# Torrance Fisting - December 1997 Report

by Stefan Vincent
December 15, 1997

The tournament on Saturday was pretty meager - five players, plus we coerced Brian into playing with us to make an even number. Not that we really expected many folks, with the holidays so close and finals going on. But Brian was nice enough to award the full prizes, even with the limited attendance. Here's the scoop:

    Matt    - Architects/Monarchs "Shiny Pink Deck of Fun"
    Tim M.  - Peacock "Peace, Love and Shopping"
    Garrett - Dragons "I Choke Hard"
    Stefan  - Architects/Lotus "Night of the Sneaking Dead, Part II"
    Jeff    - Architects/Monarchs
    Brian   - Dragons (borrowing Matt's "Smak Bak Yak Attak")

### Round 1

We played 3 rounds of three player games, with random seating in all three rounds since we had so few players. I foolishly thought that we wouldn't have to worry about the time limit, but...

    Matt   9 (1) Brian   9 (1)
    Stefan 7     Tim     4
    Jeff   5     Garrett 3

Brian crushed Tim and Garrett, then they played a couple more games and sat around while the rest of us struggled like those scenes where the two duelists have their swords locked together and they aren't budging each other. I thought Matt was running away with it, but Jeff and I slowed him down enough that Jeff could deploy both Fox Pass and Kinoshita House, and then we were all at 4 sites for about 5 turns... Agh. Matt finally got enough together to grab one of Jeff's sites for the win. That was really a ainful game, and we should have called time on it, but I hadn't looked at my watch when we started. Who would have thought a 3 player game could go more than 1 hour?

### Round 2

Round two went a little faster. Brian, Jeff, and Matt ended first, with Matt again on top and Jeff as whupping boy. Tim's peacock deck kicked in (Orange Senshi Chamber early, with a hand size of 11) and managed to keep Garrett and I at bay. Ok, well, me at bay; Garrett was stall boy again.

    Matt  18 (2) Tim     13 (1)
    Brian 14 (1) Stefan  12
    Jeff   7     Garrett  8

### Round 3

Round three saw Jeff totally shut down Garrett and Tim. His first Monarchs resource was the Queen, but she stuck around for the entire game and liberally abused everyone. Matt finally lost one - hard - against his own deck...

    Brian  23 (2) Jeff    16 (1)
    Stefan 18     Tim     17 (1)
    Matt   20 (2) Garrett 11

### Final

Since we had no ties at this point, we pressed on to a four player final with Jeff just missing by 1 point, and Garrett, well, it wasn't Garrett's day. The final was another knock down, drag-out fight. Matt & Stefan's Nerve Gas and Imprisons popping up at the right times to ruin each other's day; the Yaks not quite Smakking once Matt's and Tim's Fox Passes were on the table. Sacred Heart Hospital popped up three times (including one auction) and I saw it get discarded once, too. Nobody packed any Smart Missiles except Jeff, and I didn't see any Whirlpools at all, so those sites were turning, turning, turning... We went around the table, alternating who was closest to winning and hence the whupping boy, until I took advantage of an odd attack by Tim against Matt that left them both in relatively more open positions (no position is ever actually open with two Fox Passes on the table). Add a little non-help from Brian - since he was playing a borrowed deck, he didn't see the Back For Seconds combo that could have put another interceptor in my way. Hey, I'll take it - the Walking Corpses walked right in for the win, returning the Proving Ground that Tim had grabbed from me several turns earlier... Matt took second, and Brian with Matt's deck took third on the tie-break with Tim.

Last modified: March 11, 1998.
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