Hey people! My screen name is Daedalus but my friends call me Kris. This is my first Duel Monsters tournament and first tournament report. This tournament was an official Upper Deck single-elimination tournament.  Labyrinth of Nightmare WAS legal for this tournament.  Magic Cylinder and United we Stand were restricted.

Ok, now before I continue, I would like to "constructively criticize" (a.k.a. "rant") the current state of affairs of some "tournament reports" being submitted.  Now, don't get me wrong, many people submit high quality tournament reports.  These reports are informative, descriptive, and (most importantly) fun to read.  Now, if you submit a report and it doesn't have your deck list, how are we supposed to know your strategy and get tips for building our own deck?  Worse yet, I've seen reports where the entire duel is described with two words.  If your entire tournament report is just "Duel 1: I win.  Duel 2: I lose.  Duel 3: I win" then that's not very exciting , descriptive, or informative.  Rock-Paper-Scissors is actually more stimulating than just a deck list people try to pass off as tournament reports.  Also, if you are writing a tournament report, try to give it a little flavor.  Play-by-plays are always nice, but use digression.  If the game lasts forever and you end up winning because your opponent runs out of cards to draw, then it's probably best to just give us a summary and include some key plays.  A little personality helps too.  If you comment on things you did between rounds or comment on other things non-game related (even if it's just "my opponent sucks), that gives us more of a story (like watching an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh as opposed to watching someone play a Yu-Gi-Oh video game) .  Oh, and one last thing before I continue.  If you're writing a tournament report, try to keep it black text on a white background.  I know some of you can do all kinds of things with different colors and fonts but keeping it simple really works the best.  "But Daedalus, Pojo's website doesn't follow that format at all!"  I know, but that was designed by a webmaster that knows what's visually pleasing for your eyes on a computer screen.  Just watch, while this text is easy to read, This text is much harder to read, even though it is definitely cooler.  Shrink the text down some (like if you were reading it on a small screen)...And it's really hard to read. I know it's tempting to make your report look flashy, but simpler really is better.

Ok, enough ranting, time for some deck listing and deck building advice.

RAGE BEATDOWN (41 cards)

MONSTERS (21)

Tribute
2x Blue-Eyes White Dragon
2x Summon Skull
Non-Tribute
1x Cyber Jar
2x Dark Elf
2x Giant Soldier of Stone
3x Harpie's Brother
2x La Jinn Mystical Genie of the Lamp
2x Magician of Faith
2x Man-Eater Bug
1x Mask of Darkness
2x Wall of Illusion

MAGIC (12)

1x Black Pendant
1x Change of Heart
1x Dark Hole
2x Heavy Storm
1x Megamorph
1x Monster Reborn
1x Pot of Greed
1x Premature Burial
1x Raigeki
1x Snatch Steal
1x Swords of Revealing Light

Traps (8)

1x Call of the Haunted
1x Magic Jammer
1x Metalmorph
1x Mirror Force
1x Seven Tools of the Bandit
1x Solumn Judgement
2x Trap Hole

Sideboard (15)

1x Delinquent Duo
1x Soul Release
1x Kuriboh
1x Card Destruction
1x Graverobber
2x Nobleman of Crossout
1x Sangan
3x Horn of the Unicorn
2x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Man-Eater Bug
1x Eternal Rest

    Ok, here's the basic strategies for the deck.  First and foremost, beatdown your opponent.  To do that, I've included 2 Blue-Eyes White Dragons (most power monster right now that can come back from the graveyard even if you didn't summon it normally), 2 Summon Skulls (no explanation necessary), and a small army of 1800 attack creatures.  Providing backup are the Dark Elves, since two 1800s going at it (a very likely scenario) will result in both getting killed, the Elf doubles as removal when it needs to, or can directly attack for a clean 2000 life points.  They also have good synergy with Megamorph as they can temporarily lower your life points below your opponents so you can attack for 4000 life points (that's half their life right there).  Cyber Jar is like having Dark Hole and Pot of Greed in one card.  You can either get a lot of magic cards and have a lot of options (great when you had only 1 or no cards in hand) or you can get a lot of creatures to beatdown your opponent with or tribute for bigger monsters.  As for effect creatures, I've found that two Magician of Faiths is the right number.  Three is excessive and has you drawing her when you either don't have any magic cards in your graveyard or when you really need a creature capable of attacking.  Wall of Illusions is great for bouncing back tribute monsters (so they have to tribute again) or 1800s (so they have to replay that monster AND find a way to get rid of your wall, as it'll still be alive after the exchange).
    As for the magic and trap cards, I had originally intended to run a deck with 2 Magic Jammers and 2 Seven Tools (and/or 2 Tributes to the Doomed) but my cards I ordered off E-bay didn't arrive in time.  To try and compensate, I put in a Mask of Darkness to try to retrieve my Magic Jammer and Seven Tools (and even Mirror Force), but that was a big mistake.  The entire day it didn't help me at all, and usually just became a sacrificial blocker to protect my life points.  It never retrieved a single trap card, and even if it had, my opponent would see the trap coming, so it was definitely a poor choice to main-deck it.  Also, I think playing two Blue-Eyes White Dragons main deck was a mistake as the general strategy is to discard them to the graveyard (though you can occasionally summon one, preferable with your opponents monster and one of your used effect monsters) and bring it back with Monster Reborn, Premature Burial, or Call of the Haunted.  However, without Tributes to the Doomed and an extra Magic Jammer, they usually just sat in my hand when I drew one.  I guess I just wanted to show that Blue-Eyes was tournament viable, but I think in the next version of this deck he may be scrapped.  I play a Black Pendant as it's kind of like an Axe of Despair in that it does an 1000 points of damage, but in two steps.  In play-testing this deck, I was originally running Horns of the Unicorn (yes, 2) and the idea was that I would always have a monster equip card to beef up my monsters as anytime they got rid of the Horn, it'd go back on top of the library.  However, the Horn became a liability as often I had just attached it to a monster only to have it dark holed back on top of my library and I knew I would draw it instead of, say, Mirror Force, or a monster, or, we, just about anything else in my deck.  Every other card in the deck is decisively better than Horn of the Unicorn.  I did want at least one monster equip card though, so I could win a mirror match or just do more damage.  Black Pendant was the obvious next choice and it's effect works with my Heavy Storms.  If I kill my own pendant, it still does 500 points of damage to my opponent.  I was really worried about not having any Axe of Despairs though, so I put in a Metalmorph.  It's a good trap card that can actually be better than the Axe if you're attacking.  For example, a Harpie's Brother equipped with it can kill a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which it couldn't do with an Axe of Despair.  Also, it's like a mini Reinforcements, helping with the mirror match.  Solemn Judgment is like having a Trap Hole, a Magic Jammer, and a Seven Tools all wrapped up into one card, which is amazing.  On the other hand, it takes away half your life points, which is horrible!  Though, if you're about to win or need to counter an opponents card that could spell disaster for you, it can always be used (unlike Seven Tools when you have no life and Magic Jammer when you have no cards).  I play one and hope I draw it towards the endgame, and it also has good synergy with Megamorph.  The other magic and trap cards pretty much explain themselves, though I would like to say I had concerns about the local metagame (as I had never played in a tournament and didn't know what other people would be playing) and was worried that I might play a control deck that prohibited Heavy Storm.  Also, heavy storm wipes out your own magic and trap cards (which I have a lot of).  For these reasons, I was considering playing 1 Heavy Storm and 1 Mystical Space Typhoon main-deck, but I figured if that situation came up, I could always side them in later.  I'm glad I did as the Heavy Storms became a life saver on more than one occasion.  More on the metagame later.
    As for the sideboard, I made it in 10 minutes waiting for the pairings to be posted for the first round, so there are some cards in there just for filler (to get the 15 required cards to have a sideboard).  However, many of them I knew I was going to sideboard beforehand, so there is thought put into it.  Delinquent Duo is great against Exodia and can also be used against a control deck to remove their control cards before they play them.  Soul Release makes sure the Exodia player cannot Backup Soldier their Exodia pieces.  Card Destruction just hoses Exodia.  Wait for them to snag 1 or 2 pieces of Exodia (chances are they didn't start out with 4 pieces) and Destruct and watch all their pieces go bye-bye.  Seven Tools' sole purpose then becomes to counter Backup Solider.  Mystical Space Typhoon, as I mentioned, is great against control.  Kuriboh is last minute idea to counter a burner or limiter remover deck.  Eternal Rest works for Equip Monster decks.  The other cards are in there just in case I find my deck sucking, I can tailor it.  As you can imagine, I was mostly worried about Exodia and control when designing the sideboard.

    One last deck building note before we proceed.  I find some people are all about playing decks that are EXACTLY 40 cards.  After all, that means you have a better chance of drawing that clutch card when you need it, right?  I think that this is false thinking.  I'm not trying to say go out and make a 100 card deck, but if your deck is already 40 cards and you really want to put in a couple more, and you can't find anything you'd want to take out of your deck, then by all means, play a 41, 43, heck, even a 45 card deck.  The extra 5 cards might reduce your chance of drawing one of your other 40 cards each turn, but you can't draw a card you don't have in your deck.  Besides, it is of my opinion that the idea that your deck must consist of the fewest number of cards possible is derived by Magic: The Gathering players.  In this game, it is not uncommon to draw a land card when you really need a magic card (for those of you who don't play Magic, it's similar to drawing a monster equip card when you have no monsters) and the decks have to be 60 cards, with a limit of 4 copies of a card in the deck.  This significantly decreases your chances of drawing a useful card.  Also, since about 1/3 of those 60 cards are land cards, you really have a hard time drawing the cards you need.  Not true in Duel Monsters where every card you draw is potentially useful.  However, if you're playing Exodia, that deck should be 40 cards exactly.  Now, don't take this advice and go crazy with it making huge, lumbering decks because you "need" every card in there.  Pick a strategy and stick with it.  When evaluating the cards in your deck, ask yourself these questions:
1) Which card(s) always stay in my hand?
2) Which card(s) do I really not like drawing? (i.e. "NO!  Not Horn of the Unicorn, I need a creature!")
3) Does this card fit into my deck theme? (i.e. While Gravity Bind is a good card and can stall, but it won't help your beatdown deck very much.)
4) What is the weakest card in my deck? (i.e. Let's see... Raigeki, Mirror Force, Monster Reborn... FUSIONIST?  How'd that get in there?)
5) Does any of my cards usually hurt me more than help me? (i.e. Cyber Jar seems to get me fewer monsters, Mirror Wall does too much damage to me, etc.)
Hopefully, with this advice, you can crush your opponents next time, top-decking card after card that just obliterates them.

Oh, I just remembered something.  Before the first round started, I sat down at a table and as I pulled the chair out, I noticed several cards scattered underneath the table.  They were in really dirty black sleeves which were coming undone so I picked them up.  They ended up being a Harpie's Brother, a La Jinn, and a Black Pendant.  I looked around but I didn't see anyone using mangled black sleeves and no one was looking around for cards, so I just kept them, as I figured I could use them.

Ok, enough strategy and deck-talk... now onto the Duels!

Round 1: Kris (That's me!) vs William
This round I got paired up with a young player (I'd say around 10) which kind of sucked for me and my conscience.  I mean I didn't want to be a bully and beat him down senselessly.  Of course, I've seen some really young players just decimate everyone they play, so I tried not to be too idle either.  I later found out that he was playing a deck filled with good cards, but which had no real strategy.  For example, I think I saw 2 promo Blue-Eyes White dragons in there, but there was also a gravity bind.  Oh well, either way, he knew how to play the game and I didn't have to explain anything or help him out at all.

Duel 1: We have a hard time picking out who goes first because we can't figure out if it's Rock-Paper-Scissors-Go or just Rock-Paper-Scissors.  I eventually let him decide and he tells me to go first.  My opening hand ended up being ridiculously good: Harpie's Brother, Summon Skull, Black Pendant, Swords of Revealing Light, and Snatch Steal.  As if I didn't have enough good cards in my hand, I draw Raigeki.  I play Harpie's Bro in attack mode and set Swords of Revealing light (to psych him out into thinking it's a trap). He sets a creature in defense mode and several cards in the Magic/Trap zone.  Those worried me.  I decided to activate Swords of Revealing light to see what the face-down monster was and it ended up being a Giant Soldier of Stone.  I Snatch Steal it and  use it as tribute for Summon Skull which I then attack the Black Pendant to and hit him for 4800.  This entire time, no magic or trap cards and getting activated and I was like "wow, I thought I was walking right into some nasty trap."  Next turn he plays a defense monster and ends his turn.  I Raigeki and then attack for the win.
Me: 8000
Him: 8000-3200-0

Duel 2: This duel was a lot less one-sided.  I decided not to sideboard in anything and he opted to go first this time.  This game lasted a lot longer than the first one, though I didn't take much damage, I couldn't inflict any either due to him getting a gravity bind into play with a Giant Soldier of Stone on defense.  I eventually got a man-eater bug into play and flipped it to kill his last defender and then slowly started hitting him with a Man-Eater Bug with a Black Pendant and a Magician of Faith.  Next turn I attacked Metalmorph to the bug and continued chipping away at life between defenders (Metalmorph is great for eliminating defenders).  There was really only one card that would help me as my hand was filling up with 1800s and as I drew on my next turn... HEAVY STORM!  Black Pendant went to the graveyard inflicting 500 points and Magician of Faith and Man-eater Bug were sacked for Blue-Eyes, which attacked for the win.
Me: 8000-7650
Him: 8000-6200-4250-2300-500-0

Duel 3: Though it was best 2 out of 3, the rounds were pretty long so we played another game just for fun, but I didn't take any notes on it.  I do remember him getting an early big creature and beating down my creatures which were cowering in defense mode.  I top-decked Raigeki, which saved me and I was able to make a comeback with a pair of Harpie's Brothers.
Me: 8000-7400-6600
Him: 8000-4400-2900-600-0

After the duel he goes "I'll trade you for your Raigeki, I really need one" and it just so happened that I had two Raigekis and he had a bent Head of Exodia that he didn't want, so I traded for it.  He was very happy, and I was like "only 4 more pieces to go..."  As long I play it in sleeves, I'm good, or I can just trade it.  One last thing of note, this person had 2 promo Blue-Eyes White Dragons in their deck (though one looked like it had been through the wash).  I thought I was going to be the only player trying to play with Blue-Eyes...

I'm not 3-0 for duels and 1-0 for rounds, not a bad start.  In between rounds I sat down next to a couple of others dueling just to watch and a guy comes by and challenges me to a duel.  Well, it was TIME TO DUEL!  As we dueled, I learned that he had just been eliminated in the first round.  That really sucks. I didn't take notes on this one either, but I do remember a few things and our life points are scrawled in my notebook.

Fun Duel 1: Daedalus (That's also me!) vs Some guy with Jinzo and Torrential Tributes (Sorry, don't remember your name)
This was a really close game.  I got an early lead thanks to some removal, but lost all my creatures to a Torrential Tribute.  Without any monsters in hand or on the field, and 2 monsters on his side, I drew Cyber Jar and set it.  Cyber Jar activated when he attacked it and I received less monsters than he did, and it was still his battle phase so I got hit hard.  I was able to put up a defense and slowly make a comeback, dealing massive damage on one turn until I tried to monster reborn his Summoned Skull only to be Torrential Tributed again.  At this point, he was at 350 life and I was at 1400.  I tried to change of heart his face-down creature and tribute it for Summon Skull for the win, only to have him activate Solemn Judgment.  He loses a MASSIVE, GAME BREAKING... 175 life.  I have no creatures on the field, but I set a Trap Hole and I know that his face-down card can't possibly be anything with an attack higher than 1400.  On his turn he TRIBUTES (Hooray for Trap Hole!) for a monster and I activate my Trap Hole without even looking at his monster.  As I look at his side of the field, I see the card he put down is... JINZO.  NOOOO!  As the trap hole can't be activated with Jinzo in play, he attacks and I lose.
Me: 8000-5200-4200-3700-1400-0
Him: 8000-7100-4600-350-175

After this duel I was a bit shaken up.  My tournament viable deck just lost to someone who was already eliminated.  Not a good sign, as I'm not 3-1 for duels.  I wish I had a Jinzo.

Round 2: Kris (Me!) vs Chris (Not me) [Beatdown]
As the pairing get posted I find my seat is across from some guy in a yellow hoodie.  As we pile shuffle and cut each others decks, he asks if my deck is more than 40 cards.  I confidently say "41," which I think threw him a little off balance for some odd reason.  With our decks shuffled and cut, it was now time to DUEL!

Duel 1:
I go first and play a Harpie's Brother in attack mode and set Magic Jammer.  On his turn he tries to Change of Heart it.  Now, what would be the correct move in this situation?  Now try to guess what I did instead.  That's right, instead of activating Magic Jammer and discarding something, I let him take my Harpie's Brother which he then tributes for a Summon Skull.  Don't ask me why I was so stupid, I think I just underestimated him and forgot that Change of Heart can be the most devastating card in the game.  I play Man-Eater bug in defense mode (MUAHAHA!  Just try to attack with your Summon Skull...) but he plays Nobleman of Crossout on it (Doh!) and we both take out our Bugs from our decks and remove them from the game.  He plays a Giant Soldier of Stone in attack mode and hits me again.  Somehow, I manage to clear the field of monsters and do a whopping 700 points of damage to him, but he kills my monster and then kills me with some ridiculously weak creature which was never meant to attack, ever.
Me: 8000-5500-1700-450-0
Him: 8000-6300

Duel 2:
I choose to go 2nd since I lost the first game going first and wanted to test my luck the other way around.  The Fates look down on me in this duel as I draw a hand with 5 magic cards.  Why doesn't Yu-gi-oh have Mulligans like Magic: The Gathering?  I would have gladly started with one less card to have some kind of monster.  He plays a Harpie's Brother in attack mode.  I top-deck a La Jinn (Woo!).  I then Snatch Steal his Harpie's Brother, play La Jinn, and attack for an early lead.  On his turn, he gets 1000 life points from the Snatch Steal and then plays Dark Hole (No!  My only creature!) and then another Harpie's Brother and attacks.  I draw Mask of Darkness and nearly yell at it for not being something good.  Either way, I set it in defense mode to protect my life points.  Next turn, he plays no monsters and hits the Mask.  I draw something that's not a monster or creature removal.  He hits me for 1800 again.  I draw Megamorph and realize that at the current rate, I'm dead in 2 turns so I Megamorph his Harpie's Brother to bring it down to 900 attack.  He attacks for 900.  It's not my turn.  The good news: I draw a creature.  The bad news: It's a Summon Skull and I have nothing to tribute.  I do, however, have a Change of Heart and I try to Change of Heart his Harpie's Brother for my Summon Skull but he counters it with Solemn Judgment.  At this point I'm thinking "Oh, that's ok, that's half of his life points" and as I glance over at my sheet where I'm keeping track of the life points, I realize that I'm at 1700 while he still has a creature out and 2450 life.  I have no way of defending my life, and if he gets almost any creature out, that's game.  At this point I do the worst thing any duelist can do: I lose faith in my deck.  As I look down at my hand and see nothing that I can use (I'm pretty sure I was holding a Summon Skull and a Black Pendant at this point) I hear Yugi's voice.  He tells me that I should believe in myself and in the heart of the cards and I regain control of myself.  I look at the field and tell myself "I haven't lost yet, if he doesn't draw another monster and only pings me for 900, I can still top-deck Dark Hole, Raigeki, or just about any creature in my deck and make a comeback!  I defiantly set the Black Pendant face-down to try to psyche him out and end my turn.  On his turn he draws a Mystical Elf, puts her in attach mode and attacks for exactly my life points.  I look at the next card in my deck and it was Pot of Greed followed by Mirror Force and a Giant Solider of Stone.  I've now lost 3 duels in a row and am out of the tournament.  Phooey.
Me: 8000-6200-4400-2600-1700-0
Him: 8000-4400-5400-4900-2450

Duel 3:
Since there was time left in the round, I asked if he wanted to play again for fun.  This duel I managed to draw everything I needed and effortlessly killed him.  He didn't even touch my life points and I did massive damage to his.  Anything he tries to do anything I have a trap waiting.  Dark Hole?  Magic Jammer!  Harpie's Brother?  Trap Hole!  I think it took all but four turns to end this duel.
Me: 8000
Him: 8000-6200-3400-0

After the duel we went up to tell the judges the victor of the round.  It was kinda funny when they asked who had one and Chris and I look at each other because we both want to yell out "Chris" but both our names are pronounced the same.  I collected my consolation pack of Pharaoh's Servant and opened it.  I was like "Please be a Jinzo or Goblin Attack Force or something good" as I opened it and shuffled through the cards.  As I found the rare, it ended up being Dimensionhole and I yelled at it for sucking so much and being a rare.  I headed back to the tables to attempt some trading and play some duels for fun and as I passed by the trashcan, I saw a bunch of commons on top.  I reached in and picked them up.  Even if none of them were playable, I could make a fun deck with them or use them as proxies or something.  Come to think of it, I later traded a rare and some commons for a super rare just because the guy wanted some of the commons I carried around (I carry good commons with my trading stuff to help sweeten deals and stuff).

I got some good trading in and traded off my 2 Ground Collapses because someone wanted them.  If you really don't care about my trades, skip this paragraph.  Otherwise, read on!  Someone wanted my Messenger of Peace and I figured I'd never want to play control, but I ended up later trading for a Gravity Bind, so I kinda wish I had held onto that Messenger.  I also traded for some more anti-Exodia cards like Confiscation as well as a 2nd Delinquent Duo which I figured was better than the card I traded for it anyways.  Someone came around asking for Destiny Board cards and I don't have any LON cards yet so I passed that up.

I challenged some guy to several duels who looked extremely bored.  He played very half-heartedly and I beat him 3 our of 3 times.  As we played we talked and it turned out he had been eliminated in the first round and was waiting for his friends.  After the duels I asked to look through his deck and found a Mechanical Chaser.  I offered to trade my Head of Exodia for it but he declined.  I dunno about what other people think, but even though Mechanical Chaser is only available as an ultra rare from tournament packs, it really shouldn't be worth $150 anymore now that Gemini Elf is out.  Of course, they aren't crap either, and they do work with Limiter Removal but it's seriously not the baddest beast on the block anymore.  I'm thinking somewhere between $50 and 100 sounds about right (which still puts it as more valuable than Gemini Elf because it is so rare and hard to get).

I then challenged someone else to a duel and we started playing.  I ended up slaughtering him but in one notable move, I played Cyber Jar when I had no monsters on the field and he had two and I flipped it on my turn. We drew our 5 cards, he got FIVE monsters to my ONE.  He goes "YES!" and then looks at the cards I drew and sees a Giant Solider of Stone (which would stop all his creatures from attacking), Metalmorph, RAIGEKI, Heavy Storm, and Snatch Steal.  He then goes "NO!" and I Raigeki... MUAHAHA!
Me: 8000-7000-6100-5300-4300
Him (Think his name was Kevin): 8000-6200-5400-3400-0
The funny thing about Kevin was that he was there with his younger brother, but his brother was the player with all the cards and possibly more skill (I didn't play him, but from what I heard...)  We talked a bit afterwards and laughed at how crappy Fusionist is.  I mean, it's a rare that has a massive, earth shattering attack of 900.  The creatures used in the fusion have better overall stats before the fusion, and there are two of them.  Plus, Polymerization is rarer than this card.  You're basically using a super rare card to get you a fusion creature that is worse than the creatures you started off with.  Why did they print this card?  Why is it a rare?  Why does this card even exist?

At this point, I put my notebook away so I don't have anymore notes on anything, but there were numerous duels afterward.  I played this guy named Philip after he lost to Kevin and he was really cool.  We talked about all sorts of things during the duels (we had more than one).  One interesting moment had him setting a Trap Hole and then announcing to me that if I had a Summon Skull and tried to use it, he would screw me over.  On my turn, I top-decked Heavy Storm and went "Oh yeah?" and Heavy Stormed his Trap Hole and then tributed for the Summon Skull that had been sitting in my hand.  Later, Philip said he had to leave and took off, but we exchanged IMs and traded a bit, so that was cool.  By this time the tournament was in the semi-finals and all that remained we little kids (proving that kids can dominate over adults).  One adult was playing a kid at another table (i.e. not part of the tournament) and I went over to watch.  Philip comes back saying that his parents left without him and I told him that really sucks.  To cheer him up a bit, we laughed at how crappy Fusionist is.  I mean, this really is absurd how unplayable it is.  We played another duel where I managed to top-deck both of my Heavy Storms at key moments in the duel and I beat him down.  Soon after our duel, the adult next to us finished his game and asked if we wanted to play and I accepted the challenge.  His name turned out to be Juan and he had been playing Duel Monsters for 2 days.  He had learned it the previous day at a Magic: The Gathering tournament and had bought a starter deck and a box of Legend of Blue-Eyes to get him started.  He then put all the cards together into a deck, but it wasn't a very tuned deck.  There was a notable lack of the staple cards and for the first time ever, Ancient Telescope got played.  He told me that it was a great card for him as he could look at part of the opponents deck and learn about new cards and strategies.  I played him 3 times and on the 3rd duel Philip REALLY had to go (his parents had come back for him) and he told me to kick Juan's... well, you know.  The 3rd duel was a funny one as I somehow drew every card in my deck that can damage me (Seven Tools, Solemn Judgment, both Dark Elves, Premature Burial) and my life points went down to 1700 before I Megamorphed a Dark Elf and attacked for the win.  Of course, most of that damage was self-inflicted but a win is a win whether you win by 8000 life points or by 50.  Besides, it made him feel better that he had gotten so close to winning ;)  After our duel, the store began closing up and Juan and I decided to leave.  Juan was kind enough to give me a ride up to the Metro stop (a.k.a. subway station) which was about a mile away up a hill (I had walked down it to get to the tournament).  To show my appreciation for the ride (to make matters worse, it was cold outside and I only had a windbreaker) I gave him a Horn of the Unicorn since his deck looked like an equip beatdown deck and I thought he could use it.

Overall it was a very fun experience and one I hope to repeat every week now.  Definitely worth the hour or so it takes to get there, since I don't have a car where I'm at (but I do have a car, just not here).  I'm hoping to tune my deck some more so I can comeback and win next time.  Oh, and sorry for the length of this tournament report.  I just had a lot of things to talk about with this being my first and all.

Props:
-Little kids for winning the tournament!
-Juan for giving me a ride
-Philip for being so fun and cool
-Chris and the dude with Jinzo for beating me
-BigSpooky for writing awesome tournament reports and for being the inspiration for my tournament reports
-Dream Wizards for hosting the tournament and for finally getting some new tables!
-Me for being 13-3 in duels for the day, which isn't bad, considering it's my first time out playing against people I don't know
-The free cards I found!
Slops:
-People who think a deck list and a tournament report are the same thing... you know who you are.
-Me, for losing to Chris and getting eliminated after the 2nd round
-The Pharaoh's Servant booster pack I got as a consolation prize for having a Dimensionhole in it instead of something I could use or at least trade.
-Mask of Darkness for being a complete waste the ENTIRE day in all 16+ duels.

Comments?  Suggestions?  Just feeling lonely and would like a male escort?  E-mail me at rage4zero@yahoo.com