070516 - Local Ranking Tourney Report

It has been a long time since we updated our blog.

Now I am back with a local tourney report:

So without further ado...

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN

26 players. 5 round Swiss.

Format: SP Format.
Deck: Yosenju

For readers unfamiliar with SP Format, only certain products are allowed. A list of said products can be found here.

Round 1 - Vs Metalfoe Majespector

 
Metalfoe is a new archetype that debuted in TDIL. Having been away from the competitive scene for around a month, I haven't had much exposure to this new archetype. Seemingly taking over Dracopals as the new favourite pendulum archetype, the deck seems to function by destroying itself to search for other cards. Naturally, this allows Guiding Ariadne to be abused in this deck. Its arsenal of normal monsters would also mean that this deck benefits from Painful Decision and Unexpected Dai, explaining the price climb of these two cards since the release of TDIL.

I lost the first game due to my inexperience of handling this archetype. My destruction cards merely allowed him to replace his monsters from his main deck, no thanks to his trap card. Compulsory Evacuation Device couldn't do much against Majespectors, which he chose to focus his attacks on. I suffered a blow in resources when I attacked into a Rippling Mirror Force. Attempts to replenish my resources with Card of Demise was negated with a Solemn Judgment, sealing my fate and loss.

My side deck simply couldn't accommodate to this matchup, as I predicted BA to be the popular choice. Torrential Tribute doesn't hold a candle for my opponent, and I slowly got beaten to death. #lolz

After the match I considered preparing a playset of Bad Aim, in case this archetype receives further support. However, given that Bad Aim isn't a continuous trap card, despite its capabilities of disrupting the deck and giving your opponent more minuses than pluses, its utility remains to be determined.

Round 2 - Vs Blue-Eyes

I was paired with a Blue-Eyes user. I won the first game with a good board control. Compulsory Evacaution Device, Bottomless Trap Hole and Solemn Notice kept his large monsters at bay, eliminating the Synchro threats. I almost bit the dust when I was positioned at 6000LP, the perfect number for 2 Blue-Eyes to end me.
However, the situation only proved my new addition to the deck, Swords of Lights, to be a useful one. It was previously discarded as per the effect of Card of Demise, as I have maxed out my S/T zone. Removing it from play, I was able to buy myself more time, sufficient enough to launch a counter attack. Bouncing the first Blue-Eyes back to the hand, I xyz summoned into Number 101: Ark Knight, and targeted the second Blue-Eyes with its effect. With that, the tables turned and I seized victory.

I sided in my 2 Magical Cylinder, hoping to capitalise on Blue-Eyes monsters large attack stats (though they never turned up). Round 2 was a close game as my opponent managed to summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon. Being unable to target the 4000atk goliath, I was almost certain of my impending doom with my current Yosenju build. Thankfully, I drew a clutch Rippling Mirror Force that provided me an out to the ferocious monster and allowed me to deal the finishing blow after clearing his field.

Round 3 - Vs D/D/D Shaddoll

 

The LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNGEST game of the day.

I won Game 1 as it was pretty straight forward. I had a strong backrow protecting Vanity's Emptiness as I slowly beat my opponent down.

I lost Game 2 as I played too cautiously. I opened with many traps and only with 1 monster - Yosenju Kama 2. I set Starlight Road, but it got destroyed by Mystical Space Typhoon. I then set my second Starlight Road, only to have it swept by Harpie's Feather Duster. Thinking that I had already exhausted his S/T destruction, I set my remaining 4 traps, with Solemn Judgment acting as a protection. However, I was a turn too late and he activated his Eradicator Epidemic Virus.

"Eradicator Virus isn't SP-Format." - GeoTheBacon.

YA RIGHT...

Game 3 is where it got interesting. I suffered a massive attack and time was called. I entered my supposedly final turn with a deficit of 5000LP. I was barely hanging on at 3000LP.

Summoning Yosenju Kama 2 and Yosenju Tsujik, I revealed my entire monster arsenal to the audience around us and my opponent.

"You can't win. Not even with Gagaga Gunman"

"5000 damage too much to recover from"

So upon my Yosenju Tsujik summon, I flipped Torrential Tribute. Seeing no response from my opponent, I chained Starlight Road to my own Torrential Tribute. 2 cards to summon one Stardust Dragon.

Yes, desperate times calls for desperate measure. 

"3800 damage at best."

"Not enough"

"Turn 3 now, you lose"

The comments from the peanut gallery continued...

XYZ SUMMON...

DARK REBELLION XYZ DRAGON.

Using its effect, I dealt exactly 5000 damage, buying me time and keeping me in the game. I had done it! One of the proudest moments of my dueling career.

Other players around me were still marveled by the fact that I was capable of thinking of such an unorthodox method to summon 2 dragons to the field.

" What deck are you playing? Why is Stardust Dragon and Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon on the field?"

Another player who has just joined the scene commented. To which I replied:

"You know me. What other decks will I play?" 

(Flashing my Yosenju monsters in the graveyard."

What followed was a long and dreadful 30 minutes where my opponent spent ages debating his every action.

What card to summon? 

What card to search? 

Which effect to activate first?

I don't blame him, but that doesn't mean I wasn't frustrated. It is probably a new deck to him, but it is never fun when your opponent takes 10 minutes to build up his field. And that was before time was called. Now that time is called, the pressure from the spectators and the intensity of sudden death made him doubt any and every choice.

Many turns passed filled with misplays from both sides - my opponent played too defensively while I didn't take opportunities that opened up. The game finally ended when he mistakenly rammed Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon into Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon.

"So I waited for 30mins for my opponent to suicide into oblivion?"

Lesson of the day: Yuto > Yugo

Round 4 - Vs Gem Knight

(Vs GeoTheBacon lol)

Lolz, its GeoTheBacon guyz....
This pawn of fusion is no match for my anti-meta. OSH OSH OSH.
It was a quick 2-0 game where I rushed him down in Game 1. Siding in backrow removal, I was able to remove potential S/T threats. The whole round ended in 10 minutes, rather short when compared to the previous round.
What a relief. I took the extra time I had left before the next game to catch a breather and had some snacks and drinks. The mental exhaustion was real.

I spent the rest of the time rubbing in the fact that Eradicator Epidemic Virus IS AVAILABLE IN SP-FORMAT.

The whole reason he chose his Gem-Knights over D/D/D was because he was lazy to convert his D/D/D deck to suit the SP-Format requirements. I was also partly salty I was caught off guarded when my Round 3 opponent flipped the virus card and exterminated all of my traps.

Round 5 - Vs D/D/D

 

He attempted a bunch of special summons, successfully, trying to bait my 3 set traps. I lost my traps after delaying my choice to activate my Compulsory Evacuation Device, which led to nullification by D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga. Too greedy, hais....

He proceeded to deal massive damage to me which I was unable to recover from.

I started the second game with a 'second-turn' hand. 4 Yosenjus and Bottomless Trap Hole. I began with an XYZ summon into Number 106: Giant Hand and set my card.
My opponent chose a disadvantageous action by destroying my backrow with a Twin Twisters. However, his eventual searches and summons got him enough advantage to win him the game. PSY-Framelord Omega functioned not only as recovery for his banished resources, but also hindered swarming via additional normal summons. All in all, I lost.

Final Words

D/D/D hyped up a lot after the YOT champion's decklist got leaked.
(Source: 遊戲王台灣官方粉絲團) (Found by GeoTheBacon)

Many net-decked and attempted to replicate the same results.
Additionally, similar to the the current trend, many players ran Pot of Cupidity for card advantage and turbo engine.
(Upcoming discussion on Cupidity SOON!)

Update: RoadOfTheKing has a decklist typed out here.

As for me, I am the same old, boring Yosenju deck user. xD

Below is the Yosenju build I brought to the tournament;

SP Format forced me to swap out many of my usual side deck cards;
The limitations of the format meant I had to remove Macro Cosmos and Gozen Match.
Opting to play the Card of Demise engine this time round also meant that Thunder-King Rai-Oh had to be removed. Hand traps were also out of the question, given Card of Demise's discard at the end phase.

Edit: Removing Rai-Oh was due to the fact that I didn't want to draw into Rai-Oh via Demise's effect, and having to discard him, or give up on my Yosenjus. I played Card of Demise after minimising my monster count and maximising my trap lineup. Also, removing Rai-Oh meant that I can max out Pot of Duality.

My Extra Deck was spacious, allowing me to even include the unable-to-be-used Performage Trapeze Magician. Using Yosenjus also meant that my Extra Deck would be used less than the current meta archetypes. I had a second Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer prepared for SP Format but was unable to locate it in my pile before the tournament. If SP-Format tournaments were to be more frequent, I would also choose to invest in a 2nd copy of Dark Rebellion Dragon.

Similar to my 2nd copy of Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer, I was also unable to locate Yosenju Sinchu L for purchase, which would otherwise make Yosenjus a stronger force to be reckoned with, as it is able to abuse Yosenju's Secret Move, arguably one of the best negation cards available in the current meta.

Double Gagaga Cowboy is needed for an OTK involving 4 Yosenjus on the field. Double Starlight Road meant that 2 Stardust Dragon-s had to be played.

Moving forward...

More cards will need to be included, be it Mained or Sided, to face the rising threat of Metalfoe. I am not that keen to run Anti-Spell Fragrance, but it is an option. Deck Lockdown is also another card that comes to my mind, although I find Thunder King Rai-Oh competing for the slot in my main deck given the frequent deck searches. (Especially D/D/D)

Perhaps I would consider putting Rai-Oh in the side deck, 

siding it out for Card of Demise.

Lose 1 Turn may prove to be vital enough to run at 3 in the Main Deck, and Ring of Destruction may be included again to further burst my opponent down to 0LP.

Although right now, I am excited to try out the new crazy idea that GeoTheBacon & I discussed over dinner. Hopefully, I will be able to feature said idea in next week's tournament report of the Top 32 Rank Up League and/or local tournament (Advanced Format), perhaps with some achievements to boast.

Credits to GeoTheBacon for scouting out the Taiwan Champ decklist. I hope it is correct... lol.
Many thanks to Traveler of the Burning Herpes for his part in editing this article (which he shamelessly proudly mentioned at the bottom of the article).
He is our official one-man clean-up crew for links and grammars + spelling errors.

Edited by Traveler of the Burning Herpes