TAK Games > Australian Nationals 2016 Recap

Australian Nationals 2016 Recap

The year has been a massive for Organised Play in Australia, with Regional Championships seeing some strong numbers across the board. Over $20,000 in prizes on top of the amazing promos and booster prizes have been handed out over the course of the year, and next year we’re hoping to make things bigger and better again.

2016 culminated in the biggest showing of players the game had seen in Australia, including past National events in the old game. 98 players descended on Melbourne to compete over the two days to be crowned National Champion, and earn one of the two World Championship invites up for grabs.

With the ebb and flow of recent results across Australia and the US, it was interesting to see the vast differences in decks that turned out. Broly, Cooler, and Piccolo had the strongest showing, after all three have recently shown their dominance across Regional events. But play styles were evenly split across Black, Red, Namekian, and Saiyan Styles making who you drew in your matchups even more important with such a varied field. A full breakdown can be found here.

A few handsome roosters
A few handsome roosters

 

After 7 tense rounds, our Top 16 was an amazing mix of old and new guard players. Making up the field were;

Tobye Ryan – Red Ruthless Broly
Rhys McGlinn – Saiyan Empowered Broly
Bailey Packer – Namekian Knowledge Piccolo
Karl Fletcher – Blue Tag Team Trunks
Jacob El-Ahmad – Orange Adaptive Android 20
Neville Pearson – Red Ruthless Broly
David Birch – Red Ruthless Broly
Joshua Craig – Red Enraged Android 13
Damien Hutchins – Blue Tag Team Android 13
Nathan Ash – Saiyan Rampaging Raditz
Fahad Rahman – Black Devious Krillin
Ben Sinnbeck – Black Devious Krillin
Jason Lintott – Namekian Knowledge Piccolo
Blair Simpson – Blue Protective Ginyu
David Spencer – Red Ruthless Broly
Dylan Freckleton – Red Enraged Android 13

Day 2 brought some of the closest matches many of the players had ever faced. Grinding their way into the Top 4 match ups were;

Fahad Rahman (Black Krillin) vs Bailey Packer (Namekian Piccolo)

Both players turned back the clock in their match up with decks

Top 16 kicks off
Top 16 kicks off

very reminiscent of 2015. Fahad got the burst on Bailey early, dealing some damage to try and push through a tough match up. But towards the end, Bailey got back into the game as only Namekian Piccolo can. He accelerated to Level 4 with the help of Namekian Leaping Kick to try and shut off Fahad using the immediate effects of any Dragon Balls he could steal. The match was tense, with 6 Dragon Balls on Fahad’s side of the field, and the final one sitting with Bailey, protected by Knowledge Mastery, but just a successful Optic Blast away. In the end, Fahad was able to push through enough damage at the end to leave Bailey to draw out on his turn.

David Spencer (Red Ruthless Broly) vs Damien Hutchins (Blue Tag Team Android 13)

Over the course of 2016, David showed that he has been the most

Top 16, or the Bar?
Top 16, or the Bar?

consistent player in Australia, and his top 4 showing at Nationals was no exception. And in this game, he became the gatekeeper to a potential invite for Damien. Coming from a strong background in MTG, Damien showed some great play to push the game all the way. Both players looked to push out some strong damage against their opponent. But this was David’s undoing in the end, as Damien grabbed the win, and an invite to Worlds on the back of milling David for 5 cards after blocking with 13’s Impenetrable Defense while David was on 0 power stages.

The Final!

It was fitting that the day end with an epic best of three encounter that took all three games to decide the winner. In game one, Fahad kept Damien on his toes, with his deck always looking for options to block or get out of combat as fast as it could. Damien used his Beerus ally in game one from the start, and his Nappa ally not seeing much play. This ended up deciding the first match with the Tag Team mastery unable to help him keep Fahad from using his board to grind out the game.

But in game two, Damien showed how skillful a player he was, and that he can quickly learn and adapt. Nappa came in quickly and quite possibly never left the field all game. Things looked like they were getting close in the end, but Damien was able to take game two to push a decider.

The final game of the tournament was a true testament to Fahad, and his amazing ability to think through a great number of plays to see the correct path to take. Damien pushed his Nappa ally to its limits keeping Fahad under control. But it was a bridge too far, and Fahad came away as National Champion for the second year running.

 

Congratulations again to our Australian qualifiers for the World Championships; Fahad, Damien, and David. We will be there with them in Texas, and we promise to help you follow their progress over the weekend.

Game on!
– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent) and Kyp (@JustKyp).

Regional Round Up

Regionals season has come to a close, with five great events stretched from coast to coast. Competition was definitely intense, and well played by everyone who attended.

To round out the results, we have attached below the top 4 deck lists from each of the last four Regional events.

Perth

The far west saw a top cut where new Vengeance decks started to dominate, but a splash of the old guard was still there in the form of Black Krillin and Blue Ginyu. The final was played out, brother against brother, Gian Consentino (Ruthless Broly) vs Pier Consentino (Blue Ginyu).

Top 4 decks here

Sydney

20160827_181628Players came from up and down the Eastern Seaboard to push for World Invite points. Blue Protective Cooler, and Saiyan Broly made up half the top cut, with two Red Enraged decks, and two Black Devious decks rounding out top cut. In the end, David Spencer with his Red Roshi edged out Chris Kimber and his Black Roshi to take the win, and valuable points.

Top 4 decks here

Brisbane

Everything was reaching a fever pitch in Brisbane with the points wide open for anyone to stake a further claim to the title. Top Cut saw the resurgence of an old favourite, Namekian Piccolo, to take on the Red Roshi’s that had proved tough earlier in Regionals. The meta 20161001_191947was truly diverse as we saw decks like a Tag Team Roshi make it into top cut with the likes of stalwarts Broly, Cooler, and 13. The final saw Jono Chabowski (Namekian Piccolo) take all the points against Lin Htat (Red Enraged 13). Both Jono, and Chris Kimber made up huge ground on David Spencer for a World Champs invite.

Top 4 decks here (to be added shortly)

Newcastle

Tensions mounted as the top 3 for the World Championship Invite descended on Newcastle to stake their claim. Jono Chabowski and David Spencer, both with Red Roshi, made top cut of the highest ranked players at that time. Android 13 moved back into the fold in a big way with Black and Red versions making top cut. But it was Daniel Scanes with a trusty Namekian Piccolo beating out David Spencer for the title.

Top 4 decks here

 

We’d like to thank all the players who turned out to make Regionals in 2016 a huge success. And congratulations again to David Spencer earning his invite to the World Championships in four weeks time.

Game on!
– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent) and Kyp (@JustKyp).

Newcastle Regional Championships 2016

The last regional of the season is upon us and 30 Z Warriors have descended on the regional town of Newcastle to do battle. A number of players are fighting it out to win the Worlds invite on offer for the regional season.

An interesting array of decks are on display today with the following in the field:

Black Devious Mastery – 5: Android 13 x 2; Master Roshi x 2; Turles
Blue Tag Team Mastery – 4: Android 13, Captain Ginyu x 2; Master Roshi
Namekian Knowledge Mastery – 3: Piccolo x 3
Namekian Restored Mastery – 2: Cell x 2
Orange Adaptive Mastery – 2: Tenshinhan, Yamcha
Orange Adept Mastery – 1: Yamcha
Red Enraged Mastery – 7: Android 13 x 2; Cooler x 2; Master Roshi x 2; Yamcha
Red Ruthless Mastery – 3: Broly x 3
Saiyan Empowered Mastery – 3: Broly x 2; Goku

Round 4 Update

There are four players undefeated heading into Round 4, with Red style the real MVP today.

David Spencer – Red Enraged Roshi
Zac Gray – Red Ruthless Broly
Reece Burns – Red Enraged 13
Jono Chabowski – Red Enraged Roshi

Our stream is up and running at https://www.twitch.tv/takgamesau.

Top Cut Update

Listed are the top 8 players in no particular order:

Joshua Craig – Red Enraged 13
Jono Chabowski – Red Enraged Roshi
Chris Hellmann – Black Devious 13
Dylan Mancinelli – Saiyan Empowered Goku
David Spencer – Red Enraged Roshi
Neville Pearson – Red Ruthless Broly
Daniel Scanes – Namekian Knowledge Piccolo
Reece Burns – Red Enraged 13

Top 8 Matches

Reece Burns vs Dylan Mancinelli
Jono Chabowski vs Neville Pearson
Joshua Craig vs Daniel Scanes
David Spencer vs Chris Hellmann

Top 4 Update

Dylan Mancinelli vs David Spencer
Jono Chabowski vs Daniel Scanes (stream feature match)

Top 2

Congratulations to David Spencer who has been the most consistent performer this season and has secured an invite to the 2016 World Championships!

He now plays Daniel Scanes on the stream for the Newcastle title.

Champion

Daniel Scanes wins the Newcastle Regional, keeping the title in the state again this year.

Congratulations again to both Daniel and David. We’ll see you all in Melbourne next week for Nationals!

Game on!

Brisbane Regional Championships 2016

 41 eager Z warriors have travelled from all over Australia to make it to the Brisbane regionals seeking fame, glory and that ever elusive Worlds invitation.

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A breakdown of styles and MPs follows:

Blue Tag Team is the most prevalent mastery on the field today with 8 people looking to call on allies for help. Black Devious and Red Enraged are represented by 7 players each, followed by Red Ruthless (5), Namekian Restored (4), Orange Adaptive (3), 2 players each representing Namekian Knowledge and Saiyan Empowered and a single Z warrior representing Blue Protective and Orange Adept.

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For MPs, the new Vengeance MPs are well represented with 9 players representing Broly, 6 Cooler and 4 Android 13. Rounding out the rest are Gohan, Yamcha and Captain Ginyu (4 each), 2 players each for Master Roshi and Piccolo and single representation for Frieza, Goku, Android 16, Trunks, Cell and Android 18.

Round 2 Update

Round 2 is now underway with Damien (Blue Tag Gohan) and Rob (Namekian Restored Gohan) battling it out on our stream, which you can view on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/takgamesau

Round 4 Update

Nick (Blue Tag Roshi) is taking on Simon (Namekian Knowledge Piccolo) on stream while the following players are undefeated:

Jono C. (Namekian Knowledge Piccolo)
Dylan M. (Blue Protective Cooler)
Jacob M. (Blue Tag Ginyu)
Riley H. (Saiyan Empowered Broly)
Nick O. (Blue Tag Roshi)
Simon N. (Namekian Knowledge Piccolo)

Round 6 Update

Final round before Top Cut and tensions are high. Jacob M. with Blue Tag Ginyu has defeated all contenders so far and takes on 2015 World Championships Top 4 player Fahad with Black Devious Android 13.  On stream, Gold Coast Z Warrior Dylan M. is piloting Blue Protective Cooler against Jono’s Namekian Knowledge Piccolo.

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Top Cut Update

The following players have endured to make Top Cut, listed in no particular order. Congratulations and good luck to them!

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Dylan M. (Blue Protective Cooler)
Jono C. (Namekian Knowledge Piccolo)
David B. (Red Ruthless Broly)
Fahad R. (Black Devious Android 13)
Jacob M. (Blue Tag Captain Ginyu)
Nick O. (Blue Tag Master Roshi)
Lin H. (Red Enraged Android 13)
Chris K. (Black Devious Master Roshi)

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Top 4

It’s Fahad vs Lin while Jono takes on Chris K. on stream.

Top 2

Jono takes on Lin for the Queensland title honours and is up 1 game to 0 in a best of 3 battle.

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Who will prevail?

In the end, the title fell to Jono with a 2-0 win over Lin. We look forward to seeing everyone at Nationals!

Game on!
– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent) and Kyp (@JustKyp).

Sydney Regionals 2016

Underway in Burwood
Underway in Burwood

50 players have descended on Good Games Burwood from all over Australia for the 2016 Sydney Regionals.

Round 2 Update – Breakdowns of Masteries and Personalities are as follows:

Black Perceptive Mastery – 1
Black Devious Mastery – 11
Blue Protective Mastery – 7
Blue Tag Team Mastery – 5
Namekian Knowledge Mastery – 3
Orange Adaptive Mastery – 3
Red Enraged Mastery – 12
Red Ruthless Mastery – 3
Saiyan Empowered Mastery – 6

Broly – 11
Cooler – 11
Android 13 – 6
Master Roshi, Yamcha – 4
Piccolo – 3
Ginyu, Krillin – 2
Cell, Frieza, Garlic Jnr, Raditz, Android 16, Tenshinhan, Gohan – 1

You can also watch the stream on Twitch!

Round 4 Update

As we reach the mid-point of the Swiss rounds, the following players and decks are undefeated thus far:

Juliano S. (Black Devious Krillin)
Eugene Z. (Orange Adaptive Yamcha)
David S. (Red Enraged Roshi)
Paul C. (Saiyan Empowered Broly)
Bryan M. (Orange Adaptive Yamcha)
Matthew F. (Black Devious Garlic Jnr)

Who will prevail? Tune in to our stream to see Eugene face off against Paul.

Round 6 Update

The final countdown is on, and we have two players fighting it out to go undefeated through Swiss.

David S (Red Enraged Roshi) and Paul C (Saiyan Empowered Broly)

On stream, we have Aaron M (Saiyan Empowered Broly) and Bryan M (Orange Adaptive Yamcha).

Top Cut

Congratulations to our Top 8 (in no particular order).

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Dylan M. (Blue Protective Cooler)
Fahad R. (Red Enraged 13)
Juliano S. (Black Devious Krillin)
Maddison S. (Blue Protective Cooler)
David S. (Red Enraged Roshi)
Christopher K. (Black Devious Roshi)
Aaron M. (Saiyan Empowered Broly)
Paul C. (Saiyan Empowered Broly)

Top 4

Saiyan Empowered Broly and all forms of Roshi reign supreme with both Aaron M. and Paul C. moving through to the Top 4 along with David S. (Red Enraged Roshi) and Christopher K. (Black Devious Roshi). Will Roshi meet Roshi in the final, or will it be a battle of brawn with Broly v Broly, or a repeat match from Top 4? On stream right now, David and Aaron!