Adam "Stegy" Trunzo

Alter Reality in Cleveland, Ohio

Saturday, March 12th, 2005

No Entry Fee

Nine Duelists

Best 2/3; 4 rounds

 

Hey, all!  I'm proud to say that this is my SECOND Tournament Report.  Actually, Alter Reality was the second tournament I ever played in, the last being Origins of last year.  I wanted to get my DCI rating up (I dropped from #1 in Ohio to #12, then #20 before the tournament =\) for some bragging rights. ;x

 

I had been working on my Water/Darkness Control deck, with a bit of Light for Holy Awe and my crazy idea of using Diamond Cutter as a surprise tactic card, that I had been working on for the few weeks prior to the tournament.  Unfortunately, I only have one Terror Pit, so I was hoping to trade for my other three and another Crystal Paladin.  FYI: never happened. =\

 

I got to the store around 3:30 in the afternoon, hoping to get my critical trades in, and after I walked inside I saw a huge mass of people. "This can't be all Duel Masters," I said to myself as I walked in, and sure enough the store was crowded with 15 and under Magic players and even more Yu-Gi-Oh! players.  I made my way to the back, after checking out what everyone was playing, and saw how there were no other Duel Masters players.  So, naturally, I waited for a good 20 minutes before two really nice players talked to me, asking what I was at the store to play.  I said Duel Masters, and another player piped up saying he didn't think a lot of players would show up.

 

After waiting a few more minutes, Ken (one of the other players) asked to see my deck, and we played a few games after he saw my deck.  He first played a Light deck with Terror Pits and Death Smoke (I believe), and I beat him 2-0.  An older man named Mark showed up and gave Ken his Mana Destruction deck to play with against me.  I proceeded to beat that deck 2-0, and this was without my three other Terror Pits.  I asked around for Terror Pits to trade for, but nobody had any extras. =\  What are you going to do?

 

Anyway, ten after four rolls around, and everyone signs up to play in the Duel Masters tournament.  We had a total of nine players, instead of seven, which we thought there would have been playing, so the tournament was sanctioned.

 

Here's the list I played:

 

Creatures-24

4x Aqua Guard

4x Aqua Hulcus

4x Crystal Lancer

4x Corile

4x Emeral

1x Crystal Paladin

3x Bloody Squito

 

Spells-19

4x Spiral Gate

4x Holy Awe

4x Brain Serum

4x Death Smoke

2x Diamond Cutter

1x Terror Pit (...)

 

I was hoping to drop both Diamond Cutters and a Holy Awe for the last three Terror Pits, but it never happened. =\!  I was so afraid to play this list it wasn't even funny.

 

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Round One:  Me vs. Ken with Mana Destruction

[Believe it or not, Ken and I had to play the first round.  Tough luck, huh?]

His strategy was to play creatures like Engineer Kipo and Bombersaur, then kill them via a Black Shadow (one Mana for 3000 creature). The deck also had Death Smoke and Terror Pit, and Bronze-Arm for acceleration

 

First Duel: I get off to a great start. He plays stuff like Ruthus and Bombersaur, but two Coriles made him keep drawing the latter. I won with Bouncing so much stuff.

 

Second Duel: I manage to put a Holy Awe and I believe the lone Terror Pit in my Shields via turns two and three Emerals.  I won. ;x  [1-0]

 

(FYI: I have a terrible memory, so work with me here ;x)

 

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Second Round: Me vs. Josh with Nature/Light

[Josh was a very funny guy, and playing with a friend's deck]

The deck's strategy was to play creatures like Bronze-Arm and Silver Axe to get Mana, then drop Blockers for protection.

 

First Duel: After I watched Josh play a Blocker for Mana, I knew what I had to do. I summoned Emerals and Aqua Hulcus' and swung at his Shields every chance I got, because that's how you beat a D-Cutter deck (which was what I thought Josh was running). He did drop a Mana Nexus and a Sundrop Armor for some more Shields, but I managed to fight past the Holy Awe's in the Shields and pull out a win.

 

Second Duel: I didn't get the start I wanted and he managed to overrun me with a Barkwhip and a Fighter Duel Fang I believe.

 

Third Duel: I pulled out all the stops this time.  When I had two creatures attacking, I swung at a random Shield and would always strike the Shield he played via Sundrop Armor with my last, or second, creature (I knew it was a Holy Awe--he didn't have Snare), so the Awe was useless.  I pull out the win with a few well-placed Coriles.  [2-0]

 

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Third Round: Me vs. Mark with Mono-Darkness

[This guy was good, and one of three undefeated people]

He had creatures like Wandering Brain Ghoul (I think that's right--2 for a 2000 Darkness Blocker), Mongrel Man, Horrid Worm, everything but Marrow Ooze and Snake Attack.

 

First Duel: I had a fantastic start with a turn two Emeral letting me put my lone Terror Pit in my Shields.  He couldn't get anything going until turn four I believe, and his Shields didn't have any Terror Pits, Locomotivers, or Gregorian Worms.  I won by rushing.

 

Second Duel: His Shields are fantastic, and I found myself top-decking to keep up a fight.  I couldn't get an Emeral with a decent Shield Trigger, and I lose.

 

Third Duel: This is it--winner would be 3-0 and play the last 3-0 person in the finals.  We each take shots at each other Shield's, and I found myself with hardly any creatures, looking at an onslaught of Darkness creatures.  A well placed Death Smoke and a few suicide attacks allowed me to stay in the game.  Now picture this: I'm holding an Aqua Hulcus, Crystal Lancer, a Diamond Cutter, and a Holy Awe (I believe), and I'm getting ready to break Mark's last three Shields, then possibly win. He had only one attacker on the field, and I a Bloody Squito to protect myself (I had no Shields left).  I passed my turn, with my next turn netting me an Aqua Hulcus and a chance to win the game. Mark draws: a Critical Blade.  GG Adam =\  [2-1]

 

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Round Four: Me vs. Sam with Nature/Fire

[I had to go to the bathroom and I was very upset at myself for losing. I wasn't in a good mood. =\]

Sam played creatures like Armored Goblav, Fighter Dual Fang, and fast Fire creatures.

 

First Duel: To be frank, I didn't care too much whether I lost or won, so I was passive during this match.  He gets a turn two Immortal Baron Vorg, then a Bronze-Arm.  I had an okay start, but I made careless mistakes, and two Shield Trigger'd Tornado Flames lost me the Duel.

 

Duel Two: I wasn't even trying; that plus the kid's "You need a this, this and a Blocker to not lose" was driving me crazy ( no offense, Sam ;-).  I lost. =(  [2-2]

 

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So I ended up with a 2-2 record (overall a 5-5 record if you count Duels).  The final match was between Mark and another kid who ran Water/Darkness/Light (IMO, my deck was better built, even without the Pits), but I didn't get to see who won OR what place I finished because I had to leave.  I'm thinking I placed either 4th or 5th; I don't mind as long as my DCI rating goes up. =D  It was a good experience for me, and I found out that Kokujo's Starter Deck has a Terror Pit in it. Woo! ;x  Those decks are going down.  And hopefully I'll get my needed cards to play a version of Steven Cantrell's Water/Darkness deck (which I believe is an insanely broken deck) with Coriles and Merfolk instead of the Liquid People next Saturday.

 

Props:

Actually winning a few duels! ;x

Going undefeated the first two rounds

Corile for being broken

The Lancer my g/f signed =P

The great environment

 

Slops:

Losing =(

Not getting my Terror Pits =(

Me for showing some unsportsmanship during my last duel =(

 

Thanks for reading through my tournament report!  I really appreciate it.  If you want to send me any e-mails, please feel free at Stegyman@aol.com.  If you live near Cleveland, Ohio, check out Alter Reality in Lakewood.  I live an hour and a half away and still manage to go!  (It's seriously the closest Duel Masters tournament to me.  Seriously.)