Cardfight Area: The Definitive Guide - Double Triggerz (2024)

What is Cardfight Area?

Cardfight Area is a third-party software used to play Cardfight!! Vanguard online for free, receiving updates regularly as new cards release. The game provides an alternative method for people to playtest new units, connect with other players, and play Cardfight!! Vanguard when in-person cardfights are not available.

Installation

1. Download Cardfight Area through its wiki found here. Scroll down until you see a download link for the game and click “Full Version”
2. When the download is finished, extract the .zip file, create a short cut for the Vanguard.exe file, and turn on the game!
3. When Cardfight Area starts, register an account and you’ll see the main menu that looks like this:

Main Menu

• The “Host Game” tab lets people invite others to private lobbies. Send them your IP address and they can join your room.
• The “Connect” tab lets you join public lobbies, the main one being the Cardfight Vanguard lobby. Enter through this IP address: 78.107.248.143 and port 14800 using your login info.
• The “Deck Load” tab lets you load decks created by your deck editor, which will be discussed soon. If the user logs out, the game loads the previous deck from the last session.
• The “Load Replay” tab lets users watch recorded replays. When the user leaves a match room, a prompt appears asking if they want to save a replay of the fight. If accepted and the replay is named, a REP2 file is saved under a ‘replays’ folder. When loading a replay, type in theexact title of the file for it to work.
• The “Test Room” tab lets you join a separate room to test out decks before trying them out on others. Tweak the ratios through the Deck Editor and see what’s right for you.

The Cardfight Area Deck Editor

• • The drop-down menu at the top has all the clans and nations arranged. Click on the desired icon and every card from that clan or nation is arranged according to grade in the numbered bar in the bottom.

• The P-V-D buttons allow you to arrange cards for Premium, V-Premium, and Standard Format respectively.
• The lettered bubble lets you organize through alphabetical or addition order, the camera lets you save the deck list and image, and the magnifying glass lets you look for specific card names through a search bar.
• Click on cards to add in your deck. When added, they have a number next to their image like this:

Note: when adding cards to the ride deck, hold the Ctrl key and left-click.

• “New Deck” clears whatever cards were added before.
• “Load Deck” lets you load a previously made deck by opening its file.
• “Save Deck” saves the deck and creates a file that can be accessed by loading the deck in the menu.

After creating a deck, the Test Room is available to fine-tune ratios, and after that, join the public lobby and cardfight!

The Public Lobby

• This is the main hub that everyone spawns into when joining the lobby. Every format gets played here, but there are two specific lobbies for V-Premium and Standard.
• While in a lobby, players can change and edit decks, switch card sleeves, and interact with other cardfighters through the chat in the bottom-left.

The V-Premium Lobby

• The V-Premium lobby is found by following the path right from the fountain in the main lobby. Feel free to test out your favorite V-Premium deck because this lobby is frequently active with cardfighters.

The Standard Lobby

• Found by moving south from the fountain in the main lobby, this winter tundra houses the Standard Lobby, where people can start playing games with cards that haven’t physically released yet, testing new combos and taking the game to new heights.

The Randomizer Room

• Found by taking the left path from the main lobby and passing the Docks, the Randomizer Room creates a random deck from the clan or nation in the player’s deck loaded at the time.

There are other rooms that contain secret rewards, but I will let you explore and find those secrets on your own.

How to Play Cardfight Area

Basic Controls

Everything in Cardfight Area is manual, so implicit actions setting cards, skills, and guarding have to be communicated with the other player through chat in order for a smoother playing experience.

• Left-clicking a card onto a rear guard circle calls it, and clicking the vanguard circle initiates a ride. Force markers get generated automatically and can be set on the board by left-clicking as well.

• Clicking a card allows the player to send it to the top, the bottom, to the hand, or to the extra deck.
• Right-clicking turns the card, signifying an attack if on the battle phase and you click on the opponent’s card.
• Clicking on an opponent’s cards on the field tints them with a red color, which can help explain skills like attacking or retiring a unit to your opponent.
• Left-click cards in the damage zone to counter blast, check the soul by holding Ctrl and clicking the vanguard.
• Holding Alt while clicking a card will create an echo effect, further helping communicate skills to your opponent.
• Pressing the Delete key will turn your Vanguard face-down, and pressing Ctrl on your rear guard will turn it face down as well, signifying Delete and Lock respectively.

• Adding power/shield/criticals can be done using the 2nd through 4th buttons on the right. Left-click to add, Right-click to subtract. Pressing the mouse wheel on the power and shield buttons allows numbers to increase in 5k increments.

• Shuffling the deck, looking at the deck or its top cards, gauges, milling, and soul charging can be done in the 5th through 9th buttons on the right.

• Bind cards face-up or face down with the folder, hand-shuffle, and return strides with the last buttons.

Phases in Cardfight Area

• Different actions occur for each phase of a fight, so make sure to update frequently when you are switching between phases in a fight.
• During the Battle Phase, when right-clicking the deck, you perform a drive check. During the End Phase, right-clicking performs a damage check. Drive and Damage checks give trigger power, but criticals, heals, and draws have to be performed manually.

Courtesy Rules in Cardfight Area

Because you will be playing with other players, there are some courtesy rules that should be considered while playing a match with others.

• Always use the coin toss button to decide who goes first in the first fight. If playing with the same player, for fights afterwards, loser decides.
• Specify how much to guard when the opponent’s vanguard attacks, and wait for the opponent to make a final decision as well.
• Use the Alt button + left-click to specify skills.
• Stay polite and never lash out when the game does not go your way. Your opponent deserves a pleasant experience just like you.

Conclusion

Cardfight Area is another approach to playing Cardfight!! Vanguard when in-person options are unavailable. Because this application is not directly supported by Bushiroad, Cardfight Area shouldn’t be the primary approach to playing the game, but when the friends are away and a tournament is coming up, Cardfight Area can help with practice before the big day.