Invited Author: Daniel Opiola (Spoogy) – Winner at Europe Final Championship 2021
Date of tournament: 29-30 Jan 2022
Number of participants: 497
Introduction
The European Championship Finals happened to be my first Digimon TCG tournament, and despite not having much experience at this game I felt prepared and ready to challenge the best players in Europe.
Me being new to this game forced me to decide early on for a deck, as I had no cards and needed to get them. I was watching a lot of Digimon TCG content, especially the Streamer Primitivekage, who was testing Gabubond every day. I knew that it was the deck of the format, and it was quite affordable so that’s how I ended up buying all the cards he played in his deck during that time. The guy who was selling me the big chunk of the deck send me also some other staples like Ikkakumon, that ended up being my little tech card in the deck. All I did before the tournament, was playing the deck until I’ve felt comfortable enough to know what to do in each situation. I think being well prepared and knowing how to pilot a deck is the most important thing if you want to do well in a tournament.
Games at Europe Final Championship 2021
Day 1:
Round 1:
I was super excited to finally play the game with real cards, but game 1 ended up being a bye, so I had to keep on waiting for my first real game.
Round 2:
My opponent played D-Brigade and I ended up winning 2:0 as I was able to control the game easily and never be in real danger thanks to the ice walls.
Round 3:
3M. Gabubond is just too fast for the gameplan of 3M. 2:0.
Round 4:
Another D-Brigade. Another 2:0 Win.
Round 5:
Sec-Control. A hard matchup on paper, but I played it slowly and build up an army of tamers to finish the games with hybrids. I also dodged most of his security options. 2:0
Round 6:
Jesmon. The second game was my first lose of the tournament, but I kept on playing my game and won the third round to make it 2:1.
Round 7:
Doghaund, who ended up in the top 8 was my opponent. He played 3M, but with a lot of anti gabubond tech. Omnimon Zwart Defeat ended up being quite hard to deal with as he could remove my tamers. During the 3rd game my camera froze, so I’ve ended up having my first lose of the tournament. 1:2.
Round 8:
All or nothing. My tiebreakers were terrible due to my bye in the first round, so I had to win the game, or I would have ended up even outside the top32. My opponent was Xoras, who also made it to the top 16. He was playing a Machinedramon deck. I was able to win 2:0, thanks to Gabumon Bond of Friendship wiping his whole board.
Thanks to that win I’ve ended up as the 11th player during day 1 and was able to advance to day 2.
Day 2:
Top 16:
My first Mirror match. I felt well prepared for this day and especially the bond mirror, because my deck had a lot of techs like Octomon and Ikkakumon, that get really strong against other bond decks. It was also an open deck list format, so I was sure to be safe from some exotic techs. I won the match 2:0
Top 8:
The big star of the european championship, Diaboromon. I won the first game by hardplaying Gabubond and deleting 2 securities of him each turn. The second game didn’t go as well, and I’ve lost it. During the 3rd game my opponent’s camera froze and I’ve got the win.
Top 4:
Gabubond again. I won the first game with a well-played Gabubond that allowed me to clear up his board. During the second game my nerves got me, and I threw the game by not playing it safe enough, so my opponent was able to play Lobomon for the win. The third round was just pure pressure, but in my opinion my build was better suited for the mirror and so I was able to win the game, despite my opponent having 3 hammer sparks in his securities.
The Final:
I was going to the worlds, so the final felt like a fun game between me and my opponent, because the pressure of the semi-final was gone. But I still wanted to win the game and despite me making same sloppy plays I was able to win the game 2:0. My opponent was playing a tech Magnadramon, but it came way too late for him to safe him.
Final thoughts
Overall, I couldn’t be happier about my performance, and the tournament. The deck felt great to play. It’s super consistent and I feel that I can with every matchup up with it. Although I would kick the 2 promo Gabumon and add 1 more EX-01 Gabumon and maybe the new starterdeck Gabumon instead. And maybe one more Octomon or Ikakkumon to deal with the onslaught of Mekanorimon.