@FenixOfTheAshes vs. @FaceOnMars
I win 3-1, ggs.
3 Likes
JonnyD wins 3-1.
I controlled a lot of it then lost two combats and died.
I forget
I ate the CMB, but I landed TpoSand Q n stufz. I believe we double goldbursted this game.
I had 5 HP and won off a 2 HP TpOs cause it was the dominant attack and I had a counter. Also totally not a cowardly goldburst to cover both sides of AA/AAAA it was totally ESP.
You made some crazy plays and they paid off. I think its your first tournament match on the client. Well played man. Best of luck in the rest of IYL.
5 Likes
Thanks!
Game 3 we definitely double gold bursted.
Game 4 you had me in checkmate at the end, and I was sad.
First tournament match, yes. I had a few exhibitions way way back when I was playing with Ryker Juu and Raziek. Didnāt stick around long.
5 Likes
The exact three-turn sequence was CMB, TPoS, double Gold Burst, in fact.
7 Likes
Legendary!
6 Likes
Round 2: Hobusu vs @flagrantangles
Final score: Hobusu 3 ā flagrantangles 2
Hobusu wins!
Good games! That was a super fun set! Iām on my phone right now so I donāt want to go into any detail, but I enjoyed every second of both the games themselves and the banter!
6 Likes
Iām thinking I need to go and review these matches. I suspect there are some points where I made crucial mistakes! Overall, I donāt mind playing against Setsuki but itās super harrowing since she has the dominant speeds, does good damage, and manages her hand radically differently from the rest of the cast. I feel like I mostly want to go attack/blodge but then Setsuki just dodges for free or counterthrows and my robes fall off.
5 Likes
Doubleheader!
Leontes vs. @vengefulpickle
Leontes wins 3-0
Ridiculous 5HP comeback in the first game. I did careful math with early combat wins and got BBB to 39, which let me dK and dQ8 for lethal in the 11th hour.The last two games I was able to build a hand and mitigate a lot of damage at range by flexing DF and getting out via blocks and dQ. Saved up dodges for lategame and got those FDBs in. Gave him some matchup advice at the end (I have fought the best BBBs I think so I know how to body myself). ggs pickle!
Game 2
Leontes vs. @wampuh
Leontes wins 3-0
What a slugfest. The first two games we both got crazy draws (I drew no blocks in opening hand g1 and he had the same treatment in g2) so it was just a lot of giant attacking into each other. I won game 2 I believe with a wakeup 7 hitting a crossup 8 into AA for lethal. The final game was boring and terrible until I decided to DF with a hand of 9JJQQKAAAA, landed the QJ+ for 30 and then did the AAAA FDB right after. Not bad!
wampuh played an impressive range of never Wall of Vines (until game 3 where it had 50% success rate) and only using Jokers to Gold Burst for more CMB attempts. I watched the tapes and saw his near insurmountable strategy myself, so I am very proud that I was able to choose correctly in the face of CMB. I may have won the set but heās on his way to Valhalla right now.
ggs pickle and wampuh! Looking forward to more gribbly battles in the rest of the league.
Also just to let you guys know Iām faceup for this entire tournament. Bring your worst counterpicks, or bring your honor! I challenge anyone to character lock against the dragon man.
12 Likes
Whereās that Setsuki though?
3 Likes
Sheās after , my real alt
3 Likes
6 Likes
The Third Test of the Dragon Gods
So week 1 and 2 I had to face and . came next. I assume 
, 
and are standing behind them.
Leontes vs. @Hobusu
Leontes wins 3-2
Jefferson DeGrey. I have played this matchup with Mercy more times than I can count. I have a lot of experience in it, but none of that ever seems to make this matchup any easier. DeGreyās cards are justā¦ better than yours. All of them. He has the dominant attack, the dominant throw, a single card that disrupts your One True Mixup, and the biggest throw blowup card in the game. You can almost ignore everything on your character card except your Defense Mastery and the 90HP in the top right corner. Oh, and DeGrey might have more health than you depending on how the game goes, donāt forget that.
G1 was me playing as well as I could, really. I noticed that Hobusu has a VERY defensive style, something I wasnāt expecting from someone who also plays (idk though, are you a blodgy Sets, too? Curious actually). It was very hard to land any kind of attacks this set whatsoever, and my dQs rarely found purchase. I grabbed a few Ace dodges, got some poke-AA in, etc. Basic stuff. Fundamentals, footsies, converting the hand into damage. A good start.
G2 is where the advantages started rolling in. He drew his Ks, his 7s, and had some good TR mixups. I leaned a bit too heavily on J and Q in neutral, and Hobusu showed he was willing to play Ace dodge a bit more frequently than I was comfortable throwing it. He must have picked up on that, since I started gaining some ground and then tried to throw his Ace dodge in the late game, dying to Final Arbiter instead. I had 10 HP, and a Joker in hand; surely I knew that Blocking was the 100% safe play, at least for this turn. But I had grown tired of the Ace dodge wasting both of our precious time, and I was punished for my impatience by dying with a Joker in hand. The gods were not pleased.
G3 was another test of wills. I had a very large life lead, and thatās when Hobusuās hand found itself full of Pilebunkers. He landed several of them, either via dodge or raw (Ghost Riposte is SUCH a great threat. Incredible option) and both of us dropped to very low hand sizes and health totals. With the game slipping away, and looking at my hand of TTJQQ, I knew what I must do. Do not fear the K. Do not fear the 7. My T Throw catches the Ace dodge, combo into J. Drew another Throw, played it, grabbed another Ace dodge. My pair of dQs sat in my hand, beckoning me, tempting me, but I did not reach out to them.
G4 I decided to do a massive range shift and go like 80% throw/ 20% block. It worked for a lot of the early game and I got him down to 34 health very quickly without me spending a lot of premium cards. Unfortunately, once the premium cards started showing up, I started attacking with them (what an idiot!) and got Ace dodged for massive damage a few times. I then fell for a gnarly TR mixup that put me close to death; I was KD and in Dragon Form, and he played double TR on Throw. This would ensure that heād be safe from a full FDB (which I didnāt assemble), but I misread this and thought that it meant he was going to try to just Ace dodge and relax (so that I couldnāt dJ or dQ out of his 7 Throw, for example). Instead I got 8 thrown into AA for 32 damage, and then we clashed on dJ into J, and I didnāt have enough health to survive. Died again with Joker in hand. Died again lacking patience.
G5 I didnāt have much going for me in my opening hand, and my only non-2 block got thrown in the first turn, a thing Hobusu hadnāt tried on T1 yet. This is where an ancient darkness began to swell within me and I began to reject the dragon gods. Years of diligence, and I am still rewarded with blockless hands, face cards without their activators, large combos with no ender, half of a super. More terrible omens began to surface; I drew into 9, after 9, after 9, then T, after T, after T. I would take anything else, but again, I am tested. I started to slowly lose health, trying to protecting my hand with pokes and blocks, being outsped, thrown, hurt. The deck gave me more 2s, which I dismissed as temptation. Then an Ace. And another Ace. Soon I realized that my hand full of 9s and Ts was not a curse, but yet another test.
I power up the 9s, now having assembled my own Dragon Exodia. I show my final form, and Dodge a K. Hobusu faces down on an 11 card hand, with no Jokers in discard, still sitting at 90 health to my lowly 36.
The final test.
In ages past I have been burned before. Looking at my pathetic hand with no damage outside of Final Dragon Buster, I start to question how I can win if I lose these Aces. But how can I win without them? Will I get another chance?
I accepted my fate and slammed all four aces down.
LIfe totals, 36 to 38. I started to draw dQs, and Ks. I drew Jokers. With surging confidence I survived DeGreyās onslaught, and landed the final blow.
Oftentimes I wonder why I walk this path, even though the truth is often revealed to me. Shrouded in darkness it may be, Iāve come too far to stop.
Fantastic matches Hobusu. Extremely tense set. Youāve shown GREAT improvement since IYL5! Keep grinding!
12 Likes
@FenixOfTheAshes vs. @Fluffiness
I bring Fluffy down to 4 life without being touched, then he pulls off an unbelievable vortex comeback
My turn for a ridiculous comeback - it looks like Fluffy is gonna get a perfect but then I bring it back from a 70+ life deficit
I land 9Q9J and MA
I win 3-1. GGs
8 Likes
Thatās the interesting thing, I play a very defensive DeGrey and a pretty agressive Setsuki (though Blodge definitely is in my range when itās necessary or I think itāll help). Similarly, I played some Splatoon 2 earlier today and switched back and forth between defensive weapons like the Dualie Squelchers and Range Blaster (longer range, tend to be best if you stay at a safe distance and support your team) and aggressive weapons like the Sploosh-O-Matic (which requires you to shove the barrel in their face if you want to hit them, lol). Iām not sure why, but I can do fairly well at either style in at least some games depending on my mood.
You had asked about why I did this at the time, and basically it was because I expected that youād just block to be safe from the āobviousā Ghost Riposte. I would have been very sad if youād gone with dQ there, but youād have been just as sad if youād done that and I had played the obvious A dodge, so it seemed safe. If Iād had a 7 throw I might have used that instead just to be certain that Final Dragon Buster couldnāt be an issue; I no longer remember whether I had a Joker at that point or not.
Thank you! That means a lot from you in particular. I just wish someone had been recording or streaming it so I could show my friends how close I gotā¦!
Also, so much for me getting to bed before midnight, lol (Couldnāt resist a bit more Splatoon 2 before bed, and that turned into a lot of Splatoon 2).
8 Likes
I didnāt do wake up 6 attack enough.
I had 2 jokers.
I didnāt do wake up 6 attack enough.
I had a lot of face cards and aces.
I played RAW TpoS cause Grave is a good character.
JonnyD wins 3-2!
Interesting Carousel. GGs. Well played dude. About 2 correct guesses away from having me.
6 Likes
flagrantangles wins 3-1 vs @FaceOnMars
I press my luck and donāt dodge a lot. It mostly works out. Also, having both jokers is CHEATING.
I try to press my luck again and donāt really dodge and get REKT. I think I only landed a single hit.
OMG, this went very badly for me in the beginning. Gwen had all the dominance and all the pressure. Eventually I am able to convert my hand to damage thanks to no FD. After that, I guess correctly on the last few combats. It should be noted that I was living on a prayer with 2 life thanks to a JOKER.
I donāt mind Valerie in this MU though DeGrey can Pilebunker you for more damage than you ever thought your body could sustain. I mostly navigate things well enough to keep the lead and prevent MHG from coming into play. Some Kās and a poke into Final Arbiter even things up. Eventually a K into J++ leaves him at 1 life. I play the Queen and just hope thereās not a dodge. I am rewarded with victory!
GGs FoM! I think the practice youāve been putting in is paying off!
7 Likes
CKR over Wampuh 3-0
All >
Had some drinks with the wife during our date night. I wanted to end this quickly (win or lose) to resume our fun. This match was scheduled for an 8:00 start and ended by 8:12. Zane, job well done.
ggs.
7 Likes
wampuh 3-2 jonnyd d ādā ādā d
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i had to counterpick his gloria with my gloria to win but i did it
8 Likes