Trials of the Zodiac Braves: Trial 3 - Adrammelech

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Our third Trial held at Galaxy Games in Dublin has concluded! We had a whopping 25 players come out to prove themselves. Six players were new to the circuit and joined us this time around from Sacramento and Vallejo. We want to especially send them our gratitude and hope to see them along with more players both new and old in the future!



This tournament saw a wide array of decks with many different playstyles. A majority of the lists were aggressive: Earth EX, Fire/Ice, Mono Fire, Dawn Warriors, All EX Bursts. Also similar to other regions, we have seen the continued dominance of popular midrange strategies such as: Earth/Wind, Mono Water Fusoya, and different variants of Water/Wind and Lightning decks.

Of course, don't forget about our All-Star Draft!  W-- Jimmy, stop that.

After 5 competitive rounds of Swiss, we arrived at our Top 8 with names such as Milo, Nghia, Phillip, and Brian Ng, who are considered strong players common to top cuts in our area of NorCal. Milo and Brian in particular showed their consistency by posting their 2nd appearance in the top cut out of their 2 appearances this season. Nghia and Phillip were looking to shake up the leaderboard by grabbing as much points as possible this tournament. Jonathan Bauer continued his breakout super rookie season by making back to back Top 8 appearances. John Whitney, Alexander, and Michael Mamon are veterans in NorCal and hoped to make dark horse runs to upset the bigger names in NorCal.

The best of 3 quarterfinals pairings were:

Milo (Mono Water Fusoya) vs. Alexander (Mono Lightning)

Nghia (Fire/Ice) vs. Michael (Dawn Warriors)

Phillip (Water/Wind) vs. Jonathan (Earth/Wind)

Brian (Earth EX) vs. John (Water/Wind)

Phillip versus...The Bauer Family?

Milo took care of business and showed why he finished first in Swiss the past two events by dismantling Alex. Nghia narrowly defeated Michael after the latter failed to have enough blockers to stop a lethal attack from an aggressive Fire/Ice deck. Phillip's experience allowed him to navigate a long, drawn-out battle between two of the best midrange decks: Water/Wind and Earth/Wind. Brian got revenge on John from last season's championship by overwhelming the Water/Wind deck with an aggressive Earth EX deck.

The semifinals matchups were as follows:

Milo (Mono Water Fusoya) vs. Brian (Earth EX)

Nghia (Fire/Ice) vs. Phillip (Water/Wind)

"Better lucky than good."

In a fierce battle in which the matchup could be considered unfavorable, Milo was able to squeak out a 2-1 win over Brian. Milo hit the cards he needed at the right times and was able to get the monkey off his back in more ways than one. He not only beat the deck that eliminated him at Trial 2 but also defeated Brian Ng, who he had struggled to beat in the past. Meanwhile, Nghia was able to use his Japanese-inspired Fire/Ice aggro list to overwhelm Phillip's Water/Wind deck, which typically struggles against aggressive decks. While they are great friends and practice partners, these two went into a head-to-head battle for the ages. Keep on the lookout for this budding rivalry in NorCal!

After all the dust cleared, only two remained. Milo vs. Nghia: two of the bigger names in our region, and nobody was surprised to hear that they made it. On the surface, it seemed like Nghia had the advantage of being able to run right over Milo, but Mono Water Fusoya has the tools to catch up, stabilize, and even get lucky against aggressive strategies. On the final turn, Milo drew exactly what he needed to close out the match and be crowned the champion!

Luck is a skill--confirmed.

This officially puts us at the halfway mark for this season's circuit! You still have more opportunities to earn points and make it to the championship though! Trial 3 was very exciting, and so far this season we have had 3 different champions in 3 different events. Each champion has shown different skills: consistency, meta-calls, deckbuilding, and, sure, a little bit of luck. Do you have what it takes to stand against NorCal's best? Will you become one of the Zodiac Braves? Come out to the next event to find out!

And, as always, here are decklists. Enjoy!

Deck Lists

1st Place: Milo Mosquera
Deck Type: Mono Water Fusoya

Forwards (21)
Backups (17)
Summons (12)
Monsters (0)

2nd Place: Nghia Tran
Deck Type: Fire/Ice
Deck Name: Turn One Kill

Forwards (27)
Backups (14)
Summons (9)
Monsters (0)

Semifinalist: Phillip Marciano
Deck Type: Wind/Water
Deck Name: SeA BrEeZe

Forwards (23)
Backups (17)
Summons (10)
Monsters (0)

Semifinalist: Brian Ng
Deck Type: Mono Earth*

Forwards (30)
Backups (5)
Summons (15)
Monsters (0)

Quarterfinalist: John Whitney
Deck Type: Water/Wind
Deck Name: Back Attack

Forwards (24)
Backups (17)
Summons (9)
Monsters (0)

Quarterfinalist: Jonathan Bauer
Deck Type: Earth/Wind
Deck Name: Isaac's Victory

Forwards (22)
Backups (16)
Summons (9)
Monsters (3)

Quarterfinalist: Michael Mamon
Deck Type: Dawn Warriors
Deck Name: C-C-C-Combo!

Forwards (38)
Backups (5)
Summons (4)
Monsters (3)

Quarterfinalist
Player Name: Alexander Bevier
Deck Type: Mono Lightning
Deck Name: Three Cids, Two Ramuh, One Hildibrand

Forwards (24)
Backups (17)
Summons (7)
Monsters (2)


Special thanks to Brian Gerbi for running the event and judging for the day.  Thanks to Galaxy Games for hosting (and for letting everyone play with your dog!); looking forward to coming back again soon!


See you all next time!


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