Son wants to try Unicorn. What clan to go against for most fun?

By Scottgun, in L5R LCG: Deck Building

Gonna teach my son the game and he read the strategy notes in the L2P book and he really wants Unicorn. What clan should I match up with him not to crush him, but have a good time and learn? I have 3 cores and first three packs. Thanks.

Edited by Scottgun

I generally find Military focused clans to be the best match up for Unicorn when learning them. You're generally going to get some good conflict phase interaction and I think that's pretty important when learning the game. I would avoid anything that is cancel heavy when introducing a player to the game as that can be a rather frustrating experience when you finally figure out what to do, only to have it canceled and feel like it didn't matter.

What version of Unicorn are you having him run? That might also be important when considering what you play.

Thanks. So Lion, Crab, Dragon? As far as which unicorn, im up for suggestions. Otherwise, I might just use the Team Covenant basic.

Any of those seem to produce pretty good interaction. There can be a little bit of a snowball from Lion if you get For Greater Glory shenanigans going, but, that's kind of what they do so it's good for your son to get experience against it. I don't know what the last list from Team Covenant looks like. Personally I like Crab as a splash for Unicorn as they provide some really good versatility, instead of forcing you to play one particular strategy. The Lion splash for Unicorn kind of forces them into the FGG strategy which in real play tends to get blown out by counters, so that could set your son up for bad experiences later. It is a pretty obvious entry point for Unicorn though, so a Lion splash is not entirely bad. The Unicrane or Unicourtier is good deck, possibly Unicorn's best deck at the moment, but, isn't really an entry level deck. Dragon is always a good splash in general, although somewhat bland. Scorpion is not really and entry level style deck, and neither is Phoenix. I'd probably go with a Dragon or Crab splash for starters. Dragon is pretty straight-forward. Crab is a little more versatile and opens up multiple win conditions, which is really where Unicorn is at the moment. Despite being touted at this aggressive swarm style Clan, they really don't have a reliable build that accomplishes that.

Thanks. Update: We played tonight. He played Unicorn with some Lion splash. I played the Crab. He leveraged lots of honor, I had him down to three at one point, but he was cracking my provinces like peanuts and finally trounced me by feeding Utaka Infantry and managed a 20-point political attack on my stronghold which I couldn't come anywhere near as I had all beefy military guys on the board--so he learned reeeaaal fast how to spot and exploit a weakness. Good on him.

More importantly, he really likes the game. He is a fan of poker, and he noted that conflicts are like a poker pot in which there is lots of agonizing (in a good way) over whether to go all in or fold.

Now I gotta figure out how to improve and play a Crab deck...

Edited by Scottgun

Orrrrrrrr.......

You could ground him and take away his Xbox. That will teach him a lesson about breaking people's things on purpose! :D

On 1/23/2018 at 7:24 AM, Ishi Tonu said:

Orrrrrrrr.......

You could ground him and take away his Xbox. That will teach him a lesson about breaking people's things on purpose! :D

Assuming his son is not an adult.

23 hours ago, Titanium Mage said:

Assuming his son is not an adult.

If he's an adult, you tax his beer by chugging a portion of each beer you bring him. Then when you've reached the proper state of belligerent drunkenness, you kick him out of the house. "Why don't you ride your Unicorn home, you big jerk, /sobs, I love you son, lets play next week."

Edited by Ishi Tonu

Just take Scorpion and beat his ***

You should slap him after you win so he learns there is no easy way in life

?

On 1/23/2018 at 10:24 AM, Ishi Tonu said:

Orrrrrrrr.......

You could ground him and take away his Xbox. That will teach him a lesson about breaking people's things on purpose! :D

You don't take it away, that's a newbie move. You delete all his saved game files. That'll learn him.