Report: GoodGames 5K Qualifier, 13th of March

A Report Detailing the 5K Qualifier, 13th of March, and my New Life Three Months After
By Jamie Alexander

Report time! It has been an awfully long time since I posted a report – well, actually, it has been a long time in general since I’ve actually had anything to report – so I was really looking forward to this tournament. Firstly, I just want to updated a few things before I get onto the Yu-Gi-Oh!, if I may (feel free to skip ahead if you don’t really care): I had previously said that my roommate, Tiffany, was ‘absolutely gorgeous and honestly the nicest person I have ever met’ – I now know only one of these things to be true; my job, however, is still amazing, and definitely worth moving over here for; and the Yu-Gi-Oh!, which I have previously made out to be complete rubbish in Canberra is, well, still complete rubbish, but I’ve become quite good friends with all of the players and they genuinely are really nice people. Necessary update over.

Now, I had been fiddling around with a lot of decks, and reading a lot of the available material, over the last few weeks to see what I liked and what I didn’t like in the new format; of course, though, anybody who knows me even just slightly will be aware that I’m not the kind of person who plays straight meta, if I’m actually playing meta at all. I tested a couple of new versions of the DestinyDraw deck that I played at CanCon (see my CanCon report for full details), along with lots of random strategies I thought would work in such a wide-open format (Dark Scorpions, for example, have a huge potential, and I will probably post a build soon). However, there was one particular deck I had been thinking about for a long time, but had admittedly been putting off building it because I didn’t really think it had what it takes, based on previous experience; eventually, after literally weeks of bus rides mulling it over, the idea became so excruciatingly annoying that I had to build, if only to pacify my torturous mind. The deck in question was a vastly different build of Crystal Beasts, one that dropped all of the powerful yet inconsistent support and only played Rare Value and Ancient City, using the remaining slots for versatile removal and simplifying tech.

Much to my surprise, the build tested amazingly! I was completely stunned, but it still lacked something: after a few days I finally figured out that Ancient City wasn’t needed either (due to the fact that the deck didn’t amass Beasts fast enough to use the high level effects of Rainbow Ruins – Rainbow Ruins being compete rubbish also helped me a tiny bit to this conclusion). After rebuilding the deck and testing it, I was completely sold on the deck being a possibility for competition. As a bonus, every single card in the deck was shiny (yay!). I threw together a versatile Side-Deck, because accurately reading a meta so early into the format is impossible, and filled out my Decklist sheet ready for game day. I’ll post the deck at the end of the report, as always.

I had been talking to Steve about getting a lift with him, and like the great guy he is, got one for me with his friend Pete, who was also picking up Andrew, who was the older guy playing Zombies at CanCon. So I met them at the gathering point, and we start the trek to the other side of the Roundabout to the sounds of Steve and Andrew ‘discussing’ the Japanese tsunami (it was more like an argument, to be honest). We got to GoodGames around an hour before it started, so we sat down and chilled, looking at folders, re-sleeving, writing decklists out, and pretty much anything some of hadn’t done yet. I traded Steve my spare Royal Oppression for his spare Shien’s Smoke Signal, and then, with a grand total of eleven people, we got under way. Although I say there were only eleven, I should clarify that most of them were all of the good players, with the majority of the noobs not bothering to fill out the pairings. It was in all honesty a pretty good tournament.

Round 1

For the first round I was paired against Benny, who people will remember for the CanCon report Steve considers to be the best player in Canberra. I was pretty confident when he sat down, having beaten him at that event with DestinyDraw. Unfortunately, he was playing Gladiator Beasts, which is my worst match-up because, although I do Main-Deck a lot of Monster hate, Bestiari and Gyzarus plays ruin my backrow. He won the first game in short order, owing not only the aforementioned bad matchup but also to a bad hand. I then sided, and we went in to a hugely drawn out game which eventually went to time; it went his way in the end.

One of the best things about playing a rogue deck is the element of surprise: I told nobody, not even Steve or any of his friends (or my friends, I suppose I can call them now), what I was playing, and didn’t give it away until the last second in the first game. It definitely threw Benny off, and he was stymied for the majority of the game not knowing what to do. Really good Yu-Gi-Oh!, we’ll call it ‘professional’ for lack of a better word, isn’t simply about two decks playing each other; it’s about two people playing each other, as well.

Record: 0-1

Round 2

After losing the first round, I was understandably down-trodden. The fact that I had drawn so badly didn’t help either – I had spent weeks designing and building this deck, only to have it draw dead at the first tournament I take it to? Anyway, the second round is announced and Steve, who was playing Six Samurais and won his first match, got paired down to me. I’m feeling even worse now, but I use positive thinking to calm myself down, shuffle up, and draw my hand... it’s really good, exactly what the deck is supposed to draw! I had Trap Dustshoot, and I waited until he either searched or summoned Kageki before activating it, exactly the way you should for this matchup, and lo and behold! he summons Kageki, and I flip Dustshoot, revealing Kagemusha and a thick backrow. I send back the Kagemusha, simplify the game with ease due to his lack of offense, and easily win.

In game two, he opened nuts when he went first, and there was just nothing I could do. However, the third game, after managing to draw a decent hand again, goes my way. To say my spirits were soaring would be a dreadful understatement. Steve, though, was suitably annoyed: not only had he been beaten by Crystal Beasts, he had been beaten by Crystal Beasts after being paired down to them. We didn’t hear the end of it for the rest of the day.

Record: 1-1

After this round I go over and have a look at Benny’s trades: he’s the kind of guy that buys boxes of product to get the good cards so he can sell them on for a profit, so he has both lots of the new stuff and lots of the old stuff. I’m interested to see if he has any of the random stuff I’m looking for to finish some playsets, and he does: I ended up trading him a Super Demise, Infernity Mirage and $30 for a Secret Van’Dalgyon, Ulti Sillva, Ulti JD, and Super Grinder Golem. Steve usually talks the guy down, but I found him to be completely reasonable, although I will admit that it’s probably because he’s seen my Monster Binder, so he knows he can’t push me into bad deals. After that I walk over to the shopping centre and get some Subway (a foot-long meatball on Italian herbs and cheese bread, and a white-choc and macadamia nut cookie). I hadn't had Subway in a long time, although I still managed to remeber my old favourite meal, and was delighted; Subway is still awesome.

Round 3

My next round is against Kevin, who was the guy playing Scraps during the first 5K Qualifier (see my first report for full details of that one). I knew he was pretty good, so I went into the match with a completely open mindset, something I clearly didn't do when I played Benny. He was playing Glads, though, so it ended up going pretty much the same way as Round 1 against Benny, with Bestiari and Gyzarus screwing my backrow despite siding heavily against them. If this sounds familiar, it is: all through Nats last year, Nick, Tony and Mikal will remember me having perfect hands in every round except the ones in which Gladiator Beast were involved. They just hate me, and Forbidden Lance makes them really good.

Record: 1-2

Round 4

Okay, I’m a little annoyed. However, because there were only eleven people, we were doing a Top 4 cut-off, so, even though I most likely wouldn’t make it, I would have a slight chance if I won the last round. The final pairings are announced, and I get put against Andre, and nobody will ever guess what he’s playing. I’ll wait a few moments while you all think. Okay, got it?... he’s playing Crystal Beasts! What the hell are the chances of a Crystal Beast mirror match? He, however, is playing the standard Crystal Beast build, packed with dead draws like Crystal Beacon, Crystal Blessing and even Rainbow Dragon. It was an easy match, to be completely honest. I 2-0’d him quickly. He was a nice guy, though.

Final record: 2-2

The Swiss Rounds are over, so we all laze about and chat, look at each other’s binders, and play a few games (I play Steve again, and he narrowly beats me this time, making him only slightly happier), and I look through Pete’s stuff: he has a full set of Infernities which I tell him I’m interested in (three Barriers, three Ultra Archfiends, three Mirages, three Street Patrols and a Launcher), and he offers to sell it to me for $210. I tell him I’ll think about it (I’m still thinking about it, I think it’s quite a good offer), and then the top four is announced. Yet again, I come, of all places, fifth.

So we laze around again while the Top 4 is being played out (Andrew was judging, so we couldn’t leave), and I don’t watch it because it’s too painful – there were so many misplays in the approximately fifteen minutes I was standing there that I felt like smashing my head against the table. In the end, some guy playing Sams with Reckless Greeds and Reasoning won, and I’m utterly disappointed because most of the misplays I mentioned were by him; his opponents simply drew bad enough for them to not be of any importance. We get our packs, every single person pulls shit, and we leave.

Steve invites me back to his house with Pete and Andrew for a cup of tea and a good ol’ chinwag, which was really awesome. They really are super-duper nice guys, and Steve’s wife and kids seemed really nice, too. After that, Pete dropped me off back home, and that was the end of a very long, although all in all very good, day.

The deck:

As I said in the introduction, I designed the deck to be as consistent and versatile as possible, exactly what you need for such an unpredictable and inconsistent meta. All of the Crystal Beast support was dropped in exchange for tech cards, creating an almost anti-meta strategy similar to Gadgets. The deck's play patterns are a lot like Gadgets' as well: a plethora of 1:1 removal cards simplify the game, while the engine (obviously in this Crystal Beasts) gains pluses in order to continue controlling the opponent. I spent days trying to figure out how to fit in as much tech as I possibly could, and the end result was, as we can, really good. I think with a little more fine tuning the deck could easily be up to scratch for this format.

Monster: 13

3 Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus
3 Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger
3 Cyber Dragon
3 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
1 Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle

Spell: 17

3 Pot of Duality
3 Shrink
3 Rare Value
2 Smashing Ground
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Book of Moon
1 Nobleman of Crossout

Trap: 10

2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Trap Dusthoot
1 Mind Crush
1 Solemn Judgment

Side: 15

3 D.D. Crow
1 Giant Trunade
1 Smashing Ground
2 Threatening Roar
2 Mask of Restrict
2 Dust Tornado
2 Starlight Road
1 Royal Oppression
1 Dimensional Prison

Extra: 3

2 Stardust Dragon
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

I can think of one change straight away that I need to make: Ruby needs to come out. She is completely useless, because not only does the deck not aim to completely fill its Spell and Trap Zones with Crystal Beasts like the original decks, but Monster Reborn and Call of the Haunted just aren’t enough Special Summon power on their own (old builds also played triple Crystal Beacon and one or two Crystal Promise).

As usual, comments and questions and welcomed. Also, keep an eye on my blog over the next couple of days, because I will be posting the next essay soon. I hope everything is going well over there, and I expect a full report of this month’s Traditional Format Win-A-Box if it is interesting in any way. If anybody wants a decklist to make it interesting, just ask. I have many, many ideas knocking around in my head that need testing.

-Jamie

P.S. Nick and Mikel, if you guys come down for a Qualifier, I’m quite sure you aren't eligable to qualify. It’s only open to residents of the specifically participating states, sorry.

Really? Nobody has any questions or comments?

-Jamie

Shame about the Qualifier. i was looking forward to it.


Have you ever tested
"Dragonic Queen of Tragic Endings"

all Crystal Beasts builds i see main Deck 3 copies of it and it's not that bad.

I'd advise testing it at least once and see what the result is.

and you'll have to get Mikal to write a report for this Win-A-Box, seeing as i won't be present....

I have tested Dragon Queen of Tragic Endings, and I really don't like it: firstly, the deck doesn't try to get many Crystal Beasts into the Spell and Trap Zone, only the two necessary for the activation of Rare Value, which makes Dragon Queen quite difficult to Summon; and secondly, Dragon Queen doesn't actually do anything specific to help the deck, and it's only 1900. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Yes, Mikal, if the Win-A-Box is interesting I want a full report. What are you playing? Also, when is the next one, do you know? I want to fly down for it.

-Jamie

More or less, they run Plaguespreader Zombie with it and make easy Level 8 Synchros.

Sapphire Pegasus should be sufficient for dumping Crystal Beasts and I personally think 3 Rare Value would be dead. 2 seems more appropriate.

Its_Called_Skills_Not_Sak wrote:Shame about the Qualifier. i was looking forward to it.


Have you ever tested
"Dragonic Queen of Tragic Endings"

all Crystal Beasts builds i see main Deck 3 copies of it and it's not that bad.

I'd advise testing it at least once and see what the result is.

and you'll have to get Mikal to write a report for this Win-A-Box, seeing as i won't be present....

that was nicholas not me
if anyone cares

this months is on the 27th, except i think we have to change the date for next months but i will find out and get back to you.

i will hopefully be able to play my darklords at the win-a-box if my other superbia comes in time and i can find the cards im missing

That would be cool. I'm not sure what i'll play. Maybe something gay like FTK Super-Awesome Mega Cool.dek

Its_Called_Skills_Not_Sak wrote:

Its_Called_Skills_Not_Sak wrote:Shame about the Qualifier. i was looking forward to it.


Have you ever tested
"Dragonic Queen of Tragic Endings"

all Crystal Beasts builds i see main Deck 3 copies of it and it's not that bad.

I'd advise testing it at least once and see what the result is.

and you'll have to get Mikal to write a report for this Win-A-Box, seeing as i won't be present....

that was nicholas not me
if anyone cares

I gathered that.

Nick: that means you also have to play Plaguespreader Zombie, which is an otherwise completely useless card. I've seen all of the decks you are referring to (everytime I see a Crystal Beast deck on Pojo or TCGPlayer or another website, I always look at them), and they really are terrible. Also, three Rare Value was never dead.

Super-Awesome-Mega-Cool.dek? You'll have to build it yourself, though, I want to win the Win-A-Box myself when I come down.

Mikal: if you play your Darklords, I definitely want a full report. What do you still need?

Also, I was thinking about doing full Event Coverage of the Win-A-Box when I come down, with Feature Matches and everything, and then posting it on my blog and on Pojo. Would SCW have a problem with that?

-Jamie

we wouldn't mind (if u didn't know i am in charge of yugioh now and i don't have a problem with that) and this months win-a-box is on the 27th and next months is in the 10th because of Easter and such...

The cards im missing are
1 Trade-In
2 Zerato

that is all i need if i can get everything nick and mark said they have and will trade/sell it to me...

i will do a deck profile on here and put one on youtube once i have tested the deck.

Johnny Cage wrote:we wouldn't mind (if u didn't know i am in charge of yugioh now and i don't have a problem with that) and this months win-a-box is on the 27th and next months is in the 10th because of Easter and such...

The cards im missing are
1 Trade-In
2 Zerato

that is all i need if i can get everything nick and mark said they have and will trade/sell it to me...

i will do a deck profile on here and put one on youtube once i have tested the deck.

Awesome. I'll just need to check with my parents to see if they are doing anything on that weekend (because I will spend Sunday with you guys and then most likely Saturday and Monday with them), and then I'll finalise everything.

That's really cool that you have control. Okay, so what I was thinking was I would get you, myself, Nick and any other good player that turns up to take notes of their matches (just simple notes like, "play Graceful, dump Necro PSZ", "Reborn DMoC, get PoG", that sort of thing), and then I'll flesh out the interesting games into full length Feature Matches. I'll then post the final result on my blog and on Pojo. How does that sound?

Also, I look forward to the results of your testing. It's a really interesting deck idea, I like it.

-Jamie

yeah that sounds fine to me, well i got everything that ppl said they have so i just need 2 zerato and a trade-in and for my other superbia to come...

i have 2 zerato english

ill prob get nicks, also what win-a-box are you coming to jamie???

Johnny Cage wrote:ill prob get nicks, also what win-a-box are you coming to jamie???

At this stage, it looks like I'll come down for the one on the 10th of April. Do you know when the one after is?

-Jamie

Jamie_Alexander wrote:

At this stage, it looks like I'll come down for the one on the 10th of April. Do you know when the one after is?

-Jamie

it will probably be on the 29th of may