Saturday, August 25, 2012

Sigh...

No tournament. AGAIN. This time we were one man short because a certain nephew of mine decided not to go. <_<

And well, it doesn't help that nobody knows how to wake up. STILL.

Picked up my third Half Moon and located a potential fourth as well as potential third and fourth Full Moons. The offer of a whole deck can sway anyone into making a deal. o3o

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Galaxy Stores Local WTFGUYS

Yeah. Nobody was there this week either. Even the YGO section seemed rather barren. With GenCon out of the way, though, we should be seeing most of our regulars return and we'll be back to business. With roughly a month to go until regionals, it's time to practice in a physical setting!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Picture It! Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi pt. 3

Back to where I left off yesterday - Tsukuyomi card choices!


Grade 2

Oracle Guardian, Red Eye

It may as well be a staple, since it's the only way to fill the soul completely free of charge. While one can argue about the viability of on-hit skills, the fact of the matter is that this is used in addition to one's Psychic Bird and multiple ride options and doesn't harm the deck in any way by being used in multiples. Consistency is king. This little guy can help race to the cards on the bottom of the deck, too, since a soul charge will get another out of the way.

Silent Tom

One of the strongest cards in the English format, Silent Tom forces undesired hits to go through, or undesired guardians to be used. This becomes very crippling late in the game, as it's possible that a player will have to give up multiple offensive units just to stay alive. Critical Triggers and Gemini are his best friends.

His usefulness is slightly lessened in the Japanese format due to the presence of Vanguards that exceed 11000 power, but he's still boss early on in those match-ups, and in every other match-up, so it's worth keeping at least a couple copies.

Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime

12000 power on a unit that can intercept just for doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Sign me up! When this card is an option, I highly suggest running it in max quantities, simply because she makes magic numbers against just about anything WITH just about anything and enables a player to commit less to the field early in the match. Pair her up with Gemini to lay the smack down on 10000 power Vanguards.

Battle Sister, Mocha

Strictly worse than Tagitsuhime, but a possibility in the English format for reasons similar to that of playing Tagitushime. Being able to hit 11000 solo is quite cool and will allow attacks to be launched on any unit in the format with less commitment. She also couples decently enough with Blue Eye for a 16000 power column.

Sword Dancer Angel

Hilarious on a turn Full Moon's counterblast is being used twice, otherwise it's inferior to Mocha. Hm. Patterns...

Onmyoji of the Moonlit Night

Inferior to Mocha in all but the most obscure situations.

Oracle Guardian, Wiseman

Well, a 10000 power wall that can attack most things on its own isn't anything to complain about. I'd play it before Mocha in an English deck, honestly, though of course that's because I wouldn't play Blue Eye. xP

Promise Daughter

BOO, -1, SUCKS, HISS!

No. Promise Daughter is, in fact, very good at ending games. When the opponent is sitting at 5 damage, they have no choice but to guard, so at this stage one would be trading a card of theirs for a card of their opponent's, assuming the opponent can guard at all when her skill comes into play. If they can't, game over, and the card that was dropped doesn't even matter. Bonus points for dropping a Grade 3! Try to avoid throwing out a 10000 s
hield.

Faithful Angel

A front line Blue Eye, and therein lies the problem. It can and will die in the face of just about anything. It only makes magic numbers against Grade 3 Vanguards with Gemini, sometimes. At others, it can't even do that much. Admittedly, it's hilarious to use in addition to Blue Eye for lightning fast results, but that power gap just isn't worth it. Steer clear.

Oracle Guardian, Shisa

Not a terrible card, but much like Faithful Angel, 7000 power has a hard time accomplishing anything later in the game, and usefulness at all stages of the game is something I often stress. It's the bees knees early on, though, provided a Dark Cat or something allows for an explosion of units. Could suit a rush-happy player.

Security Guardian

Ye olde Especial Intercept. I've said my piece on these cards before, and my opinion of them in <<Oracle Think Tank>> variants isn't any different. There's little reason to consider Security Guardian. As an attacker, it's outclassed by several other cards that can and will be played. When it comes to defending, Silent Tom and Tagitsuhime already draw fire from the Vanguard, because they're such good attackers. Even worse, Security Guardian's applications are invalidated completely in the Kagero and Narukami match-ups, making it dead weight. That's awful when the decks are popular.

Maiden of Libra

The Vanguard has a monopoly on counterblasts. An extra card in a losing scenario can be nice, though at that point I'd question why this isn't a card that could directly turn that losing scenario around.

Blue Scale Deer

Similar to Luck Bird and LuLu, a gimmick option for fun. How it would be used is beyond me considering that it is far from likely to be able to hit the Vanguard at the late stages of the game, but it gets the benefit of being an *okay* attacker even when it's not firing off its skill.


Grade 3

CEO Amaterasu

The go-to Grade 3 after the Full Moon herself, and boy can the Sun work wonders! Amaterasu patches up soul problems, throws more cards to the bottom of the deck, leads the way when the 'top' of the deck is trigger-heavy, and can even end the game with impunity thanks to her high offensive power and ability to sift through three cards in one's known pile (the draw for turn, the soul charge, and the ability to put a card on the bottom). Her megablast isn't even entirely out of the question since, provided Half Moon successfully went off, the player has six soul immediately after riding CEO. That can be threatened for massive pressure, even in the rear-guard!

Oracle Guardian, Apollon

Largely unplayable for the same reasons as Libra, especially since Grade 3 space is the tightest of all. Outclassed in the Vanguard Circle.

Omniscience Madonna

Underwhelming at best, though I guess it could be considered a step up from Apollon in the rear-guard.

Secretary Angel

By and large, this is better than Faithful Angel due to its 9000 base power that can actually push some effective attacks even with a weaker supporter. I've teched it before, and the experience wasn't so bad. Granted, it almost never saw table time. xD

Goddess of Flower Divination, Sakuya

A nice heavy-hitter that allows for field rearrangement and recycling of on-call skills. If it weren't for the fact that there are only so many of those to go around, a really powerful strategy could be built around Tsukuyomi and Sakuya. As it stands, though, CEO does far more for the deck as a whole considering the cards it already plays.

Meteor Break Wizard

In a typical game with no successful heals, there's going to be a counterblast leftover when the Full Moon finishes her thing. This guy can turn it into a 20+ column. Heck, he can make strong swings even when the Full Moon isn't working, and that's worth a look. Of course, Tagitsuhime makes every other rear-guard look stupid, so he's not an option by the time Awakening of Twin Blades rolls around.

Battle Sister, Souffle

Well, er, I suppose she's about equal in usefulness compared to Meteor. Hits some respectable numbers, but again, doesn't have reason to be played when the Grade 2 that does the job better wanders onto the scene. I'm not a fan of the art, either...

Imperial Daughter

Not many know this card even exists; it's regarded as so bad that it's never even mentioned. I've even seen it nicknamed "Forever Alone Princess". That's fitting on multiple levels.

Ironically, even I forgot it exists when I started this whole spiel. Full Moon is not, in fact, the only <<Oracle Think Tank>> with a static 11000 power. Imperial Daughter, however, comes with Restraint. She cannot attack unless the player consumes a counterblast and moves one of their Oracle rear-guards to the soul. If the field is empty for whatever godawful reason, she'll automatically lose restraint as well as gain 10000 power and a critical during the user's turn if she's in the Vanguard Circle.

There's niche use to this. When a game isn't progressing so well, the Tsukuyomi deck has a hard time committing anything to the field in the first place, so using Imperial Daughter as a backup Vanguard for the third turn can force damage through or drop a fair number of cards out of the opponent's hand without even having to try. It can even do what White Rabbit of Inaba intends to by placing a missing Tsukuyomi in the rear-guard, then pulling it into the soul to release Imperial Daughter. She's easier to defend than a CEO, too.

Would I play it..? No. It ultimately isn't that flexible, being a dead-weight grade 3 in all but the worst-case scenario. There's also the issue of it being part of Extra Booster: Comic Style vol. 1.


Almost done! I should be able to finish my coverage on Tsukuyomi in my next post.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Picture It! Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi pt. 2

Whew, feels nice when I can just play games without explaining anything or being asked what my static power levels are every turn...

Anyway! There's plenty more ground to cover in regard to Tsukuyomi. This time it's all about possible card choices for the deck. Four copies of each Tsukuyomi is implied. Spoilers! Japanese-only cards included!

Grade 0

Psychic Bird

A core element of any <<Oracle Think Tank>> deck, but it's imperative to be aware of all the possibilities it offers. It's a critical trigger. Awesome. It adds to the soul. Awesome. It replaces itself. Awesome. It helps arrive at the bottom cards in a more timely fashion. Awesome. It has 10000 shield. Awesome. But wait, there's more! Anytime a card skill presents the option of viewing the top card of the deck and leaving it on the top of the deck, Psychic Bird can sweep up said card. Awesome. It can boost. What?! It's true, and the brilliant part about using Psychic Bird to boost is that it can leave the field at any time it's no longer helpful. Awesome!!!

Seriously. This card is the ultimate Swiss-army knife. Its flexible to the point I enjoy seeing one in the opening hand and am inclined to keep it when I go to redraw.

Lozenge Magus/Sphere Magus

Not that anyone in their right mind wouldn't be using these, but skills on triggers lead to shenanigans. The most frequent use of the card will, of course, be in guarding - 10000 shield is awesome like that. Every now and again, however, a player might need to shuffle their deck. It may be due to most copies of a necessary moon phase landing on the bottom of the deck/in the soul/in damage, or it could just be that a game isn't going to last long enough to make any proper investment in reaching that amazing stack of cards. One more thing! She fattens your deck. If the threat of decking out becomes real, this provides some breathing room.

Emergency Alarmer

The mention of this may seem like I'm smoking the good stuff, but a predetermined stand trigger is going to win the late game, especially with Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime sitting pretty on the field. When it pops up, an effective 10000 power is added to the field; 5000 from the inherent boost, and 5000 from the additional attack.

Not super practical early on, as usual... a novel concept, though.

Other Triggers

Well, they have to be there. Crits are preferred since Tsukuyomi is not a fast deck, and their key rear-guards really drive the effects home.

Little Witch, LuLu

What. Think about it. Full Moon's got a lot of leftover soul once her drawing job is done. Slot in LuLu via that skill, and she'll pop out with a re-ride of CEO later. Hilarious as a counterattack against Kagero, though obviously it's just for the giggles if there's nothing else to use in the deck (which I don't find to be the case).

Battle Sister, Eclair

The only other means <<Oracle Think Tank>> has to shuffle their deck, and if push comes to shove it can yield a necessary G3 as well. I only recommend this to players who like the deck but believe themselves to be godawful at playing the memory game and need some added security.

Grade 1

Oracle Guardian, Gemini

Staple. The most potent booster the deck has, and the ideal ride for grade 1 if forced to pass on the Crescent Moon.

Oracle Guardian, Blue Eye

For the stack fanatics. Blue Eye offers a beeline route to the bottom of the deck faster than anything else, but it sits at a sad 5000 power that can only be placed behind a select few cards while serving as an effective boost. It doesn't sit well behind a Vanguard CEO, and its skill is mandatory as long as its condition is met, which can at times do more harm than good. Takes extreme finesse.

Battle Sister, Cocoa

This is a fun one. While 6000 power can be considered lacking, especially in the Japanese format, her skill is incredibly useful at almost any stage of the game. Accelerate the deck, set up that necessary trigger to be checked, set up that necessary card to be drawn, or even soul charged! Misaki's little trick of placing Crescent Moon on the top to be lined up with Red Eye isn't out of the question.

Battle Sister, Chocolat

Always run four. An ironclad defense lends itself to victory many a time, and if it's not necessary for that purpose, it's still a passable booster.

Battle Sister, Vanilla

Cute tech, in particular for the mirror match since she skates around Silent Tom's usual forcing of two cards.

Battle Sister, Maple

Amusing if nothing else. When Grade 2s run low in the late game, move her to the front and continue beating face. Not so bad really early on, either. Mid game, largely lackluster.

Weather Forecaster, Miss Mist

Too situational. Go die in a fire. 8|
Okay, that's needlessly harsh. <<Oracle Think Tank>>, generally speaking, has a weak early game. This deck has a particular weakness to vanilla beaters when taking the second turn, and Miss Mist can offer some relief from that hell if she comes up. Boost or normally guard with it at any other point in the game.

Luck Bird

A possible one-of that can be effective in a way similar to LuLu, minus having to re-ride. Avoid the skill like the plague at any point it would cause less than six soul to exist, unless all counterblasts have been consumed.

Circle Magus

Half a Cocoa with 1000 more power to compensate. Does it work? I personally don't think so, but to each his own.

Petal Fairy

Solid card in certain setups. Deck acceleration and picking the contents of the hand are always nice, though Kagero and Narukami match-ups can become difficult if cards are just pitched willy-nilly. I personally don't like my cards to be dead in any given match-up, so I've given it a pass for the time being.

Moonsault Swallow

This is a gimmick at best. I don't hate the little 'hit and run' concept since it allows for attacks early without ruining a long term field setup. However, running into a damage trigger can stop that idea dead in its tracks.

White Rabbit of Inaba

Ahahahahahaha. No. While fixing the Full Moon's power is very important when it falls short, Inaba is forcing the player to lose out on card presence when they could just load up the soul through other means and have the Full Moon jam her mini-mes into the soul more naturally. It's pretty cute, at least. x)

Dark Cat

An ill omen. For the opponent.

Many players dislike using Dark Cat on the basis of it handing the opponent a card. Well, fair enough, but that so-called 'problem' proves to be largely baseless in actual game play. 

Since this card is played during one's own turn, they have first dibs on playing whatever card they draw. If said card can result in the opponent guarding at any point in the turn, directly or indirectly, then the opponent's draw was just negated in terms of the overall complexity of the game state. Cat's player also retains an advantage throughout the entirety of the game thanks to their additional booster, attacker, or so forth sticking around for an extended amount of time. Additionally, since Dark Cat is grade 1, it's speeding up the otherwise underwhelming early game Oracles have when it's not present. To top it all off? A respectable 7000 power. Actually, I lied, the real icing on the cake is the ability to call it late in the game to land on one's bottom cards with pinpoint precision.

I'll admit, it's an easy card to misplay, but that lies on the would-be user...

Weather Girl, Milk

HULK SMASH! Milk brings raw power to the table, allowing Full Moon to swing for 21 and CEO to swing for 24 (relevant in a crossride meta). I can't exactly deny the worth of having all three columns providing significant pressure, and this is the best path for the center line to do so.


Holy crap. It's nearly midnight, and I'm exhausted. Underestimating the extensiveness of the card pool FOR THE WIN. I'll pick up on the high-end grades tomorrow.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Picture It! Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi

For being my main deck, I haven't really said much on this blog in regards to Tsukuyomi, and there's no better time to do so than the day of Demonic Lord Invasion's English release! Since my last article in this style was a formatting hell, I'm just gonna leave wiki links rather than trying to embed images. ._.

Overview

Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi is a standout amongst <<Oracle Think Tank>> Grade 3s for several reasons, the first of which is her innate 11000 power, something no other card in the clan can boast. Additionally, she has two to three opportunities per game to draw two cards and filter out the least useful (or sometimes, the most necessary) card in your hand, sending it to the soul. Naturally, when you combine these two aspects of the card with each turn's normal draw and Twin Drive, striking the Full Moon when it matters most can be nigh-on impossible, and her army is just going to keep advancing no matter how many allies fall in battle.

Much like Spectral Duke Dragon, this Grade 3 is the end of a ride chain, so in order to get the whole picture of what it really does for the player, one must examine where everything begins, and what happens as the player crawls their way up to the top.

Godhawk, Ichibyoshi begins the game by searching for Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi amongst the top five cards of the deck. If found, the Crescent Moon can be rode on the spot without any commitment from the hand. If not, nothing was lost - the normal ride is still possible. The cards that are viewed are sent to the bottom of the deck in any order the player chooses. At this stage, the player knows a few cards they won't expect to see for awhile, and they've perhaps scored a free ride for doing nothing. It's quite powerful for a first Vanguard, as it nearly doubles one's odds of success in riding the matching Grade 1 when compared to the first Vanguards of other ride chains. Granted, there's no immediate reward for that success, but everything adds up later. The odds of starting with at least one Crescent Moon, without a mulligan, are slightly over 65%. With it? Expect a good three out of four games to start well.

Once Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi lands in the Vanguard Circle, the player then has the opportunity to hunt down Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi in the same fashion on the following turn, and again, sends any cards that weren't Half Moon to the bottom of the deck in any order. That's another five cards which can be ruled out from more immediate play possibilities, and another possible ride for nothing. Crescent Moon holds a respectable 7000 power, which allows her to attack most other Grade 1 units by herself. Further copies serve as solid boosters for attacks made later in the game. The second generation ride chains lack this luxury, as their Grade 1 units hold a mere 6000 power in the rear-guard.

Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi's descent begins the real payoff for one's dedication to the chain. When ridden, Half Moon lets the player Soul Charge twice so long as Ichibyoshi and the Crescent Moon are already present in the soul. Of course, they typically will be. This Soul Charge is an important step in fulfilling the requirement to activate Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi's skill; it places her pilot at a cumulative soul of five, leaving just one more to come in from external means. Do note that six <<Oracle Think Tank>> soul needs to be achieved, so there's no better reason to keep the deck free of tech from other clans. Half Moon has the standard power of 9000 for a Grade 2 unit, so it's not a terrible rear-guard if need be. As with Ichibyoshi and Crescent Moon, Half Moon looks to grab Full Moon each time she's in the Vanguard Circle at the start of the ride phase, sending one more batch of four or five cards to the bottom of the deck in the process. One might not ever see those cards again and as such needs to plan accordingly.

Winning!

There's a certain bizarre phenomenon almost exclusive to the Tsukuyomi deck in which missing Grade 3 does not put the player at an immediate disadvantage. In fact, there are times when this is beneficial because another set of four of five cards are sent to the bottom of the deck for each turn Grade 3 is not achieved. There will come a point in longer games where Tsukuyomi's pilot knows the exact contents and the exact order of their deck, because they've already seen those cards thanks to the abilities of Ichibyoshi, Crescent Moon, and Half Moon. This allows for the option (key word) of a deadly finish with a barrage of double triggers each turn, provided the cards were placed in a fitting order to do so from the start and that the Tsukuyomi player can reach them. Of course, there are plenty of things that make this feasible!

Goddess of the Half Moon's soul charge two skill
Goddess of the Full Moon's draw two skill
Psychic Bird's draw one skill (which enables the Full Moon)
Oracle Guardian, Red Eye's soul charge one skill (which enables the Full Moon)
Oracle Guardian, Blue-Eye's draw one and send one to the bottom skill
Petal Fairy's drop one and draw one skill
Battle Sister, Cocoa's check the top card and send it to the top or bottom skill
CEO Amaterasu's soul charge one and send the top card to the top or bottom skill
CEO Amaterasu's draw up to five skill (albeit, this is super situational)
Dark Cat's both players draw one skill
Draw Triggers

In fact, the very notion of Tsukuyomi being able to do this will, at times, cause attacks to be thrown at rear-guards and make things awkward, so tread carefully!

It's quite possible to win the game through sheer advantage and power, though. Weather Girl, Milk; Silent Tom; and Battle Maiden, Tagitsuhime make for some crazy pressure.

Nooooooooo!

Of course, I wouldn't be too credible if I only spoke in ideals, so it's time to go over the deck's most common pitfalls and how to address them should they arise.

Failing to ride Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi on the first turn

It happens, it sucks. There are two options; ride a different Grade 1 unit, or wait a turn in hopes of the Crescent Moon coming out to play. The latter is most feasible when playing first against a conservative opponent, while the first is the usual approach. Remember here and now that the five cards sent to the bottom of the deck aren't going to come back, and that three soul are going to be required to turn Full Moon's drawing skill online. Any copies of CEO Amaterasu, Oracle Guardian, Red Eye, and Psychic Bird are precious commodities that need to stick around to fulfill this task.

Failing to ride Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi on the second turn

This hurts, perhaps to the same degree as missing the Crescent Moon. From here, it's the same story; ride a different Grade 2 unit (Oracle Guardian, Red Eye if given the option) or wait for her to appear, and again that latter option is best used when taking the first turn of the game. If there is no Grade 3 on hand, the latter option essentially becomes the only one, as even if a different ride were to be used, there would be no means of securing a Grade 3 Vanguard.

Failing to ride Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi on the third turn

As explained earlier, this is not always fatal. The player has another shot at it next turn and can stay in the game by playing a solid defensive game. If possible, riding CEO Amaterasu instead tends to help in accelerating the deck further and keeping a good offense. She is quite prone to attacks by comparison to Full Moon, however. An extended stay could spell doom if the top of the deck isn't trigger-heavy. Ride Full Moon at first opportunity, and try to threaten the megablast if possible.

All/too many copies of a required Tsukuyomi were sent to the bottom of the deck, and/or damage checked, and/or soul charged

Odd, but not out of the question. In this event, Lozenge Magus can shuffle the deck after boosting, sending the remaining copies to random places in the deck rather than the bottom, so they have a chance of showing up as necessary.

Riding Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi without Ichibyoshi, Crescent Moon, and Half Moon all present in the soul

That terrible, terrible 9K. Most front line attackers can hit this without a boost, and it is top priority to make sure Full Moon's debuff does not make an impact on the game for an extended period of time. Keep in mind that, once her skill to draw is online, it's possible to place any missing pieces of the chain into the soul directly from the hand.

Overshooting the 'stack'

This is inevitably the player's fault for not counting, remembering, and making the utmost use of their remaining cards. In the same vein, failure to arrange cards in the most helpful order also lies on the player. One must lock the opponent out of any possibility of derailing the remaining cards from doing their job, so intercepts will be rather heavy late in the game, in particular if it's necessary to burn through an odd number of cards in deck (one, three, etc.). Psychic Bird needs a place to land, after all. CEO Amaterasu can also serve as a late game deck manipulator to finish the job.

Aaand that covers just about all the major problems one will encounter after having played the deck for an extended period of time. With some luck and the proper mindset, overcoming them is possible, so there's no need to be discouraged. If there are any further questions on how to build or play the deck, don't hesitate to ask! I've grown rather weary, so I'll have to leave the general tips, tricks, and techs plus full deck list for another post.

Galaxy Stores Local LOLWUT

No tourney this week. Several of the regulars didn't show for various reasons, and the majority who showed up were late and/or blew a ton of money on the arrival of BT03, though the latter is quite understandable.

Watched as someone pulled Half Moon, Full Moon, and G3 Palamedes in the span of 6 random packs. Crazy.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Unleash the Beast!

I'm just Saiyan - the 4 Great Nature cards in booster 8, much like the 4 Angel Feather cards in booster 7, tie the clan together so well as to push them into highly competitive status. Bison offers a secondary vanguard that can pump multiple units in a single turn whilst completely negating his own costs at the end phase via his Limit Break. Roll in the pluses when you combine Duckbill with Hammsuke variants and Leo-pald. Compass Lion's unbridled power can lay the smack down on ANY unit, and Ohm offers an alternative to Flask Marmoset if counterblasting with your starter doesn't suit your fancy.

On a side note, Stamp Sea Otter is a bro.

Feel the Love

...Machine Gun.

Been playing it over the G2 Doctoroid tonight, and the results are rather good. As I figured, one is not strictly better than the other. Too bad there isn't really room for both unless you forgo the option of Armaros.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Galaxy Stores Local Tournament - Week 13

Thistourneywasoversofastlikeomg.

Round 1 - vs. GP

BATTLE OF THE GRADE LOCKS. That said I had slightly better fortune and won.

Round 2 - vs. CoCoBros

Older nephew sacked my socks off qq. Doesn't help that I can never take him seriously. Needless to say, his luck ran out at the end of the day and he had no idea what to do playing a game with normal progression. GOOD JOB.

Round 3 - vs. Spectral Duke GP

The curse continues. This guy has yet to beat me in the tourney. Game one was super weird. He missed the grade 1 ride and drove check the grade 1 Vortimer, while I chose not to ride a Ghost Ship because I had no Grade 3 or means to unlock it on hand. I never did reach grade 3, but won due to continued pressure from Ruin Shades and even a Skull Dragon in the end. Triggers on the turns he decided to Limit Break helped. Game two I just sorta ran him over, and I didn't find out until after the fact why - 8 draws in his deck due to not owning Flame of Victory. BOO.

Missed the top cut, nephews failed, friend decided to play a random budget deck because he wasn't feeling his usual decks, and that crashed and burned too. Oops.

At any rate, I'll be back to playing Oracles next week with any luck (ie. the BT03 boxes showing up on release date as opposed to shipping on release date).