I’ll be honest, when I left the house early in the morning, waiting for my friend to pick me up to head to Philly, I was nervous as hell. I was nervous for pretty much a lot of the trip, and I was nervous when I arrived to the venue. Yes, with many of the top players playing in the Invitational the Circuit Series field was certainly smaller. But it was still my first bigger event that I’ve played and what I found out quick was that I was essentially playing with a budget deck compared to everyone else. On top of that I was lacking 2 Digging Deep Vegeta so the build wasn’t completely to my liking either. Part of me was definitely expecting to be an early scrub out so I could scope out the rest of the event.

…I didn’t expect finishing 1st Place in Swiss. I was legitimately pretty emotional after seeing that. Still kind of am. Some might scoff at it due to the size of the Circuit Series not being all that big, or the circumstances of some of my wins (that you’ll see) and I don’t blame you. But it still means a lot to me, and hopefully will provide much more confidence in me to be able to enter bigger events. And I do have to thank all the people supportive of me through this entire time, it means the world. Anyway, enough with the mushy stuff, let’s get down to business.

Deck Profile

We’re actually going to start with the Deck Profile to make life easier on everyone. That way you’ll know exactly what I was playing and I’ll even mention my side in and during the rounds.

Mono-Red Baby

Leader: Baby

4 Dr. Myuu, Under Baby’s Control

3 Intensifying Power Trunks

1 Saiyan Cabba

4 Baby, Vengeance Unleashed

4 Handy Giru

4 Daily Training Vegeta

4 Impeccable Super Saiyan Cabba

2 Digging Deep Vegeta

4 Saiyan Strength Baby

3 Epochal Grudge Great Ape Baby

2 Trunks, Power Overseeing Time

1 Mira, Creator Absorbed

3 Vow Revenge

3 Cabba’s Awakening

4 Revenge Death Ball

4 Unending Awakening

Side Board:

3 Ultimate Judgment Jaco

3 Bodyguard Ledgic

2 Spectral Attack Obuni

2 Baby’s Subdual

2 Terror Assault Frost

2 Time Control Chronoa

1 Scientist Fu

Deck Overview:

The concept in itself is pretty simply. Stop any and all aggression until I get to the midgame and just win out with big board trades in my favor and potential Burst Damage thanks to Baby, Vengeance Unleashed. I’ll admit that the deck didn’t do exactly as designed all that much, but had more than enough leeway to win games even when it didn’t go as I drew it up. The deck played pretty well all day. Let’s go over some of the card choices.

Deck Choices:

3 Trunks and 1 Cabba?

Mainly because I only had access to 3 Trunks so I threw in the Cabba to make up the difference. I have to admit though, the diversity actually did come into play a couple of times. To the point that I wish I could’ve gone 2/2 instead.

4 Daily Training Vegeta?

To make up some of the Vegeta numbers lost with Digging Deep, it was just a solid filler card. More often than not would charge it but it was a good play on a safe board to guarantee a Baby play the next turn since most opponents will leave him alone.

Impeccable Cabba?

The deck struggles massively against Barrier so I needed a way to get at Battle Cards with it. Cabba was a solution as I didn’t have Jirens and no one has Regional Vegeta yet. Didn’t work out QUITE as expected and would probably cut the numbers a bit but it was good to pick off weakened battle cards after a Baby Leader drain or to sneak in damage since it couldn’t be negated.

Trunks, PoT and Mira over the Scientist Fu in the side?

I didn’t feel like I could really fill up the drop fast enough to make Fu really good. Trunks is just generally great and a good midgame play when I didn’t want to burn Baby. Played very well. Mira…I never got to drop, but I did have him in position to win the game a couple of times. Still, would probably consider Fu later.

Sideboard Choices?

Ledgic is generally a sideboard no brainer going second, though a lot of people were playing around him. I only actually played him for free once I believe, had to hardcast him another time. Jaco was key for even more defense against aggressive strategies, you’ll see how great it came into play during the report. Obuni I sided in once, didn’t do anything. Was there to hopefully cycle back in Saiyan Strength Baby to keep targets in deck, but it didn’t come up. Chronoa is there for obvious reasons. Baby’s Subdual was specifically for a bunch of Midrange Matchups. I REALLY wanted to steal a Kefla or a big Ape. Sadly only got to side it in once. Terror Assault Frost even though I never sided it, I WISH I would’ve had 4 of in the side considering how big Mono-Blue Control was. I never ran into it, but I would’ve felt safer with 4 Frost if I had to take out Vegitos. Fu was for the matchups where I felt Mira did nothing.

I’ll get to the tips and changes I’d make later, now onto the Report. I apologize ahead of time to my opponents, (all of whom I absolutely enjoyed playing against, you were all fun opponents and great people, the entire Circuit Series field was in fact) I don’t have most of your names because I kept having to hand in the slip before I wrote my report and I’m bad with names otherwise.

Tournament Report

Round 1

vs. Trunks Lineage 2-1

Record: 1-0

Game 1: So I sat down and see that my opponent is playing Trunks’ Lineage and my already nervous stomach bottoms out to hell. I felt this was one of my worst matchups against someone who knows how to navigate around Revenge Death Ball properly. On top of that I won the die roll (a recurring theme today) so I was forced to go first in a matchup I ABSOLUTELY did not want to go first in. I needed the extra 3 cards going second would’ve provided. The game went about as well as I expected…no wait, it went worse. I do a complete Mull 6 as I didn’t draw any relevant defense, and my hand actually got worse post-Mull, only seeing Unending Awakening and both Mira and Great Ape Baby (ugh). I charge Great Ape Baby and pass, and he opens the absolute nuts of Trunks Lineage, ripping off what felt like 100 Attacks while gaining more and more card advantage. He forced me to Awaken on Turn 1 (a disaster) and I only found Revenge Death Ball when I was at 3 Life. Needless to say, I lost the next turn.

Side:

+ 3 Ledgic

+3 Jaco

– 4 Myuu

– 2 Vow Revenge

Game 2: This time I choose to go on the Draw and draw a MUCH better defensive hand. Got Jacos, got Cabba’s Awakening, RDB. I feel pretty good. On the other side, the opponent ends up showing the big flaw with Trunks’ Lineage. When it opens great, it demolishes people. When it doesn’t open up the nuts…it’s not a particularly scary deck. He ends up skipping his Turn 1 entirely, and has to outright hardcast Goten on Turn 2, whom I immediately RDB due to the weakness shown. He finally finds a Bardock a bit later, and goes for the Will of Iron play but remember, I had Jaco in hand. Ends up being a huge blowout in my favor as he couldn’t go for it again that turn and I get rid of Bardock asap. The game was heavily in my favor until disaster struck. I go for a Union-Absorb play…and have no available targets. This happens far too often with this deck, so I end up a wasted Energy down and 5K Combo down. My opponent smells blood in the water and goes for a final swing, but thanks to RDB being a massive 25K Swing, I was able to not only live the attack, but keep one card in hand. That card being Trunks, Power Overseeing Time which I showed my opponent and he scooped it up.

Game 3: My opponent chooses to go first which means I’m once again on my preferred Draw and don’t have to side back out. I find 2 RDB in my opener which means I’m near teflon in the early game if I play it right…and then I didn’t need to. My opponent once again has a slow start with another hardcast Goten, which I again RDB off the face of the Earth. I get to do my favorite Turn 3 play. Digging Deep (though I punted a little by defending to Stay at 6 previously rather than go to 5, wasted a card) for two attacks, Awaken, swing with Baby and then drop Baby, Vengeance Unleashed for the Union Absorb. I actually could’ve gone further with the play but my opponent had plenty of cards in hand and I couldn’t kill so I went the safe route. My opponent ends up having a bad punt by attempting a final Swing when I’m at 3 life, because he thought I was at 2. It didn’t matter much as I was able to defend it anyway thanks to Jaco and I win the next turn.

Round 2

vs. SS3 Mono-Blue Shu (yes, you heard that correctly) 0-2

Record: 1-1

Game 1: I sat down and recognized my opponent immediately as the person playing to my left the previous Round. I had already seen his deck at least partially in action while I was sideboarding so I already knew a bit of what he was playing. Mono-Blue Shu he called it. Yes, the mighty Pup Warrior is seeing his shine thanks to Dimension Support Trunks. I figured I should have the advantage in the matchup. I was a bit mistaken, at least seemingly. My early game was going swimmingly, got RDB to hold off the Shu play (though I probably should’ve killed the Shu himself, I think I misplayed). I got my Digging Deep/Baby play going. I was feeling great. Then I make a dumbass mistake that costs me the game. I leave myself at 3 with no Negates while the opponent was at 3. He drops At All Costs Vegeta. I immediately know I’m hosed, and he does go for it all and easily kills me that attack. I silently kick myself for making such a bad mistake when facing against Blue especially since I KNEW he played that card from last round.

Side:

+ 2 Obuni

+1 Fu

– 3 Cabba’s Awakening

Game 2: I was a built on tilt by that point, and I believe my siding was incorrect. On top of that I have a lacking defensive early hand and he’s able to pressure me more than I would’ve liked. I really missed having the Cabba’s Awakenings at that point. I was forced into a bad early Awaken, his pressure was very efficient so me killing it off didn’t amount to much. He was able to fend off any attempts by me to drop Great Ape Baby by continually killing smaller ones on board I was hoping he’d ignore. He ends up dropping Dragon Fist SS3 Goku on me and I know I’m dead that turn and just in general as I basically have no relevant outs to the card. I was indeed correct, I died that turn. Really a fantastic deck he built, many props to him.

Round 3

No Show

Record: 2-1

Well my opponent no showed. While I was frustrated at first, I think it did a lot to calm me down after that second round and take me off of tilt. Really the only thing that cures tilt is time. I used it to go watch the Invitational.

Round 4

No Show…Again…WTF?!

Record: 3-1

So yeah, I got the same table number again…and got another no show. Though at least I wasn’t alone on this one, there were 4-5 of them this round for whatever reason considering many of them still had plenty of time to top. Still, I ended up being greatly annoyed by this.

Round 5

vs. SS3 Kefla Midrange 1-0-1

Record: 4-1

Game 1: So I sit down knowing that a single win in the next two guaranteed Top 16 for prizes. Still, I was more annoyed than anything because I was at Table 3 and didn’t feel that I earned it. So I had to prove it to myself here that I did. My opponent sits down and we open the game (with me winning the Die Roll…again). Luckily against SS3 I prefer going first as you don’t want to be behind 2 Energy. He shows pretty quickly that it’s a Kefla Midrange deck, something I feel greatly favored against. It’s a long slog of a game. I realize early that I’m not killing him any time soon so I do my best to grind him out slowly All my removal will easily two for one him. My goal was to run him out of Burst Attack Gohans. He ends up finding 3 of them which makes that task…harder but I was still winning in value. I finally end up dropping Great Ape Baby onto the board for the first time today. My opponent was able to kill him the following turn but the damage was already done. I was able to kill off his Kefla, kill off his Fu that took out the Baby, drop him to 1 Life and draw 2 cards out of it. That’s the power of Great Ape Baby people, even when he dies quick he has a massive impact on the board. Those two draws matter as well, since he goes for a Final Swing and I once again live down to one card in hand. Being once again being Trunks, Power Overseeing Time. I use him, get back Saiyan Strength Baby, and the three attacks with 2 Draws award me with the game after a brutal 45 minutes.

Side:

+ 3 Ledgic

+ 2 Subdual

– …I actually forget right now 😛 I think it was Myuus and Mira, but not 100%.

Game 2: So I know time is coming up and I also know my deck doesn’t win particularly fast, so the goal was just to really survive. Side into Ledgic…but I also side into the SPICE, Baby’s Subdual. My hope was to be able to steal his Kefla and annihilate on value as he likely wouldn’t have had an out for it. I even keep it in my opening hand. My plan changes as he puts a Digging Deep Vegeta on board. Stealing that would’ve been a massive swing in my favor…however he drops Foreseeing Hit a turn before I can do it, revealing the plan. He immediately combos off the Digging Deep realizing the danger present. I end up settling for stealing a Toppo though I recognize almost immediately that it was a greedy and poor play and I should’ve just killed his Hit outright. I leave myself tapped out as I’m Unawakened and in danger but it thankfully doesn’t bite me in the ass. After that point I stayed immensely on the defense. Foreseeing Hit does very little to my deck, as my opponent would point out afterwards since a great majority of my defense, unlike a lot of SS3 decks, is in Extra Cards. He also seemed to be on tilt as he combos a bit with a Zen-Oh…after blatantly seeing I had RDB in hand previously with Hit, so he just loses 3 cards for nothing. Time was called and he couldn’t break through me with anything. I get the handshake and the match.

Round 6

vs. (Jonathan) Hirudegarn U/R Aggro 2-0

Overall Record: 5-1

Game 1: Now I already know I’ve topped, and probably Top 8 with my tiebreaker looking fantastic. But I’m a prideful and greedy sort, so I was dead set on winning. My opponent, Jonathan sits down and seeing him earlier I already knew he was on the Hirudegarn Aggro train. This is basically the exact matchup I built my deck around. To his credit, he sees the Baby and immediately senses danger. Apparently his local friend back home Ben was talking shit on Baby, but he knew better. I hoped to show that Baby truly had a lot to prove. I win the Die Roll…AGAIN…which I absolutely didn’t want here. Why don’t I get this die roll luck in other games?! However, I have an insane defensive opening, and pretty easily hold off the aggression with RDB and Unending while I get my pokes in. I’m actually able to get off my Digging Deep Vegeta play as well and put in extra pressure since he was dead set on only Awakening on his turn (a sentiment I share in my own deck). I hold off yet another Final Combo Swing, while having Saiyan Strength Baby on board. I draw into Great Ape Baby and slam it on board. He has not out to it and loses that turn but if he lived that attack…I also had Mira in hand ready to come through for about 100K on his own.

Side:

+ 3 Ledgic

+ 3 Jaco

– 3 Great Ape Baby

– 3 Vow Revenge (I think)

Game 2: Game 2 is what happens when the gods of DBSTCG absolutely hate you. Though in this case, it hated Jonathan while absolutely adoring me. I start with two RDB in my hand so I’m ready for anything. Jonathan? He doesn’t open a 1 Drop for 3 turns. His hand was like 3 Flute and 2 Unyielding Trunks. Against ANY OTHER DECK, any 1 Drop would’ve given him the game almost immediately. Against me he would’ve needed a bit more, but that was still rough to see. He ended up having to use all of the Flutes on a Ledgic just to find action and by the time he’s on offense he had already burned all 4 Unbreakable Gokus and 2 Super Combos so I’m cruising. I end up in the process finding all 4 Revenge Death Balls so basically the game was out of reach. I felt terrible, that was immensely bad luck to happen to him but at the very least he still made Top 8. Great dude to play with, had an immensely fun time…though moreso in Game 1 when we actually got to play the game together.

Now sadly, Top 8 played out the next day and I could not return due to previous obligations so while I did finish First in Swiss I had to settle for the 8th Place Prize, go figure. But I’m relatively content, I did what I set out to do.

Tips, Observations and Changes to the Deck:

No More Myuus

A decision I had come to a few days before was that the 1 Drop Myuu…actually isn’t very good in here. It has plenty of targets…but rarely do I actually want to CHOOSE those targets. Basically just himself, the 1 Drop Baby and Giru. I don’t want the bigger Baby cards, SS because I want it in deck and Great Ape because I don’t want to signal to the opponent that I have it and go aggro on my smaller ones. If I had found the Digging Deeps, they would’ve been replaced by 2 Digging Deep and 2 Chronoa (and with no extra Frost, 2 Strategies of Universe 7 would’ve been put in the Side for Chronoa’s space).

Flip the Awakening Numbers

What I mean is that I would’ve rather played 3 Unending and 4 Cabba’s rather than the numbers I had here. Unending is better later, Cabba’s is better earlier. Pretty simple.

I should’ve sucked it up and played Fu.

I got cute with Mira, but ultimately there was only one time I really would’ve made it through with him. Wasn’t great otherwise. Fu would’ve been good in far more spots in the game. At the very least, Trunks, PoT was as fantastic as usual.

Revenge Death Ball is a busted, busted card.

I told everyone, I only picked Baby specifically to use this card. I told everyone in the review how insane this card is. I was right on all accounts, this card all but won a majority of my games today. It’s just absolutely snapped in half what it does. A lot of the times it’s a single card Shugesh/ES Goku but even when it’s not it’s valid as a 25K swing on defense, or a solid aggro play as well. Card just outright insane. I’d rate it as one of the Top 5 cards in the ENTIRE GAME right now, if not Top 3.

Play incredibly safe early, because more often than not the late game is yours.

There’s no need to put your neck out on the line early with this deck. You can definitely survive the early onslaught in most cases and then swat away anything later while you steamroll the opponent.

Great Ape Baby is NOT the Centerpiece of the Deck.

This one came from people mentioning how others believe getting Great Ape Baby on board matters. While you do more often win when you drop it, as you can see above I only actually put it on board twice during the day and even sided it out a couple of times. It’s a FANTASTIC card, no doubt about it but Myuu Leader puts it on board far easier. In this deck you basically have to protect your Baby in order to get the Ape out, which is not easy in most cases and generally not worth it unless you can defend for a good price.

Baby, Vengeance Unleashed Is

Now THIS is the true centerpiece of the deck (RDB doesn’t really count since you don’t build your deck around that card). A lot of the best plays in the deck revolve around being able to Union-Absorb into more kills, more draws and more big attacks. It’s why the one and only thing I really want for this deck from Bandai is more targets for him so he doesn’t whiff half the time.

Final Thoughts:

Again, I had a fantastic time at the event, with pretty much everyone there. Thanks to Jarret Zimmerman for driving me out there and the support while he also played Yugioh. Big ups for Danny Hype for winning Player of the Year (and being generally an extremely kind, cool dude). Congrats to Pat O’Neill for making it to Top 32 in the Invitational, please support his Youtube Channel TsuKiyoMe. And just shoutouts again to everyone at the event, that I played with and the community in general. Trust me, it’s not as toxic as it can seem on the internet. In person, everyone is pretty friendly and forthcoming. I hope to be able to make it out to more events.

Until Next Time, Keep Fighting Because If You Don’t, Who Will?