March of the Legion Tour

5/30 – Gryfalia’s Aerie in Bloomington, IL – Drew Walker

1173993 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:04:00 GMT

After hanging out with and going to lunch with the guys from The Zone, we took off down to Bloomington where most of them were going to participate in the tour event at Gryfalia’s Aerie. This would give a few of the guys a second crack at being paired up against me for their EA Varimathras.

The packs that I cracked were pretty nice to me on the Alliance side of things, but I have much love for the Horde and wanted to stay loyal. I pulled a Varimathras from one of my packs and figured that that was the sign I needed to brush my Alliance cards under the rug. Not so fast! After thoroughly looking at the cards, I decided that while Horde had some bigger beats, Alliance had more consistency (and a Myriam). I also was struggling between the weapons that I could have used Paladin or Warrior with, or the double Earth Mother’s Blessing that I had. Since I decided on Alliance, my plans of world domination with Zandar x2 and Blessing x2 would soon come to fruition!

Mythen of the Wild

Allies – 22

Zandar Shadesprokect x2

Vindicator Belian

Vindicator Dindro

Xanata the Lightsworn

Durae Crystalshield

Angelista

Rahn Grimstaff

Rysa the Earthcaller

Bizzazz

Waldo the Decoy

Anchorite Viluaa

Bulvai of the Watch x2

Myriam Starcaller

Vindicator Melina

Caretaker Devonar x2

Orderkeeper Henley

Stella Forgebane

Domona the Ever-Watchful

Kronore

Abilities – 5

Sustain or Reclaim

Lacerate

Earth Mother’s Blessing x2

Swipe

Quests – 6

The Spirit Polluted

The Sigil of Krasus

Hellfire Fortifications

Lexivus the Soul Caller

Survey the Land

Information Gathering

Round 1 – Andrew Chamberlain – Remba, Abbess of Ash

My first match was against one of the two players who hadn’t been at The Zone earlier in the day. I didn’t get a chance to talk all that much to Andrew about things because I was too busy crying inside about his Hero’s flip power after I had begrudgingly decided to go Alliance Druid. Looks like my Earth Mother’s Blessings were going to sit in my hand or be resources if necessary.

We exchanged allies a bit as I sat back and hoped that he would Infusion of Fortitude something and steal it so that I could use my Blessings, but it never came. Turn six and seven were the big plays of the match as I attacked killed his Magistrix Tibrana with my Bulvai of the Watch, but since I had Vindicator Belian in play, Bulvai took no damage and Belian went to the yard. I had played Myriam on turn five, so she was now free to start the countdown to destruction. Andrew proceeded to Twist of Fate my Bulvai, but since he was exhausted he couldn’t really do anything, and he sucked up Myriam’s nuke at the end of his turn because of his effect. I got free shots in on my turn seven and continued to establish my board with Domona the Ever-Watchful. Andrew used Spiritual Domination to snatch my Bulvai to try and save himself some beats, but Bulvai was promptly nuked again by Myriam at the end of the turn. Andrew couldn’t stabilize after that and with a few more allies and another turn or two from me spelled the end of him.

After the event was over, he was the lucky player to inherit my non-EA Varimathras that I had pulled, so he didn’t walk away empty handed.

1-0 at Gryfalia

2-3 Total

Round 2 – Johnny Hulet – Mythen of the Wild

The first swing came on turn four when Johnny used his Bearlady Brala’s pet Twig to attach into my Durae. Instead of flipping and healing her, I decide to play Earth Mother’s Blessing. Johnny’s Twig goes bye bye, but after combat Johnny uses The Natural Order to get rid of my Earth Mother’s Blessing which promptly kills Durae since she had three damage on her. I thought I would be ok after I dropped Bulvai on my turn four and Myriam on five with only Caretaker Mooncrier in the way. Johnny played Breen Toestubber on seven, and that is where it started going downhill. I was sitting back and hoping to Myriam my way to victory rather than taking out his Allies with Bulvai, and as turn eight and nine added Givon, Weeble, and Marksman Eowan which pretty much shut down my offense. With Myriam dead on eight to Breen and no way to really do damage with Givon and Breen both on the table, I took my first loss of the day. EA Varimathras was forced to rear his ugly head and part ways with me.

1-1 at Gryfalia

2-4 Total

Round 3 – Andy Sipka – Kil’zin of the Bloodscalp

After having played six matches, Andy was the first player I went up against where I really felt behind from the turn one. It was just that feeling in my gut that only usually happens in the office when I play against Russ Pippen, Ian Estrin, or most of the guys in R&D. I won the die roll to start a new streak, and my Vindicator Belian turn one was demoralized when Bloodsoul hit the other side of the table. We played and traded some allies until Andy Life Cycled my Bizzazz at the end of my turn three. On turn four I dropped Bulvai, but Andy quickly dealt with him with an Elemental Fury, and Bloodsoul continued to beat on my face. Andy dropped Roena Trailmaker on five, and made her big enough to survive my Caretaker Devonar on turn six by ripping a quest. I brought Caretaker Melina in, but Vexmaster Nar’jo promptly dealt with her. Turn eight saw Myriam and Zandar come in to give some more threats, but I didn’t put two and two together, so Andy, with plenty of health to spare, attached into my Myriam with his Hero to put more damage on himself, and then Death Shocked Zandar to deal eight damage to finish me off. It’s quite the embarrassment to die to your own ally, so EA Varimathras was happy to part ways with me after that showing.

1-2 at Gryfalia

2-5 Total

Round 4 – Ken Roth – Hekto Starspire

Ken was my last pairing for the day, and he likes to play fast, so I didn’t get to take many notes. Ken was rocking a lot of equipment for his Pally, but my Stella Forgebane on turn seven helped to wipe some of his equipment out. I had managed to get a Lacerate on his hero early, which he was kind enough to remind me of when I forgot. When he dropped Bloodeye on seven and Bloodblade on nine, I was so concerned with the two cards that I didn’t realize that Ken was at 20 damage and I had more than enough on board to kill him. I took two steps back to count out the damage and realized that I had the W, so we shook hands and I took my .500 record for the day.

2-2 at Gryfalia

3-5 Total

5/30 - The Zone in Creve Couer, IL - Drew Walker

782885 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:43:00 GMT

Is it just me, or does seeing a place called Creve Couer make you hungry for fancy named desserts that are way too expensive for anyone but Richie Rich to afford? My first stop was at a store called The Zone, and I must say that the players and store owner provided me with much entertainment over the course of the day. It was certainly a great feeling after having a three hour flight delay and a two and a half hour drive the night before. I had to brave what can only be described as the scene in Twister where vehicles and a cow start flying through the air, but it’s all in the name of gaming.

Before this event I was relatively inexperienced with Sealed Deck, so not only was I able to have fun, but I also learned a thing or two along the way. My first foray into the March of the Legion and Servants of the Betrayer Sealed event brought me the following:

Kil’zin of the Bloodscalp

Allies – 17
Vindicator Belian
Captain Swash
Vindicator Kaldel
Hulok Trailblazer
Seamus Somerset
Sha’kar
Vindicator Agran
Tatulla the Reclaimer
Marksman Eowan
Hota the Bloodsoaked
Ossandran, Crematorium Master
Bulvai of the Watch
“Acid Hands” McGillicutty
Silea Dawnwalker
Groundshaker Earnheart
Darynus
Delrach the Vile

Abilities – 4
Death Shock
2 Stoneclaw Totem
Life Cycle

Equipment – 4
Choker of Vile Intent
Stormshield of Renewal
2 Reflex Blades

Quests – 7
The Formation of Felbane
Leader of the Darkcrest
The Sigil of Krasus
Survey the Land
The Spirit Polluted
Meeting with the Master
The Name of the Beast

Round 1 – Nick Hulva – Mythen of the Wild

Before our match began, Nick and I chitchatted a bit about what he thinks about the World of Warcraft TCG and what a few of his favorite cards are. Listening to Nick rattle off his favorite cards,I was reminded that he was running a Druid which probably meant the arrival of Earth Mother’s Blessing.

After winning the die roll and having the always awesome Kil’zin Flip power, I figured that I would be safe from the savage beatings at the hands of the Earth Mother. As turn three came around, everything that I had previously told myself went out the door as I convinced myself that playing my Stormshield of Renewal was a good thing to do as he has Archanist Dayvana on the field. I ended my turn and Nick saw an opening and took the opportunity to bless his Archanist turning it into a 6/4 on turn 3, which was now out of Kil’zin’s range to kill. I tried to play catch up and thought I could make it out with my Reflex Blades on 5, but Nick promptly used The Natural Order to keep his board in tact. The final blow came on turn eight was Nick went for the jugular by dropping Highlord Bolvar Fordragon. My only out was the Death Shock that I had yet to see which I tried to dig for with The Name of the Beast, only to see Nick chuckling. After scooping I asked him what was so funny, and he amusingly revealed that he had put my Death Shock on the bottom of my deck on turn one with his Archanist Lyronia. Needless to say I was speechless, but after discussing it with some of the other players, they came to the conclusion that this was nothing more than a blatant display of savagery.

0-1

Round 2 – Steve Fouts – Chancellor Velora

After having packed up numerous Crafting Redemption Program cards for Steve over the last few months, it was nice to finally see a face behind the envelopes. Having learned nothing from my previous encounter, I again reminded myself to watch for Melt Face, but I decided to over-extend on turn three and put down a Stoneclaw Totem for no reason to keep his Shadala from attacking my Ally. Steve quickly played Melt Face with Shadala on the field, destroying my Stoneclaw Totem leaving my ally helpless against Melt Face. Everything after that is a blur of another Melt Face against my Darynus, a Tatulla against my second Stoneclaw Totem, and an attempt to dig with The Name of the Beast for an Ally this time, only to pass my Reflex Blades and Stormshield to end up with some weak Ally that didn’t help. The other players decided to give me the benefit of the doubt and attribute this lost EA Varimathras to another display of savagery.

0-2

Round 3 – Tony Crum – Taheo Skyspeaker

I didn’t get a chance to talk to Tony much as he seemed anxious to keep me pinned down with my current 0-fer record. Tony had most of the board advantage until around turn five when I was able to kill his Cerrick Bloodawn with my Reflex Blades. Tony tried to swing the game in his favor by playing Marka Addington for some big beats, but I got a Stoneclaw Totem down on turn six to have Marka take a total of six damage before she could do anything. Tony tried to flip Taheo to heal Marka on turn seven so she wouldn’t die, but I responded and flipped Kil’zin to finish Marka off. I had Groundshaker Earnheart and my Reflex Blades to push through a victory and Tony couldn’t stabilize after that. Finally, I was able to weather the storm to sneak in a win.

1-2

Round 4 – Jacky Lam – Marlowe the Felsworn

Jacky was probably the most excited person to play against me at any of my three stops. I won the die roll for the fourth time and we went on to trade some allies at the start, but on turn four I was looking to really put the pressure on. I dropped Bulvai of the Watch and ran Hurlok Trailblazer into his Blademistress Lyss to set it up so that Bulvai could kill her if she attacked or Hurlok could kill her on the next turn. I felt confident this could really put me over if he had nothing to help, but that confidence soon turned to despair as Jacky played Soul Inversion on my Bulvai to turn him from a 3/5 into a 5/3. With three resources left he played Devil-Stitched Leggings and then ran Lyss into Bulvai to ready all of his resources. Of course that set up using the Leggings to bring Bulvai to 0 health. I was lucky enough to pull Tatulla on five and get rid of the Leggings, but Jacky got Apocanon and the Arcanium Signet Band out. I got my Reflex Blades out next and had to take out Apocanon with an attack and Hurlok. Jacky got Stella Forgebane out to destroy my Blades. Tatulla traded with Stella on seven and Jacky dropped the Gabble to put the pressure on me. I decided not use Name of the Beast after my previous unlucky streak. I flipped Kil’zin to get Sha’kar out with ferocity to hopefully get some pressure and a Stoneclaw Totem. I locked Gabble out for a turn, but with the Arcanium Bands preventing damage and letting his low ATK allies double their damage against more formidable opponents on my side, I couldn’t keep up and Gabble was my undoing. Jacky cheered. I frowned. Varimathras cried.

1-3

5/25 - Grand Adventures Comics and Games in Murfreesboro, TN - Ian Estrin

1173993 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:22:00 GMT

After having one of the best breakfasts I have ever eaten at the Loveless Café, I made the nice 45 minute drive through the hills of Middle Tennessee to Murfreesboro, TN and Grand Adventures Comics and Games. This was predominately a comic book store with thousands of issues all over the place, and they run the weekly WoW league here

As we sat down to open our packs, I was really hoping that I would see a stronger ally pool than what I saw yesterday and at least one class with strong abilities. Once I cracked everything, I saw that once again I was going to be light on equipment removal (and by light, I mean exactly zero), but I had some strong equipment myself and a very solid Alliance ally curve. Here’s what my deck ended up looking like.

Seadog Nally

Allies – 17

Zandar Shadesprocket

Bogspike

Antikron the Unyielding

Tarwila Gladespring

Llyras Keeneye

Rahn Grimstaff

Jezbella of Karabor

Vindicator Agran

Anchorite Viluaa

Waldo the Decoy

2 Caretaker Devonar

Marnie Moonlight

Orderkeeper Calister

Justicar Brace

Gareth Ironshot

Narthadus

Abilities – 4

Hunter Training

Bloody Welcome

Run to Ground

Snake Trap

Equipment – 2

Axe of the Legion

Quantum Blade

Quests – 7

Wanted: Durn the Hungerer

The Sigil of Krasus

Preparing for War

Survey the Land

Information Gathering

Orders from Lady Vashj

Forge Camp: Annihilated

I was very happy with my early game allies, and I was particularly pleased with my quest lineup. I was lacking a little bit in the late game department, but I was hoping that Run to Ground would be able to pump my team and push them over the top. I also had the potentially deadly Run to Ground/Snake Trap combo, which I hoped very few people would be expecting. What I lacked in direct ally removal I made up for in control with Antikron, Grim, Waldo, and Devonar being able to control the tempo while I setup my equipment or Run to Ground.

Round 1 – Mark - Fallenstar

Mark is a weekly player at Grand Adventures and is still working on securing his Continental invite for Gen Con. In what would become a trend for the day, I lost the die roll and mulliganed. Both of us did not make a play until turn 2 when Mark dropped Durae Crystalshield and I put Zandar Shadesprocket into play. Mark then attached Intensify Rage to Durae and turned her sideways to smash into Nally. I had no play on turn 3 and I took some more beats from Durae. Mark off’d Zandar with Fallenstar’s flip power while I played Marnie Moonlight on turn 4, hoping to clean up some of damage. However, Mark had other ideas and targeted Marnie with Sudden Death. Bad beats for me.

Mark continued to apply pressure by playing Whispering Blade of Slaying and Anchorite Fareena, and I added the very large Justicar Brace to my side. This gave Mark reason for pause, and he simply played Vindicator Melina and said go. His board was getting a little too large for my taste and I attacked Fareena with Brace, and then I used Nally’s flip power to destroy Brace, throwing his ATK at Melina. I added Orderkeeper Calister to my side to have a protector and said go. Mark played Rames the Purifier on his turn and after carefully reading his text, I dropped Run to Ground on my side. Mark attacked my Hero with Rames and I let it go through without protecting, as I had Snake Trap in hand. This made 4 1/1 tokens who were about to become 4/1 during my next turn. I targeted Fallenstar with Run to Ground’s effect and turned everyone sideways for truckload of damage to the Traitor. I then played Vindicator Agran and Mark scooped it up.

The game went from me being very behind on Health to over in two turns, and this would also be a recurring theme for the day.

1-0, 17 damage on my Hero.

7-2 overall.

Round 2 – Ben - Hekto Starspire

Ben is already qualified for Continentals and had his ridiculously cute son with him at the shop today. We just told him to play in the comics and try not to destroy any really valuable ones. J Again, I lost the die roll and mulliganed into a very good hand. Ben loped his board with David Smythe, Xanax the Resourceful and a Seamus Somerset while I followed with Antikron the Unyielding, Tarwila Gladespring and Rahn Grimstaff. We weren’t doing much attacking. Ben showed no play on his turn 4 other than to complete Information Gathering, whereas I was able to use Tarwila and drop Gareth Ironshot into play. Gareth looked to cause real problems for Ben’s board as they all had 2 Health, but he played Neophyte Morandi hoping to soak up some damage. I had the answer in Bloody Welcome on my turn and Gareth started working on the protectors.

Ben followed up with a Light’s Largess and ‘Acid Hands” McGillicutty, who promptly met her demise by a Gareth attack and Grim activation. I then dropped Quantum Blade into play. Ben could only make a Jessup Smythe and Shadala on his turn 7 and looked to be running out of gas against my growing board, which continued to expand with the addition of Caretaker Devonar. He did throw a Plasma Rat’s Hyper-Scythe down, but when I played Run to Ground with my board of Antikron, Caretaker, Tarwila, Rahn and Gareth, Ben packed it in as he had no answers to the ability and no way to stop the massive onslaught on its way.

2-0, 12 damage on my Hero.

8-2 overall.

Round 3 – Christian - Forang Deathrattle

Christian was a very good player who was a mad genius of deckbuilding for the store. We were gunslinging before the match and I definitely was getting clobbered by a Traitor Mage that was punishing me for drawing cards. I knew Christian was a running a very, very fast rush deck and I needed a really good opening hand to keep up with him.

I looked at my opening 7 and had about the best hand I could have for competing against a rush deck, Bogspike, Antikron and Waldo, I was definitely keeping. Christian went first and led with Arcanist Lyronia who was promptly dispatched by Bogspike. Jurpak made an appearance for Christian while I played the bane of rush: Antikron the Unyielding. Christian continued to make more allies with Gobloz and Hulok Trailblazer. I attacked Waldo into Hulok and then used Nally’s power to throw Waldo at Gobloz with Gobbie’s effect on the chain.

Things started to bog down now though as I played Marnie Moonlight and Christian threw down Devil-Stitched Leggings. That was going to be a problem for me as I had no way to get rid of it, and a large portion of my deck had 3 Health or less. Neither of us had done much damage to the opposing heroes, and we appeared to be settling in for a war of attrition. Christian kept adding Protectors like Roena Trailmaker and Cerrik Blooddawn while I was improving my board with Orderkeeper Calister and Vindicator Agran. I played Run to Ground on turn 9 with a Quantum Blade in my hand for turn 10. Christian didn’t find his Tatulla the Reclaimer for the ability, but I couldn’t attack with my allies as they would then die after damage was dealt to them at the hands (or lets) of Devil-Stitched Leggings. I found the answer I was looking for in Bloody Welcome and was able to finish off his Cerrik with the ability, binned Roena with a Quantum Blade swing, and then sent my team at Forang with everyone having +3 ATK from Run to Ground. Christian drew his next card and conceded.

3-0, 5 damage on my Hero.

9-2 overall.

Round 4 – Dennis - Zag’zil

Dennis was another super friendly guy (a trend at this store which I liked very much) who was rocking a wicked case of painful looking sunburn. I lost the die roll again (4-for-4) and kept a greedy hand with no quests, but an insane curve of Antikron the Unyielding, Rahn Grimstaff, Waldo the Decoy and Caretaker Devonar which were my turns 1-4 plays respectively. Dennis had a not unreasonable set of plays himself with Bloodsoul, Tarn Darkwalker, Bolan Earthmend and Cerrik Blooddawn for his first four turns. Waldo was keeping Bolan exhausted and Caretaker was able to take down Cerrik while Marnie Moonlight joined my team. Dennis unfortunately whiffed on his turn 5, and I played Run to Ground on my next turn. I still hadn’t drawn a quest yet, but with Bolan continually being exhausted by Waldo, Dennis had no protectors available and no answers for the ability. Zag’zil was taken to 0 Health two turns later.

4-0, 3 damage on my Hero.

10-2 overall.

My MVP today was far and away Run to Ground as it absolutely won me every single game, and I don’t know if I would have won those without it. The guys at this store were an absolute blast to sit down and play with, and I stayed for an extra couple hours gunslinging and chit-chatting. I liked them so much that I sort of felt bad about not giving out a Varimathras, but I’m competitive too and like a nice record. J My extra thanks go out to our volunteer Al, who came down to run the show, on his birthday no less, and made it incredibly fun for everyone.

This was definitely one of the best trips I have been on in my five years at Upper Deck. It’s not often that I get to play cards with folks outside of work, and this tour reminds me of why so many people love playing TCGs. I had a genuinely positive connection with everybody I met, and I hope that if we do this tour again that I get to head back to The Volunteer State.

Thanks for reading.

-Ian

5/24/ - Collector's Item in Jackson, TN - Ian Estrin

1173993 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:05:00 GMT

My next stop was at the Collector’s Item in Jackson, TN. After a nice two hour drive from Nashville, I arrived and started to gunsling with my constructed Shaman deck featuring a card or two from Hunt For Illidan. All the folks I played against agreed that the cards I was running would see Constructed play. Does destroying an ability and dealing damage to its controller equal to its cost seem good to you?

I think the karmic gods were paying me back for my exceptional deck on Friday by handing me a difficult stack of cards. Neither Alliance nor Horde presented any real late game, and none of my class specific cards were incredibly powerful. At least I opened a few good pieces of equipment! Once again, I didn’t open anything that would deal with abilities or equipment, and I secretly hoped that this theme didn’t continue tomorrow. Here’s what I ended up bringing to the table.

Forang Deathrattle

Allies – 18
Gobloz
Vindicator Ostakron
Lilith Smythe
2 Hulok Trailblazer
Wysko
Jaedan Sunshot
Vindicator Trytan
Tyrennius Scatheblade
Jessup Smythe
Anchorite Viluaa
Anchorite Fareena
Rogg Dreadnock
Bloodblade
Anchorite Jaliah
Roena Trailmaker
Groundshaker Earnheart
Jae’va the Relentless

Abilities – 3
Soul Inversion
Warlock Training
Swallow Soul

Equipment – 2
Arcanium Signet Bands
Devil-Stitched Leggings

Quests – 7
An Improper Burial
2 Survey the Land
Forge Camp: Annihilated
The Sigil of Krasus
2 Orders from Lady Vashj

I had a lot of low costs allies, but a big dearth of 4, 5 and 6 drops and the low cost allies weren’t super impressive in my book. I did have two of the best uncommon pieces of equipment in the format, but I didn’t have any real ally control other than those pieces. I also knew that equipment and abilities were going to be a big problem should any of them hit play. I hoped for a 50% win percentage, and I was fairly certain that Tennessee would finally claim an extended art Varimathras today.

Round 1 – Ryan Ixamos the Corrupted

Ryan started playing WoW with Heroes of Azeroth and then took a break, but he came back for March of the Legion. I lost the die roll and Ryan led out with Zandar Shadesprocket while I played Gobloz. Ryan missed entirely on turn 2 and I added Hulok Trailblazer to my team, who was promptly binned by Maelstrom Weapon on Ryan’s third turn. I used Forang’s hero power on turn 3 to get rid of Zandar and do a bit of damage to Ixamos in the process, while Ryan followed up with the immensely powerful Myriam Starcaller. That required an answer I didn’t currently have, but I played Wysko and Jaeden Sunshot to put some pressure on the board. I was able to clear Myriam by attacking her with Wysko and then having Gobloz finish off the pesky ally, slowing things to a crawl. Ryan played equipment pieces in the following order: Ring of the Silver Hand, Reflex Blades and Platinum Shield of the Valorous. I was not going to be attacking any time soon.

We spent the next few turns trading allies and adding to our boards, but the damage totals were not increasing by any measurable amount. Eventually I was able to mount a team of Groundshaker Earnheart, Anchorite Jaliah and Bloodeye while retaining some of my smaller drops, and Ryan’s board stalled out on the ally front as I had a Devil-Stitched Leggings that was picking off his side. The allies were finally starting to do some damage to Ryan, with Jaliah healing my big drops as my early drops were hitting the yard. We hit time and I had three cards left in my deck, and on the last turn of time I was able to deal fatal damage to Ixamos. Ryan showed me the card from his resource row that would have instantly killed me, Crystalfire Staff. Yeah, I was glad he rowed that.

1-0, 11 damage on my Hero.
5-0 overall

Round 2 – Matt Sharpshooter Nally

I played Matt in a few pick-up games before we got started, and he was a super friendly guy who was trying to grind out a Continentals invite before Gen Con. I won this die roll and started out like last round with a Gobloz whereas Matt played the slightly more aggressive Magister Ashi. I played Arcanium Signet Bands on my turn and Matt didn’t like how Gobloz looked and crushed him with Bloody Welcome during his turn. I plopped down Anchorite Viluaa and Matt followed with Caretaker Heartwing and Quigley Slipshade. I sent Viluaa into Quigley as Matt had no resources open, and then played the uber powerful Devil-Stitched Leggings. The Leggings would spend the next few turns thinning Matt’s board while my team slowly whittled down Matt’s life.

Matt decided the time was right to spice things up with Spymaster Thalodien. That particular epic required immediate attention, which was achieved with a combination of Leggings and Soul Inversion. I followed up with Bloodblade and the game ended shortly thereafter.

2-0, 2 damage on my Hero.
6-0 overall

Round 3 – Eric Bloody Mary

And here was where the wheels came off. Eric is a very talented WoW player who I have run into at events before, and I knew he was sporting a very powerful fury Warrior build with some exceptionally potent allies. I was not super happy about my odds going into this game, but winning the die roll bolstered my chances slightly.

Eric’s first three turns netted him Arcanist Alathana, Retainer Zian, and Jessup Smythe, whereas my first turns were a whiff of Soul Inversion on Alathana and a mediocre Hulok Trailblazer. It only got worse from there. I played Arcanium Signet Bands hoping to stabilize the board, and that was not to be as Tatulla the Reclaimer made short work of my equipment. I used my flip power to get rid of the already damaged Zian and heal a bit of health, whereas Eric played “Acid Hands” McGillicutty and added more beats to his board. I had been losing quite a bit of health from his team, and Bloodblade came to both of our boards on our next turn. I needed to stabilize and I hoped to do so by attaching Warlock Training to Bloodblade. I was able to bounce his Bloodblade but Eric dropped a bomb on his turn: Piercing Howl. I promptly scooped up my cards only having done 5 damage to his hero.

Eric netted the first EA Varimathras of the weekend and high-fives went out all around.

2-1
6-1 overall

Round 4 – Brian - Kintara Wintermoon

I have witnessed a lot of savage beatings in TCGs during my time in this industry, and I was on the receiving end of one of the worst. I’ll save you all a lot of reading and give you the board positions on turn 4.

Brian – Quigley Slipshade, Caretaker Mooncrier, Retainer Kedryn, Zandar Shadesprocket Falana of the Glen.

Ian – Arcanium Signet Bands, Rogg Dreadnock, Gobloz.

To say things were not looking up for me is an understatement. My only saving grace was that Brian was out of cards heading into his turn 5, but when he windmill slammed Shadow Silhouettes off the top of his deck, my only response was “Bad…..beats”. My follow up play was Lilith Smythe and my hero got his Orc head caved in on the following turn. At least it was over quickly.

2-2
6-2 overall

Well, all good things must come to an end and I left Jackson two Varimathras lighter than when I got there. We all had a good time and it was good to see a crowd of folks around watching us flop cards down on the table. I’m hoping that my card pool tomorrow will be stronger than today’s, but it would be hard for me to think it could get much worse. Do I hear Murphy’s Law calling?

5/23 - Next Level Games in Nashville, TN - Ian Estrin

1173993 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:51:00 GMT

I am currently flying bumpily over Amarillo, TX and I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Ian Estrin; I am the Marketing Program Manager and tallest employee at Upper Deck Entertainment. I believe that the latter quality is why I was sent out on this tour. My bosses are hoping that I will induce the “let the Wookie win” mentality in my opponents and not give out any Varimathrases.

My job at Upper Deck is to oversee all conventions, Darkmoon Faires, and National Championship events that we put on. That means I am in charge of everything from shipping, booking venues, travel, event schedule creation, prizes, scenic element production, and finally running the show once the event kicks off. If you don’t recognize me, just look for the tall guy with a beard running around with parts of his hair on fire. I’m easy to spot that way.

My first stop as a Legionnaire was at the cavernously huge THE Next Level Games (TNLG) owned by my good friend Donnie Noland. Donnie has one of the largest and most immaculate gaming stores I have ever been in, and I knew that the tournament was going to be fun with Donnie acting as TO and Head Judge and David Spears and Mike Sewell (of Vs. System fame) participating in the event.

We came away from the evening with some amazingly great stories. A father and daughter participated in the event and got paired against each other Round 3. The daughter at one point had Warlord Kalithresh with four Naga tokens in play. At the start of her turn, she sacrificed all four and turn Kalithresh sideways. Dad was sad when he realized he was taking 25 from one dude. Possibly my favorite moment in WoW TCG history occurred when Dave Spears won a game by Death Shocking Zandar Shadesprocket (who had been in play since turn 1) for 16. I believe that dealing 16 damage for 2 resources is, what the pros call, an “optimal play.”

As for me, my deck basically built itself as I only really had one choice of class to play and my Alliance allies were strictly better than my Horde. Here’s what I sleeved up.

Kintara Wintermoon

Allies – 18

Quigley Slipshade
Jav Stonewall
Marksman Glous
Aldana
Tarwila Gladespring
Syluri
2 Anchorite Viluaa
2 Jezbella of Karabor
Caretaker Mooncrier
2 Myriam Starcaller
Anchorite Onkoth
2 Breen Toestubber
Weeble
Darynus

Abilities – 5

2 Melt Face
Mental Anguish
Chasten
Heartening Arrival

Quests – 7

Gurok the Usurper
2 Toxic Horrors
Survey the Land
Retribution of the Light
Information Gathering
Orders From Lady Vashj

I had quite a few doubles in my packs, and I’m never sad to see double Myriam, Melt Face and Toestubber, as they are all complete houses in Sealed play. I had some good Inspire synergy going on and I was pretty hopeful that if I could make it to the later turns, I would have enough gas to win out. My major area of concern was my complete lack of ability and equipment destruction, as Syluri is situational at best, but I just hoped that I wouldn’t run into anything that could completely wreck my face. That’s what all good players do right? 

Round 1 – Rich Riddle - Kassandra Flameheart

Rich was the unlucky father who got his head caved in by Kalithresh later in the evening, and he was a very friendly guy who was still fairly new to the WoW TCG. I lost the die roll and things began.

Rich led out with Captain Swash to which I promptly followed up with a quest and said go. Swash was joined by Jurpak and his board was getting fuller than I would have liked. I played Marksman Glous and Rich traded both of his guys for Glous, then dropping another Swash with Tarn Darkwalker. The board remained small for a while and I put Breen Toestubber into play, which rendered Rich’s board useless. Rich rolled his eyes a little when Breen came out and made an even bigger eye roll when Myriam Starcaller followed on the next turn. A few turns later another Myriam joined the fracas and Rich was burned out on the next turn.

Rich told me later that most of his deck was 1 ATK guys, and Toestubber completely foiled any of his attacking plans. I was off to a 1-0 start, which put a smile on the Legionnaire’s face.

1-0, 2 damage on my hero.

Round 2 – Mike Sewell - Ixamos the Corrupted

I have seen Mike at events for the last few years and know that he is quite the outstanding player. He works at TNLG and I knew that I was going to be in for a well fought match with someone who is a much better card flopper than me. I won this die roll.

In continuing the tradition set forth by fellow Legionnaire Paul Ross, my opponent led out with a perfect 1, 2, 3 curve of Arcanist Lyronia, Bloodskull Destroyer and Waldo the Decoy. I was sad at the end of every one of those turns. I hit Tarwila Gladespring on turn 2 and was able to use Kintara’s flip and Melt Face on turn 4. Mike thankfully put Lyronia in his hand so I was able to get Waldo off the board early. I followed up with Toestubber, Jezbella and Glous while Mike was only able to replay his Lyronia on turn 4 and leave resources open to swing the Destroyer. Lucky for me, he couldn’t make any big plays to combat my rapidly growing board. Anchorite Onkoth and Weeble came down for me and the game ended right at time. Mike could never get any field advantage going once I cleared his board, and while he was able to pick off a good portion of my board with the Destroyer, it wasn’t enough to stem the onslaught.

2-0, 2 damage on my hero.

Round 3 – Russell Crichton - Marlowe Christophers

Russell is a TCG veteran and who picked up WoW on the recommendation of some of his card flopping buddies and was great guy to play against. I won this die roll as well.

I had a strong opening hand which featured Quigley Slipshade, Jav Stonewall, Melt Face and a few quests. I led out with Quigley and Russell followed with a Bakaar. Quigley got in there on the attack and I laid Jav Stonewall, leaving one resource open to save Quigley from any possible Soul Inversion tricks the Warlock might have had. Bakaar and Jav traded, and Russell dropped Vindicator Trytan who was promptly killed by a Melt Face on the next turn. Rysa the Earthcaller came down for Russ on his next turn and was quickly returned to his hand by Kintara’s flip. I wanted to keep the board clear and make sure that my fatties were going to come down to a non-threatening field.

My turns 5 and 6 were scarily similar for Russ, as each one brought a Breen Toestubber into my party. This made Russ a sad panda. Russ brought Antikron the Unyielding, Durae Crystalshield and Rysa back down and then used Marlowe’s power to off one of the Toestubbers. His Antikron then proceeded to soak up Toestubber’s attack for a few turns and save his Hero 3 damage each time, but Breen was preventing his Protectors from doing any damage back to the attacking allies. This pattern continued for a while until I played Darynus and fatal damage to Marlowe came in the next couple of turns.

3-0, 2 damage on my hero.

Round 4 – James Barnett - Sharpshooter Nally

I had watched James dismantle Dave Spears in the previous round on the back of double Myriam Starcaller and Wraithtide Longbow. I was not super happy with chances knowing that I didn’t have any reliable equipment removal, and losing the die roll did not improve my outlook.

To make it a perfect 4-for-4 in the “opponent maximizing their resource usage early game”, James went Jav Stonewall, Syluri and Ordkeeper Versa for his first three plays. My turns were just as eventful with Quigley and Syluri being my first two drops, with my third turn being spent using Chasten on the Ordkeeper. I don’t liek paying additional resources for my allies, thank you very much. James continued to apply pressure by playing Alhas and Quigley Slipshade on turn 4, making my turn 4 Tarwila Gladespring seem much less exciting by comparison.

James’s turn 5 mirrored my turn 4 by playing Tarwila, whereas my turn 5 was Weeble. Getting a 4/4 and drawing 2 cards for 5 resources always makes me happy. Turn 6 was a crucial turn with James playing a second Quigley and then passing to me with one card in hand. I used Kintara’s flip and he put a Quigley back in his hand. I then played Mental Anguish discarding Quigley and Run to Ground. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the ability go to the graveyard, as I would have been destroyed had that come into play. I asked James why he didn’t play the ability and said he knew I would kill his Quigley’s as he would have no resources open after playing the ability, greatly reducing the effectiveness of Run to Ground.

We both played Breen Toestubber on our next turns and proceeded to stare at each other as the -1 ATK greatly impacted our ability to make efficient attacks. James added Vindicator Khorin to his team and I produced an Anchorite Onkoth on my side. I was able to clear his board of everyone except Toestubber and then drop Marksman Glous, Anchorite Viluaa and Jav Stonewall, following it up with Myriam Starcaller on my next turn. Faced with this gigantic board and an Inspiring Myriam, James scooped it up.

James never drew into his equipment and after seeing the monstrosity of deck that he had, I was very lucky to come out of this game with a win.

4-0, 12 damage on my hero.

So, through reasonably good plays on my part and a large amount of luck, I was able to escape Nashville not having given out any Varimathrasi. Every person who came out to the event was an absolute pleasure to sit down and chat with, and I’m looking forward to seeing some of these faces on the rest of my tour here.

To cap the evening off, my Round 3 opponent Russ was opening a few packs of Servants of the Betrayer as we were closing up the stores and cracked a Rocket Loot. That’s how I like to have my events end.

5/18 - Gameology in Claremont, CA - Dan Bojanowski

1173993 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:10:00 GMT

It was a new day, and I was feeling rested and ready to play! The third of my three MOTL Tour stops was at Gameology.

This was a very cool store that had more board games than I’ve ever seen in one place. There was a large selection of demo copies available for checking out, too. I’d love to go back and spend a few hours perusing their selection. A handful of people from yesterday made the trek to Gameology, and we had a great crowd.

My Deck:

Hero: Fallenstar

Allies

Jav Stonewall

2 Arcanist Lyronia

Arcanist Alathana

Angelista

Llyras Keeneye

Syluri

Retainer Nealos

Alhas

Orderkeeper Vesra

Jezebella of Karabor

Arcanist Tian

Orderkeeper Calister

Justicar Brace

Gareth Ironshot

Miner Stonedeep

Gabble

Abilities

Salt the Wounds

Smash

Armed to the Teeth

Withering Shout

Whirlwind

Weapons

Axe of the Legion

Hungering Bone Cudgel

Quests

2 Meeting with the Master

Preparing for War

Deep Sea Salvage

The Name of the Beast

Needs More Cowbell

The night before, in my sleep I dreamt about playing Warrior with both Withering Shout and Deafening Shout. I didn’t get the Deafening, but when I saw Withering, I knew what I was playing immediately. Splash in some Warrior direct damage, two playable weapons, and equipment removal and I was ready to go! My allies were solid, too, including two very intimidating 7-drops in Gabble and Miner Stonedeep. I was quite happy with the deck.

Round 1 – Jeff Nelson (Remba, Abess of Ash)

Jeff is the only person that came to all three of my events. I was glad that he finally got a chance to play for the EA Varimathras.

Notes from the game:

For the first few turns, we traded allies.
Melt face took out one of my allies, Withering Shout made his life more difficult
He had a 3 health ally out and put the Weather Machine onto the chain. Before it resolved, I played Armed to the Teeth on the ally, fearing the untargetable-ness. Once the Weather Machine resolved, the top card of his deck revealed an ally. Whew.
I was sitting pretty with a freshly played Miner Stonedeep out with some back up. It would be quite difficult for him to get through his beefy 7 health and my on-board protectors. I was looking forward to milling his deck away. It was not to be… On the turn I played the Miner, Jeff completed a quest and drew a card. Because of the Weather Machine, he revealed the next card which was an Infusion of Fortitude. I immediately knew I was in trouble. Sure enough, he played it on my Miner and then flips his hero to take my big 7-drop away and use it as his own.
It went downhill from there. I could not recover from that swing and eventually succumbed to lethal attack damage from his allies. I did not get decked though, as I used Preparing for War!

Result: Loss

Round 2 – Dustin Riley (Lelora the Dawnslayer)

Dustin and I had played the previous night at Three J’s and he had squeaked out a win. I was hoping to make the series 1-1 against him.

Notes from the game:

Dustin had a pretty defensive deck with multiple armors and healing cards. He played “The Light’s Largess” at least two times, maybe three.
I got out some early beats with allies and followed it up with a Hungering Bone Cudgel. When Dustin and I played in the previous event, he had played the same weapon on me, and I destroyed it by preventing all of the damage with my armor. My board was close to repeating that, but didn’t quite have enough armor to stop all of the damage.
Eventually, my allies and weapon broke through his armor and healing with enough damage to seal the victory.

Result: Win

Round 3 – Warren Snider (Forang Deathrattle)

This was a very close game that almost went the other way.

Notes from the game:

I got out both of my weapons and was ready to dual wield my way to victory. Unfortunately, my Hungering Bone Cudgel was Banished to the Nether.
I played Miner Stonedeep and managed to get a mill or two off before he got killed. A few turns later, I completed Deep Sea Salvage to get him back, but he was Banished to the Nether before he could attack or mill cards.
Gabble tried to enter the fray, but was met with Swallow Soul. Blasted Warlocks!
Warren played Marka Addington. She’s really big and hits really hard. Fortunately, she only got in one attack before she succumbed to immolation.
The game went long, and I was able to complete Meeting with the Master two times with 10+ resources. Good times. Those extra cards gave me the fuel I needed to pull off the win with only a few health remaining.

Result: Win

Round 4 – Neil Doherty (Hekto)

This was an interesting game.

We both played 1 and 2 drops, but they were cleared away for the most part. At the beginning of my third turn, I had Retainer Nealos in play, and then played Orderkeeper Vesra. His board was empty, and the +2 for allies really hampered his game for a few turns. My allies attacked, and I added another to the party. Neil held back four resources. I did not want my Orderkeeper to die to Hekto’s flip, so I only attacked with my other allies. I played Withering Shout on an empty board, which made things even more difficult for Neil (+2 for allies, -1 health for allies). Eventually the damage got to be too much and his hero fell.

We did play a rematch for fun afterward and he beat me, for what it’s worth.

Result: Win

My Tour was now over and it’s time to head back to the office. I can say that it has been fun playing WoW TCG this weekend, and good to interact directly with the players and retailers. I learned a lot and am thankful for the experience.

Thanks to all of the players I met, retailers that hosted, judges that judged, and victors that beat me!

Dan Bojanowski

5/17 - Three J's Sportscards in Anaheim, CA - Dan Bojanowski

1173993 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:50:00 GMT

The second of my three MOTL Tour stops was at Three J’s.

This store has been around since before TCGs were first created. It had a nice play space and ample room for our event. Several people from the first stop showed up, but most of the players were unique to this event.

My Deck:

Hero: Crusader Michael Goodchilde

Allies
Jav Stonewall
Routeen
Quigley Slipshade
Zandar Shadesprocket
2 Durae Crystalshield
Miner Steelwhiskers
Angelista
Xanata the Lightsworn
Zaistor the Vigilant
Kiki Sparkbottom
Alhas
Orderkeeper Vesra
Orderkeeper Calister
Bulvai of the Watch
Givon
Narthadus

Abilities
Flash of Light
Blessed Protector
Aura of Fanaticism

Equipment
Doomplate Chestguard
Fanblade Pauldrons
Platinum Shield of the Valorous
Doomplate Warhelm

Quests
The Name of the Beast
Wanted: Durn the Hungerer
Survey the Land
The Spirit Polluted
Information Gathering
Hellfire Fortifications
Meeting with the Master

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my cardpool. I saw those beefy armor numbers and was drawn to the choice between either Warrior or Paladin. Sadly, I didn’t get any weapons, and I didn’t get any notable Warrior abilities. Aura of Fanaticism caught my eye, though, and I thought it would be interesting to try out. Static attack bonuses for heroes seem good, as long as I can keep my -1 health allies alive. My ally pool was a bit troublesome. I didn’t see as many standouts as I did last event.

On to the games!

Round 1 – Giang Vu (Hekto)

Giang played WOW TCG during Heroes of Azeroth and Dark Portal times, but has just picked it back up again. I was anxious to see how my deck would perform. I awaited to see if I picked the best strategy…

Notes from the game:

* I got out two early armors (Fanblade Pauldrons & Doomplate Chestguard) which caused a slow start to the game.
* Giang played the ultimate counter to my armor heavy deck – Gauntlets of the Skullsplitter. I had to read this card several times to figure out just how badly this hurt me. It plagued me the entire game. My only equipment disruption was Angelista who bounced the Gauntlets a few times, but I could never get rid of it entirely.
* He played a Silea that scared me due to my armor heavy field, but never played an ability. Whew!
* I played Aura of Fanaticism, which allowed my hero to attack for several turns. This made my attacks trickier due to the decreased health of my allies. Eventually, though, I played a steady stream of allies and took over the board.
* We were the last game to finish, and I squeaked out the win with about one minute remaining. Very close game!

Result: Win

Round 2 – Dustin Riley (Kilzin of the Darkspear)

Dustin and I had a really good game. In the end, I made quite a few play errors that probably cost me the game.

Notes from the game:
• I got out three armor quickly that minimized any early damage.
• Dustin played Stoneclaw Totem to slow my guys down.
• Dustin played Hungering Bone Cudgel and got one good swing in with it. The next turn, however, I was prepared for it and saved enough armor back to prevent it from dealing any damage (thus being destroyed).
• I got out Aura of Fanaticism, but it wasn’t enough. He had some big allies, including two big Scryers that sabotaged equipment.
• Time was called and we played our extra turns out. In an act of sheer stupidity, I ran Zandar Shadesprocket into a 7 attack ally, forgetting his drawback text. I ended up losing the game on damage by 2 or 3.

Result: Loss

Round 3 – James Kyles (Chancellor Velora)

This was a pretty quick game… unfortunately for me.

Notes from the game:
• My turn 1 Zandar was outdone by his turn 1 Bloodsoul. Both allies ate away at life totals for a few turns.
• I got out three armor cards, but he played Devil-Stitched Leggings and used it to get rid of all of my allies and establish board control.
• Eventually his allies overran all of my armor.

Result: Loss

Round 4 – Andrew Mahatakulrungsi (Fallenstar)

Not… even… close… I got beaten down so badly in this game that I didn’t have a chance to take notes during the game. He took control early and never let up, using cards such as Xanata, Bloodskull Destroyer, Justicar Brace, and finally Gabble.

Result: Loss

Wow… what a tournament. I went 1-3, and two of my losses weren’t even close. What I learned from the event:

• There is a reason why Sealed Pack tournament decks usually focus on rush and efficient allies, instead of armor and tricky abilities. My deck really didn’t work out too well.

• I’m not a young gamer anymore. I started playing cards at 10 am and really didn’t stop until 10 pm. While I used to game like this regularly, I must get sleep before the next event!

• WOW TCG players in L.A. are good! Even in my last round at 1-2, I was given a savage beating by a great player.

5/17 - Upper Deck Store in Huntington Beach, CA - Dan Bojanowski

1173993 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:25:00 GMT

My first stop of the tour was at the Upper Deck store. The store was very nice and had lots of interesting displays to look at, including framed sports memorabilia. Once all 17 players were settled, we cracked packs and got right down to it.

My Deck:

Hero: Seadog Nally

Allies
Ripper
Routeen
Magister Ashi
Syluri
Llyras Keeneye x2
Tarwila Gladespring
Retainer Zian
Alhas
Retainer Athan
Retainer Khorbus
Orderkeeper Calister
King Khan
Orderkeeper Henley
Arcanist Raith
Breen Toestubber
Narthadus x2
Domona the Ever-Watchful
Gabble

Abilities
Feeding Frenzy
Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuits
Death Trap

Quests
Meeting with the Master x2
The Sigil of Krasus
Preparing for War
The Spirit Polluted
Hellfire Fortifications
Wanted: Durn the Hungerer

Overall, I was very pleased with my deck. I had some very strong cards in King Khan, Breen Toestubber, Gabble, Llyras Keeneye, and Death Trap. I included a silly little suite of cards surrounding pets, thinking that I might be able to live the dream of playing Papa Hummel's on Ripper, pumping his attack with Feeding Frenzy, and then doubling his attack with his power. Sadly, the dream was never realized...

On to the games!

Round 1 -- Andy Fritz (Chancellor Velora)

The first game of my Tour! I don't get to play as often as I'd like around the office, so I was a bit worried about rustiness. Notes from the game:

* Andy completed an early Dr. Boom, revealing Delrach the Vile and blowing up in his hands for 7 damage!
* Andy got off two Mental Anguishes, making me discard important cards.
* I got out Breen Toestubber, which proved difficult to get rid of and generally slowed the game down.
* Domona the Ever-Watchful came out and my allies eventually took over the game.

Result: Win

Round 2 -- Paul Hollingsworth (Fallenstar)

Notes from the game:
* Sudden Death took out an early ally. Levixus the Soul Caller got it back, and then it took out my Breen Toestubber.
* King Khan and Domona the Ever-Watchful came out and controlled the board.
* Llyras Keeneye got up to a 7 attack!

Result: Win

Round 3 -- John Patchell (Marlowe the Felsworn)

Notes from the game:
* I forgot about the "Pet (1)" restriction and lost my Ripper when King Khan came out.
* John played Warlock Training, bouncing King Khan.
* Orderkeeper Vesra made my allies more expensive
* I couldn't keep allies on the table with Warlock Training and Vesra. John put out some big allies and took over the game.

Result: Loss

Round 4 -- Clyde Clark (Fallingstar)

Notes from the game:
* Game started out with both of us racing with 1 and 2-drops.
* Both of us got out Alhas to remove some damage.
* I had a Llyras Keeneye growing in size.
* He played Piercing Howl to put three of my allies on top of my deck, slowing me down.
* He played Breen Toestubber... slowing me down even further.
* In a desperate attempt to get rid of Breen Toestubber, I used my flip, hurling Llyras Keeneye at the Gnome. Unfortunately, I forgot to take her -1 attack into account, so it didn't kill her.
* Death Trap took out a few allies, and I eventually took control of the board.

Result: Win

After the tournament, the fine staff at the Upper Deck store provided everyone with some tasty pizza. I filled my belly and then proceeded to get beat down in a series of pick-up games. It was good fun though, and a bunch of the participants in the first event were going to follow me to the second.

5/18 - Game Trolls in Olympia, WA - Ben Seck

1173993 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:47:00 GMT

My final morning in the beautiful Puget Sound area had me getting up a little earlier than the previous days in order to check-out from the Holiday Inn, grab some Starbucks, and make the trek south to Olympia, the seat of government for the State Legislature of Washington. Here I would be heading in to Game Trolls, a very cool little store that doubled as an internet LAN café… they even had their own named coffee: “Troll Brew.” I had to be on my game today; 4-0 was a record that wasn’t going to come easy.

TBS’ Sealed Deck #2
Hero – Taheo Skyspeaker (Horde Tauren Druid)

Horde Allies
“Spider Legs” McGillicutty
2 Lillith Smythe
Gurzuk
Yellowspine
Tatulla the Reclamier
Bloodblade
Ja’zoona
Roena Trailmaker
Groundshaker Earnheart
Jae’va the Relentless

Aldor Allies
Vindicator Ostrakon
Vindicator Belian
Anchorite Fareena
Vindicator Agran
Darynus
Exarch Orelis

Druid Abilities
2 Earth Mother’s Blessing
Swipe
Earth and Sky
The Natural Order

Quests
The Spirit Polluted
A Traitor Among Us
Pride of the Fel Horde
Toxic Horrors
Forge Camp: Annihilated
Meeting with the Master
The Name of the Beast
Preparing for War
Dr. Boom!

Other unused cards of note
The Darkeater
3 Magistrix Dianas
Arcanist Dayvana
Magister Ashi
Miner Steelwhiskers
Rahn Grimstaff
Jezbella of Karabor
Caretaker Mooncrier
Tarwila Gladespring
Bakaar
Alhas
Llyras Keeneye
Caretaker Devonar
Formation of Felbane
Matalo Trailfinder
Essence Gatherer
Armed to the Teeth
Sudden Death
Crusade
Bogspike
On the Brink
Soul Inversion
Thulthun
2 Gobloz
Melt Face

This was my best deck of the weekend. The Darkeater tempted me momentarily, but the Horde allies made the most sense (though I probably shouldn’t have played Yellowspine). I learned my lesson from yesterday and played the two Earth Mother’s Blessings, which proved invaluable throughout the day. Aldor was also an easy choice, due to epic Exarch Orelis and Darynus covering the dearth of six-drops in my Horde deck.

Round 1
Jason Martinez

I was after a rematch with Jason after a loss to him yesterday (and another Constructed loss to him that morning). Jason was playing the Horde Traitor Warrior Lionar the Blood Cursed. Jason started the game in an auspicious manner, not laying a quest after mulliganning. I figured at the point that I should try and win a war of attrition, but unfortunately I had a relatively slow hand that was made even worse by having no two and three drops and a protector at 4 (which could promptly by destroyed by Lionar’s flip power). But after making some trades at 5 and 6 and ensuring his Groundsharker Earnhardt only drew one card trading with Darynus, I was finally able to gain the upper hand despite being shocked by Wazgul, Advisor to Thrall (luckily I wasn’t Alliance) in the dying stages of the game.

8-5

Round 2
Joe de Jesus

Joe was part of a father/son team that came to this event. An orthodontist by trade, Joe was eager to have a crack at me in order to get the EA for his son Danny. Jonas the Red was Joe’s hero of choice. Joe never really got going too much in our game, with my faster and more efficient deck having no problem racing a Hungering Bone Cudgel. It looked like he may have had a shot after playing a Sprint which stopped my larger guys, but I was able to quest my way into some more action to finish him off. Despite this, Joe was able to get an EA for his son by beating me in Constructed after the game. Justice!

9-5

Round 3
Demar Roth

Demar was also playing Jonas, but it was in this game that my Earth Mother’s Blessings were really effective, each fuelling card advantage trades in my favor. Finally when I had a Blessing on Jae’ va the Relentless (and healing her with my flip power), she was able to clean up the board in short order.

10-5

I was almost there with a tieing record of 11-5 was in sight! I knew this one was going to be a nail-biter, as this meant I was going to play the other 3-0 deck in the tournament.

Round 4
Revis John “RJ” Smith

RJ played like a seasoned competitor. His hero was Mythen of the Wild, the Alliance Druid. This game was epic with a lot of strategic moves made on both sides in the early and mid game. My defense was put under strain with a third turn Milhouse Manastorm (who was unlocked by the fifth turn), and Weeble. I was able to trade favourably with Weeble, but Milhouse wreaked havoc, with a Piana healing him multiple times throughout the game. I finally was able to stabilize via trading a Groundshaker with Milhouse, but constant questing had meant that I was likely to get decked (run out of cards in my deck). I did have a Preparing for War to make sure that I didn’t lose, but RJ had me under constant pressure when time was called. With RJ ahead on damage dealt, I needed to make a play that damaged him enough. But, he played a Jav Stonewall that I couldn’t Swipe, and soaked up enough damage to give him the match when time was called. So close!

10-6

With an hour plus drive to the airport, I had to say sayonara to my newfound friends at Game Trolls and take my large car (G6 Pontiac – I’m used to small Japanese or European cars!) back to the rental place. I had a terrific weekend: I made some new friends, played some fun games, and hopefully made a few people happy with some awesome looking EA Varimathrases. I hope to be able to go up north again to try and get some revenge!

Good games and signing out,
TBS

5/17 - Game-A-Lot in Federal Way, WA - Ben Seck

1173993 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:41:00 GMT

This morning my first Legionnaires stop was at Game-A-Lot, a hybrid LAN/console/card gaming store in Federal Way. I have a tendency to get up pretty early on trips, so I was there a little too early and had to satisfy myself with Starbucks and a breakfast sandwich. When I got to the store a second time, Summer (one of the owners of the store) was there to greet me!

Summer is a big fan of both the TCG and the MMO, and it showed in her eagerness about the game.

Soon all the players got there and we were ready to start… except the volunteer who was meant to run the event hadn’t shown up yet. Since in my previous life I also ran a store, I jumped into action and booted up Mantis to help organize the event. Soon we were up and the sealed packs were handed out.

TBS’ Sealed Pack #2
Hero: Bildros Nullvoid

Allies
Quigley Slipshade
Piana
Jav Stonewall
Angelista
Syluri
Llyras Keeneye
Caretaker Heartwing
Alhas
Orderkeeper Vesra
Ramses the Purifier
Orderkeeper Calister
Sharial
Magdeline Prideheart

Aldor Allies
Vindicator Belian
Atani of the Watch
Vindicator Kaldiel
Anchorite Viluaa
Bulvai of the Watch
Darynus

Warlock Allies
Haaroon

Warlock Abilities
Warlock Training
Banish to the Nether

Equipment
Essence Gatherer

Quests
An Improper Burial
Toxic Horrors
Pride of the Fel Horde
Levixus the Soul Caller
Orders from Lady Vashj
The Spirit Polluted
The Sigil of Krasus

Other unused cards of note
Siphon Life (It was a choice between this and Haaroon)
2 Earth Mother’s Blessing
Shred
Lacerate
2 Tarn Darkwalker
Hulok Trailblazer
Rogg Dreadnock
Jessup Smythe
Hota the Bloodsoaked
Silea Dawnwalker
Jaeva the Relentless
Bloodeye
Arcanist Alathana
2Arcanist Raith
2 Retainer Cara
Bogspike
Scraps
Run to Ground
Rain of Arrows
2 Sacrifical Poison
2 On the Brink
Melt Face
2 Armed to the Teeth
Smash
Skyfire Hawk-Bow

To be perfectly honest, I think I screwed this build up pretty badly. I have a soft spot for Haaroon (I think I had him in my internal Sneak Peek deck) and he caused me to choose Warlock, combined with Banish and Warlock Training (which beat the crap out of me yesterday). In hindsight, I think the Druid package would have been a better choice, saddling me with the two Blessings, Shred and Lacerate. There was a case to play the Horde allies, but I just wasn’t that thrilled with their early game, something I value in Sealed Pack. I underestimated some of the early drops of the Horde. I think I’ll try and rebuild this card pool later. Anyway, on to the tournament!

Round 1
Jason Martinez

Jason was playing Mythen of the Fang, the Traitor Alliance Druid. Another turn one Tainted Earth began cramping my style, and Jason kept the pressure up with a Jezbella and Bulvai of the Watch. My hand didn’t really have too much action with a glut of quests. I was able to somewhat stop the bleeding by playing a Banish to the Nether on his Niyore of the Watch, but Jason responded with a Narthadus, removing my Banished and putting me even further behind. I attempted to stem the bleeding with my Haaroon, but he ensured that the pet didn’t matter by playing a Strangling Roots on him.

3-2

Round 2
James Stryczinski

Shaman was the order of the day with James, who chose Ixamos the Redeemed as his avatar. James played an early Waldo who traded with a Vindicator Kaldel on my side of the board, and his attempt of Storm Shock failed to hit my Bizzazz (unsurprisingly) and just took 4 health from my hero. From there I played a Warlock Training on Llyras Keeneye and, combined with Haaroon and Sharial, James never really got back into the game.

4-2

Round 3
Rob Lowry

I played Rob yesterday and he was aching for some revenge, especially since he only lost by a matter of turns in our previous match. Rob brought Kintara Wintermoon, the Alliance Priest to the table. My notes on this game are kinda sketchy, but my notes have “Razak Ironsides” and “Devil-Stitched Leggings” written in a frustrated manner in the book. Needless to say, those cards wrecked me and Rob took home a Varimathras.

4-3

Bryant Woo

Bryant was an energetic guy who seemed to love playing whacky stuff in his decks. This didn’t matter so much as I mulliganed into a chunky hand and made a crucial mistake of forgetting Bryant’s hero power on Lionar the Blood Cursed. I played a Bulvai of the Watch on a crucial turn, only to see his hero flip and come in for another attack step. I never really recovered and reversed my first tournament record to finish 1-3 for the this event.

4-4

Eager to get some pride back, we had time for a 10-man bounty draft after this event, so I eagerly signed up to try and improve my record for the weekend. I drafted a Shaman deck which had a fast ally curve, topped by two copies of Elements' Fury as ally control. I didn’t think the deck was spectacular, but it seemed like a quick deck was good as long as it didn’t play against AOE rush control cards like Swipe. I was able to rack up 3 quick wins, but eventually faced against Worlds competitor and all around nice guy, Gavin Price.

Gavin was able to dispatch me relatively quickly and picked up one of my EA Varimathrases. Still, I was able to improve my showing and bring up my record to a respectable 7-5.

I basically needed to 4-0 my stop at Olympia the next day to beat fellow UDE employee and Australian Paul Ross who had racked up an impressive 11-5 record in the Northern California leg of the March of the Legion Tour. The pressure was on!

I finished my Saturday going up to a terrific store in Redmond (the home of Microsoft and other tech companies) called Genesis Games and Gizmos.

I was able to meet the friendly store owners, as well as do a little gunslinging and help with a few decks people were trying to build. Also there was my volunteer judge Aaron Rosenthal who wanted to gunsling against the Totem deck in order to try and get one of the pretty little promotional Varimathras for his collection.

After a few games and chewing the fat with the locals, I needed to grab a bite to eat. It was off to the local café to get a sandwich and a soda. Next stop tomorrow is Olympia, the pristine capital of the state, about an hour or so south of Seattle!

5/16 - Shane's Big League in Renton, WA - Ben Seck

1173993 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:16:00 GMT

I hate getting up early. But, when I am getting up for a weekend of gaming, it feels great. I can hear you ask, “Don’t you play games at work?” While I enjoy my job of creating games at Upper Deck immensely, whenever you get the opportunity to play games with people outside that context, it allows you to get a fresh perspective on what effect our games have on people.

I chose the Puget Sound area for my March of the Legion tour for a couple of reasons. Firstly I knew that Seattle was famous for being a strong gaming hotbed. Secondly, and more importantly from a personal level, Seattle was of the cities I had visited on my first trips to the United States over a dozen years ago, and I thought it would be good to revisit a city that I had such fond memories of and see how its developed and changed.

My first stop on my tour was a terrific little store named Shane’s Big League in Renton. I had booked a room at the local Holiday Inn, and I spent at least one hour going back and forth on the street (I’m not sure why there is South Grady Way and South West Grady Way as two different streets) until I finally worked out that store was just across from the hotel parking lot. Embarassing.

When I finally got to the store, I was treated to a standing ovation from the owner, Shane. Unfortunately, the other customers didn’t know who the heck I was, so it was a one-man cheering squad. I think I need to do some sort of viral marketing to give the TBS brand a little more kick – the television station doesn’t seem to be enough.

After taking a little tour around the store, I was introduced to Bill Skitt, the resident UDE judge for the store, a very friendly guy that plays two games close to my heart, World of Warcraft and Vs. System. After chewing the fat for a few minutes, I was concerned that it seemed like no-one had arrived for the event that was supposed to start at 5pm. Bill assured me that gamers would be gamers, and that everyone was going to be fashionably late.

As advertised, the local Seattle players came trickling in, and soon we were ready to start my first tournament for the weekend.

My first card pool I found very challenging with no depth in any of the class cards and no breakout equipment. I recognized that there was quite a lot of quality in the lower drops of my Alliance ally pool, and which was supported by a small amount of early Scryer allies. I decided to go all in on the small ally strategy with my choice of Hunter as my class which allowed me to add two copies of Scraps and a Bogspike to combine with Run to Ground and Track Demons as my only ability cards.

TBS’ Sealed Deck
Hero – Chaigon Steelsight (Alliance Dwarf Hunter, Survival)

Alliance Allies
Quigley Slipshade
2 Durae Crystalshield
Miner Steelwhiskers
Jezbella of Karabor
Alhas
Waldo the Decoy
Ingrid Shadowstorm
Orderkeeper Callister
Breen Toestubber
Orderkeeper Henley

Scryer Allies
Retainer Salvan
Retainer Zian
Arcanist Dayvana
Retainer Althan

Hunter Pets
Bogspike
2 Scraps

Hunter Abilities
Track Demons
Run to Ground

Equipment
Barbaric Legstraps

Quests
An Improper Burial
Dr. Boom!
Information Gathering
A Traitor Among Us
Levixus the Soul Caller
2 Hellfire Fortifications
The Spirit Polluted
Orders from Lady Vashj

Notable cards in my unused pile –
Lady Vashj
Blinky
Melt Face
Touch of Darkness
Soul Inversion
2 Salt the Wounds
Nether Fracture
Fuel for the Fire
Life Cycle
2 Stoneskin Totem
Stoneclaw Totem
Whispering Blade of Slaying
Crimson Shocker
Axe of the Legion
Vindicator Agran

Now I had my deck ready; It was time to face the music!

Round 1
Matt Walsh

Matt was playing Marlowe Christophers, an Alliance Human Warlock (not traitor) from Servants of the Betrayer. Matt seemed very at home with his sealed deck, and that became clear when I had a slow start and he demolished me with an early Warlock Training. Before I could stabilize, Myriam Starcaller came by to Hadoken me out of the match. “Perfect!” This was not an auspicious start to the weekend.

0-1

Round 2
Logan Owley

Logan was sporting Runetusk, the Horde Troll Priest. I thought he’d come out aggressive with an early Bloodsoul. But, with an impeccable quest draw on my side and a Waldo to slow down the beat while my Alliance allies cleaned up the table, a Run to Ground was all that she wrote on this one. Yes – on the board. The albatross of getting “donut’ed” was off my neck.

1-1

Round 3
Li Ly

With Morn Salts-the-Land, I expected some big Horde Hunter Traitor shenanigans from Li. Luckily his deck never really got going, and my army of Quigley, Steelwhiskers and Alhas got the better of him.

2-1

Round 4
Robert Lowry

A gamer from way back, Rob’s interest in online games brought him back to the land of TCGs, and he chose to come back as a traitor: Desecrator Stormclaw. Rob is quite active on the WoW TCG forums under the handle of “Cornelius”. He tried to grind me out with a Tainted Earth and Fel Leather Gloves, and with my quest heavy draw (six of my first ten draws), I thought I was going to run out of health. I was able to build up a big enough army and then played a Run to Ground so he wasn’t able to stabilize the following turn. That was a lucky escape from a tough situation.

3-1

So after a rocky start, I was able to get away with giving out only one EA Varimathras. Internally, WoW TCG Developer set my likely record at 10-6, so I think my chances are very good to making that line.

The players at the store were still eager to play me, so I pulled out a Totemic Recovery Horde Traitor Shaman control deck I had brought with me to gunsling. I was able to come away going 2-2 in these games, one of them ending via getting a Kael’thas out and stealing all my opponent’s resources! Neat!

After an exhausting day of travel, I was too tired to even grab a bite to eat and stumbled my way back to the hotel (conveniently across the street) so I could crash onto my bed.

5/4/08 - Pandemonium in Garden City, Michigan – Jeff Piroozshad

782885 — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:11:00 GMT

The final stop on my journey was Pandemonium in Garden City, Michigan, which is a southwestern suburb of Detroit. Pandemonium was hosting the Light of Destruction Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Sneak Preview at the same time, but fortunately the store come complete with two large rooms aside from the store section in which to house multiple events. They were also barbecuing out back in order to feed all the hungry players which was a great gesture and made lots of kids happy.

I opened the cards from my packs and decided to run Lionar the Blood Cursed pretty quickly (and not just because Jackie Spreadbury crushed me with it the day before). I had two cheap but beefy pieces of armor in Fanblade Pauldrons and Platinum Shield of the Valorous, and some really good Warrior abilities in Puncture, Intensify Rage, Armed to the Teeth and the insane Sudden Death. As usual, Ezra Phoenix and Bloodeye became staples for me, so I was going with the same plan as the day before: control the midgame and get my big guys out to finish the job. I wasn’t thrilled with my available quests, though, so I considered it the weakest part of my strategy. My deck for the tournament:

Allies: 17

1 David Smythe

2 Vexmaster Nar’jo

1 Xanata the Lightsworn

1 Jessup Smythe

1 Rogg Dreadnock

1 Bolan Earthguard

2 Hota the Bloodsoaked

1 Tatulla the Reclaimer

1 Bulvai of the Watch

1 Anchorite Jaliah

1 Roena Trailmaker

1 Volin Netherburn

2 Ezra Phoenix

1 Bloodeye

1 Delraich the Vile

Abilities: 5

1 Sudden Death

1 Intensify Rage

1 Wreck

1 Puncture

1 Armed to the Teeth

Equipment: 2

1 Fanblade Pauldrons

1 Platinum Shield of the Valorous

Quests: 6

2 Meeting with the Master

1 Preparing for War

1 Survey the Land

1 The Name of the Beast

1 The Unending Invasion

My first round opponent was Del Pera, who was running Plague Fleshbane. Del is originally from Riverside, California, which I found interesting. However, my interst turned to concern when he dropped Devil-Stitched Leggings on turn 3. Fortunately I won the die roll, so I could immediately play Tatulla the Reclaimer the next turn in order to prevent a problem before it started. Del then had Roena Trailmaker on 5, but I had the Puncture to get rid of it, allowing me to drop Bloodeye with Intensify Rage, making an 11/11 behemoth. Del had a Banish to the Nether to deal with Bloodeye and then dropped Saurfang the Younger, who fell victim to a Sudden Death. A double Hota the Bloodsoaked sealed the deal, and I won with only 1 damage taken.

In Round 2 I played against Luke Lowery, a local youngster who I was warned not to take lightly. He was running Sharpshooter Nally, and I soon found out that he was not to be trifled with, as he had Scraps on 2 with Papa Hummel’s Pet Biscuit on 3 to create an 8/7 vulture. Luckily, there weren’t enough allies in the graveyards yet, so I was able to not do anything for a turn in order to kill him off via his own power. I think that might have either thrown Luke off his game or that he had a pretty poor hand and that was his best trick, because he didn’t mount much offense after that. A couple of Bloodeye shots later and it was all over.

Round 3 matched me up against John Lowery, Luke’s father, who was obviously looking to take revenge against me for defeating his son. John was running Vorna the Disciplined, my first matchup against a Mage hero on this trip, and I was anxious to see what tricks awaited me. Unfortunately, I got what I asked for, as he came down with a turn 3 Living Pyre, which ticked away the entire game, and a turn 5 Fuel for the Fire only furthered a growing problem. He followed up with Runesong Dagger soon afterwards, picking off my allies slowly but surely until I had nothing left to challenge him. He didn’t do more than three damage to me on any one attack or hit, but all those little hits added up for an effective victory for John, who avenged his son and claimed an EA Varimathras for the Lowery family.

My last opponent of the trip was a familiar face (no, it wasn’t Matt Spreadbury, fortunately). It was Demetrius Lemanski, who this time was running Fallenstar. He was determined to pry that EA Varimathras from my hands, and this time brought along his better half, Kate, for good luck. Would it work? Well, let’s just say he played Withering Shout and Givon, plus Roke the Ice Baron. I couldn’t attack at all to any effect, and when he played Sudden Death on my Bloodeye, it was all over but the crime. Demetrius finally claimed his ultimate prize.

What I learned in Garden City: Don’t beat kids when their fathers are there (and have really good decks).

My tour had ended at a moderately respectable 6-10, considering I’m not exactly a World of Warcraft TCG expert (plus I had to play 25% of my games against 3 of the best players our game has to offer). It was a lot of fun, though, and 10 lucky players walked away with EA Varimathras. I got to meet a lot of great people, and enjoy the trip. I’m looking forward to the next time we do this (and I will make sure to practice more this time).

What I learned on the tour: I’m not meant to play an Alliance deck in sealed play, I am bad at rolling dice, and World of Warcraft TCG has the coolest players!

5/3/08 - Fanfare Sports & Entertainment in Kalamazoo, Michigan – Jeff Piroozshad

782885 — Mon, 19 May 2008 05:52:00 GMT

The “Blessing of Salvation” would come at Stop 3 at Fanfare Sports & Entertainment in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Fanfare Sports is a rather large store with an impressive collection of superhero and supervillain figurines and statues, especially of my favorite hero: Superman. I actually picked up a “Smallville” baseball cap and really cool Transformers vs. G.I. Joe poster while I was there, the latter now decorating one of the walls in the Organized Play department.

I got seated and opened my packs and found a much better card pool than I had received in the previous two stops. I had some decent weapons for a melee build, and I also had double Gobloz, Apocanon and a Banish to the Nether for a Warlock build. In the end, though, after much debating, I decided to go Shadow Priest and run Runetusk, because I had a Melt Face, Mental Anguish, Priest Training and Demonfang Ritual Helm, and even though I had some good stuff in other classes, I thought this would be the best. I had a nice late game in allies, too, so I wanted to control the mid-game for some big bruisers later on. Here is the deck I ended up playing:

Allies:

2 Magister Ashi

1 Vexmaster Nar’jo

1 Tyrennius Scatheblade

1 Retainer Nealos

1 Sha’kar

1 Rogg Dreadnock

1 Gurzuk

1 Alchemist Norrin’thal

1 Tatulla the Reclaimer

1 “Acid Hands” McGillicutty

1 Marka Addington

1 Retainer Eteron

1 Groundshaker Earnheart

1 Ezra Phoenix

2 Bloodeye

Abilities: 3

1 Melt Face

1 Mental Anguish

1 Priest Training

Equipment: 1

Demonfang Ritual Helm

Quests: 7

1 Information Gathering

1 The Root of All Evil

1 Forge Camp: Annihilated

1 Orders from Lady Vashj

1 Hellfire Fortifications

1 The Spirit Polluted

1 Dr. Boom

In Round 1 I was matched up against Randy Marr, who was running Halavar. I got off to a slightly faster start than he did, but he got Terokk’s Quill out, which did do quite a bit of damage to my little guys. Fortunately I was able to get my late game going, and with some help from Groundshaker Earnheart and Ezra Phoenix, the Demonfang Ritual Helm was more than he could handle. I won with only 13 damage on Runetusk.

I was feeling pretty good about myself when I got matched up against Matt Spreadbury again. Uhhh…yay? Apparently Matt, Jackie and Brad saw a free opportunity at EA Varimathras and determined to make me the laughing stock of the Upper Deck offices. Truthfully, this match went by so fast that it’s a blur in my head. All I remember is getting Jessup-locked by turn five, unable to play an ally that wouldn’t be destroyed the following turn by a readying Jessup Smythe. According to my notes I did seven points of damage to his hero, but I think he just did about 40 to me and one of the dice must have rolled to the other side of the table accidentally.

Having been knocked back down to earth once again, I played against Demetrius Lemanski who was running Bloodtusk. This was the most exciting match I played all weekend. We both played Marka Addington on turn 5, but since he won the die roll he was able to get rid of mine while his was still on the board. He put Saurfang the Younger into play, but forgot that Saurfang didn’t have Ferocity and I was able to kill it by suiciding “Acid Hands” into it on my subsequent turn. I was now getting shut out, with 22 damage on my hero and I hadn’t done one point to him yet. 22-0 isn’t the best situation to be in, but somehow I was able to climb out of it. I got Retainer Eteron on the board and decided to attach Priest Training to it, thinking that attacking with him wouldn’t really matter much and hoping that he’d have to rush a couple of his smaller allies into him to kill him. Fortunately I was able to get Ezra Phoenix out the following turn to take care of them, so Eteron was able to heal my damage all the way back down to 10 before Delrach the Vile finally killed him by attacking Bloodeye, who already had some damage. Fortunately for me, he used most of his good tricks to get rid of Eteron and Bloodeye so he had none left when I dropped my second Bloodeye on the following turn. Two Bloodeyes was too much for him to handle and I came all the way back from 22-0 down to take the match.

Round 4 was a more standard match for my deck’s game plan and I just followed my curve as best as I could. I was matched up against Chris Kahler, a student at Western Michigan Universit in Kalamazoo. I dropped Tatulla on 4, Earnheart on 6 and Bloodeye on 7. Chris had a pretty bad hand, apparently and didn’t have many answers to my big beatsticks.

A definite improvement to my trip, plus now I knew I would not run out of EA cards. Playing under pressure FTW!

What I learned in Kalamazoo: Bloodeye is a handful for people to deal with, especially when you have two.

5/3/08 - Gold Mine Comics & Cards in Grand Rapids, Michigan – Jeff Piroozshad

782885 — Mon, 19 May 2008 05:32:00 GMT

A record of 1-3 wasn’t the best way to start my tour, but I was confident that I could do better. Unfortunately for me, my improvement wouldn’t come soon enough to prevent the destruction that awaited me in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I arrived at Goldmine Comics & Cards and was immediately impressed at the large selection of comic books and Star Wars action figures they had on display. I decided to run Kassandra Flameheart because I had pulled Bogspike and King Khan, and had a couple of good Hunter Abilities like Crippling Shot and Snake Trap. Also, Run to Ground would be a good combo with Imp Mistress Noali, if I ever got to use it. The final deck I went with was:

Hero: Kassandra Flameheart

Allies: 20

1 Bogspike

1 Matalo Trailfinder

1 David Smythe

1 Atani of the Watch

1 Lilith Smythe

1 Tyrennius Scatheblade

1 Vexmaster Nar’jo

1 Bolan Earthmend

1 Jessup Smythe

1 King Khan

1 Ossandran, Crematorium Master

1 Bloodblade

1 Bulvai of the Watch

1 Roena Trailmaker

1 Anchorite Onkoth

1 Imp Mistress Noali

1 Ezra Phoenix

1 Marksman Boriz

2 Delraich the Vile

Abilities: 3

1 Snake Trap

1 Run to Ground

1 Crippling Shot

Quests: 7

1 The Sigil of Krauss

1 Forces of Jaedenar

1 Levixus the Soul Caller

1 Information Gathering

2 Hellfire Fortifications

1 Buying Time

I would have liked to have had a couple more abilities to play, or a weapon, but the rest of my class abilities didn’t seem like they would give me a better chance to win, so I was hoping that I could do some good with Bogspike and King Khan to set up for a couple of big hits with bigger allies later on down the road.

In Round 1 I played Adam Hipp, who was running Jonas the Red, obviously as a cruel punishment for my running him so poorly the day before. I proceeded to lose my fifth die roll in a row and opened with no 1-drop, which of course meant he had a great rush of allies come down. He eventually played Reflex Blades and Hungering Bone Cudgel as the finishers, and I only did 2 damage to him the entire match. It was a slaughter, plain and simple, and Adam earns the fourth of what was turning out to be many EA Varimathrases to be won in the Michigan/Windsor area.

I was 0-1 and now 1-4 on the trip, so I was thinking that I deserved a bit of a break, or maybe a couple of easier opponents to boost my rattled and shaken confidence. The WoW TCG gods decided that they were going to toy with me a little more for the rest of this tournament. How you might ask? By pairing me up against three of the best players on the planet, obviously.

The first of the triumvirate that I would play was two-time Darkmoon Faire Champion and World Championship Semifinalist Brad Watson. He was playing Mythen of the Fang, commenting that he’d always swore never to play Alliance Traitor Druid, and yet here it was. Was this to be a good sign for me? I proceeded to win my first die roll of the weekend and that was about when my meager momentum ended. I looked at my hand of 1 quest and nothing lower than a 3-cost and used my mulligan… into a new hand of no quests. I could say I got “annihilated” by Brad, but I did get Bogspike out early to take out an ally of his and I guess that kicks my defeat up at least one notch to “kinda sorta destroyed.” Barous the Storm Baron and Myriam Starcaller were too much for my deck to handle and I could only do 8 damage to his hero.

Next up for his “free” EA Varimathras: World Championship and US National Championship Quarterfinalist Matt Spreadbury. I was beginning to think my only chance of not running out of Varimathras was to legally change my name to Guillaume Matignon, the World Champion. I was sitting next to Matt during deckbuilding and he commented on how he pulled two Runesong Daggers. I was sure he would be playing them, especially after seeing his hero was Marlowe Christophers. I buckled up for a pick-off-my-allies-fest and proceeded to lose the die roll, so I was returning back to normal. This game actually started out decently for me, as I got King Khan into play. Matt commented how that card hurt pretty much all of his deck. It was a close game into the low teens on damage when he played Runesong Dagger, Devil Stitched Leggings and The Essence Gatherer. I had done 17 damage to his hero at that point, which I considered to be somewhat of an accomplishment against his deck, but I was running out of options. I had Run to Ground in play, but no allies to attack with when I drew Imp Mistress Noali. Hmmmm….would this be the most remarkable upset in WoW TCG history? It wasn’t to be, however, as when I declared the attack with my resource for four damage, Noali bit the dust. Oh well, it was my only chance and I offered the handshake soon afterward.

I was sitting at 0-3 in Grand Rapids and 1-6 on the trip, but I soon would face off against third of the trio, Jackie Spreadbury, the Ladies Open World of Warcraft TCG Champion. How she was also 0-3 was beyond me, but obviously, I wasn’t getting any freebies, even in the 0-3 bracket. Jackie was playing Lionar the Blood Cursed and proceeded to beat me over the head a couple of times with a Hungering Bone Cudgel before I drew into a rather unexpected way to get rid of it: Crippling Shot. By reducing her hero’s attack power to zero from five, the Cudgel did no damage so it was destroyed at the end of the turn. I was rather proud of that move, but it ended up just delaying the inevitable as her swarm of allies showed poor Kassandra Flameheart no mercy, beating her into the ground. I was able to get her to 23 damage on her hero, but unfortunately I ran out of cards and options and was wide open for the rest of the game. Sadness ensued, but I still had a great time.

A problem then arose. I realized I only brought so many EA Varimathras cards with me on my journey. With my record at 1-7, I still had to win two more matches to ensure that I would have enough to give out in the (apparently becoming more likely by the minute) event that I should lose a bunch more matches.

What I learned in Grand Rapids:

The best players in this game are pretty darned good.

5/2/08 - Game City in Windsor, Canada – Jeff Piroozshad

782885 — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:44:00 GMT

I started out on this journey hoping that I could do well, as I work more with the Yu-Gi-Oh! side of Upper Deck and not as much with World of Warcraft TCG. Yu-Gi-Oh! doesn’t have a whole lot of sealed deck play, but I had been practicing in the weeks leading up to the trip and hopefully I could at least put up a fight and not be a piñata. I checked into my hotel after arriving in Detroit late Thursday night and found in my hotel room, complimentary “Tazo” tea. I took it as a sign that I was meant to do very well on this leg of the March of the Legion Tour, so I headed out the next day across the border with confidence.

Stop 1: Game King in Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Game King in Windsor, Ontario is just across the border from Detroit, Michigan. Driving across the border was an interesting experience, not because of the border police, but because they were doing a lot of construction on the roadways leading up to the Ambassador’s Bridge – the detours were unpaved gravel roads at some points. I had never been to Canada before, so I was shocked to see the high prices for gasoline at $122 per gallon. I took a picture of it and one of the players told me I was mistaken, that they use liters in Canada. I said “That’s fine, but I’m not paying $122 per liter, either, especially when a liter is smaller than a gallon. He again said I was mistaken and it wasn’t $122, but I had the picture as proof! Needless to say I didn’t buy any gas in Canada (and the locals probably thought I was crazy).

In the event itself I ran Jonas the Red. My card pool was not amazing, but I did pull a Gut Shot, Reflex Blades and Hungering Bone Cudgel. I also pulled two 8-drop Alliance characters (The Darkeater and Highlord Bolvar Fordragon), but my alliance early and middle game didn’t look very strong so I doubted either would make a difference, plus I had a very small number of shadow allies to use with Darkeater so I went Horde. Here is the deck I ended up using:

Hero: Jonas the Red

Allies: 17

1 Captain Swash

1 Vindicator Ostakron

1 Vindicator Belian

1 Tyrennius Scatheblade

1 Jurpak

1 Vexmaster Nar’jo

1 Ruala the Spotter

1 Jessup Smythe

1 Anchorite Viluaa

1 “Acid Hands” McGillicutty

2 Bulvai of the Watch

1 Vindicator Melina

1 Anchorite Onkoth

1 Silea Dawnwalker

1 Ezra Phoenix

1 Bloodeye

Abilities: 4

1 On the Brink

1 Cloak of Shadows

1 Unbalance

1 Gut Shot

Equipment: 3

1 Wastewalker Helm

1 Hungering Bone Cudgel

1 Reflex Blades

Quests: 7

2 An Improper Burial

1 Hellfire Fortifications

1 The Name of the Beast

1 Toxic Horrors

1 Preparing for War

1 Forces of Jaedenar

In Round 1, I was matched up against Dave Campeau, who was running Taeho Skyspeaker. I lost the die roll, and he began. The early game was pretty uneventful, but I thought I was going to be able to get some control with Ezra Phoenix when I played him on turn 6, but he played Chew Toy to destroy it. I had very few big attackers in my deck, so when he played Ring of the Silver Hand it pretty much sealed it for him. I couldn’t get my biggest attack through to him, even with my Hungering Bone Cudgel. He stocked up the damage on my hero little by little with three smaller allies, and I could only get him to 26 damage before I would lose the next turn. Dave Campeau then became the proud owner of the first Extended Art Varimathras in Canada.

In Round 2 I was matched up against Blake Dodich, whose uncle and cousin were also playing in the event. I lost the die roll and immediately took a beating as Blake played five allies by turn three. I took three direct shots to the noggin from Caretaker Heartwing before I was able to destroy him. Finally I stabilized on turn turns 5 and 6 with Anchorite Onkoth and Ezra Phoenix. Blake couldn’t put up enough damage to get rid of Ezra before his little dudes got picked off, and I only took 16 damage by the time the game was over.

Blake’s cousin Ryan was my next opponent, and I lost the die roll for the third time in three games, a pretty sad way to start out my tour. It got worse pretty quickly as Ryan’s Angelista and Zandar Shadesprocket had their way with poor Jonas the Red. When he dropped a Dread Infernal that was all she wrote, giving him the shut out.

Round 4 pitted me against the owner of Game King, Bernard Lee. He was anxious all evening to win a Leeroy Jenkins shirt and now had his chance. I once again lost the die roll and proceeded to get absolutely mauled by the powerful cards he had in his deck. Niyone of the Watch, Devil-Stitched Leggings, Roke the Ice Baron and Demonfang Ritual Helm all hit the board one after another, and there was no offense I could mount to stop the onslaught that followed. Bernard had won his shirt (and an EA Varimathras to boot)!

What I learned in Windsor:
Gas prices are insane and apparently, you are required to sign your Passport.