Another Thursday without a new episode of Burn Notice... Oh well, might as well spend this time productively.
So, I've got a Regional to go to on Saturday, as I've said in probably every post for the past few weeks. I was kind of excited for it before, but now I feel like I don't really care. I feel as though part of it is due to me reading Michael Bonacini's post on why Regional tops don't mean much, but that's not really news to me.
The main reason would be the fact that before we knew what the ban list was, there was a lot of hope that Konami would fix the game. They usually do a fairly decent job on their September ban lists, so we could hope for a real ban list that would deal with the problems of the format. However, the ban list really didn't do anything. The only thing it really did was kill Inzektors, which I'm happy about, but it wasn't enough. Wind-Ups, Dino Rabbit, Dark Worlds, and other sacky decks still exist. It's been pretty obvious that Konami doesn't care about the health of the game; they just want to reward players who open with Wind-Up Magician and Shark or Rescue Rabbit.
Don't be mistaken, I don't really care that Wind-Ups and Dino Rabbit specifically are still around. I just care about the fact that Konami doesn't care. I was hoping for a fun new format where innovation would be rewarded, but based on the results of YCS Toronto (minus Psoil, which I'll get to in a moment), nothing has changed. The same decks are still at the top, minus Inzektors, of course.
As for Jeff Jones' Top 2 with Psychics, that's cool, I guess. It's impressive, but the deck is really just being hyped. It's like when Chaos Dragons got two Top 2's on the same weekend, and everyone jumped on the deck. Then, everyone figured out how to deal with them, and the deck lost all of its power. With Psychics, if you don't have Serene Psychic Witch, you can't do much; that's why Jeff Jones ran two Giant Rats in his final build for the YCS, or so I assume. Having a deck so dependent on one card like that isn't good. Besides, now that people know how Psychics work, there's nothing stopping them from playing Dimensional Fissure to wreck them.
But yeah, I just feel as though this format isn't as exciting as I had hoped. I'm still playing Nordic Diva; I wanted to have to go out and find a new creative deck to deal with the meta, but since the meta didn't change, there was no reason to. And so, my deck is already ready for Regionals. I haven't even touched the deck since I finished it, since I don't really care how well I do at the Regional. Yes, it's cool to Top 8 and get a nice mat (actually, I think it's the Prophecy Monster mat, so I guess it's not that nice), but all it takes is getting lucky nine rounds in a row. It's not like I'm not going to try, it's just that I don't care.
Either way, I'll be going with Fwazalaza and my friend who plays Vanguard. They'll be using Six Samurai (like always) and a Gagaga deck, respectively. Yes, Gagaga. Apparently, he wanted to make a Gagaga deck for a while, but since it didn't work on its own, he mixed Photons in with the Gagaga Monsters. But now that we have the proper cards to support the Gagaga archetype (if it can even be considered an archetype), he has made a more-or-less pure Gagaga deck. That's cool, I guess.
So yeah, if we scrub out, then we'll probably go to the other card shop and play in the free Vanguard tournament again. My friend who plays Vanguard will have the rest of the cards I need for my Vanguard deck on Saturday, so I'll be able to complete my deck and never spend time looking for Vanguard cards ever again. Of course, if my friend wants to give me more cards for free, I'm not going to turn them down. And I don't know if Fwazalaza would come with us. I told my friend who plays Vanguard to bring an extra deck for him in case he does come; it's probably the usual Nova Grappler deck or perhaps a Royal Paladin deck.
But yeah, with Yu-Gi-Oh not being a very skilled game at the moment, and Vanguard never having been a skilled game, I turn to Kaijudo for a true challenge. The Rise of the Duel Masters Core Set will be released tomorrow, but as I have said many times, I'm not planning on going out tomorrow to go get it. It's honestly a waste of a drive, since the card shop is a fair distance from my house, and I'm going to be there on Sunday anyways. I don't know for sure though, I may break down and go because I have nothing better to do tomorrow. I was planning on finishing preparing for Regionals tomorrow, but there's nothing left to do but print out my deck list, so I do have time. We'll see, I guess.
Either way, Aki and I are planning on getting a total of two boxes between us. I think that if I do decide to go tomorrow, I'm going to get one box, then wait to get the second box until after the tournament on Sunday. I mean, if I can win the box tournament, I might as well get a box of Kaijudo. Though, I don't have any cards from Return of the Duelist, so I may want that. Eh, I'll decide tomorrow if I even go.
Regardless, the Core Set looks really cool. I'm surprised that Crystal Memory stayed the same from Duel Masters while Logic Cube and that Nature search card were pretty severely weakened. I mean, they were really good in Duel Masters. Using Logic Cube to search for Hyperspatial Dravita Hole to get back Logic Cube is pretty crazy... But yeah, I'm happy that we'll finally have Stormspark Blast, and that it's in one of the starter decks along with Grand Gure. I expect that we'll be getting three of each starter deck mainly for the cover cards, but the cards in the starter decks (that we know of) aren't bad either. I know that Aki wanted to use Vorg, which is in the same starter deck as Stormspark Blast. Not to mention, we need six copies of Stormspark Blast... It's Stormspark Blast, yo.
It does seem like a lot of money though. A box of the Core Set would probably be around $85, while each starter deck would be $12 or so. That means that Aki and I would each be spending $121, which is a lot on a children's card game. However, it would be the last time we spend this much on Kaijudo all at once. I mean, each new booster set would most likely only be a 60-card set, meaning that we'd only need to buy one box at the most. And I don't think that they'll be releasing starter decks with each booster pack. I guess we'll discuss our plan on Sunday when we go to the Kaijudo league. Either way, expect a box opening video on Monday at the latest.
So yeah, that about does it for my weekend plans. To summarize: there's a Regional on Saturday, but I don't really care about how well I do; if I scrub out, I'll go play Vanguard; Aki and I are going to the Kaijudo league and Yu-Gi-Oh tournament on Sunday; and we're going to buy a bunch of Kaijudo cards.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Tournament Report 9/2/12
So, as usual, I went to locals again. I took my Nordic Diva deck of course, having changed two cards in the Side Deck and one in the Main Deck. I felt as though I didn't have enough side for random Synchro decks, so I added Dimensional Fissures. Yes, Dimensional Fissures. They hurt my deck a little, but if I have it out, their Junk Synchrons can't really kill my Guldfaxes. Unfortunately, I didn't get to side it in today, so I don't know how well it'll work.
But yeah, before the tournament started, I played a couple games of Kaijudo against Fwazalaza, and my friend who plays Vanguard arrived and gave me about half of the cards on the list I sent him. He said he'll have the other half next weekend. Unfortunately, he didn't bring Mr. Invincibles, so I couldn't change my deck at all. If I were to have them, then I wouldn't need to run Sagramores anymore, which is the main thing I want to change. I guess I'll have to wait, then, not that it matters since I'll be at Regionals next Saturday.
So yeah, there were 33 players there today (really yesterday, since it's after midnight...).
Round 1: vs Blackwings
This was my Round 2 opponent from this tournament.
-Duel 1: I whittled away at his card presence, even though he had drawn a very good hand, including Shura, Blizzard, and Kalut. Unfortunately for him, he didn't draw any Spells/Traps after a while, and while I opened up with all Monsters, they were the more proactive Monsters, like Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and Deep Sea Diva. So, I was able to just out-advantage him and steal his Armor Master with Monster Reborn while he couldn't do anything.
-Duel 2: I just get hit with too many Icarus Attacks and Kaluts to do anything. Oh, and I didn't draw many Monsters; just a couple Rykos, I think.
-Duel 3: I opened up with Gorz, Guldfaxe, D.D. Crow, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, Morphing Jar #2, and Monster Reborn. Since Shura is horribly disruptive, I couldn't just Set Guldfaxe and Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, so I had to just pass. He opened with Tour Guide into Tour Guide and attacked directly with one. I dropped Gorz, and he overlaid for Acid Golem. I topped Smashing Ground to destroy his Golem, then attacked with Gorz and Set the Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. He destroyed my field with Dark Hole then attacked me with a Bora. I Set Morphing Jar #2, since I had drawn another Guldfaxe, and ended. He played Nobleman of Crossout, which he apparently sides just for me, to banish my Jar. He then attacked directly with Bora again. I used Reborn on Gorz in a desperate attempt to kill Bora, but he had Kalut, so it didn't matter. After that, I just kept setting the Guldfaxes I was holding and tried to hold out for something, but I couldn't draw anything to save myself.
OXX
With that, I considered dropping. But, there'd be nothing to do, and my Round 1 opponent said that I should stay in in case I get paired up. So, I decided to keep playing.
Round 2: vs Newbie Deck
Oh look, I was paired up against the guy who got a bye in the first round. He wasn't very good, and his deck was built almost entirely from cards from the Battle Packs. A couple regulars had helped him with his deck before the tournament, so it wasn't that bad. Either way, I just Synchro swarmed him both games to win.
Round 3: vs Dino Rabbit
This guy was a regular who I haven't played against in years, so I'm not going to bother looking up the last time I played against him. He knew what I was running and such.
-Duel 1: He opened with five back rows. Apparently he drew no Monsters, and he only drew two Monsters for the rest of the duel. So, I was able to take my time Setting my Flip Effect Monsters and baiting out all of his back rows. He just drew really poorly, but that's a risk you take when you play low Monster-count decks that run a bunch of Normals.
-Duel 2: I don't really remember what happened, but I basically had answers to any possible plays that he could've made. For instance, there was one point where he could've made a Laggia or a Dolkka against my Set Ryko and my Set Mind Control. I had Gorz and Smashing Ground in hand. He went with Laggia and lost it to Ryko. I did Set the Mind Control earlier to influence his decision, but I had the Smashing Ground to deal with a Dolkka, just in case. I ended up winning with a Gorz that I dropped on another Laggia.
OO
Yay, 2-0'ing Dino Rabbit. It's mainly just luck, unfortunately. It's kind of like how Six Samurai were back in the day; they could open so well that you couldn't do a thing to stop them. But, if they don't open like that, then it's not so difficult to win.
Round 4: vs Blackwings
This was my Round 3 opponent from yesterday (really two days ago, since it's after midnight).
-Duel 1: He opened with three back rows and a Shura. I played Heavy Storm, and he negated with Solemn Judgment. I played Dark Hole, then Deep Sea Diva, and he negated with Solemn Warning. Alright, down to 2000 LP already. He made a Blizzard play soon afterwards, but I was able to shut it down and make a reversal after baiting out his last few back rows. After I had cleared his field, I made Catastor to attack directly and win. Obviously, I should've made T.G. Hyper Librarian, but I used Catastor because that's the card I won both of my games against him with in our previous match. It was also so that he wouldn't know that I had a Librarian.
-Duel 2: I don't really remember what happened this game. I think I just had Traps to deal with all of his Monsters and was able to win with random beat-down from Gaia Knight.
OO
Round 5: vs Tele-Tefnuit
That's what that deck that uses Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit, Emergency Teleport, and the Destiny Draw engine is called, right?
-Duel 1: He made a few Xyz and Synchro plays, but I was able to counter them all, and I ended up beating him down with Scrap Archfiend. Bottomless Trap Hole dealt with his Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, and Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed his Return from the Different Dimension before he could use it.
-Duel 2: This turned out basically the same way as the first game, except he wasn't able to make as many power plays as the first game. Again, I ended up beating him down with Scrap Archfiend after negating his Inzektor Exa-Beetle with Effect Veiler. Scrap Archfiend is just bigger than Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger.
OO
Personally, I don't think that decks like that work very well. I had seen some of my Round 5 opponent's duels earlier, and it seemed like he drew Emergency Teleport a lot more often than he drew Krebons, and he also drew stuff like Return from the Different Dimension, Tefnuit, and Destiny HERO Malicious quite often. I don't know what was going on there, but I'm just skeptical about the consistency of decks that use Emergency Teleport as an engine. Though, now that I think about it, the way that he played made it seem like he only ran two Krebons.
Anyways, I ended up going 4-1 and getting 3rd place. Fwazalaza lost in the finals and got 2nd place. The guy who won didn't seem very good; he made very questionable plays in the matches I saw him play in, but drew well enough to win anyways. Well, it's Yu-Gi-Oh, so it unfortunately happens. Not to say that Fwazalaza should have won the tournament. I mean, he plays Six Samurai, so he kind of rode through the tournament on luck as well, at least based on the matches I saw.
So, I'll spend this week preparing for Regionals and such. I have yet to read through the coverage for YCS Toronto, but I heard that Wind-Ups won. I can't say I'm surprised. Anyways, I'll probably just take my Nordic Diva deck as it is, or perhaps I'll change up a few cards. I mean, it did pretty well at the last Regional I took the deck to, and I wasn't even testing it at locals before that. But yeah, if it fails this time, then I'll probably look into other decks. Oh, and if it fails quickly enough, then I could drop and go play in the free Vanguard tournament at the other card shop, assuming I get the Mr. Invincibles and such by then.
But yeah, before the tournament started, I played a couple games of Kaijudo against Fwazalaza, and my friend who plays Vanguard arrived and gave me about half of the cards on the list I sent him. He said he'll have the other half next weekend. Unfortunately, he didn't bring Mr. Invincibles, so I couldn't change my deck at all. If I were to have them, then I wouldn't need to run Sagramores anymore, which is the main thing I want to change. I guess I'll have to wait, then, not that it matters since I'll be at Regionals next Saturday.
So yeah, there were 33 players there today (really yesterday, since it's after midnight...).
Round 1: vs Blackwings
This was my Round 2 opponent from this tournament.
-Duel 1: I whittled away at his card presence, even though he had drawn a very good hand, including Shura, Blizzard, and Kalut. Unfortunately for him, he didn't draw any Spells/Traps after a while, and while I opened up with all Monsters, they were the more proactive Monsters, like Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and Deep Sea Diva. So, I was able to just out-advantage him and steal his Armor Master with Monster Reborn while he couldn't do anything.
-Duel 2: I just get hit with too many Icarus Attacks and Kaluts to do anything. Oh, and I didn't draw many Monsters; just a couple Rykos, I think.
-Duel 3: I opened up with Gorz, Guldfaxe, D.D. Crow, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, Morphing Jar #2, and Monster Reborn. Since Shura is horribly disruptive, I couldn't just Set Guldfaxe and Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, so I had to just pass. He opened with Tour Guide into Tour Guide and attacked directly with one. I dropped Gorz, and he overlaid for Acid Golem. I topped Smashing Ground to destroy his Golem, then attacked with Gorz and Set the Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. He destroyed my field with Dark Hole then attacked me with a Bora. I Set Morphing Jar #2, since I had drawn another Guldfaxe, and ended. He played Nobleman of Crossout, which he apparently sides just for me, to banish my Jar. He then attacked directly with Bora again. I used Reborn on Gorz in a desperate attempt to kill Bora, but he had Kalut, so it didn't matter. After that, I just kept setting the Guldfaxes I was holding and tried to hold out for something, but I couldn't draw anything to save myself.
OXX
With that, I considered dropping. But, there'd be nothing to do, and my Round 1 opponent said that I should stay in in case I get paired up. So, I decided to keep playing.
Round 2: vs Newbie Deck
Oh look, I was paired up against the guy who got a bye in the first round. He wasn't very good, and his deck was built almost entirely from cards from the Battle Packs. A couple regulars had helped him with his deck before the tournament, so it wasn't that bad. Either way, I just Synchro swarmed him both games to win.
Round 3: vs Dino Rabbit
This guy was a regular who I haven't played against in years, so I'm not going to bother looking up the last time I played against him. He knew what I was running and such.
-Duel 1: He opened with five back rows. Apparently he drew no Monsters, and he only drew two Monsters for the rest of the duel. So, I was able to take my time Setting my Flip Effect Monsters and baiting out all of his back rows. He just drew really poorly, but that's a risk you take when you play low Monster-count decks that run a bunch of Normals.
-Duel 2: I don't really remember what happened, but I basically had answers to any possible plays that he could've made. For instance, there was one point where he could've made a Laggia or a Dolkka against my Set Ryko and my Set Mind Control. I had Gorz and Smashing Ground in hand. He went with Laggia and lost it to Ryko. I did Set the Mind Control earlier to influence his decision, but I had the Smashing Ground to deal with a Dolkka, just in case. I ended up winning with a Gorz that I dropped on another Laggia.
OO
Yay, 2-0'ing Dino Rabbit. It's mainly just luck, unfortunately. It's kind of like how Six Samurai were back in the day; they could open so well that you couldn't do a thing to stop them. But, if they don't open like that, then it's not so difficult to win.
Round 4: vs Blackwings
This was my Round 3 opponent from yesterday (really two days ago, since it's after midnight).
-Duel 1: He opened with three back rows and a Shura. I played Heavy Storm, and he negated with Solemn Judgment. I played Dark Hole, then Deep Sea Diva, and he negated with Solemn Warning. Alright, down to 2000 LP already. He made a Blizzard play soon afterwards, but I was able to shut it down and make a reversal after baiting out his last few back rows. After I had cleared his field, I made Catastor to attack directly and win. Obviously, I should've made T.G. Hyper Librarian, but I used Catastor because that's the card I won both of my games against him with in our previous match. It was also so that he wouldn't know that I had a Librarian.
-Duel 2: I don't really remember what happened this game. I think I just had Traps to deal with all of his Monsters and was able to win with random beat-down from Gaia Knight.
OO
Round 5: vs Tele-Tefnuit
That's what that deck that uses Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit, Emergency Teleport, and the Destiny Draw engine is called, right?
-Duel 1: He made a few Xyz and Synchro plays, but I was able to counter them all, and I ended up beating him down with Scrap Archfiend. Bottomless Trap Hole dealt with his Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, and Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed his Return from the Different Dimension before he could use it.
-Duel 2: This turned out basically the same way as the first game, except he wasn't able to make as many power plays as the first game. Again, I ended up beating him down with Scrap Archfiend after negating his Inzektor Exa-Beetle with Effect Veiler. Scrap Archfiend is just bigger than Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger.
OO
Personally, I don't think that decks like that work very well. I had seen some of my Round 5 opponent's duels earlier, and it seemed like he drew Emergency Teleport a lot more often than he drew Krebons, and he also drew stuff like Return from the Different Dimension, Tefnuit, and Destiny HERO Malicious quite often. I don't know what was going on there, but I'm just skeptical about the consistency of decks that use Emergency Teleport as an engine. Though, now that I think about it, the way that he played made it seem like he only ran two Krebons.
Anyways, I ended up going 4-1 and getting 3rd place. Fwazalaza lost in the finals and got 2nd place. The guy who won didn't seem very good; he made very questionable plays in the matches I saw him play in, but drew well enough to win anyways. Well, it's Yu-Gi-Oh, so it unfortunately happens. Not to say that Fwazalaza should have won the tournament. I mean, he plays Six Samurai, so he kind of rode through the tournament on luck as well, at least based on the matches I saw.
So, I'll spend this week preparing for Regionals and such. I have yet to read through the coverage for YCS Toronto, but I heard that Wind-Ups won. I can't say I'm surprised. Anyways, I'll probably just take my Nordic Diva deck as it is, or perhaps I'll change up a few cards. I mean, it did pretty well at the last Regional I took the deck to, and I wasn't even testing it at locals before that. But yeah, if it fails this time, then I'll probably look into other decks. Oh, and if it fails quickly enough, then I could drop and go play in the free Vanguard tournament at the other card shop, assuming I get the Mr. Invincibles and such by then.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
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).
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).
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