing on monster destruction effects – which Arc-en-ciel is immune to. If Arc-en-ciel decks are able to deal with their Star Dragon World matchups, they could be a likely contender in today’s metagame.

The Rowell ‘Battle of the Future’ (BOTF) tournaments are unofficial weekly tournaments organized by Rowell Home Entertainment Pte. Ltd., a humble card shop located at Serangoon, the North-East region of Singapore. The BOTF events adopt a best-of-three, double-elimination tournament model, which is popular amongst local players. In addition, it boasts a healthy and consistent turnout of 20-40 players, and is continuing to see growth as the card game develops. The Rowell BOTF events have gained widespread popularity throughout the years and are regarded as one of most successful unofficial Buddyfight tournaments in Singapore. This can be largely attributed to the friendly management and staff, and the lucrative prizes relative to the entry fee.

The decklists of the finalists are posted below. Unfortunately, FinalPhase was unable to obtain information about the breakdown of deck types for this tournament.

26/03/16 Rowell BOTF Tournament (Turnout 24)

First Place: Zach Lee

Flag: Star Dragon World
Buddy Monster: Star Guardian, Jackknife
Size 0: 4
x3 Dragonarms, Garbel Anchor
x1 Dragonarms, Artiliger
Size 1: 14
x4 V Gradation, Quantum Ruler
x3 Star Guardian, Jackknife "SD"
x2 Dragonarms, Radiant Alma
x2 Dragonarms, Strength
x2 Dragonarms, Slowing
x1 Dragonarms, Transportal
Size 2: 8
x4 Star Guardian, Jackknife
x4 Radiant Guardian, Jackknife "Aster"
Size 3: 3
x2 Biggest Dragonarms, The Main Force
x1 Biggest Dragonarms, Sonic Blast
Spells: 13
x4 Proto Barrier
x4 Speculight Ring
x3 Mars Barrier
x1 Planet Memory
x1 Brave Memory
Items: 6
x4 Radiant Saber, Providence
x2 Cosmo Saber, Gold Ritter
Impacts/Impact Monsters: 2
x1 Radiant Stream!
x1 Jackknife "Dragoner Wall!"

Second Place: Chang Yong Jun

Flag: Star Dragon World
Buddy Monster: V Gradation, Quantum Ruler
Size 0: 5
x3 Dragonarms, Garbel Anchor
x2 Space Cemetary, Star Remnant
Size 1: 10
x4 V Gradation, Quantum Ruler
x3 Star Guardian, Jackknife "SD"
x2 Dragonarms, Transportal
x1 Dragonarms, Talnada
Size 2: 8
x4 Star Guardian, Jackknife
x3 The Genesic, Omega Big Bang
x1 Jackknife, "Superior Plasma"
Size 3: 2
x1 Biggest Dragonarms, The Main Force
x1 Biggest Dragonarms, Sonic Blast
Spells: 18
x3 Speculight Ring
x3 Sudden Wormhole
x3 Proto Barrier
x3 Mars Barrier
x2 Earth Barrier
x2 Fate Information
x2 Planet Memory
Items: 5
x4 Radiant Saber, Providence
x1 Cosmo Saber, Gold Ritter
Impacts/Impact Monsters: 2
x2 Jackknife "Dragoner Wall!"

Third Place: Calvin ‘C.K.’ Khor

Flag: Dragon Ein
Buddy Monster: Dragon Knight, Pisaro
Size 1: 3
x3 Legendary Messiah, Tasuku
Size 2: 11
x4 Twin Demon Dragon, Zahhak
x4 Dragon Knight, Pisaro
x1 "Awakened" Fifth Omni Dragon Lord, Drum
x1 Fifth Omni Dragon Lord, Drum
x1 Fifth Omni Dragon Lord, Crimson Drum
Size 3: 1
x1 INV Second Omni Demon Lord, Death Asmodai
Size 4: 4
x4 Demonic Demise Dragon, Azi Dahaka
Spells: 26
x4 Blue Dragon Shield
x4 Dragon Throne
x4 Divine Dragon Creation
x4 Dragon Emperor Legend
x3 Black Dragon Shield
x2 Soaring Dragon, Fair Skylines
x2 Hundred Demons Sorcery, Rineryusho
x2 Green Dragon Shield
x1 Fifth Omni Great Dragon Shield
Items: 2
x2 Demonic Demise Sword, Aqulta Gwaneff
Impacts/Impact Monsters: 3
x3 Dragon Lord Initiaition, Giga Howling Crusher!!

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