Maester_LUke said:

ASoIaFfan said:

My apologies Matthew, I flipped back and forth between my gospels, trying to remember which... now I'll now to go with the elongated name. Until someone names a child Markael. :/ As for my own report, I held off as FFG had requested a copy and I didn't get a chance to post it myself before I left for holiday. Someday there must like Kennon more... (or was tired of seeing Martell/Summer win joust) So without further ado, here goes:

LCG Days Tourney Report – Joust Champion, Lucas Reed

“Preparing” might be an overly strong word for the weeks leading up to the AGOT Regional at the LCG days this past weekend at FFG. I don’t like to use the term “lazy” but my deck-building style can best be described as “evolutionary,” and my meta-mates have been teasing me about bringing a new deck for about… six months. The Martell/Summer deck I played was roughly 85% of what I’d been playing on and off for a while, with a shift in emphasis. The deck was born pre-regionals last year as a HyperViper deck using Power of Blood, Lost Oasis and Taste for Blood to claim power quickly.
After seeing the decklist Erick Butzlaff used at DC the previous week, and recognizing that Control is really “where my heart lies,” especially when it comes to competitive builds, I pulled the dupes of the Viper, the Tastes, and the extra Oases for Game of Cyvasse. Power of Blood made way for Claim-2 plots, and I had not been running Retaliation or Loyalty Money Can Buy, mostly out of indolence in sorting my cards. Regroup proved to be my MVP of a plot; more than 7 times it got me back an Orphan, a Cyvasse, a Thinking, or a Blade... this proved somewhat of a demoralizer.

I went with Summer to smooth out my draw and this brought in Samwell, Gilly and the Maesters of Sunpsear. Other tweaks were the Fleeing (props to Jerod Leupold, 3rd place, who’s win over me in testing really influenced the addition), which proved it’s worth primarily against Greg (the most control build I faced) and the Paper Shields, as I worried about Narrow Escape (which I never saw). My “secret weapon” as it were, was the Alchemist’s Shop. The Deadly helped force challenges through if I was going first, and the STR boost helped on defense, and in playing my Cyvasses. And It gave me the added incentive to play “Pinch,” which I’m partial too, but skeptical of. Worries about Beric helped motivate me, but the only time I used it’s ability was to return my own Arys to hand before a Valar.

With the exception of the two matches with Greg, all my games went relatively smoothly, finishing between on plots 5 or 6, and often times requiring that I hold off on my claim two plots to allow them to acquire power for the taking. Both of my games with Greg were grinding affairs of slightly different variations of Control-heavy Martell builds. Our first game was coming to time on plot 7 or 8, and he conceded the full win to me. Our final match was a 12 round marathon that my card advantage helped with. We were both looking at each other’s dead and discard piles to estimate what the other might have. And in his case, for Maester Qyburn. I survived, and learned from his Valar Dohaeris (brutal when facing Orphans of the Greenblood and Black Cells) before it came around, and we both looked at rounds 11 & 12 expecting two Valars and a Fleeing. And in the end, the trusty Red Viper pulled it off with my 0-claim from Valar, but 3 renown, 2(?) Unopposed, and dominance.

Those two tournament rounds were exhausting, but totally made the tournament for me. The community has always been what makes this game great, both in friendship and in competition, and I look forward to many more. If you’ve never made it to a “big event” I would heartily encourage you. It’s a great place to learn, even for the newest beginners.

What I do not look forward to is a “friendly” match with Jerod when we get back to Iowa. He took the win last Thursday, we’ll see how the second time around

Matchups:

Round 1: Alex: SWMO: Lanni/No Agenda (?) HyperKneel

Round 2: Katie: Illinois: Martell/Brotherhood

Round 3: Brian S: Twin Cities: Martell/Summer

Round 4: Tony: Twin Cities: Baratheon/Brotherhood

Round 5: Greg “Dobbler” Atkinson: SWMO: Martell/Shadows

Semis: Matthew “ASoIaFfan”: Twin Cities: Martell/Summer

Finals: Greg “Dobbler” Atkinson: Martell/Shadows

I think the variety of decks out there are truly strong, and I'm looking to see some how well Martell stands up in the Iowa & Missouri regionals, and the French & Italian nationals, before the Maesters start shifting the environment even more. I never faced a winter deck, nor had much attachment problems, but Ill Tidings might have made the cut too.

My Decklist:

Plots: 7

Retaliation
Loyalty Money Can Buy
Regroup
A Time for Ravens
Winds of Winter
Fleeing to the Wall
Valar Morghulis

Characters: 32

The Viper’s Bannermen x3
The Red Viper (PotS) x1
Arianne Martell x1
The Darkstar x1
Ser Arys Oakhear x1
Varys (KoS) x1
Ellaria Sand x3
House Messenger x3
Maester of the Sun x3
Lost Spearmen x3
Carrion Bird x3
Samwell Tarly x1
The Bastard of Godsgrace x1
Gilly x1
Refugee of the Citadel x3
Orphan of the Greenblood x3

Locations: 14

River Row x1
Street of Steel x1
Shadowblack Lane x1
Street of Sisters x1
Summer Sea x3
Water Gardens x2
Palace Fountains x2
Lost Oasis x1
Alchemist’s Shop x2

Events: 12

Game of Cyvasse x3
Burning on the Sand x2
He Calls it Thinking x3
Paper Shield x2
Condemned by the Council x2

Attachments: 6

Venomous Blade x3
Black Raven x2
A Pinch of Powder x1

Glad to see a Martell list w/ Pinch of Powder in it, I really love the card and am always excited to see others play it.

fhornmikey said:

No agenda for me, Luke. It was a great game though. I think we had 10 minutes till time. I learned from that game and cannot wait for our rematch! Got some new tricks this time around.

Good write up! I hope to get that rematch in Iowa! Mebbe we can do it up right Friday night!

Great write up LUke. And c'mon - he HAS to play Pinch of Powder in his deck!

Wouldn't anyone jump at the chance to throw down an image of yourself in the heat of a Joust!? (Plus it is a decent removal option).

clu said:

Just make me play with on a clock. And you have to take shots of OJ everytime you trigger Kingdom of Shadows. >

Stag Lord said:

True...I had to play Ghost of High Heart. Didn't want to. Felt like I had to. (~)

Seriously though, I know I played Dobbler plenty of times without a Flea Bottom in play

Which gets me thinking - are we not way behind on the Champ cards? Missing Z's and Erick's? And (not to bring up a wound so truly sorry if I am wrong) didn't Staleck get one as well? I am excited to see more player developed cards!!!

~Although, after Alec's maybe I my heart can't handle another two+ Champ cards