Sunday, June 30, 2013

World Championship Qualifiers Report

I was at Sungei Wang Plaza yesterday doing a lot of scouting work, trying to figure out how some of the better players play and also what they tech. Then I proceed to do some light training with Kyde to 11pm.

I played Bujin for the event, because my build is good against Dragon Rulers in general. However, Prophecies are a very bad match up. Since there are a little over 15 Prophecies (I suppose) by Top 64, I guess my chances of actually meeting 1 is rather slim, so I went with Bujin.

Before I forget, I was depending on the format to be swiss because I don't really think I can win in a match against Prophecy. So, when they announced the format to be Single Elimination, I shit bricks.

Game 1 : VS Prophecy

Why god? What did I ever do to you?

Duel 1 : I open 2 Tenki and 2 Yamato without traps. I wasn't really sure how I'm gonna win this, but since Tenki are pretty much useless I set them. Somehow, my opponent either didn't open well or that scared him. I was able to win when I YOLO and made Susanoo with Reborn and Habakiri.

Duel 2 : I open 3 Yamato and he starts. Yeah, best opening ever.

Duel 3 : I open Tenki, Bear, Tengu, Kycoo and Hetsuka. I wanted to cry that exact moment. I run 12 monsters not including Maxx C (it was Droll&Lock in this game) and Veiler, how did I even open a full monster hand. I start and drew into my six, Droll&Lock. I search for Yamato and ended. Luckily my opponent didn't open very well either. When he was trying to resolve a big Judgment play, I had the bird for it and somehow won this game.

I won but I don't know how I won. I was not sure what was wrong with my deck and how the hell I open multiple Yamatos without trying. I went for a light "sembahyang" session before round 2.

Game 2 : VS Prophecy

There are 8 Prophecies left in Top32 and I met another one. Nice ...

Duel 1 : I open Compulse, Judgment and Emptiness; no monsters. His Kycoo murdered me in a few turns because God answered my prayers and gave me no monsters.

Duel 2 : I was in an equally bad situation as duel 2 of game 1, where I open 3 War God (NOT YAMATO) for no real reason. I just set them since Kycoo and Star Hall is big. I decided to go YOLO and make Susanoo with Reborn again, he Veilers it and I kill Kycoo. I set Autonomous as a bluff holding Veiler and Habakiri. He flips Storm and plays Secrets to get Magician. I used Veiler on it. He then plays Masters to copy Secrets. If he takes Fate now, I'm a dead man. But I knew he might take Powers since he has Maiden on the field and Blue-Eyes has field presence. I put on EMO Face #1 and keep passing responses. His Blue-Eyes took was murdered and I won next turn.

Duel 3 : Although I won game 2, he starts in game 3 so I don't feel good at all. He ends with Azure-Eyed Silver Dragon, Judgment for 2 and a random Magician. I have Yamato kill his Magician set Compulse, Safe-zone and Judgment. I play Compulse on his draw. He shows me Storm, I play Judgment, he shows me MST, and a Dark Hole, and a Reborn (the Spell Book one) and a Secrets and a Masters. Yeah, most back and forth game I've played in my life ...

Well that wraps up the event. I'll be moving to the US this August so this will be the last OCG event for me (not including locals). 

Friday, June 28, 2013

Countdown to WCQ - 1 Day!

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are. Sorry for a month of absence, I've was working as an application engineer for the past month and have been following a project since then (any engineers reading this should feel this). I've finally had some free time and what good timing it is. A day before the start of WCQ Malaysia.

How is this event any different from previous event you might ask. Well, this is the first time (correct me if I'm wrong) we have a 2-day event. I know quite a number of us were begging for this for some time now and we finally have it. Finally, we can proudly say, "I've made Day 2!" LOL

As many Malaysian bloggers had explained, Day 1 will be single elimination and cut to top 32, where they will join the 32 seeded players for a Top 64 Day 2 Swiss. Nice!

Personally, I prefer swiss over single elimination. Double elimination is still the better format, but I understand its much difficult to pull out with 64 players (or am I wrong?).

Since I was qualified for Day 2, I originally planned to do coverage for day 1, BUT, the Singapore coverage team would be here tomorrow it seems and they have a good track record at doing coverage at their event. Guess no one would be missing my crappy writing.

Well, not writing for a month really took its toll on me, as I have nothing more I wanna put in words as of now. Again, I wish everyone the best of luck come tomorrow and Sunday, and to whoever gets the air ticket, hopefully Malaysia can finally take home a World Championship trophy!