Sunday, February 10, 2013

Tournament Report 2/9/13

As usual, more Vanguard tournaments, and still no Yu-Gi-Oh content.  An acquaintance of mine who was there actually tried to convince me that the format for Yu-Gi-Oh is really good since it's very diverse.  Diversity isn't indicative of a healthy format, and it isn't even required for a healthy format.  But yeah, the format is still bad because bad players can win as often as good players with the ridiculous power creep that has occurred.

So yeah, there were actually like 15 people there for the morning Vanguard tournament, which was nice, I guess.  Most of them were newbs, but that's to be expected of Vanguard players.  I was using my Dark Irregulars, which I haven't changed since last week because there was no reason to change the deck.  My friend who plays Vanguard who still doesn't have a name was using his Ergodiel Angel Feather deck, which I disapprove of, but whatever.  Riku was using a random Kagero deck that he bought for some reason, and he brought his girlfriend, who was playing a Great Nature deck they made last week.  Aside from our group, there was only about one relatively good player there, so yeah.

Round 1: vs Kagero (Lawkeeper)

This guy was using a Lawkeeper deck with Amber Dragon, Dawn as his starting Vanguard.  I asked him why, and he said that he was just testing it.  Um, yeah, I don't know what there is to test.  Conroe is one of the best starting Vanguards ever, so I wouldn't drop it for the Amber Dragon ride chain... Anyways, I just won using my Breakdown Death Brace both games.

OO

Round 2: vs Angel Feather (Ergodiel)

I was up against my friends.  So, after contemplating the conspiracies that would have occurred to pit us against each other, we played a fairly straightforward match.  I won the first game with my Breakdown Death Brace, because you can't guard it for more than like two turns in a row without losing.  I decked out in the second game because he refused to give me a fifth damage, so he was able avoid the Death Brace.  And I won the third game with the Breakdown Death Brace, because it's just that good.

OXO

Round 3: vs Royal Paladin

This was my Top 8 opponent from this evening Vanguard tournament.  His main deck is Narukami, but he makes a secondary deck and sells it soon afterwards, then makes another secondary deck with the money he gets, or something like that.  He was using the Galahad ride chain (minus the Grade 3) because it's the right thing to do, but he didn't realize that he needs the Grade 3 Galahad to Soul Charge twice with the Grade 2.  Anyways, he got gradestuck on the Grade 2 Galahad and I just Breakdown Death Braced him to death.  He had to leave after the first game, so he just gave me the win.

O-

Round 4: vs Dark Irregulars

This was my Round 1 opponent from last weekend's morning Vanguard tournament.  I honestly don't know how he got to the finals (by the way, this was the final round).  He had beaten Riku in the previous round, which was sad, but whatever.  He got gradestuck on Grade 1 both games, so it was easy for me to win.  I didn't even have to use my Breakdown Death Brace, since I never got to five damage.  Anyways, I asked him what his grade ratio was after the match, and he said it was 17-10-6.  I told him to make it 15-11-7, and he accepted my advice.

OO

So I went undefeated and got 1st place, getting eight packs of Set 4 in addition to the entry packs.  I pulled a fourth Paralyze Madonna, which went into my Megacolony deck; a third Blaster Dark, after getting two from the kid who gave me all of the free Megacolony stuff in exchange for the Phantom Blaster Dragon I pulled a while ago; an Enigman Storm, which I gave to my friend for his Dimension Police deck; and a Rugos for Aki's Shadow Paladin deck.  The Paralyze Madonna was honestly all I wanted, which is why all of the other stuff went to my friends, but yeah.

I was also able to get the fourth Lozenge Magus I needed for my random Oracle Think Tank deck, so now it's more-or-less complete.  Riku pulled a Maiden of Libra and gave it to me for my Oracle Think Tank deck, and I think he's going to bring me a Battle Sister, Glace, so that I can replace the stupid Security Guardians I had to put in the deck.

So normally I don't talk about this next part in the tournament reports, but something important happened between the tournaments.  I usually go across the street to get Panda Express for lunch, but when I walked in, the manager told me that they don't have Mandarin Chicken anymore.  She knows that I always get Mandarin Chicken for lunch, which is all I get there because it's the only thing there that isn't spicy or mixed with vegetables.  So, now I won't be able to have Panda Express anymore between tournaments.  It's quite saddening, since now I have to eat fast food that's even more unhealthy, like McDonald's.  Oh well, I'll deal with it.

But yeah, I told my friend that the reason he hasn't been topping is that he purposefully plays bad decks (along with the fact that he shuffles lazily).  He said that he just doesn't want to think while he plays, so he usually misplays, which is why he hasn't been topping.  He then said that he'll try to play smart for the evening tournament.

There were only 14 players there for the evening Vanguard tournament, which is odd.  A lot of the people who usually come in groups didn't show up, which would explain why there was a relatively low turnout.  But yeah, my friend and I were using the same decks as before, and Riku and his girlfriend couldn't make it to this tournament.

Round 1: vs Pale Moon

It's the bad Pale Moon guy.  I just won because he doesn't know how to make proper columns.

OO

Round 2: vs Gold Paladin (Pellinore)

This was my Round 3 opponent from this Vanguard tournament.  He made it to the Top 4 last weekend by Pellinore-sacking everyone, or so I heard.  He went first both games and used his Spring Breeze Messenger while I was at Grade 1, so he wasted the only gimmick his deck really had.  I won 2-0 with the Breakdown Death Brace.

OO

Round 3: vs Angel Feather (Ergodiel)

I was playing my friend again.  I was able to win both games with the Breakdown Death Brace, and I didn't let him heal with his Persona Blast, which people let through far too often.

OO

Round 4: vs Megacolony (Giraffa)

This was my Round 3 opponent from this evening Vanguard tournament.  His deck was just about as incoherent as the last time we played, but he was somehow undefeated.  In fact, we were the last two undefeated players.  In the first game, I got gradestuck on Grade 0 for a while, then on Grade 2 once I finally got there.  I obviously lost that game.  In the second game, he had to ride Violent Vesper, which I rubbed in his face since I told him not to run that card at all.  Because of that, I could easily make 19k columns to beat him up with, along with my Breakdown Death Brace.  In the third game, he missed his ride chain again (he missed it all three games, in fact) and had to ride Master Fraude.  That was good, since I could just make 20k columns across the board to win.  He did get close to winning by pulling double Stand Triggers the turn after my first Breakdown Death Brace (which he perfect guarded), but his 15k column was weak to my 11k Death Anchor, so I was able to guard for 35k total against his rear-guard attacks (the Vanguard was perfect guarded).  That was every single card I could guard with (since I don't get triggers as often as I should, all I had were five 5k shields and one 10k shield, along with the perfect guard and Grade 3).  He wasn't able to guard the Death Brace on the following turn, but his sixth damage was a Heal Trigger.  "You need one more," I said, evilly, as my Death Anchor had the built-in Critical.  He didn't get another Heal Trigger, so I won.

After that, they cut to Top 4.  I made it, of course, being the last remaining undefeated player.  My Round 4 opponent also made it, of course.  My Round 3 opponent from last weekend's evening Vanguard tournament also made it with his Spike Brothers deck; I don't know what happened to his Dark Irregulars.  And my friend... was not a disgrace this time.  He made the Top 4 with a 3-1 record, after having lost to me in the third round.

The prizes were 10-5-3-2 for 1st through 4th, so we decided to just split and get five packs each.  Even if both my friend and I won our Top 4 matches, we'd just get an additional five packs, which was not worth the consequences of losing.  So, I got Set 4 and he got Set 7.  He pulled bad Pale Moon cards, while I pulled a Dark Metal Dragon and an Enigman Wave, the latter of which I gave to him for his Dimension Police deck.  Sometime during the day, I forgot if it was from the morning or evening tournament, I also pulled another Diamond Ace, which I kept for myself.  I plan on making the Zeal build once Set 8 comes out, but if I give up on it, I could just sell the perfect guards later, since that Great Daiyusha deck might become popular then.

So yeah, Death Anchor was quite good.  It's nice to not have to trigger-sack people to win, since Death Anchor has his built-in Critical/+10k.  The 20k columns also help a lot.  The deck should continue to be good once crossrides come out, since it can make 18k columns ridiculously easily, though I will have to drop the Knowledge Drunkards at that point.  Oh, and Hysteric Shirley will be nice to have, too.

But yeah, next Saturday morning will be a Vanguard draft tournament for Set 5.  I'm not sure how many people are going to actually do that, but I already pre-registered because I want the Kai/DOTE mat.  I already have a strategy for what I'm going to draft, and I assume that most of the people, seeing as how they're Vanguard players (implying most Vanguard players are bad), won't have any strategy at all for drafting.  My friend has yet to decide whether or not he's going to do the draft, and I'm pretty sure that Riku has decided against it.  I'm pretty sure that the evening tournament isn't going to be a draft, though, which I don't care about either way.

Anyways, I don't have any time at all to do anything this week, so I'll probably have to skip my semi-annual "Hopes for the Ban List" post.  You can just assume that it's the same as last year, plus Mermail and Fire Fist cards, and maybe Wind-Up Magician.  That's basically what I do every six months: take the previous "Hopes" post and add the new broken cards that Konami has released, along with minor changes according to the ban list, assuming Konami actually fixed anything.  Hopefully they'll fix enough of the broken stuff to convince me to play in tournaments again, but I highly doubt that that'll happen.  In any case, I'll be waiting for Hidden Arsenal 7, and we'll see what happens then.

33 comments:

  1. What do you mean when you mention your friend playing bad deck? There are no bad decks. Any clan can win.

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    1. Of course any deck can win if you get lucky, but you shouldn't have to rely on luck to win, especially against the bad players at our locals. I mean, most of them don't even know how to make proper columns, and one guy was using a 17-10-6 grade ratio...

      My friend was playing a deck that couldn't really generate card advantage at all (which is a problem with Angel Feather decks in general), so aside from some damage swapping effects, his deck was basically vanilla. He had to rely on trigger-sacking to win, which is bad.

      Yes, I know this is Vanguard, where trigger-sacking is the ultimate factor in determining who wins, but there are a few ways to help tip the odds in your favor. For instance, I play Death Anchor so that I can "Crit" people without having to sack a Critical Trigger. Aside from that and making 21k columns, there's not much you can do but hope to get your triggers and to not get gradestuck.

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    2. If your friend plays Core Memory, it can generates pluses since Angel feather is all about damage swapping so the damage zone is usually unflipped due to Nociel. I always play 4 core memory though. Not to mention, Ergodiel is on hit too, so it forces the opponent to waste his/her cards to guard against persona blast or Core Memory on hit draw power.

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    3. I know these things, but it's pretty easy to prevent on-hit effects from going off if there aren't too many of them. When I played against him, I had no problem stopping his on-hit effects, which is why I was able to win pretty easily.

      The thing is that when he'd play against bad players (most Vanguard players), they'd let them through every time, so it wouldn't be too hard for him to win. But, there's no point in playing a deck that auto-wins against bad players if it auto-loses against decent players.

      Either way, he decided to change to a Pale Moon deck, so we'll see how that works this weekend.

      Delete
    4. Which pale moon build is he playing? Your friend must be embarrassed to be lectured by you, since he is the one who teach you vanguard in the first place.

      Delete
    5. He's going to use a Crimson Beast Tamer-based build with Sword Magician, Sarah as the main Vanguard. It would allow him to make 21k columns using Midnight Invader and Turquoise Beast Tamer, as well as giving him access to the soul-swapping tricks with Sarah's effect.

      He knows that I'm a better player than him, so he doesn't mind when I correct him. Besides, he didn't really teach me Vanguard. He got me into it, and I learned from watching the anime.

      Delete
  2. You mentioned you don't eat food that is spicy or has vegetables at Panda. Is this because of some type of condition, or just personal preference? Hope you don't mind me asking.

    Also, March banlist is coming up, let's hope Konami finally bans Gateway but I'm sure it wont....

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    1. I can eat spicy food and vegetables, but I just don't like them. If I'm going to spend like $8.62 on a meal, then I'm going to get something I like to eat. Mandarin Chicken was worth it, but nothing else on their menu is worth it to me.

      I doubt Konami will actually fix anything. They may Limit Wind-Up Magician, Rescue Rabbit, and something to hurt Mermail, though it's hard to say what they'd feel safe hitting in the Mermail deck. But, I'm pretty sure that they're not going to really fix the format at all.

      Delete
  3. Why aren't the kaijudo tournament started yet?

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    1. I think that Kaijudo tournaments are scheduled to begin in March.

      Delete
  4. In your blog, you mention that your friend will try to play smart and he manages to get to top 4. So did you watch his duels? Did he play smart as he claims to be?

    Also, do you think female players are better than male players in term of skills or vice-versa?

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    1. I wasn't able to watch my friend's matches because I was playing my own, so I couldn't tell if he was playing smart or not. What I do know, though, is that the three people he won against weren't very good (one of them was downright awful; he didn't know what Conroe did, and he was playing Kagero). My friend doesn't like me to watch his matches anyways, since it makes him nervous, or so he says.

      I don't think that gender has anything to do with card-playing abilities.

      Delete
    2. Does your friend only get nervous if you are watching his match or does it applies to everybody? If it is the former, why? Does he feel so pressurized just because of "you" watching him play? Is it really ashamed to lose infront of you?

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    3. He doesn't like me to watch him play because he knows that I'll notice his misplays, even the really minor ones. I don't think he's ashamed to lose in front of me, specifically, because it's Vanguard and it's so luck-based. He just doesn't want me to watch him and see his misplays, which makes him nervous and causes him to make misplays.

      Delete
  5. Is Riku's girlfriend good in using great nature deck? Just asking. Did she beat Riku, your friend or even you? Probably lost to you, cuz you are THE BEST!

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    1. It's Vanguard, anyone can get lucky and win. But, neither my friend or I have played against her yet.

      She literally just started playing last week, so she hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. She still guards "no pass" against Vanguard attacks, so that's a bad habit she'll have to break. It's not a difficult game, though, so she'll probably learn how to play properly soon enough.

      Delete
    2. Is there any card games that emphasize more on skills and less on luck at all? Also it must be balanced too.

      Delete
    3. Z/X had the potential to be the most skillful card game, but it's ridiculously unbalanced from what I've heard.

      The most skillful card game, in my opinion, is Kaijudo. It is quite balanced and involves the least amount of luck when compared to other card games.

      Delete
    4. Z/X is unbalanced?! Damn! Guess it's yugioh all over again.

      As for kaijudo, I hope there will be regional tournament or even world tournament. The game too underrated.

      Delete
  6. Do you like Vanguard, or are you just posting Vanguard tournaments so that you can update your blog?


    I just remember you saying you'll never touch Vanguard

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    1. Well, I would post about Yu-Gi-Oh or Kaijudo, but there's really nothing going on for them right now. I mean, there are always new Yu-Gi-Oh products, but there's no point if the game itself is broken beyond repair. And organized play was announced for Kaijudo, but it hasn't started yet, so I'm waiting for that.

      So yeah, I am basically posting Vanguard tournament reports for the sake of posting. If the new ban list for Yu-Gi-Oh gets released and isn't terrible, maybe I'll start playing in tournaments again just to get some practice, but I highly doubt that Komani is aiming to fix the game.

      As for whether or not I like Vanguard, I guess I do. Vanguard tournaments aren't all that fun, but they're easy to win, so I play in them anyways. Vanguard is mainly just a game I like to play with friends, because it's easy to make fun of the game and have fun in general.

      I actually used to have fun playing in Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments, win or lose. Back then, when I lost, I knew that there was something I could improve on. But now, the game has just degenerated to promote luck over skill, so it's not fun anymore. I suppose that if I hadn't played before, when the game actually took skill, then I wouldn't mind as much, but I've seen how skillful the game can be, so that's what I'm left to compare it to.

      Delete
  7. I feel so sorry for that bad pale moon player. He always loses :-(

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    1. He's a really bad player who thinks that he actually knows what he's doing, so you shouldn't feel so bad.

      Delete
  8. It is really strange how TCG players are having so much problems with yugioh when back in ocg, people are having grinding formats with fire fist, verz and gadget decks...wind ups are just like a passing fad in OCG?...How's your infernity coming along?

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    1. Well, the TCG doesn't have all of the cards that makes those decks powerful, so of course people here would resort to Wind-Ups and Mermail. Though, to be honest, I haven't been keeping up with the meta in the OCG, so I don't know too much about how those decks are able to overpower Wind-Ups and Mermail. But I suppose it's too late to figure it out, since the new ban list will be in effect soon.

      I just need a second Mirage and Lavalval Chain when it comes out, and my Infernity deck will basically be done. I haven't decided on a build yet, but I basically have all of the cards I'll need to make whatever build I want. But, I'll have to wait and see how the format turns out before I decide.

      Delete
    2. you can check out shriek ocg for some uppdates...most builds of infernity play the summoner monk build

      Delete
    3. Well, reading deck lists doesn't necessarily show you the interactions between the decks. So, I like to watch duel videos from local tournaments in Japan.

      Delete
  9. So instead of doing the sensible thing and banning Gateway, Konummi gave sams another Smoke Signal. Yaaaaaaay...I am done with this game.

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    1. What, are you trying to copy LFN? Ha ha.

      But yeah, the sad thing is that that's not even a problem anymore. Sure, newbs running Six Samurai is annoying, but it's not really to the point where they can lock you down so easily. I mean, Warning would be Limited if the list you're referring to is correct, so it'd be easier to summon a big Monster to run over their Shi En.

      The worst part is that that list doesn't hit Mermail at all, so it's kind of ridiculous. But yeah, if that list is correct, then I'll basically lose whatever hope I had left that Konami would fix the game.

      Delete
    2. Yea I loved how LFN spelled it so I'm copying him now :p

      You are correct in that sams are not as threatening (especially with one less warning) as they were in their prime, but it is infuriating to see them throw more support instead of hitting the insta-win card.

      But yea, none of the new decks were touched at all, kinda like last March list where they nuked plants and left everything else untouched. I'm tired of the endless cycle of broken archetype being released, getting nerfed a year later and then introducing something more powerful. I think I'll be like you and just play casually now, the format is only going to get worse with time. How long can they sustain this system model before people eventually catch on?

      Delete
    3. Well, people who have been playing for at least a year probably already know. But a lot of people just don't care because they like a fast and broken game. People also like their wins being handed to them by their ridiculously powerful cards.

      Delete
  10. The new March banlist kills wind up. I can't believe this. Is Konami trying to make me waste my money to build the deck only to have them ban later? Blasphemy!!

    When Kaijudo tournament starts, does that mean you will stop playing vanguard?

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    1. Of course Konami wants your current deck to be destroyed so that you'll have to go out and buy a new one.

      Whether or not I'll even be entering Kaijudo tournaments depends on when they are. If they conflict with Vanguard tournaments, then Kaijudo takes precedence, of course. The only reason I'm playing Vanguard tournaments now is because there's nothing else at the moment. If Yu-Gi-Oh somehow gets better, then that will take precedence over Vanguard, too.

      Delete

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