Lessons Learned: Regionals
I finished 6th overall at the regionals last weekend.
This is frankly better than I expected to do as my deck is not a powerful deck. I played an Elendril rush deck but I tried to beef it up and remove some of the weenie elements. I did not want to play a cookie cutter Elendril deck, but there are elements of the deck that work well. I ran a very ally heavy deck with 4 furys and 4 Bloodclaws. I also had limited abilities. 4 Aimed Shots were ready for a late game push or for instant ally removal.
Round 1: Gorebelly. I was a little worried as I have played this player before but I had never faced his solo warrior deck. I started out okay, but I knew that the early turns would be in my favor as he built up. I managed to rack up quite a bit of damage but I stalled late in the game and could not get the final damage done. His buffed weapons tore through my defense and I did not have a late game answer. Game two went much the same way as game one, but I was able to clear away some of his weapons but I was blocked from doing any real damage by his armor. I managed to come away with the victory because an aimed shot top decked and I did just enough to end the game. Game three did not go my way. I did not get any early game advantage and again his weapons started tearing through my allies. He also got defense up early that negated any attack I might have mounted. A feeble late game surge did not do enough to allow me to get a victory. So match one ended and I had a 0-1 record.
Round 2: Timmo. I know this player and deck very well. We play at least one a week and sometimes as many as 5 or 6 times a week. The first game went perfectly in my favor. My opponent made a tactical error when he got threw and did damage but did not have the resources to poison my hero. He conceded when I had enough board control to defeat his hero and he had no defense available. Game two I got a near perfect draw. I dropped multiple allies turn two and turn three and even with my opponent destroying allies as fast as he could I had a overwhelming board advantage and was able to rush my was to the victory. At the end of round 2 I was 1-1.
Round 3: Warrax. This was actually a type of mirror match. We both had rush decks. I put myself in a huge hole when I misplayed and was assessed (correctly assessed) a game loss penalty in game 1 of the match. I was very worried as we started game 2. I drew poorly and after a mulligan had a below average hand. I managed to weather an early Latro and Teep attack and took control of the board. Late game I managed to top deck Aimed shot again and evened the match. I drew well for game three and started out with a lot of small allies. My opponent cleared the board but I was able to keep grinding away. I used two Aimed shots to take out 1 health healing allies. Late game I had Fury and Sentry Gwynn out. he was very low on health so was looking to block my final attack. He top decked Skullflame Shield and played it and a Parvink. He later expressed that he should have taken a second Parvink from his graveyard and put it on the board. It would not have mattered. I was sitting with a Multi-Shot. I pulled a card, laid it as a resource and hit his hero for 2 and destroyed his Parvink. He conceded the game as once Parvink was destroyed either Gwynn or Fury would do enough to finish his hero. This was a significant match for me as it was the first time I have beaten someone at a tournament that is not part of my gaming group. After round 3 I was 2-1.
Round 4 (final round): Sen'zir. I have played against this deck before and had not performed very well at all. This match did not take long, nor did I put up much of a fight. I was defeated on turn seven of the first game, and after turn six of the second. I could not keep allies on the field as he managed to clear any threat I managed to bring out. I tried stalling late in game two but he was able to remove any obstacles and deal me a lot of hurt. So the day ended with me at 2-2.
So I finished 6th over all.
So I came away with a very nice Zy'lah playmat and some new goals. I want to finish a tournament over the .500 mark. I think I might have been able to do that playing a more traditional weenie rush, but I still want to play a more powerful deck, and be able to withstand a few Frost Nova like splash effects. The competition was a bit more serious compared to the other tournaments I have played in. I was issued a warning (illegal play - targeting a weapon when stronghold gauntlets were in play) and got the game loss penalty for my moronic mistake with Parvink on turn two. Going forward I think I need to put a few more defensive cards in to answer for the solo decks and perhaps that Arcanite Reaper can find a place in my hunter deck.
Overall it was a lot of fun.
Unfortunately I could not stay for the Lazy Peon tourney that followed the regionals. I think I will build a lazy peon deck around Radak or Dizdemona and see how it performs.
This is frankly better than I expected to do as my deck is not a powerful deck. I played an Elendril rush deck but I tried to beef it up and remove some of the weenie elements. I did not want to play a cookie cutter Elendril deck, but there are elements of the deck that work well. I ran a very ally heavy deck with 4 furys and 4 Bloodclaws. I also had limited abilities. 4 Aimed Shots were ready for a late game push or for instant ally removal.
Round 1: Gorebelly. I was a little worried as I have played this player before but I had never faced his solo warrior deck. I started out okay, but I knew that the early turns would be in my favor as he built up. I managed to rack up quite a bit of damage but I stalled late in the game and could not get the final damage done. His buffed weapons tore through my defense and I did not have a late game answer. Game two went much the same way as game one, but I was able to clear away some of his weapons but I was blocked from doing any real damage by his armor. I managed to come away with the victory because an aimed shot top decked and I did just enough to end the game. Game three did not go my way. I did not get any early game advantage and again his weapons started tearing through my allies. He also got defense up early that negated any attack I might have mounted. A feeble late game surge did not do enough to allow me to get a victory. So match one ended and I had a 0-1 record.
Round 2: Timmo. I know this player and deck very well. We play at least one a week and sometimes as many as 5 or 6 times a week. The first game went perfectly in my favor. My opponent made a tactical error when he got threw and did damage but did not have the resources to poison my hero. He conceded when I had enough board control to defeat his hero and he had no defense available. Game two I got a near perfect draw. I dropped multiple allies turn two and turn three and even with my opponent destroying allies as fast as he could I had a overwhelming board advantage and was able to rush my was to the victory. At the end of round 2 I was 1-1.
Round 3: Warrax. This was actually a type of mirror match. We both had rush decks. I put myself in a huge hole when I misplayed and was assessed (correctly assessed) a game loss penalty in game 1 of the match. I was very worried as we started game 2. I drew poorly and after a mulligan had a below average hand. I managed to weather an early Latro and Teep attack and took control of the board. Late game I managed to top deck Aimed shot again and evened the match. I drew well for game three and started out with a lot of small allies. My opponent cleared the board but I was able to keep grinding away. I used two Aimed shots to take out 1 health healing allies. Late game I had Fury and Sentry Gwynn out. he was very low on health so was looking to block my final attack. He top decked Skullflame Shield and played it and a Parvink. He later expressed that he should have taken a second Parvink from his graveyard and put it on the board. It would not have mattered. I was sitting with a Multi-Shot. I pulled a card, laid it as a resource and hit his hero for 2 and destroyed his Parvink. He conceded the game as once Parvink was destroyed either Gwynn or Fury would do enough to finish his hero. This was a significant match for me as it was the first time I have beaten someone at a tournament that is not part of my gaming group. After round 3 I was 2-1.
Round 4 (final round): Sen'zir. I have played against this deck before and had not performed very well at all. This match did not take long, nor did I put up much of a fight. I was defeated on turn seven of the first game, and after turn six of the second. I could not keep allies on the field as he managed to clear any threat I managed to bring out. I tried stalling late in game two but he was able to remove any obstacles and deal me a lot of hurt. So the day ended with me at 2-2.
So I finished 6th over all.
So I came away with a very nice Zy'lah playmat and some new goals. I want to finish a tournament over the .500 mark. I think I might have been able to do that playing a more traditional weenie rush, but I still want to play a more powerful deck, and be able to withstand a few Frost Nova like splash effects. The competition was a bit more serious compared to the other tournaments I have played in. I was issued a warning (illegal play - targeting a weapon when stronghold gauntlets were in play) and got the game loss penalty for my moronic mistake with Parvink on turn two. Going forward I think I need to put a few more defensive cards in to answer for the solo decks and perhaps that Arcanite Reaper can find a place in my hunter deck.
Overall it was a lot of fun.
Unfortunately I could not stay for the Lazy Peon tourney that followed the regionals. I think I will build a lazy peon deck around Radak or Dizdemona and see how it performs.
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