Where should I start? Well, I went to my local tournament without my wallet. No money, no licence, nothing. I forgot it while I was gathering everything to go. I was going to see if anyone was interested in any of the cards I had for trade and then see if they’d buy them so id have my entry fee, but nobody wanted anything. I was even offering cards out of some of my decks . . .
When we were about to start I counted 15 people so I figured it would just be easier if I didn’t play anyways; otherwise one player would have a bye every round which is not only boring, but makes matchmaking less accurate. When I said I wasn’t going to play, the other players got upset and started asking why. When I said I didn’t have any money, virtually every other player there offered to loan me the entry fee. It was nice to see they all cared that much but that was the only highlight of the day.
I really wanted to use my new Burn deck but chickened out at the last minute before deciding to just go with something I was more familiar with. My first match was against one of the best players there and he was using Fire Fists. My Blue-Eyes and I lost in a landslide. My second match was against an average player, like myself, but I once again fell short. He was using Constellars, and even though I put up a decent fight, I still lost both games.
For round 3, I was the “lucky” one chosen to have a bye. With an 0-2 record, a bye, and only 4 rounds, I considered leaving right then. There was absolutely no way I would make it to the finals but I stayed just to see who I would play next. About halfway through the round, as a few matches were wrapping up, I got to play a duel just for fun with one of the beginning players. He was using a Ninja deck and I won, but it wasn’t much of a motivator for the next round.
My final match was against a pretty decent player and he was using Harpies. I knew it was hopeless from the start but I’m not one to give up without trying. It’s hard to keep any advantage in games with him because his deck has been extremely consistent every time I’ve seen him play. I held on with only 700 life points during one of our two duels, but after a few turns he was finally able to XYZ into Gagaga Cowboy and finish me with effect damage and win the match.
Overall I was very unhappy with how the evening went. Not only did I lose every game in the tournament, I now owe another player $5. I hate owing people money. I was also disappointed with my deck. I had been having good luck with the Blue-Eyes deck but Saturday I did not. I was drawing every single bad hand the deck could give me. But it really made me question how prepared I am for this format. At least last format I had a chance with my Dragunity deck. This time I have nothing that’s capable of keeping up.
Fire Fist decks are very powerful this format and Constellars are pretty tough as well. My versions of those two decks are not complete and far from competitive. Noble Knights will be very strong after the new set, Legacy of the Valiant, comes out this month and I have not a single card to build that deck. My Evilswarms are complete finally, but with Rank 4 decks being the most powerful right now, Ophion just isn’t going to be very helpful. Really, I just have nothing for this format. I feel like sitting out until the next ban list comes out, but I really don’t think I’ll have anything good in the future either.
The only other thing I could do is stop chickening out and run my Burn deck. It will be very weak against any deck that runs a lot of backrow removal, especially Harpies with their field spell card on the field. However, it doesn’t have many other weaknesses. When it works, it prevents the opponent from doing anything while slowly beating them to death with effect damage. That said, most players hate playing against Burn decks because its pretty boring and frustrating, so I don’t know if my friends would appreciate that.
I don’t know. Tell me what to do. I’m very frustrated and annoyed. Everyone at my locals tells me to keep playing or I wont get better, but I can’t do better if I’m using decks that can’t compete. But even if I had a really good deck, I imagine I would play it poorly. I don’t even feel like I can win when I go to my locals any more. I know going in that I will not be in the finals, so I’m basically throwing away my entry fee every week, without any hope of ever seeing a prize. I used to joke that they only wanted me there for an easy win, but I think I’m starting to actually believe it as well . . .