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sHecKii's Take
The Monkey is Off the Back!: sHecKii FINALLY Qualifies
March 14, 2005

Hey what up y’all; it’s your boy sHecKii from the Card of the Day crew. Well my last article was talking about how I hate First Turn Kill decks and how I wanted to quit but ever since that article, I’ve been getting a lot of support from you guys through the e-mails, no one playing First Turn Kill decks anymore dxP, and this is the most important, I realized why this game is just a game and you should have fun playing it. Well as the title puts it, the monkey IS off my back. I finally qualified. You guys are wondering what deck sHecKii qualified with...here is it (or you can go to www.ptegames.com and look up top 8 deck lists)

ALSO!!! I forgot to bring my deck to Las Vegas =[ when I left. I had to borrow (and I bought a newdoria for $2 =\) all these cards and I won with them. Thank you guys for lending me these cards; without the love from my friends from 3Js and teammate Hugo and f00b (who also qualified like a SAVAGE) I would’ve never qualified today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart guys ^^.

Deck Title: GO NINJA GO!
Deck Creator: Jae Kim and Tony Lee
Deck Total: 42 Cards (20/16/6)

Monsters (20)
1 Dark Magician of Chaos
1 Jinzo
1 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch
1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
3 Strike Ninja
3 DD Scout Plane
1 Zombyra the Dark
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Tribe Infecting Virus
2 Mystic Tomato
1 Don Zaloog
2 Newdoria
1 Magical Scientist
1 Sinister Serpent

Magics (16)
1 Pot of Greed
1 Painful Choice
1 Premature Burial
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Snatch Steal
1 Change of Heart
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mystical Space Typhooon
1 The Forceful Sentry
2 Scapegoat
2 Smashing Ground
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Creature Swap
1 Reinforcement of the Army

Traps (6)
1 Return from the Different Dimension
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Sakuretsu Armor
1 Ceasefire

SideDeck (15)
1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
1 Cannon Soldier
1 Magical Merchant
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Exiled Force
2 Wave Motion Cannon
1 Creature Swap
1 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Dust Tornado
2 Divine Wrath
1 Return from the Different Dimension
1 Robbin' Goblin

As you guys will notice, it’s a little different then Jae’s original version but I have to give credit where credit is due: thanks Jae for giving me permission to run your beautiful deck and putting my own tweaks into it.

Jae and I have different monsters, the most noticeable are Newdoria (thank you Hugo), and Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. I believe Zaborg is a STAPLE in this deck. Creature control is everything in Strike Ninja. This is also the best removal for Fiber Jar, Apprentice Magician/Magician of Faith, and/or Spirit Reaper. Also, Newdoria is a hot little number in this deck. It’s a Dark Monster and it’s my DD Warrior Lady when it’s not in this deck. I used this to kill Jinzo and/or Chaos a lot. Also, this keeps your opponent’s guessing on which monster I set first turn: Mystic Tomato, DD Scout Plane, Newdoria, Sinister Serpent, etc...

Magic wise, I believe The Forceful Sentry is TOO good of a card to not run main deck. Nobleman of Crossout is a great card in this format where TOO many game changing monsters are prevalent. If you noticed, I do not run Card Destruction and/or Dimension Fusion. I believe I never have hand advantage in this deck to make Card Destruction playable and Dimension Fusion (in my opinion) is a HORRIBLE card. I like Return from the Different Dimension way better: Chainable, half your life points instead of 2000 (which is better in 90% of the situations), can use Jinzo from your RFG pile as your trap negation. I might be biased but Return from the Different Dimension IS my favorite card in the game.

I wish I had more space for Traps in this deck. I basically said to myself, 42 cards is already a ridiculous amount of cards in a deck so only run 6. I basically wanted to run 1 more Sakuretsu Armor and Return from the Different Dimension BUT I just couldn’t find space for it. This is JAELOVE’s theory on deck building: 40-44 cards are okay, long as it flows fine. I guess I took his advice but couldn’t go pass 42 cards in a deck >_<

How this deck works is a) draw Painful Choice, b) get at least 1 DD Scout in the Graveyard + 2 Dark Monsters with 1 Tribute monster and Strike Ninja in hand, c) draw into Return from the Different Dimension, and/or d) stall out ‘til you gain hand advantage because they cannot touch Strike Ninja. This deck is all about creature control. You try to pull off as many 2for1s as possible and even 1for1s so that when you play Ninja with a lot of Dark Monsters in the Graveyard, they can’t win. Play around it guys, but I believe Mystic Tomato, Return from the Different Dimension, The Forceful Sentry, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, Dark Magician of Chaos, and Ceasefire are staples in this deck.

Here’s the match reports...

1st round: I played a mom, simple as that. She’s never seen my Ninja’s and its Scouts but nonetheless she played very well. Her deck was beatdown monsters with Black Luster Soldier I believe. I had a hard time getting through Slate Warrior, Blade Knight at 2000, and even Kycoo. Both games I drew into Pot of Greed first turn then into Painful Choice within the first 2 draws afterwards so this match was over. I won with Dark Magician of Chaos, Mobius, and Strike Ninja on the field after I Nobleman of Crossout-ed face down Kycoo. I was thinking to myself “I wasted two really good draws this early >_<.”

1-0

2nd round: I played this kid with a metagame call deck. It was 2/3 Kycoos, 2/3 Blade Knights, and he himself was running Chaos. He didn’t know about Return from the Different Dimension and he didn’t know about the fact that I’m good and there is a reason why I’m running Strike Ninja ^^. Nonetheless, after I got Painful Choice game 1, it was over, but game two, he had the advantage ALL the way. He then removed all my cards from the grave with his Kycoo and I happen to have my Return from the Different Dimension x 2 in my hand. My Zombyra took care of 2 Blade Knights and I even removed my Strike Ninja again to keep it on the field. He realized boarding in ONLY Kycoos was a mistake.

2-0

3rd round: After lunch break, and partly in a food coma, I sit down to play my opponent and it is nonetheless the kid that bugged me about “What’s your record guys?” Personally I really do hate that question, it’s only second round...it doesn’t matter yet. Anyways, I sit down to play him and it was a defensive match. He was running Apprentice Magician x3 and Magician of Faiths x2/3, Cyber Jar, Penguin Soldier, and Mystic Tomatos. His whole deck was defensive and he couldn’t touch my ninjas. Well eventually I top decked into Exiled Force, Nobleman of Crossout with a BIG Mobius on the field that he couldn’t deal with. I haven’t lost a game yet and tell you the truth, I was getting a bit cocky now >_<. Hubris right? haha

4th round: Burner Burner BURNER!!! This is one of my worst match-ups because I didn’t have any 3 star or lower monsters besides like DD Scout Planes >_< Though today the Mystic Tomatos went through Messenger of Peace. Basically I drew into a Heavy Storm, 2for1-ed, and then drew into Painful Choice with Call of the Haunted facedown and he did give my Sinister Serpent. Also, I topdecked into a Return from a Different Dimension, Heavy Stormed AGAIN! Needless to say, I won that game. Next game, after boarding into another deck it seems, I got off a Mobius + Strike Ninja cycle and he couldn’t draw ANY protection spell. I felt bad for him because he was a nice guy. You want to know how nice, I left my deck on the table after the match and he returned it to me. By the way, Thank you ^^. Since I borrowed cards from all of my friends, I was grateful.

4-0 (and still haven’t lost a game yet)

5th round: This was my first Chaos problem I ran into. This match was great because HE never actually drew Black Luster Soldier and had to Painful it out as one of its answers right away. I remember game 1 was over because I ended up getting 2 Mystic Tomatos and basically thinned my deck out into a Painful Choice and got 2 darks + 2 more DD Scout Planes into the graveyard. By the way, I realized Mystic Tomato was a Staple in this deck because it thins out the deck so much and you always have a creature on the field. Very nice in this deck. Game 2, and this is an advice to ALL players, NEVER GIVE ME PAINFUL CHOICE, EVEN IF THERE IS POT OF GREED IN HAND. My opponent had an amazing hand that game starting off with Pot of Greed into The Forceful Sentry. He gave me Painful Choice and he never drew into his Black Luster Soldier. He could never throw down any threats because I had Scapegoats and Strike Ninja in hand afterwards. I basically stalled out with 3 DD Scout Planes on the field after a round of Scapegoats. I drew into some tribute monsters, killed his field and he was forced into top decking mode early. I played REALLY cautiously and even though I had game 2-4 turns before I did, I ended up winning with my Zaborg killing his Thousand Eyes Restrict. Still haven’t lost yet

5-0

6th round: Wilson Luc from Comic Odyssey. He didn’t play the first game very well in my opinion. One characteristic of a good/great player is that they learn to play cautiously with their hands. He basically held onto ALL his good cards and not presenting a threat. Normally I believe he would’ve been fine but my deck got an aggressive draw. I made a choice of putting back Black Luster Soldier or Mirage of Nightmare with my The Forceful Sentry and that might’ve saved me. I put back the Soldier and he didn’t/couldn’t draw into any creatures. He finally did, drew into DD Warrior Lady, attacked my Scout Plane with Ninja on the dodge, and I reset the field since I had one more Scout in the grave. He wisely set Torrential Tribute on the field but he knew it was game. He had 4000 Life Points, DD Warrior Lady + Strike Ninja + DD Scout Plane = 4000. Game two, I don’t remember much but this, he drew into Black Luster Soldier and I had low life points. I could Newdoria the Black Luster Soldier but I had no threats to set on the field afterwards. He Call of the Haunted his Soldier and it was game. Game 3, I boarded in into the aggressive mindset, Robbin’ Goblin, second Creature Swap, second Nobleman of Crossout, and Exiled Force. I had a rough start but somehow I was on the offensive after 4-5 turns. Here was the game ending plays.

I have Strike Ninja, DD Scout Plane x 2, and Creature Swap and Scapegoat set. I tributed one of the Scouts for Zaborg the Thunder Monarch hoping to kill a Fiber Jar (because that was my guess). His field was facedown Sinister Serpent >_<, a set Torrential Tribute and Mystical Space Typhoon, and 3 goats left. He was thinking about this move but he basically didn’t play Torrential Tribute because he was holding Change of Heart and Jinzo in his hand. So he let me kill his board and he then tributes for Jinzo with his Change of Heart and attacks into my ninja, I bring out a full field of Scouts again and he couldn’t do anything. Now I did the math in my head, since I have a Creature Swap face down and a Creature Swap in hand (that I drew right before I drew Zaborg), I needed a 1200+ attack monster for the game. Well I drew, and it was the best creature to top deck at the moment besides King Tiger Wanghu, Breaker the Magical Warrior. Now this was very dramatic because I destroyed his facedown Mystical Space Typhoon. He killed my Creature Swap on top of it. I made it dramatic by playing my Creature Swap in hand and attacking for over 5200 (which was his life) and won. He had 5 cards in hand but couldn’t deal with the lucky Painful Choice I got out. I liked playing Luc, one of the best players currently. So it was fun and I beat one of my rivals for the first time? ^^ keke...good game Wilson

6-0

7th round: YAY! I finally got an invite...how? Well it was the last round and I was one of the two undefeated players. Around half the people already getting their invites AND playing for a top 8 spot, I felt really good about my chances. I do regret the situation I put the guy in since I didn’t give him my best game. I did play a little bit fast and a little bit recklessly since I was very happy. Maybe if I didn’t know I qualified for sure, I wouldn’t have been this jumpy. Next time, I’ll give you my A game...I gave you a B+ game ^^. Nonetheless, this guy ran a Chaos deck with the draw a card when it is flipped effect guy. He ended up getting Fiber Jar to reset when I had position. I haven’t won after a Fiber Jar got flipped in the past and it wouldn’t have happened again. So I lost to Black Luster Soldier both games after making two mistakes in BOTH games. He did Mystical Space Typhoon my Divine Wrath and summoned Black Luster Soldier for game so *shrugs*. Yay for Tony and yay for my opponent for qualifying with his undefeated record.

6-1

Guys I did it. I FINALLY DID IT! I qualified once again with a unique deck. Thanks to Jae for giving me the deck to qualify with. I loved the Ninja and I’ll always be grateful to my homie for letting me work on it. Thank you Jae, it was ALL you ^^.

I got 2nd place. I was very happy with my performance. The top 8 consisted of the undefeated guy and me, 4 (that’s right, 4) Comic Odyssey players that already qualified, 1 other guy that already qualified, and my friend Hugo’s brother Osmond. Count guys, that means 5/8 already qualified. Each regionals hand down 4 national invites. WELL GUESS WHO DECIDED TO BE 9TH PLACE AGAIN! That’s right, you BOY F00B!! This was his 7th time being in 9th place and now he finally scrubbed (jk) into an invite. Nonetheless, I’m glad one of my best friends finally qualified especially since Las Vegas was where we first met. 3 out of the 4 people that qualified today traveled with me to Las Vegas. So this was an amazing road trip. Now onto the top 8 match with my homie kenzo.

Top 8: Too bad I didn’t give my A game to Kenzo either. It was a short match; first game, I was stuck with Jinzo and Zaborg when he had one creature on the field. I didn’t draw any good cards and he drew normal cards. Next game, I drew into Painful Choice hoping I’m going to win but Fiber Jar killed me =\. I believe I had game. I had Dark Magician of Chaos in the hand + Strike Ninja. He set what I believed was Fiber Jar and knew one of the 2 set magic/trap cards were Scapegoats. I drew 3 cards that turn, 1 for the turn, 2 from the Pot of Greed I got using Dark Magician of Chaos’ effect. Well I already had Creature Swap in the hand but it was useless. I ended up hitting the Fiber Jar, removing both our monsters from the play, and it reset. Kenzo made a great player move and killed my Return from the Different Dimension with his Mystical Space Typhoon FROM HIS HAND! haha...it was a fun match against him. I always play Kenzo because he’s a good opponent to play against. Well that was it.

That’s it guys; sHecKii finally qualified for nationals. Now you can expect more of this at Nationals this year guys ^^...Peace out dxP!