[dragon] Re:Togashi's Shrine Preview! - And Congrats Rob and Paul too :)

[Colm McFadden]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Jacobson" <jake2002 at sio.midco.net>
To: <dragon at michonline.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 12:11 AM
Subject: Re: [dragon] Togashi's Shrine Preview!


> >
> > I hope Hiroko survives to diamond
> >
>
> She will...I mean, she will right?  Tell me she will!
>
>
> > If so I think we now have a viable victory emphasis. Enlightenment.
> Hiroko,
> > and chieko for air. Shaitung for earth, tsuge for air, and don't forget
> > vedau to smash things. throw in the new 4/4 sam monk, and Mr. Sneeze
(Our
> > zukujin) and it could work nicely
> >
> > =========
> >
> > I'm with you on that one; Hiroko is great VFM. And Chieko. And Tsuge.
> > How have Dragon enlightment been doing in general? I can never seem to
get
> > the thing to work...
> >
>
> Sorry, just had to change my pants after wetting myself over Togashi's
> Shrine.  Um...not literally OVER the shrine, you sicko!
>
> This won't make my deck instant top-tier, but it certainly gives me
> something I'm looking for.  I won't post my enlightenment deck, but I will
> tell you how I get the rings and let you sort out the rest as you wish.
>
> Air - Walking the Way, Aid of the Grand Master, Look into the Void, and
> Hiroko and you don't know how to get out Air?  ; )
>
>  - Seriously...Look into the Void...and see that 3 Hiroko's have you
drawing
> 4 cards a turn outside your end phase draw.  Not to mention getting rid of
> cards you no longer need.  That is the 2nd biggest struggle with
> enlightenment decks. You have to include mult's of cards to effectively
give
> you a chance to play the rings, but these mult's later clog your hand.
You
> have to have an effective way to eliminate them from your hand.  Look into
> the Void, Trade Hubs, Ratling Conjurer...experiment with what works and
give
> it a shot.
>
> Fire - I. Art and Double Chi is the quickest most effective way I've
found.
> Plus Double-Chi counts towards ring of Air.  Any time you can have a card
> slot working towards multiple rings, you've found something important:
> Synergy.
>
> Earth - Torrential rain versus military/Armor of Osano-wo versus honor
> (hasn't worked great for me...I tend to do very well against military and
> not so well against honor...).  The big thing to keep in mind is that Ring
> of Water allows you to assign after they do on your turn, so that can help
> if you get it out first.
>
> Water - Ambush + Shugenja w/Drum of Water attached + Night Battle.  Whack
a
> bowed Samurai or Monk or Cortier (somebody who's preferrably not a
Shugenja
> or Shadowlands).  They get no actions (like Deadly) but you get to react
and
> play the Ring of Water.  I'm working on solid ways to get this out early
to
> help with Earth, but as it is the largest combo...
>
> Void - Someone suggested to me to include the Candle of the Void, which
> might not be a bad idea, but I'm still resisting.  I still think the Ring
of
> Void will come naturally if you play good cards and stay away from too
many
> reactions.
>
> That's my take...but what do I know?  I only won twice during Gencon's
> Friday qualifier by Enlightenment.  And twice at a local storyline
> tournament following Gencon...and...I'll stop now.  My deck is really
close
> and I'm excited for the cards in Fall...
>
> Hitomi Jaek
> Dragon Clan Laughseeker * Shugenja * Monk * Tattooed
>

Thanks for that.

I've been using pretty much the same combos as you, but find the Ring of
Earth the main problem against honour runners.
I haven't tried using night battle on a shugenja for RoW, as I'm using The
Wandering Monk option. He's a bit expensive for what he does, but it allows
me to Ambush verses Utaku Palaces.
My main problem seems to be a proliferation of Emporers Underhands in the
local area necessitating having to put a couple of enlightenments in the
deck. It's when you lose that one card at the wrong time that really messes
you up. Plus kudos to my opponents coz they are all pretty good players
round here :-)
I'm personally steering towards a back up military strategy in my deck to
give me an alternate path to victory, therefore I'm not using Torrential
Rains. I just find it better to be active than proactive. Any thoughts on
that?

Oh yeah congrats Paul and Rob; good to have you guys over this side of the
pond.
I hope you had a good time at the Europeans, Rob. It was a great tournament
and a nice job done. Never met you before then, and I must say we're glad to
have you :)

Regards,
Mirumoto Taneka