2015 Chicago Regional Tournament Report

I'd be lying if I said that I had anything short of an absolutely amazing weekend.  Friday night Brandon and Zach picked up Daniel and me, and we all headed over to Will's place in Chicago where we met Will's awesome room mates.  Tommy showed up later.  After a fun night of hanging out, playing Smash/card games, and drinking, we get a couple hours of sleep and head to the venue for some Vanguard.

I was going to play Seeker grade 1 rush, not because I wanted to, but because nobody had any Madews to loan me, other than one from Tommy.  So it's crunch time.  My BFF Daniel has all of the Cray Elementals I need in his binder, other than Madew.  I make a last minute snap decision to buy 3 Madews at Dirk's vending location so I can play Stardrive.dek.  There's only one problem.  I don't actually have the right grade 2's or G-Units.

I have to settle for not having a Samuel or Jirron in my final build, swapping those for Gablades.  Eww.  I also had to run Brede, the 12k GBreak attacker, in place of what could have been a potentially more useful grade 2.  Those limitations aside, I had most of the key units I needed to make the deck function.  I also didn't lose any games that Samuel might have won me other than maybe the final game, so the sub-optimal list didn't hurt too bad.  Here's the list:


You Madew Bro?

Starter - Shining Knight, Millius

12 Critical Triggers
4 Heal Triggers

4 Rainbow Guardian
4 Air Elemental, Fwarlun
3 Light Elemental, Peaker
3 Laurel Knight, Sicilus

4 Knight of Twin-Sword
4 Knight of Fragment
3 Transmigration Knight, Brede

4 Gigantech Charger
4 Stardrive Dragon

4 Rain Element, Madew
2 Shrouded Divine Knight, Gablade
1 Snow Element, Blizza
1 Miracle Element, Atmos


I was barely able to piece everything together before round 1 started.  I set off on a goal to win a match or two, then scrub out and eat pizza with friends.  My goal wasn't a number of wins so much as fighting a competitive player and killing them with Stardrive Dragon to inflict maximum salt.  I had no idea what I was in store for this day...


Round 1 - W vs. Royal Paladin (MLB/Jewel Knight/Thing Saver)

This deck used Wingal Brave with a Blaster grade 2 lineup to get more Blasters or MLB.  It has Jewel Knight grade 1's and triggers for Swordmy.  It had Thing Saver after MLB built up the soul to finish.  Unfortunately for my opponent, they were grade locked at 2 because they didn't shuffle well.  They damage checked 4 grade 3's over the course of the game.  That being said, I followed my own advice completely and didn't let Wingal Brave hit, keeping my opponent gradelocked.  I won by swinging in with my avatar, STARDRIVE DRAGON!  Opponent was a bro.  They weren't salty for losing to me so much as frustrated for not shuffling properly.


Round 2 - W vs. Link Joker (Amnesty Messiah)

This game was super awesome.  My deck can pretty much never be controlled through retirement, but he kept my board locked down for a long time.  I end up striding 6 times that game.  I only have one Gablade face down, and due to not having any more Madews to stride into, I couldn't stride on my final turn.  I swing with nothing more than a Stardrive Dragon at his Vanguard.  He is at 5 damage at this point.  He can't guard, so he lets it through.  Crit.  Crit.  THE WRATH OF THE COSMO DRAGON IS REAL.  We both had less than 7 cards in our decks at the end of this game.  It was beastly!  This guy was also a bro, and having seen the full capabilities of what my deck can do, complimented me for being an "evil genius".


Round 3 - W vs. Royal Paladin (Jewel Knights/Thing Saver)

I went second, calling a grade 1 to boost my starter on a side row.  I swing with my Vanguard to theirs.  They no guard, I crit, and they hit no damage triggers.  I swing with my 17k row to their 7k Vanguard.  They go to three.  The accidental sort-of rush put me too far ahead.  I won the game with a crit the turn I first strode.  Opponent was a bro.  We wished each other luck and went on our ways.


Round 4 - W vs. Royal Paladin (Sanctuary Guard Ragalie)

My opponent opened 3 perfect guards and didn't see a grade 3.  They had to pitch a null to G-Assist, then pitch another one (along with a grade 2) to stride.  They couldn't recover after that point.  Opponent was a bro.  We wished each other the best and went on our ways.


Round 5 - L vs. Link Joker (Amnesty Messiah)

This was another great game.  He omega locked my right side of the field for 4 consecutive turns, keeping himself in the game.  He only ran 4 crits, but he was able to hit 2 of them offensively over the course of the game.  He would alternate between his stride enabler and Blaster Joker to prevent deckout and build soul to draw more cards.  He played the deck very well.  It went all the way down to the wire, with me using every single Madew in my extra deck.  I eventually lost from not being able to output as much offensive pressure due to having my units locked.  My opponent was a bro.  I wished him good luck (partially so that my tiebreakers would be better, mostly because he was a bro) and we moved on.


Round 6 - W vs. Kagero (DOtX Stride)

My opponent was playing a DOtX build.  I was a little excited, because I knew my match-up against the deck was solid.  He nuked 7 of my rear guards with retirement effects.  I don't believe that I ever attacked with less than a full field at any point in the game.  This is a match-up where Gigantech Charger was truly able to shine.  I ended up expending all of my Madews this game, but I overtook him with card quantity and won the game.  My opponent was a bro.  I think he even called me a hero.  We wished each other the best and moved on.


Round 7 - W vs. Shadow Paladin (Diablo)

I went second.  Turn 3 had him hit with Judgebau boosting his Phantom Blaster "Abyss".  He called double Swordbreakers putting him at about a million cards in hand.  I stride into Madew the following turn.  He is at 3 damage.  He asks if Madew has any on-hit skills.  I say, "Nope."  He says no guard.  I double crit in my triple drive.  He doesn't heal.  I apologize for sacking him (in all honesty, he really SHOULD have guarded), but my opponent was a bro.  We wished each other the best and moved on.


Round 8 - L vs. Royal Paladin (Thing Saver/Jewel Knights)

I held on as long as I could, but early crits put me at 5.  I ended the game with all 4 of my heals in my 23~ card deck.  This is the only game where if I ran Samuel I might have won, but there's no guarantees on that.  Honestly, considering that I drew well, fielded well, and rode well every game, I can't complain about getting overwhelmed by early triggers and not seeing my heals.  This was the end of a damn good run.  My opponent was a bro.  We wished each other the best and moved on.



Final standings - After 8 grueling rounds, I ended up in the top 16 with a final record of 6-2.  This is the best I've ever done at any Bushiroad event for Vanguard to-date.  There was a massive hypetrain of individuals going to watch my matches and see me win with Stardrive Dragon.  Many people wanted me to top 8, or even win it all so that my decklist could be posted.  With my deck's name being, "You Madew Bro?!", it would have been even better.  Sadly, I didn't quite make it all the way, failing at the very last step before top 8ing.  Still, top 16 out of 431 players is an extremely solid result, and everyone is still calling it a top, even though it wasn't a final 8 top.  I certainly have no problems calling it a top.

Now, I will say that my finally topping a Vanguard event doesn't change my opinions on it.  I just happened to draw very well all day.  Now, while my deck is a troll deck, it is still solidly built with a ridiculous advantage engine.  My deck is a good, competitive deck.  It's just not the best deck.  It's not what I would consider top tier.  It just had a really good run.

Now, if you ask me if I accomplished my goal for the day, I would say, "No."  My goal was to beat a competitive player with Stardrive Dragon and make them incredibly salty.  that didn't work at all.  Everyone was super awesome, and greatly enjoyed my deck, even when they happened to lose to it.  STOP BEING SO AWESOME VANGUARD COMMUNITY!


Saturday night featured more drinking.  After the Disney sing-along, we reached the point where we decided it was a good idea to beat the crap out of each other with LARP weapons.  I went 10-1-1 in my LARP fights (those nerds don't know how to fight).  My one loss was me standing completely still not realizing we were actually fighting.  My one tie would have left me wounded and them dead.  I rekt them with my masterful sword abilities.  Also, spear is OP and autowin.  Real life, nerf spears.  thx.

Sunday happens.  I wake up, and it's 9:03.  Registration is already going on for Buddyfight and I'm like, "Uhh, guys.  We need to be there yesterday!"  We eventually make it there at 10:03.  We only barely made the registration cutoff.  Then I have to, with a much later start than I would have liked, write my entire decklist out.  But I hadn't adjusted my deck to put in the Champion Wrestler Asmodais that I just got.  Thus, I made a very rushed deck based on what I thought would do the best against Kaizerion.  Here was what I came up with.


Magic Burn

Flag - Magic World
Buddy - Magical Artist, Andy

Size 1

2 Dragowizard, Burning Wand
2 Magician of Glass, Will Glassart
3 Magic Power Researcher, Ren Kogasaki
4 Magic Artist, Andy
4 Dragowizard, Qinus Axia

Size 2

4 Magical Secretary, Genjuro Saki
2 Center of the World, Mary Sue

Size 3

2 Champion Wrestler Asmodai

Spells

1 Oops!
2 Solomon's Shield
2 Abra Cadabra!
2 Kosher
2 Trans-flame
3 Chillax!
4 Magical Goodbye
4 Nice One!

Items

3 Gunrod, Del Gesu
4 Gunrod, Bechstein


Sideboard

2 Champion Wrestler Asmodai
2 Demon Lord Asmodai
2 Gunrod Stradivarius
2 Destruction
1 Trans-flame
1 Dragowizard, Burning Wand


First, let's discuss the decklist.  I made a few mistakes in my hurry.  First, I had no Begones.  This was due to them not being in my Magic World dual-deckbox.  In one side of that box I keep my deck.  In the other side, I have playsets of just about every relevant Magic World card in the game.  I'm missing 4 Eligos, 3 Devil Advantages, one Mary Sue, one Clock, and 4 Zagan.  Apparently, my Begones worked their way back to my common box at the bottom of my bag, and I didn't have time to dig.  I just gave in and settled without them.  After playing around with my list and extras, I decided to focus more on Ren Kogasaki over Will Glassart.  This was due to gauge management being difficult.  Ren Kogasaki also helps close out games with Abra Cadabra.  My second mistake was adding in a second Mary Sue.  If I had Merlin in her place I would have likely done much better.  I couldn't manage the guage cost of Mary Sue without Andy.  Finally, I don't know what the proper balance is between Champmodai, Destruction, and my own hand and gauge management.  This made my main board deck often have the same cards sided out over and over again as I learned what mistakes I made in crafting the main deck in terms of gauge management.  I should have used 3 Kosher, but I always draw all 3 copies when I play 3, and I just couldn't risk that.  This made me have almost no outs for gauge recovery, and I had to rely on Genjuro Saki and Andy for my deck to function at its basic level.  That's not an inherently large problem, but it increased the likelihood of dead draws, and I was cautious of that, too.


Round 1 - W vs. Hero World (Gaigrander)

I fought against Dirk in round 1.  I happened to open with my 1-of Oops! both games.  By removing his Gaigrander01 in battle phase, I neutered his offense and defense, leaving him largely helpless.  This was mostly due to opening with Oops!, but I  was also able to burn effectively.  The first game was a little more tough, due to my opening with 4 cards that cost 2 gauge or more.  My deck doesn't run many of them, but if I draw enough of them, it can be an auto-loss.  Fortunately, I recovered and won that game.  I won game 2 without any issues.


Round 2 - W vs. Dragon World (Crimsons w/ size 3s)

This deck ran Gatling and Inferno Armor for board control and defense (and some burn in Gatling's case).  I believe that he took game 1 due to simply having 8 crit on the board while I didn't draw any defense.  Game 2 was close, but I narrowly survived a turn (Impact would have killed me if he had it) and was able to swing for game the following turn.  The final match was where he misplayed.  He played Inferno Armor Dragon to his center to protect himself and intentionally prolong the game.  That gave me time to slowly ping him down and build up card advantage, being Magic World and all.  I was able to gather plenty of defense to weather his turn after I destroyed Inferno.  Then I pinged for game.


Round 3 - L vs. Hero World (Quartet Five)

Ugh.  He opened pretty awful first game (two size 1s), but not as awful as I did (4 gunrods, 2 chillax).  Every time I played a creature, he swung into it with everything.  His playstyle was nonsensical, especially against Magic World.  Playing for card advantage against a deck that auto-wins grind games is really dumb.  But he got rewarded for it.  I drew nothing all game to cycle out or fix my hand.  I finally got a Nice One! on turn 4.  I cast it and draw two more Nice Ones.  I lose the following turn.  Next game he gets out his 9/3/7 on the first turn.  I sided in Destruction and blew it up.  He continues blindly attacking my sides when my deck is literally a timer.  Only, the Destruction play put me too far down in card advantage, I opened awful again, and I just didn't recover.  We both run out of cards.  I see no Nice Ones, Koshers, Mary Sues, or what have you.  He top decks into his Grimoire clone, then wins by refielding after that.  Bad draws happen.  I'm not really salty that I lost to the guy so much as why was he undefeated at this point?  Oh well.  Can't fix it.


Round 4 - W vs. Hero World (Kaizerion)

My opponent was playing cancer.  I think I took game 1 by burning him effectively.  Game 2 was his due to 4 crit double attack penetrate.  This was the game I used Champion Wrestler Asmodai to completely remove a 2 soul Kaizerion.  I just couldn't recover from the self-inflicted card disadvantage.  He eventually got another one out because they have 8 effective copies, and I lost.  Game 3 was where things got silly.  After three turns a piece, he has me at 3 life with 1 soul in his Kaizerion.  He enters battle phase.  He has penetrate on his Kaizerion, I believe.  He also has a 2 crit unit on the side.  I'm at 0 gauge with Genjuro Saki, Bechstein, and Burning Wand on the board and 2 cards in hand.  He is at 2 life.  He skips his battle phase and goes straight to final phase.  I don't respond.  He casts his impact.  I respond with Chillax, bringing me to 4, then knocking me to 1.  I win by burning him the following turn.


Round 5 - L vs. Hero World (Kaizerion)

This time I played against Jason.  I kept trying various things against Kaizerion to try and get over it.  Game 1 I had lethal on board and I was swinging in with it with a spell negate in hand.  Mach Braver said, "Lolnope".  I didn't have the defense I needed to stop his next turn.  Game 2 he accidentally shuffled his buddy into his deck.  There wasn't really a way to fix that, and it was ruled that he got a game loss.  Game 3, I'm in a solid position to win if I can survive one more turn.  The only problem is that he has a 9/3/7, 4 soul, 4 crit, double attacking Kaizerion (fortunately, without penetrate).  He attacks my center, which I let go.  He attacks again.  I respond with Chillax.  He negates it, bringing me down to 4.  He impacts for 6.  ggnore.  I tried dropping, but I was peer pressured to stay in.  I knew I wasn't likely to top, but I thought, "Meh, I'll give it a try."  Jason is a good friend, so I wasn't upset about losing.  I knew coming into this that I had about a 50/50 matchup to Kaizerion with my deck.


Round 6 - W vs. Hero World (Gaigrander)

My opponent was playing Gaigranders.  Game 1 I was able to simply overwhelm him with offense.  Game 2 I sided in Destruction.  I blew up his 01, and it was all over after that.  He couldn't really hold up due to my opening well and eliminating his offense and defense.


Round 7 - W vs. Hundred Demons (Yamigedo/Lindwurm revival spam)

I was surprised to see a 4-2 Hundred Demons deck.  I hadn't seen many that day.  Unfortunately, Hundred Demons just don't have enough support to be competitive at the moment.  I steamroll him both games without really caring at all about Thunder Mine.  He does get out a Yamigedo game 2, but Champion Wrestler Asmodai put an end to him really fast.


Final results for Buddyfight were 5W 2L.  A solid run.  I had a chance of topping, so I stayed at the venue waiting for the top 8 to be announced.  I glanced at the paper and saw that I was 10th, so I missed the cut by a small margin.  I still had fun, so it was an awesome day.  After that, we all got pizza.  It was good pizza, too.

That wrapped up the tournament.  I got top 16 out of 431 players for Vanguard going 6W 2L.  Then I got 10th place out of 88~ players going 5W 2L in Buddyfight.  I had no expectations of topping either event due to trolling the Vanguard tournament and playing a deck with no new cards printed for it since the Golden Buddy Pack in the other, so my results were extremely pleasing.

We ended the day watching Eragon, which was so bad it was good.  I woke up the next morning singing "I Feel Pretty", to which Will's roommate just pops out of nowhere and picks up where I left off, and that's awesome.