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Shadows of Natural Flares- Duel Masters Invitational Weekend_Part 2 Andrew Wang (Nimbly) The Batcave Vancouver, WA June 12, 2005 $5 Entry- 40-ish Players- (28? = age<15) (14? = age 15+)
How’s it, Pojo People? These 2 reports should be right next to each other so, it’s cool to read them together, as this is Part 2 of my Duel Masters Invitational Weekend. If you read the first, then you should already know that I didn’t get my invite. Wait…didn’t even come close to getting an invite.
I’ve never been to this place before. It’s decently far from my town, but it’s direct. It’s an exit from a highway, so it’s easy to get to. Got lost still, though. Good ol’ mom.
Either way, I did get there and some people from Rainy were already there. Jeremy and Steve and his daughter both were there, so that’s a plus. There was also Jim and his daughter Mindy, the pokemon Regional winner. She already won an invite the day before. Came that close to getting the free trip. She got 2nd.
When we went in, there were some people already there. I got the terror pit from the head store guy there and the box too, but I lost that eventually. We had to fill out the deck list again and sign up and all that good stuff. There isn’t that much to say, as it was “the calm before the storm”.
Why splash natural snare? Well, I’ve tried everything else but natural snare. It’s good destruction. Crystal Memory didn’t seem to work. Holy Awe doesn’t help that often. So what’s the other staple that needs some lovin?
Horrid Worms and Locomotiver is just purely for the hell of it. I mean. Deadly Fighter as lost its true value, as the shield I hit with it normally hurt me. And Wailing shadow normally dies to a 1000 blocker and never kills what it really needs to kill. So I figure, why not use cards that are decent and can still screw over your opponent pretty bad. I saw how discard was heavily abused in those multi-color control decks the day before, and I need to jump on this bandwagon!
Besides that, it’s your everyday red/black deck. I really want to get rid of the Humans, but until other decent strong 2 cost creatures come out, I’m not motivated to do anything, I guess. It’s basically the same deck I’ve been using for the past year, ever since Evo-Crush Came out. About 2 months ago, it just stopped being effective. I mean, at the 5 Civ for Stompatrons, the deck came up a little short and tourneys before that, it hasn’t been on its game. So, I switched to the Green/Black deck with Ballom, and that did fine enough to main deck it. But after that last Invitational Circuit event, It was obvious to me what needed to be done. Anyway, I’m boring the crap out of all you guys, so I’ll move on to the tourney.
The round is up and off we go!
Round 1- Nimbly vs. Jim M.-(3 color control) Ok. I played him in the 5th round the day before, but considering how he did that time, I expected some changes to happen. Who would have guessed that it would have been the deck everyone was relatively playing? Not me. Not me at all <.<…>.>…<.<…
Game 1- Well, this game wasn’t the best start for me. I had a hand of 4’s and above, so that wasn’t the best. I got out a horrid worm on the 3rd turn, but by then, he was already on his blocker and pyrofighter rampage. I did get some terror pit and killed one pyrofighter, but he used them coriles and that stalled the hell out of me. He got this one pretty well. Shields- (0-2)-Winner__Jim
Game 2- I was doing better with this game. I had out some humans by the early game and he had a blocker, but that thing got comet missiled easily. I got to hitting some shields, but nothing doing there but a bunch of shield triggers. Once again, I got stalled and I couldn’t really draw decently either. No pyrofighters this game at all. I thought I’d get 1, but no. only rikabu when he has out those hunter fish or madrillon fish, I forget. Either way. It wasn’t a good start for this tourney when he gets out a bazagazeal dragon and take me out. Shields-(0-1)-Winner__Jim RECORD-(0-1)
That wasn’t good for me. 5 rounds means I need a 4-1 record for a spot in the top 4. I don’t know. I won’t count my sheep before…before…I forgot how the stupid thing goes…
I did get some monster trading though. I was getting those terror pits left and right. Terror pit here, Terror Pit there, 2 Terror Pits here. Insanity. I’ll tell you the turnout later.
Faster than a speeding bullet, it’s…the next round? Whatever…
Round 2- Nimbly vs. Juan C. (Giant Insect deck w/ Darkness) Juan’s a friend from RDG, so I know him pretty well. I don’t know what he’s playing, but you never know about him…
Game 1- This game started pretty fast. I had out some quick stuff early and he did also. He had that Sword Butterfly and Trench Scarab, so in a way, I was kind of hesitant to attack. I mostly attacked with Pyrofighter and he didn’t really get a chance to kill them. I believe he eventually got out some decent blockers from Darkness, like Squito and Cursed Pincher. I got through those with some Comets and finished it with a final attack of 2 pyros. Shields-(2-0)-Winner__Nimbly
Game 2- This game was pretty good for me as well. I got out stuff like I did the first time, only this time, it was more on the discard aspect than the power. It helped, as it took him a while to get a trench or butterfly. I got in some attacks and he got some of those blockers to take out the horrid worms, so that was annoying. I did get some pyrofighter on him, and that kind of held him up. Basically the same as game 1, only a little less close. Shields-(3-0)-Winner__Nimbly
RECORD-(1-1)
Ok, so now I’m 1-1. I’m still far away from the finish so anything can happen. I was still trading for those Terror Pits and kids kept coming to me with them. They saw my binder and their jaws literally hit the floor like a bad Looney Toons show. I thought my binder was a little weaker than normal, but kids wanted the weirdest things. One kid wanted to trade almost everything he had for a Billion-Degree, which was kind of odd, yet understandable.
Say, hello to my little friend!...The next round!
Round 3 – Nimbly vs. Greg Z. (3-Color Control) See, I didn’t have the best of luck against him the first Invitational, but with this new deck and how it performed against Jim, then I was kind of worried that a repeat is gonna happen.
Game 1- This game started out pretty well for me. I mean, I got out the discards early, but so did he. Only, he picked out junk and I got one of his pyrofighters. I still had mine and just began hittin him with it. He didn’t get many shield triggers. He did get a terror pit to stop the Pyrofighters, but he hit a Pyrofighter in the shields when he attacked with a Corile. I drew another pyrofighter, and finished it off. Shields-(1-0)-Winner__Nimbly
Game 2- He came out strong with the discard with this one. I lost about 2 cards by 3 turn, which was annoying. The good thing was, he didn’t hit a pyrofighter…because I didn’t have one :/. I got out a Horrid worm and a Locomotiver on 4th turn, which destroyed the rest of his and. Then came the pyrofighter I drew, which really ended up killing him in the end. He couldn’t get a shield trigger that was effective in killing a pyrofighter. Oooo, Aqua Surfer, what’s that gonna do? Put it in my hand so I can play it next turn and kill you? Yea, this game ended with a pyrofighter. Shields-(2-0)-Winner__Nimbly
RECORD-(2-1)
That turned out completely different than I expected, for the better that is. I was kind of afraid of that deck. And I still am. However, I did kind of really control the field in that last round, so maybe this deck has a chance against those 3/4-color control decks.
Still getting some decent trade power here. People here really dig the binder, so I won’t stop them really…Alls I need now is a couple foil Aqua Hulcus *wink**wink*…
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the next round is worth…about 40 minutes of my life. That’s good right?...Right?
Round 4 – Nimbly vs. Steve E. (3-color control) Oh boy. I remember how I did against him last time, so nervous would be the understatement of the century. I was paired against someone with a perfect record so far, so that wasn’t a great thing, being paired up and all. We’ll see what happens…
Game 1- This game moved really fast for me. He barely got out anything, but I just kept up the frontal assault, which helped immensely. I had out the humans and pyrofighters quick and he, luckily, didn’t hit a shield trigger for a while. He got to play one Locomotiver that did destroy the pyrofighter, but I didn’t really need it to finish the game. I did get another in the shields eventually, but still… Shields-(4-0)-Winner__Nimbly
Game 2- This game was a little closer than the last, but that really isn’t saying much. I basically kept up the same assault, only this time with locomotivers in the shields and horrid worms destroying his hand. Pyrofighter made an encore here as well, so I guess I got some serious luck here. I had his hand pretty hit with discard and I was strong with 2 pyrofighters in my hand, one from the start of the game and one he gave me through shields. Pyros finished it off with some hitting of the shields. He got out the triggers to take out a pyro and a worm or 2. Shields-(2-0)-Winner__Nimbly
RECORD-(3-1)
Wow. Once again, I am completely wrong. ABOUT EVERYTHING!!! Seriously, from now on, whatever I say will happen, think the complete opposite, that I’ll happen, and everyone’ll laugh and then the dog laughs and then I die a little bit inside…
Here was the entertainment for the day. It was weird but it all started right after this round. See, I recall telling you already that there were 28 fourteen and younger players in the lower bracket. Now, if anyone actually pays attention to the internet rules, a tournament of that size is “required” to run 6 rounds, 1 more than it would take to make an undefeated person at the top. I’d make a tree, but it takes too long and you really need to concentrate, and I’m not here to make people’s brains hurt randomly with math after school is out.
Anyhoo, the problem here was that by the time that our round was finished, word got out that both tournaments would only be 5 rounds long. See, now, with our tourney, it’s not that much of a problem. But for the younger bracket, it takes a lot more work to get a top 4 spot. It’s different because if there is 5 rounds, then there is a guaranteed person with an undefeated record. However, with a 6 rounds tourney, it will be completely up to that person whether their record is undefeated or not still. There is room for improvement in that extra round, people can lose spots, some records can become better, tiebreakers could improve or weaken. In short, it’s better with the extra round.
Now Steve, the “judge” of our last invitational, ran a 6 round tourney for an 18 person turnout, so surely this judge would change it, right? Is the plural of the word “Goose” the word “sheep”? I take that as a no. This judge goes off on how he can run any tourney he wants because it technically in the rules he’s given. Seeing as I don’t run tourneys, I’m not one to go against him. Steve did try to change it to the best of his abilities.
By the time anything happened, the guy used the next round to stop the conversation. Eh…
Round 5 – Nimbly vs. James (Yellow Blockage deck)
This is it, the final round. I needed this win to get to the top 4, and I got paired down. However, this was no cakewalk. This guy was using a yellow blocker deck, so I wasn’t doing back flips here.
Game 1- This game moved very slowly. Not that we didn’t play quick monsters, it’s just that he couldn’t attack and I didn’t want to attack. I waited until I could either swarm him with attackers or destroy the blockers. I waited until it was really too late and he got out Laveil, a blocker that could untap and double break and block. Insane, really. He hit 2 shields and they were both shields triggers. A terror pit and a proclamation of death. I drew a comet missile, played a pyrofighter, only to hit a holy awe on the 2nd shield. He gets out more blockers, I do the same move, this time losing some monsters, and hit a 2nd holy awe on the 3 shield. Un-freakin-believable! He gets out another big blocker. Those damn Sentinine Jade Trees annoyed the hell out of me. Kill my Pyrofighter…hell no. I do the same move with 2 pyrofighters and hit no shields triggers. Good thing too. His next card would have been a diamond cutter when I have no shields left. Shields(0-0)-Winner__Nimbly
Game 2- This game was faster for me and worked better than the first. It was weird, but I kept having a card that could take down the blocker. Either I had a procy (Proclamation of Death) or Rothus or Comet Missile, or my attacker was just stronger. He did get out the laveil again, only to meet a Natural Snare from my hand. I got out some more Pyrofighters and began the attack again. This time, no shield triggers, so that was a plus for me. He had enough blockers to block me on the final attack, but I drew a terror pit and finished it off. Shields-(2-0)-Winner__Nimbly
RECORD-(4-1)-TOP 4!
Well, I say, holy crap. I swear, I felt like doing back flips in the hallway at the fact that I did much better in comparison to the other deck, but 1, it’s embarrassing, and 2, I’ve never done a back flip in my life. Knowing me, I would flip forward, but still, you get the idea. Back to the controversy over the rounds. By now, the other bracket was well into their top 4, so there wasn’t much that could be changed. The judge was getting annoyed and it was getting only more and more obvious. It ended up getting to phone-calling Wizards of the Coast and all, but there wasn’t much that they could do. The guy really had the call on it and there wasn’t much to do at all.
The top 4 was announced and I was just glad that my name was on it. Since I got top 4, it means that I get my invite to Continentals, so I’m already satisfied.
The pairings went as such:
(1)Steve (4)Jeremy
(2)Tim (3)Andrew/Nimbly
Oh, that’s great, I play the one guy whose deck is completely immune to the speed that my deck really brings. I can’t really explain how I hate a Blue/Green Beast People Deck.
Top 4 Semifinals- Nimbly vs. Tim W. (Blue/Green Beast/People Deck) I really hate this deck. Period…
Game 1- I couldn’t do anything. I had out humans, but that didn’t matter since he just got out Barkwhip next turn. This game, Pyrofighter was not to be seen until late in the game. I got out mostly discard in the start, so that was a plus. However, I couldn’t hit the right cards in his hand. Add in some poor shield triggers, and that gives you a whole heaping pile of crap! I had pyrofighters and a chance to finish him, but Tim, being the lucky person that he is, pulls out a Mana Nexus and kills me next turn. Shields-(0-1)-Winner__Tim
Game 2- Horrible Hand. I had 4 cards with shield trigger on it. Unbelievable. I couldn’t play a card until turn 3 while he was already setting up the torcon and crow winger for the attack and evolution to Barkwhip. I get no decent shield triggers. My one attacker, a Horrid Worm, got some company with pyrofighter, but that did nothing, since I hit a Terror Pit with it. Horrid Worm hits an Aqua Surfer. I lose all my shields. Attack with 2 pyrofighters, and he pulls a Nexus and a Natural Snare, for more shield trigger joy. His last shield, Holy Awe. Man, that’s just not right at all. Shields-(0-2)-Winner__Tim
Eh…so I lost. Big deal. I got my invite and found out my Red/Black still has a kick or 2 in it. And besides, since it was an all-Rainy top 4, we decided to split the packs evenly. We would all get 12 packs, as we would together get 2 boxes.
I got my 12 packs weirdly. Normally, if you just split and take a side of the box, then you get about 4 foils apiece. A friend of ours, Isak, shuffled all the packs and then gave them to me and Tim when Steve and Jeremy split the box like I said before. I pull 2 foils. Tim pulls 6. Steve and Jeremy pull 4 each. Tim pulls 6. 6!!! Who does that?
As for the final. Tim and Steve were playing, and Tim narrowly beat out Steve by his lucky ways again. Tim won his second Invitational in 2 days, so he’ll be rubbing that in all of our faces for the next…oh…2, 3 years?
Ok, Time for Props and Slops
PrOpS + Aqua Hulcus-Foily…! + You sitting down…20 Foil Terror Pits! + Massive Trading Power Day + Top 4 for invite + Tim giving me the DVD, even though I don’t watch the show + 12 packs for 5 bucks. I’ll take that! + Red/Black showing up again like the old days.
sLoPs - The judge being uncool about the round thing - The tourney not handing out all the packs, especially to those who didn’t make top 4… - Tim and his lucky playing and bragging for the next while. - Uh…Pulling 2 foils. Ooo, Invincible Unity and Tech. Now I have 3 of each… Tim pulls a Bolmeteus and 2 more supers. Not cool…
Well, that’s it. Hopefully, the next time you’ll here from me, I’ll be back on the COTD scene, which I think should be pretty soon. Either that, or I’ll try to become a featured writer. I gots some stuff to make an article about. Some helpful tips on creative deck making, theories of tournaments, and the game overall. We’ll see.
That’s it for the Invitational. Now I’m left with the next task: Raising money for the Trip to LA! Go foil Terror Pits! Anyway, if anyone has a Question, a Comment/Concern/Complaint, leave feedback for a report or review, or talk about anything about the game, E-Mail me at: Later Days…
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