THE DUELIST KINGDOM CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007! (Updated for Tournament Report!)

[New Era Outlaw]

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

Attention, duelists!
The Duelist Kingdom Championships are back in town with more challenges, more prizes and more surprises! Already on the heels of two very successful Duelist Kingdom Championship tournaments, this one looks to be the best yet!

GENERAL INFORMATION

Venue: University of the West Indies, Student Activity Centre, Meeting Rooms 1, 2, and 3 (upstairs the Cafeteria Area)
Day: Sunday 19th August, 2007
Format: Advanced
Contest Format: 5 Match Round Robin (Preliminaries) Elimination (Quarter-finals onward)

THIS TOURNAMENT WILL BE UPPERDECK SANCTIONED.

REGISTRATION

BEGINS: 10:00 AM
ENDS: 11:00 AM/ 11:30 AM*
FEE: $50.00

* Duelists are encouraged to come between the hours of 10 and 11 AM, to accommodate for faster registration and tournament commencement.


WHAT'S NEW?

This tournament, like the others before it, ups the ante with more challenges and more surprises than the last. The following are some new changes that will take place in the Duelist Kingdom Championships 2007:

NEW! “DUEL PUZZLE” CHALLENGE! – Use your brain and think your way through the Duel Puzzle Challenge, where duelists must strategize and turn the tables on the opponent despite the overwhelming odds! Duelists are cast right into the middle of a fictitious duel, where they must take what resources they are given and beat the opponent in one turn! Can you out-think your adversary before the clock runs out?

NEW! “BEST OF THE REST” BRAWL CHALLENGE! – Didn’t make it to the top 8? Believe it or not, you may still have a chance to win something! Duelists who rank from 9th to 16th place will duke it out in an Elimination battle to decide who is the “Best of the Rest”, and the last man standing when the dust clears wins a prize!

Even more surprises await duelists who accomplish certain feats throughout the tournament, so keep your eyes peeled and be ready for anything!

Basic PRIZE STRUCTURE:*

Special Challenge Prize: Chazz Princeton Booster Pack and a Tournament Pack 7
Duel Puzzle Prize: 1 Dragon Master Knight Booster Package
Final 8 Contestant Prize: Jaden Yuki 2 or Chazz Princeton or Aster Phoenix Booster Pack and a Tournament Pack 5 or 7*
“Best of the Rest” Brawl Winner Prize: 1 “Uria, Lord of Searing Flames” Collector’s Tin
2nd Place Prize:$250.00 and a “Strike of NEOS” Special Edition Package!
Duelist Kingdom Champion Prize: $500, plus the right to face off in the Tournament Master Match!
Tournament Master Victory Prize: $100 and a Elemental Hero Collection 1 Special Edition Package!

In addition to the prizes offered at the tournament, a special door prize will be given to 3 lucky duelists at the event. If you want to get your hands on one of these goodies, come early and keep your eyes peeled!

* Duelists are advised that the prize structure is subject to change without prior notice.


A WORD FROM THE TOURNAMENT HOST

I am pleased to announce that the last tournament, the Duelist Kingdom Championship 2006, was a complete success, and, with this tournament hot on its heels, it promises to be a much better one. I wish to personally thank each and every duelist for attending this event and making it the success that inspired this one. I also wish to thank the Official Tournament Organizer for the event, Anil Singh, for whom none of this would have been possible, as well as the staff at the University of the West Indies for opening their doors back then, and once again for what promises to be another great tournament.


The tournament is basically structured in the same way as the traditional tournaments held in Trinidad- a five round format in which the final 8 duelists are decided, upon which an elimination format takes place to reduce that number to one, who will emerge the champion. However, aside from that, it is structured as a 'Earn as you Progress' tournament- meaning that there are lots of opportunities for duelists to grab prizes even if they are not victorious in the end. In light of people making it to the final eight only to walk away empty handed, fear NOT. You will walk away with something for your troubles. And, of course, the finalists will receive the biggest and best prizes for their efforts- and the champion himself will face off against the Tournament Master and his Toon Deck (in true Duelist Kingdom tradition) for even more prizes!

But, basically, what this tournament stands for is the thrill of competition, and, basically, people having fun.
Here's to hoping that, like the last, this one would be a success.
While I'm at it, here's to hoping that it's even more of a success than the last!


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

"What is a 'Special Challenge'?"

In the round robin format, each duelist will try to get the most wins in the five matches that they are placed. However, in each of this matches, the Tournament Master will announce a 'Special Challenge', that is, some feat the duelists can attempt to accomplish to win a special prize. For example, I can say 'First Match Victory wins!', and whoever can get his match victory before everybody else is awarded a prize. There are five rounds, which means that there are FIVE SPECIAL CHALLENGES TO BE WON.

"I can't wait until the end of the tournament to receive my prize! Can't I get it now?"

Yes. There isn't going to be any awkward award ceremony this time (save for the winner of the tournament, but it will be very brief), so anybody who wins a prize gets awarded on the spot.

"What can I do to ensure that my cards are safe?"

Two things. One, you can leave it with the Tournament Master or the Organizer (that would be myself or Anil Singh), and we'll watch it until you get back. (Just don't abuse this, though, we've got a tournament to run!) Or, you can keep a close eye on them, and guard them all of the time. While we're pulling out all of the stops to ensure your safety, we must insist that duelists do their part to secure their belongings.

THE STAFF AND MANAGEMENT OF THE DUELIST KINGDOM CHAMPIONSHIPS CANNOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOST, STOLEN OR MISPLACED BELONGINGS.

"Hey! This guy's nuts! This card doesn't do THAT!!"

That's what Anil and I are here for. We are both Level 1 Upperdeck Judges, and, if you need help in deliberating rulings, call on either of us (though I personally recommend Anil for his higher experience). OUR RULINGS ARE FINAL.


NOTICE

In light of recent events, we regret to announce that absolutely NO SPECTATORS are allowed to this event. This is a measure we had to put in place to ensure the safety of our duelists.

This, however, excludes:

- CLOSE/IMMEDIATE family members;
- Specially Invited Guests;
- Anyone Management deems okay to enter.

You may see the Tournament Master regarding this. However:
MANAGEMENT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE ADMISSION.

Also, we have been informed that Subway, KFC and Mario's –may- be CLOSED on that day, and, until further notice, DUELISTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BRING THEIR OWN FOOD AND DRINK TO THE EVENT. I will try to see what I can do to alleviate the situation, but, until then, come prepared. I humbly apologize for the inconvenience.


BASIC RULES:

ABSOLUTELY NO:

- Stealing. People caught or suspected of stealing will be immediately ejected, WITHOUT REFUND.
- Threatening/bribing/harassing other duelists/guests. See above.
- Eating/Drinking/Smoking in the main tournament area.
- Littering. USE THE GARBAGE BIN.
- Disrespect to the staff and management of the tournament. See point #1 for what would happen if you do.
- Cussing/ Loud Talking.

List will be updated as events develop.



FOR MORE INFORMATION:

neweraoutlaw@hotmail.com
738-4505 (Ask for Ryan, and call after 7 pm)

Duelists are noted that this is for tournament information purposes only.

...are you ready, boys and girls?

[kiya]

Hmmm Yet another tourny........sounds like fun. Just when i say all duelist dead. lol all i can say is well yes!

[justinkoo]

i wanna make a return but i think i need some more time away from my decks

[kiya]

what do you meen by 'some time away from your decks'

[New Era Outlaw]

Hmmm Yet another tourny........sounds like fun. Just when i say all duelist dead. lol all i can say is well yes!

Well, you're free to come if you want to. Check the details for where and when whenever you're ready.

i wanna make a return but i think i need some more time away from my decks

You might as well make your comeback on the grandest stage of all. What have you got to lose?

[New Era Outlaw]

All right people....less than 12 hours away from the dueling event of the year!
Be sure to brush off your decks and be prepared to get your game on, because this looks to be the most intense DKC yet!

[New Era Outlaw]

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

2007 Duelist Kingdom Champion: Rajiv Tripathi
Runner-Up: Bal Ghany
3rd Place : Jeremiah John
4th Place: Rishi Tripathi

"Best of the Rest" Brawl Champion: Cliff John
Condition: The duelists ranked from 9th to 16th place must face off in a series of Elimination battles until only one is left.

Special Challenge Winners:

Special Challenge #1 - Win first!!
Winner: Theon Morales

Special Challenge #2 - Attack of the 50-foot Jinzo!!
Condition: Inflict the most damage to your opponent's lifepoints upon winning the duel.
Winner: Komal Maharaj
Score: 11,400 Damage inflicted

Special Challenge #3- The Band of Brothers Challenge
Condition: Win your match with the most monsters of the same Attribute on your side of the field OR be the first to win a match with 5 monsters, all of the same Attribute.
Winner: Marc Polo
Score: 5 Dark Attribute Monsters (Dark Necrofear, Dark Ruler Ha Des, 3 Giant Germ)

Special Challenge #4- Starve your Graveyard
Condition: Win your match with the least number of cards in the graveyard OR be the first to declare a match victory with NO cards in your Graveyard.
Winner: Sunil Ramkarran
Score: 1 card.

Special Challenge #5- Don't rely on higher powers!
Condition: Win your match with as few monsters of level 5 or more as possible, OR be the first to win your match using NO monsters of level 5 or more.
Winner: Jeremiah John
Score: 0 monsters of Level 5 or more.


Surprise Challenges

Dungeon Challenge
Condition: Decipher the mystery of Pegasus' Dungeon.
Winner: Chris Gittens
The Correct Answer: Last Day of Witch

The 'X' Challenge
Condition: Be the first to declare victory.
The Catch?: Absolutely NO monster with ATK equal to or more than 1200 can declare an attack.
Winner: Rishi Tripathi

Duel Puzzle Winners

Brent Hinds


TOURNAMENT REPORT

....well, this was a pretty good tournament, I must say.
There were 44 people in attendance, a good few of them new to the dueling scene.
We had a bit of a late start due to a few hiccups along the way, but everything went pretty much according to plan.
As stated before, there were many new duelists, many familiar faces, and many who had dusted their decks to go out with a bang before they had rode off into the sunset. If anything, this tournament was about new beginnings for many duelists, as well as the closing chapter for some.

The tournament kicked off with the 5 round swiss format, where duelists fought in 5 rounds to determine which 8 would move on to the quarter finals. Looking around, I had noticed a wide variety of decks....of course, there were the Monarchs, but I have also seen Gadgets, Six Samurai, Fairy, Fiend and Machine decks out in full force as well. It was good to see so many duelists with so many differing styles of play there.


The first round kicked off with a simple special challenge- whoever won first won a Special Challenge prize. Theon Morales managed to pull it off in about 2 minutes into the round, so it was pretty much over rather quickly. The second challenge, resurrected from the previous year's tournament, was the odd "Attack of the 50-foot Jinzo!!" challenge, where duelists had to show no mercy and wpie the floor with their opponents upon beating them. A lot of hopeful duelists attempted to seize this prize (someone scored over 8000 using several Harpie Ladies), but, in the end, Komal triumphed, inflicting 11,400 damage in the end. In the third round, duelists had to have a group of monsters of similar attribute on the field when they declared victory. A bit of a tough one, but Marc Polo, with his legion of Dark Fiends (summoned with a Return from the Different Dimension), emerged victorious.

In between the third and the fourth rounds, we had a duel puzzle challenge, where one duelist had the chance to solve a puzzle set before him to win a prize. This puzzle was based on one we had gotten online from Pojo.com, (number 51, to be precise). Joel Gayah was up for the challenge, but, despite his best efforts, could not whittle down his opponent's LP to zero.

The fourth round focused on winning without filling up your Graveyard. The duelist who won with the least cards in his Graveyard would be declared the Challenge winner. Sunil managed to make it out with 1 card in his Graveyard.

The next Duel puzzle involved Brent Hinds, who got a somewhat simple puzzle to figure out, and totally clobbered the Koitsu placed on his opponent's side of the field with KA-2 Des Scissors, causing over 5000 damage, and taking a prize for his troubles.

The last round focused on making people rely on monsters that didn't require Tributes (YEs, Monarchs....I'm looking at you.) Jeremiah won this one quite easily....he just clobbered his foe to death with a sole D.D. Warrior Lady.

I then dropped a bombshell on the duelists by having the X Challenge Round- duelists had to face whoever was sitting in front of them (not for rankings) and win. But...there was a catch. They couldn't declare an attack with any monster with 1200 ATK or more. So, a few suffered, a few made it through, but Rishi ended up winning the tournament (although many have complained that this was because he dueled his brother, and accused him of throwing the match so that they'd win the prize and divide it amongst themselves.) Personally, I think of that as just heresay, because the match looked legitimately won to me.

We then broke for lunch, where hot wings, chicken roti and cake were seeling like hot cakes.
The hot wings were a hit, and then some.

After another duel puzzle involving Chris Gittens, who had earlier solved the riddle in the Dungeon and won himself a Last Day of Witch booster package (unfortunately, he made a key mistake in his deductions and lost the puzzle), we then proceeded to the quarter-finals, and the "Best of the Rest" Brawl Challenge simultaneously.

As duels flew by and only the strong survived, the following duelists made it to the final match-ups:

Championship Match: Rajiv Tripathi vs. Bal Ghany

This match was pretty intense, as each duelist pondered their moves. In the end, the Gadgets proved to be too overwhelming, combining fast retrieval with sheer persistence.

"Best of the Rest" Brawl Championship Match: Rio Charles vs. Cliff John

Two well-known veterans of the game, Rio faced off against Cliff, Rio using insects and Doom Dozer, and Cliff making use of Monarchs. Rio attempted to kill Cliff's strategy cold by using Mask of Restrict against him. However, it was to no avail, as, in the final round where they each had one round win apiece, Cliff managed to emerge on top.


After the Championship Match, the champion had to face off against on last threat....myself.

Tournament Master Match: Rajiv Tripathi vs. Ryan Rodriguez

Rajiv had come so far in the tournament....it was his first ever tournament victory, and his Gadgets seemed invincible. But, I was determined to make him earn his additional prize this time, and sent my Toons after him. In the first round, Toon Gemini Elf was consistently beating on his lifepoints and whittling down cards from his hand. He attempted to do the same with Trap Dustshoot, and promptly dismissed Jinzo and Cyber Dragon from my hand. However, it was to no avail, as Exiled Force and other cards kept removing his defenses, and TGE was constantly attacking his Life Points. In the next round, he fared a lot better, turning a one-sided duel around by using Brain Control on my Toon Gemini Elf, nuking Jinzo with Shrink (and robbing Brain Control from my hand) and causing some serious damage in the end. In the last round, I attempted to beat him down with Elemental Hero Wildheart, but neglected to destroy his Drillroid with Ring of Destruction afterwards- a mistake that cost me the duel as Cyber Phoenix soon came down and effectively destroyed my chances of winning. Rajiv won, but it was a very fun duel that I won't soon forget.



The next tournament is planned for next year, but, I am positive it would be a lot better next time around.
I wish to thank my family and my friends for helping out, and making this tournament a success.
Until next time....