The Largest Domestic Event That Determined the Japan’s First Gundam Cross War Champion: JAPAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2016 Report

JAPAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2016 was held at the Tokyo Ryutsu Center INC. on October 23rd (Sun). The event determined Japan’s first reigning champion of Gundam Cross War (GCW), a card game that can be played both in real life and on your smartphone. The event was a tournament limited to only ace players, top ranked winners from previously held open tournaments in various areas, participating in the preliminaries. This tournament not only determined the Japanese representative for the World Championship being held in December, but it was a hard battle between 12 of the top scoring winners of the 4-round Swiss-system preliminaries and 4 victors from Cross War Festa, which was held in the Asakusa Bandai Headquarters, Yokohama, Nagoya, and Kyoto. Altogether, 16 players competed head to head into the final tournament.

Without further ado, let’s go into the report on the finals.

Amazingly, the four best players that remained after round 1 and 2 were the Cross War Festa winners. Although the finalists decided on the day itself, breaking through over 130 players in the preliminaries, were worthy opponents, these four displayed their strength in not allowing the other finalists to come near them. The two that won the semifinals and contended for the title of Japan’s strongest in the final battle were Mr. “Fujimura”, the winner of the Bandai Headquarters tournament, and Mr. “Kiyo”, the winner of the Nagoya tournament.

Round 1 began with Mr. Fujimura as the starting player. However, it is Mr. Kiyo who initiates damage with his green and red swift attack deck as the second player. During Turn 2, he quickly attacks with “BT01-040 Magella Attack” and deals 2 damage points. Mr. Fujimura counterattacks in Turn 3 with the event card “BT03-0099 Operation Daybreak” and hits Magella Attack with -2/- 2, destroying it without a moment’s delay. That is when, in Turn 4, Mr. Kiyo goes on the offensive. He dispatches “BT04-029 EFREET” and hits his opponent’s mothership with 2 damage points. The early stages are unfolding into an intense offensive and defensive battle.

In Turn 5, Mr. Fujimura dispatches “BT04-075 TR-4 [Dandelion].” Dandelion has the ability [Control: Cost 2 – 4] and does not allow units that are Cost 2 – 4 without a pilot to attack. For Mr. Kiyo, who is the type to swiftly attack, he is an extremely unpleasant opponent. EFREET’s ability [Intercept: 3] grants DEF+3 if used by the second player. Thus, even if Mr. Fujimura were to attack in his current situation, EFREET’s stats will only decrease to 2/4 and will not destroy it. He ignores the unit and attacks the mothership and deals 2 damage points. During Turn 6, Mr. Kiyo dispatches “ST01-007 Rick Dom” but he cannot attack due to TR-4 [Dandelion]’s ability and ends his turn. On Turn 7, Mr. Fujimura pulls out “BT03-065 Gundam Nadleeh” and, during the dispatch phase, he attacks all his opponent’s units with 2 damage points. This results in Mr. Kiyo’s Rick Dom to be destroyed. Mr. Fujimura attacks EFREET with Gundam Nadleeh and destroys it. He then further dispatches “BT03-084 Goon” and, together with TR-4 [Dandelion], attacks the mothership for a total of 5 damage points. During Turn 8, Mr. Kiyo dispatches “SP01-057 Quess’s Jagd Doga.” Because of the dispatch phase, he returns TR-4 [Dandelion] to Mr. Fujimura’s hand. He then attacks Goon and destroys it. He immediately restored the board that had him cornered to an equal state on both sides. However, going into Turn 9, what comes from Mr. Fujimura’s hand is his secret weapon: “BT03-095 Tallgeese.” The unit that caused a commotion at the Bandai Headquarters tournament is boarded by the pilot “BT01-159 Mikazuki Augus” and he draws from his deck “BT01-103 Wings of Light” into his hand during the dispatch phase. He then first hits the mothership with Gundam Nadleeh for 4 damage points and, with Wings of Light’s non-action ability, repeatedly attacks with Tallgeese 3 times. Believe it or not, he immediately hits the mothership with 20 damage points and sinks it.

Mr. Kiyo does not make it to his 5th turn, making the 1st round Mr. Fujimura’s win.

This time, when the 2 nd round begins, Mr. Kiyo is the starting player. In contrast to the 1 st round, the 2 nd round builds up slowly. Both players end their turns only leaving cards on the bridge again and again. Finally, on Turn 5, Mr. Kiyo dispatches “SP02-017 EFREET Custom.” However, due to his own actions, it becomes inactive due to not having a pilot with NT or a unit with the EXAM System on the battle area during the dispatch phase. In the end, Mr. Kiyo is still unable to attack and ends his turn. Next, in Turn 6, Mr. Fujimura, who had been waiting with a watchful eye, also goes into action. He dispatches “BT04-078 XEKU-EINS” and gains a head start by attacking the mothership with 2 damage points.

On Turn 7, Mr. Kiyo attacks the mothership with the now-moveable EFREET Custom and deals 5 damage points. Then, can you believe it, he dispatches a second EFREET Custom with pilot “SP02-058 Nimbus Schterzen” on board. As his first EFREET Custom with the EXAM System is already on the battle area, his second dispatched EFREET Custom can attack immediately. He attacks Mr. Fujimura’s XEKU-EINS and destroys it.

Against two EFREET Customs lined up side by side, Mr. Fujimura is facing a crisis that may result in crushing defeat. On Turn 8, Mr. Fujimura dispatches Gundam Nadleeh. Although he can attack Mr. Kiyo’s two EFREET Customs with 2 damage points each during the dispatch phase, it is not enough for destruction. He then dispatches Goon with Mikazuki Augus on board. Mr. Fujimura attacks the pilot-less EFREET Custom with Gundam Nadleeh which ends in a draw and destroys both suits. He then attacks the mothership with Goon and deals 4 damage points. His turn ends with each side left with one unit. On Turn 9, Mr. Kiyo attacks Goon with EFREET Custom and destroys it. When Goon’s pilot Mikazuki Augus returns to the bridge, Mr. Kiyo dispatches “BT03-116 Shenlong Gundam.”

Shenlong Gundam’s “subversive maneuver” ability causes bridge pilots to become inactive, stopping Mikazuki Augus, who had just returned to the bridge, from moving again and effectively shows off an ingenious play. Shenlong Gundam attacks the mothership and deals 4 damage points.

On Turn 10, Mr. Fujimura dispatches “BT03-089 Aries.” Mikazuki Augus, who was stopped at the bridge, boards the unit. As a result of Aries’s ability “Strategy: 4,” an event card that is less than Cost 4 can be used. Mr. Fujimura uses Operation Daybreak against Mr. Kiyo’s EFREET Custom, weakening it to 2/2 after -4/- 4 damage. He attacks without a moment’s delay again with Aries, crushing it. However, he is unable to make a move on the last unit Shenlong Gundam and ends his turn.

On Turn 11, Mr. Kiyo dispatches in succession “BT03-031 RAM Z’GOK (Plongeur Squadron)” and throws in “BT02-040 Apsalus I” from the side board. Alongside Shenlong Gundam, the three suits commence general offense against Mr. Fujimura’s mothership. They deal 9 damage points at once and leaves Mr. Fujimura with 8 life points.

Turn 12 has Mr. Fujimura attacking Apsalus I, who has the ability “Defense,” with Aries. Although he can deal 4 damage points to Apsalus I with a pilot on board, it is not enough to destroy its remaining DEF1. Mr. Fujimura has no other pilots in his bridge and no means to deal damage to Apsalus I who has “MA.” Is there nothing more that can be done?

However, Mr. Fujimura does not panic and dispatches XEKU-EINS. He destroys the Cost 2 RAM Z’GOK (Plongeur Squadron) during his dispatch phase. He then uses an event card, a second Operation Daybreak, on Apsalus I. This card is not negatively affected by damage and is effective against MA units. With this, he can bring Apsalus I’s DEF down to 0 and destroys it and then destroys Shenlong Gundam while destroying his own XEKU-EINS at the same time. He was able to get out from his crisis through magnificent technique.

However, Mr. Kiyo dispatches “SP02-012 Bernie’s Zaku II Custom” and his second Shenlong Gundam in turn 13. Mr. Fujimura’s mothership would have been able to withstand the damage from both suits if it were only their unadulterated ATK; however, due to Bernie’s Zaku II Custom’s ability which grants ATK+4 when a “Gundam” unit is present on the battle area, its ability is activated thanks to Shenlong Gundam. He deals a total of 9 damage points to Mr. Fujimura’s mothership and it sinks. Mr. Kiyo was successful in regaining his footing in round 2.

In round 3, the final round, Mr. Kiyo goes first.

On Turn 3, Mr. Kiyo quickly dispatches EFREET and has a head start with 2 damage points. However, Mr. Fujimura will not lose to this. During Turn 4, he brings out Goon and returns the hit with 3 damage points to the mothership.

Turn 5. Although Mr. Kiyo quickly dispatches EFREET Custom, he is stopped there due to not having a pilot with NT nor a unit with the EXAM System. He is unable to pierce through Goon’s DEF4 and its Defense ability, ending his turn.

Turn 6. Mr. Fujimura dispatches “BT03-087 Jerid’s Marasai,” an excellent unit with the ability “Control: Cost 0 – 4.” Due to its ability, this makes both Mr. Kiyo’s Cost 2 EFREET and Cost 3 EFREET Custom unable to attack. With hardly a backward glance at the 2 unmovable suits, Jerid’s Marasai attacks the mothership and deals 2 damage points.

Turn 7. Mr. Kiyo dispatches Rick Dom but, due to Control, is unable to attack. As he was unable to draw a pilot card, Mr. Kiyo is unable to find an opening in Mr. Fujimura’s two-leveled Defense and Control system.

In contrast, Mr. Fujimura dispatches Gundam Nadleeh on turn 8 and readily destroys EFREET and Rick Dom during his dispatch phase. Even more, he uses the event card “BT04-067 Something Like That Ain’t ‘Lame’!” to deal 5 damage points on the remaining EFREET Custom and destroys it. All of Mr. Kiyo’s units have been annihilated. He attacks the mothership with

Gundam Nadleeh and Jerid’s Marasai for a regrettable 6 damage points.

During Turn 9, Mr. Kiyo at last dispatches a Cost 5 unit that will not be affected by Control, “SP02-051 Altron Gundam,” and attacks Jerid’s Marasai, destroying it. However, as he ended up using all of his bridge cards, his turn ends with a single attack. He is unable to close the gap in their damage race.

On Turn 10, Mr. Fujimura dispatches Aries and, once again, uses its Strategy ability to fire Operation Daybreak at Altron Gundam and crushes it. He then attacks the mothership with Aries and Gundam Nadleeh for a total of 7 damage points. Mr. Kiyo has been cornered with a remainder of 8 life points.

Mr. Kiyo then bravely implements a plan during turn 11. He unbelievably dispatches 3 Bernie’s Zaku II Customs; the unit that concluded the game in round 2. Due to Gundam Nadleeh being present on Mr. Fujimura’s side of the battle area, each Zaku II gains ATK+4 and powers up to ATK5. He then attacks and destroys Goon, Aries, and Gundam Nadleeh one at a time, leaving only the suit that attacked Goon, simultaneously striking each other, and leaving the battle area empty.

However, this is the last of Mr. Kiyo’s counterattack. Turn 12 has Mr. Fujimura dispatching 2 XEKU-EINS with Mikazuki Augus piloting one. Due to Mr. Kiyo’s use of two different colored crew cards in the previous turn, his life points received 1 damage point, leaving him with 7 life points. Mr. Fujimura’s two suits attack, bringing his life points down to a perfect 0 and sinks his mothership.

Mr. Fujimura wins with a set count of 2-1. This shows proof that though Tallgeese is his main in his deck, it is a deck that enables him to fight to a high degree of perfection without fail even without depending on Tallgeese in the 3 rd round. Japan’s first champion has been crowned. As the Japanese representative, Mr. Fujimura will advance to the GCW world tournament

“WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2016” which will be held in Singapore. The world’s first GCW champion will finally be decided on December 11 th (Sun).

■ “Ultimate Multi-colored” VS “Supreme Mono-colored!” The latest booster “Dance of Iron” goes on sale November 25th !

The latest GCW booster pack, “Dance of Iron”, will go on sale November 25 th (Fri). The concept is “ultimate multi-colored” VS “supreme mono-colored.” Gameplay will be enhanced, bringing both multi-colored and mono-colored decks to an entirely new level. The second season of the present installment Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, and Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz will enter the battle as new participants. All Mobile Fighter G Gundam illustrations are drawn by Mr. Naochika Morishita.

It has been decided that a new installment will also go on sale after the world tournament in December in the spring of 2017. Through the addition of a new gimmick, GCW will transform its environment to one where players can enjoy battles of high strategic-nature. Let’s look forward to the evolution of an even more intense GCW in the future!

GUNDAM CROSS WAR “JAPAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2016”

[Date] October 23 rd (Sun), 2016

[Venue] Tokyo Ryutsu Center INC.