Subject: The Switchblade: Monjoni Osso (aka Ringbearer): Cincinnati Sci-Fi, West Chester, Ohio

Switchblade deck, played and created by Monjoni Osso at Cincinnati Sci-Fi's first Yu-Go-Oh! tournament on October 5, 2002, in West Chester in the state of Ohio.  Around 25 participants at last count.
 
This was Cincinnati Sci-Fi's first Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament.  Cincinnati Sci-Fi is a pretty samll store tht carries just about every gaming-related thing you could ever want, and it was packed for the tourney.  There was about twenty firve or thirty people there, so there was quite a bit of competition.  However, I showed up to win with my Switchblade deck, which is the following:
 
Monsters
Mystical Elf
2x Dark Elf
3x Wall of Illusion
3x Man-Eater Bug
2x Giant Soldier of Stone
Aquad Madoor
3x Summoned Skull
2x 7 Colored Fish
3x Mask of Darkness
Dark Zebra
2x La Jinn
 
Magic
Dark Hole
Raigeki
Change of Heart
Monster Reborn
2x Heavy Storm
2x Tribute to the Doomed
2x Shield & Sword
2x Gravekeeper's Servant
Malevolent Nuzzler
Fissure
Horn of the Unicorn
Stim-Pack
Black Pendant
 
Traps
2x Waboku
3x Trap Hole
Mirror Force
7 Tools of the Bandit
 
Well, that's the deck.  It gets scoffed at a lot, before people see it in action.  Well, on with the report!
 
Round 1
Me vs. some newbie
Good enough kid, horrible, horrible deck.  There were so many newbies at the tourney it was funny how many good cards tehy traded away (my friend Kevin topped the list by getting Mystical Space Typhoon for one Magic Jammer).  Suffice it to say, it wasn't very pretty at all and he was crushed and gone.  The kid killed himself in the second duel by offing a Dark Elf with Black Pendant when he was down to 500 lps...
 
Round 2
Me vs. Nick
Nick is a very unorthodox player who shows lots of promise.  I steamrolled him in the first match, but he came back and whupped me in the second one.  In the third duel he made the same mistake kid #1 did, and offed one of my monsters when he only had 500 lps left...  However, his win int he second duel cost me a bye in the next round and with that I faced off against-
 
Round 3
Me vs. Idiot Boy
This kid had somehow gotten past the third best duelist in the area, a kid named Will.  Well, this kid had an awesome deck, but he knew NOTHING.  Honestly, I had brought the FAQ from home and the kid wouldn't even read it.  He started talking trash, so I did the same.  I crushed him horribly in the first duel, and in the second, well, let me explain.  A Giant Soldier of Stone had Malevolent Nuzzler and was going about thwacking things (Shield and Sword helped too) so teh kid goes adn plays Spellbinding Circle on him.  Whoop-dee-do.  The kid then flipped a Magician of Faith, brigning back a previously played SORL.  He then played that SORL and one from his hand at the same time.  The idgit then failed to notice he had four other facedown cards (he wasn't keeping anything in his hand, he was playing them facedown if they were magics, no matter what they were...).  I didn't notice it at the time, nor did anyone else until teh Swords left the field.  Well, anywho, the kid got stomped by me.  I was tehn told I'd be getting the bye for the next round and I was on to the Finals!
 
Round 5
bye
 
Finals
Me vs. Kevin
This was the biggie duel of the day, and about fifteen people gathered around to watch.  See, Kevin and I have played against each otehr since basically the month Yu-Gi-Oh! came out, and before then as well.  He's almost always destroyed me in every duel we've ever done, and I didn't have very high hopes for my chances of victory.
 
So, in teh first duel, I somehow drew Raigeki and Dark Hole in my first hand.  However, since i won the coin toss, I had to go first...  Anywho, I laid a Man-Eater Bug facedown and ended my turn.  He set a monster and layed a magic/trap.  My turn, I draw Summoned Skull.  I then pay Raigeki and he flips his m/t, Solemn Judgement.  4000 lps down the drain for him.  I then flip MEB, eat his set mon, and then promptly sac teh MEB for Summoned Skull.  Another 2500 lps down teh tubes.  His turn, he sets a mon, and lays an m/t.  I play La jinn, who gets Judged.  More lps down the hole.  Skull offed his facedown card, a Mystical Elf.  Things quickly went downhill after he played his third Judgement, and I wiped his feild in the next turn and had four mons...
 
Second duel, let's just say this:  Long, drawn out, and in the end I lost.  He countered just about every move I made and I lost pretty good.
 
Third duel, we beat the living crap ut of each other.  Dark Hole follows a Raigeki follows a Raigeki with massive beatdown going between us both.  It came ot the end, and I had a Skull and Dark Elf with Black Pendant.  Well, he forgot how much life he had, exactly 500, and he offed teh Dark Elf.  i won.
 
Well, after much rejoicing I went to nab my prize.  Well, I found out then that though there was a $5 entry fee, no prizes otehr than the tourney packs were given out.  :(  However, one of the judges, Ben, who had watched the duel and followed my progress (and is also the guy who robbed me of a win in the first MechWarrior: Dark Age tourney I went to), bought me a DragonBall Z Hero starter!  Way to go Ben!
 
Accloades
To Kevin, for giving me one hell of a match
To Sci-Fi, for holding the tourney, and for having John as security guard.  He stops crimes because teh robbers are just compelled to give him a hug...
To Ben, for getting me the starter as a prize
 
Raspberries
To Sci-Fi, for not giving out a prize to 1st place.  However, it was their first tourney, so I don't expect they'll make the same mistake again
To the little kids who didn't know the rules
To Will, who lost before I could thwack him down as vengeance for him kicking my butt in duels the night before
 
Monjoni Osso
AIM: LibrarianThorne
E-mail: aosso@fuse.net