BCS Top 8

1. Introduction and Event Overview

Me, Dane and a few other friends from the Philippines flew over to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to participate in the Bushiroad Championship Series 2024/2025. This tournament is important as it is the first BCS in the Asia-Oceania Region and who ever gets the top 3 spots earns an invite to the World Championships in Japan on May 2025

We decided to join BCS Vietnam as thought that it being the first in the AO region meant that the meta would be wide open compared to later in the format when the meta would be more developed and the more counters and techs for our decks would be popularized.

The over-all atmosphere was very tense but exciting as everyone in the event hall was waiting for the tournament to start and to see who will win the elusive invite to the Bushiroad World Championships.

2. Preparation and Strategy

We decided to go a few days ahead of the tournament to get some research on the possible decks in Vietnam as we had no idea on the local meta. Dane and a few of his friends when in Vietnam a few months ago and won the Bushiroad SpringFest earlier in the year, but it was very likely that the local meta has changed since then. We visited a few card shops and watched a few games from the locals to get a feel for what decks we should be preparing and what decks we should counter and watch out for.

Personally, I decided to use my old reliable Narukami deck which Dane borrowed and won an invite with in BCS 2023. Even though Narukami has since been hit by the restriction list since 2023, and Dane and his friends were willing to lend me some more popular and powerful decks, I decided to play Narukami as I was more practiced with the deck and I preferred the comfort of playing a Tier 2 deck than to use a deck that was Tier 1 but I did not know how how to play against specific match-ups.

Over the course of our practice sessions, I saw that there was a rise in popularity of  “combat tricks” in Premium, cards/combos that allow an opponent to disrupt my board during my turn, since I last used my Narukami deck, so I decided to opt in Bracing Angel Ladder to blanket my field from removal effects during my turn and my opponent’s turn. The card worked wonders as it  as pivotal in some matches I had duringt the course of the tournament.

Even though me and the boys practiced for a few days before the tournament, I still wasn’t particularly confident that I would top in the Premium format as I had a hard time beating the best deck, Katrina Neo Nectar, but decided to still continue with my choice of Narukami as I was able to beat decks trying to counter Katrina and have a 50-50 chance against the rest of the field.

3. During the Tournament

My Swiss round went as follows:

R1 Blangdmire O 

It was very common for people to join the legacy formats with Standard/newer decks just for the Entry Promos and then drop after a round or two, and I was lucky to get one during my first round. He just took every attack I made and left immediately once we entered the results.

R2 Angel Gyze O 

I was quite surprised to see this deck have a resurgence recent times as it was once a very powerful deck previously but was thought to be outclassed by more modern strategies. Luckily, I had experience with playing this deck, even if it were the outdated versions, and I was able to win the game quite handily.

R3 Highlander O 

Angel Bracing Ladder showed off  for once as Highlander had begun using new cards from DZ-LM01 to bounce the opponent’s units to hand during the Battle Phase. So, when I tried going for the kill turn, I made sure to get Bracing Angel Ladder and protect my units from being targetted by card effects and won from there.

R4 Nubatama O 

Here I was up against Sean Chua, a local player from Cebu and a frequent BCS Champion and Worlds Competitor. A bit of luck was on my side as I had to 1-to-pass his VG swing and hope for no Critical triggers during his Drive Check. He didn’t check any Criticals and I was able to win on my turn from there.

R5 Nubatama O
Angel Bracing Ladder makes this match-up easy as it protects my units from being targeted during their turn, so I made sure to play it to shut down my opponent’s explosive turn.

R6 Angel Gyze X 

I did not expect to see Angel Gyze go undefeated this late into the tournament, and I did a few fumbles and mistakes that cost me the game. If I had kept my focus and did the plays I should have, I would have easily won the game. Instead, I lost and could be knocked out of contention from Top 8 if I lose another round when I could have secured my placement.

R7 Nova Grappler O

I was very scared of this match-up as losing it means I have no chance to get top 8 and the Nova Grappler can be very highrolly when they get their pieces. I was very lucky to hit 2 Critical Triggers when they no guarded my VG swing, and relieved to secure my Top 8 spot.

During announcement of Top Cut, I was actually surprised to see I was the Number 1 seed, so I was very proud of myself and my deck, despite my lack of preparation and confidence.

Top 8: Nova Grappler X

I fought my Round 7 match again as he managed to squeak on at 8th . 

Unlucky for me, he hit the Overtrigger and managed to push me to 4 damage, and I couldn’t recover from there.

4. Results and Achievements

I ended the tournament as Top 8, and I got a special Top 8 play mat to commemorate my achievement. I felt frustrated at myself for losing in such a manner in Top 8 and  if I had won one more time, I could have gotten a prize card, but the loss was out of my control.

My friends and a few other acquaintances consoled me because they knew that the Overtrigger was something that could not be prepared for and still congratulated me for getting to Top 8.

5. Reflection and Community Interaction

Despite ending on such a sad note, I was still happy to see my friend Dane Gonda go the distance and win the whole event.

It also filled me with confidence for the upcoming BCS Philippines as topping this event showed me that I can still compete and top even in not my main format(s) and in another country.

It also inspired me to do better and practice even harder and go for the invite in BCS Philippines on Dec 7-8.

6. Conclusion and Looking Forward

Ultimately, it was a very nice experience to be able to play at a high level in another country and be able to play compete with other people despite not knowing their local language. It made me appreciate that TCGs can bring people together despite not understanding a single word between each other.

Looking forward, I will take this loss to heart and dedicate more time to practice to hopefully win and join my friends who have already qualified for Worlds.