# Torrance - September 1998 Report

by Stefan Vincent
September 20, 1998

The Cast of Characters:

    Mike Nickoloff, "Macho Guys With Guns" Dragons/Monarch
    Tim McCann,     "Toast and Jam"        Lotus/Monarchs
    Ray Clouse,     "Tanked"               Dragons/Architects/Lotus
    Lissa Vincent,  "Chickadee"            Dragons/Monarchs chicks
    Jason Jung,     "No"                   Dragons big thugs
    Stefan Vincent, "DMZ"                  Architects/Hand Battleground sites
    Mike Schlofner, "The Rush"             Lotus/Monarchs Dark Traveler
    Anthony Orozco in his first tournament appearance, borrowing "I'm Huge" Ascended

leaving us with a huge pile of Monarchs, a decent showing from the Dragons, and a resurgence of Lotus (!). Where did the Architects go? (my deck was Architects only to get the Arcanoseed and Spawn of the New Flesh; it didn't really count as Architects). The lack of sudden denial really showed in the games - once the big trucks were on the board, they stayed out and whupped butt. And with all those Monarchs around, the royalty visited often (even from the non-Monarchs decks).

#### Round 1

Round one was random, as usual. Table one saw the pile-up to stop Lissa's bid for the win, leaving Jason a clean shot with his Queen of the Ice Pagoda on his turn and taking Tim off the board completely. Table two timed out, much squabbling over my Battleground sites (and few feng shui sites) while I waited (and waited) for any character larger than a 1. Mike S.'s 4-body sites were also pretty popular; he never did get the Dark Traveler thing going in that game. Mike N. edged out Ray on the tie-break since Mike had burned two sites that game. Scores after round 1:

    Jason J. (1) 9 Mike N. (1) 7
    Lissa        7 Ray         6
    Anthony      4 Mike S.     4
    Tim M.       1 Stefan      2

#### Round 2

Second round sat by score, sending Mike N. and Ray to the wiener's table and Tim and Anthony to the play with the kiddies. My deck stalled looking for a Hand resource, Mike S.'s once again didn't get started, and none of us could do anything about Tim's Queen of the Ice Pagoda (even Anthony's Shadowy Mentor was useless...). At table 1 Jason won again, leaving Lissa with a single site. Scores at the end of round 2:

    Jason J. (1) 18 Tim M.  (1) 10
    Ray          13 Anthony     10
    Mike N.  (1) 12 Stefan       5
    Lissa         9 Mike S.      5

#### Round 3

With Tim and Anthony tied at 10, a little random selection action put Tim at the head table and kept Anthony with the kiddies. Tim once again got the Queens rolling, and amazingly his Inauspicious Reburials were *working* even with three Dragons players at the same table. Wow. At table two, my deck finally got going but ended up in a bit of public service trying to keep Lissa's hitters dead. In the end her big assualt led by the Queen of Darkness and Silver Jet got through and just barely took my site for the win (I was resigned to being whupping boy at this point). Amazingly, none of Mike S.'s sites were even damaged in the game... Scores at the end of round 3:

    Tim M.   (2) 19   Lissa   (1) 18
    Ray          18   Anthony     16
    Mike N.  (1) 14.5 Mike S.      9
    Jason J. (2) 20.5 Stefan       7

#### Final

Final round pitted the four high-scorers against each other while the rest of us had fun playing with the demo decks (at least I did - that was the only game I won all day!). Tim again outran everyone for first, leaving Lissa second and Jason and Ray tied for 3rd. Congratulations to Tim!

    Tim M. - 1st
    Lissa  - 2nd
    Jason J. / Ray - 3rd tie

One honorable mention goes to Jason for actually playing with Joey Paz. Amazing. And even more amazing, Joey gave his life in a blaze of glory as Lissa's Discerning Fire took him ("Escrima Master") and Tim's Queen of the Ice Pagoda ("Netherworld Mastermind"). Poor Joey - if only he hadn't studied so hard to get that Master's rank...

Last modified: October 2, 1998.
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