Originally published at: http://gomorragazette.com/2016/06/28/sacramento-op5-event-6262016-farewell-to-the-dynamic-duo/
By David Orange
Last Sunday, I hosted an OP5 event at Great Escape Games. It was a bittersweet day, and not just because of the announcement (no I’m not going to dignify it with a link). Jessie and Richard, two of the strongest, most creative players in our meta will soon boot out of town for the Eerie East. So what better way to send ‘em off into the sunrise than with an afternoon of bootin’ n shootin’ in Gomorra? With five of us attending, I sat out and exclusively TOed (except for a between match friendly where I took my Hawley Krishnas out for a desultory stroll against Corrin’s Wardens). Format was round robin, where everyone played each other once.
Jessie and Richard have both brought a lot to our local posse. We call Richard “The Gentle Assassin,” since he kills with kindness and a most proper British accent. “Oh, I am so very sorry,” he says while top-decking yet another impossible hand. I can see Richard as this guy:
Jessie is simply one of the most tenacious competitors that I have ever slung cards against. She may not be winning, but as long as she is not losing, she ALWAYS gives herself a chance to improve her game-state. And more often than not, at the end of the day (or time called as the case may be), she has racked up another win. As we shall see below, her game is tailor-made for the revised floor rules.
Adam – Law Dogs: Adam has played a few games with us, playing OP (Other People’s) decks. Well, on this day he took the plunge and bought the shop’s forlorn remaining base set. He promptly cobbled together an A-2-8 Dogs deck (borrowing a couple of cards from my lending library (aka my big ol’ box o’ cards). Could a a cobbled together base set only deck stand in the fire and dish out lead n punishment?
Corrin – Eagle Wardens: I love Corrin and his willingness to not give in to the ‘strong meta’. His EW was a shooter that didn’t rely on Fortress or turtling shenanigans. It did have the usual token dude and influence tricks.
Jessie – 108 Worldly Desires: Instead of Fu, Jessie ran a toolbox, built around 7’s and 8’s with a smattering of other things. A couple of guns. plus some horses (but never ended up playing them), Mostly it relied on having a larger hand from Randall, more discards from Asakichi, cheap dudes, little upkeep, and sending 0 influence bullies backed by the home into fights.
Richard- Morgan Stables: He tells us that “I pretty much just searched the DTDB for cards involving the word “horses” and wedged them into a deck together.”
On to the results (winners first and in bold):
Round 1:
Richard vs. Corrin
Jessie vs. Adam
Round 2:
Richard vs. Jessie (match went to time)
Adam vs. Corrin
Richard had clear superiority in both INF and CP, while Jessie kept just enough INF on the board to remain in the game. This match went to time, and Jessie benefitted from the 1 VP for a timed loss.
Round 3:
Adam vs. Richard
Jessie vs. Corrin
Results:
Jessie (2-1) points: 5 + 5 + 1
Adam (2-1) points: 5 + 5
Richard (2-1) points: 5 + 4
Corrin (0-3) points: 0
Notes:
I love that our meta plays what I call ‘casual competitive’ e.g. building the decks that they enjoy playing. No Slide or Fortress around these here parts. Jessie going to time versus Richard gave her a point, which made the difference overall. Richard versus Adam: Adam’s win earned him second place, but a Richard win would have given him first, so it was overall a competitive day.