Deck report by Tony G, aka -_DLD_-, July 29th, 2004. Greetings citizens. This deck report of mine is my best recollection of the July 9th Championship which took place at 12:30 PM, Skyhaven Games, Victoria, B.C., Canada. This is the deck (to the best of my memories) that I used in the tournament: Le ChEeZeTaStIc OmLeTtE dU fRoMaGe Monsters [19] Jinzo Airknight Parsath Chaos Sorcerer Berserk Gorilla Berserk Gorilla Berserk Gorilla Cyber Jar Fiber Jar Exiled Force D. D. Warrior Lady D. D. Warrior Lady D. D. Warrior Lady Witch of the Black Forest Sangan Magical Scientist Reflect Bounder Breaker the Magical Warrior Tribe-Infecting Virus Sinister Serpent Magic [16] 7 Staples Mystical Space Typhoon Mystical Space Typhoon Mystical Space Typhoon Nobleman of Crossout Swords of Revealing Light Snatch Steal Premature Burial Mirage of Nightmare Heavy Storm Trap [7] Imperial Order Ring of Destruction Barrel Behind the Door Call of the Haunted Waboku Waboku Waboku Total: [42] Side Deck: Monsters [5] Yata-Garasu Cannon Soldier Cannon Soldier Mataza the Zapper Mataza the Zapper Magic [6] Book of Moon Book of Moon Scapegoat Scapegoat Creature Swap Creature Swap Trap [4] Torrential Tribute Torrential Tribute Mirror Force Magic Cylinder Total: [15] Erm…now to set the mood…hopefully. It was a nice, sunny morning, if I recall correctly. I woke up at 8:30 and prepared for the tournament. I got my deck, my calculator (scientific, too), my new (slightly expensive, but horrible quality) sunglasses, which were broken on the left arm…hence the tape. They were meant for good luck, as when ever I had had them open and facing me during a duel (for the entirety of it), I had won (this was on July 4th …in Canada…no fireworks). Anyway, back to the story itself. I was ready to play, with everything ready, but I had to endure a 90 minute car ride from Nanaimo, my hometown, to Victoria. Upon arriving, I got out of the car, straightened my Colorado Avalanche jersey (professional blue with no name) and got ready for some serious gaming. I submitted my entry fee at around 11:30 AM, so I had some time. The judge and store owner, Michael, requested I present my written decklist and my deck. I had completely forgotten to write a decklist! Slightly rattled, I grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen, and quickly jotted down the list. I handed the deck to Michael, who gave it to Aaron to check over. All there was left to do was wait…. 12:30 – At this time, the matchups were almost determined for the tourney. 17 participants were there, all in the top of the store standings. The top 2 players on the island had not shown up, however. They were Richard D and Brian N. But, at the last minute, we saw them walk across the parking lot and into the store. They then arrived where the tournament was taking place (a vacant area next to the store) and we were ready to begin. The opening 6 rounds were best of 3 swiss format, then the top 8 would be in a single elim tournament. Round 1 – Kurn The round had opened, when I realized that I forgot my calculator in the car! However, I phoned my mother via cell phone and she came back and dropped the calculator off soon. Anyway, Kurn and I shook hands and exchanged pleasantries/death threats. Game 1: I went first and I set a monster (forget what) and Ring of Destruction and Barrel. He played a Mad Dog of Darkness and tried to attack, but I activated the traps, inflicting 3,800 direct damage to him! I went, and a few turns later, I managed to pulverize him. Game 2: I had a terrible draw, and Kurn managed to take the upper hand. I was never able to wrestle control of the duel away from him for long enough to win, so we had to play a decider. Game 3: Things started out well enough, and the duel went back and forth. I had a good control set up, but Kurn whipped out Double Spell on me Snatch Steal and implemented it to great effect: getting my own Jinzo! There was nothing I could do to stop him, and I was defeated. (my record 1-2) Round 2 – Billy Billy was a pretty good duelist, but he was rusty and only had BLS, not CED in his deck…it wasn’t a run of the mill Chaos, either. Game 1: Billy got Jinzo out turn 2. With me not drawing Snatch, CoH, Dark Hole, or Raigeki…and the Jars being nowhere in site…it’s pretty easy to determine who’d win this duel. Worst luck. Ever. Game 2: Frantic not to drop the first 2 rounds, making it almost impossible to make the top 8, I was determined to win. I sided in some anti-Chaos, like Yata-Garasu. Let the fun begin! After a slow start, I had the upper hand on Billy. He did whip out a few great moves, but they proved insufficient to stop me from overpowering him. On to game 3! Game 3: Things seemed pretty even as the duel wore on, but things soon took a turn for the worse: Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. He had total control for a time, but I Snatched him and played Yata-Garasu. Utilizing his own BLS, coupled with a few tricks of my own and Yata, I defeated him via lockdown! Finally, something was going right! (my record 3-3) Round 3 – Care S I was confident that I could beat him, seeing as his deck was inferior to mine, but there was still dueling skill and luck to contend with…. Game 1: Care used his own brand of damage with Ceasefire and Spear Dragon, but I was able to maintain control over the duel in the long run. I eventually cut him down, taking a 1-0 lead. Game 2: I cannot remember too much of this duel, but I do recall something about using Snatch Steal, Yata-Garasu, and BLS…possibly using Ring on his Yata as he was about to lock me. (my record 5-3) Round 4 – Brian N (2nd best on the island) “This one was going to be a toughie,” I thought to myself. Simply because Brian is the ONLY duelist out of everyone there that I did not wish to face in a tournament. I was least confident of my abilities to defeat him. He was wearing a green suit (for greed) and he meant business. He was using the best Exodia deck I’ve ever seen, I’ve never fought anything so fast. If you can get around his G-Binds and Level Limits, you end up killing a Seeker of some type, thus speeding him up. Game 1: He had a pretty ugly draw, and I had great luck. I was able to pummel him into submission pretty quickly, however, he was unable to get set up at all. Game 2: The duel wasn’t as good the first, and he was able to get Exodia before I could kill him…although I came extremely close…another attack or two would have gotten him. Game 3: Worst. Duel. Ever. He went first, using Painful to get the appendages of Exodia and Sinister Serpent. He got another monster in the discard via Graceful Charity, and he set one trap. It was naturally Backup Soldier, and he already had the Head Piece of Exodia in his hand. I had no chance whatsoever. What an insulting defeat! (my record 6-5) Round 5 – Josh D It was down to the wire. Chances were if I lost this round, I’d be out of the top 8! I could brook no failure. Not now. Luckily, Josh is a good friend of mine, and it helped lessen the tension. Game 1: My deck was not set up to battle a deck like his…I forget exactly what he was running, but it was basically turbo warriors with a dash of magic. I could not believe that I could not draw what I needed at all the whole duel, so I ended up losing. Game 2: After some serious Side Decking, things were desperate. Josh encouraged me by saying “Tony, I know you’ll make a come-back…you always do” or something like that. Funnily enough, he was right. I had awesome luck, and I obliterated him in a matter of minutes. Game 3: This would be the true test of my Side Decking skills. This duel was intense, probably because I put so much pressure on myself, and I ended up defeating him! Unfortunately, he had the same record as I did, so he was out of the running for top 8. I felt bad. (my record 8-6) Round 6 – Evan Now this was a match I sorely wanted to win. I did not like Evan…for a few reasons, in fact. He thinks too highly about himself, and he always cries about stuff on the banned list and Jinzo. When ever he loses, he blames it on bad luck. Luck isn’t always the case! I probably lost a few duels due to poor strategy this day. Game 1: His normal army of Slate Warriors, Giant Orcs, and other fiends rushed to meet me, as I knew it would. Thankfully, I had great luck and managed to eventually get Jinzo out, his nemesis. Without his Traps, he was unable to stand against me. Game 2: I had a half decent hand, but he had a large army of big fiends that I could not combat. I was beaten senseless before I could mount any sort of response to so many big monsters (ironic, eh?). Game 3: I Sided in a Book of Moon, and a few other goodies, which ended up saving my sorry hide. He would have dealt a death blow to me at around half way through the duel, but I was able to Book his monster. I eventually got Jinzo out again, and he was only relying on Traps (that’s all he drew when he had barely any hand)…so I won! Whoopie! My final record in the Swiss: 10-7…or 4-2 in matches…what a horrible record, eh? I KNEW I shouldn’t have made as many changes as I did the night before…eh, it usually works…usually. The Playoffs had begun! I had gotten 5th in the Swiss, so I was pleased…for about a minute. Here were the matchups: Brian N vs. Jhun Eric D vs. Andrew K (member of my small Yu-Gi-Oh! team, Le Teame Du Fromage) Aaron vs. (I cannot remember his name!) Me vs… Richard, current Island Champion of Yu-Gi-Oh! Quaterfinals (best of 3) – Richard D I was extremely nervous about this one. He was in his mode (he takes this game far too seriously)…he was wearing a miniature Millenium Puzzle (no joke), red sleeves which looked brand new on his deck (with the YGO logo and eye on them), he even had a Millenium Eye coin and he had gone as far to buy himself a blue rose for luck…AND to top it all off, he had a pair of hard laminated playmats for the match…I’d like a set myself, but with a Colorado logo in the center…it’d look very cool. Game 1: I was able to hold my own pretty good, maintaining good control over the duel throughout. I had much better luck than Richard, as usual, and I managed to win! Game 2: Richard was in trouble, and I didn’t expect to win this one very much. We dueled intensely again, and the blows only stopped when both of us had no hands or fields, bringing it all down to the top deck. His were slightly better than mine, so I was defeated. Game 3: Wow, what an exciting climax to such a great clash of the titans! I had a life point lead, but he pulled a Richard…which I’ll give the definition for now. A Richard is when you dump your hand (almost) and do a huge amount of damage without using 10042 Goblin Attack Force at once. Like, Change of Heart and/or Snatch Steal, Reborn, etc. Then throttling you very hard for lots of damage. In this case, I was spared with 1,800 life points remaining. I was undaunted, however. I knew this was coming. A Richard attack is always pulled off at least once per match against him, so I knew it was coming. I was ready. I played Raigeki and Sweeper, clearing his field, and leaving us destitute of cards in hand or field. I managed to attack once or twice with Tribe, but he toped an Exiled Force and blew it up. We had about 1,800 life left each. It was my turn. Each of us had no hand or field. My draw was…BREAKER! I played him and nervously said “game, set…match??” Richard and I paused for a second, staring at Breaker. Then, Richard ‘s head collapsed into his hands, defeat etched all over him. We shook hands and eventually, after reporting my upset victory, I left for Skyhaven, awaiting my next opponent. Looking back on the victory, I realize that it was almost like the show…cards given to you by friends pull through for you. Josh was the one who traded me Breaker…after about an hour of haggling and talking (it was his only Breaker, and it was his favourite card ever). Excellent that it had won me such a monumental duel, eh? Semi Finals (best of 5) – Eric D Eric had managed an upset win as well, defeating Andrew, who I was sure would be in the Semis. Richard was nowhere to be seen, as he was in his car, crying, possibly. I kid you not, it was like he was informed of his father suddenly passing away or something. Anyway, back to Eric and I. I was light hearted when facing him, confident I’d defeat him and make the finals. Game 1: I got a horde of Gorillas and a ton of luck. The duel possibly lasted a minute. Game 2: This duel was dragged out a bit longer, but I was able to defeat him in the end…his deck was only half able to get going against me this time. Game 3: Since this was a best of 5 series, I had to win 3 in order to advance. It proved all to easy, as I utterly obliterated him with various monsters again. I did feel a bit sorry for him, but at least he made the top 4…nothing to sneeze at. Well, I got a bit of time to prepare myself, seeing as I got a sweep! Finals (best of 7) – Brian N Game 1: Brian was ready for my Fromage (especially since he beat me earlier today), and was able to pull off a win fairly quick. Brian Leads 1-0 Game 2: I was able to pick away at him, Ring + Barrel, attacks after Fiber, etc. It was intense, somewhat, and I managed to win! Yay me! Series Tied 1-1 Game 3: Again, he was able to Exodia me in a moderately long duel. I, as usual, was able to hack about half of his life away before he got all of Exodia. Damn dirty anti-BeatDown -_- Brian Leads 2-1 Game 4: Sadly, ditto to game 3. Brian Leads 3-1 Game 5: I was on the ropes. I had to win this to stay alive, so I pulled out all the stops. I played with a great desperation, that, coupled with a couple Fiber Jars and convenient lucky draws won it for me! Brian Leads 3-2 Game 6: This was an extremely intense (and tense) duel. I was desperate to force a deciding Game 7, and Brian was desperate to put me away, having failed in game 5. It was on. I sat tight, and managed to do some direct damage then Fiber. My free shot was a DDWL hit. Fiber Jar went off at least 4 times that duel, and he life points were almost gone. Most of the times, he had 3-4 Exodia pieces in his hand! Close shave after close shave. I was praying for a 5th or 6th Fiber, but God had forsaken me. When Brian announced “Greatest win EVER,” I knew it was over. He had 4 Exodia pieces in his hand (via Backup Soldier) and he ran a Tomato into one of my monsters, and brought out the Head of Exodia. He then used Compulsory Evacuation Device…returning it to his hand. I had lost! Brian Wins Championships 4-2 In conclusion, I was very pleased. In just 11 short months, I had gone from a horrible player who used the combined power of 2 Pegasus starters in a Toon Deck…into a formadible duelist, 2nd best on Vancouver Island, after defeating the defending champion. My hand was shaken by a few of the people there, the very respectable ones. I shook Brian’s hand about 4 different times. I was very happy he had not rubbed it in…or even let out a “whoop!” of victory. I’d have been dancing for joy if I had become Island Champion, personally. The prizes were coming (it was 10:00 PM by then)! One 1st edition box of AST, 1 box of Magician’s Force, and a few other random packs were opened for a draft. I got 2nd pick, which ruled. The best 2 cards were Enemy Controller and Breaker. Brian chose the Controller and gave it to Richard (they’re friends) and I took the Breaker. Everything else was just pretty horrid, nothing of note. The only secret rare was that ugly DeVille card from AST. Horrible. I then traded Breaker for Vampire Lord (a few other deals were done at once, but that’s the jist of it). What a day! All in all, I’d learned a lot, and now I’m shifting my ideas to something more wily…BeatDown/Control comes to mind…. I hope you’ve enjoyed my modest championship report! I thank you very much for reading. Please feel free to send in your comments/complaints/law suits to googleplex55@hotmail.com Thanks again for reading and I’m sorry this report is so darn long! Eh…it was a 10 hour day of YGO alone…plus about 5 more before and after. Keep on tranglin ~DLD