I decided to play X-Mental since I felt it was a good choice in a field of mostly Squadron decks. I did not include cards that were normally good in other matchups (System Failure, War of Attrition, Mutant Massacre, Turnabout) and concentrated on just the straight stalling/brickwalling theme. With the deck built that way, I felt that I had a good chance against Squadron but would have trouble against X-Faces and Hellfire Club (I'll just hope the Squadron guys eliminate the Hellfire Club decks or something)
Match 1: Vs. CCK Guy Number 1 (X-Faces)
One of the first of many CCK guys I would face today. I played him a few times in Hobby League but I can't remember his name. I was quite disappointed that my first match would be against X-Faces since I knew I was going to have a hard time without any tech. However, I was quite fortunate as he did not get any pumps or Faces of Evil. By turn 5, he just conceded.
Result: 1-0
Match 2: Vs. CCK Guy Number 2 (Squadron)
Another familiar face. And the deck that I was prepared to face! I got rushed in the early game, but regained life with Eye of the Storm and kept on flipping it down every turn with Emma Frost. I also tried to brickwall attacks with my Shrinks and Duck & Covers where possible. When it was my attack step, I tapped down Nuke with X-Treme Manuever. The life gain and stalling was enough to get me to turn 7 and I played Exodus as my finisher. (Actually, most of my Squadron matches end up with me doing essentially the same thing.)
Result: 2-0
Match 3: Vs. Himura (Squadron)
It was quite sad to meet Himura so early. I knew he was one of the more experienced Squadron players so I was more nervous than usual. Fortunately for me, I managed to survive through life gain and won.
Result: 3-0
Match 4: Vs. Jeffrey (X-Faces)
I was now sitting at the top table! I was pretty excited but Jeffrey was an experienced X-Faces player and once again, I didn't think I would do well against X-Faces. However, this ended up being like a repeat of my first match as Jeffrey did not draw any Beetle: Armorsmith. I won another X-Faces match owing to my opponent's bad draws which felt kind of wrong.
Result: 4-0
Match 5: Vs. CCK Guy Number 3 (Squadron)
Now I was really excited! I think I have secured a place in the top 8! But just in case, I would continue to play normally. Alright, this is the 3rd Squadron deck I have faced today and against another familiar face. This guy surprised me by playing Avengers Disassembled on turn 6! I had my full curve from 2 to 6, so my Sage and Tarot went down. However, my life gap was already too large by then so I survived that turn, went to turn 7 and dropped Exodus as my finisher.
Result: 5-0
Match 6: Vs. Noel Neo (Squadron)
I felt that my place in the finals was assured now. This match was more or less just for fun but then I saw my opponent was Noel. He had such a serious look so I tried to ease things up a little (even though he was known for being nitpicky). Well, at least he smiled when I had no recruits on turn 3. He rushed very quickly and I was quite worried when I had less than 25 life at the end of turn 4. By turn 6, I had 8 life against his 11. However, his board wasn't very favourable with Nuke exhausted due to an X-Treme Manuever. His Songbird took out my Prof. X, putting me at 4 life. He then team-attacked the rest of his guys into my Jean Grey but Exodus made her invulnerable. I took no damage and after some consideration, he decided to concede. It was a very close match indeed.
Final Swiss Result: 6-0
I was very pleased with my results (Oh, wait. I lied. I was totally over-joyed!!! Wee!) Out of 6 matches, I faced 4 Squadrons which was the deck that I was gunning for. Good thing I did not come across any Hellfire Club. For once, I was very happy with my deck choice.
The top 8 were as follows:
- Me (X-Mental) vs. Himura (Squadron)
- Jeffrey (X-Faces) vs. Darrell (X-Mental)
- Yap JY (X-Mental) vs. CCK Guy (Hellfire Club)
- CCK Guy (X-Faces) vs. Noel Neo (Squadron)
Yup, it's not nice that all those who I know are facing each other and gonna eliminate each other. In other news, Jess had top-8'ed in Sealed, too.
Quarter Finals: Vs. Himura (Squadron)
Round 1: Himura rushed me very quickly in the early game and I did not see any Eye of the Storm. I was going to concede when I missed my 5-drop but then, Himura missed his 5-drop, too. Then the game went awry and we both missed our 6th and 7th drops together (we were both under-dropping with 1- and 2-drops). I managed to hang on and when we got to turn 8, Magneto was too much for Squadron to handle. (W)
Round 2: This was another close match. He rushed me silly but multiple Eye of the Storms kept me alive. I was hanging on with 5 endurance on turn 5. Himura's Nuke attacked my Prof. X but when I reinforced, he played Other-Earth. That would've been the end for me but a Mind Control saved my life and I was left hanging at 1 endurance. I managed to win on turn 6 by attacking and tapping down Nuke with X-Treme Manuever. (W)
Result: Win
Semi-Finals: Vs. Jeffrey (X-Faces)
Round 1: My deck decided to burn out. I mulliganed into a hand full of blues. I had no recruits on turns 1-3 and but managed to play Professor X on turn 4. On turn 5, my hand was still all-blue and one Jean Grey. I decided to concede. Considering what happened to Jeffrey in the Swiss rounds, we are now even. (L)
Round 2: I just did the usual stalling and life-gaining. I managed to save my defensive pumps and brickwalled a crucial attack. By turn 5, we both had ove 30+ life so I was in pretty good shape. I managed to win by combat when we got to turn 7. (W)
Round 3: Jeffrey hit the proverbial 'nutz draw', flipping up 3 Amsterdams on turn 3 to find 3 Faces of Evil. He dealt crazy amounts of damage to me on turn 3 and I was left with 20+ endurance. On turn 5, he played Null Time Zone, naming "Shrink". I was holding 3 Shrinks and 1 Duck & Cover in my hand and felt very sad (Grr, why didn't he name Duck & Cover!). I was not able to survive the attack and lost. (L)
Result: Lost
Oh, well. That was it for me. I enjoyed myself very much. The fact that I met mostly familiar faces today helped to alleviate the stress a lot. Jeffrey went on to face Yap JY in the finals but he lost because Yap JY's X-Mental had War of Attritions in it.
Nevertheless, I was still very happy for the day. I was glad that I was able to enjoy myself like this before I go for my ICT in two weeks.
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