After an extended break to accommodate some refurbishments at my FLGS the bi-weekly casual events at Element Games in Stockport kicked back off on Wednesday night with a bang.
Not only was it the Dicemasters event night, but also the grand re-opening and there was definitely a great buzz around the place as we all bounced about on the new carpet and checked out the new bar. There was lots of players out getting involved in a wide variety of games to support the Games Centre for it’s re-opening… and more than a few who stopped by the Dicemasters tables curious to see what it’s all about and asking a few questions.
Surrounded by great atmosphere, a few beers (and even some champagne around!), and to give Dicemasters a firm place in the grand re-opening we played three 45 minute rounds first to two. There were eight players in the event in total.
This was my last opportunity to get some practice in with my team build for the Nationals qualifier (Details of which can be found HERE) and this is how the event went for me…
Round One – Win
My first round was against Matt S who was playing with an ‘Ant-Man’ Global/Overcrushing combo.
His core attack force was made up of ‘Deadpool – Jack’ and ‘Punisher – McRook’.
‘Punisher – McRook’ is a popular card in my local meta and he has proven to be an absolute nuisance for me in the past. In both games of the round I quickly bought up ‘Dwarf Wizard – Paragon Zhentarim’ to keep that particular pest at bay and then cracked on with my Swarming hordes – but not before ‘Punisher’ got a couple of cheeky pings in.
I was also able to keep the nasty Overcrush at bay with my ‘Constantine – Hellblazer’ to keep ‘Mary Jane – MJ’ neutered.
In the first game the swarm burn machine worked to perfection, and with his ‘Punisher’ game text blanked, ‘Mary Jane’ Hellblazed, and an endless supply of blockers, all that burn soon caught up with Matt.
The second game went much the same way, however this time my win came through over taking his wall and sweeping through for more damage than he could block.
Round Two – Win
My next round was against Dave, who was using an all D&D Dragon team.
Boy, did this team give me a hellavu run for my money. My Swarm horde was annihilated a number of times by the Breath Weapon onslaught and in both games I took some pretty nasty blows – down to three life in the first game – before I pulled it back.
I was also back-footed a couple of times by ‘Cockatrice – Minion Monstrosity’ who kept turning up to KO my ‘Human Torch’, so I turned to Plan B and loaded up on Goblins (who, with a slightly higher Defense, were a little more Breath Weapon resilient) and bought up my ‘Hulk’ with the intention of sneaking my damage through for lethal after some board clear goodness.
As with the first round: the control elements of my team kept me in the games long enough to withstand the Dragons – If it wasn’t for the Globals on my BACs (‘Transfer Power’ and ‘Blink Transmutation’), ‘Dwarf Wizard’ and ‘Constantine’ I would have seen my end much sooner and been crying into my brew!
As it went – a well placed board clear with ‘Hulk’ in the first game, and sheer force of numbers in the second game (in the mid-game safety of the Control) allowed me to go two game to nil in the round. In both games my life count was looking looooooow – I’d just about dodged the bullet, and was super pleased with my piloting.
Round Three – Win
My third & final round of the night was against Matt G, and his build was a variant on the Flying Sidekick archetype with a splash of great AvX cards such as ‘Nova – The Human Rocket’, ‘Hawkeye – Longbow’ and ‘Punisher – McRook’ (there was that nuisance again) to beef up his offensive and defensive capability.
The first game went at a steady pace with us both carefully piloting our teams as we manoeuvred against each other’s plays. Matt started out moving towards his defensive strategy buying up ‘Hawkeye’ and ‘Punisher’ and I, very aware of his sidekick buffers, ‘Falcon – Recon’ and ‘Hawkeye’ reactively bought up my defensive control guys.
This back and forth went on for a little while until I got a nice groove happening by KO’ing my own ‘Kobold’ die each turn (with ‘Human Torch’ character ping) and re-rolling them for more burn the next turn.
I eventually got enough characters to overwhelm Matt’s defenses and, after all the burn, it was enough to finish up with a lethal horde of ‘Kobold’ and ‘Goblin’ die. First game of the round was mine.
The second game went even more smoothly, thanks in no small part to Matt’s inability to roll any character faces turn after turn. Every regular Dicemasters player has seen this story play out and felt the pain of repeatedly dreadful roll & re-roll phases. Losing to a tough list or a good player is one thing, but to fall out of favour with Lady Luck can make for a miserable game.
The field was wide open for turn after turn and a second game win was easily secured.
Another great event and my third consecutive casual tournament at the top spot. I walked away with some shiny new promos and feeling a nice boost to take me into the Nationals.
Our little community of Dicemasters in our FLGS is nicely growing and it was such a tremendous opportunity to get an event in mix on such a busy night to “represent” and attract some interest.
On to the National qualifier tomorrow!
Great write up, as always. Good luck at Nationals! :3