Tournament Report: Top 16 Sensha_Zenshin JP NA WGP 25/26

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Sensha_Zenshin has been playing Weiss Schwarz for nine years. He started with English Sword Art Online while playing with the Illiana Weiss Schwarz Gang Group. Sensha_Zenshin mainly plays sets from IPs (Intellectual Properties) he likes such as SAO, ONK, GGO, LRC, and HOL. He started playing more competitively in 2017 and would win a few locals here and there. His first competitive top was winning a Shop Challenge in 2023 followed then by his first regional top at the 2025 Chicago Trio Teams event.

Now onto the interview!

Melanie Lynette (ML): How did the event go for you? Was there anything specific that you'd like to share from the start?

Sensha_Zenshin (SZ): Overall, I did well for my first time at Nationals and had fun. Hopefully I am able to make it again next year!

Winning Decklist:

BushiNavi Code: 6K8SH

https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/ja/view/6K8SH

ML: While this isn't a pure waifu deck, I know Akane is your best girl and you clearly represent her well in this refined list! What was your match up and how did Round 1 go for you?

SZ: I won against Summer Pockets: 4 Return (Wind) / 4 Choice. Overall it was an average game with nothing of note. I tried to play more conservatively, focusing on deck compression rather than getting to my finisher as quickly as possible. I almost lived through triple Shiki Level 3, but my opponent triggered on the last attack. It was disheartening to lose the first round cause that meant that every round after had to be win.

ML: What was your match up and how did Round 2 go for you?

SZ: I won against HoloLive: 8 Gate (Pants): During this game I only opened one Level 0 after mulligan and proceed to get shot to Level 1 relatively quickly . Luckily, my hand was already set up for my Level 1 Akane which allowed me to stabilize. The major turning point in the game was when I used the Akane JC to prevent two of his Ame's from getting reverses after accelerating himself to 2/6. I then tripled Level 3 Akanes the following turn to close out the game.

ML: What was your match up and how did Round 3 go for you?

SZ: I won against Kinmoza- Kiniro Mosaic 15th Anniversary: 8 Choice. This game was a curveball for me, since the whole goal of my opponent was to gain memory for compression and to prevent my Level 3 from burning. It didn't help I didn't see my Level 1 combo for most of the game, so I was struggling for hand. However, I made sure to hold onto the 2/1 Akane that bounces a card to ensure I can get one lane of burns. My opponent went to Level 3 first, managed to summon triple Level 3 Alice, and had enough memory for burn 2. I lived at 3/5. I bounced one of the anti-burn Level 3s, and played a one of 3/2 Aqua and two attackers, because i couldn't find an Akane lvl 3 climax. I slammed the Level 1 climax and hoped for the best. The two vanilla attackers managed to get my opponent to 3/5. I had the Level 3 Aqua swinging into an open lane and was hoping the burn can end it. I paid Aqua's on attack burn 2 cost which canceled, and triggered for a swing of 5, which stuck, winning me the game.

ML: What was your match up and how did Round 4 go for you?

SZ: I won against Lycoris Recoil: 4 Gate (Pants) / 4 Comeback (Door). I knew the match up well since I play this deck often and knew how to counter play. The only card that would mess up my game plan was the Takina JC. Luckily, he didn't play the card, so I managed to get reverses with my Akane Level 1s multiple times. This allowed me to ensure there were fewer Level 0s for the Chisato/Takina combo. My opponent went to Level 3 first with two Takina and one Chisato combo and sent me to 3/6, with only 2 cards left in deck.

Due to being more focused on making sure my deck didn't have too many Level 0s, I wasn't properly set up for three Level 3 Akanes. I wasn't able to get more since those actions would cause me to refresh, killing me. So I played one Akane Level 3 combo, a top check 2 Akane Level 0, and another Akane Level 0. I attacked with the Level 3 Akane first and managed to hit two Level 0s in order to heal and putting me out refresh damage range. At the end of turn my opponent was at 3/5, where he played an additional Takina to heal to 3/4, but I managed to triple cancel the three vanilla swings living at 3/5 . I defeated them on the back swing with vanilla swings.

ML: What was your match up and how did Round 5 go for you?

SZ: I won against Uma Musume: Stock Soul / 4 Comeback (Door). Everything that could of gone right did for me in this game. I got multiple instances of my Level 1 combo to sculpt my hand and fix my deck state when I need to. My opponent went to Level 3 first and played 2 Tachyons, but failed to summon a third. The first one leveled me from 2/4 to 3/0. I then proceeded to cancel pretty much all of the rest of the damage, and defeated my opponent with 3 Akane Level 3s.

ML: And after deck checks, top cut! How did Top 16 go?

SZ: I lost against Gakuen Idolm@ster: 4 Comeback (Door) / 4 Gate (Pants). This was a close game and it came down to the last three turns. I hit Level 3 first and played 3 Level 3 Akanes which sent my opponent to 3/4. I only had 3 climaxes left in 15 cards and they played 2 Temari which could icy tail 5. The first Temari left me at 3/4 with 1 climax in a 6 card deck. The second Temari attacked with the burn 1 sniping the last climax leaving 5 clean cards, but my opponent preformed the icy tail which milled out my deck which refreshed me to 3/5. The Temari and the last attack canceled leaving me alive at 3/5 with a Akane Level 3 and Ruby brainstormer on board. I only had one stock and a Level 0 Akane Riko in hand. I drew a Level 3 Akane which I clocked to 3/6 and drew the Level 3 climax and a Level 1 event. I moved the Ruby up and played the Riko. For some reason I decided to activate the riko effect which failed to grab back a card, which meant I didn't have the hand to pay for the Akane Level 3 effect. I played the Level 3 climax, swung with the it canceled. I swung with the Akane Riko which triggered a Pants, which allowed me to salvage a climax, and the damage stuck leaving my opponent at 3/5. I attacked with the Level 3 Akane and paid the cost with the recently acquired climax, but I only hit 1 Level 0 on the Akane. Even though It forced a refresh my opponent canceled the burn 1 and the attack. I lost on the backswing ending my run at Nationals.

ML: Congratulations still on your Top 16 accomplishment! Are there any final reflections or shout outs you would like to share?

SZ: Shout out to my coworkers at Purdue who wrote me a good luck note and wishing me the best at the tournament. It gave the extra push to not let them down. 

ML: And that concludes our interview with JP NA WGP 25/26 Top 16 Sensha_Zenshin! A special thanks to Sensha_Zenshin for sharing with us! Congratulations again on your achievements and good luck as you continue to compete moving forward!

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