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Konnichi-wa my fellow Phoenix!
This is my report from the Italian Kotei, held in Bologna on 9th May 2004.
At first a little introduction: Iīve been playing L5R since Anvil of
Despair, have always played Phoenix on every tourney I went to, but left the
Game in late 2002 completely, selling all my cards and ignoring every "We
want you back"-letter from AEG ;) .
But about 3 months ago, I discovered my love for the game was still very
strong and Diamond could be a good chance to get back into the best CCG
around.
Luckily, my friend is the reigning German Kotei Champ so he could help me
out with all the cards I needed to build a solid deck.
With the help of this great site and some other forums I quickly managed to
get an overview on the current environment and Phoenix deck types and I
decided to take a MGC Switch deck flavored with some duels to Bologna.
After six hours of driving (Thank you "Iron Man" Agasha Martin!!) we arrived
at our hotel to do some last minute playtesting and to get a taste of
genuine italian wine and beer (for all you italians out there: stop brewing
beer! Stick to your excellent wine and import some fine german lager! Better
for you and german stomachs ;) ).
On Sunday the tourney began with about 60 participants.
I got to meet the local TO Davide Cesari in person (thank you again for all
your efforts; excellent organization), had a little chat with some other
german players from other cities and awaited my first match...
(Sorry, for my english, Iīm no native speaker)
Round 1: Matteo ??? (sorry, Iīm really bad with names) RED/Right Hand Basic
Ok, there I was at my first competitive match in over two years, facing the
nemesis of my deck. the "Undying Crab"; at least so I thought.
I flipped my first 4 dynasty cards and got an excellent gold start. 2 Silver
Mines and a Hiruma Dojo.
My opponent only got one holding, bought it and left all his 7+ gold peeps
in his provinces, not discarding a single one.
Matteo later told me he has only been playing for 2 months and neither had
all the cards he wanted nor enough experience to fully understand the game.
At this point I should mention that Davide told m, that L5R is just beginnig
to develop in Italy. Only about 25 of the 60 participants came from Italy
and a real tournament scene does not exist at the moment.
He continued to make some minor and major mistakes and after 7 rounds I
honored out with him not being able to even attack my provinces once,
thanks to some Written in Bloods and two Challenges.
After the game we sat down and talked a bit and I tried to give him some
advice on how to improve his playing skills (I really hope I was of use for
him).
Matteo was (just like all Italians) one of the coolest guys I ever met on a
tourney, really friendly and relaxed.
Thank you Matteo for showing me that even while the game is shifting more
and more into a competitive and "I have to win, no matter the cost"-
direction, the community is still the same it was 2 years ago.
Thatīs what I came back for..
1-0
MVP: Iaijutsu Challenges and Mirabu xp1
Round 2: Meik Nowak "Kawon no Oni" City of Rememberance/Right Hand
Meik is also from Germany, a really cool guy who knows how to play the game.
I knew this would going to be tough.
He was playing almost the same deck that Samoshii-sama played in Poland:
weenie Attack with three Dragons to deliver the final Punch.
Samoshii: Yep, and he was out there to pick Tsukune too!
He goes first, gets a good gold screw.
My start was quite horrible; I had to discard all my four peeps and search
for a gifts and favors.
He buys a second turn Tsukimi, forcing me to buy a second turn peep in order
to avoid a blitz.
On turn 4 he takes the first province.
On turn 5 he plays the Fire Dragon. On my turn, I play a Written in Blood,
attach the Imperial Standard on Chieh xp. and challenge the dragon.
He accepts and so we focus and focus and focus, leaving me with two and him
with three hand cards.
I manage to win the duel but lose much of my battle attrition in it.
From this point on, Serumas and The Shogunīs Barrack help him to build a
massive army of 7-8 peeps. My Kuros Fire on Chieh xp. prevents him from
attacking for one turn, then he uses Refuge of the three Sisters to search
for some Bloodspeaker Students and destroys my Kuros Fire.
Thatīs basically the game win. The weenies crush my second and third
province and I concede.
At this point I thought I was out of the tourney, as the TOs had only
planned to go for Top8.
Luckily they changed their minds afterwards.
1-1
LVP: Bad start, his superb playing skills
Round 3: Alessandro ??? Kyuden Doji/Underhand
So the first Crane awaited me in Round 3. I never ever playtested my deck
against a Crane deck, so I really didnīt know what to expect.
I go first an buy holdings for the first two turns. In Round two a Shinseis
Shrine showed up. That somehow sealed the deal for me. I control the favor
for the rest of the game.
Without getting to use the ability of the Underhand, his deck really doesnīt
work well.
Also, he had to discard EIGHT cards, to see his first holding.
My win was never endangered.
I attack from turn 4 on, crushing Bayushi Kaukatsu in one province.
In turn 7 was at at 36 Honor and destroyed his last province.
I have to say that Alessandro was very unlucky with the way his deck
performed as Iīm sure, his Crane K-Bomb/Control deck could perfrom much,
much better...
2-1
MVP: His horrible start, Controlling the Favor
Round 4: Katarina Kontarimi Kakita Duelling Akademy/Underhand
Katarina came from Greece (what a great bunch of people J, I have to visit
the Greek Kotei... ), with a very solid KDA Control Deck.
We both build up for the first three turns.
Unfortunately I havenīt got enough force to stage an early attack so I
decide to go for honor.
I manage to gain an edge on honor (thanks to Regions of Rokugan giving me
the Sacred Grove, the only Region she could have had attached).
now she canīt use the Underhand and Mai xp so Iīm feeling quite confident.
Still she is only 3 or 4 Honor behind.
In turn 6 she attaches the Blade of truths on one of her samurais and
challenges my Seruma. Now I got to use the card, I especially packed for a little
surprise against Crane Duellists:
Seruma casts DOUBLE CHI on herself!
I think I heard the sentence "I cantīt believe you are playing THIS card???"
about seven times this tourney..
To be able to surprise your opponent is vital in putting together a
competitive deck and somehow I really managed to surprise Katarina this
time!
Of course Seruma won the duel, giving me 5 Honor and killing her best
duellist.
This was the critical moment. Though she took a province on turn 8, my win
was never endangered and I honor out on turn 9.
3-1
MVP: Double Chi
Round 5: Damian Klopfer RED/Black Heart
Oh no, great. Crab again.
Damian was another player from Germany. I never met him before so I didnīt
know what to expect.
My start is great giving me 3 holdings, Sacred Grove and Shinseis Shrine at
the end of turn 2.
By the time he buys his first personality at the end of turn 3, I am at 18
honor.
Also, his gold screw is quite bad, and he canīt bring out 2 personalities
per turn.
I really drew a god hand this game. Written in blood and 2 Challenges (I
hate Feign Death) took care of his first 2 peeps.
My battle attrition (TDWWM, Overwhelmed, Feeding on Flesh, Steel on Steel)
worked that great ( I really drew plenty of them) that even Kisadas Shrine,
The Mountain does not move and Feign Death donīt help to keep enough
personalities alive.
In turn 6 I even manage to crack the province Hida Kuon is in.
After that I sit back and honor out.
He takes a province with Tireless Assault,
I honor out in turn 8
4-1
MVP: An unbelievable great hand draw full of attrition cards
At this point Iīm quite confident that I made it to the finals, still I have
to win the next game to go for the Top Phoenix price.
Round 6: Michael Verdefiore "Peper" Kenson Gakka/Voice
Peper is also from Germany. Slowly I begin to fell like Iīm at the German
Kotei..
This game is over in 4 turns.
He goes first and buys a holding.
I have to discard four personalities and search for a gifts.
On turn two he byus a personality and a holding.
I get a Shinseis Shrine two holdings and Boastful Proclamation, so I have to
buy two holdings.
On turn three he attacks and destroys a province, leaving me with three
provinces of which one is a Shinseis Shrine. He then buys two personalities.
Now itīs my turn again and I... Flip two holdings..
Surprisingly, I concede.
Wow, before the tourney I thought I could handle Lion Blitz quite well.
4-2
LVP: Not getting a personality all game long
So thatīs the end of the Swiss round. I get into the Top16 at Rank 9.
Meik Nowak takes the Top Phoenix spot, while I qualified as second best
Phoenix giving me a Foil Kyuden Agasha, which I traded with Mike for a foil
MGC!
I really canīt believe I made it into the Top16 and even got myself a foil
MGC!
Unfortunately, the rest of my local playgroup didnīt make the cut.
Top16: Christian Zoli Kakita Duelling Academy/Underhand
Christian was the best ranked italian player after the swiss round, so I
knew I was in for a tough fight.
He played a duel heavy/pk deck and played it very, very well.
Still, I was very confident, as my deck was doing very well against crane so
far.
We build up for the first two-three turns.
Iīm able to build honor fast and bring out Mirabu xp1 on turn 4.
Christian plays an Ogre Bushi on his turn 4, attaches corrupt jade sliver
and starts to destroy my personalites one by one with a For the Empire and
two Challenges.
Fortunately Iīm building honor very fast.
I try to stop the Bushi by attaching the Imperial Standard to Mirabuxp1,
giving him 8 Chi against a Shadowlands personality.
I challenge the Ogre Bushi. He accepts (he also has 8 Chi too due to CJS). I
thought he would strike. Instead he focuses. I focus, he plays Smoke and
Mirrors. I focus again, he plays Smoke and Mirrors. Damn! He discarded my 4
focus-value cards, leaving me with only one 3 focus-value card and some 2
focus-value. Iīm still confident I can win because of Mirabus double chi.
I focus, he plays Shadows Claw, I focus for the last time, he play Shadows
claw.
So now my hand is nearly empty except for an Overwhelmed and a Wedge and he
is sitting on 6 cards.. Great!
I strike and he wins the duel by one point! Arrgh!
Itīs his turn again. He attaches Kenshizen und Kokujins Daisho and CJS to
one of his samurais and continues to search his deck for a duel and destroy
my peeps.
After he played his last two For the Empires, he sacrifices a personality
into the daisho, attaches a Reinforced Cavalary and attacks two of my
provinces.
Iīve only got a Serums left to defend and one bowed Danjuro.
I assign Seruma, who overwhelms the Samurai with the daisho.
Still his Ogre takes a province.
On my turn, I reach 40 honor. In my hand is a Wedge and a Tsuruchi
Technique. I use the favor and get another Wedge. Great. At the end of the
turn I draw a Steel on Steel. not really useful right now ;)
Itīs his turn.
Heīs got a about 12 Force Ogre Bushi unit and two other samurais. He
attaches Reinforced Infantry on one of the Samurai.
I canīt keep him from taking two provinces, knowing that if heīs got a
Desperate wager, or Tribute to your house, Iīll lose the game.
But suddenly he concedes..
He can only take two provinces, which leaves me with one province and the
Game win!!!
Wow, I was very lucky there.
Christian was a great opponent and this was by far the most suspense game of
the tourney.
Thanks Christian!
5-2
MVP: Overwhelmed!!!
Top8: Thomas Vittek "Bayushi Thomas" Kyuden Doji/Underhand
Thomas is one of the best german Crane players, so I knew I was in for a
tough match.
Luck was on my side again; I win the die roll and go first.
The first card I flip is a Region of Rokugan, which allows me to attach my
Sacred Grove and thus preventing him from attaching his.
He attaches a Shinseis Shrine.
I buy holdings for the first two turns, he buys holdings and an Otomo
Taneji.
My early Noh Theater Group is neutralized by his Court Chambers.
On turn three I buy my first personalities and gain an edge on honor.
I control the favor again, robbing his deck of a vital option.
On his turn three, he Storm hearts my Seruma. I lose, leaving her
dishonored.
He uses his commanding favor to search for a Shame, which I cancel with an
Outmaneuvered by Force.
On turn 4 I get my Shinseis Shrine. Iīm pretty confident now because my
lead in Honor increases from Round to Round.
In turn 5 I win a Challenge against Konetsu (thanks to Seruma casting Double
Chi again) and on turn 6 I take a province thanks to Travelling Ronin.
I Honor out on turn 8, or 9 with 50-27 Honor.
Now that Iīve beaten one of the Top Ranked Players in Organized Play, Iīm
only one win away of being rewarded my first sword at a tourney!
6-2
MVP: Outmaneuvered by Force
Top4: Dominik Jastrzebski Kenson Gakka/Right Hand
Dominik came all the way from Poland. He played a 99% Tibbles clone and even
wore a name sign on his shirt saying "Dan Tibbles".
I thought that was quite funny, but some of the other players got somehow
irritated.
I won the die roll and go first.
Really there is nothing much to tell about this game.
Somehow his deck wouldnīt work. He got peeps when he needed holdings the
first couple of turns and got holdings when he needed personalities.
I built on honor and assemble quite an impressive army, but decided not to
attack because I didnīt want to run into a Retribution.
In the entire game he launched a single attack which I smashed with feeding
on Flesh and Tsuruchi Techniques.
I honored out on turn 8
7-2
MVP: His extrem bad luck
Final: Damian Klopfer RED/Black Heart
I canīt believe I made it to the finals. Damian is also quite surprised by
his performance.
Tough I won in our swiss round match, Iīm quite sure Iīll lose this one,
because Crab decks really are my nemesis.
We made a deal before the game not to play best of 3, but to play only one
game, as it was getting late and we both had a 6-8 hours drive ahead of us.
The atmosphere of the final was very, very friendly.
We both congratulated on our great play so far and started the match.
My start was ok, but not that great. I managed to buy three holdings the
first two turns, but none of them produced three gold.
He also bought three holdings, one of them was a Crystal Mine.
On turn three I get Shinseis Shrine, Sacred Grove, Ningen xp and another
holding.
He buys a Sozen and another 4 Force Samurai.
Sozen, great! Now my last hopes of winnig this game somehow diminished.
He attacks on turn 4, I defend with one personality but loose the battle and
the province because I have no way to destroy Sozen.
Kachikos Promises prevents me from using my two Challenges.
In his next turn he attacks again, destroying two provinces, despite my
Overwhelmed efforts.
That leaves me with only the Shinseis Shrine and 24 honor, so I concede the
game and the Kotei to him.
Damian really deserved to win as he was a very honorable and skilled player.
We gave ourselves a hug after the game and congratulated again..
He showed me that even pre-HC Crab are a really, really strong clan.
7-3
LVP: Sozen, Feign Death, Kachikos Promises
Though I lost the final and thus missed the chance to nominate Tsukune-sama
for the resurrection, I was absolutely happy with the outcome of the Kotei.
I met lots of cool guys and girls and had a really good time!
Thanks again to everyone involved in the organization, especially Davide
Cesari!
I think this wonīt be the last time I took the colours of the Phoenix Clan
to war in Bologna!!!!!
Some pictures of the kotei can be found here:
http://www.geocities.com/davidecesari/koteipictures/
Anyway, here is the decklist:
Morning Glory Castle with Sezaru
Dynasty:
Boastful Proclamation
Regions of Rokugan
Boundless Sight
2*Shinseis Shrine
Sacred Grove
3* Silver Mine
3* Hiruma Dojo
2* Akodos Grave
Noh Theater Group
Corrupt Officials
Gifts and Favors
Kyuden Tonbo
Shrine to Daikoku
Shrine of the Sun
Shrine to Fukurokujin
Master of Bushido
Shiba Mirabu xp1
Shiba Ningen xp1
3* Shiba Danjuro
3* Shiba Tsukimi
Agasha Chieh xp1
3* Agasha Seruma
3* Isawa Toshiji
3* Isawa Jun
Fate:
3* Iaijutsu Challenge
3* To do what we must
3* Wedge
3* Fall on your knees
2* Tsuruchi Technique
3* Steel on Steel
3* Outmaneuvered by Force
3* Overwhelmed
2* Tribute to your House
2* Double Chi
2* Feeding on Flesh
2* Written in Blood
3* Kuros Fire
Inazuma Blade
2* Walking the Way
Imperial Standard
Celestial Sword of the Phoenix
Isawa House Guard
Legion of 2000
Travelling Ronin
Any questions or remarks can be directed to:
Isawa Achim.
Honor to the Phoenix!
Isawa Achim
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