Pacific Rim Championships Brisbane 2010 Report Top Dragon
4th Glory
I have been testing different decks for some time. Although I still have my LSC deck, there is so much weenie hate and anti-honour nerfing that this deck can be easily crippled now. Although military monk is strong, I decided to concentrate my old favourite theme, Enlightenment. This was not because its better, but purely because it was now feasible. I have two enlightenment decks. One is pure enlightenment (fast) and the other is more military/switch. The pure enlightenment was faster but had trouble getting Earth, while the other was better at Earth but slower. Due to unforseen circumstances, Team Vic attendances to the event (which was on the AFL Grand Final weekend), dropped to only me. My only last minute check is to take the badge! (See previous reports)
I arrive Friday at hotel Slug. We decide to go to the pre-event which is due to be an Empire at War Sealed Deck. The idea to return by 10.00 pm. (What was I thinking?) We don't start the event until 10:30 pm. While we are playing, it finally hit me why my Enlightenment deck has been below par of late. I made the applicable modification to the Military/Switch deck to the Pure Enlightenment deck instead. So when we return, I again use Slug Tech to modify my deck that I will play. Switching to the Mil/Switch. Unfortunately, this results in a late night and going to bed at 2.30 am.
Despite a poor night's sleep and waking every few hours, I set off with more confidence.
Clan Breakdowns as follows:
4
Crab
3
Crane
4
Dragon
3
Lion
2
Mantis
3
Phoenix
4
Scorpion
4
Spider
4
Unicorn
Round 1 – Dianne
Cynthia Laycock (Brisbane) Utaku Plains - Unicorn
Dianne has only been
playing since the last Kotei and was my first opponent then too. We both get a
gold start. Play is slow as I am teaching her more than playing. By turn 3 I
have Shimera and Ring of Air. Turn 4 we both have 6 peeps. Turn 5 she
attacks. Although I loose two peeps, I save the province and get Water and Fire
out. Turn 6 I let her take a province then I get Earth. I spend most of my time helping Dianne learn the mechanics of
the game and giving her basic strategy tips and teach her the rules. Time is
then called. She concedes. I would have had Void on my next turn.
Win.
1 W – 0 L
Round 2 – Patrick Van Rooyen (Brisbane) Twin Soul Temple - Phoenix (Enlightenment)
He gets a better
start, with Isawa Ochiai out on turn 2. I build gold and peeps. Turn 3. He duels
(and wins), I discard his Shiba Ningen xp 3 from his province. We build until
turn 6, he has Air and Fire I only have Air. He attacks on Turn 6 and I loose a
province but I get Fire out during the battle. I get Guidance and my hand swells. I have 2
rings in hand as well as Changing Paths with 15 cards, Time is called but we
finish the battle. I enlighten.
Win
2 W – 0 L
Round 3 – Michael
Hill (Brisbane) Dragon Bay - Mantis
Turn 1 is mulligan
for both of us. We are both off to a slow start and we both get gold and build until
turn 5. He has Yoritomo's Guidance and gets War of Dark Fire and Imperial Census,
bowing 3 of my peeps including my 2 duelists. He attacks and I let him kill a
province. Turn 6, he attacks again (I don't defend) and I am down to two
provinces. Turn 7, I attack and get Earth as most of his stuff is bowed and he
doesn't mind losing a province. He goes for my last two provinces. I defend
both, splitting my forces. The first has my duelists, which gets me Ring of Fire,
before I loose the battle and the province. Although I have Void in hand and
actions to get it out, I don't have Water or a Changing Paths. I hope to win the
battle to gain more time, but his force is totally overwhelming. The final
battle. I Beloved in Togashi Nakahara. Nakahara action's score's me Changing
Path which he plays and also gets me Water in play. Michaels action now are
irrelevant as I only need one more action for Void and I don't need presence for
it. I enlighten. Michael's jaws hit the floor. The most amazing thing for
me, was getting enlightenment so quickly without the
Guidance.
Win
3 W - 0 L
Lunch Break - Get a chance to R&R
Round 4 – Shane
Pheeny - Brisbane (Slug) Shattered Peaks Castle - Crab
Turn 1 we both get
gold. Turn 2 more gold and I get Guidance. Slug has lots of events that cycle
cards as well as Imperial Census (which has no effect at this time). Turn 3 more
building, he has one peep. Turn 4 I get guidance. Turn 5 see's Slug Last One on
Hida Kagura, with the Obsidian Hand and the Talisman of Meido. He also has Plains of
Resolution in play. I can't touch him. He attacks. I stand in the way, duel, get
fire, but he of course doesn't die and takes a province. Turn 6 I attack and get
Earth, he plays Retribution and take another province. On his turn he takes another
province, down to one now. Turn 7, I have Water in hand and call Void with Changing
Paths to get Air. I only have this turn to get Void, so I attack all three
provinces. He defends all. The battle goes badly for me, but winning the battle
was never my intention, I enlighten. This results in a major error. I am now the
only undefeated
player.
Win
4 W – 1 L
Round 5 – Chris Harvey (Brisbane) Central Castle - Lion
We both double
mulligan, but get gold. Turn 2 building. Turn 3 he attack I save the province
but we both loose 2 peeps. Although I get Water, I had to drop Air and Fire in
the discard. We are both at 15 honour. Turn 5 he attacks, I can't really stop
him, so I let him take it, he gets Void. His card draw engine makes my potential
card draw look non-existent. I only have the counting house. I get Air in the
limited phase. Turn 7 I am down to 1 province, he has a full hand, peeps loaded with
items and more card draw, which seem endless. My hand is small and weak. I have a third ring out
(forget which), but can't fight off his overwhelming numbers. I never was
really a contender in this game. My first loss.
Loss
4 W – 1 L
Round 6 – Adam Fry (Bundaberg) Shiro Daidoji - Crane
We both mulligan and
build. Turn 3 I get Air in the limited. By turn 4 exhaustion starts to really
hit me and thinking becomes difficult. (Even my notes have started to become
less detailed). Turn 5 he attacks and I stand aside, setting up Nakahara, so
I can get card draw/scanning, but
forget to use him. Turn 6 he attacks and I stand aside, setting up Nakahara but
forget to use him again.
I only need Ring of Fire in hand but don't have
it. I attack in a desperate effort, but still need Earth and Fire. I go
down.
Loss.
4 W – 2 L
I finish 3rd
overall.
The top four are
Slug (Crab Last One Military), Adam Fry (Crane – Scout), myself and Chris Harvey (Lion).
We have a nice dinner break and I hope the R&R refreshes me enough so I will be able to concentrate and think clearly. I don't mind losing, but losing because I am playing below my potential is frustrating. (Of course, I was not the only one thus afflicted).
FINALS
Semi-Final Game 2 – Adam Fry (Bundaberg) Shiro Daidoji - Crane
Turn 1/2 build. Turn 3 I had 3 peeps to his 3. Turn 4 he gets War of Dark Fire, so we tie on 10 honour each. He attacks, I loose a province (don't defend). I get Air in my limited phase. Turn 5, I loose another province (don't defend). I get out the Guidance. I need cards and get Counting House and Travelling Peddler. I have all rings remaining in hand except for Void, with 2 provinces remaining. He has 7 peeps to my 6. Turn 6, he attacks again. I defend with one peep (duelist) and get Ring of Fire before losing the province. I begin my turn and pick up Ring of Earth,I then attack Adam with 4 peeps. He defends. I sneak, get Void, Water and win the battle to get Earth. I enlighten. Win
Semi-Final Game 3 –
Adam Fry (Bundaberg) Shiro Daidoji - Crane
Turn 1 I am forced to double mulligan. By turn 3 I have 1 peep (Shugenja), 5 honour and Claiming the Throne. Adam gets screwy gold that doesn't work well for him. By turn 4/5 I get Air in the limited phase. Still on 5 honour with 3 peeps. Turn 6 Adam puts Chag's armour on Zoushi and kill a province. Sneaky tactics kill another two. My Turn 7 I get Kei, which holds Adam back as he builds. He attacks on turn 8 with some dude I can't remember (notes illegible) who is pumped (not sure how now), but I defend successfully and send him home. Turn 9 we are "stalemated" with very even forces, both to cautious to take the offensive. The 90 minute finals time is running short, so Adam launches an attack on my last province. I am on 38 honour. Time is actually called, but we play out the battle. I don't recall the details. I know I make some minor errors, which may have had an effect on the result. In the end, Adam take the province with 4 force to spare. We are forced to play a third game. Loss
Semi-Final Game 2 –
At this stage I know I am getting to exhausted to think straight. Turn 1 see Claiming the Throne and Guidance. Turn 3/4 (?) I make an early novice error, losing 3 peeps including Satsu, Jinko and Kammu. He likewise follows up with a dumb attack error which gets me Earth. I am having such trouble concentrating that even my notes become sketchy.! I also had Fire out (probably at a battle I lost). By turn 7 I am on 36 honour, but he crossed with 40 on his turn. The remaining rings are in hand. At this point, I have everything I need to enlighten, except a shugenja. My one province card flip is .... a shugenja. I attack in some vain hope Adam can cause self inflicted honour loss. I don't have enough force to take 4 provinces. Adam is afraid to defend in case I repeat my game one result. Game over. Finished 4th overall. Loss
Despite my exhaustion, all my opponents were fun to play against.
Main Event (Glory
points)
1st - Chris Harvey / Lion / Empire -
Picks Ikoma Otemi
2nd - Adam Fry / Crane / Empire
3rd - Shane Pheeney / Crab / Empire
4th - Joseph Italiano / Dragon / Kept *
The following day we
have a smaller turn out. for the winner Choice. I still have trouble sleeping
well and know I am too exhausted to concentrate, so I switch to a Monk military
deck. (This requires to take out the proxies and swap in the real and missing
cards). I win my first game and then loose the rest. (Most of my scrawled noted,
read Big Battle, loose). I make so many errors I might as well have been a
nube. After the event I realize I didn't update the deck correctly and left out
key cards. I have learnt something very important from this tournament. I am not
as young as I used to be! No more late night, long days ..... but then, what
kind of "convention" would that be.?
On a final note, the prize support for the main event consisted of 17 boosters and a Gencon pack as participation. Harbinger was legal for the first Kotei this year, so before the Kotei, I was only 1 or 2 cards off a play set. Between all 3 Kotei and the play testing reward, I had already received 5 or 6 Harbinger rare sets. Guess what my prize was for top four, yes, you guessed it, another rare set of The Harbinger. LOL.
Honour
Event
1st - Charles Thorp / Spider / Empire
2nd - Chaedy Ritherdon / Crane / Empire
3rd - Michael Hill / Mantis / Kept
4th - Justin Lee / Scorpion / Kept
Winner's Choice
1st - Charles Thorp / Spider / Empire -
Picks Scion of Fire
2nd - Shane Pheeney / Crab / Kept (couldn't donate)