Subject: The Last Will of Exodia, Brian, DeepBlue Sea, Huntsville, Texas Name: Brian D. Location: Deep Blue Sea, Huntsville, Tx Entry Fee: $5 Participants: 17(?) The Last Will of Exodia Cards: 40 Strategy: Beatdown, Monster removal, Sidedeck can be used to switch to a burner deck ... Monsters: (17) 3x La Jinn 3x 7 Colored Fish 1x Summoned Skull 2x Giant Soldier of Stone 1x Wall of Illusion 2x Man-Eater Bug 2x Hane-Hane 1x Witch of the Black Forest 2x Big-Eye Magic: (16) 1x Monster Reborn 1x Dark Hole 1x Raigeki 1x Change of Heart 1x Pot of Greed 1x Card Destruction 1x Swords of RL 1x Messenger of Peace 3x Fissure 3x De-Spell 2x Sword of Deep-Seated Traps: (7) 2x Waboku 3x Trap Hole 2x Magic Jammer Sidedeck: 2x Catapult Turtle 2x Princess of Tsurugi 2x Sangan 1x Cannon Soldier 2x Tremedous Fire 2x Just Dessert(I prefer it over Oozaki) 2x Last Will 2x Ultimate Offering I don't own any Magician of Faiths, and if I did I would use them. But I don't really need them, because every card in the deck has a purpose, and I don't like to rely on a few magic cards. I only use 17 monster cards, a strategy I regret doing, but I would rather use a bare minimum 40 card deck then to add more monsters and increse the size. Remember, the smaller your deck, the more chance to draw your power cards like Monster Reborn, Dark Hole, etc. I use to have 3x The Bistro Butchers in the deck, but I took them out to make room and to add in Waboku, which proved to be the right choice. Waboku is definetely a powerful card, and it saved me several times in the tournament. I'd also like to point out why my sidedeck is the way it is. I had just gotten my first Catapult Turtle, and decided to see how I would do with a burner deck, so I made a deck that would be Beatdown, but be able to completely shift into a Burner deck. This meant I had to be very flexible in my choices in both decks. If beatdown wasnt working, I would take out the power monsters and add in the direct damage. This helped me out once or twice, but I think next time, I'll include more useful cards in the sidedeck. This tournament was more play-testing for me then serious dueling. I learned alot about my deck. We drew numbers to see who would be paired up against who. There was one bye every round because of the odd number of people in the tournament. Don't ask me why, I wasn't running it... Round 1: Me vs Colby (Fire Beatdown) I felt a little bit of anxiety before this duel because I was going up against the #2 player in our area. In the last tournement I was in, I had to go up against the #1 player in the first round, but I managed to beat him then. But now, I have to duel someone just as good... The first game just wasn't going my way. He went first and drew, then immediately placed 4 cards face down in the magic/trap zone. Then he played a monster facedown and ended his turn. I drew, and was surprised by all the magic/traps. I kept my cool and played a La Jinn, placing magic/trap of my own face down. I attacked and it was a (some monster with 2000 defense) so I lost 200 LP, no biggy. The duel went back and forth, I managed to get out Summoned Skull, but he had a face down monster which he put into play by tributing another monster...that could mean only one thing: Labyrinth Wall. So I didn't attack, and decided to wait until I got a Sword, then I would attack, flipping his monster face up and allow me to play a Fissure to get rid of it. I finally was able to, but he used Fairy Hand Mirror and destroyed my SS. Grrr, I lost. Next duel, I finally was able to get the beatdown working. But I made a crucial play by sidedecking in the 2 Princess of Tsurugi. I considered going all out burn, but decided not to. He started strong, managing to gain board control with several labyrinth walls during the duel. The only way I countered them was with Man Eater bugs. I was on the ropes. He summoned a Flame Cerebus (a card I traded to him earlier in the day) and put on 2 Flaming Spears. I was at 6200 LP. he played 3 cards face down in his magic and trap zone...I saw my opportunity. I had a fissure in my hand, but decided not to use it. Instead I played a monster face down and ended my turn. He attacked and I flipped over the Princess, doing 2500 Lp to him (3 plus his 2 Flaming Spears) My turn, I played another monster face down, he attacked, and it was another princess, hehe, he was down to 3000 LP. I then proceeded to Fissure his monster then summoned a 7 Colored, and Monster Reborned a SS. I won. The next duel went my way, I beat him down, he tried to counter but I knew how his deck worked so I was ready. I won with all 8000LP. Winner: me. Round 2: We drew numbers again and...I got a buy. Sure I was glad, but I wanted to duel. After all that's why we're here ( most of us). Round 3: I drew another buy and felt really bad, because I was getting free wins while everyone else had to duel. I offered the store owner to draw again, he asked everyone if they wanted to draw again, but they voted not to, so I had to sit out again this round. Round 4: The owner decided to give the buy to last week's champion, Michael, so I dueled(finally). Me vs. (I can't remember his name, sorry) His deck was big...about 100 cards. I knew this was going to be quick. I played my big monsters and let my Bug eat his monsters for lunch. Twice during the duel, I used Big Eye, then flipped hane Hane and returned Big Eye to my hand. I won, even though I had Monster Reborn, Swords of RL, and a Fissure still to come! The second duel went even faster. He played a few strong monsters, but my monsters were bigger with the help of Sword of Deep-Seeted. He tried to play defense, but my monsters easily mopped them up. I finally Change of Hearted his Soldier of Stone and attacked with it and a La Jinn, killing him. Winner: me. Round 5: Me vs Michael (finals) The same guy who I had to duel the first round 2 tournaments ago. His deck was loaded with all the power cards. So I knew I was in for a tough one...but it didnt turn out that way. First duel, he went first, but only drew one monster. He played it face down. I drew, and played Change of Heart, flipped his monster and it was Man-Eater Bug. I made it destroy itself, then played my own monster face down. His turn he Change of Hearted my monster and...guess what...it was a Man Eater Bug too, so he had to destroy itself as well. This was the only major event, if any, and it was quite humorous. I played beatdown monsters, but he had no defense. I win. Duel two, I sidedeck in the Princesses. He got another bad draw and played alot of magic/traps face down I used the Princesses and then Beat him down. I felt bad, because HE WAS THE BEST PLAYER in my area, and here he was, totally defenseless. So I won. Winner: me. The prizes for first place were...2 Tournament boosters. I got crappy cards, but luckily Zach, the store owners son, offered to trade in one of my Tournament packs rares for a Witch of the Black Forest, so it wasn't a total loss. Everyone who entered got a Tournament pack, even second place, but thats all he got. All-in-all, a successful tournement. I racked up alot of Duelist Kingdom points and the bragging rights for beating the top 2 players in the area. Everyone fears me now :) Props: To me, for choosing to use Waboku instead of Bistro Butcher To Deep Blue Sea for holding a great Tournement. To the guy that traded me for a Catapult Turtle. To Exodia, for not rearing its ugly head at the tourney. Slops: To the rain To the 2 rounds I had to sit out :( To the crappy prizes (even a Metal Raiders booster would be nice!!!) To the 2 crappy Tournament Packs I got To the demon that stacked Michael's deck against him. My email is bddp2001@hotmail.com Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or comments. Hope to be back next time. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com