Wednesday Night Yu-Gi-Oh! - 25.05.11

This week I decided to run a slightly altered build of the Debris-Zombies deck that topped at YCS Orlando in the hands of Traviis Massengale. I put the deck together and played a few games with it after seeing the results, and stuck with it simply due to having too little time to work on anything else. The list I ran was as follows:

Main - [42]
[1] Chaos Sorcerer
[1] Zombie Master
[1] Mezuki
[1] Plaguespreader Zombie
[2] Goblin Zombie
[2] Pyramid Turtle
[2] Spirit Reaper
[2] Lonefire Blossom
[1] Spore
[1] Glow-up Bulb
[1] Dandylion
[1] Tytannial, Princess of Camellias
[2] Debris Dragon
[1] Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
[2] Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
[2] Card Trooper

[1] Dark Hole
[1] Monster Reborn
[1] Giant Trunade
[2] Mystical Space Typhoon
[2] Creature Swap
[1] Charge of the Light Brigade
[1] Foolish Burial
[1] Book of Moon
[2] Pot of Avarice

[1] Solemn Judgment
[2] Solemn Warning
[1] Seven Tools of the Bandit
[1] Mirror Force
[1] Torrential Tribute
[1] Call of the Haunted

Extra - [15]
[1] Shooting Star Dragon
[1] Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
[1] Scrap Dragon
[1] Stardust Dragon
[1] Thought Ruler Archfiend
[1] Ancient Fairy Dragon
[1] Black Rose Dragon
[1] Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
[1] Iron Chain Dragon
[1] Revived King Ha Des
[1] Ally of Justice Catastor
[1] Magical Android
[1] Armory Arm
[2] Formula Synchron


Side - [15]
[1] Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
[2] Cyber Dragon
[2] Thunder King Rai Oh
[1] Puppet Plant
[1] Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
[2] Effect Veiler
[2] Nobleman of Crossout
[2] Dimensional Prison
[1] Gottoms' Emergency Call
[1] The Transmigration Prophecy

Round 1 - Heroes - OO
Both games were generally a result of him having bad to mediocre starting hands, whilst I would draw into appropriate counters to prevent him gaining any ground whilst I use my engines to generate synchro's and go for the win.

Round 2 - X-Sabers - OO
A very tightly played match in which I very gradually gained advantage over my opponent, resulting in power plays such as the Zombie Master and Plaguespreader Zombie combination to cut through his defences. Spirit Reaper shone spectacularly in this match, acting both defensively and offensively, whilst Seven Tools of the Bandit proved its worth as well.

Round 3 - Samurai - OXO
He starts off with Shi En, Grandmaster and 3 set back row cards, which is never an appealing field to approach going second. I did, however, start with two copies of Creature Swap and a Dark Hole in hand, and with careful management of my resources I ended up with Shi En under my control, allowing me to wrap up nice and quickly. He repeats his devastating first turn in game 2, and this time I have a useless monster-heavy hand with no answers. In game 3 he lacks the aggressive start and I maintain control of the board whilst I generate synchro's for game.

Round 4 - Debris Plants - OXO
This near-mirror match was undoubtedly the toughest match I played all day, and clearly showed how easily certain cards can swing the game in your favour. A fast run with Lonefire Blossom into Tytannial seemed pretty important in gaining ground in the early game for me, but with so many powerful plays and answers none of the games was short or simple. Our final game led us into time, and resulted in a chain of horrendous misplays from me. My biggest misplay was when I was certain I had game if I made Black Rose Dragon, flipped his guy and attacked with Tytannial and Black Rose, with Call of the Haunted ready to revive Stardust Dragon if one of my guys fall. Tytannial ran straight into Dimensional Prison, and for some reason I just let her be banished as I swung in with Rose and flipped Call, only to have it dawn on me that my Stardust's summon had been negated! I almost went on tilt there and then, but surviving the next turn let me, as usual, top deck a tuner and push through for the final points of damage.

Conclusion - 4-0
1st place with 4-0! I FINALLY broke the 3-1 barrier, though it is relatively disappointing and alarming for me to realise I could reach that record despite making a dreadful chain of misplays when it mattered most. This made the result quite bitter-sweet to me, and will undoubtedly help me drive towards better plays in future. The deck worked effectively, though neither engine truly adds any great quality beyond the norm, and often proved relatively clunky. Goblin Zombie was without a doubt my MVP of the day, reminding me of the power X-Sabers handle with Darksoul. It looks very likely that I'll be running this deck on the weekend, so hopefully I'll learn to play the deck more consistently by then!

Tuesday Night Magic - Legacy - 24.05.11

Following last week's abysmal 0-2-drop in Standard with Caw-Blade, I decided I'd play Legacy for a change in order to take a break before starting to prepare for Nationals properly. Having recently acquired a set of Wasteland, I wanted to play a blue-based control deck that makes proactive plays, so I settled on a Team America list (and yes, I lack duals so shocks had to suffice!):

Main - 60

[22] Land

[4] Wasteland

[4] Polluted Delta

[4] Misty Rainforest

[1] Overgrown Tomb

[2] Watery Grave

[1] Breeding Pool

[2] Swamp

[2] Forest

[2] Island

[8] Creatures

[4] Tombstalker

[4] Tarmogoyf

[30] Other Spells

[2] Jace the Mind Sculptor

[4] Force of Will

[4] Mental Misstep

[2] Daze

[2] Spell Pierce

[4] Brainstorm

[3] Ponder

[4] Hymn to Tourach

[2] Go for the Throat

[1] Darkblast

[2] Snuff Out

Side - 15

[2] Submerge

[2] Ghastly Demise

[2] Krosan Grip

[2] Engineered Explosives

[1] Llawan, Cephalid Empress

[1] Phyrexian Metamorph

[1] Pithing Needle

[1] Tormod's Crypt

[1] Relic of Progenitus

[2] Threads of Disloyalty

Round 1 - UWB Stoneforge Homebrew - OXO

I managed to keep a solid pace throughout game 1, resulting in a powerful Hymn and continuing to beat down with Tombstalker when Tarmogoyf was removed. In game 2 he starts strong, with Dark Confidant into Stoneforge Mystic, tutoring Umezawa's Jitte. I struggle with a bad hand and try to fight back aggressively with Tarmogoyf's on turns 2 and 3 to match his guys, only to run into a Perish that left me soon shuffling up for game 3. He started the last game with Dark Confidant, and soon had a Sword of Fire and Ice putting me on a painful clock. Jace allowed me to dig into Tarmogoyfs and Tombstalkers to hold off the equipment wielding monsters, and soon his own Dark Confidant was looking to be my win condition after revealing an Elspeth and a Perish the following turn. I Misstep his Divining Top, and he attempts to Swords to Plowshares his Confidant before his next reveal, but I'd managed to stock up on Missteps and forces him to lose to his own creature.

Round 2 - Storm - OO

His initial play of Gemstone Mine made me feel instantly comfortable with the couple of good counters I had in hand. We play draw-go for a while, before he drops a Lion's Eye Diamond and Lotus Petal before casting Rite of Flame. Thanks to my Wastelands he was tapped out at this point, and a simple Daze was enough to force him to fizzle whilst I follow up with a couple of Tombstalkers who prove to be too fast a clock. In game 2 he digs for the first few turns, whilst I set up land, before he attempts to Duress me. I Force the Duress, removing Jace, which seems to surprise him, and he passes back tapped out. The Hymn I'd protected in hand was joined by a second copy off the top of the deck, and casting one into the next ripped apart his neatly sculpted hand. a couple of turns of draw-go lets me dig into a Tombstalker, which again proves to be too much.

Round 3 - Elves! - OXD

Regardless of what format I'm playing, Elves are always a nightmare for me. No matter how many sweepers and spot removal I run, I always seem to lose to random, uncontrollable bursts from the green menace. In game 1 I manage to stabilise the board before putting him on a clock with Tombstalker. Game 2 proves to be the opposite, with him exploding with the combo whilst I draw nothing of relevance. By game 3 time was running out, and his first couple of attempts at Glimpse of Nature met Mental Missteps, but his THIRD copy managed to get through just after time was called. I survived a turn with a bit of chump blocking, and snap off a Misty Rainforest to try and desperately increase my chances of drawing my one out by whatever tiny percentage I possibly can. Seeing Jace was on top whilst I searched made me feel lucky, but I proceed to prove my "skill" at top decking answers when I rip an Engineered Explosives off the top, leaving him with nothing but a Priest of Titania on board. I miraculously managed to force the draw.

Round 4 - UW Standstill - OO

Having seen that my opponent was playing Gerry T's latest awesome monstrosity, I was eager to see how this match-up played out, especially considering my opponent is without a doubt more capable than I am in the format. Both games proved to be long, drawn out attrition matches, and following counter wars both games heavily came down to resolving Hymn and landing a Tombstalker. Seeing a series of Tombstalkers in both games via Brainstorm, Ponder and Jace sealed the win for me, with a double Krosan Grip for his double Crucible of Worlds in game 2 showing how important careful hand sculpting can be.

Conclusion - 3-1

I was over the moon to actually win a Legacy event, especially with a roughly build sideboard and a far from perfect manabase. The diversity of the format makes it a joy to play, and I found Team America to be a fantastic deck to play right now. Mental Misstep has given the format a much needed shake, and I look forward to future Legacy locals.

Wednesday Night Yu-Gi-Oh! - 18.05.11

About four weeks ago the tournament organizer of our local Magic the Gathering events finally started running Yu-Gi-Oh! events. As a player base has to be established before Konami will sanction events, we opted to allow players to follow US legalities, making for quite a more diverse format than expected. This is important to note at this point, especially considering two of the decks I faced in this very event!

For this week I stuck with my deck of choice, Junk Doppel, with a few minor edits from last week's run:

Main - [40]
[1] Dark Armed Dragon
[2] Chaos Sorcerer
[2] Quickdraw Synchron
[1] Debris Dragon
[2] Junk Synchron
[2] Doppel Warrior
[1] Dandylion
[1] Spore
[1] Glow-up Bulb
[1] Effect Veiler
[1] Unknown Synchron
[1] Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
[2] Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
[2] Card Trooper
[1] Sangan
[1] Level Eater

[2] Tuning
[2] Pot of Avarice
[1] Reinforcement of the Army
[1] One for One
[1] Charge of the Light Brigade
[1] Foolish Burial
[1] Monster Reborn
[1] Dark Hole
[1] Giant Trunade
[2] Mystical Space Typhoon

[1] Torrential Tribute
[1] Call of the Haunted
[1] Solemn Judgement
[2] Solemn Warning

Extra - 15
[1] Shooting Star Dragon
[1] Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
[1] Junk Destroyer
[1] Scrap Dragon
[1] Stardust Dragon
[1] Black Rose Dragon
[1] Junk Berserker
[1] Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
[1] Drill Warrior
[1] Ally of Justice Catastor
[1] Junk Warrior
[1] Magical Android
[1] Armory Arm
[2] Formula Synchron

Side - 15
[1] Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
[2] Cyber Dragon
[2] Thunder King Rai-Oh
[1] Kinetic Soldier
[1] Effect Veiler
[2] Nobleman of Crossout
[2] Compulsory Evacuation Device
[2] Dust Tornado
[1] Fairy Wind
[1] Gottoms' Emergency Call


Round 1 - Malefics - OXX
Skill Drain is unsurprisingly a major fear for me, so I was far from happy having to face this deck first round. The first game consisted of his Malefic Cyber End Dragon falling to a Mystical Space Typhoon on his Mausoleum of the Emperor, and him having no follow-up plays to make. Games 2 and 3 however consisted of my answer to a Melefic resulting in a 4000 atk Meklord Emperor Granel, which proceeded to destroy me in both games.

Round 2 - Vayu Turbo - OO
Feeling a bit low after my first round loss, I was terrified of making misplays against this deck, having just seen it play next to me last round. In game 1 he starts off with Armageddon Knight into Vayu, and sets a back row. I fear the worst, and draw out the game letting it swing back and forth until he finally ran out of steam, allowing me to lock up with Trishula and Brionac. Game 2 was longer still, with my continuous stream of win conditions meeting untimely ends. I ran through Junk Destroyer, Drill Warrior, Black Rose Dragon and Chaos Sorcerer before finally landing a Junk Berserker safely to beat down. He manages to revive Blackwing Armour Master in an attempt to stall, but Debris Dragon into Scrap Dragon seals the match.


Round 3 - Scraps - OO
As a fan of the Scrap deck, I was more interested in seeing how the deck flowed when this round was called, so thankfully the potential to go on tilt from the start of the event was wearing off. Unfortunately it's like I relaxed too much, and after a quick back and forth I go for an OTK, but a misplay leaves me with 2 dark's in the grave instead of 3, and a Dark Armed Dragon stuck in hand. Shooting Star Dragon and Trishula take him to low life, and Solemn Warning on his Scrap Chimera prevented any tricky comeback. Game 2 I was on the draw, and certainly didn't pull another God Draw, so I prepared for the long game. An early Mystical Space Typhoon revealed he was going for a Royal Decree approach, letting me confidently go for the Drill Warrior/Dandylion strategy, letting me slowly claim the win.


Round 4 - Heroes - OXO
Having seen his deck before the tournament, I knew this match would be a dangerous one in which the most random situations and answers could easily come into being. I seize game 1 quickly with a synchro rush over his Stratos and Prisma plays, as he clearly saw a bad hand. Game 2 stressed me out completely, as my defences are swept away allowing him to use Fusion Gate to summon Rainbow Neos of all things! I drew nothing on my turn and quickly shuffled up for the decider. The final game was a long one, with his Black Horn of Heaven answering my Black Rose Dragon, and my Chaos Sorcerer dealing with his push with Elemental Hero The Shining. We top decked back and forth for several turns, but I manage to gain advantage via Card Trooper and draw a Junk Synchron to go with the Doppel Warrior in hand, allowing me to swing for game with Junk Berserker.


Conclusion - 3-1
Every week I've managed to reach a 3-1 record, and it seems beating that record will be a great challenge with this deck prior to the release of T.G. Hyper Librarian. I intend to use any interesting results from YCS Orlando to decide on my deck for next week, hopefully settling me on a deck for the European Qualifier in Manchester in just over a week.

Welcome

Greetings to all, and welcome to my new blog. I will be updating regularly to discuss developments in both Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic the Gathering (and anything else that catches my interest). As I am fortunate enough to have good local events for both games, I will be reporting on my tournament play quite regularly, starting off with a recap of the last two weeks of events.

The aim of this blog is to discuss the ever changing games that we play, and develop the skills that will enable us to adapt for whatever the future may bring. Comments are always welcome, so please share your thoughts!