CanYouSayG(G): Hello everybody, this is CanYouSayG, and you are reading the CanYouSayBlog, the blog where YOU get to meet the people of vanguard from around the world!

G: Today we will be speaking with the winner of WGP Malaysia this year: Hong Wai!

HongWai (HW): Hello ! Nice to meet You. I am Hong Wai, a Vanguard player from Malaysia~~

G: Thank you for being here. We will start off with some easy questions. How long have you been playing vanguard?

HW: Okay… I have started to play vanguard since bt05 which Majestic Lord Blaster just released. (MLB GOD DAMN OP during that time!)

G: What clans do you mainly use, and what made you start those clan(s)?

HW: Clans that I mainly use are Dark Irregulars and Shadow Paladin. (The first clan I play when I started Vanguard was Royal Paladin) I started to play Dark Irregulars is because there are too many same clan user nearby that time and not much player managed to guard Dark Irregulars Huge Power during that time…(Amon and No Life Kingggg) For Shadow Paladin, I started to play it since Raging Form Dragon Release…Basically whack and win. The win rate by using a Revenger Deck is really huge reason to make me start playing the deck. At the moment, the deck I am still keeping are Dark Irregulars Scaharott Vampire , Shadow Paladin Luard and Touken Ranbu Hanamaru.

G: Of all the different seasons and eras of Vanguard, which do you like the most?

HW: Legion Era!!! I feel that's where vanguard started to be fun. A lot of strategies appeared in this era. For example, grade stuck for the win. Due to some of the players do not want opponent to perform legion first, he will actually grade stuck for 1 round in order to get the first legion benefits. I am owning a Phantom Blaster Abyss deck in that season.

G: What was the reason you chose to play Thavas during this event?



HW: To be honest, I am actually decided to play Darkness in Malaysia WGP but GBT13 announced to be allowed in the event in a sudden. (OVERLORD IS COMING FML!!!) A group of my friends have tried to proxy those upcoming decks and have some matches. I found out that it is nearly impossible to beat Overload…. The advantages I able to gain hand size are gone while The Destiny place on field. Just the day before WGP which is the day for Autumn Circuit, one of my friend completed his Thavas deck and I have borrowed to try. It WORKS ! I have tried the combos available for Thavas for the whole day at last decided to play it in WGP. It did not disappoint me in the event, it works Perfectly!







G: Vanguard has a large split between players that jump clans and decks to play the latest and perceived "strongest" deck, and players that stay with a single clan and try to develop and practice it to the maximum ability. Which do you think is the correct way to victory?



HW: There is no correct way for me. If you want to win, of cause try to get the latest engine that able to against most of the decks will be having a large advantage. By playing a single clan and practice to it, player able to develop some different play style based on the current meta.

G: HongWai, you yourself are a well-known Darkness player. The darkness deck centered around Glanzend Vampir varies hugely in popularity between countries, being rated tier 1 meta deck in certain areas of the world and not being recognized as a valid deck at all in other countries with the popularity bladewings instead being higher. What do you think makes the Darkness deck good?



HW: Alright, by comparing Darkness and BladeWings…. I unable to say much. BladeWings is more based on luck which need more assassin in soul in order to maximize the advantage. For Darkness, it is stable while Glanzend able to gain hand and control opponent field. For me, Stands makes Darkness goooooodddddd!! And also for counter decks like Kagero and Narukami, Still Vamp become one of the key card.





G: What do you think of the difference in popularity of the deck between countries?



HW: Based on the meta decks playing at specific country, decks that player will play will be different For example, if Aqua force is overflowed, Link Joker and Kagero Players will be slightly increase.



G: As we all know, a decks power level has nothing to do with how popular it is, and how much in the meta it is entirely dependent on how many players are using the deck. What factors do you think affect how popular certain decks become, leading them to be considered meta?

HW: In my opinion, consistency is the key. A deck that able to change the playstyle in a match based on which clan facing currently will be the meta. Using Thavas deck that I used in WGP as an example. While facing kagero, go for front row resist which griffin unable to stop the combo, while against large hand size deck, slowly grind with rear guard with earn cards ability. The more playstyle can be change, the more consistency it is. Meta is the consistency in my opinion.



G: Why do you think deck popularity varies so much between regions?



HW: This is actually based on player playstyle, if there are a lot of kagero players in the area, I don't think there will be a lot of luard, wiseman and etc rear guard based decks. In my opinion, all of the popularity will based on the local players decks.



G: Every format has several decks that have high power level but no top players using them to leave winning results with them. What are some decks that you think are in this category?

HW: Regarding to this question, Chaos Breaker, Spike Brother GB8, Nightrose and many more actually. These are actually nice decks to against with lot of the metas but hardly to see them top.

G: Can you share some of your greatest goals in Vanguard that you with to one-day reach?

HW: Of cause World Champion! Every player greatest goal in competitive Vanguard right ?

CanYouSayG（G）: What are some secrets behind your success?



HW: Build your own deck and understand your deck well in order to play it smoothly and minimize the misplay.

G: How often do you train and practice for tournaments, what do you think is important while practicing?



HW: Almost every weekend I am joining a few local shop tourney and some night time training with gangs. The most important thing during the training for me is keep trying different decks in order to get familiar with their playstyle so that I able to figure out how to counter them in the tournaments.

G: Regarding playing, As an high level player, what is, in your opinion, some mistakes you see a lot of players (newer as well as veterans) you see making?

HW: Skipping the steps are the most common mistakes I saw from a lot of players. There are a lot of players like to perform shortcut in their match and this is actually a bad habit and might cause a game lost in official tournaments

G: In your opinion, does Malaysia look to other countries for ideas (Deck builds, playstyle)?

HW: Yes. Even for myself, I will refer to other player’s deck and look for their playstyle in order to enhance my own playstyle.

G: Who are some famous players from around South East Asia?

HW: I am not too familiar to player from others country yet, I hope I able to meet them in the future tournament.

G: And who are some famous players you have heard of from other countries?

HW:

Jian Hui(Singapore) who top at Malaysia Spring circuit.

Ryan Low(Singapore) who used Dark Irregulars to reach Final in several

Tournament.

Chow Yee Shean(Singapore) I have heard his name since few years ago which top in several big tournaments.

Max Carreno(Mexico [I guess]) Mexico National Champion with Altmile!

G: And now for a sillier question: Imagine you made it to the FINALS of the World Championship. Name three people you would like to fight as the final match.

HW: I am not familiar to the Vanguard Players globally yet so I unable to name people that I would like to fight Hope I can makes new friends during the world stage and having some nice matches with them!

G: I have been your host, CanYouSayG. Keep on being awesome, and we will see you again next week, right here on the CanYouSayBlog.

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