TAK Games > Melbourne Regional Championships 2016 – Tournament Report

Melbourne Regional Championships 2016 – Tournament Report

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The Regional season for 2016 kicked off in style, with 49 players turning up to the Celtic Club in Melbourne to fight it out for the honour of the first Regional Champion title.

Style and MP Breakdown
Black Devious – 15
Red Enraged – 9
Red Ruthless – 2
Orange Adaptive – 6
Blue Protective – 2
Blue Tag – 3
Saiyan Empowered – 5
Namekian Knowledge – 7

Cooler – 9
Yamcha – 8
Master Roshi / Piccolo / Broly – 6
Android 13 – 5
Frieza – 2
Krillin / Ginyu / Android 16 / Android 18 / Nail / Goku / Gohan / Cell – 1

The day kicked off with a bang, and Round 1 saw some ferociously fought out matches, with no one wanting to give up that first game and put themselves on the back foot. Reigning National Champion Fahad notched up a win, with Harry K., and Ben S., other notable contenders for the race of the first World Championship invite winning in the first round.

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The day was a tale of decks made on meta predictions not working as they had intended, and a real sense that anything could come out on top over the course of the 6 rounds.

Action on table 1 was electric throughout the day. David S. and Ben S. duking it out in Round 2, with Ben’s Black Krillin pushing Red Roshi all the way. The Life Deck counts were uneven, but it always felt like Roshi could have pulled something in the death to steal the game as he always finds a way to do.

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And in the final Swiss round, the two undefeated decks, Karl F. with Red Cooler, and Ben S. with his Black Krillin squared off. The match was always tightly poised, with Cooler seeming to push forward on all three win conditions, and Krillin trying to hold them off and push through some damage. Decisions on plays held massive weight, as Dragon Balls were exchanged, and pressure mounted. In the end, Karl showed that Red Cooler is here to stay finishing off his undefeated record in Swiss.

And then we  cut to the final 8 of the tourney.

Karl F. – Red Cooler
Ben S. – Black Krillin
David S. – Red Roshi
Luke P. – Black Cooler
Bryan M. – Orange Yamcha
Matthew D. – Red Yamcha
Harry K. – Red Roshi
Barry D. – Namekian Piccolo

With a mixture of long term campaigners, and first time players in top cut, things were always going to get interesting.

Karl showed Barry’s Namekian Piccolo who the new triple victory deck is on the block. Ben had to keep Harry’s Red Roshi in check. Luke chalked another regulation win up with his Black Cooler.

In the top 4, things only got more interesting. Ben came up against another Red Roshi against David S. and things just didn’t go Krillin’s way this time. While pushing out some early damage, Roshi does what he always will mid game and built up a board to close out the game with Ben unable to capitalise. Black vs Red was the flavour of the other top 4 match, as Karl and Luke fought it out. Having the ability to complete a triple victory proved too much for Luke to overcome with Black Cooler. Top 4 deck lists are available for review here.

In the end, it was Red vs Red. Both decks capable of winning on all three fronts, and both players needed to keep their wits about them. Game 1 was taken out by David S., with his seemingly endless chain of cards with critical damage effects allowing him to gain all 7 Dragon Balls. Then in Game 2, Karl was able to get his own back, pushing back with some tidy game decisions to win by Dragon Ball Victory as well.

It came down to a tense Game 3. Dragon Balls were traded back and forth, both players pressing hard for the win. Near the end of the game, David seemed close to victory and came within one action, one critical damage effect of gaining all 7 Dragon Balls. But he didn’t count on Karl having not one but two Red Knee Lifts in hand. If there was a true MVP of the day, that card would have to go out as the one that generated the biggest swings.

And so Karl rounded out the day with a great win to Red Cooler. Melbourne has set the tone for this Organised Play season, and the gauntlet has been thrown down to those that want to leave their mark.

The leaderboard has been updated for the third World Championship invite, and can be found here: http://www.tak-games.com.au/organised-play/2016-tak-games-dragon-ball-z-regionals/

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

Local Championships – Guf Ballarat, VIC

47 eager Z-Warriors have braved a frosty winter’s morning to smash down in style at Guf Ballarat. Streaming is live on our Twitch channel at https://www.twitch.tv/takgamesau with Karl (Orange Android 20) facing off against Nikita (Black Garlic Jr) in Round 2.

As for what styles are present, it seems a shift in the meta is evident with 13 players representing Orange style, 10 Red, 9 Black, 7 Namekian, 5 Saiyan and only 3 representing Blue. Despite the shift away from Namekian style, Piccolo is well represented with 7 players, six players are playing Android 20 and Krillin, 5 players are hoping Cell’s recent CRD changes don’t nerf his chances and 4 players each representing Yamcha and Garlic. Turles, Goku, Ginyu, Roshi, Trunks, Android 18, Dr Wheelo, Tenshinhan, Android 16 and Lord Slug are also present.

Who will prevail? Tune in to Twitch to find out!

Local Championship Report – Gold Coast – Top Cut

After the dust settled, prizes handed out, and top cut named, it was time to sort out the wheat from the chaff for the day. And there were some match ups in top cut that no one would envy having to play.

Top 8

Undefeated in Swiss, Juliano S. piloted his Black Krillin against a threat in Saiyan Turles run by Dylan M.. This could have proved a tough game for Krillin, but in the end he showed why he has been a dominant MP since set 1, shining through to win onto the next round.

Jono C. with his trusty Red Garlic was forced into a match up that could have also posed some problems, with skillful player Jesse M. and his Orange 20 looking to Tank Barrage his opponent into submission. But it was the damage modification created by Garlic, and some deft level control by Jono C. that pushed through the victory.

One of the Red Roshi’s in top cut, Callum S., also pushed out a hard fought win against a potentially oppressive match up against Josh C.’s Blue Ginyu. And rounding out top cut, Simon N. pushed National Champion Fahad R. and came through with a win for himself as well, as Piccolo Namekian showed Red Roshi that the meta wasn’t fully in his favour just yet.

Top 4

It was further pain for Red Roshi in top 4 as well. Callum came up against Simon in the round of 4, and after coming off just playing against Fahad, Simon must have thought he had the match up figured out. Simon pulled out the win in this round, and onto the finals. His Piccolo Namekian list really shows the value in even having “1 of” tech cards in your deck, but he is also a skillful player who knows how to maximise those cards to full effect as well.

The other match in top 4 was an epic battle for supremacy. Jumping to some of the last phases of the match, Jono showed some great foresight in some of his plays. Being on level 3, and pushing himself up to level 4 was always going to be a problem. And looking at Juliano’s hand he had the cards to maximise on Garlic’s somewhat unforgiving level 4 power, with Destructo Disk and Sinister Choke in hand.

But Juliano was in a slight pickle, as Jono being back on level 3, and having used a Red Destiny, wasn’t going to be able to push enough damage through to warrant their use just yet. After another turn, and pushing through some of those attacks, Juliano fell foul of Garlic’s potent Dragon Ball Victory threat, with Jono coming out with a win.

Finals

As the two friends squared off, it was hard to see many other outcomes other than Red Garlic coming out on top. The deck, if nothing else, creates far too many headaches for even it to endure.

Simon put up a valiant effort to try and push out a win in either game, with some close calls in game 2. However, Garlic and his Dragon Ball Victories won the game and the tournament, and showed that at least for now that it can be a thorn in the side of many tier 1 decks.

The decklists of the Top 4 are as follows;

Jono C. – Red Garlic

Simon N. – Piccolo Namekian

Juliano S. – Black Krillin

Callum S. – Red Roshi

We hope to see a lot of players turn out for the last two Local Championships. With Vengeance hitting shelves next week, the meta shifts again and poses a new problem to those wanting to compete in Regionals starting in August!

Game on!

– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent) and Kyp (@JustKyp).

Local Championship Report – Gold Coast – Swiss Rounds

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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

The expert Red Garlic pilot comes out on top
The expert Red Garlic pilot comes out on top

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).

2016 Guf Launceston Dragon Ball Z Local Championships Tournament Report

Guf Launceston Local Championships - Cameron (Top 2)
Guf Launceston Local Championships – Cameron (Top 2)

The first of our Dragon Ball Z Local Championships took place in Launceston with a small but mighty contingent of Z Warriors battling it out for state pride. Top Tassie players Grant, Kehnan, Cameron and Ryan were keen to claim the Local Championships title and keep it safe to celebrate Tasmania’s first large OP event, while Victorian interloper Nick plotted to unleash the pain on an unsuspecting meta.

P6045680With travel stipends and World Championship invite points on the line, as well as bragging rights, competition was fierce. With no Blue or Namekian decks to be seen, there was still a variety of styles and main personalities on offer.  Four players elected for Black Style, three Orange, two Saiyan and one Red while personalities observed in the field included Yamcha (x3), Cell, Tien, Krillin, Android 20, Trunks, Android 18 and Ginyu making up the remaining numbers.

Guf Launceston Top 4 - Nick
Guf Launceston Local Championships – Nick (Top 4)

With the recent announced changes to the Current Rulings Document and the short time period prior to the event, players were understandably wary of utilising Namekian Cell.

After two rounds and a lunch break, Grant (Orange Adaptive 20), Kehnan (Black Devious Ginyu) and Nick (Orange Adaptive Yamcha) were all undefeated.

Brutal third round matches saw both Kehnan and Nick drop games with only Grant undefeated, but all three players made it through to the Top 4 final cut.

The Top 4 players were:

  1. Grant D. (Orange Adaptive 20)
  2. Cameron D. (Black Devious Yamcha)
  3. Nick S. (Orange Adaptive Yamcha)
  4. Kehnan W. (Black Devious Ginyu)

At the conclusion of the Top Cut rounds, Grant stood victorious, sweeping the tournament with a clean sheet (7-0). More Local Championship events are scheduled to take place next weekend – will you be there?

Guf Launceston Champion - Grant
Guf Launceston Local Championships Winner – Grant

If you have any questions regarding TAK Games organised play, please contact us at dbz@tak-games.com.au, via our Facebook page TAK Games or group Dragonball Z TCG Australia or via Twitter @TAKGames_au.

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