Well, this ended up being quite an eventful weekend for me. I took up an invitation from a good friend of mine, and got a ride to Chicago for the CFV Regional Tournament being held at the Marriott there. We picked up a few of his friends along the way, and had some crazy-long discussions (Chicago-area traffic helped to lengthen those some). At some point in the trip, I discovered that one of the guys we picked up was actually MoaiTheGreat / Stephen Stills from Team Sex Bob-omb. Along with that discussion came the revelation that the straw-hat-wearing, fellow OTT player that had been playing ‘Faster Than Light’ behind us for the past few hours was Wallace Wells , and that my long-time friend was Scott Pilgrim, all from the aforementioned Team Sex Bob-omb. I was then given the moniker ‘Young Neil’, and learned that I should really start appreciating the Scott Pilgrim series more (I’m somewhat legendary in regards to lack of movie / pop-culture knowledge). Small world, huh?

After giving Stephen crap for the hours of traffic we got stuck in while trying to pick him up, we finally made it to the Marriott, where we had a room reserved. Right in the main lobby, we found a few tables of people playing Vanguard and spectating matches. We ran into a player that we recognized from our locals, and since he had nothing better to do, we brought him up to our room as we unpacked our stuff. My attempt to claim a bed was instead met with a challenge: mini-Vanguard tournament. The two winners get the beds, the losers get the floor. I played the guy from locals, and managed to beat him 2-1. However, as he wasn’t part of our tournament, that win was pretty much useless. I then played Wallace Wells for the OTT Mirror Match. Now, mirror matches are always a blast. You generally know exactly what your opponent has available to them, what they have remaining, and how the slight differences in deck compositions alters the deck. After some excellent playing on both ends, I barely managed the win. Wallace played defensively, constantly wiping out my rear-guards, and baiting hard-core with Silent Tom, while I… played like I always do. I think we both learned a lot from that match up. Unfortunately for my back, I ended up losing against Stephen’s Spike Brothers deck and Scott’s Gold Paladins, and was relegated to the floor.

I didn’t let this daunt me, and instead headed out to the lobby, to start getting some trades in and watch a few battles. I managed to pick up a third CEO, two more Cocoas, and an SP Vajra Emperor, among a few other cards. I had originally traded off my third CEO to finish off my Tsukuyomis, and intended on replacing the Secretary Angel that I had in its place with the CEO that I had just gotten. But, after hearing Wallace’s argument for keeping only 6 Grade 3’s in OTT, I was intrigued and decided to try it out for myself. So, I had already done a few games prior with only 6, and found that while I wasn’t drawing unnecessary CEO’s like previously, I also found myself running into the situation where I’d fail the Tsukuyomi Ride Chain, and be forced to ride into the Grade 3 Tsukuyomi at only 9k with 3 Soul, without a CEO in sight to work as a more effective Vanguard.

With a few more practice battles in the lobby, I found that I was overall liking the change to my deck, and made one ridiculous substitution to cap off the night: I switched out a Victory Maker (draw trigger) for an Emergency Alarm (stand trigger). Now, you should know that stand triggers are already iffy on their own. A few decks can use them well, like Nova Grapplers. A few decks just can’t use them at all (Spike Brothers). Any deck in between those generally benefits more from Critical Triggers than Stand Triggers. But, it’s arguably easier to play against Critical Triggers when you know that Stand Triggers won’t get involved. I was just honestly hoping that, at some dire point in the game, I’d be able to do something like attack with Silent Tom, Twin Drive with my Vanguard, and stand Tom once again for extra hilarity.

That morning, I learned about the joys of in-room coffee makers and the horrors of low-pressure shower water. At 9:30 a.m., we headed down to the Ballroom, where the event would be held. We were greeted with a massive line and the ‘line ends here’ sign, which we hastily offloaded to the people that walked in shortly after we did. All-in-all, somewhere near 200 participants ended up entering, and a small handful of other players ended up missing the registration deadline. When they opened the room, that line moved quickly. We got our promo card (Knight of the Steel Blade, Caradoc), and a goodie bag containing a cardboard deck-box-carrying-box, a Cardfight!! Vanguard pen, a lanyard with our ID, a plastic WCQ Deckbox, the starter booklet containing the first few chapters of the manga, and the subbed DVD with the first few episodes (I grabbed another booklet from a table, to hand out to other local people that didn’t get any).

I was placed in Block A, along with Scott. Stephen ended up in Block B, and Wallace in Block C. I’ve had a fairly even record against Scott in the past, but knew that I’d probably lose if I ended up facing him in a single round; especially if I got stuck going second. Upon moving all of that free stuff into binders and my laptop case, I headed outside the ballroom, to where the card vendors were. One vendor had a display case of various rare cards, binders of commons, and boxes upon boxes of commons in the back. They also had playmats available, but they apparently sold out of the Vanguard-themed ones before we even got through the door earlier. I picked up a set of Lequier sleeves and 6 packs of Set 3, wherein I pulled Hades Hypnotist, an Archbird, and Galahad.

In short time, all players were called to the Ballroom, where we were sent off to corners of the room according to block. I managed to find yet another local player (Gold Paladin), who ended up in my block as well. The matchings were announced, and I was placed against what I soon learned was yet another Gold Paladin player (SDD / Garmore). We shuffled our decks, did our mulligans, and kept our stuff face-down, as the staff started announcing how we’d begin the tournament. We were encouraged to yell out ‘Stand up, the Vanguard!!’ upon a 3-count. We did a practice one before hand, which ended up being quite loud and resulted in a few poor saps revealing their starting Vanguard. We all laughed about it, and did the real deal. A deafening shout roared through the ballroom, as we all enthusiastically flipped up our Vanguard units.

I revealed my Godhawk, and he his Vortimer. I had managed to win the dice-roll beforehand, so I went first. Immediately, I knew this would be a fairly rough game, as my hand was in a rough place (my starting 6 were Crescent Moon, Mocha, 2 Full Moons, and two Draw triggers). Regretfully, I sent down two Half Moon’s via Godhawk’s effect, and missed the superior ride on top of that. My next turn fared no better, as I missed the ride yet again, and had to ride Mocha, and called the Red Eye that I had drawn. My drive check yielded nothing useful, and Red Eye got guarded. His next turn would teach me the futility of that attack, as I damage checked my Emergency Alarmer and a Chocolat. Even though I had little choice but to ride my Full Moon at 9k attack and 3 Soul, I still managed to beat 3 damage into him, getting him at the 4 that I knew he’d want. I had a fairly bulky hand with the Crit trigger that I had drawn into, and I couldn’t imagine him doing much with SDD that turn. Of course, he rode SDD and got his Rearguard up and ready to be sacrificed. His Drive Check revealed a Heal trigger, and this is the part that really sets apart Vanguard players for me. He flags down a judge, and asks whether or not a Heal trigger would invalidate his Limit Break. I hadn’t even made a comment about it up until he mentioned it, and completely admired his initiative to check for himself. Of course, he lost Limit Break, so that aspect of the turn was rather underwhelming. But, he did manage to get me to damage check two more Chocolats. Within a few attacks, I was already down to having one Perfect Guard, and that was in some unknown location in my deck. My next turn wouldn’t be much better, as my overall offensive line wouldn’t change much. Fearing SDD like any player unfamiliar with them would be, I focused his rear-guards heavily, while he guarded against my Vanguard’s hit against his Vanguard (which got me a draw trigger and a heal trigger). His next turn was an excellent move for him, as he rode Garmore over SDD. Needless to say, I was never able to get Half Moon into the Soul, or 6 Soul to shove the Half Moon I had in my hand into the Soul, or a CEO to ride over my weakened Full Moon, while he was soon swinging for massive numbers. The game ended up as an overwhelming victory for him.

The tournament format, for those unfamiliar with it, is single round double elimination. That is, the winner of a single game wins that round, and whenever a player accrues two losses, they get eliminated from the tournament altogether. Next to me, Scott had won his game, while Stephen had lost his (to the Champion of the Toronto finals, no less), and Wallace had won his. We had a few minutes to spare before the next battles, so I did some more trading. At some point, I managed to earn $20, and got a Silent Tom, Demonic Lord Dudley Emperor, and a few other cards, while trading off a Cocoa, the Hades Hypnotist, and the Archbird. Some of those trades happened later, but I’ll just place them here for the hell of it. I can’t imagine the few people that I traded with actually caring when I mention this. At any rate, the Round 2 pairings were announced, and we were to be placed according to our records. The people with a single loss would be matched up, and the loser of that match eliminated. The people with a single win would be paired up, and the one to lose out of them would also advance, but then be one loss away from elimination. I was placed against a Royal Paladin user, who was regrettably unfamiliar with some of his cards. I managed to complete the Tsukuyomi chain, while various misplays on my opponent’s part led to a swift victory for me. Stephen and Wallace both won their matches, while Scott lost his, placing him at a tie with me once again. So, I had to yet again fear the possibility of ending up matched against him.

A few more minutes of us idling / chatting led to the third round pairings. My Spectral Duke sleeves led to some interesting discussion as we awaited the time to reveal our Vanguards, what with the national omnipresence of Gold Paladins, and the desire for different clans to win. Upon the reveal, we both stood Godhawk. This was going to be a mirror match. My opponent won the diceroll, so he went first. We both managed to complete our ride-chains by our third turn, with me emphasizing an early offense, swinging with Geminis on the first turn. My opponent made a misplay, forgetting to Soulcharge with Half Moon’s effect, but otherwise played a fantastic defensive game. I had some incredible luck with Heal Triggers, somewhat abetted by me tossing two back into the deck mid-way through the game. Of course, the three Heal triggers I accumulated allowed me to use Full Moon’s Counterblast 4 times in a single match, which ended up thinning my deck considerably. Before I knew it, I had but once card left in my deck. My first attack declaration of that turn was my damning mistake. For, you see, I had a Lozenge Magus in my hand. If I called that as a booster, I could’ve survived for another turn. But no; I failed to get that last bit of damage on him, and I drew myself to death, for an overall fantastic game, and a bittersweet ending to any chance I had of actually placing. I wished my opponent the best of luck, as I wanted nothing more than for OTT to get a top spot for once. My friends all won their games, keeping them around for longer. If you want to follow how they did from there, check out the Team Sex Bob-omb blog post here.

While my friends were all busy being successful, I decided to trade-hawk around some more, and spectate Scott’s Round 4 game. Soon, the Free Play opened up, allowing us a chance at a Dragonic Vanisher and a Sphere Magus. My first free play match set me against Angel Feathers, which I barely managed a win against. Second match was against an SDD/Garmore deck, third against SDD/Gigantech, and fourth against SDD/I forget. Everyone else around me ended up playing things like Dark Irregulars, Pale Moon, and Tachikaze/Megacolony, while I ended up in Meta City. I did manage to go 3/1 in Free Play, which didn’t objectively mean anything, but it did teach me a lot about how SDD pretty much relies on getting the Grade 1 Vortimer in their hand to do anything early game. So, I can’t really be bitter about it. Still, a little variety wouldn’t’ve killed me.

Once I got my cards, I spent the rest of my time spectating Scott’s matches, until he finally succumbed in the top 16 to a lucky Gigantech Destroyer. Wallace managed to get all the way to top 8 before finally falling. After that match, I stepped back out to the stalls to do some more trades, and to open up a few packs of EB03. I managed to pull 2 Toxic Troopers… and a Spectral Duke Dragon. Our little group headed out to grab some pizza as the last few rounds were getting played out, as Wallace had been unable to take enough of a break to get food himself, and it never occurred to him that he could ask us to grab food for him. Plus, we all deserved pizza at that point, clearly. When we came back, we learned that two OTT decks made it to the top 4, and that they were both beaten by GP decks for the finals matchup. There was apparently some drama involving a Spike Brothers player who had only lost one match, but didn’t make it to the final 8 due to having lost an intrinsic tie-breaker match, or something of the sort. There’s a youtube clip somewhere involving it, but I don’t have the link. Despite the accusations of that video, the Bushiroad staff did a superb job at organizing and running this event. The judges were knowledgeable and friendly, yet maintained a professional demeanor throughout the experience. Even the players that had attended previous events had nothing but praises for the staff there. Since Scott and Wallace both were unable to compete in Free Play (due to getting so far in the tournament), they were given the promo cards that they would’ve earned for four matches (Wallace lost his original Caradoc, so if you have a spare one…).

We rounded off the day with a few trades and a semi-marathon of Cowboy Bebop. Scott and Wallace performed the best of us four in the tournament, so they both got bed privileges once again, while I managed to pity my way into getting a second pillow for my small corner of the room. The following morning, I took the damned Emergency Alarmer out, and switched a few cards around (-2 Wiseman, -1 Milk, +1 Red Eye, +1 Tom, +1 Cocoa), and played Wallace once again. Yet again, I managed to seize victory (he didn’t get the rides, I did). My deck still has one less CEO than I’m accustomed to, but I intend on playtesting it more extensively over the next week or so, and finding out what I like, how I can make it work, and whether or not I want to make the changes to make it work. All in all, it was an excellent weekend, and something that I would love to go through again.