Final Assault Deck Matt Fillman Richard's Card Shop Santa Paula, CA January 12th, 2003 # of Participants: 12 Sorry I didn't write a report last week, but between being back in school and the cold that's goin' around, I just didn't have the time or energy. Anyway, I re-tooled my Deck a bit, but I haven't done everything I intend to do to it. When I first got into Duel Monsters, you wouldn't believe how things were being played in the TOurnament here, but I'm happy to report that I helped clear up things. Up until last week, however, we'd been playing under the assumption that Special Summoned monsters could change their mode. I'd always thought this was a bit off, but playing The Eternal Duelist Soul is what made me check it out. Now that everyone knows how it's really done, a lot of Decks are being re-done.... including mine! The Shallow Grave is long gone, replaced by a much-underrated card: Fissure. It really came in handy in the Tournament.... I don't see why people regard it as a weak card! When I get Millenium Shield, though, I'm thinkin' about putting in Soul Exchange instead. You lose your Battle Phase, true, but I seem to have a Tribute Monster in my hand a lot.... and being able to choose an opponent's face-up or face-down monster to destroy is never a bad thing. If I don't, though, I'll probably get a Nobleman of Crossout for those dangerous flips. Blue-Eyes White Dragon is gonna be a thing of the past pretty soon. Don't get me wrong; I love good ol' Blue-Eyes, but I've drawn him when I'm counting on a game-breaking card too often to ignore. I'm gonna do my best to get a Millenium Shield in its place; I could use some strong defense in my Deck anyway. All I need to do is win next week's Tournament and I can finally get one! Monster Cards 1) Cannon Soldier 2) Cannon Soldier 3) Gearfried the Iron Knight 4) Gearfried the Iron Knight 5) Gearfried the Iron Knight 6) Giant Soldier of Stone 7) Giant Soldier of Stone 8) Goblin Attack Force 9) Goblin Attack Force Flip Effect Monster Cards 10) Cyber Jar 11) Kuriboh 12) Magician of Faith 13) Magician of Faith 14) Man-Eater Bug 15) Man-Eater Bug 16) Morphing Jar #2 17) Time Wizard 18) Witch of the Black Forest 6-Star Monster Cards 19) Jinzo 20) Summoned Skull 8-Star Monster Cards 21) Blue-Eyes White Dragon Magic Cards 22) Card Destruction 23) Change of Heart 24) Dark Hole 25) Fissure 26) Giant Trunade 27) Heavy Storm 28) Monster Reborn 29) Pot of Greed 29) Premature Burial 30) Raigeki 31) Snatch Steal 32) Swords of Revealing Light 33) Tribute to the Doomed Trap Cards 34) Call of the Haunted 35) Ceasefire 36) Imperial Order 37) Mirror Force 38) Seven Tools of the Bandit 39) Trap Hole 40) Waboku Round 1 Me vs Sergio I've seen this guy around before, but I don't think I've ever dueled him before today. He started off by summoning La Jinn, but I equipped Snatch Steal to it and attacked him directly with La Jinn and Gearfried the Iron Knight. He set a monster to defend himself, but I used Tribute to the Doomed, summoned the Goblin Attack Force, and finished this duel. Round 2 Me vs Ivan It seems like I'm dueling Ivan in the second round a lot, and today was no exception. He set a monster, so I used Change of Heart (it was a Man-Eater Bug) and attacked him openly with Gearfried the Iron Knight. He used Dark Hole, Reborned my Gearfried the Iron Knight, and attacked me directly. I used Fissure to destroy Gearfried and defended myself for a couple of turns with Giant Soldier of Stone. Finally, I used Raigeki, tributed Giant Soldier of Stone for Jinzo, and kept attacking him (free of his set Mirror Force) 'til this match was over. Round 3 Me vs Richard He can be really annoying, but he's also really nice unless he doesn't like you. He set a monster and activated Light of Intervention during my turn, so I had to summon Morphing Jar #2 in face-up Defense Position. I drew Heavy Storm on my next turn, which left me free to set my Cyber Jar. After flipping it to Special Summon two Gearfried the Iron Knights and a Giant Soldier of Stone, I activated Swords of Revealing Light, equipped Snatch Steal to his now-face-up 7 Colored Fish, tributed my Giant Soldier of Stone for Summoned Skull, and attacked directly to end it. Round 4 Me vs Enrique It'd finally come down to me and the one person I usually can't beat. He set a monster without setting any Magic/Trap cards, so I knew he was just waiting 'til he knew what I had on the field. I used Raigeki and attacked him directly with Gearfried the Iron Knight. Just as I'd thought, he used Change of Heart, summoned Hayabusa Knight (equipped with Axe of Despair) and attacked me directly. I was lucky he only had one of his Axes to equip, since I tributed for Summoned Skull and managed to destroy his Hayabusa Knight. He used Dark Hole and summoned his Gearfried the Iron Knight, but I used Call of the Haunted to bring back my Summoned Skull. Once he ended turn, I summoned another of my Gearfried the Iron Knights and finished the match. I had my sights set on winning Millenium Shield, but apparently you only win an Ultra Rare every other week, so I got two packs of Metal Raiders instead. I did pull Thousand Dragon, which I traded for a mint-condition Time Wizard! I gave my bent Time Wizard to Ivan, since all he wanted was a Time Wizard in his Deck, bent or not. Hopefully I can win next week's Tournament so I can finally get my hands on Millenium Shield! Pros for the Weekend -winning the Tournament -pulling a Thousand Dragon -trading Thousand Dragon for a perfect-condition Time Wizard Cons for the Weekend -being sick all week -beating Metroid Prime 100%! (not Duel Monsters-related, but still) That about covers this weekend's Tournament. As always, if anyone has any questions or suggestions, feel free to E-Mail me at mfillman125@msn.com anytime!