How to Not Top a Regionals

Regionals was this last Saturday in Spokane. Me (Kyle) and some friends from locals drove down and had an interesting time.

I’m sure most people don’t really know the names of places in Washington, nor their distances from one another. So when I say the Washington state Regionals was in Spokane that probably means very little to most people. Me, Matt and Justen live in an area most people refer to as Seattle. (although it’s not technically Seattle, we live 20 to 30 minutes out from Seattle, but it’s the reference that most people understand location-wise) Spokane is 4 and a half hours away from Seattle. So, in order to get there for a Regional event, we’d have to leave at 5 am or earlier to get their before 9:30. (Regional start time being 10 am)

I woke up at 4 am Regional day, me and 4 other people (Rob, Devin, Elaine and Phoenix) met up at our local card shop at 5 am and then set off in my car for Spokane. We where makin’ good time until we where pulled over by a cop and I got a 200 dollar speeding ticket. After we had all gone completely insane from doing nothing and exhaustion we arrived.

The Regionals ended up being  only 87 or 88, they didn’t announce, but in the player meeting their was 44 tables so I assumed the number; so it was a very small event. It was the first event that had been held in this location, meaning that the event wasn’t exactly well run. The venue wasn’t large enough in my opinion for the amount there, and they would’ve potentially allowed up to 120 according to what they said when I I called to pre-register.

The judges honestly weren’t up to snuff. I frequently overheard a lot of poor rulings and they where handing out game losses like candy for misspelled names on deck lists, which according to my friend Rob who came with me (he’s a judge for many of the Washington Yugioh events), is not a legitimate penalty. He said they could give a warning for something like that, but certainly not a game loss.

That aside, I’ll just get into my report real quickly. First off, I’m running the same Archfiend Deck from my article not that long back. The only difference was a couple minute Extra Deck changes that made no difference and a completely different Side Deck, that I compiled the day before the event in a rush:

Round 1: Me vs. Chain Burn

There’s not much more disheartening than facing off against Chain Burn round 1 of Regionals.

Game 1: He goes first opens Reflect Bounder set 4 or 5 (excuse me being so unsure about everything, I was incredibly tired all event and barely remember a lot) back row. I assumed first he was bad because he was running Reflect Bounder. I summon some stuff and set some cards and end my turn. During my End Phase he flips some assortment of normal chain burn cards. (Just Desserts, Secret Barrel, Accumulated Fortune etc.) I then assume he’s playing Chain Burn, which I generally auto lose too. After the event I realized I should have sided Deck Devastation Virus.

I read that he has a Dimension Wall or Magic Cylinder so I can’t attack until I destroy it because of his first bout of Traps doing to much damage. I don’t main MST so I slowly peck away with a Scrap Dragon, but I never actually hit it and he just wins over time by drawing enough burn. After the game I say I didn’t attack because I thought he had Cylinder and he says he had it. Unlucky blind Scrap Dragon-ing I guess?

Game 2: Almost exactly the same as the first game. I read Cylinder again, but I can’t hit it and he wins. I sided in 3 MST and two field spells so I could make Ancient Fairy Dragon and gain 2000, which I end up doing over the course of the game, but it didn’t really matter.

0 – 1

Round 2: Me vs. Reaper Prophecy

I learned he had a budget Prophecy deck after the match, which explains his card choices.

Game 1: He doesn’t do a whole lot, summons Fool of Prophecy and then I just attack. Basically I just summon stuff and attack until I win with almost no resistance. I think he had a pretty poor hand.

Game 2: He says I can go first, whatever I guess. I open by summoning Armageddon Knight and Kagetokage and attack with both then summon Evilswarm Nightmare because it wrecks Prophecy. He plays Duality then sets two. I summon Cavalry and attack. He goes plays Reasoning, I call 6, he gets a Maxx “C” and summons it.  He then plays Monster Gate, mills  5 Spellbooks and a Breakthrough Skill then gets a Reaper of Prophecy. (which is ridiculous luck) I use Nightmare and he tries to Breakthrough Skill, I let him but then before he makes a move I remember he can’t do it on the turn it’s sent to the graveyard and tell him and he’s like “oh ya” and then flips Reaper face-down but still gets his search. End Phase I use Archfiend’s Roar to revive Heiress so it’s destroyed and I search Archfiend Emperor. I summon it and pop Reaper and then attack for game.

1 – 1

Round 3: Me vs. Hieratics

My deck is really good against Hieratics. I know from playing some matches with Rob, one of the best players from my locals.

Game 1: The guy next to me accidentally tips me off to what he’s running. He’s sitting across the table next to my opponent and looks at his opening hand and says something like,”Do you know about the new Level 6 from the new pack.” I assume he means the Normal Tuner and I assume that means he’s running Hieratics.

I go first with Thrasher Armageddon into Imps search Kagetokage. He sets one then summons Cardcar D and ends. Since I’ve already assumed he’s running Hieratics I summon Cavalry then summon Kagetokage then attack with all 3 of my monsters and he allows it. I then summon Evilswarm Nightmare and search Masked Chameleon with Imps. He discards a Normal on his next turn. I attack he Faders. He draws and then scoops. (or something similar to that, it may have been a couple more turns of stalling)

Game 2: He goes first summons Cardcar D and ends discarding a Normal. I go summon Beetle and set 4, then use his effect on my Emptiness. His turn I activate Emptiness during his Standby. He activates MST on another of my face-downs thinking it will make Emptiness be destroyed too, but when I don’t send it to the graveyard he realized he made a mistake. He next summons the one you can normal without tribute and plays Wingbeat destroying my other set cards. My turn summon Cavalry set Safe Zone and Beetle it. Attack with both. He goes thinks for a bit then scoops.

2 – 1

Round 4: Me vs. Dragon Rulers

Game 1: I barely remember how this game plays out. I remember he opens kind of bad and does mostly hand correction for the first two turns as I poke to bring him down to about 4000. He finally summons some monsters, but I use all my set cards to make sure by my turn he has no monsters on the field because I know I can do enough damage to win on my next turn unless he runs Scarecrow, which he didn’t.

Game 2: I end up getting a Key Beetle Safe Zone lock very early, but he responds with a Gaia Dragon and keeps poking for damage because the Gaia has trample so I can’t switch the Beetle to defense. The game goes on for a while and I have less than him and I don’t want to get a tie in time so I make a push and end up losing.

Game 3: I open Imperial Iron Wall to his Gold Sarc. He summons Kycoo which I Bottomless; two turns later he realizes I can’t Bottomless with Iron Wall on the field, which I apologize about, the only excuse I have is that I was tired. It honestly didn’t effect the game because I have a Cavalry in hand which I summon next turn. I end up making a play with Zephyros later that gives me game and he has a D.D. Crow in hand which he can’t activate because of Iron Wall.

3 – 1

Now it looks like I’m doing pretty good, but this is when things get kind of dumb…

Round 5: Me vs. Chain Burn

I was pretty unhappy having to play Chain Burn again. There was 2 other Chain Burn decks near me at that time too: the guy I lost to and this total d-bag guy who’s a super rule shark who ends up topping. The guy I played was a local duelist and I he was very nice though. (so was the first Chain Burn player I played, not to make it sound like he was mean or anything)

Game 1: He opens very well, but in the middle of his turn the judge comes over and says I abbreviated 3 card names on my deck list and I receive a game loss, we cannot side for game two and I must fix my deck list before we can continue. At that point in time that was about the dumbest thing I had heard in my life. The problems he had where 3 cards which I wrote on my deck list exactly like this: “BW – Zephyros the Elite”, “Archfiend Emperor, First LOH” and “Compulsory Evac. Device”. I argue with the judge that these abbreviations are perfectly legal, and that he can tell what the cards are with the abbreviations, but he wont budge. My opponent is also upset because he reveals what deck I’m running by saying some of my cards aloud, which is unprofessional. I end up fixing the deck list and we go to game two.

Game 2: He goes first, because he had won the dice roll. He opens set 5. I open Armageddon Kage and attack with both, and he has no response. I make Imps and search Kage and set some cards. I quickly find out most of the card he opened with are battle enders as I start popping his back row. I get him to chain Reckless Greed to me attempting to destroy it, which I think was bad move on his part because he didn’t have much other draw power, which locked him down for the next two turns unless he drew either enough burn to win or a lot of draw power of Reckless Greed, which he didn’t appear to draw. I end up making a push that wont be for game knowing he has a Scarecrow in hand so that I can play Roar during the battle phase after he’s taken damage and will have to burn the Scarecrow on it. This works and he’s at 800 and I use the Cavalry I Roared in the battle phase to make Cowboy for game.

Game 3: The game is really close and it gets down to us both having around 2000 lifepoints and I end my turn after setting Emptiness. He draws and makes an exclamation and then summons Lava Golem sets one and then ends. During my Standby Phase he chains Secret Barrel to Lava Golem’s effect and I lose and I realize I should’ve played Emptiness in his Standby Phase and I would’ve won.

3 – 2

Round 6: Me vs. Dragon Rulers

I was pretty salty. I had just gotten my second loss from Chain Burn again, and I should’ve won except I misplayed. This may have affected me this match, but it’s hard to tell.

Game 1: He goes first, draws some cards and sets 2 and uses Ravine. I open by putting some quick pressure on my opponent. I also set some cards. He uses Ravine again and his graveyard is very full at this point. He summons a Blaster by banishing Tempest and Redox and I Bottomless because I want him to not have any Blasters for now. I got, summon some more, do some more damage then make Evilswarm Nightmare. I believe during his turn he double Blaster’s it (so much for him not having Blasters), and then Blind Raigeki breaks my Roar, which I chain to bring back Heiress in defense. He activates Return and attack for game… lame.

Game 2: This game plays out extremely similar to game 1. We get to a point where I have Imps on the field and Heiress in defense mode and have a Cavalry and Kage in hand with 2 set. He has very little in hand and 2 set plus Ravine. He makes a Dracossack using a Dragon Ruler plus Debris into Ancient Fairy. I Compulsory upon summon, he then activates Return, to which I groan. He doesn’t end up getting game because I have enough monsters on board and a Roar to revive Heiress face-down. It was a pretty weak Return so he ends with an Ancient Fairy, Dracossack, a Star Eater and a Debris which is banished in the End Phase. He doesn’t have enough space for tokens so he tributes off his Dracossack to destroy my second face-down which is another Roar, which I chain to revive Cavalry to revive Heiress. My turn I draw Armageddon and have Kage and Cavalry in hand, Heiress and an old floating Fiendish Chain. In hind site I should’ve made a different play, but I do Armageddon sending Zephyros and bounce Chain. Then I make Imps and Search Chameleon so I can make Scrap Dragon next turn. I attack over the Ancient Fairy with Imps aet Chain and end. My plan was to Chain the Star Eater because if it attacked over my Imps I’d lose because my lifepoints where low. He makes a play I shoudl’ve seen coming by banishing a a Tempest for a Dragon Ruler to search Corsesca and makes Scrap Dragon to force me to play Fiendish Chain and then attacks over Imps with Star Eater for game.

The play I should have done was to summon the Kage in defense with the Armageddon for defense, the Imps in defense mode and ignore the Ancient Fairy. Then I could Fiendish Chain whatever new threat he summons and then make my own Scrap Dragon next turn or even Thought Ruler to gain lifepoints by attacking the Ancient Fairy Dragon. Either way, I should’ve known he could make a level 8 Synchro and played more defensively.

3 – 3

Round 7: Me vs. Evilswarms

Game 1: I go first and open Zephyros, Street Patrol, Bottomless, 2 Fiendish Chain and Roar. In lamens terms: incredibly bad. I set street patrol because if I draw a Level 4 monster, no matter what next turn I’ll be able to make a Rank 4 under any condition if it dies or if it survives. (If I draw a Cavalry I can Special it then normal Zephyros. If I draw Armageddon or Grepher I can search a Cavalry then Special it. If I draw Thrasher or Kage I can special them with Zephyros. The only thing that I can’t draw and have a play it Emperor, Heiress or Chameleon) That was the logic behind my play.

He opens by summoning Rescue Rabbit and summons two Evilswarm dude, and I Bottomless but he has Pandemic. He attacks with both then summons Ophion, but I Fiendish Chain it. He sets 2. My turn I draw another Roar. Set Zephyros and end my turn. He summons Caster then Kerykeion and I tell him “you opened the nuts didn’t you” in a matter of fact sort of way. He detaches the last material from his other Ophion so he can use Kerykeion’s effect and then revives the normal dude. He makes a second Ophion which I Fiendish Chain again. He attacks with his leftover monster over my Zephyros. I go and draw a Mirror Force. Set it and end. He goes, summons another Kerykeion and make a third Ophion searching Pandemic, which he activates then attacks for game. The sackiest game if I ever saw one.

Game 2: I open what appears good, 2 Armageddon Knights and a Cavalry plus some generic traps and Dark Hole. My plan is to summon Armageddon and get Street Patrol to summon Cavalry to make Nightmare, but he Veilers my Armageddon, which surprised me greatly, because I assume he didn’t run it or would’ve sided it out if he did because it really does nothing except when I open only Armageddon Knights, which I did. I set 2 and end. He summons Rabbit again. Make Ophion searches Pandemic. I D-Prison to burn the Pandemic so I can Dark Hole next turn. My turn I Dark Hole, he chains Forbidden Dress. I summon Armageddon with the same plan, but he plays Breakthrough Skill and I laugh and pretty much give up my will to fight and end my turn. He then summons Kerykeion, to my amazement, and makes a Second Ophion searching the continuous trap. and attacks with both. I draw something, but don’t care and end my turn. He uses the Trap to get another Kerykeion, gets out some more monsters and attacks for game.

I end 3 – 4. I didn’t check my placement, because it doesn’t really matter at that point. We wait for all the other duels to end. The rule shark Chain Burn guy goes berserk last round against a guy from my locals and the duel becomes a huge scene because he’s being such a dick. The guy from my locals gets extremely frustrated and starts yelling. Eventually the duel ends and the rule shark wins and the guy from my locals offers a hand shake after losing and he’s declined, which baffles me. It made me want to kick that guy in the face.

We mill about for a bit to see if a guy in my car, Devin, topped because he went 5 – 2, but he ends up 17th and only top 8 get invites. We leave and take the incredibly long card ride home and arrive home at 12:30.

QOTW: Question of the Week?

What do you think about decks like Chain Burn, Exodia or Final Countdown? Is there a legitimate place in the competitive meta-game for alternate win conditions or should they be removed from the game? Do you like using them, do you like dueling against them?

Written by: Kyle