Wrestlemania pre-show personal tournament report
Apr 7, 2014 10:23:25 GMT 8
The King of Kings, iFydd, and 2 more like this
Post by xbchee on Apr 7, 2014 10:23:25 GMT 8
Hi all, for those who don't know, I have an habit of writing a personal tournament report after every great tournament. Here's my submission for the tournament organised by Joshua (stucket) on April 5.
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I was tempted to join the tournament when the tournament was announced some time back, but to my dismay, there was a ban list implemented. The following is the list of superstars and cards prohibited for the tournament.
Banned Superstars:
1. MR. PPV
2. Roddy Piper
3. Andre the Giant
4. Bobby Lashley
5. Bobby Heenan
6. The Big Freak'n Machine
7. Largest Athlete in Sports Entertainment
8. Mr Kennedy
Banned Cards:
1. Are you cooler than Michelle Mccool?
2. JYD' Chain
3. Run the Gauntlet
4. It's all about the game
5. First of All
6. Intensity of 10 cities
This meant that I could not use my trusty All Together Now Kennedy, a deck which I put together all the way back during early 2007, and retained since then. With that option out, I dug deep to think of what other non-revolution decks that I had used back then that were cheap, effective and stable. It went down to Chain Carlito and Backfire Leader of the Peepulation. However, I did not limit myself to only these 2 options as I continued to churn out new janky ideas that comes cheap.
After weeks of testing the various janky ideas, none of them proved stable enough to be considered for the event, and were scraped. I was back to Carlito and Leader of the Peepulation again. Considering that It's All About the Game was on the ban list, Carlito would be crippled in certain match-ups where the opponent rely heavily on pre-match (which I foresee is direction of the current metagame). Cards like Best Laid Plans would screw up my Carlito's build too. Then, I looked at Leader of the Peepulation. The deck was not a tier 1 deck back then due to the presence of Roddy Piper (Backfire has "reverse" in its text, and therefore be blanked). However, with the ban list, the deck becomes relevant as its worse match-up is gone. I decided to use Backfire Leader of the Peepulation.
Fast forward to the event day, there was a attendance of 14 players, a healthy number considering the state of the game. When I arrived, players were having casual games with one another. I looked around and scout what were some decks that will appear in the tournament. The main event was delayed due to a long side event match between G.O.K (The People's Champ) and ahbaj (Home Team). After the match, the organiser announced the pairings for round 1.
Round 1
Sam (Samanosuke)
Shane O Mac
Knowing that Shane O Mac has Here Comes the Money (tb), my usual game plan of playing Pump Kick to get my initial fortitude would not work. I went for plan B, which is to gain my initial fortitude using Fans Love an Underdog. It went through, and I hit him with a Snap Neckbreaker. He took all 4 damage, and I went on to play Backfire. He played The Road to Victory and ended my turn. He wasn't able to gain any fortitude on his turn. I played Backfire again, and it went through this time round. He had 7 or 8 reversal cards in his hand, of which one of them was Superplex (tb) which he searched for using Managed by The Coach. A few Backfires later and a To All My Peeps Around the World (discarding Superplex), I grabbed my first tournament victory after so many years.
1-0
Round 2
Tian Sheng (WWWYKI)
Hurri-friend
I knew I was in trouble when I saw him reveal his superstar card, and more importantly, Super Masks and Super Capes. My key card is being blanked as it reads "Look at your opponent's hand". Hurri-friend is clearly a bad match-up that I overlooked. But then again, you cannot prepare for all match-ups. And not to mention, Hurri-friend was not a popular superstar. I had to "wrestle" with my brutally limited maneuvers. Of course, the effort did not bear fruit with him having a handful of reversals. After plenty of the usual "hard-to-reverse" maneuvers and an Eye of Hurricane, I had little left, so I counted myself out using Manager Interferes to draw the last card of my arsenal.
1-1
Round 3
Iver (G.O.K)
The People's Champ
I had played with his People's Champ before, so I knew what to expect. We both ran our usual pre-match and played out our usual game plan. I played my Pump Kick after plucking away his Brahma Bull, but it was being reversed on the overturn. He Bootlaced me, and I reversed on the overturn too. As usual, my first Backfire got blanked by The Road to Victory, but it was just delaying the inevitable. I played Backfire again, and I chuckled to myself when he counted 12 reversals in his hand. A few Backfires later, I registered my second victory of the day.
2-1
Round 4
bigfreakred
The Heatseekers
There was no pre-match disruption from both of us, so we laid out our usual pre-match cards. I got my Pump Kick through, and began to play my usual game plan of Backfire. Unluckily, he did not have much reversal cards in his hand, which means it would take me very long to burn him to death. However, luckily, he had Good Ol' Fashion Mugging in his hand. I knew I had to change my game plan. I used That's Broken to search for To All My Peeps Around the World. Meanwhile, he kept pushing in his Shoot Forearm. I could only keep him at bay for 3 or 4 turns before my applicable reversals to it run out. He got his Shoot Forearm through, and so did my Stay Away from Daivari. I used its Activated Card Effect to reduce 2F off my next card, bridging perfectly to To All My Peeps Around the World. I discarded his Good Ol' Fashion Mugging, and he got a taste of his own medicine.
3-1
After 4 swiss rounds, the top 4 emerged. They are Tian Sheng (WWWYKI), Edmund (Edheng), myself, and Chris (Ultimate Opportunist).
Semi-finals
Edmund (Edheng)
Ultimate Survivor
This match is a Best 2-out-of-3 match. Both games went pretty much the same. I got my Pump Kick in, and starting looping my Backfire, while he repeatedly try to force through his The Matt Hardy Movement Has Begun. He managed to get it through in both matches after a few tries of For the Love of The Game. However, it did not help him to last through the never-ending Backfire. I won the match with 2 straight victories.
On the other side, Chris did me a favour by eliminating my only bad match-up of the day.
Finals
Chris (Ultimate Opportunist)
Edge
I played against his Edge a few times prior to the tournament, so I knew he was running the Fans Love an Underdog Edge. And knowing how deadly the deck can be if come unprepared, I packed a copy of Frankie Takes Ho-llywood.
I knew that he would have a huge hand full of reversals, so my game plan was to not gain fortitude by maneuvers, but by reversals instead. This game plan worked well for both games. Without the ability to plunge the fortitude of my reversals, he could only try to force through his maneuvers the hard way. I got my fortitude from reversals like Elbow to the Face, A Revolution of the Mind, Leg Drag (tb), Headstrong etc before I go on to play Backfire. With such a big hand full of reversals, he could not withstand the Backfire, and I won the match with 2 consecutive victories.
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It felt great to once again win a tournament after so many years, and to end the great day, I pulled out a Violent Vendetta from the prize packs.
I would like to thank Joshua for organising the event, and all other 13 players who turned up for the event. I had a great day, and I hoped you guys had a great day too!
P.S. Also, thanks to G.O.K and shelan for putting your faith in me by picking me as the eventual winner.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was tempted to join the tournament when the tournament was announced some time back, but to my dismay, there was a ban list implemented. The following is the list of superstars and cards prohibited for the tournament.
Banned Superstars:
1. MR. PPV
2. Roddy Piper
3. Andre the Giant
4. Bobby Lashley
5. Bobby Heenan
6. The Big Freak'n Machine
7. Largest Athlete in Sports Entertainment
8. Mr Kennedy
Banned Cards:
1. Are you cooler than Michelle Mccool?
2. JYD' Chain
3. Run the Gauntlet
4. It's all about the game
5. First of All
6. Intensity of 10 cities
This meant that I could not use my trusty All Together Now Kennedy, a deck which I put together all the way back during early 2007, and retained since then. With that option out, I dug deep to think of what other non-revolution decks that I had used back then that were cheap, effective and stable. It went down to Chain Carlito and Backfire Leader of the Peepulation. However, I did not limit myself to only these 2 options as I continued to churn out new janky ideas that comes cheap.
After weeks of testing the various janky ideas, none of them proved stable enough to be considered for the event, and were scraped. I was back to Carlito and Leader of the Peepulation again. Considering that It's All About the Game was on the ban list, Carlito would be crippled in certain match-ups where the opponent rely heavily on pre-match (which I foresee is direction of the current metagame). Cards like Best Laid Plans would screw up my Carlito's build too. Then, I looked at Leader of the Peepulation. The deck was not a tier 1 deck back then due to the presence of Roddy Piper (Backfire has "reverse" in its text, and therefore be blanked). However, with the ban list, the deck becomes relevant as its worse match-up is gone. I decided to use Backfire Leader of the Peepulation.
Fast forward to the event day, there was a attendance of 14 players, a healthy number considering the state of the game. When I arrived, players were having casual games with one another. I looked around and scout what were some decks that will appear in the tournament. The main event was delayed due to a long side event match between G.O.K (The People's Champ) and ahbaj (Home Team). After the match, the organiser announced the pairings for round 1.
Round 1
Sam (Samanosuke)
Shane O Mac
Knowing that Shane O Mac has Here Comes the Money (tb), my usual game plan of playing Pump Kick to get my initial fortitude would not work. I went for plan B, which is to gain my initial fortitude using Fans Love an Underdog. It went through, and I hit him with a Snap Neckbreaker. He took all 4 damage, and I went on to play Backfire. He played The Road to Victory and ended my turn. He wasn't able to gain any fortitude on his turn. I played Backfire again, and it went through this time round. He had 7 or 8 reversal cards in his hand, of which one of them was Superplex (tb) which he searched for using Managed by The Coach. A few Backfires later and a To All My Peeps Around the World (discarding Superplex), I grabbed my first tournament victory after so many years.
1-0
Round 2
Tian Sheng (WWWYKI)
Hurri-friend
I knew I was in trouble when I saw him reveal his superstar card, and more importantly, Super Masks and Super Capes. My key card is being blanked as it reads "Look at your opponent's hand". Hurri-friend is clearly a bad match-up that I overlooked. But then again, you cannot prepare for all match-ups. And not to mention, Hurri-friend was not a popular superstar. I had to "wrestle" with my brutally limited maneuvers. Of course, the effort did not bear fruit with him having a handful of reversals. After plenty of the usual "hard-to-reverse" maneuvers and an Eye of Hurricane, I had little left, so I counted myself out using Manager Interferes to draw the last card of my arsenal.
1-1
Round 3
Iver (G.O.K)
The People's Champ
I had played with his People's Champ before, so I knew what to expect. We both ran our usual pre-match and played out our usual game plan. I played my Pump Kick after plucking away his Brahma Bull, but it was being reversed on the overturn. He Bootlaced me, and I reversed on the overturn too. As usual, my first Backfire got blanked by The Road to Victory, but it was just delaying the inevitable. I played Backfire again, and I chuckled to myself when he counted 12 reversals in his hand. A few Backfires later, I registered my second victory of the day.
2-1
Round 4
bigfreakred
The Heatseekers
There was no pre-match disruption from both of us, so we laid out our usual pre-match cards. I got my Pump Kick through, and began to play my usual game plan of Backfire. Unluckily, he did not have much reversal cards in his hand, which means it would take me very long to burn him to death. However, luckily, he had Good Ol' Fashion Mugging in his hand. I knew I had to change my game plan. I used That's Broken to search for To All My Peeps Around the World. Meanwhile, he kept pushing in his Shoot Forearm. I could only keep him at bay for 3 or 4 turns before my applicable reversals to it run out. He got his Shoot Forearm through, and so did my Stay Away from Daivari. I used its Activated Card Effect to reduce 2F off my next card, bridging perfectly to To All My Peeps Around the World. I discarded his Good Ol' Fashion Mugging, and he got a taste of his own medicine.
3-1
After 4 swiss rounds, the top 4 emerged. They are Tian Sheng (WWWYKI), Edmund (Edheng), myself, and Chris (Ultimate Opportunist).
Semi-finals
Edmund (Edheng)
Ultimate Survivor
This match is a Best 2-out-of-3 match. Both games went pretty much the same. I got my Pump Kick in, and starting looping my Backfire, while he repeatedly try to force through his The Matt Hardy Movement Has Begun. He managed to get it through in both matches after a few tries of For the Love of The Game. However, it did not help him to last through the never-ending Backfire. I won the match with 2 straight victories.
On the other side, Chris did me a favour by eliminating my only bad match-up of the day.
Finals
Chris (Ultimate Opportunist)
Edge
I played against his Edge a few times prior to the tournament, so I knew he was running the Fans Love an Underdog Edge. And knowing how deadly the deck can be if come unprepared, I packed a copy of Frankie Takes Ho-llywood.
I knew that he would have a huge hand full of reversals, so my game plan was to not gain fortitude by maneuvers, but by reversals instead. This game plan worked well for both games. Without the ability to plunge the fortitude of my reversals, he could only try to force through his maneuvers the hard way. I got my fortitude from reversals like Elbow to the Face, A Revolution of the Mind, Leg Drag (tb), Headstrong etc before I go on to play Backfire. With such a big hand full of reversals, he could not withstand the Backfire, and I won the match with 2 consecutive victories.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It felt great to once again win a tournament after so many years, and to end the great day, I pulled out a Violent Vendetta from the prize packs.
I would like to thank Joshua for organising the event, and all other 13 players who turned up for the event. I had a great day, and I hoped you guys had a great day too!
P.S. Also, thanks to G.O.K and shelan for putting your faith in me by picking me as the eventual winner.