Match Report:
Games 1 and 2 were pretty similar, with a single Mix Master proving insufficient to keep Bang then Fizzle from fizzling in the face of Jaina’s pressure, even though that pressure was relatively anemic by Jaina standards. Both games ended with the first Unstable Power percentage play, in each case gambling correctly that Zak didn’t have a crash in hand.
I won game 3 thanks to very nonstandard Jaina play: Unstable Power to buy Combos are Hard, to get Degenerate Trasher (and DCG), to clean up the wounds while continuing to use Unstable Power. This game turned into an engine battle. Zak used Degenerate Trasher to maintain a two-turn cycle powered by One-Two Punch+Draw Three, Wartime Tactics and a single Roundhouse. I kept a larger deck because of self-wounding, but made up for it by buying extra Roundhouses while Zak was buying s to replace trashed s. The game was ultimately decided by the extra double crashes I’d had since the Combos are Hard cash-in, which Zak could never afford to match.
Bank:
Knockdown
Thinking Ahead
Training Day
Blues are Good
Hundred Fist Frenzy -> Risky Move after game 1
Pick Your Poison
Option Select
Punch Punch Kick
X-Copy
Custom Combo
Game 1: Acrata went straight for the Hundred Fist Frenzy and high end forks. Nopethebard attempted a Knockdown-assisted combine rush. Some defensive minicrashes by Acrata bought just enough time for X-Copy to glue the whole HFF strategy together.
Game 2: Combine rush mirror! Acrata paired it with Training Days and a near-useless Pick Your Poison, while Nopethebard used a Knockdown and some near-useless Blues are Goods. This game was fairly even up until the end when Nopethebard had the bad luck to draw both crashes at the start of a cycle and got put to 10 on the back end… and then conceded prematurely with the out of using Beast Unleashed to fish for More Shiney!
Game 3: Nopethebard lost this to really bad draw luck. He had a forced economy opening where the only reasonable turn 1 play was Dragon Form - although he declined the opportunity to train into a second Crash Gem on turn 3. Fast forward to turn 6 and he still stubbornly had Dragon Form up and had just used Rigorous Training for an extra Crash Gem, but the one chip left in his bag was his starting Crash. Acrata sent over a 1 to put him to 10 and scored an improbable knockout.
Apologies, folks who haven’t played, for the extra round of scheduling threads. AutoTO got confused when I restarted the tournament after adding a player.
Games 1/2 were Midori dragon form rushdown wins. After rando to a reddish bank (Really Annoying, Sneak Attack, HFF), Lum won games 3/4 chaining Sneak Attacks with HFF. Final game with HFF switched into Stolen Purples, Onimaru won out by chaining Sneak Attacks and wounding with Really Annoying.
Quaz (3) - (2) Zeromh
Mirror match, I tried to rushdown Zeromh but was unsuccessful. Zeromh took the first game.
Counterpicked zane, hoping to steal his crash gem, but was unable to. However I made aggressive use of iron defense, to continually crash and double crash and Midori was unable to survive.
Iron defense was traded for training day, giving midori options to trade up into crash and combines. I had a strong deck, a lead in combines, and I managed to steal one of midori’s crashes, but Zeromh took an opportunity to bring me over 10 and my game winning crash was stuck in my bag. Well done to Zeromh for seizing an opportunity.
I econ’d up in a purely brown chip bank as midori struggled trying to rushdown. Deathstrike dragon was easily pigged until needed.
Last counterpick sees Zeromh pull out grave in an attempt to out econ menelker in an all brown bank. However Grave had to balance having a deathstrike defense while having a slowed economy due to attacks from menelker.
Game 2 had a potentially fatal error by Zeromh, starting from 10 pile and crashing a at a gem pile with an Iron Defense crash and a , where all Zeromh’s other crashes were in discard. Quaz didn’t spot the guaranteed win that came with a countercrash, but won on the following turn with a two-crash turn that put the Midori to 15 pile with no multicrash capability of his own.
Game 2 was otherwise notable because Zane was using Iron Defense but Midori wasn’t.
Game 3: Quaz tried to put together a fork+Draw 3 engine, but used Button Mashing and so ran short of forks later. Zeromh dropped Dragon Form after a few antes to buy more purples and won with the second 4-crash - one from two Dragon Form s and one from pure combines.
Game 4: Nothing went right for the Midori here. Zeromh was very late to Dragon form this game - turn 5! But also didn’t use that time to get a second crash gem, in part because of Bonecracker. On top of that, Zeromh bought Training Days but never managed to play one, in part because Into Oblivion delayed that purchase.
Hey folks. Sorry to do this, but I have to withdraw from the tourney. Our dog got a bad diagnosis and we’re going to have to put her down today. As much as I love Puzzle Strike, it’s just not something I can put mental energy into right now.
Games 1-3 Rook/Grave reached for cantrip engines against Argagargs wounds. Argagarg took two of three games, with steady combining for 4-gems, econ from money for nothing, and cycling from custom combo + draw 3. Game 2 notable for Grave losing even after gaining dcg on turn 3!
Game 4 saw Grave vs Setsuki in a good Grave bank (bang then fizzle, axe kick, draw 3, chips for free, roundhouse, custom combo). Grave won with the better midgame cycling engine, drawing whole hand every turn.
Game 5 rematch Grave vs Setsuki randoed into a good Setsuki bank (risky move, dashing strike, roundhouse, x-copy, custom combo). Setsuki had super-fast opening, double taking risky move twice in first 5 turns, for win x-copying DCG.
I’m also hoping for Bucky to give some info about our game. Here’s what I remember:
Knockdown
Button Mashing
Recklessness
One True Style
Chip Damage
Draw Three
Chips For Free
One of Each
Degenerate Trasher
The Hammer
Game 1: I remember Bucky saying “ALL IN” at some point and crashing a lot of gems. I tried to survive, but my Jackpot failed on the last turn. I think I never bought a crash this game, which was probably a mistake.
I swap one chip in the bank: Hammer -> Dashing Strike
Game 2: Having Dashing Strike and a couple forks in the bank helped me a lot.
Bucky changes the bank: Dashing Strike -> Just a Scratch
Game 3: I did buy a crash this time. Eventually used some forks to multi-crash at the end.
Bucky changes chars: Jaina -> Setsuki
Game 4: I bought a crash and a combine early to try to rushdown while Bucky wounded me a lot with Double Take - Just a Scratch. I don’t remember the end, but it wasn’t that quick. I was pretty worried about the Sets engine.
I thought overall the bank was pretty nice for me with One True Style and the forks. But I feel I must be wrong–otherwise, wouldn’t Bucky have re-randomed the bank?
s to replace trashed 
s. The game was ultimately decided by the extra double crashes I’d had since the Combos are Hard cash-in, which Zak could never afford to match.
over 
