[Dragon-new] [dragon] Report: Test of the Mousakas Champion (Long)

[John Panagiotakis]

Greetings,

    Well, as the title says, this is my report from the 1st Storyline=20
Tournament in Greece. This is a >>Long<< post so if you are in no mood ju=
st=20
skip it, no hard feelings=858p

Sunday Morning, February 18.

    Roaming through the streets of Athens, I (in truth, my friend) find=20
=93Espairos=94, the gaming club that houses the three-day event. I=92ve g=
ot my=20
Dragon Tattooed Military deck while he=92s got a Shadowlands deck=85 (a p=
eculiar=20
company). This is the first time that I play with a military deck in a=20
tourney. [Anxiety is a little higher than normal]  It=92s nearly 10:30 bu=
t=20
only 12 people have already showed up and none of them has the keys to op=
en=20
the club =96 The today=92s event was scheduled to start at 11:00 =96 Time=
 still=20
marches on and it=92s nearly 12:00, Whoa! Don=92t jump into any rush=20
conclusions; the second day of the event had a Crab Drinking Contest at t=
he=20
day=92s end (Ouzo was served, for those who are familiar with it) so a sm=
all=20
delay was expected.
    By 13:00 the club has opened, 45 players have showed up and the=20
preparations for the event=92s beginning have been done. If I remember=20
correctly, there were 6 Dragons (all playing Dueling Honor except me!!!),=
 14=20
Cranes, many-many Scorpions and a bunch of all the remaining clans. Many=20
Scorpion players were playing fully Shadowland-corrupted decks...
    As I go through some people=92s card collections, I come across an un=
known=20
card: Togashi Hoshi from Imperial Edition with dragon clan border!!! Whoa=
!=20
Does anyone on this list have a complete list of all Dragon clan=20
personalities with also those who have changed artwork? Like Mirumoto Hit=
omi=20
exp2? Anyway, before the tourney starts, each clan is called to shout a l=
oud=20
Banzai =96 you can imagine who=92s Banzai was the loudest one... Ours!!!
    Today=92s event is called =93Bonds of Fate=94 and if remember correct=
ly, a=20
similar event is held at the USA. The 2 winning clans get... well... a=20
political marriage!
    The 1st round starts and I am paired with one of the many Scorpions. =
I=20
begin first and get a good start with a healthy portion of holdings and=20
cheep peeps, so does my opponent. At 3rd round he attacks, I don=92t bloc=
k and=20
so I=92m on down to 3 provinces. He doesn=92t have a Rallying Cry and nei=
ther do=20
I have a Counterattack, so I wait for my turn to get him down to 3 provin=
ces=20
too. For the next 3 round we built up and I get a fantastic fate_card han=
d=20
with a counterattack. I make plans to get 2 of his provinces in a single=20
attack. It is his turn; I check my Counterattack again and prepare for hi=
s=20
incoming attack. He reveals his 3 dynasty cards and Disaster #1 strikes: =
New=20
Years Celebration, we both discard our hands and get 5 new fate cards! Da=
mn=85=20
Well, it=92s not the end of the world, my Gensuo with his Elite Spearmen =
and=20
Spearmen can get through his defenses without any problem. In his Limited=
=20
phase Disaster #2 strikes: Kolat Assassin on Genshuo. This is just great!=
!!=20
Next round he Kolat Master=92s my 4Forse Nyima with Mountain Tattoo and=20
Warriors of the Great Climb... Disaster #3. The conclusion of the match i=
s=20
unavoidable; I lose my last province while at 32 Honor and with Togashi=20
Hoshi in play... I have a good saying; all good tourneys start with loss.=
..

0 wins and 1 losses

    The 2nd round starts and I am paired with an English Crane player (on=
e=20
of the 7-8 foreign players that traveled from afar to be here today). He=20
plays with Kosate Shiro and I wonder if my saying needs a little update..=
.=20
He starts first and for the rest of the match we both have our decks runn=
ing=20
just fine. At 3 round I make one of the 3 fatal mistakes: I discard due=20
Chieko an In Search for the Future. Togashi Hoshi shows up and I don=92t =
have=20
enough Honor to get him in. My opponent takes a note of that and next rou=
nd=20
he deeds me, Mistake #2. I should have discarded him=85 I take quickly en=
ough=20
to 2 provinces before I get a dilemma: He has two provinces left and one =
of=20
them has the region =93The Plains of the New Tao=94 if I remember correct=
ly. I=20
choose to attack the one with no region, Mistake #3. John, you=92re burne=
d! I=20
fail for 6 force to destroy his last province while he is at 43 Honor... =
No=20
more mistakes...

0 wins and 2 losses

    The 3rd round starts and I am paired again with a foreign Crane playe=
r!=20
Though this one is playing with the Daidoji stronghold =96 I=92m puzzled.=
 His=20
deck doesn=92t work out fine while mine runs up to it=92s maximum speed. =
By 4=20
round I built a strong army and take a province. Next round Togashi Hoshi=
,=20
who showed up in the previous round, takes a province by himself =96 he i=
s=20
down to 2 provinces and low in Honor. I choose to attack with lone Hoshi=20
again. He blocks in both of his provinces, I hold a Purity of Spirit in m=
y=20
hand =96 nothing can go wrong! My opponent teaches me humility as he play=
s To=20
Do What We Must on Hoshi=85 Eissai howls in fury as she takes the last 2=20
provinces in the absence of her husband.
    Overall, this was a great game and a good opponent. I=92m really sorr=
y=20
that I don=92t remember his name though he did let me autograph his small=
 L5R=20
card-carpet...

1 win and 2 losses

    My head starts to ache badly=85 It=92s lunch break, thank Togashi!

    The 4th round starts and I am paired with a foreign Crane player agai=
n!=20
This round=92s report won=92t be as long as the previous ones... My deck =
*@#$%*=20
me, with small peeps like Chieko, no followers or Mountain tattoos I=92m=20
forced to watch him as he gets to 40 honor... Damn again! That saying nee=
ds=20
an update after all.

    At this point, I leave the tournament tired and ashamed... Thank God =
my=20
brethren did better than me... I was told that a Crane player got 3rd, a=20
Shadowlands player got 2nd and a Lion won the tourney. Moreover, I was to=
ld=20
(can someone verify this???) that the other =93Bonds of Fate=94 tourney i=
n the=20
USA was won by

[Evil grin]

A Scorpion...8>

Conclusion;

   Well, to be frank, the deck wasn=92t bad. The games that I lost were e=
ither=20
to my mistakes or excellent performance of opponent=92s deck/poor perform=
ance=20
of my deck... Meaning the usual causes... Maybe I should return to the us=
ual=20
honor-dueling deck type of mine. Time (and the new expansion) will tell.

Here it is:

Stronghold: Shiro Mirumoto
Wind: Hantei Naseru

Dynasty: 40 cards

Mirumoto Rosanjin x 3
Tamori Chieko x 3
Togashi Nyima x 3
Hitomi Vedau x 2
Togashi Gensuo x 3
Hitomi Akuai exp
Hitomi Kagetora exp
Hoshi Eissai exp
Togashi Hoshi exp2
Small Farm x 3
Trading Grounds x 3
Gold Mine x 3
Jade Works x 3
Shintao Library x 2
Kabuki Theater Troupe x 3
Temple of the Dragon
Ki-Rin=92s Shrine exp
Farmlands x 2


Fate: 40 cards

Purity of Spirit x 2
Superior Tactics x 3
Arrows from the Woods x 3
In Search for the Future x 2
Sneak Attack x 2
Counterattack x 2
Rallying Cry x 3
Ashigaru Spearmen x 3
Spearmen x 3
Elite Spearmen x 3
Warriors of the Great Climb
Mountain Tattoo x 3
Spider Tattoo x 3
Naga Tattoo x 2
Dragon Tattoo x 2
Gaijutsu no Shiryo
Walking the Way x 2

    If you got this far; be strong - Just a little of my ranting...

    On a further note, one of the rumors that were soaring above the=20
conversations in the tourney was that the Scorpion would be joining the=20
Shadowlands in the new expansion: Dark Allies. Is this true??? I hope it=92=
s=20
just a rumor and nothing more!


-Togashi Agozatsu-
Dragon Clan Tattooed Samurai
Lt.Cmdr. Deep Space Blue Team
"All fires die, Hochiu," Shaitung smiled in reply. "We are the mountains,=
=20
and mountains do not crumble."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:=20
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx