Skirmish S4 - Rule Zero
Starting off with what I think will be the most difficult Skirmish of the season for me. Oldhim is ready to take on Rule Zero!
There were 19 players at Rule Zero on Saturday morning. I got a bye round 1, so was able to observe the field.
- 3 Kano
- 2 Iyslander
- 2 Dorinthea
- 2 Kassai
- 1 Boltyn
- 2 Oldhim
- 1 Valda
- 2 Viserai
- 2 Prism
- 1 Rhinar
- 1 Shiyana
There were quite a fair few wizards and warriors on the day, wielding sword and sorcery, along with a couple Runeblades that wielded both. Happy to see some Oldhim representation of course.
Round 2
I got matched up against the other Oldhim, piloted by Saul McCarthy. Starting off the day with an Oldhim mirror is interesting to say the least.
I have faced Saul's Oldhim in Armouries before. It is a slightly different build from mine, running more Crush cards. I think another big difference is Snapdragon Scalers to pair with Enlightened Strike. I have considered this combo as well because the draw would also trigger Earthlore Bounty, whilst the Snapdragon essentially makes the turn more aggressive. But, decided not to include this combo in the end. I'd say the build is slightly more 'pure-damage' leaning then mine, which is more on-hit disrupt.
We played a really good game, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I managed to get quite a few good hits in. I even managed to raw-pitch a Pulverize, having a card in Arsenal and using Crown of Seeds on my turn to draw another blue pitch. I also managed to stop the E-strike / Snapdragon combo from taking full effect by having a Blizzard in hand to play. Ultimately though, Saul was the more skilled player. Saul took a hit to go down to 1, but took tempo and never let go. I was on 3 health, so was in no position to take tempo back. The game went to Saul, a deserving victory. Saul would then go on to represent Oldhim in the top 8!
Round 3
My second match was against Valda, piloted by Jaco Sepe, another Guardian mirror. I was a bit unsure about this match because I have not played against Valda before. I was a bit wary becase my build does draw cards a lot, and would give Valda the Seismic she needs to pull off big turns. Although, I think my disruptive play-style could negate that.
In the first turn of the game, Jaco was setting up auras such as Blessing of Deliverance and Emerging Dominance.
I figured the pattern was to set up auras, create Seismic Surges, then from then on Valda could come in with reduced cost attacks, whilst setting up more Seismics and auras for the next turn. Luckily, I managed to draw a disruptive hand right in the first turn with Command and Conquer and Pummel. From then on, I always kept a disruptive attack in my Arsenal, so that I can prevent Valda from taking tempo. There was one turn where Potion of Luck was used, which created lord knows how many Seismics. But, I was ready with an Oaken Old in Arsenal, and a Pulse of Isenloft I've kept in my hand turn after turn. I managed to take the victory in this match, but it was well fought by Jaco.
Round 4
This was a match I didn't think I'd see in Skirmish season. Jake Armes has brought along a Prism deck. If you recall from ProQuest, I got destroyed in my game against Arian Sultani's Prism. After playing against other Prism decks in Blitz at Armouries, and discussing it with fellow players, we had thought Prism would not be making as big a wave in Blitz. Could we be wrong after all?
In the first couple of turns, Genesis was played out. So, this was Aura Prism I'm up against.
I decided to try and race damage, because I'm not really sure what else I could do. My Oldhim build was meant to be somewhat aggressive, so I had hoped that it would be do-able. Whilst I did manage to get some big hits in, especially with Endless Winter stopping Prism's subsequent turn, it wasn't quite enough as Prism landed more auras such as Ode to Wrath and Merciful Retribution, which I had to try and take care of because in Blitz there isn't enough health to just take the damage. I did lose the match, Jake piloted Prism very well, and now I have another hero I have to think about in Blitz 😂.
Round 5
I gathered this was likely my last round for Rule Zero Skirmish. If I win the round, I might scrape top 8 with 3 wins, even though it wouldn't be honourable as I did get a free win with a bye in the very first round.
My last round was against Shen Ang, playing Kassai. Shen is a Kassai main, so this was to be quite a match. Shen was also using Tunic rather than Courage of Bladehold, which threw me off a bit as I have seen more Kassai running Courage.
I had some very decent hands in the first few turns, able to play disruptive Pummel with Cnc and Frost Fangs. I saw Shen discarding Spoils of War when I pummeled, so it did make me feel a bit wary about Shen's strategy. I then did a few misplays by blocking Kassai's attack without overblocking them, which allowed Kassai to deal quite a lot of damage with Out for Blood attack reactions.
I think when Shen pitched Blood on Her Hands to play out these go-tall attack reactions, I realised that Shen wasn't just playing the more common Kassai strategy of trying to pop it off. I think Shen knew exactly what he was doing, adjusting the strategy of his deck to go tall and take my Oldhim out more quickly without relying on doing anything fancy with copper tokens. Unfortunately, I have realised this too late and was unable to adjust my own play. Shen and Kassai took the match, deservingly so I might add. Well played Shen!
Results and Lessons
Whoo, was that a tough tournament. Definitely playing against some of the most skilled players in London, if not the entire country.
I ended up with 1 real victory and put up some decent fights in my 5 rounds. I am pleased with this result, as comparing to my previous Skirmish where I didn't win any rounds and the skill density wasn't as high, I performed better. I also didn't go to time playing Oldhim. Real progress has been made! And, I aim to keep going.
I also learnt where my deck needs adjusments, so that's also a very good takeaway.
Congratulations to all who attended, we all played really well! Congratulations, of course, to our top 8 and Jamie Faulkner, who won the Skirmish.
I was not able to stay till the end to witness the finals. I dropped after my 5th round because, as you recall, I have another Skirmish to get to!