3rd Place September 21, 2013 Regional Report - It's Clobberin Time!

At last.  The day that I've been preparing (and dreading) for the last month has finally come and gone and I must say things went VERY well.  Granted I started things off like any self respecting person would; shower, shave, deodorant, etc before heading down to Tramps to meet up with friends and people that I haven't seen since March.  To my complete shock the place was packed the the highest turnout yet.

Me: Jesus that's alot of people.

Megamonkey: Thing is though we have a So Cal guy here and he said this is basically the size of a small locals to him.

Well that's disheartening.  Still I don't believe that a turnout alone doesn't detract from the results.  The quality of the player base at our Regionals has improved each time and the guy that I'm talking about did lose games.  To top a Regional you will have to beat good players to finish well.  I've done this in the past.

That said lets get to the good part of this post.  The tournament itself.  I decided to play the Blue-Eyes Dragon Ruler deck that has talked about by alot of people (Jeff Jones posted an article on the deck for instance) as I felt more and more comfortable with it as I continued to play.  I dislike the mill aspect of Standard Rulers and Hand Traps are 4x Super Effective against Dragunity Rulers wheras the Blue-Eyes Ruler had the speed of the second version without having to worry about Hand Traps as much.  However this comes at the risk of drawing absolute SHIT.  This is a longtime weakness of the Blue-Eyes engine (see SOL Hopeless) and while it's not as bad here it's possible to flat out lose games because you opened with all of your draw pieces but nothing to use them.  It's very Dark World esque in that you rely on alot of two card combos to thin out your deck.  Still it was something that I knew alot of people were not aware of and that's always something that will give you an edge in an environment where many things could be played.

The most played decks at this were; Dragon Ruler variants, Prophecy, Mermail, Fire Fist variants, Evilswarm, Constellar, Infernity, Madolche with alot of rogue and stun decks.  Gravekeepers, Malefic Stun, Light Zombie Hero Beat.  What would I face first?  Well...

Round 1 - v Last Warrior.dek (2-0)

Are you kidding me?  I have to face one of our local guys off the bat?  Not only that but its the guy who plays awful stuff.  There's not really much I can say on this.  He AHLs into a Prisma that I Veiler then Blader Game 1 while I Wing Blast his Last Warrior game 2 and summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon to win the match with WHITE LIGHTNING.

So I've won my first round, but it was against a bad deck.  My confidence isn't feeling awful at all right now.  Nope.

Round 2 - vs Dual Axis Fire Fist (2-0)

Dragons have a strong matchup against this and Game 1 went on for a little bit, buuuut I was able to burn out his resources and resolve a wonderful Scrap Dragon + MST play.  Game 2 he got off both of his Debunks on my Blaster summons but Fencing Fire Ferret gets in there and stops his momentum when I pop his Bear.  I'm able to out advantage and win.

Got paired up with a Sask player and a really good one at that.  I've always wanted to duel Jay and now I have.  It was enjoyable.

Round 3 - vs Madolche (2-1)

It's been a LONG time since I played this guy and as expected he gave me a good fight.  Madolche Ticket is a fucking annoying card but I opened the nuts.  I'm talking multiple Sacred Swords, Cards of Consonance, Trade-In AND Dragon Ravine.  When this deck resolves three to four of its draw spells in a turn you are at a TREMENDOUS advantage and thanks to it I was able to keep the pressure on him with my beaters and Hand Traps.  Game 2 goes by shortly after I get a Game Loss for drawing too many cards by accident and creating an irreparable game state.  Well shit.  Game 3 comes down to me setting up a Skill Drain + Blaster that he can't get around.

A little rattled by that game loss.  Granted I drew shit anyway so I may have lost regardless.

Round 4 - vs Samurai (2-0)

How the hell is THIS DECK at the top tables.  Magnus said he even got destroyed by his previous opponent.  Whatever.  He goes turn 1 Barkion set a few which I force out or something.  I end up Bladering him.  Game 3 he opens with Mind Drain to my Sword, CoC, Skill Drain and Maxx "C" which makes me sad.  He beats me down to 2500 when I top a White Stone, CoC it off to draw Dragon Rulers which I sword off and it goes from there.  I Skill Drain him as he attempts to make a comeback and that's that.

Easy 2-0.  Samurai suck against Dragons.

Round 5 - vs Four Axis Fire Fist (2-0)
Another Regina player and it's the man known as Boss.  He's been playing this deck for a long time now and we're both aware of how the matchup vs Dragons go.  I'm able to deal with his backrow and win game 1 while drawing two MSTs to deal with his turn 1 Mind and Soul Drain.  It snowballed from there as he couldn't draw monsters and I had Stardust + TRA.

So now I'm sitting at the undefeated spot at 5-0.  So are a few other people, namely the only person aside from myself that was running Blue-Eyes.  Guess who played him next?

Round 6 - vs Blue-Eyes Dragon Ruler (0-2)

I open complete ass game 1.  Triple Cards of Consonance without things to pitch for them set me back alot compared to him hitting the kind of hand that I got against Madolche.  Not good.  He disrupts my attempt to clear his Colossal Fighter but I have the Veiler for his Blader play.  Sadly I have to scoop it up.  Game 2 went alot better as I was able to set up the Colossal with a Wing Blast that I use to get around a Big Eye.  But then he flipped Return.

Oh.

Disappointed?  Yes.  That game 1 will haunt me for a while.  Definitely need to hammer consistency some more.

Round 7 - vs Spellbooks (2-0)

I made several misplays both games but thanks to Ravine I keep him from advantaging off his Tower and timely Blaster pops cleared the way for my beaters to do things.  Game 2 I ultimately Big Eye ZA WARUDO and win.

After ALLLL of that was said and done I ended up in 3rd place, earning this;

More trades and such were done before we went to Boston Pizza where I had pasta and Megamonkey had a pizza burger which looked amazing.  I swear if god (uuuhhh) made food i would be this.  Then we chatted there and at Cam's before wrapping it up.

Props
-Getting my third invite
-Getting a new deckbox
-Getting a Star Eater mat
-Playing a deck with Blue-Eyes in it
-WINNING a match with Blue-Eyes White Dragon
-Trades

Slops
-Awkward hands.  Especially in the Mirror
-Misplays.  I should have Veiler'd Temperance of Prophecy, not what it brings out.
-Getting that game loss.

All in all I was satisfied with how things went.  I played well and barring the Prophecy matchup I don't think I misplayed really badly.  I ran a deck that was good and something I was comfortable with and it worked.  Will I continue to run Blue-Eyes Rulers?  For now, yes.

Until next time!

Locals Report - The Fire Still Burns

So I started my day off like any other.  I got up, ate breakfast and took a shower before heading out because you know, that's how the awesome people do it.  Unlike some people though I went the extra mile and actually used soap and deodorant before leaving for locals!  Fascinating, is it not?  Well results speak as I was one of the few people who DIDN'T attract the flies.  No I'm not kidding.  There were at least 5 flies in the shop and they were attracted to the individuals who have always placed Card Games as a higher priority than hygiene.

And yet for all of that they still amount to scrubs whose decks stink even more than they do.  Ever wonder why they also never sleeve their decks?  I know.  It's because the smell of rotting flesh and feces would cause Ultra Pros to wither up like leaves from a dying tree.  In that case I can understand why spending money on sleeves that you'll ruin in a matter of hours would be bad.

Or you could spend the money on some fucking soap you filthy bastards.

"I don't bite!"

Condescending?  Perhaps.  But it is the truth.  You DAMN RIGHT.  Onto the locals where I decided to play Fire King because I had Wolfbarks that I wanted to get some use out of before possibly selling them!  It's not the first time I've made a deck just because all of the pieces fell into my lap.

Round 1 - Dragunity Ruler (0-2)

Game 1 - Unfortunately not much to say on this.  He had answers and I made a misplay that ultimately cost me the match.

Game 2 - He's got the answers again.  Vanity's Emptiness is a real pain for this deck to deal with if you don't draw the MSTs which I didn't.

Anyway with my spot in top cut now confirmed I was now disappointed.  If you lose just a single round at locals with the turnouts we have you're pretty much screwed out of a top finish unless the people you beat have good records which would require them to be good..

....

Yeah exactly.  My chances of being paired up against competent players were extremely slim.  This was confirmed after the next pairings were announced.

Round 2 - Typical DevPro Player.dek (2-0)

Game 1 - ...did he seriously use Sakuretsu Armor on a Fire King monster?

Game 2 - I'm surprised he wasn't running 60 cards.  What, you were expecting more elaborate stuff?  "Oh I played against a scrub using a random pile of cards that did nothing but stall and annoy me!  It's okay though because I CRUSHED him."

Yeah whoop dee FUCKING do.  Next round.

Round 3 - vs Junk Doppel (2-0)

Game 1 - He makes Librarian which is cool but then I played trap cards that disrupted his strategy and won.

Game 2 - Bottomless on Road Warrior is a painful thing.  I resolve an Onslaught and it's over.

As I thought I finished out of top cut which was disappointing.  I got to see Dragunity Rulers vs Inzektor Agents and Prophecy.  The last one was a near 40+ min long match.

On that note I've got a lot of mixed feelings about Dragunity Ruler.  I can see its power and speed but I don't know.  I've been testing it as well and I'm not quite getting the hang of things.  It's easy to just play it as a Dragunity deck with extra monsters to summon or vice versa (which is considered to be "doing it wrong" but I'm certain there is a style of play that intertwines the two decks.  Can I understand enough of this deck to take it to Regionals where I KNOW the Mirror Match and things using Maxx "C" will be present?  Time will tell.

That said we all went to Robins where games of Vanguard were had and I played Cubed where I had both pleasant and REALLY salty experiences.  Fucking Divine Wrath.  Fucking super situational combination of random cards.  Take my Crimson Blader then BOOK IT so I don't get it back.

I did resolve some turn 1 Dustshoots and made a Trishula.  He should not come back.

Props
-Proving that once again when it comes to Fire Kings I AM the better player.  Woodhouse has nothing on me and I've only played the deck sporadically since release.
-Picking up an Ultra Upstart Goblin for various purposes.
-Played as well as I could with what I had

Slops
-Misplays.  They cost games
-Fucking flies everywhere.

BONUS: Derps
-Return from the Different %(*ing Dimension.  This card is SO getting banned.

Locals Report - Just who the hell do you think I am!?

I was originally going to go with "Storming into a new format" but then things happened.  Awesome things happened.

Anyway welcome to the new format!  Isn't it grand?  I'm throughly enjoying myself even if I've only played a few games in this.  In fact the first Locals of the new format kicked off today and I decided to run Dragunity.  Turns out today was a good day for Dragunity in general as one got Top 8 and a Dragunity/Dragon Ruler hybrid got Top 4 at YCS Toronto.  My build wasn't anywhere near as aggro, however.  I opted to focus on being consistent and having traps to back up a simplified game state of even Stardust Dragon or to be able to hold down the fort for a turn while I assemble a nutty hand.  Threw together a side to deal with what would be sided on me and some matchups I didn't like and proceeded to take flight.

Hahah.  See what I did there?  I r so gud.

Round 1 - vs Heroes (2-0)

Game 1 - He T Roar'd my first attack then tried to do some stuff.  I remember Compulsing his Shining and that was it.

Game 2 - I open with the Mystletainn, Ravine, Phalanx hand and go the fuck off.  I decided to end my combo with a Crimson Blader to shut off his fusion plays...and he has Threatening Roar again.  He Dark Hole's my field and I'm forced to recover after making such a giant push.  I do because this guy is bad and running Jaden cards like Woodsman and he's unable to answer Crimson Blader.

Round 2 - vs Fire Fist (2-0)

Game 1 - He opens with a Bear and backrow, drops Dragon and swings into Mirror Force.  I establish Stardust and Thought Ruler over a couple turns and take it.

Game 2 - I open "the hand" and go off.

Round 3 - vs Fire Fist (2-1)

Game 1 - I open all monsters with 2 of them being Tempest.  Not ideal when dealing with a competent player and several backrow.  I bait out Fiendish Chain with Aklys so that Legionnaire can score the +2 on my next turn before he Bears and swings for game using Tensen.  I could have Veiler'd the Bear but I opted not to because I wanted to use it on his Xyz play and was not expecting the trap.  My mistake.

Game 2 and 3 - These are kind of a blur.  I know between the two of them a Maxx "C" is dropped and I consider taking the challenge but don't when I really should have given well...what do Fire Fist run that I'd have to worry about them drawing into sans Veiler?  They're not like D. Rulers who benefit from a 15 card hand.  Also basically it became a grind of Stardust, Redmd and Tempest just poking and poking.  He ultimately clears the board but my own backrow starts to put in work and Legionnaire + Phalanx + Tempest get enough shots in to win the match.

Top 4 - vs Chronomoly (2-0)

Game 1 - Every single of my Dux summons were hit by Veiler or Breakthrough Skill.  I'm able to get around this with Mystletainn in one instance and grinded it from there.

Game 2 - After getting around a negate I get "the hand" and go off.

Finals - vs Ophion.dek (2-0)

Game 1 - This is a clear example of how people will say "well if he does that I have this for that" but then it actually never does.  In a perfect world you will always have your ideal setup with your counters to their counters.  However this is the real world and you don't always get that.  Win the dieroll and make a Turn 1 Ophion?  Thats fine.  Guess what?  I've got the Legionnaire + Aklys combo that my deck has to get around that.  No Safe Zone or Forbidden Dress?  Well too bad!  Anyway I +2 on him (and get his Pandemic off the board with Aklys) and Fiendish Chain his second Ophion because he's able to drop another one the following turn.  I play Mystletainn and he tries to tell me I can't before I have to tell him about Fiendish Chain (this combined with his general aura that I got from him  pre match allowed me to determine his player level by the way).  Afterwards I Synchro Summon Thought Ruler Archfiend over anything else because everyone knows just how much Evilswarm LOSE to Master of Blades and well, TRA is alot like that and my decision was correct as he tried to Forbidden Dress him and things went downhill from there.  He also tried to Prison the Stardust I summoned later but I dodged that and took it.

Game 2 - He opens with a Heliotrope and protection but I've got Dark Bribe and a hand that allowed me to drop Thought Ruler and Stardust again.  It snowballed from there.  He looked really disappointed that he lost, especially to a deck that I've noticed alot of Ophion players think they they roflstomp.

Newsflash.  The Dragunity matchup is nowhere near that simple.  We have just as many outs to your deck as Dragon Rulers.  Legionnaire + Aklys is very real.  Zerofyne is also a thing.  Your deck is ass and the only reason it will ever relevant is Ophion.  By the way how about that YCS Toronto?  I'm pretty sure Ophion.dek did a whole JACKSHIT after top 32!  I have no problem with Evilswarm as a theme.  I think they're neat.  What I do have a problem with is the snobby elitist attitude that the people who play the deck because of Ophion's power have.

Ophion is not god.  This is;

After that we went to Cam's place and watched Gurren Lagann and got to see the epicness that is SUPER TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN.  Jesus fucking christ.  Oh and I saw a bit of Aladdin before Megamonkey and I talked about how awesome it is seeing Daniel GOD DAMN Bryan being so over.

Props
-Storming into a first place finish at the first Locals of the new format with Dragunity.
-Picking up alot of good stuff via trades.  3x Hootcakes, 4x Secret Blaster, Gold Rare Lonefire.
-Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagan.  Jesus christ.  IT SHITS OUT GALAXIES.  WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT!?

Slops
-Misplays.  There were two of them and they cost me dearly.