The next stop is Rule Zero

‌‌So, this week was my first experience playing at Rule Zero (R0), located at Fish Island (lol) in East London. Rule Zero hold their weekly Armouries on Wednesdays. The night's event was CC Armoury. It was also first time playing Classic Constructed! I opened a box of TOA earlier that afternoon, along with a box of ARC, so that I can convert my Oldhim Blitz precon deck into a Oldhim CC deck.

The Journey

So there are 3 stations near R0; Hackney Wick, Pudding Mill Lane and Stratford.

I'm down south around the Bromley area, and decided to take the DLR route to Pudding Mill Lane because it would definitely be the least crowded, and it was. I imagine the Stratford route, which is reached via tube (Jubilee and Central), will be stuffed like a turkey at Christmas, as people usually use that route to go home from the city.

After getting off at Pudding Mill Lane, the one thing I noticed was that the route towards R0 is 95% very well lit! Extremely good news for players who are wary of travelling alone in the shadows of night. There was a recent discussion on the UK FABTCG discord about how we could make the game more welcoming for women. One point that stuck with me is how we could help ensure their safety when travelling alone in the evening, to and from events like Armouries. Definitely something the community should continue to discuss. But for now, R0 definitely has one of the safer routes. Thanks is due to the football stadium which has rocketed demand for street lights in the area.‌‌‌‌

The only dark bit of my travel was under this bridge here‌‌

It does look a bit dodgy, so just be careful for that one bit. There may be alternate routes, will be sure to explore a bit more next time I go to R0.

The Store

R0 has just became my favourite place to play FABTCG, I could tell before I even reached the door. Just look at this:‌‌

It has such a vibe!

The atmosphere inside matches its outlook, very warm thanks to the wooden colour furnitures. The decor lets me know that this is a TCG/TTG cafe, and it is well selected to match that warm, trendy vibe.

The Event

So, the night's event was CC. It is actually Nationals this weekend so everyone brought their A-game (except for me of course, I've only built my first CC deck and this would be my third time playing).‌‌

R0 charges no entry fees for their Armouries.‌‌

We played 4 rounds. I got a bye, so only played 3 games. I did lose all 3, but I learnt a lot!‌‌

My first matchup was against Arian Sultani's Dorinthea deck. Arian's deck was probably the most difficult matchup for me that night. For starters, my deck was slapped together in the afternoon from whatever Ice card I could find from opening my TOA box, so it was not consistent or tuned at all. Arian also had a lot of good defense reactions that could block nearly all damage from my bigger blows like Glacial Footsteps. Arian was a good sport, offering to have a look at my deck after our match and discussed how they would have improved it. I think Arian's deck will perform quite well at Nationals. All the best to you this weekend!

My second matchup was against Finbarr Begley's Briar deck. I knew that I needed some Nullrunes. However, I don't think Briar would play heavily into Runechants like Viserai and deal crazy arcane damage later. So, I figured I could get away with only 2 Nullrune equipments, and keep the rest. Whilst it felt like I was doing okay at first, getting a few hits in, the game quickly turned. It felt like Briar just switched it on and I couldn't do much besides trying to stay alive whilst Briar just chipped at Oldhim slowly. Every turn would be: defend against lightning attack, Briar goes again, defend against lightning attack, Briar goes again, I run out of cards, Briar stabs Oldhim with Rosetta Thorn. It was a really good deck, all the best to Finbarr at Nationals this weekend! And thank you Finbarr for explaining to me some of the interactions and how they resolve.

My final match was against Steve Charlick's Dash deck. I had a little more luck this time around, as I somehow managed to play the "Channel Lake Frigid" I pulled, halting Dash's pistol slinging attacks for a couple turns in order for me to get in those big hits. However, I could only hold Channel Lake Frigid for 3 turns before it melted. Once the lake was gone, Oldhim started taking hits again, and go again, and go again. Once again, a very good deck. Steve was also extremely nice, discussing with me how they played Oldhim in Blitz and helped me clarify a few more FAB interactions. All the best to Steve this weekend as well!

Overall, the event was very chill and everyone had fun. There were a lot of really breath-taking games I wish I had managed to watch from the start. R0's Armoury is now definitely the top of my list, given the limited amount of times I have to travel to an event. Great set up, low to no entry fees, great communication from Finbarr organising it, lots of route to and from, definitely check it out if you haven't.

The Extra

Rule Zero also does an amazing Stilton Cheese Burger. The patty can be replaced with a Beyond Burger Vegan Patty, which I ordered because my family use those at home and they are delicious.

The fries were also well salted and herbed, I believe. Very nice with their Teriyaki-BBQ sauce. I had the bye for one game, and I'm glad I did because I wouldn't have had time otherwise to try their great food!