Name: Alex Antonios
Age: 17
UDE Rating: 24th in Constructed, Oceania
Alex is a long term Yu-Gi-Oh player who recently made the move over to Vs. System. A true up-and-comer if ever there was one, Alex took out the Yu-Gi-Oh! Supernova Championship Sydney in 2005, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Gamescape Championship in 2005, and achieved third place at the New Zealand National Championships in 2005! After recently achieving his first Vs. Top 8 at Sydney 2005, and making Top 8 at this $10K Brisbane, he is looking to increase his Vs. portfolio even further.
What deck are you playing?
Migga City (Arkham/Brotherhood), made Anthony Macali.
What's the best card in your deck?
There are so many good ones! Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose was the best. Enemy of My Enemy is a close second.
What's your optimal opening hand?
Depends on the match up, but usually a combination of Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose, Straight to The Grave, Avalon Space Station, and Harley Quinn.
What do you think got you into the Top 8 with this particular deck?
I think it was that nobody expected the deck, and that it has a lot of good matchups. It’s extremely consistent, because it has eight search cards. Good luck to all the Aussies at the upcoming PC!
Name: Shaun Hayward
Age: 21
UDE Rating: First in Constructed, Oceania
Shaun won last year’s $10K Brisbane, and the recent $10K Auckland. His deckbuilding skills precede him, having built the killer High Voltage burn deck. He also had a hand in making the GLEE deck, which later went on to become Glock. No doubt the knowledge he has of both these decks has helped him get to Top 8 today.
What deck are you playing?
Rigged Elections.
What's the best card in your deck?
Rigged Elections! It won me every game I won!
What's your optimal opening hand?
Alfred Pennyworth, Faithful Friend, Dagger, and three copies of Wild Ride!
What do you think got you into the Top 8 with this particular deck?
It teched well against some of the slower decks, like TDC Stall, Glock, and Voltage. It was a good choice for the metagame. Reflecting back, I think I would make a few changes, but I didn’t test it a lot before coming here, so it did pretty well considering.
Name: Andrew Morris
Age: 25
UDE Rating: 183rd in Constructed, Oceania
Andrew placed fourth in $10K Melbourne 2006. He started playing Vs. during DC Origins, but he got into it primarily because of the drafting.
What deck are you playing?
Gloom, a Glock-Doom build. The idea to put Doom in was Kakarot Turker’s.
What's the best card in your deck?
Without a doubt, Dr Light, Master of Holograms, but Psimon is pretty good too.
What's your optimal opening hand?
Ideally, Dr. Light, Master of Holograms and The Ring Has Chosen.
What do you think got you into the Top 8 with this particular deck?
I played alright. I was matched against four stall decks yesterday, and it plays well against Glock mirrors. Leech holds back Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic, and Conjuration worked out really well for me too.
Name: Early Nguyen
Age: 25
UDE Rating: Seventh in Constructed, Oceania
Early started playing Vs. System with the arrival of Superman. He has a legendary (and rather uncanny) knack for picking a deck, working on it for weeks, and then changing his mind at the last minute. So far, this is his sixth Top 8 since $10K Melbourne 2005!
What deck are you playing?
Avengers, with some anti-meta tech like Adam Strange and Total Anarchy.
What's the best card in your deck?
Gorilla Grodd was so powerful, and I was able to shut down a lot of decks with Total Anarchy.
What's your optimal opening hand?
Depends on the deck. Against stall, Total Anarchy with 2- and 3-drops is pretty good. Against High Voltage and burn decks, Adam Strange and Total Anarchy are what I want to see.
What do you think got you into the Top 8 with this particular deck?
The fact that Total Anarchy creates big problems for a lot of the field really helped me out. Avengers is well suited to take advantage of replacing resources (replacing Total Anarchy with Sub-Mariner) using the reservist ability. Wonder Man on turn 6 takes out their 4-drop, which helps clear the field for the turn 7 win. Hercules attacking twice is too much to handle for most decks, and Anne-Marie Cortez shuts down everything with her plot twist negation.
Name: Bobby Rana
Age: 15
UDE Rating: 153rd in Constructed, Oceania
Bobby’s only been playing Vs. System since Avengers, but his SPC deck has seen him trounce opponent after opponent this $10K, taking him to the Top 8 with a record of 7-2.
What deck are you playing?
SPC – Shadowpact Control.
What's the best card in your deck?
A combination of the Fate equipment and Dr. Fate’s Tower, Total Anarchy, Absolute Dominance, and Conjuration. You can’t pick one; the deck falls apart without that combination.
What's your optimal opening hand?
Just a normal curve hand.
What do you think got you into the Top 8 with this particular deck?
The fact this deck can pull off Total Anarchy where other decks can’t is what makes it stand out.
Name: Kakarot Turker
Age: 18
UDE Rating: Third in Constructed, Oceania
At $10K Sydney 2006, Kakarot took the concept of A Child Named Valeria to innovative new levels. By the end of the $10K, his Ten Teams deck sailed into a very impressive second place when faced against its archrival Titans.
What deck are you playing?
Ten Teams Child Lock.
What's the best card in your deck?
Aunt May! You gain heaps of endurance with her, and if you have Spoiler, it works really well.
What's your optimal opening hand?
It depends on the matchup, but in a standard opening hand, you want at least a Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, a Blue Beetle, and a search card.
What do you think got you into the Top 8 with this particular deck?
Just luck, really. Any deck on paper will only go 6-3 at best. It always comes down to good pairings. I didn’t get stuck playing Titans with Removed From Continuity, so that helped a lot.
Name: Paul Van Der Werk
Age: 31
UDE Rating: 26th in Constructed, Oceania
Paul is a Vs. legend for a number of reasons. He’s a great player and co-owner of VsParadise with Scott Hunstadt. He has an infamous ongoing rivalry with Sydney Games Centre shop owner Kieren Otton, which always draws a lot of attention. Paul made Top 8 at last year’s$10K Brisbane, and came to Brisbane this year to have a shot at the title. He dressed for the entire first day as Wolverine, courtesy of a lost bet with Otton.
What deck are you playing?
X-Stall, aka The Donkey Club, with the Crisis Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic and Entangle.
What's the best card in your deck?
Crisis on Infinite Earths, to get out both Professor X, Headmaster and Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath.
What's your optimal opening hand?
Puppet Master, Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose, Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, and Enemy of My Enemy.
What do you think got you into the Top 8 with this particular deck?
It was really Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic. I played a stall deck that would usually rely on Jean Grey, Phoenix Force, and I didn’t use it once during the whole tournament. Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic is what made it.
Name: Marvin Young Wong
Age: 28
UDE Rating: 577th in Constructed, Oceana
I live in Toowoomba, a few hours out of Brisbane, so I came down with a bunch of friends to have a go at the $10K. I’ve gone Top 4 in a few PCQs, and won quite a few Sneak Peviews. I’ve mainly played in PCQs in Brisbane in the past, but no major rankings to date, until now!
What deck are you playing?
High Voltage. I put in two Rise From the Grave without knowing it was errata’d, so that put a dent in my plans. But I still managed to make Top 8 despite this, which is great.
What's the best card in your deck?
Die for Darkseid! is crazy endurance gain!
What's your optimal opening hand?
King Snake, a Mega-Blast, and four Surprise Attack!!
What do you think got you into the Top 8 with this particular deck?
With High Voltage, it’s all about the timing of when you play things. A lot of people rush when they play it, without waiting to see what their opponents are going to do. Voltage should be played as a reactive deck—you react to what your opponents do.