V at Regionals

Yesterday, there was WCQ Regional at my locals. I went there, but there was an underwhelming amount of twenty-something attendees. That’s a low amount for a qualifier. Could it be a backlash from the unusual high amount of attendees at nationals last week? Who knows?

As the judges waited a bit longer for more people to show up, I walked around, looking at the Qualifier mats that was price support. I was drooling over what I saw. It wasn’t the Grapha mat from last Regionals, it wasn’t the Heliopolis mat from nationals… It was the Ninja mat I wanted! That encouraged me to get into that top-8.

We waited for quite a bit, but finally end up giving in our deck lists and going into the first round.

Round 1: Vs Albert (Ninja Dragons)

It’s fated. At nearly every tournament we both attend, I’m going up against this guy. I like this guy, because he builds different decks nearly all the time. Some of them are good, others are bad. Some are original and fun to play against. Most of the times I win, but there have been several occasions where he surprised me and beat the living crap out of me. This time, he brought Ninja Dragons (cool).

• Game 1: I get Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon on the field, together with two Lightpulsar Dragons. I overlay both dragons for Photon Strike Bounzer, surprising him for already having the card (lol). He couldn’t do a damn thing anymore. He drew a Hanzo, but as my Bounzer would only negate it, he lost automatically.
• Game 2: He gets two Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragons on the field, together with Lightpulsar Dragon. He counts 8100 damage and comes to the conclusion he just OTK’d me (wow).
• Game 3: For the first time in our duel, he can get his ninja stuff going. I can play around the first Super-Transformation, but get hit by the second. But a topdecked Dark Hole & Victoria turn the duel around. I win.
• Result: OXO

Round 2: Vs. Kim, the national Champ (Inzektors) – Feature match!

From the moment I saw the matchup, I thought: “Cool, versus the champ and his Dino Rabbits”. It would be the first time playing against a Dino Rabbit deck in an actual tournament. We sit down at the Ninja mats (cool), in front of the camera; which I accidentally knock away (woops). The moment I talk to Kim about me facing the national champ and his Dino Rabbits, he says he brought another deck to this tournament. Boy, was I in for a surprise…

• Game 1: I quickly notice I ain’t facing Dino Rabbits when Dragonfly and co. hit the field. As usual, I lose the first game to “the ultimate self-touch deck”.
• Game: 2: It starts off well when I use Chain Disappearance on his Tour Guide (lol). Then I try using Veiler in a chain when he activated Safe Zone. He explains I couldn’t do that because Safe Zone prevented his Dragonfly from being Veilered. At that point I wanted to beat up that teammate of mine (the one that topped nationals). Two days before, he explained that it worked the opposite way, even against my arguments. Due to believing him (he didn’t realize he was wrong, until I put the facts in his face), I lost that game, when I should’ve won! (CURSES!)
• Result: XX

Round 3: Vs. Karel (Darkworld)

I face this guy from time to time. Nice guy, but a bit of a dork. I try to be nice to him, as he seems a tormented soul with a heavy past. But sometimes even I can’t help myself boasting a little when laughing together with my friends. I’m going to remember apologizing to him next time; I may have been a little harsh on the poor guy.

• Game 1: He can’t get his Darkworld cards in his hand (He normal summoned Snoww) and loses fast.
• Game 2: He suddenly gets Chaos Hunter on the field (my arch-nemesis), but he didn’t saw Honest supporting my Light Dragons, so I beat him.

the second game onward, my memory’s a little vague. So I’m not sure if I won 2-0, or 2-1.

Round 4: Vs Stijn (Inzektors)

I got in front of a fellow Chaos Dragons player, only to find out he switched over to Inzektors as well. Why is everybody changing to inzektors, for crying out loud? Oh, well.

• Game 1: I lose the dice roll, he gets his inzektor stuff going, I lose (familiar scenario).
• Game 2: I get Future fusion, get Chaos Monsters, I banish his key cards. I win.
• Game 3: I misjudge a face-down Solemn warning, when It actually was a Torrential Tribute. I wanted to keep my REDMD alive, so before I used REDMD’s effect, I Tried triggering the Warning by summoning Lyla, only facing Torrential Tribute and missing the chance of getting Lightpulsar’s loop. This misjudgment costs me this round. Aaaaaah…
• Result: XOX

Round 5: Vs Unknown (the bugz!)

I faced one of the few French guys that bothered coming to our area for the qualifier. Apparently he’s the buddy of Sebastien Gonzales, one of Belgium’s best players. So, I’m prepared for anything.

• Game 1: I have a bad opening hand and can’t protect myself against them swarming bugz (not again...)
• Game 2: Somehow I get Eclipse Wyvern in the grave, but my field remains empty. He plays Dimensional Fissure on me (gee, I didn’t see that one coming) and attacks me with Spirit Reaper (Okay, he got me there!). Next turn I surprise him with Return from the different Dimension, bringing back my two banished Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragons, using their effect to bring more boss monsters and overwhelm his attack-positioned reaper.
• Game 3: This exciting match goes back and forth. My deck shows its anti-inzektor potential, by banishing his hornet at least two times, veilering his Centipedes before they do a lot of damage & using Chain Disappearance on his Dragonflies. He counters my boss monsters with various traps. We go into time, but in the end he has to give in. For once I had the right cards at the right moment, making the right decisions.
• Result: XOO (Yes!)

Since there were less than thirty players, there were only 5 rounds, so that was it. Together with Maarten, another familiar face at locals (another one of those guys I face nearly every tournament), we joke about getting into top-8. We both realize it’s impossible with 2 losses. We both wanted that Ninja mat, as we're both Ninja fans.

Final standings are given and I end up being 8th place, to my own surprise. They seriously had to film my face when they announced me being in top-8, I was overjoyed, as I won that Ninja mat I wanted so badly! Maarten, on the other hand, was not that happy. He got 9th place, missing out on that mat. I could read the disappointment from his face. The organizer handed out the notes for qualification for the European Chamionship (in Italy). He handed one over to me, to my surprise. I thought only 1 person for each 6 players got qualified? Well, we’ll see whether or not I’ll get an official invite in my mailbox, or not. It’s not like I can go to Italy either way (lol).

Thoughts in general:

People are switching over to inzektors more and more. It’s a sad thing and I’ll be glad when September comes and puts an end to that self-touch deck.

The organizer held back on price support. I find it hard to believe that the winner gets the same price as the 8th place (me). It’s not really fair for a guy that won all rounds to get the same price as the guy that he beat in the second round.

Keep your eyes on Inzektor Players! If it isn’t re-using used monster effects, or getting to many cards in their hand, it’s misunderstanding their own cards. Safe Zone appears to be the latest tech card in the deck, but many players use it wrong! Remember the following:

1. Veiler that Dragonfly or Centipede BEFORE your opponent activates Safe Zone
2. you CANNOT attack directly with a monster equipped with Safe Zone!
3. You CANNOT prevent the destruction of a DEFENSE-position Dragonfly by activating Safe Zone.
4. When Safe Zone is removed from the field, that Dragonfly you tried to protect is destroyed & vice versa.