NYC Regionals Tournament Report - 6th place

As part of the NYC meta, some of us were a little apprehensive about the site being a public venue. The organizers (Rich and Dan) wanted to keep the entry costs down, while purchasing the expensive FFG kit. In Manhattan, we do not have the luxury of a game store with space. But, it turned out to be perfect for everyone, except Rich, the TO who had to deal with a security guard who really wanted us OUT.

I had been leaning towards using my Stark Maester toolbox, one I enjoy playing because it has so many combos. It was not successful in DC [2-2], but I had made so many horrific mistakes there that I couldn't blame the deck. Also, Targ KotHH burn jumper that I had been working on over the last two months. I had gone 3-2 in the Octagon tourney with an earlier, much worse version.

Then I read that Martell KotHH won a California regional. As I have done over the past seven months, I tore up my Martell Maester and rebuilt my KotHH deck with one small but important adjustment. I have had this KotHH deck in various builds since September, one month after I started playing, but was never satisfied that it was tournament ready. Played each of these three decks once each against Twn2Dn's tourney deck on the prior Thursday - the only one that won was Martell so that's what I decided to play :-).

All three of these decks are posted on agotcards if anyone cares.

ROUND 1: Kyle S. [Wolfgangsenff] MARTELL SUMMER 3-2

As with every match, I expect to be losing in the first few rounds, and this was no exception. Kyle is a good player I first met at Days of Ice and Fire, and one of my favorite players - with an hilarious dry wit. Was not sure how to play this match except to stick with the plan and adjust as needed. I don't remember much about the gameplay, but I eventually got control and nearly got the win on a turn before he drew into Ghaston Grey (FtC) and bounced my The Red Viper (PotS) with five or six power delaying the win a turn or two. 1-0

ROUND 2: Dan S. [Twn2Dn] TARGARYEN MAESTER 3-2

Ugh. Dan is the leader of our meta and a top tier player [3rd at Worlds, winner of Black Friday]. Even if our decks had been evenly matched, I would be at a significant disadvantage as he is a much better player and knows Targ Maester better than anyone. Dan got off to a very fast start, but I felt it was fairly even for the first four rounds or so. But, his supreme draw with the Valyrian Steel Link (HtS) proved to be insurmountable.
1-1

ROUND 3: Kevin M. [kpmccoy21] BARATHEON no agenda 1-4

Kevin is from Delaware and was running a power rush deck with epic battles (The Battle at the Wall (EB)). I am not used to playing against Bara, but I knew enough to pay attention the power level and potential power grabs at any point. He got up there in power, but I never worried (maybe I should've). I made a couple of dumb errors that each alone cost me winning the turn before I actually did. 2-1

ROUND 4: Anthony [FATMOUSE] GREYJOY WINTER 7-1

Ugh#2. I had an opportunity to play against Anthony's Greyjoy deck a couple of times when I drove out to the Long Island meta. I confirmed what I had been told, that he has been playing this deck a long time and plays it very, very well. He went 4-1 at Black Friday, but like me missed the cuts because it was only Top 4 then. It came down to the winner of the Rule by Decree (Core) battle. I misplayed by "drawing" way too many cards. Had twelve cards on turn two when Fear of Winter (BtW) hit, thirteen when RBD dropped. The game was lost from that point. At one point, unafraid of Fleeing to the Wall (Core), he had about a dozen locations out. He played very well and deserved to win this tournament. 2-2

ROUND 5: Rachel [??] TARGARYEN MAESTER 2-3

At this point, I know I am win-and-in, but wasn't thrilled to face Rachel in this deciding game. In DC, she finished in the top 4 in Joust and won the Melee; afterwards, she placed second in the OCTGN tournament. But, all that was with her Martell Summer. Today, however, she ran Targ Maester. I could tell she was not as familiar with it. Almost every week, I face Twn2Dn's version that beats down everyone in the meta so I know what to expect. Also, she was not familiar with rules/errata on some of the staple cards, such as Narrow Escape (KotStorm). This game more than any other, I was able to establish my core strategy, grabbing 8 or 9 power on the last turn. 3-2

QUARTERFINALS: Dennis [dcdennis] STARK WINTER 6-2

Finished as sixth seed to face Dennis, who had given me my worst loss in DC. History would repeat, as he notes in his TR, it was over after the flop. After I mulligan-ed, I still got a terrible opening hand; even with the agenda, you still need some resources and cards playable early on. Dennis got a fantastic start and had gotten too much power to come back from. I remember valar-ing third turn or so, which is a bad sign. Finish: 6th

Though wrecked by fast starts and by the Winter agenda, I am pleased I played the deck without much testing - generally a bad idea. In the following week, I've put together builds that carry over the same concepts but hopefully deal with the deficit of the agenda: one with no agenda and one using Maesters. The latter appears VERY strong.

My personal, incremental, goal is to go 4-1 in Swiss. So far, I've gone 3-2 in four tournaments, 2-2 in one, so it's time to move up ;-)

Cheers, Jim