So, as I'm based in the UK, last weekend was our regional qualifier for the 2015 worlds. With G Set 4 out just a week before, it gave me a chance to take my very first clan - Megacolony. Last year I didn't have a Megacolony deck completed due to non-card game reasons, but with the boosts to the Machining deck I was somewhat looking forward to it, especially as testing at locals the week before resulted in a 4-0 record (best of 3 rounds, all of which were 2-0). I didn't expect to keep up the deck's lossless record, though I felt confident I could at least get as far as my 5-2 record from the previous year.
The deck list was as below:
4 Machining Stag Beetle
2 Machining Scorpion MkII
2 Machining Warsicle
4 Machining Red Soldier
4 Machining Mosquito MkII
3 Machining Papillo
4 Machining Caucasus
4 Rebel Mutant, Starshield
3 Machining Black Soldier
3 New Face Mutant, Little Dorcas
1 Machining Little Bee
4 Machining Scorpion
4 Machining Firefly
4 Machining Scarab
4 Machining Bombyx
3 Carapace Mutant Deity, Machining Destroyer
3 Force Spear Mutant Deity, Stun Beetle
1 Poison Spear Mutant Deity, Paraspear
1 Snow Element, Blizza
Three stun beetle may seem odd, but I only planned on hitting with it once, the third acting as a second attempt. Blizza is a result of this, being able to use the third if either the first hits or two don't. Giving that Scorpion MkII is a persona blast, it may seem odd not to run it at four, but as was pointed out online (more specifically the Pojo forums) your strides are a lot better than his legion skill, so you'd rather use another copy to stride than to persona blast. You're only ever going to drop the mate for the skill, Mosquito is run at four, so you've got at least as many chances as you do with any single-target persona blast.
I may well discuss the build in more detail in another post, but for today we'll move on to the tournament itself.
Round 1: vs Link Joker (Messiah)
This did not look promising. I hadn't had much of a chance to test against control decks, and lock can keep Destroyer out of action for several turns. Going first, I was concerned about a lack of grade 2s, but Mosquito arrived just in time to allow me to pass on the grade 3 ride for a turn, giving me the first stride. He failed to re-ride the first time, managed it the second, after which I had to go into Paraspear due to a lack of Machining damage. With an empty hand, he topdecked stride fodder, but drive checked nothing, and the following turn my critical triggers showed up to end the game.
1 - 0
Round 2: vs Neo Nectar (Ahsha)
From a control deck to a power build, I was aware that the deck had the potential to put out some beefy rear-guards, and easily replace them. However it didn't get that far. Going second, early crits and damaged PGs meant that I was able to win before he could even stride.
2 - 0
Round 3: vs Aqua Force (Thavas)
Megacolony traditionally does quite well in this match-up, and although I gave him the first stride and he called two stride enablers to search out two more Thavas, he dropped one from the second enabler's skill and used the second as stride fodder. Again, my rush won out.
3 - 0
Round 4: vs Megacolony (Machining)
This wasn't a matchup I was looking forward to. I knew the deck I was playing wasn't the nicest to face, and the mirror is liable to devolve into a game of chicken, as whoever rides to grade 3 first usually loses. Unfortunately for me, it was quickly clear his hand was much better for rushing than mine, forcing me to go into Stag Beetle. At least I had Scorpion MkII in hand, and enough fodder to re-ride and stride into my own Destroyer after the stun. Then he went into Stun Beetle as second stride, and I was lucky enough that I was able to 2-pass it and grab stride fodder for the next turn, at which point he ran out of grade 3's. I was then able to get my own stun beetle to hit and gain the win.
4 - 0
Round 5: vs Gear Chronicle (Chronojet)
Another G - focussed deck, I was a lot happier about this pairing. I went second, but as he didn't ride to grade 3 I went into Stag Beetle first. I blocked Epochmaker, then stunned his vanguard. He re-rode and strode into Nextage at the cost of his entire hand, and with no booster and no standing rear-guard, opted not to go into Chronojet, keeping his three cards as opposed to going to two - a good call as I could easily block Chronojet. Despite the low hand, he was only on three damage, so I sent out Stun Beetle to lock down the game, allowing me to finish up the next turn.
5 - 0
Round 6: vs Gear Chronicle (Chronojet)
By this point, I'd reached table 1, and was starting to get worried as to how well I was doing. Another Gear deck, and yet again I handed over the first stride as I wasn't worried about it. Once again, I rode to grade 3 first. One of my Gear opponents had to G assist, and I suspect it to be this one, as I do not recall them re-riding. They eventually conceded, having a stunned field and no hand, topdecking into something that couldn't help them.
6 - 0
Round 7: vs Nova Grappler (Blau/Cat Raiser)
Novas were always going to be one of the trickier decks to face, especially Blaus and their early game rush capacity. Then I had to ride a pg, and G assist another away just to try and keep advantage. With a hand not suitable to guarding a rush, and the resultant need to block everything at 4 when Galaxy hit, I had nothing to block even the first legion attack.
6 - 1
Round 8: vs Aqua Force (Thavas)
He started - and immediately G assisted, showing a hand with two Grade 3's and three draw triggers. Dropping two triggers to grab a grade 1, he once again passed on riding to grade 3, however with his Magnum already out I could stun it, forcing him to pass on Tidal-Bore's skill in favour of a double-attacking High Tide Sniper. Once I strode, I stunned his field again, and unable to re-ride he was forced to attempt sniping rear-guards with tidals. The loss of advantage allowed me the win the next turn.
7 - 1
Round 9: vs Royal Paladins (Seekers)
The final round before the top 8, and I was still in with a good chance to top provided I won this last game. A full Legion build, my opponent sat on grade 2 and rushed - right into my hand full of Grade 3's. I rode a second Stag Beetle just to try and maintain some momentum, but by the time he rode to Wingal he had another to ride out the stun, and then checked Alfred, and despite a double crit I lacked anything like enough shield to stop the attack.
7 - 2
So that was it. X - 1 was needed to reach the top 8, and despite a strong showing through most of the day I ended up falling at the last hurdle. Having seen the standings, I placed 15th of 449 entrants - a position I feel happy enough with.
The deck didn't have any serious issues - my only losses were in rounds where I was either grade locked or had an unbalanced hand, in both cases with opponents playing to counter my vanguard stuns. The worst that can be said of any card was that I had it at the wrong time (non-machining Grade 1 rides) or that they simply didn't do anything at all (non-Stag Beetle grade 3's, which I only rode once each all day, as well as the third Stun Beetle, as I only ever went for him when the hit was assured). Whilst I don't doubt I made a few errors, none of them would have significantly changed the result, save perhaps mulliganing differently - which would only matter if I could see the future.
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