So to start things off...
The only really noteworthy thing that happened on Thursday is I found out that the event would cap off at around 140 people due to the size of the shop in question after reading a post by Mike from Team Overload's blog. Thanks to him I dodged a bullet and was able to do more research and tell everyone coming with me to the event to preregister to guarantee ourselves a spot. I owe you one dude! It turns out the event was populated by lots of familiar faces from Washington.
Friday night at 6pm, the 8 people going to this regional (Me [Justen], Matt, Kyle, Nate, Tyler, Seth, Joe, Kegan) gathered at our locals (Phoenix Games) to carpool in Matt's SUV to Seth's house in Tacoma to stay the night and prep for the event which would be starting at 10 am the next day. Bouncing ideas off my team members (We might as well be a team, most of us go to every event, playtest, and hang out together) it was regrettable that I found out my idea for Glad Beast HEROs was unfeasible, at least in its current form, and neither my team nor me brought the cards needed for me to try my new idea to make it work. So I dropped the HERO element almost completely and focused on making my deck into a sleek Gyzarus spamming machine. I also perfected my side on the ride and by the time we arrived at Seth's house and play tested a bit, I finalized the following decklist:
AHL Glads v2 [41 Cards]
14 Monsters
3 Prisma
3 Test Tiger
2 Darius
1 Laqurai
1 Bestiari
1 Hoplomus
1 Equeste
1 Retiari
1 Thunder King Rai-Oh
14 Spells
1 Pot of Duality
1 Book of Moon
1 Dark Hole
2 Forbidden Lance
2 MST
1 Heavy Storm
3 A Hero Lives
1 Monster Reborn
1 RotA
1 Smashing Ground
13 Traps
3 War Chariot
2 D-Prison
1 Solemn Judgement
1 Starlight Road
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device
2 Trap Stun
2 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force
Extra Deck
2 Gyzarus
2 Heraklinos
2 Essedarii
1 Stardust
1 Utopia
1 C39 Utopia Ray
1 Blade Armor Ninja
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Zenmaines
1 Leviair
1 Leviathan Dragon
1 Acid Golem
Side Deck
2 Smashing Ground
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Bottomless
1 King Tiger Wanghu
2 D.D. Crow
1 Retiari
1 Snowman Eater
1 MST
2 D.D. Warrior Lady
1 Thunder King Rai-Oh
A few words on my card choices:
Hoplomus was pretty much for the HERO matchup, I was very wary of them because lots of disruption + lots of 1900 beaters = sad day for Glads. The matchup isnt terrible but its definitely a uphill struggle. I wanted something that could wall a Alius then tag into Laquari or just sit there and make them do something about it.
I decided to max out Gladiator Beast War Chariot rather than try something crazy to counter the hand traps I feared. In theory and in practice its very strong right now and and extremely effective against pretty much all the top decks except for HERO's, which ended up being my most played matchup. Still I would definitely maindeck 3 of them if I could do it all over again because even against HEROs there's some good stuff to negate (Veiler, "C", Stratos, Honest).
I wanted to try to balance offense and defense in this deck because I felt it would be more effective than the all out offensive builds I ran in the past. Hence the inclusion of Dimensional Prison and Compulsory Evacuation Device. I ended up also including Starlight Road on a whim, which proved to be a very good decision as that card won me at least 3 games that day and was only dead once in a duel I was going to lose already.
Anyways...
After getting to Seth's around 10:30, I spend 10:30 - 12:30 playtesting and playing Brawl with everyone else, then I attempt to go to sleep to little avail so I play some more Brawl and fall asleep at what I suspect was 3am but I'll never know for sure since I didnt look at a clock since 1am.
We wake up the next morning at 6:15, do standard morning stuff. I eat some food, then we cram into the car and drive the rest of the way to Portland. We find the venue with very little trouble (yay for 3 people having GPS phones!) and arrive at around 9:30, where we are greeted with a crush of people milling around the front door to the venue (Guardian Games). Since we preregistered, we get ushered past all of them by an employee into the store proper, where we get in a much smaller line to check off our names on the preregistration list. My stomach does the usual shenanigans it always does before regionals, but I contain it as we move slowly forward in line. Its while we are waiting in line that we find out that everyone who also came from our locals to Oregon for the regionals didn't make it in. I will always preregister if possible from now on =[.
So I fill out decklist and parings go up!
ROUND 1: Justen Vs. Bo (Six Samurais)
So I sit down at my table and we get our entry packs, where I pull a Tour Bus. I was already planning on stocking up on that card, so the day is off to a good start. The head judge says his usual spiel and informs us that out of the 154 people competing today 115 people were preregistered, leaving only 39 spots for people who didnt preregister to fill. Crazy. I then find out that my opponent is Bo, a cool guy I am already familiar with. 2 regionals ago he defeated my friend Matt on the bubble in one of the craziest duels I have ever seen. He drops hints that he's running some crazy deck, but it turns out he's running Six Samurais as usual. The entire duel was filled with fun and awesome banter. Definitely one of my favorite duels of the day. BUT ENOUGH TALK...HAVE AT YOU!
Lost the dice roll
Game 1: He makes a first turn Shi-En and sets 1. I play MST, he lets it slide and I hit a D-Prison. I then play Smashing Ground forcing the negate and AHL into the Gyzarus play with my in hand GB. I have no protection however and he clears my field next turn and beats me down with Sams since I only have 4k.
Game 2: I set a D.D. Warrior Lady and some backrow (War Chariot and Solemn Judgement). He goes, plays Gateway, Specials Elder and Grandmaster, searches Kagemusha, and does some searches and ends with a field of Shi-en, Grandmaster, and Kizan. I think to myself if he doesnt attack Warrior Lady with Shi-En I'm going to be in a bad spot. Fortunately for me he makes the misplay of attacking with Shi-En, so I remove it, and I eat some damage. Next turn I set Mirror Force and a Hoplomus, and he rushes headlong into it after summoning Zanji. He sets 1 and ends. I make the Gyzarus play by summoning Prisma, pop and non chainable trap, attack, and tag into Darius and Laquari, then triple tag into Heraklinos. The rest of the duel I just stockpile cards in my hand and attack his set monsters. He runs out of monsters after 2 turns and draws unhelpful stuff consecutively (Heavy, Bottomless, Solemn Warning) so he loses this one.
Game 3: He goes first and passes. I draw a very explosive hand, but don't have quite enough protection to tempt me into going for it since he has nothing on board and ill pay a huge chunk of LP for nothing. I set 2 cards (AHL and War Chariot) to prep for my next turn with another AHL and Prisma in hand. He draws, MST's my bluff AHL, summons Zanji, specials Kizan, uses Asceticism for another Kizan, then Asceticism again for Grandmaster. At this point he has game, but I do something I don't have alot of practice or confidence doing, which was pretend I had a power card (Mirror Force in this case). Its very easy for bluffing to not work, but this was a prime situation for it to work perfectly. He had just lost to Mirror Force last game, so that was still in the back of his mind as he stared down my lone facedown card. I had set a bluff, so he figured the chances of my other card being a power card I wanted to protect were high. I tried my hardest to act indifferent to his field and indifferent in the tone of my voice. So he ended up doing the safe play and xyzing his 2 Kizans into a defense position Utopia, and attacking for 3900. His face was the very picture of confused when his attacks went through unopposed, and I could tell he instantly smelled something was rotten. He set no backrow and ended his turn, and on my turn I drew and proceeded to destrolish his field with a Gyzarus into Heraklinos play, leaving him with nothing on board and a Heraklinos + War Chariot face down. He couldnt recover.
LWW
Record: 1-0
After the event I notice that he sided heavily against me (Veilers, Rivalrys, and Bottomless plus some other nasty pieces of work). I thank my lucky stars I didnt see any of that in the match. Again this was by far my favorite duel of the day, hence the amount of detail I remember.
ROUND 2: Vs. Gladiator Beast Mirror Match
I win the dice roll
Game 1: I didnt expect to face a Glad Beast mirror here, thats for sure. This game basically came down to me establishing my field before him because I went first. Eventually I got a Herk on board and he was reduced to setting Glads till he lost.
Game 2: This duel came down to me drawing Bestiari in my opening hand, which is bad for me since I drew very little protection. I didnt get rid of it immediately by setting it which didnt help.I made the mistake of summoning Prisma to get some damage in after Smashing his Laquari, and he had Mind Control next turn to make a Gyzarus of his own. By the time I was able to get rid of Bestiari from my hand it was a simple matter for him to go into Retiari for the slap to my face and the KO.
Game 3: I set 4 (Mystical Space Typhoon, Starlight Road, Book of Moon and Call), summon Darius and end. He specials Cyber Dragon, summons Equeste, and tries to beat over Darius but I have Book for him. He is visually distraught and he pretty much tells me he has Heavy in hand but fears Starlight Road. He holds off and sets 1, which I MST. Next turn I attack his Cyber Dragon and tag into 2100 Laquari. At this point he has no choice but to Heavy my field, which I Starlight. He has MST to deny me the free Stardust though. We pretty much trade blows at this point with Smashing Grounds and direct attacks. He gives before I do as I have Dark Hole and my second Call set to seal his fate.
WLW
Record: 2-0
ROUND 3: Vs. Kyle (HERO's)
So I'm 2-0 and feeling pretty good after winning 2 hard fought matches. I sit down at table 2 and who else do I have to face but Kyle, a friend/team member who came with me to the event! While I could handle his deck when I playtested a few days ago, both our decks have changed alot since then.
I lost the dice roll
Game 1: I pretty much get the stuffing beat out of me as I draw into 1 MST but not the Lances / Trap Stuns I need to fight back in this matchup. I'm forced to MST a Skill Drain that would have shut my deck down, but it makes little difference as I lose soundly anyways.
Game 2: I now find out a fact that would plague me for the rest of the day: In my final edits I made to my deck last night, I saw fit to reduce my Laquari count to 1. After drawing my only Laquari in my hand, I was unable to go into Gyzarus with my AHL and Prisma in my hand. After 2 turns of being stunned like this I finally drew enough cards to make a workaround but it was too late. Kyle had already established his field with enough cards to make winning the game impossible without Trap Stun or Forbidden Lance, which I again failed to draw into. By the end of the game his set cards were Spark, Rivalry, Starlight Road, Solemn Warning, and Solemn Judgment, and he successfully beat me down for game.
LL
Record: 2-1
ROUND 4: Vs. BYE?!?
Here's how this worked. After round 3 there was a lunch break that lasted until 2:40. My opponent had crossed a bridge to go with a friend to a food place, and the bridge had been raised by the time he tried to leave, so he had to wait for it to lower. By the time he got back it was 12 minutes into round 4, so he got a match loss.
FAILURE
Record: 3-1
ROUND 5: Vs. Dino Rabbit
I lost the dice roll
Game 1: The game does not get to a very good start as I make my first straight up misplay of the day by summoning the wrong monster. I had a Prisma on the field with a Prisma and Laquari in hand. His field was 2 backrow locked under Trap Stun. I went for the play that would get me the best setup, the double Prisma into Gyzarus into Herk +1 play which would have locked him out of the game. However I forgot that I had only ONE Laquari in my deck, and it was in my hand! The correct play should have been to summon my in-hand Laquari, make the Gyzarus then battle tag into Herk. As it was, I went into double Prisma, sent a Bestiari and was rudely awakened to where my one Laquari was. I was pretty mad after that, and made another misplay in leaving them on the field and not xyzing into Utopia. I didn't immediately lose after that, but I slowly lost advantage and after he finally makes a Laggia I was pretty much done.
Game 2: This game was just a grindfest. I attempt to make Gyzarus 2 times in one turn, but he interrupts me with Veiler and Fiendish Chain. We both use our resources smartly, and after a while we're down to no monsters and topdecking. After getting some good defensive cards set, I just need a Glad Beast monster but instead I just topdeck 3 AHL over the next 5 turns with no monsters in sight while he draws a Sangan and later a Tour Guide after I get rid of the Sangan and beats me down for game.
LL
Record: 3-2
ROUND 6: Vs. Elemental HERO's
I win the dice roll
Game 1: I find out he's running monster heavy when he summons Crusader of Endymion to beat over my Glad on board. Next turn, I activate Trap Stun, then go bonkers on his Crusader + backrow with Gyzarus into Herk because I know his monsters cant do anything to me and I have a War Chariot face down in case of Honest.
Game 2: A long and drawn out game thats characterized by me not being able to get any momentum throughout the game. Near the end I make a push with Essedarii over his Alius which he has Honest for. After that I pretty much lose.
Game 3: He annoys me in the beginning with Grand Mole shenanigans, but I bait out his backrow and make a Herk with Solemn Judgement face down. He really has no answers after that but Grand Mole, which I Judgement. After that its a slow slide downhill for him as he cant get rid of my Herk and I eventually draw War Chariot to complement my Herk. Fortunate for me, because he made one last effort to kill my Herk with a Thunder King + Honest play near the end, which failed due to War Chariot.
WLW
Record: 4-2
Round 7: Vs. Elemental HEROs (Bubble Beat)
I lose the dice roll
The second time I've faced a Japanese person in a duel. While his English was lacking, was a stellar player who knew all about TCG ruling and plays.
Game 1: I lose this one quick after getting my Gyzarus play disrupted and him beating me down with Blade Armor Ninja after clearing my backrow with Heavy Storm.
Game 2: I do a pretty crazy play. He plays Heavy Storm to my 3 set, which I Starlight Road for the Stardust. He sets and ends. His field is 4 backrow including a face up Skill Drain. Mine is a Thunder King, a set Hoplomus and a Stardust. I play Trap Stun so I can go off. I summon Prisma, and he plays Super Poly on my Prisma and Stardust for Great Tornado, halfing my Thunder King's attack. I play through that with Monster Reborn on Prisma, make Gyzarus blowing up Tornado and a backrow, attacking, making another Gyzarus with Darius to pop 2 more, then using Test Tiger to create a Herk to control the rest of his backrow and the game.
Game 3: He just disrupts me all game with Gemini Spark, Veiler, and Solemn Warning, and I cant get anything going.
LWL
Record: 4-3
Round 8: Vs. Elemental HEROs
I lose the dice roll
Game 1: He drew, in his own words, "the poop." I, in turn, pooped on him by setting up and taking advantage of his terrible hand of all monsters.
Game 2: I open pretty good, but he first turn dualities into veiler, which sets my plan back a turn or 2. Not that big of a deal however, as he doesnt draw Miracle Fusion, Mask Change, ect till way later in the game when I have control of the duel. I end up baiting out his Veiler and using the War Chariot. Then when I try to loop War Chariot with Equeste, he D.D. Crows it...I was like wtf. He makes a offhand remark like "it doesnt really matter, you probably have another one." Next turn I draw into another War Chariot lol. Near the end Herk control wins the day again.
WW
*FINAL Record: 5-3, 26th place*
So I end up placing 26th, putting me slightly out of invite range, which is ok. I learned alot about this deck and next time I will have a much more refined and tested build to run. All of us mostly go 5-3 except for Kyle, who places 20th at 6-2 and gets his second invite. Congrats to him =)
IN REVIEW
THE GOOD:
- Doing fairly well with a new build of my deck
- Preregistering and not driving all the way to Oregon for nothing
- Meeting Mike Jeezy and Danny from Team Overload's Blog!
- Pulling Tour Bus and making some good trades
- Olive Garden after Regionals with the best service ever!
- Overall a good trip and experience
THE BAD:
- Bo getting sacked game 3 by a topdecked Bubbleman with no cards in hand or on the field. Guy draws into Miracle Fusion and Mask Change and both are live. Must be nice!
- Random Trenchcoat Samurai Guy beating 2 of my friends, who both underestimated him and payed for it.
- What I've come to call "Regional Sickness", which plagued me Round 1. Although I didn't have it as bad as Kyle...
- Our team playing a total of 5 matches against each other.
- Random Trenchcoat Samurai Guy ripping a Mind Control off the top of his deck, and the floor shaking roar that ensued. I was in the middle of a match and I thought a bomb had gone off for a second.
THE UGLY:
- Random Trenchcoat Samurai Guy in general. After he ripped that Mind Control to win a game he was about to lose, a bunch of people were asking him for advice and talking to him. The answers he gave made me cringe. His voice in general made me cringe. He just seemed like he wasnt used to the attention he was getting and it showed.
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE FOR NEXT TIME?
Add a 3rd Lance because it was winning, add a second Laquari because its too important not to run, and run a 3rd Trap Stun because thats what let me go off all day and was rarely dead. I would probably side the MSTs for Dark World and thats about it.
Thanks for reading! If you want any additional information, just ask!
Till next time!
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