Oct.9.2010
Card Empire
644 Main Street
Torrington, CT 06790
Event Starts 6:00pm

This is my tournament report for the first real-life event in years. Card Empire decided to host a Duel Masters tournament and had a turnout of 12 competitors.

Usually, people talk about what happened before the tournament and getting ready for the event at this point in the report. I've actually taken video of the last day before the tournament and my trip there, which you'll be able to find at youtube.com/unevenpiece. My video duel of Round 2 vs. Aiden Thorne (Andy Criss) will also be uploaded. You can find pictures of the event at Facebook.com/CardEmpire (they have an album for it under photos).

This is the deck  I used. I had originally wanted to tech 1 copy of Transmogrify (in testing it was awesome), but I couldn't get a hold of a copy before the event. Nobody there had one available, and I decided to just play the deck without it. This is a little silly because I needed the 50th card to separate my dragons a bit more. However, with Ghost Touch added I felt the second Spiral Gate would be too much for late game draws, and adding more Fire cards would disturb the balance.

Tom Rogers' Deck: 49 Cards

2 Velyrika Dragon
1 Bazagazeal Dragon
1 Bolmeteus Steel Dragon
4 Aqua Hulcus
4 Corile
4 Locomotiver
1 Pyrofighter Magnus
2 Thrash Crawler
1 King Ripped-Hide
2 Magmarex
2 Bloody Squito

4 Energy Stream
4 Terror Pit
2 Apocalypse Vise
3 Volcano Charger
1 Miraculous Meltdown
2 Ghost Touch
1 Blizzard of Spears
3 Cranium Clamp
1 Spiral Gate
2 Crystal Memory
2 Lost Soul


Here I'd just like to mention the importance of Crystal Memory. A lot of players have taken it out and dislike it, but it wins me most of my matches. Being able to have any given card you want, at any given moment, is an extremely powerful ability. The shield trigger has won me numerous games, most commonly taking Miraculous Meltdown to turn the momentum around or Pyrofighter Magnus for the 9-mana combination (summoning Pyro after they use all triggers).

I emphasize that I hardcast my Memories (play them from my hand), and yes even on turn 4 if the occasion calls for it. It's simply an awesome card and I win a lot of games by using it. Like Pyrofighter, they aren't too common for DWF selections at the time. Definitely check out old lists, the metas they were in, and figure out why cards like this were removed -- it may be time to bring them back!


[Pre-Tournament]

About an hour until the tournament, a few of Aiden's friends are playing to prepare. I'm excited to be there and play a few games with Sam Gracer (Randomknife on Gates of Fate) and Frigo before the tournament. Sam's going between card choices and making moves he "knows aren't the right ones," so I'm not really going to write much about that. Rob Hubbard (Hubdog on Gates) is on the other side of the table collecting miscellaneous cute cards to construct a deck, but ends up forgetting to come back in time for the tournament. By the time I sit down to play Frigo and note the time. I tell him I'll only be able to play one game because I'd like to get something to eat and have a Monster kick in before the tournament.

He’s playing Transmogrify! I’m envious because that was the tech card I wanted to use, but nobody had one available. He runs three, and apparently has a big reputation for getting Bolmeteus turn four or five. He ends up summoning Bolmeteus, but for the traditional control approach. I’m notoriously good at the mirror so I end up juggling it into a discussion about how I’m notorious for topdecking Coriles, then summon my own Bolmeteus as a scare tactic. I end up with enough leverage to deal a blow with the Dragon and that seals the deal.

Tournament Begins


ROUND 1 VS. MARC FUSCO

He’s not getting the best of hands. I notice his deck heavily emphasizes Bolmeteus, so I summon my own copy of the dragon to see as much of his deck as possible. If he thinks it’s good enough to run so many (three), then the best answers in his deck are probably geared to take it out. I see Hide and Seek / Crystal Paladin and make a mental note for next game.

[1-0]

I have King Ripped-Hide, Locomotiver, and Thrash Crawler on the board. My hand contains four cards (including Bazagazeal) so I decide to lean on my advantage with an attack. Previously he had no cards on the board or in his hand, but after the attack he has just enough to play mana and summon Thrash Crawler, taking back and playing Lost Soul.  I end up decking out after his steady stream of answers.

[1-1]

This was probably my biggest slip-up of the tournament. Time is called, and we have to take five turns after the active player. I maintain control and field several creatures, intending to break more shields on my last move to win the game. However, the end of time procedure determined that since I didn’t actually win the game, the match would be entered as a draw (rather than shield count). This upset me because I had Locomotiver on the field for quite a few turns, and as I summoned more creatures I could have attacked repeatedly while summoning the new creatures to win the game. We check the shields and there wouldn’t have been anything he could do.

Match Count:[0-0-1]

ROUND 2 VS. ANDY CRISS

The first two games are on video. I make some nice forces by snapping Bolmeteus / rearranging my battle zone at integral points.  Game 2 I thought I saw a Pit in my deck (somewhere between eight and six cards remaining at this point) when I use Memory, but it’s actually in my shields. Based on the extra removal spell in my deck, I don’t attack with Magmarex into Bloody Squito when Andy has no shields, since it would be easier to remove the Squito than to summon a new creature and play around destruction spells.  My other creature is Locomotiver.

This turns for the worse as Andy summons Corile on my Magmarex, and I have to resummon him destroying my Locomotiver (3000 is –way- better than 1000 as my last remaining creature, since he has Volcano Chargers left).  I don’t end up getting another creature and the game is his. This is probably my second biggest mistake, looking back at the tiebreaker points.

[1-1]

The video for this one gets cut off because the memory card ran out of space. The most important play here is that Andy has two Cranium Clamp in mana, two in the Graveyard, so I make fun of him for not being able to discard my two-card hand. He responds by summoning two Locomotivers to accomplish the task. Shortly after I use the same move when he has no shields, discarding Pyrofighter Magnus and Apocalypse Vise.  I can’t remember the match well because I was upset that I had given up the win Game 2, but he may have been able to also attempt game with the Pyrofighter.

Match Count: [3-0-1]
Game Count: [3-2-1]

ROUND 3 VS. JOSH MANTZ

I haven't seen Josh since the second Continental Championship, so it's good to see he still has an interest in the game. Josh places a Propeller Mutant in his mana zone and I shift into autopilot for Meltdown.  After removing all presence with Thrash Crawlers and a Bloody Squito on the board, I’m unable to draw the spell despite multiple Hulcus summons and a Stream cast. He gets Bazagazeal Dragon and starts to chip at my blockers,  but at this point it’s too late in the game. I summon creatures while picking at his hand. The integral play is when I hold Locomotiver instead of discarding Bazagazeal Dragon. He draws Rikabu, the Dismantler in his hand (now two cards) and I set off the Locomotiver discarding it. The turn count mana sets me up for Bazagazeal Dragon and Pyrofighter Magnus the following move.

He draws Terror Pit, which he could have used with Rikabu to destroy my final Thrash Crawler and speed attack for game. This looked a little luckier in person, because he seemed to forget that he’d need Bazagazeal for mana to make the play. It didn’t actually matter which card I discarded.

[1-0]

My advantage is won when I empty his hand with Cranium Clamp and he goes in with Rikabu, Aqua Hulcus, and Bloody Squito. Magmarex comes out from the shields picking off the Speed Attacker, then Corile comes down on my turn to spin the Squito and clear a path for Magmarex to take out the Hulcus. From there, it’s a matter of positioning  until I decide it’s time to play Miraculous Meltdown.

Match Count: [3-0-1]
Game Count: [4-2-1]

ROUND 4 VS SAM GRACER (Randomknife)

I foolishly forget he has Galek in his deck from when I lent him cards and play into it. However, I manage to bounce back with some timely plays and seal the game. I can’t remember this match much as well, as I was more focused on winning 2-0 to win the tournament (aware that there were two people undefeated playing).

[1-0]

I’m pretty sure I take this one with Miraculous Meltdown.

[2-0]


RESULT

Frigo and Howie were undefeated going into the final round, but they played each other. BUT – they also went to time and made a 1-1 draw, instead of one of them losing like I had planned. This means that instead of two undefeated players we had three undefeated with a draw. Because their draw is later in the tournament they get more tiebreaker points for it, and Howie wins the tiebreakers one and two stalemate between them by less than ten percent of a point. This upsets me because I could have won both the game I made a draw in, and the second game against Andy Criss making a 2-0 instead of 2-1.  These both would have really affected my points, which were tied between the three of us and why tiebreakers were checked to determine a winner.

After the tournament I play Howie and win 2-0. He seems to know exactly when he’s lost at points in the game and scoops rather than playing it out. Howie makes some good plays like bluffing Bombazar when it’s not in his deck (creating tension for breaking his shields and prompting blocker drops – he runs Comet Missile).

Game 1 the advantage started to tilt when I triggered Locomotiver, then cast Energy Stream before I traded in battle for his Quixotic Hero Swine Snout.  Velryika Dragon (for Bazagazeal) hit the board before he picked the cards up, foreshadowing game via creature swarm.  Bazagazeal would pick off opposing creatures until they were held in the hand for a double-drop, and that would be the turn I use to expand. Widespread removal (this case, an Apocalypse Vise) would negate the attempt and Bazagazeal would start to come out alongside creatures like Aqua Hulcus if he started to remove the on-board creatures. If not, they would attack since a Thrash was already on the board and I had two shields.

The second time around, Magmarex was the advantage point, destroying a Rikabu and defeating Hulcus in battle. I geared up for the Meltdown with a shield remaining and Bloody Squito + Thrash Crawler to his Quixotic Hero Swine Snout. I lowered his hand to one and used Crystal Memory for Pyrofighter Magnus, with the mana count at eight and Miraculous Meltdown in my hand. I anticipate a double-drop making the Swine Snout 7000 power, which I would let through. Instead, this is where he gives up. The following move would have consisted of Miraculous Meltdown to remove his shields, then summoning Pyrofighter Magnus and striking for match after he used his triggers.

Andy comes in during the games and after decides he wants to play again. This time he beats me 3-0 in some of the most one-sided games I have ever played! We were joking that the gods were on his side, because he was drawing very well (which is rare for him) and I was barely drawing water. I opened two of the games with Miraculous Meltdown and more than 2 cards that costed 7 mana. There was [i]one[/i] game where I thought I had a chance, but his shields were Terror Pit and Magmarex! I guess because I got him on video, he gets to win as much as he wants until we're done playing. xD



All in all it was a great run, and I'm very happy to know that Card Empire will be throwing a monthly Duel Masters tournament. The group was great to get along with and knew what they were doing when it comes to the game, so I had a fun time hanging around after. If the party Andy took me too was better, this might've been a 10/10 experience. Props the group rocking the Kaijudo hats there and nobody noticing. Andy Criss will also be posting his tourney report on Gates of Fate (tomrogers.proboards.com)