Overview
In case you missed it, This Week's Meta Weekly was the second of our two KC Cup format Meta Weeklies, and was another impressive showing for Karakuri, with them again being the second-most represented deck in Top Cut. However, their stories were not nearly as impressive as trapdexter's Stromberg run, falling only to Pokerguy's Blackwings in the finals.
Interview with Pokerguy
How does it feel to win your first Meta Weekly?
Surreal to say the least. I was confident that there was no way I would top with my incomplete deck. I had things to do, so I felt fine knowing I would be out before Top Cut. I have never been so wrong in my life, so to say that I'm shocked is an understatement. All I can say is that the RNG has never been better for me in my life. It feels amazing sharing this success with my MHC clan, who have always been so supportive. This has been a goal of mine since Day 1 of joining the community, now I am even more determined to take down an MCS.
What would you say was your most memorable match of the tournament?
I would say winning the finals Anime-style with 100 Life Points left. I was super out of it and sweating bullets so I couldn't believe it.
Anything you'd like to tell us about yourself?
Duel Links has been a huge relief to my stressful day-to-day. I work a lot, so this hobby has been amazing for my state of mind. I have been playing Yu-Gi-Oh! since not long after the OG Starter Deck Kaiba release when I was like 6. It's almost always been a part of my life, until I decided to start traveling and realized there was just no way to continue. Then, I found DuelLinksMeta on Twitch by total coincidence back when there were only a couple hundred viewers at the most. I started by watching the stream and finally began playing the game. Eventually, I entered the giant Loading... giveaway they ran, and miraculously won it. That thing is still sitting for me at home in the US, gathering dust in the box it came in at my Mom's house. I cannot wait to one day go back there and see it when the global situation has calmed down. After winning that, I vowed I would set aside the time to try and become a competitive player. It took me a while, but I joined the Discord, met tons of dope people willing to help me learn, and next thing I knew I was playing in Anytime tourneys and events, which just changed everything and made the game 100 times more enjoyable. If it wasn't for the DLM Community I would have quit a long time ago.
Why did you go with Blackwings this Meta Weekly?
I came into this event expecting to run up against tons of Witchcrafters, and if my experience coleading Mile-High Clan (MHC) has taught me anything, it's that there is no better counter than Blackwings. To be honest I intended to enter with Heros. Was in call with my good friend and clan mate Erikson who told me to try Blackwing. I informed him I was missing a bunch of cards, but I could maybe could get lucky on pulls with the 5000 gems I had saved. About 15 minutes before the event, with my last 500 Gems with a 10-Pack deal I pulled a 2nd Loading... and a 3rd Loading... , but I was still hesitant. Then maybe 5 minutes before the event began I managed to pull my 3rd Loading... with a $2 deal. Erikson told me he would stick with me all day to advise me on every little thing and I was convinced. Since then, I finally managed to pull 1 Loading... (Last UR in the box, of course).
Anything you'd like to say about your decklist?
I was sure I would be facing Witchcrafters, Karakuri, and a billion other Combo decks, and Loading... was the MVP against them. Loading... was just another form of disruption for both of those decks and is a great card overall. I went up against Minato in the MCS who played Offerings in his Blackwings so thats why it was in my head. I know that Loading... is good against Elementsabers and Neos but I figured the trade-off of not having to see a dead CC all day and Close being universal in a Combo deck meta would be worth it. Not owning an Loading... meant I had free extra deck space so Loading... was an easy choice for me. If this was a Side-decking event I would've sided it anyway, so it was easy to slip in.
Anything you want to say about the ongoing KC Cup
I had a somewhat unique Invoked Neos list ready for the KCC and felt I would do well in the tourney, but I did not want to reveal my list as I was really intending on going for 1st place in the KCC. Unfortunately, with my time zone, I missed the start of the event by 14 hours and lost any real chance I had of topping. People are sleeping on 20-card Invoked Neos way too much. In a KC Cup-style event the deck is perfect for what you are trying to do. This variant is more an OTK deck in the class of Hero or Blackwings, but it still has access to your power backrow and can handle the grind game well. This is a powerful deck and those who realize how good it is will have an edge in the event.I played about 130 minutes of the KCC event with this so far today and my record is 24-3 so I believe it to be the right call. Like I told Kiddmane before the MCS a 1 of Loading... is something really special in these style of events.
Any closing thoughts on your tournament experience?
I misplayed left and right all day long as I am brand new to playing the deck, but as always, it was an amazing time even though I was half asleep throughout the event. There is no place you will find better practice or a better idea of the meta for the KC Cup than in a DLM event. The Mods and Tournament Organizers are the best of the best and I cannot thank them all enough for putting these on.
Lastly, do you have any Shoutouts you would like to make?
Shout out to my clan, Mile-High Clan (MHC). The most supportive, most top tier, most enjoyable clan to be in, in the entire history of Clan Wars. To one of the best players in the game, Max K, for being such a good supportive friend who is always there for me to talk to and teach me how to play anything better. Major shout out to MCBlueSkies my clan leader and the second best streamer, behind Dkayed of course, on all of Twitch. He's also the chillest and nicest guy in the community, as well as being the man who runs the MC Cup, the second best tourney, each week. Most of all, I would like to thank the absolute greatest Blackwing player in the game, it's not even a contest this man is so disgustingly Top Tier, Erikson. Without him I would have not played the deck or had any chance of topping with it. He coached me all day long, even though I still messed it up sometimes. The fact he could take someone who had never played the deck before, and coach them to win the entire Meta Weekly, just shows how this dude is on an entirely different level with the deck. Luckily for me, I have seen Blackwings played thousands of times and studied its matchups. I am known in the community for Invoked Neos and HEROs generally, but comparing how well I know those decks to how well Erikson knows Blackwings, he is just on a totally different level. So a huge thank you to Erikson for patiently sticking with me throughout the event and being supportive the entire time no matter how many dumb plays I made, and seeing me through to victory. Also shout-out to Bunz with a z, and anyone else I hadn't mentioned, for being generally awesome.
Winning Decklist:
That's all we got for this DLM Champion spotlight! What kind of questions should we be asking in the future? Comment down below!