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For those learning about “Red Zone Rogue” and the “Rogue’s Gallery” for the first time, please introduce yourself to the readers.
Hey everyone! I'll try my best to make this somewhat brief as I tend to go on for far too long, haha. My name is Kel, also known as Red Zone Rogue - and I'm a full-time TCG content creator and caster. Card games are my life. I've been playing TCGs since 1995, having started with Magic the Gathering 4th Edition. Since then, I've played well over 100 different TCGs (everything from Anachronism to Zatch Bell!) and even competed competitively (MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh! and a few others) - shout out to anyone who remembers what the old MTG Super Series is.
Believe it or not, my college degree is actually in cinema, and I wanted to put it to use for my true passion - card games! I started Red Zone Rogue covering a TCG called Force of Will and the channel eventually blossomed into what it is today, focusing on physical card games. The main goal of Red Zone Rogue has always been to share my genuine, true passion for TCGs and to spotlight games that I love and want to talk about. The idea was to create a channel that viewers would watch for me rather than any particular game (taking much inspiration from video game YouTubers).
Naturally, the games I enjoy the most and play regularly get covered more often, such as Shadowverse: Evolve, Grand Archive, Wixoss, and, more recently, Cardfight!! Vanguard and Weiss Schwarz. Content ranges from talking head videos to deck techs, gameplay, and reviews. Creating and fostering a welcoming environment/community is also very important to me. Professionally speaking, I've worked with Channel Fireball, Star City Games, Bandai, Legend Story Studios, Weebs of the Shore, and Bushiroad, and have done casting for Flesh and Blood (Callings, US Nationals, Pro Tour), Grand Archive TCG (US Nationals, Worlds) and Shadowverse: Evolve (Worlds and the upcoming Grand Showdown). I've also been on popular YouTube shows such as "Shuffle Up and Play" on Tolarian Community College.
For those who have watched your videos, anime figures of popular Cygames characters such as Special Week, Pecorine, and Dark Dragoon Forte can be seen on your shelves. Can you tell us more about the story behind these figures and your history with Cygames products?
If you look closely, you can see the many Cygames figures in the background!
I'm actually a HUGE Cygames fan and have been for many years! When Shadowverse: Evolve first launched in English, I made a video finally sharing my passion for their games with a (long) video showing off my (absurd) sleeve collection and giving away an official playmat featuring Daria, one of my favorite characters. I was stoked that one of my big personal passions finally lined up with RZR in a big way, as I almost exclusively cover physical TCGs. I've been playing Digital Shadowverse since it first launched (if folks search hard enough, they can find some of my old videos on it). I'm also a huge Granblue Fantasy & Rage of Bahamut fan as well, everything from collecting art books and manga to the figures you see in videos.
I think I have almost every official scale figure for Rage of Bahamut / Shadowverse at this point (I am still missing Vania and Dark General - I'll get them eventually, haha!). Over the last few years, I've also really gotten into Cygames' other IPs, such as Umamusume, Princess Connect, and Idolmaster - all of which appear in the RZR background display as figures of my favorite characters!
What made you get into Shadowverse: Evolve, and what aspects have you found most enjoyable about the game so far?
This one's easy - I'm a huge fan of Shadowverse and have been since its inception! I had even bought several boxes of Shadowverse: Evolve for the original Japanese release to open for fun (hell, I even bought boxes of the non-playable Shadowverse collectible cards before Evolve existed and have a few videos on RZR of that as well). So when Shadowverse: Evolve finally got its English release, I was pretty ecstatic. I immediately bought an entire case and have done so for every set. Shadowverse: Evolve is the most fun I'm having in TCGs, and I don't say that lightly.
Did you know that Red Zone Rogue started covering Shadowverse: Evolve over two years ago!?
I love how each class has a distinctive flavor and multiple viable builds, such as Control Haven and Egg Haven, in our current meta. I love the pacing of the game, and how fast and fun it is - with the evolve system serving as a great tempo equalizer. The official SVE app is also fantastic and removes many of the fiddly aspects of tabletop gaming (such as resource and life tracking) but still gives you that fantastic face-to-face gameplay that comes with physical TCGs. And of course, Shadowverse art is S Tier. It's fun, beautiful, affordable, and has just the right amount of complexity - everything I want in a TCG.
During the 1st anniversary of the English edition of Shadowverse: Evolve, you posted a hand-drawn picture of Dark Dragoon Forte on social media. What can you tell us about your artistic background, and why Forte in particular?
I used to draw a lot as a kid. It's something that I just stopped doing over the years but recently got back into after close to a 20-year hiatus. I've gotten a lot of support and encouragement from artist friends, and I'm having a lot of fun casually getting back into the hobby. I drew Forte because she's been one of my absolute favorite characters since Rage of Bahamut! I used my Forte figure as a reference for that one!
With the release of Booster Pack 6, Paragons of the Colosseum, what cards and decks are you most excited about?
There's a lot to be excited about in Paragons of the Colosseum! I really loved Ginsetsu in Digital Shadowverse, so I'm very much looking forward to playing her in Evolve! My current Deus Ex Machina Control Haven deck is also getting support via Karula. Another one of my all-time favorite characters, Filene, also makes her first appearance (she's my most used leader in Shadowverse Digital for Dragon). I'm also pretty stoked for Ralmia in Swordcraft as that's been one of my go-to decks in Evolve since the start. Finally, there's Kuon - as a degenerate D-Shift player, I'm pretty stoked for our Onmyodo daddy (Note from the editor: RZR's comments are not official comments on Kuon's gender).
If we consider Ignideus as the Digital CCG Shadowverse expert and DifferentFight as the Bushiroad title specialist, how would you describe your greatest selling point as the new English edition Shadowverse: Evolve Ambassador?
I suppose my selling point is that as a lifelong TCG player, I offer a fun, welcoming, and informative environment to all card players, regardless of their gaming background. Everyone is welcome in the Rogue's Gallery! I genuinely love Shadowverse: Evolve, and one of my biggest goals since I started covering it is to get more people into the game. You can see that much of my Shadowverse: Evolve content is aimed at new players - How to Start Playing, Tips for New Players, Starter Deck Reviews, and multi-deck showcases. I make the gameplay videos on the channel as approachable as possible so new players can follow along. Shadowverse: Evolve is quickly becoming the main TCG I play, and content is ramping up to be even more frequent - currently, we've done about 1 SVE video a week since its English launch (52 videos and counting). The content was already regular, but we've started to do even more!
For Shadowverse: Evolve fans worried about your commitments with the other card games on your channel, what would you say to help alleviate these concerns?
That's an interesting question. I haven't really seen that expressed to me as a concern - in fact, quite the opposite, as my community was worried that my ambassadorship would mean that I drop other games entirely. This was mentioned a few times to me before I became an official ambassador too - even in person at events such as the California LCQ last year - that if I became an ambassador, would it mean dropping other games and thereby dropping the inclusive atmosphere? I assured them that wouldn't happen.
RZR'S first major SVE event - LA LCQ, with over 140 players!
My general philosophy is that a rising tide raises all ships. If someone was introduced to RZR for something like Grand Archive but has never played Shadowverse: Evolve - maybe they'll see one of my many SVE videos, find it interesting, and give it a chance. They may take it to their local playgroup and convince them to try it as well - perhaps they'll even ask their LGS to start carrying Shadowverse: Evolve!
After all, one of the main goals of the channel is to get folks to check out these amazing games that I love. Almost every TCG player I know plays at least a couple of different games, so there's a significant amount of crossover in the Rogue's Gallery audience - which overall is an audience that is very accepting of folks from all TCG backgrounds. As mentioned in a previous question: "All are welcome in the Rogue's Gallery!" but I'll add: "While you're here, how about trying out SVE? It's Incredible!" Personally speaking - I was buying fully sealed cases of every set for myself even before the ambassadorship, and I would still be doing so even if I wasn't an ambassador. One look at my studio would show folks just how committed I am, haha (SVE cards, figures, framed posters, tapestries...)
Shadowverse: Evolve is a main focus for both Red Zone Rogue and me, and that isn't changing.
If you could pick the next collaboration for the English Edition of Shadowverse: Evolve with any Cygames title, what would it be and why?
Granblue Fantasy and it isn't close! I absolutely adore the IP and strongly believe it to be one of the most underrated in the gaming market. Seeing Granblue Fantasy: Relink do so well had me stoked. People finally got to see what I've been saying for years! Now they just all need to realize how amazing Shadowverse is...
Recently, you’ve started publishing more content related to Bushiroad titles, such as Cardfight!! Vanguard and Weiss Schwarz. Can you tell us more about what motivated you to pick up these titles and your plans for them as a player and content creator?
So, I've spoken a lot about my fandoms in this interview, and I'm going to do a bit more here! Bushiroad released a TCG called Dragoborne a few years ago, and I instantly fell in love with it. It's something that few folks remember, but it'll always be one of my favorite TCGs. (I own a complete non-foil master set of the entire game.) I say this because my enjoyment of that Bushiroad game (and SVE) made it so that it took little convincing for me to try out both Cardfight!! Vanguard and Weiss Schwarz. They had always existed in the periphery for me - kind of adjacent to the other TCGs I was enjoying. I was aware of them - even owned some cards from them (like the Disgaea deck for WS) - but only really dove a little deep.
This all changed with the Shadowverse: Evolve x Cardfight Vanguard collaboration.
After seeing the reveal, I started looking into Vanguard earnestly and liked what I saw. While attending Anime Expo 2024, I saw the opportunity to learn both games and genuinely enjoyed the experience - so much so that I just had to make a few videos about them. The community response was incredible, and I received a TON of support from both regular and new viewers. The first video hit almost 10k views, and I got many comments from people who wanted me to create more content about both games. Genuine enjoyment + large community support = winning recipe for regular content! Folks can expect a semi-regular Cardfight!! Vanguard content going forward and occasional Weiss Schwarz content (mainly focusing on the IP releases I enjoy).
For Ignideus, it was Zirnitra. For DifferentFight, Galmieux. What is Red Zone Rogue’s favorite Shadowverse: Evolve card, and why?
This is a REALLY tough call, but for now, I'll say Dark Angel Olivia. She's one of my favorite characters (discerning viewers can spot the alt-color Olivia figure in the RZR background), and they knocked it out of the park with her card in Shadowverse: Evolve. I absolutely LOVE modal cards, and Olivia's effects are awesome. Getting to choose 2 of 4 is eating good, and her classic art on the card is beautiful.
Earlier this year, you cast with fellow English edition Shadowverse: Evolve Ambassador Ignideus. Can you tell us more about your relationship with your fellow English edition Shadowverse: Evolve ambassadors?
Both Ignideus and DifferentFight have been awesome. On my first trip to Japan this year, I spent a lot of time hanging out with Ignideus, and we clicked immediately. We are very like-minded when it comes to many things such as content creation/community. Casting SVE Worlds with him was a blast. On my second trip to Japan this year, I got to hang out quite a bit with DifferentFight. He gave me a local tour around a few parts of Tokyo for an entire day. I even picked up a few old rare Japanese TCGs while we were checking out some card stores (I enjoy collecting obscure dead TCGs). Both of them are great guys, and I genuinely enjoy hanging out with them. I'm looking forward to seeing them again in person as well as casting the upcoming Grand Showdown with Igni!
As an experienced caster and variety TCG content creator, what advice would you give readers interested in a similar career path?
Being a variety TCG content creator is challenging as the YouTube algorithm favors heavy repetition. However, I've found that you can build an audience through genuine passion and dedication if you work hard enough and are entertaining enough, both of which are equally important. It took me over six years before I was able to go full-time!
However, making money shouldn't be your goal as you likely won't make any for a long time. My general advice is to make content that you're passionate about. You can do some technical things, like getting a good mic and lighting, but it will only matter if you love what you're doing. If you're having fun, then the audience will as well - on the flip side, if you're phoning it in, then the audience will pick up on that, too. Also, don't be afraid to put yourself out there and be genuine. Share your passion and excitement! To folks who want to do casting: my biggest suggestion is always to remember that you're putting on a show. Yes, you need to be informative, but you also need to be entertaining!
Not only are you a caster and content creator, but you also appear to be an entrepreneur. Can you provide readers with a summary of the TCG merchandise that you produce and sell on your website? What motivated you to start this kind of business and what are some key insights you can share with us?
I don't remember exactly when, but at some point, the idea of merch was brought up in a Q&A that I did. I gave it some thought and came to a particular conclusion: most YouTubers with merch end up going for shirts or maybe a mug, so what should a TCG YouTuber do? Well, TCG supplies of course! With that idea in mind, I set off to make our first few playmats.
Villon the Viper, one of the many playmats available on Red Zone Rogue's website!
I'm not a casual person when it comes to projects like this - I go all in. I filed for an LLC and built redzonerogue.com from scratch. I commissioned the first couple of pieces of art from artists on Fiverr. Every single subsequent piece has been commissioned directly from TCG artists. This is very important to me, as I truly believe in supporting artists - as a creative person, we're all in this together! I have many friends who are artists in the TCG industry, and I occasionally commission them for RZR splash art (Hanh Chu is a fan favorite who ALSO helped me design the RZR card back). A partnership with Dragon Shield also made it viable for me to make custom sleeves in addition to playmats. This all brings it to creativity and building a brand. I never wanted to run into a situation where a company could sue me for copyright infringement - so we would make our original characters from the start. I won't go too deep into this, but essentially, we created four original character mascots: Katsumi Kadiko, Vehya Esterlina, Etoile Seren, and Asami "Villon" Reika. These characters are currently undergoing a total redesign and update - something that I'm calling Project Red Zone - to flesh out each character's signature looks and personalities while making them feel like they belong in the same world. We plan to debut this redesign at the end of the year with a group splash art and special playmat! I'm working with an incredibly talented TCG artist friend, and it will look amazing!
One last thing about the merch that folks reading this need to understand, especially if this sounds like something you want to do, is that it's costly. Very costly. I pay TCG artists commercial rates because I want to support them and know the quality will be there. I would only do this if you know FOR SURE you have the audience because you'll spend over $3000 USD (art + playmat manufacturing) for a small print run. My overall goal is to at least break even - doing so supports the artist who drew the art but also furthers the RZR brand and gives fans something cool if they want it. A little profit on top of that is just a bonus for me.
Thank you so much for taking the time to take this interview. Are there any final shoutouts you’d like to make, or any messages to the fans?
Cheers, and you're very welcome! I want to thank the Rogue's Gallery and Shadowverse: Evolve communities for their tremendous support of my Shadowverse: Evolve content over this first year! I'll continue to work hard to help grow Shadowverse: Evolve to be the biggest game it can be, and I can't wait for my next SHADOWVERSE SHOWDOWN!
