Last year we brought the game back to Gencon after a very long hiatus. For me it been a very long time since I had played in a DBZ tournament. The 2003 Grand Kai Invitational to be precise. Shortly after GKI I started working at Score and never got a chance to play in a tournament while Kid Buu was legal. One of the things that has always bugged Chippy and I was that there was never a major tournament with just Kid Buu. GT was released and the rule changes were implemented by the time the next year’s tournament season had started. A lot of time and effort went to playtesting Kid Buu and it was kind of a downer to never see it get its due on the tournament scene.
Finally after eight years Kid Buu got its chance and it didn’t disappoint. We were all very surprised by number of people who turned out for the tournament. Based on the number of preregistered players I was expecting 8 to 12 people. My jaw hit the floor when Chippy told me the signup sheet had over 50 people on it. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve always said that the DBZ ccg had one of most dedicated followings of any dead game. The players proved it that day. The tournament even felt like an old Score tournament. The computer didn’t work so Chippy had to run the entire thing by hand. Causing the tournament to start an hour late. Just like the old days.
The tournament field was very diverse. Every style was represented. I played against a different deck type each round. I brought three decks with me to the tournament. Red Android 20, Black Guldo Ally and Blue Buu. It was a tough choice but in the end I choose to run Blue Buu. I piloted the deck to a 4 – 2 record and missed making top eight because my tie breakers weren’t really that good. I didn’t sweat it though. I had a blast playing and getting to talk all the friends who came out to play. The top four decks consisted of Orange Yajoribe, Red Piccolo, Namekian Cell and Black Yajoribe. In the end Kyle McGrath emerged victorious. Defeating the Red Piccolo deck to become the first RetroDBZccg champion.
That tournament was a blast and I can’t wait to do it again this year!
Hope to see all of ya’ll there this year!