Deck name: "A Duelist's Heart"
Duelist: Lindsay "ladydragontamer" Bacon
Location: GenCon 2003 - Indianapolis, Indiana - Indy Convention Center(next to the RCA Dome)
Date: 7/24/03 - 7/25/03

(Deck List)

Level 4 or lower Monsters:

3x Troop Dragon
3x Giant Germ
3x Nimble Momonga
2x Magician of Faith
1x Spear Dragon
1x Cyber Jar
1x Fiber Jar
1x Witch of the Black Forest
1x Yata-Garasu
1x Gemini Elf
1x Goblin Attack Force

Level 5-6 or 'Ritual' Monsters:

1x Jinzo

Level 7-8 Monsters:

3x Blue-Eyes White Dragon

Magic cards:

2x Graceful Charity
1x Heavy Storm
1x Change of Heart
1x Pot of Greed
1x Dark Hole
1x Swords of Revealing Light
1x Monster Reborn
1x Raigeki
1x Premature Burial
1x Harpie's Feather Duster
1x United We Stand

Trap cards:

1x Waboku
1x Ordeal of a Traveler
1x Mirror Force
1x Call of the Haunted
1x Imperial Order
1x Solemn Judgment

Total: 40

Side Deck:

2x Tyrant Dragon
1x Exchange
1x Axe of Despair
1x Confiscation
1x Card Destruction
1x Scapegoat
1x Giant Trunade
2x Soul Release
2x Fissure
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Mask of Restrict (yes, it WILL be replaced)
1x Waboku

Total: 15

First Day - 7/24/03

Hey everyone, it's me. And so begins an exciting GenCon tournament report! Aren't you thrilled?

*crickets chirp*

... forget I asked -_-; Anyway...

We arrived at 10 AM, the exact time the convention was due to start. Before I get into the thick of things, let me explain what GenCon is(and yes, this -was- my first time attending the convention). GenCon is a big gaming convention- everyone is there simply to play their game(s) of choice and have fun. There are also lots of booths selling useful things such as dragon hats, swords, cloaks, etc. :) It's worth checking out(GC will be held in Indy for the next 6 years, so you'll probably get your chance if you missed it this time). The convention lasts for four days.

After checking in at the Westin(horrible place, by the way- don't stay there, it's expensive and the rooms are tiny), we headed off to the 'con. I kept in touch with Josh and the rest of the Guernsey's crew via cell phones, as well as my friend Lindsay from Texas(who had come up to tour GC). The first place we stopped was Midnight Syndicate's booth(I picked up their soon-to-be-released D&D soundtrack). Nice guys, but they don't say much o_o Then it was off to meet my friend and play some games.

Lindsay and I met up at the Neopets section of Wizards' area. We previewed the Neopets TCG, which is incredibly easy and fun to play. Then we moved on, browsing some of the booths. Eventually, we came to UpperDeck's.

UpperDeck didn't really have a "booth"- they had a huge multi-tier platform right in the middle of the exhibit hall. On each tier was a various game. Of course, the highest tier held a place where people could learn to play Yu-Gi-Oh!. At the very top of it all was sort of a "hot seat" area where two Duelists could square off in front of a camera. (something a little amusing: Josh said that Branden and Max, two powerful Duelists at Guernsey's, were getting in front of the camera and saying things like "The best in Indiana!" and "GenCon CHAMPIONS!". Right.) Underneath the platform was a sort of little "UpperDeck store" where you could buy pretty much any Yu-Gi-Oh! item in existance(that pertained to the cards, anyway). Nearby, a television displayed Yu-Gi-Oh! episodes on DVD, and UD staffers would have trivia and other events. Very cool, and the UD staffers were very helpful and nice.

We took a break to sit and discuss Deck ideas and do some trading, then it was up to the platform for some Dueling. I didn't Duel much, but I won most of my Duels. As Linds and I Dueled, an UD staffer actually came over and asked us what we thought of the game and how UD was handling it. It was good to know that they do care, contrary to what a lot of people say. We pretty much spent the rest of the exhibit hall hours Dueling. I took on one of the UD staffers, but he beat me pretty badly(I only got him down to like 5000 LP). *grumble* Lousy Airknight Parshath...

It was my 18th birthday, so we went out to Hard Rock Cafe to eat. A word for the wise- never, EVER tell them it's your birthday. As soon as our waiter(some cool dude named Michael) found out, he proceeded to drag me inside and announce it to the entire crowd in the restaurant. I wanted to hide. -_- But hey, I got a free sundae, so it wasn't -that- bad...

We returned to the convention at around 9 or so to register for the 9:30 PM Booster Draft tournament. We noticed that on the tables for Event Registration, people wrote a bunch of crap there. Some of it was funny.... to name a few:

"WHAT IS THIS INTERNET YOU SPEAK OF?"
"WAIT-CON 2003"
"LINE-CON 2003"
"TROGDOR the BURNINATOR"(there were about three of these- someone likes homestarrunner)
"Pre-Reg Success - YOU LUCKY STIFFS"

Etc, etc. We added some of our own comments there, but you'll just have to find them... ;P

We reported to the Wabash Room after registration. It was very cool- an enormous room with tons of tables, each with a YGO playmat on either side. 50 giant cards(they had a BEWD o_o I want!) hung from the ceiling on strings, and giant cards were on the walls(as well as huge posters). Quoth an UD employee: "Yes, we have to take the giant cards down, and no, you may not have them..."

The Booster Draft ended up happening later than 9:30 because they already had a tournament in progress when we arrived. It worked as follows(wasn't real Draft procedure): we each got 6 Pharaonic Guardian booster packs for 20 bucks(tourney registration fee was $4.50 I think). On command, we would all open our boosters and have 10 minutes to construct a Deck out of them(40-card minimum imposed, Fusion Monsters could not be used unless you had Metamorphosis). I got some decent cards in my boosters, and the Deck I constructed is as follows:

Pharaonic Guardian Booster Draft Deck

Level 4 or lower Monsters:

2x Des Lacooda
2x Birdface
2x Gravekeeper's Vassal
1x Kryuel
1x Poison Mummy
1x Gravekeeper's Guard
2x Arsenal Bug
2x Gravekeeper's Assailant
1x Master Kyonshee
1x Inpachi
1x Mucus Yolk
1x Gravekeeper's Cannonholder
1x Gravekeeper's Watcher
1x Gora Turtle
1x Winged Sage Falcos
1x Servant of Catabolism

Level 5-6 or 'Ritual' Monsters:

2x Timeater
1x Shapesnatch
1x Molten Behemoth

Level 7-8 Monsters:

none

Magic cards:

1x Timidity
1x Book of Taiyou
1x Dark Snake Syndrome

Trap cards:

2x Needle Wall
2x Rite of Spirit
1x Disturbance Strategy
1x Non-Aggression Area
1x Raigeki Break
1x Curse of Royal
1x Pharaoh's Treasure
1x Needle Ceiling
1x D. Tribe
1x Rope of Life

Total: 40

The tournament was played in Swiss format, or at least, it was intended to be- we had to cut it down to 3 Matches each, because so many people were lame and dropped out. Lindsay and I did decent, but didn't place in the top 8. My Matches were as follows:

Round One - Me vs. Kim

Heh, that's funny, I've never Dueled a -guy- named Kim before o_O lol. Anyway, I don't remember that many details about the Duel, except that I just kept pummeling his weaker Monsters and Tributing for stronger ones to slowly-but-surely mow down his Life Points for the win.

LP: 6800
His LP: 0

Duel two:

We never did get to a third Duel, so this was our last one. I put up as much of a fight as I could, but just couldn't pull the Monsters I needed at the right time, and he beat me down for the victory.

LP: 0
His LP: 4500
Results: 1 win, 1 loss, 1 draw

Round Two - Me vs. Chris(evil man -_-)

This guy had a strategy. And I soon found out what it was. A strategy in the form of a horrific contraption called Monster Wheel or something. He strapped my Gravekeeper's Cannonholder into that thing and sent me spinning towards a slow and painful death. Eventually I was able to Tribute my Cannonholder and get rid of the damned thing, but that didn't save me the Duel. He won rather easily.

LP: 0
His LP: 2500

Duel two:

Yes, I had to go through another round of hell(a.k.a. the Monster Wheel). I did manage to get rid of it again by Tributing, but I lost a LOT of LP in the process. He was about three seconds from finishing me off this Duel- when time was called. Whew, saved by the bell...!

LP: 1900
His LP: 6750 (TIME)
Results: 1 loss, 2 draws

Round Three - Me vs. Alex

Now this Duel was fun- simply because I kept managing to pull off a lot of strong combos. His Swarm of Locusts messed me up for a bit, until I activated Curse of Royal and messed IT up. That saved me the Duel, as did some quick intervention from my Raigeki Break and Timeater.

LP: 3700
His LP: 0

Duel two:

I almost didn't have enough time to win this Duel- and it -was- close. I ended up winning it because his Magic/Trap zone was full(he had nothing he could activate) and so were his Monster zones. I ended up drawing Pharaoh's Treasure(which I'd activated previously), and chose Book of Taiyou as my card of choice from GY(so I could damage him, because he had 5 Mons in DEF). I had three Monsters out and played Book on his middle Mon. He flips over... Spirit Reaper?! Excellent. Now not only can I not destroy it(meaning, he can't play any new Monsters unless he Tributes), but I can just keep whacking the thing with my Monsters to pile on damage. It worked- I attacked with all three and did just enough damage to win the game. W00t w00t :D

LP: 4000
His LP: 0 (Victory!)

Our rewards for sticking it out through the whole tournament were 3 Pharaonic Guardian booster packs each. Branden ended up winning the tournament and got a box of Pharaonic Guardian. After the tournament, they started a Constructed, which we didn't bother to participate in(it was 2:30 in the friggin' morning!). Instead, we headed off to our respective hotels to crash for the night.

Second Day - 7/25/03



And so began the second day! First thing in the morning we went to some restaurant in the hotel to have breakfast, and then it was off to the 'con after we checked out of our hotel. I met Lindsay again, at the UpperDeck booth, and we started the day off with some Dueling. Then we looked over some of the booths and met up with her mom to discuss what we were going to do that day. We ran into David again(David was a guy we spoke to the previous day, very cool person) and talked with him for a while, then went off to find Josh. Why? We were gonna get him arrested by the Klingon Jail 'n Bail people. Unfortunately, when we finally found the elusive Magic player, he was getting ready to enter a tournament, so the Klingons couldn't drag him off. Damn. :\ They told him to drop by the booth when he was done, but by the time he actually got out of that tournament(he did well), they were probably already gone. That sucked.... huh? What do you mean, "why did you try to get him arrested"?! Come on, there isn't a Duelist out there who hasn't wanted to see their Head Judge get thrown behind bars ONCE... :P Besides, we all know that Josh is a highly-dangerous criminal and needs to be contained...

We ended up signing up for the 5:00 Rainbow Booster Draft tournament. We took the opportunity to write more "words of wisdom" on the tables(hehehe) before heading off to the Wabash Room. David dropped by to hang with us. We didn't get that much time, though, because the tournament started soon.

The tournament worked as follows: unlike the previous tournament, this was a REAL Booster Draft- meaning, standard draft procedure. For those who don't know, that means this: We each got a pack from every set BEFORE Pharaonic Guardian(so we ended up with 6 packs each). On command, we would open each pack(one at a time, when instructed), choose one card in it, and pass the rest around the table. This would continue until every card in every pack had been distributed. Then we would commence with the next pack(it was done in chronological order. And no, no one pulled a Jinzo from PSV.). Once this was done, we would all end up with 54 cards, and then be given ten minutes for Deck construction. Again, the 40-card minimum was imposed, and no Fusions could be played without Fusion Gate, Polymerization, etc. This is what I pulled:

Rainbow Booster Draft Deck

Level 4 or lower Monsters:

1x Banisher of the Light
1x Science Soldier
1x Cave Dragon
1x Beaver Warrior
1x The Portrait's Secret
1x Dreamsprite
1x Disk Magician
1x Guardian of the Throne Room
1x Fireyarou
1x Morphing Jar #2
1x Shining Abyss
1x Skull Knight #2
1x Ryu-Kishin Clown
1x Weather Report
1x Jellyfish
1x Kotodama
1x Tripwire Beast
1x Ground Attacker Bugroth
1x Mystic Horseman
1x Skull Mariner
1x Frenzied Panda

Level 5-6 or 'Ritual' Monsters:

1x Queen Bird
1x Amphibian Beast

Level 7-8 Monsters:

1x Wingweaver

Magic cards:

1x Fissure
2x Stamping Destruction
1x Curse of Fiend
2x Cold Wave
1x Sogen
2x Paralyzing Potion
1x Tremendous Fire
1x Molten Destruction
1x Vengeful Bog Spirit

Trap cards:

1x Time Seal
1x Destruction Punch
1x Ominous Fortunetelling
1x Driving Snow

Total: 40

Round One - Me vs. Marty

Heh, I liked this guy. He Dueled well, was soft-spoken, and he was funny. Unfortunately, his Monsters were stronger than mine, though, and he was able to beat me down for the win(I REALLY needed that Amphibian Beast... grrr...).

LP: 0
His LP: 6100

Duel two:

We never finished this Duel, because of time being called again, but I had just begun to hit him hard and fast with my Monsters. Amphibian Beast came out early. :)

LP: 7350
His LP: 6400

Round Two - Me vs. Chris

Now this was a guy who got lucky with his Draft. He pulled a Cyber Jar AND a Witch of the Black Forest, which he used to take care of my Wingweaver. Ouch. He won the first Duel rather easily after that- I never touched him.

LP: 0
His LP: 8000

Duel two:

Haha, revenge time. Here comes the Beast! Amphibian took care of his Monsters, and I eventually got out Wingweaver as well, and that was the end of him.

LP: 6000
His LP: 0

Duel three:

Urgh. I got beaten down. Badly. Quickly. I would've lasted longer if I'd made one last move(played Sogen when I had Beaver Warrior in DEF), but I didn't, and it cost me the Duel.

LP: 0
His LP: 7550

Round Three - Me vs. Heather

Well, this was a refreshing change- the second time I've ever gone up against another girl in a tournament. I did what I could this Duel, but her Monsters were just too strong. I lost.

LP: 0
Her LP: 6150

Duel two:

That does it. No more Miss Nice Duelist. She managed to hit me a bit with one of her Monsters, but said Monster soon felt the wrath of my Amphibian Beast(god, I love that card). It went downhill from there for her.

LP: 7200
Her LP: 0

Duel three:

Yep, we actually managed to finish three Duels. Again, I took a hit- and with the help of Wingweaver and Amphibian Beast, managed to dish out several. Pure strength took the win for me.

LP: 7600
Her LP: 0

Again, for sticking it out through the tournament, we each got 3 Pharaonic Guardian boosters(unless, of course, you placed in the top 8). By then it was around 9:00-9:30 PM, and it was time for me to go. I bid my friend farewell(and farewell to the other Guernsey's people who had shown up), and made the trip back home. What a great convention! I'm definitely making plans to try and attend next year.

Props:

-to JIMMY!!! (don't ask)
-to Josh and the rest of the 6-8 Guernsey's Duelists that showed up
-to my dear friend Lindsay, who is one of the coolest people I have ever been fortunate enough to meet... thanks :)
-to the UpperDeck staff for handling things pretty well
-to Midnight Syndicate for their great music
-to DAVID for being cool
-to all the Monsters in my main Deck, Side Deck, and my two Booster Draft Decks- thanks for the effort, guys...
-to the Klingon Jail 'n Bail people, because they rule
-to my parents for giving me the best birthday present I could ever ask for :)
-to GenCon 2003- for kicking serious arse!!!

Slops:

-to Josh for getting away from the Klingons(*shakes fist*)
-to UpperDeck for having that really stupid dice rule in the first Booster Draft tournament(you can't use die/dice-based cards unless you have your own die/dice)
-to no one pulling a Jinzo in the Rainbow Booster Draft
-to Lindsay's obnoxious Dark Magician (you know who you are)
-to the creeps that ran off with Max's binder- if we find out who did it, you're gonna be DRAGON FOOD
-to the Westin- your hotel sucks :P

Questions? Comments? Flames(will be used to fuel my Dragons' fire)? Send 'em to:

Lindsay "ladydragontamer" Bacon
duelistk@hotmail.com
AIM: MetWulf7 (no, I will not Duel you, so don't even bother)
YVD: ladydragontamer