Random Stuff #51

I don't think I'll have any time for another blog post until Saturday, so I figure that I might as well put one up now.  It's kind of a double-post, so don't forget to check out the previous post (a tournament report that was technically uploaded today, since it was after midnight).

So the Atlantean Structure Deck came out, which is really cool.  I'm really happy that Genex Undine is once again a good card, since I used to play Genex (like two years or so ago).  I kind of want to play Atlanteans competitively, but they're kind of lacking as a theme.  For one, it's quite difficult to use the Atlantean's secondary effects, since the only reliable way to send them to the Graveyard using a Water Monster's effect is by using Genex Undine.  There's Dragon Ice and Abyss Soldier, but you have to draw them as well as the Atlanteans, which can deplete your hand.  I don't know, I like the theme, but it doesn't seem that good, at least without Mermails...

Other than that, Yu-Gi-Oh has still been very stale.  I guess Wind-Ups are kind of new in Japan, and they've been wrecking the meta there from what I've seen.  But yeah, nothing really new.

It's the same with Kaijudo.  Until the new cards come out next month, there won't be much to discuss.  That, and the fact that my locals only has Kaijudo events on Sunday, which I am unable to attend.  Maybe I can convince the shopkeeper to consider moving the Kaijudo league to Saturday before the Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments, at the same time as the Vanguard tournaments.  I mean, the leagues are just free play, so I could enter the Vanguard tournament then participate in the league afterwards.  And if there are actual tournaments, then Kaijudo takes precedence over Vanguard.

As for Vanguard, there's one more weekend of local tournaments before the Regional and National in two weeks.  That means that there's one more week to test my decks before the Regional, which I don't expect to win, and the team tournament side event at the National, which is what I'm actually excited for.  Playing on a team with two of my friends like in the anime should be exciting.  We still haven't decided on a team name yet (I haven't even talked to Aki about it), though.  Most team names end up being cheesy, so I was thinking about making it purposefully cheesy.  "Team Speeder Hound" has a nice ring to it, ha ha.  My friend who plays Vanguard suggested "Team Sagramore", since he knows that I hate the Grade 3 Sagramore, but I'd be okay with the name, since it sounds good and I like the Grade 1 Sagramore.

Neither of my decks are ready for the Regional/team tournament, but my friend should be able to get me the cards I need by this weekend. I need a fourth Dragonic Overlord for my Invincible Overlord deck, and I already have the Wyvern Guard, Barri that I'm going to tech.  I'm not sure if I want to use that Barri or a third Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara.  Half the time, I kind of wish that I could have a Kimnara to retire my opponent's boosters.  But, I'm going to change out a Hungry Dumpty for a third Berserk Dragon, so I guess that should do it.

For my Nova Grappler deck, all I have are a few cards that I've been getting from packs and a few cards my friend has already given me.  He's basically going to be giving me a whole collection of Nova Grapplers, and I'm going to put the deck together as I see fit.  I'm thinking about going with a 16-13-4 or 15-13-5 grade ratio.  If that low Grade 3-count ends up not working out, then I might run a more conventional Nova Grappler build, but I'd really rather not do that unless I can get more Twin Bladers.  We'll see, I guess.

I'm also thinking about running Marvelous Hani, but I just can't stop thinking about how bad it is unless it has a Tough Boy supporting it.  My other Grade 2's will be Kirara, Black Tortoise, and either King of Sword or Brutal Jack, but I kind of want to maximize on-hit skills so that my opponent won't be able to stop them all.  I don't know, I just feel like Marvelous Hani is really bad after my third turn, so I may not run it.

As for Aki's deck, my friend who plays Vanguard should be able to get enough cards for a viable Narukami deck (without Vermillions, sadly) by this weekend.  We'll just have to work with whatever he has, I suppose.  Vermillion is cool, but it's not the only reason why Narukami decks are playable, right?  Right...?

But yeah, I'm just looking forward to the team tournament.  It sounds fun, and it'd be great if either of the card shops I go to could do something like that.