# Torrance Fisting - October 1997 Report

by Michael Nickoloff
October 18, 1997

Another wonderful tournament hosted by the SCGA at their new store in Torrance. Same rules applied as before:
Our almost-out-of-beta version of tournament rules
$30, $15, $10 store credit for 1st-3rd, respectively
Fun for all, guaranteed ;)

Here's who showed up:

    Garrett Wong      h/e Evil Cheese
    Michael Nickoloff a/e The cabbies are out for blood!
    Caroline Liu      a   "Pick on me"
    Matt Widman       d   Smack Back Yak Attack
    Stefan Vincent    d/f "Oscar does not suck"
    Lissa Sabia       m/h Chicks in cross-training
    Jeff Stolt        m/e "Jeff's butt-kicking deck"
    John Dilbeck      a
    Ernie Casillas    f
    Brian Pugnier     e   "Charity"
    Frank Bustamante  f/d
    Corey Garrett     f   "Architect"

Boring round-by-round points, plus interesting comments, by Mr. Vincent (of course):

### Round 1

    Frank 3
    Mike  5
    Jeff  2
    Matt  6

    Ernie   7
    Garrett 5
    Corey   2
    Lissa   9

    Brian  4
    John   3
    Stefan 6
    Carol  5

#### Notes

Lissa got a Queen of the Darkness Pagoda out 3 times in her game with the help of Positive Chi. Toasty!

### Round 2

    Stefan 7
    Ernie  3
    Matt   4
    Lissa  6

    Carol   4
    Garrett 9
    Mike    7
    Brian   5

    Corey 4.5
    Jeff  4.5
    Frank 7
    John  3

#### Notes

In Mike's game, we ended with 3 Fong Sai Yuk's on the board. Garrett's real one and Brian and my Evil Twin of him.

### Round 3

    Lissa   9
    Garrett 3
    Stefan  7
    Mike    2

    Frank 6
    Ernie 1
    Matt  9
    Carol 3

    Brian 4.5
    Jeff  6
    Corey 1
    John  4.5

### Standings after Round 3:

    --- Finals ---
    Lissa   24
    Stefan  20
    Matt    19
    Garrett 17
    --- Finals ---
    Frank   16
    Mike    14
    Brian   13.5
    Jeff    12.5
    Carol   12
    Ernie   11
    John    10.5
    Corey    7.5

Final Round:

    Matt    1st
    Lissa   2nd
    Garrett 3rd
    Stefan  4th

### Finals

Almost play-by-play of the last round:
Garrett and Matt had a really slow start with no sites, and Matt with a foundation character. On the second turn, Garrett finds a Golden Candle Society and a Shield of Pure Soul. Lissa pops out with a Displaced and a Wandering Monk on the second turn and beats up on Stefan. The Displaced die and toast Garrett's lone resource (Golden Candle Society). Matt gets a free Hacker from canceling Garrett's Cyclone of Knives. Stefan Final Brawl's on turn three to clear the board. A slow build begins, until Stefan pops out a Maverick Cop with a Claws of the Dragon. Matt double Final Brawls in response to kill it. Garrett sees an opening on his turn. He Tortured Memories Matt's Yakuza Enforcer, Evil Twins it, and goes for Stefan's revealed City Square. Stefan stops the attack with the City Square, and a now revealed Fox Pass. (Stefan at this point wondering where the heck are all his Inner Sanctums and Police Stations...) Matt on his turn, uses his Yakuza and seizes Stefan's Kar Fai's Crib. A Back for Seconds on the Yakuza is canceled by Lissa, which allows her to burn Stefan's City Square for victory on her turn. Stefan plays a trade center on his turn (Feel the power!), and play continues on. Matt, on his turn, attacks Garrett's front row feng shui site with 2 Yakusas. Garrett intercepts both with spuds. Matt slaps a Claw of the Dragon down on one, and beams. Matt's face drops as Garrett reveals the site, an Ancient Temple. Garrett allows Stefan to take it on his turn, stopping Matt from an easy victory. Stefan, with two feng shui sites, tries to finish off Lissa's Turtle Island (2 Body remaining) so Garrett or Matt can't pick it up so easily (he has an unrevealed Inner Sanctum to hide it behind). He plans to kill off Matt's wounded, but wearing a Claw of the Dragon, Yakuza afterward, but alas, Lissa hits the Positive Chi button and all sorts of characters pop back onto the table. Stefan has a failed attack, so the Yak survives. Garrett attempts to hit the Turtle Island and bring it his way (again instead of finishing Matt's Yakuza), but Stefan has enough to stop him with a little Final Brawl action. Matt's unfinished Yakuza finishes us all off on his next turn...Congratulations Matt!

Smack Back Yak Attack
By Matt Widman
4 Hacker
3 Redeemed Gunman
5 Friends of the Dragon
5 Yakuza Enforcer
3 Claw of the Dragon
5 Final Brawl
3 Back for Seconds
2 Dirk Wisely's Gambit
4 Booby Trap
3 Kii-YAAAAH!
2 Golden Comeback
1 The Prof
1 Masked Avenger
1 Iala Mane
1 Ting Ting
3 Marisol
5 Jagged Cliffs
2 Proving Ground
2 Inner Sanctum
3 City Park
1 Drug Lab
2 Kar Fai's Crib
1 House on the Hill
-- 63 cards
This is Matt's more-tuned version of the deck used in the finals of the Final Brawl tournament at GenCon 97. It uses Booby Traps and Final Brawls with characters that are unaffected by Matt's events, i.e. Yakuza Enforcer and Marisol. Backed up with many of the usual Dragon supporters, Matt can steamroll the other players for a win. Matt took out some of the chaff, and I saw the Claws of the Dragon pop up more frequently this time; seems like a worthy addition.
Congratulations again, and will he able to defend his mark next time? Find out on November 15, 1997!

Last modified: March 11, 1998.
Please send comments to nickolof@scf.usc.edu.
Send server comments to durrell@innocence.com.