Torrance - January 1999 Report

by Stefan Vincent
January 26, 1999


Multiplayer, constructed deck

The Cast

Brandon Trepp,                            Dragons
Matt Widmann,   "Pink Power Ranger"       Architects/Monarchs
Ray Clouse,     "I Would Like Some Chis, Please" 
Lissa Vincent,  "Doo Wah Diddy Dunwa"     Architects/Ascended on loan from Mike N.
Randy Trepp,    "Marital Arts"
Mike Nickoloff, "Ice, Ice, Baby"          Dragons/Monarchs
Stefan Vincent, "Kar Fai, Where Are You?" Dragons/Lotus
Tim McCann,                               Dragons/Lotus Bloody Horde/Evil Twin
Tim Doss,       "Anonymous"               Ascended

Round 1

The usual strong Dragons contingent... First round seated randomly, as usual, with nice convenient games of three. Table 1 saw Lissa beat Randy and Ray pretty much off the table in fast order, with table 3 not far behind where Tim D.'s Ascended did their dirty work despite his lack of practice for, what, the last 18 months or so? Table 2 was a much longer back-and-forth (seeing Kar Fai come, go immediately, return, and go immediately again) but ending with me finally getting my last site from Matt (no one more surprised than me that the renamed jinky Kar-Fai-o-rama actually worked today). Scores at the end of round 1:
Lissa (1) 8 Stefan (1) 8 Tim D. (1) 8
Randy     3 Brandon    6 Tim M.     6
Ray       1 Matt       3 Mike N.    3

Round 2

Round two sat by score, with Randy getting the random pick to sit at table 2. Once again all games completed on-time. Mike ruled the kiddies at table 3 in short order, leaving Matt and Ray tied for 2nd. Tim's deck kicked in with the multiple Bloody Horde + Evil Twin trick to crush Brandon and Randy. Lissa finally managed to eek out a win after a long drawn out battle at table 1, where Dunwa hired one of Tim's Students, but then next turn, surprise, Dunwa joined Tim's Lodge and brought his new protege back home. No Kar Fai this time, sadly (ditched in the opening hand). Scores after round 2:
Lissa  (2) 16 Tim M. (1) 14 Mike N. (1) 11
Stefan (1) 13 Randy       7 Matt         5.5
Tim D. (1) 11 Brandon     8 Ray          3.5

Round 3

Third round sat by score again, with Tim M. moving up to play with the big folks and Tim D. moving down (conservation of Tims, or something scientific like that). Once again (not unusual for all-3-player-games) we finished on-time for all games. Matt ruined everyone's chances at the kiddie table by finally getting a win, and took advantage of that to get something to eat. Mike N. continued his comeback streak to win his game as well and earn a place in the finals. Table 1 was again a big fight, the most amusing part being my weenie assault on Tim M.'s City Park: the Sinister Priests & Friends went in separately for a total of 4 before finally drawing Tim's Banish to remove the Hacker and two Friends, but the Ting Ting's Gambit plus a Night Market to grab 2 power from the Banish let me bring them all back and send them in again for exactly the 4 more damage needed to get the site! Woo-hoo! I'd like to say it was all down hill after that, but after Lissa Neutron Bombed my Queen and her Twin, it was a struggle. I finally managed to grab one of Lissa's sites for the win with the Golden Gunman. Scores after round 3:
Stefan (2) 21 Mike N. (2) 19 Matt (1) 13.5
Tim M. (1) 19 Brandon     13 Randy    11
Lissa  (2) 18 Tim D.  (1) 14 Ray       5.5

Final

Final then being the big folks with the addition of Mike N. The game started well, with Lissa tripping Tim M.'s Cave Network opening since she hadn't played against him yet. Lots of back-and-forth after that, with various folks getting up to 4 sites and being ripped back down again. Tim finally had an opportunity to go for the win after the stoppers were all used up on everyone else's turn, plus he had accumulated enough power to put 14 fight on the table. Kind of anti-climactic, since we all just looked at each other, shrugged, and said "you win." We played for fun afterward, and the 6-player game after that was quite amusing but dragged on as big games tend to do so well...Final standings:
Tim M. 1st
Lissa  \
Mike --- all tied for 2nd
Stefan /

Last modified: January 28, 1999.
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