I've spent months getting Nikki, Stephen, Kim, Monica, Brian, and Scott all ready to play this season, but most of them couldn't come for one reason or another. I tried to get a Kalani's Landing deck together (Mantis Mags is something I've wanted to play since EE was fleshed out), but there's just such a stack of rares I'm missing and I didn't really give myself enough time to slap them together. I tried to force together a Torch enlightenment deck, but the same issue got in the way. I thought I had some cards I didn't and suddenly it was two days before time to go.
So I picked up a Koshin Keep deck I slapped together. I was pretty hopeful, because I think people overall underestimate Koshin, but I didn't realize the deck was full of substitutions because I had lent out many cards to folks I thought would be coming. Hurr hurr. Nikki had barely played, so we were trying to finish out a quick Crane deck for her. Kim was really the only person rolling with a tested, tournament ready deck. Thankfully, Jacobson was good enough to lend Nikki his deck once we arrived in Arlington to stay with Leann and her crew.
Leann's house is now officially Shiro Shitshow in my head. The place is huge - I think there was something like fifteen of us staying there. We got in a little late Friday, just as the crew was getting ready to head out for dinner. I got to grab some steaks with some of the San Antonio folks and THE BRISCOE, who I hadn't seen since GenCon last year. Was good times all around, but when we headed back to the house, the real horrors began. These are gaming folk, and true to form, in crowds away from prying eyes, they got hammered and did retarded shit. I think in the two nights I stayed there, I saw more games of gay chicken than I care to count. Kim brought a stack of brownies and goodies she slaved over making but unfortunate got lost in the shuffle. I think people may have been concerned they were for someone else, because these folks were not exactly health nuts.
Saturday was the tournament, and I got hit pretty hard. I was tired, the sun got in my eyes, I slept on my hand, etc etc etc. The short of it was I didn't test enough and I haven't been really playing enough to do well in a Kotei, and it showed. I made some pretty dumb mistakes but also ran into my fair share of "oh look you drew certain cards, you win!" moments. In short, I went 2-5. Strength of the Tsunami is dumb.
Saturday night was probably the best part of the weekend, though I did enjoy the tourney. Heading back a little early, cleaning up, heading out for some of the best duck ever for Nikki's birthday, and then coming back to sit for a bit and drink whiskey while bullshitting with Her Nikkiness was a nice mellow counterpoint to what was to follow. We stayed up till 2 or 3, drinking, watching the OKC/LA game, and talking with folks I had never met, or had met and never really got to know.
Notes:
- Strength of the Tsunami is dumb.
- My deck can handle a few token followers. It apparently cannot handle "Grateful, topdeck a Nakanu, play another Grateful, topdeck a Nakanu."
- Merholtz is the Angel of Death.
- Leann's house might need to be named Shiro Shitshow. And that woman has the patience of a saint.
- Discussing feminism at 4am after drinking for six solid hours is not the best plan.
- No one wins gay chicken.
- I give better advice and make better decks than what I do and play.
- When your free packs give you a playset of the most worthless rare in a set, God is telling you to pack it the f up.
- If you would please say out loud that you have 2 x Strength of the Tsunami, 2 x Near Miss, and 1 x Skipping in your first seven cards, it will save us both some time and trouble.
- People apparently still get surprised by Sniping even out of Koshin Keep. I do not understand it.
- I was told by the same person I sleep like a vampire and look like David Tenant.
