Cardfight!! Vanguard News from Anime Expo 2013

EDIT 7/23/2013: Some pictures taken at the panel have been added.

I have completed Day 2 out of 4 at Anime Expo 2013, and I have decided to take the time to write this little post on my phone of all things (and upload it from there)!

Anime Expo attendees ask Dr. K (general manager J-Kim) some questions they have about the future of Weiss Schwarz and Cardfight!! Vanguard.

I got up early to be able to attend Bushiroad's panel and Q&A session hosted by general manager J-Kim (sometimes appears at large sanctioned events as Dr. K, someone quite similar to Dr. O from the anime) and the manager of the community pages of the company's two flagship games: Cardfight!! Vanguard and Weiss Schwarz. During the event, we got some exciting news for Cardfighters!



For you competitive ones, the locations for most of the World Championship Qualifiers in the United States have been confirmed for 2013! (The North American Championship has been confirmed for November with the World Championship itself confirmed for December.)

1. Dallas, TX - September
2. Chicago, IL - September 15
3. Hawaii (exact city TBA) - September
4. Seattle, WA - September
5. New York, NY - September
6. Atlanta, GA - October 13
7. Los Angeles, CA - November (possible North American Championship location?)

For those that are concerned with the low amount of these large-scaled tournaments, it has been revealed that Bushiroad's USA branch is made up of  only 7 staff members (does not include the online community manager mentioned earlier)!

Even though it seemed as if the Stand-Up Challenge was a trial run of tournaments intended to see what cards in the English game are overused to be deemed unhealthy enough for tournament play, it was confirmed at the panel that no revisions will be made to the current restriction list for the English game prior to the start of the World Championship Qualifiers, so continue to feel free to use up to 4 of any English card in existence as long as that Barcgal does not show up as your Starting Vanguard! As Mr. Kim said at the panel, "Enjoy your tournaments!"

Remember that all Bushiroad large-scale events are open to all players...FOR FREE!

Moving onto the future of the game in both English and Japanese, the reason for the upcoming frequent English releases of EB04-06, TD08-09, and BT10-11 over the course of the rest of the year has finally been revealed: In the near future, Cardfight!! Vanguard products will be released in both English and Japanese on the same date!

As a burning concern with the release of the new Link Joker clan alongside the unequal support for the clans as a whole, be rest assured that your beloved underrated or unpopular clan will receive enough support to keep the game in a balance that will keep it similar to Weiss Schwarz where anyone can have a possibility to win regardless of the type of deck used.

Official tag team tournaments (like during the "Asia Circuit" arc) and an English release of the Nintendo 3DS game, "Cardfight!! Vanguard: Ride to Victory", are confirmed to be under consideration by the main branch in Japan and its overseas branches.

With that, let us move forward during the rest of 2013 as a good year for Cardfighting and welcome the brighter future of the game!