Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Virginia SJC Report: 1st Place

Here is a late report of my experience at the VA SJC.


I am conveniently able to coordinate another school trip with an SJC. I fly out to Boston Tuesday night and do orientation activities until Friday morning when we are scheduled to leave. I get out of some stuff early by telling them I have to leave for a trip and Saul, Ryan, DJ, David, and I are on the road to VA around 2. Traffic is horrible and on top of that a bad rain storm strikes so we tack on a couple of extra hours to the trip. New Jersey also smells like ass. Not a fan. We finally get to the hotel at around 1 AM and meet up with Genre and Squee. I get a hotel with Genre, DJ, and Ryan. Saul, Eric, and David get their own hotel. I haven't played Naruto since losing to Tony Lucchetti at the MI SJC so I play one game with Lightning Wind against Genre (my first ever real game with the deck) and get stomped. After that Ryan, DJ, and I walk over to 7/11 to get some snacks and when I get back I decide I can't possibly play Lightning Wind. I throw together a pretty mediocre 9 Phantom Dragon deck and head up to Saul, David, and Eric's suite (it came with a hot tub!). I play David 3 times and end up 2-1 vs his water deck but I decide that I didn't win with enough ease to use 9PD at the tournament. I go back to our room around 4 AM to get some sleep and realize there are no blankets or pillows so I put on a sweatshirt and curl up on the couch. Side note, there were pillows and blankets in one of the dresser drawers and the couch even turned into a bed. Needless to say I was pissed. 

I am rudely awakened at 9 AM after getting barely any sleep and decide I need to play Lightning Wind. I build it, put on my swagl0rd professional attire, and our room heads over to the venue (walking distance ftw!). Ryan gets me the last couple of cards I needed for the deck and we write our lists, fill out a Bandai form, and wait for the tournament to start. 

Round 1 - Tony Denning - Void
Game 1: He draws really poorly and I get a 4th Hokage OV and that pretty much seals the game up for me.
Game 2: He wrecks my turn marker with Deva Path and Catastrophic and seals the game with an Almighty Push.
Game 3: He keeps a pretty bad hand trying to bank off of a Takamaru swap and I end up winning.

1-0

Round 2: Corey Thomas - Mill
Game 1: I get the Sakura Kakashi combo out and his field quickly dwindles as I combo that with some removal jutsu.
Game 2: His field isn't very strong and I am just able to out field presence him.

2-0

Round 3: Earick - Mono Fire 
Game 1: This deck is really crazy and I don't really know whats going on or what could be played next. I don't remember how I won this game but it took quite a while, I know that.
Game 2: Time is called when we are 2-3 in BRs and he's in the lead. I swing with three teams to put me up to 4 but I'm pretty afraid that if he has a Dragon Flame with his Lightning Blade (I knew he had this from a Temari WS) he's going to win. He ends up only having one removal and I win in time. Close one!

3-0

Round 4: Yodaz - Fire/Lightning
Game 1: I wipe his field early with a 4th Hokage + Hydro Pump and try to out rush the rush deck. He goes nuts with a Warhawk/Anko combo and hits me with a 4th and Hydro back. I end up being able to push back with enough force to get to 10 BRs.
Game 2: He bashes my face in with rush that I can't keep up with.
Game 3: He doesn't draw any jutsus and I'm able to beat him with the standard Sakura/Kakashi combo.

4-0

Yay I'm 4-0 now I dont have to play for the rest of the day!

Round 5: DJ - Fire/Lightning
Draw since I came with him and there's no point to play

4-0-1

Round 6: Jordan Markle - Fire/Lightning
I could have played this round out to try and get a friend a spot in the top but since Jordan was also 4-0-1 it wouldn't have opened up a spot or strengthened anyone's tiebreakers.

4-0-2

2nd Seed.


We chill with the Brady Bunch and Tyler McCartin tries to poison me. Then we go out to Ihop with our two hotel rooms + Yodaz. Everyone goes back to the hotel and Jordan comes to our room and tells me how the couch turns into a bed and that there are blankets and pillows in the drawer and I rage. I pull out the bed after Ryan is done winning some money from Squee and go to sleep. 

We wake up pretty late on Sunday but manage to get to the venue with ample time. Decks are getting checked so I talk with the Brady Bunch and DJ while we wait for top to start. 

Top 8: Nick Brady - Mono Earth + Reanimation
Game 1: I think I gain more field presence than him and have more removal jutsus + draw broken.
Game 2: He draws poop and I almost let him come back forgetting that my Karin won't be able to heal turn 1 when I drop her (that's what I get for not playing the game in 2 months) but he still draws really poorly and I have a Secret Book waiting if he had any missions. 

5-0-2

Top 4: Jordan Markle - Fire/Lightning
Game 1: I screw up and don't secret book his Sage Training and he grabs a Naruto (Tailed Beast Form) which almost costs me the game but luckily for me a well timed Hydro-Pump with Sasori seals that Tailed Beast.
Game 2: Secret Book! I back to back Secret Book him and he can't keep up without any draw power and once the game gets into the later turns Fire Lightning loses to Wind Lightning.

6-0-2

Top 2: Yodaz - Fire/Lightning
Game 1: I think I just end up healing everything and he can't really do anything about it.
Game 2: He draws a bunch of cards but can't get any jutsu and I draw pretty nuts. 

7-0-2

Cool I won my 3rd SJC!

I go back to the hotel and chill with Ryan and DJ. I pack my stuff up and take a shower before we get on the road. Saul drops Yodaz off at the Metro station after we get some Subway and we head back to Mass. We get back to Saul's house at like 4 AM and wait for DJ's mom to pick him and Ryan up. I get some sleep at Saul's, wake up to some amazing lunch made by his mom, and I'm off to the bus station to get back to Boston. I get to the airport with quite a bit of extra time and my flight gets delayed by 2 hours. GG. I finally get home around midnight.

Props:
Winning my 3rd SJC
Getting to hang out with the Mass/NH crew
Saul and David driving the whole way
Fatguy shotgun
Complete set of Kage Summit for Top 2
Much more I'm sure I'm forgetting
Cigarettes being really cheap in VA

Slops:
Getting no sleep on Friday and the two days before that
Squee getting a game loss for being late (which he wasn't)
Not flying out of Virginia

Veazie

3 comments:

  1. How did I poison you sir?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your magic gas station herb >_>

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol lol lol it looked like you were fine

      Delete