------- start of forwarded message ------- From: dhenry@plains.NoDak.edu (David R. Henry) Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.misc Subject: [L5R]: The Tragedy of Sealed Decks Date: 23 Jul 1997 21:11:35 -0500 Message-ID: <5r6dkn$4ns@plains.NoDak.edu> So, having finally found a place in North Dakota that a) Sells Anvil of Despair decks, and b) Wasn't washed away in the flood I happily buy my first Toturi and Junzo decks this weekend. And then I check out the play of them by taking My Usual Victim to play against me, sealed deck style. Being naturally partial to Toturi, I graciously allow my friend to play the Hutmen, while I take the happy dead gang of Junzo and Co. What happens, you ask? If the storyline was dependant upon sealed deck play, Junzo wouldn't be able to enlist ratlings, let alone onis. Check out these sealed deck contents which, I swear, are almost custom-made to be mocking the poor dead dudes: For my random personalities, the crowning insult: Isawa Osugi. Not only can Junzo never get 0 Honor to play her, she's innately immune to all Shadowland-granting effects! If there was one personality in the game he could never play, it'd be her! I mean, yippee. Yes, I drew her early. :) In other random Dynasty fun, I get another Event besides The Falling Darkness -- The Tao of the Naga! Hey, _just_ what Junzo needs. "You! Snakemen who oppose my dark lord and master! Here, a favor: you can ignore Rokugani politics. No, I insist. I'm just a nice guy, honest." Apparently the Naga were trying to infiltrate this cell of Junzo's army, since I got Naga Bushi and Naga Bowmen as followers ("Us? We're, uh, we're snake oni. Yeah. That's it. Ssssss! Sssss! Mind if we join up?") Also in line for my follower fun are (human) Archers and Minor Shugenja, none of whom are bad, but, thanks to their minimum Honor requirements, really don't do much besides sit back and Focus for Junzo's army. Oh, yes, Junzo also decided to bring along a Traveling Poet for this excursion ("Brave Sir Moto, Brave Sir Moto, bravely ran away!" "And on the sixth day, they ate the Poet." "HURRAH!"). Feeling decidedly out of place around this many breathing beings, my lone Skeletal Troops looked forlorn and ashamed as they tried hiding their shabby gear. To equip this fearsome group of unusable mortals, Fu Leng had wisely sent his Dread General many Bo Sticks, apparently to use as kindling, since monks were few and far between among Junzo's scattered ranks. Junzo had also picked up the spell Benevolent Protection of Shinsei, which, you know, ain't a _bad_ spell, and is actually useful for his army and can actually be used by him, but it doesn't quite fit the flavor text, y'know? Anyway, continuing the listing, to go with the bountiful Bo Stick supply, Junzo also found himself the proud owner of a few Daisho Techniques, the better to play on his nonexistant Samurai who couldn't be equipping the Bo Sticks anyway (at least they gots 3 Focus). Then there's my nice supply of Rise, Brother (the only clan that can't get aligned personalities, and I get Rise, Brother in it), To Do What We Must (Personal Honor? Oh, yeah, that's back there with our Monks), Intersecting Highways (We WILL become allies! We're kind! We help the Naga! Honest!), and, in the final crowning glory, the first Terrain I drew in the game, Stall Until Sunrise ("Dread lord! What is your command?" "I know. We'll wait until dawn vaporizes our troops and then take them by surprise." "Ah... um, er..."). To be honest, not everything totally sucked. The Hammer of Earth was included (and put to good use when Toturi came riding over the hill), we got the appropriate (and usable) Summon Nightstalker spell, The Face of Fear fit in quite well, and To the Last Man made many Toku sandwiches. I don't know if he's a standard card in Junzo decks, but I also got Kyojin as a character, which fit in well and was very useful (also got a few dueling cards as well). So, yeah -- as a sealed deck, Junzo got whupped, bad. Of course, the Toturi sealed deck was _almost_ as humorous (very little could top Junzo playing Stall Until Sunrise): the Savior of Rokugan found the Experienced Hida Yakamo Oni waiting patiently to join his troops, while _his_ followers included (hang on to your hat) two Skeletal Troops, one Goblin Mob, and an Elemental Vortex. So much for only two Shadowland cards in the deck! Luckily, Morito Tokei could summon the Vortex, since Toturi had wisely brought along the Black Scroll Doom of Fu Leng (!!!), thus handing out the appropriate Corruption counters. It musta been opposite day or something, I swear. -- dhenry@plains.nodak.edu * Lion Clan Technomonarchist What was the question? --Kate Bush ------- end of forwarded message -------