Squirrel Wars - Episode 5: The Squirrels Strike Back
Top Deck Games Tulsa, Oklahoma
March 8, 2003
40 People
Three Dollar entry fee
Winner - 2 booster packs
2nd - 2 booster packs
(The same prize for first and second? And only two packs?!?)

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

S Q U I R R E L W A R S

(Sorry... I don't have big budget effects like George Lucas does)

Welcome to the second of my three tournament reports. This tournament took place about two hours after the one at Vintage Stock. I guess it was time to see if I could finally turn my fortunes around and finally win first, or if I'd continue my losing trend in big matches.

Attack of the Killer Squirrels!!! (40 cards total)

Monsters (19)
Cyber Jar
Gearfried the Iron Knight
Goblin Attack Force
Magician of Faith X2
Man-Eater Bug X2
Nimble Momonga X3 (Killer Squirrels!!!)
Sangan
Summoned Skull
The Fiend Megacyber
Trap Master
Wall of Illusion X2
White Magical Hat X2
Witch of the Black Forest

Magic (12)
Bait Doll
Change of Heart
Dark Hole
Fissure
Heavy Storm
Monster Reborn
Nobleman of Crossout
Pot of Greed
Premature Burial
Raigeki
Snatch Steal
Swords of Revealing Light

Traps (9)
Call of the Haunted
Dust Tornado
Imperial Order
Magic Jammer
Mirror Force
Seven Tools of the Bandit
Skull Lair
Trap Hole
Waboku

Side Deck (15):
4-Starred Ladybug of Doom
Sangan
Trap Master
Wall of Illusion
Card Destruction
Confiscation
Delinquent Duo
Nobleman of Crossout
Nobleman of Extermination
Chain Destruction
Magic Drain
Seven Tools of the Bandit
Skull Lair
Trap Hole
Waboku

In addition to the Skull Lair that I got in the packs that I won at the Vintage Stock tournament, I also traded for another Skull Lair. I ended up putting the Bait Doll and one of the Skull Lairs in my deck, and the other Skull Lair in my side deck. Now you'll get to see how they work.

This tournament was match format, minimum of three rounds. The top four players at the end of the three rounds advanced to the semifinals. I like this format MUCH better than Vintage Stock. Too bad this isn't an Upper Deck sanctioned tournament.

Laurence and Lance (from the Vintage Stock tournament) were both here. I figured that I'd probably run into one of them again before the end of the tournament. I guess I wasn't wrong...

But enough of that... on to the duels!

First Round - BigSpooky vs. Sammy (Balanced Beatdown)

I'm not sure what was up with Sammy. He seemed to have a perpetual case of bad attitude. I don't think he smiled the entire match... not even when he beat me. He certainly didn't laugh at any of my jokes!

Duel 1 - What can I say? Sammy beat me like a redheaded stepchild. I had a couple of moments of offense. But Sammy beat me in about six turns by playing Dark Hole, Raigeki, and an assortment of other monster removing cards to keep me from putting up any kind of resistance.

Final Score: 0-6600

I decided to swap my White Magical Hats with my 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom and Wall of Illusion from my side deck. Since Sammy was sending an army of powerful four stars against me, I figured I'd better be prepared.

Duel 2 - This duel started much like the first, with Sammy taking a huge chunk of my life points very quickly, bringing me down to 4200 in a few turns. Fortunately, Sammy ran afoul of some Killer Squirrels, which put my life points back up to 6200. From there, I played Change of Heart, then tributed Sammy's monster to bring out my Summoned Skull. With a little help from a Killer Squirrel, Summoned Skull managed to wipe out Sammy's life points in a few turns.

Final Score: 6200-0

Duel 3 - Sammy somehow managed to draw Raigeki at the beginning of the game for the third time in a row (lucky little #%$!). Fortunately, I had some luck of my own as I had my Imperial Order on the field when he tried to play Raigeki. This battle went much the same as the first, except it was me doing all of the monster removal. In fact the only damage I took was the 700 points I paid to keep Imperial Order on the field.

Final Score: 7300-0

After the duel, I shook Sammy's hand and wished him luck in the rest of the tournament. He just stared at me.

Kid... you need to learn to lighten up!

Second Round - BigSpooky vs. CanOpenR/Laurence (Umi/Tornado Wall/Legendary Fisherman)

No this is NOT a misprint. I had to face Laurence AGAIN in the second round. I had a hard time believing that I would be able to beat Laurence in match play. But it looked like I was going to have to try.

Duel 1 - This duel was actually pretty short for one of our typical duels. He attacked a Killer Squirrel on his first turn. After a Change of Heart followed by a tribute for Summoned Skull, it was pretty much over. It took my Skull and Squirrels three turns to bring him down to zero.

Final Score: 7700-0

Duel 2 - This was a LONG duel. Thanks to a combination of Umi and Tornado Wall, I wasn't able to do to get near Laurence's life points. On the other hand, thanks to my Swords of Revealing Light and the timely use of Skull Lair, he couldn't hurt me either. About 30 minutes into the duel, the judge called our match on account of time, and named me the winner since I had won the first duel. We continued to play, but the third round began not long after.

Final (though not really) Score: 7950-12500

Sorry, Laurence. I don't like to win like that. But I'm sure that you'll get a chance to avenge your defeat in the near future.

Third Round - BigSpooky vs. Chris (Potpourri)

I'm not really sure what the theme to Chris's deck was. He had some good cards, but they didn't seem to work together very well.

Chris was very courteous and polite. He had won both of his previous matches without losing a duel. But he told me that he had bad luck in the third round, and always managed to lose. Sadly, today wasn't any different.

Duel 1 - I won't lie and say that I played brilliantly and mopped the floor with Chris in this duel. I did mop the floor with him, but only because of some really good luck on my part, and some really lousy luck on his. I'm not quite sure what happened, but I know that Raigeki and Heavy Storm were involved. After three turns, I had my Summoned Skull, a Squirrel, and a Wall of Illusion on the field. Chris had nothing. After I attacked for 5500 damage, Chris set a monster on the field. But a Nobleman of Crossout finished the duel rather quickly.

Final Score: 8000-0

Duel 2 - This duel was closer, with Chris getting the early advantage after his La Jinn directly attacked my life points. We had a few exchanges with damage being dealt to both sides. With the score at 4800-4300, I managed to revive my Goblin Attack Force and attack with it and a Killer Squirrel for direct damage. Chris attempted to destroy my Goblin Attack Force, but my luck held up, and my Waboku took care of his attack. After tributing my Goblin Attack Force for The Fiend Megacyber, I destroyed his monster and my Killer Squirrel finished off his remaining life points.

Final Score: 4800-0

You'll have better luck next week Chris, and I'm sure that you'll get past that third round curse.

Semifinals - BigSpooky vs. Mike (Stall)

Mike was very friendly, so in some ways this match was a lot of fun. But since he ran a stall deck - the one type of deck that mine is extremely vulnerable to - this duel was also pretty dang stressful.

Duel 1 - I won't go into great detail here except to say that, with the exception of one Killer Squirrel attack and his activation of a Seven Tools of the Bandit, I didn't even touch Mike's life points for around thirty minutes. Thanks to a seemingly infinite supply of magic and traps and a Labyrinth Wall that just wouldn't go away, Mike was able to keep me at bay. But thanks to my Bait Doll (which singlehandedly eliminated a Trap Hole and a Mirror Force) and the timely arrival of Skull Lair near the bottom of my deck, I was able to get a clear field to attack with both my Summoned Skull and The Fiend Megacyber for direct damage. Next turn, I used my Bait Doll to activate his Call of the Haunted, which he used to bring back a Blue Eyes White Dragon that he had earlier discarded. Fortunately, I had way more than eight cards in my graveyard by that time, so I activated my Skull Lair to destroy his Blue Eyes, then my monsters finished him off.

Duel 2 - With the exception of a little fracas that occurred when I realized that Mike had drawn seven cards on his first turn instead of six, this duel was highly uneventful. Mike offered to forfeit the match, but he had only drawn seven cards because he thought he was supposed to start with six and also get a draw phase. Since Mike had really gracious and polite in our previous duel, I told him he didn't need to forfeit (I like to earn my victories). Besides, it didn't really matter too much. I drew Raigeki and Heavy Storm, so I managed to eliminate all of his stall cards on the field. It took about three turns to finish this one.

Final Score: 8000-0

After our match, I found out that I was going to be playing Ryan, who had managed to beat Lance. Granted, Lance was running Exodia in this tourney, but I figured anyone who could beat Lance would be a challenge.

Before the match, Mike told me that I needed to kick Ryan's... well, I think you get the drift. Apparently, Ryan has a bit of a reputation for being a bit rude and cocky. I promised Mike that I would do my best.

Finals - BigSpooky vs. Ryan (Heavy Beatdown)

Let me just say that I was wrong in my thinking that this match was going to be a challenge. It was actually a bit of a joke. Ryan isn't a bad player, but he just attacked and attacked without discretion. Plus, he played a really strange combo with Painful Choice where he picked five of his best cards (Change of Heart, Monster Reborn, Mystical Space Typhoon, Magician of Faith, and Pot of Greed). OK, sure, you get a really good card right away, but you've also just lost four.

I know it's probably not very nice to say that my match against Ryan was a joke. I try to respect my opponents and have enjoyable duels with them. And, Ryan, if you read this, I apologize for saying that our match was a joke. But, frankly, after what I heard and saw of your attitude, it probably did you some good to have your bell rung a bit.

Duel 1 - Not even close. Ryan played his Painful Choice combo right at the beginning. I let him have Change of Heart. He then used it on my facedown card ("OK... if you really want my Killer Squirrel for a turn...") He tried to attack for damage, but my Waboku put a quick end to that. There isn't much to say after that. My Squirrels and The Fiend Megacyber dominated the field. The only damage I took was from my own Premature Burial.

Final Score: 7200-0

Duel 2 - Not much different in this duel. He had the advantage early on when he attacked my White Magical Hat with La Jinn for 800 damage. Fortunately, my Swords of Revealing Light halted his progress. He then played his Painful Choice combo again. This time, I let him have Mystical Space Typhoon. I thought I was being clever, because even though I had Swords of Revealing Light on the field, I also had Mirror Force. So if he decided to destroy my Swords so that he could attack, I would make him pay with Mirror Force. Unfortunately, he chose Mirror Force. Oh well...

It didn't matter though. After the Swords ended, he ended up attacking a Killer Squirrel. With the exception of 1000 points that I paid for my Seven Tools of the Bandit to negate his Mirror Force, I didn't take any further damage.

Final Score: 8200-0

I will admit, while Ryan didn't like losing, he was a pretty good sport about it. So, Ryan, I take back all of those mean things that I said about you.

Well... maybe not ALL of them...

OK, so I won the tournament. That's pretty darn cool. And my prize is... two packs of Labyrinth of Nightmare cards.

Ha ha ha... whee!

I ended up pulling Mask of Dispel. I replaced Chain Destruction in my side deck with it. It'll really help against those pesky Messenger of Peace decks. Too bad nobody plays those here...

Props:
Me - for winning the tournament (finally!)

Laurence - for being a good sport when our match was cut short

Chris and Mike - for hard fought duels, and being courteous and polite

Top Deck - for hosting a really decent match play tournament

Ryan - just because I (and will continue to) rag on him so much

Slops:
Me - for ragging on Ryan so much

Sammy and Ryan - I know you're not adults yet, boys, but you still need to learn to play nice with the other kiddies

Top Deck - for calling the match between me and Laurence

Top Deck - TWO PACKS ?!?!?

Bad Sports - SEE Sammy and Ryan

Thieves - There was a Buster Blader stolen from a guy's notebook during the tournament. I feel terrible, because it happened at the table where I was sitting, and I didn't notice it.

Special note to the brat who stole the card: I don't care if mommy and daddy won't buy you all of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards that you want, stealing cards is NOT COOL!!! If I ever find out who you are, I will dangle you from the top of the Williams Center and make you cry and wet your pants like the little girl that you are! Granted, that probably will never happen... but it might!

Comments, suggestions, death threats? Send them to BigSpooky1@hotmail.com. Please do not send me offers to trade cards... I don't have that many good extras, and the ones I do are in high enough demand here in Oklahoma.

I'm also available for online duels in Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist League. E-mail me if you would like to duel sometime. Non-ladder duels only please... those ladder duelists are way too uptight.

Enjoy my tourney report? Then please read the next chronicle in my dueling saga - Squirrel Wars - Episode 6: The Return of the Killer Squirrels.