let’s see whether I can do as good as moby with sets against bomber. probably not as he already announced that he should focus on his own plan A in such a case. also having way less money than moby had is a hinderance, but let’s see.
Not going to attack with messenger as I prefer to have the benefit of having only 8 cards in my second cycle, so messenger has to survive a possible nullcraft.
against a deck that has access to whither? Definitely a good choice
TBH: I completely forgot about Oni’s frenzy 1. If I had remembered that one, I probably would have gone for Cal with this starting split. Tenderfoot t1 (-> elite) and brother t2 (->technician) would have been a nice defense against this opener of yours, but the messenger has just such a large crosshairs against nullcraft on it’s forehead, that the brother move obviously is a no-can-do for me now.
XCAPS22 Round 5 P1T2
P1 [Finesse]/Ninjutsu/Feral vs. P2 [Future]/Peace/Blood
uff… as stated above I completely forgot about Oni’s frenzy… Not unlikely to loose sets here, I have to put messenger in SL so that it at least has to come along with tech skip. The high probability to draw 6 out of 8 from my next cycle really has it’s upsides. If I go for two fencers, a SL Fargo is bad news. If I go fencer+starlet split it’s a potential fallout if I don’t draw the fencer but with 75% to draw the fencer and 53,6% to draw both (in case he kills tenderfoot)… tough call…
I think he will only kill tenderfoot if he has neo as additional defense, hence a fencer alone gives no value, but fencer plus starlet is likely to give an oni kill with my three combat spells still in the mix and 6 gold to play around with. Fortunately the cycle is so small that I am sure that I can keep Sets safe even if I whiff on the fencer, so I’ll take the risky approach!
This is good, a strong start for me. Trying to set up to make it awkward for fencers to break though to Oni. I should be free to either maxband oni or tech up next turn, depending on what I want to do.
really don’t like the position I’m in here… If only I knew that he does not have NC, I’d love to kill neo with sets & fencer and put starlet in SL, but if he has NC (which is 50%! as I am sure he didn’t worker it away), that’s a way too easy hero kill for him and he could still tech up and lay down a cadet :frown:
second turn in a row where I cannot do what I want (last turn: messenger in Scav) due to the threat of this little flying nuisance, and I’m talking about threat only, nothing serious…
Overeager Cadet, Battle Suits, Nullcraft, The Art of War, Hardened Mox
Discard
Think
Perfectly executed, no pressure from them can possibly break my line, and with no Snapback I am free to roam free and destroy them. Delightfully devilish, Bryce.
Jepp, that’s pretty much game. Should have taken the worker skip t3 in order to have a protected Oni kill.
Really didn’t like the idea of skipping a worker that early, but just losing the game a few turns later does not feel better
But let’s play it out
XCAPS22 Round 5 P1T5
P1 [Finesse]/Ninjutsu/Feral vs. P2 [Future]/Peace/Blood
In the words of me, on the subject of Oni vs Setsuki, two years ago:
BIG HIT BIG SWORD BIG KILL
Turn 5
Hand: Temporal Research, The Art of War, Forgotten Fighter, Neo Plexus
Workers: Tinkerer, Time Spiral, Plasmodium, Hardened Mox, Temporal Research
Techs
Turn 2: Overager Cadet, Overeager Cadet
Turn 3: The Art of War, The Art of War
Turn 4: Flagstone Garrison, Flagstone Garrison
Turn 5: Boot Camp, Boot Camp
Tech 2 cards
Get paid (+$9, $9)
Hire a worker ($8)
Summon Drakk Ramhorn ($6)
Cast The Art of War ($3)
Onimaru kills Setsuki, Drakk gains 2 levels ($2)
Midband Drakk ($1)
Cadet and Soldier kill Fencer
Soldier kills Starlet, you draw
Cadet and Soldier destroy your Tech 2, your base takes 2
Nullcraft, Overeager Cadet, Fading Argonaut, The Art of War
Discard
Think
For a brief, fleeting moment, I thought I could play Forgotten Fighter to help me this turn. Then I remembered that it only targets units with two or less attack SIIIIIGHHHHHH WHAT A BAD CARD
Anyway I just cleared their board and dunked their tech 2 anyway, so yeah I’m gonna win for sure.
Hand: Nullcraft, Overeager Cadet, Fading Argonaut, The Art of War
Swap: Fading Argonaut <-> Battle Suits
Workers: Tinkerer, Time Spiral, Plasmodium, Hardened Mox, Temporal Research
Techs
Turn 2: Overager Cadet, Overeager Cadet
Turn 3: The Art of War, The Art of War
Turn 4: Flagstone Garrison, Flagstone Garrison
Turn 5: Boot Camp, Boot Camp
Turn 6: Knight of the Conclave, Knight of the Conclave
Tech 2 cards
Get paid (+$10, $11)
Cast The Art of War ($8)
Onimaru trades with Fencer, Calamandra midbands
Summon Vir Garbarean ($6)
Swap two cards ($5)
Research Battle Suits ($3)
Cadet kills Calamandra, Drakk maxbands
Summon Overeager Cadet, with Haste ($3)
Summon Nullcraft ($1)
Drakk and Soldier destroy your Tech 2, your base takes 2
Cadet and Nullcraft destroy your Tech 1, your base takes 2
Discard 0, draw 2
Patrol: Squad Leader: Elite: Scavenger: Technician: Vir Garbarean (2/3) Lookout:
Knight of the Conclave, Knight of the Conclave, The Art of War, Overeager Cadet
Think
I could do straight up 13 damage to their base this turn, and that probably wins the game next turn, but I don’t want to take chances. This basically ensures they have no response.
Actually Oni doesn’t die as he has armor from taow, but seeing what you have at your disposal this seems like a good point to end the game or was the card swap that essential?
Aaaaah, completely forgot about that one. Well yeah, then let’s end it here. Thanks for the lesson you provided me with, very well executed!
Our first game last year felt like you stole the victory with that triple ready or not. The second game should have been rightfully your victory but I stole it. This time there is absolutely no discussion, it’s fully and rightfully yours, congratulations! I was under the impression of not having drawn badly (except for the missing tenderfoot T1) and didn’t stand a chance…
And also this saying about ‘you win by surprising your enemy’ got another validation.
(I know if your plan A is strictly better you don’t have to go for surprises, but still…)
Squad Leader: Timely Messenger (1/1)
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
Base HP: 20
Definitely a good choice 
