[MSGP] Regional Qualifier - Kansai Region

It's time for the Kansai Region!

They have 4 teams heading to the playoffs!

The Dungeons

These are the dungeons for this Qualifier:
Time Attack: Fire Stone Statue (top 16 times advances)
Round of 16: Water Monster of Destruction
Quarterfinals: Wood Song Bird
Semifinals: A Ritual of Revenge (Princess Takiyasha)
3rd Place: Fire Stone Statue
Finals (Best 2 of 3):
#1 - Fire Stone Statue
#2 - Water Monster of Destruction
#3 - Clown Prince of Pumpkins (Jack-o'-lantern)

#4 Team - ワルサーP38

Roster (Left to Right)

ポルポル君 (Rank 235)

ruje (Rank 188)

やー (Rank 174)

ほたる (Rank 167)

Match History

Time Attack: 2:21:05 (9th)

Round of 16: 3:09:73

Quarterfinals: 3:20:62 [Vod]

- Alice (Asc) / Takeda Shingen (Evo) / Smopol (Asc) / Ibaraki Doji (Asc)
Semifinals: Lost [Vod]
- Zorro (Asc) / Apollo X (Asc) / Arthur (Asc) / Abe no Seimei (Asc)

3rd Place: Lost [Vod]

- Suzuran (Asc) / Jeanne d'Arc (Asc) / Royce (Evo) / Amakusa Shiro (Evo)

Their Quarterfinals was a pretty smooth run. It was a their full Homing Piercer team against a Shield Breaker. However, they lost in the Semis due to poor positioning in the 2nd Boss Bar. They barely squeezed out of that bar but it left them no where near Takiyasha for the last bar. Their 3rd Place match started out with a tough break when their Suzuran's Knockout S++ only procing on one of the homing absorbers and they were never able to catch up.

All in all, this team got their 4th Place due to their poor mechanics. Bad positioning during Takiyasha and their opponent was better than them in the 3rd Place match. They need a lot of improvement in order to advance in the playoffs.

#3 Team - Nutriente

Roster (Left to Right)

いぐいぐ (Rank 200)

Ju-mass (Rank 248)

(´･ω･)まーの (Rank 250)

わたる (Rank 179)

Match History

Time Attack: 2:04:66 (3rd)

Round of 16: 2:53:06

Quarterfinals: 2:46:12 [Vod]

- Alice (Asc) / Avalon (Asc) / Smopol (Asc) / Asuka & Eva-02 (Asc)

Semifinals: Lost [Vod]

- Abe no Seimei (Asc) / Lightblade Murasame (Asc) / Arthur (Asc) / Zorro (Asc)

3rd Place: 2:56:47 [Vod]

- Lin Zi (Asc) / Royce (Evo) / Lieutenant Bismuth (Evo) / Yamato Takeru (Evo)

Nutriente is one of the better teams in my opinion, especially with the Tokaigi stages. I think they are the only team that went under 3 minutes on those stages, even with all the pressure the Grand Prix puts on them. Most likely, they didn't have the practice they needed to beat Takiyasha efficiently. Although they got defeated in the dungeon, they were going to lose anyways since their opponent was far ahead of them.

As long as they put work on the Extreme quests, Nutriente can be in contention for #1 in the Grand Prix. They have proven to be skillful in the Tokaigi stages which is a big focus in the Grand Prix themselves.

#2 Team - nobu's

Roster (Left to Right)

oor (Rank 163)

yuta♡*fs*♡ (Rank 201)

コリラクッマ (Rank 136)

生きてる馬 (Rank 150)

Match History

Time Attack: 2:23:83 (10th)

Round of 16: 3:01:51

Quarterfinals: 3:22:81 [Vod]

- Sakamoto Ryoma (Asc) / Smopol (Asc) / Asuka & Eva-02 (Asc) / Hattori Hanzo (Asc)

Semifinals: Won due to opponent's defeat [Vod]

- Abe no Seimei (Asc) / Alibaba (Asc) / Arthur (Asc) / Cleopatra (Asc)

Finals: [Vod]

#1: Lost
- Agnamut X (Div) / Lin Zi (Asc) / Royce (Evo) / Amakusa Shiro (Asc)

#2: Lost

- Yggdrasil (Evo) / Mushashibo Benkei (Asc) / Mustang (Asc) / Belphegor (Asc)

Play-wise, nobu's is not a bad team. Nothing really glaring in terms of not being able to pinch at right moments. However, they did get lucky in the Quarters with their opponent taking forever in the last boss stage. Then they got unlucky during the Finals where Cockatrice didn't summon due to the Knockout from Agnamut X. 

My biggest concern for this team is their monster boxes. There are way better monsters to replace Hanzo if you have watched previous Quarter matches. Also Ryoma is only a viable pick if your team has a dedicated Shield Breaker since Ryoma is a Pierce monster. Otherwise, you would want a Himiko or a Prometheus for that slot. I also didn't like the Yggdrasil pick. It seems like they just picked any Wood Pierce monster they had. Not bad if you just want to clear, but she doesn't help clear the dungeon faster.

#1 Team - モンスト一家

Roster (Left to Right)

卍ジン卍♡運極40♡ (Rank 303)

Risa (Rank 219)

リデル (Rank 213)

Karea (Rank 201)

Match History

Time Attack: 2:08:70 (5th)

Round of 16: 2:49:59

Quarterfinals: 3:09:21 [Vod]

- Avalon (Asc) / Takeda Shingen (Evo) / Asuka & Eva-02 (Asc) / Alice (Asc)

Semifinals: Won due to opponent's defeat [Vod]

- Lucy (Asc) / SST Tinker Tyrant (Asc) / Uri (Evo) / Asuka x Uri (Evo)

Finals: [Vod]

#1: 3:45:84

- Lin Zi (Asc) / Taira no Kiyomori (Evo) / Royce (Evo) / Guan Yu (Asc)

#2: 2:53:57

- Cu Chuliann (Evo) / Hunter King (Div) / Yggdrasil (Asc) / Belphegor (Asc)

Like Chuubu's 3rd Place team, this team is consistent. Quarters was just the matter of who got Avalon's SS off first. Semi's was due to the 4th Place team's bad positioning. They were pretty behind in the dungeon because they only relied on Lucy for the mob clearing/boss damage. Finals, they got pretty lucky with the no Cockatrice incident. They did pull a great run in the 2nd game of the Finals. I did like Yggdrasil for this comp just because of Hunter King's OWL.

Like what I said about Chuubu's 3rd Place team, they are consistently average. They only got 1st Place due to their opponent's mishaps. Since they are the 1st seed, they will have a chance to face off the lower skilled teams in the playoffs. It might get them somewhat deep in the bracket, but they will probably fall off.

Summary

In conclusion, this Qualifier was pretty low skilled. A lot of mistakes were made by multiple teams. Chances are none of these 4 teams will make it into the top 3. However, I do think Nutriente has the Tokaigi stages down pact. They just need to work on the Extreme stages. ワルサーP38 was just bad in general. nobu's monster selection/pool are in question. Finally, モンスト一家 was just average at best.