Summer Championship 2014 Personal Tournament Report
Sept 14, 2014 22:27:07 GMT 8
ThE AuThORitY and bigfreakred like this
Post by xbchee on Sept 14, 2014 22:27:07 GMT 8
It was the Summer Championship 2014 yesterday, co-organised by Chris and Sean. First and foremost, I will like to thank them for making the event happen, despite having some hiccups and last minute changes.
Few days prior to the tournament, I was still unsure of what deck to use for this tournament. I was running a few decks, namely Eddie Guerrero, Rene Dupree, and Eric Bischoff. Each of them were strong in their own rights, and had plenty of victories under each of their names. However, each of them had their own bad match-ups too, and I am not one who like to pilot a deck that has close to zero fighting chance against certain decks. I considered for a few days, and finally decided on Friday morning to use a deck I played previously, The Home Team. It is one deck that has outs against any popular tier one decks out there. Here's the deck list.
Due to some inexperience and unfamiliarity with the pairing system, and some latecomers, the start of the tournament was delayed. After deciding to use manual pairing instead, the pairings were finally out.
Round 1
Sean
Ric Flair
Having played with his Ric Flair a few times, I know how the deck works. Like most Ric Flair, it is very dependent on Pre-Match to level his disadvantage in hand size, and Mid-Match to prevent getting overrun by early rush. The game plan was clearly to wipe out his backlash deck using It's All About the Game, but I decided against it. I know that his Ric Flair is strong and very likely to make it to the top cut, so I decided to save this game plan for our top-cut meeting, so that he will be caught by surprise and may not know how to handle it. I felt that I could tank out all his attacks with my ability, and I have Let's Wrestle Already for his Afterburn and Backfire. However, things couldn't get worse when my one and only Let's Wrestle Already was being removed from game by You're Going to Space Mountain. I probably can still tank out all his maneuvers, but I have no more solution to his overturning effects. I started the game, and played Fall-Away Suplex TB, which he did not reverse. Knowing that he has Backlash, I stopped my attack there. During his turn, he plucked my Fall-Away Suplex and removed it from the game with I Don't Care About the Heat. He then played Snap Neckbreaker which was made multi by Sizzling Clothesline. I had one A Revolution of the Mind in hand, and could reverse it using Restricted Use in this Area. However, I decided to let him have the fortitude instead, so that I can bypass his Backlash and play multiple maneuvers in a turn. He had a Headstrong in his Ringside Pile, which I had to bait out anyway, bringing him to 6F. I could finally play a Fall-Away Suplex TB and still not have more fortitude than him, I thought. However, it was being reversed on the overturn, preventing me from following it up with more maneuvers. With just one maneuver in Ring Area, he conveniently plucked it away and removed it from the game again. This process repeated for around 3 or 4 turns, with him constantly reversing my maneuvers from his arsenal. Eventually, he outpaced me with his Heat maneuvers. I was at a disadvantageous position, but as long as he continue to use attack me using maneuvers, I will not die that easily, and could easily stall him out for a count-out victory. He probably realised that too, and changed to using Afterburn instead. With my Let's Wrestle Already gone, I couldn't do anything about Afterburn, and got killed by it eventually.
0-1
Round 2
Daniel
Jerry Lawler
I had not seen this player before, so I had little idea about his standard and deck. I played my usual Pre-Match line-up. Strangely, with a hand size of 6, his Jerry Lawler was playing multiple copies of In the Interest of Fairness TB, which left me puzzled. It didn't affect my game play anyway, and I proceeded to play the game normally. He had his Falling Fist on turn one. However, his hand offered him little options to carry on with the attack, and fewer options to protect himself against my maneuvers. I managed to get my fortitude too, and was enough, I was able to play Break It Out to clear his fortitude and hand, leaving him vulnerable. A few foreign objects later, he ran out of cards in his arsenal.
1-1
Round 3
Ernest
Edge
I wasn't fully sure what kind of Edge was he running, but if the previous tornado tag tournament was anything to go by, he should be using the Michelle McCool version of Edge. Without much hesitation, I played It's All About the Game. Either way, I cannot afford to let him play his full Pre-Match line-up regardless which version of Edge he is running. He started the game, but seem to not have any 0 fortitude maneuver except Lariat Takedown, which he did not have any cards in backlash deck to fulfill the play requirement. He had no choice but to discard 4 cards to retrieve 4 copies of This is Just the Beginning, so that he can play Lariat Takedown. With only a hand of 4 cards, I could not reverse it. I played Full-away Suplex TB, but was on the receiving end of an Elbow to the Face. He followed it up with an Atomic Lariat, which puts him at 15 fortitude. Luckily my Armed & Dangerous was out already, so I could choose not to use Fall-Away Suplex TB to avoid Downward Spiral. He spammed many actions, including 2 That's Broken, which I had no answer to. Surprisingly, he ended his turn. It was a signal that the cards hidden under the 2 That's Broken are reversals. I had to bait out all his reversals no matter what, as long as I avoid the painful ones. A few reversals and German Suplex TB later, he seemed to not have anything to play as he ended his turn without doing anything for 2 turns. A few more tries, and my maneuver finally stuck. By then, his arsenal was already pretty thin, and it did not took me too long to finish him off.
2-1
Round 4
Iver
Big Freak'n Machine
BFM by no means is an easy match up, but it isn't too hard to handle either. After all, it wasn't quite a tier one deck towards the later stage of the game. I guess my Because the Fans Demanded It was pretty useful in match-ups like this, because it doesn't allow opponent to manipulate his hand during Pre-Match phase. After redrawing his hand, he activated It's Showtime! and went first. The only 0 fortitude maneuver in his hand was Sidewalk Slam TB, which he did play. Aside from that, he only had an Elbow to the Face that he could use to reverse my maneuver with only 3 fortitude from the Sidewalk Slam TB. During my turn, I played The Intensity of Ten Cities and pumped my own Sidewalk Slam TB to 13D, forcing him to use Restricted Use in this Area in order to reverse it using Elbow to the Face. Be it luck or what, he top-decked into Maneuver of Doom, which he coincidentally had enough fortitude to play due to I'm Always On Top. With BFM's ability kicking in, it was successful, but was reversed by Once is Enough from my Arsenal. I attempted Let Me Get a Shot In, which he reversed using King Interferes and ...I Change the Questions. He searched for Dynamic Finisher, and played it. I reduced the damage using Sustained Damage to leave some breathing space for myself. I attempted Let Me Get a Shot In again, and he reversed it again with ...I Change the Questions and Brothers Til' the End, searching for Kane's Tombstone Piledriver this time round. Again, he hit me with it, and it was reversed by Divine Intervention, giving him 3 cards for stun value. I persevered with Let Me Get a Shot In, and it finally got through. With 25 fortitude, I felt relieved finally. And since he did not have reversals for Let Me Get a Shot In, chances were he would have difficulty reversing Everything and the Kitchen Sink and the accompanying foreign objects. Indeed, he only had a Sidewalk Slam TB for 1 of my 3 foreign objects. Along with the effect of ECW One Night Stand, the tempo of the game was swinging to my favour. 3 or 4 turns later, I managed to gather 6 foreign objects in my ring area to win the game with First Blood Match.
3-1
Semi-final
Jun Wei
The Undertaker
A typical Premiere Smackdown Superstar - It's Hard Being This Original Undertaker, his game plan was totally screwed by my Pre-Match. Firstly, Product Endorsement TB brought his value down to 0, which made him unable to play Premiere Smackdown Superstar. Then, my Because the Fans Demanded It made him shuffle and redraw his hand, effectively negating It's Hard Being This Original and Big Evil - Red Devil. I started the game, and played my one and only Pump Kick which I luckily drew in my starting hand. He discarded 2 cards for Old School Psychology to play Sustained Damage, and another 2 for You're as Graceful as a Cow on Ice. With his hand dropping low, I played Face the Music to clear his hand, and after gaining some fortitude, I used The Whole Dam Show - Break It Out loop to clear all the 0 fortitude cards in his Ringside Pile. Without anything to hit me with, he was left helpless against the foreign objects that I threw at him. Easily, I got 6 foreign objects in my Ring Area.
Final
Zhi Xian
Mr. PPV
Prior to the match, we agreed to let the winner of the match opt the prize he wants, because we both felt that the second prize was actually better than first. Theoretically speaking, this is a match-up that Mr. PPV cannot win, as I can soak all his maneuvers even at just 0 fortitude. He played I Want to Play The Game, with the intention to discard ECW One Night Stand, but changed his mind when he realised that I had It's All About the Game. I chose to discard his Giving 'em High Fives TB, so that he cannot use his ability on Unscripted. He played Unscripted on my Managed by Vince TB, and then his usual R-V-D, The Hidden Dragon: Balance and A No Show. I played my usual stuff, and Distractingly Divalicious to prevent him from going first with It's Showtime!. After shuffling and redrawing his hand, I started the game. After the first 2 turns, I played The Shhhhh Chop, earning myself 5 fortitude. He played Mr. Monday Night, which I had no choice but to let it in. He hand was pretty filled with reversals despite being small, and I had difficulty hitting in. Meanwhile, he kept using Hidden Dragon: Balance to search for maneuvers to hit me with. In a blink of eyes, he was already at 27 fortitude while I was still at 5. I played Divas! Divas! Divas!, which he had no reversals to, and I saw Mania in his hand. Without any hesitation, I discarded it away. I then tried to clear his remaining hand using Face the Music, which he reversed using Unscrupulous S.O.B., discarding 2 cards in the process for Old School Psychology. He was left with little cards in hand, so he searched for Precision Haymaker using Hidden Dragon: Balance, which I reversed using Leg Drag TB. I used Face the Music again, this time round successful and clearing his hand. I got some more fortitude, sufficient for The Whole Dam Show, and removed all the threats that was in his Ringside Pile. After clearing those threats, he wasn't left with much firepower to pose a realistic threat. After stabilizing the situation, I began my Everything and the Kitchen Sink routine. He tried his best to reverse them, but it was just preventing the inevitable. Eventually, I got 6 foreign objects in and won the game.
I opted for the second place prize, which was 6 packs of Vengeance and a Bobby Heenan full set. Nothing spectacular from the packs, but the Heenan set was worth the money. And of course, being crowned the Summer Champion 2014.
Just a comment: I do enjoy the environment more without any ban list being imposed, as it makes the environment more competitive and challenging. I look forward to having more tournaments without bannings.
Few days prior to the tournament, I was still unsure of what deck to use for this tournament. I was running a few decks, namely Eddie Guerrero, Rene Dupree, and Eric Bischoff. Each of them were strong in their own rights, and had plenty of victories under each of their names. However, each of them had their own bad match-ups too, and I am not one who like to pilot a deck that has close to zero fighting chance against certain decks. I considered for a few days, and finally decided on Friday morning to use a deck I played previously, The Home Team. It is one deck that has outs against any popular tier one decks out there. Here's the deck list.
The Home Team
Pre-Match (10)
1 Because the Fans Demanded It
1 First Blood Match
1 Managed by Vince TB
1 Product Endorsement TB
1 Giving 'em High Fives
2 Old School Psychology
1 ECW One Night Stand
1 Distractingly Divalicious
1 It's All About the Game
midmatch (10)
1 The Road to Victory
1 Sustained Damage
1 Restricted Use in this Area
1 You're as Graceful as a Cow on Ice
3 Break It Out, Break It Down, Breakin' Rules, Breakin' Ground
1 Fortitude Surge
2 A Phoenix Rising
arsenal
reversals (31)
3 A Revolution of the Mind
3 Sloppy... Very Sloppy
3 Once is Enough
2 Elbow to The Face
3 Volley This!
2 No Chance in Hell TB
2 Leg Drag TB
1 Sidewalk Slam TB
1 Don't Try This at Tome
1 The Raw Deal Revolution
1 Divine Intervention
1 Never Back Down Never Quit
1 Hold the Phone
1 Let's Wrestle Already
2 It's Great to be Back Here in...
2 The Coach Says "Today's the Day!"
1 Enough With the Trash Talk TB
1 Escape the Rules
maneuvers (20)
3 Armed & Dangerous
3 Everything and the Kitchen Sink
2 Take Your Own Medicine
3 Struck by Kendo Stick TB
3 Garbage Can Lid TB
2 Fall-Away Suplex TB
1 Pump Kick
1 United We Stand
1 The Shhhhh Chop
1 Let Me Get a Shot In
actions (9)
3 Face the Music
2 I Can't Be Reading This Right
1 The Whole Dam Show
1 The Intensity of Ten Cities
1 Divas! Divas! Divas!
1 No One Wants to Watch Women Wrestle
Pre-Match (10)
1 Because the Fans Demanded It
1 First Blood Match
1 Managed by Vince TB
1 Product Endorsement TB
1 Giving 'em High Fives
2 Old School Psychology
1 ECW One Night Stand
1 Distractingly Divalicious
1 It's All About the Game
midmatch (10)
1 The Road to Victory
1 Sustained Damage
1 Restricted Use in this Area
1 You're as Graceful as a Cow on Ice
3 Break It Out, Break It Down, Breakin' Rules, Breakin' Ground
1 Fortitude Surge
2 A Phoenix Rising
arsenal
reversals (31)
3 A Revolution of the Mind
3 Sloppy... Very Sloppy
3 Once is Enough
2 Elbow to The Face
3 Volley This!
2 No Chance in Hell TB
2 Leg Drag TB
1 Sidewalk Slam TB
1 Don't Try This at Tome
1 The Raw Deal Revolution
1 Divine Intervention
1 Never Back Down Never Quit
1 Hold the Phone
1 Let's Wrestle Already
2 It's Great to be Back Here in...
2 The Coach Says "Today's the Day!"
1 Enough With the Trash Talk TB
1 Escape the Rules
maneuvers (20)
3 Armed & Dangerous
3 Everything and the Kitchen Sink
2 Take Your Own Medicine
3 Struck by Kendo Stick TB
3 Garbage Can Lid TB
2 Fall-Away Suplex TB
1 Pump Kick
1 United We Stand
1 The Shhhhh Chop
1 Let Me Get a Shot In
actions (9)
3 Face the Music
2 I Can't Be Reading This Right
1 The Whole Dam Show
1 The Intensity of Ten Cities
1 Divas! Divas! Divas!
1 No One Wants to Watch Women Wrestle
Due to some inexperience and unfamiliarity with the pairing system, and some latecomers, the start of the tournament was delayed. After deciding to use manual pairing instead, the pairings were finally out.
Round 1
Sean
Ric Flair
Having played with his Ric Flair a few times, I know how the deck works. Like most Ric Flair, it is very dependent on Pre-Match to level his disadvantage in hand size, and Mid-Match to prevent getting overrun by early rush. The game plan was clearly to wipe out his backlash deck using It's All About the Game, but I decided against it. I know that his Ric Flair is strong and very likely to make it to the top cut, so I decided to save this game plan for our top-cut meeting, so that he will be caught by surprise and may not know how to handle it. I felt that I could tank out all his attacks with my ability, and I have Let's Wrestle Already for his Afterburn and Backfire. However, things couldn't get worse when my one and only Let's Wrestle Already was being removed from game by You're Going to Space Mountain. I probably can still tank out all his maneuvers, but I have no more solution to his overturning effects. I started the game, and played Fall-Away Suplex TB, which he did not reverse. Knowing that he has Backlash, I stopped my attack there. During his turn, he plucked my Fall-Away Suplex and removed it from the game with I Don't Care About the Heat. He then played Snap Neckbreaker which was made multi by Sizzling Clothesline. I had one A Revolution of the Mind in hand, and could reverse it using Restricted Use in this Area. However, I decided to let him have the fortitude instead, so that I can bypass his Backlash and play multiple maneuvers in a turn. He had a Headstrong in his Ringside Pile, which I had to bait out anyway, bringing him to 6F. I could finally play a Fall-Away Suplex TB and still not have more fortitude than him, I thought. However, it was being reversed on the overturn, preventing me from following it up with more maneuvers. With just one maneuver in Ring Area, he conveniently plucked it away and removed it from the game again. This process repeated for around 3 or 4 turns, with him constantly reversing my maneuvers from his arsenal. Eventually, he outpaced me with his Heat maneuvers. I was at a disadvantageous position, but as long as he continue to use attack me using maneuvers, I will not die that easily, and could easily stall him out for a count-out victory. He probably realised that too, and changed to using Afterburn instead. With my Let's Wrestle Already gone, I couldn't do anything about Afterburn, and got killed by it eventually.
0-1
Round 2
Daniel
Jerry Lawler
I had not seen this player before, so I had little idea about his standard and deck. I played my usual Pre-Match line-up. Strangely, with a hand size of 6, his Jerry Lawler was playing multiple copies of In the Interest of Fairness TB, which left me puzzled. It didn't affect my game play anyway, and I proceeded to play the game normally. He had his Falling Fist on turn one. However, his hand offered him little options to carry on with the attack, and fewer options to protect himself against my maneuvers. I managed to get my fortitude too, and was enough, I was able to play Break It Out to clear his fortitude and hand, leaving him vulnerable. A few foreign objects later, he ran out of cards in his arsenal.
1-1
Round 3
Ernest
Edge
I wasn't fully sure what kind of Edge was he running, but if the previous tornado tag tournament was anything to go by, he should be using the Michelle McCool version of Edge. Without much hesitation, I played It's All About the Game. Either way, I cannot afford to let him play his full Pre-Match line-up regardless which version of Edge he is running. He started the game, but seem to not have any 0 fortitude maneuver except Lariat Takedown, which he did not have any cards in backlash deck to fulfill the play requirement. He had no choice but to discard 4 cards to retrieve 4 copies of This is Just the Beginning, so that he can play Lariat Takedown. With only a hand of 4 cards, I could not reverse it. I played Full-away Suplex TB, but was on the receiving end of an Elbow to the Face. He followed it up with an Atomic Lariat, which puts him at 15 fortitude. Luckily my Armed & Dangerous was out already, so I could choose not to use Fall-Away Suplex TB to avoid Downward Spiral. He spammed many actions, including 2 That's Broken, which I had no answer to. Surprisingly, he ended his turn. It was a signal that the cards hidden under the 2 That's Broken are reversals. I had to bait out all his reversals no matter what, as long as I avoid the painful ones. A few reversals and German Suplex TB later, he seemed to not have anything to play as he ended his turn without doing anything for 2 turns. A few more tries, and my maneuver finally stuck. By then, his arsenal was already pretty thin, and it did not took me too long to finish him off.
2-1
Round 4
Iver
Big Freak'n Machine
BFM by no means is an easy match up, but it isn't too hard to handle either. After all, it wasn't quite a tier one deck towards the later stage of the game. I guess my Because the Fans Demanded It was pretty useful in match-ups like this, because it doesn't allow opponent to manipulate his hand during Pre-Match phase. After redrawing his hand, he activated It's Showtime! and went first. The only 0 fortitude maneuver in his hand was Sidewalk Slam TB, which he did play. Aside from that, he only had an Elbow to the Face that he could use to reverse my maneuver with only 3 fortitude from the Sidewalk Slam TB. During my turn, I played The Intensity of Ten Cities and pumped my own Sidewalk Slam TB to 13D, forcing him to use Restricted Use in this Area in order to reverse it using Elbow to the Face. Be it luck or what, he top-decked into Maneuver of Doom, which he coincidentally had enough fortitude to play due to I'm Always On Top. With BFM's ability kicking in, it was successful, but was reversed by Once is Enough from my Arsenal. I attempted Let Me Get a Shot In, which he reversed using King Interferes and ...I Change the Questions. He searched for Dynamic Finisher, and played it. I reduced the damage using Sustained Damage to leave some breathing space for myself. I attempted Let Me Get a Shot In again, and he reversed it again with ...I Change the Questions and Brothers Til' the End, searching for Kane's Tombstone Piledriver this time round. Again, he hit me with it, and it was reversed by Divine Intervention, giving him 3 cards for stun value. I persevered with Let Me Get a Shot In, and it finally got through. With 25 fortitude, I felt relieved finally. And since he did not have reversals for Let Me Get a Shot In, chances were he would have difficulty reversing Everything and the Kitchen Sink and the accompanying foreign objects. Indeed, he only had a Sidewalk Slam TB for 1 of my 3 foreign objects. Along with the effect of ECW One Night Stand, the tempo of the game was swinging to my favour. 3 or 4 turns later, I managed to gather 6 foreign objects in my ring area to win the game with First Blood Match.
3-1
Semi-final
Jun Wei
The Undertaker
A typical Premiere Smackdown Superstar - It's Hard Being This Original Undertaker, his game plan was totally screwed by my Pre-Match. Firstly, Product Endorsement TB brought his value down to 0, which made him unable to play Premiere Smackdown Superstar. Then, my Because the Fans Demanded It made him shuffle and redraw his hand, effectively negating It's Hard Being This Original and Big Evil - Red Devil. I started the game, and played my one and only Pump Kick which I luckily drew in my starting hand. He discarded 2 cards for Old School Psychology to play Sustained Damage, and another 2 for You're as Graceful as a Cow on Ice. With his hand dropping low, I played Face the Music to clear his hand, and after gaining some fortitude, I used The Whole Dam Show - Break It Out loop to clear all the 0 fortitude cards in his Ringside Pile. Without anything to hit me with, he was left helpless against the foreign objects that I threw at him. Easily, I got 6 foreign objects in my Ring Area.
Final
Zhi Xian
Mr. PPV
Prior to the match, we agreed to let the winner of the match opt the prize he wants, because we both felt that the second prize was actually better than first. Theoretically speaking, this is a match-up that Mr. PPV cannot win, as I can soak all his maneuvers even at just 0 fortitude. He played I Want to Play The Game, with the intention to discard ECW One Night Stand, but changed his mind when he realised that I had It's All About the Game. I chose to discard his Giving 'em High Fives TB, so that he cannot use his ability on Unscripted. He played Unscripted on my Managed by Vince TB, and then his usual R-V-D, The Hidden Dragon: Balance and A No Show. I played my usual stuff, and Distractingly Divalicious to prevent him from going first with It's Showtime!. After shuffling and redrawing his hand, I started the game. After the first 2 turns, I played The Shhhhh Chop, earning myself 5 fortitude. He played Mr. Monday Night, which I had no choice but to let it in. He hand was pretty filled with reversals despite being small, and I had difficulty hitting in. Meanwhile, he kept using Hidden Dragon: Balance to search for maneuvers to hit me with. In a blink of eyes, he was already at 27 fortitude while I was still at 5. I played Divas! Divas! Divas!, which he had no reversals to, and I saw Mania in his hand. Without any hesitation, I discarded it away. I then tried to clear his remaining hand using Face the Music, which he reversed using Unscrupulous S.O.B., discarding 2 cards in the process for Old School Psychology. He was left with little cards in hand, so he searched for Precision Haymaker using Hidden Dragon: Balance, which I reversed using Leg Drag TB. I used Face the Music again, this time round successful and clearing his hand. I got some more fortitude, sufficient for The Whole Dam Show, and removed all the threats that was in his Ringside Pile. After clearing those threats, he wasn't left with much firepower to pose a realistic threat. After stabilizing the situation, I began my Everything and the Kitchen Sink routine. He tried his best to reverse them, but it was just preventing the inevitable. Eventually, I got 6 foreign objects in and won the game.
I opted for the second place prize, which was 6 packs of Vengeance and a Bobby Heenan full set. Nothing spectacular from the packs, but the Heenan set was worth the money. And of course, being crowned the Summer Champion 2014.
Just a comment: I do enjoy the environment more without any ban list being imposed, as it makes the environment more competitive and challenging. I look forward to having more tournaments without bannings.