What's your favorite deck/splash for casual and competitive play?

Playing Lion I have much more fun from Unicorn splash, I've made a deck to Fallen in Battle work using captive and many MIL buffs, and the talisma - feast or famine combo is great. Maybe if we get a good shugenja in phoenix pack we can improve this building to run cloud the mind.

For competitive play I can't escape dragons yet, mirumoto's fury is just too important against voltron decks since we don't have much bow/kill options and these decks filled with attachments are strong in the meta now. Dragon splash is much more boring and previsible, but it still works..

I don't play this game for fun.

Right now, for competitive play, I'm pretty high on Crane splash in order to play Above Question and limit the amount of interaction Scorpion can have on my key characters. At least until people stop queing up "casual" decks and running a net-decked version of the Scorpion deck that won the last two kotei.

For casual play I like building Imperial decks to get a beastly Ishikawa and just start smashing stuff. I had him honored and up to a 11/11 with no attachments outside of a Finger of Jade. I like to imaging Ishikawa was flipping people off while carrying out the will of the Emperor.

2 hours ago, Mirith said:

I don't play this game for fun.

I don't think anyone does. Which... is kindof a shame. It'd be nice to get casual once in a while, and not feel like I have to dedicate hours to studying deck builds and card interactions , memorizing the entire card pool, building and tweaking and re-tweaking decks.... It's a game, for crying out loud.

12 minutes ago, twinstarbmc said:

I don't think anyone does. Which... is kindof a shame. It'd be nice to get casual once in a while, and not feel like I have to dedicate hours to studying deck builds and card interactions , memorizing the entire card pool, building and tweaking and re-tweaking decks.... It's a game, for crying out loud.

Until I see a Grand Kotei event that I will actually be able to attend, I generally approach all my decks with fun in mind, first. Its one of the reasons why I picked Unicorn as my placeholder clan while I wait for Shadowlands to become a real thing.

With that in mind, I can't just ignore the competitive meta game. Even my most janky decks include some choices that are meta driven. Now that I'm playing more on jigoku I have to expect that most people will be playing within the structure of the competitive meta game. So if I want to even have a shot at my "Wandering Ronin" deck to make it past the first turn, I still need to make some smart choices.

With friends and locals I flat out refuse to play anything that could be considered "top tier." I have no reason to flip the competitive switch on yet. For online play, unless you're doing a private game with friends I think it's important to at least consider the competitive meta game when building a fun deck. If you don't, you're likely setting yourself up for a bad time.

2 hours ago, Mirith said:

I don't play this game for fun.

26 minutes ago, twinstarbmc said:

I don't think anyone does.

I do.

1 minute ago, suburbaknght said:

I do.

So picking on poor little me is fun for you then? You big bully. Lol

1 hour ago, Ishi Tonu said:

So picking on poor little me is fun for you then? You big bully. Lol

Your tears are like wine.

Seriously, though, I consider myself a casual player and I play because I enjoy the game. I love Rokugan. I'm primarily an RPG player, mostly involved in Heroes of Rokugan these days, and picked up the LCG as a way to get more Rokugan in my life. I play sub-par decks because they're fun to play that occasionally do well due to luck of the draw far more than skill (check out my PAX Unplugged report). This is a very rewarding game for the casual player provided you're playing other such casual players. Find the deck that's as fun for you to lose with as it is to win with and you're set.

3 hours ago, suburbaknght said:

I do.

I do, too. Playing for fun is pretty much the only reason I play. I participated in a few local tournaments, but only because of the full-bleed cards and not for any truly competitive reasons.

Until Tsuruchi and his ilk come into the game, I'm playing Phoenix splashed with Crab, primarily for the Pathfinder's Blade (though Pit Trap is also rather fun when it hits).

3 minutes ago, JJ48 said:

I do, too. Playing for fun is pretty much the only reason I play. I participated in a few local tournaments, but only because of the full-bleed cards and not for any truly competitive reasons.

Until Tsuruchi and his ilk come into the game, I'm playing Phoenix splashed with Crab, primarily for the Pathfinder's Blade (though Pit Trap is also rather fun when it hits).

I take it you're not using official roles, then? Phoenix are Keepers; they can't use Pathfinder's Blade.

6 hours ago, L5RBr said:

What's your favorite deck/splash for casual and competitive play?

I don't perceive a difference. As an LCG, there is no chasing rares so we each have access to the same cards. As such, I build all my decks the same way. I play Crab (Unicorn) when I want to rep Crab in my Crab tshirt and Crab playmat. I play Lion (Dragon) when I want easy mode.

13 minutes ago, suburbaknght said:

I take it you're not using official roles, then? Phoenix are Keepers; they can't use Pathfinder's Blade.

In casual play, official roles don't matter. My Phoenix deck is Seeker of the Void.

Hm...actually, most of my decks end up as Seekers, really, as being able to double-up on a province element is just so useful. I don't have a Scorpion deck yet, so maybe I'll see if I can't make them Keeper of Something-or-other.

Crab with Scorpion splash. I feel it harkens back to the glory days of Ivory Edition era Crab Dishonor.

I usually have three or four decks built at any one time, mostly from whatever deck list has caught my eye online recently. Right now, I have the top four Scorpion/Lion deck from Cork, Balthis's Crane deck from PAX, Travis's weenie-ish Phoenix deck, and a Dragon/Crab derived from Ben Fox's Cork list.

I don't think there's a hugely pronounced difference between competitive and casual, but that might very well be down to how I play competitively - I try and be friendly and laid-back, no matter how how the stakes. If I'm playing someone in a casual setting, I'll usually ask if they have a preference for which deck they'd like to play against, and I'm also fine with running someone else's deck to offer them feedback on it.

16 hours ago, twinstarbmc said:

I don't think anyone does. Which... is kindof a shame. It'd be nice to get casual once in a while, and not feel like I have to dedicate hours to studying deck builds and card interactions , memorizing the entire card pool, building and tweaking and re-tweaking decks.... It's a game, for crying out loud.

I don't understand this position... One can only determine what's fun for oneself. I get my fun by doing exactly what you just described. If this game wouldn't let me do it in a meaningful way I would have just stopped playing. I'm happy it does.

11 hours ago, DarkHorse said:

I don't perceive a difference. As an LCG, there is no chasing rares so we each have access to the same cards. As such, I build all my decks the same way. I play Crab (Unicorn) when I want to rep Crab in my Crab tshirt and Crab playmat. I play Lion (Dragon) when I want easy mode.

The difference is when you build competitive decks you are considering the meta so you have to think about attachment hate, bow/unbow cards, cloud the mind, counters, etc... And generally will think in the smartest choices, maybe givin up 2 cost attachments and high cost events. The main objective is to win, you will be testing many little variations of your top decks.

If you just want to have fun you can build super combo decks, run cool cards like fallen in battle, build a dragon monk deck or whatever you want. Your goal here is have fun, doesn't matter if you loose the game.

Is inherent to people who likes competitive games to wish win every game, sometimes after I loose a competitive game I'm angry and so I realize how idiot is to become stressed after playing a game that's supposed to be my entertainment and leisure. The max you can get is become so good that your friends stop wanting to play against you.

I think is important to see this difference cause the game have so much more possibilities than always chasing the stronger buildings, in old L5R we had so many fun decks that aren't competitive but who cares? sometimes playing your "tier 3" against your friends "tier 2" deck could give you much more fun.

1 hour ago, L5RBr said:

I think is important to see this difference cause the game have so much more possibilities than always chasing the stronger buildings, in old L5R we had so many fun decks that aren't competitive but who cares? sometimes playing your "tier 3" against your friends "tier 2" deck could give you much more fun.

I also sometimes find it fun to just have a self-imposed goal for the deck to achieve, such as triggering a particular combo or getting a certain combination of cards out together. I remember one time in the CCG, my Tsuruchi Family deck was going against a Dragon deck with a loaded-up unit. I made it my goal that game to take out that unit by Ranged Attacks (apart from the Shield Wall, who had to first be dispatched by a Melee Attack). I believe I actually managed to take down the unit, but had to send so many cards to the battle (who all ended up bowed) that my opponent ended up winning by Honor. I didn't win, but clearing a bunch of followers off a unit and then following it up with a Ranged 15 Attack to slay the giant was well worth it!

I wish the people I play with would play for fun, like you know, chosing whichever the role you want or playing without the 1h timer.

Our group that plays are both casual and competitive. We do casual games on Tuesday nights and play competitively when tournaments are going on. Most of the time casual play is used for testing out new decks and having fun, though our tournaments are also pretty fun even with everyone wanting to win.

First and foremost, I play for fun...to the point where I will tailor decks to fit opponents. It's not fun for me to get smashed, nor to smash. In a competitive scene, I'll build competitive decks. In a casual scene, I'll build casual decks. What's important for me is to have a meaningful interaction with another person.

That being said, I do enjoy the creative and mechanical aspect of deck-building, so I like them to work on a fundamental level. Even if it's tier 2 or 3, as long as there is synergy, I'm OK. On the other hand, if it's a steaming pile of random cards, I'm not apt to enjoy myself. This basically boils down to me being just fine with middle-of-the-pack play. I can enjoy the challenge of playing against the best, and losing gracefully (most of the time), and also enjoy the whimsy of playing fast and loose, while shooting the breeze.

As for what that looks like currently: I've got a heavy Phoenix spell-slinger, which is more casual. It tries to leverage Shrine Maiden and big bad Shugenja, with Lion splash (Stand Your Ground) for surprise recursion. It's fun and temperamental. Then I've got a Crab with Unicorn splash, which I believe to be a little more competitive. It does use Miya Satoshi, and holding/imperial jank, but that feels pretty strong right now. But I haven't been keeping up with the meta for the last month or two, so I don't know squat.

I find it odd that this dichotomy exists. It's not like you look at the NFL or NBA or whatever and say those guys are playing the game wrong.

Fundamentally there's no difference in how you play a game of baseball in the World Series or chess in the World Championship vs pick up games in your local park. All that's different is the skill level of the players.

What I see being described as casual seem like either gimmicky variants or self imposed handicaps. Like playing basketball while wearing a catchers mitt or playing chess and only ever moving all your pieces one square at a time. Not to say that can't be fun in a novel sort of way, but I think it's weird to say playing the game as intended can't be fun just because it doesn't do that.

59 minutes ago, shineyorkboy said:

I find it odd that this dichotomy exists. It's not like you look at the NFL or NBA or whatever and say those guys are playing the game wrong.

Fundamentally there's no difference in how you play a game of baseball in the World Series or chess in the World Championship vs pick up games in your local park. All that's different is the skill level of the players.

It’s not “playing wrong”. Neither the competitive nor the casual player are playing the game wrong. They’re playing it differently.

In that sport example, there’s one fundamental difference. A casual football player is playing for fun. A pro football player is playing because it’s his work. They play because they want money, and also they want glory, they want recognition. When I’m playing football with my friends I just want to have a good time and evade from my problems for a while.

Now, of course, in L5R, pro players don’t get money (yet?), so the same cannot be said here (it can be said in games like MTG, though). But the difference is still there. For me, playing competitive is when you’re playing for a prize, like in a tournament, and also games where you’re preparing yourself or testing new decks for tournaments. That’s competitive environment.

When you’re playing just for the sake of playing, without another objective that just winning this particular game, or even just having a good time while playing, that’s casual environment.

Casual or not, most people prefer winning than losing. That is why they gravitate into most powerful tools that bring them closer to victory. In card games this tool is a deck.

So, as shineyorkboy wrote, what matters is a skill. Kitchen player using worlds best deck is still in casual zone becasue he lacks knowledge and experience that tourneys are giving.

I'm inclined to argue that motivation is irrelevant. Why you play the game doesn't change how you play it. The mechanics don't change unless you choose to not use the generally accepted rule set.

Plus there's the idea that it'd be a pretty miserable existence to dedicate enough of your time and effort to become one of the best in the world at an activity if you didn't enjoy it to some degree.

Casual and competitive play are terms that have been used since a long time ago in CCGs and LCGs, so, at least for me, it would be silly to negate there’s a difference.

In the end, I think it all boils down to if you’re playing in a competition or not, or if you’re using competition/tournament rules or not. For example, any deck that plays with a non-official role (something allowed by the rules) is a casual deck for me. If you refuse to play against me because I’m using one of those decks, I assume you’re playing competitively. If you call out the 1-hour time limit when we’re playing in my kitchen table, I assume you’re playing competitively. When I’m playing casual, we can spend 5 minutes discussing a play, or talking about a card that is not even on the board, or I can get up to go for a beer and some snacks. Would you allow that in competitive? Of course not. There’s a different mindset between casual and competitive, and I think we can all agree here.