This is not only a report from Worlds, but a report on the world of UFS in general, having been able to experience two different sides of the world within the game, I would like to put forth my two cents on the way the game really is and what it really means to me (and possibly others)
First of all, I would like to personally congratulate Paul Bittner who beat me in the final for Worlds Singles, it was nowhere near as tense a game as it could have been, and without you, the finals would have probably felt a lot more pressurised than it did. We had a lot of fun, and you deserve 100% to have won as majestically as you did. I only hope I put up a good fight for you 
I played a lot of different styles of decks over the past few days, and not a single one was not fun for me in some way or another. I know that a lot of people felt that playing against the various mill decks was a little on the dull side, but that is why the changes that have been made have been made. James and Steve are working extremely hard to make this game the way it used to be, and they are most definately succeeding as far as I can see. I embrace the changes, sudden as they were, and I know that more people in the long run will agree with me than not. in saying that the early rotation was the best thing to happen to the game in a very long time. Those who saw the video on Youtube will notice that almost every single person there applauded that announcement, and I have no shame in saying that I was one of them. This is the way the game was meant to be.
As much as I applaud the rotation, I wholeheartedly can say that I did not come to Worlds just to play UFS. I did not travel 7000 miles to sit at a table and play a game I can easily play at home. The people I have met, the experiences we have all had together mean everything to me (in fact, I need to be careful as I type for fear of getting very emotional 
) and that is the true meaning of UFS to me. I never, in a million years thought for a second that I would do anywhere near as well as I did at Worlds Singles, and the shock of it all is still there, but even if I had placed dead last, I would be posting exactly the same post as I am now. The sheer level of support that I got from everyone as I got into the top 8 was simply insurmountable, and I feel that I have made some fantastic friends over the course of this past week, and I daren't even begin to think of losing any of them because of the distance between us. I came to Worlds because I wanted to make people laugh, and I wanted to have fun, and I can most definately say that I feel I have succeeded in my own personal goal.
Before I came to Worlds, I jumped on the forums because I wanted to know how things were from a competetive standpoint, and everyone elses posts were just words next to names, but now, everything has changed. I have friends here, and now I post on the forums, knowing who I am speaking to, and really being able to make a conversation out of UFS, just as it should be. I will be working my absolute hardest from now on, to promote this game over the next year in the UK, because next year, I want all this again, but with twice as many people. I'm sitting in my hotel right now, waiting for my flight tomorrow, and I'm already terrified of how much running around Indianapolis I'll have to do next year to get everyone to have stinking dinner together like Saturday!
A lot of people had said to me over the weekend that if it weren't for how amazingly fun Worlds was this year, and just how perfect everything turned out, that they probably would not have continued to play UFS anymore. If I'm honest, I had considered not playing anymore quite a few times over the past year, because there was nothing to be excited about, everyone would be playing the same thing they always do (BRT, Mill, Darkness Blade etc), unless of course, you're stubborn like me and refuse to run a deck with less than 4 attacks sitting in it! I don't know when James and Steve decided to make the early rotation, but I think seeing how long Team Worlds took on Friday to finish tipped the scales for the pair of them, and they were right to do so.
As for my Worlds report, I am not going to talk about how the games themselves were played, simply because it isn't what I want to talk about. In a nutshell, my first round was against a solid Akuma Fire deck (I apologise for not knowing the name of the player), which I won 2-0 due to Cursed Blood saving my ass on more than one occasion! 
My second round was very unnerving for me, as I was against Kyle (one of the other UK players who practically already lives at my house!) and normally, he beats me pretty hard, and had done repeatedly in playtesting. However, we had a real fight for the ages, and I eventually won 2-1.I then faced an extremely interesting Kyoshiro deck using Self Sacrifice to obliterate my staging area with the cards he had drawn. Game 1 I got lucky with havinbg Soichi Jinmu's and 3 Ira-Spinta's to wipe his clean first. Then game 2 he became much more aggressive and starting catching my staging area each time. I made an executive decision to fold and go to Game 3, which thankfully paid off, and I won for a second time. By this point was extremely shocked at how well I was doing, having considered myself the weaker of the 4 UK players who were at Worlds this year. However, I was not going to allow myself to disappoint, having grabbed friends who were already supporting me by this point. I then played Chubbs and his Raphael deck, who I managed to catch off guard game 1 with a rogue Ira-Spinta, paving the way for kill, however, once he sided into Morrigan, the hill became a lot steeper, and I lost the second game through Antisocial mill. There was only 5 minutes left on the clock by this point, which left us no time to finish our game, so we drew 1-1. (Chubbs was actually surprisingly quiet during our game... perhaps I frightened him ) I was then to face Andrew Olexa's self-titled deck. Now, bear in mind that while I didn't know much about the American/Canadian metas when I came here, I knew his name was one to be feared. Our games were very back and forth, however, I eventually lost the round due to feeling safe when I really, really shouldn't have (stupid Experienced Combatant giving me false security!) and Andrew kicking me around like a doll in the final game. So after losing 2-1, giving me a result of 3-1-1, I had to win both of my next rounds to stand a chance of top cutting, which was pretty daunting. Felicia came next, and I felt fairly confident that she was a fairly good match-up for me, although I was probably wrong in making assumptions, and he whupped me in the second game! In the end however, I did win 2-1, giving me a score of 4-1-1. The next game decided everything. I played against a Hanzo Slash Elbow loop deck, which was the only game in which the first game took longer than half an hour in swiss. I won the first game with about 10 mins to go, by which point, he sided into Sagat, and was going to try to Fury me down to the floor. Unfortunately, time was called pretty quickly, allowing me my final win. I think I must have been shaking by this point in sheer shock that I could be in Top 8 of Worlds. I maintained the attitude that it still might not happen, so s to not be too disappointed if it didn't, but it did, and I couldn't have been happier. Anyone who spoke to me after then knows that I consistently said, "I could not have asked for this to have gone better, I don't care what happens from this point on". And I meant it.
The next day in Top 8, I think that the previous attitude calmed me down quite a lot, as I wasn't as nervous as maybe I could have been, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous at all. My Top 8 round was against Brian (Antigoth) and his Sagat deck. He seemed to be as shocked at his position as I was, which most certainly made me feel a little bit better, and he was exceptionally kind (as was everyone else) in allowing me to take my time and buying me a Mountain Dew (the first I'd ever had, in fact ) after our game. As for the game itself, he managed to take me down after a lot of setting up and damage reduction which my Pommel Smashes and Ira-Spinta's just couldn't break through. However, in Game 2, I managed to break his staging area a lot earlier, allowing Donovan to draw and set up much faster than before. Game 3 was much more even levelled, and when Brian checked a 3 on his Tiger Fury, tapping out to pass it, I knew I had to defeat him the next turn. I got lucky with my checks, and pulled it off, gasping for air at the end.
Top 4 paired me back up with Andrew's Andrew deck (sorry, had to get that one out!), and we had a real battle of the ages in the first couple of games. With me winning the first game through consistently using Pommel Smash/Psycho Style to force the characters' usage out of the way before beginning to try to deal damage. In the second game, Andrew started to use my own tactics against me with his own Spinta's and heavy damage, and he completely overwhelmed me. With the third game, as much as I was obviously pleased at winning, I felt terrible after painfully seeing 2 checks consistently come off the top of Andrews' deck. I copied his A New Low with Lynette's, played a BRT of my own, and ended up becoming a pseudo-Chun-Li for the rest of the game, eventually Kuzuryu Reppa-ing for the win. We had a lot of fun though, and I'm sure I got a good few dirty looks for knocking out the previous champion!
The finals of Singles Worlds. How the hell was I supposed to see this coming? I only came for the experience! I approached Paul after I'd had something to eat and explicitly said to him "I don't care if I win or lose, as long as I see you smiling within the game". He said he might find it difficult, but even understanding the pressure he was under, I knew he was wrong . With the games themselves, in the first one, I tried my hardest to deal as much damage as I possibly could in as short a time as possible, but I think I became slightly overzealous and ended up not drawing into what I needed, although seemingly, if I had drawn a Plasma Beam (which I would have tried to play needing a 6 to pass it and use it's effect) it would have worked, but, it didn't, and I was promptly dealt with next turn! Game 2 was a real uphill struggle for me from the beginning, although as the game progressed, I noticed that Pauls staging area was a heck of a lot bigger than mine, and that if I could hold out for long enough, he would mill long before I would have. I had side-decked in Strife's Patronage to be able to look at his hand, and Warriors' Path in order to have anti-discard. I intentionally left one card in my hand on Paul's kill turn, knowing that Paul would want to know why and what was in my hand. He used Saikyo-Ryu on my last card, which was indeed, a Warriors Path, causing pretty much the entire room to gasp (which was so worth the entire trip, by the way ). It was my last ditch effort to win, and, unfortunately, because of a second Fury of the Ancients, and not a single Mid block in my hand, my day as champion was not to be. Like I said then, and earlier in the post, Paul deserved the title, and he'd better send me his frickin' character card when he gets it!
From all this, the greatest thing I've taken home with me isn't the title of second at Worlds, it isn't the prizes I was given, it's all the people I've met and befriended in such a short time. I thank eveyone who I played, was supported by and James and Steve for giving me one of the greatest weekends of my life. I'll never forget Friday night's dinner after top 8'ing at Chammps (which was delicious, by the way), and I'll most certainly never forget Saturday nights' amazing, unbeatable night out (bastard as it was to try and organise, f***ing fire alarm!). I've already taken down pretty much everyone's email addresses while I was at the con, but for those I didn't, my email address is [email protected]. Anyone ever wants to stay in the UK for a vacation, you let me know soon as
Thanks again everyone, you made an English ***** cry at his hotel computer, love you all to bits, and now, unfortunately, you're stuck with me whether you like it or not!
Henshin-a-gogo-baby!
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