Metaphysics: Rochester Regional

Metaphysics: Rochester Regional
Or
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Play Guys with Renown: Part I

In the interest of space and a crazy schedule, I’m splitting this into two parts. Part I will cover the event, numbers breakdowns and the winning deck. Part II will cover the other Top 4 decklists and highlight some other specific items of interest.

Well, the Rochester Regional has come and gone. Thanks again to everyone who came out for a great event, especially our friends from Ottawa, who made the early morning trek to be with us - it was great to meet you guys, and hopefully I'll be seeing more of you in the future. With any luck this will include GenCon if I can make it.

Though some of our local players couldn’t make it out (due to crazy things like “work”), we had 18 participants in total.

Since I was running the event and wanted to give those responsibilities their due attention, I decided (at 3:00 am the night before, of course) to throw together a Baratheon deck full of Renown characters…I believe these are called “Rush Decks”. It’s important to note just how difficult this decision was for me. Normally I tend to be a die-hard control kind of guy, so playing an aggressive deck with very few tricks and almost no reliable card advantage beside Val/ Laughing Storm was a radical step for me. I figured I’d try life on the edge.

What it really boiled down to was less time thinking about dozens of potential plays and either winning or losing quickly so that I could focus on running a smooth event. In any case, turning characters sideways was good enough for a Top 4 finish.

Let’s get the stats out of the way, shall we?

House/ Restricted Cards Breakdown:

Baratheon (3) – Val, Narrow Escape, Fury of the Stag
Greyjoy (2) – Fear of Winter x 2
Martell (3) – Viper’s Bannermen, Venomous Blade, Fury of the Sun
Stark (4) – Fury of the Wolf x 3, Narrow Escape
Targaryen (3) – Narrow Escape, Fury of the Dragon, None
Lannister (3) – Castellan of the Rock x 2, Fear of Winter

Top 8 Finishers/ Houses/ Agendas:

1^st – Adam Heiniger/ Baratheon Asshai/ None

2^nd- Josh Lombino/ Martell/ KotHH

3^rd/4^th – Adam Proctor/ Stark/ Knights of the Realm

3^rd/4^th – Jim Despaw/ Baratheon Pile of Renown Guys/ None

5th-8th:

Shiv Sornarajah/ Lannister/ Power Behind the Throne
Tim Baran/ Lannister/ Power Behind the Throne
Jonathan Andrews/ Greyjoy/ The Maester’s Path
Mick Brown / Stark House Bolton!/ None

Honorable mention goes to Adam Burdick/ Stark Knights, who went 3-1 but had to leave prior to the Top 8 kicking off.

Congratulations to Adam Heiniger for not only winning the event, but doing so with Baratheon Asshai, an archetype that’s not seen too much around these parts (or anywhere else for that matter). Here was the deck:

House Baratheon

Plot: 7

Many Powers Long Asleep (RoR)
The Power of Faith (KotStorm) x 2
Valar Morghulis (Core)
Threat from the East (QoD)
Search and Detain (HtS)
Burning Bridges (QoD)

Characters: 26

Melisandre (RotO) x 3
Acolyte of the Flame (TWH) x3
Bearer of the Light (KotStorm) x 3
Intolerant Priest (RoR) x3
Zealot of the Light (BtW) x3
Edric Storm (Core) x2
The Laughing Storm (GotC) x 3
Knight of Flowers (SaS) x3
Dragonstone Convert (APS) x2
Ser Axell Florent (WLL)

Locations: 11

Seat of Power (WotN) x3
Aegon's Garden (Core) x3
Narrow Sea (Core) x3
Shadowblack Lane (Core)
Street of Sisters (Core)

Events: 12

Heart of the Stag (KotStorm) x3
Narrow Escape (KotStorm) x3
Superior Claim (KotStorm) x2
Make an Example (PotS) x2
The Hand's Judgement (TTotH) x2

Attachments: 11

Black Amethysts (MotM) x3
Fanatic (RoR) x3
R'hllor's Blessing (AKitN) x3
Martial Law (BoRF) x2

The deck took full advantage of just how brutal Melisandre can be. Left unchecked for even a turn or two, she can wreak havoc. Coupled with The Power of Faith and Black Amethysts, she can take a game home single-handedly. Adam also chose to play many additional sources of power generation: Superior Claim, Make an Example, and the sadly underrated Martial Law could help push through a quick win when coupled with a host of unkneeling Asshai. While this deck certainly sports less characters than I would have expected from a fast build, it didn’t seem to be a problem.

One thing I have always liked about Asshai is the ability to provide constant pressure. Once Melisandre shows up, it’s very hard to get rid of her between her duplicates, Many Powers Long Asleep, and Narrow Escape. The clock she puts on the game is fast, and decks that can’t deal with her (or decks that can but don’t draw their outs in time) can be out of luck in a hurry. Congrats to Adam for a well-played event.

Here are some other random observations about the deck I played (with Baratheon being the house that I have the least experience with by far) and the tournament games in general:

For his cost, Willas Tyrell is an all-star. I figured he was strong, but I had no idea how good he actually is. He creates some very, very bad situations for Power Behind the Throne, and with any standing effects (in my case, King Robert's Hammer and Marya Seaworth) he can be a royal pain, or at least avoid Lannister kneeling effects.

I’m torn on the Val/ Laughing Storm combo. I’m not lying when I say that it never happened over the course of six games during this event. They were actually never in play at the same time. Admittedly, there were some unlucky draw patterns to blame too, but I can’t help but feel like Narrow Escape or Fury of the Stag would be far more reliable and consistent choices for the deck.

Being a more control-oriented player, I always underestimate the power of aggressive decks to just win. There were games where I would look down on turn two and count 12 power between my house and characters. Sometimes, dropping one or two Renown guys on an opponent who has a sub-par draw end a game before it starts. The final match was one such game, taken home in short order by Adam’s Melisandre and The Knight of Flowers. Having a large hand that unfortunately contained no answers for the power hungry duo, Josh’s Martell deck was quickly powered out.

Boy, do I still hate Ghaston Grey – even post-errata. My Top 4 game against Martell went a full 9 turns, but I really felt like it was a losing battle from about turn 3 on, due to the sheer power of this card. Granted, Ghaston Grey is at peak efficiency against Renown characters, but I really hate what it does to the speed of a game. Adding yet another Martell card to the Restricted list is probably not a good idea or really necessary, I just don’t feel like the card is in any way good for the game.

While the prevailing wisdom seems to lean towards Narrow Escape or Fear of Winter as the Restricted card for Stark decks, Fury of the Wolf can lead to ridiculous first turns in certain situations, similar to what Frey Hospitality does in Power Behind the Throne. First turns with an active Fury and a No Quarter/ Die by the Sword can be too crippling to overcome.

Congrats to Shiv, one of the Canadian players, for living the impossible dream with a seven card flop against me in Round 4, followed by Cersei/ Frey Hospitality on turn 1 with initiative. That was a heck of a beating.

Oh, and a Stark House Bolton deck made the Top 8….that’s certainly news by itself! It takes stones to run House Bolton in Joust. Thanks, Mick, for letting me actually write that House Bolton made the Top 8!

Stay tuned for Part II, featuring such hits as "That Stark Deck Just Killed All of my Guys," "Oops, it Looks Like I have 15 Power on Turn Two!," and "Playing Against Martell: A Study in Futility"