6 minutes ago, RandomJC said:

We're normally the forgotten faction. So...At least this time around we were remembered in the fiction.

We already have had more impact that during the Clan Wars!!! Right? Beiden Pass was a collateral. And don't get me started on the Clan Novel.

4 minutes ago, Zetsubou said:

Y'all still being so down and out! Ponies gotta stick together and keep our heads high. As soon as Tabletop Sim updates with ponies I'm all up for doing a little groupthink to up our clan's game.

... actually, I believe it is? I know the TTS mod I have for L5R has all the cards. Might want to check, and if it hasn't updated maybe check that there isn't another one. The one I have that is complete wasn't the one I had at first, that one seems to have been discontinued in favor of a new one. Or something. Just go check I am saying, there is at least 1 mod that is complete.

Just now, fyrm said:

... actually, I believe it is? I know the TTS mod I have for L5R has all the cards. Might want to check, and if it hasn't updated maybe check that there isn't another one. The one I have that is complete wasn't the one I had at first, that one seems to have been discontinued in favor of a new one. Or something. Just go check I am saying, there is at least 1 mod that is complete.

Sweet! I honestly haven't had a chance to check since Monday, so it for sure may be out. I'll check it when I get off work today and, if that's the case, I am up for me and my pony brethren doing a deck-building/play-improving pow-wow. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

1 minute ago, Zetsubou said:

Sweet! I honestly haven't had a chance to check since Monday, so it for sure may be out. I'll check it when I get off work today and, if that's the case, I am up for me and my pony brethren doing a deck-building/play-improving pow-wow. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

The key is don't let the all out aggro blind you. haven't tinkered in a week.

Just now, RandomJC said:

The key is don't let the all out aggro blind you. haven't tinkered in a week.

I've got a super tricky Dragon splash build I want to try that, while aggressive, is far more about battlefield control than anything else.

1 minute ago, Zetsubou said:

I've got a super tricky Dragon splash build I want to try that, while aggressive, is far more about battlefield control than anything else.

Not a bad idea. I'm thinking of trying a Crane Splash.

Just now, RandomJC said:

Not a bad idea. I'm thinking of trying a Crane Splash.

I badly wanted that to be a compelling option, but I just couldn't see what the splash gave Unicorn. What are you thinking of bringing into the deck? I definitely could have missed a combo.

Memory serves since I last looked was it was a mix of admit defeat, perfect gift and a height of fashion

Just now, RandomJC said:

Memory serves since I last looked was it was a mix of admit defeat, perfect gift and a height of fashion

Interesting. I can definitely see some value in those cards. Opens up some good neutral cards that can come into their own in the deck as well. I think it is worth a shot!

Just now, Zetsubou said:

Interesting. I can definitely see some value in those cards. Opens up some good neutral cards that can come into their own in the deck as well. I think it is worth a shot!

I'm trying to push hard into a kill deck at the moment. actually making fallen in battle useful.

Just now, RandomJC said:

I'm trying to push hard into a kill deck at the moment. actually making fallen in battle useful.

I honestly think if any clan can bring out a kill-based removal deck right now it is Uni. Still not sure if I'd ever bring more than one Fallen in Battle, though XD

1 minute ago, Zetsubou said:

I honestly think if any clan can bring out a kill-based removal deck right now it is Uni. Still not sure if I'd ever bring more than one Fallen in Battle, though XD

I'm running two right now, but no problem dropping it down. Assassination is the one that's hardest for me to play consistantly.

18 minutes ago, Zetsubou said:

Sweet! I honestly haven't had a chance to check since Monday, so it for sure may be out. I'll check it when I get off work today and, if that's the case, I am up for me and my pony brethren doing a deck-building/play-improving pow-wow. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

I doubt many more official "sealed" (i.e. consisting of one core set) tourneys will come up so I'd focus on regular constructed. Dragon and Phoenix just have that advantage in sealed because of certain cards.

if you do continued with a limited core set environment, I suggest that you also try out tje other clans to get a feel for how to play against them.

Just now, RandomJC said:

I'm running two right now, but no problem dropping it down. Assassination is the one that's hardest for me to play consistantly.

Seems like for now it requires a mix of all the kill cards just in case that specific situation comes up. Not enough tools to really make any of them super consistent, but there might just be enough ways to kill to make that not such a bad thing...

3 hours ago, Kitsuki Edogawa said:

I think this creates a new and interesting fate for Shahai. If meishodo had been banned, that might have led to her embracing Maho. This time, she may explore a different power. That could still create a threat to the Empire, but the potential is interesting. Of course, it could change her entirely. Perhaps she'll actually become a part of the Hidden Guard and be instrumental in defending the throne from a great threat.

Exactly. Phoenix clan are just butt-hurt they don't know everything about magic like they thought.

1 minute ago, Kubernes said:

I doubt many more official "sealed" (i.e. consisting of one core set) tourneys will come up so I'd focus on regular constructed. Dragon and Phoenix just have that advantage in sealed because of certain cards.

if you do continued with a limited core set environment, I suggest that you also try out tje other clans to get a feel for how to play against them.

I don't plan on limiting my deck construction to the restrictions of Kiku Matsuri. I just want to get some play in with normal deck construction and hopefully be able to spread around some positivity cuz it seems a few ponies feel a bit put off by the results (not that I entirely blame anyone feeling that way...)

Crushed I couldn't go to GenCon and play. Excited for my preorder and looking forward to advancing the story for the Scorpion

7 minutes ago, Zetsubou said:

Seems like for now it requires a mix of all the kill cards just in case that specific situation comes up. Not enough tools to really make any of them super consistent, but there might just be enough ways to kill to make that not such a bad thing...

If I could reliably run Noble sacrifice, I'd be happier.

But I'll see how it runs. I need the card draw as well.

1 minute ago, Zetsubou said:

I don't plan on limiting my deck construction to the restrictions of Kiku Matsuri. I just want to get some play in with normal deck construction and hopefully be able to spread around some positivity cuz it seems a few ponies feel a bit put off by the results (not that I entirely blame anyone feeling that way...)

I feel more worried about that focus on" Must go first!" than the results of a 1-core tournament. Cards that are only good if you go first but suck otherwise... nope! Altough the lack of interactivity of most Unicorn personalities would be more to worry about, maybe. Only Warrior Poet does something to annoy the opponent, along Altansarnai to a point, and only if she manages to stick to the battle. Almost everybody else is "blank" or move related. Maybe I must accept that we have to be conflict card dependants to boost in addition to "Must go first!". Much like Dragon being attachment heavy on few guys. XD

12 minutes ago, Kubernes said:

I doubt many more official "sealed" (i.e. consisting of one core set) tourneys will come up

Only the one in the weekend of the release?

9 minutes ago, mastabou said:

Crushed I couldn't go to GenCon and play. Excited for my preorder and looking forward to advancing the story for the Scorpion

FFG released on Twitter that the street date for L5R is October 5th.

1 hour ago, Ishi Tonu said:

Well most of the Dragon's strength comes from the conflict deck and any clan could have splashed those cards.

I think there were likely a couple things at work here.

The decklist suggestions may not be entirely optimal or balanced.

The number of new l5r players, that happen to be good players did not have any defined clan allegiances going in and may have been swayed by Steve's loyalty to the Dragon, aka the Horvath Effect.

Old l5r players tthat were clan loyal but not familiar with the new mechanics may not have been prepared for how their clan would play and did not adjust their deck to be optimal.

I would be interested to know how many players of each clan their were and what the breakdown of the clan splashed were across the entire field. This should be pretty easy to compile from the decklists the players were required to turn in and I hope FFG provides is with this information........soonish.

The Dragon do not strike me as being stronger than the other clans in a single core box environment. Not to say they are bad, but, I found other pairing much more favorable. Dragon has been one of my top choices for conflict splashing, but, I've got them pretty middle of the road when it comes to picking a main clan for a single core event.

Yeah, the FFG suggested Unicorn deck seemed pretty terrible to me. I posted on my Twitter feed @CrowOfGames a few alterations I would make to the FFG suggested Unicorn deck. Splash Lion for more aggro, not Crab, and remove some other cards from the conflict deck to include two copies of Assassination.

But after seeing how lethal "covert" is in the 1x core set limited format, I might switch that splash suggestion from Lion to Dragon just so you can have access to the Tattooed Wanderer. Lethal.

8 minutes ago, Wintersong said:

I feel more worried about that focus on" Must go first!" than the results of a 1-core tournament. Cards that are only good if you go first but suck otherwise... nope! Altough the lack of interactivity of most Unicorn personalities would be more to worry about, maybe. Only Warrior Poet does something to annoy the opponent, along Altansarnai to a point, and only if she manages to stick to the battle. Almost everybody else is "blank" or move related. Maybe I must accept that we have to be conflict card dependants to boost in addition to "Must go first!". Much like Dragon being attachment heavy on few guys. XD

Only the one in the weekend of the release?

The last one, depending on your area, is the launch party. Other than that, everything looks like full deck tournaments.

I've made a suggestion to a couple of the local stores that will be carrying l5r, that they get 8 copies of the core set and reserve them as store copies. This allows them to loan out the core sets for players to try the game, but, also would allow up to 8 people to compete in a $5 tourney where the prize is a core set. I believe this would then lead to those players looking to compete in constructed tourneys and buy more core sets, or, even allow the stores to expand the 8 person tourneys to players that bring their own core sets to play with and could potentially turn into a profitable way for the store to grow their players base. It also potentially fills the need some players have to play in a cheap limited environmemt (ie sealed or draft) that LCG's generally cannot provide.

I dunno, maybe it's not that great but it seemed cool when it popped into my head at 1 in the morning and the local stores seemed to give it some serious consideration.

Heh. If Shahai keeps her Old5R personality, then her presence in Otosan Uchi will be a huge boon to the Empire.

Loyalty and Devotion, Shahai is your name .

6 hours ago, RandomJC said:

Well, I don't like where this has gone for us.

It could have been far worse.

In this case, the Unicorn are teaching their secrets to an Imperial Family, while getting to keep using their traditions.
The alternative would have been much worse- an official declaration that Shinjo-Kami had erred in allowing the use of meishodo, the banning of the Iuchi's big special trick, and so forth.

6 hours ago, Isawa Tasatu said:

Shahai, going off to teach... well lets just say the Phoenix were right on this one!

6 hours ago, Ultimatecalibur said:

I suspect that Shahai might meet her future husband in the Imperial Capital who reveals an incredible shugenja talent.

To quote myself from Facebook:

Man, when Shahai and the Emperor's younger son start playing footsie and leading to Iuchiban Round 2, Daigotsu Boogaloo... the Phoenix are going to have an "I TOLD YOU IDIOTS!" field day.

Or when Shahai and the man who might have been Daigotsu turn out to be a loving couple devoted to a pure empire, all the old grognards' heads will explode.

Either way, I WIN!

5 hours ago, Zetsubou said:

Let me paraphrase the Phoenix argument, to illuminate how delusional it is. I will try to do so in the most neutral terms possible to establish my case:

I don't think those words mean what you think they mean.

5 hours ago, Zetsubou said:

1. The Unicorn learn Meishodo from source in the Burning Sands.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

5 hours ago, Zetsubou said:

2. Unicorn return to Rokugan with a strong practice of Meishodo, and remain peacefully until now, a full 200 years later.

The two centuries bit really is a bit of a wrench in several parts of the story so far.

5 hours ago, Zetsubou said:

3. One Phoenix goes void diving and, based upon a series of singular images, infers that the Unicorn will cause harm to the empire.

Incorrect-
A. After noting a growing imbalance in the elemental kami, the Phoenix are uncertain of what is going on.

B. A respected ishiken sensei while teaching a lesson, has a vision- a vision her student also receives.

C. This vision and its attendant worries are shared with the Master of the Void, who then, in the presence of a meishodo talisman, feels a very similar troubling echo in the Void. She then:

5 hours ago, Zetsubou said:

4. Based upon this, the Phoenix press the issue, calling for a so far stable but controversial practice in Meishodo to be banned.

Now, realistically, I'm willing to bet the problem isn't meishodo per se, but that particular talisman brought back from the Burning Sands is probably bad news- and that its malevolence has almost nothing to do with the elemental kami's instability. I say this because the imbalance in the elements is being built up to be a major problem, and I seriously doubt they'd hang it from a single clan's neck.

5 hours ago, Zetsubou said:

5. Emperor declares Meishodo is all well and good, but requires it to be studied by the Seppun.

So now we are going to start experimenting on magic that has clear conditions for working risk-free (as far as anyone knows), and if something bad comes from this delving, it is somehow the Unicorn's fault when they didn't start messing around with a working formula? Okay.

More likely, it's going to be the most hilarious case of, "what do you MEAN I need an adapter to use power outlets in Europe?" case of destructive culture shock on record.
"Oops, we burned the palace down after using a fork to make the power outlets work... and all I wanted was some toast."