Since i did so well at the weekend (in my opinion at least), i figured it would be rude not to put up my recollections of the event, so here we go.
Drove down from Nottingham saturday morning with Jack (playing Astrid), Nick (playing Ukyo) and Mark (playing Rashotep). Its only a short drive, around 30 minutes, so we had no problems getting there in plenty of time. From the moment we arrived i knew we had a great turn out for this event, but the highlight of the morning for me was watching Sam Smithers trying to play cards while fretting over his house moving, though not so amusing for him perhaps. Then without further delay we were into the swiss.
Uk Nationals
Round 1
Me (Heihachi) Vs. Paul (Kyoshiro)
Game 1
Going second i quickly manage to get some decent foundations out, turn 2 i hit him with a Neo Deadly Rave for 12, and after that he just cannot deal with all the damage i pumped out. Took a few hits on the way in, but nothing too concerning.
Game 2
Again going second, an extremely similar thing happens, but this time i whack him a few times with normal attacks, and then a Rave for the finish.
2-0 Win
Round 2
Me (Heihachi) Vs Michael(?) (Zi Mei)
This game had a very serious case of block 4 syndrome. I won the coin toss to see who went first round 1, and the rest says itself. Game 1 i smash him, game 2 he smashes me, game 3 i smash him. It was however a great game, precisely what UFS is now about, and it was the most aggro game i played.
2-1 Win
Round 3
Me (Heihachi) Vs Kyle (Viktor)
Rounds 1 and 2 were almost identical in this game, In turn 2 in both rounds i hit him for 12 and 14 damage respectively with a Deadly Rave, but after that i was just unable to get through the wall of negation, and the combination of Reanimated/Darkness blade, and then a Mega Spike loop sorted out victory for Kyle.
2-0 Loss
Round 4
Me (Heihachi) Vs Nemesis (Nagase)
Game 1
I managed to get a flying start, smashing Nagase for massive damage without her really being able to do anything about it, with only 22 life she was too flimsy to survive more than a few turns.
Game 2
This one lasted rather longer, we went first and managed to get momentum generation, damage reduction and card draw early game, which despite me throwing lots of attacks, meant i couldnt really hurt her. However, due to continuous antisocial usage, Nagase was well on her way to milling before me, he eventually dropped to only 2 cards left in his deck, after a couple of turns i then dropped to 3 cards left in my deck, but since he could no longer play a single card, my opponent conceded the round.
2-0 Win
Round 5
Me (Heihachi) Vs Baz (Bishamon)
Another horrible match up for me, just like Viktor, after a few turns he had more than enough reduction and life gain to stop me ever hurting him, it would only extend the innevitable to keep playing, so i just give him the rounds.
2-0 Loss
Round 6
Me (Heihachi) Vs ??? (Felicia)
Game 1
I had a bad feeling about this one, especially since i lost the coin toss to go first. In this game i got my ass royally handed to me as i just take multiple spikes to the face. Bad times.
Game 2
A much better game for me, going first i get out some foundations, get in a Deadly Rave, and then just continually smash Felicia until she falls over
Game 3
By now i was very nervous, whoever won this round was likely to make top 8, and i was going second. However, luck was apparently on my side, It took several turns for my opponent to draw into a Spike, by which time i had already caused some damage with a Rave. I was able to block the worst of the damage, and survive his spike, despite him having a Striking Thunder in his momentum thanks to felicia. Drawing up a new hand i draw the best possible hand, which was basically 3 Spinning Demons. As it was i only needed 2 with Heihachi since my opponent had no Low or Mid Blocks.
2-1 Win
So after the 6 rounds of Swiss, i went 4-0-2, which was enough for me to top 8, which was a major suprise, since i had originally built the Heihachi deck for fun. After heading back with Felix now in my car as well, i was feeling good about the next day.
Come the sunday morning, only me and Nick return to Leicester to take part, since Mark had work, Felix wasnt feeling well, and Jack probably got wasted and wandered off, it was on to my first round in top 8 against...
Me (Heihachi) Vs Joe (Donovan)
Now pretty much everyone there this weekend had heard of this deck, since it placed second at US worlds. However it was the second best deck i was hoping to play against, the first being Zi Mei, mostly thanks the the fact that they have low health, and only moderate control.
Game 1
Again i lose the coin toss (making it 1 coin toss to me, and 6 to my opponents). This could only be bad news, because although i managed to get some decent foundations and throw some big attacks at him, he just got too many cards out for me to deal with, and i fell under a flurry of blows.
Game 2
I was looking forward to this once since i was going first, and was my best chance to cause some serious damage, unfortunately for me my deck had its first hiccup, and i never drew into more than 2 attacks, which gave Joe more than enough time to destroy me at his leisure.
2-0 Loss
Despite me losing, it was a great game, i knew how good the deck was, and so was not at all disappointed to lose to it. I had never played Joe before, but it was a fun game, shockingly it was the first of the top 8 matches to finish, and looking on the bright side it meant i could now take part in the mini block regionals.
Mini Block Regionals
Round 1
Me (Jin Kazama) Vs Bevan (Jin Kazama)
Game 1
Going second (again), but in this case not such a bad thing, due to the ability to form with Jin, it was a true block 4 match up, and we battered the crap out of the other, however my repeated attacks were enough to ware him down before he got me.
Game 2
Much the same as round 1, Bevan drew pretty appalling hands both games, having to mulligan each time, and his replacements were too much better. On the other hand i was down to 13 life by the end of turn 2, which wasnt so much fun, albiet after my turn 2 he was on 15. However my luck prevailed, and i managed to take him down before he got me.
2-0 Win
Round 2
Me (Jin Kazama) Vs Michael (Tira)
Game 1
As oppose to our game in the swiss the previous day, Tira managed to go first, and after a couple of turns of being Danced to death, that was the end of Jin without much opposition.
Game 2
Since he was going second, Michael switched into James Hata for the additional health, however this didnt make much difference in the end, as i drew into about 5 attacks turn 3 and was able to smash through his health with little trouble.
Game 3
Back with Tira going first again, i knew this was going to be a close game, however i was apparently lucky once more, failing to draw into many attacks, all Tira could do was play out foundations, and when she finally did get the Dance, it was not enough to kill me, and the following turn i finished her off.
2-1 Win
Round 3
Me (Jin Kazama) Vs ??? (Bryan Fury)
Game 1
A pretty typical block 4 game, Bryan makes massive throws to force the damage through, and i throw a massive amount of attacks extremely easily, unfortunately for Bryan there was no way he could block them all, and i eventually take him down.
Game 2
Much the same as game 1, Bryans damage pump is a real pain, but in the end i play abot 5 attacks plus multiples in 1 turn and there is nothing he can do to stop it.
2-0 Win
Round 4
Me (Jin Kazama) Vs Justin (Astrid)
Game 1
This game went pretty much prefectly for me, i managed to get decent foundations out quickly, and soon went for the kill. Atrid being who she is wasnt about to go down easily though, after my second attack she played her weapon that gets multiple 1 when played as a reversal, pumping the first up to 17 damage, i chose to take the 21 overall, since i was confident in victory, which i got with about 6 attacks. A close thing though.
Game 2
This game did not go my way however, Justin got out more than enough draw to effectively block anything i threw at him, and he eventually wore me down for the win.
However. This is where things get interesting, we start game 3 just as time is called, me having just played a foundation. Then i find out that its going to be first blood, the first damage dealt with an attack wins. Now bearing in mind i had gone first and just played a foundation, i was extremely worried since justin would get the best opportunity to attack. Fortunately looking at my hand i had 2 more foundations without blocks, and the my remaining 3 cards covered every attack zone, so i played out the other 2 and waited to see what happened. Fortunately Justin clearly hadn't drawn into the attacks, so played an asset and some foundations, and in turn 2 i threw 2 mid attacks, the second of which got through as he had only 1 mid block, so i won on first blood. Commiserations to Justin though, i have never played first blood before, since it can be a bit unfair, if either of our decks had any throws in, all we would have to do is risk a 4+ check on turn 1 and that would be that.
2-1 Win
The Final
Me (Jin Kazama) Vs ??? (Astaroth)
Since time was of the essence, we were told we only got 1 round, winner takes all. So i figure i may as well go for it, Astaroth is a pretty good counter for Jin, as he can negate control modification, however i used that to make my opponent blow up as many foundations as i could, i could then just attack with his chances of blocking reduced. In the end Astaroth just didnt draw into enough attacks (or clash of the ages), to take me down, and i flattened him in a few turns.
1-0 Win
MINI BLOCK CHAMPION!!!
So that is my UK Nats report, it was a fantastic weekend for me, Top 8, Mini Block champ, made loads of really cool trades and just got to know people a bit better. Want to give my thanks to Steve and Kev for running such an excellent event, my congratulations to Joe for becoming UK champ, and my commiserations to Kyle for coming so close. Hope to see everyone again soon (team Nats perhaps?), until then, stay safe.
Ben
. well done though.