So, interesting things happened this weekend at Chicago. I simultaneously went negative at a Buddyfight tournament for the first time ever and did the best I've ever done at any Vanguard event.
The night started with me, Daniel, Zack, and Mike road tripping to Chicago. We met up with Tommy and Steve at the hotel and had a good old time making fun of Aldnoah.Zero, which we were watching for some reason. I wanted to be in the lobby representing my Buddyfight Gym (The Dank Meme Gym) so that I could take on challengers for the Dank Meme Badge, but they closed the lobby at midnight. I really hope they change the venue next year, as this was the only location we've had that wouldn't let us play card games in the lobby. Austin Somers was the only player able to defeat me on Friday for a badge.
Saturday rolls around. I really didn't care what I was playing or what I was doing. I expected maybe a round 5 finish or something and then I was planning on doing more badge fights. Saturday had a lot more in store for me than I had bargained for. I asked the Vanguard Complaint Group Chat what I should play for the day. I got more votes for Seven Seas Rush than my other two options, Giraffa and Madew, so I went with that.
Here is a link to the decklist I ran.
It took barely any time to get my list done. We had over 350 people show up at the venue for Vanguard. After a delay, round 1 finally started.
Round 1 - W vs. Gold Paladin (Gurguit)
This match was a bit of a wash. I was able to secure my set-up, but I hit no triggers offensively or defensively the entire game, barring a single offensive stand when my entire field was already standing because I used Slash Shade. He no guards my Vanguard at 4 twice and lives both times. I end up not getting enough shield and have to no guard his Vanguard at 4 one time. Neither of us hit the crits we needed to seal it, so I end up killing him with a 5 attack turn.
Round 2 - W vs. Bermuda Triangle (Prisms)
This match was terrifying. They had out two Celtics for on-hit bounce and draws, and I didn't have the ability to guard one earlier, giving them more defense against the rush when they bounced their starter to hand. I had to face a 2 crit Labrador for two swings. I had to one-to-pass the final swing. I end up winning only because he tried to break the two-to-pass the turn prior, so I had enough shield to survive the following turn. I didn't hit any offensive or defensive triggers this game, and only narrowly won due to some luck and getting my set-up.
Round 3 - W vs. Bermuda Triangle (Prisms)
My opponent never rode to grade 3. Their game plan was to stay on Celtic the entire game. My game plan was to get gradelocked on 0. I opened one of each trigger and Nightrunner. I knew that I could ride Nightrunner if I had to, and that I could ride over it later for no net loss in cards, so I wasn't super worried about it. I G-Assist just to see if I can get Raistutor, and he was my 5th card. I was able to recover my field completely because this deck is bullshit, and I swung in as if I never negged in the first place. I kept Celtic at bay, guarding it every time it swung. I won the game hitting a crit trigger through either a one-to-pass or a no-guard on 4. Don't remember exactly which. It was my first crit so far in the tournament and it made me pretty happy that I actually hit a trigger.
Round 4 - W vs. Oracle Think Tank (Susanoo/Tsukuyomi)
This round was sad. I had to fight my buddy Mike. To put things in a very simple fashion, he missed every Tsukuyomi check, had to ride Susanoo against a grade 1 rush deck, and I sacked the ever loving shit out of him. I ended up killing him by superior riding to Plegeton, making a large Nightspinel row, and hitting a crit to secure game.
Round 5 - W vs. Dimension Police (D-Robos)
I don't remember a lot about this match. I remember he swung into rear guards, then I pooped them back out. He kept trying to disadvantage the rush that can't be disadvantaged. I destroyed him.
Round 6 - L vs. Royal Paladin (Sanc Blaster)
So, I kind of knew I'd lose to Kevin Cho. I didn't get a single grade 2 in hand or in drop. I wanted to ride to 2 against him because Sanc Blaster doesn't use GBreak, really, Sebreeze would eat all of the counterblasts from Flogal, and 12k Blaster Blades are terrifying for 7k base Vanguards. But, since I couldn't secure a bigger butt, he ended up killing me on a Blaster Blade/Flogal turn. RIP.
Round 7 - W vs. Gear Chronicle (Chonojet)
This opponent seemed to mulligan heavily for getting a counter-rush to my rush. I guess the 7Cs sleeves gave it away. Lol. But, uhh. He rode Gigi. And stayed on Gigi. Staying on a 5k butt meant that even two damage triggers weren't enough to stop my swings. I demolished the poor guy. I have no idea whether he turbo-bricked, thought the counter-rush would help, or if he just wanted to have a full board like me because he thought it was cool.
Interestingly, I moved from table 4 to the very last table for round 7. I thought that would kill my tiebreakers and I wouldn't make top cut. I kind of didn't care one way or the other, since I don't think a BO1 Vanguard tournament can even pretend to be competitive. Especially since I won about half of my rounds by praying that my opponent wouldn't crit me and succeeding. Regardless, they ended up announcing top 8. I heard 8th place get called. I heard 7th place get called. I was thinking, "Welp, I probably got 9th, since Austin had better tiebreakers than me." Then I hear, "6th place, Timothy Emerson." Oh shit. I guess I did it. Then 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd get called. Austin's name isn't called. Even though he was undefeated until the final round. That's kind of bullshit. Austin got 9th. RIP Austin.
After deck check, I go to top 8. Amazingly, there were many people who brought grade 1 rush to the tournament. Far more than I ever imagined would. And a whopping 3 of us made it to the top 8, all with the same list. One person said they mirrored my list from my blog post. I can't take credit for the deck, though, since it topped over a half-dozen times before I did with it. Still, it's nice to see that my topping cannot be called a fluke since so many people went so far with the deck in so many tournaments in so many different countries. The other two Seven Seas Rush players lost their first match in the top 8.
Quarter-Finals - W vs. Kagero (Overlord)
He was playing Greats and Legends, to my knowledge. I don't remember super well the exact plays and triggers, but I'm pretty sure I won 2-1. His deck was locked out of generation break. He was able to make some decent retirement plays that would have crippled normal rush decks, but this deck just didn't care. I wind up taking the series.
Semi-Finals - L vs. Royal Paladin (Sanc Blaster)
Kevin Cho ended up being my only losses all day. Game 1 he hit defensive crit, heal (goes off), draw. I lost for obvious reasons. Game 2 I am putting on solid pressure. Since he ran draws for some weird reason and I didn't have the shield to stop him if he double crit me anyway, I no-guard his swing at 3 damage. Crit, crit. That's Vanguard, all right. RIP
Consolation-Finals - W vs. Gold Paladin (Gurguit/Ezel)
Game 1 I was struggling to get the game won. He ends up only being able to 1-to-pass my Vanguard at 5. I hit a stand trigger and push him to 6. He heals out of lethal and takes the game after that. Game 2 I have him on the ropes early from getting a 4 damage turn in my first turn swinging. He never had the ability to get 5 RGs for Ezel Scissors to get his critical. I end up winning that match. The last game was pretty close. He rode Gurguit. I ended up getting him to 5 and having him in a situation where I could kill him through a 6th damage heal by doing a cool loop with multiple Ghosties and multiple Nightcrows. I used that loop to make Nightspinel 26k, which secured the anti-heal for me.
All-in-all, I ended up getting 3rd place. This has firmly solidified my opinion that the less I care and the less I try, the better my tournament results will be, based on my tournament history. I am not sold if I'm going to California for the event. If I did, I am not sold I'd want to play Granblue Rush when I could play a meme deck. We'll see how that goes.
Congrats Tim !
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