Tournament Report 8/17/13 & 8/18/13

So, I went to locals as usual.  Yesterday morning was the Vanguard Welcome Campaign thing, so I got a free deck box and there was no tournament.  Aki, my friend who plays Vanguard, and the fourth Snogal all showed up as well, so they got free deck boxes, too.

After that, Aki bought my friend's Shadow Paladin deck, so my friend had the money to make a new Kaijudo deck.  Unfortunately, he forgot his Kaijudo cards, so he just bought the cards he needed and we had to make the deck later.  So, the four of us just had a few Vanguard tag fights.  The fourth Snogal and I won because Platina Ezel's Ultimate Break is really good when you can use it at least two times per game.

So then after that, we went and got my friend's Kaijudo cards so that he could make his deck.  I had to lend him 20 cards, literally half the deck, but he was able to make a WDFN Dragon Rush deck using Hammer Dragon, Foulbyrn and a bunch of ramp spells.  It seems pretty good, and it has been something he has wanted to make.

Then came the evening Vanguard tournament.  There was a total of 18 players.  I was using Arboros Dragon Neo Nectar, Aki was using Vermillion Narukami, my friend was using my Pale Moon deck, and the fourth Snogal was using his Ezel Gold Paladin deck.

Round 1: vs Shadow Paladin

I played against a bad Shadow Paladin player who opened with her Blaster Javelin both games.  She kept guarding either one-to-pass or no-pass (almost never two-to-pass), so it was easy to see that she didn't know what she was doing.  I opened really badly in the first game, but I got triggers and she didn't, so I was able to win after a long while.  I won the second game because I got my ride chain.  She was really upset because of the first game for some reason, so she dropped and left after I won.

OO

Round 2: vs Pale Moon

I got paired against my friend.  He just got paired up against the fourth Snogal in the previous round, so that was bad.  I decided to give him the win so that he could drag us both up, even though I 2-0'd him because Pale Moon doesn't have any good 11k Grade 3's yet.

Round 3: vs Megacolony (Machining)

This was my Round 2 opponent from this evening Vanguard tournament.  He got gradestuck on Grade 2 both games, so I won.

OO

Round 4: vs Gold Paladin (Ezel)

I don't know why there was a Round 4.  Apparently they wanted to do four rounds then Top 4, instead of three rounds then Top 8.  Anyways, I was paired down against my Round 3 opponent from this evening Vanguard tournament.  He was able to crossride both games, but I kept killing his attackers so he couldn't make good columns, so his Ultimate Break was ineffective.  I won the first game after withstanding his lackluster Ultimate Break, then I won the second game with like 12 cards in hand because I got the ride chain and he didn't have a full field.

OO

So they cut to Top 4.  My friend and Aki made it to the Top 4, and they were paired against each other.  So, they decided to let my friend go on to the finals to play against a bad Narukami player.  But, he ended up getting trigger-sacked, so we only got 2nd and 3rd place.

Either way, the fourth Snogal was able to get a Demon World Marquis, Amon so that he'll have it when Set 12 comes out, so that was good.  Other than that, we didn't really get much.

So, on the following day (today), my friend and I went to the morning Kaijudo tournament.  There was a total of 10 players there.  I was playing Aki's LWF Dragon Aggro deck, and my friend was playing the WDFN Dragon Rush deck he made yesterday.

Round 1: vs LWDF Dragons

This was my Round 4 opponent from this Kaijudo tournament.

-Duel 1: He opened with Nix and had a good progression, while I opened with two Bottle of Wishes and no plays until turn 6, so I lost.
-Duel 2: I was able to resolve Herald of Infernus' effect to drop an Infernus the Awakened to win.
-Duel 3: We both worked to simplify the gamestate, and I was in a better position by the end of it.  But, he kept top-decking Dragons, and I kept top-decking Piercing Judgments, Hyperspeed Dragons, and Tatsurion, so I lost.

XOX

Round 2: vs Mono-Light Rush

This was my Round 1 opponent from this Kaijudo tournament.  He decided to run Mono-Light Rush for some reason.

-Duel 1: He got a good progression and was able to rush me, and I didn't draw any Blockers, so I lost.
-Duel 2: I got a few Shield Blasts and was able to withstand his initial rush so that I could win.
-Duel 3: I was able to get a Bottle of Wishes (variance!) in the shields to get a Nix when he attacked me on turn 4.  That let me play Hyperspeed Dragon on turn 4.  He broke another shield, which gave me Piercing Judgment to stop the rest of his attacks.  I drew a Herald of Infernus and summoned it after charging.  That killed his Rodi Gale, letting me drop another Herald.  That Herald killed his Shaw K'Naw and let me drop Infernus the Awakened to kill his last creature, Keeper of Laws.  The Awakened won the game because he's playing Mono-Light Rush.

XOO

Round 3: vs LWdF Dragons

This was my Round 3 opponent from this Kaijudo tournament.  The small "d" means that he splashed Terror Pits.  Anyways, I don't really remember the first two games, but I know that I won the third game because I dropped Infernus the Awakened using Herald of Infernus on turn 6.

XOO

So I ended up going 2-1 and got 4th place.  My friend went 2-1 after losing to my Round 3 opponent in the first round and got 5th place.  Neither of us won any packs, but I got a Magris the Magnetizer in the raffle and pulled a Steamtank Kryon.

So that's about it.  They actually ran out of Clash of the Duel Masters packs after the tournament was over, so I'll have to decide which packs to get next weekend, if I can make it, that is.  I'll definitely miss the morning Vanguard tournament next weekend, but I don't know about the evening Vanguard tournament or the Kaijudo tournament.  We'll see what happens, I suppose.