Saturday, July 28, 2012

Galaxy Stores Local Tournament - Week 12

I'll just cut to the chase on this one. I had a 2-2 record at the end of the day, losing to Spike Brothers (non-teammate) in a stupidly close match that I perhaps might have been able to clinch by taking a crit to the face earlier in the game and Narukami that got a double crit when I was sitting at three damage while I was otherwise dominating. OH WELL. :v

The winner today was that very Spike Brothers player, making it his second time. His opponent had made finals for his first time. Somehow this other guy just can't get past the semis, ever...

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Galaxy Stores Local Tournament - Week 11

I'll be honest. I wasn't particularly challenged this time. :S

Round 1 - Granblue vs. Gold Paladin

Relatively poor draws on his part lead to some boring turns where he wasn't really able to mount an offense. Of course, I don't let these moments go - 3 attacks each turn backed by some fairly strong trigger luck took the match easy.

Round 2 - Granblue vs. Narukami

While a front row of two Red River Dragoons and a Saishin can be intimidating, he ran straight into my draw trigger and saw an empty drive check. I proceeded to swing back at these potential boosters, which ultimately sealed the deal in my favor. There was an instance of a sixth damage heal that he very well could have won with, but he didn't commit enough to that final push. My self touching powers swung back for the win.

Round 3 - Granblue vs. Spike Brothers

Oh hi teammate. I actually got locked on grade 0 for a turn in one of these games, lucking out and making a recovery by way of Banshee and amazing damage checks including a sixth damage heal! We didn't care too much about how this turned out since we were going on to the top 4 anyway, but it went in my favor.

Top 4 - Granblue vs. Gold Paladins

Welp... he got gradelocked both games. The second time was the worst, as by the time he saw Beaumains he had run out of Ezel and couldn't make a comeback by way of the superior ride. There wasn't really anything wrong with his deck, either... :/


My Spike Bros-wielding teammate also won his semifinals match, so we split the prize in the form of 6 BT02 packs - pulled a Tom and a Twin Blader, so the outcome was pretty great!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Burning Soul!

Fast, strong, and far more consistent than it should be, I present my 4 Ezel deck!

Grade 0 (17)

1 Crimson Lion Cub, Kyrph
4 Elixir Sommelier
4 Flame of Victory
4 Silent Punisher
2 Weapons Dealer, Gwydion
2 Speeder Hound

Grade 1 (15)

4 Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth
4 Sleygal Dagger
4 Halo Shield, Mark
2 Little Battler, Tron
1 Black Mane Witch

Grade 2 (14)

4 Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains
4 Mage of Calamity, Tripp
4 Gigantech Commander
2 Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion

Grade 3 (4)

4 Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel (aka Jack Atlas)


Much like Invincible Overlord, this deck is built on spamming magic numbers to apply maximum pressure over the course of the whole game. However... this is faster, has access to nulls, and arguably has the superior safety net for when things go wrong. I'd say it's in another class. @_@

Key combos involve the Commander and Dagger column that hits 20K for a single counterblast, as well as Tripp and Dagger which can reach whatever number you need and just flip a damage back up after you inevitably hit.

I really hope Gold Paladins never get a third critical trigger. I'd feel dirty playing it.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Episode 80

ALL HAIL DERP REN.

That is all.

Galaxy Stores Local Tournament - Week 10

It feels so glorious to screw up left and right all day... but at the very least I didn't get grade locked more than once. Q_Q

Took Granblue in again, modified from before so it can hit more significant numbers.

Round 1, vs. older nephew using younger nephew's deck

This came down to a rather obscure situation involving a 4 card hand with 2 nulls as well as two intercepts on board. The right move, after everything was said and done, was likely to give up the front row and play the Dancing Cutlass that I could have conserved. Instead I ended up burning the cutlass to keep an attacker I didn't ultimately need, then drive checked into nothing of importance for the loss.

Round 2, vs. Soul Saver RP

One trick pony and all that. Pendragon was present in the deck, but taking too much damage too early on certainly didn't help his case, especially since I was keeping my end to 3 so the Soul Savers ultimately couldn't push me. I'd say this deck would be a lot better off with Barron and more Pegasus Knights. It's dumb, actually, since I misplayed here too and won even so. (Deadly Spirit to soul blast out Skull Dragon and revive that for a 20K column).

Round 3, vs. Kiriel Angel Feather

I don't even remember if we had 3 games in this match or not. Stuck on grade 1 the entirety of the first game, with not a single grade 2 unit so much as leaving the deck. Ultimately, I did make a fatal error that I'll never stop kicking myself over - milling with Ruin Shade on turn 2 when I hadn't seen any triggers yet. Had I not, I'd have landed a crit as well as a defensive draw into a Samurai Spirit. I didn't even need the milling when I was set up to intercept with a unit to revive with Cocytus anyway...

Really off my game today. :/

A friend piloting Spike Brothers landed second place while a Spectral Duke Dragon deck took first (having used Duke like... once all day). That friend pulled a Lawkeeper, though. Went straight into the Kagero deck we have floating around.

Oh, and the younger nephew was playing CoCoBros today. Went well before the tourney, but he ragequit the deck after the fact. :v

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

I can see it!

Random tech and unexpected inability to get cards notwithstanding, this is what I intend to take into Chicago's continental qualifier this September. I feel as though I've done all I can with the deck, so from here on out it's a matter of refining myself as a player.

Grade 0 (17)

1 Godhawk, Ichibyoshi
4 Lozenge Magus
4 Psychic Bird
4 Oracle Guardian Nike
2 Miracle Kid
2 Dream Eater

Grade 1 (15)

4 Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi
4 Oracle Guardian Gemini
4 Battle Sister Chocolat
3 Petal Fairy

Grade 2 (12)

4 Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi
4 Oracle Guardian Red-Eye
4 Silent Tom

Grade 3 (6)

3 Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi
3 CEO Amaterasu

While running 4-4 in the Grade 3 lineup IS super consistent, the deck will ultimately suffer from a lack of shields. Beyond that, it also means you're losing out on vital support (Petal, Red-Eye) or offensive (Tom) units. It's just not worth the more frequent threat of megablasting, especially since that can lead to deck out anyway...

Most match-ups feel like they're in my favor, though Spectral Duke Dragon and other such incredibly offensive decks still scare the pants off me.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Roadkill

Yeah. They went there. One less thing for players to worry about this regional season.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Galaxy Stores - Week 9

Great day in terms of turnout - 15 players! Could have been 16, in fact, but such as it is. Terrible day for me, though. I'll be less lazy and pile shuffle every game from now on; I owe virtually all my losses to misgrading and the like. Similar things happened to my opponents as well... I was involved in perhaps one genuinely good game all day. Oh well. Happens to everyone. Finals was a Royal Paladin mirror match, with my younger nephew taking second. First time top for the other guy.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Tweaks

-2 Kiriel
+1 Shamsiel
+1 Calamity Flame

I realize that Kiriel just doesn't make this modern deck run. In other news, I saw another style of Shamsiel. Instead of Cupid, it runs Lancet Shooter for more aggression. Interesting take.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Super Bingo

Pegasus! Pegasus!

So yeah, I've hardly changed the initial BT07 Angel Feather deck list I came up with, but just so everyone knows where I'm at now:

G0 (17)

1 Hope Child, Turiel
4 Sunny Smile Angel
4 Critical Hit Angel
4 Rocket Dash Unicorn
4 Bouquet Toss Messenger

G1 (15)

4 Burst Shot, Bethnael
4 Thousand Ray Pegasus
4 Battle Cupid, Nociel
3 Pure Keeper, Requiel

G2 (10)

4 Core Memory, Armaros
4 Million Ray Pegasus
2 Doctoroid Megaros

G3 (8)

3 Chief Nurse, Shamsiel
2 Circular Saw, Kiriel
3 The Phoenix, Calamity Flame

I ultimately decided that a full perfect defense set was not worthwhile in this deck. Now before you call me crazy, here's the rationale:

- This grade ratio is set in stone. It can't be changed without throwing something out of whack, and as such I'm restricted to the maximum of 15 Grade 1s.

- 4 Bethnael and 4 Thousand Ray Pegasus are non-negotiable. They're integral to the winning image of the deck.

- Battle Cupid is an infinitely more flexible card. It toolboxes, it buffs your key units, and can even prevent missing grades all in one fell swoop.

Beyond that, I decided to add another Calamity Flame. It becomes a target before too long, and you'll need to be able to replace it in order to keep up your offense. Hurts a tad to ride it, but eh, the 5 Grade 3s that ideally occupy the Vanguard slot tend to be fine.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Oh yeah...

I should mention there wasn't a local tourney this week. YGO nats and everything dragging people away. :<