Well, time for a report. Maybe I'll finish this one xD
Over the past few weeks, there'd been a lot of excited talk about going to the regional up in Lubbock - we weren't going to be able to make Nationals, so why not try something closer? Unfortunately, Brian sucks and couldn't go, and most of our group couldn't make it, either. No idea what they did without us this weekend, though I do notice that there's more alcohol in the house than there was when I left...
Friday - WTF Are Those Red Lights, or That's Where That Goes In Right There
So I procrastinate with packing, as always, and do it Friday afternoon - the day we leave. I pack up, grabbing three beers to take as gifts to April, Jacob, and Shelby (and to spite Brian, HA), then start heading over to Shelby and April's. This was utter crap, because lack of functioning AC in 100+ degree heat is bullcrap, especially in traffic (NOOOOO). I get there after about an hour, sweating like crazy, only to find that Brian is there and Shelby is not - my gifts and cunning plan are all for naught! I watch the three of them play Rock Band for a while, as I try to work out my decklist for Lu Chen for singles. I've already figured out that I'm going to play Hilde for teams - just need to cut about 20 cards from Lu Chen.
Shelby arrives as I come up with a rather amusing sideboard for the deck (BANANAA RAAAAID), and we load up the car, leaving Brian to watch over Cody and Karin for the weekend (I'm surprised none of the calls from Brian were while tied up in a chair being held hostage by Cody - he's wild). We head out for gas, and I give Sage (Eithinis) a call to let him know we're on our way; he is possibly the quietest person I've ever talked to on the phone. April says something (God I wish I could remember what it was) that has us all dying laughing at my expense, and we're thankful that we have AC, as the temp has now hit 103. Big fun. We drive through Denton to pick up Sage, having such conversations as "man I love sushi" and "our hotel room is on the twentieth floor" (seriously, I hate you guys
), finally getting to Sage's to pick him up - much to the dissatisfaction of the elderly gentleman who lived across the street who steadfastly REFUSED to wave back at me (I call racism!). We giggle about him a bit while Shelby goes after Sage and we rearrange the storage area, then we all pile in. Unfortunately, Sage, Jacob, and I are in the back seat together, so space is obviously tight, and I'm in the middle - this is our seating the entire trip. "Can you lean over? I gotta buckle my seat belt."
I'd like to take this time to say that I absolutely hate you Shelby.
We drive off into the sunset down 820 to I-20, while I regale everyone with tales of how my sister married Danny Glover (though they CLAIM I've never told it before), how I came to own a barstool from a club in Denton, and just how crazy one of my female coworkers is (did I mention the part where she said she should use witchcraft to hex her ex?). Then we hit the highway, heading down the old dreaded path to west Texas (apologies to everyone from this weekend, but I'm from west Texas, and I absolutely hate it). We stop at Taco Bell for some foodstuffs, talking about something as we walk in (can't remember what). We all order, and we sit and BS about stuff (and I have the worst tasting drink I've ever put in my mouth). How a TB/KFC can be out of potato wedges is beyond me (a vision of our future, perhaps? a glimpse of fate, if you will?). We leave then drive and drive and drive, talking about UFS, music (apparently the lead singer of ATDI doesn't sing, and I'm a horrible person for not knowing Enter Sandman; Jacob, however, is the one who hates Prince, so nyah), and other assorted random crap as we go. We stop for the bathroom in the middle of BFE (haha, April), where the sheriff and five people are standing outside talking (and the sheriff is staring at me...sigh). I sing songs about how awesome Moon Pies are, and something else happens, but I can't remember what. More driving, until at one point we see these creepy red lights in the distance. They wouldn't be any big deal, like the top of a water tower or whatever, except there's literally DOZENS of them spread throughout the darkness at varying heights and stuff. We start wondering if Tom has betrayed us and led us to some secret military experimentation complex. We finally get to Lubbock at about 1 in the morning, where we discuss the attractiveness of the lady who walked out the front door of the hotel and stared at us while Shelby and April get the keys. We head into the room, and spend the next two hours working on our decks. For once, someone waffled about their deck choice more than I did =D
Then we all kinda pass out, some better than others (again, I hate you, Shelby).
Next time: Saturday - Singles
TO BE CONTINUED...
Saturday - Singles, How "OSHI THE COPS" Took on a New Meaning, Almost Adding to my Burgeoning Collection of Pilfered Goods, and Being Shelby for a Day
Okay, so we wake up bright and early at, like, eight something (URGH, THE SUN...IT BURNSSSSSSSS). During the night, one of Jacob's contacts falls out, and he's having a hard time seeing properly =( So after breakfast (blueberry muffins are the only kind I'll eat, btw) we head out to Wal-Mart to pick up an eye patch for Jacob. We split up inside, as I'm walking along looking for juice or Vitamon Water or something, finally finding some down on the other end of the store...only to turn around to see that everyone has followed me down to that end O.o ANYWAY, we leave, hit the highway, and make our way to the shop. Tom decides we need to take the scenic route by driving right by the **** venue (that was really random), but we make it there just fine.
We find out that we're supposed to be on the other side of the building, so we walk around, go on in, drop off our stuff, then walk over to the ATM for monies. We then come back, pay for entry, and start making trades and stuff, and talk to people. At some point in time, I look up from making out my decklist to the sound of raised voices. Some guy is yelling at this other guy about some trade or another, Iunno; I'm pretty oblivious when I want to be. Turns out that I looked up to the raised voice AFTER the guy slapped the guy he was yelling at in the face O_o Dunno what happened, but the guy left, the cops were called, and everyone just went back to what they were doing O.o
Deck Check!
In the weeks leading up to the tournament, I'd decided NOT to play Donovan again. Even if I'd made it to the finals, I'd planned on giving the win to whoever I was up against, whether I won or lost the actual game, so that there'd be someone else to hang out with at the regional winners' dinner at Worlds. So I was rooting for Shelby or Jacob first, and Sage second (sorry ^^
. Plus I wanted to play something that was fun for both me and my opponent, while still competitive. That, in combination with something someone had said (to the effect of "OSHI Dallas crew ho noes"), had me wanting to go back to Starter Yoshitora. However, I never did bother to rebuild him off of Air, since even though it had the momentum generation, it didn't have the awesomeness that is Mysterious Stance. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of playing him off of Good, either, due to lack of the massive momentum generation I'd need. I hadn't figured out how to play Ukyo just yet (still waffling between Water, Good, and Water/Good hybrid), so I decided to play my favorite Shadowar character, Lu Chen (he's my BOI, DAWG) off of Good. I like the ability to rip stuff out of people's hand in a different and clever fashion, so yeah. However, I promised Chris that I would play as Ezekiel, so I added him to my sideboard, along with Master's Challenge. But I couldn't find anything to use up the last three slots, until I happened to come across a copy of Banana Raid in my binder, and then I lost my mind and said "THE HELL WITH IT, I'M DOING THIS" and put it in.
Round 1: vs. Promo Rock Howard (Order?)
Well, we sit down, I win the roll, and start blasting out cards. We get to turn three when they realize the pairings need to be redone xD
And sooo...
Round 1.1: vs. R. Mika (I only heard your name once and forgot; I'm sorry!)
Both of our games are almost identical, really. I build my wall of ridiculous Good pieces, and slowly begin to build advantage due to the splashed Aquakinesis in the deck. I end up killing in both games with a Fight or Flight'd Wrath of Heaven, though in the second game the FoF was a bit unnecessary, as he was at 3 at the time
I'm not a big "I'm gonna attack you a lot" player, so I do have a slight advantage against this sort of deck as it is. However, two things are NOT in my favor - I like to play foundations, and so does he. And I've seen him check both Tiger Fury AND Sardine's. O dear. I end up going in for a big rush in game 1, playing out Heel Snipe into Yugao, then the full Wrath of Heaven combo route. Game 2, though, I'm saved by my copies of Mysterious Stance, as there is a copy of Sardine's coming at me for 32 damage, and I've only one card left in my hand - a Darkness Blade. I block, easily pass the Blade (c'mon, I had 20 cards in my staging area, not counting Chen), then Reversal, Fight of Flight it, and lots of assorted enhances to fully tap him down. He takes the 9L20, then fails his next card by checking a Sardine's. Then I just throw out a Wrath of Heaven and pump with Empire's Ruin and Fight or Flight for the win.
Fun match, but Jeebus, those Sardine's had me sweating.
1-0
Round 2: Void Akuma (Sage)
HAHA. Round two and I'm against someone I came with xD We take a draw, but play out one game for fun. He manages to commit out almost all of my board at one point with Akuma + Snipe + Arrow, but has to do so on his turn, at which time I play out an immensely fatal Darkness Blade for game.
1-0-1
We dash off with April to go get food, stopping at Sonic for some grub. We order, like, five drinks, and yet get only three straws, and my drink somehow became cherry and smaller for Lord knows what reason xD We go back, and they've started the OFFICIAL lunch break, so we all eat together as a group. Afterwards, I go and get more trades in. Only two new copies of *Donovan* the entire weekend, by the way, since I KNOW you were on the edge of your seat from suspense wonderin just that D:
Round 3: Order Q (Chris)
FINALLY, I see someone playing Secret Project Q! I wanted to make the deck back in block 2 when Blind Stance was around for lulz, but I never did do it (can you imagine it in Legacy with Order and Law, too?!). I win the die roll, and am wishing I'd put some punishment against Q's form in the deck (I didn't use Regretful Existence...I failed you Shelby!), so I lose one of my three first turn foundations. He drops Secret Project, Forethought, and a Lord of the Makai, then play comes back to me. I think this is where I dropped Destiny xD Anyway, I roll out lots of foundations through out the match, so the Spintas and Forethoughts don't have as much effect on me as...me flipping my Darkness Blades when trying to check for a Tag Along on my turn ;_;
I eat through Q's health pretty slowly in both games, mostly with Heel Snipes and Yugao. I did smile a bit when I copied his Forethought with Lynette's and managed to end his turn on his first card of turn two in the second game, thus prompting him to blow it up with Q. So I copied his Chinese Boxing and got him to blow that up, too =P I win the second game about five minutes before time is called, as I've been having to dance around Q, Secret Project, Self Sacrifice, and Spinta the entire match.
2-0-1
Round 4: Evil Ibuki (He Who was Named "Greenpants" by Someone Else)
No, seriously. Somone else called him that, which is what sort of stayed in my mind. I don't think I caught his actual name while we were playing.
And it's my fault, since I had a LOT of chances. We don't even finish a single game.
It's the usual Evil Ibuki, so I'm spending the entire game dancing arounbd Chester's Backing, Bitter Rivals (precious keywords, noooo), Seal, Evil-Doer Destroyer, etc. However, because Lu Chen is a **** beast, he can't quite pin me down, either; I copy his one of this three (!) Bitter Rivals with Lynette's, so I'm able to pull a lot of attacks from his hand regularly, and he gets mine, too. A lot of back and forth here. We get to a point where I block his Ichi no Tachi or Launcher and reversal with DBlade, and then I make a mistake and get screwed - I attempt to bait something out before playing the enhance on Darkness Blade, which is ultimately what costs me the win in this game, as he then negates it when I play it second. This was the point in which all of his defenses were basically down - he had 3 ready Chester's and a single BR, so it was mine for the taking had I not screwed up. Sigh.
Anyway, he gets out a Cutting Edge a few turns later, and I got to press the attack, hoping to get him to nuke most of his staging area with it to make things simpler for me. Unfortunately, he negates the Fight or Flight I needed to force the Cutting Edge, and he double Rejects one of my other attacks, so I'm basically screwed xD Time gets called halfway through my last turn, so I toss out my one attack and that's that.
2-0-2
I manage to scramble my way into top 8, along with two Fios (!), including Shelby's, as well as Sage's Akuma, a Seong Mina, Sarah's Astrid, and two other decks...Water Jon Herr and the Rock deck I almost played, I think? I get paired with Sage, so I know I've got at best a fifty-fifty shot of winning this one. I just have to hope it doesn't flow better for him this time around.
Top 8: Sage - Void Akuma, and zomg the super-Broken Arrow
...unfortunately, the Force is not with me. He checks super well, and gets out three copies of Aquakinesis. He pulls off the Arrow Lock around turn 8, and there's simply nothing I can do. I fight back as best I can, but I'm locked out. I DO side into Ukyo this game, and manage to actually get the Master's Challenges and Banana Raid into my hand. Sadly, Sage rips a Challenge out with Saikyo on his turn, meaning that Banana Raid leaves him at 1 as time is called on my turn in the second game, so I get eliminated. Awr
Sage then plays Shelby and wins (nooooo...haha), and goes into the finals against Seong-Mina!
FINALS MATCH: Void Akuma vs. Order Seong-Mina
Let me start by saying I got a lot of dirty looks from various people during this match when they found out Sage borrowed the Arrows from me
And then trade offers for said Arrows from the same people xD
Really, there's not a whole lot to say. This particular brand of Akuma makes games sort of blur together. Snipe, tapdown, Arrow, Body of Souls, repeat. Sage pulls off the lock ridiculously early in this game, around turn 3. Steven puts up a good fight, but there's not a whole heckuva lot you can do against this bullcrappery. He scoops at about 14 health, and then on to game two.
Sage gets a really good start in this one, but slow and steady wins this race and Steven slowly manages to eat away at Sage's staging area with hardchecked Spintas. Then Sage misses a check for the Arrow by 1 or 2, and he doesn't get the chance to recover. Steven takes game two.
Game three, however, is a barnburner. A lot of back and forth going on, until sage finally pulls off the lock in the mid to late game and slowly whittles down Mina's phat ass to 0 with Snipes and Arrows (mmm).
With that, Sage wins the regional, giving a big FU to those who doubted Void.
Everyone begins to break up into groups as the prize support is divvied out. Sage wins a box and a half of Soul Calibur (split it with Steven), as well as a ton of promos and the Void life counter (haha, but of course!). Additionally, he receives this crazy big eagle statue type thing that we're immediately talking about attaching to the front of FloJo, or putting on the top in the luggage racks (more on the eagle's fate later; btw Shelby/April/Jacob, I need to get the guest out of my trunk, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA).
We head off to dinner with the Abilene crew, the five of us plus Brandon, Sarah, the guy who played the Mika in singles, and another guy whose name I don't think I heard at all. We go to Olive Garden, where we learn that sometimes "thirty to forty minute wait" really just means ten minutes =D In the meanwhile ,we sit outside and talk about the awesome times we had at the tournament that day, and the hot girls sitting outside, and just random stuff. We head on in, where I remark that maybe Shelby's stalker is there (I got him to look when I pointed, AHAHA, ah, good times). We sit down, and our waiter seems to be pretty cool. We order our drinks, and when he comes to bring them, he sets his tray down in front of me (Shelby and I are on the outside end of the table), and so I, being mischievous as usual, decide to hold his tray in my lap under the table, just to see if he notices that it's gone. He walks off, then comes back with the lemon slices someone had asked for, then turns back around, then turns back to us, then awkwardly walks off. Yeah, he noticed the tray was gone, but had no idea what he'd done with it xD We put it on the soup/bread/salad tray when he comes back, and he doesn't seem to notice. We got through, like, ten baskets of bread on each side of the table (can't speak for anyone else, but I was feckin' HUNGRY), and we talk and laugh about stuff for the longest time. The Abilene folks are pretty kickass, and definitely a lot of fun to hang out with; they kinda remind me of the ATL crew (it occurs to me now that we didn't put anyone in a trash can this weekend, by the way). We eventually pack it in and head out. The Abilene folks are heading back home, so we say our goodbyes and head back to the hotel.
The TO was talking about switching Teams to be earlier in the day, instead of in the afternoon. Fortunately, we talk him out of it and so are instead looking forward to a real night's sleep! HOORAY! We work on our decks a little once we get back to the hotel; Sage is having a hard time deciding what to play (I STILL want to play against your Fire Yang, dangit), while Shelby and Jacob have had their decks mapped out forever. I, however, am trying to find out why my deck is two cards larger than it should be. Then I do a couple of solo runs, at which time I decide that I'm not happy with my attack lineup, and decide to say the hell with it and change my entire attack and sideboard lineups to something a bit more...familiar. Bwaha.
Then we all pass out as Sage starts typing up his decklist. SLEEEEEEEEEEEP
Next time: Sunday - Teams
TO BE CONTINUED...
Sunday - Teams, It's Fine Because We Didn't Want Food Anyway, and Wondering When You Get to Tap that Ass
So due to Legacy being the first event of the day, and no one being interested enough in going to forego a bit of sleep, we all sleep until, like, ten =D We then do a little last-minute deck work, shower up, and so on, then pack up and hit the road. The eagle is sitting on top of everything else, by the way xD We stop by Sonic to pick up some lunch, after MUCH discussion of the subject, and lots of back and forth waffling (I think it went Little Caesar's -> Subway -> Sonic -> someplace else -> Sonic -> Caesar's -> Sonic, aha). Unfortunately, it's not happy hour yet, so no half price drinks, but it's not too hot out, either, so we grab some seats out on the little picnic area and order up. This is only a few days after Micheal Jackson died (still bummed about that, personally), so everything they're playing is his stuff in tribute. As we walk up, Billy Jean is starting, so I try to imitate the walking part at the beginning of the video (true story - when I was a kid, I wanted one of those light-up sidewalks so badly; hell, I still do), failing badly. Then I just sit down after ordering and start singing it (MAMA ALWAYS TOLD ME/BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU DO/DON'T GO AROUND BRAEKIN' YOUNG GIRLS HEEEARTS...I suck at singing, btw). As we're sitting there, a couple of flies decide to annoy us, and this weird older woman in her little green car starts STARING at me. Like, in a "wtf are you doing here" kind of way. So I stare back a little, but not TOO much, as she had those braces to help her walk propped up on the dash and I didn't want to be a ****. So I turn back and we're talking about cards (this is when Jacob decides he wants to play Victor...GREAT JUSTICE). Then as we get up to go a bit later, I pick up Jacob's drink because he's using the restroom, and it would be faster if he didn't have to come back for it, etc.; he gets back before we even make it to the car, so I'm concealing his drink to make him crazy. GREAT SUCCESS, haha.
We then head the last block to the Spectrum (no side trips this time, Tom!), get our cards, and head in. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, basically everyone has gone - there's us and about four other people that play there, so there's only enough for two actual teams. We assume more are coming, but they never do, sadly, so it ends up only being a single match for the finals of Teams. However, stuff is scheduled, so we wait it out, working on decklists and decks and stuff last minute a bit more. I get in a game to see how my deck flows with someone (promo Blanka off Chaos), and do a pretty good job of winning our match. Shelby gets in one with his Air Cody deck vs. a Fire *Haohmaru*, which is about as one-sided a match as I've ever seen. Cody's a fuggin' monster, seriously. And as Shelby, Sage, and Jacob get drawn into this other game off kinda in the middle of the room, I go and rewrite my decklist, especially because I realized I only have seven cards in my sideboard =/ As I do that, I talk to April a bit about the book she's reading (honestly, I think whoever wrote that was lied to about how witty they are), and then I do the best thing I did all weekend: I ask her if she's ever played Phoenix Wright. She hasn't, so I get my DS out (I brought my DS and all four of the PW games, haha!), and she starts playing, and really enjoys it. HUZZAH! Now there's someone else to talk to about it in our group! She finishes up the first case a little after teams starts, I think.
Anyway. So we get ready to throw down...Jacob, Shelby, and myself against Sage, Steven, and another player whose name I didn't catch =(
Final Round...FIGHT!
Team Two Rights and a Wrong, Brought to You by Shiner Bock vs. Two Wongs and a White (I think this is what they settled on?)
Well, before the matchup, we get a glance at what characters are sitting on the table by them - Jon Herr (the person whose name I didn't catch), Seong-Mina (Steven), and Ibuki (Sage). We're playing Gill (Shelby), Seong-Mina (Jacob), and Hilde (me). I already know how my deck does against Sage, so I know he's the LAST person I need to be playing. Same for Jacob, really, because while he has lots of health and stuff, it's easy to take it out with RevFlayer, and taking away Ibuki's staging area is...well, pointless. So we raelly need to win the coin-toss so we can pair Gill against Ibuki (because Gill is retarded; YEAH, I SAID IT, WHAT?!), and either Jacob or myself can handle either of the other two. But at the last second, SURPRISE! we find out that it's NOT Herr as the third character, but rather the new Mitsurugi! AND we lose the coin toss. CRAP. Fortunately, Dame Fortune smiles on us because Steven is ready for HOT MINA ON MINA ACTION! We then immediately have Gill against Ibuki, and me against Mitsu. BWAHAHA
Now, my whole goal was to play an Order Hilde deck. C'mon...I'm a control player, everyone knows it and we all know how much I love Spinta, etc. No need to elaborate further on that. Point being, I wanted to play Hilde, because I like her. But I couldn't find the right attack lineup, since I really like Lightning Horn and wanted to run that with Spinta...and Order is somewhat lacking in other awesome mids. So I switched over to Fire attacks - Spinta, Lightning Horn, and Hades Ax, which is pretty kickass. But then I do a solo run and decide that it's too slow, and just not working for me. So I retool the deck just a bit, removing the Healer from it entirely, changing the attack lineup a little - same effect. So I say "SCREW THIS", and then I do what I always do - turn it into an even more hardcore control deck. I basically take my Donovan deck from our last regional, and add Cursed Blood, and cut two Owlface (Shelby was running two, and Jacob four...no biggie, consider what I do to foundations). I then work the deck so that I can easily sideboard and change the deck INTO Donovan - my sideboard is literally Donovan, 3 Rejection, 2 Spiral Arrow, and 2 Dormant for Millions of Years, heh; Spiral Arrow was one of my Donovan side cards, and I found the thought of that in Hilde to be most amusing. One could argue that I'm sandbagging into Donovan, but such is not really the case.
Anyway, we get the match underway. I win the die roll, and the deck is already smiling, because I open with a ridiculously awesome hand of Cursed Blood, Lord of the Makai, Makai High Noble, Forethought, Olcadan's, and Tenacious...all of which pass. AWESOME. He plays out three foundations, one of which I Blood on (Lotus), getting a Program Malfunction. And then I draw into two Spintas, a Dual-Wielding, and a Spike. So I ProMal, he negates, then I Spinta his foundation base, play out a few foundations, and end. I fail his first card with what is now double Forethought, and then go straight into Spike with double Dual-Wielding and then one multiple. So he takes the 52 speed 25 damage Spike, and then I fail the block on the multiple to go to game two.
I side into Donovan, of course.
This time is a bit different. His deck starts rolling better for him, and mine is giving me good, but less useful staging area pieces (no Psycho Style, ProMal, or Forethought, doh). However, he never gets any Red Lotus, so my Spintas eat away bits of his staging area. Unfortunately, he likes a bit of momentum, as he then uses it to Evil Illusion Slam me, turning it into twelve damage each time. And I have no Rejections or Tag Alongs, btw. So I end up losing this one after the second turn of Rolling Buckler Uppercut --> Evil Illusion Slam. Mid blocks ain't that useful against five speed attacks, really. And he's hard-checking higher than he needs, so nothing I can do even with a Forethought. Sigh.
I'm now determined not to let the team down! So we go into game three...and this time I get the retarded open again. YAY! However, I happen to get a Rejection and a Defender, to back up my awesome open, so there's little chance of me dying anytime soon. He actually gets his really good open, though, and I'm committing lots of foundations to fuel my Forethoughts, and he manages to check the 6's every time, so I'm getting tapped down when he tosses out the Evil Illusion Slam this time - I actually fail the Rejection by checking a Spike, and then I basically have a stroke. But I manage to hardcheck my one block I need, clear, and then do it again. I then draw into double Spinta, Spike, and a Plasma Beam. He has three ready foundations. So I Spinta, China Box to take care of Lotus, then eat two foundations. Then I do it again with the other for the momentum (he takes away my Defender and Tenacious...aww), then play a foundation, clear, then Spike. He's now tapped down and I have two BRT and a Forethought, plus Donovan and three other ready foundations.
Anyone who's played against me can tell you that I play very quickly, unless I'm thinking about a move or play, which is apparently very unusual for control players, particularly of the Order variety. And the entire time I'm playing while rocking out to The Mars Volta, which is awesome (so hush). Anyway, our entire match last, like, fifteen minutes. So we check in on the others - Sage won their first game, and Shelby's tying a big red bow on game two. Jacob is down to half health while Steven is at 28...in game one (sigh). My opponent then says one of the funniest things I've ever heard - "Man, these guys take too long...not like our aggro decks". No offense to you...but it was funny
Anywho, Shelby ekes out a win against Sage about fifteen minutes or so before time, and Jacob is still playing thinking that he lost, so Jaco is basically playing as though the entire matchup depended on him xD Time ended up being called during Shelby's turn, so after playing out four foundations, he goes "aaaand I'll play Heel Snipe for ten", and I just giggle and laugh a bit. Jacob's game is basically over - or would have been, if he had more BRT. Essentially, the battle of the Minas is over - Jacob is still low on health, but the thing is that because Steven's deck is smaller (literally 59 + 1), he has three cards left in his deck. He can play two cards before he decks out. As such, there is no way for him to kill Jacob. At all. Jacob, however, has the mighty task of taking out 28 or so health, with only the Spintas he's drawing to back them up against a board of Amy's and Ass Arts. Basically, until Jacob draws into a ton of attacks, he can't kill Steven. Steven can only look at his cards and pass. This goes on until time, as Jacob noms away slowly at Steven's staging area with recurring iSpins.
Eventually, it ends up being 1-0-2 in our favor, so the two rights and one wrong (brought to ou by Shiner Bock [tm]) take the win as people start playing Smash on the projector screen directly behind us (lol). We split up the prizes (we get some good pulls - two Controller of Souls, three Midnight Launcher, more good stuff; the other team pulls a Knight Breaker, lol). We then start to pack stuff up and go, since it's almost six and we gotta get home soon!
We stop to get gas, where something other happens, though I can't remember what. And then off we go back home, zoomzoomzoom!
The end.
Not really.
We drive, and Jacob goes on his rant about there being no mountains in Texas again, but then he stops, because he heard April and me talking about Phoenix Wright and wanted to play. So he starts playing and gets hooked! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA [insert Evil Plans scan here]. From there on out, we mostly swap war stories from the weekend, talking about the guy who got slapped, trades, good games, how Sage's deck made us want to just put a gun in our mouths (aw s#!* I can't fscking do it, s#!*), and so on. Traffic comes to an utter HALT at one point (two lane roads suck, btw), which we learn the reason for in moments - a semi jackknifed...in the median O_o We pass, and keep going. We then get into random conversations like Pokemon, the massive number of windmills off on the left there, which we determine are what caused thoes freaky red lights, and how Shelby's balls are, at which point in time Tom loses his **** miTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTEnd. We end up having to pull over to the side of the road and stop and reboot time, like, four times before he gets his act together ("We're not listening to that all the way home", haha). We then get back off again, though we do stop to get some food somewhere along the way.
We take the exit, where there's some back and forth'ing on what to eat. We end up going to Golden Chick, a pretty good chicken place (NOWAI, rite?). Everyone's gotta go to the bathroom anyway, which is made tougher by the fact that restrooms in west Texas are always the same - one person at a time. Well, I get tired of waiting, so I just decide use the ladies' room (they do call me a ladies' man, haha). Then we go to the front, and Jacob and Sage split some chicken strips (LIKE A BOSS?), but April, Shelby, and I decide that Subway sounds good, so we leave and head over to Subway, with me accidentally stealing the drink of one of Golden Chick's patrons
So we get to the Subway that's right across the highway, and we get in line. I'm at the back trying to figure out what I want, deciding on a meatball sub, since I normally get a BMT. Shelby goes for the cold cut combo...or DOES HE?! They're out. So he says "okaaaaay...I'll get the meatball."
"We're out of the meatball."
"Um...sweet chicken teriyaki...?"
I end up getting an oven roasted chicken (not bad, actually), but as we soon learn, this particular Subway hates us. Or God hates it. Something. We're halfway through the sandwich making, when, like, ten people crowd in at once. O, and Subway also doesn't have pickles. Or apple slices. Or the yogurt. Or vinaigrette. And apparently I got the last of the ice. Sigh.
We sit down and yak more about stuff. Sage and Jacob offer me their mashed potatoes, which I gleefully accept (I frickin' LOVE mashed potates and potato salad, seriously). I then ask "where's the fork?", to which I get "exactly!" Yeah, there was no fork in the bag for their stuff. And if though Subway had forks, you're seriously mistaken. So I end up drinking mashed potatoes through a straw, a moment which was captured on film by Sage, Jacob, AND April. And then I decided that the straw was slow and used it as a makeshift chopstick. I wanted those potatoes, dammit
While Shelby dies of laughter, Jacob and April head over to the gas station next door to pick up something, then we leave and continue home. We stop to stretch and suchlike about fifteen miles outside of Ft. Worth at some gas station with $5 burgers and the like, somewhere around eleven thirty. I need to get my jacket out of the back, so I go to see the junk in FloJo's trunk, only to see and hear something fall out right in front of my face.
Sage's singles champion eagle statue ;_;
I feel absolutely horrible, and make sure to pick up every single piece from the parking lot - I'll put it back together! He keeps saying it's fine, and that it's no big deal, and not to worry about it, which just makes me feel worse >< But then it becomes a joke - it's now our mascot, Broken Eagle Wind (Sage's report was going to have been entitled "How Geese Broke Wind"), and Sage decides he wants me to give it to Brian when we get home. But then we decide we need to take a sharpie to it and fill out the word "champion" and the second "s" in "Singles", so Brian will have a trophy for being a "UFS Single" xD
We continue driving, passing Danny Glover's place, around which time we start talking about this year's GCC. And what account of it's events would be complete without a complete play-by-play of the Drunken Master shenanigans?
We then tell Sage about what we had decided to do with our team asset when we won won, back when Brian, Shelby, and I were a team (LOL, that card was busted as hell); now, though, we have to rework it, so we talk about what we want to do when we win it with Jacob (we've already decided it will be called "Lord of the Makai House", ahaha), and then talk about Worlds and things al the way back to Sage's. We drop him off and say our goodbyes, then we start heading back to April and Shelby's, laughing about random crap again (I recall Shelby saying "so what you're saying is that if we kicked you out of the car right now you wouldn't know how to get back home?"). We talk a bit more about the weekend's events, then arrive back at their place somewhere around twelve thirty or so. Stuff gets brought in, etc. April goes to sleep, and I hang about just long enough to have a DP and laugh about our asset being stupid and awesome. I manage to lose my Phoenix Wright cartridge i the floorboard of my car by my shoe, and then leave it and the second game with Jacob (how's that going, btw? Did you finish "Rise from the Ashes" yet?! =D), and then I head home, listening to my beloved At the Drive-In as I go, in a thoughtful mood. I get home about 3 am and craaaaaaaash.
Props:
April - for the laughs, suggesting that I drink the mashed potatoes, for not making fun of my musical taste, beyond not knowing Enter Sandman, for being the getaway driver, for managing to not kill us all, for working in a hospital yet not mocking my so-called medical expertise based on watching House fanatically, and for being my new PW buddy =D
Shelby - making swiss champ, being the Fio deck that NOBODY wanted to play against, and for using the most broken character in the format for a win on his most broken symbol, simply because it FEELS SO GOOOOOOOD, for being the best teammate ever, for being my favorite person to play against, for encouraging busted-ass assets, for playing cards that I like (SO HELP ME HATA YOU BEST WATERMARK UKYO'S SHORT SLASH ATTACK AND FOIL KABUKI ARTIST), and for having the BEST stories ever (check your voicemail...he's wild), and generally being a good storyteller anyway. Also, for agreeing to cosplay as Snake at Worlds. Huh...it's just a box...
Jacob - for being the next best teammate ever (sorry, Shelby has seniority), for bringing Mina back properly, for being one of the only people that I know that likes to stack characters (Ken's obsession with Kyo doesn't count and you know it), for the giggles ("NOWAIT, not yet...kaygo"), for the most brilliant team asset proposal ever, for not China Boxing that Cutting Edge, for HOT MINA ON MINA ACTION (YES!), for answering to "Yi Shan" all weekend, and for being my other new PW buddy =D
Sage - for being a dirty bastard (LOLARROW), for loads of good times, for making me feel better about waffling in character selection, for not pairing yourself against me in Teams (HAHAHAHA, no turn one this time!), for video of epic mashed potato time, for insanely janky box pulls, for taking the regional with the second most broken symbol ever (LIFE > VOID), for liking Earth and Sagat, just like me (=D), and for not killing me about the eagle ;_;
And for leaning over so I could buckle up
Jason - for hosting the event, and somehow having Collecting Data and Hades on hand. SCORE
Steven - HOT MINA ON MINA ACTION, O BABY. Also, good trades are good.
Chris - FOR PLAYING A SECREET PROJECT Q DECK. You still can't have Donovan, though xD
Jeremy and Sarah, aka "the Abilene crew" - you guys are feckin' awesome, seriously. I especially loved what Jeremy said to Shelby before their singles match started XD Also, good times at Olive Garden are good. Thanks for helping us make the waiter work for his tip, and bring us breadsticks every time he came to the table XD You guys are seriously welcome anytime; we'd love to have you.
The two people that had *Donovan*s for trade - you guys are awesome. Wal-Mart Donovan is awesome, btw.
The people who traded to and signed Ukyo's for me - heeeeell yeah, dood
Greenpants - epic match of hilarity was epic
The other Fio player (Rodney, I think?) - you were pretty cool. Thanks for the bitchin' trade, too!
Moon Pies - c'mon, they're feckin Moon Pies, dood
Micheal Jackson - all the good times, and the balla-ass songs. We miss you, dood =(
April and Jacob for playing Phoenix Wright. It deserves a second mention =D
Chun-Li - for not topping. HA
Hilde for being a surprise beast. We gotta do it again sometime.
Donovan for always being my boi. Never lets me down.
Lu Chen for being a fscking MONSTER. Who'd have thought a six handsize character built in a weird way on a symbol with ZERO draw power would work? I look forward to makin more moves with you in the future, old dood.
Our waiter at Olive Garden - for the double-take
The very hot girls in Lubbock - this one needs no explanation, really
The Mars Volta - for being part of my "animated" playstyle, and for generally being kickass. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU'D ALWAYS SCRATCH THAT ITCH
My hoodie - for being awesome in general, really.
Cursed Blood, and especially Ira-Spinta - <333333333333333
Me - awesome box pulls, the ol' switcheroo, and never having any problem putting my foot in my mouth, unwittingly or intentionally, NOT braeking into hysterical giggling fits at 4 am, and bringing the DS =D
Slops:
April - for not playing =( and for never having played Pokemon =(
Shelby - for being an ass and never sitting in the back XD
Jacob - for being tall (YOU BASTARD), for calling it "not singing" (HE TOTALLY IS!), and for never sitting in the middle (;_
. And not playing Yi Shan. I wanted to see it =(
Sage - for living in South Carolina, for not being a psychic, for not being able to come to Worlds (maybe), and for not playing Yang at all =( And for liking Close Throw XD
The rest of our group - for not coming. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, CHRIS AND PRESTON
Everyone who didn't have *Donovans* for trade - ;_;
The Sonic by the venue - for giving people three straws for six drinks
The weird lady from Sonic - WHY YOU GOTTA BE LOOKIN' AT ME LIKE THAT?!
The place we stopped for the restroom on Friday - for creating the unholy broom/plunger hybrid
Taco Bell - for having that gross fruit punch "thing". Also, how are you gonna run out of wedges? Srsly
Subway - for not having anything, ever. Props for giving me the last of the ice, though...that part was funny
West Texas in general - for not being on a boat, and for all the really crappy summers and assorted other times spent there when I was younger. Props for birthing me, though, Midland. That was pretty balla. Y'know.
Tom - Scenic detours, as well as the obviouTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTESTTEST
Me - for not bringing socks and thus being forced to wear sandals all weekend and wasting space for the dang shoes, for not making Lu Chen better, for not pulling off the uber Banana Raid of Doom against Sage FTW, for giving Mitsurugi all that momentum (I'd do it again, though...), for not getting ATDI on my memory stick for music listening to's, for having headphones that break on a whim, for letting Sage borrow those Spiral Arrows (I'M MY OWN WORST NIGHTMARE...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO), for being broke, deciding to grow my hair out, for breaking Eagle Wind, for not ever using the DS or the book I brought, and for not playing Yoshitora at all =(
Brian - because you're Brian
THE END
