Disruptor. Serf. Collector’s Corner, Oakland, CA. Monsters: 22 3 wall of illusion 3 man-eater bug (MEB) 3 hane-hane 2 cannon soldier 2 giant soldier of stone (GSOS) 2 magician of faith (MOF) 2 witch of the black forest 2 sangan 1 jirai gumo 1 invader of the throne 1 cyber jar Magic: 14 4 Pot of Greed, Dark Hole, Monster Reborn, Change of Heart 2 Heavy Storm 2 Fissure 1 Tribute to the Doomed 1 Delinquent Duo 1 Messenger of Peace 1 Forceful Sentry 1 Share the Pain 1 Giant Trunade Traps: 8 2 Magic Jammer 2 Solemn Judgment 2 Robbin’ Goblin 1 Trap Hole 1 Mirror Force Total 44 Tournament on November 30, 2002 8 people in a regular tournament, but not Official UpperDeck. ($5 entry fee, 1st place 5 packs, 2nd 3 packs) On Saturdays when I don’t have anything better to do, I usually go to a different tournament site (Collector’s Corner in Oakland) to play and test my skills against different duelists. At CC, they also have official UD tourneys, but I was too late to join, so I joined a side tournament. I didn’t have time to do a tourney report last weekend, since I was busy. So here’s a quick recap: Last Sunday, I brought the Disruptor Deck ready to duel at A World of Books in San Leandro. I won a couple of games, but to advance to the finals, I had to play Blake, who ran a Beatdown Deck with lots of power ups, like Axes and Nuzzlers. Normally the Disruptor does very well against Beatdowns, but thanks to some PSV cards, like Nobleman of Crossout and Magic Drain, I could not stop the powered up monsters attacking and I was knocked out of the tourney two duels to one. With my lost the previous week to Brandon’s Burn Deck, and now to a beatdown, I was beginning to question if it was time to dismantle the Disruptor and start a new deck from the drawing board. I was really unsure if the Disruptor could handle the current deck scene, with cards from PSV that were throwing off the rhythm of my deck. If the Disruptor couldn’t even hang with a beatdown, was there even a use for it? Being so close to dismantling the Disruptor, I decided to give it one more chance and test it against a store full of beatdown decks. Yep, Collector’s Corner in Oakland is about 90% beatdown. Kids from 8 all the way up to high school age run beatdowns. (My regular tourney store, A World of Books, has a variety of decks). This was going to be the ultimate test, Disruptor versus a store full of beatdowns! 1st match Opponent: Brian (Dragon-beatdown, he had a Lord of D) I’m assuming it was a dragon beatdown, since he had a Lord of D, but I never saw any Dragons. I won this match 2-0, and dominated the whole time. I was able to get Robbin’ Goblin early and that destroyed his hand leaving him with no option. He seemed to be a beginner. 2nd match, semi-finals Opponent: BJ (Beatdown) BJ was a kid about 10 to 12, and he said it was his first tourney. However, he had experience playing before, mostly his brother and other people for fun. 1st duel was close, but I ran out of Counter Traps and he was able to Change of Heart a monster of mine to attack for the win. I had him down to 2900 and could’ve won in 2 turns. After his first victory, he got happy and started telling his older brother who was next to him (also in the semi-finals) that he beat me pretty easy. I couldn’t really say much, since this loss to a beatdown made me nervous and suffering flashbacks from last week. 2nd duel went back and forth. He kept me off-balance by continually drawing and summoning monsters, but I was able to stay in there thanks to my MEBs and Hane-Hanes. Eventually, his deck started stalling and he couldn’t get more monsters out. This was where my Disruptor wanted him, and with me at 1600 and him at 2000, I get vengeance by playing my Change of Heart to attack for the win. But, since he saw that I only had 1600 left, he was still really confident that he could beat me, since I “barely” won. 3rd duel, he starts out with the classic: 1st turn set MEB face down, my turn I set, next turn he flips, kills, tributes for Summoned Skull, then attacks for 2500. Lucky for me, I knew this, so I had set a Sangan which helped me get my own MEB. And I also drew my Messenger of Peace, which shocked him since he did not expect it. (This was the first time I drew this the whole day). With the Messenger, I stalled for 4 turns, and was able to win in those 4 turns. 3rd match, finals Opponent: Joe (Beatdown with power-ups and revival) Joe was dueling right next to me against the older brother of the kid that I played. Since I finished my match first, I started watching theirs to get an idea of what I would face. That one was close, with Joe winning the 3rd duel after a long time. Before we started our match, Geraldine (who was also at the store hanging out) told him that he would lose, since she could beat him easily. 1st duel, I do a total of 800 damage and he kills me in the 3rd turn. I had Dark Hole in my hand, but I got greedy and waited for him to put more monsters on the field before I would play it. This cost me the game since the next turn, he used Change of Heart and Snatch Steal to destroy my life points. His Axe of Despair and Nuzzler powered up his La Jinn pretty good. He turns to Geraldine and says, “Ha-ha, I just beat him fast.” 2nd duel, my cards came through for me and I was able to draw one after another into one huge combo. It started out with the Messenger of Peace, which stayed out and stalled for 14 turns! It was one of the best performance that card ever produced and I was so proud of it. With the Messenger protecting my monsters, I was able to slowly chip his LP down to zero. This duel took a long time, and in the middle of it, the tourney coordinator yelled out that we had 20 minutes left. Joe looks at my LP and sees that the Messenger was eating my LP, and since he won duel one, he said that he’s going to win. Little did he know that I had a Cannon Soldier in my deck just for him, waiting for the right time. 3rd and final duel, for the championship and prize. I didn’t get a chance to draw the Messenger, but I didn’t need it. The damage I did was similar to a beatdown deck. Damage for 1200, 2800, 1500 and 2500. This was thanks to Heavy Storm and Jirai Gumo. He tried to use Call of the Haunted and Premature Burial, but Heavy Storm took care of that. Well, I win and collect my 5 packs. Decent cards, but no holos. The best prize I got: I regained confidence in my Disruptor Deck and will try it again at a World of Books on Sunday, December 01, 2002. What’s up! to the hardcore Yu-Gi-Oh! gamers everywhere Get lost! to the thieves that steal cards from kids Serf buffserf@yahoo.com