The Lameness of Shinji - 6th place Texas Regionals Report

By MarcoPulleaux, in UFS Tourney Reports

Wow...it's been a long time since I've ever written one of these! O_O

Eh, skip to the chase

Intro

It's a 5 hour drive from San Antonio to Dallas, but that actually wasn't a problem. Getting lost for almost 2 hours while in Dallas itself? Yeah, big problem, not to mention burning a lot of gas, making plenty of turn arounds, and let's not forget making an abrupt 70 MPH turn and almost hitting like 5 cars in the process. Hooray for Dallas and its unclear roads that have no signs or warnings!

So we finally arrive at Brian's (Nubian God) place where I meet MegaGeese, ScubaDude, and some others. We finally get acquainted after years of UFS banter and of course, my notorious history amongst the forums.

So we get up and head to the card shop.

Well, I had brought 2 friends, both newbies, and both confused as Hell. I also had no deck built. That's right, I drove 5 hours to a regional with nothing built, and no idea who or what to build.

First I was gonna use Good *Mignon* with my friends using Fire :::Akuma::: and Order/Water ***Seong Mi-Na***. Then I decided to not even play, and just help the two. Then Brian offers his Astrid deck to my friend Lin, and so she accepts Astrid, I use Seong Mi-Na, and my friend Jay uses Akuma.

Before I begin, let me give you an understanding on how this Seong Mi-Na was built. First off, I built the deck in about 5 minutes by simply saying, "Ooh, this card looks like it'd be good in Seong Mi-Na." Secondly, I'm running the most jank Mi-Na ever. 2 Lord of the Makai, ZERO Blood Runs True, ZERO Aquakinesis, and 2 Felines. Yup. It was a deck made completely from scraps...

FIGHT!

Round 1: vs Ron (Chae)

I love making jokes about Chae because of how utterly useless she is, and so when I found out I was against a Chae at a regionals, I got scared, thinking, "Wait...does Chae have access to some crazy combo I wasn't made aware of?" I also questioned if his deck was perhapas a Neo Deadly Rave + Treasured Gift deck.

I'm not even kidding: his only attacks were Tiger Fury. That's it. So, yeah, I felt really at ease; just save them Rejections =). Well, as it turned out, his deck is nothing but PURE aggro, with his only technical cards being stuff like Journey of Repentance, Torn Hero, Bitter Rivals, and Amy's, all of which my heavy Order/Water bulky Mi-Na can wade through with ease. And so I abuse her control + Shadow Blade to get him tapped, Feline Spike for game 1.

Next game, well, shame on me. He manages to get a Tiger Fury for 21 speed high, 35 damage, and I'm caught with my tail between my legs and not a Rejection or Gorgeous Team in sight, so he gets that one.

Game three was perhaps every UFS player's nightmare. I draw into the kill hand, Tag Along, 2 Mega Spike, Defender and Makai. I hastily play Defender and Makai and pass. After 2 games, I've learned he literally has nothing to stop my loop.

As he is playing his turn...

TIME!

...

...NOOOOOOOOOO!

So he just plays out a turn and passes, leading to a...

Draw 0-1-0

Round 2: vs Chris (Mai)

Wow...never seen a Mai quite like this. It's a Mai running only finishers! That's right, this deck only ran big people attacks: Feline, Darkness Blade, and Enkidu the Valiant. Well...unfortunately for him all those 1 checks really did bite him in the ass repeatedly, and while his hybrid of Evil/Water got pretty lame at times, his desire to play only big attacks was a foolish one, as my Battle Prowesses just laughed at each and everything he tried. Game 1 was hilarity.

He's at full health. I have Makai, Defender, and a boatload of ready foundations, and 2 Shadow Blades in hand. I proceded to, yes, Defender Loop my Shadow Blades repeatedly until I used Seong Mi-Na Form on Defender, returning both Blades to hand, and just finish him quickly with Feline Spike.

Well, that concluded game 1, and with only a few minutes on the clock, we attempted to play a game 2, but he admitted it's unlikely he could kill within such a small time frame, an so in the end, I

Won 1-1-0

Round 3: vs Jeremy (Victor)

I don't think I've ever been so angry at a card in my life. I never saw his kill, because his deck was one of those "I hide behind a wall of redux until I can kill with 1 attack" decks. I'm assuming he Reanimated Mentally Unstable, but uh, with a 6 handsize, your Mega Spike means nothing to my high vitality Seong Mi-Na.

First round, not gonna lie, he got Defender Loopded. Honestly, I felt bad, because if I'm playing Defender Loop, it must mean you have nothing to stop me, and I'm sure of it.

Well, we get to round 2. He managed to show me the ways of annoyingsauce: Reanimated + Amy's Assistance. Holy crap, I never thought I'd see a more annoying combo. I litereally, yes, had to play Shadow Blade, not 1, but FIVE TIMES!

FIVE

TIMES!

To get through his Reanimated stupidity, only to hit him with a Plasma for like, 10.

Well, I couldn't kill him this game, but when time was called, I had already sealed game 1.

Win 2-1-0

Round 4: vs Ken (Kyo)

Remember Red Lotus-Calibur Ibuki? Yeah, Red Lotus Kyo is the closest this block has to that. When 1 Red Lotus can counter 3 Programs AND 2 Chinese, you know you're in for trouble.

Our match took til time, and spoiler alert, nobody won. But man...talk about craziness.

I play Feline Spike. He has no hand, is at 20, and took the first copy, going to 12. I anxiously await the game to be over, but he uses his Lord of the Makai E Commits to add blocks to his hand, and Bitter Rivals to help him fully block my remaining 2 copies! ><

After facing his Kyo, I learned a few things:

1) Fast Food Lover + Tira's Contract = lol

2) Kyo + Red Lotus = gay. Seriously, 1 Red Lotus shouldn't be able to stop 3 Programs and 2 Chinese all by itself.

Coolest part of the match: He plays Chester's Backing, and then Ryu's Shin Shoryuken, which is an illegal play...except he had stacked Promo Kyo, giving him the All resource, making it legal. Wow...way to abuse a stacker lol.

Draw 2-2-0

So, with a record like that, I'm preeeeeetty sure I'm in the top

And voila! 5th place means top 8 for me. Although there's craziness.

I'm not the only Seong Mi-Na. In fact, the other Seong Mi-Na player has 2 wins and 2 draws TOO! So, the judge looks at our "strength of schedules", and after looking them through determines I'm in 5th and he's in 6th, Diversifying him out. Like I said, crazy.

TOP 8 (in no particular order)

Ibuki
Gill
Donovan
Chun-Li
Zi Mei
Seong Mi-Na
Kyo
Hilde

Quarterfinals: vs MegaGeese (Donovan)

I had no intent of winning. I mean, I'm mostly surprised my garbage-pail half-ass Mi-Na is even in top 8. What's more, I KNEW MegaGeese was running Donovan, and I already knew what to expect.

Game 1 is the UFS moment we've all had. If there ever was a fast player, it's Mega Geese. That guy throws down cards like darts, and taps himself out like a mad man. Each and every turn I said repeatedly, "draw attacks and it's game over." What he continually did was tap out, and leave approximately 3 foundations or so ready, perfect for using a Shadow Blade to tap him out and bait a block, then Feline for game.

But not 1 turn later

not 2 turns later

no

6 turns later

I draw attacks. Oh, and by 6 turn, I mean I already died. 5 turns passed with 0 attacks. 0. Yep...great luck for ya.

Game 2 was MegaGeese putting on some white gloves, a tuxedo, and briskly handing my ass to me on a silver platter. The 2nd game went as such

Geese: I use Ira Spinta. I'll send your only 2 foundations to your momentum
Me: I'll add X-foundation.
Geese: I'll E commit on Lord of the Makai to get it back when it deals damage.

This went on the entire game until he Spike'd me. Seriously. Every turn I'm trying to build, and just uses IraSpinta and Tenacious. Over. And over again.

All in all, good stuff. Jay's girlfriend Lin won the "best sportsmanship award" which was great because she's a beginner and she got 2 starters (Ivy and Ragnar) and a promo pack containing a playset of foil Red Lotus, and almost every single champion (she got Matt Kohls, Wes Victory, James Hata, Olexa, and Scott Mence). We also got a crapton of Seal of Cessations between the 3 of us, and I got a Life counter and playset of foil Come Through in the Clinch.

Pros + shout-outs:

-First regional and topped it.
-I made a deck together in like 5 minutes out of just scraps yet did really well
-Tons of promo support, always a goodie
-Awesome time at TGIFridays
-It seems as if ScubaDude and MegaGeese took a liking to me
-Met tons of cool people (Scuba, Geese, Bryan, Shelby, Jacob, Ken, Chris, etc)
-Special thanks to Scuba and Geese for giving me all of your Set 12 commons and uncommons. It helps tremendously!

Lows:

-Every opponent I played was nothing more than a wall. A stallfest. Seriously. Game 1 only ran Tiger Fury, game 2 only ran finishers backed by an Evil wall, game 3 Reanimated Amy's, game 4 had an untouchable staging area, and game 5 was Order madness.
-I got 6th. The guy that got 5th took the Monster Lariats, the only league foils I cared about =/
-I didn't prepare because I'm stupid lol
-Getting lost in a place like Dallas is horrible
-Following Brian. Brian, much respect to you and I thank you for allowing us to spend the night, but dang dude, I don't know if I can ever follow you; you and your Red5 just speed off in the distance! >_>...

MarcoPulleaux said:

So we finally arrive at Brian's (Nubian God) place

Then Brian offers his Astrid deck to my friend Lin

Kyo + Red Lotus = gay.

I'm not the only Seong Mi-Na. In fact, the other Seong Mi-Na player has 2 wins and 2 draws TOO! So, the judge looks at our "strength of schedules", and after looking them through determines I'm in 5th and he's in 6th, Diversifying him out. Like I said, crazy.

5 turns passed with 0 attacks. 0. Yep...great luck for ya.

Game 2 was MegaGeese putting on some white gloves, a tuxedo, and briskly handing my ass to me on a silver platter.

-Awesome time at TGIFridays
-It seems as if ScubaDude and MegaGeese took a liking to me
-Met tons of cool people (Scuba, Geese, Bryan, Shelby, Jacob, Ken, Chris, etc)
-Special thanks to Scuba and Geese for giving me all of your Set 12 commons and uncommons. It helps tremendously!
-Following Brian. Brian, much respect to you and I thank you for allowing us to spend the night, but dang dude, I don't know if I can ever follow you; you and your Red5 just speed off in the distance! >_>...

-Why does everybody always say "Brian's place"? I pay rent, too =(
-O, so the Astrid I'd put together wasn't good enough?! xD (I think mixing the two would have been a good idea, though, to be honest; Paying Respects is really good)
-You're **** right it is. With Ken, you have to attack his momentum before his staging area *sigh*
-Yeah, that part suuuucked. Who won in your game against each other, by the way? I didn't get to watch because I was, ah...preoccupied (lolunderstatement)
-And 0 staging area, too =D
-Did you just call me Tuxedo Mask? =/
-MILITARY RANK SHOULD BE UNBANNED; HIGHER CALIBUR UNBANNED AND ERRATA'D TO 0/6 WITH INFINITY
-Likewise, sir! Come back anytime! Jay and Lin were really cool, too. Finally had some real racial support, and someone to appreciate the hard work I put into making Koolaid =D
-De nada.
-He's all clear...he's trying to blow this thing so we can go home =/ (but yeah, you're right xD)

MegaGeese said:

-Why does everybody always say "Brian's place"? I pay rent, too =(
-O, so the Astrid I'd put together wasn't good enough?! xD (I think mixing the two would have been a good idea, though, to be honest; Paying Respects is really good)
-Yeah, that part suuuucked. Who won in your game against each other, by the way? I didn't get to watch because I was, ah...preoccupied (lolunderstatement)
-Did you just call me Tuxedo Mask? =/
-MILITARY RANK SHOULD BE UNBANNED; HIGHER CALIBUR UNBANNED AND ERRATA'D TO 0/6 WITH INFINITY
-Likewise, sir! Come back anytime! Jay and Lin were really cool, too. Finally had some real racial support, and someone to appreciate the hard work I put into making Koolaid =D

-Brian offered first =P. Also, I was so used to seeing UFS players from the forums I pretty much thought of you as that, not just Brian's roommate >_>
-The Astrid seemed fine, but needless to say, she would've been better off with yours ;)
-I won the first game against his Seong Mi-Na. I killed him, yes, by using 2 Feline Spikes with 0 momentum. Simply Spike, he takes, F with Mi-Na, Spike again for lawl game.
-Eh, I was trying to say that you were some sort of fancy waiter, who so delicately handed me my ass on a silver platter =/
-That'd be cool if they were unbanned because they cycled, and I don't play legacy =)
-Well I'm glad you thought so. Both were exhausted from the long ass trip up, and I know that Jay in particular didn't want to look like an idiot playing in a rather upper-class tournament. But in the end they had fun, and at first they gave me all their prize support, but now they want to keep it XD

Despite how I did, lesson learned: actually have an idea for a deck before you build it, and try not to rely on people there too much >_>...

Also, small correction - in our second game, I never brought anything back with Makai; you added it to my momentum the first time I played iSpin (turn two), and I played a second Makai from my hand. Then you added it to momentum the next time I played iSpin, etc. I don't think Makai stayed on the board longer than a single turn the entire game.

MarcoPulleaux said:

-Following Brian. Brian, much respect to you and I thank you for allowing us to spend the night, but dang dude, I don't know if I can ever follow you; you and your Red5 just speed off in the distance! >_>...

Erm, I was trying to go the speed limit as to not get taken out by traffic. >>

Nubian_God said:

MarcoPulleaux said:

-Following Brian. Brian, much respect to you and I thank you for allowing us to spend the night, but dang dude, I don't know if I can ever follow you; you and your Red5 just speed off in the distance! >_>...

Erm, I was trying to go the speed limit as to not get taken out by traffic. >>

No worries dude no worries, following people is always difficult; there will always be some guy who cuts you off and then just stays in your lane and blocks your line of sight.

Good report.

One question : how can you dis S Mina so hard elsewhere and yet put one together in 5 minutes (and with poor cards) and finish top 8 no less... Is all the credit to this supposed to go to you and not a pimped out character???

Explain.

-dut

MarcoPulleaux said:

After 2 games, I've learned he literally has nothing to stop my loop.

Lawls. Someone must have amnesia because I flipped your Defender with No Forgiveness! in the first game. Some people never change, I guess. :) On a plus note, it was great meeting Jay and Rondalena (sp?), I wish them luck.

ROTBI said:

Lawls. Someone must have amnesia because I flipped your Defender with No Forgiveness! in the first game. Some people never change, I guess. :) On a plus note, it was great meeting Jay and Rondalena (sp?), I wish them luck.

Implying you somehow have met me prior, yet I've never met you? Uh huh...

Um, your No Forgiveness doesn't stop Defender Loop dude. Had you passed and time had not been called, I would've Mega Spike Defender looped you to death, as the only cards in your deck capable of stopping it are Amy's Assistance and Bitter Rivals, both of which you did not have out game 3. No Forgiveness only works on YOUR attack, not mine, so come my turn, it would've been smooth sailing with the Spikes. Now if your deck ran Revenant's Calling? That'd be another story.

Ronalene. The two of them are enjoying the game much, and are both appreciating the starters she won for good sportsmanship =)

MarcoPulleaux said:

ROTBI said:

Lawls. Someone must have amnesia because I flipped your Defender with No Forgiveness! in the first game. Some people never change, I guess. :) On a plus note, it was great meeting Jay and Rondalena (sp?), I wish them luck.

Implying you somehow have met me prior, yet I've never met you? Uh huh...

Um, your No Forgiveness doesn't stop Defender Loop dude. Had you passed and time had not been called, I would've Mega Spike Defender looped you to death, as the only cards in your deck capable of stopping it are Amy's Assistance and Bitter Rivals, both of which you did not have out game 3. No Forgiveness only works on YOUR attack, not mine, so come my turn, it would've been smooth sailing with the Spikes. Now if your deck ran Revenant's Calling? That'd be another story.

Ronalene. The two of them are enjoying the game much, and are both appreciating the starters she won for good sportsmanship =)

You've probably met before, as he's been to both FoP and AoP in San Antonio. You have to remember how many people went to those things, so keeping track of faces can be hard...

While No Forgiveness! doesn't stop Defender loop in the process, it does prevent it if used successfully, which is what ROTBI was implying.

At any rate, congrats on your Top 8 finish, and I hope to be able to actually play you sometime soon!

Indeed, grats on your Top 8 placing, Ian.

Was cool to finally meet you shinji glad you enjoyed the commons and uncommons hope you can put them to good use!!

Nubian_God said:

You've probably met before, as he's been to both FoP and AoP in San Antonio. You have to remember how many people went to those things, so keeping track of faces can be hard...

While No Forgiveness! doesn't stop Defender loop in the process, it does prevent it if used successfully, which is what ROTBI was implying.

At any rate, congrats on your Top 8 finish, and I hope to be able to actually play you sometime soon!

Not at all. I don't forget an opponent, even from way back in FOP-AOP days.

The way trashtalking works is simply as such: guy A gets pissed at me, and decides to talk about me to his group of friends. ROTBI is assumedly in said group of friends. He has to be, because only people I personally hate and despise address me as Ian.

It's pretty clear how ROTBI thinks of me, having read what I just said.

...but thanks for the congrats. I'm still stunned it happened =)

Oh, and Scuba, I've already found use for Body of Souls in promo *Hsien-Ko* Harrier Bee deck <3

MarcoPulleaux said:

Not at all. I don't forget an opponent, even from way back in FOP-AOP days.

The way trashtalking works is simply as such: guy A gets pissed at me, and decides to talk about me to his group of friends. ROTBI is assumedly in said group of friends. He has to be, because only people I personally hate and despise address me as Ian.

Haha, you do crack me up, kid. Yes, I faced your Charlotte deck in FoP at San Antonio. I was playing T. Hawk 2, since you never forget an opponent I'm sure you won't confuse me for the other person who would run T. Hawk in tournament play. You accused me of stalling because I reduced all of your attacks, including your Crystal Rose. Size Matters/Mystic for the win, lols!

It funny to hear your views on trashtalking after reading the way you address your opponents in your posts. Personally, I'd have to care about someone to get pissed at them...no, I don't believe I'd have to say a word to anyone else about your conduct, it's quite apparent what you seek by trying ever so desperately to be "controversial" (as you put it). Eminem was controversial, for a time Marilyn Manson was controversial, you're just laughable. Do you think your incessant and long-winded rants about how certain manageable cards should be banned holds one iota of credibility with anyone? Or how a character is not viable because you didn't manage to take first with her?

In any case, sorry you hate me, but I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors and earnestly encourage you to think before typing or speaking. Having met you on numerous occasion, I know you are not devoid on any intelligence, so I hope you can learn to present yourself in a more amicable fashion so that others will some day be able to take you seriously. Lastly, I don't know why your name makes you so mad, but knowing such now, I will refrain from addressing you that way. Have a good one. :)

ROTBI said:

Haha, you do crack me up, kid. Yes, I faced your Charlotte deck in FoP at San Antonio. I was playing T. Hawk 2, since you never forget an opponent I'm sure you won't confuse me for the other person who would run T. Hawk in tournament play. You accused me of stalling because I reduced all of your attacks, including your Crystal Rose. Size Matters/Mystic for the win, lols!

It funny to hear your views on trashtalking after reading the way you address your opponents in your posts. Personally, I'd have to care about someone to get pissed at them...no, I don't believe I'd have to say a word to anyone else about your conduct, it's quite apparent what you seek by trying ever so desperately to be "controversial" (as you put it). Eminem was controversial, for a time Marilyn Manson was controversial, you're just laughable. Do you think your incessant and long-winded rants about how certain manageable cards should be banned holds one iota of credibility with anyone? Or how a character is not viable because you didn't manage to take first with her?

In any case, sorry you hate me, but I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors and earnestly encourage you to think before typing or speaking. Having met you on numerous occasion, I know you are not devoid on any intelligence, so I hope you can learn to present yourself in a more amicable fashion so that others will some day be able to take you seriously. Lastly, I don't know why your name makes you so mad, but knowing such now, I will refrain from addressing you that way. Have a good one. :)

How could I forget your T Hawk deck? Much like at this regional, I remember saying the lovely, "JUST ONE MORE TUUUUURN" phrase. Gotta hand it to you, Size Matters-Mystic is a good combo.

I'm afraid your interpretation of my "controversial" nature is wrong, as is your thoughts on how I view bannable cards and Seong Mi-Na.

Ever since the first forum (back when STG had the game), a LARGE portion of users wanted me banned from the forums because I would REPEATEDLY say how the game has flaws and needs cards banned, and I still do the same today, because as always, I've wind up being right in the long run.

Just because I am more disagreed with than I am agreed with doesn't mean I don't have my credibility. Unlike most people, who simply say "OMFG BAN THIS CARD" or "THERE R COUNTERZ! *presents list*", I actually take the time to create in-depth arguments with realistic points to express my point. If you fail to understand how that gives me credibility, you're simply stupid.

I understand how it may appear that because I lost I decided to whine about Mi-Na, but I had always thought Mi-Na was incapable of winning, back when I first saw her seeing play in top 8s. When I faced MegaGeese in Top 8, I actually considered forfeiting the entire match, because Seong Mi-Na simply does not defeat Donovan. But, I figured I'd give it a whirl, and while I got my ass handed to me mercilessly, game 1 could've been won had I drawn attacks. I had the necessary set-up every turn, but the lack of orange saw the death of me. Like I said, losing wasn't the reason I wrote what I wrote; I've always felt Mi-Na needs more, and I still think so, and after talking to Scuba and Jacob (Jacob having ran Order Seong Mi-Na) we all unanimously agreed. So much for "no iota of credibility", huh?

I don't know what you mean by "address your opponents". If you mean the people I debate with on the forums, then pretty much tough dude. When I'm debating, I simply go by the motto "the way you treat me is the way you will be treated in return." I'm all for debating, as you can tell in my article. However, when people comment back the way you do, which is to be a complete **** for no apparent reason, but to also use emoticons to try to look snide, I have absolutely no patience nor consideration. I apologize if it looked like I was talking badly about your deck. I think Chae is a horrible character, and when she first came out, I openly admitted I felt she was in the same league as **Rikuo** for most useless character ever made. It's not WHO is running the character, it's simply who are you running? Even if your Chae beasted me and stomped me into the curb, I'd think Chae is a horrible character.

It's not that I hate you, it's simply that nobody ever addresses me by my secondary name unless they understand that it angers me, which obviously means they dislike me, to which I say the feeling is mutual. You rarely come to these forums. I've only played you twice now, and every game I play I play with humor and amiable spirits, something you never seemed to catch in all your silence. I apologize if I somehow came off as rude or cocky, but I assure you, every game I play I try to have fun and make jokes to keep the game lighthearted. If you can't appreciate that, well, then I apologize, but where do you come off saying I don't present myself in an amicable fashion when I'm constantly presenting myself in an amicable fashion?

Just because I don't tolerate people like you and openly show it on the forums doesn't make me a bad person; it means I'm standing up to immaturity, something you have bestowed upon my tournament report.

As if these giant blocks of text weren't proof enough, I do think before I speak. Just because I don't think Seong Mi-Na is an easy-to-use character and that a lot of cards need to be banned and errata'd does not make me less intelligent, nor does it mean I am speaking without merit or intelligence. I put forth my point, and if you disagree, then disagree. But you can do so without climbing on your high horse, and yet wonderfully accusing me of doing the same.

In short, please stop posting in my tournament report thread. Read these words, take them in, then leave. If you want me to be more friendly, how about showing some emotions? You know, it doesn't hurt to smile. Maybe laugh from time to time? Be a cool, socially-involved human being?

picard-facepalm.jpg

.......

uh........

I have revived. I am a delicate little flower. I am a Red Lotus.

of the sun

[Edited by Moderator] While we don't have a language filter on these boards, that's because we choose to believe that people can act like adults. Please do so.

- Jeremy @ FFG

Sure wish I couldve made the Dallas tourny.

It was extremely fun, just not getting lost in the labyrinth of confusion that is Dallas.

I'm considering either suggesting the idea for an Austin regional post set-13, or perhaps even hosting my own San Antonio regional post set-13.

MarcoPulleaux said:

It was extremely fun, just not getting lost in the labyrinth of confusion that is Dallas.

I'm considering either suggesting the idea for an Austin regional post set-13, or perhaps even hosting my own San Antonio regional post set-13.

San Antonio can get pretty bad too 'ya know. Especially with all that construcion going on now and all... >.>

Then again, what major city isn't confusing as hell to navigate? -_-

Tifer said:

San Antonio can get pretty bad too 'ya know. Especially with all that construcion going on now and all... >.>

Then again, what major city isn't confusing as hell to navigate? -_-

I don't know what part of San Antonio you're talking about, but the only recent construction was building the new (and more convenient) highway leading to 410 E. Also, said construction is already completed.

I dont' think SA is hard to navigate. Dallas had plenty of one-way streets, invisble signs, and more importantly, there were a TON of intersections in need of lights, or, iuno, STOP SIGNS, but there was neither, and it relied on right-of-way, which as you know, is given, never taken.

I take it you aren't going to the Lubbock Regional then?

No offense, but I'd sooner be at Nationals than Lubbock.

But I sincerely doubt it. I don't get a real paycheck until June 26th, and I highly doubt it's going to be what I hope it is. But nah, I'm gonna be saving up for either a house or an apartment, and of course, the road trip up to Worlds.