[14th Trial of Death] rob77dp 5 - 2 asdw152

[rob77dp]

GREAT games, thank you for the match asdw. I am actually a little caught up now thinking about how this might have been the last Death Trials Final ever (surely in the current format/platform at least)
[I did not record, but I believe asdw recorded and probably provide videos of the games]

Whew, SEVERAL really close ones here.

GAME 1

Harmonious Existence

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542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 542 5m6 71u 71u 71u 71u 71u 71u 7k2 7k2 7k2 7k2 7k2 7k2 7km 7km 7km 7km 7km 7q9 7q9 7q9 7q9 7q9 7q9 8pq

I figured it would be expected for me to press the upgrade advantage by out-rushing. So I opened with a stall, with all the best stall-y cards.
It worked well - with Purify full-banned I was only afraid of SoP being a pain but turns out no SoP to deal with.

Spoiler for winning screenshot:

Win, 1-0.

GAME 2

Death Ward

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52g 52g 534 534 534 534 542 542 542 542 542 594 594 594 594 594 594 710 710 71a 71a 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 77c 77c 77c 77m 77m 77m 77m 77m 77m 8pm

Well, who would expect back-to-back stalls from me in this scenario? Having gained the game-1 win edge, I pressed it here. I top-decked some SS to keep it going but needed more early-Wardens to be able to pull it off. Lost I think with around 1 or 2 turns left before winning by deckout.
Loss, 1-1.

GAME 3

Bloodwall Legacy

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4sk 4sk 534 534 534 534 542 542 5v0 5v0 5v0 5v0 710 710 71b 71b 71b 71b 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 7n2 7t7 7t7 7t7 7t7 7t7 7tb 7tb 8pt

Tribute to Physsion. A really really close finish here, and had I played Vagger the turn I could (waited one turn I think to get a Doll down sooner?) the 6dam/6heal benefit MIGHT have swung it. C'est la vie - and another good fun game here. asdw drew SO MANY Pande, and ended up with like 4 or 5 dolls PU'd from my side that swung to his favor as it bypassed BW's I was deploying.
Loss, 1-2.

GAME 4

Now here, we had two very long first couple duels, and dinner time on West Coast arrived... a break was in order. Having lost two duels in a row, I really felt this next duel (game 4) was HUGE for me to win and put a best-foot forward. So, I put on some headphones, tuned in some relaxing music, and meditated a bit on how it was going in the match and resolved to go down swinging with the speed, power, and aggressive nature that Death has at its disposal on full display. Mono-death Heavy or go home for me.

Mono-death Heavy

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52h 52h 52h 52h 534 534 534 710 710 710 710 710 710 710 713 713 713 713 713 713 71a 71a 71b 71b 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 8pk

I was a bit fearful still of some Wings or shield shenanigans which can derail the standard death 'rush' --- so Dragons and Lady Grey's were in order I thought. The early BW was MVP of the duel, preventing TONS of poison buildup and in the end it was a little tight but with the BW a somewhat safe finish to win the game.

Spoiler for ending screenshot:

Win, 2-2.

GAME 5

Alright, going to run it until I feel a need to change or until it loses... ride or die with mono-death heavy felt right so here it is again.

Mono-death Heavy

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52h 52h 52h 52h 534 534 534 710 710 710 710 710 710 710 713 713 713 713 713 713 71a 71a 71b 71b 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 8pk

asdw brought the mono too... I had a really good BW again and it basically sealed the game in this one. BW 2, asdw 0. I was along for the BW ride I guess.

Spoiler for ending screenshot:

Win, 3-2.

GAME 6

The match now felt in much less disarray for me, less cutesy decks and more death bread-and-butter, still felt right and I played it a third straight game.

Mono-death Heavy

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52h 52h 52h 52h 534 534 534 710 710 710 710 710 710 710 713 713 713 713 713 713 71a 71a 71b 71b 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 8pk

Now if you're wondering, Poison and Mummy were absent here as I tried not to get overly fancy in deck building for odd-vs-even and Poison(odd)/Mummy(even) were in that category.
I drew opening BW... but held it because I wanted to play it when I felt asdw would have to decide to nom my damage and build my wall or let my damage through to break down my wall. I played it at a pivotal point... but it was broken down quickly and I was in a bad spot -- until I top-decked 2nd-of-2 BW in my deck for the win. BW three-peat MVP!

Spoiler for ending screenshot:

Win, 4-2.

GAME 7

Now I'm feeling in the driver's seat, but I don't want asdw to get too comfortable expecting my mono again so determined here I would go with the NM-bow for g7, a crema-catcher for g8 (look in extra-decks) if necessary, and a rubber-match g9 would see the mono-heavy again.....

Deathmare Heavy

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4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 5ru 5ru 5ru 5ru 5ru 711 711 713 713 71a 71a 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 7th 7th 7th 7th 7th 8ps

The dragons were a slight hedge against Wings - but it had not even been a hint earlier so I was not expecting to HAVE to use them, but pre-match deckbuilding had the dragons for Wings encounters. BINGO! Air mark, damsels --- surely this is Wings. My opening hand has BOTH my Bone Dragons in it, I'm set. Except.... I had 1-of-9 pendulums and a dragon would take roughly 1 year to play on that draw. I therefore pressed with creature damage as fast as I could ... RNG came through and Wings hid like a shadow in a crawl space from asdw. Managed 1x ghost-mare play and then damaged to the win.

Spoiler for ending screenshot:

Win, 5-2 FINAL!!

Well, in looking over it I used fewer-than-max-allowed upgrades twice in the match -- once by accident (Bloodwall - whaaaat?) and once on purpose (Deathmare).
I originally missed the first appointed matchtime Thursday evening having totally spaced this was the week for the final. I had 0 decks built until last night. Heavily farmed from my own past trials decks. TO a degree, I netdecked from my own internet-database of past decks??

Spoiler for Extra Decks built, not used:

Souls on Fire

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52i 52i 52i 534 534 534 713 713 713 71a 71f 71f 71f 71f 71f 77e 77e 77e 77e 77e 7dp 7dp 7dp 7dp 7dp 7dq 7dq 7dq 7dq 7dq 8pk

This would have been game 8 if necessary. REALLY fast, in testing and past usage some 5 TTW, lots of 6/7 TTW, and 8 TTW is slow or something interfered (more than that and probably this deck isn't winning the game ).

Spoiler for Alt Souls on Fire, that I do not remember why I built it:

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52i 52i 52i 52i 534 534 534 71b 71b 71b 71f 71f 71f 71f 71f 77e 77e 77e 77e 77e 7dp 7dp 7dp 7dp 7dp 7dp 7dq 7dq 7dq 7dq 8pk

Ghost-bow Momo

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4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 5ru 5ru 5ru 5ru 713 713 713 713 713 71a 71a 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 74a 74a 74a 74a 74a 8ps

An idea I had for countering Wings... never used it though.

Death Charge

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542 542 542 542 542 542 542 713 713 713 713 713 71b 71b 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 745 745 745 745 745 74a 74a 74a 74c 74c 8pl

Another deck built eye-ing WIngs spam... see a theme?

Quaker CC Stall-breaker

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4sk 4sk 4sk 542 542 542 542 713 713 713 718 718 718 71a 71a 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 77a 77a 77a 77a 77a 77j 77j 77j 77j 77j 8pm

Was the "2nd" earth deck I had should I feel a need/use for it... moment never felt right or ripe though, so it stayed in the tool belt.

Ho-hum (Life Duo)

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4sk 4sk 52g 52g 52g 542 542 710 710 710 713 713 713 718 718 718 718 718 71a 71a 71u 71u 71u 72i 72i 7ai 7ai 7ai 7ai 7ai 8pn

Not too original I guess? Dunno, was not feeling like the Frog-splash type life duo was really going to cut it so built this... then never really even considred it during matchplay.

Mono-poisonous EVENS

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4sk 4sk 4sk 52g 52g 542 542 710 710 710 713 713 713 713 713 713 718 718 718 718 718 718 71a 71a 71a 71b 71b 71b 72i 72i 8pk

Poison only allowed in even games... but when it came time for mono-ing, I wanted to run it a bunch in a row so had to avoid an even/odd req.

Mono-pure-rush ODD

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4sk 4sk 4sk 52g 534 534 534 710 710 710 710 710 713 713 713 713 713 713 71a 71a 71d 71d 71d 71d 71d 71d 72i 72i 72i 72i 8pk

Mummy only allowed in odd games... so as with the poison above, when it came time I wanted to repeatedly-mono I left this on the shelf due to the odd/even restriction/bans.

[asdw152]

Really close, vids up eventually, may post my sheet with decks and ideas if anyone cares.
Deck idea list here ya go I guess, don't go giving me any regrets in deck selection when browsing, or do.

Spoiler for G1: PenDuo Water:

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52q 534 534 542 542 542 542 5i4 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ij 5ij 713 713 713 713 71a 72i 72i 72i 72i 7gk 7gm 7gm 7gm 7gm 7gp 7gp 8pp

Spoiler for G1 Match Video:

Spoiler for G2: NT Duo:

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52r 52r 542 542 542 542 542 542 5i4 5ig 5ig 5ig 5ig 5jm 71b 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 7gk 7gk 7gk 7gk 7h0 7h0 7i6 7i6 7i6 8pp

Spoiler for G2 Match Video:

Spoiler for G3: Pandabone:

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4vp 4vp 4vp 4vp 4vp 4vp 52g 52g 52g 52p 52p 52r 542 542 710 710 718 718 718 718 718 718 71a 71a 71a 71b 71b 71b 72i 72i 8pj

Spoiler for G3 Match Video:

Spoiler for G4: CP Stalker:

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4ve 4ve 4ve 4vl 4vl 52u 52u 52u 52u 52u 52u 542 542 542 6ts 6u2 6u2 6u2 6u2 6u2 6u2 6ve 713 713 713 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 8pj

Spoiler for G4 Match Video:

Spoiler for G5: Mono:

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4sk 52g 52g 52h 52h 52h 52h 534 534 534 542 542 542 542 710 710 710 710 713 713 713 713 71a 71a 71b 71b 72i 72i 72i 72i 8pk

Spoiler for G5 Match Video:

Spoiler for G6: RT Mummy:

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52q 52t 52t 52t 52t 52t 52t 542 5rk 5rk 5rk 5rk 5rk 5rk 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 72i 7qu 7qu 7qu 7qu 7qu 8ps

Spoiler for G6 Match Video:

Spoiler for G7: SpiderWings:

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4sk 52g 52g 52g 52g 52h 52h 52q 534 534 542 5oo 5oo 5oo 5oo 710 710 713 713 713 713 713 713 71a 72i 72i 7mt 7mt 7mt 7mt 7mt 8pr

Spoiler for G7 Match Video:

[rob77dp]

/bump my decks and stuff are edited in to the OP now.

o/

As a death-deckbuilding afficianado I'd be interested in seeing decks built!

I'm also looking forward to the videos so I can critique my play and get input if others watch too.

[Wyand]

Congrulations on seizing the Mastership again, rob!

Oh, and asdw thanks for being a great competitor (and not letting rob play against a STANDIN) and for sharing your planning doc.
Due to being az experimental type I lack this sort of focus, I had a humongous excel with all sort of decks and things...

[Septima Rhay]

a serious death warrior 152 is my teammate in a currently running OETG event - Quad Team Battle.  Naturally, I was keen to watch and support his pursuit of the death mastership.

Asdw - your thorough preparation, organization, and strategic considerations for this final are really inspiring.  I hope folks take the time to examine, even briefly, how much effort and preparation you put into this event.  Kudos for trying something new with those  decks this final; NT deck was cool and that battle vs. Rob's earth deck was pretty epic.  It didn't go your way this time, but preparation and experience will serve you in future battles be it for Etg or oEtg.  Your willingness to study/learn, look for new ideas to test, and analyze things bluntly (as evidenced in your spreadsheet) bode well for your growth.  Yes, even in  one can grow.

Match- I watched the battles on spectate; it felt closer than 5-2 would indicate.  In G4, G5, G6, Rob had what appeared to be good RNG to great RNG especially with clutch BW draws in each of the games - sometimes needing to get 2x BW and getting both.  ASD also appeared to have good RNG, too, with the exception of quanta-flooding in one game.  Overall result might have been the same, but could definitely be an 8 or 9 game match. Both players performed at a high level. 

Community vote - I see 75% of the community voted on Rob; he's a multiple past death master; it makes sense.  Folks didn't see how much asdw prepped for this final nor did they consider that he beat Rob 3-1 in Phase 2.  Reputations are both slow to grow and diminish. He lost 5 upgrades from the community vote.  Hopefully, moving forward, folks give asd some more credit (or perhaps those voting advantages are eliminated).  ASD often appears quiet and humble; I'd talk to him about how things were going for his trials prep..."they're going.." --super informative responses like that. Obviously he was working hard for an element he likes and is generous to share his work after the finals as well.  He'll be a good resource for ppl transitioning to OETG as he makes some cool death decks there. 

Rob - Your prior mastery helped bring out a strong effort for a serious death warrior.  That is obviously a great quality in a master - to inspire others to deadlier heights. Congrats!

[Wyand]

Wait a minute I saw only the 1st page! I'm impressed beyond words, asdw!

I love this doc. It feels very good when someone has a similar, analyzing approach like yourself.
Makes me remember my war12-13 sheet and other trials sheet, but I feel this more focused.
I experimented way too much.

[asdw152]

BUMP. match videos posted with each game and deck idea doc available.