Orlando Magic

May 27, 2011

by Billy Brake

Hello Yugioh Community! I am back from my trip this past weekend to Yugioh Championship Series Orlando! Sadly, this event is the first event that I was not able to capture a spot in the top 32 playoff, but Two other Alter Reality Games writes Alex Vansant and Juan Morales were able to make up for my absence! So Congratulations to them and their recent success! Today, I am going to give everyone a recap of my weekend! We will look at the deck I chose to use, my side deck choices, why I was not able to make the top 32 playoff, and my general thoughts after this YCS!

Why I ran my deck
My testing for Orlando began pretty much the day after I returned home from YCS Anaheim. With the release of the new set extreme victory the meta was bound to change and I had to determine which deck I felt I had a best chance at seeing success with. The first deck that I decided to test was Tengu Plants. I did enjoy this deck and how explosive it could be dropping tons of synchros in one turn with Tengu combos, but at times it proved inconsistent for me. I began to draw multiple Tengus and a lack of Lonefire Blossom so I decided this deck was not for me. The next deck I tested was Six Samurai. Elder of the Six Samurai had been release in Extreme Victory making Six Samurai better than ever. I was using a build with Asceticism of the Six Samurai and the all new Shien’s Dojo making a turn 1 Shi En almost a guarantee. The deck was really powerful and with the ability to side deck Dimensional Fissure I was convinced this was the deck I was going to use. At last after playing about 10 games with my brother on the Wednesday before I left I felt as though the deck was not consistent enough to help me get 12 match wins in a tournament so I went back to my old favorite. The Deck I ended up using was X-Sabers! I went back to my bread and butter and decided to use the deck I know inside and out. I felt it had a decent match up against all of the top decks and the ability to side fairly easy to counter any other deck.

The Deck List

Monsters: 19
2 XX-Saber Boggart Knight
2 XX-Saber Faultroll
3 XX-Saber Fulhelmknight
3 XX-Saber Emmersblade
2 X-Saber Pashuul
2 Effect Veiler
3 X-SaberDarksoul
1 X-Saber Airbellum
1 Super-Nimble Mega Hamster

Spells: 9
3 Pot of Duality
1 Monster Reborn
1 Giant Trunade
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Book of Moon
1 Mind Control

Traps: 12
1 Mirror Force
2 Seven Tools of the Bandit
2 Gottoms’ Emergency Call
1 Trap Stun
2 Solemn Warning
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Trap Dustshoot
1 Reinforce Truth
1 Solemn Judgment

Extra Deck: 15
1 Mist Wurm
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Naturia Beast
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon
1 X-Saber Urbellum
1 X-Saber Wayne
1 XX-Saber Gottoms
2 XX-Saber Hyunlei

The Deck I went with is very similar to the builds that I used in Anaheim and Charlotte. I went with a main decked copy of Trap Dustshoot because Plants popularity had increased and Gravekeeper’s had decreased. I never really got to see if this card was good or not since I never drew it. I also went with main decking 3 copies of Pot of Duality to add to the consistency of the deck to make sure I got my 1st turn Darksoul. Everything else I went with was pretty standard.

The Side Deck

Side Deck: 15
1 Debunk!
1 Gorz, Emissary of Darkness
2 Kinetic Soilder
1 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
2 D.D. Crow
1 Puppet Plant
1 Chain Disappearance
2 Gozen Match
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror
1 Malevolent Catastrophe
1 Nobleman of Crossout

My side also did not change very much in comparison with my deck from Anaheim. I decided to side a copy of the new card Debunk! Alter Reality writer Jeff Jones sold me on this card. It is very good in the mirror match being able to negate my opponents Darksouls and Emmersblades along with their Effect Veilers. I also went with 2 copies of Kinetic Soldier since Dimensional Fissure has become a popular side deck card in Six Samurai decks making Puppet Plant useless. If I could have changed anything I might have taken out the Debunk and replaced it with a Maxx "C" because not only is that card good in the mirror, I can use it against Plants and Six Samurai.

Why I lost
I am just going to go over the 3 rounds I lost and why I was knocked out of contention in the main event.

Round 5
My Record 4-0
Me vs. Six Samurai
Game 1 – My opponent wins the die roll and opens with Gateway, United of the Six Samurai, Shein’s Dojo, Kagemusha, Kizan. Needless to say he is able to make a field of Shi En , Brionac, Kizan, Grandmaster, with a Hand of the Six in his hand. I am not able to come back and I lose only getting one turn.
Game 2 - I get to go first, I set solemn warning and Emmersblade and end my turn. My opponent goes first and opens with Giant Trunade, Gateway, united, Kagkei, Kagemusha, Kizan, and after summoning a Grandmaster, a Shi En and another Kizan he draws Monster Reborn off United to make a Brionac and discard his last card to bounce my Emmersblade and attack me for game. SO once again I had one turn. It was an unfortunate way to lose, but it happens
Round 7
My Record 5-1
Me Vs. Six Samurai
Game 1 – I get the chance to go first and control the game. I make a couple of Hyunlei’s and he isn’t able to come back.
Game 2 – He goes first activates 3 copies of Six Samurai United, Kageki, Kagemusha, draws 6, makes a Shi En, activates Dimensional Fissure, sets a couple back rows and I have no side cards in my hand so I can’t come back from the 3 pot of greeds.
Game 3 – I go first and set Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, and Emmersblade and pass. My opponent activates Giant Trunade, Gateway, United, Kagemeshu, Kizan, summons a bunch of kizans and a Grandmaster makes a Brionac, Activates Monster Reborn on his Kizan, Draws 2 and bounces my Emmersblade and attacks for game. Another 1 turn game for me to put me at an X-2 record.
Round 8
My Record – 5-2
Me vs. Gravekeepers
Game 1 – I draw 0 non-tuners and for anyone that has ever played X-Sabers this is about the worst thing that can happen, he has double solemn warning, Spy and Steele and is able to dominate me fairly easily.
Game 2 – I end up getting a Shadow Mirror and A Pashuul out in def mode vs. his 1600 atk Commadant. I draw dead for 7 or 8 turns and basically die from my own pashuul since I can’t run over his 1600 atk vanilla monster. So I get my third loss and lose my chance at making top 32.

Conclusion
In my opinion, Gateway of the Six Samurai has ruined this format for me. I really do like the current format, but cards like Gateway should not exist and it leaves a bad taste in most Yugioh players mouths. The two losses I had to the Six Samurai players were devastating for me mainly because I felt like I was not allowed to even try and play my way out of any situation. We must remember though that this is Yugioh and sometimes these things happen, every dog has their day, even if that dog happens to be the always sack-tastic deck Six Samurai. Hold your head high though! The lesson I was able to learn from this trip is that sometimes there is nothing you can do and you are going to lose, as players we have to learn to accept this fact, move on, and try again. My quest to capture a Yugioh Championship is still going more than ever!

Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions for me or comments feel free to visit the Alter Reality Forums and find me on there!