Florsheim Info : David Daritan's YCS Sydney Top 32 Report

Hi guys,

Who doesn't know David? David Daritan is an Indonesian duelist that has topped a lot of TCG tournaments, not only Yugioh, and was once a Yugioh Australian Nationals Champion. Now he will share what he went through when he participated in the 1st Australian YCS, YCS Sydney. As David has requested, this article will be written in English instead of the usual Bahasa Indonesia so it can be read by international reader. Ok, without further ado, let's read his report!

DAY ONE

Round 1: 2-0 vs Blackwing

I was paired with a young boy (maybe like 8-9 years old) who probably just started playing judging on how he played. Both game shouldn't be explained as it is very one sided because he kept minusing himself by doing unnecessary stuffs. The kid was so upset when he was about to lose and nearly cried. I feel really bad about it but what else can I do? I need to start winning to start my day in this YCS.

Round 2: 2-0 vs Spellbook

Spellbook might not be the easiest matchup, however I just play my usual Fire Fist plays. Both games were a bit of grind and I just played my cards correctly to prevent him get any plusses. His Tower essentially never resolved in Standby Phase because I always destroyed it before it happened.

Round 3:2-1 vs Constellar

Game 1 was very easy win for him. He went first and go for Pleiades. I started my turn and had no Tensu, so I summoned Bear and he bounce it. I set some bluff because I didn't have any defensive traps. Next turn he summoned Pollux and Sombre, to get Kaus and just got game from there.

Second game I started with the combo (Prince and Rooster) and set some legit traps. I stopped whatever play he had due to my Fiendish Chain, Bottomless and Solemn Warning.

Third game was another strong start from him. He started with Pleiades and one backrow, This time I had Tensu so I would be able to summon Bear twice to kill it. In addition I also had a strong hand because I also had Gyokkou to lock his one backrow. However it went easier because he misplayed. I am not sure what kind of pressure he had to make a mistake like chaining Pleiades when I activated my Gyokkou. I just activate Gyokkou once again to lock it anyways. He thinks for his move and probably regret his decision so much. He asked to redo the game a bit as he wanted to chain MST to his Pleiades' effect. I was fine with that as long as the game is not redoed as further as not activating Pleiades. It went easy from there because he lost his key monster on such an early stage.

Round 4: 2-1 vs Six Samurai

This round is the matter of who went first, like normal yugioh game.
First game I started with Leopard and grabbing Tenki for Spirit, then set some defensive traps. Next turn I stopped his summons and goes off in my second turn. I summoned Prince and Rooster, then Tensu for Bear for more advantage.

Second game I couldn't handle with his first turn Shi En. I ended up killing that Shi En but I wasted so many resources so that I couldn't handle his Naturia Beast.

Third game I started with Thunder King Rai-Oh, but my hand wasn't good. It was very far away from being a playable hand. He ended up wasting two cards to get rid of my Thunder King. Even so, I still can't make big plays. Later on he had Shi En and I used Bear to get rid of it. Problem started when he had Naturia Beast on the field. I had no Fire Formation face up so I can't really kill it. Fortunately I had Wolfbark and I summoned it. I'm lucky he had no Veiler for it.

It is supposed to be easy outs because I can just summon Bujintei Kagutsuchi. The problem is... I didn't extra it. In addition to that for some reason I was thinking that Beast was Beast Warrior and cannot be negated by Tiger King. Probably this is what I get for not playing Yugioh in regular basis but oh well, I ended up summoning Gagaga Cowboy and killed his Beast only for it to die to Kizan next turn which is all fine. I kept playing my 4 axis side on this game for the win.

Round 5: 1-2 vs Mermail (Troy Labonne)

First game I went with a strong field and Mind Crushes his Abyssmegalo. The game went easy from there as I had so much advantage going from there. I also summoned Thunder King at one point of the game

Second and Third game was similar. I got badly beaten by a single Abyssleed on his field. I had somewhat unplayable hand both games. I still remember my starting third game hand. It was Rooster Bear Bear MST Fiendish Mind Crush. He then used Tidal's effect to send Leed, to summon it. I had nothing to really stop it and had no plus mechanics. He smartly kept multiple monster on the field so that I can't really out his field even if I topdecked into a Fire Formation.

I ended up losing my good matchup here. This also puts me in kind-of bubble situation because I couldn't really lose again in such early stage. From what I have seen, this guy played very well and he deserved his victory.

Round 6: 2-0 vs Malefic Geartown

First game he started with a Doomcaliber Knight and Geartown. I made my possibly my play of the day by summoning Dragon and set Tenken and some MSTs. He didn't read what is going to happen and summoned Barbaros. I activated Tenken to Dragon to let Dragon's effect activate (even though it's negated) after Tenken resolved. Doomcaliber will be forced to negate it and ended up dying by himself due to Tenken's protection. It went easy from there because he just minused himself and I MST his Geartown on appropriate timings to prevent it to activate.

Second game he started with Geartown, Drain, Malefic Stardust, and some other backrows. I played Tenki-Bear and destroy Stardust with MST destroying his Drain when he activate it. It became a one-turn solution as next turn he had Cyber End to kill my Bear. I activated another Tenki and chained another MST to destroy Geartown. He flipped Drain to let Cyber End stayed on the field. I activated Dark Hole then he lanced his Malefic Cyber End, and just lost the game on the moment when i point out that by Forbidden Lancing the Cyber End, that guy will die as there's no field spell card and unaffected by his own Skill Drain.

Round 7: 2-1 vs Spellbook

First game he went first and started to play his standard Spellbook opening. I forced his Spellbook of Fate by summoning Gorilla. I had MST for his Tower and Solemn Warning for his Temperance. The game went downhill for him afterwards as I just played my 4 axis side properly to beat him.

Second game once again he started with his standard start. However this time I didn't have outs when he played his Temperance for World. I just lost when he resolved World for massive pluses.

Third game I started with the Spirit combo and have appropriate spell and traps to lock down his plays.

6-1 day one. Comfortably going to day 2. I am 36th on standing after day 1.

DAY TWO

Round 8: 2-0 vs Harpies (Damian Preston)

First round of day two and i had to play against my good friend for it. A bit disappointed with the pairing but life must go on. First game he bricked and had almost nothing. He just set backrows and I had good hand. I just play my cards and win very easily.

Second game he had something to play, albeit not a good plays. Game goes longer than game 1 because I also draw pretty bad. Game was very balanced and no one had clear advantage at any point of the game. He resolved Sign once and search three at one point but I had Mind Crush for his Channeler to drag the game further. Both players were on very low life point at one point. I had 300 and he had 700.

I kept summoning my monster in defense because even though he only had 4 monster left in the deck (Tempest, Harpie's Pet, Lady 1 and Monk), 3 of those 4 will ended up beating me as I only had a Prince on the field. He ended up not drawing anything before i top deck a Fire Fist monster for the game. I am kinda surprised that I can still win game 2 after drawing very badly. Apparently he bricked twice.

Round 9: 2-1 vs Fire Fist (Newson)

I won game 1 fairly convincingly. I had Thunder King and Mind Crush at the correct times to made his life hard. I lost game 2 as he started well and I couldn't cope up, I drew double Black Horn and couldn't resolve it in the end.

Game 3 was very close game. I am very lucky the guy was nice. He could have rulesharked me because I actually drop one of my extra deck card because i bumped to the extra deck when I search my deck. I ended up winning that game, then I apologized and thanked him for not sharking me when the card drop occured.

Round 10: 0-2 vs Fire Fist (Jonno Ritzau)

I was on table 4. I just play whatever I had in my hand because this game isn't that relevant anymore due to my high pairings. I obviously tried to win but he started first game strongly and he had better sides (and drawing it) on game 2.

TOP 32

So I am on top 32. Life will be hard from here. I believe and know that I had the best main deck, but flawed badly on sides and extra. Bujintei Kagutsuchi must be there over cards like Maestroke who had no purpose at all in Fire Fist deck. As for side, Overwork must be there, replacing maybe Retort, despite I never actually draw my side in Retort (therefore changing Retort to Overwork is not relevant, but I believe Overwork is better)

Top 32: 1-2 vs Fire Fist (Berrett Keys)

I won game 1 with a single Mind Crush. I started with setting Crush. He started with Tenki, searched for Bear and I activated Mind Crush. I saw the rest of his hand and nothing was useful. He had MST, Fiendish Chain, Veiler, Dark Hole and another card I don't remember (irrelevant in this case). I summoned my Bear, attacked into Fiendish Chain that got MST'd. I gather advantages from there. He MST my free Tenki to prevent more bleeding, but considering I know whatever he can do, it's pretty much easy win. He Dark Holed my Bear, only for me to be able to extend even further considering he had no more Dark Hole.

I lost game 2. He started with the Prince Rooster combo and he had outs to whatever play i made.

I started game 3 very strongly. I start with Prince Rooster combo (searching Bear). With Solemn Warning and Chain Whirlwind set. I ended up swapping Tenki for another Tenki because I am very confident that I am safe with my two strong traps. I ended up very wrong. He activated Gyokkou for both my Warning and Whirlwind. Then proceed to Tensu for Rooster into Tenki for Spirit and had his own Prince Rooster combo. New Rooster ended up swapping Tenki for Gyokkou to lock my Tenki. Now he had triple Gyokkou vs my triple backrow.

I had a bear with Tensu from previous turn still face up. Now i regret not taking Gorilla for my Rooster on my first turn. I also had a very awkward hand as I had double Gyokkou and Bottomless Trap Hole. I ended up popping Prince and activated both gyokkou to crash bear into Rooster. Now we had to play without Spell/Traps. Which would be terrible for me because everything he had is 100 higher than mine (he had 3 Gyokkou and I had 2).

I ended up having to make plays first, I unlocked one of his traps with swapping Gyokkou for Tenki into Gorilla. That ended up to be my downfall because I unlocked Overwork. Next turn when I summoned Gorilla to pop his chain whirlwind locking Gyokkou (to essentially win the game if my Whirlwind resolved), he had Overwork to kill Gorilla. He ended up having more beater than me and win from there. It was an epic game anyways. Where else would you find a game where both players stucked and locked, with no one can do anything as no s/t can be played.

Conclusion

Pros:
1. Able to come to YCS. I almost unable to come because I was in Tokyo, Japan until Wednesday, Jan 15 for attending World Championship for Weiss Schwarz (another bushiroad card game) to complete my duty as Australian National Champion of 2013 in that game. I missed my flight from Tokyo to Singapore, therefore missing my connecting flight from Singapore to Melbourne. I ended up in later flight from Tokyo to Singapore which flew 7 hours after my original flight (which is fine), but apparently on Thursday (I arrived in Singapore 3am of thursday), every flight to Melbourne was fully booked and I am on waiting list. If I can't go on board to the first or second flight of that day (there's 7am, 10am, 6pm and 9pm flight to melbourne from singapore), I wouldn't be able to come because I would also miss my flight from Melbourne to Sydney as I would arrive later than that. Luckily everything goes well and I am able to come.

2. Eating good foods (credits to Craig Stern) to compensate having to had shitty lunches as there's nothing available near event venue. I ended up eating good korean bulgogi with korean apple cocktail on saturday, eating some amazing spanish dish with margarita on sunday, and simple pepper lunch steaks (i guess not as awesome as first two days) for monday lunch. I don't get how many peoples can survive all three days with like only hotdogs and burgers from mc donalds/oporto.

3. Top 32, which is considered good achievement for many people.

4. Having such a great tech in main deck, giving me great opportunity to actually win so many game 1. Notably in round 9 and top32. Cards like Mind Crush and Thunder King is the nuts in this format.

Cons:
1. Top 32, which I believe should gone further if I played differently. I wouldn't really say searching Bear from Rooster and swapping Tenki for new Tenki face down a misplay, but if i did differently as in searching Gorilla instead or swapping Tenki for Tenken or Tensen might be different story.

2. Bad side, Overwork is good side. It hurts so much. Not playing this card proves that I am not prepared enough for this YCS. Maybe this is what i get for playing multiple card games in competitive level. My schedule become packed and not being able to prepare properly.

3. Bad extra, Bujintei Kagutsuchi is a must. Maestroke isn't needed. Even Black Corn can be cut for Kagutsuchi.

Decklist

Monster 15
2 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Bear
3 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Rooster
3 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Leopard
1 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Spirit
1 Coach Soldier Wolfbark
1 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Dragon
1 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla
2 Effect Veiler
1 Thunder King Rai-Oh

Spell 16
3 Fire Formation - Tenki
3 Fire Formation - Tensu
3 Fire Formation - Gyokkou
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Rekindling
1 Dark Hole
1 Book of Moon

Traps 9
1 Fire Formation - Tensen
1 Fire Formation - Tenken
1 Solemn Warning
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Fiendish Chain
2 Mind Crush

I do believe I had the best Fire Fist main deck. Wolfbark and Bear should be played at 1 and 2, because you don't want to draw Wolfbark early and multiple Bear rarely useful. You had Tenki to search for everything anyway. Thunder King is very good and beats every deck in this format. Triple Gyokkou shouldn't be doubted because the card is very strong and one of the reason why Fire Fist is such a strong deck. Maybe Tensu can be cut to 2 but I just want to maximize the number of Fire Formation as some of the games were lost for not drawing enough Fire Formation instead of other reason.

Double Rekindling sounds like a proper number because you don't want 3 copies as it could clog sometimes and you don't want 1 copy as it may not be impactful enough. Tenken is very underrated as you can make some cool plays with it and you would feel safe behind Tenken. Some argues people can play stuff in Main Phase 2, but most deck requires battle phase so hard. Your opponent might be able to kill your monster with bear in Main Phase 2 to prevent tenken but what's the point if you can't attack directly after that. Mind Crush is essentially the bane of this format. Same like Thunder King, every relevant deck is very weak to it.

1 Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius
2 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Horse Prince
1 Number 85: Crazy Box
1 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Tiger King
1 Number 50: Blackship of Corn
1 Diamond Dire Wolf
1 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
1 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Cardinal
1 Abyss Dweller
1 Gagaga Cowboy
1 Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Lion Emperor
1 Ghostrick Alucard
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Mechquipped Angineer

Everything except Maestroke/Corn over Bujintei Kagutsuchi should be already ideal extra deck, not playing Kagutsuchi is easily the biggest mistake. Sirius and Box is required for side EEV and they're not bad anyway.

2 Beast King Barbaros
2 Maxx "C"
1 Fire Formation - Yoko
1 Dimensional Fissure
1 Closed Forest
2 Chain Whirlwind
1 Eradicator Epidemic Virus
1 Soul Drain
2 Retort
2 Black Horn of Heaven

Yoko is used for decks with annoying cards like Machina Fortress. Chain Whirlwind wasn't doing as good as decktesting. Meanwhile Maxx C, D-Fissure, Closed Forest and Soul Drain did as expected. EEV wasn't used that much because I didn't play enough Spellbooks. Retort was supposed to be vs Mirror Match, but I do believe that Overworked is heaps better because it's useful on every situation.

Barbaros might be the biggest surprise here, but 80% people forgot Tenken's effect. It actually negates barbaros for a phase to make him 3.000 ATK after that (and plus 300 from Tenken). It is also very good against Skill Drain decks but I only played against one of it (The Malefic Gear deck), I was expecting Hieratics maining Drain so this card was good against them. Black Horn is decent but probably 1 copy is enough as I lost one game drawing multiple with no real purpose as I'm behind already.

If I am going to play again in an event with same format, I would have cut one Black Horn and two Retorts for three Overwork. Cutting Chain Whirlwind for another tech side card wouldn't be bad either.

Thanks for reading,
David Daritan

PS. The playmats are awesome!

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