Kevin Dennis is an incredible player. He is vigorous in his preparation and keeps his hand on the pulse of the game’s meta. He’ll certainly be a repeat qualifier to the Tournament of Power for as long as he plays the game. While, of course, he would have wanted to win the top spot this year, reaching the final match two years in a row is an achievement that should not be overlooked.
With his permission, I am pasting his tournament report from Retro here. Enjoy reading if you missed it.
The List
Orange Energetic Mastery
Vegito–Fused
Vegito-Boastful
Vegito-Super Saiyan
Vegito-Dominant
Blocks
[1] Time is a Warrior’s Tool
[3] Vegito’s Effortless Defense
[2] Orange Juke
[2] Orange Refocus
[3] Orange Sidestep
[3] Orange Energy Catch
Drills
[2] Orange Possession Drill
[2] Orange Disaster Drill
[1] Orange Checkup Drill
[1] Orange Examination Drill
[1] Orange Investigation Drill
[1] Orange Burning Aura Drill
[1] Orange Joint Restraint Drill
[1] Orange Steady Drill
Attacks
[3] Orange Stare Down
[3] Orange Bicycle Kick
[3] Orange Charged Kick
[3] Orange Beatdown
[3] Orange Collision
[3] Orange Knee Strike
[3] Orange Uppercut
[2] Orange Elbow Rush
[2] Orange Stretch
[2] Orange Spine Kick
[2] Orange Extension
[2] Orange Saving Kick
[3] I’ll Dig Your Grave
[2] Heroic Dashing Punch
Tournament Report
Added: A thanks to: Thomas Scheibel, Brandon Biggers, Dan Behee, Dan Dagron, Anthony Tardino, Cheyne Runnells, and Kelly Dennis for helping me test and guiding me to the eventual build.
So, if you look at the list you’ll see that it isn’t like most Energetic Vegito builds you’ve probably seen on OCTGN and in testing. My initial build of “Energito” was a mixed beats version, sporting a very, very greedy build with as much anger packed into it as possible. I’m not sure the ratios, but it was a mix of at least 10+ Physical and Energy attacks each. After a few games testing, I had a combat where I happened to draw all physicals off of Gito’s multiple draw instances. Each one went out for somewhere between 10-13 stages each. This piqued my interest to see if there was a total physical beats version I could try with him. With all the talk with friends and on Retro being about trying to stage lock him, I thought this could be a solid strategy to counter the counters.
I considered Adept, but without a discard outlet on the Mastery, I figured surprising the field with a physical version could also prove to be deceptive enough to steal a few games. This would work especially well in the mirror as other Gito decks will likely grab Orange Steady Drill if they don’t grab Orange Possession Drill, and imo that’s enough to win the game. Whoever gets to 2 first to tutor Checkup will win the game almost certainly.
I also expected Saiyan and with Burst being a HUGE enemy, if I can stage lock them then they can’t throw Burst. Same goes for Sludge Bomb with the HIT and the looming crit on the hit.
Round 1 – Sundeep Kutumbaka
No show. I’ll take it against the reigning PanZ World Champ.
Round 2 – Solomon McGeehan, Resourceful Dabura
This matchup scared the FUCK out of me. I won the roll and literally drew perfectly. I passed a couple combats without seeing a block and held Orange Extension to fast tutor the Checkup Drill, however I think waiting to lvl 2 to tutor it for the Sidestep was the better play with an Orange Beatdown in hand (fast anger to level I thought would be best), so I passed and rejuv’d the Extension. Solomon entered on his 2nd turn and I drew a Refocus, like honestly the best card I could’ve drawn. I sequenced the best I could to ensure his HIT effects didn’t lower my anger and keep me on 1. I eventually leveled and fetched Checkup. Combat ends, Dabura is at 0 with Aggressive Sword Drill in play as well. I held a Bike Kick (to get a 2nd use of Checkup next turn) and drew Orange Stretch, Time, and Effortless Defense. I entered threw my power to get Investigation Drill because he will absolutely lower a ton of my anger at once. Keeping it down to single instances are going to keep me alive and secure levels. He Stare Downs. Discards Time. I’m perfectly fine with that and sequence the best I can to maximize value, stages, and anger gain. I ended up winning that turn by beats. It’s clear to me in this match that I drew insanely well. I lucked out against a really awful match up.
Round 3 – Jesus Perez, Enhanced Gotenks
This matchup didn’t worry me at all entering the tournament because I figured I could ouptace it and win before anything really snowballs in his favor. I won the roll and entered I think. Consistent stage pressure allowed me to keep Jesus from being able to play Saiyan Burst, but with that pressure, Enhanced rejuv and Muck Drill’s rejuv kept him in the game. An early Saiyan Dive also banished my Checkup which is a huge move. Obviously obvious, but without Checkup, Vegito SEVERELY loses his potency and effectiveness. Even with the prevent from lvl 1 Gotenks, I managed to see enough anger hate and crits to keep him from leveling and replenishing stages. In the closest game with this deck I’ve had in testing and ToP, I found a way to MPPV.
Round 4 – Eric Ng, Ruthless Supreme Kai
https://www.youtube.com/watch…
I kid, but this game was probably the most one sided game I’ve had with this build. A not totally wrong move by Eric by ditching a Telepathy on his first draw, coupled with a first combat Dashing Punch really devastated 2/3’s of his deck in addition to any/most cards that would allow him to come back. Regardless of this result, I fully support Eric being the better player. Repeatedly I will play this guy and I will just feel like he is 3-4 actions ahead of me. I’ll always loathe playing this guy because a loss is looming in my mind, but the odds just do not seem to be in his favor.
Round 5 – Jeff Sosa, Ascension Trunks
I’m tired. I expected this to be a poor match up but I did what I could. In a Dig combat, my first possession drill drew me 2 additional drills when i already had one in my hand to discard. After seeing that, I felt it just was not my day. The game progressed to trend in Jeff’s favor and lost the game at lvl 4 with 3 anger. 100% congrats to Jeff on winning the ToP. I’ve never played him before but how he spoke his actions and went about his sequencing, I can easily tell he is a quality opponent and competent player. I’m not upset to have lost to him.
Anyway, I just wanted to get this list out. I don’t think Physgito is the BEST Vegito, but I do think it was an at least good call for this event. For anyone who makes ToP next year, understand that possibly a surprise deck choice, no matter how simple, can be enough to send you far.
Also, East Coast is officially challenging ALL REGIONS to a 5v5 tournament to prove the East Coast is the Best Coast. Two ToP Finals representations by the East outranks all others combined. WE DEEP.
BRING. IT.
EDIT: If I did it again, I’d run Singing Drill over Joint Restraint -.-
Collision Point 
One thought on “Kevin Dennis T.O.P Report”