Hey guys it's that time again. Haven't written one of these in a while.
 
I just placed 2nd in the Evo Fury release event at Batteries Not Included (Torrington CT). The local regularly boats the highest turnout in the USA for Kaijudo tournaments, between 15-30 players per week.
 
For this event we had 16 players. 4 round swiss, Top 8 cut (single elimination).
 
SPOILER! Andy and I do not play each other this one. Sorry guys.
 
Our teammate Bryan's game face. Team Dub in full force!
 
The Draft
 
Bryan drafts the absolute best deck for sealed -- Emperor Neuron and proper evo baits, Hydra Medusa and proper evo baits, and I think he had another good evo as well. He has heat seekings and the cool stuff.
 
Andy's got the runt set of packs, but manages to put together 3 Reap and Sow and some combinations with Twin Cannon Maelstrom. I repeatedly insist "I believe in the Andy win."
 
My draft picks were solid -- I had 2 Bronze-Arm Sabertooth and a good handful of bait, as well as 2 Halon, Paragon of Light. With a whopping four copies of Cloudwalker Drone, I knew Halon was going to be a centerpiece for my deck. In sealed events there is no limit for the copies of a card you can play. If you pull it, you can play it. 
 
The main decision for me was using water for Cyber Trader and Return from the Depths. I had black for Tekamora the Wretched and several small Chimeras, but the spread wasn't as even. I could technically side into black (never did), so I stopped worrying about wanting to play the shiny card and shuffled up.
 
 
The WORST card I picked, even in sealed format, was Forklift Tank Glu-rrgle. Costs way too much to be of help.
 
Round 1: vs. Elizabeth
 
Elizabeth just hooked me up with a super cool 9 cards for my next tournament deck.
 
Unfortunately luck is not on her side, as she had to draft 5 colors and doesn't get the cards she needs.
 
I take this one 2-0, and she drops due to having work later. I cringe at the potential tiebreaker situation (I got fifth at the $100 cash event due to tiebreakers), but she was totally awesome. Did I mention she just HANDED me 1/4th of the deck I was trying to build?
 
Current Record: 1-0 matches, 2-0 games.
 
Round 2: vs. Howard Hakulin Jr.
 
You may recognize Howie Jr. from Andy's reports, he ends up in the Top 4 regularly. He very quickly shuffles his deck and I can tell he's going to be one aggressive dude.
 
 
Game 1: He is one aggressive dude. I get a turnaround going by evolving my small creatures as he starts to mount a defense.
 
Game 2: Howie runs into Helios Rings, which will prove to be the bane of everyone's existence this tournament. It's seriously the best card in sealed format. 
 
I take this match 2-0.
 
 
Current Record: 2-0 matches, 4-0 games.
 
Round 3: vs. Mike the Top 4 Kid
 
I feel really bad, but I am terrible with last names. This kid was solid -- he made top 4 and lost to Mike Lenarcyzk, or Mike number 2. 
 
Both games he had a decent shot at winning, but I came back as quickly as he got the edge.
 
Game 1 he was aggro attacking with Slyth, who is an amazing card in draft. Due to the limited number of removal and ways to counter situations, losing your deck's top card can be really scary. His Slyth discards my Blastforge Captain while I have the evo bait in play, putting me in a tight spot to remove his 3 creatures. But his next shield break was Helios Rings, allowing me to make some trades!
 
We trade Jet-Thrust Darters (another amazing draft card) and I make it out alive.
 
I win this one 2-0.
 
Current Record: 3-0 matches, 6-0 games.
 
Round 4: vs Howie Hakulin Sr
 
At this point we're at table one, and the only two undefeated players. We decide to draw and guarantee the top. Several other players draw, and the Top 8 is decided!
 
Andy makes it, I'm not sure if he's writing a report. He was playing Twin Cannon Maelstrom which proved to be pretty serious, especially combined with Gunwing Dragon. His deck literally looked like it was made out of a pile of cards... which it totally was. But it was very Yugi-esque and he did a lot better than he thought he would when first opening his packs. Dude pulled no foils.
 
[Current Record: 3-0 and a draw matches, 6-0 games
 
TOP 8!
 
I'm the first seed (highest rank), so I play the lowest rank (8th). 
 
Top 8: vs Colin
 
Colin has some really good draft picks. Rapids Seaker Unspellable keeps me at bay for a long while Forsett, Heroic Shaman is tearing at my shields. Eventually I create a scenario where he has to keep summoning Rapids back to block my Halon from attacking and destroying Forsett. I believe Helios Rings creates the scenario where I get through to it.
 
Oh you, Helios Rings. We salute you.
 
Game 2 I won with a very nifty Aquatic Explosion play. He was really surprised that somebody would even draft that, but I figured there were enough 2 drops in the set to validate trying. There's also not enough triggers.
 
No, I never use Aquatic Expulsion again. But it wins my Top 8 game so booyah!
 
2-0
 
 
Current Record: 4-0 and a draw matches, 6-0 games.
 
 
Top 4: vs. Howie Hakulin Jr
 
I'm paired against Howie Jr. again. 
 
Game 1: He runs into Helios Rings and loses.
 
Game 2: I hardcast Helios Rings after using a Shield Blast Helios Rings. I mean it -- BEST card in Draft.
 
Nobody really saw it coming or knew how to prepare for it all day.
 
 
I win 2-0.
 
 
Current Record: 6-0 and a draw matches, 8-0 games.
 
 
Finals: vs. Mike Lenarczyk
 
So Mike beat the other Mike I played before. Howie Sr. scooped to him after beating Andy, and now we're playing for the prize!
 
1st will get 6 packs and the first pick of the foils laid out before the event. 2nd will get 5 packs and second pick, then it drops to the top 4 players.
 
Game 1: He gets me!
 
Game 2: I summon all of the 2-drops in the world and clean up by turn 5 or 6. Also I hardcast a Helios Rings for maximum dubbage.
 
(Thought about siding black but ultimately swapped in 2 light creatures. They helped and stuff)
 
 
Game 3: Coming down to the wire, I make a fatal mistake and decline to attack with Bronze-Arm Sabertooth. I thought I was ahead enough where it would be better for him to NOT have resources, but down comes Orion destroying some of my weenies! This makes the rest of the game difficult because at 10,500 power... nothing in the set kills this guy except Hydra Medusa and Tekamora.
 
I don't play the black, remember? This is bad!
 
The final scenario is his Orion and my fairly large board. I summon Jet-Thrust Darter and have game on the board unless he triggers Helios Rings. If he does have it, he needs to draw his own Jet-Thrust Darter to win. But I see one in his mana zone, and don't think he drafted 3. It would be hard to pull. Also, I would have to not have my trusty Helios Rings.
 
He has Helios Rings! It's just enough for him to live, and he attacks with Orion and whatshisface the other card. I don't have a Helios Rings of my own and the match is decided!
 
So I lose 2-1 to Mike, who picks Tekamora the Wretched from the prize pool. He pulls Evo Fury Tatsurion and Big Hissy, and I think a Forklift Glu-rrgle.
 
I pick Screeching Scaradorable (the card I wanted yey), and pull pretty much every non-foil card I wanted to try. Mike has almost all of the cards from the new set already (why he picked Tekamora) so he lets me have a few of the uncommons I need for my next tournament deck. 
 
 
Shortly after I trade my Tekamora and Moorna to Andy for the rest of my deck plus some cool stuff to use in the long run. We playtest the deck after as well as Bryan having built a mono blue cyber lord deck that is seriously beast.
 
 
PROPS:
 
- Bryan for giving me a ride. The trains only take you so far out there.
- Mike for beating me, with his Helios Rings power.
- Helios Rings, for letting me go 100% undefeated until the last round
- Screeching Scaradorable is apparently a foil! And I got one!
- Pulling most of the cards I wanted / receiving almost all of the rest from super cool people
 
SLOPS:
 
- Bryan, despite having the ultimate draft deck, died! We don't know how, but apparently his first opponent had 3 shield triggers. Jeez, that's bad enough in constructed.
 
- If Andy didn't lose to the uber Helios Rings, we would have played in the Top 4. We almost always get paired against each other (including in past Duel Masters events around the country).
 
-  The slight "aw" feeling of knowing if I made slightly different plays in the finals, I could have been the "winner." But I had fun and don't mind my 1 loss being in the finals :P
 
 
That's all, folks! Tune in next week where I take another shot at the Mark's Comics $100 cash tournament.
 
 
 
*Tom Rogers was the #1 world ranked player in Duel Masters, the game which Kaijudo is based off. He co-admins the website Gates of Fate, which has the most competitive Kaijudo content on the internet.