What was the key to success during SVO?
I think coming into this SVO, I wasn’t expecting too much since my performance this year hasn’t been the greatest. I hadn’t had as much time to play the game and I wasn’t playing for all stars points, so I had no pressure. I was on 3 decks I was comfortable with and was pretty relaxed all things considered. I think that in later rounds of swiss and top 8 this gave me at least a good mental edge over my opponents.
What are your training/practice methods? How did you get ready?
I only really started seriously practicing a couple days before the tournament. It began by watching some of my teammates scrim each other before taking the decks to grind ladder. Ultimately, I ended up deciding which decks to play based on what I thought I’d see during the tournament, as well as just decks that I felt like I didn’t make as many mistakes on. Once I got in to day 2 though, I mainly scrimmed my teammates, forcing them to use the top 8 decks that I had less experience with.
Did you study the strategies of any of the players specifically?
I don’t know if I would say I studied their strategies, but I got my decklists and a ton of matchup knowledge from TS Noire (handless blood), TS Essia (quickblader sword), and Dis.Happu (resonance puppet portal).
What advice do you have for players who want to compete?
I think there are really 2 points of advice for players who want to compete. Bring decks that you are comfortable with and willing to play all 7 rounds of swiss on. The worst thing is being forced to play a deck that you don’t have a good understanding of. Other than that, just keep trying and enjoying tournaments until you make it. At the end of the day, if you play enough, you’ll have a good performance sooner or later.
What have been your favorite parts of the current expansion?
I actually quite like quickblader sword as a deck, it feels like there are a lot of viable game plans. It plays close to the board while also having a couple methods of OTKing. It doesn’t feel like there’s any unwinnable matchups, only some tough ones. I was surprised to see that quite a few of my opponents didn’t even bring it.
What does this win mean to you and your team (if applicable)?
I had a tough time in the previous expansion cups, so this win makes me feel a lot better about the year competitively. There aren’t as many tournaments this year, so I’m happy that I managed to top and actually win at least one of them.
What lessons have you learned from the tournament?
Being comfortable on your decks is the most important thing in these tournaments. I think I really suffered in previous tournaments because there was always a deck that I hadn’t played enough to be confident in.
What is your favorite card in this meta? Why?
Normally I wouldn’t say a handless blood card, but I am morally obligated to choose Room Service Demon after this top 8. She protec, she attac, but most importantly, she likes showing up on 6 mana after I empty my hand on turn 5 for a Paracelise invoke.
Were there any people who helped you get ready for SVO? Any additional shoutouts?
I said it before in a previous question, but big shoutouts to Noire, Essia, and Happu for helping to prep me with decklists and knowledge dumps. Thanks to the rest of my team also for allowing me to spectate scrims, and helping scrim for day 2 opponents.
Watch the Grand Finals of SVO West and check out Dis.Vetu’s turn 7 Victorious Blader clear in the Quickblader mirror in game 2.