If it seems like I only write up a tournament report when I do well, well, it’s not as if I have much to write about if I don’t! See, in Japan they mostly run single elimination tournaments. I really hate them, as you can get screwed pretty bad, but they do go pretty fast which I guess is the biggest benefit. Especially at my local which only has spots for 8 games to run at once, and recently having forty or even fifty people playing.
So this time I placed second after five rounds. Ended up getting ¥1000 in store credit, which I didn’t expect so I just grabbed a second Dandylion to complete my pair.
Round one I played Gladiator Beasts and somehow managed to prevent him from getting me locked down. Game two, although, my chair touched an electrical source1 that should have been protected, but wasn’t after years of wear. Long story short, sparks went flying, everyone freaked out and I got a hell of a shock. Forty minutes later they turned off that electrical spot and let me resume my game. I was a bit frazzled and made a misplay and lost that game. Thankfully, I got my shit in order for game three.
Round two was Blackwings. Book of Moon and Enemy Controller make Black Whirlwind and Kalut hard to get off, and Flamvell Helldogs make short work of the remains. I sided in D.D. Crows for game two and opened up both of them. I thought I was in trouble, but after stalling for a good while, both Crows crippled my opponent at the right time and I was able to swing for victory.
Round three was against Elemental Hero Shining Spam.dec which I usually lose to. Gravekeeper Spies kept his monsters at bay and I somehow managed to slowly gain an advantage and win. Gorz helped make game three really short. I’m quite happy, since the guy I beat tends to place highly in the tournaments, and this was the first time I’ve beaten him.
Round four was once again Blackwings and I was a bit confused about my opponent. He made lots of mistakes and had some pretty weird card choices. I’m not sure how he got so far into the tournament playing like he did against me. Maybe he was tired or perhaps he got lucky earlier? I’ve no idea but I quickly beat him both games without even looking at my side deck.
Round five was, holy shit not again, Blackwings and I was getting really tired of seeing them as you can imagine. Game one he goes crazy and takes me out quickly, but I do the same to him game two. Game three is a bit of back and forth with me having very few monsters and once again holding two D.D. Crows since my opening hand. I stopped Vayu and Dark Armed Dragon, but was unable to capitalize on that and he got out DAD once again followed by a Trishula. Thinking I was fine with a Brain Control in hand, he hit my only dark monster in my graveyard with his own D.D. Crow when I tried to play a Chaos Sorcerer. I’m not sure if I misplayed here, but there was no way for me to damage enough for the win without the Sorcerer even if I did blow up his DAD by itself. Even then, Trishula would still be waiting to take me down. I was short on monsters and drew nothing to save me and lost game three.
I’m still happy, though. Despite getting electrocuted I did place second. My Flamvell deck has been running pretty smoothly ever since I decided to replace Caius with Ryko. A few more tweaks here and there and I do believe I’ve got a solid deck on my hands.
- I have no idea what you call it. An electric line was running out of it.. [↩]
Clearly the shock was fate telling you that Lightning Bolt was back in standard.