TAK Games > Newcastle Regional Championships 2016

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!

 

 

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).

Regionals Deck Analysis #3 | Nash’s Red Piccolo

Nash fights it out on Table 2 with Red Piccolo.
Nash fights it out on Table 2 with Red Piccolo.

Before taking a look at the remaining regional winner decks (Nathan W.’s Orange Krillin and Carl’s Namekian Piccolo), we wanted to highlight a regional finalist’s deck showcasing some of the versatility in deck choices available in the meta environment.

Nathan Ash – Red Piccolo

Nash piloted Red Piccolo all the way to a Top 4 showdown and proved Piccolo isn’t just a one trick pony with a Namekian deck. It is true, however, that some of the synergy between Piccolo’s personality powers and an MPPV victory remains just as valid in Red style as it does in Namekian. But the Red varient utilises some burst anger that only Tenshinhan can reliably match.

Piccolo does some great work from level 2 to 4, and uses those powers to his advantage to max out his anger either by directly using a critical damage effect or giving Piccolo the tools to generate one through damage. His only drawback in Red is his Level 1. With no anger gain other than cards drawn, this can sometimes leave Red Piccolo vulnerable early game. By maxing out on Red’s cards that gain 2 anger with secondary or hit effects, this helps to mitigate some of those problems.

I’m particularly impressed by the use of the sole Red Tactical Drill in the deck. On face value this might seem like wasted space, but when you team it with Red Stop which can grab the drill back to potentially help conserve anger it can put in some great work. This also adds to the flexibility of the defensive package in the deck. A vulnerability present is the reduced amount of pure energy blocks in the deck, which leaves you open to having your anger reduced via critical damage effects generated by your opponent’s energy attacks. Red Energy Defensive Stance is the favoured second energy block I see in most Red decks to help with anger.

Red Tactical Drill
Red Tactical Drill keeps you angry. Grrargh!

Having the Dragon Balls in deck as well to give a back up win condition is a great part of this deck. By making your opponent choose between you keeping your anger, or keeping your Dragon Balls, you keep some of the power on your side of the table.

The attacks used in the deck are all very solid. By focusing on using a majority of physical attacks to gain anger, you leave your opponent unable to stage lock you into not being able to play your attacks. When teamed with physical blocks being slightly less prevalent in the environment, it gives the deck some great tools to press on with a Survival Victory if it catches someone unprepared to halt the chain of attacks Red has the potential of bringing to the table.

With only 14 cards in the deck that can’t be used during the defender phase, it represents a good balance to help ensure you can pin your ears back and go for your wins either as the attacker or defender in most draw phases. And with multiple ways to help cycle cards in and out of your hand, the deck shouldn’t be as susceptible to bricked hands like some other Red decks can be.

If I was looking at this deck for ways to improve it, I would like to see cards like Red Left Bolt or Red Heel Kick added into the mix to help keep combats going. The longer you keep your opponent in combat, and generating anger through critical damage effects or pure secondary effects the better. Both these cards offer you ways to keep setting up your combats. Red Left Bolt isn’t going to get you the same value in Piccolo as it would in a Tenshinhan build, but you can always make sure that the card on the bottom of your deck is going to keep the anger train rolling.

These types of decks add some great variety to the meta, keeping everyone honest in their own deck building to be mindful of a burst anger deck that they might not see coming. As Nash showed, you can get some good success with Red in a meta that might be expecting more of the usual players in Ginyu, Krillin and Namekian Piccolo.

Good luck and game on!

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