As promised, I'll be posting my tournament report regarding my 2012 Philippine Nationals/WCQ experience. I would like to apologize in advance if my report lacks in detail or if i get something wrong since it's been a week and i'm not that good in remembering stuff. It was friday, the night before nationals and i was at our local store to have my deck checked (to avoid joining the mob on sat morning). With that being said and done, i have to leave my deck which was a good thing for me so i don't have to think about anything else before the tournament starts. It was also CF Vanguard! tournament day so i decided to join to relax my mind and to my surprise, i manage to win the tournament (got some good stuff from my prizes). Then i wen't home and sleep early (by early, i meant 1:00am) and sighed to myself saying "i'll do my best tomorrow".
10:30am the next morning, i arrived at the tournament venue and saw a lot of people piling up waiting for their decks to be checked. i went to see my friends and checked if they still needed some help. then the pairings was posted, and so it begins.
Round 1: vs. Racil (Heiroglyph)
To my surprise, considering we had a record breaking attendance of 114, i never thought i would ran into someone i know in the earlier stage of this tournament(even though i know almost everyone in our community). And my first opponent was someone who i knew and been using heiros for a while now so he know's how to use that deck.
Game 1: It was a fast start for him as he attempted to combo me in the 2nd or 3rd turn after clearing my back row with nightshots. I was able to veiler his Autumus. He didn't have a follow-up so during my turn, i summoned damsel and win it from that point on.
Game 2: He started by setting 3 cards and ended his turn. we draw-go a lot until he goes for the combo. I had maxx "c" in my hand so i was confident that i will survive that turn. He summoned REDMD and used its effect but didnt proceed with the xyz and just attacked. I was able to minimize the damage via tragoedia and used it to counter attack. he was able to answer it and during his turn he tried to combo me again, but i had the 2nd maxx c netting me more cards. he just settled for Photon bouncer and ended. I use mind control on bouncer and transformed it to Gaia dragoon which sealed the deal.
1-0
Round 2: Denmark??(Machina)
My next opponent was someone i didn't know which kind of boost my confidence since i know i'll have an advantage due to the experience that i have. Don't get me wrong, i never underestimate anyone. It's just that having a lot of tournament/playtest experience really gives you an edge.
Game 1: He went first and started off with a banisher of radiance! I totally frowned and said to myself "what the h...?". I countered by summoning my centipede without having any equip and smashed to his banisher. during that end phase, he COTH his banisher then attack me and at the end of his turn, i activated my own COTH and was countered by..... tenenen SEVEN TOOLS! what the ef! i just smiled and after a few turns, i was able to recover and win with damsel.
Game 2: He started off by setting 2 back row and summoned a gadget. I sighed in relief coz i sided in my cyber dragon not knowing what his deck really was until that point. My opening hand was Torrential, Bottomless, Solemn Warning, Judgement, ryko and centipede which i just drew during my turn. I summoned centipede and he responded torrential killing both his gadget and my monster. i set 4 back row and ended my turn. Since i have judgement, even with a heavystorm, i can survive and all my other traps were good. so yeah, he had heavy storm and activated it which i confidently negated with Judgement. but then again, he had SEVEN TOOLS waiting, which countered my judgement and heavy storm resolved. From that point onwards I lost the game.
Game 3: I started with a sub-par draw consisting of centipede, royal decree, and other cards i can't remember. who cares, he had heavy storm again which destroyed 3 cards! then summoned fortress, gadget, and headed for the home run.
1-1
Round 3: Michael (Glad Beast)
Game 1: After a frustrating Round 2, i tried my best to gather my senses and focus on my next opponent wishing i have a better match-up this time. So he started by summoning a Gladiator beast monster and i felt like crap again! This might be one of the worst matchups. GB can totally beat you by having equeste/chariot lock. And so he did chariot my first inzecter. Good thing, lady luck was at my side this time as he didn't have any follow-up defense and damsel combo went for the kill.
Game 2: He had 3 back rows when i decided to make a move. In GB match-ups, you really have to do something soon or he will just make a circus out of you. So i summoned centipede and activated, he responded (as expected) with a shadow-impri mirror. I didn't have any MST so he was able to control me. I still have a chance on the next turn if i survive after i cleared the board. but he was able to summon 2 monsters. the 2nd one was a trap eater using his shadow impri mirror. for some reason, i allowed it and scooped already before noticing that it was not possible. it was my fault anyways and i'm quite sure it wasn't intentional so i didn't care much.
Game 3: It was a long game which ended into top deck mode with both of us having 1 card in hand. we were low at LP when he summoned equeste, sets a S/T and ended his turn. I had centipede in hand and hornet in grave so all i needed was back row removal to ensure my win. I shouted MST and guess what, i did get it and win. :)
2-1
Round 4: Junely (Machina)
Game 1: Another tough match for me. Many of you might not know Junely but if you were to ask me, he's one of the best players piloting Machina deck in our country. his play-style is pretty good too. We started with some bashing that ended up me low at LP and having a defense zenmaines on the field. He summon gale and shrinked my zenmaines then passed. i summoned my damsel and decided to use ladybug so i can exceed into a rank 5. I checked my grave knowing i still have another centipede in my deck and soon found out that i only had another ladybug left. Being low at LP, i just summoned ladybug in defense and use it to destroy my atk position damsel to save me from any trample. He swarmed on his turn and beat me to death.
Game 2: I set 1 backrow and ended. He summoned fortress, attacked, then summoned a gadget. it was a weird move though i know he's trying to avoid torrential. but still, if you are going for the damage, you might as well maximize it. Moving forward, on my turn, i used cyber dragon into chimeratech which he bottomless. then went on with my inzekter moves for the win.
Game 3: It was a see-saw battle until the time was called with me having a fortress on field via reborn. He had his own fortress and swept my board with a gadget remaining on the field. i drew into damsel and won.
3-1
Round 5: William (Samurai)
Game 1: Most of you knows who my next opponent was. William Sy represented Philippines in the last World Championship. Another tough match for me. I know I was up against samurai so i was hoping of a good opening hand. Sadly, it didn't happen as i opened with 2 COTH, 2 MST, and Veiler. It was a tough battle and i was able to prolong my agony by having a gigamantis revived via COTH. I was low in LP and on his turn, he manage to get gateway, swarmed and xyz into HC excalibur for the win.
Game 2: It was a draw-go situation at first until he made a move having 2 samurais on the field. I summoned tragoedia to stop the next attack and decided to my offense during my turn. He had a fiendish chain to stop my trago which gave me an opportunity to use my inzekter and win.
Game 3: Another slow start with set-go. He drew gateway and started to swarm. I was able to stop some but he was able to put 3 monsters on the field. Trago saved me again but when i was going to counter attack, he used fiendish chain on it.... again. Then it came down to my last turn (being low in LP) having only mst and gigamantis in hand while he had kizan, grandmaster, gateway on the field and no cards in hand. Then, I shouted hoping for a solution and POOF! i top-deck damsel! the onslaught begun! i used gigamantis on damsel and cleared his field, attacked with 4 inzecters and ended with 2 zenmaines. He didn't have enough cards to fight back so i was able to win.
4-1
Round 6: Jomer (Inzekter)
Game 1: When i saw the pairings, i felt really bad since i'm up against one of my teammates. Most of you know him because he is one of the members of 2011 Asian Team Champion, Jomer Flores. We both know that i hated this match-up since he's one of my "jinx" and with a mirror match ahead of us, i'm gonna need a lot of luck! I started the game with a backrow and ended. he did the same but when it was time for the monsters to be unleashed, i had the better draw and was able to take game 1.
Game 2: Another boring-inzekter-mirror match but he was ahead this time with lady bug on the field. i summoned damsel and he was able to veiler it. On his turn, he summoned centipede and equiped which i quickly veilered. i was on top-deck mode and drew another veiler. with that being the only card in my hand, i was hoping he didn't have a damsel so that things won't go out of hand. He then activated his centipede on the field which i veilered again. Luckily, he didn't have a follow up. On my turn, i got damsel. He didn't have the veiler to stop it so i won.
5-1
Round 7: Alvin (Inzekter)
All i can say is, that tournament software really hated me! :) I'm now up against one, if not, the best player in our country. None other than my teammate, friend, and 2-time National Champion Alvin Lim. We sat across the table and discussed the previous rounds. After that, he decided to give me the win because he had a better chance of getting to the top 16 even if lost this round rather than me. It will also give us some time to rest before the start of play-offs (and up to now, i haven't eaten anything yet).
6-1
TOP 16 PLAYOFF: Ryan (Chaos Dragon)
Game 1: So i'm up against my first Chaos Dragon match up for the day. I've tested a lot against this deck so i felt really comfortable with the match-up. I'm just hoping that i won't get terrible draws. And in fact i didn't! :) My first inzecter (damsel+hornet) was unopposed and i knew that i already control this game.
Game 2: This was the game where we had ruling issues and judges ended up giving my opponent a game loss. i won't discuss any further but the judges gave their ruling and we just respected their decision. In tournaments like this, if something goes wrong, you need to tell the judge and respect their final decision rather than letting it go and say bad things (like "cheater") to your opponent and be a crybaby after losing. Props to my opponent, Ryan. He accepted and respected the judge's decision.
7-1
After this round, players for the TOP 8 were asked to come back the next day for the continuation of play-offs as there isn't enough time to finish it. So me and some of my teammates decided to drink before heading home. I was able to sleep around 3:00am and woke up the next day still feeling dizzy. I quickly hit the shower and went off to the tournament venue.
QUARTER-FINALS: Julius (Chaos Dragon)
Game 1: So yeah, having 4 hours of sleep isn't really a great idea to start off your quarter finals. But i came back with one thing on my mind: To do my best in all the games and hope to win it all. After a few slaps to my face to wake up my senses, we were off to game 1. He started by setting a monster card and passed. I quickly capitalize by having an inzecter centipede with equip and destroyed his set monster which was eclipse wyvern. He had nothing in response and i immediately won the game. He told me after that his opening hand sucked so bad. he had 2 wyverns.
Game 2: He started by setting 1 monster and 1 S/T card then passed. I summoned centipede then equipped and destroyed his set monster which was sangan and i get damsel from centipede's effect. He gets ryko and i attacked then passed. He activated solar recharge discarding ryko, then summoned apocalypse dragon discarding REDMD and target's Light pulsar. I veilered apocalypse then he had a follow-up DAD. He destroyed my centipede and attacked for 3800 LP. On my turn, he activated mind crush naming damsel. Then i activated D.Fissure before summoning BLS and attacked both DAD and apocalypse then i ended my turn. He sets 1 back row ,1 monster and passed. I drew damsel went for the win.
8-1
SEMI-FINALS: Rick (LS lightray)
Game 1: If anyone from the tournament has the biggest pair of balls, then it must be this guy, Rick. He piloted a new LS build all the way to the semis. I know you know how hard it is to use LS in an inzecter-infested meta. But he managed to do it and i salute him. :) Game 1 he started off with COTLB getting lumina, then summoned and use it's effect summoning an Aurkus in defense. on my turn, i summon Centipede and equipped it with hornet. I attacked aurkus and destroyed lumina netting me a damsel from centipede's effect before i passed. He summon's JD which destroyed my field and attacked. I had damsel and gigamantis so i went for the win.
Game 2: He started-off by summoning garoth then ended. I summon centipede and equip hornet to destroy his garoth and attacked. I set 1 trap then passed. He activated Solar Recharge then foolsih burial to have 4 LS monsters before summoning Judgement dragon. I activated bottomless but he had another JD in hand and summoned it destroying my centipede. He summon lyla and attacked. I shielded with swift scare crow. On my turn, i summoned damsel and wipe his board. I attack and xyz into zenmaines. Knowing that i have another damsel for next turn, he conceded.
9-1
FINALS!: Alvin Lim (Inzekters)
Now comes to the moment i've been waiting for. After having numerous grueling matches over 2 days of tournament, it all comes down to this one. Me, fighting for the chance to fulfill my lifelong dream of going to Japan and earning some bragging rights in the world of Yugioh! And what better way to give a finale to this journey other than facing-off against my best rival. 2-time Philippine National Champion Alvin Lim. A good friend of mine and a teammate as well. We've been together during WOW tcg days and up to now. I know what he is capable of and i'm telling you, this would be the hardest obstacle i have to face in the entire event. The upside was, there was no pressure at all even during the finals since we both know that whoever wins, he really deserves it. So after shuffling and some chatting, we shook hands and wish each other the best of luck. I won the die roll and off to game 1.
GAME 1: I summoned card trooper, activated it's effect then use pot of duality to get monster reborn and passed. He summoned ladybug and attacked my trooper. he sets 2 cards and ended his turn. I summoned centipede but he was ready with bottomless. i set 2 cards then passed. He activated heavy storm and i chained COTH targeting my trooper for the extra draw. He then summoned a Centipede which i veilered. On my turn, i summon damsel which was veilered to. i decided to suicide attack it to his centipede and on main phase 2, i reborn my damsel to destroy his remaining monsters. He didn't draw anything good the following turn so i was able to win it.
GAME 2: He started by setting 2 cards then passed. I summon card trooper which was countered by chain disappearance! and removed the remaining copies. I set 2 cards and ended. He summon his ladybug and i let it equip with hornet before activating overworked. on my turn, i summon centipede and attacked. On his turn, he activated heavy storm which i responded by activating transmigration prophecy and removed both his ladybug and hornet. He used allure and summon another lady bug with hornet to destroy my centipede. I was able to draw another centipede and summoned it but was destroyed by torrential tribute. after some turns, he was down to 3200lp with lady bug on his field and 1 card in hand while i was still at 7500LP holding a damsel in hand. I draw and got MST. without any inzector equips in my grave, i paused and thought for a while before going for the move. I summoned Damsel and activated equipping the centipede in grave. my MST destroyed the equipped centipede to acitvate damsel's effect and i special summon another centipede. I was now thinking of maximizing the damage to put more pressure on Alvin. Suddenly i realize that i have trooper in RFG so i xyz into Leviair summoning my trooper. I activated then attacked for the win!
So there you go! my 2012 Nationals report. I hoped you enjoyed and learned something from this post. All i can advice to others, Practice a lot. Have a team/Teammates coz they can help you a lot improve your game. Be open-minded to others as you can learn from them. and most of all, be passionate at what you do! I really had a blast at this tournament. and i want to give some shout out to:
-Team Asiong Members: Alvin lim (for placing 2nd), Karlo bonillo (for placing 3rd). Jomer flores (for making it to top 8) and to all other members of our team! job well done!
-To all who made it to the top 16! congrats to you as well!
-To the Tournament Organizer and sponsor (COURTSIDE, KONAMI) thank you!
-To All The judges, good job!
-And to all who joined, keep on supporting the game we love!
That's it for my tournament report. I will do my best in the upcoming World Championship 2012. Wish me luck!
-IRWIN
