When I got to the shop and registered, I decided to go ahead and burn some of my extra Christmas money on five packs of Abyss Rising. Double Tiaramisu?! I don't think there has EVER been a time when I pulled this well from five packs, money-wise (excluding Sneak Previews with their crazy ass inflated prices).
Round 1 vs Wind-Ups
I was really depressed to find out that I'd be dueling a guy named Carlos (who happens to be black) who's apparently really good. Round 1 losses can help make it easier for you to top later on, but they also just give you the worst possible start to your evening. In the past I've seen him use Trooper Agents and Dino Rabbit, so I was expecting one of those decks, but no - it was WIND-UPS.
I'm so fucking tired of dueling Wind-Ups that I don't even feel like reliving this match, so we'll do this round quickly. In Game 1, I drew poorly and so the only monster he ever saw was a Jurrac Guaiba. So when I started Game 2 by summoning Earth and getting Venus, you should have seen the look on his face. I'm not lying when I say that honestly, that experience made me realize why people like to play "troll" decks. Those reactions you get out of your opponent are just absolutely priceless. I still don't respect it, but at least I'm starting to get why on a personal level.
Anyways, in Game 2 I remember not having drawn very well either (despite opening with Earth) and it eventually came down to reborning his Zenmaister to swing over his material-less Maestroke and hit him with Reaper to drop the last card in his hand. But a couple turns of direct attacks through Rabbit later, he eventually drew a Rat and used it to summon Leviair. I used Warning, dropping to 1000, but he banished his Rabbit to simply get another fucking Rat with Factory and make Acid Golem to hit Zenmaister for game. I'm probably going to write about why I think Wind-Ups need to be hit again sometime in the future.
0-1
Round 2 vs Six Samurai
My opponent this round lost to the Wind-Up player next to me last round (the same player that defeated me by Shock Locking me two weeks ago), and he was also one of the people who tried trading me for my Tiaramisus before the tournament started. He was a really chill guy, so I took advantage of the casual nature of our game to try and relax.
He got a lot of damage in very early on in Game 1 (because Samurai just LOVE to summon three monsters in a turn), but gave it to me after some strong plays that I do not remember whatsoever. I went ahead and gave him Game 2, as he managed to get out a Legendary Shien alongside a Maestroke and Zenmaines with Dimensional Fissure out, and my plan draw out Shien by using Compulsory and another trap and Honest backfired doubly when he decided to attack Venus with a 2100 Kizan instead of Shien, and I played it incorrectly by trying to bounce Shien at the start of his Battle Phase anyways. So it would all come down to Game 3. There came a moment very late in the game when I only had 1500 life points left and drew Venus with a Shine Ball in hand and the other left in the deck, with him at 5200. I decided to just say "fuck it" and go all the way. I kept attacking with Venus to clear his monsters, and when I drew Jupiter it was time to end it. I turned my Reaper and Gachi to attack and went all in, and this nightmare of a nail-biter finally came to an end.
1-1
Round 3 vs Water Structure Deck
Yes, it was another one of these. My opponent was a little black kid that appeared to be using a Water structure deck, and I had to read almost every card he played. I actually came close to losing Game 1 due to taking 2000 from a direct-attacking Atlantean Dragoons that was under A Legendary Ocean, using Solemn Warning, and having my Reaper get hit by a 2800 Shocktopus thanks to Aqua Jet. Then I had to pay down to 500 for Venus AGAIN. Game 2 was a lot easier, and I won't bore you guys with the details (partly because I don't remember them).
2-1
Round 4 vs Six Samurai
My opponent this round was the guy who played Six Samurai against me in Round 4 of the very first tournament I attended at the shop on 11/09/12 (which I haven't posted here). By some coincidence, he was also Hispanic, just like the Samurai player from Round 2. Anyways the last time we played, he spammed Uniteds to get Game 1 but drew shitty hands Game 2 and 3 and I got one of the best match wins of my life. Would it turn out the same way this time around?
I don't remember Game 1 too well, but I know I got Venus for all three Dragon Balls very early on. But when I summoned the third Dragon Ball he used Six Style - Dual Wield to bounce Venus and a Ball - a big misplay. I was able to just overlay the other two Balls for Gachi, and when he realized his mistake and tried to run through it by attacking repeatedly with Shi En and Nat Beast, he was only adding fuel to the fire - literally. Hyperion came down and kicked some royal ass. Game 2 he opened with Gateway and Smoke Signal and looped into a Shock Master alongside Shi En so I just scooped immediately. Game 3 was a lot like Game 1, except he opened with United and Gateway. But THIS FUCKING TIME, I had a Typhoon ready for when he summoned Kageki and activated Asceticis to make sure Gateway wouldn't stay up. He tried to punch through my Gachi and Venus but that just made Hyperion even stronger, and there was nothing he could do to stop the power of the sun.
3-1
Victory! You guys don't know how good it feels to manage to beat a deck I dislike twice in the same tournament. (Actually, you probably do, since it has happened before.)
Round 5 vs Dino Rabbit
Rabbit is really not that bad of a matchup, so when I saw I was playing it I knew I had a shot at topping again. But I lost the die roll, which is a BIG problem against Rabbit. I just had to hope that the deck wouldn't come together too well - please let him not actually draw the Rabbits.
Game 1, my opponent opened with Laggia and two backrows. Sucks, but not the end of the world exactly. He used Warning on my second Venus activation to stop my play and get me to use up more life points, a move that would have shocked me had I not just learned it a couple of weeks ago. I used Fiendish Chain in response to Laggia to force it to get hit by Dimensional Prison, but I was low on cards and life, and he had barely lost any life points. I hit him with Sangan but he dropped Gorz (surprise surprise) and I was forced to use Warning, dropping me to only 600 points. When he summoned his Guaiba next turn, it was over. Game 2 he opened with Rabbit again, but I stopped it once with Compulsory and then again with Fiendish. He drew literally nothing after the first few turns and I didn't either. After some nail-biting topdecking, I was able to go into Gachi with Venus and keep hitting him for 2000 until he died. I wanted to win so badly, but Game 3 he opened with Laggia and two backrows. I opened with 2 Typhoon, Dust Tornado, Heavy Storm, Prohibition and Sangan - bad, but certainly not the end of the world thanks to Sangan. So I set him with one Typhoon and Dust. He summoned Tour Guide.
... :(
3-2
It sucks to lose to Rabbit + Tour Guide, but it sucks even more when afterwards you realize your opponent opened with Rabbit literally all three fucking games. Even worse than that, I drew my lone Effect Veiler (after siding) literally the turn after he summoned Tour Guide. And even worse than that, for some reason I get the feeling that I could've made a better play game 3 that might have saved me. Nevertheless, the point of going to locals is ultimately to increase the value of my binder, and I did just that. I pulled a Centipede from my Astral Pack and also bought 20 Duel Terminal cards for $5, shown below. That plus pulling double Tiaramisu definitely advanced my goals, way more than I ever thought I could within one day. So long story short, it ended up being a good day. But I am really tired of always losing to the other Tier 1 decks, man. I need some serious practice. I'd like to try practicing specifically against Wind-Ups on DN, but I'm afraid I'd end up throwing my laptop out the window.
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