Tournament Report 9/1/12

Yes, the first tournament of the new format.  I didn't really get to test much, but I guess that's why I went to locals this week.  But yeah, I went with my Nordic Diva deck, since there's really not much else I would want to play.  Gem-Knights would theoretically be better this format than last format based on Inzektors and Wind-Ups being hit alone, but they also lost Future Fusion.  It shouldn't matter that much, but I just wanted to use a more consistent deck.

Also, when I walked in, the store owner told me that they would start having Vanguard tournaments every Saturday morning before the Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, and Kaijudo league would be every Sunday morning before the Yu-Gi-Oh tournament.  Both of these things would start next weekend, so that's cool.  While I'll miss the Vanguard tournament due to the Regional on Saturday, I'd actually be able to go to the Kaijudo league.  I still won't be able to get the two boxes of the Core Set that Aki and I wanted before then, though.

But yeah, there were about 24 people there today, or so.

Round 1: Newbie Deck

This was my Round 3 opponent from this tournament.  He plays Exodia, and he tried to stall with stuff like Marshmallon to draw into it, but Thor kills Marshmallon.  2-0.

Round 2: vs Dino Rabbit

-Duel 1: He opened with two Thunder King Rai-Ohs, which admittedly give my deck trouble sometimes.  Usually I can just push through them, but he had a bunch of back rows to support it.  When I was finally able to get rid of them, then protect myself with a Wind-Up Zenmaines, he used Monster Reborn on a Rai-Oh, then summoned a Sabersaurus and overlaid for Photon Papilloperative to kill me.
-Duel 2: I quickly made a Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth, and he couldn't kill it, so he scooped.
-Duel 3: He opened with one each of Kabazauls and Sabersaurus, and I was able to kill them so that he couldn't overlay.  But after those and me using Solemn Judgment on his Tour Guide, he topped Pot of Avarice to draw into a Rescue Rabbit and save himself.  He drew another Rabbit after that and there wasn't much I could do.

XOX

Round 3: vs T.G. Stun

-Duel 1: He didn't draw many Monsters, and I just made a Catastor and kept killing his T.G.'s.  He was able to flip Skill Drain with Barabros, but Book of Moon protected me, and he just had no answers to Catastor.
-Duel 2: This time, he drew quite a few Monsters with not many back rows, so I didn't have any trouble ripping through his defenses.

OO

At this point, my friend who plays Vanguard told me that he would be going to another nearby card shop to participate in the Vanguard tournament there.  He was just waiting for a ride from his friend.  So, I kind of rushed my next match; since I had already lost once, there wasn't a very good chance for me to top, so I might as well just drop and go play in the Vanguard tournament.

Round 4: vs Junk Doppel

This was my Round 1 opponent from this tournament.  He jokingly complained about having to play against me, since he knows that I run really random decks that he's never prepared for.

-Duel 1: I made a Wind-Up Zenmaines and a T.G. Hyper Librarian to protect myself from his Synchro plays since I had no back rows.  He played Mind Control to steal my Librarian, then summoned Lonefire Blossom to get Dandylion, and played One for One by discarding Spore to Special Summon Effect Veiler.  Obviously, he used my Librarian against me, and that was the turning point of the match; I just couldn't recover from all of that advantage.
-Duel 2: I didn't draw any back rows, but I drew a bunch of Tuners.  Needless to say, I couldn't do much with them, and he was able to run them over with Card Trooper and pick apart my hand with Spirit Reaper.  It was kind of a horrible way to lose.

XX

With that, I dropped.  I got a Turbo Pack 8 since I actually remembered that Fwazalaza wants the Super Rare Gadgets.  I opened my pack and went to ask him, "You still need a Green Gadget, right?"  He said yes, and I said, "Well, I didn't pull one."  Ha ha, it was a Lost Guardian.

So, then I went to the Vanguard tournament with my friend who plays Vanguard.  I used my $29 Gold Kagero deck that has too many Sagramores.

My first round was against Angel Feathers.  I knew how they worked in general, but I still had to read all of his cards.  I won the first game because he got gradestuck on Grade 0.  I was able to deal 6 damage before he got to Grade 3, so that was kind of sad.  He won the next two games because that didn't happen.

My second round was against my friend's friend's little brother.  He didn't know how to play, so I was basically telling him what to do for half the game.  I still won 2-1 because he kept calling his Critical Triggers and Heal Triggers as boosters.

I played against a Kagero Trial Deck with cards from Set 2 (the Dragon one, whatever it's called...) and Mr. Invincibles.  I lost because he kept getting Critical Triggers, which was saddening.

The last round was against a Gold Paladin deck that uses the Vortimer evolutionary line.  In the first game, he got gradestuck on Grade 2, so I won.  In the second game, he successfully evolved all the way up to Spectral Duke Dragon to get two free superior calls off the top of his deck, then pulled a Critical Trigger when attacking with the Spectral Duke Dragon before using its Limit Break; I didn't have enough to guard, the second attack, so I hoped for a Heal on the first attack, but that didn't happen.  I lost the third game somehow; I don't really remember.

So, all of the games I won against the competent players were due to them getting gradestuck.  That's quite a valuable lesson: you can win against anyone in Vanguard as long as they get gradestuck.  It's kind of stupid, honestly.

My friend who plays Vanguard made it to the top 4, but lost in the semi-finals to double Triggers.  He proceeded to lose the cardfight for 3rd place by getting gradestuck both games.  He still got two packs of Set 1 (the King of Knights, Alfred one) and pulled a Lozenge Magus, which is cool.

Either way, he said that he'll be at locals tomorrow and that he'll bring the cards I wanted.  I texted him a huge list, so hopefully he'll have what I need for my deck.  I'm hoping that once my deck is more focused and doesn't use the stupid Grade 3 Sagramore anymore, it'll do a lot better.  Honestly, I lost a lot of games because I drew too many Sagramores or because I didn't draw my other Grade 3's.  Well, it's all luck, so I don't really care.  I'm still going to play in the Vanguard tournaments at locals on Saturdays because they're free and I can get free stuff.  So yeah, I'll be at locals tomorrow (really tomorrow, since I finished this post before midnight).