Hello, aspiring Vanguard fighter! Are you ready to dive into the world of Cardfight!! Vanguard Overdress? If you've seen the anime, heard about the game, or simply picked up a starter deck and are wondering where to begin, you've come to the right place. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from setting up your playmat to declaring your final attack.
Let's not waste any time. Grab your deck and your playmat, and let's get ready to Stand Up, Vanguard!
Step 1: Get Ready to Fight!
First things first, let's get our battleground ready.
The Deck: You need a deck of exactly 50 cards. This is your main deck. A legal deck can only contain cards from a single Nation (think of it like a faction or a color in other card games) with the exception of Cray Elemental cards.
The Ride Deck: This is a special feature of the Overdress format. It's a separate pile of 4 cards, one for each grade from 0 to 3, placed face down and separate from your main deck. You'll be using this to guarantee your "rides" to higher grades.
The Playmat: The playmat is your battlefield. It has designated zones for your cards. Let's get familiar with them:
Vanguard Circle: This is the most important circle. Your "Vanguard" unit sits here, representing you, the fighter.
Rear-guard Circles: These are the circles where you can call other units, your "Rear-guards," to assist your Vanguard. There are five of them: two in the front row and three in the back row.
Guardian Circle: This is a temporary zone where you place cards from your hand to guard against attacks.
Deck Zone: Where you place your main deck, face down.
Drop Zone: Your discard pile. Units that are retired, guarded, or used for costs go here.
Damage Zone: Where you place cards when your Vanguard takes damage.
Soul: Cards stacked face up under your Vanguard.
Trigger Zone: A temporary zone where you check for triggers during a drive or damage check.
Order Zone: Where you place your Set Orders and where Normal Orders are played from.
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| How To Play Cardfight Vanguard Overdress |
Step 2: Starting the Game
Now that we have our battleground set, let's begin the game with some crucial pre-game steps.
2.1 Shuffle and Set Up
Tip: Absorb, don’t just glance.
Shuffle your main deck and place it face down in the Deck Zone.
Set your Ride Deck of 4 cards face down, away from your main deck.
Take the Grade 0 card from your Ride Deck and place it face down on your Vanguard Circle. This is your starting Vanguard!
Randomly decide who goes first. A simple game of rock-paper-scissors works perfectly. The winner can choose to go first or second.
2.2 The Opening Hand
Draw 5 cards from the top of your main deck. This is your starting hand.
Perform a mulligan (called a "first draw" in Vanguard). You can choose to put any number of cards from your hand back into your deck, shuffle your deck, and then draw the same number of cards you returned. This is a one-time opportunity to improve your starting hand.
2.3 Stand Up, Vanguard!
Together with your opponent, say the iconic phrase, "Stand Up, Vanguard!".
Turn your Grade 0 Vanguard face up. You are now ready to begin your first turn!
Step 3: Understanding the Turn
A turn in Cardfight!! Vanguard follows a strict sequence of phases. Remember, the turn player is you, and the non-turn player is your opponent.
3.1 The Stand & Draw Phase
Stand Phase: If you have any units in a "Rest" state (horizontal position), turn them to a "Stand" state (vertical position). This prepares them to attack again.
Draw Phase: Draw one card from the top of your deck.
3.2 The Ride Phase
This is where you power up! Once per turn, during your Ride Phase, you can "Ride" a unit.
Ride from the Ride Deck: You can choose a card from your face-down Ride Deck that has a grade one higher than your current Vanguard and stack it on top of your Vanguard. This is a guaranteed ride, which is a key feature of Overdress.
Ride from Hand: You can also ride a unit from your hand that is one grade higher than your Vanguard.
When you ride, the unit below your new Vanguard becomes a "Soul" card. This is important for many abilities.
3.3 The Main Phase
Tip: Read once for gist, twice for details.
This is your action phase! You can perform a variety of actions in any order, as many times as you like, as long as you can pay the costs.
Calling Rear-guards: Call units from your hand to your Rear-guard Circles. A unit can only be called to a Rear-guard Circle if its grade is less than or equal to your Vanguard's grade.
Playing Order Cards: Play "Order" cards from your hand. Normal Orders go to the Drop Zone after use, while Set Orders stay on the field in the Order Zone.
Using Abilities: Use the "ACT" abilities of your units by paying the specified costs.
Moving Units: You can swap the positions of a front-row and back-row unit within the same column.
3.4 The Battle Phase
It's time to attack! You can declare attacks with your units.
Attack Declaration: Choose a unit in the Stand state in your front row (your Vanguard or a Rear-guard) and declare it as an attacking unit.
Boosting: Before an attack, a unit in the back row can "Boost" a unit in the front row in the same column. The booster adds its Power to the attacker's Power for that battle.
Attacking the Vanguard: The goal is to deal damage to your opponent's Vanguard.
Attacking Rear-guards: You can also attack your opponent's Rear-guards. If your attacking unit's Power is equal to or greater than the opponent's Rear-guard's Power, the Rear-guard is retired (put into the Drop Zone).
3.5 The Drive Check & Damage Check
Drive Check: When your Vanguard attacks the opponent's Vanguard, you perform a "Drive Check". You reveal the top card of your deck and put it into the Trigger Zone. If it's a trigger unit, its effect activates!
Twin Drive: A Grade 3 Vanguard can perform a Twin Drive, revealing two cards.
Triple Drive: Some special Vanguards can perform a Triple Drive.
Damage Check: When your Vanguard takes damage from a successful attack, your opponent performs a "Damage Check". They reveal the top card of their deck and place it into the Trigger Zone. If it's a trigger, its effect activates. After the effect is resolved, the card is placed in the Damage Zone.
3.6 The End Phase
All battles are over. All temporary Power boosts from boosting and triggers disappear.
Any effects that end "at the end of turn" or "until the end of turn" expire.
You pass the turn to your opponent.
Step 4: Understanding Key Mechanics
To truly master the game, you need to know about these crucial concepts.
4.1 Triggers: The Heart of the Game
Triggers are special cards with a yellow icon in the top right. They have powerful effects that can change the tide of a fight.
Critical Trigger: Adds a Critical to one of your units and gives Power +10000. If an attack with a Critical hits the Vanguard, your opponent takes that many damage!
Draw Trigger: Lets you draw a card and gives Power +10000.
Front Trigger: Gives Power +10000 to all units in your front row.
Heal Trigger: Lets you heal one damage if you have the same or more damage than your opponent. Gives Power +10000.
Over Trigger: A brand new, incredibly powerful trigger introduced in Overdress. You can only have ONE in your deck! When revealed, it gives Power +100 Million to a unit and lets you draw a card. If revealed during a Drive Check, you get a bonus effect.
4.2 Guarding: Your Defense
Tip: Bookmark this post to revisit later.
When your opponent attacks your Vanguard, you can "Guard" to protect it.
Shield Value: Many units have a Shield value in a blue circle on the left side of the card.
From Hand: You can move any number of cards from your hand to the Guardian Circle. Their Shield values are added to your defending unit's Power for that battle.
Intercepting: Grade 2 Rear-guards in the front row can be moved to the Guardian Circle to add their Shield value.
After the battle, all cards in the Guardian Circle go to the Drop Zone.
4.3 Damage Zone and Winning/Losing
When your Vanguard takes a hit, you put a card from the top of your deck into your Damage Zone.
Counter-Blast: Some abilities require you to "Counter-Blast," which means you turn a specified number of face-up cards in your Damage Zone face down.
The first player to reach 6 or more damage loses the game. The other player wins!
Step 5: The "Overdress" Mechanic
The namesake of the format!
This is a special ability found on certain units, most notably the "Trickstar" units.
An Overdress ability allows you to place a unit from your hand on top of a specific Rear-guard, usually a Trickstar, to give it new abilities and a Power boost.
The unit below the Overdressed unit becomes a "Dress" card, which is a new type of soul that can be used for abilities.
10 Related FAQs
How to get started with a deck? The best way is to buy a "Start Deck." These are pre-constructed, ready-to-play decks that provide all the cards you need to learn the game and have a fun fight.
How to know what a card's ability does? Read the text box at the bottom of the card. Abilities are labeled with keywords like AUTO, ACT, or CONT which indicate when they can be used.
QuickTip: Scan quickly, then go deeper where needed.
How to ride from the Ride Deck? During your Ride Phase, you can take the face-down card from your Ride Deck that is one grade higher than your Vanguard and stack it on top of it. This is a special rule that guarantees a ride.
How to use a "Boost" ability? During your Battle Phase, before your front-row unit attacks, you can rest a back-row unit in the same column to give its power to the attacking unit for that battle.
How to perform a "Drive Check"? When your Vanguard attacks the opponent's Vanguard, you flip the top card of your deck into the Trigger Zone. If it has a trigger icon, its effect activates.
How to win a game? Deal a total of 6 damage to your opponent's Vanguard. The first player to reach 6 damage in their Damage Zone loses the game.
How to use the "Over Trigger"? You can only have one Over Trigger in your deck. When you reveal it during a Drive Check or Damage Check, you give a massive Power +100 Million boost to a unit and draw a card.
How to use "Counter-Blast"? To use a Counter-Blast ability, you turn a specified number of face-up cards in your Damage Zone face down.
How to defend against an attack? You can defend by moving cards from your hand with a Shield value to the Guardian Circle to increase your defending unit's Power.
How to build a deck? A legal deck is exactly 50 cards, with 16 trigger units. You can only use cards from one Nation (with the exception of Cray Elemental cards). You can't have more than 4 copies of a card with the same name.
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