Back Issues: Scrye 80

This issue came out February 2005.

Inuyasha TCG:
Two deck lists included.  First, "Seventh-Grade Win":
4 Kagome, the Student
4 Yuki, Kagome's Friend
4 Eri, Kagome's Friend
4 Ayumi, Kagome's Friend
4 Hojo
3 Buyo
3 Inuyasha, Demonic Half Breed
3 Kaede, Village Priestess
2 Kagome's Mom
2 You Think He Likes You?
2 Caretakers of the Shrine
2 New Age Technology
2 Kagome's Birthday Present
2 Be As One
1 Going To The Other Side
1 I'll Never Let You Go
1 Change
1 Thank You For Showing Me Mercy
1 You Tried To Kill Me!
1 I Didn't Say Get Naked!
1 Returning Home
3 School Girl Outfit
2 Pieces of the Puzzle
2 Tetsusaiga
2 Kagome's Backpack
1 Kagome's Bicycle
1 The First Shard
1 Medic Kit
3 Tokyo
2 Kagome's Junior High

This uses only cards from the first set, and focuses on the school kids, apparently.  Use Kagome as the focal point of the offense, and combine with Kagome's Junior High to get the pieces you need.

"I Leave Them To You":
3 Jaken, Sesshomaru's Pawn
3 Jaken
2 Sesshomaru, Aristocratic Assassin
3 Sesshormaru, Transformed
3 Un-Mother
4 Hiten, Enraged Demon
4 Manten, Bald Demon
3 Staff of Two Heads
1 Medic Kit
2 Hiten's and Manten's Thunder Cloud
2 Tetsusaiga, Transformed
3 I Leave Them to You
3 Give Me My Clothes!
3 Halt!
1 I Didn't Say Get Naked
1 Thank You For Showing Me Mercy
1 Enraged
1 Burst of Power
1 Here He Comes To Save the Day
1 Returning Home
1 Charge
2 Take That!
2 What?  Broken?
2 Defeated
2 Falling
2 See You  in Hell!
1 Inuyasha's Destructive Path
3 Sacred Tree

This one focuses on different characters, and what seems like disruption and control.

My Thoughts: This is yet another game that I've never played (although after reading this, I ordered some cards off of eBay to learn the game).  One thing I found worthy of note is that although the Inuyasha card game doesn't apparently have limits for the amount of any particular card in your deck, both decks chose to limit themselves to 4 of any particular card. I remember watching the cartoon on Adult Swim when I was in college, and it was alright, I'm glad to see the game seems to have had enough complexity to be worth looking into (although only a 5.5 rating on BGG doesn't speak great for it).  We'll see!

Legend of the Five Rings:
"Moving On Up":
Stronghold: The Meeting Place
Sensei: Tomorrow Sensei
Wind: Black Heart of the Empire

Dynasty:
1 Doom of the Dark Lord
1 Regions of Rokugan
1 A Favor Returned
3 Barley Farm
3 Gifts and Favors
1 Shrine to Daikoku
3 Treasure Hoard
1 A'tck
2 Ch'krit
2 Chithith
3 D'gr'n-ki
3 D'nir'ch
1 Ik'krt (Experienced)
1 Ikm'atch-tek
1 Kan'check
3 Ratling Conjurer
2 Ratling Raider
3 Set'tchr'foo
1 Te'tik'kir (Experienced)
1 Te'tik'kir (Exp. 2)
1 Musume Mura
1 Plains of Otosan Uchi
Fate:
2 Ambush
1 Armed and Ready
3 Feign Death
3 Heart of a Hero
2 Into the Darkness
3 Outer Walls
2 Overwhelmed
3 Refugees
3 Return for Training
3 Ten Thousand Swords
3 The Path of Wisdom
3 The Tribes Gather
3 Tireless Assault
3 Crippled Bone Runner
3 Suitengu's Uncertainty

My Thoughts: I think I own most of the cards for this deck!  This is a combo deck of sorts.  Send everything to a big battle, bump everything up, use Suitengu's Uncertainty to move them to other provinces, and depend on send home to win the battles and take out all the provinces.  This would have been tough to do back in the day... in the current eternal format... man, I have no idea.  But heck, I do have the cards. If I can get my opponents up for it, I'll give it a shot.

Lord of the Rings TCG:
"The Age of Man"
Ring-Bearer:
Boromir, Bearer of Council
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles
Adventure Deck:
Anduin Banks
Crags of Emyn Muil
Fangorn Glade
Cavern Entrance
Pelennor Fields
Caras Galadhon
Helm's Gate
Osgiliath Reclaimed
The Prancing Pony
Free Peoples:
1 Arwen, Elven Rider (starting)
1 Faramir, Ithilien Ranger (starting)
1 Aragorn, Strider
1 Aragorn, Guide and Protector
2 Madril, Ranger of Ithilien
4 Ranger of Westernesse
1 Anduril, Flame of the West
2 Sapling of the White Tree
1 Scroll of Isildur
1 Gwemegil
3 Gondorian Blade
2 Armor of the Citadel
3 Gondor Bowmen
2 Noble Leaders
2 A Ranger's Versatility
4 Battle Cry
3 Elf-Song
2 The Highest Quality
Shadow:
2 Archer of Harad
2 Armored Easterlings
4 Column of Easterlings
2 Ferocious Haradrim
2 Fletcher of Harad
4 Patroller of Haradrim
4 Rampaging Easterling
2 Strange-Looking Man
2 Throng of Harad
4 Long Battle Bow
2 Pavise
2 Lathspell
2 Wielding the Ring
2 Elevated Fire

My Thoughts: Believe I've mentioned before, I really need to play this more.  This is using cards from the Shadows expansion, to showcase on all the Men tricks.  I don't know how well it does, because my experience at present is literally a single game.

Won a 12 person tournament, Oct 23, 2004 (piloted by Tim Long):
Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms
The One Ring, Answer to All Riddles
Steps of Edoras
Rohirrim Camp
Hall of Kings
Pelennor Plains
Stewards Tomb
Minas Tirith First Circle
Ruined Capital
Northern Ithilien
Dagorland
1 Faramir, Ithilien Ranger
1 Legloas, Greenleaf
3 Aragorn, Elessar Telcontar
1 Garrison of Gondor
1 Aegnor, Elven Escort
1 Cirdan, the Shipwright
1 Arwen, Queen of Elves and Men
2 Aragorn's Bow
2 Faramir's Bow
1 Phial Galadriel
1 Asfaloth
1 Ranger's Sword
4 Elven Bow
1 Nenya, Ring of Adamant
1 Citadel of Minas Tirith
1 The Last Alliance of Elves and Men
1 Shadow Between
2 Feathered
2 Company of Archers
3 Reckless We Ride
1 Orthanc Champion
3 Uruk Crossbowmen
1 Elite Crossbowmen
4 Uruk Crossbow Troop
3 Ranged Commander
2 Orthanc Assassin
3 Lurtz, Servant of Isengard
1 Desert Lord
1 Ulaire Enquea
4 Cloud of Arrows
1 One of You Must Do This
4 Weapons of Isengard
1 Siege Engine
1 Greed
1 Tower of Orthanc

Star Trek 1st Edition:
Won an 11 person tournament, October 15, 2004 (piloted by Jeremy Commandeur)
1 Expose Covert Supply
1 Secret Salvage
1 Espionage Mission
1 Unseat Dictator
1 Inversion Mystery
1 Salvage Operation
1 Space Time Portal
1 Transwarp Network Gateway
2 Q The Referee
1 Mission Debriefing
1 Defend Homeworld
1 Delta Quadrant Spatial Scission
1 Chula: The Lights
1 Chula: The Chandra
1 Friendly Fire
1 The Nexus
1 The Whale Probe
1 Magic Carpet OCD
1 Volcanic Eruption
1 DNA Clues
1 Hippocratic Oath
1 Dead End
1 Hanonian Land Eel
1 The Weak Will Perish
1 Lethean Telepathic Attack
1 Ferengi Infestation
1 Kelvan Show of Force
1 Ankari "Spirits"
1 Unscientific Method
1 Ferengi Bug
1 Female's Love Interest & Garbage Scow
1 Spacedoor
1 Transwarp Hub
1 Blugill Infestation
1 Three of Nine
1 Two of Nine
1 First
1 Fifth
1 Seven of Nine
1 Third and Fourth
1 Q's Tent
1 Adapt: Negate Obstruction
1 Salvage Starship
1 Divert Power
1 Shape-Shift Inhibitor
1 Borg Tactical Cube
1 Four of Nine
1 Borg Data Node
1 Borg Vinculum
1 Maturation Chamber
1 The Big Picture
1 Strategema
1 Temporal Vortex
1 Fair Play
1 Add Distinctiveness
10 Awaken
1 Borg Nanoprobes
1 Cranial Transceiver Implant
1 Nanoprobe Resuscitation
1 Ready Room Door
1 We Are The Borg
1 Lower Decks
1 Regenerate
1 A Change of Plans
1 Assimilate Counterpart
1 Assimilate Species
1 Assimilate Table
1 Assimilate Planet
1 Eliminate Starship
1 Assimilate Homeworld
1 Borg Scout Vessel
1 Third and Fourth
2 First
2 Three of Nine
2 Fifth
2 Two ofNine
2 Seven of Nine
2 Borg Queen
1 Four of Nine
1 One of Eleven
1 Ten of Nineteen
1 Eight of Fifteen
1 Eight of Eighteen
1 Eleven of Twelve
1 Second
1 Calibration Drone
1 Gowron of Borg
1 Eleven of Nineteen

My Thoughts: I basically wrote it out as it was in the magazine.  Kind of tough to read as is, haha.  I'll clean it up some day.

Star Trek 2nd Edition:
"All Borg"
Missions:
1 Fissure Research
1 Intercept Maquis
1 Plot Invasion
1 Restock Ketracel-White
1 Unicomplex, Root of the Hive Mind
Dilemma Deck:
2 A Royal Hunt
1 Assassination Attempt
1 Casualties of War
1 Center of Attention
2 Chula: Pick One to Save Two
2 Exposed Power Relay
2 Gomtuu Shock Wave
2 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
1 Kelvan Show of Force
1 Maglock
1 Personal Duty
1 Picking Up the Pieces
1 Plasma Shock
1 Rogue Borg Ambush
1 Secret Identity
2 Talosian Trial
2 Training Accident
1 Traitor Exposed
1 Tragic Turn
2 Tsiolkovsky Infection
2 Whisper in the Dark
Draw Deck:
2 Adapt
2 Borg Cube
2 Borg Queen, Guardian of the Hive
2 Computation Drone
2 Endangered
3 Expand the Collective
2 Five of Twelve, Secondary Adjunct of Trimatrix 942
1 Guidance Drone
1 Heightened Perception
2 How Would You Like a Trip to Romulus?
2 I Don't Like to Lose
3 Information Drone
2 Invasive Drone
2 Locutus, Voice of the Borg
1 Locutus' Borg Cube
2 Machinations
1 Queen's Borg Cube
3 Reconnaissance Drone
2 Seven of Nine, Part of the Greater Whole
1 Stir Crazy
2 Storage Compartment
1 Tempted by Flesh
1 The First of Many
3 Transwarp Drone
3 Unexpected Difficulties
2 Unyielding
2 You've Always Been My Favorite

My Thoughts: To start with, I really have no idea what's going on with the dilemma deck.  I almost never see any decks with two copies of dilemmas, it's always one or three.  There's a mix of stuff in here, but that's just about how every dilemma deck I ever build looks, myself.

The draw deck is a bit easier to understand.  Basically, do Plot Invasion, then use Expand the Collective on either Restock Ketracel-White or Intercept Maquis (or both) for the points to win.  Use Borg tricks to get through dilemmas.  This deck came out just after Fractured Time was released, so there are a lot of toys that would help make this even better, now.

Warlord: Saga of the Storm:
"Yedraw's Counter Attack"
Starting:
1 Yedraw
1 Kayle Rowan
2 Tyren Ruskin
2 Brine Fiend
Characters:
2 Devourer
2 Halo of Fire
3 Kabal Spire
2 Kayle Rowan
3 Mothusi Rahsaan
2 Ivaas
3 Sarakian Ooze
2 Titan
Items:
2 Mind Gate
3 Yedraw's Tooth
2 Footman's Pike
3 Altar of the Mind
Actions:
3 Tzin's Attention
3 Retaliation
3 Knife After Dark
3 Perfect Focus
3 Mental Assault

My Thoughts: No idea, yet.  I did go out and buy some Warlord starters though :)

Wars TCG:
"Space Shi"
Locations:
1 Seyal/Light Side (starting)
3 Ganymede/Harvesting Camp
1 Ganymede/Pilgrims' Camp
1 Ganymede/Traginium Source
2 Mercury/Untapped Planet
1 Seyal/Dark Side
1 Vesta/Covered Rock
Ships:
4 Damir Quarrel
4 Reliable Quarrel
4 Tilak Quarrel
3 Jikoku
2 Zocho
Characters:
4 Ranarti-Anant
1 Devanar-Damir
4 Kizen Sentinel
4 Sumadar-Damir
2 Tavang-Damir
Weapons:
2 Assailing Vatarma
2 Daunting Vatarma
Interrupts:
4 Easy Prey
3 Expansion
Assets:
2 Cerebral Incursion
2 Premeditated Reaction
1 Vestiges
2 Aggressive Stance

My Thoughts: Focusing in one arena, but putting enough out to help mitigate drains in the other (space/ground) seems to be the way to go in WARS, and this focuses on using the great Shi fighters, along with help from Gongen capital ships (giving the Shi some reaction abilities when combat starts), with Tavang Damir in a ship keep the ground drains to a minimum.  Seems like it would make a pretty good start, and there was help in the first expansion for this, I believe.

Won a 6 person tournament, October 15, 2004 (piloted Rich Parrott)
2 Ganymede/Triangium Source
1 Ganymede/Occupied Tunnels
1 Ganymede/Core Shaft
2 Ganymede/Vantage Point
3 Ganymede/Frontier Camp
5 Ganymede/Hunter's Camp
1 Luhustika
2 Takha Quarrel
3 Katal Life Ship
2 Volt Scourge
2 Quay Navigator
1 Sitka
1 Luhus Mauler
2 UV - IR 739
1 Talkan
4 "Two-Way" Berson
2 Tanka Chuluk Squad
4 Alnak
2 Kulak
4 Certel Legate
4 Revenge
3 Capture
4 Fuel Theft
3 Reaping

Won a 9 person tournament on October 16th, 2004 (piloted by Jason Luminella)
1 Alnak Station/Launch Bay
1 Ganymede/Occupied Tunnels
1 Ganymede/Vantage Point
1 Ganymede/Triaginim Source
1 Ganymede/Mining Platform
5 Ganymede/Hunter's Camp
1 Frozen By Fear
2 Luhus Dalaka
2 Natural Talent
2 Arhnaknak
2 Reaping
3 Makal Shrieker
3 Talkan
3 Rising Dread
1 Makaltika
2 Tahka Chuluk Squad
1 Portent
2 Kulak
3 Alnak
4 Sitkatika Hekaton
2 Volt Scourge
2 Kucha
1 Frenzied Luhus
1 Luhustika
3 Tahka Life Ship
3 Makal Claw Beast
2 Tunnels
3 Luhus Mauler
2 Revenge

Won an 11 person tournament on October 16th, 2004 (piloted by Will Raiman):
1 Alnak Station/Captured Base
1 Alnak Station/Launch Bay
1 Alnak Station/Hallway
2 Pallas/Asteroid Stronghold
1 Ganymede/Traginium Source
1 Ganymede/Vantage Point
3 Ganymede/Pilgrim's Camp
2 Expansion
1 Tamon
4 Tamon Fighter
1 Zocho
2 Zocho Fighter
4 Jigoku Fighter
3 Komoky Fighter
2 Taihu
2 Amorian Ship Yard
2 Ikazuchi
2 Ikazuchi T.S.V.
2 Shikami
3 Shikami Follower
2 Higen Orochito
2 Plasma Cannon
2 No Bot Battle Sword
2 Junshi
3 Kulak
2 Sitka
3 Waylaid
1 Cloak of Fear
1 Chuluktika
2 Tunnels

Won a 6 person tournament on October 17, 2014 (piloted by Carlos Fernandez):
1 Themis/Mobile Asteroid (starting)
1 Titan/Raving Red's Refuge
1 Europa, The Gambler's Hideaway
1 Mercury/Untapped Planet
1 Ceres/Belt Hideaway
1 Earth/Humanity's Home
1 Ganymede/Traginium Source
3 The Gambler
2 Ace McCallister
2 Misty Miller
4 Racing Sloop
4 Nimble Jockey
2 Maverick Bot
4 Razorjack
4 Vulture
4 Plundering Bandit
3 Modded Type IV
1 Hawk's Wing
4 Fifth Ace
4 Traginium Heist
2 Simple Wager
2 Chicken
2 Mechanic's Grip
1 Reload
1 Price Of The Game
1 Clanton Grau Grenade
1 Over Burdened
1 Aggressive Stance
1 Chained

Won a 14 person tournament, October 17th 2004 (piloted by Jed Hamphries):
2 NoBot Battle Sword
1 Plasma Cannon
2 Shikami
2 Junshi
1 Zocho
4 Tamon Fighter
3 Higen Orochito
3 Zocho Fighter
4 Jikoku Fighter
1 Ikazuchi
3 Shikami Follower
1 Jikoku
1 Komoku
1 Amorian Shipyard
1 Rising Morale
1 Loremaster
2 Cloud
2 Jet Pack Attack
1 Ganymede/Vantage Point
2 Ganymede/Underground Bunker
1 Alnak Station/Hallway
1 Alnak Station/Launch Bay
1 Pallas/Asteroid Stronghold
3 Ganymede/Pilgrim's Camp
1 Alnak/Captured Base
3 Talkan
2 Kulank
1 Tunnels
2 Sitka
1 Cloak of Fear
1 Waylaid
1 Chained

Won a 6 person tournament on October 17th, 2014 (piloted by Andy McClure):
2 Expansion
3 Anant Aeronaut
3 Nimble Jockey
1 Sultry Opportunist
3 Kizen Sentinel
3 Stinger
3 Well-Concealed Charge
2 Ore Hound
2 Irgma-Vishul
4 Sudeva Quarrel
4 Seyalshi Veholder
2 Ranarti-Anant
3 Assailing Vatarma
3 Jilak Quarrel
1 Davanar-Damir
1 Traginium Heist
1 Squadron Land
1 Easy Prey
1 Mechanic's Grip
1 Panneen Provider
1 Squadron Wad
1 Hellcat Aviatrix
1 Selfless Protector
1 Price Of The Game
1 Ganymede/Forward Base
1 Ganymede/Vantage Point
1 Ganymede/Traginium Source
1 Tremis/Mobile Asteroid
1 Seyal/Light Side
3 Ganymede/Frontier Camp
3 Ganymede/Harvesting Camp

Won a 11 person tournament, October 17, 2004 (piloted by Ben Robinson):
2 Jack Wilgress
2 The Gambler
2 Starhawk
1 Misty Miller
1 Ace McCallister
3 Boxer
2 "Two-Way" Berson
1 Tamon
1 Zocho
1 Jikoku
2 Guardian-Class Carrier
2 Tamon Fighter
1 Zocho Fighter
1 Jikoku Fighter
1 Hawk's Wing
1 Vulture
2 Racing Sloop
1 Chijo Katana
2 Aggressive Stance
2 Amorian Shipyard
1 Ensnared
1 Simple Wager
1 Overburdened
2 Fifth Ace
2 Rising Morale
3 Trumped
3 Junshi
2 Themis/Mobile Asteroid
2 Expansion
1 Europa/The Gambler's Hideaway
1 Titan/Raving Red's Refuge
1 Ganymede/Frontier Camp
1 Gongen/Pilgrim's Haven
1 Pallas/Asteroid Stronghold
1 Vesta/Coveted Rock
1 Mercury/Untapped Planet
2 Ganymede/Pilgrim's Camp
1 Ganymede/Underground Bunker

Seems like there might be a bunch of typos here, but that might be from copying from the magazine.  Will correct as I look closer at these some day.

The 10 Most Important Collectible Games:
Who doesn't love top 10 lists?

1. Magic: The Gathering
2. Pokemon
3. Star Trek CCGs (1st and 2nd Editions)
4. Mage Knight
5. Legend of the Five Rings
6. Yu-Gi-Oh!
7. Heroclix
8. Star Wars CCG
9. Jyhad/Vampire
10. Vs. System

My Thoughts: This is 'Most Important' and not 'Best' or any other metric.  These are the games that did the most to make the collectible game hobby what it was in 2005 (and what it is today, really).  It's actually kind of nice to see that all of these are still around in some form or another (Star Wars, Star Trek and Jyhad all are actively supported by Player Committees, and L5R will return in 2017 as an LCG). 

Top 10 Selling CCGs:

1. Magic: The Gathering
2. Yu-Gi-Oh!
3. Vs. System
4. Lord of the Rings TCG
5. Pokemon
6. Dragon Ball Z/GT
7. Inuyasha
8. Warlord
9. Game of Thrones
10. Legend of the Five Rings

My Thoughts: Because of this issue, I went out and bought Inuyasha and Warlord starters, to get some exposure to those games.  The other ones I've played and have cards for, other than Yu-Gi-Oh, which I can't seem to scrounge up interest for.

Final Thoughts:
One of the things I find... maybe not enjoyable, but certainly interesting about reading these magazines is what they discuss as the future for some of these CCGs, knowing as I do now their final fates.  For instance, the Wars TCG talked about the release of the upcoming Edge of a Sword expansion, which was never released (although you can find the cards online, without art).  They also mention an upcoming 330 card Motion in Mind set that was to come out after that.  Just a shame that they never came out.  Speaking of which, a lot of Wars decks were mentioned, giving anyone a good starting point.

VS System gets a couple of decks, which I don't include because they aren't compatible with the current VS 2PCG.  One thing I do find interesting is how different these cards are.  Plot Twists with costs, Locations that are more interesting than just providing resources, Equipment.  It'd be nice to see some of this make its way into the current VS game.

Back Issues: Inquest Gamer 101

This issue released in September 2003.

Dragon Ball Z:
"Energy Empowered Piccolo" Deck
Note- this game has since been re-printed, but some people still do play with the old cards, so I'll include the deck here on the chance someone is interested.

Main Personality:
Piccolo, the Trained (Level 1)
Piccolo, the Mentor (Level 2)
Piccolo, Earth's Protector (Level 3)

Orange Style Mastery (Cell Saga)
South Kai Sensei

Sensei Deck:
3 Breakthrough Drill
HUH???

Physical Combat:
3 Gohan's Kick
3 Hidden Power Level
1 Nappa's Physical Resistance
3 Orange Car Push
1 Vegeta's Physical Stance

Energy Combat:
3 Krillin's Solar Flare
1 Nappa's Energy Aura
3 Orange 5-Finger Focus
3 Orange Energy Discharge
3 Orange Energy Setup
3 Orange Mouth Shot
3 Orange Sneak Attack
3 Orange Stare Down
3 Orange Trick Shot
3 Tien's Tri-Beam
3 Vegeta's Jolting Slash
3 Yamcha's Skillfull Defense

Allies:
1 Android 14

Combat:
3 Brothers in Training
1 Goku's Dragon Ball Quest
1 Super Saiyan Effect
1 Time Is A Warrior's Tool
3 Trunks Energy Sphere

Non-Combat:
3 Android 20 Absorbing Drill
3 Energy Empowerment Drill
1 Expectant Trunks
1 Frieza is Ready
1 Orange Destruction Drill
2 Orange Focusing Drill
1 Orange Lifting Drill
3 Tien's Mental Conditioning

Dragon Ball:
1 Dende Dragon Ball 1
1 Dende Dragon Ball 2
1 Dende Dragon Ball 3
1 Dende Dragon Ball 4
1 Dende Dragon Ball 5
1 Dende Dragon Ball 6
1 Dende Dragon Ball 7

Battleground/Location:
2 Winter Countryside
1 Z Sword Plateau

My own thoughts: A deck like this wouldn't be legal now, I think- how are all these Named cards in the deck? Must have been a different world back then.

Legend of the Five Rings:
"Crane on the Brain" Deck

Stronghold:
Kosaten Shiro/Tsudao

Dynasty:
1 Imperial Gift
1 Welcome Home

2 Campsite

1 Daidoji Rekai (Exp. 2)
3 Doji Okakura
1 Doji Reju (Exp. 2)
3 Doji Kurohito
1 Doji Kurohito (Exp.)
3 Doji Yasuyo
1 Kakita Rensei
1 Konetsu
3 Yasuki Hachi
1 Yasuki Hachi (Exp.)

1 Gifts and Favors
3 Hiruma Dojo
3 Jade Works
3 Market Place
2 Poorly Placed Garden
2 Sanctified Temple
1 Shrine Of The Sun
3 Silk Works

Fate:
1 Ring of Earth
1 Ring of the Void

1 Blade of Truths
1 Celestial Sword of the Crane
1 Imperial Standard

1 Doji House Guard
1 Empress' Guard

3 Block Supply Lines
2 Corruption's Price
3 Deeds, Not Words
3 Flattery
2 For the Empire
3 Iaijutsu Duel
2 Imperial Edicts
3 In Search of the Future
2 Outmaneuvered By Force
3 Overwhelmed
2 Return For Training
2 Superior Tactics
3 To Do What We Must

My own thoughts: This looks to be a deck legal in the Four Winds environment, although I think this would still be legal and play correctly in the current Fortress of the Obsidian Hand Legacy rules.  Also, seeing Yasuki in a Crane deck brings me back.  Ahh, the good old days.

Lord of the Rings TCG:
A deck based around Ents!

Starting Fellowship:
1 Frodo, Courteous Halfling
1 The One Ring, The Ruling Ring
1 Merry, Learned Guide
1 Pippin, Wooly-Footed Rascal
1 Quickbeam, Bregalad

Free Peoples:
2 Birchseed, Tall Statesman
1 Ent Horde
4 Ent Moot
4 Forest Guardian
3 Hobbit Sword
2 Host of Fangorn
2 Long Slow Wrath
2 Mind Your Own Affairs
4 Roused
2 Severed His Bonds
1 Treebeard, Earthborn

Shadow:
2 Arrow From the South
2 Desert Spearman
4 Elite Archer
4 Mumak
3 On The March
4 Southron Bowman
2 Southron Invaders
3 Southron Traveler
3 Southron Wanderer
3 Whirling Strike

Adventure Deck:
Western Emyn Muil
Fangorn Forest
Golden Hall
White Rocks
Helm's Gate
Hornburg Armory
Cavern Entrance
Nan Curunir
Saruman's Laboratory

My own thoughts: I really need to play this game.  I have an opponent lined up, so maybe after playing some games I can throw this together.

Magic: The Gathering:
This issue included a ranking of all the sets from Alpha/Beta/Unlimited up through Eighth Edition, all rated on a 1-5 scale.  The fives were Alpha/Beta/Unlimited and Arabian Nights.  The ones?  The Dark, Chronicles, Homelands, Fifth Edition, and Weatherlight.

Killer Deck: Grave Robbers
4 Doomed Necromancer
1 Undead Gladiator
1 Visara, the Dreadful
3 Buried Alive
4 Duress
3 Entomb
3 Innocent Blood
4 Smother
2 Stitch Together
3 Zombify
1 Arcanis, the Omnipotent
1 Phantom Nishoba
1 Anger
4 Burning Wish
4 Barren Moor
4 Bloodstained Mire
7 Mountain
10 Swamp
Wishboard:
1 Aven Cloudchaser
1 Buried Alive
3 Cabal Therapy
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Demolish
1 Haunting Echoes
3 Recoup
1 Sickening Dreams
1 Symbiotic Wurm
1 Zombify

Apparently this placed 2nd at the German Nationals one year.  Drop stuff into the Graveyard, cheat it into play, win.

Cheap Magic Deck: Forest Fire
4 Birchlore Rangers
4 Bloodline Shaman
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Seeker of Skybreak
1 Taunting Elf
4 Timberwatch Elf
4 Wellwisher
4 Wirewood Herald
4 Wirewood Hivemaster
3 Wirewood Symbiote
4 Wirewood Pride
16 Forest
4 Wirewood Lodge

Throw out elves, beat down.  Seems easy enough.

"Turning Trash Into Treasure": Risky Move
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Explosive Vegetation
3 Fertile Ground
4 Moment's Peace
4 Squirrel Nest
2 Arcane Teachings
4 Firebolt
3 Risky Move
4 Shock
4 Spark Spray
9 Forest
4 Forgotten Cave
7 Mountain
4 Tranquil Thicket

Top 10 Magic Cards at the time:

1. Sliver Overlord
2. Forgotten Ancient
3. Eternal Dragon
4. Birds of Paradise
5. Stifle
6. Force of Will
7. Sliver Queen
8. Akroma, Angel of Wrath
9. Call to the Grave
10. Raven Guild Master

Top Ten CCGs:

1. Yu-Gi-Oh!
2. Magic: The Gathering
3. Lord of the Rings
4. Legend of the Five Rings
5. Pokemon
6. Dragon Ball Z CCG
7. WWE Raw Deal
8. Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
9. Warlord
10. Warcry

Final Thoughts:
This issue was focused a bunch on the new version of Mage Knight coming out, as well as the release of the 8th Edition set for Magic, but we still got a few decks for other games, as well as the typical things you'd come to expect from Inquest- random humor, news, price guides, etc.

Dragon Clan Oni [L5R]

Ever since the release of Evil Portents last year, I have been dying to try to play more Legend of the Five Rings, mainly so I could try to use the new Ikikashi Sensei.  As a primarily Spider Clan player, having access to all the tools of the Shadowlands without having to end my own game (through dishonor) sounded like an absolute blast.

The first decision was which Stronghold to take in my deck.  Even though I can't dishonor myself, I can be dishonored, and I've been on the receiving end of that often enough that I wanted to at least give myself some buffer.  Playing as the Spider would start me at -8 honor, only 12 honor loss actions away from losing the game.  Starting from the high honor clans and working down, I decided to go with the Dragon Clan stronghold.  This starts me at -3 honor and has the additional benefit of giving me a ring in play- I have been using Earth or Air, usually.

Here is what I am running in my Dynasty Deck:

1 Severed from the Emperor

1 Forgotten Legacy
2 Fudoist Temple
2 Gold Mine
1 House of Disgrace
3 Lane of Immorality
3 Suana Dojo
1 Temple of Destiny
3 The Feeding Hills
2 Traveling Market

3 Akuma no Obake
2 Fushiki no Oni
3 Gekido no Oni
2 Hatsu Suru no Oni
2 Keppo
3 Minikui no Oni
3 Patairaku no Oni
1 Umikaiju
3 Voitagi

None of this feels particularly surprising- run a lot of the honor loss Holdings, since they do not affect me, and fit in several Shadowlands personalities.  I'm still tweaking the various counts of the Oni in between games, but that's what I'm currently at (if I'd ever draw a Umikaiju in-game, I can figure out if I like him in here or not).

My Fate Deck:

1 Ring of Air
1 Ring of Earth
1 Ring of the Void
1 Ring of Water

3 Oni Familiar
3 Skeletal Troops
3 The Desiccated
1 The Unquiet Moto
3 Zombie Troops

1 A New Alliance
1 Ambush
3 Another Time
2 Back to the Front
3 Blind Honor
1 Brazen Disregard
2 Breaking the Rhythm
1 Calculated Risk
2 Corrupted Ground
2 Strength in Subtlety
3 The Looming Darkness
2 Victory Through Deference
2 Wedge
3 Your True Nature

Again, I am trying out a few things.  I want to have some anti-dueling help, but Another Time ends up getting on my nerves.  I may switch to Kharmic Strike.  I may consider dropping it altogether and up my numbers of A New Alliance and Brazen Disregard.  I am still testing, and still trying to figure out what I like.

Does anyone have any success, or any thoughts?

Phoenixville, PA Kotei Tournament Report [L5R]

So, I attended the Kotei last Saturday, playing my Spider Swarm deck.  I didn't do particular well... but then again, neither did any Spider player :).  There ended up being 51 players, and I believe 7 of them were Spider.  I did have some hopes for some Spider clan success here.

Anyway, let's talk about my deck first.  Like I said, I went with a Spider swarm deck, trying to get gold turn 1, gold plus a guy turn 2, and then 3-4 guys turn 3, ideally attacking on Turn 4, and using great battle actions to win the battle, and hopefully take a province.

My deck:

The Hidden Bastion of the Spider

3 Famous Bazaar
3 Kumite Grounds
3 Lonely Dojo
3 Shinomen Marsh
3 Slave Pits
1 Temple of the Heavenly Crab

2 Daigotsu Hachiko
3 Daigotsu Konishi
3 Daigotsu Onosaka
3 Daigotsu Teruo
2 Goju Saido
3 Hiyamako
3 Kokujin Dairu
2 Minikui no Oni
3 Ninube Shiho

3 Colonial Conscripts
1 Ring of Earth
1 Ring of the Void

2 Blind Honor
3 Contentious Terrain
2 Discretionary Valor
3 Ideological Differences
2 Incapacitated
2 Inspired Leadership
3 Overwhelming Offense
2 Palm Strike
3 Relentless
3 Strength in Subtlety
2 Sudden Movement
2 Versatile Army
3 We Are Not Yet Beaten
1 Wedge
3 Your True Nature

I feel like there's not too much here that's a surprise.  I tried running a lot of Kharmic cards, in order to clear out Holdings from my provinces after I had the gold I needed, and to replace situational cards in my hand (like We Are Not Yet Beaten). The Temple of the Heavenly Crab was a holdover, it didn't really provide me any benefit, but I figured there might be a slim chance I'd want the gold on my opponent's turn.

I ran a few things that were just in preparation for things I thought I might see at the tournament.  Mantis is doing really well, so I added 3 We Are Not Yet Beaten in order to give me some ability to weather the Ranged attacks.  Wedge was in there in case I had a situation that an Oni could take a province on his own.  Discretionary Valor was included in case I over-committed to an attack that my opponent was going to let through, so I could pull the Oni back.  Everything else seems pretty standard for this sort of deck, although I do wish I had run some different options.  For instance, Okura is Released over the Palm Strikes might have won me my last game.  And Discretionary Valor ended up being so useless that I wish I hadn't included it at all (maybe switch in another Blind Honor).

I also would drop one of my Daigotsu Teruo, probably for another Hachiko.  In MULTIPLE games, my first personalities were two of Teruo, and that's definitely not what I want in duplicate early game.

Anyway, onto the games.

Game 1: Jon Ackey (Spider) from Oklahoma
Jon is apparently a Phoenix player, normally, but had forgotten his cards, and was using the Spider starter.  Sitting down, I was feeling pretty good- my deck has to be better than a STARTER deck, right??

Well, yes, but only barely.  I took a province early-ish, and he took one of mine.  Then, in a battle two turns later... he beats my army.  Now, he didn't have much on the table, fortunately, and I didn't lose much, but the tide was definitely turning.

Fortunately for me, he was running the starter deck, with its 20-ish holdings, and eventually he got stuck flipping too many holdings in a row to recover, and I ended up taking the game.

Clearly, Jon was a VASTLY better player than I was, but was just hindered by what he had available.  Regardless, I exit round 1 with a win, and I'm at 1-0.

Game 2: Devin Bell (Phoenix) from New Hampshire
Devin was playing a Phoenix Honor rocket, with Yung Sensei to help smooth the gold curves and get the cards he needed quicker.  Basically, we was shooting to cross 40 Honor before I could take all of his provinces, and using as much send home as he could pack in the deck to stall me enough to do so.

He gets an okay start, and I get way too much gold, and my only early personalities are two Daigotsu Teruo, so don't end up taking a province until turn... 5?  Unfortunately by then, he's almost crossed, and I'm forced to attempt to take his final three provinces in a single turn on turn 7 or so.  I take one without any opposition, and Devin makes me spend my hand to take the second one.  With nothing available to me, I don't have the tools to take the third one, and Devin crosses at the beginning of his turn.  I'm at 1-1.

I know Nathan (a meta-mate) was running The New Order to handle this matchup, but I had hoped I'd be able to get going quick enough to put pressure on him.  Not to be today, sadly.

Game 3: J. Gerachi (Spider) from New Jersey
Unfortunately, I can't read my scribbles, so I don't remember his first name.  He was running a Spider deck, using Taitaken Sensei, weapons, Tairao, and Goju Kumoru to create mini battles to attrition down my army, giving him free reign to attack.

This actually ended up being a tough battle.  Fortunately, Relentless and We Are Not Yet Beaten carried a lot of my load.  He started a battle, attempted the Melee attack, which I negated, would use the Fear to leave me with one fewer attacker, which Relentless would counter, making my Personality and extra +1F.  This would leave him with one fewer defender, and exploiting that two turns in a row left him low on provinces.  He finally flipped into two holdings, and the momentum was irreversibly in my favor, giving me the win, putting me at 2-1.

I actually really liked his deck though, something to this effect is something I may give a try in a few weeks, when I have some of the cards I'd need for it.

Game 4: Austin Richardson (Unicorn) from Tulsa
Our game group just got a Unicorn player, so I didn't have the experience I needed for this matchup.  I believe he was running the Conspiracy sensei, which had me confused and a bit excited.  Heck, I thought, I'll always have people coming out, there's no way he'll win doing that.  Thankfully for him, however, he wasn't much concerned about the number of people I put out.

He'd put out cavalry guys, put a weapon on each, and start taking provinces.  I defended as long as possible, but when I got him into a decisive battle, he edged me out, and that ended up giving him the win.  I badly need more practice against Unicorn!  So, I'm now at 2-2. 

Game 5: Tanya Segee (Dragon) from New Hampshire
I believe Tanya ended up winning Top Dragon on the day, which is awesome.  She was playing what I believe was a Kensai deck.  I saw this because unfortunately, it seemed to have misfired.  She didn't get a very good gold start, and after aggressively pitching to fix that, she ended up getting more gold than she needed, and not enough bodies to get the job done.  The first attack I made, she defended with someone just to kill Ninube Shiho, but I still managed to take the province (a fair trade).  I think the next province she let me take undefended.  From there, she just couldn't get enough going in time, and gave me the game, putting me at 3-2.

Game 6: Jeff Sarkisian(?) (Scorpion) from Boston
My poor handwriting strikes again, as I can't read the last name I wrote down.

Anyway, this ended up being the quickest game of the day.  Jeff was playing Scorpion dishonor (trying to drop me to -20 honor), which is made really easy by all the cards in my deck that make me lose honor myself.  I knew from the first turn that this was going to be tough, but I hoped to get a quick start, and with enough momentum to take all his provinces on whichever turn he put me under -20.

I started off getting gold... but my first personalities were again two Daigotsu Teruo.  This cost me a whole turn of momentum, and panicked, I recruited Minikui no Oni, causing me to lose 7 Honor (I had to use a Slave Pits, to make it even worse).  Doing some of my opponent's job for him just make it even easier, and he bottomed me out next turn.  I didn't even take a province! Down to 3-3 for me.

From here, I couldn't make the cut, which was disappointing, and to lose it to a deck that's really an auto-loss for me anyway was a bitter pill to take, but figuring I could still win top Spider (I was the highest ranked Spider at this point, based on table placement), I looked forward to my last game.

Game 7: Larry Wojcik (Unicorn) from New Jersey
Well, again- the Unicorn practice would've been nice.  I actually did as good a job as possible defending, but he got such a good start, and had plenty of momentum, that I couldn't stop him.  The final battle was close, but I had too many dead cards in my hand to win it, and ended up getting crushed.

So, I finished the day 3-4.  I didn't play a single Mantis player all day, which is no surprise, as they were all at the very top of the standings (the top four in the tournament were all Mantis, a great sign for the current level of parity in L5R at the moment).  Nathan, who I play with, managed to take Top Spider (I believe he was stuck playing one of those top Mantis players in the first round), and I believe I ended up placing 31st (to Nathan's 27th).  Overall, not a great showing by me, but I was pretty darn close to being Top Spider, which is still good.

Anyway, after a brief break, I'll try out some new Spider decks, and try out random decks for the other clans, and get ready for next year's Kotei season.

At Phoenixville Kotei this weekend [L5R]

So I'll be going to the Phoenixville Kotei tomorrow, a large L5R tournament where I hope to lead my dear Spider clan to victory.  More likely, I'll just go and have a good time without too much success.

Last year, I attended my first ever Kotei in Atlantic City, running a Big Dude Spider deck, and vastly outperformed my expectation, going 4-2 during Swiss before being bounced in the play-in round.

This time, I'm running Spider Swarm, which I have a lot less experience playing (my tempo for the deck is a bit off), but is different than the other Spider deck being taken by a member in my playgroup (more Big Dude focused).  I suspect I'll do alright though, 3-3 or 2-4.  We'll see.

Anyway, I'll have a post next week about my results and the deck I took.  Hopefully it'll be filled with lots of wins, but even if not, I'll still post about it :)

My games played for week ending 2/21/15

This felt like a bit of a slow week for gaming for me, and I certainly am not in the habit of taking great notes when I play, but I wanted to at least have some mention of what I've played this week.

Monday, Ben and I played Warhammer 40K: Conquest on OCTGN.  This was primarily so that I could learn the OCTGN interface, but it was also fun to play a game, of course.  I ran my Ku'gath Plaguefather deck, and Ben ran his current Eldorath deck.  I ended up losing, and probably should have mulliganed my opening hand.  I struggled out of the gate, and then struggled to get anything going, leading to a pretty handy defeat.  Lessons learned!

Tuesday, I played a game of Netrunner with Rob- I ran my Blue Sun deck against his Valencia Keyhole/Eater deck.  Early game went quite happily in his favor, and he got to three agenda points pretty quick (partially due to Notoriety).  I finally managed to get set up, was able to manage the Bad Publicity with Eliza Mills, and start scoring agendas.  However, he finally managed to get a Keyhole out and made some runs on R&D, which did grab a few agendas.  However, he didn't have a convenient way to access Archives.

I finally managed to score my last agenda points, and Rob informed me he had a Hades Shard in his hand, which would have given him a way to access Archives, and a Notoriety he thought he could pull off.  The game ended with a final score of 7-3.

Following that, we played two Lord of the Rings games, with me teaching John, Ben, and Brendon (Rob also played, but he already knew the rules, so wasn't being taught), using the decks posted here.

First, we played the Passage Through Mirkwood in a 4-player game.  Went pretty easily- I was playing Tactics, and grabbed Ungoliant's Spawn when it came up, and was helped by Ben dropping a Forest Snare on it, which let me kill it at my leisure.  So we easily won it.

We then played Journey Down the Anduin in a 3-player game, with Brendon taking the Tactics deck.  Once again, an early Forest Snare kept the Hill Troll from wrecking havoc, and our early game was fine... until the locations started piling up.  Thankfully, a Northern Tracker played by me (now running the Spirit deck) popped up and started clearing them out, and we had a few very favorable Encounter Deck draws.  Things were going well... until we reached the third stage of the quest, and two copies of The Necromancer's Reach came up, and I was basically completely exhausted.  Ugh.  I ended the turn with only Dunhere and Eowyn on the table, both badly damaged, and plenty of new Enemies on the table.  Thankfully, some careful management let us deal with the enemies, and finally beat the quest.  Definitely a close call!






On Thursday, I played two games of Legend of the Five Rings (L5R).  With the new tournament (Kotei) season starting again soon, I figured it was time to start getting my decks a bit more stabilized (prior to the release of Twenty Festivals next month) so that I can prepare.  I brought a Spider swarm deck, running a lot of 3-5 gold cost Personalities, and lots of efficient Strategies to handle particular decks in the meta.  In addition, many of these cheap Spider personalities have Battle actions, which lets me stall a bit in the battle, and hopefully get into a position I can use the Strategies later in battle to win it. 

Anyway, the first game was against Naj's Phoenix deck, which used Fortifications and send home actions to try to delay me from winning the game long enough for him to win by honor.  The early game went pretty well for him, as I launched my first attack on turn 4, but he managed to keep his province safe (at a cost of two cards from his hand).  The second turn, however, I successfully take a province, and at this point I had so many bodies on the table he couldn't draw enough ways to stop me, and soon conceded.

Second game was against Kyle's Unicorn deck.  I start the game getting pretty gold screwed, only getting a Kumite Grounds to bolster my economy, whereas Kyle was up and running by the second turn.  He recruited a personality (an infantry personality, critically), and a Bring Them Forward. I get more gold on turn 2, but Kyle loads up on Followers, and takes one of my provinces Turn 3.

My Turn 3 sees me recruit a Daigotsu Teruo and a Kokujin Dairu, the former of which I immediately use to get my hand overfilled.  He attacks again, seeing only a single 3F personality... and I proceed to use a few fear and bow effects to weaken his personality.  He responds by dropping more followers on the Personality... and I finish by sending him home (twice) using Ideological Differences.

Buying all those followers leaves him no gold to buy Personalities during the Dynasty Phase, and on my turn, I recruit a Ninube Shiho, another small guy, and more gold.  Afraid of Shiho (a non-Cavalry personality can't avoid him!), Kyle doesn't attack next turn... but I do with everything on my next turn.  He defends with a few guys, and immediately Fears out Shiho to prevent me from dumping all his followers.  A long battle later, and with his hand nearly empty, I barely manage to break the province and take out his two non-Follower filled Personalities.  We're now at one province down apiece... and I finish the turn recruiting 4 (!) more Personalities.

Kyle, realizing that the tide is turning against him, decides to attack while Shiho was bowed.  I blow a few Battle actions that are already on the table, in order to 'draw him in' more (for instance, having him recruit his Reserve personality AND use the Fear effects he has on the table).  I then use Sudden Movement to bring in Shiho, use Shiho's Battle action to get the followers off of his personality... and handily win the battle.  With no army, and facing an ever growing horde, Kyle concedes.

Overall, a pretty good week of gaming!  Next week may not see me play as many card games, but the following week is sure to be filled with more!