Ok so it's almost 21 years late and it looks like this whole internet thing is gonna stick around......I thought I'd finally share this.
Just before the release of Emerald Edition AEG held an invitational tournament at their headquarters in Ontario, CA that would be a mixed format event for the top ranked players and those who made it though the qualifying rounds in the various events held on the days before the final event. I made the 9 hour trip with Brad Matteson, the top ranked Crab player at the time, and a very young Bryan Reese, who would be playing Unicorn. I was playing Shadowlands Military out of the Ruined Fortress of the Scorpion......and the deck was a beast. In the weeks leading up to the event I missed out on several chances to qualify by not being able to participate in any head to head events. I had one final chance to qualify by winning a multi player event but was done in by two friends from a different playgroup that had seen my deck in action a few months earlier when I had beaten another one of their friends handily. Of the three of us traveling to the event, only Brad was qualified.
The first night of qualifying events were head to head and this would be my best chance at winning. My deck was just a 30/30 monstrosity of brute force in a metagame full of Lion and Crane decks that had low province strength that had a naturally bad match up against me. I had rarely lost a head to head game with that deck to that point. And the deck just steamrolled everyone going undefeated in 5 games. All according to planned.......oh wait did I forget to mention that there were additional rules for these events? The winner was not decided on their record but on the points they earned for various things. 10 points for each province destroyed, 8 points per ring in play, 1 point per honor above 0, and......here's the kicker -1 point per each point below 0 honor. So while I had a clean sweep and was dominating matches I lost out to a player with a 4-1 record. In fact I didn't even finish in the top 10 based on points earned. I was pretty demoralized and skipped the second chance event to focus on tuning my deck for the next day of multiplayer. Maybe if I could break enough provinces I could offset the honor loss my deck caused. I had consistently won multiplayer games with 4 players so there was a good chance I could pull it off. I got my head straight and went to bed with renewed hope.
Unfortunately the next day I found myself sitting at the only table with 6 players. I did my best, but, as the only Scorpion at the table or was hard to make allies and it was clear I wasn't going to be allowed to win. I racked up a lot of points which was important as each group winner qualified as well as the top two players with the highest combined points totals both multiplayer rounds. Fate would not be on my side that day as I was in a 5 person group for the second round, again the only Scorpion. At some point in the round we got word that a players was at 4 rings and trying to enlighten. Other groups had finished and I was nowhere near the top two in points so I scooped it up and went to go cheer on the enlightenment victory....maybe I'd at least get to see that. But it was not to be. The day was a complete loss.......but then a ray of hope.
Since I dropped I was able to squeeze into a sealed deck multiplayer game with a random global events caveat where the TO would have a stack of events and periodically call out an event and it would immediately resolve regardless of where we were I'm the game. Top prize was entry into the main event and a box of boosters. I was hovering around 2nd or third place when an odd series of things happened. First a well timed event changed the board position into a very favorable one for me and one other guy. Then that guy used his turn taking out threats that were more problematic for me than him. Finally he conceded from the game giving me a clear path to victory. It was bizzare. To make it even crazier this guy was someone who I'd beaten twice in a row in previous head to head games. The path to victory was handed to me on a jade platter and I wasn't passing it up. Later I found him to try and share the box of cards I won. He said he had plenty and he just wanted to see the strongest decks in the finals. L5R sportsmanship at its finest.
So here I was finally qualified for the final event and some new goodies to use for the final day. Unfortunatley Bryan found himself in the receiving end of Breach of Etiquette all day and had a miserable time.....but don't feel too bad for him I hear me did ok at the game later on. The final day would be a mixed bag of head to head sealed flowed by constructed multiplayer and then constructed head to head, but you had to use the same deck for both constructed events. I modified my trusty Shadowlands deck and Brad switched to a very unique Dragon honor and chi death deck. I was just hoping to get a multiplayer table with less than 5 people.....but that's getting ahead of myself. First up was sealed deck.
It looked like my day was going to be over before it could get started. I got stuck with a Crane starter and I was pretty bummed. I was hoping for anything military and looked to be in very tough spot, but, AEG knew their players were loyal to their clans and allowed players to swap starters. I found a Crane player stuck with a Lion stater deck and it was an easy trade for him even though he was giving me what felt was the better clan armour. Then I got to open my cards and my jaw hit the floor. Oni no Akuma, Emergence of the Tortise, Inheritance, Ring of the Void......it was almost an exact copy of the corrupted Lion deck I had played before Scorpion were released. I had a powerhouse of a deck. The player who traded with me was sitting next to my first round opponent whom I beat in 5 turns. I thanked the guy who traded me after my win and when my opponent found out he said "yeah thanks" and we all had a good laugh. My next opponent was not in for a happy time. But his girlfriend who came to watch was happy because I beat him in three turns and she got to leave early. My first turn was Gohei, Ginawa, Akuma, and Inheritance. Since I went first I had 11 attacking force on the board before he even got to see a dynasty card. When turn two Emergence of the Tortise shut down his dynasty phase he could only watch as I took him down without him ever playing a personality. Brutal.
So the final day was off to a good start. We broke up into groups for multiplayer and it appeared as fate was with me. I got grouped up with Brad so at least I would have one possible ally at a table full of players from Southern CA. There were 5 of us and only the winner would move on to head to head play. There was a bit of shenanagains with the seating as the local Crab player was somehow playing before Brad who was playing Dragon and we were supposed to go in order of honor. Then another local player was added to our group after we had started. He was also playing Dragon and they tried to seat him ahead of the Crab player. I really felt like the locals were getting a bit of a home field advantage here so I pointed out the mistake in the seating and it was decided to have that player to last. When I looked at the other tables I noticed a group that only had 4 players and pointed out that they were not balanced. It never got addressed by the TO so we forged on.
As we were under way, going around the table we had Lion (military/honor), Unicorn (military/honor), Crab (Oni military), Dragon -Brad- (honor/chi death control), Scorpion -me- (Shadowlands Military), and Dragon (honor, Naka Kuro/Water Dragon/Torrential Rair combo lock). The pregame excitement was dying down, but, the in game action was not going to take long to get going. After the first few players opened up by purchasing gold to build their economy, I revealed Oni no Akuma along with some gold on my first flip. Now the general rule of thumb in multiplayer is that "the nail that sticks up the furthest gets hammered first." and I was at a crossroads on my very first turn. Akuma was critical to my head to head strategy so he had to be in there but I had mixed feeling on playing him early in a multiplayer game with lots of other military decks at the same table. The lead designer, Dave Williams, was still at our table making sure we had sorted out the seating snafu and I heard him say behind me "I don't know if I'd run Akuma in multiplayer let alone play him turn one. He's crazy if he......." Those peanut gallery comments had been enough to tip me over to the side of the fence I was already leaning. I couldn't play passive at this table I was going to have to be the bully. Before Dave finished his sentence I announced "buying Geshia House, free corrupt gold........Akuma." I looked defiantly over my shoulder and locked eyes with Dave for a brief moment "yeah I am that kind of crazy Dave, now watch me wreck sh!+" I thought to myself. Turned back to the table "bow table" I said in my toughest voice, and it was on.
It was clear that most of the table didn't expect such early aggression or thought I was posturing but when it came around to me again I went straight after the Unicorn no allies. Everyone that had a guy out to get the free honor to help to defend did so and went to the province I was not at. I got more force on the board and on turn three sent all my stuff at the Unicorn again. I didn't want their Cavalry to take me down later and needed to slow their production a bit. When defenders assigned allies at the same different province they made a critical error of not placing someone there with 3chi so superior tactics was not a problem I had more than enough force to take the province I was attacking and it's really all I needed so I Traversable Terrain to the defended province wipe out their weak dudes and ability for the others to ally on the cheap. I also gained a good amount of honor to maintain my 12 province strength which is key. Turn 4 I need to switch gears and get the Lion down a bit so I take two provinces from him. I'm over extended a bit but I want to force action since Everyone still needs to send a lot of stuff to break just one of my provinces. Lion and Unicorn don't take the bait but Crab does and gets his friend, the other Dragon player, to help. Lion and Unicorn just send scrubs to get the free honor but clearly are not invested in attacking. They can break one at most and I'm fully prepared to let a province go in exchange to take two or more from someone else on my turn. I call for allies and not expecting any help but Brad comes to my aid. The Crab player is livid and complaining about "my friend helping me win".....as he and 3 other players from his local playgroup, one his close friend, are attacking me. The hypocracy of it is hysterical and I call him on it, after Brad and I successfully defend the province. The Crab player is so pissed about me not losing a province he failed to see that Brad won two duels in the battle and was now about two turns from an honor victory. I explained that Brad made the right play for himself, but there was no getting through to the Crab player so instead of focusing my attention on the Dragon that was piecing together his combo I instead took two provinces from the Crab to put him on notice....with a little help from the Lion and Unicorn. It was kind of a jerk move on my part but it earned me some clout at the table and I was going to need that when Brad was gone because they were going to come for him.
The other Dragon player got his combo on line which was going to be problematic if it wasn't taken care if quickly. But, Brad was too close to an honor victory to be ignored. Unicorn came for him first and took down two provinces unopposed with his Cavalry, but, sent maybe a little too much and was weak to a Crab counterattack, aided by the other Dragon player. Unicorn was the first to fall but the Dragon broke up his combo to help the Crab and there was a small window we had to take him out. I went into full campaign mode and convinced the table it had to be done now. Even after the Dragon tried to bargain with his Crab friend for help and an offer to help Crab win the game if he didn't help kill the Dragon, the Crab allied with me to take out the Dragon and in one fell swoop the combined might of the 4 of us took all his provinces. But this was not before Brad was able to get the extra honor he needed to cross 40.
Lion called the Crab out for his earlier treachery and refused to attack on his turn but agreed to aid Crab in the attack of he declared one. Crab declares the attack but because he's playing Crab Oni it makes the assignment difficult for us since Oni has to attack alone, putting the bulk of the high personal honor Lion army at the final battle. The Crab tells me I have to attack and gets a little rude about the whole thing, essentially accusing me of colusion if I aid in defense or don't attack my friend. What he fails to realize is that the only available attackers I have are two Moto Tsume which would bow almost the entire Lion army and hand Brad the win. I look at Brad and I can tell he sees what's going to happen if I ally with the attack. Brad tells me not to do it and he thinks he can win it on his own and I have the better chance in the head to head round if he can't pull it off. I obstain from allying and the Crab player just goes off. Brad, a 15 year old kid turns to this grown man throwing a fit and just calmly points out what happens if I had allies with the attack and he was asking me not to cheapen the win he's about to get. Brad is a fricken baller, period! Unfortunately he comes up just short and gets his last province taken by 2 force after an intense battle.
I waste no time in removing the Crab from the game....and as much as that human hemoroid needed to be gone I was so fed up with him I failed to pay attention to the board position and that Lion would be able to unbow and attack me next. I called for allies Lion gladly aided the attack and the Crab was no more. But, I was in a fairly bad position to defend and couldn't buy enough guys to challenge the Lion's attack, especially after he attached his Clan Sword and armor. I immediately lost two provinces and although I had a bigger board presence when I unbowed I as only producing cards from one province. I tried digging for a Rallying Cry to allow me to put the pressure back on the Lion and allow me to even it to one province a piece but two turns went by with me only seeing holdings and him adding 4 more guys to the board and slowly closing the gap on force total. He was also gaining honor and could threaten to win that way in a few more turns. I had a full hand of other cards and decided the time for waiting was over and I sent everything splitting up to have a clearly larger army at one province than the other. He defended at the weaker one so we got down to it.
Some back and forth action and our hands were both quickly down to only a couple cards. He goes for the favor to send me home and I have Confusion at Court to stop it. I'm just a few force short and I think I got it I pump a guy with a fan of command he tacticians a Superior Tactics and Brad who was watching over my shoulder and could see my last can told me later that he knew at that moment I had won the tourney because the head to head format was my domain.........except I didn't win. My last card, Traversable Terrain, that had served me so well earlier in the game and would have allowed me to move the extra force I needed to win into the battle at resolution was met by his third and final Superior Tactics. #crushed. I extended my hand in defeat then made the worst mistake of the whole tourney. I looked at my top card of my fate deck to see what my next card was.........Rallying Cry. #whatsinthebox #neverlook #ineedadrink
My Lion opponent ended up facing another Lion player in the finals and ended up losing and later found me to tell me I would have won had I made the head to head rounds as he had not seen a deck like that and none of the other top 4 players we're prepared for a deck with that much raw aggression. They were meant as kind words so I thanked him and shook his hand again but inside I was screaming obsenities. It was a pretty brutal drive home and I would be lying if I said I didn't think about dumping my cards on the side of the road. After a few weeks of reflection I looked back on the many mistakes I made and went back to the game with the same passion and enjoyment I've always had for this game. In the end I was left with a great tournament memory that is so much better than "I came, I saw, I conquered" If course I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't have minded to tell you all that story instead. I hope you enjoyed this one though.
Edited by Ishi Tonu