17/01/2023 Tanoshimou (CC) 3-0

 

It’s finally the Pro-Quest season!

I played in 2 PQs over the weekend and didn’t make top 8 in either. For the first PQ, it was at GamesHaven, 56 players, 6 rounds with cut to top 8. Having checked with the top cut calculator, only the top 4-2 player would make it in the top 8, I dropped after losing my second game in round 3, but the story doesn’t end there, in my participation packs, I opened a RF <Heart of Fyendal> and sold it on the spot to the TO, which almost covers my entire month worth of armoury and PQ :P.

As for the second PQ on Sunday, it was at BricksPlay, 34 players, 6 rounds with top cut. I got rather unlucky in this tournament. In game 1 against <Fai, Rising Rebellion>, I won the die roll and went second, but my starting hand was 2 <Energy Potions>, <Pummel> and <Spoils of War>, a very good hand if I went first, but instead I took 10 damage in turn 0 and opponent just didn’t block any of my attacks and rode this initial life lead to a win. In game 2, I faced against a <Rhinar, Reckless Rampage>, probably the earliest <Rhinar, Reckless Rampage> player in Singapore and I got <Bloodrush Bellowed>-ed 3 times in 5 turns, there’s just not pivoting possibility in situation like this, so I started the PQ with 0-2. I fought my way back to 3-2. When round 6 was paired, my opponent was a 9th place and I was 15th so I ‘conceded’, giving him a shot at the PTI with his <Levia, Shadowborn Abomination>.

I won’t go into details of the PQ games because I’ve forgotten a lot of the game details.

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It’s once again Tuesday, that means Tano time!

Decklist remained the same as the last one, still feels good about it so no changes were made.

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Round 1 Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire

Equipment used: <Crown of Providence>, <Courage of Bladehold>, <Braveforge Bracers> and <Refraction Bolters>

Opponent was on <Construct Nitro Mechanoid> plan so he started the game with a <Hyper Driver> in the arena.

Opponent boosted away 1 of his <Construct Nitro Mechanoid> very early, pitched 1 of his <High Octane> and used another one of his <High Octane> in a rather weak turn for the card draw while my draws were above average and I started threatening counters rather early on in the game.

I had 2 counters on my <Dawnblade> when I was still at 25ish life and given the nature of opponent’s deck, his hands were not very effective in blocking so I could get over most of his blocks with just a couple of +3 pumps.

By the end of the game, my <Dawnblade> had 6 counters on it and there’s just no way to come back from that even if he drew his <Construct Nitro Mechanoid> which he didn’t.

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Round 2 Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn

Equipment used: <Crown of Providence>, <Courage of Bladehold>, <Braveforge Bracers> and <Refraction Bolters>

Opponent is a long time warrior player, he’s the <Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn> that gave me my first loss as <Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn> a couple of weeks ago :(

He’s once again on the “Hatchets” plan and so he equipped <Fyendal’s Spring Tunic>. His turns were more or less the same throughout the game, block with 2 cards and his <Valiant Dynamo>, pitch a blue to swing hatchet and react with <Blade Runner> like how a <Kassai, Cintari Sellsword> plays in blitz, difference being Boltyn’s big turn is in <Lumina Ascension> and Kassai’s big turn is in the form of <Blood on her Hands>.

My draws for the game were average or slightly below average so I held onto my <Refraction Bolters> until rather late in the game just to threaten the “Go Again” and continue to chip in damage and maintain my lone counter on the <Dawnblade>.

I noticed that my opponent tend to over block quite a lot and was rather generous with his Defence Reaction, so red <Overpower>, <Biting Blade> and <Rout> really paid dividend in this game, which altered my game plan a bit more, I tend to hold onto my blue cards just for the more resources I might need.

Fortunately I didn’t have to see opponent’s big turn before I drew my <Glistening Steelblade> into <Twinning Blade> while still having a counter on my <Dawnblade> and by the end of that turn I managed to hit once, growing my <Dawnblade> further.

The end-game turn was rather interesting, I played a <Warrior’s Valor> and swung, opponent blocked with every thing but I managed to go over by 1 damage with all my cards and resources. Still having my <Courage of Bladehold>, I cracked it and swung for lethal.

Not cracking my <Courage of Bladehold> was not a mistake, my target for that turn was only to chip in damage and maintain the counter as opponent was very likely to still have big D-react like <Soul Shield> or <Steelblade Shunt>.

It really pays off to be patient when opponent is willing to block, <Refraction Bolters> and <Courage of Bladehold> are very threatening when they are in the arena, early damage doesn’t matter at much as they do in aggro match ups.

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Round 3 Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire

Equipment used: <Crown of Providence>, <Courage of Bladehold>, <Braveforge Bracers> and <Refraction Bolters>

Opponent is one of the earliest FaB player in Singapore and he has a ton of play experience.

I lost the die roll and opponent begun the game by loading his <Teklo Plasma Pistol> and <Induction Chamber>, then followed with a <Spark of Genius> of x=4 for a <Plasma Purifier>, a rather threatening start, especially for a control <Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire> against <Dorinthea Ironsong>.

My draws for the first couple of turns were above average in that I had 1 unconditional “Go Again” source almost every turn, so opponent were mostly over-blocking by 3, I could get over and chip in a couple of damages on the first swing almost every time with <Singing Steelblade>, <Rout>, and blue <Ironsong Response>. Opponent blocks well and I didn’t get counters on my <Dawnblade> until late mid-game.

The critical turn came when I had <Glistening Steelblade>, <Command and Conquer> a red and a blue while still having my arsenal. Opponent shows respect by blocking for 6 on my <Glistening Steelblade>, <Dawnblade> swing, and for the follow up <Command and Conquer>, he blocked for 3 and his arsenal gets discarded, he told me after the game, his last card was an item.

From that turn on, he could no longer threaten a D-react from his arsenal and I started drawing my attack reaction pockets from the deck. Having a life lead as large as almost 20, I chose not to block his <Teklo Plasma Pistol> shots, taking 8 almost each turn and just keep the pressure up, from this point, life gap closes but opponent is getting lower and lower that he had to block my naked <Dawnblade> swing because it was lethal range if I double pump, so I had "Reprise" turned on almost every turn.

I manage to take my opponent down to 1 life on my final turn, leaving 2 cards in his hand. He had to present some pressure by activating his <Teklo Plasma Pistol>’s attack and I played a <Steelblade Shunt> in reaction, sealing the game.

It always feels good to win against control <Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire> as it is one of my harder match ups, especially against a very seasoned player.

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Second CF <Arakni, Huntsman> in the bag, I’m probably holding onto it until “Outsider” release and more support cards are printed for her. Hopefully price goes up~

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3-0 is always good! <Dorinthea Ironsong> is strong! I’m becoming better!

(Nah, just my being delusional :P)

<Dorinthea Ironsong> is in a rather interesting spot right now, given how long “Welcome to Rathe” has been released, people still find it hard to play against <Dorinthea Ironsong> which is of course due to the nature of the “Reprise” mechanic. Compounded by the fact we got a lot more unconditional “Go Again” in the form of <Glistening Steelblade>, <Run Through> and <Precision Press>, attack actions like <Command and Conquer> is now a legitimate choice for <Dorinthea Ironsong>.

Onwards, Dorinthea!!!