Two days. 83 players. 2 invites. Australia turned up the heat and players showed up in number to discover who our first National Champion would be. More importantly, which two players would represent us at the Dragon Ball Z World Championships this year? It was great to see so many old (from Score Z days) and new faces at the Celtic Club to make the weekend a smashing success.
Day One
What was evident from the outset was a fairly solid diversity in the types of decks brought. While we saw some good numbers for crowd favourites Black Krillin and Namekian Piccolo, there were also a lot of keen players wanting to show off the abilities other combinations bring to the table. It was nice to see a good splashing of Saiyan, Red and Orange in the mix, with the final break down being;
Black – 24
Blue – 13
Namekian – 22
Orange – 10
Red – 7
Saiyan – 7
The first few rounds of Swiss generated some of the closest matches over the two days, as players pushed themselves to generate the best start they could to help build a solid base to be able to attack the later rounds. And as the rounds wore on, there were a few great stories unfolding.
Daniel piloted his Black Krillin skilfully to go undefeated through the Swiss rounds to ensure himself a top cut spot. Then there was his young apprentice, Chris, who had only picked up the game a few months earlier, keeping his cool and showing he was made of the right sort of grit as well.
But the Cinderella story of the event was Tobye, who broke the meta wide open with his Saiyan Turles deck making a mockery of those who didn’t give Saiyan a chance.
The Swiss rounds went late into the evening. And in typical Melbourne fashion, an afternoon storm rolled in to add to the sense of foreboding with some tight and hard fought games taking up the final two rounds. In the end, the Top 16 was made, with some great inclusions to the exclusive group but also a few shocks as to who did not make the finals.
In no particular order, the top cut was made up of:
Fahad R. – Black Krillin
Damien H. – Blue Ginyu
David B. – Black Krillin
Tim L. – Orange Ginyu
Chris H. – Black Krillin
Daniel S. – Black Krillin
Kuan-Ju L. – Black Ginyu
Michael M. – Black Krillin
Tobye R. – Saiyan Turles
David T. – Namekian Piccolo
Jono C. – Red Garlic
Dylan F. – Namekian Piccolo
Justin T. – Orange Krillin
Juliano S. – Black Krillin
Adam S. – Black Krillin
Harry K. – Namekian Piccolo
While it were these players that would be the ones to determine who received the invites, it did not take away from the great play and sportsmanship of everyone. We rounded out the night knowing that we were in for an amazing treat the next day to see who would be crowned Champion.
Day Two
An early start for us at TAK Games, with decks to be checked and more setting up. Looking at the Top 16 we knew that there were going to be some great match ups right out of the blocks and we weren’t disappointed.
There were some amazingly close matches in Top 16. Daniel and Jono came right down the wire with the final combat going either way if not for one solitary card. Mirror matches abounded with Michael and Juliano both running Black Krillin to the wire.
But into the Top 8 marched Tobye and his unique Saiyan Turles deck against Michael, and the match up didn’t disappoint. The match ebbed and flowed, and all came down to a final hand. In something that would seem crazy to most, Tobye entered with no cards in hand, but used one of his Visiting The Pasts in play to grab a Saiyan Energy Focus to shut off Michael’s board and to try and push for a win. But Michael had the crucial block in hand that allowed him to shrug off the attack and then move in for the kill.
Our final 4 saw Adam and Fahad match up in another mirror to see who would be given the first of the two invites, and Kuan and Michael battle it out as Black Ginyu and Black Krillin respectively. Both sets of matches were hard fought, but it was Fahad and Kuan, two great friends, who would be meeting in the final and would be the lucky recipients of the two invites to worlds.
The finals started after a short break to refresh, with both players putting up a great fight. In the end, Fahad’s Black Krillin proved too much for Kuan as he won 2-0 in the best of three match up. Crucial attacks like Black Energy Web proved the difference between the two.
Congratulations to Fahad as our National Champion and Kuan as a worthy Runner Up. Good luck to you both as you do Australia proud at the World Championships in December.
We would like to thank each and every player for their support over the weekend, and we were thrilled with the level of talent we saw from all of you. We can’t wait to ramp up organised play further next year.
Game on!
– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent) and Kyp (@JustKyp).