After missing Gundam TCG once again yesterday - As an aside, it was a Newtype Challenge, so I wasn't too broken up over it this time; it was also mostly the fault of there being more traffic than usual for a Sunday morning. I made up for it by joining in for a Pokémon VGC Cup and Challenge Double Header since the League needed the extra player to fire - I made my way to the shop once again tonight for Final Fantasy TCG.
The Competitive Season is underway, and while I doubt I'll be able to attend any of the Materia Cups, I should be able to get to some of the Local Championship Qualifiers. Including, hopefully, one happening on June 7th at a card shop in the area that I don't get to make my way out to very often. And with that LCQ being so soon - just barely less than three weeks out - I need to try to get some last-minute practice in before that event.
To facilitate that, I elected that tonight I would play The Twelve, which is the current frontrunner for my Competitive Deck of Choice for the season (which is weird to me since I had been so adamant I would opt for Scions instead before tonight).
With a total of four players tonight, we did a three-round round robin.
Game 1 vs Sky Pirates - Loss 3-7
The Sky Pirates did Sky Pirates things to me. We had a couple of turns of back and forth, trading a little damage, but eventually they hit a Sky Pirates Turn™ and swarmed the field, with Ashe in place to keep their Forwards stronger and safe from damage-based removal.
With the damage prevention effect and the +2k Power Buff, I had nothing I could do - they would win basically any combat trades we had, and I wasn't able to find Rhalgr for the flat break effect that could have safely removed Ashe in spite of it.
Since we finished our game faster than the other two players, we elected to pass our "prize packs" around, agreeing as a group to just divvy the packs out evenly. It was a fresh box from a fresh case. My opponent proceeded to open not one but both potential Full Arts from their packs.
So that was cool. I was real happy for them, certainly not jealous at all.
Game 2 vs Cat IV - Win 7-2(? Maybe 7-3? I had this written down but now I'm second-guessing it)
A much different game, mostly because the shoe was on the other foot for me. It was a back and forth game, with the new Legend Kain from Dreamlike Oceans doing some not-insignificant work keeping my Forwards cleared away, at least until I finally caught the Dragoon while my opponent didn't have another Kain in hand to use his Special and Jump out of removal's way.
With Kain gone, and my opponent lacking a bit in other removal options, it was my turn to take over the board and swarm a little bit. They were unable to find their mass removal option - the Opus I 7-cost Backup Shantotto - so I had nearly free rein to beat them down over a couple of turns with Azeyma doing serious lifting on removing their potential blockers.
Game 3 vs Mono-Fire - Win 7-2(? I think this one was 7-2 and Cat IV may've been 7-3?)
Let me tell you, playing against a hard control list like Mono-Fire is scary as hell with a deck like The Twelve. A lot of my cards work better the more of The Twelve that I have in play, and Fire can pretty handily remove a lot of those by nuking my Forwards out of existence.
Couple that with Amaterasu and the ability to cancel my many powerful auto-abilities and it was a tense game for me. Even with Zoraal Ja in play to plug away with damage over a few turns, breaking Forwards in the way all the while, it was slow going. I played LB Noctis to get one of my copies of Rhalgr back from out of the Break Zone, expecting I would need his on-entry auto to break a blocker, or else his hasty body to provide additional pressure. This was followed by my opponent's Mont Leonis turn, where they pulled back Wuk Lamat and Taivas, popping Zoraal Ja and Noctis both while also hitting me for some damage.
Fortunately, I hit Nymeia on the damage, giving me a card draw off of her EX Burst, which gave me exactly enough resources for what I needed to do on my turn. I played Rhalgr, targeting the Mont Leonis, baiting out their Amaterasu. I followed that up with a Halone that I drew, dulling and freezing Wuk Lamat and Taivas, then I passed turn. Stopping Wuk Lamat from swinging and hitting either of my Forwards with her auto-ability proved vital for my victory. My opponent removed the Halone, and on my turn I drew a Thaliak - my opponent elected to send Wuk Lamat to the Break Zone - and then into an Azeyma. It was Azeyma that gave me the last little bit of oomph I needed to push through, popping Mont Leonis with her attack trigger and clearing the way for her and Rhalgr to finish the game off.
Conclusion
This was probably the least "weird" feeling night I've had playing The Twelve. I presume it's just because I'm getting more accustomed to the deck.
With just under three weeks until the LCQ I'll be hopefully attending, I don't have much time to get practice in. I'm either going to run The Twelve or I'll run my Dragoons at that event. From what I've seen and been told, based on the decks that were being played at the Materia Cup this past weekend, Dragoons would've actually been a strong pick to bring along had I been able to go.
So there's a chance that I might finally bring them off of the "Shelf of Shame" after how badly they failed me back at the Winter Cup. I do already have a copy of the decklist printed, which is unironically a major convenience for me if I do want to pull them back out.
We'll see. I've got a little bit of time. I'll have to consider pulling out the Dragoons for my next Locals and see if I can still pilot them competently, then let that be the deciding factor for if I play them or if I stick to my decision to play The Twelve instead.
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