Philippine Open Championships 2013 goes Highlander!

First post for this format! 

There's lots of players now compared to last format! Maybe because the Spellbook-Dragons domination is over. This could also be the reason why Konami sanctioned our annual Open Championships that concluded yesterday. They allowed tcg cards to be used but they made the format to be a singleton/highlander with the exemption of OOPArts/HC/Gimmick Puppet! This will be the first time a highlander tournament is held and lots of players joined to try to win with their decks.

Heard weeks before the tournament that Dragon decks were the best pick but was skeptical since you can only run 1 of each Dragon Ruler. My mind was completely shut-off from that idea. I admit I was kind of narrow minded with that so I originally planned to make a Chaos metabeat deck but was unhappy with playtest as a Storm or Dark Hole easily resets all my efforts. Tried Heroics to abuse Extra Sword but fails against staple traps. So i opted to use the Chaos deck instead though i'm not confident about it. Before the tournament started, I got to talk to my Jap friend Yuki and he asked me whether I would use Mermails. I asked him why would he assume that i'll use Mermails and he explained to me why. He convinced me to it so I quickly made a Mermail deck with his coaching. Thanks Coach!

Philippine Open Championships 2013
OCG/TCG allowed.
Except Forbidden cards, all cards are LIMITED. This does not apply to Chronomaly/H.C./Gimmick Puppet cards. 
6-round Swiss with Top 8 cut

Deck Used: Mermails

Round1: vs. William "Wslasher" Sy (Six Samurai) 0-x-0
Game1: He opened with RoTA + Ascetism + Kizan. Wtf? Isn't this a singleton tourney? Luckily his backrow wasn't as godly as I was able to bluff his Shien to not negate my Abyssphere and made Trishula with it and Diva.
Game2: RoTA + Dojo + Kizan. Wtf? Same as last game but he had Dimensional Fissure now and 2 backrows being protected by Shien. I drew Fiendish Chain, MST, and Royal Decree and set all three. His turn he attacked and I misplayed here when I activated MST to target DFissure. Shien negates it and I activated Fiendish Chain but he chains with Book of Moon to protect Shien. I should've activated Fiendish Chain first so that his Shien is forced to negate it instead of my MST and Booking Shien would have been no help there.
Game3; Can't remember much except he had Vanity's Emptiness and I was able to get red of it.

Standing: 1-0
Thoughts: Seriously regretted about forgetting to main Gozen Match considering I had it sided.

Round2: vs. Merix Bartolo (Dragon Ruler) x-0-0
Game1: Drew 4 traps with Solemn but no monsters. I set all and ended. He set a monster and I assumed it was a Ryko so I used Dark Hole on it on my turn but it was a Dandylion. I ended then he summoned LaDD and I was forced to use Judgment. He summoned Debris and made Black Rose that wiped my field and lost from there. 
Game2: Rushed him while he still had no grave thanks to my Transmigration Prophecy.
Game3: Tried to rush him again but he had Gorz. His Lyla took out a bluff instead of Breakthough Skill so I had an answer to his summon. Topdecked Duality got me Dark Hole that wiped all monsters except my Zenmaines which took his remaining 1500 LP.

Standing: 2-0
Thoughts: We realized Merix misplayed in Game 1 when he summoned LaDD then after it he summoned Debris Dragon. lol. Nevertheless, my initial mindset of Dragons not good in highlander is now changed.

Round3: vs. Benn Alcantara (Dragon Ruler) 0-0-
Game1: I think I really misplayed on this one + I took too much time to decide. I had Dragoon, Abyssteus, Foolish Burial, Salvage, and a Marksman in grave. The field I was able to develop was just a measly Dragossack + Armor Kappa to deal with his REDMD, Starform, Tidal, etc.
Lost next turn as I had nothing to stop his summons. 
Game2: Time was called and I wasn't able to kill all his LP as needed.

Standing: 2-1
Thoughts: Bought food and water after this game. Stressed a lot as I was a noob to spend so much time thinking then only making a poor play.

Round4: vs. (Chaos Dragons) 0-0-
Game1: He started first with Maiden + Chalice to summon BEWD then Azure Eyes Silver Dragon. Opened with mediocre stuff so I just summoned Trooper to mill out stuff. I was confident I would be able to block BEWD since I have a Tragoedia. His turn he used Mind Control at my Trooper (wtf) and Monster Reborn on his Maiden (wtfx2!) All my opponents are so lucky wtf. Was able to save part of my LP at least and went on a grindfest from there as he summoned Felgrand Xyz with Stardust and the free BEWD. End story was, he had a monster, 4600 LP, while my last card was Avarice with no stuff useful on my graveyard. Returned Infantry, and Diva back to the deck and miraculously I drew both of them! Luck sided on me this time as I was able to kill him at that point.
Game2: Rushed him as he looked like he drew bad.

Standing: 3-1
Thoughts: Really thought I would lose the 1st game as he drew all his best cards like Reborn, Mind Control, BLS, Maiden, Ravine, etc. Late game he didn't have enough stuff to finish me off.

Round5: vs. Gerald Hui (Dark World) 0-0-
Game1: I summon Trooper, set BTH, ended. He summoned Snow, I use BTH, we laugh for a while, and he uses Book to save Snow. Turns out he had Foolish Burial that's why he summoned Snow. lol. He went downhill from there.
Game2: He set 2 and a monster. I bet it was Morphing Jar. I drew Gorz and other stuff I can't summon so I just set a trap f/d His turn he set a third trap and flipped his monster which was really a Morphing Jar. He summons Sillva and Reborns my Gorz and attacks, only to face my Mirror Force! He tries to activate EEV to offer my Gorz but I said he cant since he just set that card so he uses Book on Morphing Jar instead (why not on Gorz?). My turn I picked off his traps 1 by 1, leaving the dead EEV and won.

Standing: 4-1
Thoughts:  By this time, the top tables were all Dragon Rulers except for 1 Fire Fist deck which was undefeated. Inevitably, my next opponent would be a Dragon Ruler too.

Round6: vs. Junjun Agoto (Dragon Ruler) 0-0-
Game1: Overwhelmed and I lost.
Game2: He was able to set up Jewel Stardust and Vanity's Emptiness on his 1st turn. I was able to mill a Breathrough Skill so was just hoping to draw MST or Storm or Dust or Undine or Dark Hole or Vortex or any other stuff I sided in so I could start playing again. But no, they didn't come.

Standing: 4-2
Thoughts: Only two persons with 2 losses would get in the top 8. I had good tiebreaks (those who defeated me are all 5-1) so I'm hoping to get in and I did.

The Top 8 players/decks for this highlander tournament are
1: Joriel - Fire Fist 6-0
2: Chester Sombillo - Dragon Ruler 5-1
3: Junjun Agoto - Dragon Ruler 5-1
4: Benn Alcantara - Dragon Ruler 5-1
5: Yuki Karikomi - Dragon Ruler 5-1
6: Merix Bartolo - Dragon Ruler 5-1
7: Edsel Gozon - Mermail 4-2
8: Zaccheus Liwanag - Dragon Ruler 4-2

So officially, I was wrong to think Dragon Ruler wouldn't do well in singleton. lol. On the contrary, most ppl were thinking that Mermails was the inferior deck in highlander. 

Top8: vs. Chester Sombillo (Dragon Rulers) 0-0-
Game1: He went first, did plant stuffs and finished with Jewel Stardust, a few tokens, a set card, but no Dragon in sight. Did usual Mermail stunts and won.
Game2: Had Gozen Match early and was able make Bahamut Shark to beat him to death. Special mention is the Vortex against his Gorz. 

Semis: vs. Junjun Agoto (Dragon Ruler) x-x-
Game1: I Duality to get Reborn. He Duality to get Maxx C. Took too much time again to think of the best move against his Maxx C. In the end I let him get a +1 off his Maxx C to get rid of his Scrap Dragon. I weighed that it was the best move since I can't let Scrap stay at the field as it will kill me off. However, he pulled Kinka-Byo from Maxx C and took away my Foolish Burial from hand and the Armor Kappa I was relying on with his Trishula.
Game2: 2 mins left until time is called. So I was forced to rush in order to get me a chance to deplete his LP hoping he drew bad. He opened very well though so again I lost to him. 

Final Standing: 3rd-4th. Got 8 SHSP booster packs and a regular game mat as a prize. Pulled 2 crap SRs. Why no Mikazuchi nor Duplicity? :(( Bad luck streak. lol I got a freaking Noriko from my CPZ1 entrance pack also. -_-


The finals was Dragons vs. Dragons and ultimately, Junjun Agoto won the championships. Congrats to our 2013 WCQ rep for winning the 1st PH Highlander tournament!


Here's my decklist for the tournament. 
(Assume everything is 1 of)

Monsters:
Mermail Abyssmegalo
Mermail Abyssteus
Mermail Abysslinde
Mermail Abysspike
Mermail Abyssgunde
Mermail Abyssturge
Atlantean Dragoons
Atlantean Marksman
Atlantean Heavy Infantry
Deep Sea DIva
Fishborg Archer
Genex Undine
Genex Controller
Mother Grizzly
Snowman Eater
Aqua Spirit
Card Trooper
Cardcar D
Tidal
Tragoedia
Gorz

Spells:
Heavy Storm
Monster Reborn
Dark Hole
Pot of Duality
Pot of Avarice
Salvage
Foolish Burial
Forbidden Holy Lance
Lightning Vortex

Traps:
Bottomless Trap Hole
Call of the Haunted
Torrential Tribute
Mirror Force
Solemn Warning
Solemn Judgment
Trap Stun
Fiendish Chain
Breakthrough Skill
Abyssphere

Side:
DD Crow
Electric Virus
Ryko
Greenkappa
Mobius
MST
Soul Release
Transmigration Prophecy
Gozen Match
Imperial Iron Wall
Light Imprisoning Mirror
Debunk
Dust Tornado
Malevolent Catastrophe
Royal Decree

I guess part of why I lost was I mained and sided a lot of backrow hate. Shows what I was expecting to go up against. Completely underestimated Dragons, lol. 

Well, that's it for this very long post. 
Thanks for reading!