Here goes. My memory for names is poor so there won't be many.
So after Iron Samurai ended I was lamenting my light wallet & bitter about having missed the cut in 3/4 Kotei thanks to the new cut rounds (and missing it outright in the 4th). In an effort to cheer me up the now-legendary Case Kiyonaga prompted me to look through the list of remaining Kotei to see if there were any that I could feasibly attend. It turns out I had enough Airmiles saved up to get to Sacramento for a reasonable cost & Reese kindly offered me a place to crash before the tournament. Now I just had to count-down the month & a half between Iron Samurai & Sacramento.
So on Saturday after 4 hours of flying & 4 hours of hanging around in airports I get to Sacramento & catch a ride with Doruk out to Reese's place. I do some light testing & play a bunch of Rockband and have a great time. After chatting with Case I decide to pull my Contemplation, Wager & one of my Beloveds for a second Low Stance & 2 Determinations in anticipation of little honour and lots of Pony. Similarly Yasuko took a seat for Utemaro. I took a 3 hour nap & then on to the tourney.
Round 1 - Dragon, Mountain Summit Temple
I'm going second & he's playing Ring Honour but he's new to the game and doesn't quite buy things optimally. I've got a good start (Ryosaki + Armour of the Heavens) and haul in a Masujiro to battle. He plays Hand of Osano-wo, I'm debating my next action when he tells me he has to concede. I'm a touch puzzled but he shows me that his card was a proxy (I hadn't noticed) that hadn't been replaced before the tournament (he had been working till 4AM the night before so was a bit scattered). He replaced the cards, I went to report, and we played a fun game. He hit 50 when I took his last province.
1-0
Round 2 - Mantis, East Hub Port
I get him down to one province to my 3 but he attacks back with 3 peeps (Naizen & 2 commanders) with a hand consisting of: Taoist Archer, Oni Dai-Kyu, Powerful Blow, Skilled Quartermaster & my one defender can't save me (I moved in 2 more units both of which got killed
).
1-1
Round 3 - Dragon, Great Falls Castle
I go second but I get my force out faster than him (thanks Oishi
). Based on his questions I figure out he's holding at least one Soldier's Fate so I use Oishi to break his Blade of Awe & then just out-force him. The game goes from there.
2-1
Round 4 - Mantis, East Hub Port
This time it's a scout-style deck. I build my force quickly & snag a couple of provinces early. We get into an opposed battle & I take out his team, he doesn't recover.
3-1
Round 5 - Crane, Kyuden Kyotei
He gets gold screwed & ends up buying Hideo basic & a Marketplace turn 2. On his turn 4 he's got Hideo basic, Hideo xp & 3 Marketplaces; he's also picked up the favour. I've got a stack of gold & a Kazuki. He Impromptus my Kaz with Hideo basic; I raise an eyebrow and accept. We focus out, he burns his box ability, I've got a 3 & 3 4s, after his boost he's got a 4 and 3 3s. He gains 2 & a card from Fortune's Smile & I gain 2 and shrug as his Hideo dies. Then he Impromptus me again with Hideo xp. I'm stunned but, since his box is used, I accept. We focus out again & this time I've got 4 4s, winning again. He gets 4 from a Hamstrung & buys some guys. Now that I'm up to 9 honour I pick up Satsu cheap & an Atsushi. I attack, he First & Final's Atsushi with Katsuro (the 3/5 paragon), loses that duel & I smash his provinces.
4-1
Round 6 - Unicorn, Michael Tunes, Temple of Death
I've played Michael a couple of times with pretty poor gold flips. This time he gets the bad gold draw & I railroad him.
5-1
Round 7 - Unicorn, Utaku Plains
The early Yobanjin Alliance hints to me that he's honour running but my guys always get to the battlefield at 10F or more so he can't get anything from Shinjo's Courage.
6-1
Round 8 - Unicorn, Western Steppes
My opponent concedes the match to ensure that he'll make the Celestial pre-release tourney for the 9-16 spots. We play a relaxed game, I goof on assigning on the last turn & get smoked.
6-2
Top 8 - Lion, Case Kiyonaga, Venerable Plains of the Ikoma
I qualify third & get paired with Case. We've played this match a lot & my win record is about 3% without Wager. Since Case is seeded (about 9 times
) he scoops to go watch Ogre play and wishes me good luck for the next round. He also kindly offers to take any spare Glory off my hands so I don't have to explain it to customs on the way home. Case is awesome
.
I kick around for 2 hours or so as Ogre plays Marcos Tunes (Phoenix Honour) in an epic match that I was unable to watch (stupid scouting rules
).
Top 4 - Unicorn, John "Ogre" Seals, Western Steppes
I like Ogre, we have a friendly game that begins with both of us getting gold screwed & drifts randomly from there. The crowning moment of the game is when I challenge his bowed Western Steppes token with Hogai and he blows up Chugo Seido to redirect the challenge to a Recruiting Allies token. He strikes, I have Hogai save himself & we continue on. That particular battle costs us most of our hands but I eventually whittle away his army & take him down.
7-2
We've got like 14 minutes for game 2 and we both know that it'd be at least 30 before we could determine a winner so Ogre concedes the match & I go on to the final.
Finals - Unicorn, Ryan Chiriboga, Western Steppes
Whee more Ponies. I get awesome gold (1st turn Waystation) and we build for a few turns. He swings into me & I defend with my whole team. Using Kei & 3 duels I take out Shono, Chen & a couple other uniques before eventually losing the province. He won the battle but it cost his hand and most of his team. I rebuild a touch faster & take out his remaining provinces.
8-2
Game 2 I get another first turn Waystation and share a laugh with Case over how it never usually works that way for me in cut rounds. About mid-way Reese warns Bryan that if we're too much longer I'll be starting with the Favour in Game 3
. There's another epic battle that devours both sides & I walk away with enough people to pull through.
9-2
So I get the win & the seed & I'm set for Gencon. Sayonara Samurai Edition; I'm looking forward to Celestial.
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