Editor: Staff. Monday 22nd May 2005.
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Editor: Staff. Monday 22nd May 2005.
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 "The EPIC tourney report Part II" 2nd Sealed Deck
This pool is totally ridiculous. When I opened it I couldn't believe how much raw power was in it. The list I ended up going with was:
In the end it was the teamups that sealed it. Apart from having double Black Magic and double Centurious, the Hypnotic Charms and Morbius dissuaded me from trying to force a silly Crime Lords build or even X-Statix. It is so silly how powerful this sealed pool is that all four teams were viable. However, I think in the end, Underworld is clearly the best partner to the Marvel Knights.
Even after having made such choices, I still had much to decide. I immediately cut War Wagon, see above for comments. I knew I only needed a single Dagger, and that is what I played, but in hindsight, even though I had double Centurious, I think I may have been better off running Tryks over Dagger. Tryks was the last card I cut, and it was hard, but I thought Dagger was better at the time. Swan Dive is too situational for my tastes, but Out of the Darkness could easily have come in for No Rest For The Wicked. In the end I decided that the flexibility wasn't worth the raw power of the combat modifier and stuck with it. The character curve was pretty straightforward, but between Ghost Rider (8) and the Dagger I had to run less than the desired early drops. This wasn't terrible as I had such insane offense, and I didn't really have any options at three anyway. I will always play the eight if I have it, as there are only two in the format, and if the game goes that long (which it regularly does, regardless of the fact I only went to turn six in my opening three games) you can hardly lose if you have it and they don't (particularly as Ghost Rider is so retarded even on non-initiative turns). My deck was pretty weak defensively, and if it missed early drops could be punished, but the offensive firepower was so brutal that I was confident I could 3-0 with this deck. Rd 4: Nik Smith While I had probably never been close friends with Nik when he had played Magic in Sydney, we were definitely well-enough acquainted with each other for me to know that he was a fierce competitor, which in all honesty is the way I like it. No quarter taken, none given. I wasn't going to go easy on him regardless of how limited his experience with the game was. Funnily enough it was I who made an unusual mistake (as opposed to an error) that probably cost me the game. Nik was 2-1 so I had been paired down and I knew this would put me on thin ice with tiebreakers if I were to lose. I missed two in this game whereas he hit it and the tactical limitations this usually implies were more than manifest in this game. My default strategy in such situations is to keep attacking down the curve to try and get the character advantage back, while all along giving an impatient opponent an opening to screw up by lashing back with their biggest drop if so positioned (usually resulting in mutual stuns, with them gaining a five to ten point endurance lead but giving up their board advantage). This game bogged down quickly, with me being unable to do anything significant when defending due to less characters and a lack of defensive plot twists, but at the same time not being able to make any leeway on the O as Nick was able to match my insane Attacking potential with many defensive tricks of his own. After ugly early skirmishes consisting of little more than punch and counter punch I was able to land Zarathos, have a strong initiative, and follow up with the sub optimal but workable Dracula on turn 6. Nick was forced to send his six on Zarathos, but trumped me with an Out of the Darkness on Dracula who was subsequently struck by some mediocre character and stunned. I recovered Dracula, and forgot to put the counters on him (I didn't notice until after my attack next turn, so winding things back was not really an option). On my initiative I recruited Nightmare and returned a Mist Form, which combined with my Head Shot and Black Magic should have given me enough to win the game. However, my undersized Dracula could not do enough damage for me to send Nightmare at anyone small enough to deal lethal breakthrough. I was able to send Centurious with a Head Shot and a Black Magic at Bullseye (7), safe in the knowledge that Punisher's Armoury would ensure the stun, but a Geraci Family Estate from Nick meant that he stayed on at least 8 endurance or something good enough to have options next turn. I recovered Dracula, thought he was rather small, and realized my blunder. It was too late however, as even my Anarchist could not stand up to a Bullseye somewhat appropriately running over me with a Head Shot. I was a little rattled at the end of the match. I was sure my deck was a 3-0 deck, and I knew I had not given myself an adequate chance at winning that game. I had fallen back into the pack where a lot of good players were fighting tooth and nail to keep their heads above water, and I felt the pressure a little. I couldn't help but feel echoes of PCLA where I, somewhat memorably, choked at a crucial stage. This time was different though. I took a moment to clear my thoughts, told myself there was nothing I could do now and forced myself to ‘stroll' back into the fray. This was an incredibly important moment for me, as if my head is clear and I am accessing the wealth of Vs information that is cluttered around my brain, I am unlikely to make many errors. Unfortunately, I am quite prone to distraction and when I lose focus I tank pretty badly. Still, I had conquered my demons somewhat, and the next round would vindicate my mini-rejuvenation in a most satisfying manner. Rd 5: Randall Hughes Randall and I had gotten the plane from Sydney to Auckland together, and I have a growing respect for him that definitely goes beyond that I sometimes reluctantly harbor for some players considered ‘better'. While I wouldn't want to live with him, Randall always offers a unique perspective on the game and can be surprisingly hilarious at times. It didn't help that we had been talking about bluffing a lot on the trip over, as this would be an important subtext to this game. Regardless, this was the tournament now, and I wasn't going to pull any punches, so I had a judge come over and watch Randall for slow play during the game. Randall landed Roscoe Sweeney first turn, and then promptly searched for and discarded another Roscoe Sweeney! Some people would fall apart here complaining about luck and such things but I had a different approach. If he has two Roscoes, his deck is just doing what it should do, mathematically, by drawing a first turn Roscoe. So Randall has a busted deck, whatever, I certainly couldn't complain with mine. Stony-faced I dropped my two drop, and promptly missed my three. With Roscoe out I was bound to get massacred on the board. I attacked down the curve on 4, as is my wont, and Randall surprisingly kept his Roscoe over his two drop, after earlier pitching a Deadpool (which made me wince, what could he drop on five?). Bizarrely he searched for The Russian on five, and I had Punisher or something average, and then the craziness began. Randall hit my five with Moon Knight and I had to work hard to maintain my composure. He then hit three into my two, and as I had Saracen, I reinforced or did something to the same effect and they both went down. Unstunned were an exhausted Saracen on my side, and a ready Russian protecting an exhausted Roscoe on his side. I will never understand this, but Randall passed the attack. Ok I could have had Blown to Pieces. I maybe have a Geraci. Whatever, you have to commit. Those cards aren't going anywhere and by passing not only does he not force me to use them just to claw back some of the advantage (he still has Roscoe remember). Additionally he clearly has no DEF pumps on offense like No Rest or a power-up). If they have it they have it. By passing Randall lets me ready on my initiative with my four and five against his four, five and Roscoe. His total domination of the early game has been significantly whittled away, and the imaginary plot twist he thinks I have is still in my row. Bad times. Anyway I have Dracula, and he finds Jaime Ortiz. I pretty much have to go after Jaime, so I Black Magic my Dracula to stun his guy and protect my own. I think crash my Punisher through The Russian, knowing that Armoury is securing the stuns. I am left with a difficult decision. He has a Roscoe and a Moon Knight unstunned and unable to reinforce one another. I have some random four drop and a Mist Form and an Armoury, with another Armoury in my row. I don't have a seven drop, only another six in the form of Natasha Romanoff. I can attack Randall to 0 through Punisher's Armoury pumps, leaving me at 4 or something where Penance Stare is relevant, if I attack Moon Knight, which at least leaves me ok next turn. Alternatively I can attack Roscoe and just pile in the breakthrough, but if he has Geraci or Family I am liable to a losing counterattack from Moon Knight. The thing is, because of my lack of seven, and facing the prospect of two concealed sixes in play next turn I have to move. I must force the issue, I just don't know in what way. All this time, Randall is running the worst bluff of all time, telling me that I am so lucky and that I have all of the answers blah blah blah, as if first turn Roscoe isn't ridiculous, particularly considering I missed three. Anyway, I know he has something, but can't tell whether it is Meltdown/Dracula's Castle, The Family or Penance Stare. The thing is, if go for the Family scenario, I lose if he has it. If I put him on Penance Stare and run that gambit, I also lose. So I have to run the lifegain scenario, hope he doesn't have it, and I go into next turn with a solid board but at 6-2/3 my way on his initiative. I hit Moon Knight, Mist Form, and draw Bring The Pain. Interesting. I decide to stick to the plan and play the twist, saving me a lot of life. His Moon Knight goes down, we go to recovery, and he flips Dracula's Castle and puts his one Underworld character on the bottom of his deck. Thems the breaks. I am on 15 he is on 3, but it is his init. He drops Bullseye 7 and I have Natasha. My four is in the front and gets smashed by Jaime and I reinforce. Bullseye then has his way with Punisher and Randall is in front in the life totals by eight (we are both in negatives). I attack Roscoe with Dracula, and predictable Jaime steps in. Here Randall errors again by pumping the DEF of Jaime with Dracula's Castle, where he would have just been better off keeping it for the lifegain (he had another Underworld guy in the yard now from something) to which I merely use my Armoury. Randall takes six but is still in front by one. I attack Bullseye with Natasha, and somewhat surreally, I have the powerup I just drew, and he takes eight and I take six. I win by one. Mise. Winning those sorts of matches always feels weird. I only won because my opponent made several mistakes. However, isn't that what the game is supposed to be all about? I felt somewhat sorry for Randall, but he had played worse than me. I had been unlucky, then lucky, and I had kept my head and won a memorable match by one endurance. I know for certain that our fates in that tournament were heavily influenced by the outcome of that match, and I know that after I had won that game I had also thrown a persistent monkey from my back. I could have capitulated but I had stuck my guns and I felt the confidence of the earlier rounds coming back. Rd 6: Dan Gow So I am 4-1, and 1-1 with what I thought was an insane deck, but I feel I have been lucky, and that maybe the deck and me aren't really that good. Geez was I proved wrong in this round. Dan has been known to make some famously questionable plays at high level events before, but he has one of the best poker faces in Vs so I primed myself for a difficult encounter. It was anything but. I come out of the gates with Werewolf By Night whereas Dan has no play. I then drop Skinner and Dan drops the mediocre Plazm. I roll him for large endurance. His init he hits some average four and I have Luke Cage. He hits me for a bit, but I send Skinner into his four, discard an Underworld guy and then Black Magic. I then send Luke Cage into the Plazm, he has the trick, but I have Mist Form (I had teamed up) and he takes a beating. Werewolf can't attack but really its all a lot of shrugs from me here. I ready, drop Zarathos, pulling back Werewolf by Night and sit on top of an absurdly powerful row with the curve in my hand. Dan drops something irrelevant and gets hosed by the other Black Magic. I am leading by more than twenty when we recruit on six. The situation is clearly unwinnable for Dan and he scoops. So I am sitting at 5-1. Nik swept his pod so my breakers are pretty good. Scott Smith is 6-0 so I am thinking if he wins and I win next round I can probably score a concession from him and waltz into top 8. I am a little concerned that I may have wasted my opportunity in Rd 4 with what was clearly an insane deck, but I am confident that I can get the two wins necessary from the final rounds, even if the Sydney players are all hovering around the same differentials.
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