----------------------->Approved by EJ<-----------------------
Regionals Report for February 19th, 2011, Moncton, New Brunswick
Hey, folks. My name's Jin Kazama, and recently I attended a Canadian Regionals Qualifier. I'm certain not many of you know where I'm from, so let me explain that I am from the Eastern side of Canada, in a small province called 'New Brunswick'. Google Maps is your friend, if you wish to investigate further. If I had to estimate, our meta is approximately three months behind the Yugioh Championship Series meta. As a result, the choices in my Decklist have accurately represented the meta I am facing.
About three months ago, my Deck prospects were grim. I had played Monarchs for approximately six months, tried to make them more consistent and as a result, decreased their consistency. I made last-minute fixes before the last Regionals. My result: 2-3-1, an abysmal performance on my part.
I made three separate Decks to playtest with, the three being STUN, Gravekeepers and Six Samurai. I picked up STUN for two weeks, picked up Gravekeepers for another two weeks (it is still built) and have played old Six Samurai for two months.Storm of Ragnarok came out just 13 days ago, on February 6th, 2011. From that sneak peek, I obtained everything to build Legendary Six Samurai. The first week was extremely rough for testing, and I learned some insight to myself. Gravekeepers, STUN and old Six Samurai are all control Decks. Legendary Six Samurai is a swarming Deck, something I don't feel comfortable running.
Nonetheless, I wanted to run Six Samurai, mainly to improve my ability to play with swarm Decks and understand how they work (by swarming myself, of course). I made a few misplays at first but got to enjoy the swarming Deck. Through testing, I learned that the weakness of the Legendary Six Samurai is not particularly in what the opponent draws, but what you actually get to play with. I saw many awkward hands.
On February 15th I was convinced my build wasn't working properly and tried red and blue Legendary Six Samurai. In playtesting, I *never* had the right cards and personally determined that the Deck was worse than the regular Legendary Six Samurai build.
This will only be my fourth Regionals. In the first one, I accidentally forgot my Deck at home and played for fun. In the second (which is just after I considered myself semi-professional) I topped and obtained my Nationals Invite under UDE, playing Gladiator Beasts in TeleDAD format, going 4-2 for the day. It was very stormy weather and the participation was low. Later that invite was taken away when Konami took over the rights for distribution to Yugioh for everywhere else in the world.
I made the Decklist myself and tweaked accordingly.
The Legendary Six Samurai Decklist
Monsters: 13
3 Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki
3 Legendary Six Samurai - Kagemusha
3 Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan
2 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai
1 Hand of the Six Samurai
1 Spirit of the Six Samurai
Spells: 21
3 Gateway of the Six
3 Six Samurai United
3 Book of Moon
3 Shien's Smoke Signal
3 Upstart Goblin
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Giant Trunade
1 Reinforcement of the Army
Traps: 6
3 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Musakani Magatama
1 Mirror Force
Extra Deck: 15
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
2 Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Goyo Guardian
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Naturia Beast
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Magical Android
1 X-Saber Wayne
Side Deck: 15
1 Kinetic Soldier
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Smashing Ground
2 D.D. Crow
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Effect Veiler
1 Starlight Road
1 Torrential Tribute
I found that a copy of Spirit of the Six Samurai was an excellent way of keeping Shi En on the field for a longer period of time, as well as drawing a card when it destroys a monster. The only problem with this Deck is its lack of ability to deal with a Spirit Reaper, something I did regret on occasion during the event. I ran a lot of things in two in the Side Deck. I tried to cover as many of the Decks as possible:
Mirror Match (Legendary Six Samurai): Kinetic Soldier, Cyber Dragon for their sided Kinetic Soldiers, and Effect Veiler for Kageki.
X-Sabers: Nobleman of Crossout for Pashuul and Darksoul, Bottomless for Boggart Knight and Faultroll, and Starlight Road for Hyunlei.
Blackwings: Bottomless Trap Hole for Shura, Bora and Sirocco, Starlight Road for Icarus Attack, Torrential Tribute against swarms.
Debris Hime/Plants: D.D. Crow for Pot of Avarice/Dandylion/Glow up Bulb/Spore, Effect Veiler for Debris Dragon, Nobleman of Crossout for Ryko, Starlight Road for Black Rose, Smashing Ground for Tytannial.
Machinas: Cyber Dragon (along with Chimeratech Fortress Dragon), Effect Veiler, Torrential Tribute.
Lightsworn: Nobleman of Crossout for Ryko, Starlight Road for Celestia and Judgment Dragon.
Gravekeepers: Nobleman of Crossout for Guard and Spy, Torrential Tribute for large destruction. Also teched an Ancient Fairy Dragon in the Extra Deck for Necrovalley.
STUN: Bottomless for their normally beefy monsters and Nobleman for their set Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo.
Flamvells: Bottomless, again for their beefy monsters and Effect Veiler for their Firedogs.
Moncton Regionals Qualifier
Saturday, February 19th. My day started at 6 AM. I took a shower, got dressed in new clothes. I opted to wear stuff I had bought just the night before, a new pair of dark jeans, a blue button up shirt and a black vest over the shirt. I remembered everything - the Deck, personal binder, a tin, snacks for the drive, and my bank card. At 7:10 AM I left my apartment and got in the car. We went to the bank as well as Tim Horton's to get breakfast. I had a bagel and a french vanilla coffee, a personal favorite of mine.
On the way there, the four of us discussed our chances. Two of us in the car already had invites - Rob and Jeremy. Josh and I didn't. The odds were pretty good that one of us would top anyway, and we knew it. Jeremy was playing Nordics, Josh Flamvells, Rob Herald of Perfection and myself Six Sams.
We get there at 9, I write down all the information and my Decklist, pay for the five packs, do some trading, do some morale boosting, and finally start the tournament at 11:10, an hour and ten minutes late.
0-0.
I walk over to my table - Table 8 - to find that I'm playing the other person in the car who doesn't have an invite, Josh! He commented about the horrible matchup while I stated it was bound to happen. I know he's playing Flamvells.
Game 1 - I open double United, double Warning, Kageki-Kagemusha! I play both uniteds, Kageki-Kagemusha, draw 4 via United, Synchro for Shi En, special summon a Grandmaster, and set all to my back row (I had solemn Judgment and Book of Moon as well). He quickly scoops when he can't even summon a monster. I side in two copies of Bottomless Trap Hole and 1 copy of Effect Veiler for 3 Upstart Goblins.
Game 2 - he opens, sets one and passes. I open Triple Book, Gateway, Kagemusha and Kizan. I set double book, play Gateway (he MSTs) and I summon/Special/Synchro for Barkion. I attack for 25. He draws, sets and passes. I draw, attack again and pass. He draws, sets a monster. I normal summon Kageki, Special Summon Kagemusha, make a Shi En, attack over. Next turn I win.
1-0.
This takes us all of ten minutes. While looking around, I find a copy of a manga I've been looking for for years, and buy it. The joys of a toy store. I move up to Table 2 and sit down to find Dustin opposite me. Dustin is a real thorn in everyone's side, mainly because he isn't there to have fun; he's there to win.
Game 1 - I get Royal Tributed with 3 Six Sams in my hand. I quickly scoop, but do not side. In hindsight, this was a mistake.
Game 2 - Here's where it starts getting nasty. I draw my six, I have a very good hand, I drop a Shi En. Turn 1 he tries to Book of Moon Shi En. I flip Shi En over, realize it's counterable, and half a second later turn it over, saying 'negate'. He rulesharks me and says I've turned it over. I put it back down. Next turn, I search my Deck for a Spirit of the Six Samurai, drop it. I haven't shuffled, I realize he might have Spirit Reaper and say I'm searching for Hand. He claims that I have 'searched' for Spirit. I accept this. I attack with Shi En, sure enough it's a Reaper.
Because I'm not a jerk, he searches for Guard with Recruiter and I calmly inform him he's making an illegal play because Recruiter can only grab monsters with 1500 DEF or less, and allow him to search for a legal target. However, I lost.
1-1.
After this is lunch, and they've brought pizza for us to buy. I am steaming, but I realize I need to eat and I buy two slices and a bottle of coke for under $7. The bottle of coke was lost after the third round, and only half-drank, so someone else got my germs. I am moved all the way down to Table 12 to find my opponent, Eric.
Game 1 - He wins the dice roll, sets one card and ends. I activate a copy of Gateway, which draws an MST. I normal summon Kagemusha, Special Summon Kizan, and go into a Barkion, then attack, and set a copy of Solemn Warning. Next turn he activates Prohibition and calls Gateway, but I've got too much of an advantage for it to matter. He tries to summon, I negate with Warning and attack again with just Barkion for game. I reach for my side, putting in two copies of bottomless and a copy of Starlight Road for three Upstart Goblins.
Game 2 - He activates a first turn Prohibition on Gateway - bad since I have one copy in my hand. I activate double Six Samurai United, however, normal summon Kageki, special Summon Kagemusha, draw 2 off of each United, and special summon Shi En as I get a second Gateway, among other things. He Royal Oppressions, I activate my newly acquired MST to destroy oppression, and he Solemn Judgments. I end with a face-down Warning and Trunade as well as two Smoke Signals and two Gateways in my hand. He summons Shura, I negate with Warning, he tries to My Body as a Shield it. I tell him that first, My Body is only spell speed 2 and Solemn Warning is Spell Speed 3, in addition to the fact that Warning negates the summon. He asks for a judge, we wait 5 minutes to have Scott (the Judge, and arguably the best player in the region) come over, who politely tells him I'm right. Next turn I activate Trunade and cycle through my cards with the Gateways, then attack him for game.
2-1.
After the third round entirely ends, the three members of our team crowd around the scoreboard - Jeremy is 6th at 3-0, JT is tied for 7th at 2-1 and I'm tied for 7th with him! It's a good day thus far for our team, and we all are currently sitting in the Top 8. I move all of 1 table over, to Table 11, to find another Scott playing Six Sams.
Game 1 - he wins the dice roll, and I am now mildly concerned I might lose the match. However, he summons Shi En and Kizan. I attempt to Book of Moon Shi En, it's negated, and I dark hole. He doesn't have Magatama! I quickly play two copies of Six Samurai United, summon Spirit, special summon Grandmaster, draw four, attack, set a Solemn Warning and MST and end with two in hand. He sets two cards and passes. Next turn I normal summon Kageki, special summon Kagemusha, make a Shi En and attack over with Grandmaster, then Shi En, drawing a card. He scoops as I have overwhelming card advantage. I side into Kinetic Soldier and two Effect Veiler.
Game 2 - This time, he drops a Shi En with protection, and the best I can do is ram him with a Barkion. He then plays two copies of Gateway - his face down cards were bluffs, and I quickly scoop when he has a monster. I de-side for speed.
Game 3 - I Special Summon a Shi En with Kageki/Kagemusha, which proves to be his downfall after I set two and pass. He tries to activate Smoke Signal, I negate with Shi En, he activates two copies of Gateway, I negate his summon with Solemn Warning. Next turn I am able to drop a Barkion, and he extends the handshake.
3-1.
I look at the scoreboard again, Jeremy is 3-1 and behind me now as I moved into 4th place, the best of the 3-1s, while JT lost and moved down a fair amount of ranks. I move up to Table 8, where I am paired against Justin. He tells me he's just got back into the game and is coming to Regionals to see how he can do. He's a pretty cool guy, but he didn't expect Six Sams to be very big today and sadly did not have a side for me.
Game 1 - I won the dice roll and quickly overpower him with four monsters. The game wasn't even close, sadly. I side my two Noblemans and Torrential.
Game 2 - He activates first turn Necrovalley and summons Assailant, I have Kagemusha and Grandmaster for Ancient Fairy Dragon, and I destroy his Necrovalley using Ancient Fairy Dragon's effect. I set one and end my turn. Next turn I get a Kageki with a Kagemusha in my hand, and special summon Shi En. He says, 'You've got me' and concedes.
4-1.
Once again, I look at the scoreboard to find my name directly under the leader's: 2nd place going into Round 6. The person at 4-0 who was paired down lost his game, and JT lost - at 2-3, he decided to leave to go with his girlfriend. Jeremy is at 4-1 as well and has a good shot at getting to the Top 8. I find myself moving all the way from 7th table to 1st - for the first and only time today, I sat at Table 1, and it was worth it. I was playing Jordan, a mirror match, and I knew it. The only difference between our Decks was an extra Magatama in his Deck versus an extra Book of Moon in mine.
Game 1 - He drops double Gateway, Kagemusha, Kizan, another Kizan via search, synchro summons Barkion, grabs two more Kizans from the Deck and graveyard, special summons those, and has massive card advantage. I play a couple of turns, but that's all it takes for him to attack me for game. I quickly side into Kinetic Soldier and 2 Effect Veilers.
Game 2 - I draw double Grandmaster, double Book of Moon, Magatama and Warning. I warning his first summon but do not draw a monster. I flip his tuner face-down, still have no monster. Next turn I draw Kagemusha, attempt to summon it and try to Black Rose the field, which draws Solemn Warning. I concede.
4-2.
I am on the bubble. My tiebreakers are 6-0 and 5-1, which means I should have the best tiebreakers of anyone 4-2. The results *finally* make their way over. I am ranked 6th, but everyone else who wasn't in the Top 8 had to go see their ranks elsewhere. I have officially topped my second Regionals.
Top 8 Match
I shake Tyler's hand - he's someone who obtained his invite at the last Regionals, meaning this means much more to me than him at this point. We obtain our mats, which are laid out for us to play on and Scott takes my Deck for a Deck check. Everything is in order, I shuffle a bit, he looks at me and says, 'Shuffle it more, we put all the monsters, spells and traps together'. I thank him and pile shuffle multiple times. I had no idea what Tyler was playing, but from what I understood, he was playing X-Sabers.
Game 1 - We roll, I win, and opt to play first. Scott watches with a slight smile (he built Legendary Six Samurais too) as I open Gateway, Kageki and Kagemusha into Shi En, grab Kizan, special summon, grab Spirit and end. He sets two and a monster and passes. I summon Spirit, getting two counters, and equip it to Shi En. I attack with Kizan, and it's Fulhelmknight. I then attack over with Shi En and draw a card. He shakes his head and concedes, saying, 'Oh, dice roll.' I side for 2 Bottomless and 1 Effect Veiler.
Game 2 - He sets two spells or traps and a monster and ends. I draw double Gateway, both of which I activate. I then normal summon Kageki, special summon Kagemusha, Synchro for Shi En, grab Grandmaster from my Deck and special summon that "Poke into Kinetic Soldier?" I asked him. He flipped over the card, sure enough, it was a Kinetic Soldier. Next turn, he runs over my Shi En and sets one. I draw... it's Hand of the Six Samurai! I normal summon hand, loop counters and say, "destroy face-down Pashuul?" He laughs, flips it over, and I'm right. I swarm field, and attack him for game that turn.
Top 4 Match
At this point, all the prizes have been distributed. My information is taken for a Nationals Invite and I obtain a binder for making it to the top 4. However, because all the prizes have been distributed, it is not mandatory for any of us to play on as there is no bigger prize we can get. I opt not to play - Dustin made his way up the bracket and I was not going to play him, simply put.
In the four matches, 1 plays 8, 4 plays 5, 3 plays 6 and 2 plays 7. Out of the four matches, mine was the only one in which the lower seed made an 'upset' against the higher seed. #1, #2 and #4 all won their matches.
After all this is said and done, I am asked by someone to help him build a STUN Deck. I offer suggestions to him and I am thanked dearly for it. It was very flattering to be asked to help out with a Deck by someone you don't know and haven't seen before, and all-in-all was a humbling experience. I'm not normally asked to help out with a Deck by anyone not on my team. He asks me to trade, we try, but he just didn't have enough things we wanted.
Results
4-2 in Swiss, 6th overall
1-0 in Top 8
Props for the Day
-Topping a regionals and obtaining a Nationals Invite again
-Teammates traded lots and got good stuff, including a Barkion and a Beast for me so I could have actual copies of my own
-New Yugioh personal binder
-New mat (which was promptly given to another member of the team who wanted that particular mat, since I love my Gorz mat)
-Being in the top 4 duelists in the Maritimes
-Being asked to help out with a Deck
-Gaining some recognition by those in my area, as well as outside. I got a couple of nods for my sportsmanship, especially in the face of Dustin where I could have just as easily exploded. While I did steam, I didn't go on tilt or play recklessly and calmed down between the second and third rounds.
Slops for the Day
-Dustin. Sorry, but I still think this kid has the personality of a wooden shoe. A very blank, not even carved properly wooden shoe
-JT and Jeremy not topping Regionals
-Jordan. He was all happy about topping a Regionals with a Deck he said he copied from Scott, the Judge. Originality, out the window (I had unknowingly made a build very similar to Scott's but we had minor differences in tech choices)
Area Meta for Regionals
Total Decks played
-~15% Legendary Six Samurai
-~15% Debris Hime
-~15% Blackwings
-~15% Gravekeepers
-~10% X-Sabers
-~5% Lightsworns
-~5% Hopeless Dragon
-~5% Twilight
-~5% STUN
-~10% Other
Top 8
-37.5% Legendary Six Samurai
-25% Gravekeepers
-12.5% Debris Hime
-12.5% Stun
-12.5% X-Sabers
Top 4
-50% Legendary Six Samurai
-25% Debris Hime
-25% Gravekeepers
Regionals Report for February 19th, 2011, Moncton, New Brunswick
Hey, folks. My name's Jin Kazama, and recently I attended a Canadian Regionals Qualifier. I'm certain not many of you know where I'm from, so let me explain that I am from the Eastern side of Canada, in a small province called 'New Brunswick'. Google Maps is your friend, if you wish to investigate further. If I had to estimate, our meta is approximately three months behind the Yugioh Championship Series meta. As a result, the choices in my Decklist have accurately represented the meta I am facing.
About three months ago, my Deck prospects were grim. I had played Monarchs for approximately six months, tried to make them more consistent and as a result, decreased their consistency. I made last-minute fixes before the last Regionals. My result: 2-3-1, an abysmal performance on my part.
I made three separate Decks to playtest with, the three being STUN, Gravekeepers and Six Samurai. I picked up STUN for two weeks, picked up Gravekeepers for another two weeks (it is still built) and have played old Six Samurai for two months.Storm of Ragnarok came out just 13 days ago, on February 6th, 2011. From that sneak peek, I obtained everything to build Legendary Six Samurai. The first week was extremely rough for testing, and I learned some insight to myself. Gravekeepers, STUN and old Six Samurai are all control Decks. Legendary Six Samurai is a swarming Deck, something I don't feel comfortable running.
Nonetheless, I wanted to run Six Samurai, mainly to improve my ability to play with swarm Decks and understand how they work (by swarming myself, of course). I made a few misplays at first but got to enjoy the swarming Deck. Through testing, I learned that the weakness of the Legendary Six Samurai is not particularly in what the opponent draws, but what you actually get to play with. I saw many awkward hands.
On February 15th I was convinced my build wasn't working properly and tried red and blue Legendary Six Samurai. In playtesting, I *never* had the right cards and personally determined that the Deck was worse than the regular Legendary Six Samurai build.
This will only be my fourth Regionals. In the first one, I accidentally forgot my Deck at home and played for fun. In the second (which is just after I considered myself semi-professional) I topped and obtained my Nationals Invite under UDE, playing Gladiator Beasts in TeleDAD format, going 4-2 for the day. It was very stormy weather and the participation was low. Later that invite was taken away when Konami took over the rights for distribution to Yugioh for everywhere else in the world.
I made the Decklist myself and tweaked accordingly.
The Legendary Six Samurai Decklist
Monsters: 13
3 Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki
3 Legendary Six Samurai - Kagemusha
3 Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan
2 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai
1 Hand of the Six Samurai
1 Spirit of the Six Samurai
Spells: 21
3 Gateway of the Six
3 Six Samurai United
3 Book of Moon
3 Shien's Smoke Signal
3 Upstart Goblin
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Giant Trunade
1 Reinforcement of the Army
Traps: 6
3 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Musakani Magatama
1 Mirror Force
Extra Deck: 15
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
2 Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Goyo Guardian
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Naturia Beast
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Magical Android
1 X-Saber Wayne
Side Deck: 15
1 Kinetic Soldier
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Smashing Ground
2 D.D. Crow
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Effect Veiler
1 Starlight Road
1 Torrential Tribute
I found that a copy of Spirit of the Six Samurai was an excellent way of keeping Shi En on the field for a longer period of time, as well as drawing a card when it destroys a monster. The only problem with this Deck is its lack of ability to deal with a Spirit Reaper, something I did regret on occasion during the event. I ran a lot of things in two in the Side Deck. I tried to cover as many of the Decks as possible:
Mirror Match (Legendary Six Samurai): Kinetic Soldier, Cyber Dragon for their sided Kinetic Soldiers, and Effect Veiler for Kageki.
X-Sabers: Nobleman of Crossout for Pashuul and Darksoul, Bottomless for Boggart Knight and Faultroll, and Starlight Road for Hyunlei.
Blackwings: Bottomless Trap Hole for Shura, Bora and Sirocco, Starlight Road for Icarus Attack, Torrential Tribute against swarms.
Debris Hime/Plants: D.D. Crow for Pot of Avarice/Dandylion/Glow up Bulb/Spore, Effect Veiler for Debris Dragon, Nobleman of Crossout for Ryko, Starlight Road for Black Rose, Smashing Ground for Tytannial.
Machinas: Cyber Dragon (along with Chimeratech Fortress Dragon), Effect Veiler, Torrential Tribute.
Lightsworn: Nobleman of Crossout for Ryko, Starlight Road for Celestia and Judgment Dragon.
Gravekeepers: Nobleman of Crossout for Guard and Spy, Torrential Tribute for large destruction. Also teched an Ancient Fairy Dragon in the Extra Deck for Necrovalley.
STUN: Bottomless for their normally beefy monsters and Nobleman for their set Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo.
Flamvells: Bottomless, again for their beefy monsters and Effect Veiler for their Firedogs.
Moncton Regionals Qualifier
Saturday, February 19th. My day started at 6 AM. I took a shower, got dressed in new clothes. I opted to wear stuff I had bought just the night before, a new pair of dark jeans, a blue button up shirt and a black vest over the shirt. I remembered everything - the Deck, personal binder, a tin, snacks for the drive, and my bank card. At 7:10 AM I left my apartment and got in the car. We went to the bank as well as Tim Horton's to get breakfast. I had a bagel and a french vanilla coffee, a personal favorite of mine.
On the way there, the four of us discussed our chances. Two of us in the car already had invites - Rob and Jeremy. Josh and I didn't. The odds were pretty good that one of us would top anyway, and we knew it. Jeremy was playing Nordics, Josh Flamvells, Rob Herald of Perfection and myself Six Sams.
We get there at 9, I write down all the information and my Decklist, pay for the five packs, do some trading, do some morale boosting, and finally start the tournament at 11:10, an hour and ten minutes late.
0-0.
I walk over to my table - Table 8 - to find that I'm playing the other person in the car who doesn't have an invite, Josh! He commented about the horrible matchup while I stated it was bound to happen. I know he's playing Flamvells.
Game 1 - I open double United, double Warning, Kageki-Kagemusha! I play both uniteds, Kageki-Kagemusha, draw 4 via United, Synchro for Shi En, special summon a Grandmaster, and set all to my back row (I had solemn Judgment and Book of Moon as well). He quickly scoops when he can't even summon a monster. I side in two copies of Bottomless Trap Hole and 1 copy of Effect Veiler for 3 Upstart Goblins.
Game 2 - he opens, sets one and passes. I open Triple Book, Gateway, Kagemusha and Kizan. I set double book, play Gateway (he MSTs) and I summon/Special/Synchro for Barkion. I attack for 25. He draws, sets and passes. I draw, attack again and pass. He draws, sets a monster. I normal summon Kageki, Special Summon Kagemusha, make a Shi En, attack over. Next turn I win.
1-0.
This takes us all of ten minutes. While looking around, I find a copy of a manga I've been looking for for years, and buy it. The joys of a toy store. I move up to Table 2 and sit down to find Dustin opposite me. Dustin is a real thorn in everyone's side, mainly because he isn't there to have fun; he's there to win.
Game 1 - I get Royal Tributed with 3 Six Sams in my hand. I quickly scoop, but do not side. In hindsight, this was a mistake.
Game 2 - Here's where it starts getting nasty. I draw my six, I have a very good hand, I drop a Shi En. Turn 1 he tries to Book of Moon Shi En. I flip Shi En over, realize it's counterable, and half a second later turn it over, saying 'negate'. He rulesharks me and says I've turned it over. I put it back down. Next turn, I search my Deck for a Spirit of the Six Samurai, drop it. I haven't shuffled, I realize he might have Spirit Reaper and say I'm searching for Hand. He claims that I have 'searched' for Spirit. I accept this. I attack with Shi En, sure enough it's a Reaper.
Because I'm not a jerk, he searches for Guard with Recruiter and I calmly inform him he's making an illegal play because Recruiter can only grab monsters with 1500 DEF or less, and allow him to search for a legal target. However, I lost.
1-1.
After this is lunch, and they've brought pizza for us to buy. I am steaming, but I realize I need to eat and I buy two slices and a bottle of coke for under $7. The bottle of coke was lost after the third round, and only half-drank, so someone else got my germs. I am moved all the way down to Table 12 to find my opponent, Eric.
Game 1 - He wins the dice roll, sets one card and ends. I activate a copy of Gateway, which draws an MST. I normal summon Kagemusha, Special Summon Kizan, and go into a Barkion, then attack, and set a copy of Solemn Warning. Next turn he activates Prohibition and calls Gateway, but I've got too much of an advantage for it to matter. He tries to summon, I negate with Warning and attack again with just Barkion for game. I reach for my side, putting in two copies of bottomless and a copy of Starlight Road for three Upstart Goblins.
Game 2 - He activates a first turn Prohibition on Gateway - bad since I have one copy in my hand. I activate double Six Samurai United, however, normal summon Kageki, special Summon Kagemusha, draw 2 off of each United, and special summon Shi En as I get a second Gateway, among other things. He Royal Oppressions, I activate my newly acquired MST to destroy oppression, and he Solemn Judgments. I end with a face-down Warning and Trunade as well as two Smoke Signals and two Gateways in my hand. He summons Shura, I negate with Warning, he tries to My Body as a Shield it. I tell him that first, My Body is only spell speed 2 and Solemn Warning is Spell Speed 3, in addition to the fact that Warning negates the summon. He asks for a judge, we wait 5 minutes to have Scott (the Judge, and arguably the best player in the region) come over, who politely tells him I'm right. Next turn I activate Trunade and cycle through my cards with the Gateways, then attack him for game.
2-1.
After the third round entirely ends, the three members of our team crowd around the scoreboard - Jeremy is 6th at 3-0, JT is tied for 7th at 2-1 and I'm tied for 7th with him! It's a good day thus far for our team, and we all are currently sitting in the Top 8. I move all of 1 table over, to Table 11, to find another Scott playing Six Sams.
Game 1 - he wins the dice roll, and I am now mildly concerned I might lose the match. However, he summons Shi En and Kizan. I attempt to Book of Moon Shi En, it's negated, and I dark hole. He doesn't have Magatama! I quickly play two copies of Six Samurai United, summon Spirit, special summon Grandmaster, draw four, attack, set a Solemn Warning and MST and end with two in hand. He sets two cards and passes. Next turn I normal summon Kageki, special summon Kagemusha, make a Shi En and attack over with Grandmaster, then Shi En, drawing a card. He scoops as I have overwhelming card advantage. I side into Kinetic Soldier and two Effect Veiler.
Game 2 - This time, he drops a Shi En with protection, and the best I can do is ram him with a Barkion. He then plays two copies of Gateway - his face down cards were bluffs, and I quickly scoop when he has a monster. I de-side for speed.
Game 3 - I Special Summon a Shi En with Kageki/Kagemusha, which proves to be his downfall after I set two and pass. He tries to activate Smoke Signal, I negate with Shi En, he activates two copies of Gateway, I negate his summon with Solemn Warning. Next turn I am able to drop a Barkion, and he extends the handshake.
3-1.
I look at the scoreboard again, Jeremy is 3-1 and behind me now as I moved into 4th place, the best of the 3-1s, while JT lost and moved down a fair amount of ranks. I move up to Table 8, where I am paired against Justin. He tells me he's just got back into the game and is coming to Regionals to see how he can do. He's a pretty cool guy, but he didn't expect Six Sams to be very big today and sadly did not have a side for me.
Game 1 - I won the dice roll and quickly overpower him with four monsters. The game wasn't even close, sadly. I side my two Noblemans and Torrential.
Game 2 - He activates first turn Necrovalley and summons Assailant, I have Kagemusha and Grandmaster for Ancient Fairy Dragon, and I destroy his Necrovalley using Ancient Fairy Dragon's effect. I set one and end my turn. Next turn I get a Kageki with a Kagemusha in my hand, and special summon Shi En. He says, 'You've got me' and concedes.
4-1.
Once again, I look at the scoreboard to find my name directly under the leader's: 2nd place going into Round 6. The person at 4-0 who was paired down lost his game, and JT lost - at 2-3, he decided to leave to go with his girlfriend. Jeremy is at 4-1 as well and has a good shot at getting to the Top 8. I find myself moving all the way from 7th table to 1st - for the first and only time today, I sat at Table 1, and it was worth it. I was playing Jordan, a mirror match, and I knew it. The only difference between our Decks was an extra Magatama in his Deck versus an extra Book of Moon in mine.
Game 1 - He drops double Gateway, Kagemusha, Kizan, another Kizan via search, synchro summons Barkion, grabs two more Kizans from the Deck and graveyard, special summons those, and has massive card advantage. I play a couple of turns, but that's all it takes for him to attack me for game. I quickly side into Kinetic Soldier and 2 Effect Veilers.
Game 2 - I draw double Grandmaster, double Book of Moon, Magatama and Warning. I warning his first summon but do not draw a monster. I flip his tuner face-down, still have no monster. Next turn I draw Kagemusha, attempt to summon it and try to Black Rose the field, which draws Solemn Warning. I concede.
4-2.
I am on the bubble. My tiebreakers are 6-0 and 5-1, which means I should have the best tiebreakers of anyone 4-2. The results *finally* make their way over. I am ranked 6th, but everyone else who wasn't in the Top 8 had to go see their ranks elsewhere. I have officially topped my second Regionals.
Top 8 Match
I shake Tyler's hand - he's someone who obtained his invite at the last Regionals, meaning this means much more to me than him at this point. We obtain our mats, which are laid out for us to play on and Scott takes my Deck for a Deck check. Everything is in order, I shuffle a bit, he looks at me and says, 'Shuffle it more, we put all the monsters, spells and traps together'. I thank him and pile shuffle multiple times. I had no idea what Tyler was playing, but from what I understood, he was playing X-Sabers.
Game 1 - We roll, I win, and opt to play first. Scott watches with a slight smile (he built Legendary Six Samurais too) as I open Gateway, Kageki and Kagemusha into Shi En, grab Kizan, special summon, grab Spirit and end. He sets two and a monster and passes. I summon Spirit, getting two counters, and equip it to Shi En. I attack with Kizan, and it's Fulhelmknight. I then attack over with Shi En and draw a card. He shakes his head and concedes, saying, 'Oh, dice roll.' I side for 2 Bottomless and 1 Effect Veiler.
Game 2 - He sets two spells or traps and a monster and ends. I draw double Gateway, both of which I activate. I then normal summon Kageki, special summon Kagemusha, Synchro for Shi En, grab Grandmaster from my Deck and special summon that "Poke into Kinetic Soldier?" I asked him. He flipped over the card, sure enough, it was a Kinetic Soldier. Next turn, he runs over my Shi En and sets one. I draw... it's Hand of the Six Samurai! I normal summon hand, loop counters and say, "destroy face-down Pashuul?" He laughs, flips it over, and I'm right. I swarm field, and attack him for game that turn.
Top 4 Match
At this point, all the prizes have been distributed. My information is taken for a Nationals Invite and I obtain a binder for making it to the top 4. However, because all the prizes have been distributed, it is not mandatory for any of us to play on as there is no bigger prize we can get. I opt not to play - Dustin made his way up the bracket and I was not going to play him, simply put.
In the four matches, 1 plays 8, 4 plays 5, 3 plays 6 and 2 plays 7. Out of the four matches, mine was the only one in which the lower seed made an 'upset' against the higher seed. #1, #2 and #4 all won their matches.
After all this is said and done, I am asked by someone to help him build a STUN Deck. I offer suggestions to him and I am thanked dearly for it. It was very flattering to be asked to help out with a Deck by someone you don't know and haven't seen before, and all-in-all was a humbling experience. I'm not normally asked to help out with a Deck by anyone not on my team. He asks me to trade, we try, but he just didn't have enough things we wanted.
Results
4-2 in Swiss, 6th overall
1-0 in Top 8
Props for the Day
-Topping a regionals and obtaining a Nationals Invite again
-Teammates traded lots and got good stuff, including a Barkion and a Beast for me so I could have actual copies of my own
-New Yugioh personal binder
-New mat (which was promptly given to another member of the team who wanted that particular mat, since I love my Gorz mat)
-Being in the top 4 duelists in the Maritimes
-Being asked to help out with a Deck
-Gaining some recognition by those in my area, as well as outside. I got a couple of nods for my sportsmanship, especially in the face of Dustin where I could have just as easily exploded. While I did steam, I didn't go on tilt or play recklessly and calmed down between the second and third rounds.
Slops for the Day
-Dustin. Sorry, but I still think this kid has the personality of a wooden shoe. A very blank, not even carved properly wooden shoe
-JT and Jeremy not topping Regionals
-Jordan. He was all happy about topping a Regionals with a Deck he said he copied from Scott, the Judge. Originality, out the window (I had unknowingly made a build very similar to Scott's but we had minor differences in tech choices)
Area Meta for Regionals
Total Decks played
-~15% Legendary Six Samurai
-~15% Debris Hime
-~15% Blackwings
-~15% Gravekeepers
-~10% X-Sabers
-~5% Lightsworns
-~5% Hopeless Dragon
-~5% Twilight
-~5% STUN
-~10% Other
Top 8
-37.5% Legendary Six Samurai
-25% Gravekeepers
-12.5% Debris Hime
-12.5% Stun
-12.5% X-Sabers
Top 4
-50% Legendary Six Samurai
-25% Debris Hime
-25% Gravekeepers
Pretty nicely written.