RST 12 Report (LONG)

[Lucas Twyman]

I placed 7th at the Region 12 RST, and I figure you guys would be 
interested, since I did it with a (mostly) honorable Dragon 
Control-Dueling-Honor deck. Here's my report -- it has a lot of 
contemplation and digression, so if you're not interested in my thoughts, 
go ahead and skip to the middle, where the Rounds are.

----------

I haven't been in a good mood recently. I'm not doing the greatest at 
school, my roommate is pissing me off, and I don't get enough sleep (damn 
7:30 class). My Creative Writing Class has moved on to poetry; I hate 
reviewing other people's poetry. It's been dark outside; it's way too dark 
in my dorm room (my roommate insists on using the several superfluous lamps 
he brought from home because he hooked them up to a remote control, because 
he's too damn lazy to stand up and flick the switch). I have no car here at 
GMU, so I can't get anywhere without wasting all day on the Metro or 
waiting for a bunch of people to decide to go shopping. I've been bitter 
and somewhat depressed, but optimistic about the near future.

Sort of like the rest of the L5R community, I suppose. L5R seems ruled by a 
mixture of cynicism and idealism (one could say they're the same thing), 
with players always bitching about the "current environment" and how bad 
the card base for their clan is, yet they always hope that the designers 
will fix things in the next expansion  or, in the present case, Gold 
Edition. Doom and gloom are especially prevalent on L5Rinfo and the #L5R 
Undernet IRC channel, and one can't help but get caught up in it. I'm just 
as guilty  look at my rant about the Phoenix if you need proof. :)


The thing is, I'd rather play L5R than do most anything else (notice the 
"most"  there are exceptions). I love every aspect of it  deckbuilding, 
playtesting, the anticipation when a new set comes out, finding new uses 
for unnoticed cards, figuring out loopholes in the rules, analyzing the 
game environment, and, especially, the competition. Like most of my family, 
I have a very competitive nature. I'm not interested in merely winning 
games  when I win, I want the effort to be mine. I would rather beat, say, 
a Phoenix player with a Dragon Clan deck that I invented and designed than 
win a tournament with the deck-of-the-month, and when I can win a 
tournament with a deck I put hours into, building and testing and tuning, 
well, I can't describe how cool it feels.
         Don't get me wrong  I have a well-adjusted life outside L5R, and 
most of my friends couldn't recognize what a L5R card was if I had one 
glued to my forehead. I just wish I could play more. The area where I'm 
from (Lexington, Kentucky), had a very small player base, and the DC area 
doesn't seem to hold many tournaments. I savor every chance I have to play 
in tourneys, and I want to do as well as I can.

That's why I waste my time writing strategy for the Stronghold, and why I 
spend so much time on my tournament reports. I don't get a lot of 
opportunities to play in tournaments; this Regional is merely the second 
tournament I've played in with more than 20 people (the first being Gencon, 
this year). Each tournament is a chance to match my wits against new foes, 
to test how good I really am. I know this sounds cheesy  but it's true. I 
love the competition. I've never been built for sports (I was short when I 
was young, and now I'm 6'3", only 140 pounds, and clumsy as hell), and 
video games just don't give me enough chance to assert my own identity. I 
liked Magic, but it was just too much money and effort to continue playing; 
in L5R, though, not only can I play a game, but I can also tell a story. 
I'm an English major  I love stories.

I was worried about this morning. The registration for the tournament 
started at ten, and the tournament itself was scheduled to begin at eleven. 
Unfortunately, I would have to take a bus to get to the Metro stop, and the 
buses didn't begin running until 8:45  and the earliest I could arrive 
would be 10:40  if nothing went wrong. And things have a tendency to go 
wrong for me.

It was incredible outside. The sun hung heavily in the sky, and every once 
in a while a huge gust of wind would flare up. Partially to shield my ears 
from the wind, I put on my headphones.
         The Clash, live, kicks ass. Not in the same way as James Kochalka 
Superstar kicks ass (www.mp3.com/jks) or Radiohead kicks ass, or even The 
Darkest of the Hillside Thickets kick ass. They had a bouncy, fast, catchy 
rhythm that their studio stuff didn't entirely do justice to, and they 
could rock. I have to fight the urge to go "AOOOHohOOOOH" along with the 
crowd on the opener to From Here to Eternity, their new live CD. I think I 
frightened the two girls sitting in the bus stop with my antics.
         While I was waiting for the bus, a bunch of people wearing numbers 
on their shirts ran by. I figure it was some sort of race. Then... I saw him.

BATMAN.

Yes, Batman. He was wearing his Batman mask, a cape, and jogging shorts, 
and was running in the middle of the pack. I think I later saw Robin 
pushing a baby stroller. It was just the beginning of the weirdness  when I 
got on the bus and sat down near the back, I overheard some guy telling his 
son about the joys of Tenacious D. I didn't know that anyone outside of 
connoisseurs of strange music knew about Tenacious D, but when he sang a 
bit of the Lee song, I did a double-take. Drew, my L5R sparring partner 
back at home, often talks about Tenacious D before we go to tournaments. It 
was a bit scary. (If you don't know about the D, check 'em out online. 
They're pretty damn cool.)

Perhaps even stranger: I showed up on time. I said hello to all the folks I 
knew, and sat down where Jonathan, a friend of mine, was talking to a guy 
named John Stevens, who had come up from North Carolina. There were 
apparently 35 or so people at the tournament, and a good spread of clans 
were represented. By the beginning of the second round, another group 
arrived from Richmond, and the attendance was 41 strong, with every clan 
represented. I was using my trusty Dragon Honor deck, SJ-ified with a bit 
more PK. I had some anti-honor tech in there, but I barely used any of it, 
and would probably have been better served with some One Life, One Actions, 
Refugees, or more dishonor.
         I like to talk, especially about L5R. I must be annoying as hell 
to those around me, because I babble on and on about decks and cards 
(similar to what I'm doing here), but people don't seem to mind too much. 
The big thing I noticed was the number of Scorpion, especially Scorpion 
Dishonor, and the lack of Phoenix  there was Jim Ghiloni (aka Isawa Yamoto) 
sporting his Shiba Attack Deck, Alexander Wood using a "bandwagon" 
FETA-Dishonor, and I think one or two other FETA/Mo5s. Scorpion basically 
held them down  Dishonor is Phoenix's biggest weakness, and it was there in 
droves.
Of course, one of the Laws of Tournaments is that you will always end up 
playing the person with whom you had been sitting and talking....

ROUND 1  John Stevens, Kosaten Shiro with Hantei
I'm never sure what to expect from Kosaten Shiro. It can do both honor and 
military exceptionally well, and there were a LOT of Cranes there. The 
format was honor+cut, and I won the cut. First turn I got out a Crevasse, 
and he got a Large Farm and an Uji. I followed up with Yoshi + Gold Mine, 
then continued to get stuff out pretty quick. He got only acceptable gold 
early  nothing crazy  and I was able to keep up with him in production. 
After several turns (and battles), I reached 40 honor; he then got Kuwannan 
Exp2, too late. I don't think he was able to bust a province.

1-0

Rock and roll. I'm feeling good about myself  I have Sanzo on my side, 
Batman's obviously watching over me, and my Kung Fu is strong. But, is Kung 
Fu a match for Vu Fu?

ROUND 2  John Palmer, Hitaka on #L5R undernet, Spawning Grounds + Kaede
Ooh. Spawning Grounds PK. I haven't had much experience against this 
archetype  just watching Scott at Gencon and playing against it on 
Gempukku. Oh, and what's up with all these Johns? I've mentioned three 
already. Anyway, this John  like the other two, is a pretty nice guy, and 
we exchange snappy banter throughout the round.
I had a bad opening fate hand  by my third fate draw, I had all three winds 
Truths and 2 Deeds, but, fortunately, VuFu (he said for me not to call the 
deck this, but it's easiest) doesn't start too quick. He pulled 3 
Shadowlands Marshes on his first turn  wacky  and the Festering Pit. I got 
a rather large amount of gold, and Gennai and Shinseken gave me some fate 
manipulation and Shugenja powah. I countered his PK with my own  Force of 
Will and Test of Honor are pretty good against the Horde, I hear  and I was 
able to outrun his PK. I unleash beatings! I AM INVINCIBLE!
2-0

Winners bracket, baby! Nothing's going to stop me now. Jonathan, 
unfortunately, lost his first game to a Crane dueling deck (Crab isn't the 
strongest vs. Crane) and got a bye his second round. I scope out a few of 
the Scorpion matches  it's fun to watch dishonor in action, as long as 
you're not on the receiving end of it.

ROUND 3  Josh, Palace of Otosan-Uchi with Toshimoko
Josh is a big guy  a BIG big guy. He dwarfs me, and, unlike my skinny ass, 
he's got mass, too. He's also a pretty nice guy. Joshi is apparently a 
Ninja, but he was playing a friend's deck, because his friend wasn't able 
to make it and wanted his RPG character in Gold. This deck was strong, and 
pretty wacky. He used Toshimoko, but without many duels  I didn't see any 
during our game. I got a bad opening, with 4 personalities, but, thanks to 
a first-turn Shinseken and a second-turn Imperial Gift, I was able to get 
ahead in honor and take the favor. Things were going pretty well  I got out 
a Judgement on Daini and a Secrets on the Wind on a Gennai, and, with Yoshi 
as backup, was ready to duel away his guys. Unfortunately, I got greedy and 
decided to try and kill Kamoto instead of Toku with a Command staff. Yoshi 
only flipped a two, and he played two Smoke and Mirrors, stripping me of my 
high focuses. Argh. He won the duel, and my resources thus wasted, I 
suddenly was scrambling for defense. I even had another Yoshi in my 
provinces, so I could have killed Toku that turn and Kamoto the next. Silly 
me  looks like my Ambition ruined me. I held off his army for many turns, 
killing off his Daiyu exp2 so Hoshi could rock, but by then it was too 
late  he outforced me when I was at 45 honor. Oh well.
2-1

With the ups come the downs  I love playing, but I take losing a little too 
hard. Fortunately, I looked at my mistake as a learning process  don't 
challenge the big-chi guy initially when the little one is almost as good.

ROUND 4  Stephen Murray, AKA Bayushi Murai, playing Yogo Towers w/ Kaede
Murai is somewhat infamous for his Blitz decks, and, thanks to Drew, I knew 
of his reputation. He's a cool guy  I met him at Gencon, where we compared 
Shadowfist while he chatted with Drew. I figured this game would be pretty 
close, because Yogo Blitz has a tendency to work just as well in the 
midgame as in the early game, and my prediction was correct. My biggest 
fear against Scorpion is Shoshuro Technique, so I used Hantei for, I 
believe, the only time my entire tournament to call it. He called Iaijutsu 
Duel. We built up, and he used my Judgement + Secrets kills to empty his 
hand for ring of the void; he then proceeded to attack each and every turn 
to get cards out of his hand. I held him back until I hit around 30; he 
then took 2 provinces utilizing Yogo Unbowing Tricks (tm). I hit 42, then 
was able to survive the decisive final battle by a mere force or two. 
Probably the best game I played the entire game  it was fun, neither of us 
made any real play mistakes, and we (Murai especially, with his 
hand-emptying, card-cycling RoV tricks) both played intelligently.
3-1

I discussed Gold with Murai for a while, and we both lamented the fact that 
Scorpion's only shugenja has a honor requirement. WHY? I like the Scorps, 
and they don't need no honor requirements.

ROUND 5  David La, Utaku Palace Unicorn w/Yodin
Yes, that David La. The one who won Gencon. I have to admit it  I'm a huge 
fanboy. I think it's awesome to meet people like Bergstrom, La, Walsh, 
hell, anyone who consistently does well at big tournaments, because, well, 
I want to do well at big tournaments. I'm repeating myself, but I had fun 
playing against everyone. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, and there 
was a lot of joking and goofing around. David was no exception  though he 
probably thought that I mentioned his Gencon win a bit too much (pretty 
much to everyone I knew).
I didn't have a quick start  just a Shinseken, no gold, though I did get 
some on the second turn. He was able to get out an inexperienced Yokatsu by 
the third turn; I held off his attack and ambushed with Daini, completely 
forgetting that he can unbow a guy when attacked. I took out Yokatsu with 
an Iaijutsu duel, but lost Daini in the process. A counterattack capped the 
whole thing off. He was able to get the favor, and attacked, twice favoring 
home one of my guys and moving to an undefended province with a SupTacs. 
Down to one province, there wasn't much I could do; if I hadn't ambushed, I 
would still have held the favor, and might have been able to pull it out.
3-2

By the fifth round of any tournament I start getting a bit stressed and 
tired; and I was worried that I had no chance of making it into the finals, 
since they were only taking top eight  they probably should have taken top 
16, but, because there was originally below 40 people, that's how they 
originally scheduled it. I was a bit rude to Jonathan, among other people, 
since I pretty much ignored them. I hope I didn't offend anybody.
The organizers had some problems with standings, because the computer 
screwed up or something. Josh, the guy who I lost to in the third round, 
was the only undefeated player going into the sixth round. He would 
continue his winning streak during the next round.

ROUND 6  Alex Yuskavage, House of Tao, Water Ring and Hantei Sensei
I didn't take many notes this round, nor do I remember it very well. It 
seemed that both Alex and I were tired and stressed. Alex jumped ahead in 
honor really quickly, with a Wayan and something else, and took the favor, 
but that didn't last very long. I dropped a Challenge, then a Test of 
Honor; a few turns later I followed up with another challenge. My PK 
engines started rolling, and he never really had the force to take one, let 
alone multiple, provinces.
4-2

Then, a tough wait. They announced that the 9-16 ranked players would play 
in a side tournament, which cheered me a bit, since I knew I would be at 
least in the top 16. There was a long wait (probably at least half an hour) 
as they fiddled with the computer database and double-checked everyone's 
total points. Finally, they announced the standings  one 6-0 (Josh), one 
5-0-1, two 4-1-1s, and... me, at fifth seed, the top-ranked 4-2. My 
tiebreaks were goood  David was, I believe, 12th, and I beat John Palmer 
(the 3rd or 4th seed), and my other loss was to the top seed. A cry of 
"Kitsuki Sanzo!" (or maybe just "Yes!") escaped my lips. What can I say, 
I'm not a humble winner.


Jim ended up placing in the top 16, also going 4-2, with his Phoenix Attack 
deck. He would end up with, I believe, 13th place. Jonathan ended up 3-3; 
he metagamed pretty heavily against Dishonor, but never hit one.

The Final 8 went like this:
Toturi's Wacky Blitz (Josh)
Scorpion Dishonor
One Spawning Grounds PK (John Palmer)
One Dragon Honor/Dueling/PK (Me!)
Yodin Unicorn Attack
Toshimoko Unicorn w/ Dueling/Magistrates (I originally thought it might 
have been Scorpion Dishonor, though  I was busy playing so I didn't see the 
round w/ the 2 'Corns)
Ratling Crab

FINAL 8  John Palmer, again, Spawning w/ kaede
John was worried going in, because he lost pretty badly to me during the 
Swiss, but I told him that he had a chance. I shouldn't have, because my 
deck was obviously listening, and decided that now was the best time to 
completely f*ck me over.
I have never been so badly gold screwed. I ran 15 holdings + GSP and 
Inheritence; all I saw until the third turn was a single Small Farm. On the 
third turn, I got out the Clan Charter. I didn't see any other gold, except 
for another pair of Farms, until 5 or so turns later, when I got a 
Crevasse. I had 2 Force of Wills in my hand, waiting to kill of his guys, 
and multiple Shugenja in play, but I never had the gold to really play 
them. He busted my Crevasse; I held on for several more turns; then saw 5 
holdings in 2 turns (seeing as how I only had 5 provinces over those turns, 
it was not good), but, by then, it was far too late. DAMN YOU DECK! :P
I was a bit emotional that game, cursing at my deck quite a bit. I suppose 
it was to be expected  John was probably my best match in the final 8, so 
when I hit him, I, of course, have to get gold screwed.
Josh fell victim to another law of tournaments  if you go undefeated in the 
qualifiers, you must lose in the first round of the finals (I'm the only 
person I know who has avoided that).

John went on to win it all, hitting the Ratling Crab (John was taken down 
to one province, but he eventually had more PK than the ratling had 
personalities, and was able to kill off or steal almost his entire dynasty 
deck. The ratling showed an uncanny ability to hit the right 
provinces  both of the first two provinces he killed held a Shadowlands Marsh).

I get pretty upset when I lose. I bitched about my deck for a while (if I 
lost due to a mistake, I would have bitched about myself), but the mood in 
the Ratling Crab vs. Horde game was so downright fun that I couldn't help 
but enjoy myself.

The finals ended up being Scorpion Dishonor (ouch) VS. John's PK VuFu. The 
Scorp didn't have much of a chance  John stole the Scorpion's shugenja and 
used them against the Scorpion, and eventually went in for the kill. Both 
players seemed somewhat unconcerned about the storyline prize, which pissed 
me off a bit, because I had come in wanting to name my guy either Kitsuki 
Sanzo or Kitsuki Iyoku. Oh well. I guess winning has different meanings for 
everyone.

By now, you probably don't care about reading about how much I enjoy this 
game. You're probably a little annoyed that I wasted your time on personal 
thoughts instead of going straight to the rounds and decklist. The thing 
is, I'm writing this as much for you as for me. I don't know if I'm going 
to play L5R anymore  it's expensive, it's time-consuming, and it's 
draining. If I were to cut it out of my life, I would have about one to 
three more hours a day (the amount of time I spend reading digests, 
checking out websites, hanging out on #L5R, writing stuff, and fiddling 
with decks) to write.
I spent two years trying to bring life to one dead L5R scene. I don't 
really have the time, drive, or energy to try and organize another one. 
(BTW, if anyone working in DC area stores somehow sees this, we have the 
players and the desire. If someone sanctions regular tournaments at an 
location easily accessible from the Metro and freeway, people WILL 
come  or, at least, I will.) I'm not going to quit just yet. I want to see 
how Gold shapes up, and I want to see what will happen with the DC 
tournament scene. But I'm not going to play forever.

So, I think it would do everyone a little good to lighten up a bit  despite 
the fact that I lost, I probably had the most fun I've ever had at a L5R 
tournament today. The only thing I would have liked more would be if my 
friends from home were there.
So, next time you think about complaining about L5R, try to keep a sense of 
humor with it. This is just a game, no matter how much we may be serious 
about it, and, if it's not fun, it's not worth playing. Even people with 
lockdown decks can be good opponents; it's all in the attitude.

Dear God, I can't believe I wrote that. Back to the bitching.

(I didn't bother writing the decklist up, but if people want to see it, 
just send me an e-mail and I'll post it.)

Lucas Twyman

Kitsuki Iyoku
Dragon Clan Villain - Magistrate - Samurai
Supporter of the Scorpion

"From Bayushi, we learned of the lies hidden in truth;
 From Togashi we learned of the truth hidden in lies."