Card Wars 97 - Winning Deck

Attack of Nerves

by John Davis
March 10, 1997

1  Eunuch Underling
1  Hopping Vampire
1  Kan Li
1  Shadow Creeper
1  Shadowy Horror
1  Thorns of the Lotus
1  Abominable Lab
1  Alpha Beast
1  Arcanotechnician
1  BuroMil Grunt
1  Nerve Gas
1  PubOrd Officer
1  Test Subjects
1  Confucian Stability
1  Fong Sai Yuk
1  Golden Candle Society
1  Green Monk
1  Instrument of the Hand
1  Iron and Silk
1  Red Monk
1  Righteous Fist
1  Shaolin Monk
1  Tranquil Persuader
1  Alchemist's Lair (Chi)
2  Auspicious Termites
1  Cave Network
1  Combat Aircar
1  Dawn of the Righteous
1  Family Home
1  Grenade Launcher
2  Inner Sanctum
1  Sacred Ground
1  Secret Laboratory
3  Stone Garden
1  Trade Center
= 39  cards
BY TYPE
19  Characters
 4  Events
10  Feng Shui Sites
 4  Sites
 2  States
BY COST
1  0 cost
9  1 cost
9  2 cost
5  3 cost
4  4 cost
1  6 cost
10  variable cost
2.21  average cost (excluding variable)
BY FIGHTING
6  1 fighting
6  2 fighting
2  3 fighting
3  4 fighting
1  7 fighting
1  9 fighting
2.74  average fighting (by character)
1.33  average fighting (by card)
BY FOUNDATION
4  Eaters of Lotus
5  Flesh Architects
4  Guiding Hand
PERCENTAGES
33%  Base resource
26%  Feng Shui
10%  Site
23%  Chi
 5%  Magic
10%  Tech
BY SET
36  Limited
 3  Flashpoint
BY RARITY
19  Very Common
12  Common
 5  Uncommon
 3  Rare
BY FACTION
 6  Eaters of Lotus
 7  Flesh Architects
10  Guiding Hand
16  Neutral

Notes

This is the final version of John's deck.  At the start of the tournament it used 5 factions - all but Jammers and Monarchs.  As new blood was drafted, the Ascended were dropped too - their only significant asset was a Shadowy Mentor.  Then, for the three player final, the Dragons were dropped too - they were just providing lots of cannon-fodder.  The final composition of the deck then, was Architect/Lotus/Hand.
Fong Sai Yuk was a late draft pick and was never decisive.  The Tranquil Persuader saw more action but was never more than a one-shot Shadowy Mentor.  John's most valuable combo was the Arcanotechnician/Nerve Gas and the latter was recycled several times.
The title of the deck comes from this Nerve Gas/Tranquil Persuader theme.  Also, John is more sensitive than most to the nerve-wracking tension of a competitive tournament and so we have a nice double-meaning too.
This version of the deck was tightly tuned but won quickly before deck size became significant.  Earlier games went down to the wire and John tended to win with very few cards left in his deck.  Deck size was a problem for many players and John's ability to get it just right was a key skill.
Only three cards are repeated and it is interesting to note that one of them is Auspicious Termites - the card which was most scorned by all the other players.  Auspicious indeed!


Last modified: May 19, 1998.
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