Sunday's only event was a Ritual of the Unnameable. I had two RotU decks made before GenCon, a BAD Architect deck and a BAT Monarch deck. I got an idea for an Ascended OMG deck, but did not have time to pull it together before the event. I ended up playing the BAT deck, which I have fun playing.
Nine people showed up for the tournament, so there were four rounds of 3 3-player games scheduled. My first game was against Red and his CDCA deck and someone else's Monarch BAD deck (I think. It's amazing how much I forget in two weeks.) I was able to win this game with the Thunder Bird in Butterfly Armor leading the winning attack against Red's Devil Mountain.
In the next round, I faced Josh's Monkeys In Black deck, and I think another BAD deck. If memory serves (which I would not bet on at this point), Josh won this game.
The third round I faced Willow's PMS Jammer deck and Daniel's CAD Architect deck. Willow won the game, but I had one of my favorite in game moments here. On Daniel's turn, he played an Abomination Serum on my Butterfly Knight. In response, I played Bear vs. Fox to start a Faceoff with Dr. Klaus Herrbruck. Daniel tried to save the good Dr. with a Cellular Reinvigoration, which I Brain Fired onto the Butterfly Knight. The Knight won the Faceoff and played Daniel's Arcanovirus to smoke Willow's Professional Killer. I love being able to mess with other peoples plans in unexpected ways. It is one of the best parts of the game. Later in the game, Daniel attack me to the right. I told him was going to use everything to stop him and leave the board open for Willow. He continued with the attack. I stopped him. Willow won. (Willow, I have one of your Safety Third cards from this event.)
After this Willow left thinking the tournament was only three rounds. So for the final round, I ended up in a four player game with Braz, playing a DIE Lotus deck; Joey, playing a PIS Monarch deck, and Red again. I'll give Braz credit for playing the most interesting deck in the tournament. I started fast, but could not maintain the momentum. Red cleared the board with an Arcanovirus, and I couldn't come back. We went to time. It was a fun game, but I don't remember who won. Josh, I believe, won the tournament.
I apologize for the inaccuracies that I am sure are this report. By this time all events were blurring together along with who I was playing and what decks were being played. Any corrections people have are more than welcome.
Blood And Thunder
Foundation (12)
Thunder Gladiator x5
Thunder Knight x7
Characters (14)
Thunder Squire x4
Thunder Captain
Butterfly Knight x4
Bonebreaker Jun x2
Thunder Bird x2
Avenging Darkness
Events (15)
Blood and Thunder x5
Bear vs. Fox x2
Tiger vs. Crane
Brain Fire x3
Blood Lust x3
Avenging Thunder
States (3)
Thunder Sword
Butterfly Armor
Bandolier of Throwing Knives
Edges (2)
The Book of Wrath
Blanket of Darkness
Sites (2)
Thunder Pagoda vPAP
The Thunder Dome
FSS (13)
Birdhouse Cafe
Bird Sanctuary
Blessed Orchard
Ancient Stone Arch
Temple of the Angry Spirits
Temple of the Monkey King
The Blue Moon Club
Thousand Sword Mountain
Turtle Island x2
Turtle Beach x2
The Pinnacles
A simple straight forward attack deck. Build an army and attack using Blood and Thunder to pump it up and avoid a lot of redirection / damage reduction denial. In this tournament, I avoided redirection from Devil's Mountain, and damage reduction from Diamond Beach and Puzzle Garden. About half the games I have won with this deck have been with the Thunder Bird with Butterfly Armor. I really like that this deck lends itself to the out of faction Faceoff events.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Gen Con 2010 Comrades in Arms
Saturday night was the Comrades in Arms tournament. To me this was a fun, relaxed event. I am interested in the deck designs and designator choices. I choose an old standby Monkey deck. I wanted to try Beast but the card pool is too small (Alpha Beast, Beta Beast, Gamma Beast, Paradox Beast, Jigsaw Beast, Roar of the Beast, and Tomb of the Beast) with some marginal cards. Nine people showed up for the tournament, which had four rounds. So everyone played everyone once.
First round was Braz and John Wengler. Braz was playing his Paradox deck from Origins, and John was playing a Darkness deck, which he had played earlier in the World Championship. At one point, John attacked me to the right to try to get a vulnerable site. Braz then Discerning Fired and had I wide open board. John and I couldn't muster a defense. Braz won.
Second round, I played John Monnett and Josh Kronengold. John had a gun deck, and Josh had a Pawn deck, which I think was the most unique designator in the event. I came out hard and fast and was able to overwhelm them. When Josh got his Stand Together in play, it became more difficult, but I still pulled it off. Two Buffalo Soldiers helped keep the Monkey horde safe in this game.
Third round, I played Tim Lindon and Jeremy Dale. Tim's deck I think was a Rebel deck and Jeremy had a Student Deck. Again, the Monkey horde was able to overwhelm the opposition and claim victory. I am foggy on the specifics of the the game, however.
Final round, I faced off against Red and Daniel. It turned out that Red was the only other player with two wins going into this round. So in a way, this game was a true final unless Daniel won. Red was playing a Fire deck, and Daniel had a Secret Deck. This was a long game with lots of sites (mostly mine) being burned. In the end, time was called just after I played Potlatch to get enough power to launch an attack against Daniel. When the points were tabulated, Red came in first for the tournament, Josh sneaked into second, and I was third by a single game point. If I hadn't played Potlatch, I would have been second. Oh well, it was still a fun tournament.
Deck Eunuch Monkeys
Foundation (11)
Big Macaque Attack x5
Marmojet x5
Rebel Without a Cause
Characters (12)
Brass Monkey x2
Funkey Monkey x2
Furious George vPAP
Gorilla Fighter x2
Buffalo Soldier x2
Orango Tank
Wild Gorillas
Monkey Pirates
Events (18)
"There's Always One More" x4
Close Call
The Ape is Loose! x2
Who's the Monkey Now? x3
IKTV Special Report
Scrounging x5
Potlatch x2
State (1)
Single Action Devolver
Edges (2)
Mo' Monkeys, Mo' Problems
Payback Time
Sites (3)
Ape City
Bomb Factory
Genocide Lounge
FSS (13)
Eagle Mountain x4
Monkey House x3
Proving Ground x5
Whirlpool of Blood
This deck is simple play monkeys and attack. Use Proving Grounds to pump out the two cost Monkeys. Generate power through Monkey House, Scrounging, and non-FSS sites. Recycle Monkeys with There's Always One More. Worst case is you get a Marmojet or a Buffalo Soldier, either of which will help the Macaques. For the CiA tournament I subbed in 2 extra Who's the Monkey Now? for Close Calls. Discerning Fires can wreak this deck by taking out monkeys or Proving Grounds.
First round was Braz and John Wengler. Braz was playing his Paradox deck from Origins, and John was playing a Darkness deck, which he had played earlier in the World Championship. At one point, John attacked me to the right to try to get a vulnerable site. Braz then Discerning Fired and had I wide open board. John and I couldn't muster a defense. Braz won.
Second round, I played John Monnett and Josh Kronengold. John had a gun deck, and Josh had a Pawn deck, which I think was the most unique designator in the event. I came out hard and fast and was able to overwhelm them. When Josh got his Stand Together in play, it became more difficult, but I still pulled it off. Two Buffalo Soldiers helped keep the Monkey horde safe in this game.
Third round, I played Tim Lindon and Jeremy Dale. Tim's deck I think was a Rebel deck and Jeremy had a Student Deck. Again, the Monkey horde was able to overwhelm the opposition and claim victory. I am foggy on the specifics of the the game, however.
Final round, I faced off against Red and Daniel. It turned out that Red was the only other player with two wins going into this round. So in a way, this game was a true final unless Daniel won. Red was playing a Fire deck, and Daniel had a Secret Deck. This was a long game with lots of sites (mostly mine) being burned. In the end, time was called just after I played Potlatch to get enough power to launch an attack against Daniel. When the points were tabulated, Red came in first for the tournament, Josh sneaked into second, and I was third by a single game point. If I hadn't played Potlatch, I would have been second. Oh well, it was still a fun tournament.
Deck Eunuch Monkeys
Foundation (11)
Big Macaque Attack x5
Marmojet x5
Rebel Without a Cause
Characters (12)
Brass Monkey x2
Funkey Monkey x2
Furious George vPAP
Gorilla Fighter x2
Buffalo Soldier x2
Orango Tank
Wild Gorillas
Monkey Pirates
Events (18)
"There's Always One More" x4
Close Call
The Ape is Loose! x2
Who's the Monkey Now? x3
IKTV Special Report
Scrounging x5
Potlatch x2
State (1)
Single Action Devolver
Edges (2)
Mo' Monkeys, Mo' Problems
Payback Time
Sites (3)
Ape City
Bomb Factory
Genocide Lounge
FSS (13)
Eagle Mountain x4
Monkey House x3
Proving Ground x5
Whirlpool of Blood
This deck is simple play monkeys and attack. Use Proving Grounds to pump out the two cost Monkeys. Generate power through Monkey House, Scrounging, and non-FSS sites. Recycle Monkeys with There's Always One More. Worst case is you get a Marmojet or a Buffalo Soldier, either of which will help the Macaques. For the CiA tournament I subbed in 2 extra Who's the Monkey Now? for Close Calls. Discerning Fires can wreak this deck by taking out monkeys or Proving Grounds.
Gen Con 2010 World Championship
Saturday was the Final Brawl World Championship. I felt woefully under prepared for this event. Leading up to Gen Con, most of my decks had been greatly modified to try out Empire of Evil cards, and none of them were well tuned. I was working on Lotus recycling deck ideas (Hopping Vampire with or without Mysterious Return, or Unholy Legionaries with Dragon Throne) but nothing seemed like a solid build. I finally decided to go back to an old standby - Yakuza Enforcers and Final Brawls with a few updates. Again, the deck is not well tuned, but the basic concept is simple and simple to play.
First round was against Robert Stetler and Greg Zimmerman. I got off to a good start and wrapped this up quickly. Robert was quite upset when he found out that Sword of the Master cancelled the fighting bonuses his Twelve Thousand Skulls put on Feng Kan. Then when is cancelled the Escalation bonus, it added insult to injury. I ended up with a 10-Fighting Hacker going for the win.
Second round was against Willow and Braz. Willow was playing her Ballad of Jade Willow deck. I warned Braz not to burn any of her sites or a free Jade Willow would come flying out of her hand. We were able to make her pay full price for Jade Willow, but we couldn't quite put stop Jade Willow from dominating the rest of the game. Willow won the round.
The third and fourth round games I was able to win to lock a seat in the final. The other finalists were Julian Leighton playing Eating Brains in the Service of the Lotus deck, Tim Lindon playing a Morse Code Poet deck, and Mike Lansinski playing a Monarch deck.
I got a quick burn with two Redeemed Gunmen taking Mike's front row turned site. I burned for victory, which was a mistake. I really should have burned for power, which I needed over the next couple turns. Julian build up a formidable army of undead and vampires. He was taking Tim's battleground sites to fund his army. Tim played a long site structure of big FSS (The Great Wall), Hall of Portals, and battleground sites. In front, he had up to three Morse Code Poets. Mike was having a hard time getting started. I don't think he ever quite got back from my taking his site.
During one of Tim's attacks, which I believe was an early attempt for the win, Julian asked for help stopping it. I foolishly mentioned that I had Final Brawls available. Julian then Tortured Memories the Poet to stop the attack. I believe Julian then spent part of the rest of the game trying to draw out the Brawls. Because most of his characters were four fighting or lower, the Brawls potentially could devastate his position. On his last turn he attacked me to the right. I had seized his Death Ring earlier and he claimed he was coming back for it. No one intercepted. At the last minute, he revealed and turned an Endless Corridor to switch my back row unrevealed FSS with the Death Ring which now made this a winning attack. I still sat on the Brawls. He hit for 7 and left the Disco with 1 body left. Tim when next. He took my damaged Disco and then launched the winning attack. When I tried to Brawl (twice), he had two Delay the Inevitables to save his attackers and win the game.
Looking back I made several mistakes that I remember (I'm sure there are more that I don't)
1) Burning for victory rather than power when I took the early site. This would have funded at least one hitter and given me some sustainable forward momentum.
2) Revealing that I had Final Brawls in my hand. Unfortunately between when I spoke up and the final turn of the game, I did not draw any additional ones or Equal-Opportunity Butt-Kicking.
3) Not playing the Brawls earlier. There were a couple opportunities (When Julian started a Face-Off with Lin when I played her, when Julian played Sword of the Master on a Hopping Vampire before attacking the Death Ring, when Julian attacked the Death Ring) that could have been more advantageous.
Ah well, live and learn.
Deck - Last Man Standing (57):
Foundation (11)
Brave Villagers x5
Redeemed Gunman x3
Hacker x3
Characters (10)
Yakuza Enforcer x5
Lin
Marisol
Big Bruiser x2
The Spirit of Kongxiangsi
Events (20)
Final Brawl x5
Equal Opportunity Butt-Kicking x4
Escalation x3
Dirk Wiseley's Gambit x3
Never Surrender
Ashes of the Fallen
Is That All You Got x2
Kiii-YAAAH!
State (1)
Sword of the Master
Edge (2)
Pony Express x2
FSS (13)
Sacred Heart Hospital x2
Whirlpool of Blood
Temple of the Angry Spirits
Festival Circle x2
LaGrange Four
Gambling House
Disco
Ancient Stone Arch
Cave Network x3
A somewhat updated version of an old deck. The basic core is play Yakuza Enforcers and Brawl/Kick-Butt as much as possible to keep other characters off the board. One new combo that I like in particular is Escalation with Sword of the Master. My character's fighting is doubled until the end of the attack and you get nothing.
First round was against Robert Stetler and Greg Zimmerman. I got off to a good start and wrapped this up quickly. Robert was quite upset when he found out that Sword of the Master cancelled the fighting bonuses his Twelve Thousand Skulls put on Feng Kan. Then when is cancelled the Escalation bonus, it added insult to injury. I ended up with a 10-Fighting Hacker going for the win.
Second round was against Willow and Braz. Willow was playing her Ballad of Jade Willow deck. I warned Braz not to burn any of her sites or a free Jade Willow would come flying out of her hand. We were able to make her pay full price for Jade Willow, but we couldn't quite put stop Jade Willow from dominating the rest of the game. Willow won the round.
The third and fourth round games I was able to win to lock a seat in the final. The other finalists were Julian Leighton playing Eating Brains in the Service of the Lotus deck, Tim Lindon playing a Morse Code Poet deck, and Mike Lansinski playing a Monarch deck.
I got a quick burn with two Redeemed Gunmen taking Mike's front row turned site. I burned for victory, which was a mistake. I really should have burned for power, which I needed over the next couple turns. Julian build up a formidable army of undead and vampires. He was taking Tim's battleground sites to fund his army. Tim played a long site structure of big FSS (The Great Wall), Hall of Portals, and battleground sites. In front, he had up to three Morse Code Poets. Mike was having a hard time getting started. I don't think he ever quite got back from my taking his site.
During one of Tim's attacks, which I believe was an early attempt for the win, Julian asked for help stopping it. I foolishly mentioned that I had Final Brawls available. Julian then Tortured Memories the Poet to stop the attack. I believe Julian then spent part of the rest of the game trying to draw out the Brawls. Because most of his characters were four fighting or lower, the Brawls potentially could devastate his position. On his last turn he attacked me to the right. I had seized his Death Ring earlier and he claimed he was coming back for it. No one intercepted. At the last minute, he revealed and turned an Endless Corridor to switch my back row unrevealed FSS with the Death Ring which now made this a winning attack. I still sat on the Brawls. He hit for 7 and left the Disco with 1 body left. Tim when next. He took my damaged Disco and then launched the winning attack. When I tried to Brawl (twice), he had two Delay the Inevitables to save his attackers and win the game.
Looking back I made several mistakes that I remember (I'm sure there are more that I don't)
1) Burning for victory rather than power when I took the early site. This would have funded at least one hitter and given me some sustainable forward momentum.
2) Revealing that I had Final Brawls in my hand. Unfortunately between when I spoke up and the final turn of the game, I did not draw any additional ones or Equal-Opportunity Butt-Kicking.
3) Not playing the Brawls earlier. There were a couple opportunities (When Julian started a Face-Off with Lin when I played her, when Julian played Sword of the Master on a Hopping Vampire before attacking the Death Ring, when Julian attacked the Death Ring) that could have been more advantageous.
Ah well, live and learn.
Deck - Last Man Standing (57):
Foundation (11)
Brave Villagers x5
Redeemed Gunman x3
Hacker x3
Characters (10)
Yakuza Enforcer x5
Lin
Marisol
Big Bruiser x2
The Spirit of Kongxiangsi
Events (20)
Final Brawl x5
Equal Opportunity Butt-Kicking x4
Escalation x3
Dirk Wiseley's Gambit x3
Never Surrender
Ashes of the Fallen
Is That All You Got x2
Kiii-YAAAH!
State (1)
Sword of the Master
Edge (2)
Pony Express x2
FSS (13)
Sacred Heart Hospital x2
Whirlpool of Blood
Temple of the Angry Spirits
Festival Circle x2
LaGrange Four
Gambling House
Disco
Ancient Stone Arch
Cave Network x3
A somewhat updated version of an old deck. The basic core is play Yakuza Enforcers and Brawl/Kick-Butt as much as possible to keep other characters off the board. One new combo that I like in particular is Escalation with Sword of the Master. My character's fighting is doubled until the end of the attack and you get nothing.
Gen Con 2010 New Heroes
Friday night was New Heroes. I was here to defend my victory from last year. I fell into the alluring trap of trying to play a Syndicate deck as they look like they have even footing with all the other factions in this format. I, however, think the Ascended with all of the additional power generation available and Shadowy Mentor are the faction to beat. Mars Program Executive looks to be the key to ramp up the power with the Syndicate at this point.
Games were three-player games (Daniel is particularly fond of 3-player for conventions as fewer games go to time). My first round was against two other Syndicate decks. John Merrill ended building an unassailable fortress of Great Walls backed by The Steam Laundry Company. From here he was able to fight to victory.
I don't remember the other rounds well. John Wengler was playing Ascended. Daniel was playing Hand. Greg Zimmerman was playing Ascended/Jammers. A few people were playing Monarchs or Monarch / Lotus. Overall though Syndicate was the most popular faction. Purists and Dragons were absent from the tournament as best as I can recall. I believe John Merrill went on to win the event, but I'm not sure.
My Syndicate Deck:
Foundation (13)
Mars Colonist x5
Triad Punks x5
Street Racers x3
Characters (19)
Mars Program Executive x4
Street Doc
Rei Okamoto
Tattooed Man x2
Nihilist x2
Song, the Little Dragon
Akamatsu Mitsusuke
Devendra Chalal
Hiroshi Kata
Xu Mei, the Dragon
Salaryman
Zero-G Sumo
Jessica Ng
Hirake Kazuko
Events (11)
Data Theft
Reprogramming x5
Smoke and Mirrors
The Price of Progress
Catching Bullets
Inconvenient Debt
Data Mining
States (4)
Synchronic Beam Emitter
Hyper Alloy Blade
The Hegemeister
Platinum Upgrade
Edge (1)
Corporate Warfare
Sites (2)
Cybermod Parlor
The Wireless
FSS (13)
LaGrange Four
Moon Base
Hydroponic Garden
Rainforest Ruins
Mah-Jongg Parlor
Ancient Stone Arch
Martyr's Tomb
The Iron Palace
University Library
Endless Corridor
Bamboo Forest x3
The deck really needs a 5th Mars Program Exec. and another Martyr's Tomb. If you can continually recycle the execs, the power can keep on flowing. I also really like the Reprogramming in this format because almost every character has some special ability that is worth canceling. The best cancel I had in the tournament was Shao the Killer, which allowed my winning attack through. Platinum Upgrades also paid the bills in this tournament. Some people were questioning if this state is overpowered. For me it often made a Mars Exec into an impromptu hitter. Cost 5 for 6 fighting with toughness 3 is not over the curve. (But I suppose if you discount the Exec by the 3 power he paid back, it was cost 2 for 6F with Toughness 3. I think this points more to the power of the Exec than the Upgrade.)
Games were three-player games (Daniel is particularly fond of 3-player for conventions as fewer games go to time). My first round was against two other Syndicate decks. John Merrill ended building an unassailable fortress of Great Walls backed by The Steam Laundry Company. From here he was able to fight to victory.
I don't remember the other rounds well. John Wengler was playing Ascended. Daniel was playing Hand. Greg Zimmerman was playing Ascended/Jammers. A few people were playing Monarchs or Monarch / Lotus. Overall though Syndicate was the most popular faction. Purists and Dragons were absent from the tournament as best as I can recall. I believe John Merrill went on to win the event, but I'm not sure.
My Syndicate Deck:
Foundation (13)
Mars Colonist x5
Triad Punks x5
Street Racers x3
Characters (19)
Mars Program Executive x4
Street Doc
Rei Okamoto
Tattooed Man x2
Nihilist x2
Song, the Little Dragon
Akamatsu Mitsusuke
Devendra Chalal
Hiroshi Kata
Xu Mei, the Dragon
Salaryman
Zero-G Sumo
Jessica Ng
Hirake Kazuko
Events (11)
Data Theft
Reprogramming x5
Smoke and Mirrors
The Price of Progress
Catching Bullets
Inconvenient Debt
Data Mining
States (4)
Synchronic Beam Emitter
Hyper Alloy Blade
The Hegemeister
Platinum Upgrade
Edge (1)
Corporate Warfare
Sites (2)
Cybermod Parlor
The Wireless
FSS (13)
LaGrange Four
Moon Base
Hydroponic Garden
Rainforest Ruins
Mah-Jongg Parlor
Ancient Stone Arch
Martyr's Tomb
The Iron Palace
University Library
Endless Corridor
Bamboo Forest x3
The deck really needs a 5th Mars Program Exec. and another Martyr's Tomb. If you can continually recycle the execs, the power can keep on flowing. I also really like the Reprogramming in this format because almost every character has some special ability that is worth canceling. The best cancel I had in the tournament was Shao the Killer, which allowed my winning attack through. Platinum Upgrades also paid the bills in this tournament. Some people were questioning if this state is overpowered. For me it often made a Mars Exec into an impromptu hitter. Cost 5 for 6 fighting with toughness 3 is not over the curve. (But I suppose if you discount the Exec by the 3 power he paid back, it was cost 2 for 6F with Toughness 3. I think this points more to the power of the Exec than the Upgrade.)
Gen Con 2010 Draft
Friday morning was the draft event. Eighteen players showed up to draft from Six Guns & Shurikens, Critical Shift, and Empire of Evil. Seven boosters were drafted with two foundation pods and one Feng Shui pod being provided after the draft. The structure of the draft was somewhat disappointing. We drafted in groups of three, which meant you were sure to get stuck with lots of cards out of the main factions you were drafting. You would also see a much smaller card pool from which to draft. I would have preferred to draft in groups of six. The second problem was that the tournament rounds were setup as two separate groups of nine players. So the nine players of group A never played against the nine players of group B. It gave the feeling that even though we could not play all other players, you could not control your destiny. At least there were enough players within each group so that you never played against the same opponent more than once. A more personal annoyance was that the first round of games was with the same three people with whom you drafted. You pretty much knew what you were in for the first round. In draft I expect a greater element of surprise.
I drafted Jammer / Hand and when I was done found that I had good amount of Architect as well.
Draft Deck:
Foundation (11):
Kamikaze Cosmonauts
Suicide Squad
Edge Warrior x2
Mad Scientist x2 (I am fuzzy on this foundation, It's listed to be in Pods but I don't remember)
Rebel without a Cause
Dump Warrior x2
Willow Warriors
Celestials
Characters (10):
Dr. Quentin Higginsbotham
Tunnel King
Turing Machine
Potemkin's Brigade
Andy Di
Monkey Pirates
Cyborg Mermaid
Johnny Amok
Jayne Insane
Shihong
Events (9):
Isothermal Zodiac x2
Out of the Barrel x3
Ape Shall Kill Ape
Auspicious Thermite
The Willow Bends... x2
States (7):
Fingertip Razors
Buzzsaw Arm
Explosive Motorcycle
Steam-Powered Tricycle
Single-Action Devolver
Shurikens
Simple Paper Fan
Sites (2):
Hot Zone
Mountain Monastery
FSS(10):
Ancient Stone Arch
University Library
Forgotten Temple
Moon Base
Mirrored Lake
Arctic Fortress
Endless Corridor
Grove of Willows
Family Home
Blessed Orchard
I only won one of the four round I played in. The first round Josh Shadowy Mentored my Turing Machine (which I should have seen coming). After that he was able to push ahead to win. The second round, I got SEVEN power from an attack on my Grove of Willows. Some how, I squandered that advantage, and failed to win. The third round Shihong attacked as time was called an just took the last site needed for the win. I am drawing a complete blank on the fourth and final round.
I drafted Jammer / Hand and when I was done found that I had good amount of Architect as well.
Draft Deck:
Foundation (11):
Kamikaze Cosmonauts
Suicide Squad
Edge Warrior x2
Mad Scientist x2 (I am fuzzy on this foundation, It's listed to be in Pods but I don't remember)
Rebel without a Cause
Dump Warrior x2
Willow Warriors
Celestials
Characters (10):
Dr. Quentin Higginsbotham
Tunnel King
Turing Machine
Potemkin's Brigade
Andy Di
Monkey Pirates
Cyborg Mermaid
Johnny Amok
Jayne Insane
Shihong
Events (9):
Isothermal Zodiac x2
Out of the Barrel x3
Ape Shall Kill Ape
Auspicious Thermite
The Willow Bends... x2
States (7):
Fingertip Razors
Buzzsaw Arm
Explosive Motorcycle
Steam-Powered Tricycle
Single-Action Devolver
Shurikens
Simple Paper Fan
Sites (2):
Hot Zone
Mountain Monastery
FSS(10):
Ancient Stone Arch
University Library
Forgotten Temple
Moon Base
Mirrored Lake
Arctic Fortress
Endless Corridor
Grove of Willows
Family Home
Blessed Orchard
I only won one of the four round I played in. The first round Josh Shadowy Mentored my Turing Machine (which I should have seen coming). After that he was able to push ahead to win. The second round, I got SEVEN power from an attack on my Grove of Willows. Some how, I squandered that advantage, and failed to win. The third round Shihong attacked as time was called an just took the last site needed for the win. I am drawing a complete blank on the fourth and final round.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Gen Con 2010 Invitational
This year I was invited to the exclusive invitational event at Gen Con. I was selected for ranking in the top 10 for most points scored in the Secret War Society for the previous year. All of these point had been earned the previous year at Gen Con.
I wasn't given much notice for this. The final list was published the week of Gen Con. I had not been keeping track of the points year to date, so I did not know if I would make it. I had thought about harassing Daniel about getting an invite for winning New Heroes at last year's Gen Con, but I didn't want to pressure him into extending an 'unearned' invite.
As an aside I think the method for earning an invitation should be somewhat different. Anyone who won a world championship or won the invitational should get a lifetime invite. I find it hard to believe someone like Jan Malina (among other previous champions) would not be considered a worthy opponent at this type of event.
Back to the topic at hand. I did not have time to try to develop a new deck with which I would be comfortable. I decided to update my Lotus Stealth deck that I played in the world championship last year. As it turned out, I could have made a brand new deck and not done any worse. I lost all my games and ended as the Gimp. Well it was an honor to just be invited and throwdown with the best of the best. I'd like to take this time to thank my coaches, my parents, and my creator.
Willow won the tournament for the second year in a row. Her deck was a Monarch fire deck with maybe a Dragon splash.
Here is the deck list (notice that the Stealth was removed):
Knife (As in I took a Knife to a Gun fight)
Foundation (13)
Sinister Priest x5
Wailing Apparition x5
Shamanistic Punk x2
Petal's Attendant
Characters (13)
Eater of Fortune
Reverend Adam Wither x2
Destroyer
Xin Ji Yang (F7)
Madam Yen
Infernal Army
Midnight
Gao Zhang
Cloaca
The Alabaster King
Sheriff Agathon
Evil Twin
Events (15)
Flying Sleeves x3
Evil Whispers x2
Die!!! x2
Verminous Rain
Poisoned
Pocket Demon
Tortured Memories x3
Discerning Fire
Infernal Pact
States (5)
Tommy Gun
Amulet of the Turtle x2
Mark of Evil
Lunar Sword
Edges (3)
Insidious Plan
Throne of Skulls
Twelve Thousand Skulls
Sites (2)
Death Ring
The Library of Souls
FSS (14)
Disco
Gambling House
Rainforest Ruins
City Park
Hydroponic Garden
Golden Mile
Fox Pass
Hot Spring
Ancient Stone Arch
Mobius Garden
Temple of the Angry Spirits
LaGrange Four
Coral Reef
The Alabaster Palace
I wasn't given much notice for this. The final list was published the week of Gen Con. I had not been keeping track of the points year to date, so I did not know if I would make it. I had thought about harassing Daniel about getting an invite for winning New Heroes at last year's Gen Con, but I didn't want to pressure him into extending an 'unearned' invite.
As an aside I think the method for earning an invitation should be somewhat different. Anyone who won a world championship or won the invitational should get a lifetime invite. I find it hard to believe someone like Jan Malina (among other previous champions) would not be considered a worthy opponent at this type of event.
Back to the topic at hand. I did not have time to try to develop a new deck with which I would be comfortable. I decided to update my Lotus Stealth deck that I played in the world championship last year. As it turned out, I could have made a brand new deck and not done any worse. I lost all my games and ended as the Gimp. Well it was an honor to just be invited and throwdown with the best of the best. I'd like to take this time to thank my coaches, my parents, and my creator.
Willow won the tournament for the second year in a row. Her deck was a Monarch fire deck with maybe a Dragon splash.
Here is the deck list (notice that the Stealth was removed):
Knife (As in I took a Knife to a Gun fight)
Foundation (13)
Sinister Priest x5
Wailing Apparition x5
Shamanistic Punk x2
Petal's Attendant
Characters (13)
Eater of Fortune
Reverend Adam Wither x2
Destroyer
Xin Ji Yang (F7)
Madam Yen
Infernal Army
Midnight
Gao Zhang
Cloaca
The Alabaster King
Sheriff Agathon
Evil Twin
Events (15)
Flying Sleeves x3
Evil Whispers x2
Die!!! x2
Verminous Rain
Poisoned
Pocket Demon
Tortured Memories x3
Discerning Fire
Infernal Pact
States (5)
Tommy Gun
Amulet of the Turtle x2
Mark of Evil
Lunar Sword
Edges (3)
Insidious Plan
Throne of Skulls
Twelve Thousand Skulls
Sites (2)
Death Ring
The Library of Souls
FSS (14)
Disco
Gambling House
Rainforest Ruins
City Park
Hydroponic Garden
Golden Mile
Fox Pass
Hot Spring
Ancient Stone Arch
Mobius Garden
Temple of the Angry Spirits
LaGrange Four
Coral Reef
The Alabaster Palace
Gen Con 2010 Dueling
This year I was again playing The Politician with a few minor updates. My main concerns going into this event were two-fold. One, I still felt that a Project Apocalypse deck and a 7 Masters deck with it's event protection (Li Mao) and ubiquitous healing would be difficult. I had really thought that a good control Ascended deck would be the way to go, but I didn't have time to put one together. The main tools I was looking at for Ascended were Lodge Machinations for Project Apocalypse and discard and Shadowy Mentor to deal with the 7 Masters.
The field was only six players. The event was supposed to be a full round robin with each player playing each other twice with each person getting to go first once. No time limits were set because dueling is supposed to be fast enough to not require them. This did not quite work out, but the final standings were not affected.
The first deck I played against was Project Apocalypse run by David Kempe. Shit! I lost both games. I don't think it was so much because my deck can't beat it as my strategy to beat it. I was focusing on taking down the PA site. If I had tried to go into a fast attack mode and play sites quickly, I could have won through conventional victory conditions before PA would have timed out. I was saving my resources to try to take down PA and lost site of how to win the game. Next year.
Second match was against John Merrill and his deck that tied for first at Origins. It was a Hand deck with Sword Saints and Spear of Destiny that did not stand up. He had at least one bad draw also.
Third match was against Julian Leighton. He was playing a slightly updated SWAHT deck, which he had won the Gen Con dueling event with a few years ago. First game, he won as he was able to field threats faster than I could remove them. The second game his first two sites in play were Whirlpools of Blood. I was able to take advantage of their low bodies and win the second game.
Fourth match was against Jeremy Dale, who was playing a Big Red Button deck. I beat him in our first game. Unfortunately, he had to leave for a miniatures painting contest, and we did not get to play the second game. When he played Greg Zimmerman in the previous round, he got off a janky combo that was amusing. Jeremy had no cards in play. He played a Desire Manipulator on Greg's Battlechimp. He then played a Newest Model on the Manipulator. This netted him 2 power per turn along with 1 counter on his We Have the Technology each turn while his Supercomputer was filling his hand. Finally, he had enough power and cards to bust out with a Big Red Button and destroy everything Greg had in play.
Due to time constraints, I did not get to play Greg. The final standings were Julian in first and me in second. I had the distinction of being the only player to beat Julian even one game. So I had that going for me.
Deck: The Politician v 1.1
Foundation (15)
Test Subjects x5
Combat Engineer x5
Arcanomoth x5
Characters (11)
Napalm Belcher x5
Rocket Team x3
Dr. Curtis Boatman vPAP
Gnarled Annihilator
Commander Corliss
Denial (22)
Imprison x4
Nanovirus
Nerve Gas x3
Artillery Strike x2
Aerial Bombardment x2
Wave Disruptor
War of Attrition x2
Overzealous Assassins
Orbital Laser Strike x3
Smart Missile x3
Support (10)
MegaTank
Rise of the NeoBuro x2
Evil Brain in the Jar
Reinvigoration Process x2
Dangerous Experiment x4
FSS (15)
Creche of the New Flesh x2
Mirrored Lake
Dragon Graveyard x3
Mah-Jongg Parlor
Monkey House
Moon Base x3
Temple of Celestial Mercy
Temple of the Angry Spirits
Waterfall Sanctuary
Ancient Stone Arch
Strategy is to build resources to get the Napalm Belchers out and blow away opponents cards. Always keep one power on hand to get rid of any big threat that comes out. Never attack unrevealed sites. Once your ahead in power and fighting, just deny anything that hits the board and maintain your advantage.
The field was only six players. The event was supposed to be a full round robin with each player playing each other twice with each person getting to go first once. No time limits were set because dueling is supposed to be fast enough to not require them. This did not quite work out, but the final standings were not affected.
The first deck I played against was Project Apocalypse run by David Kempe. Shit! I lost both games. I don't think it was so much because my deck can't beat it as my strategy to beat it. I was focusing on taking down the PA site. If I had tried to go into a fast attack mode and play sites quickly, I could have won through conventional victory conditions before PA would have timed out. I was saving my resources to try to take down PA and lost site of how to win the game. Next year.
Second match was against John Merrill and his deck that tied for first at Origins. It was a Hand deck with Sword Saints and Spear of Destiny that did not stand up. He had at least one bad draw also.
Third match was against Julian Leighton. He was playing a slightly updated SWAHT deck, which he had won the Gen Con dueling event with a few years ago. First game, he won as he was able to field threats faster than I could remove them. The second game his first two sites in play were Whirlpools of Blood. I was able to take advantage of their low bodies and win the second game.
Fourth match was against Jeremy Dale, who was playing a Big Red Button deck. I beat him in our first game. Unfortunately, he had to leave for a miniatures painting contest, and we did not get to play the second game. When he played Greg Zimmerman in the previous round, he got off a janky combo that was amusing. Jeremy had no cards in play. He played a Desire Manipulator on Greg's Battlechimp. He then played a Newest Model on the Manipulator. This netted him 2 power per turn along with 1 counter on his We Have the Technology each turn while his Supercomputer was filling his hand. Finally, he had enough power and cards to bust out with a Big Red Button and destroy everything Greg had in play.
Due to time constraints, I did not get to play Greg. The final standings were Julian in first and me in second. I had the distinction of being the only player to beat Julian even one game. So I had that going for me.
Deck: The Politician v 1.1
Foundation (15)
Test Subjects x5
Combat Engineer x5
Arcanomoth x5
Characters (11)
Napalm Belcher x5
Rocket Team x3
Dr. Curtis Boatman vPAP
Gnarled Annihilator
Commander Corliss
Denial (22)
Imprison x4
Nanovirus
Nerve Gas x3
Artillery Strike x2
Aerial Bombardment x2
Wave Disruptor
War of Attrition x2
Overzealous Assassins
Orbital Laser Strike x3
Smart Missile x3
Support (10)
MegaTank
Rise of the NeoBuro x2
Evil Brain in the Jar
Reinvigoration Process x2
Dangerous Experiment x4
FSS (15)
Creche of the New Flesh x2
Mirrored Lake
Dragon Graveyard x3
Mah-Jongg Parlor
Monkey House
Moon Base x3
Temple of Celestial Mercy
Temple of the Angry Spirits
Waterfall Sanctuary
Ancient Stone Arch
Strategy is to build resources to get the Napalm Belchers out and blow away opponents cards. Always keep one power on hand to get rid of any big threat that comes out. Never attack unrevealed sites. Once your ahead in power and fighting, just deny anything that hits the board and maintain your advantage.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Plattecon Final Brawl Deck 2010
This deck was designed for the Wisconsin state championship. I, however, did not get a chance to play it. It is designed for four-player and favors a long game. Some of features of the deck are Occult Kung Fu and Martyr’s Tomb. The Occult Kung Fu could copy the Mountain Hermit on to a Master and allow it to be unturned using a Wah-Shan Clan Warrior, Wudang Mountain, or the Mountain Monastery. It could also copy the Coyote Clan Scavengers on to a hitter to get Ambush against non-foundation characters, which should be all you need. The Martyr’s Tomb would be used to reload a hitter before playing Unexpected Rescue. It would also reload Red Bat once an opponent got to 8 Events in their smoked pile. Free Red Bat every turn does not suck. This deck really needs some tuning as each combo seems too unlikely to come up.
Foundations (13)
Wah-Shan Clan Warriors x5
Mountain Hermit x3
Black Helicopter Squad
Coyote Clan Scavengers x3
Queen of the Ice Pagoda (old)
Characters (10)
Wudang Monk
Monsoon
Ghost Wind
Li Mao
Red Bat x2
Gold Lion
Wu Man Kai
Jade Willow
Hunger of the Jackal
Events (20)
Kunlun Clan Assault x5
Unexpected Rescue x4
Monkey Fools the Tiger x2
Wing of the Crane x2
Violet Meditation x3
Beneficent Tao x2
Operation Killdeer x2
States (5)
Occult Kung Fu x2
Living Legend
Fortune of the Turtle x2
Edges (1)
Balanced Harmonies
Sites (1)
Mountain Monastery
FSS(14)
Wudang Mountain
Martyr’s Tomb
Bamboo Forest
Puzzle Garden x4
Grizzly Pass
Ancient Stone Arch
Fox Pass
Devil’s Mountain
Cave Network x2
Temple of the Angry Spirits
One of the person goals of this deck was to try to beat Willow with her card: Jade Willow.
Foundations (13)
Wah-Shan Clan Warriors x5
Mountain Hermit x3
Black Helicopter Squad
Coyote Clan Scavengers x3
Queen of the Ice Pagoda (old)
Characters (10)
Wudang Monk
Monsoon
Ghost Wind
Li Mao
Red Bat x2
Gold Lion
Wu Man Kai
Jade Willow
Hunger of the Jackal
Events (20)
Kunlun Clan Assault x5
Unexpected Rescue x4
Monkey Fools the Tiger x2
Wing of the Crane x2
Violet Meditation x3
Beneficent Tao x2
Operation Killdeer x2
States (5)
Occult Kung Fu x2
Living Legend
Fortune of the Turtle x2
Edges (1)
Balanced Harmonies
Sites (1)
Mountain Monastery
FSS(14)
Wudang Mountain
Martyr’s Tomb
Bamboo Forest
Puzzle Garden x4
Grizzly Pass
Ancient Stone Arch
Fox Pass
Devil’s Mountain
Cave Network x2
Temple of the Angry Spirits
One of the person goals of this deck was to try to beat Willow with her card: Jade Willow.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Ascended Empire of Evil Sampler Deck
This deck uses all Ascended cards from Empire of Evil except for Horus, the ReAscended hitter who needs more of a specialty deck. The two points that were emphasized were adding a wider variety of events to help the Tentacles of the Squid and having lots of discard effects to get the most out of the Wisdom of the Owl. Both paid off. I had to discard a large portion of my deck to get to my hitters. If the deck had not been designed for additional discards, I never would have gotten to them. The game winning attack was with a Tentacle doing 10 damage, which was enough to prevent healing and redirection tricks from preventing him from taking the site.
Foundation (13)
Whelps x3
The Pledged x5
Student of the Bear x4
Liquidators
Characters (12)
Wisdom of the Owl x2
Tentacles of the Squid x2
G-Man
The Petrified Man
Hunger of the Jackal x2
Adrienne Hart
Juan “El Tigre” Velasquez
Natraj Thalnasser
The She-Wolf
Events (15)
Red Tape Assault x2
Murder by Night
Operation Killdeer x5
Spy Network
Cover Operations
Bite of the Jellyfish
Mole Network
Realpolitik
Cry of the Forgotten Ancestor
“Throw Me the Idol”
States (4)
Embrace of the Snake x2
Compromised Security x2
Edges (3)
Delaying Tactics x2
Paper Trail
Sites (4)
Family Estate x3
The Bazaar
FSS(13)
Palace of Virtual Light
Boot Hill
Perpetual Motion Machine
Coral Reef x2
Dragon Graveyard x2
Tangram Alley
Ominous Swamp
Mobius Garden
Monkey House
Field of Tentacles
After the fact, I realized that Murder by Night does not combo with the Tentacles since it becomes Toast It.
Foundation (13)
Whelps x3
The Pledged x5
Student of the Bear x4
Liquidators
Characters (12)
Wisdom of the Owl x2
Tentacles of the Squid x2
G-Man
The Petrified Man
Hunger of the Jackal x2
Adrienne Hart
Juan “El Tigre” Velasquez
Natraj Thalnasser
The She-Wolf
Events (15)
Red Tape Assault x2
Murder by Night
Operation Killdeer x5
Spy Network
Cover Operations
Bite of the Jellyfish
Mole Network
Realpolitik
Cry of the Forgotten Ancestor
“Throw Me the Idol”
States (4)
Embrace of the Snake x2
Compromised Security x2
Edges (3)
Delaying Tactics x2
Paper Trail
Sites (4)
Family Estate x3
The Bazaar
FSS(13)
Palace of Virtual Light
Boot Hill
Perpetual Motion Machine
Coral Reef x2
Dragon Graveyard x2
Tangram Alley
Ominous Swamp
Mobius Garden
Monkey House
Field of Tentacles
After the fact, I realized that Murder by Night does not combo with the Tentacles since it becomes Toast It.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Casual Play Report
After a long hiatus due to a little family accident, I was able to get together with Willow and Tim for a few games.
Game 1:
Willow played her willing deck from Plattecon featuring Jade Willow.
Tim played his standard detonating Destroyer deck.
I played a 7 Masters / Ascended deck that I was going to take to Plattecon. I'll post the deck later.
Willow got out the White Ninja but wasn't able to muster enough fighting to take a site. Tim Tortured Memories the Ninja and burned Willow's front row site for power. This let Willow drop Jade Willow for free. I dropped the Queen of the Ice Pagoda (old) and attacked the Ninja. We exchanged Monkey Fools the Tiger and both characters were smoked. Jade Willow then got Fortune of the Turtle and went on a rampage. Shortly after that Willow won the game.
Game 2:
I played a Darkness Deck,
Willow played a Syndicate Deck
Tim played a Dragon Deck
Willow got a fairly fast start using a Bird Sanctuary to good effect to get an early Song, the Little Dragon. I could not get a second Monarch resource to save my life. By the time Tim was able to play a Big Bruiser, Willow had Hirake Kazuko in play, which would make the Big Bruiser a big mistake. Again, Willow was able to win this game in short order.
Game 3:
I played a Jammer Deck,
Willow played an Architect Tank Deck,
Tim played an Ascended Tentacles of the Squid Deck.
On Tim's first turn, he played a Gangster and attacked Willow's undefended Feng Shui Site. I played Out of the Barrel to drop a free Cocktail Waiters. I joined the attack with the Waiters and Just Another Consumer. I thought putting 5 damage on the site would soften it nicely for me to take it next turn. Nope, it was a Maze of Stairs! Tim got a burn for power on his first turn. Fortunately, for Willow and me, he could not get a second resource right away. I was able to get some more cheap characters and burn Tim's front row site and was lucky that Tim did not have a Bite when I burned it for power. After that I was able to roll to a quick win.
Game 4:
Tim played Willow's championship Punchy Hand deck
Willow played her Monarch/Dragon deck
I played an Ascended Wisdom of the Owl / Discard deck
I was able to play a Wisdom of the Owl on my first turn. Willow and Tim attacked it repeatedly, but were foiled with multiple Operation Killdeers. I used a Coral Reef, Coil of the Snake, and the Palace of Virtual Light to cycle through my deck to get to some big characters. Finally I got Adrianne Hart and went for the win. I was decimated with the denial that came out. Willow came on strong with the Queen of the Ice Pagoda (new) with an Ice Sword. She took some of my sites over then next few turns, but stalled at victory conditions. Tim had two damaged sites in his front row, and Willow's front row site was also damaged. I was able to superleap "El Tigre" over the Queen to take Willow's site. I then played a site to put me at victory. I then dropped Liquidators and Tentacles of the Squid who were up to 10 damage at this point. They were able to take a site from Tim for the win.
Overall a fun night after not playing for 3 months.
Game 1:
Willow played her willing deck from Plattecon featuring Jade Willow.
Tim played his standard detonating Destroyer deck.
I played a 7 Masters / Ascended deck that I was going to take to Plattecon. I'll post the deck later.
Willow got out the White Ninja but wasn't able to muster enough fighting to take a site. Tim Tortured Memories the Ninja and burned Willow's front row site for power. This let Willow drop Jade Willow for free. I dropped the Queen of the Ice Pagoda (old) and attacked the Ninja. We exchanged Monkey Fools the Tiger and both characters were smoked. Jade Willow then got Fortune of the Turtle and went on a rampage. Shortly after that Willow won the game.
Game 2:
I played a Darkness Deck,
Willow played a Syndicate Deck
Tim played a Dragon Deck
Willow got a fairly fast start using a Bird Sanctuary to good effect to get an early Song, the Little Dragon. I could not get a second Monarch resource to save my life. By the time Tim was able to play a Big Bruiser, Willow had Hirake Kazuko in play, which would make the Big Bruiser a big mistake. Again, Willow was able to win this game in short order.
Game 3:
I played a Jammer Deck,
Willow played an Architect Tank Deck,
Tim played an Ascended Tentacles of the Squid Deck.
On Tim's first turn, he played a Gangster and attacked Willow's undefended Feng Shui Site. I played Out of the Barrel to drop a free Cocktail Waiters. I joined the attack with the Waiters and Just Another Consumer. I thought putting 5 damage on the site would soften it nicely for me to take it next turn. Nope, it was a Maze of Stairs! Tim got a burn for power on his first turn. Fortunately, for Willow and me, he could not get a second resource right away. I was able to get some more cheap characters and burn Tim's front row site and was lucky that Tim did not have a Bite when I burned it for power. After that I was able to roll to a quick win.
Game 4:
Tim played Willow's championship Punchy Hand deck
Willow played her Monarch/Dragon deck
I played an Ascended Wisdom of the Owl / Discard deck
I was able to play a Wisdom of the Owl on my first turn. Willow and Tim attacked it repeatedly, but were foiled with multiple Operation Killdeers. I used a Coral Reef, Coil of the Snake, and the Palace of Virtual Light to cycle through my deck to get to some big characters. Finally I got Adrianne Hart and went for the win. I was decimated with the denial that came out. Willow came on strong with the Queen of the Ice Pagoda (new) with an Ice Sword. She took some of my sites over then next few turns, but stalled at victory conditions. Tim had two damaged sites in his front row, and Willow's front row site was also damaged. I was able to superleap "El Tigre" over the Queen to take Willow's site. I then played a site to put me at victory. I then dropped Liquidators and Tentacles of the Squid who were up to 10 damage at this point. They were able to take a site from Tim for the win.
Overall a fun night after not playing for 3 months.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Plattecon Prize Support
Here are all the cool prizes Inner Kingdom Games provided for Plattecon. Actually, there are two uncut sheets from Empire of Evil that aren't shown. Very generous. I think I'm going to have to work seriously on my decks this year so I can get the plaque to hang on my wall. Barring that, I would like an uncut sheet or a mouse pad with Ting Ting.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Anticipated Metagame Shift
After playing a few games with Empire of Evil and seeing how things went down at Gen Con, I am anticipating a need for a shift in the metagame. More and more there are new cards that allow for penetration during attacks. This is either by Stealth, Superleap, cannot be intercepted (e.g. Hegemeister or Scramble Suit), stop intercepting (e.g. Blue Meditation, Dust Storm), or healing (e.g. The Willow Bends...). Relying on interceptors to stop attacks is becoming far less reliable. I think this is going to necessitate a shift back towards more direct removal. Zap denial had fallen out of favor somewhat because of the amount of counter denial with some of it even being punitive, Who's the Monkey Now and Brain Fire being the biggest. I, however, think that without zap, it will become increasingly hard to mount effective defenses. So either zap will need to come back or more creative (most likely site based) defenses will evolve.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Hand Empire of Evil Sampler Deck
Foundation (13):
Willow Warriors x3
Golden Candle Society x5
Shaolin Student x5
Characters (12):
Peasant Leader x2
Stoic Wanderer
Yuan Chonguan
Shung Dai
Wei Fong-yi
Yen Fan
Sun Chen
Shihong
Blue Master x2
Fong Sai Yuk
Events (9):
Blue Meditation x2
Resistance in Numbers
Rigorous Discipline
Difficulty at the End of Things x2
Superior Kung Fu x2
Natural Order
States (11):
Meditative Flight
Awesome Presence
Rain of Fury
Dim Mak
Hand without Shadow x2
Butterfly Swords x4
Flying Windmill Kick
Edge (1):
Strength of the Land
Sites (3):
Mountain Monastery x2
Bandit Hideout
FSS (14):
Temple of the Shaolin Dragon
Hydroponic Garden x2
Disco
City Park x3
Mirrored Lake
Mobius Garden
Ancient Stone Arch
Bird Sanctuary
Festival Circle
Fox Pass
Golden Mile
Since a lot of the characters in the set have some type of evasion, the deck just wants to get damage adders on the characters and sneak past interceptors to take sites. A secondary theme was to get the Peasant Leaders so they could take control of opponents' characters.
Jammer Empire of Evil Sampler Deck
Foundation (13):
Suicide Squad x3
Just Another Consumer x5
Edge Warrior
Resistance Squad x4
Characters (12):
Cocktail Waiters
Tunnel King
Dump Scrounger x2
Andy Di x2
Potemkin's Brigade
BattleChimp Potemkin vPaP x2
The Wrath of Kong
Furious George
King Kung
Events (21):
Out of the Barrel x3
Back in Black x3
Close Call x2
Auspicious Thermite
Scrounging x4
Death-O-Rama x4
Who's the Monkey Now x2
Street Riot x2
States (4):
Thingshot
Explosive Motorcycle x2
Homemade Tank
Edge (1):
Payback Time
Sites (8):
Bomb Factory x2
Rebel Camp x2
Killing Ground x4
FSS (9):
Nightclub x2
Hot Spring
Whirlpool of Blood
Fox Pass
City Square
Disco
Coral Reef x2
Here's my deck to try out the Jammer cards from Empire of Evil. Note that I did not get a copy of Jayne Insane or Johnny Amok, so both are missing. With Out of the Barrel and Back in Black, I felt that event recycling to pump out lots of characters would be a strong strategy. The BattleChimp vPaP is just the card to make it work. Lots of the other cards are then used to maximize the damage they do. Use the City Square and Fox Pass for defense, and it should play fairly well.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Play Results
So we had six people show up at my place for some casual play and as a warm up for Plattecon and the Wisconsin state championship. We broke down to two three-player games.
Table 1 was Collin, Jeff, and Tim. They played three games. Tim won the first two with his Detonating Destroyer deck. I think Collin might have won the third. At one point he was playing a Dragon / Jammer gun deck. I saw Jeff playing his Ascended Bounty deck one game, and an Architect deck in another game. Obviously I don't have many details overall.
Table 2 was John, Willow, and me. Game one, John played a Jammer coin flip deck; Willow played an Architect tank deck; and I played my Lotus Empire of Evil sampler deck posted previously. Willow and I had good starts. She got a Tank Commander and Commandant Barkhorn each with a Panzer X, and I had the Demon Emperor, his Evil Twin and Xin Ji Yang. Fortunately, I got my Waterfall Sanctuary in play, and that slowed Willow down. She had to drop the bomb to slow me down. The Alabaster King, however, showed up in place of the Demon Emperor. My next turn, a Hell Hound showed up to protect the King. His Evil Twin then showed up. Once Willow realized that the Hound protected both from another Bomb, she convinced John that the Hound had to die. He obliged and smoked the Hound with "Do You Feel Luck, Punk". Willow then dropped the Bomb. The only survivor was Commnadant Barkhorn. It looked like Willow as going for the win, but John stopped her with Safety Third. I played my fourth FSS and waited. I could have spent all my power on a hitter and gone for the win, but Willow had power and most likely an Imprison in hand. Instead, I passed thinking my two Tortured Memories would be enough to win next turn. John played Jayne Insane and attacked Willow. She was forced to Imprison Jayne. Willow attacked me for the win with Barkhorn. I took control of him to end the attack and Willow's turn. I then took control of him on my turn and played Jueding Shelun, which was enough to take a site to win.
Game 2, I played a Hand Empire of Evil sampler deck, Willow played a Dragon Is That All You Got deck, and John played a Dragon/Purist coin flip/gun deck. There was lots of character build up in this game. Willow had a very defendable position with a Maze of Stairs in the front row and a Kinoshita House in the back row. I was not able to crack this egg, but John broke it down with his Wild Spirits and Zen Ritualists to move the sites around. Willow made a push against John with her Big Bruiser and Good Ol' Boys backed up by Lin for healing. John was able to stop them by recycling an Origami Handguns through his chain of interceptors. The final and crowning moment was when the final defender was smoked, the Handguns went on the Big Bruiser to reduce is fighting to zero and fail the attack. John then played some foundation and launched a longshot attack against me, which failed to take my site. I then played my fourth site and attacked with Shung Dai a Butterfly Swords and Flying Windmill Kick to take John's site for the win.
At this point, Collin, Willow, and Tim left. Jeff, John, and I played one more game. John played Syndicate/Ascended ReAscended; Jeff played a Dragon gun deck; and I played a Jammer Empire of Evil sampler deck. John got stuck with a Proving Ground as his only site and could have been shut out of the game because I had a Whirlpool of Blood. I, however, needed his help to shut down Jeff, who had an early burn for power. With Andy Di pumping my weenies, I was able to pull down Jeff. My City Square with lots of non-FSS limited his ability to attack effectively. Once I seized Jeff's Fox Pass, I had to tools to hold off attacks and build to a win. One of the keys was Battlechimp to play Back in Black to bring back chump targets for Fox Pass to limit effective attacks.
Table 1 was Collin, Jeff, and Tim. They played three games. Tim won the first two with his Detonating Destroyer deck. I think Collin might have won the third. At one point he was playing a Dragon / Jammer gun deck. I saw Jeff playing his Ascended Bounty deck one game, and an Architect deck in another game. Obviously I don't have many details overall.
Table 2 was John, Willow, and me. Game one, John played a Jammer coin flip deck; Willow played an Architect tank deck; and I played my Lotus Empire of Evil sampler deck posted previously. Willow and I had good starts. She got a Tank Commander and Commandant Barkhorn each with a Panzer X, and I had the Demon Emperor, his Evil Twin and Xin Ji Yang. Fortunately, I got my Waterfall Sanctuary in play, and that slowed Willow down. She had to drop the bomb to slow me down. The Alabaster King, however, showed up in place of the Demon Emperor. My next turn, a Hell Hound showed up to protect the King. His Evil Twin then showed up. Once Willow realized that the Hound protected both from another Bomb, she convinced John that the Hound had to die. He obliged and smoked the Hound with "Do You Feel Luck, Punk". Willow then dropped the Bomb. The only survivor was Commnadant Barkhorn. It looked like Willow as going for the win, but John stopped her with Safety Third. I played my fourth FSS and waited. I could have spent all my power on a hitter and gone for the win, but Willow had power and most likely an Imprison in hand. Instead, I passed thinking my two Tortured Memories would be enough to win next turn. John played Jayne Insane and attacked Willow. She was forced to Imprison Jayne. Willow attacked me for the win with Barkhorn. I took control of him to end the attack and Willow's turn. I then took control of him on my turn and played Jueding Shelun, which was enough to take a site to win.
Game 2, I played a Hand Empire of Evil sampler deck, Willow played a Dragon Is That All You Got deck, and John played a Dragon/Purist coin flip/gun deck. There was lots of character build up in this game. Willow had a very defendable position with a Maze of Stairs in the front row and a Kinoshita House in the back row. I was not able to crack this egg, but John broke it down with his Wild Spirits and Zen Ritualists to move the sites around. Willow made a push against John with her Big Bruiser and Good Ol' Boys backed up by Lin for healing. John was able to stop them by recycling an Origami Handguns through his chain of interceptors. The final and crowning moment was when the final defender was smoked, the Handguns went on the Big Bruiser to reduce is fighting to zero and fail the attack. John then played some foundation and launched a longshot attack against me, which failed to take my site. I then played my fourth site and attacked with Shung Dai a Butterfly Swords and Flying Windmill Kick to take John's site for the win.
At this point, Collin, Willow, and Tim left. Jeff, John, and I played one more game. John played Syndicate/Ascended ReAscended; Jeff played a Dragon gun deck; and I played a Jammer Empire of Evil sampler deck. John got stuck with a Proving Ground as his only site and could have been shut out of the game because I had a Whirlpool of Blood. I, however, needed his help to shut down Jeff, who had an early burn for power. With Andy Di pumping my weenies, I was able to pull down Jeff. My City Square with lots of non-FSS limited his ability to attack effectively. Once I seized Jeff's Fox Pass, I had to tools to hold off attacks and build to a win. One of the keys was Battlechimp to play Back in Black to bring back chump targets for Fox Pass to limit effective attacks.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Empire of Evil Lotus Trial Deck
So we are going to get together to play some games finally with the Empire of Evil cards. Here is my first deck. It is pretty much a sampler of the new Lotus cards that I drew. I'm missing the promo cards for now. Once I get some play time with it, I'll tune it up.
Foundation
Imperial Sycophants x3
Prefect’s Guard x3
Sinister Priest x5
Eunuch Underling x2
Characters
Unholy Legionnaires x3
Eater of Fortune
Hell Hound
Evil Twin x2
Demon Emperor
Xin Ji Yang
Jueding Shelun
Xin Kai Sheng
Seven Evils
The Alabaster King
Events
Drowning in Blood
The Withering of Souls
The Becoming
Larcenous Mist x2
Flying Sleeves
Die!!!! x2
Underworld Coronation
Tortured Memories x4
Pocket Demon x2
Inauspicious Return
States
Under the Knife x3
Withering Touch
Abysmal Behemoth
Sites
Alchemist’s Lair
FSS
The Alabaster Palace
Martyr’s Tomb
Mirrored Lake
Mobius Garden
Ancient Stone Arch
City Park
Hydroponic Garden
Nine Dragon Temple
Disco
Gambling House
Golden Mile
Petroglyphs
Waterfall Sanctuary
Temple of the Monkey King
Foundation
Imperial Sycophants x3
Prefect’s Guard x3
Sinister Priest x5
Eunuch Underling x2
Characters
Unholy Legionnaires x3
Eater of Fortune
Hell Hound
Evil Twin x2
Demon Emperor
Xin Ji Yang
Jueding Shelun
Xin Kai Sheng
Seven Evils
The Alabaster King
Events
Drowning in Blood
The Withering of Souls
The Becoming
Larcenous Mist x2
Flying Sleeves
Die!!!! x2
Underworld Coronation
Tortured Memories x4
Pocket Demon x2
Inauspicious Return
States
Under the Knife x3
Withering Touch
Abysmal Behemoth
Sites
Alchemist’s Lair
FSS
The Alabaster Palace
Martyr’s Tomb
Mirrored Lake
Mobius Garden
Ancient Stone Arch
City Park
Hydroponic Garden
Nine Dragon Temple
Disco
Gambling House
Golden Mile
Petroglyphs
Waterfall Sanctuary
Temple of the Monkey King
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)