L5R World Champs - Brussels

Well, I have the opportunity to visit the Legend of the Five Rings World Championships in Brussels on a VIP Pass. What has this to do with Warlord I hear you cry? Well, I am going primarily to meet with Mike Leader and some other Euro TOs and DLs to try to help with a "post Euro Rep" strategy to help keep Warlord in Europe at least at the level it currently is, and hopefully use Epic Edition to push the frontiers of expansion!

Epic Edition

For Some reason Epic Edition has left a few poeple out of sorts, but from the feedback I have had of those who have actually played the game, there are more positives than NPEs (Negative Play Experiences.)

For those casual or lower tier tournament players, Epic gives the chance to make those build deck work, allows you to play higher level characters and have a lot of fun with the new Stealth rules, in particular!

Top tier players may still be playing around with Tavis/Mantle and Jin Blitz decks, which is fine, but where's the fun?

Warlord made it big in Europe because we, as a community, prized fun over winning. Sadly that seems to be abating as ever more people try to deliberately break the game rather than enjoy it.

Here's hoping KOHIT V will be as awesome as ever and that I don't bum out with a negative record!

Aarschott & Selene's Release

Well, we made it there, and had a blast! I din't play Tavis in the end, I played Lady of Mercy, who actually shows none at all. ;)

Superblitz obviously doesn't work for me as my die rolls go off too often.....I'll have to switch to those boring build decks just to get some ratings.....If I cared enough!!!!

Give me fun over placing anytime you please!

All the Euros made us feel welcome, as usual, and it was great fun watching the Germany v Argentina game with the Germans in the pub. Seb crouching at the bar during penalties is a sight to see!

Tom & Ellen were the best hosts again and Diedrik's driving seems to have calmed down a little....;)

We had a great time and thankyou for everyone who helped babysit us throught eh weekend!

And get the hotel to put that cat on a diet!!!!!! haha!

Prince of the Storm - Aarschott, Belgium

Well, next weekend I am off to Belgium for the final World Conquest tournament and the Belgian nationals, I believe.

The deck I have been testing may go with me, but the power of decks at EL:ITE last weekend has meant a strong rethink and change in the meta-game.

Thankyou once again Team Humiliation for providing the game breaking decks that we all know you love to build....

I am taking a back-up deck with me sent by a good friend from the US and I may well end up playing that.....

Carl & I are due to fly on Friday morning at some god-forsaken hour and arrive in Belgium around 10am.....Local time.

Then it's off to the hotel and then to the games shop/tournament venue and to the pub!

Yay! Belgian beer and Belgian prices! :)

More Tuning for Tavis Jape!

WEll, I got to thinking about this a bit last night at the club and tried the following additions to the deck:

Cast Asunder

Very situational, but amazing power card when used correctly....Stopped Cathel Rowan from spending me at last!

Command Horror

Tavis makes this card horrific! Even though he's not a Dev, the -3 makes it DC20 not to go -5ATK & -5AC! Very, very powerful!

Elemental Madness

I'm not yet totally convinced about the blanket utility of this card, but I am assured by those who are better players than I, that it is top notch! Personally I found that it can be hard to hold ranks long enough whilst waiting to cast it.....

Bansidhe

Sorry ol' fella, you gotta go! You have no useful ability other than the fact you are a wizard. Looks like Keridwen or Ss'saurth may well make a return....Or maybe a Demon of Kvar? Maybe even Brine Fiend could make a comeback?

Tavis tuning

I will be tuning the TavisJape deck over the next week or 2, but the first cards to come out are the Blue Willow Staff and Armor of the Earth......In their place will go...Elemental Madness!

Tavis Jape it is then!

Seems like the best bet to test is still Raziel and Tavis......I may try a Simon deck over the next week or so, but I still think that Tavis can outblitz him; mainly because the tavis deck doesn't need to be ready to inflict damage!

OK, this past weekend there was a World Conquest Qualifier tournament in Stuttgart, Germany. I couldn't make that tournament but the results:
1. Matthias Waegemans, Raziel, 5-1
2. Sebastian Bugla, Elves (buh!!! ), 4-1-1
3. Mikael Deleu, Tavis Jape, 4-1-1
4. Marco Wellmann, Jaqueline, 4-2
5. Andreas Leide, Inq. Chyre, 4-2
6. Marcel Harz, Tavis Jape, 3-1-2
7. Martin McGoff, Tavis Jape, 3-1-2
8. Arne Reuter, Durin Kortouched, 3-1-2
9. Florian Hüpper, Raziel, 3-2-1
10. Thomas Nonnez, Raziel, 3-2-1
11. Michael Wild, Lekar Osud, 3-2-1

kinda start making me wonder what deck to take to Belgium! Notice here that the 4th placed deck Jaqueline Windson ended up winning the tournament....Old tech beating new? Certainly looks that way. That, and of course the fact that Marco is actually one of the few in the game to have actually beaten a Medusan Lord!

So, I was planning to take Tavis Jape and Raziel to see how it panned out, but now, because I cannot see a Cathel Rowan deck in the field, and only 1 Durin deck, it kinda leads me to thinking about building a new deck completely!

This is always the hard part of travelling to European tournaments; having to decide what decks to take and play as the local environment is very different from my own, and on top of that, you have the travelling band of Warlord players that play around the WCQ tournaments making a sub-metagame almost! So is it spell blitz or counter-spell or straight fighter blitz that is the best choice?
Currently, it is either spell blitz or counter-spell that are the winning strategies, but this could be down to perceived strength rather than real strength! The truth always lies somehwere in between, but with Tavis, the threat is real and definite. Raziel has always been relatively strong and unless you are fast from the beginning, you are hardly going to play a card!

See Florian's excellent serires of articles at the

Taktix Website for a good expalanation of this.

So, with only 6 weeks or so to go until my travels begin this season, I have no deck....How will this affect my chances? Not much, but will it affect anyone else? Doubtful also ;)