Here Thar be Dragons
Zac Smith
Card Connection Tourney at Villas Apartments
Columbus, Indiana
February 15, 2003
66 participants

My deck:

Here Thar be Dragons (Dragon Beatdown)

Cards: (43)

Monsters: (23)
2-star
Effect-
1x Man-Eater Bug
1x Spear Cretin

4-star
1x Ryu-Kishin Powered
1x Harpie's Brother
1x Neo the Magic Swordsman
1x High Tide Gyojin
2x La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp
2x Battle Ox
1x Girochin Kuwagata
1x Darkfire Soldier #1
Effect-
3x Lord of D.
1x Wall of Illusion

6-star
2x Summoned Skull

7-star
1x Serpent Night Dragon
1x Ryu Ran

8-star
3x Blue Eyes White Dragon

Magic: (10)
2x Fissure
1x Dark Hole
1x Change of Heart
1x Monster Reborn
1x De-Spell
3x Flute of Dragon Summoning
1x Rush Recklessly

Traps: (10)
3x Attack and Recieve
1x Reinforcements
2x Trap Hole
1x Waboku
1x Reverse Trap
2x Ultimate Offering

Side Deck (15)

Monsters: (4)
1x Trap Master
1x Ryu-Kishin Powered
1x Man-Eating Treasure Chest
1x Dragon Zombie

Magic: (6)
2x Remove Trap
1x De-Spell
1x Card Destruction
1x Cold Wave
1x Sword of Dark Destruction

Traps: (5)
2x Reverse Trap
1x Lightforce Sword
1x Light of Intervention
1x Enchanted Javelin

I was really excited to get into this tournament, it's my first and I wanted a chance to see how good I really was. I knew I'd put together a decent deck, so I figured I stood at least a chance. On the other hand, I didn't know what anyone else would be playing, so there was no telling.

When I got there I was really surprised, first by the vast number of little kids running around, and by the quality of their cards. I saw Super and Ultra Rares all over the place. I was jealous. ;_; Fortunately, a lot of people were also playing massive, unwieldy decks (I heard one guy said he had 60 cards, that's insane). I also found that few of them knew the rules, one kid tried to put three Dark Holes, Change of Hearts, and Monster Reborns in his deck. I also found out a guy I sort of know named Chris was there. He had an Exodia deck with a lot of Fairy Meteor Crush cards and Gate Guardian pieces. There was also some kid talking smack about other people and saying his deck was awesome. I hoped he'd get knocked out in the first round. All in all it was shaping up to be pretty interesting.

Round one: Zac Vs. Ben

First Duel:
Ben was a kid (about ten), but he was pretty polite, and he had a basic understanding of what he was doing, so 'twas cool. His deck was pretty bad though, it was huge and it didn't have enough monsters, he didn't even draw any for the first few turns. o_O I did some direct damage, but he played Solemn Wishes and Dragon Capture Jar, so my mighty dragosn were pretty much helpless while he got an extra 500 LP per turn (I hadn't expected anyone to play DCJ, blah). I eventually wore him down, but it took a while. Good duel.

Second Duel:
Much like the first, except shorter. I felt kind of bad, he was a nice kid, and he did pretty well. He just had a bad deck. I told him to put in more monsters, which I think he'll do. I hope we get a rematch sometime, it might be fun.

After the first round was over I milled around and got some food. I was on a bit of a high after that first match. I was also a little concerned, 'cause the duel next to me had been between this chubby eight year-old and his very formidable mother with some kid who didn't seem to know the rules. I felt bad for him, 'cause that chubby kid's mom was scary. I prayed I wouldn't have to duel him, but I thought I saw his name next to mine on the brackets.

I looked around later on for that one kid who had been talking smack, but he was gone. I guess he got beat. :) Chris and a friend of his won their duels too, but Chris' next match was the judge's son. O_O I wished him luck.

Second Round: Zac Vs. guy whose name I can't remember

First Duel:
This was bad. I didn't draw any of my flutes or lords and this guy just mowed me down with his Cannon Soldier and Dark Elf, and a LOT of equip magics. I was kind of mad, because I never drew my De-Spell or Reverse Trap, and I included them for the express purpose of dealing with all the equip decks I counted on being there. He also kept countering my magic and traps with Solemn Judgement. We ran through each other's Life Points like water but I ran out first. Them's the breaks.

Second Duel: Even worse. I drew a Summon Skull and Ryu-Ran, and no other mons. ;_; I tried to tribute his Cannon Soldier with Change of Heart, but he blocked with Solemn Judgement. I managed to take out one of his Axees of Despair with De-Spell, but that was pretty much my best move. He mowed me down with a Goblin Attack Force that I couldn't kill on its defense turn because I only had a Battle Ox out. Crud.

Chris' friend got beat as well, but Chris managed to pull Exodia twice and went on to the third round. I got my tournament pack and pulled Two-Headed King Rex, Crawling Dragon #2, and Dancing Elf. The dragon I could use, but Rex wasn't much help, and Dancing Elf just sucks. I also bought Pharoah's Servant and Metal Raiders booster, but I pulled crap from them too. So I was kind of depressed. That chubby kid even got to the third round. o_O

All in all I'm mostly dissapointed that my deck was beaten so badly, and that I didn't get any good cards (didn't get a chance to trade with anyone). Oh well, the next tournament's in March, so I can try again then.

Props:
*To Card Connection for holding the first Yu-Gi-Oh tourney my town has seen.
*To my opponents for being good sports.
*To Chris for being there, it was nice to see a familiar face.
*For that loudmouth getting beat in the first round. :)

Slops:
*For only making it to the second round.
*For getting crap from my boosters, as usual.
*For that chubby kid's mom intimidating all his opponents. How are you supposed to play a decent duel when this 300-pound woman is scowling at you over your opponent's head!?

Zac Smith

Zac.Smith@insightbb.com