Comic-Con Saturday Tournament Report

by Adam Molnar

I'm playing LotR Nationals as a warmup for Worlds, because I'm honestly nowhere near ready. So I unabashedly netdeck Hobbits/Forest Nazgul. It starts Rosie, Sam, and Farmer Maggot, very standard (though I do toss in 2 Nazgul pump for surprises instead of Moving This Way). The title is "Margaret and Stefan and Happily Ever After." Margaret and Stefan are chemists at the University of Chicago, who met at school two years ago. They also both play in the Catholic church choir, and spend a lot of time early in their relationship "picking out songs". Their wedding is today, in Ohio. I wish them as long and happy a life as Rosie and Sam.

Because the convention doesn't officially open until 10, the official start is delayed until 11, which becomes 11:40. During the wait a Navy ship floats by with sailors on parade deck, another "not in Columbus anymore, Toto" moment. Also during the wait, I debate playing Megaman instead. The event is um, sparsely, attended. By sparse I mean none. We joke about how if I get a starter deck and fill out the decklist correctly, I would win! National championship! Eventually decency wins out, and I stick with Rings. I am wearing a really cool shirt today, from Redemption, the Christian trading card game. Here's a photo of it, with two booth girls a little less Christian, though one liked the shirt.

[Redemption]

There are 28 players, so there are 6 rounds, no playoffs. Four places pay fan dollars. Honestly, I don't expect to win; this is Worlds practice to see decks. There will be Bloodlines, but I didn't see any new strategies from the spoiler list. Evil men archery gets much better, and Orc swarm gets better with the "discard the rest at +3 per", and other stuff changes, and I don't know of any brilliant combo decks. So I'll see some things, learn not to mess up, and so forth.

Round 1: Austin, Hobbits with Smeagol / Forest Nazgul

We get Table 3. He wins 3-2, but makes me go first, starting Sam - Maggot - Pippin - Smeagol. He has to mulligan, so I jump to 3 easily. My Shadow draw is better and he stops at 2. Here, he baits at 4, so I jump forward to 5, making Mistake #1 - he wasn't going to pass me up a site and a tempo. I take some damage. He singles. I then make Mistake #2 - Anduril Valley of the Silverlode but forget to heal. It costs me later, when I can't heal enough people and much Valley again at 7. People start dying then. Austin makes a couple little mistakes with the sites, but eventually at 8 I'm out of site control and he gets Buckland Homestead. I only have 1 Sudden Fury out, and have been using it well and have 8 tokens or so, but it goes away. More people die, though Tom Bombadil helps. I'm cycling like mad, even using The Angle, and Nelya takes away as many forests as possible. At 9 I draw 8 and have just 5 cards left. One is Pippin. One is Concerning Hobbits. Those would have gotten me to the fierce phase against 4 or 5 Nazgul, but I still think Sam dies.
Full Loss, 0-1, 1 pt

[Austin]

Round 2: Morris, Elves / Nazgul-Orcs

Morris and his son are infrequent players, here for the free drafts and to get games in. They didn't have Shadows site paths and had to buy starters and update their decks for Standard. His fellowship is good against me - I lent him an Aiglos beforehand. I win the bid 2-1, get 1 Sudden Fury and Sting on the draw, which is good. His shadow's not so hot - there are good Nazgul but he's also playing suboptimal Orcs like Cirith Ungol stuff. Also, I get two more Sudden Fury at three, and his starter sites do not include Buckland Homestead. I wind up killing him at 6, thanks to a couple minor errors and a great draw for me. In any event, I was at 7, with roughly 20 Sudden Fury tokens, 2 Concerning Hobbits, and Pathfinder in hand - I was good.
Full Win, 1-1, 4 pts

[Morris]

Round 3: Seth, Elves / Enquea Corruption

Seth is one of the better deckbuilders out there, from Syracuse, though he lives in Brooklyn now. He's also a nice guy. He says he lives in the hood, then I talk about the housing projects, shootings, and drug markets within a mile of my house. I win that contest, and the bid, 2-1. I play pretty well, making the 1-3 double, and from his Nazgul it looks like corruption. I get the stop, and am pretty much set up with my Sudden Furies and stuff at 3, plus Anduril. Then the corruption becomes apparent. The game moves into Seth's hands, because there's not really a way I can win - Seth wins or loses based on what he draws. I even get Tom Bombadil, and Pippin before 9, but Seth plays well, doesn't let me have a minion at late sites that can kill Frodo to clear the burdens (just Cantea and BNAPed Toldea). Aragorn is the BNAP target, and 5 vitality makes it hard for him to die. That is Mistake #3, playing Anduril and trying to keep Aragorn alive. In the end, even with Tolman Cotton preventing like crazy, I lose at 9. Seth added 18 or 19 burdens this game. Sigh.
Full Loss, 1-2, 5 pts

[Seth]

Round 4: Bren, Elves-Smeagol / Enquea Corruption

Bren has a floppy hat too. I win 2-0, go first, and see the corruption again. We're quite talkative and he notices my weariness when I see Enquea again. His version plays a few more Nazgul, and he only gets one Sense, for Rosie of course. This time I do not heal Aragorn at 3, instead killing Aragorn at 4, surprising him. I probably wait a little too long to kill Rosie, too - I now think the best play is to hit her as soon as possible. On the other hand, I'm throwing things away like crazy to find the useful stuff. At site 8, I have to make a decision. I can save Frodo with 10 burdens and Sam, or ring toss to Sam with Sting. This is Mistake #4, from not really knowing my deck. I toss, leaving just Sam and hoping he can't play two fierce Nazgul, but he does. It turns out that I drew Tolman, who could have protected from Enquea and let me stop the swarm too. This proves that I am horribly rusty at this game.
Full Loss, 1-3, 6 pts

[Bren]

My round 4 match ends with about 5 minutes left. I look outside and there's dancing. Not just dancing, medieval belly dancing. I walk outside and talk to one young lady, try and fail to imitate her agility. She's Kimmy, and really enjoys the dance, including the tassel shake. She's also ticklish. Young Miss Booth dances too. Sadly, I am the only one to come out and chat. For those of you that stayed inside and just snapped pictures, here's a message: There's this subspecies "pretty girl". They have flat stomachs and wonderful curves and maybe spark a long lost feeling. But you can speak with them; ask about what they're doing, why they like it, talk about something other than decktypes. It just takes confidence.

[Dancer] [Miss Booth]

Round 5: Eric, Gandalf Sent Back / Enquea Corruption

Eric works in computer security so I don't have a picture. He's 0-4, but having fun. I win the bid and go first, and we're being rather chatty. At this point, though, my frustration with Toto has grown apparent. Fortunately, I have Sting and Sudden Fury early, which makes me able to remove most of the burdens - I get to zero at one point. Also, I kill Wingfoot quickly, surprising him, and Rosie quickly as well. So he switches to beatdown. Sent Back isn't the strongest decktype, and he's a little unfamiliar with the borrowed build, which helps. I still am off and running, though. Time apparently was called with me at 8 and him at 7, but I double to 9 anyway. He gets 4 fierce Nazgul against my 4 remaining hobbits. Farmer Maggot dies in the first skirmish, but in the fierce he can't double both Frodo and Sam. Plus I have a Concerning Hobbits. I am now 1-0 in rounds after belly dancing breaks.
Full Win, 2-3, 9 pts

Round 6: Andrew, Manager of Wizards / Besiegers

He's 3-1, lost the last round on time, not a fast player. I decide to bid 1, lose 1-1 by choosing red not black. So no Aragorn. I see the Manager of Wizards and cry. Then I see Besiegers via Forearmed and it gets worse. Honestly, I do pretty well to get as far as I did. At 7, I've got Sam with Sting, Merry, and I play Aragorn to Pathfinder Caras Galadhon. I debate the Sudden Fury, which turns out to be the wrong move - Encirclement with 2 sites, then Assassin, Siege Troop, Siege Troop is just enough. I don't have enough tokens to survive the fierce, 22 (+2 from Tower Walkway) - 10. If I hadn't played Sudden Fury, I would have survived 8, but he should have doubled through anyway. After the victory he gives the thumbs up.
Full Loss, 2-4, 10 pts

[Andrew]

Final Results

Congratulations to Chris Schoenthal! He placed first in a field of 28, winning all six rounds with Dwarves and Turbo Nazgul Corruption. In his deck, "Run, He's Fuzzy, Get Out of Here!", key cards included No Pauses, No Skills and Enquea TotO. In second place, as the only 5-1, was Casey Barson, playing Hobbits and Forest Nazgul. There were eight 4-2 players. In alphabetical order:

What does one do after such a pounding? Grab a burger for dinner, go swimming, and sit in the whirlpool for a bit. Tomorrow is another day, hopefully a better day, .hack National Championships Day.


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