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I hate Time Travel... And Time Limits
This past weekend's SJC

This weekend was up there with Gen Con on the kickass scale. For one, I didn't know old men could make such dirty jokes. And for two, I qualified for Nationals. More on that laterz.

Anyway, the word of the weekend is ream, and the phrase of the weekend I can't repeat while still keeping this a family column. PM me on the forums or ask me about it at Regs.

I start by leaving Friday. Having been awake since midnight the night before, I was pretty pleased to get to bed at 11 the next night after the longest ride I've ever had. By the way, the city of Gilroy CA is the garlic capital of the world. You can feel free to be apathetic now.

We wake up the next day and I fill out my decklist. Here's a rough estimate of what it consisted of…

20

2x Cyber Dragon
Chaos Sorcerer
Mobius the Frost Monarch
Breaker the Magical Warrior
D. D. Warrior Lady
Sangan
Exiled Force
Tsukuyomi
2x Dekoichi the Battle-Chanted Locomotive 2x Spirit Reaper Mystic Swordsman LV2 D. D. Assailant D. D. Survivor Mask of Darkness Magician of Faith 2x Magical Merchant

12

Snatch Steal
Premature Burial
Heavy Storm
Dark Hole
Mystical Space Typhoon
Nobleman of Crossout
Swords of Revealing Light
Confiscation
2x Smashing Ground
Reinforcement of the Army
Pot of Avarice

9

3x Sakuretsu Armor
Widespread Ruin
Trap Hole
Bottomless Trap Hole
Dust Tornado
Call of the Haunted
Torrential Tribute

Needless to say, this build was crap. A few test draws will tell you why; it quite often has 4 or more monsters in hand. Anyone would be surprised what cutting the monster board down to 19 did for preventing that.

The side deck and fusion deck were uninteresting, but I consistently sided out Trap Hole for Threatening Roar so as to add chainability and prevent nasty RftDD techs, which I saw more than one of.

Anyway, the Shonen Jump was a drag. More on that later. Now for individual round reports.

Round 1: ????

He was playing Gren Maju Da Eiza with Chaosrider Gustav (…) and Bazoo and Return and stuff. 2 – 0 is all I remember… I didn't really track life that game.

1 – 0

Round 2: Xavier Blake

He was playing warriors… first game I got hit hard by Lily direct and contested with his consistent flow of 1600+ monsters. I finished the game at 400 LP.

Second game I drew into double Cyber, but I went second. Summoned Cyber, hit Cylinder, he summons Jizno and uses removal on my Cyber, bringing me to a sad 3500. Another Cyber and Snatch hit the field, as well as a set monster. After he gains, he sits at 4500 and uses removal on his own Jizno. A Nobleman hits a f/d, and then somehow he hit me with Cylinder on Cyber. Cyber swings hit him twice more and two hits with Merchant bring him to 0 perfect. I finished at 3500 LP

2 – 0

Round 3: Cody Webb

First game wasn't bad. His Nimbles keep him alive way longer than he should have been alive, and I think he hit into Pot of Avarice, too.
But regardless, he can only hit me with a Breaker and two or three other random hits for 800, 800, 100 in that order. It's possible I Premature Burial'd myself for 800 of that. Reaper owned his advantage, and either MSLV2 or Mask of Darkness hit him for 900 three times to bring him from 2500 to 0.

Me: 8000 – 6400 – 4800 – 4700
Him: 8000 – 9000 – 10000 – 9000 – 8700 – 7300 – 5800 – 5500 – 5200 – 2500 – 1600 – 700 – 0

Game 2 I wrote something about being luck SAK'D. I'm willing to bet that this was the guy who managed to draw Breaker, Snatch, Nobleman, and Heavy on me, but that might have been round 7. He sat at 8000 nearly the whole match, which says something considering how aggressive my deck is. I got rawked.

Me: 8000 – 6800 – 4700 – 3900 – 400 – 0
Him: 8000 – 7900 =\

Game 3 was called on time, and with 20617432976 card advantage, I lose because he can set stuff faster than I can kill it. I hate time. I hate it with a burning passion. Go to my Regionals report for more on this.

2 – 1

Round 4: Adan Zamudio

He ran something with Pitch-Black Warwolf and Elemental Hero Wildman which would have worked much nicer if the deck weren't so jank. First game I get taken by surprise and lose advantage early on life-wise.
He Snatches for game on turn 4, the lucksack.

Me: 8000 – 7400 – 5800 – 4300 – 0
Him: 8000 and he prolly lost some life from Premature or an attacking D. D. Assailant or something but I didn't write it down cause I usually calculator or do it in my head so assume it was 7000+ - 0

Game 2 was stupid. Guy stays alive for longer than he should and his Kinetic Soldier does absolutely nothing against my *4* Warriors. I lose life to Confiscation, then take a Wildheart, a Kinetic and 400 other points of damage, 1200 from a Wildheart, and 100 from some random. He swings from 8000 to 7300 to 7100… And then to 2000 over two turns. I think Cyber and Breaker claimed it for me, though it might have been Snatch + Cyber + something.

Me: 8000 – 7000 – 5500 – 3850 – 2150 – 1150 – 1050
Him: 8000 – 7300 – 7100 ??? 2100 – 0

Game 3 I'm hazy on. I took 1600 from Breaker or Warwolf, then a Confiscation, then 2100 somehow, and then 1200 and I stayed there. He got hit by Cyber 1, 2, 3 times and then I pulled 2500 damage out to leave him at -800… Though technically 0.

Me: 8000 – 7900 – 6300 – 5300 – 3200 – 3000
Him: 8000 – 5900 – 3800 – 1700 – 0


2 – 1

Round 5: Michael Saxon

Game 1 was bad. I took 1800 and then 1600, and then gained 1000 from Snatch. I took 2600 more… Twice. 400 couldn't last me another attack.

Me: 8000 – 6200 – 4600 – 5600 – 3000 – 400 – 0
Him: 8000 – 6200 – 5300 – 4500 – 3700

Game 2 wasn't bad at all for me… I take 800 somehow (Premature doesn't sound likely for first damage), then drop 1400 to 5800, and then another 1000 to 4800 (Confiscation). In the meantime, this guy's life fluctuates randomly. Bumped with Reaper, then he takes 600 and jumps up to 8100 from Snatch, dropping again from Reaper, hit with Sangan, then with Reaper again, then Sangan, then Reaper, then Sangan, Sangan again, and then I bring out an actual MONSTER to do damage with, hitting him for 1600 with what I believe to be a Breaker. He drops 1000 from what might have been a Sangan, and then suffers a blow from Mask of Darkness for game.

Me: 8000 – 7200 – 5800 – 4800
Him: 8000 – 7700 – 7100 – 8100 – 7800 – 6800 – 6500 – 5500 – 5200 – 4200 – 3200 – 1600 – 600 – 0

Game 3 wasn't bad either. I took 100, 1700 (D. D. Assailant?), 800 (Premature?), and then I drop 1700 again and then get hit for 200 somehow. He drops 800, takes 400, 1400, 2400 (Cyber + Reaper?), 2400 again, and then he loses to Mask of Darkness again.

Me: 8000 – 7900 – 6200 – 5400 – 3700 – 3500
Him: 8000 – 7200 – 6800 – 5400 – 3000 – 600 – 0



4 – 1



Round 6: David Phan

Um yeah I don't remember this one. It was 2 – 0, so either I lucksacked, he lucksucked, or I was just better. Maybe a combination thereof?

Game 1

Me: 8000 – 6200 – 5100 – 4300 – 4000
Him: 8000 – 7700 – 7400 – 6400 – 5700 ??? 600 – Tsukuyomi for game

Game 2:

Me: 8000 – 6600 – 4200 – 3400 – 2900 – 2600 – 2000
Him: 8000 – 7200 – 6200 – 4200 – 3100 – 1100 – 0


5 – 1


Round 7: Marcial Bode.

All I remember is getting pissed off at drawing 5 monsters in one opener and getting lucksacked in another to lose 2 - 1. I hit him repeatedly with Sangan for 1000 per opening game, somehow hitting for 1200 in subsequent turns. I believe I had MSLV2, Mask and Reaper down with drawn protection, but that doesn't sound right. He loses 300, 900, 300, 2400 somehow for game.

Me: 8000 – 6400 – 4700 – 3900 – 3300 – 4300
Him: 8000 – 7000 – 6000 – 4800 – 3600 – 2700 – 1800 – 1500 – 600 – 300 – 0

Game 2 I think I had 5/6 cards in opener be monsters. And a Merchant hit 5 more monsters off the top on turn 2 in one game… Meaning HORRIBLE stackage no matter WHAT you say.

Me: 8000 – 7600 – 6800 – 5600 – 5300 – 4400 – 4100 – 3200 – 1800 – 0
Him: 8000 – 7100 – 6600

Game 3 was also bad for me. I don't remember details as a day has passed in between me writing round 6 and round 7, but just know I lost this one and thus my chances for Volsty.

Me: 8000 – 7000 – 5300 – 3200 – 2700 – 0
Him: 8000 – 5900 – 6900

5– 2

I don't want to waste my money in side events, so I just keep playing.

Round 8: Craig Leong

Hmm. First game was close. I lose 1700 from DDA, 800 from who knows what, and then I drop 1000, 800, 300, and 1800. I think he was playing Warriors. He gets rawked by Reaper and the odd attack, but I finish it 1600 – 2800

Me: 8000 – 6300 – 5500 – 4500 – 3700 – 3400 – 1600
Him: 8000 – 7200 – 6100 – 5800 – 4200 – 2800 – 0

Second game I did my typical loss notations… Buncha subtractions on my side, very few on his… I think that whenever I lose with my opponent at several thousand LP, I sat on a hand of all monsters for several turns and stall praying to draw into something to make the rest of my horrible hand work. This game was bad. Confiscation hit his opening after he had already made a move, and then I believe I was hit by Reaper, followed by random hits of Breaker and such until I died.

Me: 8000 – 7000 – 6700 – 6000 – 4400 – 2800 – 1200 – 400 – 0
Him: 8000 – 7100 – 6300 – 5800

Third game was meh for him. I took DDA and then I swarmed him with three tribs in one turn… Cyber popped his head out, Sorcerer removed a monster and Mobius hit both his Saku's, then Smashing killed his other monster. GG

Me: 8000 – 6300
Him: 8000 – 7900 – 6300 – 6100 – 4300 – 0

6 - 2

Round 9: Mark Garcia

Hmm. He won first, which wasn't too bad a game for me. I think a Snatch or a Cyber swarm took me off-guard, and my defense wasn't good enough to live another turn.

Me: 8000 – 7400 – 6000 – 3600 – 2000 – 200 – 0
Him: 8000 – 5900 – 3500 – 3300 – 4300 – 3700

Second I lost 100 to a random attack, stayed at 7900 forever, and then Premature'd myself. 7100 is a fun number. He took intermittent attacks of 900 every turn, so yeah.

Me: 8000 – 7900 – 7100
Him: 8000 – 7200 – 6300 – 5400 – 3000 – 2100 – 0

Last I sat high for a long time. I dropped 1400 and 1200, and then I sat there for the rest of the game. He loses. :(

Me: 8000 – 6600 – 5400
Him: 8000 – 7300 – 6700 – 5900 – 3500 – 3200 – 1100 – 0

Final record: A shameful 7 – 2 and 30th place. Teammates Jonathan Hernandez, Bobby Aguilera and Kirk Leonhardt placed 26th, 24th, and 10th respectively.

Well, the deck sucked ass. I topped Confiscation too much late game and there's a huge problem with D. D. Assailant and D. D. Survivor sucking horribly and being godawful. As well, Trap Hole was consistently sided out for THREATENING ROAR, of all things.

So I fixed the deck that night with one suggestion from Kirk that I hadn't already considered, which was to cut Magical Merchant for Blade Knight. The total deck build got a 5 card rehash, and the sideboard was completely revamped to actually DO something. =\

Changes:
-1 Merchant
-1 D. D. Survivor
-1 D. D. Assailant
-1 Confiscation
-1 Trap Hole

+1 Blade Knight
+1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
+1 Scapegoat
+1 Bottomless Trap Hole

I decide not to go triple Dekoichi again, fearing crappy Nobleman plays that own my life. The deck is much more smooth, though. I didn't see an all-monster hand all day when playing with it. Without another Widespread available to me, this was a good build of 40 perfect.

That said, let's continue to day 2, and the janky-ass 117 man regional the day afterwards.



DAY 2

I catch up with Senseker and ffseriesfan, both moderators on Pojo.com forums, and I meet up with a few people I met yesterday. There wasn't much to do besides watch games or talk to people until Regionals started. This Regionals, by the way, shouldn't count.

Round 1: Omar Grostavo Osario

He was playing a funky Gren Maju/Skull Lair deck, with Nimbles I think. First game was horrid. I had nothing to attack with, and he set cards, leaving a backfield of Saku, Saku, Goat, Bottomless and Widespread to do nothing. I wait like twenty turns to win this one, and I honestly considered using Mobius to destroy one of my own cards just to free up a zone this game. It was bad.

Me: 8000 – 7000 – 6000 – 5200 – 5000 - 2600
Him: 8000 – 9000 – 8900 – 8800 – 7400 – 5000 – 2700 – 800 – 0

Game 2 went to time… This win should NOT have been mine so easily.
The judge who comes over says that since I had the one game win, I win the match… Then the head judge comes over and AGREES. He has 2000 LP on me… Yes, he's losing card advantage every turn because he can't match a single Chaos Sorcerer, but he should have won by time rules.
I agreed with my opponent, but he seemed placated when the head judge agreed with the other judge, so I didn't contest it. This victory sucked.

Me: 8000 – 7000
Him: 8000 – 9000


1 – 0
# of issues with time: 1

In between rounds for the rest of the tournament (and the day before,
too) I caught some time with Brodie (who forumgoers may know as Thousand Eyes) and Jasmine. That was cool. He's a class act guy, and he went through like a pack which is weird cause he doesn't smoke.
But hey, I went through three packs of gum over the weekend, so…

Round 2: Kevin Hor/KENZOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Hmm. I can't tell whether I lucksacked more than he lucksucked or vice versa. He was running some funky Skull Lair deck that just did not work against me at all. I drew highly consistent hands against him and he couldn't compete. He ending up faring pretty well, too… But just not against me.

Game 1 was just a DDWL beatdown.

Me: 8000
Him: 8000 – 6500 – 5000 – 4900 – 1900 – 0

Game 2 was a bit longer, but I drew Breaker AND Snatch, with Blade Knight already on the field… Summon Breaker, blow up (I think he chained with Skull Lair to stop it), Snatch, hit with Blade and snatch'd for game… You also see two typical 2100 drops. Yup. Cyber Dragon.

Me: 8000 – 6400 – 5600
Him: 8000 – 5900 – 5400 – 3300 – 2700 – 0

2 – 0
# of issues with time: 1

Round 3: Bryan Coronel

Next game is Bryan Coronel… First game is fairly close. I take a few hits that I probably shouldn't've, but when we end, I'm still sitting on 2400. Mobius got three huge hits in for 7200.

Game 1:

Me: 8000 - 6400 – 4700 – 3300 – 2500 – 2400
Him: 8000 – 7700 – 7400 – 5000 – 2600 – 200

Game 2 wasn't as close. I think there was a bit of Dekoichi or Mask abuse with Tsukuyomi. Either way, I 2 – 0 him.

Me: 8000 – 7600 – 6200
Him: 8000 – 6400 – 6100 – 4700 – 3600 – 2400 – 0

3 – 0

Round 4: Xing Xu

This round was also utter bull****. You'll see why.

Game 1 opens with me giving steady pressure. A Cyber hits him late game, and a D. D. Warrior Lady takes the match after I have some trouble with a 1600 and an 1800… Breaker and D. D. Survivor respectively, I think.

Me: 8000 – 6300 – 4500 – 2900 – 2100
Him: 8000 – 6300 – 4900 – 2800 – 1300 – 0

Game 2… Freaking time gets called again and the same ruling is made.
He has higher life (though I've still got a chance to win, IIRC) but I have the game win. He sides out and we leave.

INTERMISSION… I trade for a German Dust Tornado, which I then get to play in Round 4. That was not a typo.

I get called up and apparently the Head Judge knows he messed up.
This time, though, my opponent already unsidedecked… As had I… The judge makes a really, really bad call here and lets both of us use our side decks for a third game.

Let me show you my side deck, and maybe you'll know why I got pissed off at time that day.

2x Stealth Bird
Cannon Soldier
Spirit Reaper
Mystic Swordsman LV2
2x Kinetic Soldier
2x Wave-Motion Cannon
Emergency Provisions
2x Threatening Roar
Ceasefire
Waboku
Dust Tornado

11 cards in there are in there that slaughter the time restriction.
Out goes Confiscation, Chaos Sorcerer, Mobius, Mobius, Premature Burial, Mask of Darkness, and a whole lotta other stuff for 11 cards… I draw Heavy, Dark Hole, Blade Knight and two more s/ts, and I got to choose to go second… What. The. Hell.

4 – 0
# of issues with time: 2


Round 5: Brodie Heinrichsen AKA "Thousand Eyes"

Well, I play Brodie, the guy I've been chilling with between rounds.
Him and I are among the 8 undefeated. My god, I didn't even stand a chance. Both games he gets the choo choo train and Tsukuyomi engine going, and I have no chance to stop easily… My deck laid down bad draws for the situation. I got slaughtered. I've played him before, though. He played a funky Soul Control deck last format that I ran into at Regionals and beat… But hey, he was qualified. I wasn't.

This format, he and I both weren't qualified. He knocks me from the undefeated list in a shameful loss.

Game 1:
Me: 8000 – 6900 – 4500 – 3100 – 2800 – 2500 – 2200 – 800 – 500 – 0
Him: 8000 – 7200 (see what I mean? He lost 800 from his own Premature Burial. I couldn't TOUCH the guy)

Game 2:
Me: 8000 – 4800 – 2700 – 2300 – 1100 – 0
Him: 8000 – 7000 – 6200

I tell him to stay undefeated so my tiebreakers stay godly, and he agrees.

4 – 1

Round 6: Jake McNeely

Again, another sweep first game. I get bad draws. My deck plays defensively anyway, so there's no reason that I should start hitting for damage if I'm losing from the start. I didn't track his life (I'm not used to tracking life on paper at all) but he lost like 2000-3000 or something

Me: 8000 – 6400 – 5400 – 3300 – 1900 – 1100 – 0
Him: 8000 - ????

Game 2 was much more interesting for me. I get good draws and sit on them. The LP columns switch. I lose life once, he loses life 9 times.

Me: 8000 – 6200
Him: 8000 – 7800 – 6800 – 6600 – 4900 – 3200 – 1800 – 1500 – 1200 – 0

Game 3 was much like game 2. I got workable draws and don't struggle for victory. The deck works like it's intended to and I drop 1100 and another 1000 before dropping him to 0.

Me: 8000 – 6900 – 5900
Him: 8000 – 5900 – 4900 – 4600 – 3500 – 2500 – 1500 – 2500 – 2300 – 1500 – 400 – 0

5 - 1

He drops, which I see as a shame as it means my tiebreakers drop… Because next round was really, really close and VERY hard. My opponent was such a lucksack. You'll see whyzorz.

I take a break and talk with Brodie and Jasmine, and Brodie knows he's top 8'ing. I tell him to win the last round anyway for the glory of going x – 0 and so that his t1 can boost my t2 into oblivion. He does so, but that's unimportant right now. Standings are posted, and then pairings are posted. I look at my position and my t1, t2, and t3 and see incredible stats. I'm 3rd – the highest x – 1 by a long shot. My opponent is someone I know closely – Lance Leonhardt, who may just have the coolest name in existence EVER.


Round 7: Lance Leonhardt.

A note to my loyal readership: If you don't want to be confused, skip ahead until you see a large gap between paragraphs and pick up again there.

We roll 9 d20's and 9 d6's to decide who goes first. I win, so naturally I let him decide.

Game 1 was tight. I draw four monsters and so does he. I start by asking him if it's alright that I Nobleman my own monster. He doesn't agree, since he plays Dekoichi too. So I set Dekoichi and then he draws Exodia on his turn.

Me: 8000
Him: 8000 – 1 (he paid for the Winged Dragon of Ra's ability, since he went first).

Game 2 I tell him to side out Exodia. He complies, and goes for deckout instead – on himself. The two of us work together and flip his double Dekoichis constantly with two Tsukuyomi, forcing him to draw his deck and lose.

Me: 8000
Him: 8000

Game 3 was incredible. I sided into Last Turnzorz and he played Chain Disappearance on my Jowgen, and Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell on my Inspection. My goal was to pay 7200 LP with Premature Burial and Magician of Faith and Tsukuyomi while beating him down with Mid Shield Gardna. Sure enough, I manage it (using multiple copies of Pot of Avarice to prevent myself from decking out while I kill him with Gardna), but I can't draw my Last Turn, and then he uses Exchange to give me a copy of Reasoning, which I use. He calls 10, and I flip over both of my Last Turn cards, and then the Koitsu which I sided in between games. DRAT! Time is called, and my turn is the first turn.
I draw Mask of Darkness, set it, and end my turn. He activates Solemn Wishes.

He Noblemans! DRAT! It's up to a lucky topdeck now… And he gotz it!
He plays Pot of Avarice, shuffling 5 cards into his deck. With a Spell Economics on the field (awesome tech, you stud!), he draws into Dimension Fusion and Book of Moon, which he then uses to get back the only 4 monsters removed from play; my 3 Jowgen the Spiritualists and my Mask of Darkness! He flips his copy of Lady Assailant of Flames, removing the top 3 cards of his deck from the game and popping me down from 1600 to 800. Then he plays his set Upstart Goblin and Tremendous Fire.

He uses Tsukuyomi to flip the Jowgen down and Book of Moon to target the Mask of Darkness. He pops out a teched Ready for Intercepting on my Jowgen, then using Lightning Vortex (discarding Pot of Greed) to destroy the other one so he can play Call of the Haunted on Elemental Hero Wildheart and attack my Jowgen! This game is TIGHT! We're both at 800 Life Points, and his Wave Motion Cannon is sitting on 11000 damage. He doesn't want to launch it because he might waste the free damage if I chain Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment. He has one card left in his deck; his last Skull Servant. I draw, flip Mask of Darkness and Jowgen the Spiritualist, and get back Last Turn. He won't even PLAY that Skull Servant!

On his draw (after he gains from a set Solemn Wishes, of course), I activate Last Turn. But this was a mistake. He had Night Assailant in his hand with Magical Merchant in his graveyard, and I forgot about Skull Servant's special ability:

Skull Servant
DARK/Zombie/1/300/200
This card is actually Sinister Serpent.

INCREDIBLE! What an upset! He activates Ultimate Offering once to give himself an extra summon in chain to Last Turn. Wildheart stays on the field, no Battle Phase is performed, he retrieves a copy of Magical Merchant from his graveyard and then Skull Servant/Sinister Serpent during his Standby Phase… And he summons Skull Servant and sets Magical Merchant. Little does he know that a gameplay error was made that is irreparable! He kept his Dark Door on the field accidentally, so he can only attack with one of the monsters. He selects Skull Servant, and he destroys my Jowgen to end the game!

Me: 8000 – 7200 – 6400 – 5600 – 4800 – 4000 – 3200 – 2400 – 1600 – 800 – 1800 – 800 – 700

Him: 8000 – 7900 – 7800 – 7700 – 7600 – 7500 – 7400 – 7300 – 7200 – 7100 – 7000 – 6900 - 6800 - 6700 - 6600 - 6500 - 6400 - 6300 - 6200 - 6100 – 6000 – 5900 – 5800 – 5700 – 5600 – 5500 – 5400 – 5300 – 5200 – 5100 – 5000 – 4900 – 4800 – 4700 – 4600 – 4500 – 4400 – 4300 – 4200 – 4100 – 4000 – 3900 – 3800 – 3700 – 3600 – 3500 – 3400 – 3300 – 3200 – 3100 – 3000 – 2900 – 2800 – 2700 – 2600 – 2500 – 2400 – 2300 – 2200 – 2100 – 2000 – 1900 – 1800 – 1700 – 1600 – 1500 – 1400 – 1300 – 1200 – 1100 – 1000 – 900 – 800 – 1300 – 800 – 1300 – 800













For those of you who are confused as to what the hell just happened here, Lance and I are teammates. Both of us were x-1, so one of us would be guaranteed top 8. I got up and took one look at my tiebreakers, then checked my name and signed the slip. He had the worst tiebreakers of all the x-1's, and I was god as far as tiebreakers go, so I scooped straight out with this logic: He needs an invite. I need an invite. No matter which way we go, one of us has a shot at it. If he scoops, he's ****ed. His t1 was -1. If I scoop, there's a chance my tiebreakers will pull me into top 8 anyway.
There wasn't any difficulty making this decision, nor any regret.

5 - 2

And it worked out. There was one undefeated (Brodie!), the x-1 that he put back in place, Lance, 4 others, and me. Once again, I top 8 as the only x-2 in top 8, AND I pull Lance in through a risky and skillful maneuver. My god, I am cool.

Last time I got lucksacked by an undefeated in top 8. This time, I hope something different happens. And it does. I HATE time.

Top 8 Match: Round 1: Brodie Heinrichsen

Game 1 was close. I recall Noblemaning his Dekoichi's early on and thanking the Buddha for it. I lose a fair amount of life, but I ended it at 1600 anyway, gauging my life accurately.

Me: 8000 – 6200 – 4500 – 2400 – 1600
Him: 8000 – 7700 – 5300 – 5000 – 4200 – 3900 – 3000 – 2700 – 0

Game 2 was not so close. I remember staying alive for a REALLY long time and managing to linger in life as well as Nobleman some Dekoichis, but my attempts at staying alive failed.

Me: 8000 – 4900 – 4800 – 2700 – 1700 – 2700 – 1900 – 500 – 0
Him: 8000 – 7700 – 6200 - ????

I dislike the time limit. When I heard that there was one minute left in the first round of top 8, I hated it with every ounce of marrow in my body. In went your standard ten cards, plus the Reaper/Mobius change I made earlier.

I go second. He draws meh. I draw Ceasefire, Reaper, Bottomless, Emergency Provisions, Cannon Soldier and one random. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realize I just qualified for Nationals at the expense of someone I want to qualify too. I sigh and hang my head in utter disappointment as I plop down Cannon Soldier on the last turn and say "Call priority."

# of issues with time: 3.

The game ends, I get up and throw my hat on the floor (my teammates took this as a sign that I lost, lozzles) and sit down to begin the next game… WITH SOMEONE WHO IS ALREADY QUALIFIED.

Thank you, Siddharta. I owe you one, and so does Brodie. Brodie finishes in fifth, and an invite gets passed down to him in something that just made me so much happier.

Unfortunately, Lance got a game loss for an accidental decklist error and then apparently is lucksacked for a second loss and match. Kirk seems to have reported his general opinion of this weekend already, so why bother repeating it? I'll leave that for his son to write about, too.

Oh yeah, I met Twinsen and quite a few cool judges, all of whom I must mention now. I finally met Twinsen, though. Bout time.

Top 8: Round 2: Vincent

First game I didn't care. I was considering scooping so I could just relax and walk home with my invite. Kirk, my ride home, told me I'd be walking home if I lost in top 4. So I decide to win. First game he draws 7 cards. I have him put it back, but the judge calls over the head judge. I don't want him getting a game loss, so I push the head judge to call it a procedural error – minor and start the game over, since it's a reparable error thus far. We do so. God, I'm cool.

I'm at 600 LP and topdeck a Pot of Avarice when I need it, drawing into Mask of Darkness and Sakuretsu Armor. Saku gets used, Mask gets flipped, and then later on I topdeck another card I absolutely needed:
Nobleman of Crossout. The last topdeck of the day and the one where I knew "Okay, now I'm just lucksacking" was when I had nothing on field or in hand and topdecked a Spirit Reaper. His RotA pulls out D.
D. Assailant and he runs with Breaker and Assailant into my friendly neighborhood Spiritman. I somehow drop him 2000+ a few times (Cyber I
think?) and pull the win out of my ass at 600 LP. I can still feel myself praying that he wouldn't topdeck a Snatch Steal and win.

Me (incomplete notes): 8000 - ???? – 4800 - ???? 600
Him: 8000 – 5400 – 3000 – 1000 – 200 – 0

Game 2 was close too, but this one was pulled off by some haphazard maneuvers as well. Sangan got 4000 damage in, Merchant aiding once.
Somehow this one got pulled off as well.

Me: 8000 – 6400 – 4800 – 4500 – 2200
Him: 8000 – 6800 – 5800 – 4800 – 3700 – 2300 – 1500 – 0

Top 8: Round 3: Joseph Maestas

First round worked well for me. I don't remember any detail other than him summoning something with xx50 ATK, which I believe was a Kinetic Soldier.

Me: 8000 – 6400 – 5050 – 2650 – 1850
Him: 8000 – 7950 (hah) – 5550 – 4750 – 2350 – 0

Game 2 was bad. I played really conservative with my cards and screwed up, losing three cards to attacks from Reaper and Don. That was bad.

Me: 8000 – 6800 – 5600 – 4400 – 3100 - ???? – 0
Him: 8000 – 7300 – 6200 – 4400 – 3200 – 1100

Game 3 was fun. My god, I am slick. This conversation (paraphrased) occurred with half the judges at the event watching us.

Joseph: Man, this is intense…
Me: Ayup.
Joseph: ::turns to a judge:: Hey, what's the difference in prizes between first and second?
Head Judge: Uh, I think it's half a box versus a box or something.
Joseph: Huh. That's not much at all. I'd be willing to just stop now and split packs with you to finish up.
Me: Well, that's nice and all. Y'know, I really would accept, but there're these little things called coercion and bribery that could earn us both disqualification without prize. If not for that, I really would accept. Really, it does sound nice… But it's also more or less illegal, and I like not being banned from Upper Deck, thanks.
Joseph: Ah, never mind then.
Me: ::turns to judges around him:: You didn't hear that, by the way.

He actually didn't think about it being coercion – it was an honest offer to finish up quicker. Luckily I'm familiar with policy documents and luckily the judges were cool. God, I'm cool.

This game was disgusting. My notes show me at 7700, where I believe I was hit by Reaper. Either way, I stayed high enough that I didn't leave 7000+… I grabbed the judge's scorekeeping paper after the match and I was at 8000. This match was over quickly.

Me: 8000 – 7700 - ????
Him: 8000 – 7100 – 6800 – 6500 – 5100 – 4800 – 3700 – 3100 – 3200 – 2300 – 1500 – 0

Good. Gucking. Game.

Regional Winner: Matthew Murphy
Second Place: Joseph Maestas
3rd and 4th: Vincent and someone else
5th: Brodie Heinrichsen (with teh invitezorz!)
6th: ????
7th: ????
8th: Lance Leonhardt

A quick props/slops:

Props:
Brodie
All of Team Enigma for faring very well
Anthony Alvarado
Jasmine
Jonathan Navarro (He likes tacos)
Jason Grabher-Meyer for doing a 6-pack Solomon draft of Yugimon with me using my 9 prize packs from the SJC Pulling a Pot of Avarice

Slops:
Time
Pulling a Pot of Avarice that was defective out of the pack
7 hour drives.

Join me next week when I take a look at why Gravekeeper's are the only successful theme in the game.

Coin Flip can be reached by e-mail at Cakepie (at) gmail (dot) com, provided you are not advertising sex pills.