[dragon] New Jersey Kotei report

[Mirumoto Tsubasa]

A Very Merry Goblin Christmas:Kokujin is sexy. (This
New Jersey Kotei review brought to you by Jenny
Langley) 

The weekend started on Friday for me, when my plane
from O'Hare to Newark was canceled. Luckily I had
gotten to the airport almost 2 hours early, so a quick
dash to the customer service deck got me an assigned
seat on the next flight out, an hour later. So, glad
to have that mishap settled, I sat down to wait for
the plane, and boarded upon it's timely arrival. Once
we got on the plane, it seemed the weather decided to
be ornery, and we got stuck on the runway for a bit
over an hour waiting out storms that were clogging the
route. Finally, almost 3 hours after I was supposed to
leave, we took off for a very smooth and speedy
flight. 

When I got into Newark I picked up my baggage and was
met by Josh Weinberg, Kevin Kennedy, and Dan Sacco,
who were on their way down from Albany. After a brief
time spent searching for the mythical Central Street,
we found our way to Jared Devlin-Scherer's house, and
met all the other people who were there, then went out
for sushi. Turns out there were about 15 people
staying there, so a lot of deck testing and such went
on, along with a lot of fun. Sometime during that
night I got tired of trying to explain why I did and
didn't play certain cards. I was tired of scrubbing
out and going 3/3 at koteis...so I just said "Hell,
guys, just build me something that works!" This was
sometime around 3 am. Thus, my deck is dubbed the Deck
of the Drunken Masters, in reverence to its
construction. I don't know how late everyone else
stayed up, but after showering at 5:30, then talking
summore, I crashed out sometime around 6:30 am. We
left for the tournement around 8 am. 

And now we get to the actual tournement part of this.
Due to the fact that I'd been doing so poorly in
previous tournements, this time around I didn't bother
to write down who I played or what happened or
anything. This was the first kotei in which I didn't
do so. Go figure. So, aside from a few people, and
some numbers, I really don't remember much of that
day. It all sorta blends together into a warm fuzzy
kotei glow. *grin* Therefore, if I don't mention you
or get something wrong, I'm sorry! 

Round One was against a fellow Dragon player and a
friend, Ted Hunkle. I remember him getting some good
Chieko Dragon tatt stuff off on me, and that we both
saw Reju on our first Dynasty flip. I saw more gold,
and therefore got to my people faster and honored out
ahead of him. I hate beating out other Dragons,
especially when I know them! Ah well.
1-0 

Round two was against Josh Weinberg, one of the guys
who helped build the deck! He was playin' Crane honor.
They stuck us up at table one! I think I got
intimidated by that, and so was my deck! Josh beat me
out in honor, and I started thinking I'd do just as
well here as I'd been doing all year.
1-1 

Here's where I start to get fuzzy on who/what I
played, and when. I don't have any of the other names,
'cause I was dumb and didn't write them down, and they
weren't people I was staying with/had stayed with at
other cons. So I'm just gonna give the clan breakdown.


I played a Unicorn Utaku deck, and he got a gold
screw, and also left some guys in province for too
long early game, so he couldn't catch up to my lead. I
also played a Scorpion, who had the same problem. I
was relieved at that, since Scorp can be a tough match
for me. It's hard to play all those battle actions
when you're bowed! The other 3 games I played were
against Cranes! Seems like it was just my day to be
seeing powder blue. 

By the end of the Swiss, I was 6-1. I'd never done so
well in a tournement in my whole life, so I was
bouncing off the walls. My desperate hope was to make
the cut to the finals, and I did! 

I may be off, but I believe the clan breakdown for the
top 16 was 3 Dragon, 4 Crane, 4 Phoenix, 3 Scorp, 1
Horde, 1 Crab. I know I thought it was great that the
2 people who'd traveled the farthest for this one,
myself and Craig Edwards, were both in the top 16. ;) 

The single elim was going to be best 2 out of 3 for
this one, which was a new experience for me. I think
for slow players, it's a nightmare, and it does make
things take a very long time when there's 3 rounds of
finals. But on the whole it's not a bad idea to avoid
losses to pure fate. 

Sadly, I had to play one of the other 2 Dragons in the
round of 16, and it was Ted again! Both games were
very similar to our first one, and I moved on to the
top 8. At this point I must have been glowing. Top 8
out of 96 people? Wow. 

Kevin, the other Dragon, got knocked out as well, so
at this point I was top Dragon. Also a neat experience
for me. I think the 8 was 1 Dragon, 1 Horde, 2 Crane,
1 Crab, 2 Scorp, 1 Phoenix. 

For the next game, I played another Crane. I think his
name was Carlos...gah. I really am TERRIBLE with
names, especially after all day of playing on little
sleep. We played some very good games, with some
leap-frogging honor action, but I managed to end up
ahead both times, and I was on to the top 4. 

The top 4 was 1 Dragon, 1 Phoenix, 1 Scorp, 1 Crab. A
nice diverse mix of clans, for once. 

I was paired against the Scorpion. Not good for me, as
I mentioned before. Both games I got a lot of gold,
and only a few people. Against just about any other
attack-style deck I could hold up with that, but when
I only get an average of one action a battle...I got
run over. Still, they were good games, and we all had
some fun while they were being played. 

Aaron got knocked out by the Crab, so the finals were
Crab-rat verses Scorpion. The Crab pulled off the win,
which is good, as that gives the Kotei clan winners a
little more variety. *grin* 

There was a cash prize, and the top 4 decided to split
it evenly before going into the final round, as is
usual for L5R. So we each got $125, along with a
treasure haul of other fun goodies like uncut sheets,
cards, and art prints! :) 

In all, it was a great Kotei, and well worth my trip
out. Thanks go out to:
All the people who came and played- I didn't hear
about any shady stuff, so a good time for all!
The guys who built my deck! I'd never have been able
to do it without you! *big hugs*
Jared, for housing all of us crazy people.
Joe and Jon for running a great Kotei, where despite
ties the only dice rolling was in the Warlord games. 

The Deck of the Drunken Masters 

Shiro Mirumoto
Toturi Tsudao


Dynasty(41) 

3x Tamori Chieko
3x Tamori Chosai (Master of the Bad Touch...look at
him! You know he likes it!)
3x Mirumoto Rosanjin (For two fisted action.)
3x Mirumoto Tsuge
1x Togashi Satsu
1x Doji Reju exp 2 (What, you think that's tea?)
1x Mirumoto Uso


3x Campsite (Mmm...marshmallows....) 

1x Welcome Home
1x A Matter of Pride
1x Imperial Gift
1x Boastful Proclamation


3x Small Farm ('Cause hungry samurai are no fun!)
3x Jade Works
3x Gold Mine
3x Sanctified Temple
3x Hiruma Dojo
2x Gambling House
1x Ki-Rin's Shrine exp
1x Temple of the Dragon


Fate(42) 

2x Snow Crane Tattoo
2x Crab Tattoo
2x Superior Tactics
2x Flattery
3x Iaijutsu Duel
3x Block Supply Lines
2x Fall on Your Knees
3x In Search of the Future
2x Investigation (Grrr...Kolats bad!)
3x Deeds, not Words


3x The Wind's Truth 

3x Torrential Rain
3x Touch of Death (The Bad Touch)
3x Walking the Way
1x Fist of Osano-Wo


1x Shiryo no Nyoko (So that Rosanjin can TRIPLY have
the Two-Fisted trait, with one weapon in the deck!) 

1x Empress's Guard 

1x The Imperial Standard
1x Celestial Sword of the Dragon


1x Ring of the Void 

Jenny Langley * Mirumoto Tsubasa * Dragon Clan
Samurai-ko * Hater of Kolats 


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