The past weekend saw 27 players turn out for the TAK Games Local Championships at Good Games Gold Coast. And with Vengeance due for release in only a couple of weeks time, it was a good time to see some of the current meta decks shine before having to jostle for position with some of the new kids on the block.
We had players from all over South East Queensland, Northern NSW, and even a lone Victorian traveler in reigning National Champion and Worlds Top 4 player, Fahad Rahman.
Champion for the day was Jono C., expertly piloting his trusty Red
Garlic in some epic battles, beating out close friend and travel buddy Simon N. in the final.
Swiss Rounds Breakdown
The break down in styles, and most used MPs were;
Blue – 7
Namekian – 5
Orange – 5
Red – 5
Black – 4
Saiyan – 1
Piccolo rounded out with the most MP stacks with 5. Closely followed by Krillin and Turles with 4 each. Android 20 and Captain Ginyu were next up with 3 each.
All in all it was interesting to see the breakdown of the styles used. With Cell Restored taking a back seat, the Red style decks have come out in force to help claim a piece of the meta.
The day kicked off with some interesting match ups straight away. Fahad (Red Roshi) kicked off against Brisbane local Adam H. (Orange 20) with Fahad picking up his first win. Local favourites Juliano S. (winner of the Gathering of Worlds Local Championship) and Damian H. also picked up wins in the first round.
At the end of the round though, an exhausting battle was taking place with Michael L. (Piccolo Namekian) taking on Simon N. (Piccolo Namekian). The match was tense all the way, with both players showing their strength in piloting the deck since Set 1. The match ended a draw, after some deft play from Simon to keep the game going.
On stream in Round 2 we had an epic battle of the Red Dragon Ball / MPPV decks, with Fahad taking on Jono C. (Red Garlic). Both players gave great accounts of themselves, with Fahad coming out on top via survival victory in the end to clinch the tough fought game.
With player posturing at a premium there were many hard fought games in round 2. Wins to Josh C., Dylan M., Juliano S., Lin H., and Callum S. left all these players with maximum points.
Through the middle rounds, the going got tough for a lot of players. Wins were harder to come by, and matches even more intense as everyone kept one eye on top cut. Arch nemesis decks Black Krillin and Blue Ginyu faced off with Juliano S. and Josh C. in Round 3 with Juliano taking the win.
Coming down the final stretch into Round 4 saw some defeats for some favourites who we pushing for top spots, and clutch victories for some looking to push those players out. Fahad had his first loss for the day at the hands of a mirror match in Callum S. which was a fantastic match to watch. Simon N. and Josh C. also were unlucky to drop games in this round, but with the calibre of play all day it was hard to begrudge any player some hard fought wins.
The final round was upon us, and Simon N. and Sam H. came up to the stream, with both players looking to take a win from the round to make sure they had a spot in top cut. A classic match up, with Simon’s Piccolo Namekian closely edging out Sam’s Black Krillin to move into a top 8 spot. Sam played some great games all day and it was hard to see her miss out on a spot in the top 8.
In the end our top 8 was rounded out by;
Juliano S. (Black Krillin)
Callum S. (Red Roshi)
Fahad R. (Red Roshi)
Jono C. (Red Garlic)
Jesse M. (Orange 20)
Simon N. (Namekian Piccolo)
Joshua C. (Blue Ginyu)
Dylan M. (Saiyan Turles)
Check back tomorrow for more details on how Top Cut played out.
Game on!
– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent) and Kyp (@JustKyp).