New article went up: http://www.cardboardrepublic.com/articles/dave-of-the-five-rings/dotr-chapter-twenty-eight

Wherein I discuss:

- Why, Niten Master? Why?
- Disciples of the Void
- Another six in six

I actually enjoyed this piece more so than other similar write ups. A ‘new’ voice adding their take on my favorite Clan is also a welcomed read.

Ans a new Stronghold... hmmmmmm..... ? ?

I also see FFG having the Elemental cycle releasing rapidly so the entire cycle is out for a major tournament, and that tournament being winter court as most likely. I also see all of the dynasty packs for it available at Gen Con since that is into the third quarter a fair bit. Good read.

I hadn't been aware that there were chapters of this series after 24. So that was a nice little archive binge.

20 hours ago, LordBlunt said:

I actually enjoyed this piece more so than other similar write ups. A ‘new’ voice adding their take on my favorite Clan is also a welcomed read.

Ans a new Stronghold... hmmmmmm..... ? ?

I LIKE Dragon. I just dislike the over-reliance on the Niten Master. The Monk deck is not quite there yet in terms of cards to play, ignoring how good those cards are. We need a solid 3 cost Monk on the Dynasty side, probably a 3M 2P, with an ability, and preferably another 1 cost Monk who can be played as an attachment on the Conflict side.

Still, I am glad that you enjoyed the write up!

14 hours ago, shineyorkboy said:

I hadn't been aware that there were chapters of this series after 24. So that was a nice little archive binge.

Huzzah! There's also been an Up On A Soapbox recently about the LCG vs the RPG Beta, if you want to check it out.

Awesome read! I definitely agree that FFG is looking to have another cycle out and tournament legal for the Winter Court event and hence the six in six weeks. I for one prefer this method of releases as it gives us a larger card pool quickly and the dust can settle down to see what the meta is sooner rather than later.

6 minutes ago, cforfar said:

Awesome read! I definitely agree that FFG is looking to have another cycle out and tournament legal for the Winter Court event and hence the six in six weeks. I for one prefer this method of releases as it gives us a larger card pool quickly and the dust can settle down to see what the meta is sooner rather than later.

While I believe that this is a valid and not uncommon feeling about the meta, I actually stand on the opposite side of the room. I like a dynamic, shifting meta, filled with the metaphorical dust. I find that environment more engaging and interesting as a player.

For me, I enjoy playing games like L5R in an organized play environment less for the opportunity to "win", but to "overcome", which is slightly different. The easiest way to think about it would be that I would rather lose every game in a tournament to closely fought, tightly played back and forth games where I had a chance to win and learned to play my deck better every time, than to win a tournament with a deck that could be piloted by anybody and never had a chance to lose.

1 hour ago, sndwurks said:

While I believe that this is a valid and not uncommon feeling about the meta, I actually stand on the opposite side of the room. I like a dynamic, shifting meta, filled with the metaphorical dust. I find that environment more engaging and interesting as a player.

For me, I enjoy playing games like L5R in an organized play environment less for the opportunity to "win", but to "overcome", which is slightly different. The easiest way to think about it would be that I would rather lose every game in a tournament to closely fought, tightly played back and forth games where I had a chance to win and learned to play my deck better every time, than to win a tournament with a deck that could be piloted by anybody and never had a chance to lose.

I don't know that we actually have decks strong enough that can be autopiloted to win out. There are a ton more decision points in the LCG than there ever were in the CCG.

Also: super secret honesty time......

All this time I thought your forum name was "sudwurks" ............ like the beer. Now I don't know what to think. I mean I could have a learning disability that has gone unnoticed for over 40 years. More importantly, I'm not sure I can take anything you say at face value if you're name isn't related to beer. #soconflicted

2 hours ago, sndwurks said:

While I believe that this is a valid and not uncommon feeling about the meta, I actually stand on the opposite side of the room. I like a dynamic, shifting meta, filled with the metaphorical dust. I find that environment more engaging and interesting as a player.

For me, I enjoy playing games like L5R in an organized play environment less for the opportunity to "win", but to "overcome", which is slightly different. The easiest way to think about it would be that I would rather lose every game in a tournament to closely fought, tightly played back and forth games where I had a chance to win and learned to play my deck better every time, than to win a tournament with a deck that could be piloted by anybody and never had a chance to lose.

I agree, I should clarify my stance is not to quickly find the "best" deck but rather to be able to competitively play against it when it is found. There are definitely cards that came out that quickly changed the game *cough cough* A Fate Worse Than Death *cough cough*. I feel like finding these out sooner might actually be better in the long run.

On 5/9/2018 at 7:48 PM, sndwurks said:

The latter is more likely in my opinion, as we would need to see the packs beginning to be released in June for the former, and June is not third quarter.

In the FFG upcoming Products page is listed right now as At the Printer.

But, funnily enough, in FFG Spain’s website says “expected: 2nd Quarter”. That may be a typo, poor communication, or they accidentally confirmed that the cycle will start releasing in June.

given that the novella hasn't even been released yet, I'm guessing the FFG Spain thing is a typo. unfortunately.

On ‎5‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 9:34 PM, sndwurks said:

I LIKE Dragon. I just dislike the over-reliance on the Niten Master. The Monk deck is not quite there yet in terms of cards to play, ignoring how good those cards are. We need a solid 3 cost Monk on the Dynasty side, probably a 3M 2P, with an ability, and preferably another 1 cost Monk who can be played as an attachment on the Conflict side.

Still, I am glad that you enjoyed the write up!

Huzzah! There's also been an Up On A Soapbox recently about the LCG vs the RPG Beta, if you want to check it out.

Niten Master is actually rather bad against Scorpion and in the mirror.

2 hours ago, Ignithas said:

Niten Master is actually rather bad against Scorpion and in the mirror.

When I slap an Above Question on Niten Master after baiting the Scorpion player to use up some of their attachment hate...........that's pretty much a wrap.

6 hours ago, Ignithas said:

Niten Master is actually rather bad against Scorpion and in the mirror.

What is GOOD against Scorpion in the Dragon Clan arsenal right now?

On 5/13/2018 at 2:43 AM, Zesu Shadaban said:

given that the novella hasn't even been released yet, I'm guessing the FFG Spain thing is a typo. unfortunately.

It wasn’t, after all. June 28th is still 2nd Quarter ?

1 hour ago, sndwurks said:

What is GOOD against Scorpion in the Dragon Clan arsenal right now?

In the typical Dragon/Crab, not a lot. 3x Finger of Jade is not enough to get it done, IMO. That's why I prefer Crane splash when I suspect a Scorpion heavy metagame. Finger of Jade and Above Question at least give you enough in your arsenal that if you're patient and win the important attachment/counter/favor battles, you should be able to force the Scorpion player into a position where they are not able interact with you in any significant way. Even then, a really good Scorpion pilot is going to try to pick the right battles and they generally maintain a hand advantage for the majority of the game, so it's still a challenge.

The biggest problem is now that Phoenix are improved and solidly up in the top tier, you have a hard time interacting with them if you go full on event protection mode, because most of the Phoenix spells target their own characters and your event protection doesn't do much of anything if you can't out-muscle them with straight stats. The longer the game goes, and the more Shugenja they get in play means that a never-ending chain of Supernatural Storms is going to wreck your day at some point. This makes Dragon/Crane somewhat of a lame duck amongst the top tier decks............if indeed the Phoenix hype is real, which I believe it is.

The rest of the metagame is somewhat in a pickle, right now, with both Phoenix and Scorpion having very good decks vs the rest of the field. I think going forward, if you intend on playing something besides Phoenix or Scorpion, I would pick/build something with Phoenix in mind first and Scorpion second, but, I could have that backwards. I think Phoenix is slightly ahead of Scorpion, but, that could be personal bias as I like the way the Phoenix deck plays more than Scorpion. I don't have the mental fortitude to play Scorpion and navigate all the important decision points. Phoenix tends to put out more threats and forces your opponent to come up with an answer..........and that's much easier for me to handle. I burnt myself out trying to come up with wonky ways to win with Unicorn.

11 hours ago, sndwurks said:

What is GOOD against Scorpion in the Dragon Clan arsenal right now?

From a Dragon pov Raitsugu, Kitsuki Investigator and Agasha Swordsmith are very strong in both MU. Yokuni is good in the mirror, but bad against Scorpion. Niten Adept is good against Scorpion, but bad in the mirror.

9 hours ago, Ishi Tonu said:

In the typical Dragon/Crab, not a lot. 3x Finger of Jade is not enough to get it done, IMO. That's why I prefer Crane splash when I suspect a Scorpion heavy metagame. Finger of Jade and Above Question  at least give you enough in your arsenal that if you're patient and win the important attachment/counter/favor battles, you should be able to force the Scorpion player into a position where they are not able interact with you in any significant way. Even then, a really good Scorpion pilot is going to try to pick the right battles and they generally maintain a hand advantage for the majority of the game, so it's still a challenge.

The biggest problem is now that Phoenix are improved and solidly up in the top tier, you have a hard time interacting with them if you go full on event protection mode, because most of the Phoenix spells target their own characters and your event protection doesn't do much of anything if you can't out-muscle them with straight stats. The longer the game goes, and the more Shugenja they get in play means that a never-ending chain of Supernatural Storms is going to wreck your day at some point. This makes Dragon/Crane somewhat of a lame duck amongst the top tier decks............if indeed the Phoenix hype is real, which I believe it is.

The rest of the metagame is somewhat in a pickle, right now, with both Phoenix and Scorpion having very good decks vs the rest of the field. I think going forward, if you intend on playing something besides Phoenix or Scorpion, I would pick/build something with Phoenix in mind first and Scorpion second, but  , I could have  that backwards. I think Phoenix  is slightly ahead  of Scorpion, but, that could be personal bias as I like the way the Phoenix deck plays more than Scorpion. I don't have the mental fortitude to play  Scorpion and navigate all the important decision points. Phoenix tends to put out more threats and forces your opponent to come up with an answer..........and that's much easier for me to handle. I burnt myself out trying to come up with wonky ways to win with Unicorn.

I think you are underestimating the Dragon cardpool and how well they can trade with Scorpion.

4 hours ago, Ignithas said:

I think you are underestimating the Dragon cardpool and how well they can trade with Scorpion.

Probably

I was only taught to never deal with a dragon. Nobody ever told me not to underestimate them.